AFRICA: Walking the Path With Our Persecuted Christian Family
VOMRadio
The Voice of the Martyrs
4.9 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 7 June 2025
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After working in South Asia and living in Nepal for 18 years, Matthew Hanson has taken on leadership of The Voice of the Martyrs international ministry efforts on a new region: West and Central Africa (WACA). Listen as he tells how the persecution of Christians looks different in Africa from South Asia.
The church in Africa is large; attacks on Christians there often affect a larger scale. Radical Islamist groups are the main persecutors in his region, and Matthew will share how it’s affecting believers in his region, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria and Togo.
Just in the DRC, there are 100+ active rebel groups. Church attacks and the displacement of followers of Christ has become sadly common. How does The Voice of the Martyrs respond to the intense persecution Christians in his region are facing? Listen as Matthew explains how he and his team evaluate needs and work through partnerships and local believers to help meet those needs and encourage believers.
Matthew will share about the ministry of presence and how it plays such a key part of helping with trauma recovery for persecuted Christians. As Islamist groups move into places like northern Togo, a new addition to VOM’s Global Prayer Map, Matthew and his team are hearing new reports of persecution and needs that VOM can help to meet.
“The church does an incredible job of serving one another,” Matthew says, “it’s a community of believers coming together, and it’s really exciting.”
Hear stories from Matthew about a woman’s joy when she received a Bible provided by VOM, the holy moment when eight new believers from Muslim backgrounds took the step of baptism, and the story of a kidnapped Christian miraculously saved from a jihadist group. Please pray for persecuted Christians in West and Central Africa.
The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as providing free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Brother Matthew tells us the story of a church worker in Togo. In 2022, this worker was abducted by a jihadist group. |
| 0:09.4 | And they tied him up and they said, if you don't start quoting the Quran, we're going to kill you. |
| 0:16.5 | And he said, I will not quote the Quran. I belong to Jesus. You have no power over me. |
| 0:22.6 | And they said, we're going to kill you. So then they drug him into the, into the bush. |
| 0:27.8 | And he said they started beating him. |
| 0:30.3 | On the ninth night of his captivity, this church worker had what he thought was a dream. |
| 0:40.3 | Someone tapped him on the shoulder and said, you're free. It's time for you to go. |
| 0:42.3 | And he noticed the chains were off him. |
| 0:45.3 | And then the person, or whatever, told him, |
| 0:49.3 | walked quietly through the camp and then run. |
| 0:53.3 | And so he walked quietly and then ran. |
| 0:56.4 | And he said, it's a long story, but I made it to my village. |
| 1:00.2 | Our brothers and sisters, even ourselves, we belong to God. |
| 1:04.1 | And he's doing a work that we can't see. |
| 1:08.4 | Jesus never promised his followers an easy path. In fact, he told his disciples that the world would hate them. |
| 1:14.8 | He sent them out as sheep among wolves. Jesus' words came true in the life of the apostles, |
| 1:20.7 | and they're still coming true today in the lives of his followers around the world. |
| 1:25.0 | Join host Todd Nettleton as we hear their inspiring stories and learn how we can |
| 1:29.1 | help right now on the Voice of the Martyrs Radio Network. Welcome again to the Voice of the Martyrs |
| 1:34.2 | Radio. My name is Todd Nettleton and we are in our studio today in Bartlesville, Oklahoma with Matthew |
| 1:38.9 | Hanson. Now the last time we had Matthew here, he was leading VOM's work in South and Central Asia. |
| 1:46.1 | Now he is leading our work in West and Central Africa. |
... |
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