“Is my name on the list?” The question was on the mind of every Christian in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after religious police raided a Christian’s home and confiscated a personal computer with information about Christians in the area. “Will they knock on my door next?”

Prabhu Isaac was the first to receive a visit from the mutawa, or religious police. Isaac was a citizen of India, but in Saudi Arabia it is illegal to promote any faith except Islam. Even the display of a cross is a crime. The mutawa was concerned that Saudi citizens were reportedly interacting with the Christians. They refused to allow Isaac to access his nation’s consulate, despite the requirements of international law. The police also questioned his wife and warned her not to have outside contact.
Then another believer, Eskinder Menghis, was arrested after his name was found on Isaac’s computer. Wilfredo Caliuag was next. Shortly after his arrest, Caliuag was sent to the hospital, reportedly for treatment of “heat stroke.” However, visitors said Caliuag’s body was bruised and battered, as if the police had mistreated him.
Saudi Arabia is closed to the gospel, but brave Christians who have taken jobs in the Muslim nation have begun planting seeds of faith in friends and coworkers. The work is difficult, and the risks are great. But the Good News is advancing the kingdom.


The Christians in Saudi Arabia fear that their names will be on the crackdown list of the religious police. Yet before their computers were confiscated and before their names were listed as targets, their names appeared on a different, more important list. The Bible teaches that there is a “Book of Life” in heaven that lists name after name of believers. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life will be saved. Those whose names are not found will be lost for eternity. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, let your name be marked down by every form of opposition without fear. Are you listed with Christ first and foremost?

VOM Extreme Devotion 10.25.11