Middle East (GCM) — The world is watching war continue to unfold. Peace deals crumble, then bombs drop.
Every day brings new headlines of escalating conflict, political instability, displaced families, and deepening uncertainty. Nations are being shaken. Communities are living in fear. Millions are wondering what tomorrow will hold.
But beneath the headlines, something else is happening.
Across the Middle East, people are asking questions they were not asking before.
Questions about hope, purpose, peace, eternity, and about Jesus.
God moves amid chaos
Throughout history, God has often moved most powerfully during seasons of upheaval. We don’t believe the Church grows best when it’s safest. Throughout history, it has often grown most when it has been forced to depend completely on Jesus.
The early Church spread under persecution.
The underground Church in China expanded through decades of oppression.
Iran’s house church movement has grown despite imprisonment and execution.
Not because suffering is good.
But because suffering exposes the things we have built our lives upon. When those foundations collapse, hearts often become open to the only Kingdom that cannot be shaken.
The same war creating unprecedented suffering is also creating unprecedented openness to Jesus.
That is why this moment matters.
Persecuted Christians return
Right now, in one undisclosed nation where Global Catalytic Ministries serves, there are believed to be only around one hundred known believers remaining.
Churches have been dismantled.
Believers have been arrested.
Militias continue hunting Christians.
Entire house churches now gather in secret, knowing discovery could cost them everything.
(Photo credit: Imagens Cristãs via Flickr)
Yet in the middle of this darkness, we witnessed something that reminded us exactly how Jesus builds His Church.
Our lead coach and his wife had spent months recovering from severe persecution after faithfully serving in this country. During their time away, they invested in a new group of Arab disciple-makers from across the region, pouring into them everything they had learned through years of following Jesus under persecution.
When it came time for them to return, those disciples did something unexpected.
They gathered around Brother T and Sister L. They knelt. They washed their feet.
It was an act of honor.
An act of gratitude.
A quiet commissioning.
Just as Jesus washed the feet of His disciples before sending them into the world, these disciple-makers prayed over them and sent them back into one of the hardest places on earth.
No one knew what was about to happen
While they were waiting to board their flight, we received devastating news. Someone connected to the underground Church had abandoned the faith and begun cooperating with the police.
Believers were being identified.
House churches were being exposed.
Christians were being rounded up and held for ransom.
(Graphic courtesy Global Catalytic Ministries)
We immediately tried to reach them. By then, their passports had already been stamped.
They chose to continue forward.
Not because they believed they were invincible.
Not because they were chasing adventure.
Because they believed the people of that nation still needed to hear the Gospel.
More believers follow
Today, they remain in hiding as they continue serving the underground Church. But the story doesn’t end there. The disciple-makers who had washed their feet watched everything unfold last week.
They watched their mentors walk toward danger instead of away from it.
They learned about the arrests.
They heard about the churches being dismantled.
They understood exactly what following Jesus into that country could cost.
And then something extraordinary happened.
Three of these Arab disciples have now said yes to going into that same country.
They are not looking for applause.
They are not trying to prove their courage.
They are not seeking recognition.
They simply believe that every person deserves the opportunity to hear that Jesus can forgive sin, heal brokenness, bring peace in the middle of suffering, and that death is not final because Christ has conquered the grave.
They refuse to let fear determine where the Gospel can and cannot go.
Because this is how the Kingdom has always advanced.
(Photo courtesy Global Catalytic Ministries)
One disciple says yes.
Then another.
Then another.
The enemy may imprison believers.
He may scatter churches.
He may threaten lives.
But he cannot stop a Jesus movement. As long as ordinary men and women keep saying yes to Jesus, the Gospel will continue moving forward.
Will you help keep the Gospel moving forward?
War has not stopped the mission. If anything, it has made it more urgent.
Every month, faithful partners help equip, coach, strengthen, and send indigenous disciple-makers into places where few others can go.
If you have never become a monthly partner, would you prayerfully consider joining us today?
Your monthly generosity helps ensure that even in the darkest places, the hope of Jesus continues to advance. Become a monthly partner here.
Header image courtesy of Global Catalytic Ministries.
