"adam" a voice in the wilderness

Adam is a gentle man with a wife and six children. He lives a simple life in a small community far from any large cities. He has been a leader in the local church for years and is a critical part of the Christian community there. Through donations from our supporters, Living Stones has been able to provide Adam with finances to help provide food and medical supplies to Christian families in his area.


Adam lives in Western Africa, in a country where it is a crime, punishable by death, to convert to Christianity or try to convert a Muslim to Christianity. This country considers its population to be 100% Muslim. That means that any Christian native to this country must have converted.


Brother ‘S’, who lives in a country that is about 99% Muslim, describes it like this: “Believers here must persevere in regular persecution from society and the authorities. We must take care before, during, and after our house church meetings. We must gather without fear and with wisdom as we worship the Lord and study His Word together. These challenges are part of our daily lives in a country where laws prevent us from living out our faith freely.”


Adam and other Christian leaders were shown in a video that was distributed via social media. The message was calling viewers to “Go and persecute Adam and all the other leaders in the church.” This sparked persecution towards Believers. Because of Adam’s faith and his leadership in the local church, he refuses to leave his community. Adam wants to set an example for other Believers and among church leaders during this persecution. 


His prayer is that he will have an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel and testify about his faith in Christ. He hopes that through this situation there might be an opportunity for government leaders to change the way they view Christianity. He prays that one day Believers will be able to practice and share their faith freely in his home country.


Since we originally shared this story, Adam has reported that the persecution has decreased. He continues to minister to the community around him and continues to trust that God will protect him and his family. He is aware though, that God’s will may lead him home to heaven at any time.


[Pictured: a West African village]

UPDATES


Our dear brother Adam and his family in Northwest Africa were threatened recently by a group of masked men, armed with weapons and knives. They came to his home and demanded to know where he was, and by God's mercy, Adam was not there at the time. His wife and children are deeply shaken and haven't been able to sleep since.


We do not know who sent this group of attackers, but the intent was clearly to intimidate and terrorize. Please pray for Adam's family and all the believers in this Northwest African country, who live under constant fear and anxiety. Pray for them to experience peace, protection, and courage. Pray for their attackers to come to know Jesus so He can change their lives from violence to peace.


From our partner on the ground who brought us this Prayer Alert: "Thank you for your prayers, love, and faithful support. May the Lord bless you and strengthen you as you stand with us."


Earlier this year, we received this disturbing news from our partner:


We are writing with an urgent and heavy request concerning our Christian brothers and sisters in west Africa.


At the beginning of this month, one of our dear brothers in Christ tragically died in a car accident while visiting a city not his own. After the necessary procedures, his body was returned to his home town, where his family and local church prepared a respectful burial. However, following the burial, tensions began to rise.


Islamist groups began protesting the burial of a known Christian in what they considered a Muslim cemetery. Extremist voices stirred unrest, with some even threatening to exhume the body and burn it or throw it into the sea.


Extremist Muslim groups gathered in protest—approximately 5,000 people from 8am to 3pm. Sadly, what followed was devastating. A violent mob stormed the cemetery, exhumed the body of our buried brother and began to publicly humiliate and abuse his remains.


They dragged his body through the streets, beating and dishonoring it, and eventually took it outside the city. To this day, no one knows where his body is. Their next plan was to protest outside Brother Adam’s home, intending to burn it down and kill him and his family. But by God’s mercy, the police intervened and stopped the protest before further harm was done.


The persecution didn’t stop there. The local church members have been cut off from their tribes and extended families. Even the Muslim-owned marketplaces have refused to sell basic goods to Christian families. Children are no longer going to school, fearing for their lives. The church in this town is in shock, struggling to comprehend the brutality they have faced. The desecration of a Christian’s grave was something they never imagined.


Yet in the midst of it all, they remain steadfast. One of the leaders of the church planting movement said, “Despite everything, we trust in the Lord and His love and mercy. We are still experiencing His peace.” With a grateful heart and a smile, he thanked all who are praying and asked that we continue to lift them up.


Many believe this unrest is not merely spontaneous but part of a larger, more coordinated attempt to sow division and chaos. We ask you to urgently lift up the church in this west African town in prayer. Please pray for:


•God’s protection over the Christians and their families

•Wisdom and courage for the local church leaders

•Governmental intervention marked by justice and peace

•A supernatural calming of the unrest and exposure of any hidden agendas

•Comfort and strength for the grieving family of our departed brother


Thank you for standing with us—your faithful prayers and support mean so much in this region where following Jesus comes at great cost.


“If one part suffers, every part suffers with it….” (1 Corinthians 12:26)

Brother Adam has regularly been the target of persecution by his Muslim neighbors:


Recently, one of our dear friends, “Adam,” who we first wrote about in 2021, was imprisoned and threatened with execution along with 23 other Christians. The reason for their imprisonment began with a simple video posted on a social media site that showed a baptism taking place. Adam was the baptizer and was quickly brought in for questioning.


His phone, his computer, and his home were thoroughly searched, and eventually the 24 men and women were all arrested for converting from Islam to Christianity. This situation quickly escalated and fortunately, the international community came to their defense. Ultimately, the government freed all 24 of these Christians.


Unfortunately, their names and faces are now recognizable to society at large, and Adam lives in a more rural area of this desert nation. He is known among his neighbors and loved by many of them, but there are also those who are fanatical in their following of Islam.


Someone from this fanatical group recently spotted Adam as he was driving. The young men gathered quickly and began throwing large stones at his car, shattering a hole into his windshield. Thankfully, Adam was able to drive away without injury, but the threat for him and for his family is still very real and very great.


How easy it would be to walk away from Christianity and live a quiet and peaceful life -- but that is not what Brother Adam has chosen. Instead, he has chosen Jesus, and his prayer is that these same young men would one day come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And if he is the one who can share the Good News with them, all the better, because for them, the truth was only a stone’s throw away.


Please pray for Adam as he continues to live out his faith and his calling to share the Gospel with anyone who will listen.