But Pierre Houssney with Horizons International poses a broader, yet more personal, question: how can American Christians engage with the increasing numbers of Muslims living around us?

“For me, that is the secret to this whole issue,” Houssney says. “Let’s share the Gospel with these people.” 

Raised in a family dedicated to sharing Jesus with Muslims, Houssney says he has witnessed countless conversions from Islam to Christ.  

“And I’ve just seen how the Gospel can actually transform a life from the inside out no matter what background somebody is from,” he explains. 

Horizons International’s training program Engage Muslims with Christ has already been utilized by more than 15,000 people interested in learning how to share the Gospel with Muslims. 

“It gives a basic crash course in what do Muslims believe? What are their attitudes? What are their worldviews? How do we have conversations about the gospel?” Houssney says. 

While American Christians support a variance of legislative policies surrounding immigration and Islamic influx, Houssney says ongoing fomentation of these issues has led to ideological extremity in opposing camps. 

“First there’s the inclusion and diversion side where we want to accept people,” he says. Those in the other camp are “afraid that accepting these people is going to be changing our culture and changing our regulatory landscape and even introducing sharia law into our society.” 

Without downplaying the real tension here, Houssney encourages believers to have Gospel eyes rather than worldly ones. Horizons International is driving this perspective shift through in-person conferences that include the Engage Muslims with Christ training. 

Houssney says the outcomes are meaningful.

Courtesy of Masjid Pogung Dalangan via Unsplash. Header image courtesy of Yusron El Jihan via Unsplash.

For example, many of the 200 attendees of Horizons International’s “The Legacy Conference” in Dallas this month began to see that – by the grace of God – we can think of Muslims in our neighborhoods as a blessing, a challenge, and an opportunity, rather than a threat. 

 “We can share the gospel with these people instead of just being afraid of them and trying to use the avenues of political power to suppress them or stop them,” he says. 

Are you interested in bringing this perspective to your own community? 

“We’ll either bring out a teacher or use the video teaching,” Houssney says. “It’s really easy to facilitate a training where you and a group of people from your church can get this basic course that really is all you need to start sharing the gospel with Muslims.” 

Alternatively, check out the list of upcoming conference locations here. 

In the meantime, Houssney says, if you find yourself confronting fear-based narratives, political or otherwise: 

“Just turn that back and say: there is no fear in love. Speak the scripture over those headlines, pray about it, and ask the Lord: what can I do to take a part in your Great Commission, in what you are doing in this?

Because Jesus is the only hope for this situation.“

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA says the move highlights the plight of Nigerian Christians. “This is one subcommittee of the U.S. House basically saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to shine a light on what’s happening in Nigeria, and we would like the President to sanction the government of Nigeria to try to encourage them to take steps on religious freedom and on protecting the Christian minority, especially in northern Nigeria.’”

(Photo courtesy Voice of the Martyrs USA)

Lawmakers hope this move will push Nigeria to take stronger action in protecting religious minorities.

For years, extremist groups like Boko Haram, Fulani militants, and ISWAP have targeted Christians in Nigeria. A 2024 report from the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa found that Nigeria was responsible for 90% of all Christian deaths worldwide each year.

Between October 2019 and September 2023, the report recorded at least 55,910 people killed by terrorist groups active in the country.

Nettleton says, “The sad thing to me is that these attacks have become so common that they almost don’t make the news anymore.”

Despite the ongoing violence, Nigeria was removed from the U.S. State Department’s Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list in November 2021, a designation that allows for direct sanctions. While the U.S. administration has not yet reinstated Nigeria on the CPC list, Congress is urging sanctions regardless.

“The reality is the Nigerian government hasn’t taken steps to protect persecuted Christians in the North, and so I think they do deserve to be painted as complicit in what is happening there,” says Nettleton.

“The national government of Nigeria, even though in their constitution they promise religious freedom, they don’t actually defend the rights of religious minorities in the North in a way that protects them from these attacks.”

As Congress pushes for action, Nettleton urges Christians worldwide to respond. “We need to know what’s happening with them so that we’re aware; so that we can pray effectively and pray knowledgeably for them.”

Nettleton also encourages, “One of the things Christ calls us to do is to forgive and even to pray for those who are persecuting us. So pray that our Nigerian brothers and sisters, even through the grief and the loss and the suffering they have endured, will still be able to have soft hearts towards their persecutors.”

Header photo courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs, Canada.

A whirlwind day

Brian Dennett with AMG International says, “The Congress responded by holding an emergency meeting and voting overwhelmingly to impeach him. This caused several hours of chaos. People picked up their children early at school, and businesses and offices closed. There was a run on grocery stores, much like we saw during the pandemic.”

All eyes watched the police and military, wondering who they would support. Very quickly, they sided with the lawmakers. Dennett says, “As soon as the Congress announced his impeachment, the president slipped out the back of the palace, most likely trying to escape to the Mexican embassy. He was immediately stuck in traffic, apprehended by the police, and taken to jail.”

Castillo was replaced by Dina Boularte, the first woman to ever serve as Peru’s president.

Castillo had called for new parliamentary elections and a new constitution. He was only installed as Peru’s president in August of 2021. At the time, many hoped he could help Peru’s suffering lower classes.

AMG in Peru

AMG works with kids in Lima, providing school support. They also conduct church planting and pastoral training in villages throughout the Amazon region. Up in the mountains, AMG focuses on both education and church planting. Dennett says, “We have a strong presence in Peru. I have visited numerous times, and it is just a beautiful country with beautiful people. We really need to be praying for them during this time.”

As the government struggles, pray many Peruvians would find hope in Jesus. Pray also for less corruption in Peru’s government in the future.

The header photo shows Pedro Castillo while in office. (Photo courtesy of Presidencia de la República del Perú, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

The congress also amended the party charter, recognizing Xi as the “core” of the party and his ideas as essential to the Party’s continued rule.

The congress meets twice each decade.

Religious freedom

As Xi’s power grows, Christians are concerned about the state of religious liberty in China. Kurt Rovenstine, with Bibles for China, says, “He’s not been a friend to the religious community. I mean, he has been pretty vocal about that. I don’t think that’s anything that he would deny. But he’s very much about protecting China and its interests. And the religious community at times, in his opinion, pushes back against that.”

Rovenstine says evangelism and the distribution of Bibles may get more difficult in the days ahead. “We’re pushing hard to get every dollar that we can get into that particular part of our ministry, getting funds directly into China to fund Bibles to the rural churches. That even funds study Bibles and those kinds of things for the leaders.”

“There is a possibility those doors could close on us.”

Older Chinese Christians have lived and ministered under a more authoritarian government. Pray their wisdom will lead the Church forward. Rovenstine says, “I think the church outside of China can take some comfort in knowing there’s a precedent that has been set. The Chinese church was, although fractured and scattered, no less effective. In some ways, it was maybe more effective.”

Want to participate in Bibles for China’s work? Visit their website.

The header photo shows Xi Jinping in 2015. (Photo courtesy of VOA News, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) 

Kurt Rovenstine says, “A couple of provincial leaders in the central part of China (I can tell you that) are taking a step of faith to allow us to work with them. God knows who those folks are. Again, our work is open and legal, but still very challenging for our partners on the ground.”

The ministry provides Bibles to be distributed in rural China.

CCP congress

This new project comes at a time many other provinces have slowed down their work with the ministry.

On October 16, the Chinese Communist Party will hold a crucial congress. A great deal of political intrigue has surrounded the meeting, especially in Beijing. Last week saw a political purge as a court jailed the former vice-minister of public security. A former justice minister and police chief also faced charges.

Unfounded rumors swirled of Chinese President Xi Jinping being placed under house arrest. He is expected to be granted a third term during the congress.

Rovenstine says these challenges force creativity. Bibles for China has begun investigating the possibility of printing a Bible. “The first one will be a bilingual Bible with English in it. That gives another way to get people interested. Some people may just want to learn English.”

“As they’re learning English, maybe they will also gain some truth of who God is, how He loves them, and how He wants to have a relationship with them.”

Ministry in China requires constant change. Ask God to encourage Chinese Christians as they tell the story of Jesus.

Header photo courtesy of Bibles for China. 

Every five years, the leading Communist Party in China meets together for a congress. There, they determine which individuals should control the party and the nation until the next congress. Current leader Xi Jinping has held power for two terms, and according to tradition, that should mean China will receive a new leader. However, in 2018, China did away with term limits for its leaders. For the first time in decades, China could see a leader with a third term.

From international attention during the Olympics to the COVID-19 epidemic, Xi Jinping’s most recent term has been filled with challenges and controversies. Throughout those events, Kurt Rovenstine of Bibles for China says that “these wheels were turning, and some political things happened that that pointed to the reality that [reelection] is going to take place.”

What does that mean? Unfortunately, it’s not clear. says this is so unprecedented that it’s hard to predict what comes next. “We don’t what kind of restrictions or additional challenges might be there for the church,” Rovenstine says. “Maybe he relaxes a little bit, because he’s got thing well under control, but there’s a lot of speculation.”

As long as the future of China remains foggy, so too does the future of Bibles for China. “If there’s something that people can pray for, it’s for what [we’re going] to look like after this,” Rovenstine says. “What are our opportunities? What changes? How do we continue to be obedient to this call that God has placed upon our ministry to provide Bibles to folks in China?”

Rovenstine suggests that maybe the team’s mission field needs to expand.”Quite honestly, we’ve had conversations about trying to reach the Chinese diaspora around the world, because we don’t know what 2023 is going to give us.” That might mean going to regions outside of China with heavily concentrated Chinese populations – or even Russia. “We’re trying to determine, with what we know and what the Holy Spirit leads us to, how heavily we dive into those areas, knowing that those people still have strong connections to people in China.”

Pray that the spread of the evangelistic Word of God. Pray for the upcoming shifts – or lack thereof – in Chinese leadership. And pray for believers “all around the world that still love and care for and pray for their family who has remained in China.”

Support Bibles for China and their future projects right here.

Header image courtesy of Bibles for China

Vice President Mike Pence was evacuated shortly after protestors breached the building, and other politicians were evacuated soon after. Police eventually herded the protestors out of the building, and the mayor of D.C. has declared a 15-day state of emergency. The D.C. national guard has been activated to help quell any future outbreaks over the next two weeks.

Several police officers suffered injuries in the event, and at least 52 people have been arrested. Authorities discovered and neutralized six firearms and two pipe bombs on the grounds.

In the United States?

It isn’t the kind of thing people expect to see at the heart of democracy in the United States, says Bruce Allen of FMI. “I do go to places where I have seen dysfunction in government: fistfights and wrestling matches in halls, parliaments, and congresses. People taking the law into their own hands just because they don’t like a particular outcome. That is a common occurrence in many, many parts of the world. Some of the reports I get are astounding.”

The U.S., meanwhile, has enjoyed a relatively stable political history, especially since the Civil War. The last time the Capitol building was breached, the British were sacking Washington D.C. during the War of 1812.

Allen says, “We’re susceptible to operating under the delusion that these other people who live in other nations are the ones with problems. We’re the experts. We’re the ones who have all the answers. But that truly is a delusion. Events like this show us that we too have significant struggles.”

Pray for unity

Allen says Christians need to pray right now, not only for the unity of the U.S. and people’s safety but for our hearts as God’s people. Allen prays, “We confess that Caesar is not Lord and that only You are. May I recognize that my salvation does not come at the hands or from the minds of politicians and that my battle is not against flesh and blood. It is against powers of darkness instead. And I pray that I would know what it means that my citizenship is ultimately in the kingdom of heaven.”

Congress worked into the early morning hours on Thursday to finish certifying the election results. With a new administration comes new chances for Christians to love each other despite their political differences, and glorify Christ as a result.

The header photo shows protestors gathering in D.C. the morning of January 6th. (Photo courtesy of Elvert Barnes from Silver Spring MD, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Organizers for the event included the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) of America, an organization classified as a “militant religious outfit” by the Central Intelligence Agency. Leaders of the VHP have called for violence against religious minorities in India, and members have even carried out extremist attacks in defense of Hindu nationalist ideals.

According to News India Times, conference convener Abhaya Asthana stated, “When people hear the word Hindu conference they think it’s a spiritual conference. There will be no spiritual discourses…. The aim is to use the essence of Hindu philosophy, dharma, to inform how we come together (in the diaspora) as men, women, and youth — in politics, education, and commerce.”

The concept of Hindus living in the diaspora is a dangerous one. To have a diaspora, one must believe there is a rightful homeland for your group.

Hindu nationalists claim India is their homeland, and as such, all non-Hindus ought to be driven out or forced to convert. In 2010, 94 percent of the world’s Hindus lived in India.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have further advanced these Hindu nationalist ideals — or Hindutva. BJP leaders have announced their goal to make India a “Hindu Rashtra” (Hindu nation) by 2024.

This goal of a “Hindu Rashtra” in India has gravely jeopardized the safety of Indian religious minorities, including Christians.

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA says, “If you look at the most predominantly Hindu nation in the world, which is India, absolutely the pressure has been ramping up. In fact, just this past weekend, we had a guest from India on our VOM Radio podcast and his group has tracked persecution. They say, at this point, over the last six months there has been a persecuted Christian on average every single day. So it’s now every 24 hours somewhere in India a Christian is being persecuted.

“That is motivated and really put into practice by a government that has embraced this Hindu nationalist ideology that every Indian should be a Hindu, and if you’re not a Hindu, you ought to leave or you ought to be punished and influenced to become a Hindu.

“So when this congress comes together in Chicago and talks about expanding the influence of Hinduism, obviously for those of us who live in free countries, that should raise some red flags for us.”

India is ranked on Open Doors’ World Watch List in 11th place for “extreme persecution” of Christians. Recently, International Christian Concern surveyed 1,000 Indian Christians across eight states. Their findings showed 68.8 percent of believers in India feel discriminated against and that their safety is significantly threatened. Also, 85.61 percent reported sensing an increase in violence from Hindu radicals against their communities, families, and places of worship.

The growing popularity of anti-conversion laws in Indian states has further increased Christian persecution.

According to Nettleton, another thing their guest on VOM Radio recently shared is “one of the things this [anti-conversion] law says is, if you are going to talk to someone about changing their faith — let’s say we’re going to give a Gospel of John to somebody and we’re going to talk about the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ — this law says six months before you have that conversation, you’re supposed to go before a magistrate and say, ‘Hey, on this particular day I’m planning to talk to this particular person about changing their religion.’ Which if we even think about that, that just seems so ridiculous.

“But then, of course, if you do talk to someone about their religion, the police can come in and say, ‘Wait a minute, you didn’t go to the magistrate six months ago and tell him you were going to have this conversation. You broke the law.’

“It’s just an impossible standard and it is a Hindu nationalist government that is pushing this kind of law and these kinds of regulations out all across India as a way to persecute Christians and stop the spread of the Gospel.”

In the wake of the 2018 World Hindu Congress in Chicago, Nettleton reflects, “I hope many of the delegates from around the world see what a country that has religious freedom looks like and think, ‘Wow, this is actually kind of cool. Maybe we should bring home some of these concepts of religious freedom instead of some of the concepts of adding the influence of Hinduism in our country.’’

(Photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs)

Meanwhile, there is good news. Hindu men and women are being reached out to by their Christian neighbors in India and around the world, and are being transformed by the beauty and power of the Gospel. The best thing we can do for now is pray.

“What we can do is certainly pray that in the spiritual realm, God’s power will reign even over…those living in Hindu-majority countries [and] coming to faith in Christ out of that Hindu background. Pray that they will be rooted in God’s Word, rooted in their faith, and able to withstand the persecution that they face.”

Also, Nettleton asks, “We can pray for our brothers and sisters, I think particularly of India — praying for them to come to faith, praying for Christians to have boldness, even though they know, ‘Yes, sharing my faith in Christ could get me arrested, it could get me beaten up, I still need to do that. God has still called me to do that.’ So praying that they will have boldness to do that in spite of the persecution and the oppression that they face.”

Click here to find out how you can advocate for persecuted Christians with VOM!

The proposal to cut the adoption tax credit was unveiled by House Republicans two weeks ago as part of a 429-page tax reform. But the proposal to repeal this credit caused an uproar from groups on both sides of the aisle. From the Christian community, Focus on the Family and Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman were among those who spoke out against its repeal.

The adoption tax credit has been available for the past 20 years. With this break, adoptive families can be credited up to $13,460 after their taxes.

Kris Faasse, Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations at Bethany Christian Services, explains, “The tax credit is not a deduction. It’s actually a credit that someone gets when they get done with all of their other taxes. And the adoption tax credit, which is indexed for inflation and is now over $13,000, it’s really meant to help families who bring a child into their family through adoption with either the cost of adoption or the cost of just bringing that child into your family and accessing the necessary medical or psychological treatment that kids might need.”

Without the adoption tax credit, Faasse points out the cost of adoption would be overbearing for many families.

“The average cost depends on the type of adoption first and foremost and then it depends on the state where the adoption is taking place because adoption law and requirements are state law. Generally, adoption of a child out of foster care is at no cost to the adoptive parent or at very low cost because those kids are the wards of the state and it’s certainly in the interest of the state to have those kids move into a permanent family.

“Domestic, infant adoption can range anywhere from say $25,000, I’ve heard of some agencies in some states that may charge up to $50,000. Intercountry adoption is also in that range, and that is very much impacted by the travel cost to the country where the child is and the fees that might be charged by that country as well as any expenses to pay for the staff and the process here in the states. So again, it’s a range.”

However, even for families that adopt a child in foster care, they can still face substantial costs. “Kids who’ve been in foster care who are available for adoption are in foster care because of abuse and/or neglect. So they come with hurts and traumas that families need to and want to address, and the tax credit makes that more possible because not everything is covered by insurance. A lot has to come out-of-pocket.”

While the adoption tax credit is here to stay, Faasse says the conversations it has generated should serve as a reminder to the Church of our biblical mandate to care for orphans.

“We’ve always seen a role for the Church in wrapping around families, having adoption ministries, providing that ongoing support for families…. We know a lot of churches may step in and help with fundraisers for the family to meet the cost of adoption.”

Bethany has several opportunities for you and your church to get involved in caring for orphans and vulnerable children. In doing so, you can be a tangible extension of Christ’s love and grace in a kid’s life. Click here to learn more at Bethany’s website!

(Photo courtesy of Open Doors)

The U.S. Congress is currently advocating to put North Korea back on a list of designated state sponsors of terrorism. The U.S. took the hermit nation off the list in 2008 to persuade North Korea to dismantle their nuclear weapons program.

Amid rising animosity with North Korea on the political spectrum, where does the Church come in? Kristin Wright with Open Doors USA says, first, pray for North Korea and the Christians there.

“A lot of people don’t realize that North Korea remains home to an estimated 300,000 Christian believers. I think a lot of people would actually be very surprised to hear that, given the nature of the Communist state and what that looks like.”

Open Doors publishes the World Watch List each year listing the top 50 countries that are the most oppressive towards Christians. North Korea has been number one on the World Watch List for the past 15 years.

Wright explains, “Basically, worship of the ruling family is mandated, and that means those who don’t comply, often including Christians, can be arrested, tortured, killed, and we know for a fact that many of them are actually confined today in modern day labor camps. Entire families, entire generations have been imprisoned; and so it’s an ongoing tragedy, and ongoing suffering for Christian believers in this country.

(Photo courtesy of Open Doors USA)

“Christians in North Korea are forced to hide their faith completely, even from some family members because it’s the kind of state where people are monitored, people monitor each other. So due to that ever-present surveillance, there’s a different type of Church in North Korea. It’s one where many, for instance, will pray with their eyes open. Gathering for a church service would be completely prohibited and very difficult to achieve.”

However, while North Korea is a nation closed off from the world and hostile to the Gospel, it cannot keep God out.

“Open Doors, actually through our local partners on the ground, is serving Christians in North Korea. We’re helping to provide emergency aid including food, medicine, clothes, as well as Christian discipleship materials.”

Their ministry also works to bring to light the true stories and plights of North Koreans and believers there. “Just a week or two ago, we had an awareness event in Washington D.C. where North Korean defectors came and spoke about their experiences and we heard from refugees. So I think this is an important time for awareness as well, and as Christians, we can lead the way by telling other people what is going on in North Korea and what the reality of life is for Christians and for others who don’t comply with the regime.”

(Photo courtesy of Christian Aid)

As you pray for God to protect and strengthen the Church in North Korea, Wright asks us also to pray “for the rest of North Koreans — whether they’ve been exposed to Christianity or not — we need to pray that the eyes of North Koreans would be opened to the truth of what is happening there, and to the truth of the Gospel.”

Another way you can take a stand for North Korean Christians? “I would say that advocacy is a great way to get involved. You can always visit opendoorsusa.org to learn more advocacy opportunities, as well as opportunities to pray and to give to help assist Christians who are facing persecution.”