Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing is visiting China this week on a state visit, receiving a formal welcome from President Xi Jinping.

The trip offers more than diplomatic pageantry. For the junta government in Myanmar – which still faces international pushback to its legitimacy – the optics matter.

Beijing skyline (Photo courtesy of zhang kaiyv/Unsplash)

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA says, “The fact that the leader of this is now on a state visit to China and being welcomed with open arms, meeting with Xi Jinping really shows at least that the Chinese government is willing to accept the results of that election.”

Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021, overthrowing the country’s elected government. Although the junta later held elections, many countries rejected the results after opposition candidates were barred from participating.

Now, Nettleton says, “They (Chinese officials) are willing to do business with the [junta] military leaders, and that gives them a certain amount of legitimacy in the eyes of the world. I’m certainly fairly confident they will spend that at home as, ‘Look! We are the legitimate leaders. Even China recognizes it.’

“There [are] still a lot of questions about the election. There [are] still a lot of movements against the military leaders and against the current government.”

A street in Myanmar. (Photo courtesy of Ajay Karpur/Unsplash)

At home in Myanmar, people are feeling the pressure – especially Christians

“There’s a lot of difficulty in Myanmar economically, even [with] electricity,” says Nettleton. “There’s just so much challenge right now in the country, even living day to day.

“Then, when you add on, ‘Hey, I’m a follower of Jesus Christ,’ that can put a target on you as well. So it’s a difficult place to be a follower of Jesus, and the military junta is not making it easier. In fact, they’re trying to make it more difficult.”

As China strengthens ties with the junta, believers can stand with the Church in Myanmar through prayer.

Nettleton asks, “Pray for protection, especially for Christians [and] minority tribal peoples. I also think pray for the leaders of the Church. It’s difficult to be a pastor all the time, but then when you put it in a situation of persecution and…upheaval within a country, that adds layers of difficulty to the challenge, and so pray for the church leaders in Myanmar.”

Header photo: Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s junta leader. (Photo courtesy of Zawzawaungthwin – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=188626057)

Under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, rising militancy has been allowed to grow. Bruce Allen with FMI says radical Muslims have been energized by the chaos. This has led to greater threats and obstacles for church planters — people like Pastor Jit, who pastors five congregations.

Pastor Mintu baptizes a young woman in Bangladesh (Photo courtesy of FMI)

“He has noticed that there’s increased surveillance in his district by the Bangladesh Army, and so the questions that army officers ask him as he travels from village to village are also increasing,” says Allen. “So it’s getting harder for him to shepherd these five ministry sites.”

New believers haven’t escaped challenges, either. Partners of FMI in Bangladesh report many young Christians who have left Islam, Buddhism, or Hinduism. They want to publicly declare their faith in Christ. However, “they understand that in the current social climate, it can cost them. It can cost them their property where they live. It can cost them their job. It could cost them their life,” says Allen. 

Please pray 

Pray for wisdom for Christians obeying God’s call to be baptized. “Pastor Basil, he’s preparing seven new believers for baptism in the coming weeks. So ministry is moving forward, but let’s pray for those who are the youngest in the faith, that their courage will grow, their spiritual vitality will grow as they take baptism,” says Allen. 

Pray also for stamina for church planters like Pastor Jit, “for their ability to relate well to those who are in authority,” says Allen. “We do see ministry moving forward, but they’re just having to be very, very careful.”

Bangladesh is 90% Muslim according to Joshua Project. Ask God to bring leaders to power in the February 12 election who will govern justly on behalf of people of all faiths.

You can help the gospel of Christ spread by sponsoring FMI church planters like Pastor Dipankar, FMI’s newest partner who started in February 2026. Learn how a church, a family, or an individual can launch a partnership with Pastor Dipankar or another of FMI’s 112 overseas partners at forgottenmissionaries.org.

Header photo: Pastor Sudeepa teaching Sunday School in Bangladesh (Photo courtesy of FMI)

“Whenever there’s an election year, there’s always that tension that rises,” Voice of the Martyrs Canada’s Stephen Wesley says.

“It is an opportune time for us to be praying for Uganda.”

Uganda’s current president, Yoweri Museveni, is one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, winning every election since 1996. Opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known widely as Bobi Wine poses the biggest threat to Museveni securing a fifth term.

Mr. Luyimbazi Nalukoola talks with musician and politician Hon Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, in 2019.
(Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Military patrolled the streets of the capital and secured Wine under lockdown at his home while votes were cast and then counted.

“Eyes are on Uganda more now than ever before, and I think President Museveni is aware of that,” Wesley says.

Elections also took place amid increased persecution. Previously known as a haven for Christians in East Africa, Uganda is seeing more attacks targeting believers.

“You’re seeing an increase because the arm of Islam [trying to] control and prevent the spread of the Gospel is real. As the government does get more involved, and the police, that will help stem the tide [of persecution,]” Wesley says.

“That is definitely on the heart of Museveni; he wants Uganda to be known as a place [with] freedom of worship.”

Ask the Lord to fill believers’ hearts with peace to rest in Him and boldness to continue to share the Gospel.

“They are not necessarily praying that it (persecution) end, but that they would be able to be strong, stand up under it, and have resilience and courage in the face of it,” Wesley says.

“As they have that strength from the Holy Spirit to endure, they know that the Gospel will win in the end.”

Header image depicts President Museveni addressing crowds during the commissioning of Hamz Stadium. (Wikimedia Commons)

For years, national voter turnout has been low, plagued by cynicism and apathy. However, this week, more than 56% of registered Iraqis showed up at the polls.

“I’m surprised by that number!” remarks Samuel with Redemptive Stories. “We had heard that this would be the lowest turnout of them all, but it seems like the number is actually the opposite. This might be one of the highest.”

Samuel believes that the voter turnout number points to a deeper shift in Iraq.

“It means that people are beginning to trust the government. It means they want their voice to be heard. It means that things are uniquely stabilizing.”

A church in Baghdad. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

That’s a big deal in a country that has endured decades of conflict and instability. Still, Samuel warns believers not to assume calm will make life easier for the Church.

“When stability occurs, it gives space for the authorities to look for other sources that will bring instability,” says Samuel. “So that could begin to, again, add a microscope to the work of the Church in the overall sphere of Iraq.”

As final election results are expected next week, pray for God’s will in Iraq.

Samuel asks, “Pray that the Church will continue to stand as a beacon of hope – no matter who is in charge of the government or who is in power – that it would not only stand as a beacon of hope, but it would continue to be a light that goes out from the Church.”

Header photo: An Iraqi woman votes in 2010 election. Image courtesy of DVIDSHUB (www.flickr.com/photos/dvids/4417086779/), Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic | Flickr

A busy street around the markets of Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania. (Photo, caption courtesy of Aron Marinelli/Unsplash)

Protests erupted, and the UN human rights office says hundreds of protestors have been killed. Many more were detained, and at least 240 have been charged with treason.

Egide Bandyatuyaga with Trans World Radio (TWR) says, “Treason charges are very heavy and very serious charges. I don’t know the provision from the Tanzanian law, but from what I know from other places, treason charges may carry the death penalty or a life sentence.”

For Tanzanian civilians and families, the unrest has made daily life harder.

“When there is unrest in the country… shops will not open,” Bandyatuyaga explains. “The market — on which many people rely for the purchase of the goods they use at home — will also not open. So the ordinary people [are] affected.”

TWR serves Tanzania with Gospel radio broadcasts in multiple languages, even in remote areas.

Bandyatuyaga believes the crisis could open new doors for faith in Tanzania, where 50% of the population does not follow Jesus.

“When people are faced with difficulties, there is this tendency of being open to the Gospel because, for example, if someone is desperate or he can’t find any other solution to his problem, he tends to turn to divine intervention.”

Trans World Radio has been broadcasting Gospel hope in Tanzania since 2010. (Photo courtesy of TWR)

He asks, “Please be with us in prayer as we continue to minister to the people of Tanzania. Pray with us for the provision of needed funds so that we can reach more people in the country of Tanzania, and pray with us so that their hearts can continue to be drawn to listen to the Gospel.”

Learn more about TWR’s ministry.

Header photo: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Photo courtesy of Peter Mitchell/Unsplash)

“You’ve got a new government trying to enact a new system of law and even create a new constitution over the next four years,” says Samuel* with Redemptive Stories. “There’s a lot at stake for what [this election] means, particularly for minorities.” 

Samuel notes that under the previous al-Assad regime, women held respected roles in society. But in last week’s election, only six women and 10 members of minorities were among the nearly 120 seats chosen. Two of those seats went to representatives for Christians — less than 1% of the total 210-member parliament.

A minaret and a church steeple side-by-side in Syria. (Photo courtesy of Ali Wassouf/Unsplash)

“With a more Sunni conservative government, those voices will be pushed more or brushed more aside,” Samuel says of women and minorities. 

That’s not the only factor complicating Syria’s government. Elections for 21 more parliamentary seats were delayed in two Kurdish-controlled provinces as well as one in the south of Syria. The delay stems from the government’s continued tensions with  Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria as well as predominantly Druze communities in Suwayda.

Another 70 seats in parliament (one third of the total body) await direct appointment by President Ahmed al-Sharaa. It’s possible that his appointments could correct the imbalances in the new government.

What does this election mean for believers in Syria?

“I think more and more Christians are realizing that this is not a place that will be safe for them,” says Samuel. “What this mean[s] for the Church is that that ethnic Christian [population] will continue, I think, to decrease.”

Syrian children (photo courtesy of Jonathan Ramalho via Unsplash)

Ethnicity is no barrier to God or the gospel, of course. But it is a factor in Syria, where certain people groups are considered to be Christian.

“The prayer would be that there would be more of a desire of Christians to stay and to remain in order to be a light for their community,” says Samuel. “But as those numbers continue to probably actually dwindle, then the church also needs to be engaged in raising up leaders from a Muslim background, Alawite background, Druze background [and] Kurdish Muslim background in order to fill in the gap where the ethnic Christian churches might exit.” 

Please join in praying for Syria at this fragile time. Ask God to open the way for the gospel to reach across Syria’s ethnic and religious divisions. Pray for greater national stability that could allow greater spread of the gospel. 

*Pseudonym

Header photo: Women wearing niqabs, veils worn by Muslim women that cover all of the face except the eyes, walk down the road in Damascus, Syria. (Photo courtesy of IMB)

That same day (29 January), military leaders associated with his administration suspended the nation’s 12-year-old constitution. It could take up to four years, al-Sharaa has said, to hold official elections, and up to three to draft a new constitution. They also declared that all military factions are dissolved — including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. 

It’s a fragile time to say the least. 

Fadi Sharaiha with the MENA Leadership Center says his concerns remain despite the promises of Syria’s new leaders. “You know, in four years you could do whatever you want in the country,” he says. 

To him, actions speak loud, and he says al-Sharaa has acted by appointing only people from his own party to lead.

Another concerning point for Sharaiha and others came early January, this one affecting the children of Syria. 

“They want to change some of the books, the textbooks for schools, the curriculum,” he said. The changes in the amendment would remove any positive mention of the al-Assad regime and revise certain facts, with a strong Islamic leaning.  

“Now we don’t see so far [them] putting Christians in jail or anything. But it’s tough what’s happening,” Sharaiha says. 

Yet in all the news of Syria, remember that God still has the Good News for the nation.

MENA Leadership Center partners with more than 132 ministries throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
(Photo courtesy of MENA Leadership Center)

“God loves the people of Syria — all of them — and He wants people to come to faith in His Son, Jesus Christ,” Sharaiha says. 

That’s why your prayers right now matter. Would you stop whatever you’re doing to pray for Syria? Remember them this week. 

Then, praise God for keeping the door open for training Syrian leaders. The MENA Leadership Center has been able to continue reaching Syrian Christians through their online courses, Sharaiha says. 

Learn more about MLC’s mission and vision here. 

Header photo courtesy of ErikaWittlieb via Pixabay.

“It made [the election] very unique, because the party in power was trying to push for Ghana’s first Muslim president,” Ray Mensah with OneWay Ministries notes.

A portrait of the President of the Republic of Ghana (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=157795094)

Mahama, a Christian, gained a decisive victory — 56.5% of the votes compared to 41% for Bawumia. Yet the election points to a growing influence of Islam in Ghana.

Mensah explains that like many parts of Africa, Ghana has a Christian south and a Muslim north. Missionaries entered the country from the southern coast, while Islam came down from the north. 

Yet even as mosques are spreading in its towns and villages, Ghana is a majority Christian nation (71 percent according to a 2021 census). It plays a key role in spreading the gospel in Africa, but more believers need to be mobilized to do so. 

That’s why Mensah and other leaders in the Ghana Evangelical Missions Association (GEMA) are working to rally local churches. “Vision 2040” as they call it has a goal of sending 30,000 missionaries from Ghana across Africa before 2040. They also seek to raise tens of thousands of churches to pray for and send out missionaries. Mensah says they came to that vision through “a process of praying and fasting and brainstorming.”

To him, it’s a matter of stewardship. “Just like we receive many missionaries, we should also give many missionaries to the nations to see people come to Christ all over the world,” he says. 

“To him that much is given, much is expected. I believe the Lord is expecting much for Africa, and Africa has to arise. The Church in Ghana has to arise, the Church in Africa as well. We have no other option. We have to be the Great Commission. We have to contribute significantly to global missions and world evangelization, for such a time like this.”

Ghanaian Christian leaders have mentored Christians in Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and other countries toward starting their own national missions movements. They’re also involved within Ghana. Mensah is the director of OneWay Africa, which supports boots-on-the-grounds missions outreaches across Ghana and raises up Christians for missions, and more.

How you can pray

Jesus Film Riders (Image courtesy of OneWay Africa)

Pray for peace. Ghana is still a place where Christians and Muslims largely live without violence. But not all of its neighbors can say the same.

“We see the insurgency, the insecurity in our neighboring countries, in Burkina Faso, in Mali, in Niger, Chad and in our sub-region, and we just pray God’s grace. We pray for divine intervention. We pray that God will have mercy on Ghana and protect us from all the insecurity,” Mensah says.

Pray for more people to come to faith in Christ. “We pray that God will reveal Himself to our [Muslim] brothers. They are our brothers, and God loves them. We love them. We pray that God would hear us and empower the church to be able to reach out.”

Pray for the church in Ghana to be strong in discipleship. Pray that those who know Christ will see their faith impact every area of their life.

Then, consider partnering in the work. “We also invite people to partner with us in different ways — in prayer, logistics, finances, teams, short-term teams. Ghana is open to short-term teams,” Mensah says. “We open our arms [and] say, come! Let’s share the gospel together. It will change their lives. Let’s do the work together. There’s so much work. The harvest is [plentiful] but the workers are few.”

Learn more about the 19 unreached people groups still in Ghana today. Visit OneWay Africa’s website to learn more.

Header photo courtesy of OneWay Africa, OneWay Ministries. 

Today, we’re asking, “What does the future of the pro-life movement in the American Church look like?”

President of LIFE International Kurt Dillinger says, first and foremost, the calling for Christians hasn’t changed.

“As pro-life individuals, our primary calling is to be like Jesus to our culture. That’s the most pro-life thing that we could possibly do.”

(Photo courtesy of Alicia Petresc/Unsplash)

Looking at ballot results this past week, three US states rejected expanding abortion measures and seven states approved them.

These outcomes underscore the ongoing need to encourage a culture in America that values life – both for the pre-born and the people in our communities.

Dillinger emphasizes that the mission starts close to home. “We are to be people who value human life in our own homes, with our families, and with our own children first. That’s our primary mission field. Then from there, to those who live near us, our neighbors,” he says.

“How do we treat people? How do we care for people right next door to us? How do we interact with the people we work with, our co-workers, and our communities?”

As LIFE International seeks a culture that honors life, pray for America to repent and embrace God’s purpose for every human life.

Dillinger says, “The direction that we take in supporting the value of every human life — how we live that out, how we put policy in place, how we behave as God’s people in this country — as the Church has a huge impact on the rest of the world.”

Connect with LIFE International here.

Header photo courtesy of Edmond Dantes/Pexels.

For the pro-life movement, it was a complicated night.

Kurt Dillinger, Founder and President of LIFE International, believes organizations like theirs will “have a friendly atmosphere in our culture with the work that we’re doing here in this nation.”

On the other hand, abortion expansion laws were on the election ballots in 10 states this week, and seven states approved them. The three states to reject expanded abortion measures were Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

LIFE International staff (Photo courtesy of LIFE International)

Dillinger says, “This clarifies what we need to be doing in this country on this issue. We need to be working at the state level on these issues and continue to help the Church be the Church on these issues in each of these states. When we do that, there’s hope that we can change policies for life.”

Ultimately, politics can only legislate action, but the Gospel changes hearts.

“The Church can really be a reflection as we’re called to be that in Ephesians 5:1,” encourages Dillinger. “Be imitators of God, be a reflection of Jesus Christ to our world. This, to me, is being pro-life.”

We’ll be back tomorrow with part two of this story discussing the future of the pro-life movement and the Church, both in the US and around the world.

Learn more about LIFE International’s ministry here.

Header photo courtesy of Frank Mckenna/Unsplash.

*The radio broadcast of this story incorrectly stated that the Republicans had won majority in the House. While this is the projected outcome, some final House races have not been called yet.