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A CALL FOR CHRISTIANS TO PRAY FOR IRAN

Lana Silk with Transform Iran states that the protests and crackdowns are signs of a spiritual battle that is touching not only Iran but the Middle East today. “So let’s pray with faith. Let’s get behind Christian ministries who are serving in that area, with prayer, but resources, support, and with advocacy.” US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that over 10,600 people have been detained and at least 544 killed in the first two weeks of protests that began December 28, 2025.
Teams from Transform Iran have for years been praying and getting ready for God’s answer for an open Iran. “We have been preparing with people, with Bibles, with plans and projects in place, ready to step in and do good in that land for the people of Iran,” says Silk. “So we’re watching carefully, and we’re making sure that we ourselves are ready for whatever comes next. Christians are praying for a change, whether it is a shift in regime or whether it is repentance in the Islamic leadership. One way or another, Iran needs a change.”
PRAY for God’s kingdom to come in Iran and the surrounding nations. *Pray that the Islamic rulers will have a change of heart, and allow change to happen. *Pray for the safety of Christians, as they continue to share the Gospel. [Source: Missionary Network News]

….AND FOR VENEZUELA
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who maintained his authoritarian grip on power despite widespread accusations of corruption and contested elections, is now facing narco-terrorism and other drug-related charges in the United States, after a targeted US military strike led to his capture on January 3.
*Pray for Venezuela and her people. There’s so much corruption in Venezuela that even though one man who headed the nation is gone, there are so many more that are underneath him, and so it’s going to be a question of who wins control.
*The second prayer would be praying for resources to get into the hands of some of these pastors and Christians within Venezuela who want to want to provide hope for their nation.
[Source: Missionary Network News]

DRONE STRIKE ON CHRISTMAS DAY KILLS CHRISTIANS
(Morning Star News) – A Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) drone strike killed at least 11 Christians making their way to the Episcopal Church of Sudan in Julud (Biyam Jald area) on Christmas morning. “The church [building] was not hit, but a congregation who were marching in procession towards the church were targeted,” the attorney told Morning Star News, requesting anonymity. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North), has joined the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in its fight against the SAF. Both the RSF and the SAF are Islamist forces that have attacked displaced Christians on accusations of supporting the other’s combatants.
The attack follows a November 29 drone attack by the SAF targeting a medical clinic centre in the Kumi area of South Kordofan state that reportedly killed 12 people and injured 19 others, including children and women. Another drone strike on December 5 targeted Kalogi, South Kordofan, killing more than 10 children ages 5 to 7 inside a kindergarten, according to the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Conditions in Sudan have worsened since civil war that broke out between the two Islamic factions in April 2023. Sudan registered increases in the number of Christians killed and sexually assaulted and Christian homes and businesses attacked, according to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List (WWL) report. “Christians of all backgrounds are trapped in the chaos, unable to flee. Churches are shelled, looted and occupied by the warring parties,” the report stated. Sudan is 93 percent Muslim, with adherents of ethnic traditional religion 4.3 percent of the population, while Christians constitute 2.3 percent, according to Joshua Project.
tSudan was ranked No. 5 among the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian in Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List (WWL), down from No. 8 the prior year. Following two years of advances in religious freedom in Sudan after the end of the Islamist dictatorship under Bashir in 2019, state-sponsored persecution returned with the military coup of Oct. 25, 2021. [Source: Voice of the Martyrs]

IN WAR-TORN SUDAN, CHRISTIAN MEDICAL TEAMS STEP IN WHERE HOSPITALS CAN’T
Sudan (MNN) — Paramilitary fighters made strategic gains in Sudan this week while slaughtering more than 100 people – two-thirds of them children – at a kindergarten. Drone attacks targeted first responders as they tried to move victims to a nearby hospital. Two years of civil war have left close to 80 percent of Sudan’s health facilities useless. So-called “citizen-led clinics” are filling the void. Sudanese church planters recently partnered with Christian doctors, nurses, and pharmacists from South Sudan to hold several citizen-led clinics in displacement camps. “They went to 12 pop-up clinics and 10 camps in four locations,” a Gospel worker we’ll call John says: “In total, we did 104 days of clinics, and we were able to see 7,000 people. The majority of this last medical outreach was with pediatric medicines, and we’ve been able to see about 3,500 children.”
It’s the latest edition of a coalition formed earlier this year between Sudanese church planters, U.S. suppliers who provide donated medications, and medical professionals from South Sudan. “They arrive, then they’re divided up, taken to the locations where refugees are. Working with the South Sudan Council of Churches, we were able to get the medications duty-free.”
PRAY for the Lord to strengthen believers and medical teams, as they receive, distribute and supply the donated medicines. “Sudanese people need the Gospel, but they also need the encouragement that, somewhere in the world, Christians recognize what they’re suffering.”

AUSTRALIAN CHEF SACKED FOR SHARING HIS FAITH WINS DISCRIMINATION CASE
A 41-year-old chef at a New South Wales hotel was sacked for speaking too openly about his Christian beliefs, but now has won his case at the Fair Work Commission. It’s a welcome victory for freedom — but sounds a loud warning to Christians.
For many Australians, the workplace should be a place of professionalism, mutual respect, and fairness. But for Tony Whitley (not his real name), it became the source of deep distress, financial hardship, and fear when his employment was abruptly terminated because of his Christian faith. Tony, a 41-year-old executive chef at a high-end hotel in New South Wales, found himself summoned without warning, accused of “gross misconduct”, and escorted off the premises. The allegations? That he had breached the hotel’s code of conduct by making “inappropriate remarks” and speaking too openly about his Christian beliefs. He had no opportunity to respond. Despite a solid work record and positive relationships, he was dismissed immediately and without process   not because of performance, but because of who he is and what he believes.
With the  Human Rights Law Alliance’s (HRLA) support, Tony took his case to the Fair Work Commission. While the details must remain confidential, we can report that Tony has now reached a satisfactory settlement, allowing him to put this painful chapter behind him. He has also secured new employment and is rebuilding stability for his family. Tony’s story reflects a broader reality. Across the country, Australians are increasingly finding themselves disciplined, sidelined or dismissed for expressing mainstream Christian beliefs and living out their faith with integrity — often without fair process or genuine cause. As more people come forward with stories like Tony’s, HRLA remains committed to defending their rights, restoring fairness, and ensuring that freedom of religion in the workplace is not merely a principle – but a protected reality. [Source: The Daily Declaration]

FROM MARTYRDOM TO MOVEMENT: THE 70-YEAR LEGACY OF OPERATION AUCA
In 1956, five missionaries flew deep into the jungle of Ecuador, hoping to share the gospel via sign language with an indigenous tribe called the Waodani, formerly called the Aucas, meaning “savages”. The violent deaths of Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, and Pete Fleming,  became a defining moment for modern missions. Their story of sacrifice, rather than ending a mission, ignited a global movement to bring the hope of Jesus Christ to the ends of the Earth. While the families suffered a tragic loss, their deaths became a seed that would eventually grow in the hearts of indigenous people groups worldwide.
Gene Jordan, a longtime pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship, the same organization that flew those men to Ecuador, recalls their story sparking a wildfire in the mission field, and in his own calling. “This event, people have called the most significant event in the 20th century – in missions,” Jordan said. “I’ve heard many, many people say that I am in ministry because of that story, because of the dedication of those five men to give up their lives so that others might hear about a God Creator and His Son who came to die for them.”
By God’s grace, the widows and a sister of the Martyrs returned to the same jungle to finish the work of sharing the gospel. As a result, the Gospel touched the hearts of the Waodani men responsible for the killings, and they were  baptized by Phil Saint, Nate Saint’s brother – in the same river their bodies were found. Today, Jaime Saint continues the work of the Indigenous People’s Technology and Education Center ( ITEC), founded by his father. The center provides indigenous groups with healthcare, farming, and mechanical training – along with the gospel. They’ve training indigenous people in more than 70 countries. Last year, they trained roughly 500 people from 35 to 40 tribes.
What began in violence became transformed by forgiveness and faith. As Franklin Graham, President and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told CBN News: “There’s no question—these five men have had a tremendous impact on missions. I thank God for their obedience and courage. They were willing to risk all for the sake of the Gospel. I believe their lives have inspired untold numbers of missionaries to go to difficult places over the last 70 years, and I pray their powerful testimony will continue to challenge another generation of Christians to take the hope of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth!” [Source: CBN News]

– compiled by Guido Kettniss