Now, more civilians east of the city are fleeing a possible further escalation.

Nuna* with Triumphant Mercy Lebanon says Syria will fragment into separate federations. “I don’t see a solution, unless with division. They cannot live together.” 

Conflict with the Kurds is only one of many fires the new Syrian government has faced since coming to power in December 2024. Massacres took place last year among Alawite and Druze communities, causing distrust of the administration to skyrocket.

“This is a religious war. More than a religious and ethnic war, more than just the land or dominion. They’re fighting against each other because of beliefs,” says Nuna. “How can you topple that? How can you minimize that and say, ‘It’s okay. Just become friends again and make an alliance again’?” 

Yet Nuna says the clashes between different groups of Muslims (as well as non-Islamic faiths such as the Druze) are doing something else: They are opening people to the gospel.

Syrian citizens celebrate the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, December 2024 (Photo courtesy of Shvan Hark via Unsplash)

“People are disillusioned with Islam. They’re looking for the true truth, if I can say it this way — the real truth,” she says. “So many people are coming to the Lord.”

Media is helping to share the gospel with people in Syria. “It’s a difficult process [for a person to become a Christian], because the families are not supportive. They face persecutio,” says Nuna. “But reaching out on media and responding to [media-based] prompts is something that they can do without being persecuted by their own family.”

Pray for Syrians trapped in poverty. Nuna says three or four people in a household have to work to pay rent and cover basic necessities.

Pray also for many more people to encounter the light and peace of Christ in Syria’s turmoil. Nuna describes the national situation as “a war within each person.”

“Each person is afraid and is watching carefully to see what’s next,” she says. People wonder whether they can stay in Syria and raise their families, or if they should leave. “I understand them, really, when I talk to them and I see the way they’re living. I understand the threats, I understand the fear, I understand the anguish. We have no solution. We [at Triumphant Mercy] just say, ‘Let’s wait and see.’ We cannot say anything else.”

Aleppo, Syria in 2017 (Stock photo courtesy of Aladdin Hammami via Unsplash)

*Pseudonym

Header photo of Aleppo, Syria is a stock photo courtesy of Ahmad Sofi via Unsplash.

Already, Palestinians are anticipating a new civil administration after the dust settles. The Center for Peace Communications and the We Want to Live movement report that Gazans — including teachers, lawyers, and activists — are leading a grassroots resistance to Hamas influence.

But for now, Pastor Israel Pochtar with Beit Hallel Congregation in Ashdod says there are significant challenges.

“It’s Israel getting into guerrilla war. When we study history, the guerrilla war is the most challenging one. Even big countries struggle with the guerrilla war and the fighters — in our case, terrorists — hiding among civilians. You never know who is the soldier and who is just a peaceful person. It’s very complicated.”

(Photo courtesy of Pastor Konstantin Tsivin/Beit Hallel Congregation)

Beit Hallel Congregation sees the toll this war has taken, particularly on soldiers and their families.

“There is a lot of PTSD for soldiers,” says Pochtar. “When they go out of Gaza, they come to just normal life. The coffee places are open, the restaurants are open. Israel learned how to live peacefully even in the midst of the war, when war is just around the corner. But for soldiers who come out and see that, see kids and family — and then go back to fire, to danger and friends dying and waiting for hostages to be released, it is very difficult.”

In moments like this, Scripture brings encouragement. “So the words of the Bible, when it says, ‘Comfort, comfort, my people says the Lord,’ it really makes sense now even more, because the nation really needs comfort.”

Pochtar urges believers worldwide to pray for both sides of the conflict. “I want to ask all the friends to pray for Gaza — not only for peace, but also for freedom for the Gospel…. And praise the Lord, we have many friends who are waiting for this day and ready to go, ready to bless, help, but also preach the Gospel.”

Ultimately, the conflict is pushing people in Israel and Gaza to search for hope beyond politics.

“Now it’s the time to comfort and to preach Jesus because He’s the only solution for Israel. He’s the only solution for Gaza. It’s the only hope. There are no political solutions. At least, I believe there’s no political solutions during this situation. Only God can change and do miracles.”

Header photo: The fighters of the Multi-Dimensional Unit maneuver on the ground in the Gaza Strip in the Iron Swords War.
(IDF Spokesperson’s Unit/Wikimedia Commons)

Civilians and a local militia group fought back against the coordinated attack but were overrun. Reports indicate most of those killed were civilians, including some women and children.

Attacks by JNIM are part of the Muslim extremist push to exert control in Burkina Faso and West Africa. With growing instability in the region, jihadists have been siphoning into Burkina Faso from both the north and east.

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach (CWO) says, “It’s al Qaeda groups that are coming in and…trying to take over the country…. They keep attacking these villages and targeting even churches. I was just told at one church, they brought 26 men out and killed them; tied them up and killed them right there at the church.”

CWO runs an educational ministry called the Village of Opportunity (VOO) for girls in Burkina Faso. Yoder says, “Some of our girls that come to the Village of Opportunity are from the area that’s being attacked right now, and some of the teachers as well and family of people that that we know.

“Some of the girls are coming back to school early. It’s a boarding school, so they’re leaving their villages to get away from the situation.”

Students at the Village of Opportunity (VOO) with CWO in Burkina Faso. (Photo courtesy of CWO)

One challenge is that the Village of Opportunity classes weren’t supposed to start until next month.

“All of a sudden, now we have costs that we weren’t planning on as far as having the girls there to feed them and house them earlier than expected,” says Yoder.

“But these girls are resilient [and] they’re brave. Their heart is to make a difference somehow because they love the Lord, and they are looking for a better future for themselves and their villages and for Burkina as a whole.”

Pray for believers in Burkina Faso, for their faith and witness to others. Yoder shares, “Our leader there just even expressed that to me this morning – that they’re walking by faith.

“So pray, and if you feel led, give financially. We’re going to be needing to send some relief funds for food for people and people that are being displaced.”

Click here to donate to CWO’s Gospel-centered ministry.

Learn more about CWO in Burkina Faso.

Header photo of Burkina Faso self-defense forces in 2021. (Photo courtesy of Henry Wilkins/VOA – https://www.voaafrique.com/a/au-faso-des-groupes-d-auto-défense-pour-faire-face-à-l-insécurité/6253665.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113757080)

It’s a complex situation with a staggering number of players. More than 260 local or foreign-backed armed groups exist within the DRC according to a 2023 survey by the government. (Learn about key groups such as M23 here.) 

Photo of sewing class in East DRC courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship

Ben Samuelson serves with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in Ituri Province, the region directly north of the North Kivu hotbed. In the past two weeks, Ituri itself has had an upsurge of killings, abductions and burning of homes of civilians by non-state armed groups, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.

In the midst of the chaos, Samuelson and the MAF team offer stability through a shuttle system between Ituri’s capital city of Bunia and three other major cities in East Congo.

“It doesn’t really matter what direction you take off and start flying (from Bunia). You are effectively always flying over militia activity at some point along that route,” Samuelson says.

MAF serves in three of the internally displaced persons camps in Bunia, offering local-led literacy classes, sewing classes, basic counseling services and more.

Nearly seven million people are displaced within Congo. Samuelson says one tiny hut in these camps might hold a large family.

Photo of Ben and Anna Samuelson with a literacy class graduate in East DRC courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship

“These people are scared for their lives, and they’re traumatized. It’s better to run away from everything they know, and come to one of these camps, than to have to live their life in fear every single day of this group that will come to kill them and to make their lives miserable,” he says.

Regarding extremist groups within the DRC, Samuelson calls their actions inhumane. He says it’s hard to talk about and is clearly the destructive work of Satan.

Pray for the MAF team as they serve in dangerous, pressured region. Learn more about MAF’s work in the DRC here.

Samuelson knows his team can’t solve the deep struggles facing the DRC. “But we have the chance to help some people, you know. We have the chance to serve the people that God has placed in front of us,” he says.

Join MAF in lifting up this complex crisis before the Lord, who knows and understands every detail. Pray for wisdom for leaders, long-term peace in the nation and the hope of the gospel to reach millions of suffering people.

Header photo courtesy of MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti via Wikimedia Commons. People from the Kibumba – Rutchuru axe who fled the combats between FARDC and advancing M23 rebels, set camp in Kanyaruchinya 4km north of Goma, the 1st of August 2012.

Years of conflict

Open war broke out for six weeks in 2020, killing more than 7,000 soldiers. At that time, Russia brokered a ceasefire and sent peacekeeping troops, but they have not prevented flare-ups in violence since then.

And the invasion of Ukraine has exhausted Russia’s focus and resources. Azerbaijan gained territory during the 2020 conflict. With Armenia’s major ally, Russia, occupied in Ukraine, Azerbaijan’s advantage grows even stronger.

Eric Mock with the Slavic Gospel Association says, “There are cultural, religious, and political issues that manage to keep the situation in constant tension, constant fighting. Even though there is a ceasefire, the word ceasefire, much like what we see in Ukraine today, means a status quo in the middle of the fighting.”

“There remains a difficulty between these countries over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.”

Local churches

SGA serves churches in both Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Mock says believers rush into embattled areas, bringing help and hope in Jesus’ name. “It’s very easy to get into the habit of choosing geographical or political sides, but we who are in Christ have chosen the kingdom of heaven as our side.”

Many civilians caught up in the war suffered greatly, especially those who lived in the disputed territories. Their homes switched hands from Armenia to Azerbaijan as the latter gained territory during the 2020 war.

Pray many will find comfort and peace in the love of Jesus. You can support these local churches through SGA.

The header photo shows a missile that landed in an Armenian village during a September bout of violence. (Photo courtesy of the Official YouTube channel of Ministry of Defence of Armenia, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Brian Dennett with AMG International says, “This concert by a very famous local singer there was organized to kind of celebrate an opposition group. And unfortunately, fighter jets were dispatched, bombed the area, and killed the singer actually mid-song.”

The military also prevented severely wounded people from leaving the area to get medical treatment.

Officials from Myanmar’s ousted civilian government say the military has carried out more than 240 airstrikes against civilians since the coup.

AMG

Dennett recently spoke with an AMG leader in the region and even saw photographs taken after the concert attack. Civilians across Myanmar live in fear of the military bombing them as well. “The military is showing a complete disregard for the lives of all Burmese citizens. And they’re thinking only of securing control. It’s just very sad.”

AMG continues to provide shelter for people fleeing across the border. They need food and basic supplies. You can help here.

Dennett says the love of Jesus is at the heart of this ministry. “Many are coming to Christ as a result of the work. Pray these dear souls will have the only true hope that we have, and that’s in Jesus.”

The header photo shows some school children in Myanmar that AMG is working with. They have been gathered into a hand-dug trench to avoid being hit by bombs. (Photo courtesy of AMG International)

Over the weekend, the strikes killed at least 62 Ukrainian civilians. Ukraine’s government has asked The U.S. and other allies for advanced air defense systems.

Eric Mock with the Slavic Gospel Association says, “Now winter is setting in. And in the middle of winter, and the destruction of the electrical and heating infrastructure, I think you’re going to see a new wave of refugees fleeing. Because there’s no way to stay warm during the winter.”

“And you’re going to see a loss of life coming from the elements because people cannot be cared for.”

Russia’s strategy has shifted towards bombing civilian targets. Mock says, “The areas getting hit are from electrical facilities to heating infrastructures to apartment buildings. They do not seem to be military targets.”

Putin recently appointed a man often known as “General Armageddon” to lead the Ukraine invasion. He is known for his brutal tactics against civilians.

He was appointed soon after the sabotage of the Crimea bridge on October 8. The bridge served as an important military supply route for Russian forces.

How to help

Mock asks readers to pray for people hurt by the attacks. “Imagine standing in one of these villages and seeing the loss of civilian life. I received a picture today from a little village in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia region. We’ve been ministering there. I’ve been there myself many times. There were explosions in the central marketplace, killing scores of people.”

Local churches minister to those suffering and in need. Mock says, “The love, mercy, compassion, and grace of God has been shown through these people.”

You can support these churches through SGA. Learn more here.

Header photo courtesy of the Slavic Gospel Association on Facebook. 

Eric Foley with The Voice of the Martyrs Korea says, “The Christian community is mourning. Pastor T approached me and asked that we raise up prayers for Ethiopia, Tigray, for the Tigray Christians, and all the Christians in Ethiopia.”

“I have every reason to believe that she was probably on her knees in prayer the time that it happened.”

The attacks wounded 13 people as well. But hospitals in Tigray have been cut off from vital supplies, putting the wounded in more danger.

Civil war

The civil war in Ethiopia ignited again in recent weeks. Over the weekend, the Tigray Liberation Front offered a ceasefire, but the Ethiopian central government has yet to respond.

Unfortunately, some Christians within Ethiopia have advocated for continuing attacks. Foley says, “People calling themselves prophets have arisen among the evangelical leaders, who are quite strong across Ethiopia in their support of the government. And they’ve shared the message to say, ‘God is with you. Now is the time to move forward with the attack.’ Pastor T and other Tigray Christians are grieved. For them, it is a time of real mourning for the death of their Christian sister.” 

How to pray

Foley asked Pastor T about conditions in the Tigray region after many months of fighting. “He noted the ongoing challenges that electricity is off and banks are closed. But he said churches continued to meet. This was his quote to me, ‘Under the pressure of hunger and lack of peace, still, they worship and serve the Lord. They are like North Korean and Chinese Christians.’”

Pray for peace in the Tigray region, and ask God to bring unity to the Church in Ethiopia. Foley says, “Pray Christians would be able to differentiate between politics and faith.”

The header photo shows an airstrike hitting Mekelle earlier in the war. (Photo courtesy of VOA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

As order breaks down in the country, soaring food prices have caused a hunger crisis. Many people are fleeing the country if they get a chance.

AMG camp

In response, Brian Dennett with AMG International says, “AMG established a pretty large camp with over 50 homes for refugee families, and also two different hostels for unaccompanied children.”

An AMG leadership team recently visited the camp. They met a young Christian woman with an amazing story. Dennett says, “As a young girl, she really suffered watching her mother abused, left scarred by her alcoholic father. And then her mom had become a Christian and prayed fervently for her father.”

“Miraculously, he came to Christ left his drinking and, and drugs.”

But as the military violence approached, her parents sent her across the border to safety. Dennett says on top of bombings and shootings, female civilians in Myanmar live in fear of being sexually assaulted by members of the military. “She’s now in our refugee village has come to the Lord herself. And I know our people were in tears watching her worship and now serve younger kids.”

One boy came into the camp traumatized, always wanting to fight others. Now, his voice has been heard singing with other children.

Support AMG’s work among the refugees at amghelps.org. And ask God to stop the violence and bring peace.

The header photo shows people from the IDP community inside Myanmar. (Photo courtesy of Billy Weeks)

The junta has promised to hold free elections in the future, but they say they now need more time to stabilize the country. The military seized power from the elected government in a February 2021 coup.

Atrocities

Meanwhile, numerous soldiers are having changes of heart. Brian Dennett with AMG International says, “AMG staff work in several refugee camps along the Myanmar border. They were able to confirm the stories that we’ve all been reading that soldiers are admitting, even with tremendous guilt, to killing, torturing, and raping innocent citizens as they carried out orders from the military leaders.”

“Even the elderly and children have been targets.”

It’s not a small number either, Dennett says. “We’re hearing that a significant number of soldiers, after learning that they were not just going to be serving as guards, are indeed defecting.”

At the camps, AMG cares for people fleeing the violence by crossing into Thailand. Many children are unaccompanied, either losing their parents or being separated from them. Dennett says, “Some of the children we are serving were found scavenging to survive. Now they depend on the support that we’re offering.”

Get involved

All this work is being done in the name of Jesus. You can support these refugees at amghelps.org. Dennett says, “We have just been so blessed to be able to serve them, and also share the hope of Christ with them and many families there.”

Please pray for the AMG team on the field as well. Ask God to give them strength and endless love.

The header photo shows the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Myanmar can be seen on the opposite bank. (Photo courtesy of Manop, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)