US President Donald Trump described Abu-Bilal al-Minuki as “second in command of ISIS globally.” The US and Nigeria also conducted additional air strikes against ISIS forces on Sunday.

(Photo courtesy of Unknown Nations)

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations hopes for a little more stability in Nigeria now that al-Minuki is reportedly gone.

“This individual was largely behind a lot of the organization and the instabilities — not just in Nigeria, but this has spilled over into neighboring countries,” he says. (More on al-Minuki here.)

Other leaders within ISIS will fill the gap left by al-Minuki soon enough. But there’s something more Kelley doesn’t want us to miss. 

“The encouraging thing about this that we haven’t seen in the last 15 years is a robust involvement from the Nigerian government and military,” Kelley says of the joint Nigeria-US operation.

“A lot of the people that we know that we’ve spoken to are encouraged that there’s accountability finally taking place. The Christian church is encouraged today. They’ve been praying for accountability.”

Nigeria’s response to Islamic insurgents has often been criticized. Government leaders maintain that extremists target people of all faiths, not mainly Christians. Yet according to Open Doors, more Christians were killed in Nigeria between October 2024 and September 2025 than in the rest of the world combined. Of the 4,849 deaths recorded in their reporting period, 3,490 were believers in Nigeria. 

Find your place in the story

Regardless of political debate, Kelley says the need for gospel workers remains urgent. Nigeria’s estimated 237 million population is divided nearly in half between Muslims and Christians.

“This [joint operation] is putting [Nigeria] on the front lines and to the front of our attention, so that we can be praying for northern Nigeria,” Kelley says. 

Among northern Nigeria’s unreached people groups are the Fulani, the Hausa, and the Kanuri. 

“Pray for laborers that would be sent forth into these [northern] areas,” says Kelley. “There are 100 million Muslims in northern Nigeria, and well over 95% of them have never heard the gospel message.”

Many of these missionaries could come from southern Nigeria, which Kelley explains is predominantly Christian. 

Pray also for gospel resources and godly leaders to reach into the north. 

“We need to pray for resources like our solar-powered audio Bibles in the Hausa, Fulani, and Kanuri languages that can be sent in there,” says Kelley. “We need to send mature leaders who are strong in the Word of God, who understand the Quran, who can help educate and lead these people to Christ.” 

The header image is a stock photo of a region in north central Nigeria, courtesy of Mathias Owa Martins via Unsplash. 

The fighting follows Pakistan’s controversial airstrikes on Afghan territory over the weekend. 

Nehemiah with FMI explains the bigger picture of those strikes: “Pakistan is blaming Afghanistan that terrorists are using their soil to attack Pakistan,” he says. However, Afghanistan’s Taliban administration denies this, saying that Pakistan’s own failures are to blame for its security crises.

Wherever the blame lies, a real problem remains. A series of deadly suicide bombings has shaken Pakistan this month. The worst was the February 6 attack on an Islamabad mosque, which killed at least 32 people and injured 170 more. 

“It was described as the deadliest attack in Islamabad in more than a decade, and the deadliest nationwide since the January 2023 Peshawar mosque bombing,” says Nehemiah. 

Pakistan says its weekend airstrikes targeted suspected hideouts for two terrorist groups: the Pakistani Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP), and Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP). Islamabad has blamed Afghanistan for not taking action against groups like these. However, Kabul says Pakistan’s weekend strikes did not kill 70-80 militant fighters; instead, they say Pakistan hit civilian buildings and killed or injured dozens, including women and children.

More instability for believers to face

Pakistan and Afghanistan share culture, food, and language, says Nehemiah. But their good relationship has deteriorated since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021. Since then, Pakistan has dealt with rising militancy concerns. In 2025 alone, there were 2,425 incidents, according to data from Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).

A gospel worker in Pakistan (Photo courtesy of FMI)

“This escalating tension deeply affects our ministry in both countries,” says Nehemiah. He says FMI partners face travel limitations, communication disruption, and security concerns during times like these. It makes discipleship and outreach even more complex. Stand with these gospel workers in prayer. 

“Pray for boldness and wisdom, that believers would minister with discernment, courage, and sensitivity in such an unpredictable environment,” says Nehemiah. “Pray for gospel opportunities that even in the midst of this situation, instability, God would use suffering to draw many to Himself and strengthen His church.”

Learn more here about FMI’s work of supporting local, indigenous missionaries across the world.

Header photo: Stock photo courtesy of Amar Preciado via Pexels. 

The U.S. decision follows similar designations by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. The Kingdom of Jordan banned the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2025.

The Trump administration says the Muslim Brotherhood’s support for Hamas played a leading role in the designation.

“Their (Muslim Brotherhood’s) push has historically been, ‘If we were just good Muslims and follow the way correctly, then God would bless us by giving back the land of Palestine,’” Samuel with Redemptive Stories says, explaining the connection.

“As long as there continues to be fighting and frustration between Israeli settlers and Palestinians, then there will continue to be a push for the [Muslim] Brotherhood or people like them.”

Ministry impact

While the Muslim Brotherhood’s new label won’t significantly affect everyday life in the Middle East, Samuel says, “The importance is to remember that political decisions in every part of the world have consequences on ministry.”

He adds, “The ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine has ripple effects that hit every part of the lives of Arabs and Muslims across the region” – meaning that the people believers minister to are greatly affected by events in Gaza and the West Bank.

Representative AI photo of Palestinian Christian created by ChatGPT.

Samuel urges Christians in the West to follow the news through a Kingdom lens, focusing on more than just political outcomes.

“Unblinding support for Israel has implications on the Gospel in our part of the world,” he says.

“Every story has two sides. We need to consider how decisions made on one side can affect believers in Palestine and around our region.”

How to help

As you learn about current events and how they affect both Israeli and Palestinian Christians, let that knowledge inform your intercession.

“Pray for our brothers and sisters who are there, standing strong in the midst of ongoing strife, to communicate hope with their neighbors,” Samuel says.

Pray for peace in the Middle East, so that political decisions won’t distract people from the Gospel.

“We should long for peace that would create space for people to begin to dream about a future with the Lord, and create opportunities for the Gospel to go forth,” Samuel says.

“People are often continuously distracted by the political affairs, which don’t give them space to imagine a relationship with God and what that might be for them.”

Header image depicts the Muslim Brotherhood flag. (Wikimedia Commons/public domain)

Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo live among wolves. Last month, the terrorist group Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) claimed the brutal killings of more than 140 believers. An ambush during a funeral in Nyoto village, Lubero District killed as many as 102 people. Multiple attacks later in the month killed an estimated 40, according to a report from Barnabas Aid.

Church in the DRC (Representative stock photo courtesy of Johnnathan Tshibangu via Unsplash)

“One of the things that we’ve seen even [in] the last couple of months is just the level of violence of these attacks,” says Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA. “[Fighters] coming in and killing dozens of people, beheading people, the idea of putting fear into the whole populace.”

There’s no end in sight, either. ISCAP, also known as the Allied Democratic Forces, is only one of 100 armed groups in the DRC. 

“So if you’re in the government or in the military and you say, ‘Okay, we need to solve this problem,’ this is 100 problems,” Nettleton says. 

He says there is also a question of whether there is a will to solve the security problems. A July 26-27 ISCAP attack killed at least 40 churchgoers in a city with a UN Peacekeeper presence.

“If that’s happening in the same city where there are so-called peacekeepers, is it a lack of will? Is it a lack of information? What is happening that is allowing this to continue on?” says Nettleton.

“If you’re a Christian in DRC right now, certainly you’re asking that question as well: ‘Why does this keep happening, and what needs to happen for our government or for someone to provide some safety, some protection for us?'”

Imagine the disruption to daily life that these dangers cause for everyone, not only for those doing gospel work.

“The baseline of, ‘Am I going to go out today and come home safely tonight?’ — that’s not a given,” says Nettleton. “Every decision, every meeting, every chance to travel to a different location, you’re having to factor in those security questions. ‘What do I need to do to take only necessary risks and not unnecessary risks?'”

ISCAP released a graphic propaganda video in September, boasting of its wars on Christians and calling for reinforcements to join the rising jihad in Africa. (Read an analysis of the video here.) With that in mind, please pray for bold wisdom and innocence for Christians in the DRC in line with Matthew 10:16. Pray that even jihadists in Africa will be won over by the gospel of Jesus.

Header image: Portrait of a Taabwa Catholic priest at the historic mission in the city of Moba, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Photo, caption courtesy of IMB)

But in prisons, the dynamic changes. An incarcerated extremist becomes, quite literally, a captive audience for the Gospel.

Greg Von Tobel, President of Prisoners for Christ (PFC), says, “When we talk about third-world prisons, there are a lot of terrorist groups that have found themselves in prison.

“What better opportunity to share the love of Christ with some of the hardest of hearts that are bent on evil and having them come to know Lord, getting released, going back to their communities and sharing the love of Christ?”

Photo courtesy of Colin Carey via Unsplash

PFC helps believers behind bars start churches in prisons across the developing world. For terrorists, these church gatherings are often the first place they hear about Jesus.

Don Szolomayer, PFC’s Director of International Affairs, explains that many inmates enter prison churches simply out of curiosity. “And it says, ‘This is a safe place. This is a place you can come, you can ask questions, you can learn, you can grow.’”

Still, sharing the Gospel is only the beginning. Von Tobel stresses the importance of building up new believers in the faith during their incarceration.

“We have to have the discipleship piece – feeding and growing inmates that are babes in the Word of God, and watching them and growing them into great warriors for the cause of Christ.”

Pray for extremists in prison to turn to Christ, and become warriors for God’s mercy and truth!

Pray also for believers who lead these prison churches — that God would equip them with wisdom, courage, and perseverance as they disciple new Christians behind bars.

Header photo image generated by AI.

Greg Musselman with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada explains, “The Houthis and al-Shabaab are now sharing weaponry; they’re becoming more aligned, in a sense.”

As described here, the Houthis are giving al-Shabaab access to more advanced weaponry systems. In return, al-Shabaab shares its coastal intelligence network and years of expertise in piracy.

A calligraphic logo used by Ansar Allah, a Shia movement in Yemen commonly called the Houthis, with Arabic text: “Oh ye who believe, be supporters of God” (Quran 61:14)
(Wikimedia Commons)

“These groups have these weapons, they share intelligence, and that makes it very scary for persecuted Christians in those nations as these radicalized groups take more and more control of their countries,” Musselman says.

As radical control grows in Yemen and Somalia, believers continue to quietly share the hope of Christ. “In Somalia, they have one of the fastest-growing Churches in the world,” Musselman says.

“Instability causes people a lot of fear, but also opens them up to the Gospel.”

Yemen and Somalia are some of the world’s most dangerous places to follow Christ. For example, Yemeni citizens are not allowed to convert to Christianity. More about that here.

Similarly, believers in Somalia keep their faith a closely-held secret, as al-Shabaab demands the death of Christians if discovered. More about that here.

“Often, we can’t talk about stories [like these] because of the security issues. We don’t want to put anybody else in any further danger. But we can be encouraged that God is working amid all the challenges these believers are facing,” Musselman says.

“Because of the fear, the unhappiness with [the] regimes leading these countries, they (people) just see no hope. And that’s when many of them are turning to the Lord.”

Pray that the Gospel will penetrate the hearts of many hopeless people.

“Let’s pray for God’s work to continue in Somalia and Yemen. Yeah, they have heavy Muslim populations, but there is an emerging Church,” Musselman says.

“Believers are willing to risk their lives to bring the Gospel to some of the world’s most dangerous places.”

Header image depicts al-Shabaab insurgents during an attack on Somali National Army positions in 2023. (Wikimedia Commons)

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA says the move highlights the plight of Nigerian Christians. “This is one subcommittee of the U.S. House basically saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to shine a light on what’s happening in Nigeria, and we would like the President to sanction the government of Nigeria to try to encourage them to take steps on religious freedom and on protecting the Christian minority, especially in northern Nigeria.’”

(Photo courtesy Voice of the Martyrs USA)

Lawmakers hope this move will push Nigeria to take stronger action in protecting religious minorities.

For years, extremist groups like Boko Haram, Fulani militants, and ISWAP have targeted Christians in Nigeria. A 2024 report from the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa found that Nigeria was responsible for 90% of all Christian deaths worldwide each year.

Between October 2019 and September 2023, the report recorded at least 55,910 people killed by terrorist groups active in the country.

Nettleton says, “The sad thing to me is that these attacks have become so common that they almost don’t make the news anymore.”

Despite the ongoing violence, Nigeria was removed from the U.S. State Department’s Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list in November 2021, a designation that allows for direct sanctions. While the U.S. administration has not yet reinstated Nigeria on the CPC list, Congress is urging sanctions regardless.

“The reality is the Nigerian government hasn’t taken steps to protect persecuted Christians in the North, and so I think they do deserve to be painted as complicit in what is happening there,” says Nettleton.

“The national government of Nigeria, even though in their constitution they promise religious freedom, they don’t actually defend the rights of religious minorities in the North in a way that protects them from these attacks.”

As Congress pushes for action, Nettleton urges Christians worldwide to respond. “We need to know what’s happening with them so that we’re aware; so that we can pray effectively and pray knowledgeably for them.”

Nettleton also encourages, “One of the things Christ calls us to do is to forgive and even to pray for those who are persecuting us. So pray that our Nigerian brothers and sisters, even through the grief and the loss and the suffering they have endured, will still be able to have soft hearts towards their persecutors.”

Header photo courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs, Canada.

According to Pakistan’s military, security forces have freed the hostages, but 21 train passengers were killed along with four soldiers and 33 hijackers. However, as of yesterday, the BLA claims it is still active on the train and continues to hold over 100 hostages.

The Pakistan Army’s special forces soldiers in a drill conducting jointly with the Russian special forces in 2016. (Caption, photo by Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52068269)

This attack is just the latest in a string of violent incidents in Balochistan, a region where the BLA has been fighting for autonomy.

Nehemiah with FMI points out this attack also highlights growing extremism in the country. According to the new Global Terrorism Index 2025, he says, “Pakistan is now ranked as the second most terrorism affected country in the world, right after Burkina Faso and before Syria, alarmingly terrorism-related deaths in Pakistan rose by 45% in 2024 alone.”

While the BLA mainly targets government forces and infrastructure, their actions also make life even more dangerous for Christians and other religious minorities who already face discrimination and persecution.

“It’s a fearful situation when these partners go in these areas and try to share the Word of God. You never know who is your enemy and who is your friend, especially in this hostile situation where terrorists are everywhere,” Nehemiah explains.

“Sadly, in Balochistan and KPK, which is a border region of Afghanistan and Iran, many cities control have been taken over by Taliban or ISIS or BLA…. So different aspects are now in Pakistan. They are [attacking] the military, mosques, and of course they are targeting Christians or minorities in Pakistan as well.”

Amazingly, Pakistani Christians are praying for terrorists, that they would know and turn to Jesus! Please pray with them.

Nehemiah says, “I was talking to a brother a few days ago, and I was like, ‘How can we pray for you?’ And he said, ‘Please pray for terrorists who are killing them and killing other Pakistanis. Please pray for them that they know the light of the message and the light of hope, which is Jesus Christ.'”

Learn more about FMI’s ministry in Pakistan.

Header photo: Pakistan flag (Photo courtesy of Abuzar Xheikh/Unsplash)

The negotiations are set against a backdrop of heightened tensions. Israel recently stopped supplying electricity to Gaza in an effort to put pressure on Hamas. The Israeli delegation hopes to secure the release of the 59 hostages still left in Gaza.

Hamas parade (Photo by Fars Media Corporation, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=134754919)

Pastor Tes Kahasi with Beit Hallel Congregation in Ashdod says Israelis have differing views on where to go from here.

“There are some groups, especially on the left wing, they say that we have to release the hostages with any price. And there is the other group, the right wing especially, they say no, we can’t pay the whole price. Because with this terrorist group, if we pay them the whole price, if we give them everything that they want, we are just pushing them to do the same thing next time. That means kidnapping other people, kidnapping other kids.”

It’s a stark risk, underscored by the still-fresh memory of the returned bodies of the two youngest October 7th hostages, Ariel and Kfir Bibas. Forensic evidence revealed they were brutally murdered “in cold blood” by their terrorist kidnappers.

Amidst these challenges and fears, believers in Israel are pointing people to a greater hope.

“People are hearing the national TV, the news, and everything — and they are frustrated,” says Kahasi. “They are full of fear…. When we are trying to solve the problem of this country, laying on politicians and different kinds of secular personalities, we couldn’t find hope. We couldn’t find peace.

“But we are preaching the Gospel of Christ, and we are preaching this Gospel in our church. So we say to the congregation every time that the hope of this nation is Yeshua.”

Please pray for godly wisdom, peace, and trust in Christ.

Learn more about Beit Hallel Congregation here!

Header photo of Doha, Qatar. (Photo courtesy of Radoslaw Prekurat/Unsplash)

Islamic State affiliates Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) reportedly kidnapped these believers during two raids in a Christian village in mid-February. Then, the terrorists took the kidnapped believers to a church, where they slaughtered them.

According to Open Doors, some families have not been able to bury their dead because of insecurity.

Editor’s note: It has come to our attention that the story of the murders of 70 Christians did not happen, however the context remains accurate.

MNN is guided by a newsroom policy that strives to report our stories as accurately as possible.   We cross-check information with multiple sources to verify our research.

That said, if a report proves to be inaccurate, we will correct it and state why it has been altered. If relevant new information emerges, we will update or do a follow-up story. 

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says, “There are over 100 different rebel groups that are active in eastern Congo, including these radical Islamic State-based entities that are doing some of the most horrific acts against Christians.”

Illia Djadi, Senior Analyst for Freedom of Religion or Belief in sub-Saharan Africa for Open Doors, says ADF wants to wipe out Christianity in DRC. “Their interests are twofold,” Kelley adds.

“They are taking natural resources out, but [also spreading] a jihadist form of Islam in this part of Congo.”

DRC is full of natural resources that could fund terrorist endeavors.

“They’re (terrorists) hopeful that Christians will just scurry out of these areas, and they’ll ultimately take it over. The extraction of all these people makes it easier for them to take the gold, cobalt, and diamonds,” Kelley explains.

Audio Bibles distributed by Unknown Nations give hope to displaced communities.
(Photo courtesy of Unknown Nations)

Pray for peace between people groups. Kelley says attacks like these can spark tribal tension, which can then escalate into ethnic war.

“It goes way beyond the country of Congo, the country of Uganda, the country of Rwanda. It’s all rooted in people group animosity, one against another,” Kelley says.

Additionally, pray the Lord can help believers forgive Islamists who target and attack their communities. Pray mature Christian leaders can instill the principles of love and forgiveness in new believers.

“When you haven’t established maturity and discipleship, there’s retaliation, and when there’s retaliation, it just perpetuates a [bad] situation,” Kelley says.

“Jesus called us to be disciples, not converts. When we have a bunch of converts running around, a lot of bad things can still happen, and the enemy can take advantage of that because there’s a lot of immaturity.”

Header image is a screenshot courtesy of Prayercast.