Lana Silk of Transform Iran describes the reality facing children in the country, including those caught up in the protests.

“The children are caught up in it. Children as young as 10, 11, and 12 have been part of the protests [and] have been arrested and killed. I’ve heard reports of girls as young as 12 being raped in custody. The government is indiscriminate.”

(Photo courtesy of Transform Iran)

Silk says children in Iran are dealing with multi-layered trauma, and need Jesus more than ever.

“Children are…very aware that they have no future in this country and have grown up sooner than you would normally want your 10-, 11-, 12-year-old to grow up and are aware that this is a necessary fight to secure their own future.”

Transform Iran is discipling believers in the Iranian underground Church. Christian children in Iran have been forced to live double lives under the oppressive Islamist regime.

“They have to profess Islam at school, recite the Quran, hide their faith, and then come home and have a Christian life,” Silk explains. “So that is very, very taxing for children when they’ve got to constantly remember who they can say what to, and try to muddle through and remember what’s true and what’s right.”

As you continue to pray for Iran, Silk asks believers to remember the youngest generation.

“I want us to remember the children and to be praying specifically for them…. This is the future of Iran. [Pray] that there will be stability in the future of Iran.

“Jesus does appear to people in dreams and visions in Iran! Let that be the children – that these children have encounters that they can talk about when they’re older and say, ‘Oh my goodness. While it was all happening, I remember that man in white that came to me in my dreams,’ and for that generation to be redeemed.”

Learn more about Transform Iran’s ministry at transformiran.com.

Header photo courtesy of Transform Iran.

Violent protests broke out on Sunday in Pakistani cities after the Saturday assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei by the United States and Israel.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli strike on February 28, 2026 (Wikimedia Commons, CC by 4.0)

Nehemiah with FMI explains that after Iran, Pakistan has the world’s highest population of Shia Muslims.

“There is sadness, there is anger, and there is pain in the Shia population in Pakistan, because Khamenei was their Islamic spiritual leader,” he says. 

Thousands of demonstrators rallied across Pakistan on Sunday, with many attempting to attack US consulates or United Nations buildings. At least 22 people were killed, and more than 120 were injured in clashes with police. The unrest led the US to order the evacuation of non-emergency personnel from its consulates in Lahore and Karachi on Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, local Christians walk on the edge of a sword, says Nehemiah, and Muslim-background believers are the most vulnerable.

“There is a common understanding among Pakistani Muslims — Shias — that we need to understand: They think that every American is Christian, and they think that Pakistani Christians who are living in Pakistan have a soft corner for America and have divided loyalties,” Nehemiah explains.

“Local believers and ministry partners are navigating heightened tensions with public anger fueling large gatherings and anti-foreign sentiment.”

Fear is a natural response to such pressures, but the call to share Christ always remains. Please stand with FMI partners and all gospel workers in Pakistan by praying for their protection, for discernment in crisis, and for a sense of God’s peace. Ask God to open people’s hearts to Christ despite the anger in the nation today. An ongoing conflict with neighboring Afghanistan is also adding to the chaos. 

“If you would like to support our partners who are working in such a hostile situation, please step forward. Pray for them, support them. They would know that they have extended family who are living across the world,” says Nehemiah. 

Learn how you can support one of FMI’s frontline partners by visiting forgottenmissionaries.org. 

A pastor in Pakistan (Photo courtesy of FMI)

Header photo of Pakistan church group courtesy of FMI. 

Iran (MNN) — With thousands executed and thousands more arraigned, chaos and heartache continue to plague Iran. How can believers pray for the unfolding situation there? Consider these suggestions from Rita el-Mounayer of SAT-7, a Christian broadcast ministry in the MENA region. 

El-Mounayer says every person in the Middle East wants to be seen with dignity; and she and her colleagues know that the Gospel is the key to dignity’s door. 

“I think it’s a human rights issue that you know that there is a God who loves you and He sent His son to die for you and that you will have eternal life if you believe in Him,” she says. 

Rather than seeking ultimate resolution from political powers, el-Mounayer says the Iranian people need to turn to Jesus for deliverance. 

“I pray that people in Iran will be liberated, will have the freedom to express their religion – Christians or not Christians, that women will have their rights too, and that they will live in freedom like any other country in the Middle East, to a certain extent.” 

Here are some ways to lift up this country: 

• Pray for an end to the violence. 
• Pray for the Gospel to go out and for people to respond to the Holy Spirit’s prompting. 
• Pray for peace in the region and in the hearts of people through Jesus Christ. 
• Pray for the SAT-7 team as they work to broadcast hope and freedom across Iran. 

“Our first rule is to share the Gospel,” el-Mounayer says. “We strive just to tell people that you matter. You have a freedom of choice, and there is a God who loves you. You have abundant life if you follow this God, and if you don’t: we still love you.”  

Please pray especially for those turning to Christ: that they would persevere in the faith and be strengthened by the Holy Spirit as they walk a difficult, narrow road. 

Find more perspective on Iranians turning to Christ by considering conversations such as this one. 

Courtesy of Unsplash. Featured photo courtesy of Tara Winstead via Pexels.

We spoke with Edwin Keshish-Abnous, executive director of Heart4Iran, a ministry spreading the Gospel in Iran through Christian programming and Bible distribution.

He says, “Even though the protest has quieted down, the people are still chanting out of their rooftops…and recently, the students have started protesting on their campuses and in the major cities.”

(Photo courtesy Heart4Iran)

Meanwhile, grief continues to hang like a cloud over Iran as families mourn the loss of loved ones killed since the protests erupted on December 28. In Iranian tradition, you mark the 40th day of someone’s death, and many of those commemorations took place this week.

According to Keshish-Abnous, the killing of protestors hasn’t stopped. “One crazy story that happened recently was a 13-year-old boy. He was injured [and] in the hospital. His brother goes over there to take care of him in the hospital; they come kill both that teenager and also the brother…. Later on, [the father] comes to collect the bodies, and they kill the father. So almost every family is affected somehow by losing someone.”

Iran’s exiled Crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi, has garnered support from many Iranians, but it hasn’t been enough so far to enact regime change.

From Keshish-Abnous’s perspective, “There is one major element that is necessary for revolution – defection from inside the government. If that does not happen…there’s a good chance that [revolution] won’t happen until there is a military and outside foreign intervention.”

Amid the conflict and fog of blocked communications, Christians and other minorities are under particular pressure.

(Photo, caption courtesy of Heart4Iran)

“We need to pay attention to the Christians inside the country because not only are they going through the same pain and the challenges and persecution, but also they add to that their faith because they are easily targeted,” says Keshish-Abnous. “The Iranian government has a perfect opportunity and excuse to label them as a enemy of the state and put them in jail. That happens regularly. We have lost some Christians during this latest revolution.

“But even though we’re afraid and worried about them, the reality is they’re continuing their mission.”

Heart4Iran knows of new Iranian believers getting baptized even in the last few weeks. God is still moving.

Keshish-Abnous asks for prayers “for the Church to stay strong – because when the challenges come, when the problems arise, the Church is the one entity that is sacrificial to step forward and help the rest of the world. That is where our humanitarian efforts, our charities, and love that we have towards other people will set us aside from the rest of the faiths, and will show and prove to them that Christianity is about love.”

Also, he asks, “Pray that this can be negotiated or something happens within the country…. And also, I want to pray for the economy not to be affected more than it is affected now, because at the end, the regular population [is] being affected and their livelihood is in danger. They’re really struggling to have a regular, safe life.”

Learn more about Heart4Iran’s critical ministry here.

Header photo: Iranian protest in Canada. (Photo courtesy of Sima Ghaffarzadeh via Pexels)

Meanwhile, protests broke out in Beirut earlier this week over a new gas tax designed to benefit government employees. Elio Constantine of Heart for Lebanon says the two events are connected.

Lebanon’s government is “again raising the wages of the public sector employees without having any backing,” Constantine says.

“The result of policies like this is more people living in despair, whether it’s nationwide because of the economy or South-specific because of the war and the efforts to disarm Hezbollah.”

Hope amid pressure

Lebanon has been in a prolonged economic meltdown since 2019, marked by hyperinflation, a collapsed banking sector, and soaring poverty levels. Despite some recent reforms, institutional challenges continue to hinder recovery.

Because there is no revenue to support raises for public workers, the government increased taxes on citizens, who Constantine says are already short on cash.

Sunday of Unity protests in Beirut, Lebanon, on November 3, 2019.
(Freimut Bahlo, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

“We’ve seen this happen back in 2017 when the government decided to raise the wages of the public sector without having any sources of income to support that raise, and that led to the 2019 crash of the economy,” Constantine says.

Division is common during desperate times. Through Christ-centered programs, Heart for Lebanon helps people move from despair to hope. More about that here.

“We’ve been taught in Lebanon that the other person [who] doesn’t look like you and act like you and live like you is your enemy, but Scripture tells us otherwise,” Constantine says.

“The only enemy we have is Satan.”

How to help

Keep Lebanon in your prayers. Pray that nonbelieving Lebanese people will encounter the redemptive love of Jesus Christ.

“Pray for the team at Heart for Lebanon for wisdom, discernment, and protection as they navigate in turmoil,” Constantine requests.

“Pray for their focus, because they’re not immune to what’s happening around them. Pray that they stay focused on Christ and Christ alone.”

Header and story images courtesy of Heart for Lebanon. 

With executions, prison sentences, and businesses forcibly closed following the protests, the regime’s grip appears tighter than ever – even as nuclear talks and regional tensions dominate international headlines.

Iran protests in Eastern Europe. (Photo courtesy of MNN)

For Iranians at home and abroad, the loss is deeply personal.

Denise Godwin with International Media Ministries (IMM) says members of their Persian expatriate film crew are carrying the weight of it every day.

“The news I get directly from them and their outrage over the killings in Iran and the abuse and the persecution is just heartbreaking,” Godwin shares.

“Speaking to one of the actors and key members of our crew, she said, ‘There’s nobody who doesn’t know someone that’s been killed.'”

The Iranian expatriate community remains tightly connected to family and friends back home. Godwin says, “Many of them, of course, have fled because of either political persecution or religious persecution, and they can’t go back. They can’t check on their families other than through the media…. So it’s really an intense time for them as they hear of deaths, either of friends or family or acquaintances, or they just can’t communicate with someone back home.”

At the same time, IMM is preparing to release a Persian-language dramatization of Esther’s story from the Bible — a story about faith and courage in the face of a regime bent on destruction. The project was filmed with Iranian actors and crew last summer.

“It’s pretty parallel to the situation going on in Iran. I mean, now there’s way more than one person risking their life,” Godwin says. “They’re just done with abuse, and they need hope.”

Esther: Queen of Hope (Photo courtesy of International Media Ministries)

That hunger for hope is especially poignant as Ramadan approaches. Godwin says, “There’s always searching going on during Ramadan by people who aren’t at ease with this religion, who are seeking God and not finding Him there.”

Please pray for grieving families, for protection over underground believers, and for the Gospel to reach those disillusioned and searching. Pray also for IMM as they work to deliver the Esther Project into Iran by summer.

“For such a time as this, God has His people in place. For such a time as this, God has sent out His message of hope. Jesus died for these people to give them eternal life.”

You can learn more about International Media Ministries and the Esther Project at their website.

Header photo: Iran protests in Eastern Europe. (Photo courtesy of MNN)

The 1979 Iranian Revolution toppled a U.S.-backed monarchy and established an Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Khomeini. It combined broad social grievances with religious leadership and had world-changing consequences for Iran’s political system, its relationship with the West, and the Middle East.

While traditionally marked with parades and speeches, this year’s anniversary is different.

“There is no celebration for Revolution Day. Any inclination by the people to ‘play nice’ with their oppressive regime is now overshadowed by the overwhelming pain of personal loss and grief,” Lana Silk of Transform Iran says.

“There is no pretending anymore. If anything, Revolution Day becomes a reminder of the day their country was ‘lost.’”

See updates from inside Iran here.

Revolution Day: then and now

Revolution Day 2026 lives up to its name following weeks of protests and state repression. Analysts say the unrest is the biggest challenge to Iran’s authoritarian rulers in decades.

Demonstration of Sep. 8, 1978, the sentence on the placard: “We want an Islamic government, led by Imam Khomeini.”
(Islamic Revolution Document Center, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

“If – and it is a big if – the regime has any support in the country, it is bought. Those marches we see are employees and direct contacts of the regime,” Silk says.

“Regular people are grieving what the regime has done to them.”

Iranians have lost not only freedoms, but also loved ones. Thousands of people are confirmed to have died in the government’s latest crackdown, while independent estimates suggest the toll could be in the tens of thousands.

Yet grief comes with a silver lining. Iran has the world’s fastest-growing church today.

“Before 1979, Iranians were ‘free’, chasing the pleasures of this world and consumed with spiritual apathy,” Silk says.

“[After] 1979, Iranians became oppressed and lost their freedom in almost every way imaginable — and a huge appetite for the Gospel engulfed the country.”

Preparing for change amid hardship

Transform Iran supports indigenous believers involved in church planting, discipleship, leadership development, business, project management, and strategic thinking. More about that here.

The ministry is well-positioned for change. “Iran’s regime is going to fall, and Iran will become open,” Silk says. “People, processes, and plans are ready so that when the doors open, we are ready to act and reach the WHOLE nation for Christ!”

(AI photo generated by Chat GPT)

Until then, believers must endure the challenges of everyday life. “Iranians are hungry!” Silk says. “Food is limited in supply, and prices are out of reach. They need our help!”

Send aid to Iranian families here. “Please give where you can and bolster our efforts. It costs up to $150 per week to feed a family of four,” Silk says.

“We are OFAC certified and have the means to get it (the aid) there.”

Most importantly, pray. Pray that grief and oppression would continue to open hearts to the Gospel. Pray that the growing underground church would be strengthened and guided by the Holy Spirit, and that Iran would move toward freedom and openness so the nation can be reached with hope and truth.

“Christians are actively hunted down and ’taken out’” by Iran’s secret police, Silk says. Despite the risk, “Iranians are ‘counting the cost’ and deeming it 100 percent worthy,” she continues.

“When someone chooses to follow Jesus like this, then God fills and uses them in powerful ways.”

Header image depicts pro-Iranian protests in Eastern Europe circa 2026. Photo credit: MNN. 

More than 127 million voters will choose from nearly 2,000 candidates to fill 350 seats in parliament — 300 seats elected, with 50 additional seats reserved for women chosen later based on party performance in the election. 

“The observers from the European Union call this election in Bangladesh the biggest democratic process of 2026,” says Bruce Allen with FMI.  “Bangladesh is only about the size of Iowa — and yet it has the equivalent population of about half of the US.”

Young man in Bangladesh. (Photo courtesy of Tarikul Raana K/Unsplash)

The social climate in Bangladesh has been one of uncertainty. FMI partners tell Allen that under the current caretaker government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, “there’s an indifference to the rising militance in the country, so persecution has increased, anger, as well as rising price of commodities. It’s been a mess,” says Allen.

“So people are looking forward to [having] this election, finally. It had been put off time and time again. People are eager, but they’re also in this sense of ‘We don’t like where the country is right now.’”

Another factor to note is that Gen Z momentum has fractured. In December, the student-led National Citizen Party formed a multi-party alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami. This Islamist party has a checkered past, yet many are buying its campaign promises. (More on that here.)

Pressure on the church

Allen says minorities in Bangladesh, such as Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists, feel the insecurity even more profoundly. “Pray for us, for wisdom, for clarity as we speak. Since radical Muslims are being energized by the current chaos, the church planters and their congregations really face a lot of threats.”

Pastor Jit shares the message of Christ with a family in rural Bangladesh (Photo courtesy of FMI)

Pastor “Mintu” and his congregation were about to break ground for a church building when their formerly willing Muslim neighbors stopped them. For the past year and a half, the work has been halted.

“Land rights operate a little differently in Bangladesh than here in the US. Many Christians live not on land that they own, but on government-owned lands, and their Muslim neighbors can evict them at any time,” says Allen. “So there’s this very delicate relationship between Christians in a community and their Muslim neighbors, because the Muslim majority wields all the power.”

Yet FMI partners see the good news of Jesus at work in people’s hearts, no matter the situation. They report new families coming to Christ, small groups of new believers preparing for baptism, and individuals being discipled. 

“We have to remember that just because a government or a society may be closed to the gospel does not mean that individuals in that society are closed,” Allen says. “Pray for the church planters’ stamina, for their courage as well, for their ability to relate well to those who are in authority.”

As campaigning ends this week, pray for Bangladesh as a nation.

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

“People are trying to make their last bold, loudest statements, so pray for the stability of the country and that the elections can proceed without violence, without corruption,” says Allen. 

“Pray that the gospel of Christ is not stopped in any of these circumstances, and that those who are hearing the gospel for the first time — or maybe they’re doing some investigation — pray that they openly accept the gospel.”

Header photo of the flag of Bangladesh courtesy of Bornil Amin via Unsplash. 

Mediators from Qatar, Turkiye, and Egypt are helping steer the talks by offering Iran and the United States a shared set of discussion guidelines.

Middle East expert Mike Ansari (formerly with Heart4Iran) says it seems Washington is trying to avoid further hostilities, even as warnings remain stark on both sides.

“President Trump has basically been very vocal, saying that if it comes to having conflict, we are not going to back off and we are going to go in heavy. Iran says any kind of action from the United States against Iran would trigger a regional conflict. So at this moment, it appears that President Trump is giving diplomacy a chance to avoid any kind of conflict.”

(Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran)

But inside Iran, Ansari says diplomacy abroad hasn’t eased pressure at home.

Ongoing Repression

Protests erupted across Iran over the last several weeks, sparked largely by economic collapse. Retirees have lost pensions. Families have lost savings. Many Iranians believe national wealth is being diverted to fund proxy wars instead of meeting basic needs.

Ansari explains, “The atmosphere in Iran and the condition of living for average Iranians is so dismal that [the government] knew that there would be an organic uprising of people.”

Iranian officials responded with overwhelming force. Internet access was cut, and security forces moved quickly to suppress demonstrations. Ansari says reports from inside Iran describe widespread violence, mass arrests, and the targeting of wounded protesters.

Minority communities, including Christians, are once again feeling the pressure.

“Historically, whenever such uprisings take place in Iran, the minorities that include Bahais and the Jewish community and the Christian converts from Islam are subject to house raids and arrests,” says Ansari.

“Some of the leaders of the house churches that have had their houses raided have been arrested under the guise of being agents of Mossad and bringing discord into the Iranian government. Many of the people who have been arrested, we haven’t heard anything from them.”

Hope in the Spirit

(Screenshot of Prayercast’s Iran video)

Yet even in the darkness, the Holy Spirit is moving inside Iran.

Ansari says, “Many people are still reporting that they’re having dreams and visions. It’s amazing to know that God is way ahead of all of us…. We’ve seen acts of mercy by a lot of Iranian Christian converts, providing shelter to the people that are being wounded, helping them out, or just being kind to them. This is how the Gospel is spreading in Iran.”

Iran’s underground Church — long considered one of the fastest-growing in the world — is now facing what Ansari calls an “existential fight.”

“These are very difficult days for Iran, and these are the days that we’re asking the Church globally to lift Iran and Iranians in their prayers and also lift the underground Church, which is practically fighting for its existence, in your prayers.”

Header photo: Mutrah, Muscat, Oman (Photo courtesy of Muhammad Shoaib/Unsplash)

Hutchcraft Ministries’ Doug Hutchcraft says, “It’s a big deal because most people know someone [who] is affected by this.”

The Department of Homeland Security is now implementing body cameras following the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens last month by federal agents. Tensions escalated quickly from local resistance to statewide protests and interference with law enforcement after the shootings.

Meanwhile, anti-ICE protests continue. Residents in south Minneapolis have set up a blockade to prevent agents from entering their neighborhood.

Graffiti on the window of a now-closed Pizza Shark pizza shop on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis on January 19, 2026.
(Chad Davis, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

“There’s so much in the headlines that is making people anxious and angry,” Hutchcraft says.

“It seems like the loudest voices, when it comes to the immigration debate, are the most extreme ones.”

Focus on Jesus, not politics

Many Christians wonder how to enter the highly politicized conversation. Hutchcraft recommends the advice offered in Ecclesiastes 7:16 about avoiding extremes.

“You don’t have to fall for the lie that you’ve got to operate with one extreme or another,” he says.

“You can be Christ’s ambassador and believe that what the law says about things like immigration is important, while still feeling love and compassion towards someone who may not have gotten here legally from a different country.”

Instead of discussing political talking points, Hutchcraft encourages believers to look for Gospel opportunities.

“There are so many different ways – depending on what questions a person asks – to get into a conversation about Jesus from the immigration debate,” Hutchcraft says.

“Start with knowing God’s Word, and especially what His Word has to say about what’s going on in the news.”

Pray all the way

(Photo by Moe Magners/Pexels)

Ask the Lord to help you be His representative when discussing current events. For more insight, listen to Hutchcraft Ministries’ latest “Go MAD” podcast.

“When you’re a follower of Jesus, people are listening to what you have to say, what you think about these things,” Hutchcraft says.

Pray the “three open” prayer as you enter into dialogue. “Lord, open their heart, open a door, open my mouth,” Hutchcraft says.

“This is what we’re praying for: someone who we want to have a relationship with Jesus. Those doors (opportunities) are everywhere.”

Header image depicts Commander of Operations at Large Gregory Bovino and Acting Associate Director Marcos Charles of ICE-ERO give a press conference at Minneapolis, Minn., Jan 25, 2026. (CBP Photography, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)