Counting the Cost, Day 32

Malaysia

Overview

Malaysia has three major ethnicities: Malay (60 percent), Chinese (30 percent) and native tribes. The Malays are the most powerful group in the country, and being Muslim is considered an important part of their identity. Most Christians are from the tribal and Chinese people groups, and most churches experience relative freedom as long as they do not evangelize the Malays.

Major Religions
56 percent of Malaysians are Sunni Muslims, but there is also a significant Buddhist population. 9 percent are Christians, including 4 percent evangelicals.

Persecutor
The government severely punishes Christian converts and strictly opposes outreach and evangelism among the Malay people.

What it Means to Follow Christ 
While Christianity is not illegal, Christians are marginalized by the ruling Muslim ethnic group and have difficulty acquiring building permits for new churches. Many churches work in the languages of Mandarin, Tamil and English, but not in the Malay language. No Malay churches meet openly, and it is illegal for Malays to convert to Christianity. Christian converts who are caught are confined to so-called reeducation camps that use torture and propaganda to force them to return to Islam. Many indigenous people have come to Christ in eastern Malaysia.

Access to Bibles
It is illegal for Malay people to own a Bible, and Malay-language Bibles are largely unavailable outside Christian-majority areas.

VOM Work
VOM supports front-line workers and persecuted Malay Christians.

Counting the Cost, Day 31

Libya

Overview

Libya has remained unstable and chaotic since the revolution and overthrow of its dictator in 2011. Three opposing governments vie for control, and the conflicts have severely damaged the country’s infrastructure and made gospel work in the country extremely difficult. Many missionaries and indigenous believers have been killed in recent years, and evangelical work in the country is ruthlessly opposed.

Major Religions
97 percent of Libyans are Sunni Muslims. 2 percent are Christians, including very few evangelicals.

Persecutor
Extremist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS), operate throughout the country. Friends and family also severely persecute converts.

What it Means to Follow Christ 
Life is difficult in Libya, and the difficulties are compounded for Christians and especially Christian converts from Islam. There are few believers in Libya, and it is extremely difficult for them to practice their faith openly. Christians are rejected by their Muslim families and friends. They are beaten, lose families and jobs, and are sometimes killed. It is unknown whether any Christians are imprisoned in Libya, but it is considered likely.

Access to Bibles
Access to Bibles is severely restricted; they are brought into the country with extreme difficulty and risk.

Christians in Libya take great risks just to own a Bible, including digital formats used on smartphones and computers.

VOM Work
VOM supports an online church that allows believers to gather for fellowship and teaching from the safety of their homes. We also support several evangelists and church planters.

Counting the Cost, Day 30

Lebanon

Overview

Many Muslims in Lebanon have suffered greatly at the hands of other Muslims during Syria’s civil war, resulting in a new openness to Christ. Because Lebanon has a significant Christian population and its government protects the freedom of worship, it has become a safe haven for displaced Christians throughout the region. More than 1 million Syrian refugees have entered the country since 2012, increasing Lebanon’s population by nearly one-fourth. Despite the hardships, many evangelical churches in Lebanon have not only welcomed but also cared for Christian and Muslim Syrian refugees, who have limited resources and few rights in the country. Lebanese churches distribute Bibles and Christian literature alongside food and other necessities. Many Muslim refugees have bravely attended home Bible studies and church services to learn about Christ.

Significant numbers have placed their faith in Christ, been baptized and become active in local churches. Some Christian converts from Islam are already actively witnessing to Muslims.

Major Religions
59 percent of Lebanese are Muslims, evenly divided between Sunni and Shiite. 33 percent are Christians, including 1 percent evangelicals. Members of the country’s small Druze minority, a secretive monotheistic faith, sometimes persecute Christians.

Persecutor
Various Islamic extremist groups, including Hezbollah in the south and other Shiite-majority regions, actively persecute Christians. Sunni extremist cells affiliated with the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS), al-Qaida and other groups are active near the Syrian border. Christians are also persecuted by their tribes and families.

What it Means to Follow Christ 
Lebanon’s urban areas are open and Westernized, but Christians outside the prominent cities and especially in majority-Muslim areas face significant opposition and threat. Those born into Christian families are allowed to worship openly, but Christians face ongoing harassment from the Muslim majority, such as denial of land acquisition and increased tax rates. More severe forms of persecution occur when believers share their faith or when Muslims come to faith in Christ. Christian converts from Islam are persecuted mostly by family and the community.

Access to Bibles
A variety of Bibles are available through Bible societies, local churches and bookstores.

VOM Work
Because Lebanon has become a refuge for Christian converts fleeing persecution in other countries and because of persecution within Lebanon itself, VOM supports many persecuted believers in Lebanon in a variety of ways. VOM also helps meet the basic needs of Christian refugees who have been driven from their homes. We partner with local churches to provide Bibles as well as medical and education assistance. We also support a broad network of evangelists and church planters in frontier areas and support training for Christian leaders.

Counting the Cost, Day 29

Laos

Overview

The Communist government, in conjunction with Buddhist monks, persecutes Christians, with the exception of the government- controlled Lao Evangelical Church. Poverty, lack of infrastructure and mountainous terrain make evangelistic outreach challenging. Thanks to bold evangelists, churches continue to grow even as they experience ongoing persecution.

Major Religions
60 percent of Laotians consider themselves to be Buddhists, but most practice a syncretistic version of Buddhism mixed with tribal animism. 4 percent are Christians, including 3 percent evangelicals.

Persecutor
Most believers are persecuted by family members or village authorities concerned that Christians offend the spirits, and the central government restricts Christian activity.

What it Means to Follow Christ 
Some in Laos, particularly those in government leadership, view Christianity as a foreign religion and a tool used by the West to undermine the Communist Laotian regime. There are many house churches and some church buildings, but the vast majority do not have a trained pastor. Laotian authorities sometimes arrest Christians and hold them for up to a week in attempts to control Christian activity. Christians are commonly denied medical treatment as well as educational and other social services.

Access to Bibles
Bibles are not sold in bookstores. Government-sanctioned churches sell Bibles, and other organizations are able to bring Bibles in with legal permission. But the government restricts and opposes Bible and Christian literature distribution of any significant size.

VOM Work
VOM distributes Bibles, prints Christian literature and provides audio devices containing Scripture and discipleship resources. VOM also responds to persecution incidents by relocating families inside Laos and providing food and other needs.

Counting the Cost, Day 28

Kyrgyzstan

Overview

Kyrgyzstan is a remote mountainous nation with nomadic tribal culture. It is also one of the poorest former Soviet states in Central Asia. A significant portion of the population has left to work elsewhere, and life in Kyrgyzstan is hard. After decades of Communist rule, most Kyrgyz have returned to their nation’s pre-communist Islamic cultural identity.

Major Religions
93 percent of Kyrgyz are Sunni 4 percent are Christians, including less than 1 percent evangelicals.

Persecutor
Christians are persecuted mostly by family members and their communities, including Muslim religious leaders.

What it Means to Follow Christ 
Some churches worship openly, even in small towns, but being a Christian is difficult because of the Islamic culture. Christian converts are commonly beaten, and the small Christian minority is generally oppressed by society. For example, buses will not stop for those known as Christians in small communities, and believers have difficulty getting jobs and even purchasing goods. In some communities, Muslim leaders have denied the burial of deceased Christians.

Access to Bibles
Bibles are more accessible in Kyrgyzstan than in other Central Asian nations. They can be purchased at registered churches in larger cities, but they are expensive.

VOM Work
VOM provides medical care to Christians injured in attacks and helps believers become self-supporting.

Counting the Cost, Day 27

Kuwait

Overview

Kuwaitis have amassed significant wealth from their national oil reserves. As a result, a great deal of labor is outsourced to foreigners in the country. This foreign-labor economy has created opportunities for foreigners who have a heart to reach Kuwaitis with the gospel, despite the risk to their jobs and residency status. There is a sharp divide between Kuwait’s younger generation, which includes many who reject Islam and are open to new ideas, and Kuwait’s older, more traditionally Muslim generation.

Major Religions
Nearly all Kuwaitis identify themselves as Sunni Muslims, even though many do not practice their faith. Many Christian foreign workers are present in Kuwait, but churches are allowed only on designated compounds.

Persecutor
Christian converts from Islam are opposed by their families and communities.

What it Means to Follow Christ 
Kuwaiti authorities are opposed to Christian witnessing and conversion. The small handful of indigenous Kuwaiti believers must exercise extreme care in disclosing their faith in Christ. If they are discovered and refuse to return to Islam, they may be disowned, beaten or killed. A small number of converts have been accepted by their families and are even able to attend worship services.

Access to Bibles
Access to Bibles is severely restricted. Most prefer to access Scripture online because of the risks associated with owning a Bible.

VOM Work
VOM provides help to those who have been persecuted and is involved in training local believers in evangelism and discipleship.

Counting the Cost, Day 26

Kenya

Overview

Kenya is predominantly Christian, but several tribal groups in the north remain largely unreached, and much of the coastal region is predominantly Muslim. Additionally, in the region known as Greater Somalia in northeastern Kenya, 90 percent of the population is ethnically Somali and fervently Muslim. In these areas, Christian missionaries from other parts of Kenya and converts from Islam are often attacked and have been killed. There are some churches in these regions, but their activities are severely limited by the local communities. The Kenyan constitution grants every citizen freedom of religion, but local governments in resistant areas are led by Muslim officials who do little to protect the rights of believers.

Major Religions
Kenya is predominantly Christian, but several tribal groups in the north remain largely unreached, and much of the coastal region is predominantly Muslim.

Persecutor
Islamic extremists are most active in the north and east, and their activities extend to Nairobi in the south. In the coastal areas, community members and local governments also persecute Christians.

What it Means to Follow Christ 

Christians cannot openly discuss their faith in areas with a Somali majority or areas near the northern border without risk of losing their family, livelihood and standing in their community. There is a significant threat of violence against Christian converts in Somali- majority areas. In eastern Kenya, the al-Shabab Islamist terrorist group attacks Christians, bombing churches and killing believers.

In Muslim-majority areas along the coast, Christians are rejected by their families and communities.

Access to Bibles
Bibles are available, but they are hard to find in the Muslim-majority areas and in some dialects.

VOM Work
VOM supports the widows of Christian martyrs, pastors working in hostile areas, and sustainability projects for believers who have been ostracized because of their faith. Our Bible distribution efforts focus on providing Bibles to children and those who speak minority dialects.

Counting the Cost, Day 25

Kazakhstan

Overview

Formerly under Communist rule as a republic of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan — owing to its vast mineral resources — is one of Central Asia’s wealthiest nations. Islam has experienced a resurgence since the fall of the Soviet Union, and many have returned to what they consider their Muslim heritage, which was restricted for decades by atheistic communism. Today, Kazakhstan emulates its European neighbors, undertaking massive construction projects, enjoying a growing economy and adopting the Latin alphabet used by Western nations.

Major Religions
52 percent of Kazakhs are Sunni Muslims. The next-largest group includes those who are atheists or non-religious, a legacy of atheistic Communist rule. 15 percent are Christians, of which less than 1 percent are evangelicals.

Persecutor
Christians are persecuted by their families and communities. Churches and Christians outside the Russian Orthodox faith are restricted and harassed by the government.

What it Means to Follow Christ 
Christian converts are often disowned by their families, publicly shamed and even beaten. All religious activities must be registered with the government, and believers are commonly fined for distributing unauthorized religious texts, discussing faith or holding worship meetings. The government allows more freedom to Russian Orthodox Christians, who make up nearly 15 percent of the population, but they are suspicious of evangelicals who worship in the native Kazakh language.

Unregistered churches must meet in private homes. These gatherings are frequently raided and believers fined.

Access to Bibles
Bibles are available, but distribution is restricted and they are difficult to obtain outside large cities.

VOM Work
VOM provides Bibles and supports front-line workers in the most difficult areas.