Mali Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga is encouraging citizens “not to give in to panic.”

The attackers were al-Qaeda-linked Islamists and Tuareg separatists – two distinct groups united in their goal to destabilize the government.

Flag of Mali (Stock photo courtesy of Aboodi Vesakaran via Pexels)

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA (VOM) says, “That’s what we saw over the weekend was coordinated attacks between these two groups in four different parts of Mali all at the same time, including an assassination of the defense minister. So a very significant, very coordinated effort that really shows the level of cooperation between these two groups has grown significantly.”

Mali is roughly 95% Muslim, and extremist factions there want to set up an Islamic caliphate.

Meanwhile, Tuareg separatists have a different objective.

“The Tuareg is a nomadic tribal group, [and] there are many Tuareg in the country of Mali,” Nettleton explains. “They want a separate area. They want a…Tuareg nation, so they are fighting to carve out part of Mali to be independent.”

Though their end goals differ, the two groups have joined forces – proof that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Together, they are driving a wave of chaos and fear across Mali.

Although Mali’s national military is responding, civilians and minorities will likely be caught in the crosshairs.

Pray for Mali. (Photo courtesy of VOM USA)

According to the 2026 World Watch List, Mali ranks 15th among the worst countries for Christian persecution. Primary persecution threats come from Islamic oppression, organized corruption, and crime.

“Christians are only 3% of the population in Mali, so they are a small minority. They face pressure. Often, the first line of persecution is your own family members if you are a follower of Christ, if you leave Islam to follow Jesus,” says Nettleton.

“So [be] praying for them to stand strong in faith, praying for God’s protection over them. I think we also want to pray for some stability in Mali not only because it’s affecting Christians in Mali. It’s affecting Christians in Burkina Faso and Niger as well. [Pray] for some pathway to a stable government and a stable nation that would certainly be a blessing to Christians there, as well as to Muslims who would like to live in safety as well.”

Find more ways to support Christians in Mali at persecution.com.

Header image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay.

Mike with Global Catalytic Ministries says the radical love of Jesus flips the fear-based morality of Islam on its head. He has seen it happen more than once: Muslim extremists meeting their match in the extremity of Christ.

“When they taste true love, it’s just this radical heart that’s softened. And they’re a radical follower of Jesus,” he says.

But sadly, Christians don’t always approach Muslim evangelism from a loving standpoint.

“More and more I’m sensing Christians being so visceral as to how to approach these types of conversations and Muslim people themselves,” Mike says. “We get messages constantly, basically saying ‘Just kill them all.’”

Viewing Muslims, or any group of people, from this kind of oppositional standpoint is a move away from Christ’s love, forgiveness, and justification of sinners. The temptation for Western believers is either to write off Muslims as unreachable or to beat them at their own game: conquest.

“We can approach it through this Roman worldview of conquer, take land, kill people who don’t agree, and force people into submission,” Mike says. “Whereas Jesus doesn’t do that. It’s an inward transformation.”

This transformation means the old oppositional identity is gone: replaced by a new identity in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:16 reads, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.”

Courtesy of Rumman Amin via Unsplash

The way to make disciples differs across Islam and Christianity. Believers should have a ministry of reconciliation growing out of our identity in Christ and our love for Him. ISIS fighters, Hamas terrorists, and Taliban members are all seeking God, but they’re searching in darkness, and their methods are moralistic.

“They approach it through revolution,” Mike says. “Jesus approaches it through revelation.”

Global Catalytic Ministries works in the 10/40 window to plant Gospel seeds and disciple believers.

“We take the Joshua 5 approach,” Mike says. “We lay our lives down for our enemies. That’s the expectation of Jesus.”

As you interact with Muslims and pray for their salvation, keep this perspective in your prayers.

Please pray that God would soften many hearts – those of Islamic extremists and those of Western Christians who are called to love them. Pray that the love of Jesus would motivate ministry to Muslims, and pray that Christ would draw many souls to himself in darkest regions of the world.

Featured photo courtesy of Tayeb Mezahdia via Pexels

(Image courtesy of SAT-7 USA)

Meanwhile, parents in Lebanon are concerned their children could be radicalized by extremist groups like Hezbollah, which are eager for new recruits.

Joe Willey with SAT-7 USA says, “When there is instability there, and whether a government is toppled, whether there are natural disasters, whether there is conflict between other nations, there are voids. And into that void, something will go.

“That concern of any parent, whether it’s in the US or around the world, is, ‘Are my children safe?… Will my children survive?'”

Even beyond Lebanon’s borders, the threat of radicalization is felt globally.

Germany is still reeling after a Syrian refugee sped a car through pedestrians at a Christmas market, killing five people and injuring over 200.

In the United States, a car-ramming terror attack targeted New Year’s revelers on a packed New Orleans street. At least 15 people died and dozens were injured. The attacker, a US citizen and army veteran, was potentially radicalized and had an ISIS flag in his possession.

Radicalization can happen suddenly or slowly over time, starting at a young age. Hezbollah’s recruitment tactics in Lebanon even include summer camps for kids, targeting children as young as six years old, according to The UN Refugee Agency.

(Photo courtesy of SAT-7 USA)

For parents in Lebanon seeking safe entertainment options, SAT-7’s satellite television program, SAT-7 KIDS, offers Gospel-focused entertainment for children.

Willey explains, “Not only do Christian families and Christian children watch it, but we also have messages — and we’ve had many — from parents of children of other faiths who say, ‘I can put SAT-7 KIDS on and I can be confident that my children are going to hear something that’s good.’

“‘They’re not going to hear something that could radicalize them. They’re not going to hear something that I don’t want them to hear. They’re family values.’ And of course, what we know is they’re speaking about biblical values.”

Pray for children in Lebanon to put their trust in Jesus Christ rather than the false promises of extremist groups. Ask God to give parents wisdom, that they may also follow Jesus and point their kids to biblical truth.

“We certainly at SAT-7 have a mission to really minister to children because these children that are living and have lived in war zones have lived in such chaos,” Willey says. “They are being shaped – and they will either be shaped by that violence, or they can be shaped by the Gospel.”

Learn more about SAT-7 KIDS.

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

On Christmas Eve, Muslim extremists went on a killing spree that lasted into the following Christmas Day — largely targeting believers, pastors, and their families.

At least 160 people were killed; mostly women, children, and elderly.  Greg Kelley, CEO of Unknown Nations (formerly World Mission), says the death toll could be closer to 300.

However, from both the Nigerian government and the international community, there has been very little outcry.

Kelley says in Nigeria, “There’s been one administration elected after another who these atrocities are falling on deaf ears, and the frustration that is mounting within the Christian community is almost indescribable because these terrorists are attacking ruthlessly these communities.

“I mean, they’re not just killing people. They’re torturing people. They’re taking children from their parents. They’re killing the elderly. They’re taking people’s homes and possessions and just occupying them. It is living hell for these people.”

Nigerian children. (Photo courtesy of Victor Nnakwe/Unsplash)

In 2021, the Biden Administration in the United States removed Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, despite the strong recommendation by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and ongoing bipartisan appeals.

The Biden Administration’s failure to reconsider Nigeria as a CPC means less international pressure on these human rights violations and attacks on Nigerian Christians.

“One of the ways you can put pressure is you put them on these terrorist lists and call it out,” says Kelley. “That affects foreign funding, that affects aid that’s coming in, that affects these meetings that Secretary of State levels are having. In the absence of that, it allows the perpetrators to run scot-free.”

Unknown Nations works with over 150 local missionaries in this area of Nigeria. Kelley says, “We’re constantly having to relocate them when the attacks happen. They’re running for their lives as well along with all the other civilians. So we’re constantly having to move missionaries from place to place.

The astounding thing is, “They’re trying to save their lives and that of their families, but they are as bold and courageous as anyone we’ve ever met. So they will go back in there and they’re happy to share the Gospel in these areas, but it’s the constant disruption. It makes it very difficult for Gospel activity.”

These disciples of Christ are passionately sharing God’s Word in North Eastern Nigeria.
(Photo, caption courtesy of Unknown Nations)

Unknown Nations is currently in touch with Nigerian Christians affected by the Christmas massacre, and offering tangible biblical support.

“There is a ton of trauma that we are dealing with right now for the missionaries and the survivors. So we are really mobilizing into having trauma healing training for those survivors to help them navigate this and to go through a journey in a biblical way.”

Pray for justice, comfort, and deep healing from the trauma. Pray also for the attackers to have profound encounters with Jesus Christ, that they would know God’s forgiveness and grace, and take the Gospel to their own communities.

Pray for the Church and the world to wake up to what is happening to our Nigerian Christian brothers and sisters.

Header photo courtesy of Tope A Asokere/Unsplash.

That’s exactly what Voice Of The Martyrs Canada wants to provide with its trauma center. Currently, 230 women and 28 children are staying at the center, with room for at least 50 more.

“Some of them have come from situations where they were kidnapped from the Boko Haram or Fulani herdsmen who are also very radical,” says Greg Musselman of Voice Of The Martyrs Canada. “But many of them, they were born into Muslim families and made a decision to follow Jesus, and then the persecution really intensified. It’s a variety of different situations.”

The trauma center provides basic needs and support for women coming out of crisis. There’s a small on-site hospital providing free medical care. The center feeds and clothes the women. Their children can attend a school. Most helpfully, they can choose to receive vocational training, learn to sew, make shoes, or master computer skills. Musselman says there are more than 20 different vocations from which to choose.

Without these supports, many of these women won’t get the chance to explore future options. In some parts of Nigeria, women aren’t allowed to receive education. Instead they’re forced to rely on men – sometimes abusive men – to support them

But it’s about more than just equipping women to deal with the practical challenges of being a woman in Nigeria; it’s about helping them recover from life-altering trauma. “They get to be with other girls [who] are traumatized by all they’ve had to go through,” Musselman says. “They’ve been forced into these marriages. They’ve been sexually assaulted. They have children. There’s just so much going on.”

Most women stay in the program for between two and three years. It depends on the situation; for many women, “they’ve got a long way to go in terms of getting through many of the emotional, physical, and even spiritual trauma that they’ve gone through.”

When they’ve graduated from the program, specialists from the trauma center meet with them to determine whether it’s safe for these women to go back to their home communities. After they’ve graduated, the center will continue to stay in contact and maintain a relationship. Sometimes, that means helping equip them to share the Gospel in their predominantly-Muslim home communities.

And the most important thing these women will take away is a relationship with Jesus. “We know that there’s going to be some setbacks along the way, but [we’ll] continue to be there and to help them grow in their faith in Jesus.”

Support the work of Voice Of The Martyrs Canada here.

Header image courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs Canada.

The West African regional bloc ECOWAS also rejected a proposal by Niger’s military junta to delay national elections up to three years.

West Africans, and especially Christians, are concerned about extremist groups taking advantage of the moment.

(Photo courtesy of Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke/Pixabay)

Floyd Brobbel with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada says, “A coup creating this instability will just also continue to foster this growth of radicalism. Certainly, it can get a lot of momentum from activities like a coup and so I would expect that you would see more of the same sort of thing happening in the region.”

Terrorist attacks have already been growing in West African countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, and Nigeria. Christians living in refugee or displacement camps are often marginalized.

Brobbel says, “The relief going to them has not been vast. In fact, they kind of are discriminated against and they’re the last to receive any type of aid in these IDP camps. So certainly there’s a Church under pressure.”

In rumors of war and political upheaval, pray for the Gospel to change hearts in West Africa.

“We need to be on our knees praying for our persecuted brothers and sisters in these countries, but praying that these militants would come to know Christ.”

Learn more about supporting the persecuted Church with VOM Canada.

Header photo of deposed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazou. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

After seizing power and detaining Niger’s president Mohamed Bazoum, the junta got an ultimatum from the West African regional bloc: Reinstate the ousted president by Sunday, or face possible foreign military intervention.

The ultimatum deadline passed with no action from the junta. Now, it is the regional bloc’s move.

Niger’s deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum (Photo courtesy of photographer: Bogdan Hoyaux – https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/photo/P-060245~2F00-08, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=129317199)

West Africa bloc leaders are meeting on Thursday to discuss a rogue Niger under junta control, and how to respond.

Amidst tensions, it doesn’t help that Niger is bordered by other countries with extremist presence.

Greg Kelley with World Mission says, “You’re talking about Mali, you’re talking about Algeria, you’re talking about Libya – places that have been real beachheads for extremism. Niger is critical where we can have eyes in those areas from a political standpoint.”

Kelley points out a destabilized West Africa with the coup in Niger opens the door to these radical groups.

“I think extremism has been a huge hindrance to the Gospel in this part of Africa, which is why Niger is so strategic. It’s literally been considered a great ally, which is why the US is really slow-walking their response to this because they don’t want to lose that relationship.”

The United States and France have threatened to cut ties with Niger, which would impact aid for the country.

Meanwhile, the Gospel is needed now more than ever in Niger. World Mission partners are still going into the country to distribute the ministry’s solar-powered audio Bibles called Treasures.

Kelley says, “From a missional standpoint, the Body of Christ needs to be aware. A country like Niger is so strategic. It’s well over 90% Muslim…. Most people living in Niger have never heard of Jesus. That’s where our eyes really need to be locked in.”

Pray for the Gospel to bring hope. Ask God to restore peace to Niger rooted in justice and wisdom.

Header photo depicts sunset over the Niger River. (Photo courtesy of Mathieu Dessus/Flickr: https://rb.gy/h8e5l)

However, Mission Cry’s president Jason Woolford says, “Just this year, we’re having difficulty getting containers to be allowed in.

“The president of their country has installed anti-conversion laws which have opened the door to radical Hindus to go into many of these areas that we’ve sent where they’ve literally ripped churches right to their foundation.”

(Photo courtesy of Mission Cry)

Woolford shares, “Recently, one of our Mission Cry missionaries…went to one of the churches in the Chandigarh area where Christians had paid for outside toilets to be installed, 12 of them, outside of the church for the entire community — regardless of your religion — to use. [But] because Christians put them in, they ripped the church down and the free toilets.”

Yet, intimidation tactics won’t stop the Gospel. Mission Cry is working on sending another shipping container to the Indian city of Chandigarh which will be filled with half a million dollars worth of free Bibles and Christian books to give away.

“In one church in that area, it went from 400 people to 2,000 people in less than one year,” Woolford says. “Christianity is exploding there and they’re trying to stop it, and no man is going to stop what God is doing in that area.”

Many people in India are day laborers, meaning what they work to earn that day is what they must live on until the next day. Books are a luxury day laborers can’t afford, much less a Bible.

The gift of a Bible, even in English, is incredibly valuable in several parts of India. Woolford explains, “English is the financial language of the world,” and Mission Cry only sends their Bibles and Christian books where English texts are wanted and useful.

This container to India will cost roughly $11,000 to ship. You can give to Mission Cry’s India project here!

Also, Woolford asks for prayer “that we have continued favor with clearing agents there. Then also, they can be praying…for sustainability for our brothers and sisters in their faith while they’re going through these things…that they know they’re not forgotten about. And they’ll know they’re not forgotten about because people like us and those that are listening come to their aid with the Word of God.”

Header photo courtesy of Paul Silvan via Unsplash.

Nigeria’s current President Muhammadu Buhari is finishing his last of two terms and will be stepping down in May. Although there are 18 candidates running for president, the frontrunners are considered Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

One of the major discussions surrounding the election is northern Nigeria’s growing insecurity and radical Muslim violence. Minority Christians in the north are often the target.

Greg Kelley with World Mission says, “The frustrating part of it, I think, when you look at it internally is that the government within Nigeria is not holding anyone accountable, so the atrocities continue. The people continue to suffer.”

(Photo courtesy of World Mission)

The two presidential candidate frontrunners are Muslim, and they both vow to defend religious freedom in Nigeria. Will anything improve for Nigeria’s Christians with new leadership? Time will tell.

For World Mission though, hope does not rest in political postures but in getting the Gospel to northern Nigeria.

Most ministries focus their efforts in southern Nigeria where it’s safer, and where there is also already a Christian majority. Kelley says, “There are major churches, what we would consider mega churches in the southern part of Nigeria with zero mission emphasis on taking the Gospel into the northern part.”

However, World Mission works with believers to reach the volatile northern region with solar-powered audio Bibles.

“The strategy becomes finding Muslim background believers who have come from the Kanuri and the Fulani and the Hausa who were formerly Muslim and who have had an encounter with Jesus. They’re the ones who are distributing our solar-powered audio Bible in literally dozens of different languages — sharing the Gospel in these places, in many instances, for the first time in history because there’s just not a missionary emphasis.”

(Photo courtesy of World Mission)

Pray for the Gospel to spread through northern Nigeria and changes the hearts of those who have committed radical violence.

Kelley says, “We need to pray for the maturity of the Body of Christ as it relates to Nigeria and some of these other African areas where there’s a refusal by the national leaders to take the Gospel where it’s not been.

“Then, those people that are doing it, we need to pray that God would continue to give them courage and boldness as they are taking the Gospel into the most hostile places you could imagine.”

You can also directly support this work by giving to World Mission here.

Header photo of Nigerian flag, courtesy of Emmanuel Ikwuegbu via Unsplash.

This documentary explores faith, passion, and how hope emerges from tragedy. ENDS OF THE EARTH weaves together true stories of MAF pilots — past and present — who strive with missionaries and local believers to take the Gospel to remote and isolated people.

April 1962. The day of the first flight into Hitadipa, Dutch New Guinea. Betty Greene is the tall woman in the center. Blonde woman is Leona St. John. Bill Cutts is the man holding the child. Betty and Leona completed a 35-mile trek through the jungle into Hitadipa to inspect the airstrip before that first flight. George Boggs actually made that first landing. (Caption, photo courtesy of MAF.)

One true story features Betty Greene, MAF’s first pilot.

Chris Burgess, MAF’s Creative Director says, “She was a World War II veteran and she just was an amazing person who flew MAF’s first flight in Mexico and then laid the groundwork in Latin America and in Africa and Indonesia — laid the groundwork not only for MAF’s work, but for the work of a lot of missionaries over the past 75 years.”

Fathom Events and Collide Media Group are presenting this film for a two-night event in US cinemas on Monday, Oct. 18 and Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7:00 p.m. local time (both days).

ENDS OF THE EARTH will also be released to churches the same day as the theatrical release through Fathom’s Faith Content Network.

Audiences in both cinemas and churches will get to experience an exclusive panel discussion featuring members of MAF following the event.

The film’s title is based on Acts 1:8 when Jesus spoke to his disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Burgess says, “What we are looking at really is how the Gospel today gets to what would be considered ‘the ends of the earth.’ Christ’s followers in Acts began taking the Gospel out to the surrounding areas.

Photo courtesy of MAF.

“And really, Christians and missionaries over the past 2,000 years have been…taking that same message of the Gospel and hope and love to places all around the world — often at great risk or great cost to themselves.”

The film will also feature Pastor David Platt, founder of Radical which trains and equips churches and followers of Christ to spread the Gospel across the globe.

MAF President and CEO David Holsten says, “We believe that every follower of Christ should have a passion for missions. Some will be called to go, others will be called to use their gifts to support, and all are called to pray that people will accept the life-changing salvation that comes through Jesus Christ.”

Following the film, Burgess says, “That’s the thing that I really hope beyond anything — that people will walk away really grappling with, ‘How does the Great Commission apply to my life and my circumstances?’”

Tickets for ENDS OF THE EARTH can be purchased online here or at participating theater box offices!

Watch the trailer for ENDS OF THE EARTH here.

Header photo courtesy of MAF.