But another headline is unfolding in Cuba — another government hanging in the balance, and a Church preparing for whatever comes next.

Duane Friesen, Vice President of International with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, says these two nations share a defining question.

Vinales, Cuba (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Chen via Unsplash)

“We have two different countries in different parts of the world, but facing the same challenge, and that is: what does their immediate identity look like? Will they face a radical regime change that results in a radical identity change? And…what will be the response of the Christians in those places in the midst of radical change?”

Cuba is currently experiencing shortages of food and medicine, and facing a U.S. fuel blockade. The fuel crisis has led to power outages.

“This trickles down right to every village in the country,” says Friesen. “They are now in a crisis mode. They realize that they will not have power for maybe most of the day. In many cases, they’re only getting one hour of energy to charge whatever they have to supply. But in the midst of that, they’re wrestling through: ‘What will our country look like a year from now?'”

For Cuban believers grappling with economic challenges, Friesen says they still have a supernatural joy that can only come from the Holy Spirit.

“The Church in Cuba has tried to keep a Spirit-filled expression of grace in the midst of difficulty. But the reality is they have so little and continue to have less and less. [They] are in crisis just to get basic supplies of food, basic medicine, [or] be supported at a hospital.”

A makeshift baptism (Photo courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs USA)

When Cubans are looking for relief, the ones who often show up with food, medicine, and encouragement are the local Christians.

Friesen says, “I’ve heard where there are networks of a church community given permission out of Havana to supply medical equipment and drugs to support the local hospitals on the outer skirts of the island.

“From the Church perspective, they’re looking at ways to be ready – ready to share what Good News they have, but also ready to be part of the solution, of blessing a nation in its next chapter.”

Please pray for Cubans to find sure footing in Jesus Christ.

Friesen says of Cuban believers, “Their prayer is that the Spirit would work through them to demonstrate what courage looks like in the midst of fear, in the midst of change, and that they would be a beacon of light to see a nation encouraged and brought to an understanding. There’s hope in Christ.”

Header photo: Wonders in graffiti above a woman walking in Havana, Cuba. (Photo courtesy of Emily Crawford via Unsplash)

The UN says two-thirds of Sudan’s population will need help to survive another year. Children are disproportionately affected, with 55 percent of displaced people being under the age of 18.

Hope remains for Sudan, but not because the government says that 2026 will be a “year of peace.” Instead, a different source offers a more optimistic outlook.

“God is at work in our fallen world,” says a Gospel worker we’ll call John.

“He is not silent, not powerless. He is bringing people to Himself in the worst of times.”

Help for the hopeless

Sudanese church planters and medical teams bring donated medicines to displacement camps in Sudan and South Sudan. More about that here.

“The last bit of medicine that we had in this second shipment went to an orphanage outside of Juba,” John says.

Sudan refugees
(Representative AI photo created by ChatGPT)

More than 900 children call the facility home, and “this orphanage encapsulates what’s happening everywhere we go,” John says.

“About 15 percent of the children are suffering from what they call night blindness, and it is caused most times by an extreme deficiency of vitamin A,” he continues.

“The children were covered with sores and lesions from malnutrition and poor hygiene.”

“Critical edge of death”

Famine is widespread in Sudan as a result of the war. Children at the orphanage only get “one meal a day, and it is a small thing of beans and cornmeal. Because they’re not getting iron, there is a large, large percentage with anemia,” John says.

You can help by supporting Sudanese church planters through John’s organization.

“We’ve decided to do a four-month effort and then see what God does. So, we’re going to provide meat for those 907 children every week, and multiple vitamins for each one of them,” John says.

“We’re purchasing some of the protein meals that the UN uses to get these children under five away from that critical edge of death.”

As the children received medical care through the latest outreach, they heard about a God who loves them. Pray that these Gospel seeds will take root.

“Anyone who gets involved with the suffering of displaced people in the world is up for a great blessing,” John says.

Header and story images are representative AI photos generated by ChatGPT. 

Millions of people are homeless and cannot meet basic needs like food, water, or shelter. Rape and theft are common, doubling the trauma endured by survivors.

John, a Gospel worker focused on Sudan, says the spiritual side effects are overwhelming.

“That’s what the enemy does. He brings loss upon loss upon loss, and then fear of greater loss, deep, debilitating grief over loss, trying to bring the individual to the point where they believe all is lost,” John says.

Believers are meeting the medical needs of displaced Sudanese in refugee camps. More about that here. “It’s a shipment of medicine; we have distributed so far, 7000 pounds,” John says.

“We’re provided only with medicines, and then we, by faith, take it from there.”

A gift of any amount helps John’s organization – unnamed for security purposes – meet more needs.

Hope and help go hand-in-hand. “We do an open presentation of the Gospel, and it talks about the love of God,” John says.

“It talks about the evil in the world. It talks about what the Bible says God offers to the individual, regardless of the circumstances, and that’s the power.”

Pray for transformation as believers follow up with people in the camps.

“The clinic comes, and then it goes. But the evangelism and church planting team stays there because they are displaced.”

Ask the Lord to strengthen believers and medical teams. They expect to receive a third round of donated medicine in the coming days.

Header image is a representative photo courtesy of unfoldingWord. 

Two years of civil war have left close to 80 percent of Sudan’s health facilities useless. So-called “citizen-led clinics” are filling the void.

Sudanese church planters recently partnered with Christian doctors, nurses, and pharmacists from South Sudan to hold several citizen-led clinics in displacement camps. “They went to 12 pop-up clinics and 10 camps in four locations,” a Gospel worker we’ll call John says.

“In total, we did 104 days of clinics, and we were able to see 7,000 people. The majority of this last medical outreach was with pediatric medicines, and we’ve been able to see about 3,500 children.”

Pop-up clinics offer lifeline

It’s the latest edition of a coalition formed earlier this year between Sudanese church planters, U.S. suppliers who provide donated medications, and medical professionals from South Sudan.

(Photo courtesy Joko_Narimo/Pixabay)

Including earlier dispersals, “We distributed 7,000 pounds” of donated medications, John says. “We don’t get to choose all of the medications. We get a list of what’s available, and we say, ‘Yes, we can use these things,’” he continues.

“They arrive, then they’re divided up, taken to the locations where refugees are. Working with the South Sudan Council of Churches, we were able to get the medications duty-free.”

In an email to MNN about the medical ministry, John adds:

Medical ministry among Sudanese refugees is one of the most powerful ways God’s love is made visible. In refugee camps on South Sudan’s border with Sudan, access to even basic healthcare is often limited or nonexistent. Through our partnership in Movement of Medicine, we are blessed to step into these gaps, offering not just physical healing but also dignity, comfort, and the hope of the Gospel.

A doctor dressing wounds or treating a fever may also be the one who listens, prays, and brings emotional healing to a war-torn heart. In such settings, the power of medical ministry is not merely in the medicine, but in the message that every life is valued by God. As prayers are answered through healing hands and compassionate presence, the Gospel is preached not only in words but in action.

Donate to John’s organization, unnamed for security purposes, to help cover the costs associated with outreach.

“We’re provided only with medicines. And then we, by faith, take it from there,” John says. “At times, we had to find other funding for things like bandages.”

Help and hope

As medical teams meet desperate needs with donated medicine, the church planters address spiritual needs. “Every time we have a clinic, we have an open-air presentation of the Gospel,” John says.

“We’re hearing, as a result of the clinics, about some pretty powerful (spiritual) harvests. These are all Muslims, primarily – 1,750 asked for individual trauma counseling, approximately 1,200 people put faith in Christ.”

Ask the Lord to strengthen believers and medical teams. They’ll receive a third round of donated medicine in the coming days. “Our teams have said, ‘We’re not going to take Christmas break, and we’ll be continuing,’” John says.

“‘Sudanese people need the Gospel, but they also need the encouragement that, somewhere in the world, Christians recognize what they’re suffering.’”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy Nappy/Unsplash.

Co-founder Camille Melki says Heart for Lebanon began its medical clinic in the Bekaa Valley 18 years ago.

“Heart for Lebanon started doing ministry in October 2006 as a response to the Hezbollah and Israeli war that summer. Hosting medical teams started a few months after, realizing that medical services are scarce, especially during conflicts,” Melki explains.

“We continue to serve, from that day till now, locally displaced families and Syrian and Iraqi refugees.”

In 2019, the ministry expanded its clinic to meet ever-rising needs, building a permanent location and hiring residential staff. “We are 20 miles from the border with Syria,” Melki says.

“The Bekaa Valley is the largest host of refugees who have crossed from Syria to Lebanon, and our center serves thousands of individuals on a weekly basis.”

Every interaction is a Gospel opportunity. “When someone goes to a doctor, they expect the doctor to know what they’re talking about and to prescribe the best medicine,” Melki says.

“That’s very true, but in our cases, the patients [also] feel they’re important in the eyes of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Are you a medical professional? Volunteer by connecting with Heart for Lebanon on Facebook. Plus, “we would urge listeners to continue to pray for open doors to share the love of Jesus Christ,” Melki requests.

“Also, we urge you to pray for the resources needed because maintaining a clinic is not a small task.”

Header image courtesy of Heart for Lebanon.

Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) says, “Some of the pastors that we work with also work as chaplains. In talking to the soldiers on the front line, there’s a sense of expectation that soon, there will be another offensive action by Russia, realizing that American arms are coming in.

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

“There’s a concern of fatigue, a lack of ammunition and weaponry to defend themselves, and a depleting of the soldiers. The reality is that this war is grinding on — and ‘grinding’ is probably a good word because so many lives have been taken in the fighting on both sides.”

Along the 600-mile front line, more Ukrainian villages have been emptied as people attempt to flee to safety.

Many are fleeing to the doorsteps of local churches.

“These churches literally are having buses show up of front line IDPs (internally displaced persons.) All of a sudden, they’re saying, ‘Here, you’ve got to take care of them for the next two months.’ They’ve got to figure out how to give them housing, how to find them a warm place to sleep, maybe a place to transition because you just can’t sleep in the church, and then food and all those other items. So SGA is trying to stand with the churches in that,” says Mock.

“We need to get food and medicines and even hygiene items to these churches because a lot of people are now being evacuated from the front line regions.”

SGA recently held a retreat for SGA-supported Ukrainian pastors and their wives. Many of these pastors say their congregations were initially emptied at the start of the war. But now, Mock says, “Those churches are filled up with new believers and new people looking for answers in the middle of the war.”

A Russian drone hit SGA-supported Pastor Vlad’s van while he was evacuating the elderly in an embattled city in Ukraine. Praise God for His protection and ask Him to guide the hands of the surgeon who will operate on Vlad’s leg, which was badly injured.
(Photo, caption courtesy of SGA)

Although the peril increases each day, these pastors stay. “All of them said as long as their congregation is there, they will be there and they will not leave.”

Please pray for pastors in Ukraine to be spiritually encouraged and equipped for ministry through SGA. Ask God to comfort war-torn communities and lead more people across Ukraine to embrace Gospel hope.

Mock says that is ultimately SGA’s mission: “We’re equipping the churches for the work of ministry so that the Gospel would go out in every circumstance that the Church faces.”

Learn more about supporting SGA in Ukraine.

Header photo courtesy of SGA.

But thousands more have fallen sick, many of them Syrian refugees. Pierre Houssney with Horizons International says, “It’s a threat to everyone who lives in Lebanon; anybody who eats vegetables is potentially exposed to cholera. Because a lot of the agricultural community is mostly run by Syrian refugees. As we have cholera spilling over the border from Syria into the Bekaa Valley, there’s a lot of uncertainty.”

Refugee living conditions

The Syrian refugees in Lebanon don’t have good waste disposal systems, and flooding can bring wastewater into the tents. Refugees must build their homes out of whatever stray materials they can find. Houssney says, “They’re made out of billboard plastic that’s been pulled down from somewhere, or vinyl tarps and things like that. It’s a patchwork. They’re not waterproof. They have kitchen fires all the time because they’re trying to cook in such structures.”

The response from the Lebanese government has been slow. Houssney says, “They’re more concerned with squabbling over who will be the next president than actually doing anything that would benefit the Lebanese people. But even more so, the Syrian people. It just seems like nobody in power cares about them anymore.”

“Even if there were a functioning government in place, there wouldn’t be a quick response because it’s not a priority.”

Horizons works with a network of 120 churches in Lebanon. They distribute food, medicine, and winterization materials to those in need. Pray their love will reveal Jesus.

You can support their work here.

Header photo courtesy of Horizons International on Facebook. 

The World Health Organization says the bacteria first appeared in Afghanistan in June and has spread to Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. It’s the first appearance of cholera in Lebanon in 30 years.

Heart for Lebanon

In 2018, Heart for Lebanon opened up a ministry in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Part of the building was dedicated to medical care.

Tom Atema says the ministry has now expanded the medical portion, adding a second floor. “On the first floors, as the refugees come in, they will be triaged. We find out what they are there for.”

Upstairs, the ministry operates a full-fledged dental unit with an x-ray machine. Atema says, “In the other room is a medical area to find out what their problems are and if we can solve them with simple medicines.”

If the clinic can’t treat patients, including those with cholera, they arrange for them to go to another doctor or the hospital. Atema says, “It’s just one more level of service of need that they have that we can provide. And we must provide it because really the people we’re working with nobody else is working with.”

Ministry

As they work, the team talks to their patients and gets to know them. Atema says, “We want to strengthen that relationship. Ultimately, we want to talk to them about the great physician, who is Jesus Christ.”

Pray for wisdom for the Heart for Lebanon team. “There’s a lot of Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley. We can’t treat all of them in this clinic. It takes wisdom for our team to say, ‘Yes, this is something we can handle, this is something we can help you with,’ Or to say, ‘This is serious, we can help you get to the right resource.’”

Header photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon. 

The embattled Tigray region faces an assault from the Ethiopian military, as well as bordering Eritrea. The northern neighbor held a full mobilization of fighting men up to age 55.

Eric Foley with The Voice of the Martyrs Korea says, “What you’ll see now through people’s cell phone videos and in citizen journalism is large-scale troop movement and tank movement into the area. The Tigray Christians are puzzled as to why the international community is, at this point, still expressing concern but not taking any action.”

Tigray Christians

Evangelical Christians in the Tigray region have to be careful since some neighbors view them with suspicion. The president of Ethiopia, who is organizing the invasion, is also an evangelical Christian. Foley says, “So evangelical Christians, which are just a very small portion of the Tigray population, feel stuck at the level of raising their voice to be heard, both internationally and even locally.”

But their work continues. Foley says, “We were receiving a report from a Christian doctor who is the director at one of the local hospitals. He just very matter-of-factly said, ‘We have no food to feed our patients; we have no medicine to give our patients.’”

“He simply goes about his work by continuing to show up.”

VOM Korea continues to support Christians from the Tigray region, as well as Eritrea. Many Eritrean Christians remain in prison under a harsh government many have called the “North Korea of Africa.”

Foley shares another testimony from a widow in the region. “She said to us, ‘It wasn’t just the money you sent. It was the day that it came, and the testimony it made to my neighbors that God has not forgotten me.’”

Pray for peace in Ethiopia.

The header photo shows Tigrayan Christians. (Photo courtesy of the Voice of the Martyrs Korea) 

The vaccine will be cheap to make, and scientists hope to see 100 million made per year. It’s a crucial step in the fight against Malaria, a parasite that kills over 400,000 each year. Trials took place in Burkina Faso.

Christian World Outreach

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach says, “We see it a lot in Burkina Faso because of our mobile clinic there. But even in dealing with the young ladies at the Village of Opportunity, we’ve had them come down with malaria.”

“It becomes an issue, especially when they can’t get treatment or they can’t get to a mobile clinic out in the villages.”

Yoder says if someone comes into the clinic showing symptoms of malaria, they start treatment immediately. They don’t wait to get test results back.

The parasite, carried by mosquitos, can be especially dangerous for babies and young children.

How to pray

Pray the vaccine will be effective in slowing the spread of malaria, Yoder says. “And pray even for opportunities for us if it becomes available for us to use with our mobile clinic in Burkina Faso. And just pray that God will supply the funds that we need to purchase that if it does become available.”

Pray also that many in Burkina Faso would see the love of Jesus through this work. Support the ministry here.

The header photo shows a Anopheles stephensi mosquito, the only kind which carries malaria. (Photo courtesy of Jim Gathany, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)