“It’s really chilling, that’s for sure,” says Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations. “The Congo, despite all of its challenges and difficulties for now decades, has largely been known as the most Christian country in the entire continent of Africa. More Christians living there than almost anywhere in the world, and so you’ve got a very Christian country that is being targeted.”

(Photo courtesy of Wendyfleury/Pixabay)

The assaults have been linked to Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP), a militant Muslim group originating in Uganda.

Kelley explains, “They recognize that [in] eastern Congo…it’s so remote, there’s very little security to protect these areas, so they target this area.”

The militant group has a dire message for “worshipers of the cross” – convert, be subjugated, or die.

“They are coming in as a jihadist force, forcing people to convert. If they don’t convert, they destroy everything, they run them out, they’re killing people savagely. It’s just a complete intimidation tactic.”

Kelley also says there seem to be ulterior motives to ISCAP’s interest in the eastern DRC region.

“Congo is considered one of the wealthiest countries in the world from a natural resource standpoint, yet the people live in abject poverty. So you get these bad actors who are coming from neighboring countries like Uganda [and] Rwanda that are dominating and illegally exploiting the land of the most valuable resource they have, [and] taking it illegally. It’s just a tragedy.”

Treasure audio Bible distribution in DRC. (Photo courtesy of Unknown Nations, formerly World Mission)

You can encourage our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in the DRC.

“We just need to be praying and lifting up these people, but also keep our eyes open for opportunities to stand with them in a practical way.”

Pray for displaced Christian families to find safety and shelter. Ask God to strengthen persecuted believers in the DRC. Pray also that Muslim extremists would ultimately meet Jesus Christ and surrender their lives to Him.

Header photo: Representative photo of Congolese village. (Photo courtesy of Kudra_Abdulaziz via Pixabay)

MAF recently transported the family of Dr. Peter Stafford, an American doctor who tested positive for Ebola from the DRC to Uganda. Dr. Stafford had been working at Nyankunde Hospital and was evacuated separately to Germany for specialized treatment. While still symptomatic, his condition seems to be improving.

Nyankunda Hospital walkway to patient wings. (Photo courtesy of MAF)

Passengers on the MAF flight included Dr. Stafford’s wife—also a physician—their children, and another doctor who had been exposed to the virus. Prior to this mission, MAF had conducted an earlier evacuation flight for another mission family. All evacuation operations are conducted in close coordination with public health officials and government authorities.

MAF is a Christian mission organization that uses aviation to support missionary and humanitarian relief efforts for remote communities around the world. MAF has served in the DRC since 1961. This is the 17^th recorded Ebola outbreak in the country since 1976.

MAF has an established Ebola Management Plan (EMP), which has been successfully implemented during previous outbreaks. The EMP includes strict measures such as passenger temperature checks, mandatory use of personal protective equipment, comprehensive aircraft sanitization procedures, and other safety protocols. MAF flight operations will continue under these procedures to ensure the safety of both passengers and crew.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The outbreak is centered in the Ituri Province, where Bunia—the provincial capital—also serves as the base for MAF’s operations in eastern DRC.

Nyankunde airstrip (Photo courtesy of MAF)

All MAF staff remain in good health and are taking appropriate precautions in their daily activities. A dedicated Crisis Management Team has been established and is working closely with the East DRC team to monitor developments, provide support, and guide operational decisions.

Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids. While it is not transmitted through the air, the virus can remain viable on hard surfaces for several days, making strict hygiene and sanitation practices essential.

This outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. Unlike the more common Zaire strain, there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment available for this variant. Exposure risk is considered low while protocols are being followed.

MAF asks you to pray for impacted individuals and their families, and for the swift containment, effective response efforts, and continued safety and health of our staff. Please pray specifically for Dr. Stafford’s healing.

Header photo: The mission hospital in Nyankunde. (Photo courtesy of MAF)

While global deaths from terror have dropped in the last year, Boko Haram in Nigeria and the IS-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the DRC continue to plague those countries with terrorist activity. 

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says location is not coincidental, as terrorists have a clear strategy.

“They look for vulnerable areas: places where they can create more strongholds with their radical ideology. Northern Nigeria is a representation of that. [Democratic Republic of Congo], because of its instability, is representative of it.”

Kelley says the absence of government response in these areas emboldens the terrorists. 

For the church’s part, many Christians in Nigeria’s south struggle to empathize with or minister to their northern Muslim neighbors. But there, in predominantly Muslim communities, the believers have a different outlook. 

“If you go to the North,” Kelley says, “and you meet someone who came out of Islam who would be a Muslim Background Believer, when they come to faith in Christ, they become infernos for the Gospel.”

He points out that the believers’ insistence on staying in their area mobilizes ministry partners to join the work. 

“We constantly have to move missionaries. The reality is that’s where the mission need is. It’s not in the South. It’s in the North.” 

Meanwhile, in the DRC, ongoing conflict and humanitarian need further expose the vulnerable citizens of that nation. Kelley says where the battleground exists, our mission should follow. 

“Where are the battlelines? Where is the threat coming? That’s where we need to mobilize and deploy our resources, which in this case is Northeast Congo,” he says. “That’s the location that people listening to this, praying for this, need to center their targeted resources: prayer, finances, personnel.” 

The citizens of these countries are suffering, and they represent the least of these Jesus talks about in Matthew 25:40. Without diminishing the call to meet their physical needs, Kelley reminds us of another instruction from Jesus: one in Matthew 28:18 – 20. 

“We need to look at these places and then ask the next question, which is, ‘What is the nation or people group being affected? Have they had a Gospel witness, or have they not?’” Kelley says. “Because you could be responding to a humanitarian need in a place that’s 95% Christian. That’s wonderful. No one is telling you to stop doing that. But that can’t be your only expression of the Great Commission.” 

Please pray for Nigeria and DRC, including the various people groups represented within these countries. Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers, and pray for a plentiful harvest as a result. 

Please also pray for the families, communities, and nations affected by global terrorism. Ask the Lord for protection, courage, and resilience as believers live out their faith in the toughest of circumstances. 

Pray also for the terrorists, whose hearts of darkness mirror those of every sinner in need of our glorious Savior, Jesus Christ. 

May the Lord be glorified as these souls find hope in Him!

Above image courtesy of Prince Kwembe via Unsplash. Featured image courtesy of Ian Panelo via Pexels.

According to a March report on the DRC from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, attacks by the ADF such as the April 1 incident in Bafwakoa have escalated in the majority-Christian, resource-rich nation.

Photo of North Kivu and Ituri Provinces courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

“Congo has unfortunately been in this perpetual spiral of instabilities for decades,” says Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations. “And you know, the last five years in particular, they see an opportunity, and so they’re trying to move into these areas, which are heavily Christian areas.”

The DRC’s situation is not the same as Nigeria’s. In Nigeria, there is a sharper divide between Muslims and Christians within the country’s north. But in the DRC, that element of antagonism is less prevalent. 

“More of the commonality that the DRC and Nigeria have is the instability, and so it’s opportunities for them to really establish a Muslim beachhead,” says Kelley. “[In northern Nigeria,] it’s had the Boko Haram activity, the Fulani herdsmen. They’re literally trying to eradicate Christianity in the north.”

But Kelley notes that in the DRC, the ADF isn’t targeting only Christians. 

“These are just kind of almost generic brutalities, killing, raiding villages, trying to take ground, trying to get people to just pack up their bags and move on so they can control territory,” Kelley says, “because again, this is some of the wealthiest real estate, not just in Congo, not just in Africa, but in the world.”

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Photo courtesy of Johnnathan Tshibangu via Unsplash)

Yet statistically speaking, believers do endure the brunt of ADF attacks. That’s because 95 percent of the DRC’s population identifies as Christian, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom report. Recent attacks on Christians took place in March and February. There are likely more that have not made it to mainstream media. But the big picture trend is clear: According to a report from International Christian Concern, the ADF claims that it has killed more than 700 Christians since December 2024. 

“It’s spiritual warfare, attacking God’s people in a place where the gospel, in the midst of all the instability, has grown tremendously. It’s a real success story,” says Kelley.

Ask God to raise up more Christians to serve as gospel workers in the DRC.

“It’s not the first place that a missionary is going to want to go. But missionaries are being mobilized in the Congo right now,” says Kelley. 

“We have a training center near Kinshasa that’s mobilizing missionaries to go into French-speaking areas. But when you see these kinds of things happening [attacks on Christian communities], they’ll be able to divert resources and go into that area. So pray for training efforts.”

Header photo: Portrait of a Taabwa Catholic priest at the historic mission in the city of Moba, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Photo courtesy of IMB)

“There is a lot more from the Allied Democratic Forces coming into Uganda and attacking.” 

In the East, it’s a different story. There, Muslim-majority communities team up against their Christian counterparts. Wesley says while the attacks were initially more verbal than physical, the intensity of violence is increasing. Reports indicate that attacks are especially ramping up against evangelists and recent converts. 

“Because that is the evidence of Christianity’s expression in those places,” Wesley says. “If the church was silent and was not evangelistic, then they would feel no threat.” 

Despite this, some Muslims are beginning to see the cracks in their cultural fortress; and those who do are stepping outside it. Choosing Christ over Islam means ostracization, threats, and sometimes even death. But Wesley says even this reality can serve as a confirmation for new believers. 

“They see that almost as a weakness of their faith and a strength of Christianity, and therefore they oppose it,” he explains. 

On the political front, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has pledged to uphold religious freedom in the country, and Wesley says that position is backed by policy. 

“Where there have been attacks, there are actual police reports that are written, and people have been arrested. So they are trying to prevent these things from taking place,” he says. 

Still, the situation is complex. According to a report from Open Doors International:

 “The Ugandan government’s increased surveillance and monitoring, in response to national security concerns, have added another layer of pressure on Christians. While the government’s actions are aimed at curbing Islamic extremism, they place Christians under further scrutiny, particularly in regions already fraught with religious tensions.”

Regardless of human leadership, Wesley says Christians will remain Kingdom-focused, as persecution is neither new nor unexpected for followers of Christ. The history of Uganda itself is peppered with martyrdom, Wesley says, and it’s a backdrop that fortifies believers. 

“In the understanding there, they recognize that they are going to suffer some persecution, but they’re not willing to let that prevent them from continuing their faith,” he says. 

As the church in Uganda continues to lift up the name of the Lord, would you lift up these brothers and sisters in prayer? 

Pray for the light to shine in the darkness and for the Holy Spirit to strengthen believers in love, faith, and endurance. Pray for a spirit of resilience, courage, and boldness amongst the Ugandan church, and pray that lost people would respond to the glorious hope and salvation of Jesus Christ.

Above: Ugandan community, courtesy of illustrate Digital UG via Pexels. Featured image: Ugandan church, courtesy of Fame of God Studios via Unsplash.

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations explains that M23 is essentially a proxy army supported by Rwanda. However, “the M23 group also has an independent power structure,” he says. “And this peace agreement that was signed, M23 is saying, ‘Well, we’re not bound by that. That was between the DRC and Rwanda, so we can operate independently.’”

As if to underscore this, less than a week after the peace accord, M23 captured the strategic city of Uvira in the DRC’s South Kivu province. They allegedly abandoned it a week later after international condemnation of the move. However, this past New Year’s weekend, M23 clashed with the Congolese army again, just a few miles away from Uvira. 

The cost of these latest militant operations is high. The Congolese government has accused the Rwandan-backed rebels of killing more than 1,500 civilians in eastern DRC since early December. More than 84,000 people have fled the DRC into neighboring Burundi since early December, too, according to the UN. Tens of thousands more have been displaced within the DRC. That’s on top of millions already forced from their homes in the past decades of conflict.

Treasure audio Bible distribution in DRC. (Photo courtesy of Unknown Nations)

“Anytime you have that kind of displacement of mass humanity, it’s going to complicate gospel inroads, because people are leaving everything behind,” says Kelley. 

Near the heart of the decades of conflict in the DRC are the country’s rich resources. 

“These other countries — like Uganda, like Rwanda — they have been occupying the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the name of national security, while they’re conveniently extracting some of these natural resources,” says Kelley. 

Please ask God to raise more gospel workers to bring the hope of Christ to people trapped in this conflict.

“We can pray that there ultimately becomes peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and that leaders would emerge who would come alongside these displaced people and encourage them in this time of difficulty,” says Kelley. “Because from an earthly perspective, they’re living in hell. Things are incredibly difficult and challenging. But they can find refuge in the message of the gospel.”

Learn more here about how Unknown Nations partners with indigenous believers for gospel ministry. 

Header photo is a representative 2015 image depicting Congolese soldiers on patrol in the Ituri district. (Wikimedia Commons, CC by SA 2.0)

On one front is the DRC and neighboring Rwanda. They signed a peace deal in June but have missed next-step deadlines to implement it. Last week, representatives of both nations met again in Washington, D.C., to work toward on-the-ground peace. 

On another front is the rebel group M23, only one of more than 100 militant groups in eastern DRC. M23 and the DRC government signed a declaration toward peace in July, but this deal has also stalled. Both sides accuse the other of violating the agreement. On October 14, the government and M23 agreed to establish an international oversight committee as another step toward peace.

“They have signed paper, and they have made a lot of statement which brought hope for the people living there, but so far, nothing tangible has changed,” says lllia Djadi, who serves with Open Doors International as the senior analyst for freedom of religion and belief in Africa.

There is another layer of the DRC’s decades of conflict that we must not forget: Islamic extremism. 

“There’s one armed group called ADF, the Allied Democratic Forces. The ADF is a radical Islamic group with a clear affiliation with Islamic State. So when we consider the ongoing violence in DRC, we need to pay attention on this particular group,” says Djadi. 

He notes that sub-Saharan Africa has become the new epicenter of terrorism. 

“What Daesh [ISIS] try to do in Middle East, that’s the same project. That’s what they [ADF] want to achieve: to set up a caliphate, to rule that state by Islamic law, by Sharia law,” Djadi says.

“They [ADF] are using the same modus operandi. They are sharing the same ideology. They are targeting particularly Christians, bombing churches, attacking Christian communities mainly in rural areas.” 

One attack on September 8th saw at least 70 Christians killed and dozens kidnapped in one village. (More on these attacks here.) It’s not the only ADF incident either.

“It has been going on for months now in eastern DRC. Why? Because the ongoing military activity and all the focus was on M23. Even the [ceasefire] agreement is only about M23 and the military forces in DRC,” says Djadi. 

“But we are saying, ‘Pay attention. This [peace with M23] is not enough to bring peace in eastern DRC. We need to consider the activity of Islamic State there.’” 

Learn more about the challenges in the DRC and what Christians there face. Pray for peace, says Djadi. 

“Let’s pray for this Church to be resilient, to stand in the midst of this violence and violent persecution, how to continue to minister, how to continue to go to church without any fear of being attacked or bombed,” he says.

Header image of DRC flag courtesy of Pixabay.

Secretary Marco Rubio hosts a Democratic Republic of the Congo-Rwanda Peace Agreement signing ceremony between Democratic Republic of the Congo Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., June 27, 2025. (Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett. U.S. Department of State – Public Domain)

As nations, the DRC and Rwanda have signed and are slowly implementing a June 27 peace deal. In a separate, parallel dialogue, the DRC and the M23 rebel group believed to be backed by Rwanda also signed a peace accord on July 19. They have committed to adopting a final peace deal by August 18. 

At least six truces in the DRC-M23 conflict have failed since 2021, according to a report from Al Jazeera. Yet according to TeachBeyond’s president, David Durance, one of their local school leaders says the peace accord has prompted hope that citizens have not felt for a decade. 

“He said, ‘Somehow this does feel different, and there’s hope in our community,’” Durance shared.

The hope brought by the peace accord also boosted school attendance, helping TeachBeyond end the October-to-July school year well despite disruptions earlier this year. That’s what occurred back in January, when M23’s successful offensive in eastern DRC sparked protests in the capital, Kinshasa.

“There was unrest enough that families felt like it was unwise to bring their kids to school,” Durance said. “Anywhere [that] there’s unrest, kids are often the first that suffer.” 

Please pray

“We’re praying that, by God’s grace and mercy, this would stick. That we would have a lasting peace, a peace that allows for this government to flourish in both the DRC and of course Rwanda, where this is all spilling out from,” said Durance. 

Learn more about TeachBeyond’s mission to give Christ-centered education across the world here. 

Header photo: This representative 2015 photo depicts Congolese soldiers on patrol in the Ituri district. (Wikimedia Commons)

On Sunday, M23 forces captured a fishing town on the west coast of Lake Edward in the eastern DRC. Rebels have stepped up their offensive since December, capturing key towns and uprooting 7.8 million people.

This summer, a landmark agreement brokered with US support aims to end years of conflict between the DRC and neighboring Rwanda. Kinshasa and others accuse Rwanda of supporting M23, a claim Kigali denies.

Two World Missionary Press partners live near Goma, one of the biggest cities captured by M23. In letters to Helen Williams, WMP’s Director of Orders and Distribution, they describe difficult circumstances.

“People are starving. There are massacres, kidnappings, and people are afraid,” Williams recounts from the correspondence.

“People (soldiers) are disguised as civilians, but they’re really the danger.”

In a copy of the email obtained by MNN, one partner says:

Apart from the day-and-night massacres, another form of massacre is taking place because banks remain closed and activities have been paralyzed for 3 months; economic recovery will take time, as almost all major businesses have been looted. Another danger is that it’s difficult to know who is sowing terror in the city because there are 4 layers that seem to be uncontrollable: the new administration’s military, the hunted government’s military disguised as civilians, the patriots/populations who have taken up arms, and over 5,000 prisoners who have left the burnt-down prison.

Some believers have lost family members in the fighting, while others are struggling to share the hope of Christ.

“Their ministry is going from home to home and visiting people – that has become much more dangerous because people don’t trust anybody, and they’re just kind of paralyzed,” Williams says.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, believers are dedicated to spreading the Gospel all across this nation.
(Photo, caption courtesy of World Missionary Press)

Another partner wrote the following as part of his update:

The current situation in Goma remains very delicate. Although we do not hear regular gunfire or bombings in the city itself, insecurity is ever-present. People continue to die almost daily due to targeted assassinations, often leaving communities in fear and mourning. These acts of violence have become sadly routine. But God remains on our side to protect us.

Yet Gospel work continues with the help of WMP. Two shipments arrived in the DRC mid-March, and distribution efforts are underway despite the turmoil.

“This partner received a 40-foot container, which has 2.1 million booklets in it. They were primarily in French, but then also in Lingala and Swahili,” Williams says.

“The other distributor received pretty much the same, [so] between the two, we’ve got over 3 million pieces of literature that just arrived.”

Pray for local believers as they continue their work amid the crisis. “We need to pray for spiritual and physical strength for those who are still going out [to serve the community] because this is hard,” Williams says.

The first WMP partner shares:

When we received the new booklets, we tried to share the Gospel in one school, but we were emotionally affected when some kids shared with us that their parents died and others missed their beloved [ones] because of this war. I was touched to see others [who] don’t know who will pay school fees for them. There are some families, when you meet them to share the Gospel, you weep first by seeing what is happening in the family or the area.

We are doing our best to seize the occasion to double our effort in sharing the Gospel in this context, but we realize that many things are needed to accomplish the Great Commission in that condition. We need your prayers and compassion!

Header image is a representative photo depicting FARDC soldiers deployed in Kibumba, last position before entering into M-23 controlled zone, the 1st of September 2012. © MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti (Wikimedia Commons)

“I think having the African Union and the international community as a whole involved in this is really going to be important for diplomacy purposes,” he says. 

Much of the fighting concerns access to DRC’s rich mineral resources, including cobalt, gold, diamond, and copper. 

“They’ve got it all, and tremendous amounts of it, so that’s really the heart of the issue,” Kelley says. 

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are primarily Tutsi fighters, the people group targeted by Rwandan Hutus in the 1994 genocide. The group now seeks to eradicate Hutu influence from the DRC, a vindication for the many Tutsi people who have lived in the DRC for decades. 

“And the Rwandese are saying, ‘We’re trying to protect these minority groups,’ but at the end of the day, it’s just a land grab,” Kelley says.

M23 isn’t the only group stirring up conflict.

“There are over 120 rebel groups that have actively been at work in Eastern Congo,” Kelley says. 

He says this level of instability affects the Gospel movement. 

“It disrupts churches. It causes people by the tens of thousands to be displaced.”

Please pray for Christian brothers and sisters in the DRC, especially as churches are often targeted due to their vulnerability. Consider supporting a humanitarian organization offering aid to those who have lost everything in their displacement. Kelley encourages listeners to support Christian workers. 

“As aid is administered, it’s way more effective for it to come through the hands of followers of Jesus than it is some secular aid organization,” Kelley says. “The love of Christ can really cure a lot of things.”

Featured image courtesy of Pexels