{"id":5418,"date":"2025-12-17T16:47:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T16:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T16:47:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T16:47:59","slug":"africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family\/","title":{"rendered":"AFRICA: Walking the Path With Our Persecuted Christian Family"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;s affecting believers in his region, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria and Togo.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Matthew will share about the <em>ministry of presence<\/em> 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 href= \"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/globalprayerguide\/togo\/?_source_code=WHPB20C\"> a new addition to VOM&#8217;s Global Prayer Map<\/a>, Matthew and his team are hearing new reports of persecution and needs that VOM can help to meet.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The church does an incredible job of serving one another,&#8221; Matthew says, &#8220;it&#8217;s a community of believers coming together, and it&#8217;s really exciting.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Hear stories from Matthew about a woman&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/app\/\"><strong>The VOM App<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as providing\u00a0<u>free<\/u>\u00a0access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your\u00a0<a href= \"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/vom-app\/id432550884\"><strong>iOS<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.persecution.VomPrayerCalendar&#038;pli=1\"><strong>Android<\/strong><\/a> device today.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vomradio.net\/episodes\/detail\/africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family\" target=\"_blank\">Listen to this episode on VOMRadio.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;s Global Prayer Map, Matthew and his team are hearing new reports of persecution and needs that VOM can help to meet. &#8220;The church does an incredible job of serving one another,&#8221; Matthew says, &#8220;it&#8217;s a community of believers coming together, and it&#8217;s really exciting.&#8221; Hear stories from Matthew about a woman&#8217;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\u00a0for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as providing\u00a0free\u00a0access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your\u00a0iOS\u00a0or\u00a0Android device today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vom-radio","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>AFRICA: Walking the Path With Our Persecuted Christian Family - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AFRICA: Walking the Path With Our Persecuted Christian Family - Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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&#039;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&#039;s Global Prayer Map, Matthew and his team are hearing new reports of persecution and needs that VOM can help to meet. &quot;The church does an incredible job of serving one another,&quot; Matthew says, &quot;it&#039;s a community of believers coming together, and it&#039;s really exciting.&quot; Hear stories from Matthew about a woman&#039;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\u00a0for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as providing\u00a0free\u00a0access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your\u00a0iOS\u00a0or\u00a0Android device today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-17T16:47:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"vomtechsupport\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216\"},\"headline\":\"AFRICA: Walking the Path With Our Persecuted Christian Family\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-17T16:47:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family\/\"},\"wordCount\":363,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"VOM Radio\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/africa-walking-the-path-with-our-persecuted-christian-family\/\",\"name\":\"AFRICA: Walking the Path With Our Persecuted Christian Family - 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