Iraq (Photo courtesy of Jonathan Ramalho via Unsplash)

On February 28, 2026 the United States and Israel attacked Iran. Since then, Iran has fired retaliatory strikes against Israel and against US assets in at least eight other countries: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

“We forget that people are dying right now and people are being killed and life is disrupted,” says Fadi Sharaiha with the MENA Leadership Center.

Each man, woman, and child killed in strikes since February 28 was made in God’s image. They are not numbers.

“In the Gulf now, it’s a war zone. It’s not only, by the way, the US bases, but also Iran is bombing even civilian entities and facilities,” says Sharaiha. “As a Middle-Eastern evangelical Christian, I really grieve the violence happening in the region. War brings suffering to ordinary people on every side.”

Kuwait (Photo courtesy of Frans Van Heerden via Pexels)

Sharaiha recognizes the polarizing effect of much of today’s media. Yet being polarized isn’t the role Christians are supposed to fill. 

“[One,] we remind ourselves that God is sitting on the throne,” he says. “Two, people are people, and they have faces. And the third thing, please remember that our role as a church is really to pray for the situation and ask God to interfere in a way that is amazing, that He would use whatever is happening to His glory, for the kingdom, and for expanding the gospel.”

Pray — and pray personally

Peace across the region, wisdom for leaders, and the spread of the gospel are places to start. Prayer for Iran’s future is also critical, as it is in a historic moment that could go many different directions. 

“If the regime is collapsing in Iran, my prayer is that if it is happening, that we will have Plan B, because what we don’t want to have is Iraq or Afghanistan,” says Sharaiha.

Iran (Photo courtesy of Zahra Amiri via Unsplash)

Iraq and Afghanistan are both neighbors of Iran. They have experienced decades of instability, with deeply complex combinations of terrorism, power vacuums, US military involvement, and other factors.

As you pray, Sharaiha urges you to have a real person’s face in mind. This will likely require an adventure. If you don’t already know people from Middle Eastern nations, go out into your community and try to find them — perhaps a local franchise or community center will give you this chance. 

“Get to know them, so that you will have a face next to the [country] name, next to that number,” says Sharaiha.

If all else fails, look up stories, prayer videos, or data from ministries such as Open Doors International, Prayercast, and Joshua Project.

Lebanon (Photo courtesy of Nathan McBride via Unsplash)

Finally, please also pray for discernment for the MENA Leadership Center as they navigate the developing conflict. Last week, the ministry offered an online training on Coaching for Success. Sharaiha says fifty people attended “from all countries in the MENA that are being affected right now.” This showed him that the training was meeting a real need, even in a time of open hostilities. 

Learn more here about the MENA Leadership Center and the role it plays for the Church across the MENA region.

Header image in Iran is a stock photo courtesy of Saba Ardani via Unsplash.

According to a report from the Pakistani-based Center for Social Justice, at least 103 new people were accused of blasphemy in the first six months of 2024. Hundreds of others remained imprisoned as of June. 

Darrel Templeton with MegaVoice shares the response of their field partners in Pakistan: “They’re becoming more frightened. They’re trying to become more cautious and in a way to avoid being prosecuted, because the situation is getting worse. But on the flip side, we see others that are becoming bolder, and it’s like they are saying, ‘Well, you know, they can’t arrest us all. So let’s be bold in our faith.’”

Pakistan is 96.5% Muslim and 3.5% Christian, Hindu or other religions. Source: CIA Facebook (Photo by Hassan Wasim on Unsplash)

The conviction of Shagufta Kiran will likely be overturned on appeal by superior courts; most cases like hers are, because of scanty evidence. But these intimidation tactics used against minority faiths in Pakistan must not be overlooked by the global Church. 

Templeton says it’s exciting to see that God is at work in the midst of persecution. In places like Pakistan, “all of a sudden there will be a growth spiritually, a revival in the area, and quickly thereafter it is followed by increased persecution.” 

“Many of these accusations seem to be false in the sense that they’re not blaspheming against the other faith. They’re just simply standing up for their faith in Jesus Christ,” Templeton continues. “But the problem is [that in Pakistan], when they do, [it] just goes to court, and then people don’t have the legal [or] financial means to fight it.”

In the midst of these challenges, MegaVoice has seen increased requests for their audio Bibles.

Image of audio Bible unit courtesy of MegaVoice.

“We know God is at work when people are hungry for His Word, pleading and begging to be able to have God’s Word in a way that they can hear it and understand it and engage with it,” he says. 

Believers facing the threat of legal battles need your support in prayer. Templeton says believers are not asking for prayer for an end to persecution but rather for boldness. 

“Pray that they will be strong in their faith, that they will be true salt and light in the midst of this increased persecution. But we do need to pray for justice,” Templeton says, “that they (state and local governments) will be just and right and not [only] applying these blasphemy laws as a weapon to try to dissuade church leaders.”

Header photo courtesy of TRAVELERGEEK via Unsplash.

Among those “some” is FMI, which strives to empower indigenous church planters around the world. Today is an exciting season of growth for them as they build partnerships with church planters in three new countries: Malawi, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco.

“We do work in predominantly Muslim-dominated countries [and] cultures,” says FMI’s Patrick Anthony.

“However, if we take one step back, our mission is to work in places [where] it’s difficult for the church to grow and expand because of persecution and or poverty. A lot of times that is in a Muslim context. But not always.”

In Morocco and Saudi Arabia, FMI is still in the networking phase. Anthony says this takes time. For example, when believers in Malawi reached out to FMI to ask for training, several years of conversations followed. Only recently was FMI able to host the first training conference with a network of pastors, which was received with great joy.

FMI empowers indigenous church planters around the world. (Photo courtesy of FMI)

“In a ministry like FMI, trust between leaders is essential, because you’re dealing with people in very hard situations. A lot of them are dealing with some level of persecution,” Anthony says. “They need to trust you and, and vice versa.”

Once that trust is established, the pace can abruptly switch from conversation to dynamic action. 

“They [church planters] have such a heart for their country. They want the necessary support, whether it’s training or whatever it might be. They want ministry to happen. So once they trust you, they want to be off and running,” says Anthony.

Pray for wisdom for FMI as they connect with believers in these new countries — especially Saudi Arabia. 

“How we try to expand into new countries wherever we go — in particular in places like Saudi Arabia — is [by] trying to follow prior contacts,” Anthony says. 

“[In Saudi Arabia] it’s going to be more conversations over tea, more network sharing. The first big goal for us is trying to identify potential leaders, people that could oversee a network of church planters in a country.”

Pray that FMI will effectively help church planters share the gospel and strengthen other believers. (More on FMI’s work here.) Pray also that young Christians will stay in these nations even when it’s hard. Church leaders in Morocco are seeing many of the next generation leave and not return. 

“Pray for job opportunities. Pray for [young] people to be willing to stay in their country or return to their country after university,” Anthony says. 

Header photo of the Hisma Desert in Saudi Arabia is a representative stock photo courtesy of NEOM/Unsplash.

The El Niño phenomenon has led to below-average rainfall across southern Africa, forcing Zimbabwe among other nations in the region to declare a state of disaster earlier this year. 

But even if rain came today, the drought carries long-term consequences.  

“It doesn’t mean they just don’t have food now,” Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach, “but it [also means] there’s going to be a food shortage in the future.”

Vulnerable children in the “Our Kids” program in Zimbabwe. (Photo courtesy of CWO)

Families in Zimbabwe have lost their crops. They have to spend hours a day securing water, sometimes even digging holes in dry riverbeds for even a bucketful of dirty water. Children are at risk of losing the opportunity to go to school as their parents and grandparents have to focus on getting the next meal on the table. 

In the midst of this, CWO serves families taking care of orphaned children.

“There are times where we’re going to need to supply these families with food that we hadn’t planned on — as well as the pastors of the churches we work with,” Yoder says, explaining that “The people will come to their pastors with their needs, and so they’re (the pastors) going to be swamped with requests for food.” 

October is the hottest and driest month of the year for southern Africa. Would you consider a gift to CWO’s work in Zimbabwe ahead of time?

“If somebody’s hungry and their stomach’s growling, I don’t know that they’re going to hear you share the gospel with them,” Yoder says.

He points to Jesus. “Most of the time, he met physical needs — he met people where they were in their need — and then he shared who he was and shared the gospel with them. We mimic that in what we do. Whether it’s giving food or clothes or medical care, education, we come alongside people and try to meet them right where they are. That opens the door to share the gospel with people.”

Visit cwomissions.org/zimbabwe to make a donation to help serve the people of Zimbabwe’s physical needs.

Header photo contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024 and is courtesy of European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery via Wikimedia Commons. These Copernicus Sentinel-2 images, acquired in March 2023 (top) and 2024 (bottom), show the changes caused by the drought along the borders of Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. See the full image comparisons here. 

(Photo courtesy of Jesus Film Project)

Legacy meets a new world

“Our vision and passion is to give every person in the world the opportunity to hear Jesus say, ‘I love you’ in their heart language,” says Holly Newell with Jesus Film Project.

The JESUS film is the most watched film of all time. Newell shares that over the past 45 years it has been viewed 11 billion times, and more than 600 million people have given their lives to Christ.

It’s a God-given legacy, but one they aren’t content to sit back on.  

“Not long ago, we took a look at the world and its growing population, and we said, ‘We’re doing what God has called us to do, but we’re not doing it fast enough,’” Newell says. 

Research led them to two important facts about the world today. One is that the majority of the people who have never heard the name of Jesus live in 12 specific countries. The other is that the world is very young.

“The average age of all the people in the world is 30,” says Newell. ” In some of those top 12 countries of unreached people, the average age is only 18.”

(Image courtesy of Jesus Film Project)

The JESUS Film for the next generation

The new animated JESUS will use much of the audio tracks already recorded in more than two thousand languages for the 1979 film. That means when it releases in December 2026, it will quickly become available for people around the world. 

And then? The global Church will step in. 

“We partner with over 1,800 different mission organizations. They’re the ones who are doing the hard work of showing the film, doing the follow up, building the churches,” Newell says.

“So we just want to take this new animated tool, give it to them and say, ‘Go! Go and reach the people that have yet to hear!’” 

Get involved

Even though the animated JESUS film just finished pre-production and is two years away, Newell invites you to get involved with their gospel tools today. Here are two ways to do that:

(Photo courtesy Jesus Film Project via Facebook)

Keep in the loop
Receive updates and prayer requests for the animated JESUS film. Click here to learn more and sign up for email updates or download the insider app. 

Take JESUS with you
By downloading the Jesus Film App, you can carry the film in two thousand languages in your pocket. And it’s easy to share with anyone in their heart language! Simply search their language in the app, then forward the link to that version with a brief message. They’ll be able to open the link and watch without any need to download.

Click here to find the Jesus Film App on Google Play or the App Store. 

Header photo courtesy of Jesus Film Project.

“From morning to night people are running but they are not getting anywhere,” one of the women said. “Poverty is great. It is everywhere and growing constantly. People are hungry and powerless to change their circumstances.”

Representative stock photo courtesy of Pouya Hajiebrahimi via Unsplash

Lana Silk with Transform Iran translated the women’s audio messages into written English. She says it was a struggle to convey in writing what their voices and tones carried. Their sorrow and burden for their country is profound. Read their messages on the web article here.

Silk says the people of Iran are the first to pay the price for their nation’s brutal regime. 

“We must remember there is an agenda that [the Iranian] government is pushing that is evil in many ways and causing havoc through the Middle East. But this is not the agenda of the people of Iran,” Silk says.

“They’re trapped in a country with overwhelmingly high inflation rates, no prospects, no jobs, [and a] mental health crisis. [If] you speak out, [if] you do anything, you’re imprisoned, you’re tortured. It’s a desperate situation, and they’re turning to desperate means such as drugs [and] prostitution to try to deal with their own pain [and] inability to put food on their plates.” 

Transform Iran broadcasts the hope of Christ through its ministry Pearl of Persia. Pearl focuses on reaching people who are victims of trauma, abuse, addiction and prostitution. It introduces Iranians to what the Jesus of the Bible says about them as human beings. 

“[Pearl of Persia’s message is] not overtly gospel [focused] at the beginning. It’s about identity, looking after mental health, dealing with depression, dealing with addiction. When they (Iranians) reach out for help, then we present them with the full picture and we offer them the opportunity to receive counseling from a Christian. They’re loving that opportunity and seeing change through that process that we can give them through trained counselors,” Silk says.

(Graphic courtesy of Transform Iran)

Would you prayerfully consider joining this critical ministry by supporting Pearl of Persia?

“We are in a position now where we are able to expand, but we don’t have enough counselors to deal with the expected increased demand on our time for counseling and therapy,” Silk shares. 

“So if you want to see us help [and] deal with this [mental health] issue, get behind Pearl of Persia and it will be an exciting adventure.”

Silk says the circumstances in Iran are dire, but God is more than able and wants to draw people to Christ. 

“We praise Him for what He’s doing and for His overwhelming love for these people. We have hope in the future because of Him,” Silk says. 

Header is a representative stock image courtesy of Shimabdinzade via Pixabay.

The attacks targeted churches, synagogues and a police checkpoint in two cities. The death toll has reached twenty-one, most of them police officers, with 46 more injured. 

Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association says that by God’s grace, no one they knew was injured in the tragedy, but the churches are deeply grieved. 

“They’re more brokenhearted that there may have been some [whose] lives were lost apart from knowing Christ. So rather than worrying about the stress of their persecution, they’re more focused on what do they do to honor God in declaring hope in Christ alone?” 

Map of Russia, Republic of Dagestan courtesy of АбуУбайда via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Persecution is a reality for Christians in Caucasia.

“[Southern Russia] is a very unique environment where there are multiple multiple ethnic groups. Predominant religions are Islam and Russian Orthodoxy, and [believers] face a world that probably does not want them there,” says Mock. 

It’s an environment where Mock says evangelical Christians are “in many ways rejected as part of society, because they are not preaching a Christianity that flows from Russian Orthodoxy. [Also] being a Christian in a predominantly Muslim context makes it very difficult for them.” 

But God is faithful to lift up His people through difficulties. Mock says Christians can walk through these challenges with joy, recognizing that these experiences affirm their faith in Christ (1 Peter 4:12-19).

Please join in praying for the families of those who were killed this past Sunday. For the local Christians, pray that they will hold fast to the gospel in the circumstances God has placed them in. 

“In the midst of everything that we read, let us also grieve and also pray that the gospel moves even faster in a region that is highly resistant to the gospel,” Mock says. 

Header photo courtesy of Julia Kadel/Unsplash. 

On February 13, 2017, Koh’s car was surrounded, stopped and taken captive by a group of government men. The incident was caught on a nearby security camera. That is the last anyone has seen or heard of Pastor Koh, despite the tireless advocacy of his wife, Susannah, and the international attention his story has received. 

(Courtesy of VOM USA on Facebook.)

Recently, Susannah (Liew) Koh sued the government of Malaysia for negligence in Koh’s case. In 2019 the human rights commission in Malaysia said the special branch of the police were the ones who abducted Koh. But no further explanation for his disappearance has been given. They have been in court this week. 

Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs USA says, “Susannah told me [that] when she went to a lawyer and said, ‘I want to sue the Malaysian government,’ the lawyer looked at her and was like, ‘Are you crazy? This is the government that made your husband disappear, and now you want to sue them? What do you think is going to happen to you?’ And her boldness and her fortitude to say, ‘No, I want answers. I understand that it’s risky.’” 

Koh’s family has applied to the court to access a special task force report about his abduction. The file is currently classified. Please pray with the Kohs for truth to come out and for patience in the grueling process.

(Capture of Raymond Koh and his wife, courtesy TheStar.com)

“I know from [Susannah] saying it, how important it has been for her to know that she’s not alone and to know that the body of Christ is connected to her and is participating with her in this time of trial,” Nettleton says. 

“As the court hearings are happening literally this week, what what better time, what more strategic time is there to pray for justice and to pray that the truth will be revealed?”

If you haven’t already, you can join tens of thousands of people who have signed a petition to the Malaysian government for information about Pastor Koh. Learn more about the American Center for Law and Justice’s petition here, and about VOM’s petition at releaseraymond.com. 

“The [petition] call is the same one that Susannah Koh is making in court this week in Malaysia: Open the records, tell the truth. Explain what happened to this pastor who disappeared seven years ago,” says Nettleton. 

Header photo of the Koh family courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs USA.

Candace Mackie with TWR Motion says they often partner with church-planters who use social media to reach spiritual seekers. “We’ll work with them to develop original videos that they can use that reach their culture with the gospel in their language.” 

A church planter in Thailand talks with a local man in a village. (Image and caption courtesy of TWR Motion)

After creating a video series for the Muslim world, TWR Motion has now partnered with a church-planting ministry in Thailand. The new 20-video series will cover creation, the fall of man, Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, plus many other stories in between — all of them geared to reach into the unique worldview of Buddhists. 

“The whole series theme, we’re trying to show that Jesus is our ultimate hope. So we’re trying to present Jesus as the person who can bring hope to their lives and that they can know for themselves,” Mackie says.

Mackie says the trickiest part has been learning to understand the worldview of Buddhists. Their partners have been essential in developing the content.

“They [ministry partners in Thailand] actually worked with Wycliffe Bible Translators as well. So the base of the scripts came from Wycliffe,” Mackie says. “We made some adjustments and spoke into it at different points to help [with] thinking about it from a video perspective. But [we] really trusted them with the content that needed to be in there.” 

Illustration from Journey to Hope, an animated Bible story to share the gospel with people with a Buddhist worldview. Adam and Eve eating the fruit. (Image and caption courtesy of TWR Motion)

The series Journey to Hope should release in the Thai language in 2025. Between now and then, would you pray for and support the team? 

“There’s a lot that goes into the artwork and the way that we tell the stories. [Pray] for wisdom, and clarity, and energy, stamina,” Mackie says. 

This video series is meant to reach beyond just Thai communities. It’s an ongoing project that you can support. (Learn more about “The Crew” behind TWR Motion here.)

“The goal — and what we’ve done with our other series — is that any church-planting team who would like to use this can come to us and we’ll work with them to translate it and produce it in their language so that they can use it in their contexts,” Mackie says. 

If you could use Journey to Hope to reach Buddhists in another culture or language than Thai, reach out to TWR Motion here. 

Header photo: Kayla Schlipf, art director for “Journey to Hope,” illustrating a scene from the episode about the fall of humankind. Photo and caption courtesy of TWR Motion. 

Allen Decker with MegaVoice says, “Friends of ours at Torch Trust in the UK, they’ve done a lot of significant studies that show whether you know it or not most congregations have about 10 to 20% of somebody that has some form of visual impairment.” 

To help bring God’s Word to everyone, MegaVoice creates handheld audio players loaded with many kinds of Bible resources. 

Image courtesy of MegaVoice.

“We make it simple on purpose so that that it can be used by everyone. With the tactile keypads on our devices, [a person] can, with either low vision or no vision at all, be able to feel the buttons and navigate through their Bible and Bible teachings,” Decker says.

These audio players are meeting a critical need in the U.S. and around the world. 

“A lot of people have this misunderstanding that people have access to those books in other formats like Braille. Unfortunately, with a lot of the groups that we work with, a major demographic is 65 years and older,” Decker says. “They’ve lost their sight later in life, due to medical conditions, and never had the opportunity to learn Braille, or some of the other formats that, that are available.” 

Awareness is the first step. Now that you know, what can you do to better know and serve brothers and sisters in your church? (Read what one woman, Maureen, shares about this.)

If you’re looking for more resources to grow, Decker points to ministries such as Joni and Friends and Torch Trust. 

“[Joni and Friends has] a focus of helping churches understand and welcome people with various disabilities. [Torch Trust has] a ministry designed to work with churches more closely, and understanding various disabilities and the resources that are available,” says Decker. 

Header photo is a representative stock image courtesy of Chuttersnap/Unsplash.