Todd Nettleton has spent more than two decades working with Voice of the Martyrs, and he has sat with enough persecuted Christians around the world to know that what happened in a Roman coliseum in 203 AD is still happening today — just in different arenas. On this year's Day of the Christian Martyr, June 29, Voice of the Martyrs is spotlighting Perpetua, a 22-year-old woman from a noble family in ancient Carthage who kept a journal in prison while her father begged her to deny Christ and come home to her nursing baby. She was killed for refusing. Her journal survived nearly 1,800 years.

Christian persecution, the courage of the church under fire, and what happens when the government decides it is in charge of your faith: Todd walks through what is happening in China, where unregistered churches are illegal, pastors are forbidden to preach about the Second Coming, and children under 18 are barred from attending services. He also shares what is happening in Northern Nigeria, where Christian homes are specifically targeted while Muslim homes next door are left untouched, and the story of Pauline Ayyad, a widow in the Middle East whose social media post forgiving the men who murdered her husband has been read by millions across the Arab world and changed lives no sermon could reach.

Highlights

• Who Perpetua was, a 22-year-old noble woman with a nursing baby who kept a journal in prison and refused to deny Christ
• Why her journal may be the earliest surviving example of a woman's writing in history
• How her father used her infant son as an emotional plea to make her recant, and why she still said no
• What Christian persecution in China actually looks like, illegal gatherings, state-approved sermons, and children barred from church
• Why Chinese registered church pastors are forbidden from preaching about the Second Coming
• How Fulani attackers in Nigeria specifically target Christian farms and homes while leaving Muslim properties untouched
• The Nigerian pastor who sent his wife and children south to safety and stayed with his flock anyway
• Pauline Ayyad, the widow whose public forgiveness of her husband's killers reached millions across the Middle East

Resources / Links / CTA

• 🌐 Voice of the Martyrs: https://www.persecution.com
• 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vom_usa
• 🎙️ Voice of the Martyrs Radio: https://www.vomradio.net
• 📅 Day of the Christian Martyr: June 29
• 📅 International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church: November 1
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