Wife, son, cast of. Pastor perseveres through 44 days in jail. Audio Bibles help in evangelizing.

Kaew placed her trust in Christ through the prayers of her parents, who became Christians after her marriage. Her husband and his parents, as well as their village, opposed her decision to follow Christ and tried repeatedly to make her recant. On December 30, 2023, Kaew’s husband and other villagers berated and beat her until she passed out. When she regained consciousness, she was given one more chance to recant, but she insisted on following Christ. In anger, her husband threw her out of the house. Heartbroken, she took their 7-year-old son and returned to her parents’ home with very little besides the clothes they wore. Kaew’s husband has since divorced her. Because her parents are also suffering persecution for their faith, including destruction of crops and damage to their property, they are struggling to support Kaew and her son. VOM has provided emergency assistance as they rebuild their lives.

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Akhilesh led his family to faith in Christ after being physically healed through prayer. As others joined in their family worship and placed their faith in Christ, a church grew. Eventually, 2,000 people were meeting for worship during the week. A radical Hindu leader warned Akhilesh that he would face serious consequences if he did not close down the church, but they continued to meet. Then, in September 2022, police arrested Pastor Akhilesh for his gospel work and confiscated the family’s Bibles. During the pastor’s 44 days in jail, he led 11 people to follow Jesus Christ. After his release on bail, Pastor Akhilesh continued to meet with many of his congregants in small groups for prayer and teaching. “I will still continue serving the Lord … I am unstoppable,” Akhilesh said. “Jesus helped me realize his grace is enough for me. I, with my family, have learned to totally depend on him.” His criminal case is still under appeal.

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Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) has a population of nearly 30 million people. Muslims are its largest religious group, representing around 40% of the population. Around 37% of the population identifies as Christian. The remaining 33% of the country are mostly followers of local ethnic religions, found mainly in the north of the country. While the Christian population is significant, Bibles are hard to access or afford for many people, and roughly 30% of the population is illiterate. Front-line workers recently delivered 500 solar-powered audio Bibles to northern parts of the country. One pastor traveled 12 hours to receive 45 Bibles in the local “We” language. “This will be a great help to new believers,” added the front-line worker, who said many of the new followers of Christ are former Muslims. The pastor who traveled that long distance also received a solar-powered projector to show the JESUS film in his area.