Sudan’s civil war started three years ago, with strong evidence of genocidal violence in Darfur, but few in the West pay attention.

“There’s genocide after genocide, and oftentimes it doesn’t make the news because there’s other conflicts that are more germane to United States politics,” Jesse Griffin of unfoldingWord says.

Sudan faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with war, famine, and economic collapse all overlapping. There’s no clear path to peace, and violence is intensifying rather than slowing.

Yet hope remains. “The Gospel continues to expand in Sudan, and it’s wonderful to see how the Holy Spirit is still at work,” Griffin says.

“Our brothers in Sudan will say that, because of the conflict, there’s a huge receptivity to the Gospel.”

Refugee camps become ministry centers

The Lord is working through Sudanese church planters who partner with unfoldingWord to do Bible translation.

“Our partners at Greater Reach Alliance have trained people from 89 different tribes in Sudan,” Griffin says. “These people are going back to their communities and sharing the Gospel, starting churches, and making disciples.”

Using the Scriptures they’ve completed, translators eagerly share the Gospel in their language communities.

“They have adopted a method that integrates translation into the life of the church and their ministry,” Griffin says.

“On a weekly basis, they are not only understanding Scripture, translating it, applying it, but they’re also ministering it in their church context, and they’re proclaiming it in the refugee camps.” 

Translators press on

(Photo courtesy unfoldingWord)

Teams are completing the New Testament in Sudanese Arabic and Masalit this year. Sudanese Arabic teams will finish work on the Old Testament in 2027. Support these efforts through unfoldingWord here.

“Because we have empowered the people to do it (Bible translation) themselves and they don’t need outside help to do the work, it’s actually progressed in spite of the war,” Griffin says.

“It (translation) doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out, seven-or-10-year process. They’re actually using Scripture as they work on it.”

Many Muslims are turning to Christ after hearing the Gospel in their heart language.

“Pray for their protection because many of them, [as] soon as they make that decision, their lives are in jeopardy from those closest to them,” Griffin requests.

Header and story images courtesy of unfoldingWord. 

Nuna* with Triumphant Mercy Lebanon says, “We’re just glued on our TV, seeing, ‘What is the government doing? What is Hezbollah doing? What is Israel doing?’ It’s like the whole thing has escalated in a way that we did not expect.”

Hezbollah fighters train in southern Lebanon, May 2023. (Photo courtesy of Tasnim News Agency/Wikimedia Commons)

Israel added Beirut to its hitlist yesterday following overnight attacks from the Iran-backed political and militant group, Hezbollah.

“Hezbollah started to send weapon missiles towards Israel, and Israel decided, ‘Okay, they want war. Let’s do war.’ They started to bomb heavily, and they killed most of the main chiefs of departments in Hezbollah,” says Nuna. 

As thousands of people fled the deadly strike zones, Lebanon’s government sought to distance itself from Hezbollah’s actions — with a bold ban on the militia that it has held back from making until now. 

“We had an emergency Cabinet meeting, and the whole Cabinet decided to name Hezbollah as a terrorist organization that is not affiliated [with] the government,” says Nuna. “This is very important, because this might create a civil war.”

The threat of civil war comes from the fact that Hezbollah is both a militant and a political group within Lebanon. It has held the support of Lebanon’s more than 30% Shiite Muslim population for years. Many see the group as a protector against Lebanon’s neighbor to the south, Israel. But Monday’s bombing was Hezbollah’s first claimed attack on Israel in more than a year. Some say it could prove to be Hezbollah’s undoing within Lebanon.

“Now it’s like they gave a carte blanche to Israel to say, ‘okay, you can kill whoever, and you can just destroy whatever is belonging to Hezbollah,’” says Nuna. 

Believers and ministries rally

Aid groups like Triumphant Mercy Lebanon are taking action, too. Believers called an emergency meeting to coordinate responses.

(Photo courtesy of Triumphant Mercy Lebanon)

“It’s very important to see Christian organizations working together, and not as entities by themselves,” says Nuna. “We need to pray, really, for the unity of the organizations that are working [together].” 

Pray for Gospel opportunities as people celebrate Purim, which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people in modern-day Iran. 

“Purim is meaning not only the liberation of the people of God, but also the opening of eyes of the king,” says Nuna. 

Don’t forget to pray for Iran as well. 

“We pray the purposes of God to come to pass. And the purposes of God are that Iranian people will be saved,” says Nuna. “In the flesh, we want Iran destroyed. But actually, God wants Iran to be saved — yes, saved from this regime that is oppressing people and killing its own people.”

*Pseudonym

Header photo of Beirut, Lebanon courtesy of Maxime Guy/Unsplash.

Christians don’t escape these realities; instead, they endure persecution on top of it. Myanmar is among the top 15 countries where it’s hardest to be a follower of Jesus. Consequences for following Christ are often violent and community-based. 

Mike* with Global Catalytic Ministries (GCM) offers a glimpse of a resilient Church. 

Hard pressed but not crushed

“They’re human. You know, we’re all human,” says Mike. “We think of the underground church as these super soldiers, super-human people.”

He tells the story of one Christian in Myanmar and his driver who were stopped by soldiers. There was a scuffle, and a military man executed the driver on the spot. Then he put his gun at the Christian’s head. 

The Christian began going into shock, which included mumbling incoherently. 

“[The soldier] was like, ‘Oh, he’s just mentally handicapped,’ and he walked away,” says Mike. 

“So it’s like, it wasn’t his faith and his strength in the Lord that got him out of that situation. Even in fear, even in this shock moment, God still protects and still moves.

“It’s messy and it’s nuanced, but it’s so inspiring to see, even in the midst of such massive persecution and loss, that they still move forward at all costs.”

Persecuted but not abandoned

Yet the years of devastation and struggle in Myanmar can make believers feel closed off from the global Church. 

“There’s so much trauma, there’s so much death, there’s so [many] issues and survival and stress and PTSD,” says Mike. “When you’re up against it and feeling pressure, you get frustrated at times and feel like no one cares.”

(Photo courtesy of Jesse Schoff via Unsplash)

But he says feelings of abandonment are often met with the truth that God is with the Church in Myanmar and is their strength. 

“It’s this constant kind of adjustment as the emotions rise up,” he says. 

Pray for the believers in Christ in Myanmar. Learn how you can support and stand with them alongside GCM at catalyticministries.com.

“We support them as much as we can, but we’re still so much under what they should be receiving,” says Mike. 

“It’s truly a beauty from ashes. I would just love for people to understand or even taste a little bit of what they have to go through, and maybe sacrifice a little bit to help support them. There’s so many other things that I can’t get into when it comes to how they have to operate.” 

*Pseudonym

Header photo of Bagan, Myanmar courtesy of Ajay Karpur via Unsplash.

Brother Isaac* from Global Catalytic Ministries was in Myanmar not long ago. “Since the coup, there’s been a wave of economic hopelessness again. People cannot survive, people are hungry,” he says.

Protest in Myanmar against Military Coup 14-Feb-2021. (Wikimedia Commons, CC by SA 4.0)

“People everywhere just don’t know where to go on from here. I’ve never before been in an atmosphere where nearly everybody is afraid.” 

Unlikely leaders of the church

The civil war has displaced at least 3.6 million people and killed thousands — some estimate tens of thousands, such as the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project monitoring group.

The church in Myanmar hasn’t been spared these tragedies. It has many widows, many of whose husbands died in conscripted military service. Yet Isaac says these women are leading the church movement. 

“I look at their faces, and I know their losses. I know many of them have lost homes — their homes have been burnt down. They are in extreme persecution. And at the same time, their worship is extremely joyful,” he says.

A future hope

More things have changed in Myanmar since the 2021 coup. Isaac says Buddhist monks in Myanmar have received more power. Persecution of those who leave Buddhism to follow Christ is severe. Persecution also exists for people groups who are considered ethnically Christian, such as the Chin, Karen, and Kachin. 

“There’s something called ‘the Burmanization of Myanmar.’ That has expanded where it includes Buddhism,” says Isaac. “So other minority ethnic religious groups — even though they do deserve protection, even under the military — there is an undercurrent of attempts to force them to become Buddhist or at least submit to Buddhist ways.”

But one thing grounds Christians from all backgrounds: a very real hope in Christ’s second return. 

“They know that there is a coming hope,” says Isaac, “and that their hope is anchored in a deep Maranatha cry of ‘Come, Lord Yeshua. Come, Lord Jesus.’ That is the exciting part I’ve seen that I wish even the Western Church would grab.”

(Photo of child in Tambon Mae La, Kayin State, Myanmar courtesy of Z via Unsplash)

Find your place in the story

Pray for God to bring a time of refreshing upon the persecuted church in Myanmar, “so they could experience what it means to be a body without having to be refugees again,” says Isaac. 

Pray for a political change to happen in Myanmar, so that believers can live out their faith in freedom, not fear.

Finally, consider how to take further steps toward discipling others in Christ. 

“One of the best ways we can honor the underground church is by joining them in the call and the mission that they have,” says Isaac. That mission is the Great Commission, to help others become disciples of Christ, be baptized, and learn to obey all His commands.

If you’re looking for more insight on how to live on mission with God, consider visiting Global Catalytic Ministries’ website and taking a disciple-making course. 

*Pseudonym

Header photo: U Bein Bridge, Mandalay, Myanmar (Stock photo courtesy of Alexey Komissarov via Unsplash).

The civil war between the Sudanese Armed Force and Rapid Support Forces has killed tens of thousands—with reports of indiscriminate attacks on civilians—and displaced more than 12 million people. The country has been at the top of International Rescue Committee’s Emergency Watchlist, which identifies countries at the highest risk of new or worsening humanitarian crises, for two years in a row. The resulting chaos and instability has opened opportunities for extremists to target, abduct, and kill Sudanese Christians, who lack support and face discrimination within their communities.

“The challenges are huge,” says John, a Gospel worker focused on Sudan. “Not all the areas in Sudan are safe for Christians, especially for those who convert their faith.”

Sudanese Christians who have come to faith from a Muslim background face severe backlash. Even once the civil war ends, John is unsure how leaders will treat Christians in Sudan, with neither side of the conflict sympathetic toward them.

“They say on platforms, ‘Yes, we are all one,’ but the actual is not like that at all,” says John.

Despite all this, he is seeing a growing openness toward Christian messages of hope from individuals.

“Before the war, they can’t accept us as Sudanese Christians. They refuse to hear us. But when they saw us after the war, how we are dealing with the situation, the message that God says to them—’do not be afraid, just focus on me’—they start to figure out what this is about.”

As John describes one individual’s perspective: “We don’t know you before like this. We hate you before—but no, you are good people. We want to know more about Jesus.”

John dreams of a day where Christians in Sudan can share their faith with their families and are treated as brothers by their countrymen, regardless of religion.

He asks for prayers for the safety of Christians in north Sudan, and for ongoing passion amongst evangelists working to reach the area with the gospel.

“The challenges are so difficult, so many,” says John, “but we see that this is for God—we will do it.”

*Pseudonym

Header photo is a representative stock image courtesy of Yusuf Yassir via Unsplash. 

Camille Melki with Heart For Lebanon says that religious minorities like Kurds, Christians, Alawites, and Shia Muslims are still very reluctant to return to Syria.

Heart For Lebanon has worked to reach Syrian refugees in Lebanon. (Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)

During the 13 years of civil war in Syria, about 60–65% of people population was displaced. About 6.8 million Syrians fled to other nations, especially neighboring ones like Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.

Heart For Lebanon has served refugees and locals alike as they aim to emulate Christ-like love, which creates opportunities for sharing the gospel.

“Heart for Lebanon is a ministry that focuses on addressing the needs of the marginalized, the vulnerable, those who have been suffering tremendously and have either been residents of this nation or have moved into this country of Lebanon,” Melki says.

To Syrian refugees, aid from a Christian organization may first seem to have ulterior motivations. Many believe Christians to be the enemy, or they think that organizations like Heart for Lebanon seek to gain politically through their work. When they see Christians behave differently, it creates gospel opportunities.

“We serve unconditionally, but that doesn’t mean unconditional aid forces us not to share the Gospel. In fact, it’s the reverse,” Melki says. “People in the Middle East ask questions; Syrian refugees are the first to do so. ‘What motivates you? What drives you, what gets you out of bed every morning? Why do you care for a person from a different faith background, from a different religious group, or from a different ethnic background?’ When they hear that the aid we give is given unconditionally, it baffles them.”

Melki has seen a thirst for the gospel among Syrian refugees. As they return home, please pray that they will take the message of Jesus with them.

“What excites me the most is what will happen in Syria, six, seven, eight years from now, when individuals who have expressed their faith in Christ in Lebanon are ready to carry that gospel message among their own people in their own country.”

Please pray also for the emotional loss and healing needed in Syria as they work to rebuild.

Pray also for Lebanon as it recovers economically and politically from all the

factors involved in hosting Syrian refugees.

Header Photo courtesy of Shvan Hark via Unsplash

John*, a Gospel worker focused on Sudan, says Rapid Support Forces show no sign of slowing. “They’re going east to Kordofan, and it’s creating a new displacement of people,” John says.

“We really need to pray. I don’t think that Sudan is on the radar; very, very few people that I talk to are even aware of how dire the situation is.”

Displacement and despair

A brutal power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in April 2023, plunging the country into widespread violence, displacement, and humanitarian collapse. See our coverage here.

(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

El Fasher, the last army stronghold in Darfur, fell to the RSF in October. “Now the RSF, much like ISIS, is free within the city to do what it wants without having to fight a battle. And what they’re doing is ravaging the people,” John says.

“Rape of women is [common]; the numbers are unbelievable. And then the trafficking and selling of children has become one of the most horrible results of the RSF having control of El Fasher.”

Thousands of families are struggling to survive as their access to aid groups is limited. Access routes into Darfur and Kordofan have become increasingly restricted due to RSF control, active fighting, and the looting of aid supplies.

Furthermore, “They (survivors) are moving from El Fasher into places that make it more difficult to help them, and that has really heightened the crisis,” John says, adding that the Mara Mountains are a popular destination.

“The (church planting) teams that we had [in El Fasher] were driven out. We’re trying to contact some of them in the Mara Mountains.”

Strength for today, hope for tomorrow

Church planters living among the displaced offer the hope of Christ through trauma counselling.

“We have 28 teams in 28 refugee camps in three countries, and they are sharing Christ. I have pictures of baptisms from refugee camps, so the Church is growing. People are coming to Christ,” John says.

“The Gospel is such a threat to Islam because it gives the person inner strength, regardless of the circumstance, and it gives them hope through the circumstance. It is an incredibly powerful thing.”

Please keep Sudan in your prayers. Ask the Lord to guide and protect two church planting teams in Kordofan, the expected path of RSF advances.

“Desperation creates an openness to the Gospel. Pray that the people who were seeking wouldn’t become closed off,” John requests.

“Pray that the Christians in these camps – the people who know God, who have peace, and yet are struggling with discouragement – would be reminded of the hope that they have, and they would be motivated by the Holy Spirit to share that.”

*Pseudoynm

Header image depicts the flag of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). (MartinKassemJ120, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The violations have been acknowledged but not resolved. Yet that may be changing. 

Last week, the still-armed Hezbollah urged Lebanon’s government not to negotiate further with Israel. Israel responded by ramping up strikes in southern Lebanon against what it says were Hezbollah targets.

Hezbollah fighters train in southern Lebanon, May 2023. (Photo courtesy of Tasnim News Agency/Wikimedia Commons)

Nuna* with Triumphant Mercy Lebanon explains the escalation is something to take seriously. 

“It means that if Hezbollah doesn’t give up the weapons, we’re going to have another war,” Nuna says.

“If Hezbollah keeps the weapons, Israel has said it very bluntly that ‘We will not allow it.’ They will have a war again until they completely destroy Hezbollah.”

Lebanon’s government pledged this summer to implement a disarmament plan against Hezbollah, with the goal of completion by the end of the year. It has already taken steps toward this goal, but Hezbollah says it will not disarm.

“The government says something, Hezbollah says something else, and nobody says anything about it. Nobody is keeping Hezbollah responsible [for] their acts,” says Nuna.

That shows a fear of Hezbollah’s weapons, which Nuna says is understandable. A civil war is no solution to the conflict. 

“But at the same time, this solution must be found, because we cannot keep Lebanon hostage [to] the will of one small party [Hezbollah] in Lebanon,” says Nuna. 

Hope for restoration

With Hezbollah and Israel on opposite sides and the clock for 2025 ticking, the conflict is coming to a head. 

“We cannot do anything about it, except pray and ask that the Lord will have mercy on Lebanon and find a solution,” Nuna says.

Beirut House of Prayer gathering October 9-11, 2025 (Photo courtesy of Triumphant Mercy Lebanon)

During a 50-hour prayer gathering in Beirut last month, believers prayed for Lebanon’s restoration. 

“I think we felt the Lord was saying, ‘I’m sending my arrows, and when the arrows hit the ground, it will shake the nation,’” Nuna shares. “We are seeing a shaking now. Is it easy to be in the shaking? No, but we don’t want to stay in the status quo in any way.”

Pray for God to reshape Lebanon for His good purposes during this tense time of upheaval. Pray that for the entire Middle East as well. 

“Look at the new era for Syria now, with the presidency in the US, with France, with the accords that are starting to shape with Israel — the Abrahamic Accords. All these things. Something is changing in the whole region,” says Nuna. “So let’s pray that the Lord who is in the business of changing the Middle East will do it according to His plans, and He will not allow any of man’s plan to succeed.”

*Pseudonym

Header photo: Beirut, Lebanon (Stock photo courtesy of Muhammed Beyrouti via Unsplash)

Mike* with Global Catalytic Ministries says there’s a massive movement of God happening in Myanmar. But, “it’s hard to share these types of stories because the persecution is so high.”

Myanmar’s civil war has killed over 75,000 people and displaced more than 3 million since 2021, according to UN estimates. Although last week the military junta signed a ceasefire with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army — a key rebel group in the north — the nationwide chaos has no real end in sight.

GCM lost contact with dozens of believers after a devastating 7.7-magnitude quake struck Myanmar in March. Dozens more recently lost their lives at the hands of the military. 

In that loss, Mike still says, “There’s so much more to these people. [It’s] one of the largest movements on earth that no one knows about. Under the nose of such hatred and evil, God is moving and moving in such a powerful way. This is what He does all over the world.”

Recently, disciple-makers gained a new tool for spreading the Good News: a comic book version of GCM’s “Creation to Christ” story series.

“The way that we make disciples is we build relationships with individuals, and then we share stories,” Mike says. “We are discipling them in understanding God’s character without them even knowing it from the beginning.”

He says that in other contexts, such as the Middle East, visual aids are frowned upon. But this comic, created by a former Buddhist-turned-Christian, is more than welcome in Myanmar.

(Stock photo courtesy of Pixabay)

“Even the visual aid of it — because a lot of them don’t read or write — the visual aid of it is making just a profound impact. We have images of them discipling monks and monk children,” Mike says.

Find your place in the story

Please pray for the gospel to reach more people, and for wisdom and protection for Burmese believers in danger.

“[Pray for] blindness to the enemy, [and] infiltration at the highest level with the gospel of Jesus so that the [junta] government falls and the transformation happens at the highest level,” says Mike. 

Finally, please consider helping to recoup the printing costs of the comic book. In response to the March 28 earthquake, GCM invested above and beyond the funds they raised for relief and aid. One of those expenditures was for printing the comic books. 

“We knew that the desperation that they were feeling, these are the ingredients where the gospel just spreads like wildfire,” says Mike. 

Support ministry in Myanmar with GCM with a gift of any amount. 

Header image is a stock photo courtesy of Kosygin Leishangthem via Pexels.

According to one analyst, peace talks in Washington, D.C., give the RSF militia political cover to commit atrocities. Pastor Ibrahim, a Sudanese pastor, tells MNN, “The peace negotiations [have] always been up and down, and always end negatively.”

The United Nations and regional actors call for an immediate ceasefire in El Fasher. Civilians have no access to food, water, or medical supplies, and aid workers are unable to reach them.

More than 260,000 people – including 130,000 children – have been trapped under siege in El Fasher for over a year. “Things are beyond government control,” Pastor Ibrahim says.

“It’s a mess everywhere in Sudan, and there is a lot of pressure.”

Attributing pressure to Islamist non-military sources, Pastor Ibrahim voices concern about ceasefire resistance within Sudan. “They will not take it easy, that’s really the fear,” he says.

(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

Sudan’s silver lining

Believers throughout Sudan suffer alongside their Muslim neighbors. In some cases, the Church is at the top of the radicals’ hit list. “The Church always is in the middle of the persecution,” Pastor Ibrahim says.

“[The] RSF, when they came to Khartoum, one of the places they attacked immediately was the Church.”

Yet hope remains. “The Bible tells us in the Book of Acts that persecution has been one of the elements of the growth and the extension of the Church,” Pastor Ibrahim says.

“We can testify and tell [of] the number of unreached people who are responding to the Gospel today [compared to] the times of peace.”

Pray for strength and endurance for Sudanese Christians.

“The most important prayer is that the Lord enable the churches and the ministries to stand firm and to be bold, and then seek God’s guidance and protection,” Pastor Ibrahim says.

Pray also for unity. “When we face difficulties from outside and we are divided inside, that makes it harder,” he adds.

Header image depicts a Sudanese combatant with G3 rifle. (Photo courtesy of Steve Evans/Wikimedia Commons)