iCommitToPray Archives - Stories (2024)

After someone posted a video online of Pastor Keshab Raj Acharya praying against the spread of coronavirus in 2020, police arrested him for spreading misinformation about the virus, claiming that he told people they would be immune to it if they converted to Christianity. Investigations revealed other videos recording baptisms of new Christian converts, which further riled authorities. Eventually, the charges included “outraging religious sentiment,” proselytizing and other violations of anti-conversion laws.

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Pastor Osman was once a practitioner of witchcraft. “I have killed many people,” he said. One day, a pastor visited his village and shared the gospel with Osman, and the message of Christ’s forgiveness changed Osman’s heart. “It was very difficult for me to leave my practice of witchcraft,” he said. “This message sounded good to me to be free from the evil that I was in. The pastor said that whatever you have done, God will forgive you.” After receiving an audio Bible, Osman continued to be changed by God’s Word. “I would listen to it secretly,” he said.

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When Dong became a believer in Jesus Christ, his adult sons became angry that he followed what they saw as a foreign religion. They moved out of his house and took all his farmland and supplies for themselves, leaving him no way to grow food or earn income. Dong appealed to the village chief, who said he would only intervene with the sons if Dong agreed to give up his Christian faith.

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Pastor Dizzis Ramos’ public ministry has made him a target of government officials in his atheistic Communist country. He serves his local community through construction projects for elderly people in need. Earlier this month, he and another pastor were charged for allegedly falsifying receipts after they legally purchased cement for a construction project. Pastor Ramos was placed under house arrest and the other pastor taken into custody. They are also unable to reach the lawyer who has been handling their case.

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Ahmed was training to become an imam when he heard someone calling his name, seemingly from above. When he looked up, he saw a man on a cross staring down at him. “When I saw that, I was not able to go to the mosque,” he said. “I returned home and didn’t attend mosque that day because I was really afraid.” Jesus appeared to Ahmed several more times over a period of years, even after he did become an imam. Ahmed described those appearances to the Muslims who attended his mosque, and they thought he was seeing demons.

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Because of geographical isolation and the hostility of the government toward Christianity, Christians in Bhutan face pressure from many directions. However, front-line workers in Bhutan continue to live out their faith in Christ and reach out with the gospel. One gospel worker asked for prayer that their youth and women’s programs and training programs for Sunday school teachers will be adequately resourced.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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For 15 years, Pastor Mahesh Mukhiya has led a congregation of 70 Christians for worship and fellowship in a rented house in their village. In September 2023, Hindu extremists threatened the owner of the rented house, demanding he cancel the rental agreement. After a second threat, the landlord agreed to evict the congregation. Pastor Mahesh searched for a new building in which the Christians could meet, but the extremists had issued warnings throughout the village.

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