Nuna* with Triumphant Mercy Lebanon says, “We’re just glued on our TV, seeing, ‘What is the government doing? What is Hezbollah doing? What is Israel doing?’ It’s like the whole thing has escalated in a way that we did not expect.”

Hezbollah fighters train in southern Lebanon, May 2023. (Photo courtesy of Tasnim News Agency/Wikimedia Commons)

Israel added Beirut to its hitlist yesterday following overnight attacks from the Iran-backed political and militant group, Hezbollah.

“Hezbollah started to send weapon missiles towards Israel, and Israel decided, ‘Okay, they want war. Let’s do war.’ They started to bomb heavily, and they killed most of the main chiefs of departments in Hezbollah,” says Nuna. 

As thousands of people fled the deadly strike zones, Lebanon’s government sought to distance itself from Hezbollah’s actions — with a bold ban on the militia that it has held back from making until now. 

“We had an emergency Cabinet meeting, and the whole Cabinet decided to name Hezbollah as a terrorist organization that is not affiliated [with] the government,” says Nuna. “This is very important, because this might create a civil war.”

The threat of civil war comes from the fact that Hezbollah is both a militant and a political group within Lebanon. It has held the support of Lebanon’s more than 30% Shiite Muslim population for years. Many see the group as a protector against Lebanon’s neighbor to the south, Israel. But Monday’s bombing was Hezbollah’s first claimed attack on Israel in more than a year. Some say it could prove to be Hezbollah’s undoing within Lebanon.

“Now it’s like they gave a carte blanche to Israel to say, ‘okay, you can kill whoever, and you can just destroy whatever is belonging to Hezbollah,’” says Nuna. 

Believers and ministries rally

Aid groups like Triumphant Mercy Lebanon are taking action, too. Believers called an emergency meeting to coordinate responses.

(Photo courtesy of Triumphant Mercy Lebanon)

“It’s very important to see Christian organizations working together, and not as entities by themselves,” says Nuna. “We need to pray, really, for the unity of the organizations that are working [together].” 

Pray for Gospel opportunities as people celebrate Purim, which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people in modern-day Iran. 

“Purim is meaning not only the liberation of the people of God, but also the opening of eyes of the king,” says Nuna. 

Don’t forget to pray for Iran as well. 

“We pray the purposes of God to come to pass. And the purposes of God are that Iranian people will be saved,” says Nuna. “In the flesh, we want Iran destroyed. But actually, God wants Iran to be saved — yes, saved from this regime that is oppressing people and killing its own people.”

*Pseudonym

Header photo of Beirut, Lebanon courtesy of Maxime Guy/Unsplash.

Civilians and a local militia group fought back against the coordinated attack but were overrun. Reports indicate most of those killed were civilians, including some women and children.

Attacks by JNIM are part of the Muslim extremist push to exert control in Burkina Faso and West Africa. With growing instability in the region, jihadists have been siphoning into Burkina Faso from both the north and east.

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach (CWO) says, “It’s al Qaeda groups that are coming in and…trying to take over the country…. They keep attacking these villages and targeting even churches. I was just told at one church, they brought 26 men out and killed them; tied them up and killed them right there at the church.”

CWO runs an educational ministry called the Village of Opportunity (VOO) for girls in Burkina Faso. Yoder says, “Some of our girls that come to the Village of Opportunity are from the area that’s being attacked right now, and some of the teachers as well and family of people that that we know.

“Some of the girls are coming back to school early. It’s a boarding school, so they’re leaving their villages to get away from the situation.”

Students at the Village of Opportunity (VOO) with CWO in Burkina Faso. (Photo courtesy of CWO)

One challenge is that the Village of Opportunity classes weren’t supposed to start until next month.

“All of a sudden, now we have costs that we weren’t planning on as far as having the girls there to feed them and house them earlier than expected,” says Yoder.

“But these girls are resilient [and] they’re brave. Their heart is to make a difference somehow because they love the Lord, and they are looking for a better future for themselves and their villages and for Burkina as a whole.”

Pray for believers in Burkina Faso, for their faith and witness to others. Yoder shares, “Our leader there just even expressed that to me this morning – that they’re walking by faith.

“So pray, and if you feel led, give financially. We’re going to be needing to send some relief funds for food for people and people that are being displaced.”

Click here to donate to CWO’s Gospel-centered ministry.

Learn more about CWO in Burkina Faso.

Header photo of Burkina Faso self-defense forces in 2021. (Photo courtesy of Henry Wilkins/VOA – https://www.voaafrique.com/a/au-faso-des-groupes-d-auto-défense-pour-faire-face-à-l-insécurité/6253665.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113757080)

It’s a complex situation with a staggering number of players. More than 260 local or foreign-backed armed groups exist within the DRC according to a 2023 survey by the government. (Learn about key groups such as M23 here.) 

Photo of sewing class in East DRC courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship

Ben Samuelson serves with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in Ituri Province, the region directly north of the North Kivu hotbed. In the past two weeks, Ituri itself has had an upsurge of killings, abductions and burning of homes of civilians by non-state armed groups, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.

In the midst of the chaos, Samuelson and the MAF team offer stability through a shuttle system between Ituri’s capital city of Bunia and three other major cities in East Congo.

“It doesn’t really matter what direction you take off and start flying (from Bunia). You are effectively always flying over militia activity at some point along that route,” Samuelson says.

MAF serves in three of the internally displaced persons camps in Bunia, offering local-led literacy classes, sewing classes, basic counseling services and more.

Nearly seven million people are displaced within Congo. Samuelson says one tiny hut in these camps might hold a large family.

Photo of Ben and Anna Samuelson with a literacy class graduate in East DRC courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship

“These people are scared for their lives, and they’re traumatized. It’s better to run away from everything they know, and come to one of these camps, than to have to live their life in fear every single day of this group that will come to kill them and to make their lives miserable,” he says.

Regarding extremist groups within the DRC, Samuelson calls their actions inhumane. He says it’s hard to talk about and is clearly the destructive work of Satan.

Pray for the MAF team as they serve in dangerous, pressured region. Learn more about MAF’s work in the DRC here.

Samuelson knows his team can’t solve the deep struggles facing the DRC. “But we have the chance to help some people, you know. We have the chance to serve the people that God has placed in front of us,” he says.

Join MAF in lifting up this complex crisis before the Lord, who knows and understands every detail. Pray for wisdom for leaders, long-term peace in the nation and the hope of the gospel to reach millions of suffering people.

Header photo courtesy of MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti via Wikimedia Commons. People from the Kibumba – Rutchuru axe who fled the combats between FARDC and advancing M23 rebels, set camp in Kanyaruchinya 4km north of Goma, the 1st of August 2012.

Pierre Houssney, executive director with Horizons International explains, “Northern Syria is just a patchwork of different really kind of fiefdoms. There are certain areas that are controlled by government groups there and government-aligned groups, militias, and things. There are other areas that are controlled by different other armed groups that are against the [government] — the rebels, the Kurdish people, and there [are] all kinds of militias. It’s a huge patchwork.”

(Photo courtesy of Horizons International)

It’s a complex challenge for the ministry providing emergency relief. “We have to go through different checkpoints [and] avenues to get into the affected areas,” says Houssney.

“There are some areas where our Lebanese staff are not able to get into, so we have to send Kurdish-Syrian staff members into the Kurdish areas because they can pass through the checkpoints. We have different partnerships with churches that let us into different areas.”

Another threat to earthquake relief is the war of attrition between various groups in nothern Syria. Starvation is the violent method used to inflict harm as different factions keep aid from reaching certain people.

Houssney says, “In that kind of a landscape where people are just struggling to survive and all the factions are struggling against each other — armed struggle and economic struggle and intentional starvation of different people — how is aid going to get to the right places in that kind of a climate?”

This is where the Syrian Church is going against the grain and serving their neighbors, no matter their ethnicity or religion.

(Photo courtesy of Horizons International)

“One miracle that we can just thank God for is that there are still evangelical churches in this region. People don’t know that. People don’t seem to realize that,” Houssney says.

“Muslims are streaming into churches. They’re sleeping in churches in shifts, day and night, 24 hours a day on the pews of churches. Church people are helping them and feeding them and caring for them.

“One person said, ‘There’s no difference between Muslim and Christian anymore in that area. They don’t even care where the aid comes from or where the aid is going. Everybody is helping each other, and that has really opened doors for the Gospel.’”

You can support Horizons International’s ministry here.

Houssney says Syrian believers need the prayers and vigilant support of the global Body of Christ.

“It’s my fear that the headlines are going to move on and then the churches are going to be left again. After having helped the people around them, they’re going to be left without support. So I want to make sure that people don’t forget the Church in the Middle East just because a few months passed since the earthquake.”

Houssney asks, “Be praying that the Lord would keep this open door for the Gospel open, that people’s hearts would still be open in northern Syria.”

Header photo courtesy of Horizons International.

Tribal violence is nothing new in the DRC. But with the growing boldness of militia groups and the ISIS-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces, massacres and human rights abuses have increased at an alarming rate.

Earlier last year, MAF was stationed out of Nyankunde in eastern DRC. Some of their national staff lived in the local village.

Nearly 20 years ago, the village in Nyankunde suffered a terrible attack from another tribe and over 1,000 people died. From there, Jon Cadd with MAF says, “Now this tribe feels like they need to be armed and ready for anything like that. They have been building up over the last few years.”

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

It wasn’t until recently that violence erupted in MAF’s backyard.

Cadd says, “The government military came in to control them. There was a big battle in our village, and our pilots and their families were down on the floor in their hallways with mortars and small arms fire going on for a couple of days before they were able to actually get out and over to the provincial capital of Bunia, which is about 14 miles away by air.”

Now MAF is operating out of Bunia in eastern DRC, but they are mourning the losses in Nyankunde. Many village homes were burned and utterly destroyed, and several people died.

“A lot of our guys in MAF, our national staff, have lost their houses in Nyankunde,” Cadd says. “They were taken over by the militia and they’ve been told, ‘You are not welcome here.’ So they lose everything. We’re trying to get them some housing that is adequate for their family to live. There are lots of wonderful opportunities to bless people, other Christian brothers.”

MAF is still committed to the cause of Christ in the DRC. And there is a need now more than ever for safe flights over dangerous areas.

Cadd says, “Out of Bunia, we are able to fly people over these troubled areas. It’s kind of an airbridge that we can fly safely [and] move people around safely to areas that are more secure on the other side.

(Photo courtesy of Jaclyn Reierson with MAF)

“It has actually increased our ministry… Things have changed a lot and whereas we used to have a large number of international missionaries in the country, that number is radically reduced. The wonderful thing is that the local Church is stepping up in many ways to carry on spreading the Gospel to unreached places in Congo.”

One fruitful partnership is between MAF and local church pastors. MAF flies these Congolese pastors to remote and unreached areas of the DRC to share the Gospel.

Cadd says outreach missions like this wouldn’t be possible without the help of donated funds. “It’s been a wonderful blessing for us. They don’t have the finances that a lot of international organizations would have. So we’ve actually been able to raise funds to help them do the flying part of it. It’s been a great thing to be a partner in that with them.”

If you would like to give in support of MAF in eastern DRC, click here! Search for fund 4039 – EDRC IDP Refugee Response.

Meanwhile, pray for the needs of the Congolese people. The ongoing threat of violence leaves many scars and traumas. The Church in the DRC is working to meet needs and provide healing in the name of Jesus.

(Photo courtesy of Jaclyn Reierson with MAF)

Pray for spiritual encouragement among our Congolese Christian brothers and sisters. Pray for the nation to find hope and peace in the Gospel.

“Our pilots are struggling a lot,” Cadd says. “It’s a violent area and, for me in security, I’m continually getting things on my phone. If there’s an attack on the road by ADF, people just have their phone there and they take pictures of all the people that have been shot and they’re lying all over the ground in piles or beheaded. Those kinds of things, it wears on you. It’s a harsh environment to live in.”

Many of the MAF staff families have newborns and young children. “It’s not the average growing-up situation that you would think of,” Cadd says.

“Pray for our pilots just for strength and the ability to carry on in a very difficult situation.”

Header photo courtesy of Mark Hewes with MAF.

Finding a peaceful resolution won’t be easy, explains Greg Kelley, CEO of World Mission. “You’ve got Islamic/Christianity conflict, which would represent the two main groups; you’ve got historical tensions that goes back decades; you’ve got people group or ethnic, specific aspects going on in there; and then you’ve got this overarching issue of corruption. So when you bring all those things together, you have got a mess.”

In pursuit of justice

In the past, the wheels of justice moved slowly. However, in the capital city of Bangui, workers are in the process of overhauling a courthouse. It signals the launch of the Special Criminal Court (SCC), created to deal with war crimes and ethnic cleansing. Trials should begin in 2021.

(Photo courtesy of Pierre Holtz/UNICEF/Flickr/CC)

(Photo courtesy of Pierre Holtz, UNICEF/Flickr/CC)

It also indicates a shift in CAR. People now acknowledge the trauma that changed the face of the nation. “Every two seconds, someone in the world is newly displaced because of war, violence or persecution, and the Central African Republic is at Ground Zero in many ways, especially on the continent of Africa,” Kelley says. 

That displacement added to the lack of infrastructure and stability makes it tough for churches to connect. “Traditionally the Church has said, ‘Let’s wait for things to stabilize and settle and get more peaceful so that we can go in and begin dealing with the wounds and the trauma that people are dealing with.'” The problem is, “What we’re realizing is that you may wait ten years, you may wait 20 years for that stability if it ever does come.”  

Hope returns in the Central African Republic

The question then became ‘How do we get the Gospel to the displaced?’ followed by ‘How can we begin dealing with the trauma these people survived?’ The answer, Kelley explains, was to take the Gospel to the people rather than wait for people to come to Gospel workers.

“Organizations like the American Bible Society, who we partner with, have come up with something called a ‘Trauma Healing’ message. They’ve said, ‘we can’t wait. It’s just way too important, what these people have endured.'”

It’s a Bible-based model that leads to sustainable trauma care in any context, he adds. “We load it on our solar-powered audio Bible, in the language of the people, and it’s going into these camps so that people are listening. It’s the Spirit of God through the Word of God, and through this training that is healing them right where they’re at, in their displaced situation.”

Attracted by hope in a message spoken in their heart language, people flock to the listening groups. “There are about three to four thousand participants (in CAR) right now, in our listening groups. And just in the last couple of weeks, we’ve heard of 250 people that have made decisions for Jesus just by going through this. The American Bible Society put it together, and World Mission is loading it on our solar-powered audio Bible in the native tongue of the people.”

Strategic prayer for the CAR

Kelley invites us to pray with him for the Central African Republic and its neighboring countries of South Sudan, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. “It’s the most chaotic part of the entire continent of Africa. Let’s just be praying for God to bring restoration. Jesus said in John 17, ‘I pray they would be one so that the world would know the Father has sent the Son.'” 

The final thought comes from a question Kelley posed at the conclusion of the interview. He asked, “Can you imagine the impact not only that will have in Africa, but also in the world when we see peace and stability come to a place like the Central African Republic? The ripple effect can touch the entire continent of Africa and even the world!”

Headline photo courtesy of P.A.S. HOPFAN NGO via Flickr

In fact, he called the refusal to withdraw "a declaration of war" and promised that combat would be resumed soon.

Highlighting the volatility of the situation, a different rebel group based in Congo–the FDLR–has gotten involved. Jim Snyder, Director of Evangelical Free Church of America's (EFCA) TouchGlobal work, says, "The skirmishes have now begun to seep into Rwanda. It's caused locals to begin fleeing the fighting."

It's a highly politically charged scenario with old enemies accusing one another and more violence underscoring their grim fight. There are a number of things fueling the unrest, explains Snyder. First, "The land there in eastern Congo is rich with mineral wealth, and there are a lot of resources to be had along the eastern border of Congo."

Second, he says, "The predominant military opposition (M23) right now wants to have certain demands met. They requested those almost as many as 10 years ago." Since the Congolese government has done little to recognize the M23 as political as well as a military entity, "they are uprising now, trying to force the issue."

Thousands are fleeing their homes to escape the fighting. The World Food Program provided emergency food to about 81,000 displaced people in and near the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

However, there are currently over 700,000 people considered refugees along the Rwandan-Congolese border with more coming every day as the violence intensifies. Snyder says, "In eastern Congo, we have people responding to the needs of refugees who are still settled in refugee camps, providing food, tarps, any kind of assistance."

No one knows for sure who is supporting and sustaining the militia violence. Rwanda and Uganda are accused of supporting the offensive fighters, although they vigorously deny it. Snyder goes on to say that the fighting will likely remain unpredictable. President of the Evangelical Free Church of Rwanda, Esron Manigaraba, states that "refugees are now at the homes of anyone who will take them in. Twenty people spent the night in my father's home. This is the same in many places. Bombs were being thrown forcing people to head for safety into Rwanda."

What will stop the fighting? "Until demands are met in a satisfactory way, the only option will be to squelch the opponent. So if they're able to get their way, then fighting will begin to cease," Snyder explains, adding, "I don't see that happening in the near future."

In the midst of all of this, the opportunities to respond to the many displaced through the local church remain viable. On the Congo side of this uprising, EFCA partners remain vigilant and continue to look for opportunities to assist those who are still in refugee camps, assuming this remains their best option for survival.

Snyder says, "Just a couple of weeks ago, we started a Bible project because a number of people that have been sitting in refugee camps had no Bibles: they had left them in homes, or their homes had been burned."

Church leaders in the area asked for help replacing 500 Swahili Bibles to replace those lost to their owners. 500 Bibles go a long way when the hearers know how important the words are. According to the EFCA, people write down verses they receive on Sunday during church and carry them to share with their friends throughout the week.

$18 covers one Swahili Bible and its delivery to the refugees in Eastern Congo. "When we work in a situation, we don't work apart from the local church. We facilitate the local church in being able to respond to a situation," says Snyder. He notes that the aid combined with the Bibles provide opportunity for the local Church to respond. "Pray that people's hearts will be turned, as often they are, to the Creator, to the Almighty One, so that they would be open to spiritual things."

EFCA/Reach Global will continue to partner with those who are on-site to afford them every opportunity possible to share the love of Christ with those who are in need. Check our Featured Links Section to see how you can help with the Bible project and more.

Josh McDowell, founder of Josh McDowell Ministry, just visited the region. MNN caught up to him in Israel after he met with Syrian Christians. He describes the destruction. "It's probably the worst destruction I've ever seen in my entire life. Just whole rows of houses, buildings, cities just totally destroyed."

After seeing it, McDowell told MNN's Greg Yoder, "As a father, as a grandfather, I have to do something."

So McDowell is teaming up with Global Aid Network, or GAIN USA, to start the Give4Hope campaign. It's an effort to provide food and hope for 5,000 families. "These would be families within Syria. We have the whole network set up where we can deliver the food to the families. You see, one of the problems there is that most of them are absolutely fearful of even going outside."

Mothers are taking unbelievable care for their children. McDowell says, "They'd cover their own children with their bodies to protect them because bombs were going off all around them. And when I said to them, 'What is your greatest need?' they said, 'It's for food. We don't know how we're going to feed our children tomorrow.'"

Finding partners inside Syria has been difficult, says McDowell. "Many of the Christians have had to get out of the country because they fear the knock at the door: either the rebels or the government come to take their sons and their daughters. And what they do? If you're a Christian, they put you on the front lines of any battle and you're almost certainly killed."

Miraculously, a remnant group of Christians remain. "We have a network set up within the country where  for $40 dollars we can deliver food to a family of five for an entire month," McDowell says.

This isn't easy work. McDowell adds, "When they kiss their wives and their kids goodbye in the morning, they do not know if they will ever see their family again. And yet, they're willing to risk it, mainly for their love for Christ and the lost."

McDowell says they will deliver more than just food. "We will [give them] the JESUS video, More Than a Carpenter book, and the new movie called, Undaunted. They stay fearfully in their homes, and so they will watch the videos over and over and over again."

Most Americans have no idea what it's like to live in Syria today. Even Hurricane Sandy victims are fortunate because they have the Red Cross, FEMA, and humanitarian groups. Not in Syria.

Some aid groups are cautious about getting involved in this conflict for fear of taking sides. McDowell says, "You don't have to take sides to feed the hungry. And that's what we're doing. We're feeding the hungry in the name of Christ."

If you'd like to encourage a Syrian family all year long with food and the Gospel, join the Give4Hope campaign. $40 a month will help a family of five all year long. Click here to help. (Please note: this web site will be going live on 11/16, but because the timing is uncertain, please check back often if you receive a URL "not found" message.)

The Middle East Director of Christian Aid Mission says marauding bands of militants are responsible. "They're not necessarily Syrians, but they're very radical Muslims, and their goal is to eradicate Christians. They believe it's an abomination to have Christians within Syria."

We are not identifying this director for security reasons, but he tells us a Christian Aid-supported worker was a victim. "There was a band of militia that came through and told all of the people to get out; then, they went ahead and killed the pastor and his family. So there [are] quite a few now–I think there are 11 [Christians]–who have been killed in that one area from that ministry that we help."

Why has the rule of law disappeared from Syria? The director says, "All of the typical security that you would have in the country is trying to protect the country. They're not worried about providing police protection for the little communities around, and so the people are all vulnerable."

That's forcing many Syrians to flee into Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. The ministry directory is particularly concerned about 32 Christian families who escaped this recent violence, who are frightened for their lives. "The goal is to try to get them out. Once they get into Lebanon, because they're close to the border of Lebanon, then they need to be taken care of." Funding is need to help these believers.

The ministry director says non-Christians are also in need. Christian Aid-supported churches are reaching out with food, shelter, clothing, and the Gospel. "They've had many, many Muslims who have become Christians and there's still an opportunity to give out Gospel DVDs and New Testaments to the refugees. There's great openness among those people."

Support is also needed for to support Christian schools that have been established for the children of refugee families.

Prayer is also important: not just for the victims, but for those responsible. "You look at the Apostle Paul: he was the worst of sinners and was a persecutor of the church. And God reached his heart! We need to be praying for these radicals that God would touch their hearts and that they would come to know Christ."

To support Christian Aid Mission's refugee outreach program or their refugee school ministry, click here.

Last week a crowded mini-bus was attacked by militia soldiers, and nine people were killed.  Because of the land disputes, hundreds of Nigerians have already fled central Nigeria for safety in nearby areas.

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee has workers in the area who report that the government and church are working together to stop the violence. 

The CRWRC West Africa Team Leader Mary Crickmore says, "The core problem is that people retaliate disproportionately to a provocation, and the retaliation escalates — until it spirals into mobs of people who get out of control, burn, and kill." 

The CRWRC has had work in the area for more than 80 years and has a history of working for peace. They, along with other organizations, helped in the Takum Peace Process in the mid-1990's. The CRC's Peter VanderMeulen says, "Nigeria is a country where violent conflicts have, are and may occur in the future, with serious consequences on the lives of the people there and on development efforts."

Crickmore says that while peace talks take time, it is worth it so that there can be lasting peace and dignity. "The current violence needs to be stopped before whole communities are destroyed as happened in Takum in 1997-98."