By Katey Hearth | April 11, 2025

Sudan (MNN) — The International Committee of the Red Cross recently released a new report highlighting trends of concern in Sudan, whose civil war will hit the two-year mark on Tuesday.

Broken healthcare systems and widespread sexual assault top off the report, while repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure keep millions in the dark and cut off from lifesaving aid.

“Sudan, for many reasons, should be on our radar. It’s the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today. Famine is widespread; there are massive cholera outbreaks,” Unknown Nations’ Greg Kelley says.

“This is a country of only 50 million people, and more than half are dependent upon some kind of aid, or else they are facing death.”

Sudan’s most recent civil war erupted in April 2023 due to a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti).

Tensions escalated when a failed transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ousting of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir and a 2021 military coup brought both leaders to power.

Disagreements over integrating the RSF into the regular army and the timeline for returning to civilian governance led to open conflict, plunging the country into widespread violence, displacement, and a humanitarian crisis.

How is Sudan’s war affecting Christians?

The RSF has launched numerous attacks against Christian communities and churches since the war began. “The RSF takes it to the next level because they have no limits, there’s no governor on what they will do, and so they will attack,” Kelley says.

“Christians are always a convenient target. They (RSF fighters) find majority Christian pockets in parts of Sudan and South Sudan, [and] they will target them for no other reason [than] they are Christians.”

Yet the Lord is bringing good from Sudan’s tragedy. Muslims are hearing about Christ for the first time in refugee camps and turning to Him for salvation.

“When everything has been taken from you, your heart is open to a different message,” Kelley says. “Even last week, there [were] 15 new baptisms [reported] from our Darfur believers who are working as missionaries among refugees.”

Keep praying for the war in Sudan to end. “The only thing that will change Sudan is the Gospel because the Gospel changes the heart. Yeah, we need to feed them and give them water, but the Gospel is the only answer for Sudan,” Kelley says.

Consider supporting Unknown Nations’ efforts to send practical help and spiritual hope. “We work through Christian missionaries and nationals who are on the ground, and they will disperse food, blankets, and clean water to the people who are affected,” Kelley says.

Header image courtesy of Spoken Worldwide.

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/red-cross-highlights-concerning-trends-ahead-of-sudan-war-anniversary/

By Katey Hearth | March 25, 2025

Sudan (MNN) — Sudan’s army captures more territory in the capital after seizing the presidential palace on Friday. It’s the government’s most significant advance in a two-year war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

“The people seeing their army, the Sudanese armed forces, take back a very symbolic location is very encouraging,” Greg Kelley of Unknown Nations says.

“Hopefully, this is the beginning of a negotiation that brings long-standing peace because Sudan is long overdue for peace.”

Unfortunately, these gains don’t mean the war’s end, as the RSF holds territory in the western Darfur region and elsewhere. Analysts say the war will likely turn into a conflict similar to that of the early 2000s when rebel groups fought the Islamist Sudanese government led by Omar al-Bashir.

“When it’s all said and done, the real victim is the people because these are just two groups fighting for power, and the people are suffering,” Kelley says.

Believers aren’t immune from the ongoing violence. RSF mercenaries recently used the Khartoum Evangelical Church as barracks, looting all the church’s contents.

More than 90 percent of Sudan’s population adheres to Islam. The Christian minority is quick to find in a context like this, and Islamist groups like the RSF “view Christians as easy targets,” Kelley says.

“They will kill Christians, take over their properties; they’ll take their women, force their children into military service.”

Pray for peace in Sudan. The civil war will be three years old on April 15. Pray that those who need humanitarian aid will secure it quickly.

“[Sudan] is a country of only 50 million people, and more than half of them are dependent upon [outside] aid, or else they are facing death. Famine is widespread right now; there are massive outbreaks of cholera, which is rapidly transmitted through water [and] food,” Kelley says.

“The International Rescue Committee analyzes which countries are most likely to experience new or worsening humanitarian conditions, and Sudan, out of 195 countries, is number one.”

Header image depicts vehicles in southern Khartoum, Sudan, on April 19, 2023, destroyed amid fighting between Sudan’s regular army and paramilitaries. (Wikimedia Commons)

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/army-advances-in-khartoum-rsf-uses-church-as-barracks/

By Katey Hearth | March 18, 2025

Congo-Kinshasa (MNN) — Angola says it will mediate peace talks today between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and M23 rebels. A Congolese government spokesperson told Reuters that her office had received Angola’s invitation but had failed to confirm its participation in the talks.

The leaders of neighboring countries emphasize a peaceful way forward, as ongoing clashes threaten to destabilize the region. “A central Africa conflict has memories of Somalia, the bombings even in Nairobi, and there’s just not a big appetite to engage,” Unknown Nations’ Greg Kelley says.

“One of the real challenges of Eastern Congo is the historical relations with nearby Uganda and Rwanda. It’s probably the most complicated situation in Africa today.”

Although the DRC has a significantly larger land mass, the country struggles to protect its borders from incursions by neighboring nations.

“Rwanda and Uganda have been pushing in their military in the name of national security, conveniently inside the mines, so they’ve been taking out gold and stuff. So, the relations with those two countries are very fragile and hostile,” Kelley says.

“Unfortunately, Congo has been at the mercy of all these other bad actors, who are taking advantage of the lack of security and just taking their stuff.”

Prayer needed

Rebel forces have seized east Congo’s two biggest cities since January. At least 7,000 people have died in the fighting, and more than 600,000 people are on the run.

“The president of Congo made an offer to the United States for access to the minerals, and in exchange, there would be a US presence in Congo. How the State Department or President Trump responds to that is yet to be known,” Kelley says.

“Congo is wealthy from the standpoint of natural resources, but at the same time – short of maybe Sudan – it’s the most unstable place in the world.”

Pray for Unknown Nations and its partners in the DRC as they continue to distribute God’s Word and train leaders – despite the war raging around them. “In eastern Congo, 20 years ago, we built our first training center in the middle of this carnage. It’s been kind of a beachhead for the Gospel,” Kelley says.

“Those moments are a tremendous opportunity for the Gospel and to reinforce our efforts of discipleship because that’s the only thing that’s going to stop it (the war.)”

Pray also for the war to end. Kelley says, “It’s going to require a supernatural act of forgiveness because there is guilt to be shared in this situation. But when the blood of Jesus covers that, it can be a testimony, maybe like we’ve never seen before.”

Header image is a representative 2015 photo depicting Congolese soldiers on patrol in the Ituri district. (Wikimedia Commons)

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/regional-leaders-seek-peace-in-the-drc/

By Katie O'Malley | March 3, 2025

International (MNN) — Laws against blasphemy exist in parts of every region of the world, including Europe. They vary in severity, but they all put added weight on gospel ministry.

In Pakistan, for example, Christians know one wrong step could lead to a charge of blasphemy against Islam. Such accusations result in mob violence, imprisonment, long legal battles or worse, with little protection. Just last month, four people were sentenced to death under these laws.

“It’s a huge challenge for our partners in places like Iran and Mauritania, Afghanistan [and] Pakistan, because the punishment of blasphemy in those countries is death,” says Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations.

Pakistan courts have issued many death sentences for blasphemy, even when evidence is scanty. But so far it has never carried one out. Often, vigilante justice from Pakistan’s majority Muslim population keeps things out of the courts entirely. Kelley says minority Christian villages can quickly become targets.

“In one case, recently, over 20 churches were burnt down, houses destroyed, people’s vehicles and motorcycles torched, police standing by allowing it to happen,” he says.

Yet Christ stands with His people in every injustice. He even saves others through their witness.

“One of the main differences between Islam and Christianity is Jesus said, ‘The world’s going to hate you, but be encouraged because they hated Me before they hated you — and furthermore, love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you,’” says Kelley. (See John 15:18–19 and Luke 6:27–28.)

“That’s the the Christian message, and that softens the heart — the Holy Spirit uses that to soften the heart of the most radical.”

Now that you know more, please pray for gospel advance where blasphemy laws rule. Pray the Christians will faithfully endure through terrible circumstances. Then, learn more.

“As the body of Christ, we need to be praying. We need to understand these issues. We need to educate ourselves about what’s going on in these countries [where] if you share the gospel that we take so freely here in the US, you literally could be killed,” says Kelley.

To understand more and pray for persecuted Christians around the world, connect with coverage by Morning Star News ands persecution.org.

Finally, pray also for resources to build up the local churches. Kelley says, “Training is critical in [these] parts of the world, especially the leaders, to give them opportunities to grow and strengthen in their faith.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Abyan Athif/Unsplash.

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/why-blasphemy-is-a-dangerous-word-in-many-nations/

By Katie O'Malley | February 7, 2025

United Kingdom (MNN) — As Europe’s Muslim population grows, a clash of worldviews is testing its courts of law.

Last weekend in Manchester, England, a man was arrested after allegedly burning a copy of the Quran. According to one report, he claimed to be doing it in honor of Salwan Momika.

Who was Salwan Momika? He was an Iraqi-born critic of Islam charged with burning copies of the Quran in 2023. The verdict to his criminal trial was scheduled for yesterday, February 6, 2025. But last week, January 29, someone took justice into their own hands and killed Momika in his home in Sweden. (Read this insightful article to consider the message Momika’s killing sends.)

Both of these men were taken to court over burning the Quran. But here’s the question: should those actions be considered crimes or as expressions of free speech? It’s a question England appears to be wavering on.

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says it’s natural for followers of Islam to take that question seriously.

“When they’re coming in [to other nations] and they’re bringing their religious practices, they bring what they know. Half of the world’s Muslim countries have variations of blasphemy laws,” he says.

Pakistan, Afghanistan and Mauritania are among those Muslim countries with blasphemy laws. Kelley says that in Pakistan, for example, these laws have devastating effects on Christians and religious minorities. It often devolves into vigilante justice, not unlike what Salwan Momika tragically experienced last week.

England itself had blasphemy laws on the books until 2008, protecting certain Christian beliefs. Those laws were abolished in 2008 with the Criminal Justice Act. Yet what will England, Sweden and other nations say today about what should happen when someone insults Islam?

“What we’re seeing is with this blasphemy [issue], it’s a push from the [Muslim] leadership to really establish an Islamic culture in these communities, and it’s only going to grow,” Kelley says. “The only thing that the UK can do is their government can step in and not allow that. But they’re caving to it because it’s a loud voice. [The Muslim community is] a minority now that’s growing, but it’s a loud, aggressive voice.”

Yet other voices recognize these two cases in Europe as endangering free speech. Read the perspectives on these events from Free Speech Union and an editor at spiked.

Find your place in this story

Watch and pray over these religious freedom/freedom of speech conversations in Europe. This is a critical topic facing many nations today.

As you pray, don’t forget that bringing Muslims to Europe is part of God’s divine plan. He’s working these complex situations together for good. Pray for justice and freedom that will allow more people to know Christ and be saved.

Finally, if you live in a country where you can speak about Christ more freely than most, thank God and “[make] the most of every opportunity, for the days are evil” (see Ephesians 5:15-16).

Header photo of a copy of the Quran is a representative stock photo courtesy of GR Stocks via Unsplash. 

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/court-cases-and-assassination-over-quran-burnings-show-europe-is-under-pressure/

By Katie O'Malley | January 31, 2025

Democratic Republic of the Congo (MNN) — On Monday, Rwandan-backed M23 fighters captured Goma, a key city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo bordering Rwanda. A city of 2 million already, Goma was crammed with an additional 300,000 people fleeing M23’s advance.

Government leaders of the DRC called Goma’s fall a “declaration of war” by Rwanda. In the days since then, M23 has captured more cities. It’s an advance that could escalate an already deeply conflicted region.

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says today’s events can be traced back to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

“You had literally nearly a million Tutsis, primarily, that were slaughtered by the majority Hutu people group. What happened as a result of that is Hutu scattered by the hundreds of thousands into neighboring DRC to flee what they felt would be repercussions,” Kelley says.

Fast forward to 2012 when M23 formed, and then to where it is today. “The M23 is led by ethnic Tutsis. They say that their objective is to protect the rights of their minority from the Hutu in the area.”

But another key factor is the DRC’s extraordinary wealth of natural resources, Kelley says. The DRC is rich in minerals such as gold, diamonds, and cobalt. Other powers want access to these resources.

Millions of Congolese are paying for this conflict-turned-humanitarian-crisis. Kelley says the global church must remember the gospel call as the hands and feet of Christ.

“The church doesn’t have to stand on the sidelines just because there’s war. One of the great frustrations I have is the more chaotic and unstable places get, the church passes and they let the UN do it. I say the Body of Christ should be leading the charge and should be responsibly engaging to helping these precious people that are suffering right now.”

Many of the Congolese are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Ask God where your place in their story is.

“Unknown Nations has been involved in that area (of practical assistance). We’d be happy to facilitate connections so that people can be a part of it,” Kelley says.

Pray also for God to use this terrible conflict to point those who don’t know Him to faith in Christ. Pray for peace to be reached between the DRC and Rwanda.

Header image: See Goma at the tip of Lake Kivu bordering Rwanda. Image by JRC, EC courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=109167057).

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/m23-rebels-advance-in-the-drc/

By Abigail Hofland | January 30, 2025

Afghanistan (MNN) — President Trump’s 90 day freeze on foreign aid and a recent prisoner swap are returning Afghanistan to the global spotlight.

According to the White House, the freeze is intended to give time for the new administration to review humanitarian aid programs. Meanwhile, the prisoner swap freed two Americans and returned a Taliban fighter to Afghanistan, a country beset with ongoing humanitarian and economic crises.

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says any time you have hostility and instability like that stemming from Taliban leadership, there is going to be great humanitarian need.

“We need to find ways we can resource Christian organizations who are also administering aid. That is also a huge way to open up the hearts of the Afghanis,” he says.

Christianity in Afghanistan

To be a Christian in Afghanistan is to daily risk your life. Everything faith-related must remain hidden from Taliban hunters, and the cost of discovery is imprisonment or death. Despite this, the church in Afghanistan is one of the fastest growing in the world.

“Here’s the thing about Christianity in Afghanistan: once the Gospel starts taking seed in a community, there’s multiplication of it,” says Kelley.

But Afghanistan remains one of the hardest places in the world to do ministry. The country’s battered political history, economic instability, and current rule by the Taliban are contributing factors. Kelley puts Afghanistan right up with North Korea in terms of ministry accessibility. The Taliban are known to recklessly drum up accusations against Christians.

“They’re incredibly unpredictable,” he says. “When you bring that alongside the great animosity toward the West, it’s just a difficult environment on all levels.”

Taliban informants routinely seek out converts from Islam.

“Although they don’t understand the Holy Spirit and what God is doing, they’re smart enough to realize when they find the location of one Christian, there are many more in that area, generally,” Kelley says.

Despite this, Afghan believers are willing to take great risk to seek out Scripture and Christian teaching. Their spirit-filled tenacity is redolent of the early church, Kelley says.

“Even though they knew if they shared their faith they would be persecuted, there was such a resiliency within them: courage and boldness, and that’s what we’re seeing in the church in Afghanistan.”

Ministry efforts

Alongside practical aid, Kelley sees spiritual training and equipping of leaders as the greatest need for the Afghan church. Working with the population of displaced Afghans outside their home country, Unknown Nations provides in-person support to the small but determined group of believers.

“The internet is a powerful tool. It’s being used in beautiful ways, but then they require that fellowship,” Kelley says.

In close proximity countries, the Afghan church is working to establish beachheads. Eventually, Afghan diaspora can return to Afghanistan to spread the Gospel in a place they know and love.

“Once they come in contact with Jesus, all they want to do is share Jesus – even at the risk of their life,” Kelley says.

How to pray

Please pray for the country of Afghanistan. Pray that the church would continue to grow in faith, size, and maturity; and pray that leaders would be equipped with the resources they need to shepherd their vulnerable flocks. Pray that distributed Scripture would fall on fertile ground, and pray that hearts darkened by Islam would be drawn toward the glorious light of Christ.

Featured photo courtesy of Wanman Uthmaniyyah via Unsplash

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/afghan-church-grows-as-humanitarian-needs-persist/

By Katey Hearth | January 23, 2025

Nigeria (MNN) — Rapidly rising oppression in Nigeria caused it to top the Global Christian Relief Red List this year as the world’s most dangerous place to follow Jesus. More about that here.

What’s driving the bloodshed? Unknown Nations’ Greg Kelley outlines three contributing factors.

First, “The Nigerian government is silent, and they are not holding people accountable,” Kelley says.

“It doesn’t matter who’s in control. There have been Muslim presidents and Christian presidents; apathy has been pervasive among leadership in Nigeria.”

Governmental apathy extends to foreign relations. Nearly 10,000 believers died in Nigeria between 2022 and 2024, but the U.S. State Department refused to call Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern in its latest ranking.

“There’s a ‘black eye’ when you get on those lists,” Kelley observes.

“There are implications with foreign investment, and if you scare off foreign investment, that is almost a shutdown on your economy in a place like Nigeria that’s struggling so much.”

The lack of repercussions drives a second factor of persecution: the increased intensity.

“People [are] beheaded, slaughtered; people’s homes [are] burnt to the ground. It’s incredibly violent activity,” Kelley says.

Lastly, “One of the great challenges is the apathy of the church in southern Nigeria as they look at the carnage taking place in northern Nigeria.”

Pray for relief as Gospel workers from northern Nigeria meet at a retreat center this week.

“Leaders will gather together to be refreshed and energized and just for their personal growth in Christ,” Kelley says.

Pray also that leaders receive the tools they need to further the Gospel.

“They (Nigerians) need the Word of God. That’s why we distribute our solar-powered audio Bible,” Kelley says.

In the header image, Nigerian Gospel workers introduce displaced communities to Christ using solar-powered audio Bibles called Treasures. Photo courtesy of Unknown Nations.

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/three-factors-driving-persecution-in-nigeria/

By Katey Hearth | January 14, 2025

International (MNN) — Nigeria replaces North Korea as the world’s worst persecutor of Christians, according to a new report from Global Christian Relief. The ministry’s Red List highlights the top five countries where killings, displacement, arrests, attacks, and abductions are most severe.

The events-based list aggregates data drawn from the Violent Incidents Database—an index documenting physical and non-physical religiously motivated violent incidents from November 2022 to November 2024.

“The two years of reporting from Red List truly reveals where Christian communities face the gravest threats and help us direct life-saving support where it’s needed most,” Brian Orme, acting chief executive of Global Christian Relief, said in a press release.

The persecution of Christians has grown across the globe since 2014, driven by the rising influence of Islamic extremism, growing Hindu nationalism, resurgent authoritarian regimes, government corruption, and the misuse of more sophisticated technology.

India saw the most destruction of Christian property between 2022 and 2024, while China topped the Red List for arrests and sentencing. Over 9,800 believers died in Nigeria during the reporting period.

“Nigeria has been on our radar for almost 20 years,” Unknown Nations’ Greg Kelley says.

“More people are killed for their faith in Christ in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined.”

Islamic extremist groups target isolated villages throughout the country. “Boko Haram is a radical Islamic group in the vein of ISIS, al Qaeda, and al Shabaab that wants to take over the north. So, it (persecution) starts with Boko Haram, but then you also have the Fulani, who are one of the largest Muslim people groups in all of Africa,” Kelley says.

“They’re pushing their cattle from place to place, and [when] the Fulani come into these farmlands for grazing, there becomes a violent sort of interaction between the farmers and the Fulani herdsmen. Many times, the farmers are Christian.”

Despite government assurances that they will defeat the radical groups, violence continues to escalate. Nigeria also tops the Red List for abductions and ransom demands.

“Leaders want to be able to go into a Muslim community and share the Gospel without the threat of being kidnapped,” Kelley says.

Pray for an end to the violence in Nigeria. Ask the Lord to strengthen and sustain Gospel workers.

“We just ask for people to be praying for us to be able to send more solar-powered audio Bibles in the various languages so that people can hear about Jesus for the first time,” Kelley says.

Photo courtesy of Unknown Nations

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/north-korea-no-longer-tops-global-persecution/

By Lyndsey Koh | January 3, 2025

Nigeria (MNN) — A cluster of attacks on Christmas week kills nearly 50 people from Christian communities in Nigeria. A one-year-old baby and a 13-year-old child were among those slaughtered by Fulani herdsmen.

Unknown Nations’ Greg Kelley says, “A few dozen people were killed on Christmas Day simply for being followers of Jesus. It’s a pattern, unfortunately, that has just been a reoccurring theme now for several years across Nigeria.”

The Fulani herdsmen live in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority North, but they’re increasingly moving south to find better grazing land for their cattle.

“They target farms, and a lot of times these farms are owned by Christians,” Kelley explains. “It’s a very difficult thing to contain because there’s no assistance coming from security forces, and if it does come at all, it’s always after the fact.”

Christians grow weary of the never-ending bloodshed. Kelley says, “Christians and Muslims have coexisted for literally hundreds of years, and so the issue isn’t that they can’t coexist. The issue is the violence. You have all these IDP (internally displaced people) camps throughout the country filled with people who have lost everything.”

Please stand with believers in prayer for relief.

Nigeria remained the deadliest place in the world to follow Christ last year, according to Open Doors.

“We need to be praying for the persecuted believers in Nigeria,” Kelley urges. “More Christians are killed simply for their faith in Christ than the rest of the world combined.”

Representative header photo, courtesy of Unknown Nations.

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/christmas-week-massacres-kill-nearly-50-nigerian-believers/

By Abigail Hofland | January 2, 2025

Myanmar (MNN) — A new report from International Christian Concern suggests millions are at risk of starvation in Myanmar, where a humanitarian crisis has been unfolding since a military coup in 2021. Since then, fighting across political and ethnic groups has meant economic upheaval.

According to The Independent, “The conflict has severely disrupted farming in both highland and lowland areas. In addition, fuel shortages have caused transport costs to skyrocket.”

The continual presence or threat of military aggressors creates an impasse for humanitarian organizations seeking to provide citizen aid.

“To go in and to set up infrastructures to help the people in the active presence of them doing carpet bombings and attacking, indiscriminately, villages is almost impossible,” says Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations.

Meanwhile, over five thousand people have been killed since 2021 as villages and citizens are routinely attacked. Kelley’s colleagues on the ground recently reported an attack on one village that left many dead and all homes destroyed.

“Everyone in that community who wasn’t killed is living in the jungles right now. They said, ‘We’re like stray dogs living in the wilderness,’” Kelley says.

News from this region is often eclipsed by that of nearby countries such as China and India. But Kelley thinks there’s another reason Myanmar often flies under the radar: its widespread adherence to Buddhism.

“Particularly from a missional standpoint, I think we tend to look at areas that are predominantly Muslim, like Bangladesh, or predominantly Hindu, like India, and we say ‘Well those are the harder areas,’” Kelley says.

Furthermore, Buddhism has a reputation for being a calm, peaceful religion, to which Kelley responds:

“I can tell you that some of the fiercest opposition to the gospel we hear around the world comes right out of Myanmar.”

Unknown Nations has 35 networks across the 10-40 window. It’s in these difficult areas that Christians must firmly draw from Scripture and offer its truth to those around them.

“We’re not just interested in making people more comfortable on their way to eternity,” Kelley says. “How can we step as the body of Christ into these crises and not share the hope of glory?”

The magnitude of loss leads people to lean on, or question, their worldview, and Kelley’s team is witnessing that in Myanmar.

“We’re seeing God move in power in the midst of this chaos,” he says. “The day after this particular attack happened where 270 homes were completely annihilated: at our training center, 18 people were water baptized.”

Please pray for peace in Myanmar. Pray also for continued spiritual harvest in this Buddhist country, and pray that more laborers would be sent toward that end.

Kelley especially asks that believers would lift up indigenous Christians:

“We need to pray for these leaders who are administering hope and bringing life,” he says.

Featured image courtesy of Wine Su11 via Wikimedia Commons

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/millions-face-food-shortage-in-war-ravaged-myanmar/

By Katey Hearth | December 30, 2024

India (MNN) — India’s northern state of Rajasthan delays a controversial vote until mid-to-late January.

Officials passed a draft anti-conversion bill earlier this month, and it needs one more set of votes to become law. If that happens, Rajasthan will be India’s 12th state using the legal system to prevent people from changing their faith.

Unknown Nations’ Greg Kelley says the push for religious suppression comes from the top.

“There’s no doubt that Prime Minister Modi [has] pursued a very aggressive Hindu nationalist agenda, really since he took power in 2014. His re-election in 2019 just further emboldened him,” Kelley says.

“Some of the people we know on the ground are saying that these anti-conversion laws are distractions [to hide] issues like child labor and domestic violence, child marriage, even illiteracy. There’s such a massive increase of robbery and murder and rapes,” he continues.

“So, it’s really viewed, in many ways, as a political posturing to create fear and distract the people from some of the main issues.”

Mob justice is a concerning reality in states with anti-conversion laws. Vigilantes hijacked believers’ Christmas outreach in one location, using the anti-conversion law as a cover. Unknown Nations partners were distributing Christ-centered gifts to schoolkids.

“These boxes were filled with little goodies and things for the children, and some Christian literature was in there. It was distributed with the blessing and permission of the school authorities,” Kelley explains.

“[A] mob had heard about it, a vigilante group of people, and they immediately went to the school and scared the children, took all these boxes, and that teacher got suspended. He’s being tried right now.”

Pray the fear generated by anti-conversion laws will not overcome believers.

“Imagine if you were just going around, especially in the season of Christmas, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, and by doing that, you could be put in jail for five years,” Kelley says.

“We need to recognize India for what it is,” Kelley says. “It is ground zero of the unreached world. By the year 2030, it will simultaneously be the most populated Hindu country and the most populated Muslim country [in the world.]”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Element5 Digital/Pexels.

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/rajasthan-delays-vote-on-anti-conversion-bill/

By Katie O'Malley | December 19, 2024

Nigeria (MNN) — As persecution of Christians rises in new places today, remember one country that has been in a firestorm for years: Nigeria. According to data gathered by Open Doors for their 2024 World Watch List, 82% of the Christians killed in the previous year were in Nigeria (data gathered October 2022-September 2023).

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says the West is missing something about the Islamic militant activity in Nigeria.

“We think, ‘Well, that’s just kind of the way it is over there.’ What we don’t realize is their aggressive pursuit. They’re trying to annihilate Christianity from the entirety of northern Nigeria,” he says.

Boko Haram rampages in northern Nigeria, while Fulani militants are pressing southward. These Fulani herdsmen murder and seize land from Christian farmers to use for their livestock. Kelley calls it “literally a land grab.” The Fulani are an influential people group, he explains, with people in political authority from their number. These leaders tend to look the other way on the violence.

“People in Nigeria, Christians and moderate Muslims, are done with that. They’re just disgusted with the lack of intervention from the government,” Kelley says. (More on that here.)

On top of the killings, Christians are experiencing displacement, incredible loss, and the threat of kidnapping. Nigeria is also the country where the most Christians are kidnapped. One local Christian leader, Kelley says, has lost one of the missionaries in his network every month for the past six years to kidnapping.

“You have over 3 million people that are in these internally displaced [people] camps. There’s over 300 [IDP] camps all around Nigeria. Every minute, people — entire families, every single minute of every single day — are being displaced all throughout Nigeria, and they’re ending up in these camps. They lose everything,” Kelley says.

Pray for endurance for these brothers and sisters, but also pray over a missions gap within the Nigerian church. Kelley says local believers they partner with are pressing north with the gospel. But in the majority Christian south, there’s not always that same missionary drive.

“A lot of the Christians in the southern part of Nigeria, unfortunately, they just don’t have a heart for reaching the north. They’re focused on making more Christians in the south. That’s just the reality of it,” Kelley says.

“We need to pray that God would raise up a remnant, a group of Nigerian Christians that would have a passion for people groups like the Fulani, the Hausa, the Kanuri — who are the three majority Muslim people groups in the northern part — and send local missionaries in there. That is the only way the gospel will be spread throughout Nigeria.”

Header photo of 2020 protests in Abeokuta, Nigeria courtesy of Tope. A Asokere via Unsplash.

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/nigerian-christians-under-fire-gospel-desperately-needed-in-the-violent-north/

By Katie O'Malley | December 9, 2024

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (MNN) — Good luck identifying one group responsible for the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s chaos. More than 100 armed groups are operating in eastern Congo today.

“Congo has been a chaotic situation for decades now, but really one of the big origin or triggers of it goes back to the Rwanda genocide in 1994,” says Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations. He explains that after the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Tutsi people, tens of thousands of the Hutu crossed the border into the Congo and “caused havoc.”

He continues: “Congo is the size of the eastern seaboard of the United States. Think of the capital (Kinshasa) being in Dallas, Texas, and the eastern part — where a lot of the atrocities are taking place — in New York, with zero infrastructure in between and dozens of people groups in between. So there’s not unity, [and it’s] not cohesive. It’s like India from the standpoint of [having] all these different languages. It’s being run by warlords.”

Different groups from within and outside of the DRC plunder its rich natural resources, with little to no consequences. The Congo is the fourth most impoverished country in the world, according to one global finance organization.

There’s also lack of spiritual depth in the Congo. Although the nation is over 90% Christian, Kelley says, “It’s the old adage in Africa where they say ‘Christianity is a mile wide and an inch deep.’

“It comes back to the original instruction [Jesus] told us. He [didn’t tell] us ‘Make converts.’ He said, ‘Go and make disciples’! That’s depth, and that’s what Congo really lacks today. If you were to say, what’s the one issue, it’s that the church lacks disciple-making.”

Pray for that deeper walk with Christ!

“We really need to come alongside the churches that are serious about it (discipleship), and really empower them with the tools they need.”

“You become a product of your environment, and if the leaders who are equipping (the church) aren’t really serious about it, then they’re going to produce a bunch of shallow Christians. It’s no different than anywhere in the world. It really starts at the top. It’s passion for the Word of God. It’s sharing faith with others. It’s not being distracted,” Kelley says.

“Until the main thing becomes the main thing, Congo will continue to struggle. So we really need to pray that there would be unity, and pray that there would be seriousness and creating transformational discipleship.”

Header image of church in the DRC is a representative stock photo courtesy of Johnnathan Tshibangu via Unsplash.

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/discipleship-gap-holding-the-church-in-the-drc-back/

By Abigail Hofland | December 4, 2024

Turkiye (MNN) — A new report by International Christian Concern shows anti-Christian hate crimes doubling in Turkey since 2021. These include property damage, harassment, and violence, the group says.

While Christians make up less than one percent of the country’s 85 million people, they experience the highest number of religious hate crimes. The actual number remains low – just 52 of these occurrences have been reported since 2020. Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says while the numerical increase is not large, the reason for the trajectory is worth noting.

“Any time the Gospel is making inroads, it becomes a threat,” he says.

Especially in Muslim majority countries, the government response will be swift.

“The way they react to it, primarily, is through a lot of foreign workers being targeted and kicked out of the country,” Kelley says.

Still, Kelley is encouraged. He says the Gospel is making progress among a sizable group: the country’s nearly 300,000 refugees. Turkiye hosts more refugees than any other nation, especially from surrounding countries such as Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Syria.

“We’re seeing people from these majority Muslim countries responding to the Gospel,” Kelley says, “and the Turkish government isn’t nearly as concerned about that activity as they are with their own people.”

Ministries like Unknown Nations work within Turkey to bring the Gospel to Turks and refugees alike. Their focus is currently on Gospel-focused training that equips refugee believers to return to their own countries as missionaries, Kelley says.

While barriers exist to reach the Turkish people, he says there is opportunity to impact them as well. The need for Christ among this group is enormous.

“The Turks are one of the largest unreached people groups in the world,” Kelley says. “You’re talking about 62 million people that are one quarter of one percent Christian. It has to be a priority for the body of Christ.”

In the face of foreign workers being targeted and scrutinized, Kelley believes the key is to raise up and equip the indigenous community. The essential fuel is prayer.

“Jesus said to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers, and Turkey has got to be on the radar of the body of Christ from a perspective of prayer,” he says.

Please pray for Unknown Nations and similar ministries working to bring the Gospel to this difficult place. Pray that the indigenous community and refugees would respond to the Gospel and be equipped to share it. Pray also that believers in Turkiye would be strengthened and encouraged in the midst of persecution.

Featured photo courtesy of Meg Jerrard/Unsplash

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/despite-persecution-turkiye-remains-a-field-ripe-for-gospel-harvest/