VOMRadio

Australian John Short was detained inside North Korea after leaving gospel tracts near a Buddhist temple. He was facing years in prison—but he wasn’t afraid. “Fear and faith cannot exist within my heart at the same time,” he says. In this second part of our conversation with Mr. Short, he shares how he prayed—out loud—throughout his captivity, how his captors responded to his faith and how his “letter of confession” and eventual release came about. He’ll also share how, upon landing back in China, he learned for the first time that his captivity was international news. He was deeply moved to learn that Christians in many nations were praying for him during his trial, including a group of Chinese house churches that prayed around the clock during his detention. Finally, Mr. Short shares specific ways we can pray for the “hermit kingdom” of North Korea. Listen to the first part of our conversation with Mr. Short here. Photo credit: “Star of the DPRK” by John Pavelka is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/28705377@N04/4610365613)

Australian John Short was taken prisoner in North Korea. He was repeatedly interrogated. He was forced to write a “confession” of his “crimes,” including the offense of wanting more North Koreans to follow Jesus. But if God asked him today, Short would happily go back to "the hermit kingdom." Short shares with VOM Radio how God strengthened him during his captivity, the Scriptures and earthly examples that most encouraged him, and how he managed to take a measure of control back from his captors — and even make them nervous. Mr. Short agreed to only two media interviews after his release; one with his hometown newspaper back in Australia, and the other with The Voice of the Martyrs Radio Network. Hear the rest of the story when you listen also to our interview with Short's wife, Karen.

“Lance” is a gospel worker in the nation of Turkey, a nation where 99.8% of the almost-80-million people are Muslims. This week on VOM Radio, Lance shares some of the challenges he faced in moving to a Muslim nation, building relationships and reaching out with the gospel. Lance also helps train students and others to impact the Muslim world for Christ, and he’ll share some of the most important qualities needed to work effectively among Muslims. He’ll also encourage listeners with ways we can pray for God to move in Turkey, and invite you to be a part of what God is doing in that nation from wherever you live.

How would you respond to the person who betrayed you to the authorities, leading to 14 years in prison? Richard Wurmbrand’s response was simple: “We all make mistakes.” Dale Rhoton, co-founder of Operation Mobilization, joins us again this week on VOM Radio to share about his visits with VOM founders Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, including a walk with Richard when they met the man who had betrayed Richard, leading to his arrest. Dale also shares thoughts and advice for those sensing a call to missions and talks about his own early days ministering in communist and Muslim nations, and fellowshipping with Christians who faced arrest and persecution for serving the Lord. Even in the worst of human circumstances, Dale testifies, God is able to triumph. (Photo courtesy of Operation Mobilization)

As a young man, Dale Rhoton was invited to join a prayer meeting to ask God to move across the nations. The young man that invited him was George Verwer; later the two would help send thousands of young people into gospel work around the world through Operation Mobilization (OM), the ministry they founded. On one trip taking Christian literature from Europe to the Middle East, Dale and his team stopped in to visit a Romanian pastor who’d just been released from prison: Richard Wurmbrand. Dale shares this week on VOM Radio stories of Bible smuggling, what Richard Wurmbrand was like and how Richard inspired Dale and others to live a life of total commitment to Jesus. Photo courtesy of Operation Mobilization.

For the first few days after Bob Fu was arrested for his Christian work in China, his prayers were pretty simple: “Lord, get me out of here!” He even prayed that God would punish his interrogators for persecuting God’s children! But as days passed, Bob saw that God had a ministry for him in prison, and his prayers changed. Instead of praying only to be released, he asked God to USE HIM while he was in prison. And God answered his prayer. Today Bob is the president of the China Aid Association, a bold advocate for China’s Christians and author of God’s Double Agent. Listen as he shares why the Chinese government is so afraid of the growth of the church, and how persecution is spreading even to government-sanctioned churches. We’ll also talk about the biggest needs of the Chinese church, so that you can pray effectively for our brothers and sisters in China. Get the book “God’s Double Agent” at VOM Books: https://secure.persecution.com/p-5341-gods-double-agent.aspx?source=VOMRADIONT

Turn on the news and you’ll see upheaval in every corner of the world, including attacks on our Christian brothers and sisters. But Cole Richards, Executive Vice President at The Voice of the Martyrs, reminds us that in the midst of this earthly suffering God is producing eternal fruit every single day. Listen as Cole shares some of the ways God has allowed VOM to help persecuted believers in the past 12 months—especially Christians displaced by ISIS. He’ll also give listeners a preview of an exciting new way YOU can be involved to directly help Christians facing persecution, as well a new book coming soon from The Voice of the Martyrs.

Balloon launches are one of the key ways that VOM is delivering Bibles into North Korea. This week Dr. Eric Foley shares how weather balloon and GPS technology are even allowing us to pinpoint where the Bibles are landing. Recently North Korean government press also confirmed the delivery of these Bibles, and threatened to turn South Korea into a "sea of fire" if the balloon launches continued. Dr. Foley tells how South Korean police tried to stop the balloon launches after the threats...and how God opened a path. We’ll also talk about the best books to read to truly understand the situation for our brothers and sisters in North Korea, and hear from a reader blessed by VOM Radio. Thanks for joining us this week on Voice of the Martyrs Radio.

The North Korean government has built a counterfeit religion to control it s people, a mirror image of Christianity that features their own trinity, their own meeting halls, their own sacred writings and even their own hymns to their god – Kim Il Sung. Following a different deity, like Jesus Christ, is a treasonous act deserving of death. Many describe North Korea as “the worst place in the world to be a Christian.” But Dr. Eric Foley, the leader of VOM Korea, tells us that North Korean Christians don’t say that! Instead they focus on serving Jesus Christ in spite of watchful government eyes and great danger. This week on VOM Radio you’ll hear how North Korean Christians pray—sometimes right out in the open!—and how you can pray for them more effectively.

Last week we looked back on some of the best moments of VOM Radio during 2015. This week we finish our look back on some of the incredible stories that God has allowed us to tell this year. You’ll hear about an Iranian pastor who called it an “honor” to be tortured for Jesus. A gospel worker in the Muslim world reminds us to love our enemies…even terrorists. A missionary tells the story of a miracle that saved his life: a phone call reporting to police the Al Qaeda attack against him and his exact location, except the phone call came in BEFORE the attack had happened! And finally the story of God’s work in Mongolia, and the terrible sacrifice one missionary couple made to see the gospel advance there. This week we’ll continue with our look back on some of the best moments of this first full year of VOM Radio. Listen to highlights of the program recently named Radio Program of the Year by the National Religious Broadcasters.