Brian Dennett with AMG International says, “As much as 60 percent of the country has been recaptured by resistance groups so the military really is desperate.”

Analysts say the military junta imposes martial law in areas under rebel control, signaling the new battle zones it hopes to re-conquer. “We’ve been praying for an end to everything, and it just seems to keep getting worse,” Dennett says.

“Since the start of the coup, thousands have been killed, as many as three million have been displaced, and today, the fighting rages on.”

Meanwhile, a mandatory draft imposed in late February has millions of young people on the move. “What’s happened in the last several days is like a mass exodus,” Dennett says.

“Young people are trying desperately to escape the country, [queuing in] long lines in immigration trying to get visas legally, and then others are just crossing the borders anywhere they can to get out.”

After the 2021 coup, AMG partners started a hostel for unaccompanied children who cross the border into a neighboring country.

(Photo courtesy of AMG International)

“Many of these children are alone; some of them are orphans of the conflict; they have needed food, clothing, education, and a lot of love,” Dennett says.

Now, the hostel is out of room. Expansion plans are underway, but AMG needs your help to reach its goal.

Every contribution, whether large or small, makes a significant difference in creating a secure, safe, and nurturing environment for these children. A gift of $50 could provide essential items such as bedding and hygiene items. A gift of $150 could provide furnishings for the rooms.

Help AMG International expand its Light ASEAN Hostel here.

Pray AMG can reach more vulnerable kids with the hope of Christ. “Everything we do is done with an eye on sharing Jesus, so the Gospel is being clearly presented to all of these kids,” Dennett says.

Header and story images courtesy of AMG International.

FMI’s Nehemiah* says this is an unprecedented moment in Pakistan.

“Most importantly, which is more important than even Mr. Khan’s arrest,…we have never ever seen the Pakistani people…go face-to-face with the military, with the army. That is the very, very first time. We have never seen something like this in 70 years of Pakistan’s history.”

Since Pakistan’s establishment in 1947, the nation spent more than three cumulative decades under martial law.

Pakistan flag (Photo courtesy of Abuzar Xheikh/Unsplash)

Now, with people revolting and the military clamping down, Nehemiah speculates, “I think we are moving towards another martial law in Pakistan or maybe official emergency is going to be declared in Pakistan very soon after this situation.

“People have entered into the buildings of military establishments — that we have never ever seen before…. A very strange thing is that when people were entering into these buildings, there was no such security. There was no one there who can stop them. It looks like that is a trap that people may enter so they have a reason to impose Sharia law or impose an emergency so a military establishment can come officially and take over Pakistan.”

Khan, a former cricket star turned philanthropist and politician, founded the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 1996. Eventually, Khan became the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018.

However, Khan’s administration was marked by economic struggles and waning military support for his leadership. He was ousted in April 2022 after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament.

Amidst clashes between Khan supporters and police, the streets in many provinces have become dangerous and impassable.

Nehemiah says, “I was talking to one of the brothers in Pakistan because roads are blocked, there is nowhere to go, and he is still about 200 miles away from his home. He doesn’t know how to reach his home. So this is a difficult situation.”

(Photo courtesy of FMI)

Meanwhile, Pakistani Christians are heartbroken for their Muslim neighbors who feel let down by police and politics and have no hope.

“We have an opportunity and room to share the Word of God with people, although this is a chaotic and difficult situation right now in Pakistan. But still, when there is no hope, we have only one hope in God, and that is Jesus.”

Pray for Gospel opportunities in Pakistan. Also, Nehemiah says, “Today, I want to request pray for Pakistan at-large, not only Christians in Pakistan but for peace in Pakistan and stability in Pakistan.”

Learn more about FMI’s ministry.

*Name withheld for security.

Header photo of Imran Khan, former PM of Pakistan. (Photo courtesy of Financial Times/Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/51005181@N05/8414079377)

Guatemala has one of the worst COVID-19 situations in the Western Hemisphere. Only five percent of the population has been vaccinated against the virus.

Harsh crackdown on protests

Guatemalans have been protesting against the government’s response, but the president of Guatemala cracked down last week. Dennett says, “The president of Guatemala pronounced that the entire country was now in a state of emergency, or like martial law. And that due to this state of emergency, any protesters would be sent immediately to prison. Our leader there actually said he felt as though they were no longer a democracy.”

AMG works in 35 different Guatemalan communities to provide food and healthcare. Ask God to encourage the Christians there, and pray their love would lead many to Jesus. You can also contribute to this work at amghelp.org.

(Photo courtesy of codyvanscyoc from Pixabay)

Greg Kelley of World Mission says, “Myanmar, like many of these countries in Southeast Asia, have gotten a taste of democracy and freedom. And they’ve experienced the internet. They know what’s going on around the world and they yearn for that. They long for that to be a part of their country and their government.”

Violent reaction to protests

That’s why citizens have protested in such great numbers ever since the coup. But Kelley says, “These military authorities, their approach is they’re shooting people. I mean, we would expect maybe tear gas, or maybe even rubber bullets. But that’s not the case. These military authorities are literally killing people. People are fearful to leave their homes at night. They’re being kidnapped. They’re vanishing, disappearing. It’s a very dire situation right now.”

Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, has become a war zone. Thousands are fleeing, leaving their possessions behind.

But many Christians are also using these turbulent circumstances as an opportunity for ministry. Kelley says, “When tragedies like this happen, it causes everyone in the community to look thoroughly at their worldviews. In this case, it’s primarily Buddhists. It’s a great opportunity for the body of Christ to share the Gospel. And that’s exactly what’s going on right now.”

The header photo shows a protest taking place in Yangon. (သူထွန်း, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Joe Handley of Asian Access explains the situation. “In the southern parts of the Philippines, there are these terrorist groups, influenced by what is now the Islamic State. [They] have been influencing that part of the country, really with a kind of Islamic front, attacking the southern islands.”

Handley says these terrorist groups have ties to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State and pursue the same radical agenda.

An old church in the Philippines. (Image by krystianwin from Pixabay)

Christians are being a light in a dark time

The military is now saying it might instate martial law in the country to shut down further attacks. Handley says, “There are people who respond in fear and have locked themselves in. And of course, they have to obey the authorities. They may have curfews and things and they’ll follow those rules. At the same time, you have people that are trying to be a light in the midst of the chaos. And they will reach out to those in fear and try to console encourage and come alongside them.”

Handley says Filipino pastors are eager to share the hope of Christ with people during a frightening time. Many in the Philippines are more open to the Gospel right now, especially Muslims who witness the violence of radical Islamist groups with horror.

“Those that are more moderate Muslims tend to start questioning their faith. ‘Does my God really support this kind of thing?’”

Ask God to bring peace to the Philippines. Pray the government would be able to protect their people from attack and pray the Church would shine the light of Christ into a dark situation.

Pray also for the work of Asian Access. Handley says, “Asian Access works in a number of countries where persecution is at play, and the more we can help equip [Christians leaders] to face those storms of life, the better off they’ll be in the midst of those situations.”

Header photo by Somchai Kongkamsri from Pexels.

The people of Lebanon have been forcefully protesting the government corruption that put the country into an economic spiral and enabled the deadly Beirut explosion last week. Many see this move as a way to protect Lebanon’s ruling elite against the fury of the people. This weekend, police and military were already observed using excessive force against protestors.

Unrest in Lebanon

Lebanese cleaning up the streets of Beirut after the explosion. (Photo courtesy of SAT-7 USA on Facebook)

Rex Rogers, president of SAT-7 North America, says the country sits in a precarious place after the explosion. “The social unrest has been quite significant or severe at times . . . There are people whose tensions are on edge, and they blame the government for long-standing corruption.”

This corruption led to the explosion in the port of Beirut, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions on record.

But Rogers says the corruption already had the country in a terrible state before the explosion, as economic troubles left many people in danger of starvation. “There’s been record of people literally robbing stores and apologizing to the owners saying, ‘I’m not usually a thief. I don’t like what I’m doing. But my children are hungry, and I have to do this.’”

Lebanon’s freedom

Lebanon, Rogers says, has been known as a country with a lot of freedom. “It’s never been a militarily significant or powerful country throughout its history, but it has been and is now a very important country in terms of religious liberty.”

Pray that Lebanon’s military will not oppress the people and that those who are corrupt in the government will lose their power. Most of all, pray that in this time of uncertainty and unrest, many people would be drawn to the everlasting rule of Jesus Christ.

You can also support SAT-7 as they broadcast hope into this dire situation.

The header image shows the aftermath of the deadly explosion in Beirut. (Photo courtesy of SAT-7 USA on Facebook)

Russian forces say the Ukrainian ships came into their national waters and shouldn’t have even been there. Ukraine says they told Russia they were coming through the strait and did nothing to provoke an attack.

A bridge over the strait connects Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which the Soviet nation annexed in 2014. Ukraine and most other countries do not recognize Crimea as a Russian territory.

Mined area in Eastern Ukraine. (Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

Joel Griffith with Slavic Gospel Association says, “It’s obvious [there are] an awful lot of geopolitical considerations going on here. This situation certainly has been going on since 2014 when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, especially in the Eastern regions and the Crimean Peninsula. Now, this most recent affair certainly is a major escalation of that situation.”

Ukraine’s president and parliament met yesterday to discuss instating martial law — a move typically reserved for war or an invasion. Martial law would allow the military to take over the activities of a civilian government and even delay Ukraine’s upcoming elections.

“The [Evangelical] Baptist Union of Ukraine leadership is asking for churches around the world to pray for their country in light of this. Of course, [they are] not taking a political position on this…. If this conflict escalates even further and then if martial law is declared, there are an awful lot of concerns about what that means for the Ukrainian people.”

(Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

Griffith says tensions between the two nations can also indirectly affect SGA’s ministry in Ukraine.

“As the missionary pastors we sponsor go into Eastern Ukraine to try to help the churches there as well as to try to visit people who are in some of the most heavily damaged areas to take in humanitarian aid like food and medicine, it can be very dangerous. You never know when shelling is going to break out in Eastern Ukraine and these regions that are controlled by the separatists.”

With winter here as well, the frigid temperatures and restricted travel conditions only make humanitarian needs starker in Ukrainian neighborhoods affected by Russian-backed separatist clashes.

However, that doesn’t hinder SGA or their ministry partners’ persistence in getting the hope of the Gospel to Ukrainians — which is needed now more than ever.

“The churches we serve with SGA, we’re really trying to simply dedicate ourselves to helping people whose lives have been shattered…with the Gospel and certainly humanitarian aid. The churches, of course, are wanting to minister to their people as best as they can,” says Griffith.

(Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

“It’s just a horrible situation, but hopefully, it’s one where the Gospel can shine a light and the peace of the Gospel can be proclaimed and the love of Christ can be shown by the churches as they try to render help in Jesus’ name to these shattered people.”

SGA has a Crisis Evangelism Fund which is designated to “meet the special needs of people living in regions or countries ravaged by war, extreme violence, and acts of terror.” It’s a tangible way you can encourage Christians in Ukraine and inject the hope of the Gospel into this situation.

Griffith explains, “Anybody who wants to support the ministry in these regions can certainly make a gift to that. They can either designate it to general humanitarian aid or if they specifically want it to go to help Ukraine, that can certainly be done as well.”

Click here to give to SGA’s Crisis Evangelism Fund!

Then, most importantly, you can pray. The tensions between Ukraine and Russia, although ongoing, have seemed to fade into the background with less media coverage dedicated to the conflict.

“It’s been out of the news for quite a long time even though the conflict hasn’t ended. Now that you’ve got this open situation with the ships being shelled and the possibility for martial law, I think that’s going to maybe serve to drive that back into awareness again and, hopefully, people will be reminded to pray about this and pray that peace will come.”

Header photo of the Kerch Strait courtesy of Valeri Pizhanski via Flickr under Creative Commons: https://goo.gl/zSgGDg

Reserve soldiers in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

On Thursday, the Philippine army launched an air strike in the southern city of Marawi to flush out up to 40 fighters hiding in the city. At least 20 people have been killed in the conflict, including soldiers, police officers, and civilians.

“I really don’t know how it will go on,” Herman Moldez, the Philippines Country Director for Asian Access, says. “I think this is the reason why the president declared martial law, so that he can really pursue them very well.”

Fighting erupted Tuesday after a failed attack on the hideout of Isnilon Hapilon, the leader of the terrorist group Abu Sayaaf, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law the same day for the southern island of Mindanao.

Wednesday saw a brief lull in the fighting, which the majority of Marawi’s 200,000 residents saw as an opportunity to leave the city. But despite the situation’s uncertainty, many believers are choosing to remain for the sake of sharing the Gospel.

“I think the situation as far as the spread of the Gospel just continues on,” Moldez says. “Those who are in the mission activity and the church activity, they’re just continuing on as if nothing is happening because this is not widespread; this is localized and contained.”

Not everyone, however, including believers, are on the same page regarding the government’s tactics.

“The reactions and responses are not united as far as the believers are concerned,” Moldez says. “So those of us who are staying in Luzon and the Basilan island would be different in our responses compared to those who are actually living in Mindanao. The overwhelming things we are hearing from the Mindanao believers, they welcome the creation of martial law.

(Photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs)

“So what we need to pray for is more unity among us, and that we will be more discerning in terms of trying to understand the situation. You know, there are many things being posted in the social media. That requires a lot of discernment. Continue to pray for safety and that this will not escalate to more violence and so on.”

Moldez also asks that you pray that churches in the Philippines would be watchful as to how martial law progresses in the country, and that everyone, including God’s people, would be kept safe.

“This is not politically motivated,” Moldez says. “This is just to respond to this terrorist attack. And that’s why even Congress is not taking this discussion. But we need to watch that, because the president is saying he may declare martial [law] to the entire island, the whole Philippines.

“So we need wisdom to be watchful and vigilant, to be prayerful of course and continue to pray that there would not be any attack to churches that will create another reaction and the whole situation would be out of control.”

(Photo of Thai Army courtesy Flickr/CC/Ian Fuller)

Thailand (MNN) — It’s tense in Thailand.

The nation has seen 11 coups since the end of direct rule by kings in 1932, and there’s concern that history might be repeating itself.

In case you haven’t been following what’s been happening there, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was toppled by a military coup after being accused of corruption, abuse of power, and disrespect for King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Six months later, political polarization has escalated to frenzy. Thailand has been without a fully functioning government since December, when Thaksin’s sister, then premier, hastily called for elections to ease the unrest.

Protests and counter rallies continued, some with deadly results. On Tuesday, the military stepped in to keep “peace and order,” although they deny that the move is precursor to a “coup d’état.” At the same time, nine cabinet ministers were removed from office, and a caretaker prime minister, the Deputy PM and Commerce Minister, appointed. Today, they are calling it a coup.

(Photo courtesy Flickr/CC/Ian Fuller)

Dyann Romeijn with Vision Beyond Borders says, “Anytime a country goes into martial law, of course freedoms are restricted. So with that, and the pressure of the countries around them that restrict so many of the religious freedoms, that’s always a concern.”

She goes on to say, “A lot of the countries that we work in around Thailand are closed, so Thailand has always been an area where there have been freedoms, where we have been able to base out of.”

VBB wouldn’t be the only one affected by the disturbances. Romeijn explains, “It’s my understanding that there are well over a thousand ministries that are based out of there as kind of a stability, to be able to reach out to the other closed countries around Thailand.”

Meanwhile, Thailand’s government urged the country’s poll-organizing agency to hold nationwide elections on August 3, 2014. But will this solution bring the peace long sought after?

Romeijn offers this thought: “We understand that as the world moves closer to the world government and to the end times that’s prophesied in the Bible, we’re going to see more and more of the abuses of power, restrictions of rights, and things like that.”

However, that’s not to say VBB will give up on the people they help. “There are about 100,000 refugees in nine refugee camps along the border with Thailand and Burma, as a result of the genocide going on there; they’ve fled Burma and come into Thailand,” she says. Most of the camps are barely able to support the refugees they hold.

While they’re needed, VBB won’t quit. “At this point, it doesn’t look like anything has really changed for us in the way that business will be done there, but that all remains to be seen. Thailand in the past has taken issue with the refugees being in Thailand.”

VBB takes teams in to visit the Karen refugees who are living in refugee camps along the Burma/Thailand border. Romeijn explains, “When Jesus tells us to clothe the naked and feed the hungry, and that what we’ve done unto the least of these, we’ve done unto Him, there are truly no people who are more down and out–who have less–than the refugees who have fled with basically whatever they could carry on their backs through the jungles.”

They deliver much-needed relief supplies including clothing, medications, and small toys for the children. Teams also have the opportunity to minister directly to those who are hurting, hear their incredible testimonies, and attend worship services with the Karen. In addition, there are opportunities to share the love of Christ with the orphans who are in these camps.

(Photo courtesy Vision Beyond Borders)

At the cusp of change, now’s the time to respond. Romeijn boils it down to three responses. First, “Pray. It truly is a spiritual battle that we’re engaged in.” Second, “If people feel led, [we hope] they would be able to go on these trips: we actually take short-term teams.” And then, consider giving. “We always need funds to support the work.”

Click here to get started.

After businesses throughout the country closed due to violent protests and 100 people died, the missionaries called Christians to pray for 20 days for Guinea.

"There are many praying for Guinea, literally around the world and around the clock and God is answering your prayers.  We have felt God's presence giving us peace and protection, not just for us but also for local believers," said one missionary in a prayer letter. 

During the unrest protests against the president's leadership caused him to declare martial law.  Two missionary families had to be evacuated while some were trapped in their homes.

Now, businesses and schools are open again.  Missionaries will soon be reentering the country to begin their work.

They have reported that church attendance is growing even thought statistics say 85 percent of Guinea's 9.6 million people are Muslim.  They are "flocking to churches in the forest region and Conakry by the droves.  Apparently, they are searching for a closer relationship with God," a missionary reported.

"Thank you so much for praying with us…We continue to be amazed with the response for our call of ‘20 days of prayer for Guinea,'" said one missionary. 

You can continue to pray for their efforts in Guinea.  The missionaries ask you to ;quot;Pray that hearts will be touched with the Gospel at these churches and [the Gospel] will spread to all peoples in Guinea.  Pray for the church leaders and lay people to have the Lord's wisdom in how to reach out to their Muslim neighbors."