Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA explains that these six believers were apparently involved in church activities for children. Yet the charges against them make their actions sound far more serious: 

“‘Organizing minors to engage in activities undermining public order.’ That is not a religious charge,” says Nettleton. “That is a ‘you’re undermining the government’ charge, and so that could carry quite a serious penalty.” 

Teaching religion to children in China has been banned for years. Yet believers have faithfully worked to reach the next generation.

“There are risks for meeting together with other Christians in China. That risk grows if you have people under 18 in those meetings, so they certainly would have known the risk of what they were doing and counted the cost ahead of time,” says Nettleton. He says the detained Christians will likely receive significant prison time.

The arrest of the six Christians is only one example of the Chinese Communist Party’s push for the “sinicization of religion.” That is, bringing religion under state ideology and control. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a report in May 2026 on how China’s laws are increasingly restricting freedom of religion or belief.

(Photo courtesy VOM-USA)

“They would say [sincization] is more of a cultural thing, but the reality is, it’s a control thing. The Chinese Communist Party wants to control the hearts and minds of China’s people,” says Nettleton.

“That’s the position of the Chinese Communist Party, that you are undermining the government when you are training children in biblical values and biblical truth.”

How can we be praying for China? Last week, May 14–15, United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing. Ask God to raise more advocates in the government and other spheres who will speak up for persecuted Chinese Christians.  

Pray also for the encouragement and strengthening of imprisoned believers like Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, Pastor Wang Yi, and others. 

“We want to pray for them in the way that we would want to be prayed for if it were us who were behind the bars,” says Nettleton, pointing to Hebrews 13:3. 

Header photo courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs USA. 

Raina Miller of Mission India notes poverty is the root of India’s child labor problem: “India’s dealing with so much poverty that there are often times where we see cases of children being sent to work with their parents out of total desperation. So there are some parents who would love to give their kids an education, but if they’re not going to have dinner tonight, then they feel like the option is to send their child to work instead, just to make sure that kids aren’t going to bed hungry.”

Children can find themselves in a variety of jobs, such as selling balloons, working in tea stalls, or picking through trash to find things they can sell.

“This was the Bible club,” says Miller. “This was who the Bible club was reaching.”

Mission India’s Bible Clubs include singing, prayer, scripture memorization, and discipleship. They also offer holistic support, teaching children the importance of bathing, wearing clean clothes, and brushing their hair. Ultimately, as these children grow through the club, it can impact their entire families.

Atul

Atul is one of these Children. His father was a daily wage laborer who mixed cement in brickyards, and their family lived in a home made of bricks and tin sheets with water pooling on the floors any time it rained.

“If his dad couldn’t find work that day, the kids went to bed hungry that night, and as you can imagine, if you’re desperately hungry, it’s really hard to focus at school,” says Miller. “So Atul began skipping school. Pretty soon he was working alongside his parents and became a child laborer.”

When Atul found the Bible club, he discovered he was not alone—and so much more.

“All these kids struggled with poverty and fear and hunger, and yet at the Bible club, they could find joy, and they had each other, and they had community, and it was a place where they could just be kids again, unlike in their day-to-day lives. So Atul really grew and thrived in that environment.”

His confidence grew, he began helping to teach his little sister and others in the club, and he has been attending his regular school more frequently. Now, he wants to become a teacher, so he can help other children. When someone asked Atul what had caused this change in him, he told them it was because he went to the Children’s Bible Club every day, describing it as “another school that’s filled with love and laughter.”

Pray that Atul and his family, who have already experienced growth through the Bible club, would fully accept the salvation of Jesus.

As the school year is coming to a close, the year-long Bible clubs will also be wrapping up—however, more will start in the fall.

“We would love to welcome as many of India’s child laborers and other kids as possible to join year-long Bible clubs and to have an experience like Atul did,” says Miller. “A $24 gift would reach another child like Atul with Christ-centered love, Bible-based lessons, and a space to just be a kid and receive discipleship from a caring Christian leader.”

You can donate to the Children’s Bible Clubs at missionindia.org/single-gift-donation/?referral=MNN2605.

Header photo courtesy of Mission India.

Iranian children are often forced to grow up quickly amid the country’s ongoing turmoil and war. As the crisis deepens, so do their questions: Does a good God exist? And if He does, why do my parents or neighbors suffer?

Keys for Kids Ministries is preparing to enter Iran to walk alongside these children, says Greg Yoder.

“Children are always looking for some kind of spiritual truth. They want to have an understanding of who God is,” Yoder says.

Boy runs in Mashhad, Iran (photo courtesy of Mohamadjavad Yavarinaman via Unsplash)

Keys for Kids stories are designed to help children wrestle with these questions in their own language. A team on the ground works to ensure each story connects with everyday life.

“They’re taking these stories and updating them, contextualizing them to their culture,” Yoder says.

Stories that originally include Western references are adapted to reflect Iranian experiences — often using Farsi terms of endearment, play, and even cuisine. Every detail is intentional.

Yoder says everything is done with the goal “that the Holy Spirit will speak in and through these stories to draw individuals to Himself.”

The ministry asks for prayer that the country would open up.

Pray also for more voices within Iran — people who love Jesus and want their nation to find lasting hope, especially among children. “We only want to equip them with the resources they need,” explains Yoder.

Pray for Iran’s freedom and future, shaped by its children. Pray also for the Keys for Kids Ministries as they prepare to serve the nation. Learn how they are already reaching Afghan children — here.

Questions often arise about how God works in times of crisis, but Yoder points to an encouraging truth:

“God works miraculously in ways we can’t fully comprehend or imagine, and we believe that’s happening in Iran as well.”

 

Header photo: Boys standing outside (Photo courtesy of Rehman Yousaf via Pexels).

(Photo courtesy of Kenya Hope)

Bryan Haley with Kenya Hope points to climate change: “Even this last season of drought that we’re just coming out of was more severe than it would have been had they missed their short rain season a decade or two ago.” 

No surprises: drought brings livestock losses, crop failure, hunger, and worse. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification projects that between April and June, 3.7 million Kenyans in the country’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) will face crisis levels (or higher) of acute food insecurity. Already, 3.3 million people are in this stage of emergency.

Kenya Hope has already stepped into the crisis with practical, long-term help. Haley explains that one of the first things they do when they enter a community is drill a borehole well. They currently serve 17 distinct communities in Kenya. 

One woman recently told Haley she hadn’t recognized the effects of the water her family collected from local rivers and dams. 

“They didn’t realize how sick their kids were — waterborne illnesses like diarrhea and all of these different things,” says Haley. “But as soon as they had clean, safe drinking water, those health issues were erased.”

As part of Kenya Hope’s long-term maintenance of each well, local families contribute to a small fund to support the well’s upkeep.

“So their community is actively engaged in providing for the services to keep it ongoing and to keep it accessible for their entire community, which is really just a beautiful thing to see people participate in,” says Haley.

One particular community has always used this river as its source of water. They have never known anything different. Today, this community now has clean, clear water!
(Photo courtesy of Kenya Hope)

A well is more than just water. 

“It’s an automatic level of trust that you’re earning when people are just not sick anymore because of something simple, like water,” Haley explains. 

“Clean water really opens the door to education, food security, dignity for widows, and increasing income. And that all leads [to] or is the chance to share the hope of the gospel or living water.”

Would you prayerfully consider supporting Kenya Hope’s future well projects? Visit kenyahope.org to learn more. 

“When someone helps fund a well in Kenya, they’re not just giving water, but they are giving children a safer childhood and a healthier future,” says Haley. “It really impacts an entire community with just a few dollars.”

Kenya: Acute Food Insecurity Situation for January – March 2026 (left) and Projection for April – June 2026 (right). (Map courtesy of IPC)

Header photo courtesy of Kenya Hope.

Many kids are traumatized by the sights and sounds of war. Yet they often take their cues from their parents on how to respond, says Pierre Houssney with Horizons International.

Depending on their background, the influence of a child’s parents can be an anchor or an added push toward fearful responses. Houssney explains that many in his generation grew up in Lebanon’s civil war and carry trauma.

“Their hands will shake, and their breathing will change, and you’ll see them visibly experience fear whenever there are sounds of war going on around them,” he says. “And kids are uniquely gifted in picking up on those things.”

Tripoli, Lebanon (Photo courtesy of Rudy Issa via Unsplash)

In contrast, Houssney didn’t grow up in Lebanon during the civil war and doesn’t carry those same marks. These days, he and his children hear airstrikes, drones, and sonic booms near their home in Lebanon.

“They’re aware of what’s going on. They understand the seriousness of it, but at the same time, they are not showing signs of being traumatized or too fearful about it,” he says. It’s a gift from God that he knows could easily change.

“If we lived in a different location that was closer to where airstrikes were happening, it could be a totally different situation,” he adds. “There are people who have had strikes in their building or strikes in their neighborhood, and had the dust of air strikes come down and settle on them, and they’re breathing it, and they’re seeing the people running and screaming and things like that. It’s a very, very difficult situation.”

Please pray for children in Lebanon to find the true source of strength.

“We are simply trying to do our best to help other people in this situation, through the trauma, through the physical needs and the spiritual needs,” says Houssney.

“Be praying for spiritual renewal, for repentance, for connection with God, that God’s healing would go out throughout the region.”

Pray also that world leaders would take steps to build peace across the world, “because if no world powers intervene when these wars are happening, then they’re just going to continue happening,” says Houssney.

Header photo courtesy of Horizons International.

Mission India regularly encounters adults who were trafficked as children and teens. Broken and abused, they are in desperate need of life skills and Christ’s love.

Mission India’s Raina Miller says, “In India, there’s not the hope of Christ, by and large. A lot of people don’t know who Jesus is. Ninety percent of the people groups are unreached by the Gospel. So if they’re living in hopelessness, they’re desperate.”

Nanya (Photo courtesy of Mission India)

That desperation often leaves children vulnerable. Miller shares the story of Nanya, a young woman who came out of bonded slavery.

“Her dad, who was an alcoholic and really struggling, he had sold her off into a bonded labor contract for two years,” Miller says.

“She was sent off to work for a family [with] crazy hours – like 5 am to 11 pm for two years straight. She just had no life outside of that…. When she was working, she earned none of the money. It all went to her dad.”

When Nanya gained her freedom at 18, she didn’t know where to go next and couldn’t read or write. Eventually, she joined a Mission India Adult Literacy Class.

“She learned, first of all, how to read and write,” Miller explains. “Second, she learned how to save and earn money in ways that had dignity and were something that she can be excited about.”

The best part? Miller says, “She also discovered the love of Jesus and received him as her Savior!”

Today, Nanya runs her own business as a beautician and shares her skills with other young women.

Adult Literacy Class (Photo courtesy of Mission India)

Miller says, “Adult Literacy Classes are meeting people in their hardest, deepest, scariest moments and helping them find a way out. Sometimes that’s trafficking; sometimes that’s other situations that they’re stuck in. But our Adult Literacy Classes also provide education around these issues to help prevent them in the future…. We’re really excited about that aspect of our Adult Literacy Classes and just the holistic impact that they make.”

This month, there’s an opportunity to help more people like Nanya.

Every donation to Mission India will be matched up to $300,000. Normally, $40 covers the tuition for one Adult Literacy Class student — but through the end of April, that same $40 will allow two students to enroll.

You can give today at missionindia.org.

Header photo courtesy of Deepak Kumar/Unsplash.

“It’s Hezbollah who dragged the whole nation of Lebanon into a war with Israel,” says Camille Melki with Heart for Lebanon. “The Lebanese people did not choose that, do not want that. In fact, we long for a lasting peace for the entire region.”

(Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)

A month into the renewed war, Melki says the Lebanese government and army’s response has left a serious leadership vacuum, “which means that Hezbollah has a free rein in those areas, and Israel has a free rein to retaliate and attack Hezbollah in those areas.”

Yet beauty remains. Last weekend on Palm Sunday, children carried olive and palm branches down church aisles, singing “Hosanna, Hosanna!”

“You know, that word ‘God save us’ has a whole different meaning for us in times of war,” says Melki. 

The UN Refugee Agency reports that around 14% of Lebanon’s territory is now under Israeli evacuation threats. About one in five people in Lebanon have been displaced, according to a report from NPR.

Melki says Heart for Lebanon is now serving 7,200 families with aid and care. 

“Our team had to add 2,600 new families to our beneficiary list. This is a 45% increase,” he says. “This is a lot to take. We need wisdom. We need protection, and we need the prayer of perseverance, as we ourselves are faced with security threats and difficulties maneuvering aid from one place to the other. We are always trying to reach out to the families who are on the move.”

Heart for Lebanon’s focus on holistic, relational, and unconditional ministry allows believers to reach and engage refugees in relationship.
(Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)

Heart for Lebanon has given this Holy Week the title “Hope In the Resurrection.” Pray that their Good Friday and Easter services will bless many and point them to Jesus. 

“Our hope is found in Christ resurrected, the victorious over death,” says Melki. “I hope that gives us a reminder that eternal peace is only given to us through Jesus Christ.”

Pray also for the Heart for Lebanon team for the long road ahead. 

“We look at the moment where we will be all together in heaven, worshiping the Lamb. But in the meantime, we stand in solidarity with one another,” says Melki. 

Header photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon. 

Lana Silk of Transform Iran describes the reality facing children in the country, including those caught up in the protests.

“The children are caught up in it. Children as young as 10, 11, and 12 have been part of the protests [and] have been arrested and killed. I’ve heard reports of girls as young as 12 being raped in custody. The government is indiscriminate.”

(Photo courtesy of Transform Iran)

Silk says children in Iran are dealing with multi-layered trauma, and need Jesus more than ever.

“Children are…very aware that they have no future in this country and have grown up sooner than you would normally want your 10-, 11-, 12-year-old to grow up and are aware that this is a necessary fight to secure their own future.”

Transform Iran is discipling believers in the Iranian underground Church. Christian children in Iran have been forced to live double lives under the oppressive Islamist regime.

“They have to profess Islam at school, recite the Quran, hide their faith, and then come home and have a Christian life,” Silk explains. “So that is very, very taxing for children when they’ve got to constantly remember who they can say what to, and try to muddle through and remember what’s true and what’s right.”

As you continue to pray for Iran, Silk asks believers to remember the youngest generation.

“I want us to remember the children and to be praying specifically for them…. This is the future of Iran. [Pray] that there will be stability in the future of Iran.

“Jesus does appear to people in dreams and visions in Iran! Let that be the children – that these children have encounters that they can talk about when they’re older and say, ‘Oh my goodness. While it was all happening, I remember that man in white that came to me in my dreams,’ and for that generation to be redeemed.”

Learn more about Transform Iran’s ministry at transformiran.com.

Header photo courtesy of Transform Iran.

“How do we minister to the next generation as they live through pretty intense stuff? One of the ways, I believe, is to give them the seeds of hope in Jesus Christ,” says Denise Godwin of IMM. “There’s an opportunity when people are young to shift their perspective, and there’s another opportunity to really minister to them in the area of hope.”

IMM partners with missionaries, national churches, and media outlets to produce a wide variety of media in almost 70 languages. While they have created children’s programs in the past, they are now working to develop and sustain a permanent department within their ministry that would be solely devoted to creating children’s resources.

“We really want this to be an ongoing ministry through media to children in different parts of the world, which means we need to sustain that with both people and funds,” says Godwin. “It’s a lot of work, and we are so excited to get to serve the next generation and help them know Jesus.”

IMM’s plan is to produce a 2-D and 3-D animated series of Bible-based stories, with 15-minute episodes that can be dubbed into multiple languages, helping to reach children through captivating storytelling, vibrant characters, and immersive narratives. Existing IMM children’s programs like Boulevard des Enfants and World of Jonathan Singh have had millions of views over three decades. The ministry currently has two children stories in production, one of which is Red—a story that helps teach kids they can have hope in challenging circumstances, even when they feel alone.

“So much tragedy is out there, but God redeems things,” says Godwin. “He redeems people, and he uses them.”

Pray on behalf of believers in regions of war and conflict, on behalf of IMM’s media partners, and that God would send IMM more animators and other mission-minded workers to help make this project a reality. You can learn more about the project at imm.edu/for-children.

Header photo courtesy of International Media Ministries. 

“People are losing a lot of hope in their countries’ education future, so they tend to give up,” El-Mounayer says. 

SAT-7 staff point kids to Christ while standing in their shoes, as many ministry team members have personal experience with displacement or refugee status. El-Mounayer recalls her own experience growing up in Lebanon:

“I was not a refugee, but I was displaced many times, and all I wanted was for somebody to tell me there is hope.” 

Praise God that the hope of Christ knows no bounds! Please pray that it will reach MENA’s young people before the increasingly radicalized messaging of their cultural environment takes hold. If the Gospel is not preached, El-Mounayer says we lose. 

“We lose this generation that is becoming so confused between the message of extreme hate and the message of extreme love,” she points out. 

Primarily through social media platforms, SAT-7 ministry team members routinely take questions from young people about the love and forgiveness of God. 

“They ask us, ‘Love? God is love?’ They ask us, ‘Forgiveness? We should forgive people who hurt us?’ And we’re very honest when we answer that it’s really not easy – especially in the Middle East when there are many enemies around. But people feel and respect this honesty,” she says. 

After connecting with youth via social messaging apps, the ministry’s next step is to connect them with a viewer support team. 

“They try to connect with the people. They try to answer their questions. They try to pray with them. And then at the end, when we feel it’s safe – specifically their safety – we connect them to a local church or underground church,” El-Mounayer says. 

Please pray for much spiritual fruit from SAT-7’s ministry to children. Learn more about their work here. 

“We are on our knees praying because we really believe that it’s not our work at the end,” El-Mounayer says. “It’s the work of the Holy Spirit.” 

Courtesy of Ahmed Akacha via Pexels. Featured image courtesy of Oussama Ben Slama via Pexels.

Header photo: Courtesy of Oussama Ben Slama via Pexels.