Ashok and his wife, Nila, have spent 25 years reaching out to the small and isolated community of Himachal Pradesh, India, which is overwhelmingly Hindu. Pastor Pravin, who was among the first Christians in this area, leads a rural church there. This church faces the daily challenge of reaching villages that are ruled by chiefs associated with Hindu nationalist groups, which oppose any kind of Christian activities in the village. Through personal evangelism and Bible study, however, they are seeing hearts change.
Read MoreFadimatou, 18, grew up in a Muslim home. A college roommate shared the gospel with her, and she became a follower of Christ. Her grandfather, however, is upset about her conversion and has threatened to stop paying her tuition. If she must return home, Fadimatou fears she will be forced to marry a Muslim man. She requests prayer for protection and provision so she can continue her education. Another convert, Moussa, was born into a Muslim family in Cameroon to a father who had three wives and 26 children. When Moussa came to faith in Christ in 2020, some of his brothers blindfolded him and beat him.
Read MoreMuhammad Kace is an evangelist in an Indonesian prison for charges of blaspheming Islam on his YouTube channel. Kace’s lawyers succeeded in getting his 12-year sentence reduced to eight years and are appealing to further reduce the sentence. Despite suffering and being imprisoned for his faith, Kace has been supported by local pastors and by the global body of Christ, enabling his family to rent a home near the prison and providing Kace with essential medication and food during his imprisonment. In a video call with front-line workers, Kace praised God and shared about his ministry in prison to the guards and others he interacts with.
Read MoreSince a coup last summer that created chaos across Bangladesh and increased violence against Christians, an Islamic extremist group called Hefazat-e-Islam has been rising in power. Several Christian leaders from different parts of Bangladesh reported that they received threatening letters from Hefazat leaders, warning them that any celebration of Christmas this year “will be the last celebration they do in this life.”
Read MoreAriane visited several voodoo practitioners in her area, but no one could heal her of her intense stomach pain. Someone suggested she go to a Christian hospital in Togo. A nurse there urged her to give her life to Christ, and she became a Christian. She was then healed of her stomach pain. When she returned home, her voodooist husband rejected her and kicked her out of her home. Later, he threatened to kill her with a machete. But she regularly prayed for him, and he eventually let her return home. He even asked her to pray for some struggles he faced which she believed were brought on by witchcraft.
Read MoreOn Sunday, December 1, 2024, the Syrian city of Aleppo was suddenly attacked and captured by Islamist militias. One week later, the rebel groups succeeded in taking over the capital city, Damascus, when the Syrian government and military collapsed and its leader, Bashar al-Assad, fled. The jihadist groups have been fighting the Syrian government for more than a decade, and Christians are concerned that they may soon become targets. “The situation is still unclear,” said a front-line worker, who added that, so far, Christians and churches have not been specifically threatened, and some have even held services.
Read MoreA Pakistani evangelist was arrested in a remote part of the country and tortured. “He returned to us today not just physically broken but mentally and emotionally scarred, bearing the burden of trauma that words can scarcely express,” said a senior front-line worker. The evangelist had visited a remote part of Kashmir to meet someone who wanted to talk about Christ. But when the two sat down for tea, security officers suddenly appeared and rushed the evangelist to interrogation.
Read MoreBetween April and July 2024, militants with the radical Islamist group Boko Haram attacked villages of the predominately Christian Hdi tribe in far northern Cameroon 11 different times. During their raids, the jihadis murdered villagers and abducted young people to serve as child soldiers or child brides. As many of the Hdi children who survived were traumatized, some of them received holistic spiritual care designed to help heal their emotional wounds. Afterward, one child told a front-line worker, “This is the first time this year that I have slept more than four hours uninterrupted.
Read MoreThe congregation led by Pastor Xuong outgrew their meeting space in a member’s home and looked for an opportunity to build a church. One of the deacons offered his land, and members raised money for the new building. For a year after the building was completed, officials routinely threatened to tear it down. One night in September 2021, Pastor Xuong was called to the church, only to find the building completely destroyed. Though angry, disheartened and unsure how members would finance a new building, Pastor Xuong began searching for a new location.
Read MoreThe Sundanese are one of the largest unreached minority groups in the world and have been resistant to the gospel. However, when three Muslim-background Sundanese brothers – Joyo, Setiaban and Wira – came to faith in Jesus Christ, they also became passionate evangelists. Their evangelistic success in their village eventually led to persecution. When the news of dozens of Christian conversions began to spread, one of the Islamic social organizations in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah, rallied members to stop the brothers and the spread of Christianity in their village.
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