Pray for 25-year-old Hassan Gulled - we do not know if he is alive or dead. He was kidnapped by members of Al-Shabaab, a branch of al-Qaeda that operates in Somalia (their war flag is pictured below). According to Morning Star News, Al-Shabaab has been torturing him so he will deny Christ. 

We are constantly praying for our brothers and sisters following Christ in Pakistan. Today, we rejoice with Younis Masih. On Wednesday, April 3, a Pakistani court overturned the case against Younis. He was declared innocent of blasphemy and the justices also said he did not have to pay the  $1,013 penalty.

“Dear Jesus, please save me and mom,” 7-year-old Comfort prayed. A soldier from Nigeria's Special Task Force (STF) had just opened fire on her family. Her mother, Lyop, was wounded in the back, the shoulder, and the thigh. Comfort was shot in both legs. Her baby sister and little sister, Nancy, were dead. Her grandma was wounded too.

The jihad against the largest Christian community in SUDAN continues; believers hide in caves to escape constant air raids and bomb strikes initiated by President Omar al Bashir. Pray that God will provide “springs in the desert” for these believers and enable them to fully believe Jesus’s words, “Take heart, for I have overcome the world.”

To learn how to more specificlly intercede and aid these brothers and sisters, please visit Persecution Project Foundation.

TURKEY: Continue to pray for Gokhan, Derman, Ulas, and Yaren (ages 11-15) who all prayed for salvation through Jesus Christ last summer. Ask the Lord to keep the fire of their faith burning strong, even as they wrestle with loneliness and hostility from classmates and family.

Our partner in the MIDDLE EAST is involved in evangelism and discipleship among Syrian refugees. He is passionate about getting local churches to reach out to the hurting and homeless. Pray for Jesus Christ to be glorified by the love of these believers and for many Muslims to hear the Gospel.

Vruir Avanessian was arrested for celebrating Christmas with a group of believers in Tehran, IRAN. The 60-yr-old pastor, who suffers from kidney failure, was temporarily released on bail on Jan. 10. Pray for him to trust God as he waits for the court to decide the date of his next trial.

Be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might. - Colossians 1:11

In case you missed it, we're still PRAISING THE LORD - Eva Abdullah is out of prison! On January 9, the High Court of TANZANIA ruled that Eva was not guilty of desecrating the Quran. The 17-yr-old girl spent 371 days in prison after leaving Islam to worship Jesus. Thank God for the faithful believers who have prayed and worked for her release and who are now taking care of her. 

"My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding." - Colossians 2:2

Mega praise! On February 3, students from Dhaka university in BANGLADESH rescued 19 Christian children, ages 5 to 12, from a man who was selling them to a madrassa. Binoy Tripura lied to the parents, telling them he was taking their kids to a Christian school, when in reality he was selling them to train as suicide bombers. Praise God that Tripura is in police custody and that these children were rescued! 

KENYA: A Christian reports that, "The government is fearful; it does not know how to handle the Islamist drive, and thus has a tendency to give in easily to demands, sometimes at the expense of the churches."

Pray that believers will put their hope and trust firmly in the Lord of Heaven’s armies and not in the feeble governments and councils of men.

"Having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." - Colossians 2:15

Pray for Mohamed Habi, a Christian in MALI. “I gave my life to Christ two years ago but all members of my family are Muslims, which is why my wife and daughter despise me. When the Islamists captured Timbuktu and began their search for Christians to kill, I escaped…”

Praise God for his escape; ask the Lord to provide for his needs.

"God has brought us into the kingdom of His Son, in whom we have redemption." - Colossians 1:13

ERITREA: The hideously cruel regime of President Isaias Afewerki may be crumbling! On Jan. 21, insurgents seized the state television building and broadcast a message that insisted Afewerki release thousands of political prisoners (many Christians) and return to a democratically elected government. The coup was brutally put down, but shows that the nation is not at peace with its Islamist leader.

Pray for God to establish justice in Eritrea for the sake of His persecuted Church!

Asma Masih, a fifteen-year-old girl from Pakistan, was abducted on December 10th, 2012. Christians in many Islamic countries report that their daughters (often very young girls) are targeted by Islamists. They are raped, and then married to their captors. Sadly, most authorities do not get involved because the kidnapper will claim that the girl chose to marry him and convert to Islam.

A group of churches and missions in Bamako, MALI, are seeking to help 330 Christian refugee families who have fled persecution in the north. Pray for the refugees who are anxious because they don’t know if their family members are alive or dead.

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. - Colossians 1:17