VOM: Cards to Orphans

We receive monthly newsletters from the Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). I find these newsletters both eye-opening and encouraging. I like to use them to help direct my prayers for the persecuted church.

In the most recent newsletter, they shared artwork created by Nigerian children who had lost one or both parents because of their parents faith in Jesus Christ. VOM had these children create the works of art to process the violence that they had seen.

Then, VOM included the following images sharing about the life of Jesus with blank backs and asked if we wanted to write to encourage these children!

My friend Sarah, who blogs at Making Do, had the idea to create more Christmas cards to encourage these kids! So we got together and while our boys played outside, we created the following cards:

We are going to write notes of encouragement to these kids who have suffered so much for Christ!

I wanted to share this here on my blog to give you the opportunity to send letters to encourage these kids also. VOM said letters can be sent to

The Voice of the Martyrs
P.O. Box 443
Bartlesville, OK 74005

Voice of the Martyrs: Letters to Prisoners

I know that normally I post about Compassion, but I thought today I'd post about an opportunity through Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). VOM reaches out to persecuted Christians throughout the world and they have a ministry called "Prisoner Alert". Through Prisoner Alert you can receive emails about Christians who are imprisoned for their faith and you even have the opportunity to write letters to them! The only cost involved is the postage to send the letter overseas.

I love letter writing and so I love this ministry. When I first heard of this ministry, though, I was kind of unsure about it and didn't want to take the time to try to figure out how to write to the prisoners. But as I was reading my Bible within the next week, I read Hebrews 13:3, "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also." This convicted me to begin writing to my brothers and sisters in chains! So I looked it up and found that it is actually really easy. You are able to choose a prisoner and you can compile a letter online using the phrases that VOM has in the prisoner's native language!

Meet Asia Bibi of Turkey: "Asia Bibi, a 37-year-old Pakistani woman from the village of Ittanwali, was arrested by police on Friday, June 19, 2009. Asia (also called Asia Noreen) is the wife of 50-year-old Ashiq Masih, and their family is one of only three Christian families in a village of 1,500 families." To read more of Asia's story, click here. And if you would like to write to Asia, click here to begin compiling phrases in Asia's native language.

Meet Alireza Seyyedian of Iran: "Alireza Seyyedian is a 37-year-old former Muslim who has been a Christian since 2006. Last year, security forces confiscated his computer during a raid on his apartment. Authorities then discovered video of Alireza’s baptism in Turkey on the computer. In December 2011 he was sentenced to six years in prison, for crimes against national security and propaganda against the regime." To read more of Alireza's story, click here. And if you would like to write to Alireza, click here.

There are 14 other prisoners too...you can view their profiles here.

And if you're wondering if your letters make a difference, read this from one of VOM's January 2013 newsletter.

If the article is too hard to read, you can get the same info from VOM's website: January 2013 Newsletter Media.