The 19th century Methodist Church of Ranikhet, Uttarakhand. (Photo: Getty/iStock)
An imprisoned Indian pastor regained the strength to remain faithful after God allowed another pastor to be arrested and sent to the same prison to encourage him, showcasing the importance of fellowship with other believers facing some of the worst persecution the world has to offer.
As Christians around the world observe Sunday’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, Voice of the Martyrs’ Vice President and radio host Todd Nettleton reflected on the stories of Christians who are oppressed for their faith and the miraculous signs of God they encounter during their trials.
Nettleton encouraged believers to put themselves in the shoes of those suffering for their faith.
“The important thing is to put ourselves in their place,” the ministry leader told The Christian Post, citing Hebrews 13:3, which states, “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”
“If I were in prison, I’d want to know people were praying for me and looking out for my family,” Nettleton said. “And I would want to know that they were banging the drum to say, ‘Hey, this guy’s not a criminal. Let him go free.'”
The VOM radio host recounted his recent trip to South Asia, where he met with Christians in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Despite threats from their communities or from the government to burn down their houses or beat them up, Nettleton said that he witnessed persecuted Christians remaining steadfast in their faith.
One story that Nettleton said deeply moved him concerned an Indian pastor who was placed in prison for four months. The radio host met the pastor a few weeks ago during his travels with VOM’s international ministry team, which walks alongside persecuted Christians and listens to their stories.
“At first, [the pastor] was doing well, and he saw God at work,” Nettleton recounted.
“God actually put him next to a Muslim guy who defended him to the other prisoners and said, ‘Hey, leave this guy alone.’ And so, that was an answer to prayer. That was kind of miraculous, and he was excited about what God’s doing.”
As the months dragged on, however, with the pastor enduring the separation from his family and rough conditions at the prison, he began to feel discouraged. The Indian pastor prayed that God would allow another pastor to be arrested, and the Lord answered that prayer.
“Another pastor was arrested and assigned to the bed right across from him,” Nettleton said. “The two were the only Christians in the prison. The new arrival told him, ‘You’ve got to hang on. God’s going to work this out.’ It gave him the strength to continue faithfully suffering in prison.”
Both pastors have since been released from prison, according to Nettleton, who believes that the story shows the importance of fellowship.
“When we go through hard times, whether it be persecution, arrest, or maybe it’s illness, unemployment, or some other difficulty, it just shows how important it is for us to be walking in fellowship with other believers,” he said.
“One of the really powerful things we heard were stories from India of God showing up in miraculous ways,” he said. “Someone is healed, or a family member is healed, and once they see the power of God, you cannot talk them out of following Jesus.”
After seeing that Jesus had answered their prayers, those in India who may have initially been skeptical about Christ saw that He had the power to do things that the Gods they had been worshipping could not do, according to Nettleton.
“Once they see that kind of dramatic show of God’s power, they will not be talked out of it, and they will not be persecuted out of it,” the VOM radio host said.
“They’ll say, ‘You can burn my house down or beat me up, but I saw that Jesus was powerful, and He answered prayer,'” Nettleton added. “They cannot be dissuaded after that kind of encounter with God.”
India ranks as the 11th-worst country in the world for Christian persecution on the 2025 Open Doors World Watch List. Most of the violence against Christians is often driven by Hindutva, the belief that all Indians must be Hindu.
At least twelve states in India have passed anti-conversion laws, and converts from Hinduism to Christianity may face pressure from their family, the community, or extremists to reconvert to Hinduism. Christians also regularly face the threat of death or physical assault, and extremists are known to target believers who attend house churches.
Across the globe, more than 380 million people — one in seven worldwide — face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith in Christ, according to Open Doors.
For this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, Nettleton said that VOM is offering free resource kits to help churches, families and Bible study groups pray for their brothers and sisters in Christ who reside in hostile regions.
Nettleton hopes believers in the West can gain a deeper understanding of the power of prayer on Nov. 2 as they reflect on the sufferings and needs of persecuted Christians. For many Christians living in nations where their ability to worship is hindered by restrictive laws or violence, prayer is often all they have, Nettleton said.
“Thousands of churches and thousands of Christians are going to be praying for our persecuted brothers and sisters on this Sunday. And that’s such an amazing thing,” the Christian radio said.
“As we think about unity in the body of Christ, we recognize that when one part of the body suffers, others are supposed to feel that pain. That’s a really encouraging thing to think about,” he added.
© The Christian Post
