Joyce worried about sending her teenage son to the local school. Their family was Christian, but they lived in a predominantly Muslim area. She thought her son, Paul, would be influenced by the people around him. In the evenings, Joyce, Paul, and the rest of their family listened to the Bible on an audio device. They were from an oral culture where storytelling was part of the tradition.

At school, 14-year-old Paul shared the stories he heard with his friends. Then, his friends went home and shared the same stories with their families. Joyce started getting calls from these parents, with questions they had about the stories. Sometimes, a friend would share the story with his Muslim parents, and they would beat him.

Paul said, “I feel bad because it’s my fault that they are being beaten, but I cannot stop talking about Jesus.”

Eventually, many people became believers, and it changed both the school and the whole village.

The storytelling method Paul’s family practices has been an effective way to share the gospel and teach people how to follow Jesus. It works in many cultures because it’s simple but asks the hearer to act. It involves reading or listening to a passage of the Bible, then asking the listeners what they learned from it, how they will apply that truth and who they will share this with.

ICR partners call groups who meet to listen to Scripture and discuss it “Bible groups.” In recent years, these groups are multiplying greatly, especially among young adults. Many children, like Paul, are active participants in the groups, leading to revivals in schools. In one region, there are more than 300 new Bible group leaders who were added in the last five years.

A young man named Samuel is married with two children. His father is Muslim and his mother is Catholic, but they practiced a lot of animistic rituals. Every month, they sacrificed to evil spirits. When Samuel attended a church service and heard that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, he accepted the message with joy.

But Samuel’s family rejected him. They brutally beat him and destroyed his crops and everything he had. Samuel’s wife and children were in constant danger. Then, his family tried to kill him by setting fire to his house. Fortunately, Samuel and his family were gone, so they were spared. They fled the area.

For Samuel, it was painful to be betrayed by his family and to lose his income, his inheritance, his job, and his position in society. His church network is taking care of him, but he is still unable to work.

During these painful circumstances, Samuel heard the hymn, “Do Not Pass Me By.” The song was an incredible encouragement to him to keep going.

Pass me not, O gentle Savior,

hear my humble cry;

While on others Thou art calling,

do not pass me by.

Let me at Thy throne of mercy,

find a sweet relief;

Kneeling there in deep contrition,

help my unbelief.

Trusting only in Thy merit,

would I seek Thy face;

Heal my wounded, broken spirit,

save me by Thy grace.

Thou the spring of all my comfort,

more than life to me;

Whom have I on earth beside Thee?

Whom in heaven but Thee?

New converts to Christianity might be prepared to endure physical persecution, but family rejection is often the hardest thing they face. Pastors and other ICR partners who support these new believers become a new family for these new Christians.

Helping the persecuted can be painful, a pastor named Joseph told ICR. “I live in a community where the persecution of those who have accepted Christ is so high,” he said. A 13-year-old girl in the community was assaulted by a gang of men and then set on fire with gasoline.

“I request that you pray for our community, because we are so heartbroken when we see people going through this,” Joseph said. Sometimes it causes new believers to wonder if they have made a mistake to follow Christ. “But when we identify ourselves with them, we point them back to their hope,” Joseph said.

An ICR partner named Isaac calls himself a disciple-maker. He’s currently helping a new believer named Hassan. After Hassan became a believer, his family planned to stone him to death. Hassan had to flee, losing everything. Isaac told an ICR field worker that two years later, Hassan still sometimes cries when he thinks about his family.

Isaac brought Hassan into his own house. “I give him clothes, I give him my love, I give him the little that I have through food and other basic items just to make him to know that he is not alone in this journey,” Isaac said.

“And that’s what most times persecuted believers desire from us. They will know the love of Jesus through when we show our love to them, when we identify ourselves in those difficult moments together with them,” he said.