At the same time, Edwin Abnous with Heart4Iran says reports about Iran’s political leadership are conflicting.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (Photo courtesy of Khamenei.ir, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=150832367)

“Iran International reported that Iranian President Pezeshkian has sent his resignation to Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, but there is no way to verify this.

“It seems like there is an anonymous source sharing this information with Iran International, and we do not know who this source is. After that, a few Western media outlets also picked it up and repeated it, but as of now, no one has been able to independently verify it.”

Yet, there is one encouraging development.

“It seems like the internet is back on again,” says Abnous. “However, there is also severe restrictions for Iranian users. They need to use VPN to get into the outside world, but WhatsApp and Telegram and social media platform connections and messaging systems are picking up again, and we’re receiving some contacts, and that is good news.”

Restored internet communication, even to some extent, means more than exchanging messages. It means believers can better share Gospel hope with Iranians.

(Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran)

Abnous explains, “It is very important for the ministry like Heart4Iran to be able to have this two-way communication and connection with the people inside the country, because that is where discipleship is happening.”

For believers watching events unfold, Abnous encourages keeping sight of the people behind the headlines. While governments negotiate, exchange threats, and trade accusations, millions of Iranians continue searching for hope, truth, and lasting peace.

Pray for stability in the region, protection for civilians caught in conflict, and open doors for Gospel ministry. Ask God to strengthen Iranian believers and draw many people to Himself through the ongoing outreach and discipleship efforts taking place despite restrictions.

Learn more about Heart4Iran and its ministry to people in Iran at heart4iran.com.

Header photo: Tehran, Iran (Photo courtesy of Mohammad Amirahmadi/Unsplash)

On Monday, Israel ordered the residents of seven villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate. Two of the villages are a mere 20-minute drive from Heart for Lebanon’s Hope Center. 

“We still can operate from our center, we still can reach out to people, but you could tell the fear that it can become another battleground,” says Heart for Lebanon’s Camille Melki.

Peace talks brokered by the United States haven’t fully collapsed yet. However, renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and the threat of Israeli strikes on Beirut, have thrown the talks off track. 

“If things keep getting worse, Israel might push the evacuation line beyond the Zahrani River, which means then our center would become part of those areas that need to be completely evacuated,” says Melki.

(Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)

Heart for Lebanon’s summer outreach is on the line, including their Summer of Hope programs.

“This is VBS on steroids, a lot of fun activities, a lot of music, teaching, games, Bible stories, drama, singing,” says Melki. These programs give kids the space to be kids again and to learn about God. 

The Summer of Hope has already begun in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon. But for their Hope Center in southern Lebanon, the team is developing an alternative plan.

“Instead of bringing the students to our center for our Summer of Hope ministry, we will take them to safer areas in southern Lebanon — places where they can play freely, where they don’t hear those drones over them all the time, or hear the air strikes,” says Melki.

Safety is becoming harder to find, however. On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Forces issued evacuation warnings for three more villages in southern Lebanon. The IDF has also warned Christian neighborhoods of Tyre that Hezbollah militants are among them. If residents do not expel Hezbollah, the IDF said, they will order more evacuations and take action. Tyre is less than a 40-minute drive away from Heart for Lebanon’s closest Hope Center.

Find your place in the story

Pray that Lebanese believers can continue to share Christ in word and deed.

(Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)

“The number of families that we are reaching to help keeps growing. In fact, the resources are very limited in the entire nation. We are coming alongside other churches and other church ministries and faith-based organizations providing aid to those small entities,” says Melki. 

For example, on June 1 alone, Melki says Heart for Lebanon provided 540 food parcels to sister churches and faith-based NGOs who had run out of resources.

“Pray for wisdom, pray for safety, pray for perseverance, and pray for the much-needed resources, so we can continue to do what God has called us to do: help lead people from despair to hope in Christ, and Christ alone,” says Melki. 

Connect with Heart for Lebanon and learn how you can help resource their ministry in further prayer and financial support.

Header photo of Summer of Hope outreach courtesy of Heart for Lebanon via Facebook.

Secretary Marco Rubio attends working-level peace talks with Israel and Lebanon at the White House in Washington, D.C., April 23, 2026. (Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett)

Tensions reached a boiling point yesterday when Israel responded to Hezbollah attacks, carrying out its deepest incursion since the 2000 war. U.S. President Donald Trump described a de-escalation between the warring sides on Monday afternoon:

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to dial back fighting after he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with the Lebanese militant group through mediators.

Trump announced the development in a social media post following a call with Netanyahu, whose forces recently made their deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than a quarter-century. Trump there would be no Israeli troops “going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back.”

Cease-fire hopes falter

As with most Middle East conflicts, the latest escalation doesn’t occur in a vacuum.

“Last Thursday and Friday, a military delegation from the Lebanese army met at the Pentagon with an Israeli delegation, which is the first time in the history of those two nations that military representatives meet together,” Heart for Lebanon’s Camille Melki explains.

“We were hoping that the outcome of that meeting would come to a ceasefire and some sort of an agreement on the Israelis’ withdrawal from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah’s disarmament,” he continues.

“Unfortunately, things are going in the wrong direction. That’s not what we’ve been hoping for. That’s not what we’ve been praying for.”

On Sunday, Lebanese media reported progress toward a new cease-fire agreement in U.S.-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon.

“The Lebanese government needs to figure out a way to contain Hezbollah and convince Hezbollah, for the better of the whole nation, that a cease-fire should be brokered and brokered soon,” Melki says.

“Iran, on the other hand, has pulled away from its negotiations with the U.S., which is not a good indicator at all, because that means even those negotiations seem to be stalled and might lead to further confrontation in the entire region.”

In a season where many feel forgotten, we believe that the Gospel is best shared through a ministry of presence.
(Photo, caption courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)

Christian villages face shortages

Monday was “A very, very violent day in southern Lebanon, in Beirut, in the Bekaa Valley, as well as in the northern villages of Israel,” Melki says.

“Hezbollah continues to shell Israel using drones and other military means, and Israel continues to retaliate against Hezbollah. We have seen a very high spike in casualties and damage all around.”

Most businesses are closed in southern Lebanon, and essential supplies are hard to find.

“There are a lot of small Christian villages right at the borders between Israel and Lebanon, and they’ve been under a significant economic and military siege. We sent 700 food parcels with the help of the Red Cross to those villages,” Melki says.

Each delivery offers encouragement to believers and a Gospel introduction to those who don’t know Christ. You can support a family in need here.

Pray for an end to the violence in Lebanon.

“Tuesday, June 2, and Wednesday, June 3, a State Department-brokered meeting will take place. Civilian delegates from the Lebanese government and the Israeli government will meet, and we hope that those meetings will turn out a little better,” Melki says.

Header and story images courtesy Heart for Lebanon. 

Lana Silk with Transform Iran says the US-Iran ceasefire has been extremely helpful to the Iranian regime. “It’s given them an opportunity to catch their breath, to regroup, restrategize and strengthen themselves, really, for whatever rounds are coming next,” she notes. 

In the meantime, the people of Iran continue to be harassed and helpless under increasing economic and government pressures. Silk heard about a recent message delivered by a key Islamic leader in Iran:

(Stock photo courtesy of Javad Esmaeili via Unsplash)

“He was talking about donations for missiles and how there needs to be public participation in financing military costs because of this incredible ‘holy war’ that Iran is on,” she says. 

Pressures also come from international forces.

“We’ve had reports of Iraqi forces circling in Iran,” says Silk. “Sort of these caravans driving around in towns and cities on their motorcycles, shouting, ‘Haydar, haydar’ — or ‘War until victory,’ basically — and really just creating an atmosphere of fear and tension and the sort of Islamic objectives really pushed in people’s faces.” 

But Iraqi Muslim people aren’t the only ones traveling across Iran with a mission. 

“We have church members still traveling place to place, sharing the gospel,” says Silk. “We’ve had stories of salvations, people taking great risk, because they know that this bread of life that they carry is so much more important than regular bread that people are desperately seeking.”

Pray for God to speed and protect these believers as they bring the gospel of hope. 

“They’re desperate to share it with people and make sure that as many people as possible are brought into the kingdom of light while they still have time,” says Silk. “Pray for the church to continue courageously and be protected. Pray for the hope and the future that God has for our country.”

Learn more about Transform Iran’s mission and ministry to the people of Iran here. 

Header photo of Tehran, Iran (Stock photo courtesy of Seyed Amir Mohammad via Unsplash)

(AI-generated photo by ChatGPT)

Nuna of Triumphant Mercy Lebanon says, “The peace talk is not just military; though, of course, it involves the military side, it’s much more than this.”

As part of the peace talks, U.S. President Donald Trump is urging Lebanon’s government to repeal a 1955 law.

“In our Constitution, there is a [clause] that says Lebanon has no connection with Israel, so we need to change that clause,” Nuna explains.

Under that 1955 law, “everything is very, very closed, and people are not allowed to have any communication with Israelis,” she continues.

“We don’t have the right to have any communication – by phone, by message, anything – with anyone in Israel. [If suspected,] you have to go to Security, where they will ask you questions, take your phone, and check it.”

If negotiations succeed and the Lebanese government normalizes relations with Israel, Nuna says, “Everything will change, not just on the political ground, but it’s going to change the whole face of Lebanon.”

The cost of peace

Although a ceasefire has been in place since mid-April, the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah continues to attack Israel.

Hezbollah flag
(Photo courtesy mhrezaa/Unsplash)

“Hezbollah is affiliated with Iran and wants to keep Iranian influence over Lebanon, but Lebanon is trying to get free from it. The whole contention is between these two,” Nuna says.

Lebanese people remain divided over an alliance with Iran. Though Hezbollah represents approximately one-third of Lebanon’s population – followers of Shia Islam – representatives of other major groups seek peace.

“Lebanon submitted an official complaint against Iran for the first time this week. This is unprecedented,” Nuna says.

Lebanon’s government is taking steps toward peace with Israel and independence from Iran – but at a cost. “The Shiite community is really strong in saying, ‘We don’t want this,’” Nuna says.

“The threats in the streets [are] that ‘We’re going to turn our weapons against all the people who are for the change and for the peace treaty.’ It’s becoming like a civil war.”

Nuna says these threats raise an important question: “Do we go through a civil war so that we can have peace, or do we forget the peace and keep the status quo in Lebanon with Hezbollah in charge?”

Christian aid

Fighting between Hezbollah and Israel has driven more than one million people from their homes in southern Lebanon. “There are so many displaced people,” Nuna says.

(Graphic courtesy Triumphant Mercy Lebanon)

“They have no homes, no shelter, no food, no revenue, no work – nothing. We’re still there to help them, but we’re also trying to talk about this peace.”

Pray for Lebanese Christians as they care for displaced people in Jesus’ name, and partner with Triumphant Mercy Lebanon to support relief efforts.

“We need to not only bring in humanitarian aid, but also talk about God’s purposes and God’s ways and God’s plan, and bring people into alignment with God,” Nuna says.

“It’s not just a one-way Gospel, just salvation and that’s it, it’s also realignment with God’s purposes.”

Header image depicts working-level peace talks between Israel and Lebanon at the White House in Washington, D.C., April 23, 2026. (Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett)

Flares of fighting continued this week, with Hezbollah drone attacks and Israeli strikes along the border.

Eric Mock with the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) says, “People in northern Israel are constantly in fear. Some are not able to go to jobs, maybe some of the jobs have stopped, and they’re in great need.”

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

Amid the uncertainty, SGA supports Russian-speaking churches in Israel that are encouraging people with tangible aid and Jesus’ love.

“About 20% of the population of Israel are Russian-speaking and Russian-speaking immigrants,” says Mock. “We work with a network of Russian-speaking Bible-teaching churches who are reaching their own. These are Russian-speaking immigrants, primarily from Ukraine and Russia…. Imagine a people that are even today considered somewhat Samaritans, and they are faithfully ministering with the Gospel.”

Mock says ministry efforts offer tangible relief and Gospel hope. “In these difficult times, people are looking for answers. SGA has been able to…support these faithful servants and their churches [with] resources for taking food to those people who are displaced, who are struggling in the middle of the rocket fire in the north.”

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

Through SGA’s Israel Relief fund, local pastors receive support to continue their work.

“By supporting this, you’re not just handing food to people,” says Mock. “These people are hearing the Gospel. These people are hearing a message of hope that will be unshakable.”

Header photo: Israel-Lebanon border. (Photo courtesy of Eternalsleeper | Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9439853)

Pahlavi was in Germany in mid-February too, as part of the Munich Security Conference, just a few weeks before the United States-Israel war on Iran began. The 65-year-old is the son of Iran’s former shah deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He has proposed to lead a transitional democratic government in the event of Iran’s regime falling.

HIH Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran (Photo By FDD – FDD Maximum Support: Operationalizing the Other Iran Policy Event, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Talk of regime change has become familiar to Heart4Iran’s team, says Edwin Abnous, the ministry’s executive director. The team feels the tension between their spiritual mission and the political hopes of those they serve. Yet in these tensions, the ministry holds to a few guiding principles. 

“We want to make sure that our approach is Christ-centric, and we want to make sure we care about the good of the nation, rather than siding with certain political opposition,” Abnous says. “We want to make sure that we are outspoken and echoing the realities on the ground anytime there is an injustice, especially for the Church.”

This requires sensitivity. Abnous explains that Iranians in the diaspora can risk political statements that those within Iran can’t. That is especially true for Christians in Iran. Under the nation’s Islamic theocracy, calling Christ Lord is seen as political opposition. 

“[Christians] cannot call Khamenei or his son ‘Ayatollah,’ which means ‘the sign of Allah’ or ‘appointed by Allah,’ because they do not believe in Allah. They do not believe that Allah will assign someone to oversee the country,” Abnous explains. 

Christians are especially vulnerable after uprisings or external threats are removed — such as the extended reprieve of the United States-Iran ceasefire.  Christians are historically labeled “Zionists” or accused of working with enemy governments. Abnous says that events like this ceasefire give the regime space to refocus on internal control. Just one example of regime crackdown is the 56-day internet blackout (as of April 24, 2026) that Iranians have endured.

(Photo courtesy of Gilles Lambert/Unsplash)

“Especially in the West, we look at internet access as a convenience. But for Iran, it is oxygen — not only for the Iranian citizens, but also for the Christians,” says Abnous. “If you cannot connect with [the underground church] and help them and provide pastoral care, that is a huge interruption to our ministry.”

Since connection is so critical for discipleship, Abnous says Heart4Iran’s contingency plan focuses on resilience and redundancy.

“We do not rely on a single communication channel. We want to make sure that we are providing all different types of mediums for [Iranians] not only to consume, but also to be able to connect with us,” he explains. “We structure our ministry so we can function even if we are isolated.”

Heart4Iran’s mediums include satellite TV, social media, a 24/7 call center, Bible distribution, and more. Just one of their two satellite signals is estimated to reach 810,000 to over 1 million viewers. 

Please pray for endurance, open communication lines, and emotional resilience for Iran’s people. Heart4Iran’s staff regularly find themselves offering trauma support to Iranians who contact them. 

“The majority of the calls and the contacts [Heart4Iran received] even prior to war were trauma-related,” says Abnous. “Iranians are a traumatized nation because of living under oppression for the past 47 years, and that has increased after the latest oppositions and uprising.” 

Learn more at Heart4Iran’s website about how you can partner with them to reach Iranians with the hope of Jesus.

(Photo courtesy of Denis Oliveira/Heart4Iran)

Header photo of protest in Stockholm, Sweden, c. 2022 (Photo courtesy of Artin Bakhan via Unsplash)

On Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump extended the US ceasefire with Iran, but also promised to continue the US blockade of Iranian ports until Iran had put forward a ceasefire proposal.  This did not make Iran happy. On Wednesday, Iran’s navy seized two ships that it claimed were “attempting to exit the Strait of Hormuz covertly.”

Later on Wednesday, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, stated that reopening the Strait of Hormuz would be “impossible” while the US and Israel committed “flagrant” breaches of the ceasefire, The Guardian reports. 

Amid the back-and-forth of the Middle East conflict, Brother M with Global Catalytic Ministries says victory won’t be decided by who has the best weapons. Instead, the question will be, Which nation’s systems will endure the longest?

(Photo courtesy of Lara Jameson/Pexels)

“Energy infrastructure is being targeted specifically. Shipping routes are being threatened,” Brother M says. That includes not only the Strait of Hormuz but also the Red Sea, which the Houthi rebels in Yemen are affecting. 

From Iran’s position, Brother M says the strategy goes beyond winning individual battles. 

“The goal is to try to apply pressure across an entire society in the West, which is really the new standard for warfare. It stretches systems — until something breaks,” he says. 

Rising gas prices and energy shortages are only the tip of the fallout of the past nearly eight weeks of the US-Israel war on Iran. Brother M says it has become a regional war. On that level, Brother M says a new Middle East is being shaped, which he sees as an outworking of Isaiah 19. 

“[Isaiah 19] describes an entire region in turmoil. It speaks of Egypt in a state of confusion, that there’s internal strife, economic disruption, fear, systems not functioning the way that they should,” he said.

(Photo courtesy of Jonathan Castaneda via Unsplash)

“It doesn’t stop there. It moves towards something that we have not yet seen but is happening, and things are being put into place. It speaks of a highway between Egypt, Assyria, and Israel. It speaks of former enemies becoming connected. It speaks of blessing coming out of a region.”

Brother M describes the recent events of the Middle East as a “pressure phase.” 

“There’s a pressure that’s forging alliances, that’s forging systems, that’s breaking structures, and it’s creating this biblical pattern that’s going to lead us into an Isaiah 19 moment. It’s part of the process, and it’s leading us somewhere,” he says. 

“It’s real pressure. It’s heavy pressure. And I don’t see this being resolved quickly, regardless of what you hear from the President [of the United States].” 

Find your place in the story

Where do Christians find their place amid the geopolitics? Brother Phil with Global Catalytic Ministries points to the Great Commission in the world’s chaos.

(Photo courtesy of Kyle Glenn via Unsplash)

“Yes, there are wars, there’s famine, there’s fuel shortages, but we lose the plot if we make that the main thing,” he says. 

“I think Jesus’ point in Matthew 24 is ‘all this will be going on in the background, but don’t be afraid. Focus on the main thing that’s happening: The gospel will go to the ends of the earth.’” 

The Strait of Hormuz will likely remain a revolving door. Believers must stay grounded in God’s mission and pursue their places in His Kingdom story today. 

“I’m encouraging people not to dissect whether war with Iran is fulfilling this verse of Revelation. I’m trying to help them to keep the big picture,” says Brother Phil. 

“If we make wars and famines the main thing, then we do what someone has referred to as ‘letting the devil set our agenda.’ We end up being focused on what he’s doing, rather than on the things that Jesus has called us to do.”

Header photo: By MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC – This image or video was catalogued by Goddard Space Flight Center of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: 2018-12-10., Public Domain)

Whatever Hezbollah’s response, Israel and Lebanon still took a significant step this week, with their first direct diplomatic talks in decades. Fadi Sharaiha with the MENA Leadership Center says the US-hosted talks on Tuesday were good news for the Lebanese people.

“Hezbollah is kidnapping the country, and Iran is kidnapping Hezbollah, which means that Iran is in control of what’s happening in Lebanon,” says Sharaiha. “So what the US is trying to do also is to take away this card from Iran and give it back to the government of Lebanon.” 

This temporary ceasefire could bring much-needed relief. Since March 2, nearly 2,200 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah. Before moving past those numbers, remember that each person had a name and a family they left behind.

Refugee child in Lebanon. (Photo courtesy of Ahmad Bader/Unsplash)

“Those are parents, children, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, daughters,” Sharaiha says. “We need to remind ourselves that people who are dying are created in God’s image.”

Many victims were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, unknowingly near someone from Hezbollah. 

“One story is like, one delivery boy was part of Hezbollah. He was delivering something, and he was having a meal or something in one of the apartments of the building. Then, Israel bombed the whole building, and they [other people] were collateral damage,” says Sharaiha. 

He urges Christians not to accept news about war and bombings as normal, but instead to respond through prayer.

“We are called as a Church for peace. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ We should be also calling for justice,” he says. “We know that we are here to glorify God, to enjoy God, and also to reach out to people who are lost for the kingdom of God.

“God is sitting on the throne, and God’s hand is on the hearts of the kings and the presidents and the prime ministers. So please pray that the Lord will move their hearts for peace.”

As Israel and Lebanon continue diplomatic talks, remember that for Christians, the deeper battle is spiritual and is fought through prayer.

“You are moving the hand of God in the region,” says Sharaiha. “Pray for us and pray for the different churches and ministries that are doing so much good in the region, trying to build peace and also build the capacity of those ministries in the Middle East and North Africa.”

Header photo is a stock photo taken in Lebanon courtesy of Nathan McBride via Unsplash.

“Our definitions of words like ‘peace’ and even ‘negotiation’ are different,” says Silk. “We have different values in our Western values — really, our Judeo-Christian values — and Iran’s Islamic value system. There isn’t a middle ground.”

To many Western minds, “peace” means coexistence with mutual respect. But for the Iranian regime, “They are not talking about that [coexistence] when they talk about peace. They want to dominate. They want submission of everyone to Islam,” Silk says.  

A ceasefire not to be celebrated

The US-Iran ceasefire set to expire on April 22 has not been good news for many Iranians.

“When I heard the news of the ceasefire, my immediate reaction was disappointment, like a heart-sinking feeling,” says Silk. “Every Iranian I’ve spoken to since then, inside and outside the country, has had the same negative reaction to the ceasefire.”

Azadi Square, Tehran, Iran (Stock photo courtesy of Erfan Ro via Unsplash)

Here is what one person told Transform Iran: 

“Despite all the hardship, the sound of explosions, damage to homes, and even personal injuries suffered, many of us believed that this war might finally bring us to a point of deliverance and freedom. For that reason, the announcement of a ceasefire was not seen as a sign of comfort, but rather as the loss of a hope that had begun to form in our hearts.”

The temporary pause in hostilities has also made room for the Iranian regime to focus on “internal threats.”

“I read a report that one of the judicial leaders had actually made a call to expedite executions, now that they are not in the midst of a war,” Silk says. 

No matter where talks between the US and Iran go, she says to remember that the Iranian regime has not changed. If anything, concerns should be heightened.

“Our struggle with Iran — the same security concerns, the same freedom concerns — are still there,” she says. “Iran has been humiliated. They would acknowledge that, though not publicly. Now it’s all going to be about regaining their honor and power. They still have money, weapons, their country, their resources. So this is going to be serious.”

Fight with prayer

All geopolitical concerns aside, Silk urges Christians to remember the spiritual battle.

Iran (Representative stock photo courtesy of Zahra Amiri via Unsplash)

“Iran has been a spiritual stronghold for the enemy for some time. He’s been using it for evil intent, and the fight is intensifying,” she says. 

“The church has been growing in number and in strength. The global church has been paying attention, and we are fighting — by fighting, I mean praying.” 

Please join in praying through the requests shared below. Take God at His word that it makes a difference, as James 5:16 says: “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

As an outworking of your prayers, consider financially supporting Transform Iran‘s multifaceted work. Their team is delivering aid, expanding trauma counseling, and training evangelists to serve people across Iran. 

“We’re training evangelists because what the people really need is Jesus,” says Silk. “We want to make sure that we’re meeting that need as well as their practical needs right now.”

Header image is a stock photo courtesy of a user named mhrezaa via Unsplash.