Prisoners of Hope
Welcome to Prisoners of Hope, where we bring you powerful stories, urgent updates, and firsthand testimonies from persecuted Christians. Real faith. Real persecution...And a God who does the impossible every day. These voices from the frontlines of faith will revolutionize how you pray and show you what hope in Jesus really means.
Episodes
July 18, 2025 • 54 mins
Joshua Youssef travels to a safe house in a closed country to meet with two of our on-the-ground Field Ministers in Iran, Mahdi and Farrah, who risk their lives daily to serve persecuted Christians. They share firsthand accounts of interrogations, imprisonment threats, and the Iranian government's intensified crackdown on home churches following recent conflicts and how Help The Persecuted provides tangible hope and a way forward.
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July 4, 2025 • 25 mins
Joshua Youssef sits down with Leila from Help The Persecuted's Lebanon office to explore the unique challenges faced by Christian women in the Islamic world. From inheritance laws to civil rights, Leila shares eye-opening insights about how women are viewed and treated differently in Islamic countries...all the more so if they profess faith in Jesus Christ. Hear incredible stories of transformation, including a former female suicid...
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June 27, 2025 • 28 mins
Join us on Prisoners of Hope as we explore the profound journey of Christian converts striving for dignity and independence. In this episode, Dignity and Independence for the Christian Convert, we, Joshua Youssef and Kadi, delve into the challenges faced by persecuted believers who endure civic death and economic hardships due to their faith. Kadi shares a poignant childhood story that shaped his dedication to helping others reclai...
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June 26, 2025 • 23 mins
Joshua Youssef and the Help The Persecuted team bring an urgent update on the devastating suicide bombing at a Damascus church that killed 23 Christians and injured scores more during a funeral service. Our on-the-ground Field Ministers Farid, Daniel, Jalal, and Maron provide firsthand insights into Syria's first-ever church suicide bombing, the rise of radical Islamic groups following Assad's fall, and how we are meeting the immed...
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June 20, 2025 • 31 mins
Joshua Youssef sits down with Field Minister Qasem and fellow Iranian believers Babak and Elly, who offer an inside perspective on today's headlines about Iran and Israel. They share how authorities are arresting citizens as "Israeli spies" for simply contacting loved ones abroad...and how courageous Christians are quietly serving their communities amid the chaos of food shortages and blackouts. Most powerfully, they explain why t...
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June 13, 2025 • 15 mins
When Muslims convert to Christianity in Egypt, they face "civic death" - losing their jobs, families, and entire identity overnight. In this week's episode, our Field Minister Mark reveals the brutal reality: a university doctor fired and blacklisted, a mother of four abandoned with no income, believers forced to flee their homes. But there's hope. Discover how Help the Persecuted's Enduring Livelihood Ministry is transforming liv...
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June 6, 2025 • 19 mins
In this week's episode, Josh speaks with Aziz and Salma, directors of our Help The Persecuted Haven in Lebanon, about their urgent mission to shelter Syrian Christian converts fleeing persecution in the aftermath of the Syrian regime's collapse. Hear firsthand accounts of families finding faith, community, and safety in this remarkable Haven—which is made possible by your generous support and prayers!
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May 30, 2025 • 12 mins
Joshua Youssef and Olivia Davis provide an update on Help The Persecuted's petition to halt deportations of Afghan Christians, which has reached nearly 3,000 signatures. They discuss the importance of these advocacy efforts, share powerful testimonies from Afghan converts who lost everything for the sake of Christ, and preview Josh's upcoming trip to Washington, D.C. to present these cases to government officials.
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May 16, 2025 • 22 mins
"If I stay here…maybe they will kill me."
These weren't empty words for Yusuf. He had already survived a Taliban attack on his secret Bible school, where gunmen executed his Christian colleagues while he lay wounded under a table with a broken arm. He endured beatings from police and faced death threats for abandoning Islam. His desperate escape during the chaotic Kabul evacuation separated him from his family for two years. Tod...
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May 9, 2025 • 36 mins
In this episode of Prisoners of Hope, we delve into the harrowing experiences of Afghan Christians facing severe persecution under the Taliban. Join us as we sit down with Shuja, a courageous Afghan who fled his homeland to seek refuge in the United States. Shuja shares his journey of faith, the challenges of living under Taliban rule, and the arduous escape through Pakistan to the US. We also discuss the Department of Homeland Sec...
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May 2, 2025 • 26 mins
In this gripping episode of Prisoners of Hope, we delve into Nash's harrowing journey from Afghanistan to the United States. After converting to Christianity, Nash faced severe persecution under Taliban rule, enduring imprisonment and torture. Fearing for his life, he embarked on a perilous escape, traveling through Brazil and Mexico before reaching the U.S. on a humanitarian parole visa. Now, Nash faces potential deportation as hi...
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April 24, 2025 • 22 mins
In this episode of Prisoners of Hope, titled "Afghan Christians Need Your Voice," we delve into the urgent plight of Afghan Christians facing deportation from the United States. Join us as we discuss the heroic efforts of Help the Persecuted and the Enduring Hope Alliance in rescuing thousands of at-risk Christians from Afghanistan. We explore the challenges these believers face, including the revocation of humanitarian parole, whi...
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April 18, 2025 • 17 mins
What is it like to celebrate Easter in the Islamic World—where faith in Jesus can be life-threatening? This week in the podcast, Josh Youssef talks about whispering worship songs in Morocco...and going to church in Egypt right after of the Psalm Sunday church bombing of 2017.
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April 11, 2025 • 16 mins
A Pakistani Christian named Walid faced the ultimate test of faith when confronted with a horrifying choice at his workplace: convert to Islam or face deadly consequences. After refusing to abandon his faith in Christ, his employer tried to murder him. Walid miraculously survived.
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April 4, 2025 • 33 mins
This week, our Prisoners of Hope podcast features part two of our interview with Pastor Qasem, who runs an online digital ministry for Iranian Christians. He discusses the dangers believers face in Iran (15-year sentences for worship), how his online ministry is helping Christians in the country, and the challenges of surveillance by Iranian intelligence services targeting Christians.
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April 4, 2025 • 65 mins
In this episode of Prisoners of Hope, we invite you to join us for a powerful conversation with Qasem, the Help the Persecuted director in Turkey. Qasem shares his extraordinary journey from a life of despair and drug addiction in Iran to finding hope and transformation through faith in Christ. Despite facing immense challenges, including abandonment and a difficult upbringing, Qasem's life changed dramatically after a profound enc...
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March 21, 2025 • 21 mins
This week on the podcast, Josh has a conversation with our Field Minister Aseel, who serves the Lord in Libya. She talks about what it's like ministering to persecuted Christians who can be put to death if their conversion is discovered...and how God is moving in one of the most dangerous places in the world to profess faith in Him.
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March 20, 2025 • 32 mins
In this urgent update, Help The Persecuted CEO Joshua Youssef brings together voices from the heart of Syria's crisis to reveal the true stories of persecuted Christians behind the headlines.
Our Field Ministers Daniel and Lina share firsthand accounts of what's happening in Syria, while Dr. Martin Parsons provides crucial context about the challenges facing believers in this volatile region. The conversation illuminates the diff...
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March 7, 2025 • 19 mins
In this episode of Prisoners of Hope, our CEO Joshua speaks with our Field Minister Daniel, who works in Syria, about the transition from Assad to the new government of Syria. They discuss the current situation for Christians, especially converts, and Help The Persecuted's ongoing work to Rescue, Restore, and Rebuild lives during this uncertain period of political change.
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February 28, 2025 • 13 mins
This week on the podcast, the team sits down to talk about our Enduring Livelihood Ministry. Why is it so important? What is “civic death”? How does this ministry, which helps believers establish their own businesses, rebuild lives?
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