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)

“It seems like since this point, the general population is not really happy with the political situation,” he says. 

Courtesy of Sazzad Bin Jafor via Unsplash

Grandy observes that the majority Muslim population is looking for something different.

“They’re seeing that a secular government isn’t working for them, so it seems they may be open to a more fundamental Islamic push toward Sharia law; and those that are pushing Sharia law are seeing the opportunity here, and they’re promoting that.” 

In recent visits to Bangladesh, Grandy and his team saw impromptu political rallies on the streets, bolstered by social media campaigning and widespread political messaging. 

What does a push toward Islamic fundamentalism mean for Christians? As for other religious minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus, it means increased religious targeting. 

One way Unknown Nations ministers to families is through preschool education, a door through which whole families have come to Christ. 

“But as a result of that, sometimes those places get targeted,” Grandy says. “So we’ve had one of our buildings where we were holding these preschools ransacked and destroyed.” 

This photo and header photo courtesy of Bornil Amin via Unsplash

In the last few weeks, the violence has intensified, including in the form of physical attacks on ministry leaders. 

“People are nervous; we have a network of over a hundred leaders who are currently in hiding because they’re being targeted,” Grandy says. 

He points out that the violence is connected to the upcoming election, but it’s also par for the course on the spiritual warfare front. 

The Kingdom of God is expanding even as opposition rails against it, but the realities of the persecuted church are heavy. 

“They don’t live in fear, but they face things that we can’t really comprehend in our culture, in our society.” 

Please pray for boldness, courage, and discernment from the Holy Spirit for our brothers and sisters in Bangladesh. 

Pray also for the ministry of Unknown Nations as they continue working to distribute audio Bibles, serve through humanitarian projects, and equip the church through leadership training in Bangladesh. If you’d like to support this work financially, click here.

Deadly clashes at the border surged in the past week after explosions in Kabul and another Afghan province on October 10. Pakistan didn’t officially claim responsibility for those attacks. But it continues to allege that Afghanistan’s government is allowing the nation to be a base for terrorism in Pakistan.

Street scene in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Stock photo courtesy of Farid Ershad/Unsplash)

The situation is complicated. Mike Grandy with Unknown Nations explains that Afghanistan’s Taliban-run government is conservative. “But then there’s also very far right conservative movements in Afghanistan, and they cross the border into Pakistan, and they do terrorist activities.” 

Both countries are majority Muslim, but for groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (the Pakistani Taliban), there’s a problem that may spur their attacks.

“Some of it has to do with [terrorists seeing] Pakistan as ‘they don’t have Sharia law.’ There’s maybe some revenge for previous things, retaliation. There’s maybe these thoughts that their culture is lost, that they’re not sticking to the strict Islamic fundamentalism that they should,” says Grandy.

Sadly, the border fight between the two nations has been going on for decades. But Grandy says that this week, “It’s a much more confrontational situation as far as bringing in the military and bombing. In the past, it was more border skirmishes or targeting certain areas. But now it’s been much more widespread.” 

Third-party mediators like Qatar may be able to help cool the latest escalations, which have affected gospel workers. 

“There’s a self-preservation mode that happens. You have to take care of your family, you have to survive,” says Grandy. “So those things [attacks] have an impact on ministry, but they [local Christians] are used to navigating this complicated situation.”

Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have growing Christian movements. Join them in praying simple, Great Commission prayers for more believers to reach others and more people to hear the gospel of Jesus.

“We know the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. So what we want to pray is that there’s more laborers, more multiplication,” Grandy says.

Header photo: man in Lahore, Pakistan courtesy of Lumensoft Technologies via Unsplash.

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/

First introduced in 2018, Uttarakhand’s “Freedom of Religion Bill” prohibits religious conversion through misrepresentation, force, coercion, or any fraudulent means. The latest amendment increases penalties to a fine of 1 million Indian Rupees (more than $11,000 USD) and possible life imprisonment. 

On one hand, these measures could be viewed as protection for Christians, as the bill’s title suggests. Notably, in neighboring Pakistan, reports of forced conversions to Islam are increasing; and India’s new restrictions are at best a prophylactic move for the country’s own religious minorities.

On the other hand, the situation could be much more grim: with the law now firmly behind them, persecutors of believers could heavily target Christian evangelistic activity in Uttarakhand. Already, reports from local believers indicate this is the primary scenario unfolding in their region.

Courtesy of Unsplash

Mike Grandy with Unknown Nations recently spoke with a Christian brother there, who explained that homes are now being targeted.

“If believers are gathering within a home, they’re considering that conversion; and so they’re actually targeting homes where believers are gathering,” Grandy says. 

Governmental tactics to break up church communities in this way are not new.

“They want to preserve the power, the strength of the ruling party. When you look at those who are in control politically and in charge of the largest businesses, it all really comes down to the same things: control, power, and money,” he points out. 

The latest amendment goes as far as to criminalize propaganda on social or digital media, a vague clause that could enable sweeping indictments. In this way, individual Christians become pinpointable targets, and “forceful conversion” becomes anything from sharing a Christian social media post to handing out Bibles on the street. 

But where vague terminology is weaponized, seasoned speech prevails.

Colossians 4:6 (ESV) states: “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”
Image courtesy of Unsplash.

Grandy tells the story of one church community whose pastor was recently imprisoned when officials attributed church growth to his preaching. In the prison cell, he and some friends began singing, worshipping, and praying. 

The guards were uncomfortable. They asked the prisoners if friends and family had bail money to procure their release. When the pastor responded, “No,” and continued to sing, the guards were spiritually disarmed. 

“’We’re going to just let you go,’ they said. ‘We can’t have you in here singing and worshipping,’” Grandy relates. 

While prison release is not a guaranteed outcome for persecuted believers, believers understand the persecution itself to be a given. Grandy recently spoke with one Christian brother who described his experience of being “slapped around” while preaching the Gospel in public. 

“But that’s not really persecution,” he said. “That just comes with the territory. That’s what we do when we’re called to Christ.” 

Grandy calls on worldwide believers to support the persecuted church in prayer. 

“Pray that the message of the Gospel would take root. Pray for our brave brothers and sisters who are sharing the Gospel: that they would continue, that they’d have boldness and discernment of the Holy Spirit.” 

Please pray also that regardless of what is enacted politically, the Gospel would remain unhindered as Christ’s people in Uttarakhand go forth in faith. 

Learn more about how the ministry of Unknown Nations supports this work here.

Featured image: Believers in West Bengal, India. Courtesy of Pexels.

International (MNN) — A new report outlines how India, China, Indonesia, and Pakistan, four of the world’s five most populous countries, systematically persecute Christians. Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says mistreatment of believers is neither new nor unexpected. 

“Jesus told us: they didn’t like me; they’re going to hate you as my followers. So I think that we shouldn’t be shocked by the persecutions,” he says. “However, we need to come alongside these brothers and sisters because they are on the front lines. They are in the war zones.” 

Kelley says we can assist by encouraging and resourcing Christians facing persecution. 

“But we also need to be praying,” he adds. “We need to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth additional laborers into these fields. This is the ground zero of where the church needs to be paying attention: these harshly persecuted areas of the world.” 

While persecution happens across societal levels, it’s most intensified and targeted when people convert to Christianity out of dominant national religions. 

“It’s the Christian who makes a stand for Jesus and is willing. That’s the person who’s a threat, because they’re serious about their faith; and so they face the wrath of the highest level of government all the way down to the nuclear family,” Kelley says. 

Baptism and evangelism in particular trigger the Islamic community’s religious immune system. 

“Many times the manifestation of the persecution is a vigilante justice,” he says. “It’s sort of a mob-generated response that the government in many instances is turning a cheek.” 

Failure of law enforcement to respond to the plight of Christians is a frustration to those expecting basic protections from their government. On the other hand, persecuted believers regularly dismiss calls for vindication from their leaders, expressing the understanding that persecution of believers is par for the course in a kingdom walk. Kelley says Christians in the crucible are white hot with Gospel fire. 

“The people groups that we’re talking about are less than one percent Christian, but those followers of Jesus are passionate,” he remarks.

And their faith is spreading in spite of attacks against it.  

“They are not people who, in the face of threats, intimidation, humiliation, harassment, will turn back from their faith,” Kelley says. “They will absolutely not, so they’re very determined to share their faith with others and to multiply.” 

The fifth nation topping the population charts is our own: the United States of America. Notably, Kelley remarks, our home country is an outlier in terms of how the justice system responds to persecution. Kelley points to the Muslim-dominant community of Dearborn, Michigan, as an example. 

“The culture you feel in Dearborn is going to be very similar to a Middle Eastern experience. If someone converts to Christianity, the family may punish them,” he explains, even perhaps outside the bounds of law. “But at the end of the day, if local law enforcement hears about it, that person would absolutely be held accountable.” 

For many believers across India, China, Indonesia, and Pakistan, that simply is not the case.

Whether you find yourself under the protection of governing officials or at the mercy of their evil intentions, would you take a moment to pray for persecuted believers around the world? 

Please pray that the Holy Spirit would strengthen them, comfort them, and give them words to say when they are brought before governing officials. Pray that nations under the rule of darkness would turn toward the glorious light of Christ, and that the Kingdom of God would grow in the midst of all pressure against it. 

Above image courtesy of Tima Miroshnichenko via Pexels; header image courtesy of Amar via Pexels