What is the world like around these believers? What is the culture like in which they are living?
The world around the believers is basically just like ours with their social standards and political beliefs. But they are being persecuted more than this day and age because there are so many different religions it's sort of a "don't touch" zone for some people. Either they don't want a fight or don't want another religion being pushed at them. The culture is secular just like ours only they didn't have all of the technology and things to fuel the issue. All in all their world and culture is none to different from ours.