Edited by Al McNair
Yemen: Late last year, Houthi rebels, who control approximately one-third of the country, launched a campaign of arbitrary detentions specifically targeting Christians. In January 2026 alone, more than 50 followers of Jesus were arrested, while another 43 had been abducted. Taken from their homes or detained on the streets, these believers are accused not of violence or political dissent, but of faith. Some are being held in Houthi-run prisons, while others have disappeared entirely. They likely tragically face torture or even possibly death for their confession of Christ.
These recent arrests of Yemeni Christians represent a major milestone in Christianity’s spread in the heavily persecuted nation. Far more than a crackdown on religious minorities, they demonstrate a growing Christian presence in Yemen significant enough to provoke a response from various ruling entities, including the Houthis, across regions of the fractured nation. Christians in Yemen are not permitted to publicly display their faith, with symbols such as crosses and the public sharing of one’s Christian faith banned. National Yemeni Christians worship only in secret. Most of the members of Yemen’s tiny Christian population are from Muslim backgrounds, and to decide to become a Christian is to decide to suffer great persecution.
According to the United Nations, Yemen ranked as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis from 2014 to 2021. It has since been replaced by new crises in Ukraine, Sudan, and Gaza, despite the war in Yemen continuing to the present. The conflict has killed at least 370,000 people and displaced millions. On Open Doors’ World 2026 Watch List, Yemen holds the position as the third-worst country globally for Christian persecution. Under Yemeni law, conversion from Islam remains a capital offense, making the simple act of faith a potentially deadly decision.
As Yemen continues to suffer under war, famine, and political collapse,Christ is building his church in secret. The believers now being arrested are not remnants of a dying faith, but witnesses to a living and growing one. In the darkness of Yemen, the light still shines, and the darkness has not overcome it. Please Pray for our recently arrested Christian bros and sisters in Yemen, and indeed all Christians in that Islamic country which is continuing to be torn apart by war and terrorism.
Sources: http://www.persecution.net (VOM) &
Sudan: A United Nations fact-finding mission for Sudan has released a report claiming that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a nongovernmental militant group battling for control of Sudan, carried out a “coordinated campaign of destruction against non-Arab communities in and around the Darfur city of El-Fasher, the hallmarks of which point to genocide.”
This campaign culminated in the capture of El-Fasher in October 2025 after an 18-month siege. RSF fighters carried out mass killings, summary executions, torture, and widespread sexual violence.
While the violence in Al-Fasher is primarily ethnic in nature, the civil war more broadly has had devastating effects on daily civilian life across the country. At least 40,000 people have been killed and roughly 12 to 13 million people displaced, making it the largest displacement crisis in the world.
In just three days of attacks during the city’s fall, more than 6,000 people were killed, including thousands inside the city and others shot while attempting to flee. Civilians were massacred in neighborhoods, dormitories, and even at a university, while hospitals and displacement camps were attacked, and critical aid routes were cut off.
More than 165 churches have had to close since the war started in 2023. Some churches were used as bases for military operations in the war, with people sheltering there forced out or even killed to make way for soldiers. Members of the clergy have been targeted, with soldiers shooting or stabbing priests and others during their raids. The well-equipped Sudanese Armed Forces often bomb churches, indiscriminately injuring or killing those sheltering inside, including women and children, as it pursues rival RSF forces.
Both sides of the conflict have been responsible for immense human suffering and have acted in ways that directly kill, harm, and displace civilians. Afraid of losing leverage or battlefield advantage, both sides have also blocked humanitarian assistance from reaching those in need.
Please Pray for peace in Sudan, for the protection of Christians, and for food and other emergency supplies to reach the starving population immediately.
Source: https://persecution.org/2026/02/20/un-report-suggests-possible-genocide-in-sudan/
Iran: By Dr. Nathan Rostampour, Ekklesia Mission president and ICC board member
For more than 47 years, the Islamic regime ruling Iran has governed through fear, oppression, and bloodshed. The hands of this regime are stained with the blood of thousands of Iranian and American citizens. It has been one of the world’s leading sponsors of terrorism, spreading violence far beyond Iran’s borders. At home, it has relentlessly persecuted Christians – executing some, imprisoning many, and forcing countless others into exile. Believers have been torn from their families, their homes, and their homeland, scattered across the world simply because they chose to follow Jesus Christ.
This is why, when some Iranians celebrate or dance these days, it is not because they love war. It is because they have lived for decades under a darkness that few outside the country can fully comprehend. For many Iranians, these moments carry the fragile hope that the long night of oppression may finally be nearing its end.
As an Iranian-American pastor, I humbly call upon the church in the West to lift up Iran, the Iranian people, and the underground churches inside Iran in earnest and faithful prayer.The overwhelming majority of Iranians desire to see this oppressive Islamic regime come to an end. Many hope that Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s former Shah, may return to guide a transitional period toward a democratic government – after which the Iranian people themselves can freely determine the future of their nation.
But beyond political freedom, there is a deeper freedom that the people of Iran desperately need – the freedom that only Christ can give. Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
For decades, the Iranian people have been imprisoned not only by political tyranny but also by fear, despair, and spiritual darkness. Yet even now, something remarkable is happening. Across Iran, hearts are opening to the gospel. Many Iranians are encountering Jesus Christ through dreams, through Scripture, and through the witness of courageous believers. In the midst of persecution, the church in Iran is growing.
That is why I ask believers around the world to pray especially for the church in Iran. These are sensitive and historic days. Pray that Iranian Christians will stand firm in their faith, intercede boldly for their nation, and proclaim the good news of the gospel with courage and love. The Iranian church is small, but it is faithful – and God is using it as a light in the darkness.
Source: https://persecution.org/2026/03/12/why-some-iranians-dance-during-war/
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