CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION: What’s Different About Christians Who Endure?

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🗓️ 9 August 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

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Summary

Do we really believe that to live is Christ, and to die is gain?

After serving for more than a decade as a gospel worker and church planter in Asia, Brother Kevin asks all believers to consider whether we actually live as if we believe these words from Philippians 1:21. He says that of ten people who come to faith in Christ in the area where he works, nine recant when the pressure of persecution rises. Yet seeing the joyful endurance of the one who remains faithful is a great source of encouragement to him.

Kevin will share how the Lord called him to serve unreached people groups in Asia, and explain what a new believer is likely to face when they come to Christ in a Buddhist and animistic culture, where persecution usually begins at the family or village level.

Because of fear-based animistic practices and the communal culture, the entire community feels like they are at risk when a member of their community becomes a Christian. Kevin has walked with friends who’ve been put in prison or kicked out of their villages. Some are living in tents because they refused to recant their commitment to Christ. Yet they meet these hardships with joy, responding in faith and perseverance to their persecution.

Kevin will discuss how individualistic worldviews in Western nations like the United States compare to the collective Asian culture, and how believers show the unity within Christ’s body as they rely on each other when part of the body is hurting.

Learn more about the church in Asia and how to pray for Christians there and around the world who face persecution for owning a Bible, gathering for a church service, or simply wearing the name of Christ.

The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as provide 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	in the process of learning the local language of the specific people group we live amongst.
0:05.2	And I asked the person who was kind of teaching me, you know, what are the three things you
0:09.6	think of when you think of your religion, your worldview, your this animism?
0:14.6	And they said, blood, fear, and sacrifice. Those were the three words that they used to describe.
0:19.5	The first thing that comes to mind.
0:25.8	If you were to ask me that question, it would be the exact opposite. I would think, man, grace and mercy and kindness that we have in Christ. Jesus never promised his followers an easy path.
0:34.6	In fact, he told his disciples that the world would hate them. He sent them
0:38.7	out as sheep among wolves. Jesus' words came true in the life of the apostles, and they're
0:44.3	still coming true today in the lives of his followers around the world. Join host Todd
0:49.1	Nettleton as we hear their inspiring stories and learn how we can help. Right now on the Voice of the Martyrs Radio network. Welcome again to the Voice of the Martyrs Radio. My name is Todd Nettleton. We are in the studio today in Bartlesville, Oklahoma with Brother Kevin. If you're a longtime listener to Voice of the Martyrs Radio, you know many of our guests don't have last names as far as Vio Radio goes. Brother Kevin is another of those. He is serving in Asia.
1:12.6	And we will talk about his call. We will talk about how he ended up there. Kevin, welcome to the
1:18.5	Voice of the Martyrs Radio. Thank you. It's an honor to be here. It is great to have you.
1:23.1	Talk about how you ended up in Asia. You're not Asian. No. But you live there, you work there,
1:28.5	you minister there. How did God lead you in that direction? I had grown up in Texas and wanted
1:34.6	to pursue a career in the military and spent a lot of time thinking about the plans that I had made
1:41.0	for myself that I think I convinced myself that were God's plans.
1:44.8	But, you know, really in college began to be challenged to lay those things down before the
1:48.7	Lord. And when I did that, it became clear that that is not what he had for me.
1:53.1	Started working at a local church and pursuing what I thought would be full-time vocational
1:57.7	ministry in the States. And I met my wife in March of 2010. And on our
2:04.5	first date, she said, in October, I'm moving to Cambodia for a year. You better date fast.
2:09.8	Right, right. So we dated fast. We got engaged about a week before she left. So she spent a year in
	...

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