A hidden layer 

Bruce with Uncharted Ministries says that at first, their team didn’t realize the scale and depth of suffering that Pakistani Christians endure. Then, a young Christian leader in Pakistan revealed another layer to them through a simple request. 

“We were introduced to this [reality] by him just sharing a need,” Bruce says. “He didn’t ask for any money. He just said, ‘Please, please pray for this young 13-year-old girl.’” 

The teenager had been kidnapped by a man in his forties, then forced to marry him and convert to Islam. 

“[She spent] five months chained to a bed and [was] malnourished but was rescued. She was later found pregnant as a 14-year-old and gave birth to a little baby girl,” Bruce says. 

Hers is just one story among hundreds that rarely have a happy ending. 

“Over 1,000 Christian young women are kidnapped, and only 10% ever make it back to their homes,” Bruce says. 

Lifted up out of poverty  

By God’s grace, Uncharted Ministries is able to come alongside vulnerable Christian families with practical help and even freedom (more on that here). 

“Christian women are in a tough way, so we’ve been providing six-month training courses for Christian young women to be seamstresses or beauticians,” Bruce says. “[They are] six-month classes, 15 students in each one for six months of training in the business skills but also being discipled, being loved. They become a little family.”

A young Christian woman shows what she has sewn. (Photo courtesy of Uncharted Ministries)

The training courses have served 120 women so far. Bruce says it’s amazing to see how God has opened the way for this ministry.

“After successfully completing the course, they are given their sewing machine, a work desk, chair and supplies to begin their business,” he says. 

“These young women [will] earn money for their family, but then they’ll attract a young man someday who’s also upwardly mobile, and they together can work and increase their standard of living. So we’re looking at generational change, where God is going to transform their lives.”

One of Uncharted’s contacts in Pakistan recently told Bruce, “It’s so encouraging to know that we weren’t created just to be hated.” 

“That stuck with me,” he says. “They feel so reviled in the culture, but what God is doing [is] He’s just plucking these people out and giving them skills.”

You can have a place in this life-changing ministry. Gifts to Uncharted Ministries designated “Pakistan” will aid frontline efforts of rescuing families from slavery, supporting young women who have been sex-trafficked, and training girls in business skills. Visit unchartedministries.com to make a gift under the “Pakistan” designation. 

Header photo courtesy of Paul Jai/Unsplash.

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach (CWO) says, “In Burkina with all that’s going on as far as different villages being attacked and things like that, it’s not safe for the kids to go to school. So we know they are closing.”

Village of Opportunity graduation in Burkina Faso 2023. (Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)

CWO is determined to keep their Village of Opportunity open in Burkina Faso, offering vocational training to female students.

“We teach sewing, cosmetology, and we started culinary classes. Actually, [we are] in the middle of a building project to build a kitchen classroom so we can even reach more young ladies.”

All the education is in a Gospel context, helping students grow in their faith or learn about Christ.

The next school session starts in October, and CWO is raising funds to build an activity center at the Village of Opportunity.

“What that would be is a place where we can have activities for our own young ladies at the Village of Opportunity,” says Yoder. “But [we could] also rent it out, which would raise some funds in-country to help the school become a little more self-sustaining.”

Your gift to CWO goes a long way for educational ministry in Burkina Faso. Support CWO’s Burkina Faso ministry here!

Cooking school at CWO’s Village of Opportunity in Burkina Faso. (Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)

Yoder says, “We’re just excited about what’s going on in Burkina and how God is working in spite of the issues that are going on with the government and with the insecurity there.”

Header photo of kindergarten schoolchildren in Burkina Faso, courtesy of RobertoVi/Pixabay.

Over the weekend, many shopkeepers and factory workers went on strike as well. Earlier in October, oil workers stopped working and blocked roads.

Mike Ansari with Heart4Iran says this is different from past uprisings. “In the past, people were asking for reformation. But this time, in this new uprising, people are no longer asking for reformation. They’re asking for Islam to be completely out of the picture in the government. And they’re very vocal about it.”

“You’re seeing women at the helm. They are the ones who are basically moving this recent uprising forward.”

Iranian young people feel they have nothing to lose and nothing to look forward to under Iran’s current government.

Many women have removed their hijab and cut their hair, a sign of desperation. Ansari says, “We’re seeing a lot of school-aged girls also take to the streets. Unfortunately, they are being detained or beaten, and some are also being killed. It appears that there is no accountability from the international community and human rights groups regarding these violations of human rights across Iran.”

Prayer

Pray young people across Iran would find hope in Jesus. Ask God to end the violence against them.

Ansari says it’s important for Iranian Christians to know that their brothers and sisters around the world stand with them. “Freedom and civil liberty are near and dear to the hearts of every person in the world. We just hope there will come a day when we will see that level of freedom exercised in Iran once more.”

Header photo courtesy of Heart4Iran on Facebook. 

(Photo courtesy Voice of the Martyrs Canada)

These marriages aren’t a mutual agreement between husband and wife. Instead, young women, usually between the ages of 12 and 25, are kidnapped or abducted.

The kidnapper, in some cases along with associates, then abuses and threatens the girl until she commits to Islam. After her conversion, she is married to the abductor or one of his accomplices.

The persecution doesn’t end after the wedding, though. These forced brides are often abused and pressured by the husband and his family to claim the conversion was voluntary. That way, if the case is ever taken to court, the family has nothing to fear from the young woman.

Because the cases don’t get anywhere in court, all too often police and other local authorities ignore these cases.

That’s why Voice of the Martyrs Canada is spreading the Word of God across the world. In situations like these, the love of Jesus Christ is the most consoling comfort they can experience.

Want to help? Click here to donate. Keep the young women of Pakistan in your prayers.

Because many contract AIDS due to a lack of education, Global Action is focusing on AIDS prevention through education, partnering with various groups to help as many as possible.

"We work primarily through the Pan Africa Christian Women's Alliance," says Global Action's Emily Voorhies. "They're really a grassroots movement of women leaders on the continent who are coming alongside churches, the medical community and schools, and helping to educate young girls, boys and women about how to prevent AIDS. We think this is a very strategic part of what we need to be doing there."

Global Action's AIDS prevention is focused mainly on young women, who now make up the greatest number of people living with HIV in Africa. Many of the young women are losing their jobs, dying or passing the disease on to their children. Voorhies says the best way to prevent this is by ensuring continued education.

"One of the things that the research has shown is that the more educated a girl is, the less likely she will be to contract HIV. In fact, girls who finish secondary education are five times less likely to contract the disease."

With this in mind, Global Action is working on education and distribution of medical supplies and nutritious meals for those affected by the disease. Above all, the goal is to bring them the love of Christ.

"Of course we're doing all of this so we can actually show what God's love looks like in a real way," says Voorhies. "I think for those who realize that they are not going to recover from AIDS, it's wonderful for them to have help for today but hope for eternity."

Global Action has seen many women give their lives to Christ as they watch the faith of believers in action. Pray for the believers in the 32 African countries Global Action reaches to have the strength and boldness to continue their important work.

You can help Global Action in their effort to prevent and eventually stop the HIV/AIDS pandemic by providing funds for a 10-month training program for affected women, which teaches them micro-enterprise skills so they can begin small businesses. To help these hurting women now, click here.