On April 13 – the same day Tehran launched drone attacks on Israel – the regime also announced a new campaign called Noor, or “light” in Persian. The campaign increases efforts by the morality police to punish women not wearing hijab in public.

The header photo shows an Iranian woman. (Photo courtesy of TruedynamicPhoto, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Iranian women who’ve been arrested without head coverings say they are physically and verbally assaulted — accused of loving the West and loving America.

Iranian Christians are also ostracized and treated with suspicion for ties to the West.

An annual report released by Article18 in February shows a similar number of Christians were arrested in 2023 from previous years. However, fewer Iranian Christians in 2023 were willing to allow their faces and names to be publicized due to growing fears of backlash.

Joe Willey with SAT-7, a Christian satellite television broadcaster in the Middle East and North Africa, says they recently heard from one Iranian Christian viewer who was denied a job opportunity.

“He had applied for a job with an excellent salary. But he also had to write his religion and he wrote Christian/Protestant…. But the owner sadly just said, ‘If you were not a Christian, then with your experience, your capabilities, you would go into management in the IT department. You’d get an excellent salary. But we do not employ Christians.’”

SAT-7 PARS’ television programs in Farsi are challenging the narrative on Christians in Iran.

By broadcasting via satellite and utilizing social media, they can reach across closed borders and connect with Iranians who might otherwise never hear the Gospel.

(Photo courtesy of SAT-7 PARS)

Willey says, “SAT-7 exposes people who are not Christians to Christians and Christian theology, Christian thought. How do Christians act? Why do Christians say what they say?

“So it is a tool to make the Gospel available, to make God’s love visible to people who may have preconceived notions about Christians.”

To believers around the world, Willey says we can be encouraged by the example of persecuted Iranian believers.

“There are those in Iran, there are those in the Middle East who are certainly firm and strong in their face — that they would say, ‘No, I am a Christian,’ even if it means not getting a job, not having an opportunity that would be a benefit; but also in more extreme cases, physical harm and worse.”

Please pray for women and other marginalized minorities in Iran to know their worth in Christ! Ask God to give local believers wisdom and boldness as they share their faith.

Learn more about SAT-7 here.

Header photo courtesy of Zahra Amiri/Unsplash.

The campaign is called Greater Together. Don Waybright, e3’s new Executive Vice President of Partnerships, says, “This premise is that together – and that’s field staff, that’s our national indigenous co-workers, that’s Great Commission ministries and partners around the world, that’s Kingdom investors and donors and friends of e3 – we can be a thriving family all being driven together by this audacious vision of really getting the Gospel to every people, every village, every place.”

(Photo courtesy of Priscilla du Preez/Unsplash)

E3 needs fellow believers like you to support Greater Together and help make Jesus Christ known in every corner of the world.

Waybright says, “You look at Scripture and the age that we’re in and there’s one sign that the end is coming. That was, ‘…this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed to all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.’ [Matt. 24:14] We’re in the age of movements – this exponential increase of Gospel activity around the world.”

Click here to give towards e3’s Greater Together campaign.

Then, pray for the advancement of the Great Commission around the world.

“Pray for the stewardship of what God has given us,” asks Waybright. “Let us not take organizational shortcuts. Let us continue to keep that ethos, putting our head in the Bible, praying, abiding, surrendering, yielding, and pursuing these targets with great passion. We’re an apostolic ministry, and let’s continue to protect and steward that dynamic.”

Header photo courtesy of Louis Hansel/Unsplash.

The VOM campaign was to raise awareness for two Eritrean pastors wrongfully imprisoned for 7,000 days. Sadly, the two pastors have not been released yet.

However, Todd Nettleton at VOM says they are still celebrating the 13 other believers who are now free.

“This is seven women and six men – all of them imprisoned for at least 10 years. So these were not sort of short-term people that got arrested a week ago; these were long-term Christian prisoners, all of whom were released six days after that campaign happened.”

Eritrean prisoners are sometimes held in shipping containers such as this one. (Photo by Victória Kubiaki/Unsplash)

Over 15,000 people responded to VOM’s campaign committing to pray, and many sent emails and faxes to the Eritrean embassy.

“We do know at one point, apparently, it was enough that emails were bouncing back. So either the Eritrean embassy turned off their email server or their box was full, but we had reports from listeners that, ‘Hey, I tried to email and it just kept bouncing back.’ So we know there was traffic, we know there were people who raised the voice on behalf of these Eritrean Christians, and praise the Lord, we saw a result of that actually very quickly.”

Furthermore, Nettleton says, “I spoke with our field leader for Eritrea and he said, ‘You know, the Eritrean government, the Eritrean embassy, they’re never going to say these 13 were released because of these emails [and] faxes that came in.’

“He said, ‘The fact that the two things happened so close together, it’s hard not to think that it did have an impact.’”

There’s no need to stop now. Another 300-plus Christians are still imprisoned in Eritrea for their faith. Below is the contact information for the Eritrean Embassy in Washington, DC, USA:

Embassy of Eritrea

Address:  1708 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009

Tel:  202-319-1991
Fax:  202-319-1304

Email:  EmbassyEritrea@embassyeritrea.org

You can also look up the Eritrean Embassy in your own country if you live outside the US.

Header photo of Eritrean flag. (Photo courtesy of Jorono/Pixabay)

Turkish church planters supported by FMI provide humanitarian aid all over Turkiye after the earthquake nearly two months ago. They distribute meals, tents, and blankets to quake survivors in the name of Jesus.

Bruce Allen with FMI says, “Anytime that there’s a crisis, the sectarian [and] the religious boundaries evaporate. People just need help.”

Approximately 96% of the population in Turkiye is Muslim. There are only about 200 evangelical churches in the whole country of 85 million people.

(Photo courtesy of FMI)

Allen says some Muslims prefer to go to the Christians for aid because the Christians will take the time to sit with them and listen, and the goods are of higher quality.

“I am pleased that our partners are providing comfort, relief, guidance, counseling as necessary, but also reflecting the purposes of Jesus Christ so clearly the people that many Muslims are now turning in faith to Jesus Christ.”

One of FMI’s partners, Pastor Enver, was distributing relief supplies to a quake-affected area. He travels 700 miles each way to supply aid to this area.

Allen explains, “The fact that other Muslims would prefer to get help from Christians rather than their fellow Muslims was putting the Islamic foundations to shame and they wanted to stop that. They wanted to stop the Christians.”

“In one area where Enver and his team were serving 150 people a meal, the police came up and pressured them saying, ‘We are carrying out the orders of the district governor commanding you to stop what you’re doing.’”

“The Christians are saying, ‘Why are you stopping us? Who’s going to help these 150 people?’ And the police said, ‘It’s no matter. Just stop. These people can take care of themselves. You leave this place immediately.’

“So we know in some instances, people are being very drawn to the Christians. But because of that, more radical elements in society are saying, ‘We must stop Muslims from making these connections with the Christians.’”

(Photo courtesy of FMI)

Thankfully, Allen says it was one isolated incident. “But it does remind me of the spiritual dynamic that is at play here. Yes, we’re taking care of people’s physical needs, but there’s a spiritual war being waged for people’s souls too.”

Please pray for wisdom and creativity as pastors and church planters work with authorities.

Now more than ever is a critical time to give to FMI’s quake relief in Turkiye.

This month, a generous donor is matching every dollar donated to FMI’s Hope Stands campaign, up to $50,000.

The matching grant campaign is called Hope Stands. Allen says, “As these people have had their world shaken, they’re finding that hope still stands and it’s in Jesus Christ.”

You can give any time now through the end of April to have your gift doubled.

(Image courtesy of FMI)

“If a Mission Network News audience member can make a $250 donation, it automatically gets doubled to $500. If someone’s saying, ‘Yeah, I want to help a family, provide them with a tent, provide them with meals,’ now, their gift to help a family actually gets doubled. They’re helping two families,” Allen says.

“We’ll be able to provide some good resources and facilitate our partners and their relief teams from their churches as they go into the spring and the summer.”

Click here to donate to FMI’s Hope Stands campaign!

Header image courtesy of FMI.

This might look like forced labor or even forced marriage. Slavery exists in nearly every country around the world, the study found.

Kassar

Bruce Allen with FMI says, “This is a global problem. To put a face to it, I’d like to tell you the story of a guy named Kassar. He works at one of the 20,000 brick kilns scattered across Pakistan. Many of the buildings in Pakistan are made with rudimentary bricks. You have these smokestacks dotting the landscape.”

Kassar is 11 years old. He lives with his family in conditions Allen compares to the book of Exodus. They are not allowed to leave or take breaks. The workers don’t ever make enough to erase their debt.

An FMI partner visited the brick kiln, trying to help people in any way he could. Allen says, “Pastor Naveen, who is supported through FMI partners here in the US, has planted multiple churches at various brick kiln sites. He recently gave Kassar’s father an audio Bible on an mp3 device.”

“Now, even as they labor together under the sun, parent and children, the whole family is uplifted by listening to scripture in their own language.”

You can send Bibles to places like Pakistan through FMI. In October, donations to FMI will pay for twice as many Bibles.

Jubilee

Just as God set His people free from slavery in Egypt, He will set them free from all slavery when Jesus comes again. Allen says, “The book of Exodus is about brick kiln workers and their liberation. When Jesus picked up the Torah scroll and read from it, He mentioned that part of His purpose was to set the captives free, to announce the year of Jubilee.”

Ask God to free slaves all around the world.

The header photo shows workers in a Pakistan brick kiln. (Daniel Buckles, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

In the fall, a donor approached World Missionary Press and offered a matching grant of $110,000. Since then, the ministry has been faithfully working to reach that goal. The funds raised would be enough to cover three containers of booklets. Helen Williams of World Missionary Press explains why they chose Brazil as the location for these shipments.

“We send to Brazil every 12 to 18 months anyway, [and] we have a large network of faithful distributors who use the material. It’s all one language, [and] it’s easy to get things into Brazil,” she says.

(Photo courtesy of Annie Spratt via Unsplash)

Ready for the Good News

Williams believes that the country is more receptive to the Gospel than it may have been previously.

“We hear that there’s a new sensitivity, if you will, to eternal matters,” she says.

Through the network World Missionary Press partners have in Brazil, Williams hopes this receptiveness will equate to a great response.

“We have five or six people in different parts of [Brazil]. They have these networks, so when they get 4,200 boxes, they pack up 500 and send them thousands of miles into the interior of the country,” she explains. “We just keep people supplied.”

These distributors are very faithful and dedicated to their work.

“We had a man who had been with us for 40 years, a faithful pastor in São Paulo. He has been supplying the churches in that region. His son has been working with him all these years,” Williams says.

“This man passed away earlier in November, and his son sent me an email, pleading with me to let him continue the work that he’d been doing with his father because the churches and the believers there depend on the work. These people are dear, and the Word is being received. It’s just a blessing to be part of it.”

Largo do Paissandú, São Paulo, Brazil (Photo courtesy of D A V I D S O N L U N A via Unsplash)

Get Involved

World Missionary Press has raised about 50% of their goal, and they want to raise the rest of the money by the beginning of January. You can give to the Blessings for Brazil campaign here.

You can also help by praying for the project.

“Pray for the believers [in Brazil], for encouragement and for guidance. Pray for a harvest of souls. We want God to bless the literature as it’s received,” Williams says. “Pray for World Missionary Press as we increase production and try to get this material out.”

Header image courtesy of World Missionary Press

(Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash)

“It really stems from 2 Corinthians 6:2, which says ‘Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation’…What it’s saying is that there is no greater time than right now. There’s no greater time to share the Gospel with someone. There’s no greater time to pray for someone or to pray with someone, to tell someone you love them,” Johnston says.

Vision Behind ‘No Greater Time’ Campaign

God has given e3 the vision to see one million new churches planted worldwide by 2025. To help achieve this, the campaign has sub-themes: No Greater Journey; No Greater Story; No Greater Mission. Each theme digs into the supporting elements of the campaign to reach e3’s 2025 vision.

“There’s no greater time to share the story of Jesus. There’s no greater time to go on a journey to spread the hope and love of Christ. There’s no better time to get involved with the mission of spreading the Gospel to every person everywhere,” Johnston says.

Photo Courtesy E3Partners via Facebook

Along with living into the mindset of No Greater Time, the campaign also presents an opportunity for financial impact. Planting one million churches is going to take tangible resources.

These resources help support training that will eqip people to share the Gospel using a variety of strategies. It also means supporting people called to long-term work in ministry, national leaders e3 partners with in-country, and various programs e3 provides.

Currently, e3 is running a $500,000 challenge for current donors through the end of the year. If the ministry reaches the $500,000 mark, a matching grant will double that amount.

E3 is also running a $1.3 million matching grant for new donors. With both of these matching grants, each dollar given is going further now than it would if donors put off their generosity for a different day. Will you consider giving?

To give to support this vision, click here.

But First, Pray

(Photo by Michael Heuss on Unsplash)

Ultimately though, this vision will not become a reality without the Holy Spirit. Every day e3 staff set alarms for prayer at 10:02 am. Johnston encourages others to do the same and pray for more laborers to reap the plentiful harvest.

Will you join us in praying for this vision and the No Greater Time campaign?

“Lord, I ask that you give us the courage and the mindset to believe that there’s truly no greater time than right now that now is the time of your favor. And now is the day of salvation,” Johnston prays.

“And so, Lord, I ask that you put that on our hearts, that you put that on our minds, and that in whatever way that affects us in whatever way that moves us that you would move us in those directions and move us to just do everything that we can to further your kingdom.”

Learn more about the No Greater Time campaign along with ways to join HERE.

“There’s no greater time than right now. There’s no time to waste…Don’t hesitate when you see an opportunity to spread the light of Christ, to share the gospel with someone…That’s really the heart behind the campaign,” Johnston says.

Header photo courtesy of e3 Partners via Facebook.

Initially, Davison says she thought a Deaf church service would be rather quiet. But as the team ascended the church building steps, she heard something that surprised her — drums.

“These people are rejoicing and praising and worshipping God as they know how to do. There is a drumbeat that is going and people are up front dancing and singing in sign language and just worshipping and praising God. It was such an amazing thing to see firsthand!”

(Photo courtesy of Deaf Bible Society)

Ugandan Deaf Christians are a close-knit group and Davison recounts their vivacity and connectedness as the Body of Christ were inspirational.

“The other thing that really stood out to me is the announcements. I mean, church announcements are pretty common, but I noticed within the Deaf church, this is a primary way they are receiving information. People are really paying attention to what is being signed and shared — fellowship nights that are coming up and other things that are happening within the church and how people can get involved [and] people who need help.

“Then they want to know who the new people are. And it’s not just this very passive ‘okay, raise your hand and we’ll get with you later’ kind of scenario. They bring you up on stage and you have to introduce yourself to everybody there because they want to know who you are. They want to know your story. They want to know how you found out about the church and who your family is and [if] you have friends in the church currently.”

The Ugandan Deaf church was also using Deaf Bible’s scriptural resources in Ugandan Sign Language. They had Deaf Bible materials on a DVD and showed it on the screen during their church service.

One of the biggest challenges to the Ugandan Deaf community at-large is they don’t have a full Bible translation in their sign language. In fact, not one sign language in the world has a complete translation of Scripture.

Deaf Bible Society is raising funds for the Ugandan Sign Language Bible translation through their year-end giving campaign, God’s Word Taking Root. Their ministry partner in Uganda is working on the translation and Deaf Bible has joined them in support.

(Photo courtesy of Deaf Bible Society)

“They are so excited about this work — and not just for Ugandan Sign Language! There are other sign languages they will eventually want to focus on, but their primary focus right now is on getting more of Scripture translated in Ugandan Sign Language.”

Deaf Bible is also sharing the stories of Ugandan Deaf Christians through their God’s Word Taking Root campaign.

“For me personally, just seeing how God is working in and among these people really challenged me in my own faith — just to see their passion and wanting more and this deep hunger they have for God’s Word.”

For example, Davison met a Deaf Christian woman in Uganda named Judith. Davison shares, “She kept again and again signing, ‘I need it in my language. This is my language. Ugandan Sign Language is my language.’… If she is able to have God’s Word in her language, she is going to interact with it more. It is going to transform her life even more because she is going to be able to mature in her faith.”

Please pray for the Deaf Christian community in Uganda to continue growing as a vibrant Body of Christ. Ask the Lord to accelerate Ugandan Sign Language Bible translation efforts.

You can also give to God’s Word Taking Root with Deaf Bible Society!

Deaf Bible Society’s mission is to provide God’s Word in every sign language. You can join them in working towards the fulfillment of the Great Commission among the Deaf.

Header photo courtesy of Deaf Bible Society.

Douglas Cupery, church mobilization director with Crossroads, says they had a major influx of Bible study students from prisons across the United States this year. Prior to January, students had to pay for their own stamps. The cost, however, was too high for many.

“We would get letter after letter after letter saying, ‘I’ve got to quit doing Bible lessons with you. I’ve got to quit doing Crossroads because I just can’t afford the stamp,’” Cupery shares.

At the start of this year, Crossroads began covering the cost of stamps after covering the issue in prayer and with the help of generous donations.

This was a major blessing but it created a new problem. Now, they have significantly more students than mentors.

“Currently we have about 7,500 lessons waiting to go out to mentors. And there is an urgency in there. When you read those words in the Bible lesson, there are salvation issues in there. They are asking questions about who they are. Who are they in Christ? Who is this Jesus?”

(Image courtesy of Crossroads Prison Ministries)

To address this problem, Crossroads kicked off their We Over Me campaign to double the number of mentors this year in the US.

“We have about 3,000 mentors spread out across the States,” explains Cupery. “What we’re asking our mentors is to share their story of visiting the prisoner, of what they hear from the prisoner, what they have learned from the prisoner, what they are experiencing with other individuals.”

The hope is for current mentors to bring at least one additional person in their sphere of influence into Crossroad’s mentorship program.

“We’re kind of the logistical piece where we connect the prisoner with the Church — and for your listeners, you are the Church.”

Here is how it works. Crossroads sends the student in the prison a Bible study lesson. They fill out it and the lesson is processed through the ministry’s office and forwarded to a mentor.

(Image courtesy of Crossroads Prison Ministries)

For someone starting off as a mentor, it just takes about an hour of your time each week to go over a student’s Bible study lesson.

“You have all the materials you need to do that. You don’t have to be a theologically trained person. You go through that, you make comments, [and] go through the prayer requests. Then the key piece is you write that student a letter of hope and encouragement, maybe tell pieces of your story, offer some challenges, and mail that letter off to the student in the prison.”

Cupery as personally witnessed the profound impact Crossroads’ mentors have on the students they minister to.

“We have to remind ourselves that 95 percent of those we incarcerate are coming home. What does that look like for us as a community? What does that look like for us as the Church? In my opinion, there is no better time to reach them before they come home than to catch them right there in the prison where they are. They are feeling the most broken, the most lonely — and as we come alongside them, [we can] give them that sense of hope.

“When we as the Church reach the prisoner from the outside and say, ‘You are not forgotten. You are one of us. You are no different. You are created in the image of God,’ it just goes so far. We hear from prisoners all the time how much they re-read this letters and they hang onto them for years.”

Click here to learn more about becoming a mentor with Crossroads!

You can also volunteer at Crossroads’ home office in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Find out more about volunteering here!

Finally, please pray for the Bible study program at Crossroads. Cupery asks for prayer for the students, that they will grow into deep relationships with Jesus and will share their newfound hope with others.

“The prisoner is not just a prisoner. The prisoner also has influence in his life. They have children. They are our parents. They are our grandchildren. So how can we help them grow so they can be positive influencers, men and women of peace to those around them?”

Pray also for Crossroads’ outreach to gain the mentors needed to minister to men and women in prison who are desperate for biblical truth and hope.

Header image courtesy of Crossroads Prison Ministries.

Jerry Meadows of Global Disciples says there is something we Christians need to do to prepare for that day. He brings our attention to something Oswald J Smith said about Jesus coming again:

“We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first.” – Oswald J Smith

(Image and header photo courtesy of Global Disciples)

That is why Global Disciples is running their GoGlobal 1Day campaign—a day asking people to pray, share, and give towards reaching every last person with the Gospel.

Meadows explains, “You know, at first glance, you would think it was a giving campaign. And actually, I think it’s a sharing the heart of God campaign—the heart of God for the lost. So, praying, and sharing about God’s heart for the lost, and giving are all part of this campaign.”

GoGlobal 1Day is meant to draw the Body of Christ into being an active part of the Great Commission.

“We want to help church leaders and group leaders really involve their groups or congregations, and especially the next generation,” Meadows says.

He believes that in order for Christians to be an effective part of sharing the love of Jesus, it’s imperative that they are inspired, informed, and involved.

“When we tell a mission story and we simply inspire people, it’s hype and it doesn’t last long. It can lead to disillusionment. People are very interested or intrigued in how God’s working around the world, but they don’t know how to be involved. That really doesn’t activate the heart of God in our congregation. If we inform them, that can actually be a bit boring. Information without inspiration is rather boring.

(Image courtesy of Global Disciples)

“But both of those—information and inspiration—with involvement, leads to transformation.”

GoGlobal 1Day encourages groups of people, be it full congregations, men’s and women’s groups, or even children’s groups to join together and learn more about the people who are without knowledge of Jesus.

“Then they can actually do something together, use their own gifts and their own skills, their own interests, to raise funds and raise awareness and raise intercession for the least-reached people of the world.”

Last year, 1Day encouraged people to donate an entire day’s wage to Great Commission efforts. This year, they’re still encouraging people to do that if they want. But they also have a list of other ways groups of people can raise awareness, prayers, and gifts.

GoGlobal 1Day is on September 7. But really, Meadows says, people can participate on any day. In fact, the resources are available until October 1.

(Image courtesy of Global Disciples)

“It’s not kind of one day of giving or one day of interest or prayer for the least-reached. We need 365 days a year where our heart is towards the least-reached in the world. But this is the one day where we’re noting our hearts are there with the Lord, and the one day we’re working towards when every person on the planet will have heard the Gospel.”

To begin your GoGlobal 1Day journey, head to the website and learn more about this movement and the people who are at the center of it.

“And then form that group,” Meadows says. “Don’t do this alone. And don’t see it just as a giving campaign. See it as a prayer campaign and a sharing campaign and a giving campaign.”

To learn more, register, and find ideas for your GoGlobal 1Day, click here.