That’s because of the work of organizations such as the Program for Theological Education by Extension (PTEE). 

Erin James with PTEE explains that their team stands in the gap for Christians living in areas with low access to seminary. “We provide classes and training for refugees who have fled high-conflict areas and who desire to return after the conflict is over,” she says. 

“The target [students are] the ones that either don’t have the money, no ability to move, or the ones that are working full time and can only handle one class at a time.”

Christian Ethics class.
(Photo, caption courtesy PTEE)

PTEE’s fully accredited program has been in place for more than 30 years and today offers certificate, diploma, and bachelor’s tracks. James says it was started to meet a felt need among Arabic Christians from different backgrounds to better understand the Bible.

“We want them to be able to teach Sunday school, be pastors, lead women’s ministry, children’s ministry, but from a biblically sound foundation,” says James.

James says their education by extension methodology has been tested and proven. Coursework, group discussions, and tests are an integral part of the program. 

“It originally came out of South America. It’s been used in Asia,” she says. “So we started creating the classes where the cost is minimal. [Students] can meet in their local church or even a house, and study the Word.” 

Please pray for PTEE’s current students to grow in their faith and understanding of how to serve Christ in their unique contexts. 

“Lord-willing, when the conflict ends, then they have this solid biblical foundation to go back and be able to teach the Bible,” says James. “Then they can reach, talk to the people that stayed, that are now going, ‘Wait, who is God? We’ve lived through this thing, this horrible conflict,’ and they’re looking for a deeper understanding of the meaning of life, or just a deeper understanding of the Bible.”

Pray also for funds to support PTEE’s growing work. 

“We’re doing a mobile program as well. [Pray] that we’d be able to expand the work and reach more Christians who desire to study the Word,” says James. 

Header photo courtesy of PTEE.

“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. 

Bint Jbeil Road, Southern Lebanon (Photo courtesy of Ahmad Bader via Unsplash)

For many of the displaced, it’s not the first time they’ve been uprooted from their homes in southern Lebanon, says Nuna* with Triumphant Mercy Lebanon. 

“They went through it one time. They went back. They tried to rebuild home, lives, schools… and here we go again,” she says. “So people are disgusted and angry and really hopeless, and many want to leave the country.”

Nuna says people are angry with Hezbollah for attacking Israel on March 2, 2026, and dragging Lebanon into the Iran war. The conflict in Lebanon has created further divisions among its people, as many fear proximity to Shia Muslims who might be affiliated with Hezbollah and thus a potential Israeli target.

“So now Sunnis, Christians, like everybody is against the Shiites, and nobody wants the Shiite people to come into our area,” says Nuna. 

This places pressure on Christians, who must be very cautious about how they help — or do not help — others. It also makes life extremely difficult for Shia Muslims, who are being denied places to rent.

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

“They’re not finding a place. They have to take places by force, and the Hezbollah people are now trying to hide among civilians. That’s basically the situation on the ground,” says Nuna. 

Tensions also continue to escalate between Lebanon’s government and Hezbollah. Last week, the government ordered Iran’s ambassador to Beirut to leave the country by March 29. Hezbollah sharply criticized this decision, and its government representatives responded further by boycotting a Thursday cabinet meeting. 

“It’s like we are hostages, you know, of this political group, military group, that is doing whatever they want,” says Nuna.  

Yet in these troubles, God has strengthened the partnerships between Triumphant Mercy and other local Christian organizations. Despite increasingly limited resources, they still serve as the hands and feet of Christ.

“We have been in wars and many different crises, but we never worked like with each other like we are now,” says Nuna.

(Photo courtesy of Triumphant Mercy Lebanon)

“The unity starts with us. You know, we want unity in the country. I believe it starts with the church. It starts with people who are from different churches, different backgrounds, and different work focuses, yet working together. And I think this is a beautiful thing that the Lord is doing.”

Please pray for peace to come to Lebanon and for people to be able to return to their homes and have their needs met. Pray that these partnerships among Christians will remain strong and help spread the gospel to the hopeless. 

“Yes, we don’t have many resources to do, but we can do programs. So we’re doing youth, or women, or kids’ [programs]. We are distributing lots of Bibles. We have people joining in our Bible study in our center,” says Nuna. 

*Pseudonym

Header photo is a stock image courtesy of Ian Panelo via Pexels.

Qatar (Photo courtesy of Ayush Pappini via Unsplash)

On Wednesday, Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field. Iran responded on Thursday with strikes across the Gulf region, which included a gas facility at Qatar’s Ras Laffan plant. These events have made crude oil prices even more volatile. 

As the economic impacts of the war spread across the world, so do the psychological and human costs. Fadi Sharaiha from the MENA Leadership Center recognizes people growing numb to living under sirens, missiles, and drone strikes. 

“This is what we call the mechanism of defense for people. If you are going through a trauma, what happens is you justify the trauma, or you normalize it,” he says. “This is really a dangerous I would say ‘mental health’ concern that I have for people.”

Iranian boy in a jacket (picture courtesy of Hiva Sharifi via Unsplash)

The numbers surrounding this war keep rising, yet Sharaiha notes, “The first casualty in a war is truth. So nobody knows really the numbers, or what is really happening on the ground.” 

Even with the mass of data in Middle East news reports, the fact remains that every person who has been killed was made in God’s image, as well as every person displaced or suffering any kind of loss. 

“For me, those are not numbers. Those are faces. Those are people who are created in God’s image. They have aspiration, goals, feelings, emotions. They want to live their lives,” says Sharaiha. 

Find your place in the story

As Christians watch the news and pray, Sharaiha urges us to think personally, “to have a face to the number.”

“Please pray for the peace in the Middle East,” he says. “Pray for those people who are being displaced — like 1 million people in Lebanon.”

Lebanon (Stock photo courtesy of Nathan McBride via Unsplash)

Pray for endurance for Christians in the Gulf region. This is so important, because Sharaiha says, “It’s very easy to lose focus and faith whenever you’re going through a trauma, war, or conflict.” 

Also, pray a big-picture prayer! Ask God to use His people around the world to speak the true hope of Christ in significant ways during the Middle East conflict. This is tied to what Sharaiha calls “the prophetic voice” of the Church. 

“That [prophetic voice] is not politics. We need to go back to peace-building, reaching the unreached, loving people, and making sure that we are available for people to help and support,” he says. 

In early March, the MENA Leadership Center’s most recent online training was attended by students whose countries were being bombed in the newly-begun US-Israel-Iran war. Sharaiha says future courses will include an introduction to refugee ministry and a course on conflict resolution. 

“We are trying to respond to whatever is happening today, on the ground of people going through war, going through trauma, going through bad times,” he says. 

Learn more about the ministry and mission at menaleadershipcenter.com. 

Header photo courtesy of a user named Pavellllllll on Pixabay.

“Many people are talking about it, this anniversary. They’re planning to make it a national holiday,” says Nuna* with Triumphant Mercy Lebanon, who recently visited Syria. “However, people are very cautious, especially the Christians.” 

That caution is well merited. Sectarian violence has checkered the new government’s first year, especially among minority Druze, Alawite, and Christian communities. Nuna describes it as “the waiting season” to see what direction the nation will go.

U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio meets President of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa in New York City, New York on 22 September 2025 (Photo by U.S. Department of State via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Still, Syria’s leaders press forward. Last week, the administration welcomed a delegation from the United Nations Security Council — only one of many efforts to reforge ties with the international community. 

But for many Syrian families, the nation’s political complexities simply no longer matter. 

“Some of them are just saying, ‘You know what, we don’t care. We just want to live,’” says Nuna. “They’re not even thinking about what Syria will be. Will it be allied with Israel? Will [there] be expansion? Will the Galilee be taken? They’re not even talking about it.”

Life remains extremely hard, even for Syrians who are not displaced. Inflation is high. Nuna says the government is planning a 400% increase in electricity prices. “People cannot afford this because the wages have not gone up,” she says.

One NGO that Nuna visited in Syria serves many displaced people. She heard story after story of tragedy — destruction, killing, suicide, and abuse. One boy lost his father. His mother had to work and left him in the care of others who beat him so badly he suffered brain damage.

“This is real life here, and what can we do? What can we do?” says Nuna. “Seeing kids like that is difficult. You just look at it, and you see these are effects of war, and this is something that men should not be living with.”

Syrian children (photo courtesy of Jonathan Ramalho via Unsplash)

Although that NGO in Syria can’t meet every need that comes its way, they do what they can as the hands and feet of Christ. Nuna says that the organization is also preparing a Christmas celebration and sharing the Christmas story. “This is a beautiful thing to see, just to see that light in the midst of the darkness there,” she says.

Please remember Syria in your prayers. Ask for God’s mercy and His gospel of peace to spread across Syria. To learn more about Triumphant Mercy Lebanon’s outreach to Syrian refugees within Lebanon, visit their website.

*Pseudonym

Header photo: A gathering of the people and residents of Daraa city in Al-Karama and Al-Hurriya Square after the fall of Bashar Al-Assad (Photo, caption courtesy of Mahmoud Sulaiman via Unsplash)

In October, Haitian officials declared that plans for 2026 general elections will have to be delayed due to expanding gang power. 

“It’s not a surprise that elections get delayed. It’s something that we’ve seen a number of times over the last couple of decades,” says Kate Michel with Radio-TV 4VEH, a ministry partner of Trans World Radio. 

Michel says that with more than 10% of Haiti’s 12 million people displaced, “just thinking of the logistics of how elections could be held, it’s hard to see how they could be run fairly and safely.” 

Meanwhile, life in Cap Haitien in northern Haiti is congested. Many people have fled there, away from gang violence. Michel says there’s an underlying fear that gangs in central Haiti will carry out their threats to come north. It’s one more factor that makes the gospel-centered broadcasts from 4VEH even more important for Haitians.

A Haitian woman sits in the tent encampment set up in Place Boyer, in Pétion-Ville, Haiti. (Photo courtesy of IMB)

The prayer support and biblical foundations of 4VEH’s programming remind listeners “that they have a solid foundation to stand on, and that is the Word of God and His promises, and those things that we can hold fast to,” says Michel.

Find your place in Haiti’s story

In all the turmoil, remember that Haiti is no different from other nations in its need for God’s mercy and grace to move forward.

Please pray for fair elections in Haiti next year that will build stability. Pray also for 4VEH, as it is dealing with some broken equipment and rising costs. 

“There are some people who would normally be connected to 4VEH who are not able to get those broadcasts. So we really would value the prayer to get those pieces of equipment fixed so that people can hear the programs again,” says Michel.

“We’ve seen inflation go up dramatically, and that has an impact on all of the day-to-day operations. Pray that the Lord will meet those needs so that we don’t have to cut any of the ministry that we offer.” 

Header photo courtesy of 4VEH.

“We hope that something is happening. We will pray for that. But in [the] real scene, the war is intensified, even with drone [or] with air bombardment,” says Reverend Tut Kony with Greater Reach, Inc. 

Case in point: The reopening of the main airport in Sudan’s capital city, Khartoum, was postponed last week due to a surge of drone strikes from the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary. It would have been the airport’s first opening since the war began in April 2023.

The two-and-a-half-year conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced about 12 million, and left 30 million in need of humanitarian assistance. It’s considered one of, if not the worst, humanitarian crises in the world today.

(Photo of Khartoum, Sudan courtesy of Ammar Nassir via Unsplash)

“The bigger problem is that people are dying without hearing the good news,” says Kony. “Our church planters are around. They are in the [IDP] camps. But the problem is that they will be targeted by those who are against the gospel. They can also be killed [by] crossfire.” 

The desperate need for food is both a daily struggle for Christians and an open door for ministry. 

“In Islam side, they [Muslims] see a lot of war, a lot of atrocities,” says Kony. “But from Christian side, who they considered their enemies, they are seeing they are coming with food. They are risking their life to bring food for the needy people.” 

If you have supported the gospel work of Sudanese believers, Kony thanks you.

“With your help, we have seen light coming out from the darkness. We have seen a lot of people coming to Christ when the atrocities [are] happening, because [through giving aid] we are able to show the love of Christ,” he says. 

Sudan’s population is 93 percent Muslim and less than 1 percent evangelical Christian. Pray that that will change!

“The bulk of people who are attending [church] here, they are Christian-background, but some of them are from [a] totally Muslim background, [who have] dedicated their life and consecrated to be ministers and pastors,” says Kony.

As you pray for Sudan, Kony asks that you focus on “the emerging church in Darfur, in [the] Nuba Mountains, in Blue Nile and even the far north. They need a lot of prayer. They need courage so that they can testify [to] their faith.”

Header photo courtesy of Aladdin Mustafa via Pexels.

The fighting broke out on July 24th after nearly two months of rising border tensions. 

“It goes back to the French colonization of that part of the world, when they (France) gave up [its protectorate of Cambodia] and how they redrew the maps of the two countries,” said Joe Handley, president of A3. “Ever since, there’s been tension between these two sides.”

The ceasefire is a vital step toward peace, but its effects will take time to feel. At least 33 people lost their lives in the clashes. More than 130,000 on each side were displaced, according to Thai military and Cambodian defense sources. 

The threat of war also stirred up concern among A3 friends who remember the 1970s “killing fields” of Cambodia. 

“What I’m hopeful about is the church has oftentimes risen [on] occasions like these to be a source of hope in the midst of very difficult situations,” Handley said. 

For example, a former warlord from Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge party came to Christ in recent years. 

“His transformation has been miraculous, to the point where he became a lay pastor, and he went through a program that’s downstream from A3 called the School of Discipleship. That gave him training to kind of increase his capacity as a spiritual leader,” said Handley.

(Photo courtesy of Asian Access) School of Discipleship

Handley said this man has started dozens of churches in a region where many Khmer Rouge fled after Pol Pot’s fall. 

“It’s bringing peace to that region,” he said. “That’s the kind of thing that we hope to see happen. People live in fear and dread right now, but when you get people like that [who] are fearless — they have a history, but they come to Christ — it can it can turn around a situation.”

Pray for more people like this former warlord to come to faith in Christ!

National director of A3 Cambodia, Meng Aun Hour, said, “Please pray for protection and [for a] stop [to] the fighting.”

Pray also for provision and gospel witness for the Thai and Cambodian people affected by the conflict. Pray that the ceasefire will be upheld.

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

The attack impacted partners of Every Man a Warrior, a discipleship ministry of Trans World Radio (TWR). Gospel worker Obed* says someone is behind these attacks.

People fleeing across the river from Petite Rivière gang attacks (Photo courtesy of Obed at Every Man a Warrior, TWR)

“We don’t know for sure how they buy those guns. It’s impossible how they could buy those guns, so they have someone that back[s] up them to do that,” he says.

He believes Haiti’s deteriorating situation is not a physical but a spiritual battle — the devil against God.

“It’s more than [a physical war]. Most of the gang are voodoo priest[s]. So they practice voodoo, and they act like all the thing[s] that they say [are] about voodoo,” he says.

“Many churches are closed now. So I believe that it’s not just something that concern[s] Haiti. I believe that that should concern the whole world, the whole Christian world to join in prayer, to join in support [of] our brothers and sisters in Haiti.” 

Please pray for wisdom as Every Man a Warrior offers humanitarian aid alongside their discipleship work. Obed says they plan to help some residents displaced from Petite Rivière to relocate. They have 12 acres near the Dominican Republic border, which they look to use for the good of displaced people. 

“I started months ago on the DR border [something where] we have some ways to welcome our brothers and find another life. Because when your house [is] burned and you lose everything, it’s hard. It’s so hard,” Obed says. 

“We [are] praying so that God can help us navigate this situation, because our mission was to make disciple[s]. Those people are peaceful people, and they have now to leave their home.”

Obed says most Haitians believe they are alone in the world. That’s what makes your prayers and partnership such a needed blessing at this time. 

Learn more about Every Man a Warrior at TWR’s website.

*name withheld for security

Header photo: A group of men gather and sit together in prayer during an Every Man A Warrior meeting. (Photo, caption courtesy of TWR)

There is no end in sight to their suffering. According to a UN report, an estimated 6.9 million people in Sudan are at risk of gender-based violence. 

Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide says their ministry is pivoting to bring the hope of Christ to these women trapped in Sudan’s humanitarian crisis.

“We’re going to, in the first quarter of this year, have a women’s only workshop that will be focusing on how Jesus dealt with women in the New Testament, how he valued them,” he says.

(Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

“We’re hoping to minister to women in these refugee camps, those that have been traumatized by the war, by displacement, [by] deaths in their families — even just the traveling across the country has been cruel and unusual in terms of how to get into a safe place.”

Spoken Worldwide has led these kinds of workshops in other countries. Weaver says the truths of God’s Word have profoundly affected women in cultures that tend to devalue them. 

“When you begin to show them the value of women in Scripture, they’re going, ‘Wait a minute. So I’ve been looked down upon. I haven’t had educational opportunities. And you’re saying I can be contributing to the kingdom of God? I can be valued as an individual?'” he says.

“This is such an eye-opener for these women. It breaks through some barriers to the gospel that existed in the past.” 

Praise God for bringing His hope into Sudan’s tragedy! Pray that Spoken Worldwide’s upcoming workshops will lead many women to understand there’s a God who loves them more than they can imagine. 

“I’d love for people to be praying for breakthroughs, for women to see that they are valued by God, that they are not looked down upon by God,” Weaver says. 

Header image is a screengrab from VOA’s Number of Refugees Who Fled Sudan for Chad Double in Week. This is a refugee camp in Chad.
(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)