Unknown Nations’ Greg Kelley connected with a partner whose daughter was among the original 315 people abducted from St. Mary’s Private Catholic Secondary School in Niger state. She was also among the 50 students who escaped to safety over the weekend, praise God. 

But other news is surfacing that makes this kidnapping even more grim.

Fulani man in Nigeria. Courtesy of Pixabay.

“What we’re hearing now is it’s not so much about ransom. It’s purely about these people, and they’re Fulani bandits,” says Kelley. “It’s about them viewing this school as a soft target, them taking these girls, forcibly converting them to Islam, and then taking them on as their wives.” 

The abduction on Friday was Nigeria’s worst since the 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of 276 Christian and Muslim schoolgirls. Dozens of those women remain missing today. 

In the aftermath of the 2014 Chibok school kidnapping, Kelley says, “I had met families who told me there were five parents — either a mother or a father — that they knew directly who died of a heart attack over the grief of it.”

Pray for God’s mercy and comfort for these families as they hope and wait. Pray for faithful endurance and miraculous deliverance of the boys, girls, and adult staff of the school. 

Gospel ministry is urgent

In the spiritual battleground of northern Nigeria, Unknown Nations’ partners continue to seek opportunities to share the good news of Christ — even today.

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

“Our missionaries are working in these areas, and so it puts them in harm’s way. It puts their villages in harm’s way. A lot of times, people are scattering out of these areas. And what it does is it perpetuates the state of fear,” says Kelley. 

“There’s 100 million people who live in northern Nigeria, so it’s a massive concentration of population. Every single family now is going to be thinking twice about, ‘Do I send my child to school?’” 

Nigeria has a large Christian population in the south, but little momentum for gospel mission, says Kelley. 

“We need the church in the south to come to a place of desperation and brokenness where it’s finally mobilizing itself and sending missionaries into the north,” Kelley says. “Let’s remember, they don’t need a visa, they don’t need even a passport. They just need to get in a vehicle and drive north, and they have [an] abundance of resources to do it.” 

Ask God to stir up a greater passion for the Great Commission among believers in southern Nigeria, that they may find their place in gospel ministry to the north. 

Header photo of Nigerian church courtesy of Tosin Superson via Pexels.

A few hours after midnight on November 21, gunmen abducted 303 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s Papiri Private Secondary School in Niger state.

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says radical Islam may be a motive behind the kidnapping, “but there’s also a business side of it, as they’re holding people ransom in these parts of the world. We’re seeing more and more of those stories from the region.”

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

At least fifty students have since escaped. But as of Monday, no group had claimed the kidnapping. It occurred the same week that gunmen in a southern state kidnapped more than 20 schoolgirls.

Religious factors

For decades in Nigeria, there have been kidnappings and killings from radical Islamic groups such as Boko Haram or militant Fulani herdsmen. Friday’s kidnapping in Niger state calls back memories of the 2014 incident where Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok, Nigeria. Dozens of those young women are believed to still be in captivity today. 

Although it’s complicated, there is a clear religious undertone to these security struggles.

“[In] northern Nigeria, there are so many different things going on,” says Kelley. “But what people need to understand is that more Christians are killed for their faith in Christ in northern Nigeria than the rest of the world combined.” (More on that here.)

Political clout 

The government’s lackluster response to these events has caused deep frustration in the nation. Kelley explains that this comes from the roles held by the Fulani and Hausa. These majority-Muslim people groups number in the tens of millions.

A new Christian holds a communion cup as an IMB worker leads the new believer and five other new Christians in taking the Lord’s Supper. (Photo and caption courtesy of IMB)

“They have tremendous influence in the government and in business, and so the government is almost afraid to stand firmly against them, for fear of repercussions on an even greater scale,” says Kelley. 

Complacent church

But there’s another reason that violence in the north is stuck on repeat. 

“Yes, we want to see the government of Nigeria stand and get involved and hold people accountable and put people in prison. Absolutely,” says Kelley. “But this is an indictment on the 100 million Christians in the south of Nigeria that have not gotten fully involved and engaged in missions in their own country in the north. They’re more focused on themselves than they are the north. I have dear friends who are Nigerian who would say the same thing.” 

It’s a hard truth, but it doesn’t have to stay this way. As we pray for freedom for the kidnapped students and staff, remember to ask God to raise up missionaries from the south full of the love of Jesus for the north.

“Until that day happens, these things [kidnappings and killings] can continue to happen because the perpetrators don’t know Christ,” says Kelley. “They need to hear the gospel message. Once the gospel gets into the north, these things will end. And nothing short of that is a solution.”

Header image is a representative stock photo from Lagos, Nigeria courtesy of Doug Linstedt via Unsplash.

Syria’s government says it thwarted a recent bombing attempt on a Catholic church. According to a report, the would-be attackers were on their way to Mar Elias Maronite Church in the city of Tartus. When security forces apprehended the men, they found an explosive device, a black flag and papers with written threats.

“They don’t say exactly when [they stopped the attack]. They don’t say a lot about the people who were captured, other than the fact that they identify them as loyalist[s] to former President Bashir al-Assad,” said Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA. 

Even with those unanswered questions, the government report is an answer to prayer for protection for Syria’s Christians. The nation’s bigger picture remains grim. Christian, Druze and Alawite minorities have endured multiple attacks in recent months.

“When you see the attack in June, you see the pastor from a Druze background that was killed in late July, then you hear of another attack on a church that apparently was prevented, [you see the pattern of danger],” said Nettleton. 

“If you are a Christian in Syria right now, you are understandably nervous. Because while the government has said all the right things about protecting religious minorities, it is not clear that they are committed to [making] that a reality.” 

But even traditional Christian communities (such as Catholic or Orthodox) have it better in Syria than Muslim-background believers.

“When the government is talking about Christians in Syria, they are talking about those traditional Christian communities. They are not in any way talking about Muslim converts to Christianity,” said Nettleton. “Those people, in the eyes of the government, do not have protection. They don’t even talk about protecting them.” 

Praise God for answering prayers for protection for the Catholic church in Tartus. Ask Him for continued protection. 

Pray for Syria’s government to be held accountable to uphold religious freedom. “We need to pray for strong leaders who will do that as they interact with the Syrian government,” said Nettleton.

A minaret and a church steeple side-by-side in Syria. (Photo courtesy of Ali Wassouf/Unsplash)

Header photo courtesy of Linus Schütz via Pixabay.

“It’s a multiplied crisis because of the coup that happened several years back. The military took over the nation, and they are still fighting an insurgency in the country,” says Joe Handley with A3.

(By United States Geological Survey – https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000pn9s, Public Domain)

“Some of the original governments, as well as [the] majority of people really don’t stand for this military. So the [earthquake] crisis is exacerbated because, sadly, the military is bombing their own people. They’re using the crisis as a cover to kill some of those insurgency players.”

The 7.7- and 6.5-magnitude quakes and aftershocks on Friday have killed at least 1,700 people, with hundreds still missing. The tremors reached even to neighboring Thailand, where at least 18 people in Bangkok lost their lives and dozens remain missing after a high rise under construction collapsed. 

Responses to the disaster

Despite the devastation, the disaster has prompted a strong international response. Rescue teams from China, India, Russia, Thailand and more nations have arrived or will soon. 

Handley says there’s also an incredible inter-faith response happening within Myanmar. 

“You’ve got Catholics and Protestants, even Buddhist and Muslims banding together united to help the people. It’s kind of unheard of, really, in Myanmar’s history in many ways, to have all these faith communities working together,” he says. 

Even with the help coming in, Myanmar’s situation is incredibly complex and the window for rescuing people trapped in the rubble is coming to an end. Pray for God’s mercy! 

In that complexity, A3 is doing reconnaissance this week to identify whether they can get aid in. For now, Handley says, “my colleague from Myanmar is really praying that the global Church will rally behind the people and the churches of Myanmar.” 

You can be part of that rallying through your prayers. Pray for power to be restored in the quake zones and for open channels for aid to get through to the people who need it, rather than other powers that be. 

Look for more coverage later this week for other ways to come alongside A3’s gospel-centered response.

“Whenever we’re doing aid-related efforts — helping the needy, providing food, providing shelter, rescuing people — the center of it is faith in Christ. So as we’re reaching out, the churches keep that center stage,” Handley says. 

Over the years, A3 local partners across the continent have responded to many disasters. 

“Ever since [a tsunami crisis in Southeast Asia], the mutuality and trust of the A3 alumni network of churches across the spectrum — every evangelical kind of background you can imagine, denomination and independent groups — they learn from each other,” says Handley.

Learn more about A3’s responses to global disasters here. 

Indian Navy official loading INS Satpura & INS Savitri are carrying 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid, heading for the port of Yangon. (Photo by Government of India – https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1905922454863716544/photo/3, GODL-India, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=162955676)

Last month, the three congregations that meet in this historic building received an eviction notice from a government official. The notice said the building was structurally unsafe and the congregations would have to move out before August 24. 

Turkiye’s history of quakes makes structural integrity an issue everyone is invested in. However, Bruce Allen with FMI says the church has gathered evidence that that shouldn’t be a concern with their building. 

“They have just had a survey done by the Chamber of Geological Engineers — another government agency — and their foundation is secure. There is no corrosion. There’s no cracks. Their building is one of the safest in the city,” Allen says.

Screenshot from an August 2024 interview with the ANKA news agency (Screenshot courtesy of FMI)

“What is unique about [the church] is that it is the only church building in Türkiye in which three different sects of Christianity all share [the] facility: Syrian Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant.”

Allen says all three congregations sense that the eviction notice is an attempt to eliminate the Christian presence in the city. They received a similar threat of closure in 2016 which was later resolved.

The pastor of one of the three congregations, who we’ll call Irik, has petitioned the new governor of the province. He has also publicly called on President Erdogan to intervene. Irik suspects this is also intended to prevent Christians from gathering to celebrate a significant anniversary next year. 

“His city was where the Council of Nicaea was held, which was pivotal in Christian history,” Allen says. “[The year] 2025 marks the 1,700th anniversary of that council. So there will be people descending on his city from all over Christendom, all over the world, to mark this anniversary.” 

As this situation unfolds, pray for favor with the government. Pastor Irik’s first prayer request is this: “I want this church to be a witnessing church, sharing the gospel until the day Jesus returns.” 

“Obviously he’s saying, ‘We don’t want to stop gathering together,’” Allen says. “But what he’s really saying is, ‘We just want to keep being a lighthouse of hope in this city.’”

Pray that the church will trust God regardless of what their government leaders decide. Pray that any meetings they have with officials will bring glory and honor to God. 

Header photo of a church in Istanbul, Türkiye is a representative stock photo courtesy of Igor Sporynin/Unsplash.

To date, Jaballah’s contacts have counted 46 closed churches without any newly opened ones. Churches not a part of the APCA are not formally allowed to open, and any attempt to do so would be met with automatic government shutdowns.

This essentially shuts down any opportunity for smaller churches to grow or remote plants to start. The churches that fall under the APCA umbrella are so big – some reaching 2,000 congregants – that there is little space for personal connections or discipleship.

Jaballah says the size of these legal churches confuses local believers. How can churches have the negative social impact that the Algerian government claims they have when these registered churches have so many members already? “The government searches for any excuse to persecute them and close the churches,” he says.

Plus, the rules are applied inconsistently. Some Catholic churches or churches that promise not to engage in evangelism, for example, don’t seem to require government oversight. This can potentially create division within the Algerian Church and drive leadership into unnecessary conflict.

“Our brothers [are] still fighting for their faith,” Jaballah says. “They’re [still] worshipping God.”

Christians in Algeria are trying to turn crisis into opportunity. Amazingly, Jaballah says, “We are happy that the church buildings are closed because God opened many opportunities for the underground Church.”

Christians are careful to exercise caution. “If more than 10 or 15 people [meet], they suspect; why are you together?” Jaballah says. “If the number is more than that, they suspect them, and right away they can stop them.” Instead, Christians enter churches individually so they don’t draw too much attention.

Jaballah draws comparisons to the first-century Church, which met in houses and found creative worship methods. Like the early Church, Algerian believers are hungry for sound theology and meaningful discipleship.

“We keep praying for our brothers and sisters,” Jaballah says. “We need to pray for unity among the believers. Secondly, I want to pray for wisdom. It’s not about us. It’s about him at the end of the day, for all of us when we serve the ministry.”

Pray for humility, courage, and faith. Learn more about how you can pray with Voice of the Martyrs Canada.

Header photo courtesy of Unsplash.

Esquipulas

In Guatemala, many mourners will gather on January 15. Dennett says, “There is a very small town in Guatemala called Esquipulas, and there’s a basilica there. Every January, busloads of people arrive in this little town to pay homage to a statue. It’s called the Christo Negro, or black Jesus. It’s a dark wood statue believed to be the source of miracles.”

Dennett says the statue was first commissioned by Spanish colonizers, and it has become an important part of the Catholic Church narrative. “One of the most famous popes of our time, John Paul II, actually visited this basilica in Guatemala. And it was noted as being the smallest town or the smallest city that he visited in his time as Pope.”

“So it really is an important place for Catholics.”

Going back to the Spanish conquest, Guatemala has a huge population of Catholics. But AMG has seen a massive shift in the country, Dennett says. Over the last 20 years, the population has shrunk from 65 percent Catholic to 45 percent Catholic. “Interestingly, Guatemala is now the most Protestant country in Latin America, sharing about evenly the share of the population.”

Pray AMG’s ministry in Guatemala would display Jesus’ love.

You can get involved in AMG’s Guatemala work or their work in other countries around the world. Learn more at amginternational.org.

The header photo shows the statue in the basilica at Esquipulas. (Photo courtesy of Roberto Urrea, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

About the Bible

It’s the first new Protestant Bible to be printed in Pakistan since before the Partition when India and Pakistan became separate countries. That Bible was translated by a German missionary from English to Urdu. This new Bible is being translated from the original language into Urdu.

Nehemiah says, “We used to receive printed Bibles in Urdu sometimes from China. Most of the time, they came from South Korea.”

But the supply of imported Bibles slowed down over the past few months. FMI needed a new way forward. Nehemiah says, “Literacy is a big problem in Pakistan. We wanted to try to get something people can understand. So we are using an easy-reading version of Urdu.”

Nehemiah says the Catholic Church did print an Urdu Bible, but it is a very large and heavy book. FMI wanted to make a thin, portable Bible.

But they had a difficult time obtaining scritta paper, the thin material often used in Bibles. Eventually, they obtained a supply. Nehemiah says, “I won’t be able to share more detail from where we got this paper. But praise God, we have that paper in our hands. And one of our brothers who’s from the Muslim majority rendered his services to use his printing press.”

“Please pray for the process. Please pray for the people.”

Pray these new Bibles would reach many people across Pakistan. Pray also for the logistics. FMI will need to ship the Bibles from the city where they are being printed to different parts of Pakistan, or even across borders.

Header photo courtesy of FMI. 

In a victory speech, Meloni stated, “From the Italians has arrived a clear indication for the center-right to guide Italy.”

Depending on where you’ve heard of her, Meloni has been painted either as a social savior or a dangerous fascist.

Italy flag (Photo courtesy of Michele Bitetto via Unsplash)

International Media Ministries (IMM) is a Gospel video producer based in Europe. Regarding Meloni’s election, Denise Godwin with IMM says, “There’s a lot of, if you will, negativity about her — if you do see any news at all because there’s so many other things that are dramatic in the news. They’re calling her pretty extremist.”

However, Godwin cautions against simply taking media commentary at face value, no matter who it relates to. “That old journalist in me says, ‘Well, I need to go hear this person’s own words and make sure that we’re hearing truth.’ We all bring a filter to every situation and so it’s easy to accept a filter that’s given to you in different forms of media.”

Most media coverage focuses on Meloni’s speeches on family values, national identity, and society — such as her 2019 speech at the World Congress of Families gathering, or the National Conservatism Conference in 2020. Meloni’s 2019 speech, in particular, has gone viral after it was temporarily removed from YouTube.

Italy is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, accounting for 80% of the population. However, only around 15% practice their faith. Secularism in Italy has slowly grown in popularity.

“I think it’s very remarkable that you see a European country that clearly if they’ve elected Meloni, they are fed up with anti-religion, anti-life, anti-sexual identity messages that they’re getting out of the media,” says Godwin. “I think that’s remarkable. Whatever you think and your own politics, I just think it’s very indicative of the mentality of people getting fed up with sort of a spoonfed, or perhaps shovel-fed perspective on culture that doesn’t reflect their own heart or their own sense of what is right and wrong, even if they’re not believers.”

(Photo courtesy of International Media Ministries)

IMM produces evangelistic video content and media training to reach people around the world with the Gospel. Godwin says just as believers need to check their media sources, IMM hopes their videos lead people to the original source of faith as well — Scripture.

“I think it’s really important to make sure the Bible is incorporated into our spiritual nourishment, not just simply people’s sermons and podcasts and things. Those aren’t bad, but the source document is really important. When in doubt, you definitely want to go back and look at that, and then put all the world events and the podcasts and everything into perspective through that lens.

“The Bible is our source document. It’s so important to make sure that’s incorporated into who we are as believers, but also the lens that we take to the news and the lens we take to our lives.”

No matter where you land on the political spectrum, as Christians, we can pray for Meloni as she enters the role of Italy’s Prime Minister — for justice, wisdom, and godliness in leadership.

Pray also for Italians to put their ultimate hope, not in politicians or platforms, but in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Header photo courtesy of Caleb Miller via Unsplash.

Abhijit, a partner with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, says, “I studied in Orissa, and I had lots of friends. We never talked about Hindus and Christians before. Now, even children talk about it. Ordinary people talk about it. It has gone to every level and sphere of life in the last 10 years.”

Vigilante groups have targeted Christian churches and institutions. Several Christian groups have even come together to petition the Indian Supreme Court.

Hindu nationalism

How did things get so bad? Abhijit points to religious nationalism in the central government. “Whether they would deny it or accept it, they have deep roots with these big, Hindu fundamentalist organizations like RSS, BJP. They are connected. Most of their political leaders are from that background and have been trained.”

“They have spent their lives with this organization. So they are there to implement now.”

These groups want to define India as being a Hindu state. But India holds many religions and has an ancient Christian presence.

Some Christians believe the Apostle Thomas traveled to India as early as AD 52. Other Christians certainly traveled to India along trade routes. Read more here.

How to pray

Abhijit works with the East India Native Pastors Network. They support Christians in India, particularly in the northern states, and small churches not affiliated with major denominations.

Ask God to strengthen Indian believers. Abhijit says, “We are not inviting persecution to come. But we should be ready, and this is a reality.”

The header photo shows members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist organization. (Photo courtesy of Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)