Kids of Courage

The Pink Panther

Kids who recently visited The Voice of the Martyrs headquarters in Oklahoma with their teachers and parents had the following comments about their visit.

“I learned that it is very serious what is happening to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am blessed to know that The Voice of the Martyrs is changing Christians’ lives around the world. I would like to help Christians in other countries by donating. I will pray for VOM all the time.” — Joel H.

“I loved VOM! It was an exciting and interesting experience. I loved learning about Andrew, a young boy my age in Pakistan. Thank you VOM! — Reid R.

“My memories are so amazing, and I will never forget them…. I hope to go back to VOM very soon. I want to work there someday.” — Morgan S.

“I am so glad I went to VOM. We learned us about our brothers and sisters in Christ that are suffering. We should give them encouragement, and we should pray for them. We also saw the ‘Pink Panther.’ It was such a good time. — Alex L.

The Pink Panther is an airplane that was used to drop Christian literature into guerrilla-controlled jungle areas of Colombia.

Preschool Ministry Coordinator Lori M. of Madison, Alabama sent the following report about how her church included preschoolers in their mission week.

“Our preschool ministry used Voice of the Martyrs’ VBS curriculum for mission week. We set up three classrooms with three different countries. The children learned about the country and did activities from the curriculum. We even set up a “secret church” for China that the children had to climb through a tunnel to get to. It was so much fun and I believe the children learned a lot. Sometimes teaching about countries that are so far away is hard for preschoolers to grasp. The VBS curriculum really helped our children to relate to the people around the world.”

Learn more about the Kids of Courage VBS curriculum here.

The Voice of the Martyrs’ vision statement is: “To be an organization that through God’s wisdom and guidance is able to inspire every Christian believer to actively assist the persecuted church.”

A church prayer leader recently shared with The Voice of the Martyrs some examples of how her church is becoming active on behalf of persecuted Christians.

“We use Kids of Courage books, online updates, online videos, activity books, and DVDs in our monthly prayer meeting. Even though we are all adults, we absolutely love the material. It is so well laid out and simply explained. We use the prayer calendars and recipes and stories [in the activity books] for the countries we pray for each month.

The books and videos are part of a lending library we started. We put our library on a cart and bring it to the Sunday school classrooms. This way, our congregation is staying informed and passionate about the persecuted.

THANK YOU for the Kids of Courage materials. They have truly transformed our church from being passive to active on behalf of our suffering brothers and sisters.”

—Carol H., Prayer Leader

Michigan fifth graders raking leaves

“Dear VOM, Thank you for standing up for persecuted Christians. Some missionaries don’t get a chance to speak up for themselves when they get caught, and I feel they should….

“Proverbs 31:8–9 [says], ‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.’ It was a pleasure to write you. Sincerely, Krystal”

VOM recently received the above letter, and several others, from fifth graders at Ann Arbor Christian School in Michigan.

Their teacher, Becky J. said,

“In the fall, we learn the story of Queen Esther and memorize Proverbs 31:8–9. In conjunction with that lesson, I’ve incorporated our leaf raking service project in order to raise money for organizations that speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves…

“I have been teaching about The Voice of the Martyrs for many years…From my experience with classes in the past, they are really challenged by the idea of physically suffering for Jesus. It’s so easy in our culture to view suffering as the ultimate enemy and the thing to be most feared. Yet in the Kids of Courage articles, the students are encountering children their own age who are suffering for the sake of Jesus.

“One of the things we talked about as we read the story of Daniel and Esther is that they had to choose to obey God, show integrity, and speak up for what is right without knowing the outcome. As Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego spoke to the king, they said that God was able to rescue them from the furnace. But even if he did not, they would not bow down to a false god. We discussed how sometimes when you take a stand for God, He protects you in amazing ways. However, sometimes God allows you to pay the ultimate price. Knowing that both results may be in God’s plan and that we have to be able to trust Him either way, is one of the challenging things we discuss.”

To Talk About

• In the story in the Book of Daniel, what did Nebuchadnezzar want the people to do? How did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego get in trouble? How were they bold witnesses? Who changed his mind about God because of their bold witnessing?
• Sometimes God is honored when Christians die for their faith in him. Sometimes he is honored when he sets people free from danger. Our lives are in his hands. Do the people who die for Christ have less faith than the ones who are set free? Probably not. Most of Jesus’ disciples died because they followed him, and they had great faith.