In November 2025, a Nigerien pastor was abducted by Islamists in the middle of the night, driven across the nearby border into Nigeria and taken to a remote area. His captors told him they had brought him to a place where they regularly executed Christians and said they were going to kill him as well. They tied him to a tree and then went to sleep. As they slept, the pastor untied himself and escaped.
Read MoreA front-line worker requests prayer for “divine connections” in sharing the gospel with Muslims. The current spiritual climate in the Middle East is causing many Muslims to seek truth in the Christian faith, but sharing the gospel with them can be risky. “In most countries in the Middle East, it is forbidden to evangelize or pass out tracts in public, with significant risks if caught,” the worker said.
Read MoreIn the crackdown against Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church that began on Jan. 6, 2026, the children of the affected families have been left especially vulnerable. Elder Li Yingqiang and his wife, Zhang Xinyue, were apprehended by police in an early morning raid on their home and have remained in detention. Li Yingqiang has since been charged with “inciting subversion of state power”; charges against Zhang Xinyue have not been disclosed yet. Their two children, ages 11 and 14, were also taken into police custody in the raid and spent the night alone and frightened before they were released into their grandmother’s care.
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