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.

Extremist groups have choked off major highways leading into the capital, Bamako, creating a fuel and economic blockade. They have also begun kidnapping foreigners, escalating tensions across the region.

Greg Kelley of Unknown Nations explained that the situation “causes absolute pandemonium and chaos.”

Malian man (photo courtesy of Alfred Dena via Pexels)

Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), aligned with Al Qaeda, are working to dominate the region and enforce Sharia law. With Christians making up less than one percent of Mali’s population, the climate poses significant danger for the local church.

“That brings a real challenge to the church, because Christians are suffering in the midst of that,” Kelley added.

A humanitarian crisis is also unfolding as daily conditions continue to worsen. Kelley explains:

“Life is difficult, but when you bring coup attempts and radical extremists trying to take over, it makes life all the more difficult, and these people are beginning to question their worldview.”

Unknown Nations is responding with practical aid for those fighting to survive — support that often opens doors for Gospel conversations. “They can say, ‘I love you in Jesus’ name, and let me tell you about the hope of glory,’” Kelley explained.

Mali is home to seventy-four distinct people groups. Pray that the love of Christ reaches them in the midst of suffering.

Visit Unknown Nations to learn how they bring the Gospel of Christ to the nations. Pray as they strategize ways to help Malians and the unreached people groups in the country.

Bamako, Mali (photo courtesy of Mark Fischer via Wikimedia Commons).

The court found the exiled leader guilty of ordering the lethal crackdown on student-led protests in 2024. Clashes with police led to the deaths of up to 1,400 people, with thousands more wounded. Many celebrate the verdict as justice for the dead. Others dismiss it as politically motivated.

Hasina is currently in India, where she lived decades ago after the assassination of her father, Bangladesh’s founding president. India’s Ministry of External Affairs has issued a statement acknowledging the Bangladeshi court’s verdict, but it has not said whether it will allow Hasina to be extradited.

“There’s outrage on both sides of it, and it’s just going to continue to accentuate the instabilities that are going on in Bangladesh and have been for a number of years,” says Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations.

(Photo of 2024 quota reform movement courtesy of Rayhan9d/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

“A lot of people that we speak to say for a 10- to 15-year run [under Hasina], there was a lot of real positive things in the development of the country. Yet at the same time, you’re talking about a country that has ranked among the highest — not only in Asia, but in the entire world —as far as levels of corruption. It’s hard to unweave those two things.”

The interim government, which has been in place since shortly after Hasina fled the country last year, has called for public order surrounding the verdict.

“Right now, there’s calls for lockdowns all over the place. A lot of the schools are not even operating today, tomorrow,” says Kelley. 

For Christians, there’s another layer to be aware of. Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority nation with more than 270 people groups considered to be unreached with the gospel. The largest is the Bengali Muslims, numbering above 135 million. It’s also densely populated, which Kelley says makes any metropolitan demonstration incredibly disruptive.

“You’re talking about a country the size of Michigan, [which] has 10 million people, Bangladesh having 175 million people,” says Kelley. “The corruption [and] the instability on a physical level in Bangladesh pales in comparison to the desperation that that country has for the gospel.”

A crowded street in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital city. (Photo courtesy of Niloy Biswas/Unsplash)

Partners of Unknown Nations give solar-powered audio Bibles. They see people turning to Jesus.

“In these countries where there’s so much turmoil and tension, everybody suffers. Everybody suffers,” says Kelley. “Just to survive in Bangladesh is becoming difficult, and then on top of that, you’ve got this incredibly intense persecution for those who do make the decision to follow Christ. Yet, we are hearing on a daily basis [of] people doing exactly that.”

Now that you know, please pray! Ask God to raise many more Christians to work in the nation faithfully. Learn more here about the mission of Unknown Nations.

Header photo: On the occasion of her repatriation day, Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina addressed the leaders of the party and its affiliated organizations today, Friday, May 17, 2024, at Ganabhaban. (Press Information Department – pressinform.gov.bd (archive), Public Domain)

Short-term missions are important to Unknown Nations’ partners, but often the areas that the organization is active in are not conducive to short-term mission trips.

Bangladesh is home to the Bengali Sheikh, one of the largest unreached people groups in the world. 135 million of the country’s 160 million people are still in the zero percentile of Christians.

The Muslim people group is welcoming of Westerners, so when Westerners are in the country, they stand out.

“It causes unnecessary attention to really our partners on the ground, and that’s one of the last things we want to do,” Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says.

Veiled women hold Treasures, Unknown Nations’ solar-powered audio Bibles.
(Photo courtesy of Unknown Nations)

Going into a place like that with a concentrated population makes it hard to get away.

This means that ministry done within the country is done almost exclusively by Bengali Christians. They are the ones distributing solar-powered audio Bibles and providing relief, as well as training and mobilizing leaders.

“From a cultural standpoint, it’s a superior approach to mobilize the Bengali Christian community to reach that country. I mean, you’re again, you’re in the high 90 percentiles of people inside of Bangladesh that have never heard of Jesus one time,” Kelley says.

The barriers a Westerner has in the country can be detrimental to the progress of the gospel.

Islam is so ingrained in the culture of the country that, in some ways, to be Bengali is to be Muslim. While Christians can be beaten, imprisoned, and killed regularly for their faith, often their persecution comes from within their own families.

“Think of your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, your aunt, your uncle, your grandparents, totally rejecting you because of your decision to follow Jesus. That’s the persecution that takes place in Bangladesh on a daily basis,” Kelley says.

Short-term teams sent into places like Bangladesh act more like vision teams and prayer teams and can be an encouragement.

“We call it the power of presence,” Kelley says. “You’re there, you’re encouraging them, you’re meeting their family, you’re praying over them, and the vision is being seeded inside of you.”

Please pray for these strong Christians in Bangladesh and for their willingness to share the gospel with a society that rejects them for it.

“We say that there are no lukewarm Christians in Bangladesh. When you’re a follower of Jesus, you’re either all in or you’re not at all, because to be lukewarm, you just won’t survive,” Kelley says.

Please pray for the Rohingya people from Myanmar, that God will be with them through their refugee crisis in Bangladesh, pray for these people who have seen disaster, and have come to a new country without Jesus.

Please pray that God will work through the Bengali people and their visitors to reach the unreached with the love and salvation of Jesus Christ.

Header Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

]]> https://www.mnnonline.org/news/worst-flooding-in-a-decade-hits-bali/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=worst-flooding-in-a-decade-hits-bali Thu, 18 Sep 2025 04:00:36 +0000 https://www.mnnonline.org/?post_type=news&p=217040 Indonesia (MNN) — Bali, an island paradise, is grappling with a nightmare. Torrential rains last week unleashed the worst flooding locals have seen in a decade — destroying homes, markets, and claiming 18 lives. Four people are still missing. The province declared a state of emergency.

(Photo courtesy of Paolo Nicolello/Unsplash)

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations explains, “Bali is an area where there are a lot of mountains, and when [rain] hits the mountains and these fronts remain in a certain area for so long, it just happens to have a greater impact. The rivers all get overflooded. It is a situation that doesn’t happen very often.”

As a ministry that provides aid in times of crisis, Unknown Nations is sending physical relief and spiritual encouragement to flood-affected areas in Jesus’ name.

“Our people go in and they just love them unconditionally. There’s no bait and switch, you know, ‘Let me give you this rice, this tarp, this temporary shelter, and then tell you about Jesus.’

“It’s just purely an act of love, and because of that, the people’s hearts open up. So our people will continue to minister as long as it takes to these people because, as I said, for them, it’s the worst crisis imaginable.”

Unknown Nations coordinates with the local Church to ensure new believers are connected with Christians who can disciple them long-term.

“This is really critical, because the local Church is going to be the staying power that’s there,” says Kelley. “That’s where we want the work to be done through.”

(Photo courtesy of Unknown Nations)

Indonesia is in the 10/40 Window with some of the largest unreached people groups in the world.

Kelley says, “Of the 300 million people who are living in Indonesia, 200 million of them are still waiting for their first Gospel witness. That’s why it’s a priority.”

Pray for the local Church to be a faithful Gospel witness, and that those who mourn will be comforted in the Holy Spirit. Lift up Indonesia’s unreached millions to encounter Christ for the first time.

You can give to Unknown Nations at their website here as they respond to emergencies like this.

Header photo courtesy of Udith Babu K N/Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/cliffside-sculpture-on-blue-ocean-view-33878489/

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says that three of the victims were missionaries discipled for gospel ministry.

“Unknown Nations has been training many Afghans who are inside of Iran who have come to know Jesus, recognizing it’s a tremendous opportunity [to launch] these people back into [Afghanistan] equipped [and] trained by seasoned missionaries there,” he says.

A girl looks on among Afghan women lining up to receive relief assistance during the holy month of Ramadan in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
(Photo by IsaaK Alexandre KaRslian/Unsplash)

The bus was on its way back from Iran, which has expelled more than 1 million Afghan refugees in the past year. The chaotic deportations have left many Afghans with little to nothing.

“We’ve sent them some resources just to help them get by, but it’s going to be a very difficult journey ahead for them, especially in a place like Afghanistan,” says Kelley. “Single moms don’t tend to do very well at all. They’re looked down upon.” 

Afghan expatriates describe their home country this way: “There’s nothing there for us. We don’t have work. We don’t have jobs. The Taliban make life incredibly difficult.” 

Yet God uses suffering to draw people to the true hope of Christ. 

“It causes everybody to look at their worldview and to consider what they believe, and that’s where the opportunity is to share the gospel,” says Kelley. “That is why Afghanistan is one of the fastest-growing countries in the world as far as receiving the gospel.” 

Unknown Nations has trained more than 200 disciple-makers now living inside Afghanistan. Pray for more Afghans to hear and accept the hope of Christ. Ask God for peace and provision for the families of the three missionaries in this loss.

“We just keep our eyes and focus in the midst of the carnage on disciples who make disciples who make disciples. [We focus on] how do you encourage them and stand alongside of them?” says Kelley. 

Header photo of street scene in Kabul, Afghanistan courtesy of Farid Ershad/Unsplash.

What was once a table of nourishing, flavorful dishes has been reduced to hurriedly plucked weeds boiled in hot water. As war and famine take hold of the land, Sudan’s people face daily survival, desperate for help.

Greg Kelley from Unknown Nations says, “There are literally millions of people that are living on the threshold of starvation.”

Photo courtesy of Faruk Tokluoğlu via Pexels

Reports show many survive on just one meal of millet porridge a day, while others fill their stomachs with wild plants and weeds. In North Darfur, some have resorted to sucking on coal to ease hunger.

“And always, — says Kelley, — the unfortunate thing in these situations, always, those are the weakest that suffer the most — the women, the children, the people that can’t fight for themselves, provide for themselves. And so that makes a huge percentage of the country.”

In Sudanese areas where people rely on farming for their livelihood, ongoing fighting and shortages of farming resources are steadily shrinking the available agricultural land. In areas where certain food is available, prices are skyrocketing.

According to the World Health Organization, 25 million people face acute food insecurity, and nearly 100,000 cholera cases have been recorded since last July. This year, approximately 770,000 children under the age of five are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

“Nearly 50% of the country is utterly dependent upon foreign aid of some kind, whether it’s through the UN or through NGOs,” says Kelley.

Yet many in desperate need remain unreachable. “There are cities that have been surrounded for over a

year now, and cities with approximately 300,000 people in them that you can’t penetrate, you can’t get into them because they’re surrounded by militia groups,” Kelley explains.

This crisis calls urgently for the global community to unite in prayer and strategic action for the Sudanese people, as they suffer from both famine and spreading disease.

“The church needs to look at these kind of opportunities as a situation where the suffering is present, but we can respond with a cup of cold water, with a hand of help, and minister to them in the name of Jesus,” says Kelley.

Visit Unknown Nations to learn more about the way you can help Sudanese people. Lift up in prayer the ministries serving Sudanese in conflict zones. Pray also for the 1% of local believers to persevere in faith and bring hope to others.

Header photo courtesy of Tom Rogers via Unsplash.

“We’re hearing stories of people who were farming 100 acres, but now they’re only farming five acres, because [of] the Fulani. Their objective is to run these farmers out,” said Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations. 

Clashes between herdsmen and farmers have been happening in Nigeria since 2011. According to the World Food Programme, today nearly 5 million people in northeast Nigeria face acute food insecurity due to conflict. 

“The big issue that’s happening right now is the movement. For so much of the conflict, whether it was Boko Haram or the Fulani herdsmen, it was really concentrated in the northern part of Nigeria, north of the capital, Abuja,” said Kelley.

But the attacks have spread from the north into Central Nigeria’s breadbasket. Benue State and Plateau State have been hard hit.

Listening to audio Bible (Photo courtesy of Unknown Nations)

“The Fulani herdsmen, they have the cows, and they’ll run them through these areas and trash the farmers’ lands, which ultimately disrupts the food [harvest],” Kelley said.  

“It’s not only the people that are dying immediately in the short term from the attacks, but the long-term instability is just threatening the entirety of this country.”

A Fulani attack on July 14th killed at least 32 people in a predominantly Christian farming village in Plateau State. 

“We’re moving into the second decade of these atrocities happening, and they’re really being overlooked [by the] authorities,” said Kelley. “No one is being held accountable.” 

Please pray for discipleship efforts that will reach northern Nigeria for Christ. 

“We need to continue to multiply leaders. We need to continue to get resources [there] like our solar-powered audio Bible. There’s obviously a humanitarian crisis that is underlying this whole situation [too],” said Kelley.

“But ultimately, when we’re praying, we need to pray for disciple-making movements to take place.”

Header photo of herdsman courtesy of Unknown Nations. 

Christian communities continue to suffer raids, sexual violence, killings at roadblocks, and kidnappings. Recent victims include two teenagers and a nine-month-old baby.

Jihadist groups like Boko Haram, Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Lakurawa also pose an ongoing threat.

“In the void of ethical leadership, there’s always going to be these bad actors that try to swoop in and gain access to the resources,” Unknown Nations’ Greg Kelley says.

“Then you’ve got the agenda of Islam, which is to take over the entirety of that country.”

Believers aren’t the only ones who suffer. Fulani herdsmen, although Islamist, also attack properties owned by Muslims.

“It’s not like every Muslim in Nigeria is applauding what’s going on. They’re just as dissatisfied and frustrated as the Christians are, but it opens their heart,” Kelley says.

“Their worldview is challenged, and they’re open to the Gospel.”

The Fulani were among Nigeria’s first converts to Islam, and this religious system is central to their identity. Yet hope remains for this people group. “We’re seeing God move in very unique ways,” Kelley says.

“He’s saving people who come from these aggressors and using them as missionaries. There are 300 Fulani leaders that are going to be trained in the next few weeks.”

Ask the Lord to put His words into the mouths of Fulani Gospel workers.

“The most passionate and enthusiastic laborers are coming out of the three largest Muslim people groups,” Kelley says.

“When you’ve come out of that darkness, you understand the significance of it (salvation) way more than someone who came from a majority [Christian] people group.”

Header image is an AI-generated photo depicting Fulani herdsmen created using GenCraft.