Reports of Brother Simon’s conversion are little more than hearsay yet recent news from Open Doors co-workers is disturbing - Simon has disappeared. Like many students from the Maldives Simon travelled to Sri Lanka to study. Simon had not lived in a country where religions other than Islam were practiced. Under the strict rule of Islamic Sharia law the Maldives’ Government demands all the nation’s citizens to be Muslims. Conversion is illegal. Churches and Bibles are banned. While studying in Sri Lanka Simon heard the Good News of the Gospel, was converted and began to follow Jesus. When Simon’s family back in the Maldives learned of his newfound faith in Christ they took him away and he has not been heard of since. Simon’s disappearance is not uncommon in the Maldives where indigenous Christians have to live in isolation as secret believers.

Pray: that Simon and the handful of Maldivian believers in Christ would stay faithful to the Lord in the face of such oppression and threat. (Gen.28:15)

More: http://www.opendoorsusa.org/persecuted-christians/frontline-faith/articles/2010/October/in-the-trenches-Maldives