Hope in Bleakness

Hope in Bleakness

Life in Gaza today is bleak, but even in this seemingly hopeless situation, the Lord is drawing people to himself. ICR partners say they have never seen such openness to the Gospel. The team heard a testimony earlier of a Muslim man who came to Christ after meeting a...
Birthday Parties and Funerals

Birthday Parties and Funerals

How do you share the gospel in a communist country where most people are Buddhists? ICR partners in Southeast Asia have found opportunities in the natural rhythms of life. People are willing to attend the funerals and birthday parties of Christians, even if they...
SNAPSHOT: SOUTHEAST ASIA

SNAPSHOT: SOUTHEAST ASIA

Like many of the countries where ICR supports Christians, Southeast Asia is complicated. This communist, Buddhist-majority country has hosted large evangelical crusades, although most people in the region would be against a family member converting to Christianity....
How to Pray for Persecuted Christians

How to Pray for Persecuted Christians

Pray that they will not feel alone or forgotten (Matthew 28:20). Pray that God would knit your heart to theirs (1 Corinthians 12:26). Pray for faithful perseverance (Hebrews 10:32-36). Pray that believers will be prepared for persecution (1 John 3:13). Pray for...
How You can Pray for Southeast Asia

How You can Pray for Southeast Asia

Pray for protection for new Christians. Pray for those shepherding new congregations, since it is difficult to visit them. Pray for good leaders for new churches. Pray for good relations with authorities and police. Pray for Christians who are pressured to remain firm...
The Church in the Middle in Times of War

The Church in the Middle in Times of War

By ICR partner Carlos R. The murder of the Christian leaders of Calamar manifests a violence that is difficult to comprehend. How did someone come to the decision to end the lives of six men and two women in this way? At first glance, there is no explanation, unless...
8 Christian Leaders Found Dead in Colombia

8 Christian Leaders Found Dead in Colombia

Last week, Colombian authorities confirmed that bodies found in a mass grave in Guaviare state were eight evangelical leaders who have been missing since April. According to Protestante Digital, the victims were part of a humanitarian commission sent out by the...
Preparing for Persecution

Preparing for Persecution

THE NUMBER OF PERSECUTED believers in difficult countries who say they were not surprised to be persecuted amazes me. “It’s in the Bible,” they say. Yet, that’s not how I think of persecution. I don’t expect to be persecuted. Our North American evangelical culture...
Attacks in Nigeria Leave 200+ Dead

Attacks in Nigeria Leave 200+ Dead

At least 218 people were killed and more than 6,000 displaced after a spate of devastating attacks on mostly Christian villages in Benue State, a territory in the Middle Belt region of northern Nigeria. Islamic Fulani militants are suspected to be behind all six of...
SNAPSHOT: What Scripture Says About Persecution

SNAPSHOT: What Scripture Says About Persecution

And you will be hated by everyone because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. (Mark 13:13) Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to...
Excluded But at Peace

Excluded But at Peace

An ICR field worker visited a Muslim village with an ICR partner in Ethiopia last year. By chance, she saw 17-year-old Ayana and greeted her. “I noticed straight away that something was different,” the field worker said. “She had an incredible radiance and smiled at...