Samuel* with Redemptive Stories says multiple reports are circulating, but the basic outline is this: Muslim men were allegedly harassing a young woman in the predominantly Christian town of Suqaylabiyah on Friday. When men in the community came to her defense, it quickly escalated. 

“There were reprisal attacks on the people who were harassing her,” says Samuel. “Then the group that was harassing the young lady attacked a Christian village.”

A girl in Syria (Photo courtesy of Ahmed Akacha via Pexels)

The National reports that on Saturday, gunmen entered Suqaylabiyah and damaged businesses, cars, and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Thankfully, no casualties were reported. 

In response to the attack, Syria’s Greek Orthodox and Catholic patriarchs have issued a joint statement: Easter this year will be celebrated “only with prayer inside the churches.” Maronite Archbishop Joseph Tobji was careful to say that it was not a decision made out of fear. 

Samuel puts it this way: “Not the whole of Syria, but a lot of Christian communities are standing with this one community that was attacked. In solidarity, they’re limiting their celebrations external to the church over Holy Week.”

Samuel says that especially in Syria, Easter is normally a time of great celebration, with marching bands and songs of lament and joy.  That makes this restrained observance of Easter “a sad realization of the pressures that Syrian Christians face these days,” he says.

Please pray for believers in Syria. Ask God to bless them in unexpected ways this Easter, even though it won’t look like what they had hoped. 

“As the government becomes more restrictive in Syria, [pray] that the Church will just continue to be a bright light in the midst of that,” says Samuel. “[Pray] that Christians would not leave the region, because the more Christians leave, the less the voice of the Church can be powerful to communicate hope.” 

Header photo: Syria (Stock photo courtesy of Abd Alrhman Al Darra)

After rocket fire and drone strikes from Hezbollah on Wednesday night, Israel ordered all civilians south of Lebanon’s Zahrani river to evacuate to the north.

Nuna with Triumphant Mercy Lebanon says Israel told the leader of one southern Lebanon municipality, “It’s your responsibility. If you allow Hezbollah people inside your village, we’re going to bomb your village. But if you don’t allow anyone to come in, your village is safe.” 

However, a lack of Lebanese military personnel leaves villages vulnerable. On Monday, an Israeli strike killed Father Pierre al-Rahi, a Catholic priest in a village that Hezbollah had infiltrated. His death was one more spur that led Lebanon’s foreign minister, Youssef Raggi, to appeal to the Vatican for mediation on behalf of Christian villages in southern Lebanon.

“He [Father Pierre al-Rahi] died a stupid death, not because of him, but because of some people who have done damage to the village,” says Nuna. “The Vatican can be helpful in keeping Israel on the side, saying, ‘These are Christian villages. Don’t approach them.’”

Distributing aid (Photo courtesy of Triumphant Mercy Lebanon)

But the damage is already done. At least 780,000 people across Lebanon have registered as displaced as of Wednesday. Lebanon is caught between warring sides that refuse to change their stances.

In the crisis, Triumphant Mercy Lebanon and a network of other ministries are laboring to serve as the hands and feet of Christ.

“Now people are very, very open to the Gospel, because people are so disillusioned with Islam,” says Nuna. “Many people are just wanting something else, and they’re seeing that Christians are extending a helping hand.”

She says the people they meet ask for prayer, not just physical aid. Pray for both gospel hope and help to reach them. Learn how you can help resource their work at this critical time by visiting  Triumphant Mercy’s website. 

Header photo of Beirut, Lebanon courtesy of Sara Calado/Unsplash. 

“It’s unclear how involved the government negotiations were,” says Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations, “but there was definitely some pressure that was put on these kidnappers.” 

Kelley says the November 21 abduction is “an example of constant disruption of the gospel, because we regularly get calls [from indigenous missionary partners]where we have to emergency evacuate or pull people from one place to another.”

(Stock photo from Lagos, Nigeria courtesy of Doug Linstedt via Unsplash)

Despite the release of these 100 kidnapped children, the big-picture pattern in Nigeria remains the same. Groups like Boko Haram and Fulani militants attack and abduct people at will. They often target Christians, who are considered soft targets. The government’s response to enforcing justice is lackluster.

The situation takes on further seriousness this Christmas, as memories of mass killings return. Two years ago on Christmas Eve, nearly 300 Christians across Plateau State were murdered.

Believers expect adversity this year, too. “That’s their life. That’s all they know,” Kelley says. “And they will not stop worshiping Jesus because of it [the danger].” 

Pray for God’s strength for Nigerian Christians and His mercy over their lives this Christmas. Pray for their enemies by name.

“In northern Nigeria, there are dozens of different people groups or nations — including the Fulani, the Hausa, and the Kanuri, that are all 99% Muslim,” says Kelley. “When Jesus said ‘Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers,’ we can inject the names Kanuri, Fulani and Hausa into that prayer, because those are the places and the nations that need laborers.”

Header photo courtesy of Moses Adeyemi via Unsplash.

The Rajasthan law was passed in September 2025. It prescribes hefty jail time and fines for converting someone by fraud. But the definition of fraud or force is dangerously open to abuse. Greg Musselman with Voice of the Martyrs Canada explains, “Talking about heaven, ‘That’s an allurement away from Hinduism into Christianity.’ Or talking about hell, ‘Oh, you’re scaring people.’” 

Musselman says when persecution comes, Christians have three biblical options: flight, fortitude, or fight.

(Photo courtesy of Parij Borgohain/Pixabay)

“[Fight is] not in the physical way, but through the courts. And we have that opportunity in countries like India.”

Twelve Indian states have anti-conversion laws in place, which lead to accusations against Christians, Muslims, and other minorities. Even a charity founded by Mother Teresa has received pushback in recent years. 

“They are really supposedly to protect all religions. But that’s just not the way it has happened,” says Musselman. “They’re being used against the Christians to try to stop the spread of Christianity.” 

Voice of the Martyrs Canada partners with Christian lawyers to provide legal aid for believers in India. Connect with them to learn how to pray specifically for real-life situations. 

“Prayer is the most important thing. We have a resource called the Persecution and Prayer Alert, which is available on the Voice of the Martyrs website, vomcanada.com,” says Musselman. “There [are] other organizations within the VOM family, Open Doors, other ministries.”

Header photo: A church in Hyderabad, India. (Photo courtesy of Paul Silvan via Unsplash)

Unknown Nations’ Greg Kelley connected with a partner whose daughter was among the original 315 people abducted from St. Mary’s Private Catholic Secondary School in Niger state. She was also among the 50 students who escaped to safety over the weekend, praise God. 

But other news is surfacing that makes this kidnapping even more grim.

Fulani man in Nigeria. Courtesy of Pixabay.

“What we’re hearing now is it’s not so much about ransom. It’s purely about these people, and they’re Fulani bandits,” says Kelley. “It’s about them viewing this school as a soft target, them taking these girls, forcibly converting them to Islam, and then taking them on as their wives.” 

The abduction on Friday was Nigeria’s worst since the 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of 276 Christian and Muslim schoolgirls. Dozens of those women remain missing today. 

In the aftermath of the 2014 Chibok school kidnapping, Kelley says, “I had met families who told me there were five parents — either a mother or a father — that they knew directly who died of a heart attack over the grief of it.”

Pray for God’s mercy and comfort for these families as they hope and wait. Pray for faithful endurance and miraculous deliverance of the boys, girls, and adult staff of the school. 

Gospel ministry is urgent

In the spiritual battleground of northern Nigeria, Unknown Nations’ partners continue to seek opportunities to share the good news of Christ — even today.

Nigerian children. (Photo courtesy of Victor Nnakwe/Unsplash)

“Our missionaries are working in these areas, and so it puts them in harm’s way. It puts their villages in harm’s way. A lot of times, people are scattering out of these areas. And what it does is it perpetuates the state of fear,” says Kelley. 

“There’s 100 million people who live in northern Nigeria, so it’s a massive concentration of population. Every single family now is going to be thinking twice about, ‘Do I send my child to school?’” 

Nigeria has a large Christian population in the south, but little momentum for gospel mission, says Kelley. 

“We need the church in the south to come to a place of desperation and brokenness where it’s finally mobilizing itself and sending missionaries into the north,” Kelley says. “Let’s remember, they don’t need a visa, they don’t need even a passport. They just need to get in a vehicle and drive north, and they have [an] abundance of resources to do it.” 

Ask God to stir up a greater passion for the Great Commission among believers in southern Nigeria, that they may find their place in gospel ministry to the north. 

Header photo of Nigerian church courtesy of Tosin Superson via Pexels.

A few hours after midnight on November 21, gunmen abducted 303 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s Papiri Private Secondary School in Niger state.

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says radical Islam may be a motive behind the kidnapping, “but there’s also a business side of it, as they’re holding people ransom in these parts of the world. We’re seeing more and more of those stories from the region.”

These disciples of Christ are passionately sharing God’s Word in North Eastern Nigeria.
(Photo, caption courtesy of Unknown Nations)

At least fifty students have since escaped. But as of Monday, no group had claimed the kidnapping. It occurred the same week that gunmen in a southern state kidnapped more than 20 schoolgirls.

Religious factors

For decades in Nigeria, there have been kidnappings and killings from radical Islamic groups such as Boko Haram or militant Fulani herdsmen. Friday’s kidnapping in Niger state calls back memories of the 2014 incident where Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok, Nigeria. Dozens of those young women are believed to still be in captivity today. 

Although it’s complicated, there is a clear religious undertone to these security struggles.

“[In] northern Nigeria, there are so many different things going on,” says Kelley. “But what people need to understand is that more Christians are killed for their faith in Christ in northern Nigeria than the rest of the world combined.” (More on that here.)

Political clout 

The government’s lackluster response to these events has caused deep frustration in the nation. Kelley explains that this comes from the roles held by the Fulani and Hausa. These majority-Muslim people groups number in the tens of millions.

A new Christian holds a communion cup as an IMB worker leads the new believer and five other new Christians in taking the Lord’s Supper. (Photo and caption courtesy of IMB)

“They have tremendous influence in the government and in business, and so the government is almost afraid to stand firmly against them, for fear of repercussions on an even greater scale,” says Kelley. 

Complacent church

But there’s another reason that violence in the north is stuck on repeat. 

“Yes, we want to see the government of Nigeria stand and get involved and hold people accountable and put people in prison. Absolutely,” says Kelley. “But this is an indictment on the 100 million Christians in the south of Nigeria that have not gotten fully involved and engaged in missions in their own country in the north. They’re more focused on themselves than they are the north. I have dear friends who are Nigerian who would say the same thing.” 

It’s a hard truth, but it doesn’t have to stay this way. As we pray for freedom for the kidnapped students and staff, remember to ask God to raise up missionaries from the south full of the love of Jesus for the north.

“Until that day happens, these things [kidnappings and killings] can continue to happen because the perpetrators don’t know Christ,” says Kelley. “They need to hear the gospel message. Once the gospel gets into the north, these things will end. And nothing short of that is a solution.”

Header image is a representative stock photo from Lagos, Nigeria courtesy of Doug Linstedt via Unsplash.

Syria’s government says it thwarted a recent bombing attempt on a Catholic church. According to a report, the would-be attackers were on their way to Mar Elias Maronite Church in the city of Tartus. When security forces apprehended the men, they found an explosive device, a black flag and papers with written threats.

“They don’t say exactly when [they stopped the attack]. They don’t say a lot about the people who were captured, other than the fact that they identify them as loyalist[s] to former President Bashir al-Assad,” said Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA. 

Even with those unanswered questions, the government report is an answer to prayer for protection for Syria’s Christians. The nation’s bigger picture remains grim. Christian, Druze and Alawite minorities have endured multiple attacks in recent months.

“When you see the attack in June, you see the pastor from a Druze background that was killed in late July, then you hear of another attack on a church that apparently was prevented, [you see the pattern of danger],” said Nettleton. 

“If you are a Christian in Syria right now, you are understandably nervous. Because while the government has said all the right things about protecting religious minorities, it is not clear that they are committed to [making] that a reality.” 

But even traditional Christian communities (such as Catholic or Orthodox) have it better in Syria than Muslim-background believers.

“When the government is talking about Christians in Syria, they are talking about those traditional Christian communities. They are not in any way talking about Muslim converts to Christianity,” said Nettleton. “Those people, in the eyes of the government, do not have protection. They don’t even talk about protecting them.” 

Praise God for answering prayers for protection for the Catholic church in Tartus. Ask Him for continued protection. 

Pray for Syria’s government to be held accountable to uphold religious freedom. “We need to pray for strong leaders who will do that as they interact with the Syrian government,” said Nettleton.

A minaret and a church steeple side-by-side in Syria. (Photo courtesy of Ali Wassouf/Unsplash)

Header photo courtesy of Linus Schütz via Pixabay.

“It’s a multiplied crisis because of the coup that happened several years back. The military took over the nation, and they are still fighting an insurgency in the country,” says Joe Handley with A3.

(By United States Geological Survey – https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000pn9s, Public Domain)

“Some of the original governments, as well as [the] majority of people really don’t stand for this military. So the [earthquake] crisis is exacerbated because, sadly, the military is bombing their own people. They’re using the crisis as a cover to kill some of those insurgency players.”

The 7.7- and 6.5-magnitude quakes and aftershocks on Friday have killed at least 1,700 people, with hundreds still missing. The tremors reached even to neighboring Thailand, where at least 18 people in Bangkok lost their lives and dozens remain missing after a high rise under construction collapsed. 

Responses to the disaster

Despite the devastation, the disaster has prompted a strong international response. Rescue teams from China, India, Russia, Thailand and more nations have arrived or will soon. 

Handley says there’s also an incredible inter-faith response happening within Myanmar. 

“You’ve got Catholics and Protestants, even Buddhist and Muslims banding together united to help the people. It’s kind of unheard of, really, in Myanmar’s history in many ways, to have all these faith communities working together,” he says. 

Even with the help coming in, Myanmar’s situation is incredibly complex and the window for rescuing people trapped in the rubble is coming to an end. Pray for God’s mercy! 

In that complexity, A3 is doing reconnaissance this week to identify whether they can get aid in. For now, Handley says, “my colleague from Myanmar is really praying that the global Church will rally behind the people and the churches of Myanmar.” 

You can be part of that rallying through your prayers. Pray for power to be restored in the quake zones and for open channels for aid to get through to the people who need it, rather than other powers that be. 

Look for more coverage later this week for other ways to come alongside A3’s gospel-centered response.

“Whenever we’re doing aid-related efforts — helping the needy, providing food, providing shelter, rescuing people — the center of it is faith in Christ. So as we’re reaching out, the churches keep that center stage,” Handley says. 

Over the years, A3 local partners across the continent have responded to many disasters. 

“Ever since [a tsunami crisis in Southeast Asia], the mutuality and trust of the A3 alumni network of churches across the spectrum — every evangelical kind of background you can imagine, denomination and independent groups — they learn from each other,” says Handley.

Learn more about A3’s responses to global disasters here. 

Indian Navy official loading INS Satpura & INS Savitri are carrying 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid, heading for the port of Yangon. (Photo by Government of India – https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1905922454863716544/photo/3, GODL-India, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=162955676)

Last month, the three congregations that meet in this historic building received an eviction notice from a government official. The notice said the building was structurally unsafe and the congregations would have to move out before August 24. 

Turkiye’s history of quakes makes structural integrity an issue everyone is invested in. However, Bruce Allen with FMI says the church has gathered evidence that that shouldn’t be a concern with their building. 

“They have just had a survey done by the Chamber of Geological Engineers — another government agency — and their foundation is secure. There is no corrosion. There’s no cracks. Their building is one of the safest in the city,” Allen says.

Screenshot from an August 2024 interview with the ANKA news agency (Screenshot courtesy of FMI)

“What is unique about [the church] is that it is the only church building in Türkiye in which three different sects of Christianity all share [the] facility: Syrian Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant.”

Allen says all three congregations sense that the eviction notice is an attempt to eliminate the Christian presence in the city. They received a similar threat of closure in 2016 which was later resolved.

The pastor of one of the three congregations, who we’ll call Irik, has petitioned the new governor of the province. He has also publicly called on President Erdogan to intervene. Irik suspects this is also intended to prevent Christians from gathering to celebrate a significant anniversary next year. 

“His city was where the Council of Nicaea was held, which was pivotal in Christian history,” Allen says. “[The year] 2025 marks the 1,700th anniversary of that council. So there will be people descending on his city from all over Christendom, all over the world, to mark this anniversary.” 

As this situation unfolds, pray for favor with the government. Pastor Irik’s first prayer request is this: “I want this church to be a witnessing church, sharing the gospel until the day Jesus returns.” 

“Obviously he’s saying, ‘We don’t want to stop gathering together,’” Allen says. “But what he’s really saying is, ‘We just want to keep being a lighthouse of hope in this city.’”

Pray that the church will trust God regardless of what their government leaders decide. Pray that any meetings they have with officials will bring glory and honor to God. 

Header photo of a church in Istanbul, Türkiye is a representative stock photo courtesy of Igor Sporynin/Unsplash.

To date, Jaballah’s contacts have counted 46 closed churches without any newly opened ones. Churches not a part of the APCA are not formally allowed to open, and any attempt to do so would be met with automatic government shutdowns.

This essentially shuts down any opportunity for smaller churches to grow or remote plants to start. The churches that fall under the APCA umbrella are so big – some reaching 2,000 congregants – that there is little space for personal connections or discipleship.

Jaballah says the size of these legal churches confuses local believers. How can churches have the negative social impact that the Algerian government claims they have when these registered churches have so many members already? “The government searches for any excuse to persecute them and close the churches,” he says.

Plus, the rules are applied inconsistently. Some Catholic churches or churches that promise not to engage in evangelism, for example, don’t seem to require government oversight. This can potentially create division within the Algerian Church and drive leadership into unnecessary conflict.

“Our brothers [are] still fighting for their faith,” Jaballah says. “They’re [still] worshipping God.”

Christians in Algeria are trying to turn crisis into opportunity. Amazingly, Jaballah says, “We are happy that the church buildings are closed because God opened many opportunities for the underground Church.”

Christians are careful to exercise caution. “If more than 10 or 15 people [meet], they suspect; why are you together?” Jaballah says. “If the number is more than that, they suspect them, and right away they can stop them.” Instead, Christians enter churches individually so they don’t draw too much attention.

Jaballah draws comparisons to the first-century Church, which met in houses and found creative worship methods. Like the early Church, Algerian believers are hungry for sound theology and meaningful discipleship.

“We keep praying for our brothers and sisters,” Jaballah says. “We need to pray for unity among the believers. Secondly, I want to pray for wisdom. It’s not about us. It’s about him at the end of the day, for all of us when we serve the ministry.”

Pray for humility, courage, and faith. Learn more about how you can pray with Voice of the Martyrs Canada.

Header photo courtesy of Unsplash.