First, the praise. In 2019, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) investigated the 2017 forced disappearances or abductions of Koh and Shia convert Amri Che Mat.

Todd Nettleton of The Voice of the Martyrs USA says, “There was a special task force report about the two abductions” released after the investigation, but the government withheld this report from Koh’s wife, Susanna, and her lawyers.

“The government said, ‘No, that’s a top secret report. We can’t show that to you,’ and there was a lot of back and forth during the court case,” Nettleton continues.

Last week, “The government was ordered by the judge [to] turn over the report to Susanna (Koh) and her attorneys.”

This report should help Susanna Koh understand, at least in part, what happened to her husband when he was abducted by police in broad daylight nearly ten years ago. You can see our coverage of the Raymond Koh case here.

Roadblocks remain

Susanna Koh is suing the Malaysian government in search of answers, and she had a huge win last fall. “The victory that she won in November was very remarkable. It was a milestone victory,” Nettleton says.

“The judge said that it was the police who abducted Raymond Koh and ordered the government to pay damages and compensation to the Koh family until Raymond Koh was located. That dollar amount is going up every day until Raymond Koh is found or there’s an explanation of what happened to him.”

Pastor Raymond Koh, center, with his wife Susanna and their family. (Photo courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs USA)

Now, the reminder to pray: “The government immediately went into court and appealed that ruling, including the ruling that the police had to reopen the investigation, and the government was issued a stay,” Nettleton says.

“Essentially, the whole thing is on hold while that stay is in place. Susanna told me it could be two to five years while that works its way through the legal system.”

How to pray

Pray for strength and endurance for the Koh family. “Pray for Susanna and her attorneys. This is a long, hard road,” Nettleton says.

“This was a years-long legal process to get to that verdict, and now she’s facing another years-long legal process to fight the appeal and get through to hopefully confirming the verdict. It would be easy to grow weary and discouraged.”

Pray for courage and faith for persecuted Christians throughout Malaysia. Nettleton says, “The Raymond Koh case really is kind of a warning to Malaysian Christians: ‘We can find you. We can punish you.’”

Header image courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs USA. 

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA (VOM) says, “People came in on bikes and motorcycles, opened fire. The initial reports were at least 30 people killed. I think that number is going to rise as some were badly injured.”

This coordinated attack targeted believers, as the affected community in northern Jos is almost entirely Christian.

“The gunmen were yelling, ‘Allahu akbar,’ or ‘Allah is great,’ as they were conducting this attack,” Nettleton says. “So there clearly was an Islamist ideology that was driving this – and the fact that it was on Palm Sunday, I don’t think that is insignificant in this story as well.”

(Photo courtesy Voice of the Martyrs USA)

Northern Nigeria remains a hotspot for Christian persecution. That reality makes it difficult for believers to discern between empty threats and imminent danger.

Nettleton says, “Our Nigerian contact said there had been threats in Jos. Even in the last two or three weeks, there had been threats made against Christians, against churches…. The threat level is always elevated. So [it means] differentiating between, ‘Is this sort of a regular threat? Or is this really serious? Do we need to pay extra attention to this?'”

Boko Haram and Fulani militants frequently carry out attacks on Christians in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north. While neither group has officially claimed the attack in Jos, Christian holidays often become opportunities for Islamist violence.

“One of the things that we…at The Voice of the Martyrs try to do is bang the drum for us to remember Christians are at extra risk on these holy days – on Christmas, on Easter. During times when there are a lot of Christians gathering, the gatherings are obviously known. They’re very public, and so the risk is greater in these holidays.”

(Photo courtesy of VOM USA)

With Easter quickly approaching, the Church in Nigeria needs your prayers.

Nettleton urges, “Think about brothers and sisters who are worshiping and celebrating the same resurrection we are, but they’re doing it in a place where they are in danger, where the threat is very real to them – to pray for them, to remember them as Hebrews 13:3 tells us to do. I think, honestly, that adds a depth to our celebration of the resurrection.”

Header photo courtesy of VOM USA.

The Tigray conflict that lasted from 2020 – 2022 took a high toll on the area. Even with a peace deal that was reached in 2022, tensions have remained high. Lately, conflict has increased.

Persecution or War?

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA says with such longstanding volatility, it can be challenging to discern what some of the violence means. When a group of Christians are attacked, is it part of the violence of war or is it targeted persecution?

Nettleton says, “That’s one of the things that’s happened over the past couple of years in Ethiopia, is we’ve seen these attacks. It’s like, okay, was that warfare? Was that persecution? But when you see none of the other buildings in the neighborhood got blown up, except the church, it’s like, well, wait a minute, somebody was targeting that church. That was persecution. That was a targeted attack against that church.”

(Representative image courtesy of Hervé Clootens via Pixabay)

Violence crossed the line into persecution in February. There was an attack at a market in the East Arsia Zone in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. This region is home to the Oromo ethnic group which is primarily composed of Muslims; however, it also includes a significant Orthodox Christian population.

“In this attack, twenty Orthodox Christians were killed, as well as a Muslim guard at the market. Some others are missing, so they are believed to have been kidnapped by the attackers. A priest was among those who were killed when the attackers actually entered into a church building. So again, this is not just a market. This is a church that they entered into. They were shouting religious chants as they went in,” Nettleton says. “So this does seem to be a very targeted attack.”

Stand with the Church in Ethiopia

As the Church in Ethiopia faces increased warfare and persecution, Nettleton notes that Christians need prayer. Pray for safety, but also for a heart to continue to share the Gospel.

“I think we want to pray for God’s protection over them, obviously, but also, I think just praying for a spirit of forgiveness. Praying that this won’t create bitterness and anger within the hearts of Christians as they face this kind of pressure. As they face these kinds of attacks, it would be very easy to grow weary. It would be very easy to grow bitter. And so pray that the Lord will help them to keep a soft heart towards the people around them, and even for opportunities to share the Gospel.”

If you want to help support persecuted Christians through the ministry of The Voice of the Martyrs USA, click here.

Representative header photo courtesy of Tep Ro via Pixabay.

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA says that Saudi Arabia in 2016 and Saudi Arabia today are like two completely different countries. Here are two factors of the change:

(Stock photo courtesy of Bahaa A. Shawqi via Pexels)

“One was the disempowering of the religious police, who were enforcing the Quranic code. They were the people who would grab a woman off the street if she was showing some of her hair, if her veil wasn’t covering her the way they thought it should,” he says. “Disempowering them changed the atmosphere in the whole country. You didn’t have so many people living in so much fear.”

Then, some traditions or laws that were based on the Quran have been changed. One example is that women no longer need a male relative to accompany them in order to travel. Women are also allowed to drive now. 

Nettleton says changes like these in Saudis cultural standards have created new spiritual openness.

“The average person in Saudi Arabia starts to question the foundation of those standards,” he explains. “‘Well, I thought this is what the Quran says. Did the Quran change, or did it not really ever say that? Well, then, what else is there that is permanent, that I could trust, that doesn’t change from year to year or from generation to generation?’”

There is also a desire within Saudi Arabia’s leaders to be more friendly with the West, Nettleton points out. 

“There are biblical sites in Saudi Arabia that they are right now building superhighways to get tourists to come and see them. They know many of those tourists are going to be Christians. They want to see, you know, where Moses split the rock or where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea,” he says. 

“So there is going to be a lot of opportunity for Westerners and Christians to be on the ground in Saudi Arabia in the years to come.”

A man in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Photo courtesy of Mohammad Alashri via Unsplash)

However, Christians walk carefully. Non-Muslims can live in Saudi Arabia — indeed, the nation has a large migrant worker population, Nettleton says. But for Saudi citizens, converting from Islam is prohibited by the government and severely resisted by their families. (More on that here.)

“The idea of reaching Saudis, that’s sort of the red line for persecution. That’s the red line for what the government will or could or might tolerate,” says Nettleton.

Please pray for open doors for gospel workers already in Saudi Arabia, slowly planting seeds that may take years to grow. Pray for more ambassadors to join them.

“Pray, pray, and pray,” says Nettleton. “The other thing I would encourage people [is] go to Saudi Arabia. Be on the ground. Pray inside the country for God to move. I think it’s great when Christians go with a proactive idea that we are ambassadors for Christ … even for a week of tourism.” 

Header photo: Makkah, Saudi Arabia (Stock photo courtesy of Muhd Emy Jailani via Unsplash)

Yet a critical question remains: will the US government take that report and turn it into effective policies to help the persecuted? 

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA explains that USCIRF’s annual report was meant to be “step one” in a process established by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

(Logo courtesy United States Commission on International Religious Freedom)

“That [report] goes to the State Department, and the State Department ultimately makes the determinations of Countries of Particular Concern, Special Watch List, [etc],” Nettleton says. 

However, the US State Department has not issued an International Religious Freedom Report (IRF) for two years.

“It’s like, okay, is this [USCIRF report] all we’re going to get? Is this the end of the process? Or is this as it was designed, ‘step one’ and now we’ll see what the State Department does with that?” Nettleton says. 

The IRF report from the State Department provides practical tools for the US to support religious freedom around the world. (More on that here.) Among other outcomes that respect human rights, this freedom can remove barriers to the gospel spreading. 

“I want to express appreciation for the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, the work that they do throughout the year, to identify, to document, to shine a light on violations of religious freedom around the world,” says Nettleton. 

“It helps us here at Voice of the Martyrs, when sort of the government is saying the same things that we’re saying about, in our case, only about Christians being persecuted.”

Nicaragua (Photo courtesy of Hermes Rivera via Unsplash)

For example, the Commission has recommended that the US redesignate Nicaragua as a Country of Particular Concern. Nicaragua is also a country that VOM USA has designated as “Restricted” this year for its intensifying persecution of Christians. 

“It is a country where pastors have been arrested. Pastors have been kicked out of the country. The government is using technology purchased from China to monitor people digitally — monitor where they are, monitor what they’re doing,” says Nettleton. “Most of us don’t know that that’s happening.”

If you’re a US citizen, consider contacting your government representatives and expressing your interest in seeing this State report issued. But no matter where home is for you, you can respond in prayer as you consider the Commission’s annual report findings. Access the report here.

“There are 29 countries, so you could literally pray through that list every month and use this as a sort of government-issued prayer guide on behalf of our persecuted brothers and sisters,” says Nettleton.

Learn more at VOM USA’s website, persecution.com. 

Header photo is a stock image courtesy of Kevin Lanceplaine via Unsplash.

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA (VOM) says that in Libya, the Islamic faith makes religion is a common topic.

Because of this, Nettleton says that no matter the career, there are opportunities to have seed-planting conversations.

It’s also important that the unreached in Libya do not see Christianity as a Westernized or foreign thing and recognize that there are Libyans who are Christians.

“In the minds of a lot of people in that part of the world, that’s a pretty mind-blowing concept, that you could be a Libyan and be a follower of Jesus Christ,” Nettleton says.

“Certainly, it’s still an environment where you have to be very careful about overt kinds of gospel activity,” Nettleton says.

According to VOM’s Global Prayer Guide, Christian persecution in Libya primarily comes from friends and family and extremist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS).

“From the security standpoint, we do know of some Libyans who are currently in prison for their faith and have been sentenced to various lengths of time in prison,” Nettleton says.

Nettleton says the reason for imprisonment is likely not entirely due to their conversion but because the government saw a growing movement of Christians.

Like Libya, many countries in North Africa do not seem to receive media attention for the religious persecution.

To learn more about Christian persecution in different countries, Nettleton recommends using the Voice of the Martyrs Global Prayer Guide or the VOM app. These resources include information about persecutors, Christian life, and Bible accessibility.

Nettleton says that reading the entries equips people to pray for specific persecuted Christians in specific countries so that they may understand the situations and what they are praying for.

“The first step is to commit to praying, and however you’re equipping yourself or gaining more knowledge to do that, that’s great,” Nettleton says. “Voice of the Martyrs can help you do that, other ministries can help you do that, but it starts when we say, ‘Hey, I understand that I’m connected to these brothers and sisters who are suffering persecution, and I need to pray for them. That is a part of my responsibility as a member of the Body of Christ.’”

Some other strategic places to pray for right now include believers in northern Nigeria, Iran, and Eritrea.

“I always encourage people to pray for Eritrea. I think of seven pastors there who have been in prison there for more than 21 years,” Nettleton says.

Though religious persecution often goes underreported by secular media, it’s important to continue in prayer.

Nettleton hopes that the stories of what is happening in the world capture people’s hearts and make praying for others a regular part of their spiritual walks.

Please pray for Christians in Libya experiencing persecution for their faith that they will continue to show the love of Christ.

Pray that converts will find fellowship and encouragement in one another and that Libyans will witness to their families and friends despite the suffering it causes them.

Pray for Libya (Image courtesy of VOM USA)

Unless a family approaches the authorities to report a relative’s Christian faith, the government will not get involved, as Muslim-background believer conversions are seen as a family issue.

Because of this, there is an opportunity for Christians to reach their non-believing families, and North African pastors encourage it even though these Christians may experience physical violence.

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA interviewed a North African pastor who urges converts to minister to their families.

Often, the response of these new Christians is, “I can’t. I got to run. I need a place to stay. How can the church help me?” Nettleton says.

The pastor “repeatedly has seen those family members later come to Christ, if that person is willing. And it’s a sacrifice to stay because it involves suffering, but it is such an opportunity for witness,” Nettleton says.

One exception to persecution in North Africa being primarily familial, is in Algeria. There, the government is taking action to close churches.

While believers do not typically experience physical persecution from the Algerian government, since 2017, most Protestant churches have been closed.

Despite this, even church closures are a witness to the gospel.

One Algerian Christian that Nettleton spoke with said that even non-believing neighbors responded when a Christian church was closed.

“All of the neighbors came to them and said, ‘We’re so sorry this happened. We know you guys are not troublemakers. We know you’re not making trouble in our city, in our neighborhood. We’re so sorry this happened,” Nettleton says.

“It’s interesting how the Lord works,” Nettleton says. “Even when churches are being closed, the Lord is still able to use that to allow the planting of gospel seeds.”

Please pray that believers in North Africa will be faithful witnesses to their families. Pray for relief for those who are suffering. As Christian persecution endures, pray that Christians will be faithful witnesses to the gospel.

Photo courtesy of Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke/Pixabay

Koh’s wife, Susanna, has been locked in a legal battle since 2020 to discover what really happened to Koh. In November 2025, she won a significant victory in court. After years of the truth being hidden, a judge finally ruled that the government was indeed involved in Koh’s abduction. 

The court then ordered the government to pay the equivalent of millions of dollars in damages into a trust fund for the Koh family. On top of that, the government is to pay a daily fine of around $2,500 until Pastor Koh’s whereabouts are fully disclosed.

(Image courtesy of Joe Gratz/Flickr)

However, “Before the sun was down that day, the government had announced, ‘We’re going to appeal this,’” says Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA. 

Another ruling, with two critical delays

Fast forward to this week. On January 26, 2026, a different judge issued a stay to the November ruling.

That’s a problem for several reasons. In addition to the financial award for the Koh family, the November verdict ordered the police to re-open the investigation into Pastor Koh’s disappearance, and to report the the judge at regular intervals on the progress of the investigation. Now, that part of the verdict is put on hold. The police are no longer under a court order to investigate or report their progress.

Susanna and her lawyers are filing an appeal to the stay.

Another part of the latest ruling is that the judge allowed the government to postpone its payment until the appeal process is resolved. Nettleton says there is a logic to the judge’s decision, yet if you look closer, there’s a hole. 

“What the judge said is, ‘If the government pays Susanna Koh all this money and she goes and spends it, but then the government would win the appeal, she would have no way of paying back that money. So let’s just wait to pay until after the appeal is heard,’” he says. 

“But the interesting thing is that the original verdict does not just hand all this money to Susanna Koh. It actually puts it in a trust that cannot be dispersed until [Koh’s] whereabouts are determined. So that sort of seems to undermine what the judge said in awarding this stay.”

Stand with the Koh family

Keep the Koh family in your prayers as Susanna’s lawsuit against the Malaysian government and the police continues. Pray for a swift decision in the government’s appeal. 

“This prolongs their suffering, because they have to now go back to the court and keep talking about the abduction, and they still don’t know ‘What happened? Is he alive? Is he dead?'” says Nettleton. “They still have so many questions that haven’t been answered.”

(Graphic courtesy of VOM USA)

Yet despite this setback in the appeal process, God is at work!

“The incredible hope is still the fact that Susanna Koh won a court verdict against the government. We still need to say, ‘Praise the Lord that there was this victory. Praise the Lord that the truth was revealed, that it did come out in a court of law in Malaysia,’” says Nettleton.

VOM USA has stood with the Kohs throughout their legal battle. You can watch a video of Susanna telling her story at persecution.com. 

“This is an incredibly hard road that she has walked, and yet she testifies to the faithfulness of God, to His ability to stand with her,” says Nettleton. 

Header photo: Pastor Raymond Koh, center, with his wife Susanna and their family. (Photo courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs USA)

That’s a problem for several reasons. First, because 2024 ended the same way: without a new religious freedom report. That means the most recent State designations were made in 2023, and they don’t necessarily reflect current world realities. 

Second, those 2023 designations expired after December 31, 2025. 

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA explains that State designations of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC), Entities of Particular Concern (EPC), and Special Watch List (SWL) gave tools to the U.S. government to encourage religious freedom in those places and groups. If you’re curious, the 2023 list included countries and entities such as Iran, Vietnam, China, Boko Haram, and the Taliban.

(Logo courtesy of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, USCIRF)

Nettleton says that in 2024, the lack of an international religious freedom report may have been due to the pending change of administrations from President Joseph Biden to President Donald Trump.

“But now that we’ve come to the end of 2025 and there hasn’t been a report in 2025 either, it seems like this is falling by the wayside, or it’s not a priority, or it is being skipped over somehow,” he says. “Obviously, for those of us who care about religious freedom, that’s concerning.”

Instead, 2025 saw budget cuts across the U.S. government and at least one significant delay regarding the International Religious Freedom Act.

The 1998 act created three government entities to monitor religious freedom conditions abroad. One of them is the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and another is the Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom. What happened in 2025 was that President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve in this ambassador role, Rep. Mark Walker, did not receive a Senate confirmation hearing, thus delaying leadership in the position.

Yet persecution of Christians around the world isn’t going away. Just take a look at the 2026 World Watch List from Open Doors, released January 14.

“We need to make sure that our government leaders know that religious freedom around the world is important to us,” says Nettleton. “We care about our Christian brothers and sisters who are being persecuted in northern Nigeria, China, Iran, North Korea, and those places like that around the world.”

If you are a U.S. citizen, find your place in the story today by taking civic action.

(Image courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs, USA)

“[The 1998 International Religious Freedom Act] set a standard that every year the State Department is required to provide a report about religious freedom around the world. It is not suggested. It is directed,” says Nettleton. “So I think it is a valid question to present to your congressman, to your Senator: ‘Hey, why didn’t we see this report in 2024, and now we didn’t see it in 2025? Is that law being followed? If not, why not?'”

No matter what country you live in, you can learn how to pray more specifically for the persecuted Church. Learn how to receive a copy of Voice of the Martyrs’ 2026 Global Prayer Guide by visiting persecution.com. 

“The Global Prayer Guide gives you the ability to know, ‘Hey, who is the persecutor in that country? What do Christians endure when they follow Christ in that place?’” says Nettleton.

Header image is a stock photo courtesy of Diva Plavalaguna via Pexels.

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA says,

(Photo courtesy VOM USA)

“The North Korean government is very clear that Christianity is a direct threat to them. As the gospel spreads, they are more threatened, and so that’s why you see the intense persecution of Christian brothers and sisters.” 

When people are found with Bibles, they are not the only ones arrested and sent to labor camps. Their parents and their children often are as well, cutting ideas off at the root.

“In North Korea, they present the idea that the Kim family are divine beings,” Nettleton says. “Kindergartners are taught when they sit down to a meal to say, ‘Thank you, Father Kim Il Sung, for our food.’”

Nettleton says, “This is a country where you have to be very cautious even about how you talk about Jesus to your own children because students at school are known to be asked about their parents, ‘Do your parents ever look up at the sky and talk to somebody? Do your parents have a special book that they keep hidden, but they bring out and read occasionally?”

Despite intense persecution, the gospel is spreading. Efforts to reach North Koreans inside the country remain seadfast through tools like radio broadcasts, and even  VOM USA’s scripture balloons, which are floated into the country.

There are also efforts to reach North Koreans who may be working in China or Russia or have escaped to South Korea, trying to get to a safer place.

Some North Korean Christ-followers remain in contact with people and family inside North Korea despite the country’s isolation.

VOM’s sister office, Voice of the Martyrs Korea, is focused on training these North Korean defectors to share the gospel over phone calls or other communication platforms they use to stay in contact with family.

VOM workers record scripture for broadcasts into North Korea (Photo courtesy of VOM Korea)

“There are very concerted efforts to reach North Koreans with the gospel,” Nettleton says. 

But, as long as the Kim regime remains in power, it is hard to see changes in the way North Korea relates to the world.

“The level of oppression, the level of persecution, is so high in North Korea that we simply need to pray for God to sustain his people, to give them creativity in the way that they share the gospel to sustain their faith, as they are often very, very isolated, and may never meet with more than one or two other believers, maybe in their lifetime,” Nettleton says.

Photo courtesy of Roman Harak of Flickr