But it didn’t have to happen this way. Pastor Adrian with A3 says flooding is common in Sri Lanka, which tempts some people not to take flood warnings seriously. That kept many from warning others and taking proper precautions for the cyclone.

Cyclone Ditwah on 27 November, 2025. (Photo by VIIRS image from NOAA’s NOAA-21 Satellite – NOAA View Global Data Explorer, Public Domain)

“In certain areas, the rainfall was about 400 milliliters of water within a single day,” Adrian said. “One of our churches went down completely underwater. And [that] church is situated about 50 feet above the river level. We had never heard of a flooding of this nature before.” 

Adrian serves as A3’s country director for Sri Lanka. He says that for churches in some regions, “I’m unable to contact them by phone or travel to these places because of the landslides. The bridges have been washed away. I don’t think even the government is aware of the scope of the damage that has happened due to the cyclone.” 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that 1.1 million Sri Lankans were affected by the cyclone and that over 15,000 houses were destroyed.

Local Christians are working to provide immediate needs — like food, potable water, clothing and shelter. Then will come the long work of rebuilding homes, says Adrian. 

“It’s a huge concern, because our country and our churches don’t have that kind of infrastructure,” he says.

Find your place in the story

Pray for God to bring eternal good from the devastation across Sri Lanka. Pray for hope to be found in Christ.

Weligama, Sri Lanka (Photo courtesy of Devin Woody via Unsplash)

“We are also getting ready to carry out a strong prayer ministry, moving to every district, gathering the believers, praying, because I believe that this devastation has also brought about receptivity in the hearts of people,” says Adrian. 

He says they are also looking to establish medical camps, because waterborne diseases will arise. 

“We are inviting people to contact us and send us teams of doctors and nurses who could come and serve,” he says. “We are also asking churches to stand with us financially, because we will have to provide [much]. It’s almost with some people starting life all over again.” 

Learn how you can partner with A3 to help local Christians bring relief and true hope to Sri Lanka.

Header photo from Galle, Sri Lanka is a representative stock image courtesy of Fredrik Öhlander via Unsplash. 

That mixed message might be the result of two sides of the Church: registered and unregistered. Only some congregations are officially recognized by the Chinese government. Erik Burklin, CEO of China Partner, has a close relationship with this registered Church in China.

“They have what they call a relative freedom,” he says. “They don’t have all the freedoms that we enjoy, but many of the pastors in the registered church tell us and remind us, ‘Hey, we’re thankful for what God has given us. It’s not like it used to be under Mao Zedong.’”

Not long ago, it was illegal to hold or practice most religions in China. While the government does maintain oversight over most religious organizations and gatherings, they still allow worship according to each person’s own personal beliefs. This not only allows gathering for congregational worship, but teaching and training in seminaries and Bible schools.

“Of course, there are still examples where pastors get arrested or warned or fined, and usually what I’ve learned when that happens is those are the individuals that maybe are a little bit more outspoken against the regime,” Burklin says. “The consequences of that are very dire. By far the majority of the pastors don’t get into politics.”

One pastor challenged authorities when officials began to remove crosses from church buildings. His efforts earned him a six-month prison sentence from which he has now been released. In other words, “as soon as you speak out against the regime, against the system, that’s when you get into trouble. That’s been my experience.”

The strategy most congregations employ is to focus on the Gospel. “They just share the Lord, share the gospel, and minister to their congregations. Usually, those are the churches that operate quite normally and quite freely in China,” Burklin says. “

If you just stay true to the preaching of the Word and minister to the people, most likely you’ll be fine as a Christian leader and as a church.”

Burklin reports that when it comes to the registered and unregistered Church in China, one thing is true of both; they’re growing.

“It’s really exciting when you meet with these brothers and sisters in China – they just really focus number one on Scripture. They preach the word, they memorize it, they pray it, and then they just love Jesus. Their love for Jesus is so overwhelming that it spills over to their neighbors and to their family members.”

If you want to support China Partner directly, you can do so with the link right here.

Header photo courtesy of Unsplash.

The fighters also mentioned revenge for the death of a former IS leader in Syria last year.

But Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA says the video serves yet another purpose. “We saw this with the ISIS videos early on: it was a recruiting mechanism. ‘Hey, look how powerful we are. We can kill people with impunity. We can put videos of it on the internet and nobody can stop us.’”

“That was a recruiting tool to say, ‘Good Muslims around the world, come and join us.’”

In recent months, ISWAP attacks against Nigerian Christians have increased. It coincides with a conspiracy theory that Nigerian Christians want to subjugate Muslims.

Nigerian government

So far, the Nigerian government has done little to stop the attacks. In some cases, attackers were even spotted wearing military uniforms.

Officials have been saying all the right things, Nettleton says. “’Yes, we’re going to put a stop to this. Yes, we’re committed to stopping these attacks. We’re committed to religious freedom.’ And yet the attacks keep happening.”

Pray the love of Jesus would shine through Nigerian believers. Ask God to protect them. Nettleton says, “They don’t respond with violence, but instead they respond with forgiveness and love. It really puts on display the difference between following Jesus and following radical Islam. People are drawn to Christians.”

Pray also that Nigerian leaders would get serious about addressing the rampant violence.

Header photo courtesy of David Peterson from Pixabay.