Light The Nations Prayer Guide

Greater Middle East Prayer Initiative

September 22 through October 4 2026 | PRINT

Come on a journey with us to reach 38 nations, and many unreached people groups, in prayer and evangelism, bringing the love of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of the Kingdom to those who may have never heard. We hear stories of people throughout the Middle East encountering Christ through dreams and visions. Can it be that this is the strategic hour where we are called to watch and pray until we see the greatest harvest of souls the world has ever seen?

You will be a part of this by adopting a target nation and praying together with us from September 22nd through October 4th. You are going to go on a Holy Spirit adventure as you pray. Beginning on September 22nd, we will be sending you a prayer guide daily with three or four of our 38 target countries in the Greater Middle East region. You will learn a little bit about each country and the unreached people groups in the country. Then, we will give you some points to pray in unity with others interceding from all around the world for those nations that day. Now, that’s some concentrated prayer power! Some of these nations are places we could never get to, but the Holy Spirit can!

There have been so many prayer initiatives over the years, but we really feel like God highlighted these 38 nations for this global prayer push this fall. These 38 nations are very spiritually dark. A remnant of the church may be there, but largely, the people groups living in these nations are unreached for the Gospel. Some of them once had thriving Christian populations historically, but things have waned over time. We strongly desire to see the light overcome the darkness once again, so the people can see Jesus! We want to see a lasting move of God resulting in societal change and Kingdom advancement, where people are set free to be everything God created them to be.

If you haven’t already signed up to be a part of the army, you can go to Light The Nations and watch our video explaining the entire vision. You can also see the collaborators at the bottom of the page. Make sure and sign up here. This lets us know what country/countries you are praying for and signs you up for the daily prayer guide.

Then, watch for our daily emails and help us pray targeted prayers over the 3 or 4 nations mentioned that day. Or go to the Light The Nations  website, find your target country/countries, and pray daily for them with the information on the site.

We are so glad you are on this journey with us!

To God be the Glory!
Mike and Cindy Jacobs

Daily Prayer Guide

Choose a day below. Each day and country also appears in the document outline.

Day 1 - September 22

Afghanistan · Algeria · Azerbaijan

Day 2 - September 23

Bahrain · Comoros · Djibouti

Day 3 - September 24

Egypt · Indonesia · Iran · Iraq

Day 4 - September 25

Israel. The Holy Land · Judea and Samaria—The West Bank · The Gaza Strip

Day 5 - September 26

Jordan · Kazakhstan · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan

Day 6 - September 27

Lebanon · Libya · Mauritania

Day 7 - September 28

Morocco · Mozambique · Nigeria

Day 8 - September 29

Oman · Pakistan · Qatar

Day 9 - September 30

Saudi Arabia · Syria · Somalia · Somaliland

Day 10 - October 1

Sudan · Tajikistan · Tunisia

Day 11 - October 2

Turkey · Turkmenistan · United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Day 12 - October 3

Uzbekistan · Western Sahara · Yemen

Day 13 - October 4

Focus on Unreached People Groups

Day 1 - September 22

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Afghanistan

“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” Psalm 9:9 (NIV)

Afghanistan sits at the crossroads of Central and South Asia, with a rich history spanning thousands of years. Once a key stop on the ancient Silk Road, the region has seen the rise and fall of empires from Alexander the Great to the Mughals. Today, over 99% of Afghans identify as Muslim, with Christianity virtually unknown to most of the population.1

People live in Afghanistan today under Taliban rule, where poverty is widespread and women face severe restrictions on education and employment. Nearly all Afghans practice Sunni Islam, and leaving the faith carries the threat of death — making it one of the most difficult places on earth to follow Jesus. A small number of secret believers persist, but they have almost no access to churches, pastors, or Scripture in their own languages.2

Recent news: Afghanistan is currently at war with Pakistan. Many countries in the region, including Russia, China, and India, as well as Qatar and Turkey, have involved themselves to some degree on each side of the conflict. Pakistan is a major trade partner with China, and India supports Afghanistan, causing economic and ideological stress in the region. The people along the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, but all the way to Kabul, are feeling the fear and lack that the conflict causes.3

Unreached people groups: Afghanistan has a population of 43,844,000 and of that, 41,547,000 are unreached. Primary unreached groups are the Afghan Tajik, Southern Pashtun, Northern Pashtun, Southeast Pashtun, Southern Uzbek, and Hazara groups, among others. To see all of them, click here.

Pray with us:
Father, we bring Afghanistan before you. This nation under Sunni Islamic Taliban rule is an ancient culture that has had significant impact on world affairs throughout history. Please deliver this people from oppression by a government that does not value Christians, women, or any others outside their primary Muslim faith. Strengthen the Christians that remain there. Intervene in the war with Pakistan and give these countries peace. And, Father, as we pray for the primary unreached people groups of Afghanistan (name them specifically). Reveal Your Son supernaturally to these that have never heard the Gospel. Provide the Word in their many languages and have mercy on Afghanistan in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Algeria

“The people living in darkness have seen a great light.” Matthew 4:16 (NIV)

Algeria is one of the ancient crossroads of the Mediterranean world. Its original Berber people — the Amazigh — built civilizations long before the Phoenicians, Romans, and Vandals each left their mark on the land. Christianity flourished here in the early centuries of the church; the theologian Augustine of Hippo was himself an Algerian Berber. The Arab conquest of the 7th century brought Islam, which has defined the country ever since. After 132 years of French colonization and a brutal independence war that cost over a million lives, Algeria emerged as a sovereign nation in 1962. A decade-long civil war in the 1990s between the government and Islamist insurgents left another hundred thousand dead and hardened the country's suspicion of religious deviation.4

People live in Algeria today under a one-party state where Islam is the official religion and conversion carries severe social consequences. The vast majority of Algerians are Sunni Muslim, and leaving the faith is considered a profound betrayal of family and community. Yet a quiet movement is stirring — particularly among the Kabyle Berbers of the northern mountains, where thousands have come to faith in Christ over the past two decades, drawn by a renewed sense of pre-Islamic identity. House churches meet in secret, believers face pressure and occasional arrest, and yet the church is growing.5

Recent news: Algeria, together with Morocco, form a strong economic competition in Northern Africa. This competition affects Europe, as often, alignments with one of the two nations will cause the other to pull back from agreements they have held for years. This turbulence affects “energy, investment, migration and security” in many European countries involved in trade with Algeria and Morocco. So, Algeria is a key economic player.6

Unreached people groups: Algeria has a population of  47,435,000 and of that, 46,499,000 are unreached. Primary unreached groups are Arabic-speaking Algerians, Kabyle Berber, Shawiya Berber, and the Tamazight Berber groups. There is a major move of God occurring currently among the Kayle Berbers. To see all of them, click here.

Pray with us:
Lord, we thank you for the move of God happening among the Kabyle Berbers in the north of Algeria. You are more than able to move in areas we look at and consider to be impossible. You are showing us this truth through this move of God in Algeria. Let Your light shine brighter and brighter among the unreached groups in Algeria. Make them a sign and a wonder! Especially reveal Yourself to the young adults in Algeria, who are struggling with the political and religious environment there, which they feel has failed their generation. You have given this nation a pivotal economic role in Europe. Redeem it, Lord, and give them a pivotal role in Kingdom advancement as well. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

Azerbaijan

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Matthew 10:28 (BSB)

Azerbaijan sits at the ancient meeting point of the Caucasus mountains, the Caspian Sea, and the great civilizations of Persia and Russia. Christianity arrived in the region in the first century — the Albanian church of the Caucasus predates Islam by six hundred years — but the Arab conquest and later the Safavid Persian empire gradually replaced it with Shia Islam, which remains the majority tradition today. Russia absorbed Azerbaijan in the early 1800s, and after a brief period of independence, it became a Soviet republic in 1920. Independence returned in 1991, and with it the Aliyev family's authoritarian grip on power. Today Azerbaijan is officially secular, but Islam is deeply woven into cultural identity, and the small Christian community navigates a landscape of suspicion.7

People live in Azerbaijan today under a government that maintains tight control over religion and civil society. Evangelical Christians face bureaucratic obstacles, surveillance, and social pressure, particularly those who come from Muslim backgrounds. The ancient Azerbaijani church — long eclipsed by centuries of Islamic dominance — is slowly re-emerging, and a small but growing number of Azerbaijanis are encountering the gospel through satellite television, digital media, and personal witness. Conversion from Islam remains socially costly, but God is at work in this Caspian nation.8

Recent news: Azerbaijan is rich in oil and gas, a current global commodity with great value. Many nations desire to participate in the oil and gas business with Azerbaijan, which could become very lucrative for this nation. These nations include Russia, the U.S., and Great Britain. Turkey has gone further and wants to expand their energy partnership beyond oil and gas to include electricity as well. May the Lord richly bless the resources He has given to Azerbaijan.9

Unreached people groups: Azerbaijan has a population of 10,398,000 and of that, 9,759,000 are unreached. Primary unreached groups are over 8 million Azerbaijani, the Talysh, the Lezgin, and the Aeri Turk Azerbaijanis. To see all the unreached groups, click here.

Pray with us:

God, Azerbaijan is a nation “between” – between East and West, tradition and modernity, it’s oppressive past, and a bright future. It is a nation coming into renown at a key time in history. We pray for the persecuted Church in this country with an ancient Christian heritage. Comfort our brothers and sisters there, Holy Spirit. Give them hope and boldness to share the Gospel with those around them. Strengthen them, as we know it could cost them everything to do so. Thank You for shining Your light in and through them. We bless the resources of the land. May that become a great provision for the people there. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

Sources

1. Afghanistan - Light The Nations
2. Afghanistan - Light The Nations ibid.
3. Why Are the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan in an ‘Open War’? | Council on Foreign Relations
4. Algeria - Light The Nations
5. Algeria - Light The Nations ibid.
6. The Morocco-Algeria rivalry is remaking Europe’s North Africa policy | Opinions | Al Jazeera
7. Azerbaijan - Light The Nations
8. Azerbaijan - Light The Nations ibid.
9. Azerbaijan News | Today's Latest Stories | Reuters
10. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 2 - September 23

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Bahrain

"For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, he opens the ears of men." Job 33:14–15 (NIV)

Bahrain is one of the ancient world's most remarkable small places — an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf whose recorded history stretches back to Dilmun, the paradise-island of Sumerian mythology, mentioned in texts from 3000 BC. For millennia Bahrain was the center of the Indian Ocean pearl trade; before oil, pearls were the country's defining product and cultural pride. The Portuguese captured it in the 16th century, the Persians held it, and the Al Khalifa dynasty took control in 1783 and rules to this day. Britain exercised protectorate control until independence in 1971. Today Bahrain is a small but wealthy oil economy, a financial hub for the Gulf, and home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet. Unlike its Gulf neighbors, Bahrain has relatively greater religious freedom: churches exist here, and a significant portion of the population is Christian — almost entirely migrant workers from South Asia, the Philippines, and Africa.1

People live in Bahrain today in one of the most cosmopolitan small nations in the Gulf. The population of 1.6 million includes a large migrant community, and Christians among them worship in churches that exist openly — a relative rarity in this region. But more than half of Bahrain's people groups remain unreached, and Bahraini Muslims themselves are largely insulated from genuine gospel witness. The island's wealth, its ancient culture, and its social fabric are all woven through with Islamic identity. The presence of Christians in Bahrain is a foothold, but the Bahraini people themselves have rarely heard the gospel addressed to them personally.2

Recent news: Bahrain is one of the Middle East countries being targeted by Iran as there are military bases in the nation.3

Unreached people groups: Bahrain has a population of 1,643,000 and of that, 1,434,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups in Bahrain are the Bahraini Arabs, The Persians, and Arabs. To see them all, click here.

Pray with us: Lord, we thank you for the freedom of religion that exists in Bahrain. It is a nation with many Christians from all over the world, who are able to go to church on Sunday, and gather through the week in a region where this is largely disallowed. Bless Bahrain for this freedom. And, Lord, let their light shine brightly into the Muslim community there, showing forth the love of Jesus. The Arabic community needs You. Visit the Bahrainis in visions and dreams, as we hear happens frequently among the Arabic populations throughout the Middle East. Let them truly find the Pearl of Great Price. Let this nation be known as precious in Your sight, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Comoros

" He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts..." Ecclesiastes 3:11a (NKJV)

Comoros is a tiny volcanic archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa, between Madagascar and the Mozambique Channel — three small islands and a host of islets collectively known as the "Perfume Islands" for their production of ylang-ylang, vanilla, and cloves. Arab traders arrived in the 9th century and brought Islam, which has defined Comorian culture ever since. French colonial rule came in the 19th century; independence arrived in 1975, followed by a turbulent period of more than twenty coups and attempted coups in under three decades — one of the world's most politically unstable records. Today Comoros remains one of the poorest countries in the world despite its astonishing natural beauty. The population is 98% Muslim, and Islamic faith is woven into every dimension of Comorian social life — from the Arabic-inflected Shikomori language to the architecture of every village mosque.4

People live in Comoros today on three lush volcanic islands where the scent of ylang-ylang drifts over fishing villages and the call to prayer marks the rhythm of every day. Comoros is one of the world's most forgotten and least-reached places — nearly no one prays for it, almost no one goes there, and the infrastructure for gospel outreach barely exists. The small Christian presence (about 1.5%) is mostly associated with the French-speaking community and largely disconnected from the indigenous Comorian population. The Comorian people — African in spirit, Arab in faith, French in formal education — have lived for over a thousand years within the walls of Islam without hearing another voice. They are extraordinarily poor, extraordinarily beautiful in culture, and almost entirely unreached.5

Recent news: Global Tourism is a significant part of life in Comoros. It is an island nation that has been a tourist destination for many years. The nation is now expanding its national parks, and restoring historic buildings, preparing itself for even greater tourism in the future.6

Unreached people groups: Comoros has a population of 883,000 and of that, 843,000 are unreached. The unreached people groups in Comoros are the Ngazidja Comorian, the Ndzwani Comorian, the Mwali Comorian, the Makhuwa-Meetto, and the Deaf. To learn more about these groups, click here.

Pray with us: Lord, this beautiful, lush, fragrant island nation has captured Your heart. The people are poor, and hungry, but we ask You to make them hungry for You. Raise up missionaries to travel to Comoros as tourists to view the beauty of the land and share the Gospel with those who have never heard. Show the people in dreams the missionaries that are coming to tell them about the One True God whose name is Jesus. Let Islam fall off this lovely country and let the people rejoice in their newfound love of the Lamb. We ask these things in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Djibouti

" But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?" Romans 10:14 (NLT)

Djibouti is a tiny country — barely larger than Massachusetts — perched at one of the most strategically critical points on earth: the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, through which roughly 20% of the world's shipping passes. The Afar and Somali peoples have lived in this volcanic, desert environment for millennia. France colonized it as French Somaliland in 1884 and held it until independence in 1977. Today Djibouti hosts military bases from the United States, France, China, Japan, Italy, and Saudi Arabia — more foreign military installations per square mile than anywhere else on earth. Its economy runs largely on port fees and payments from these foreign bases. The population is 94% Muslim, drawn primarily from the Somali and Afar ethnic groups — two of the least-reached peoples in the world.7

People live in Djibouti today in extreme heat — it is regularly among the hottest inhabited places on earth — in a tiny country where geopolitical importance masks deep poverty. The Afar and Somali peoples carry centuries of Islamic identity interwoven with tribal culture, and while a small Christian community exists among urban dwellers and expatriates, the indigenous Muslim population has almost no access to the gospel. The many foreign soldiers and workers who pass through Djibouti represent a curious reversal: the nations come to this land, yet its own people remain among the least reached. The country's volcanic, otherworldly landscape mirrors the spiritual one — dramatic, beautiful, and waiting.8

Recent news: The Catholic Church has launched a recent assembly across Eastern Africa “focused on youth participation, governance, migration, and hope.”9

Unreached people groups: Djibouti has a population of 1,184,000 and of that, 1,117,000 are unreached. The unreached people groups in Djibouti are the Issa Somali, the Afar, the Yemeni Arab, the Omani Arab, and the Deaf. Click here to learn more about these people groups.

Pray with us: Father, Djibouti is a crossroads point for many nations of the world. Our U.S. military has important bases there, along with many other nations’ militaries. Let it be a place where the nations gather to worship You and share the Gospel of the Kingdom with those who are yet without knowledge of You. Let Islam fall by the wayside into the history of their past, as they embrace the love of Jesus. Break open the hard ground of Islamic identity they are known for and exchange it for Truth and Life in Christ in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Sources

1. Bahrain - Light The Nations
2. Bahrain - Light The Nations ibid.
3. US attacks Iran for 13th night as Trump threatens ‘bigger’ strikes | US-Israel war on Iran News | Al Jazeera
4. Comoros - Light The Nations
5. Comoros - Light The Nations ibid.
6. Breaking and latest news about Comoros | Comoros Breaking News
7. Djibouti - Light The Nations
8. Djibouti - Light The Nations ibid.
9. Djibouti News Today
10. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 3 - September 24

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Egypt

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

Egypt is one of the world's oldest civilizations, with a recorded history stretching back more than five thousand years. Home to the ancient pharaohs, Egypt was also the birthplace of one of the earliest Christian communities — the Coptic church traces its founding to the Apostle Mark, and at one point Egypt was nearly 90% Christian. Through the centuries Egypt has gone through great changes, and today it stands as the most populous nation in the Middle East: a land of breathtaking ancient monuments, world-class cities, and a warm and hospitable people whose culture has shaped human civilization across millennia.1

Egypt is a land of remarkable beauty and deep history — the Nile, the pyramids, the bustling energy of Cairo, and a people known for their warmth and generosity. The Coptic Christian community — roughly 10% of the population and one of the oldest Christian communities on earth — has maintained a faithful presence for nearly two thousand years. Across the country, many are quietly searching for meaning and truth. A growing number of non-believers are encountering Jesus through dreams, satellite television, and digital media, and a new generation of Egyptians is asking deep questions about faith, identity, and the future.2

Recent News: Egypt is working hard to expand public-private partnerships to upgrade and advance its infrastructure while increasing entrepreneurship and investment opportunities.  This could result in overall economic growth and create new job opportunities.3

Unreached people groups: Egypt has a population of 118,336,000 and of that, 107,486,000 are unreached.  The primary unreached people groups in Egypt are Egyptian, Saudi, Sudanese, Arab-speaking Algerian, Moroccan, Gulf-Spoken Arabic, and Halebi Romani, among others. Click here to learn about each people group.

Pray with us: 

God, we thank you for the great nation of Egypt. This country has a significant role in biblical history and has been used by You for Your divine and sovereign purposes. We thank You for early adoption of Christianity among the Egyptian people. We ask for a resurrection of the love they had for You at the first. Cause the coals of revival to spring to life there again! Bless the people of Egypt with this new economic plan which could better the lives of many and bring increase in many areas to Egypt. We pray also for the government to grant favor to the Church to meet and to share their faith openly. May the Gospel of the Kingdom be spread more freely, Lord. We thank You for this freedom in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Indonesia

“After this I looked, and there was an enormous crowd--no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood in front of the throne and of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.” Rev 7:9 (GNT)

Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago — seventeen thousand islands, three hundred ethnic groups, seven hundred languages — and the most populous Muslim-majority country on earth. For centuries, Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished here, leaving behind monuments like Borobudur and Prambanan. Islam arrived through trade beginning in the 13th century, spreading gradually and taking on distinctly Indonesian forms blended with older traditions. Dutch colonization under the VOC lasted nearly three centuries. Independence came in 1945 under Sukarno, who built the new nation on Pancasila — five founding principles including belief in God and national unity — creating a deliberately pluralistic state that recognized multiple religions without establishing any one of them.4

People live in Indonesia today in the world's third-largest democracy, navigating a growing tension between its pluralistic founding ideals and the rising influence of conservative Islam. Blasphemy laws are used against minorities, churches are burned or forcibly closed, and Christians in majority-Muslim regions face significant pressure. Yet the church in Indonesia is also large and vibrant — Batak Christians in Sumatra, Ambonese believers in Maluku, and the vast Christian communities of Papua constitute one of the largest concentrations of Christians in Asia. More than two hundred people groups remain unreached, most of them in the Muslim heartlands of Java, Sumatra, and Kalimantan.5

Recent news: Indonesia is formalizing and expanding its national move begun about sixteen years ago to combat radicalization. Their approach encompasses government action and legislation, community involvement, academics, religious and community leadership involvement, digital and online education and resources, and increased effective counterterrorism.6 In Indonesia, radicalization refers to the process by which individuals adopt and embrace violent extremist ideologies, often in the name of religion, politics, or identity, leading them to support or engage in acts of terrorism or violent extremism (primarily Islamic extremism.)7

Unreached people groups: Indonesia has a population of 285,721,000 and of that, 182,585,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups in Indonesia are the Sunda, Java Pesisir Lor, Java Negarigung, Java Mancanegari, and the Javanese among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Lord, we lift this diverse nation of Indonesia before You. This nation has tasted Islamic extremism and violence, and is attempting to combat it with education, community involvement, and government intervention. However, we know that only when You are at the center of transformation, can peace and safety be experienced. So, Lord, we ask that there would be such a move of the Spirit in Indonesia, especially out from the areas where Batak Christians in Sumatra, Ambonese believers in Maluku, and the vast Christian communities of Papua are, that, like a wildfire, nothing can stop the move of God. If the heart of the government is to see peace and rest, answer them by revealing the only true peacemaker, and the only One that can give them rest, Lord – Jesus! Amen.

Iran

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 (NASB)

Iran is the heir to one of the oldest and most powerful civilizations the world has ever known. The Persian Empire stretched from Greece to India; its kings appear by name in the Hebrew scriptures. For centuries, Zoroastrianism — a religion of light and truth — shaped Persian culture and ethics. The Arab conquest of the 7th century brought Islam, and when the Safavid dynasty rose to power in 1501, they imposed Shia Islam as the official state religion, a distinction that sets Iran apart from most of the Muslim world to this day. The 1979 Islamic Revolution under Ayatollah Khomeini transformed the country into a theocratic republic, replacing the Shah's western-leaning monarchy with rule by Islamic jurists.8

People live in Iran today under one of the most repressive governments in the world — and yet the church is growing faster here than almost anywhere on earth. The Islamic Republic imprisons, tortures, and threatens death for those who leave Islam, particularly those who share their faith with others. And yet tens of thousands of Iranians are coming to Christ, drawn through satellite television, social media, dreams, and the witness of fearless believers. Many Iranians — especially the young — are deeply disillusioned with the Islamic Republic, and a generation that has only known theocracy is searching for something true.9

Recent news: For a number of years, it has been reported among Christian news sources that the Church in Iran is experiencing the greatest growth in the world as one of the fastest growing moves of evangelism is occurring there.10 Into this place where Holy Spirit is drawing so many lives to Christ, the enemy has moved through Iran’s hardcore Islamic government to expand terrorism throughout the Middle East. Iran has been steadfast in its determination to be a nuclear military power. Israel and the United States moved to stop their nuclear armament in February. Conflict is continuing after a number of failed peace negotiations. Other nations in the Middle East, especially those with U.S. military bases, have been attacked as well.11 All of the Middle East is watchful. Overall, the people of Iran are suffering greatly as a result of this conflict.12 And Christians inside of Iran are being persecuted as “being Zionists.”13

Unreached people groups: Iran has a population of 92,418,000 and of that, 80,828,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are Persian, Azeri Turk Azerbaijani, Southern Kurd, Gilani Gilaki, and Feyli Luri, among others. Click here to learn more about the unreached people groups of Iran.

Pray with us: 

Father, the area Iran now occupies was the home of Daniel and Esther. You spoke with and through them there to save Your people in their generation. We believe you are not done with Persia, Lord, even in our day. We ask You to intervene to save Your people there once again. We need a supernatural move of the Holy Spirit to save the Believers there. Grant them great courage to share the Gospel in the face of great persecution. Let them save their family members, friends, and neighbors by Your miraculous hand, such that they can see Your reality. Turn the hearts of the leaders like a watercourse, Lord, away from destruction. Let them desire to save their nation from war, economic destruction, and famine, and give way to cooperation with other nations. We ask these things in Jesus’ mighty and faithful name. Amen.

Iraq

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

Iraq is the ancient land of Mesopotamia — the cradle of civilization, where writing was invented, where Abraham was born, and where the rivers Tigris and Euphrates have nourished human life for ten thousand years. Babylon, Nineveh, Ur: the names appear throughout the Bible. Christianity took root here in the first century, and for two millennia the Assyrian and Chaldean churches kept faith alive in the land where faith first flourished. The Arab conquest of the 7th century brought Islam; centuries of Ottoman rule followed. Britain carved modern Iraq from the wreckage of World War One. Coups, Baathism, Saddam Hussein, the Gulf War, UN sanctions, the 2003 American invasion, and a decade of sectarian bloodshed culminated in the rise of ISIS — which nearly completed the erasure of the ancient Christian community.14

People live in Iraq today in the aftermath of catastrophe. The ancient Assyrian and Chaldean Christian community — once 1.5 million strong — has been reduced to perhaps 150,000 survivors. Entire Christian towns in the Nineveh Plain were emptied by ISIS in 2014; some families have returned to rebuilt homes, but most of the diaspora has not. The Muslim majority, overwhelmingly Shia, is led by a fractured and corrupt government. Ordinary Iraqis — Arab, Kurd, Yazidi — have endured more violence in a generation than most nations face in a century. Yet even here, the gospel is moving quietly, carried by satellite television, courageous local believers, and the desperate hunger of a people who have seen what godless power does.15

Recent news: Iraq is a nation that has been at the center of global tension and seen much war over the last 20 years since the Iraq War began there in 2003. Currently, it finds itself newly involved in conflict between the U.S. and Iran due to the U.S. military bases there and Iraqi militant groups connected to Iran.16 Those Iranian-backed groups have begun to attack other Middle Eastern countries from inside Iraq, putting Iraqi citizens once again in a very precarious and dangerous position.17

Unreached people groups: Iraq has a population of 47,021,000 and of that, 44,651,000 are unreached.  The primary unreached people groups in Iraq are Iraqi Arab, North Iraqi Arab, Dorani Kurd, Meddle-Eastern Turkmen, Badani Kurd, and Iraqi Afro, among others. Click here to learn about each people group.

Pray with us: 

Lord, into this land that once held a thriving Christian population, we sow our intercession for a generation that has only known war. Christianity is hard in Iraq, as they suffer under persecution, war, displacement, and lack. Now, under a new wave of conflict, we ask You to show Yourself supernaturally to a generation that has never heard the Gospel. As our scripture for Iraq states, draw the weary, the brokenhearted, and the burdened to Your rest. Only You can heal the trauma. Only You can grant hope and faith in the midst of such fearful circumstances. Lord, be merciful, loving and kind to the innocent ones there. Strengthen the Church, and turn the hardest of hearts to Jesus. Let Iraq be a nation that belongs to the Lord. Amen.

Sources

1. Egypt - Light The Nations
2. Egypt - Light The Nations ibid.
3. Egypt, IFC discuss boosting private sector participation in key sectors - EgyptToday
4. Indonesia - Light The Nations
5. Indonesia - Light The Nations ibid.
6. BNPT calls for stronger community resilience against radicalism - ANTARA News
7. Climate Change and Radicalization: A Case Study of Indonesia
8. Iran - Light The Nations
9. Iran - Light The Nations
10. Iran’s Christian revival: A fast-growing movement with ancient roots | All Israel News
11. Why the United States and Iran Keep Fighting While They Negotiate
12. Voices of Iran: Heartbreaking Examples of Life Under Tyranny - CBN Israel
13. In Iran, Christians Are Prosecuted as ‘Zionist Traitors’
14. Iraq - Light The Nations
15. Iraq - Light The Nations ibid.
16. Who are Iran's allies? Countries with ties to Middle Eastern nation
17. Saudi Arabia says it destroyed drones launched by Iran-backed groups in Iraq | Reuters
18. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 4 - September 25

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Israel. The Holy Land

“Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.” Luke 24:31 (GWT)

Israel lies on the eastern Mediterranean land bridge connecting Africa, Asia, and Europe. In the biblical record, this land is the setting for the patriarchs, the history of Israel, the ministries of the prophets, and the earthly life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The modern State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948, following the end of the British Mandate. There have been a number of wars and conflicts surrounding its establishment and continuing existence, which have brought challenges to daily living to both Jewish and Palestinian Arab communities. Today, Israel is home to a Jewish-majority population alongside Arab citizens, including Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin, immigrants, and foreign residents. It is a land of extraordinary biblical significance, remarkable national resilience, and continuing security challenges. In its short modern existence, Israel has made notable advancements and achievements in science and technology, agriculture, education, medicine, engineering, military strategies and arms, and global trade, among other things. Scripture reminds believers that God remains faithful to His covenant purposes, while the church is called to pray for Israel’s salvation, the peace of Jerusalem, the protection of the innocent, the strengthening of Christ’s church, and the faithful proclamation of the gospel throughout the land.1

People live in Israel, a highly educated and modern society where most identify as Jewish - ranging from deeply Orthodox to entirely secular - in the historic homeland of the Jewish people and the land where much of God’s redemptive work unfolded throughout Scripture. Most Jewish Israelis do not yet recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah, and many communities still await a clear and faithful gospel witness. Yet God has preserved both a Messianic Jewish remnant and a historic Arab Christian presence, demonstrating His continuing work among every tribe, language, and people.2

Recent news: Israel is currently fighting on four fronts; all connected in some way to Iran. The first is with Hamas in Gaza, where Hamas is still refusing to disarm. The second is with Hezbollah in Lebanon, a known Iran-proxy. The third is in Syria, where most of the Iran-backed terrorist cells have been eliminated. And, of course, they are at war, together with the United States, with Iran itself, attempting to weaken its influence over the proxy groups active and causing instability in the region.3

Unreached people groups: Israel has a population of 9,517,000 and of that, 8,347,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups in Israel are Israeli Jewish, Palestinian/Israeli Arab, Russian Jewish, Litvish Jewish, Hasidic Jewish, and Romanian Jewish, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Father, we pray for this land of Biblical significance, including Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection. We ask for a revelation of Jesus as Messiah to the Jews, and of Jesus as the One True God to all others. Let all of Israel be saved! Keep them safe and continuing to prosper and advance in agriculture, technology, medicine, and many other areas of society. As commanded in the scriptures, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, shared by Jews, Christians, and Muslims as holy ground. We ask You to guard and protect every citizen from every threat. May all the people reside in safety and prosperity in the land. And, Lord, strengthen Your Church. Embolden them to share the Gospel boldly in their actions and their words as they live out Your love for their neighbors of any faith. May they demonstrate Your reality as they pray for and practically care for their neighbors when they are sick, hungry, scared, or confused. Let Your love be expressed through Your Church in Israel, Jesus. Amen.

Judea and Samaria—The West Bank

"I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him." Zechariah 12:10 (NIV)

The land of Judea and Samaria, known as the West Bank, is saturated with the story of redemption. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, baptized in the Jordan, taught in Jericho, and wept over Jerusalem. The first Christian community was born in Jerusalem at Pentecost — Jews filled with the Holy Spirit, who scattered the gospel across the known world. Palestinian Christians can trace their community in an unbroken line to those first disciples. The Christian share of the population, once significant, has declined dramatically through emigration over decades of conflict. The Palestinian Authority governs areas of the West Bank together with Israel.4 

People live in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, today in the land where the gospel was born — and where 75% of people groups have never received it. The Muslim Palestinian majority, bearing generations of trauma, dispossession, and conflict, is largely unreached. The Palestinian Christian community — ancient, diminished, and scattered — carries enormous symbolic significance and a real but fragile witness. In Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, Christians are now a small minority in their own holy city.5

Recent news: Violence in the West Bank is constant and increasing. In one weekend, the following acts of aggression were recorded in the news by The Times of Israel: “Palestinian shot dead trying to stab soldier; was father of terrorist who killed 3 in Tel Aviv.” “Palestinian teen shot dead after unauthorized settler ‘hike’ near village sparks clashes.” “Four Palestinians said injured Saturday in separate settler attacks across the West Bank.” “Israeli man injured in West Bank stabbing attack; IDF arrests suspect after manhunt.” “Car, building torched in apparent settler attack in West Bank; no injuries reported.”6

Unreached people groups: Judea and Samaria – the West Bank – has a population of  3,490,000 and of that, 3,486,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups in Judea and Samaria – the West Bank – are the Palestinian Arab, Israeli Jewish, Egyptian General Arab, Levantine Bedouin, and Syrian Arab, among others. Click here to learn about each. [These numbers are combined with Gaza.]

Pray with us: 

Lord, it is time for the people of Judea and Samaria to “see” Jesus. We proclaim, “It is time!” In this place holding so much biblical history, especially in the time Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected, through much of the beginning of the Book of Acts, move once again in signs, wonders, and miracles, and draw a new generation to the Father. raise up both Palestinian and Messianic believers who understand themselves as heirs of the world's oldest Christian community and who carry the gospel with the authority of those who live where it was born. Let them be emboldened as witnesses in this land that belongs to You. The only hope for an end to the daily violence in the West Bank is for the Prince of Peace to be embraced and manifested in the people who receive Him. Let the prophesy that “the people of this land look on the One who was pierced, and mourn” result in their salvation and healing of their souls from generations of fear and pain. It is time, Jesus. Save, heal, and restore the people of Judea and Samaria. Amen.

The Gaza Strip

“And He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ So I answered, ‘O Lord God, You know.’” Ezekiel 37:3 (NKJV)

Gaza is a territory that has been greatly contested since 1948. Controlled at that time by the Kingdom of Egypt, it has passed through the governance or oversight of the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and most recently, Hamas.  With a population that is today primarily Sunni Muslim, Gaza is a densely populated area composed of Palestinian refugees. Many global aid agencies have been working in Gaza for decades to assist these refugee populations.7

The October 2023 war in Gaza has been devastating, killing tens of thousands and displacing nearly the entire population of Gaza, including the ancient, tiny Christian community there. The Palestinian church — one of the world's oldest — now faces perhaps its gravest test of survival. In Gaza, the war has devastated the two small congregations that remained – The Greek Orthodox St. Porphyrius Church and the Missionaries of Charity Sisters, who have stayed to bravely help with food, prayer, and basic necessities. Yet God has not abandoned Gaza. He knows every name there, and His purposes for this people are not finished.8

Recent news: U.S. President Donald Trump has put together a Board of Peace for Gaza. While generally agreed to by Hamas and Israel, the plan remains at a standstill. The progress made is that Israel has released all prisoners it held from the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and Hamas has released all hostages and bodies it still held from the same event. However, there remains a disagreement regarding Hamas’ disarmament. Israel demands Hamas completely disarm to move forward, while Hamas refuses to do so. There has been ongoing conflict as a result of this disagreement, with members of the Board of Peace, especially Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, and the Board of Peace’s envoy to Gaza, Nikolay Mladenov, continuing to try to bring the two sides together.9 The result of the Board of Peace’s plan for Gaza is to clear out all Hamas governance and influence, provide immediate aid to all residents and refugees,  and rebuild it into a beautiful environment providing jobs, opportunity, and hope for a new and prosperous future.10

Unreached people groups: The Gaza Strip has a population of 2,100,000 and of that, 2,048,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups in Judea and Samaria – the West Bank , and Gaza– are the Palestinian Arab, Israeli Jewish, Egyptian General Arab, Levantine Bedouin, and Syrian Arab, among others. Click here to learn about each. [These numbers are combined with Judea and Samaria – the West Bank.]

Pray with us: 

Lord, bring peace to Gaza. Move on the hearts of Hamas leadership to lay down their arms and remove themselves from this territory. We cry out for peace and the sudden disarmament of Hamas. Give the people relief. They have lost their homes, their livelihoods, even the basic necessities of life. Restore, Lord, restore! Protect all humanitarian aid efforts that they not be threatened or robbed. Provide a new government for Gaza that provides hope for the future and opportunities for prosperity for the people and for the Gospel of the Kingdom to thrive and spread. Give Gaza what it has never known before – freedom to be everything You have dreamed it could be. We blow on the dying coals of the remnant of the Church in Gaza. Fan their faith to flame, Lord, and let their many years of prayer and effort now bear tremendous fruit. Let the people be the recipients of great signs and wonders. May this ravaged land see the greatest move of God in the Middle East. And break the tribal mentality where fear of abandoning their tribe keeps them from receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Thank you, Jesus for the complete transformation of Gaza. Amen.

Sources

1. Israel - Light The Nations
2. Israel - Light The Nations ibid.
3. All roads lead to Tehran: Israel’s 4 fronts await the next turning point
4. Palestine - Light The Nations
5. Palestine - Light The Nations
6. West Bank | The Times of Israel
7. Gaza Strip - Wikipedia
8. Palestine - Light The Nations
9. Trump envoy discusses Gaza plan with Netanyahu after rare Hamas meeting
10. Board of Peace
11. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 5 - September 26

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Jordan

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Jordan sits at the geographical heart of Scripture. The ancient kingdoms of Edom, Moab, and Ammon occupied its territory. John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. Paul traveled its roads. The Nabataean city of Petra was already ancient when Rome absorbed it. Early Christianity thrived here — the ruins of hundreds of Byzantine churches still dot the landscape, and the mosaic map at Madaba is one of the oldest depictions of the Holy Land in existence. The Arab conquest brought Islam in the 7th century. Centuries of Ottoman rule gave way to British mandate, and in 1946 the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was born — a monarchy that has navigated one of the most volatile neighborhoods on earth with remarkable tenacity.1

People live in Jordan today in one of the region's few islands of relative stability — but stability under enormous strain. Jordan hosts more refugees per capita than almost any country on earth: over two million Palestinians and more than a million Syrians, many living in cities and towns rather than camps, competing for housing, work, and dignity. The small Christian minority — about two percent — lives openly and without the severe persecution common in neighboring countries, though conversion from Islam carries serious social consequences. Quietly, a growing evangelical movement is making disciples among both Jordanians and the vast refugee population, finding people whose suffering has made them unusually open to the gospel.2

Recent news: Jordan has embraced the refugee populations of many surrounding nations – Syrians, Iraqis, Lebanese, Yemenis, and Libyans. A number of Christian organizations are assisting these refugees who arrive in this welcoming nation with little but the clothes on their backs. Once in Jordan, these organizations have set up ministries to educate children, counsel those with post-traumatic stress syndrome, and provide vocational training, so lives can be rebuilt. They further bring the Gospel message those who haven’t yet heard, then disciple and train them to go back and spread the Gospel among their people groups, both in Jordan and back in their home countries. Many house churches are being planted throughout the Middle East by those that have been refugees in Jordan.3

Unreached people groups: Jordan has a population of 11,521,000 and of that, 11,144,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are Jordanian Arab, Palestinian Aab, Bedouin Arab, Syrian Arab, and North Iraqi Arab, among others. Click here to learn more about the unreached people groups of Jordan.

Pray with us: 

Father, Jordan is being used by You as a country of refuge where the persecuted and war-weary can find rest and hope for a future. As most of the population is under 30 years old, this is a country where hope must spring up, or choices to succumb to cynicism, destructive living, or radicalization could overtake them. We bless the Christian ministries working there. Grant them great favor with the local and national governments, so their work can go on unhindered, and even expand. Protect them from government intrusion. And, God, bless the refugee families. Let all they need to rebuild their lives be given to them, and may they come to know You and make You known from Jordan. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

Kazakhstan

“Even very young men get tired and become weak and strong young men trip and fall. But they who wait upon the Lord will get new strength. They will rise up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weak.”  Isaiah 40:30-31 (NLV)

Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country — a vast sweep of steppe, desert, and mountain that served for millennia as the highway between East and West. The Silk Road passed through it; Genghis Khan conquered it. The Kazakh people were nomadic herders, and their Islam, absorbed in the 15th to 17th centuries, was always lighter and more syncretic than in the Arab world. Russian imperial expansion absorbed Kazakhstan in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Soviet rule proved catastrophic: forced collectivization in the 1930s triggered a famine that killed nearly 40 percent of all Kazakhs. Soviet atheism suppressed both Islam and Christianity for seventy years. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Kazakhstan emerged as an independent nation with almost no living religious tradition to return to.4

People live in Kazakhstan today in a country still finding itself — post-Soviet, oil-rich yet unequal, officially secular but with Islam reasserting itself as a marker of national identity. Many Kazakhs are Muslim in name only, carrying Soviet-era skepticism toward all religion alongside a new hunger for meaning and roots. In this spiritual vacuum, one of the most remarkable stories in Central Asian mission history has unfolded: thousands of ethnic Kazakhs have come to faith in Christ since 1991, forming indigenous house churches and facing increasing government pressure for doing so. Kazakhstan's church is young, growing, and costly — and it needs the prayers of the global body.5

Recent news: Kazakhstan has just been noted as having more universities named to the World University Ranking list than all other Asian nations combined. Universities are growing and beginning to attract foreign faculty and students. Some foreign universities are also looking to establish branches in Kazakhstan.6 All of this means a possible increasing well-educated young adult population, drawing students from all over Asia, which can be a great missions opportunity.

Unreached people groups: Kazakhstan has a population of 20,844,000 and of that, 16,367,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Kazakh, Northern Uzbek, Uyghur, Tatar, Korean, and Turk, among others. Click here to learn more about the unreached people groups there.

Pray with us: 

Lord, we pray for the young people of Kazakhstan. They have primarily known atheism through communism, and Islam. It is time for them to know you. We are glad to hear the Gospel message has begun to reach them as their world is expanding through technology and expansion of their university system. They are being positioned to welcome the youth of Asia to their upgraded universities. May there be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the youth and young adults as You are doing in other parts of the world, so those coming encounter Jesus Christ and not the atheistic humanism and cultural Islam of their past. Renew the strength of the young to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to all that come and share their faith to all parts of Asia in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Kuwait

"But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With people [as far as it depends on them] it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’" Matthew 19:26 (AMP)

Kuwait is a small emirate at the northwestern tip of the Persian Gulf, shaped by the sea and the desert in equal measure. Bedouin tribes settled the area in the early 1700s, and the Al-Sabah family has ruled ever since. Britain made Kuwait a protectorate in 1899, shielding it from Ottoman pressure; oil was discovered in 1938 and transformed the country beyond recognition. Independence came in 1961. In 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded and annexed Kuwait, triggering the Gulf War and a US-led liberation that restored the Al-Sabah monarchy within months. Today Kuwait is one of the wealthiest nations on earth per capita — and one of the most spiritually closed.7

People live in Kuwait today in a society where nearly seventy percent of the population are foreign workers — South Asians, Filipinos, Egyptians, and others who built the country with their labor and who have almost no legal pathway to citizenship or permanent residence. Many of these workers are Christians, making them the only significant gospel presence in a country where evangelism is illegal and conversion from Islam carries severe social consequences. The Kuwaiti citizen population — Arab, oil-wealthy, and Muslim — has little meaningful contact with the gospel, insulated by wealth, religious conformity, and a legal system designed to keep Islam unchallenged.8

Recent news: On July 28th, Kuwait enacted laws governing the way “houses of worship” are regulated. This legislation establishes “common standards for governance, financial accountability, and regulatory oversight across licensed places of worship, whether mosques, churches, or other recognized religious institutions.” The regulations state that freedom of worship is protected while also mandating security surveillance and monitoring financial activities, among other things. All of this is said to protect those in worship, but also to prevent the exploitation of houses of religious worship from becoming platforms for “sectarian incitement or political mobilization.”9

Unreached people groups: Kuwait has a population of 5,026,000 and of that, 4,142,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are Arabic Gulf Spoken Arab, South Asian, Egyptian General Arab, Bengali-speaking South Asian, Malayali, Saudi-Najdi Arab, among others. Click here to learn more about the unreached people groups there.

Pray with us: 

Father, Kuwait is in need of a sweeping move of the Holy Spirit across their nation. While rich in the things of the world, their opportunities to receive a revelation of Jesus Christ seem limited. With the government doubling down on its watchfulness over church activities, and the fact that it is illegal for Muslims to convert, witnessing is a challenge. Let the Christian immigrant workers be bold to share the gospel. Let Kuwaiti students who attend international schools in the west, encounter Christian students more than willing to share their faith in Jesus. We call it “possible” for Kuwaitis to come to Christ! In Jeus’ Name, amen.

Kyrgyzstan

"And he said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect through weakness. Very gladly therefore will I rejoice rather in mine infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.’" 2 Corinthians 12:9 (GNV)

Kyrgyzstan is a small, mountainous nation in the heart of Central Asia — landlocked, rugged, and ancient. The Kyrgyz people were nomadic herders for millennia, moving with their horses and felt yurts across the Tian Shan mountains and the great steppes. Islam arrived gradually between the 15th and 17th centuries, but the nomadic way of life meant it was always absorbed lightly, blended with older shamanistic traditions rather than rooting deeply. Russian imperial expansion in the 19th century was followed by Soviet control in 1924. Collectivization shattered the nomadic economy, and Soviet atheism suppressed all religion for decades. Independence came in 1991, leaving a people searching for identity and meaning with almost no living religious tradition to anchor them.10

People live in Kyrgyzstan today in the most democratically open of the Central Asian states — a country that has seen two peaceful revolutions since independence, and where space for civil society and religious practice is broader than in neighboring Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan, though narrowing. Islam has reasserted itself as a marker of Kyrgyz identity, but for most citizens it remains cultural rather than devout. In this spiritual openness, a remarkable church has taken root: thousands of ethnic Kyrgyz have come to faith since 1991, planting house churches across the country. They face family pressure, occasional violence from religious extremists, and growing government restrictions — but the movement is alive and multiplying.11

Recent news: A college in Kyrgyzstan is developing a model of business education that does not simply educate a student in business, economic, or management theory. They are presenting the students with real problems facing the nation and asking them to use what they are learning to solve the nation’s real-world problems. “Learning takes place through practical cases, business games, and interaction with employers, helping students learn leadership qualities and entrepreneurial thinking.”12

Unreached people groups: Kyrgyzstan has a population of 7,295,000 and of that, 6,684,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are Kyrgyz, Northern Uzbek, Dungan, Uyghur, and Tajik, among others. Click here to learn more about the unreached people groups there.

Pray with us: 

Lord, Kyrgyzstan is leading the way in Central Asia as a model in government, religious freedom, and education. However, their society has largely ignored a need of You. Let the brilliance of their minds cause them to seek You out. Let the beauty of the land speak to them of the reality of You. Let those Believers planting house churches receive even more grace to expand them exponentially. Give the Kyrgyz Church wise and mature leaders, scripture in the Kyrgyz language, and a passion to witness from their love of and life in Christ in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Sources

1. Jordan - Light The Nations
2. Jordan - Light The Nations
3. Jordan - Christian Aid Mission
4. Kazakhstan - Light The Nations
5. Kazakhstan - Light The Nations ibid.
6. Bektenov warned akims of personal responsibility for the repair of energy facilities
7. Kuwait - Light The Nations
8. Kuwait - Light The Nations ibid.
9. Freedom Needs Governance | arabtimes
10. Kyrgyzstan - Light The Nations
11. Kyrgyzstan - Light The Nations ibid.
12. Not Just a Diploma: How ADAM University Prepares Professionals for the New Economy » News of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek and Osh — latest events today
13. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 6 - September 27

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Lebanon

"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 3:11 (NIV)

Lebanon is one of the oldest inhabited places on earth — home to the ancient Phoenicians, who gave the world the alphabet. Christianity arrived in the first century; the Apostle Paul preached in Tyre and Sidon. The Maronite church, in communion with Rome, has maintained an unbroken presence here for fifteen centuries. The Arab conquest brought Islam, and over the centuries Lebanon became one of the most religiously diverse societies in the Middle East — Maronite Christians, Greek Orthodox, Shia and Sunni Muslims, and Druze all carved out territory and identity in this small mountain country. The modern Lebanese state, born under French mandate and independent in 1943, was built on a careful confessional balance that collapsed into a devastating fifteen-year civil war in 1975.1

People live in Lebanon today in the middle of one of the worst economic collapses in modern history. Since 2019, the currency has lost over ninety percent of its value, the banking system has frozen savings, electricity runs only a few hours a day, and the middle class has been destroyed. The 2020 Beirut port explosion — one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history — killed more than two hundred people and devastated the capital. Through all of this, Lebanon's Christians — still roughly thirty percent of the population — face a historic choice: stay and rebuild, or join the mass emigration that is draining the ancient church from its homeland. Meanwhile, over a million Syrian refugees have swelled the population, creating both enormous need and extraordinary gospel opportunity.2

Recent news: Iran-backed Hezbollah has entrenched itself in Lebanon. It engages in fighting with Israel from southern Lebanon despite the Lebanese government’s prohibition against it. This has left many Lebanese running from the war zones, finding themselves to be homeless, displaced refugees. Some have fled to Beirut, but many Christians have chosen to stay in their homes in the south, trusting the Lord to protect them, but also caring for neighbors and refugees who cannot leave, or can only travel so far.3

Unreached people groups: Lebanon has a population of 5,489,000 and of that, 3,956,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Lebanese Muslim Arabs, Syrian Arab, Druze, Palestinian Arab, Alawite, Egyptian General Arab, and Kurmanji Kurd, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Father, minister to the people of this war-torn nation. Strengthen the Church, which has existed in Lebanon for two thousand years. In this time if renewed war, let the Believers cast off cultural Christianity and live like the Church of their ancestors – like the Church in the Book of Acts. As they care for their neighbors left behind, and for the multitudes of refugees passing through, let them share their faith with boldness. Let those in crisis have open hearts to receive the Gospel message from these brave and loving Christians as they let their light shine before others, so they may see their good deeds, and glorify You. Where the dark is very dark, let the Light of Christ shine brightly, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Libya

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” Ephesians 2:14 (ESV)

Libya sits at the crossroads of Mediterranean North Africa — a land of extraordinary historical depth. The Phoenicians established trading posts along its coast, and in Roman times, Tripolitania became one of the most prosperous provinces in the empire. Leptis Magna, birthplace of the Emperor Septimius Severus, was the third city of the Roman world and is today one of the best-preserved Roman ruins on earth. The Arab conquest brought Islam in the 7th century, and Libya remained under Arab, Berber, Ottoman, and then Italian colonial rule until independence in 1951. Muammar Gaddafi's 1969 coup inaugurated 42 years of erratic one-man rule. His overthrow in the 2011 revolution left Libya fractured between rival militias and governments — a conflict that continues today, with rival administrations and armed factions controlling different parts of the country.4

People live in Libya today in a country still without stable governance more than a decade after the revolution — where rival governments lay claim to authority, armed militias control territory, and economic conditions remain precarious despite Libya's oil wealth. Libya is 97% Muslim, and the Christian population consists almost entirely of Sub-Saharan African and Asian migrant workers. The native Libyan Arab and Berber populations have almost no access to the gospel and virtually no indigenous Christian witness. The chaos of conflict has made formal mission work nearly impossible, yet God has not abandoned this ancient land that once formed part of the early church's heartland.5

Recent news: Libya is experiencing increasing demonstrations and rioting across the nation as energy cuts have increased. There has been a shortage of both electricity and oil and gas, leaving many without power for up to 12 hours at times. The demonstrators do not seem to be cohesively organized, making many different demands depending on the group and location. The government increased security to prevent political infiltrators from using the demonstrating groups to initiate a coup.6

Unreached people groups: Libya has a population of 7,459,000 and of that, 6,018,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Libyan Arab, Cyrenaican Arab, Egyptian General Arab, Sanusi Bedouin, Sudanese Arab, and Arabic-speaking Algerian, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Lord, the nation of Libya is a nation with a rich Christian heritage. Remember that the early Church was thriving and sent missionaries to many nations. Today, Libya is in turmoil, looking to the government, and even young radicals, to do something to make their lives better. They need You, Jesus. Be their Peace. Stabilize their government, bring rest to the people, and still the constant disruption to people and infrastructure. Bring Your peace to hearts that fear and long for rest. Reveal Jesus in the turmoil, save the lost, and bring rest to these weary ones in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Mauritania

“I have other sheep, too, in another fold. I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice; and there will be one flock with one Shepherd.” John 10:16 (TLB)

Mauritania is one of the most forgotten nations in the world — a vast Saharan country where the desert swallows everything, including the news. Two-thirds Sahara, one-third Sahel, it was once part of the ancient Ghana Empire before the Arab Almoravid conquest in the 11th century swept Islam across the region and through the trans-Saharan trade routes. Chinguetti, its most celebrated city, was once called the seventh holiest city in Islam — a great crossroads of the camel caravan routes, now half-buried by advancing desert dunes. Mauritanian society is stratified by ethnicity and a history of slavery that the country only officially outlawed in 1981 and criminalized in 2007, though it continues informally. The Arabic-speaking Moorish majority and Black Mauritanian minorities (Haalpulaar, Soninke, Wolof) have long lived in tension. The population is 99.1% Muslim.7

People live in Mauritania today in one of the world's most comprehensively unreached nations — 88% of people groups are unreached, and the country's 0.2% Christian population consists overwhelmingly of foreign workers. Mauritania is a deeply Islamic society where conversion is treated as apostasy, punishable by death under law. The ancient Moorish culture, the seminomadic traditions, the trans-Saharan heritage — all of it is woven through with an Islam fourteen centuries deep. Yet God knows the name of every Mauritanian, from the camel herder in the Adrar to the fisherman on the Atlantic coast.8

Recent news: The president of Mauritania, His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, has publicly distanced Mauritania from international conflicts, especially in the Middle East. He said this to try to assure the people of Mauritania that their nation is working to be a stable nation governmentally and economically, even though the have experienced some of the consequences of the global turmoil. He strongly desires to combat corruption in Mauritania, and eliminate jihadism.9

Unreached people groups: Mauritania has a population of 5,315,000 and of that, 5,250,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Haratine (Black) Moor, the Beidane (White) Moor, Fuuta Torro, Soninke, and Tamasheq Tuareg, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Father, there is a great need for Jesus in this hidden, unreached nation. Islamic tradition that is 14 centuries deep is not an obstacle to You. Nomadic desert life with little contact with the outside world is no challenge to You. You know every hair on every precious soul’s head. You know how to reveal Jesus to them in visions and dreams. You can minister to the most invisible communities of Believers, strengthening them and multiplying them against all odds. You are the Way Maker, Jesus. The country’s new President desires to make his country safe and secure, so answer his desire and introduce him to Jesus so he may lead Mauritania forward into the future in alignment with Your beautiful plan for the nation. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

Sources

1. Lebanon - Light The Nations
2. Lebanon - Light The Nations ibid.
3. Mideast Christians in Lebanon face uncertain future
4. Libya - Light The Nations
5. Libya - Light The Nations ibid.
6. Protests and Roadblocks Spread Across Western Libya Over Power Cuts
7. Mauritania - Light The Nations
8. Mauritania - Light The Nations ibid.
9. President of Republic: “Mauritania Remains a Secure and Stable Nation, Advancing Development and Strengthening National Unity” – Mauritanian News Agency
10. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 7 - September 28

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Morocco

"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." Genesis 28:16 (NIV)

Morocco has one of the most storied civilizations in the Muslim world — a land where Phoenicians traded, Romans ruled, and medieval Islamic dynasties built some of the world's most extraordinary cities. The Arab conquest brought Islam in the 7th century, and Morocco became the western edge of the Islamic world — "Maghreb" means simply "the West." Almoravid and Almohad dynasties spread Islam into sub-Saharan Africa and across the sea into Spain. Fez became a center of Islamic learning, and the University of al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 AD by a woman named Fatima al-Fihri, is widely recognized as the world's oldest continuously operating university. France held a protectorate from 1912 to 1956, but Morocco retained its strong national identity under the Alaoui dynasty — the world's longest-reigning royal family. Today the country is geographically and culturally diverse: Arab, Amazigh (Berber), Saharan, and coastal populations with distinct identities and histories.1

People live in Morocco today in a country of stunning contrasts — ancient medinas and modern cities, Atlas Mountains and Saharan dunes, Amazigh and Arab cultural worlds existing side by side. Morocco is 99% Muslim, and a 1965 law prohibits proselytism of Muslims, making open gospel witness legally risky. Yet Morocco has one of the fastest-growing Christ-movements among Arabic-speaking and Amazigh peoples in all of North Africa — estimated at tens of thousands of Moroccan-background believers, many of whom came to faith through dreams and visions, through satellite television, and through online ministry. The Moroccan church is small but alive, and growing faster than at any point since the Arab conquest.2

Recent news: Tens of thousands of migrants, mostly young people are risking their lives to swim north from Fnideq, Morocco, to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. It has become an international incident that is complicated for both Moroccan and Spanish leadership. Moroccan youth are driven by social media posts showing success in Europe, where they feel the economics of Morocco leave them with less opportunity for their futures. Some reports say they see Ceuta as a door to finding a way forward to Europe.3 However, other report point toward Morocco’s government weaponizing them against Spain.4

Unreached people groups: Morocco has a population of 38,431,000 and of that, 37,106,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are Moroccan Arab, Southern Shilha Berber, Tamazight Berber, Rif Berber, and Jebala, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Lord, we pray for a harvest of souls in Morocco, especially among the young, restless ones, who feel they have no hope for the future. Jesus, You are that hope. You have been meeting the people groups of Morocco in dreams and visions. You are revealing Yourself as the Man in White. Let that revealing be to the Moroccan Arab, Southern Shilha Berber, Tamazight Berber, Rif Berber, and Jebala people, among others. Let those new Beleivers testify of You, the one that sovereignly revealed Himself as Savior and Lord, and lover of their souls. In Jesus’ Name we ask these things. Amen.

Mozambique

“But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and don’t prevent them. For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.’” Matthew 19:14 (TLB)

Mozambique occupies a long stretch of East Africa's Indian Ocean coast — a land shaped by Arab traders, Portuguese colonizers, and the devastating East African slave trade. Arab merchants brought Islam to the northern coast centuries before the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century; the Makua, Yao, and other northern peoples became Muslim through these trade networks. Portugal also brought Catholicism, and after independence in 1975, the Marxist FRELIMO government suppressed all religion during a brutal civil war that lasted until 1992. Since the peace agreement, Mozambique has seen an explosion of Christianity — especially vibrant Pentecostal churches in the south. But the predominantly Muslim north remains another country spiritually. Since 2017, Cabo Delgado province has been devastated by an ISIL-affiliated insurgency that has burned villages, beheaded civilians, and displaced over a million people.5

People live in Mozambique today in one of Africa's most spiritually divided nations — a country where vibrant Pentecostal Christianity fills churches in Maputo while the Makua people of the north, the largest Muslim people group in sub-Saharan Africa, remain almost entirely unreached. The Cabo Delgado insurgency has drawn international attention but also created unexpected spiritual openings: displaced Makua encountering Christians in refugee settings, and the Mozambican church being called to reach its own Muslim neighbors. God has positioned the church in the south for its hardest and most important mission field: the Muslim north.6

Recent news: Roland and Heidi Baker have a work in Mozambique, Iris Global, that reaches the poor and the sick. Out of a deep place of intimacy with the Lord, they bring the love of Jesus to anyone in need. They build schools, dig water wells, medical facilities, and over churches. Since 2017, when the Cabo Delgado Insurgency began in Mozambique, they have helped thousands of refugees, always expressing the love of Christ, and ministering salvation and hope to those that have lost so much. Christians there are being tortured, their homes and livelihoods burned down, and many have lost their lives. Yet, God is moving mightily in that place.7

Unreached people groups: Mozambique has a population of 35,632,000 and of that, 13,972,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Makhuwa-Makhuwana, Makhuwa-Meetto, Chopi, Tswa, and Chwabo, among many others. Click here  to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Father, our hearts are broken for the great persecution and loss of life in the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique. So many have lost everything there, and the children are growing up in an environment of terror and fear. Thank you for Iris Global, and other Christian ministries, and the work they are doing there to minister to some of the millions of refugees, and so many children and orphans. You give Mozambique hope through the work there where the love of Jesus is clearly expressed without fear. Provide the basics of life – food, water, household goods, education, and medical care – for all those who come to find refuge. Let the children, especially, see the love of Christ expressed, so they embrace Your love, Jesus, and cling to You all of their days. May they know You and make You known. Amen.

Nigeria

 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12 (NASB)

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and one of the most religiously significant nations on earth. The south — dominated by Igbo, Yoruba, and other peoples — became heavily Christian through 19th and 20th century mission work and is home to one of Africa's largest and most dynamic church movements. The north — dominated by Hausa-Fulani people — has been Muslim since the 11th century and includes some of Africa's oldest Islamic sultanates; the Sokoto Caliphate, established in 1804, was one of the most powerful Islamic empires of the modern era. The Middle Belt between these worlds has been the site of escalating communal violence for decades. Since 2009, Boko Haram and its offshoot ISWAP have waged a jihadist insurgency in the northeast, killing tens of thousands, kidnapping thousands of children, and displacing millions. Yet amid the darkness, Nigeria's enormous church is being called to its hardest and most important mission field: its own north.8

People live in Nigeria today in a country of staggering scale and spiritual contradiction — 237 million people, a vibrant and growing Christian south, and a Muslim north where the Hausa and Fulani peoples remain among the least-reached in Africa. The Middle Belt bleeds from communal violence. Boko Haram and ISWAP continue to terrorize Nigeria's northeast. Yet something remarkable is also happening: Muslims who have witnessed the atrocities committed in the name of Islam are asking fundamental questions about their faith, and Nigerian churches are pressing northward with compassion ministries that create credible gospel witness in places that have never had it.9

Recent news:  “’Every month, we bury our people,’ Rt. Hon. Stephen Hajara, spokesperson for the Kauru Local Government Legislative Council, told ICC. ‘Last month, we buried 11 people, including children; now, another mass burial of 30. Enough is enough, please! Please come to our aid!’ But little aid actually arrives. The village he was speaking of was ransacked a year earlier as well. The devastation in the north of Nigeria from Fulani militants and Boko Haram, together with ISWAP are leaving the people hopeless and fearful. The church of Nigeria is attempting to provide aid and relief, but the need and the danger in the north is daunting.10

Unreached people groups: Nigeria has a population of 237,528,000 and of that, 75,202,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are Hausa, Nigerian Fulani, Yerwa Kanuri, Ebira, Nupe, and Gbagyi. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

God, thank you for the great move of God across the south of Nigeria. Christianity has spread and mega-churches abound. The government acknowledges You and allows freedom to share the Gospel throughout the country. But the people in the north are crying out for help. Hear, oh Lord. Hear and act! Le the Nigerian Church fast and pray and believe for supernatural action to deliver the oppressed people of the north. Raise up the bold ones who will go form the south to the north and bring the hope of the Gospel message. May the fear of the Lord miraculously reach the oppressors’ hearts. May they repent and turn to Jesus. Let the governments of the earth respond and help Nigeria defeat the insurgents in the north. We ask these things in Jesus’ powerful and faithful Name. Amen.

Sources

1. Morocco - Light The Nations
2. Morocco - Light The Nations ibid.
3. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2026/08/332630/diving-into-uncertainty-moroccos-youth-and-the-perilous-swim-to-ceuta/
4. Morocco Shows How Migration Has Become Weaponized – Independent Media Institute – The Daily Blog
5. Mozambique - Light The Nations
6. Mozambique - Light The Nations ibid.
7. https://cbn.com/article/bible-says/heidi-bakers-unshakable-faith-mozambique
8. Nigeria - Light The Nations
9. Nigeria - Light The Nations ibid.
10. https://cbn.com/news/world/30-christians-killed-nigeria-latest-attack-every-month-we-bury-our-people
11. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 8 - September 29

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Oman

"Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16 (NIV)

Oman is one of the most ancient and distinctive sultanates of the Arabian Peninsula — a maritime nation whose 19th-century empire extended across Zanzibar, parts of coastal East Africa, and far into the Indian Ocean trade networks. Oman practices Ibadi Islam — a branch older than both Sunni and Shia, considered historically more moderate and tolerant, which has shaped Oman's famously peaceful diplomacy in a volatile region. Samuel Zwemer, the father of modern Arab missions, made Oman and the Gulf his first mission field in the 1890s, establishing medical clinics, distributing Scripture, and praying for an Omani church he never lived to see. The current Sultan Haitham has continued the tradition of his predecessor Qaboos: carefully neutral in regional conflicts, and more open than most Gulf states to foreign presence — though conversion from Islam remains effectively forbidden for Omanis.1

People live in Oman today in one of the Gulf's most beautiful and least-evangelized countries — dramatic mountain wadis, ancient forts, a lush frankincense-producing south, and a culture of extraordinary hospitality. Expatriate Christians can worship with relative freedom, but Omanis themselves are almost entirely sealed from the gospel. Ibadi Islam's theological independence — neither Sunni nor Shia — sometimes makes Omanis more curious and open to spiritual conversation than their Gulf neighbors. The church that Zwemer prayed for a century ago has barely materialized among Omanis; yet his prayers remain, and God is the God who answers prayers across generations.2

Recent news: The U.S. conflict with Iran has significantly involved the Strait of Hormuz. Iran wants to control trade through the Strait together with Oman. Oman has made a couple of proposals to Iran seeking to come to an agreement that can allow for global trade to continue through the Strait that can help to resolve the overall conflict between the U.S. and Iran. The U.S. wants to return to pre-conflict access. Other Gulf states supported Oman’s efforts.

Unreached people groups: Oman has a population of 5,495,000 and of that, 3,910,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Omani Arab, Arabic Gulf Spoken Arab, Southern Baloch, Malayali, Bengali-speaking South Asian, and Dhofari Arab, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Father, we pray for the work of Samuel Zwemer to be finished in our day. Just like Abraham in the Bible, he had faith to believe You for what he knew he may never see. As difficult as it seems to be to share the Gospel with the Omanis, it is not impossible for You. We pray for Christian tourists, expats, and workers to be intentional in their encounters with Omanis — for brief conversations on hiking trails, in souks, and in homes to become seeds of the gospel. May the Omani Arab, Arabic Gulf Spoken Arab, Southern Baloch, Malayali, Bengali-speaking South Asian, and Dhofari Arab, among many other unreached people groups be reached in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Pakistan

“Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’” Matthew 9:37-38 (NKJV)

Pakistan came into existence in 1947 as a Muslim homeland carved out of British India at partition — a birth accompanied by one of the largest and most violent mass migrations in history, as millions of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs crossed new borders in opposite directions, leaving hundreds of thousands dead. The land itself is ancient: the Indus Valley Civilization flourished here 4,000 years ago; Alexander the Great marched through; Buddhist monasteries once dotted the Gandhara region. Arab traders brought Islam to the Sindh coast in the 7th century, and successive waves of Islamic conquest from Central Asia Islamicized the subcontinent over the following centuries. Today Pakistan is the world's second-largest Muslim country, with Islamic identity inseparably bound to national identity. A small Christian minority — mostly descendants of lower-caste converts from the colonial era — lives under severe legal pressure, particularly from blasphemy laws that have been weaponized against religious minorities.4

People live in Pakistan today in the country with the largest concentration of unreached people on earth — 255 million people, 99% of whom have never had a genuine encounter with the gospel. The Christian church is tiny, largely marginalized as lower-caste laborers, and faces constant legal vulnerability under blasphemy laws that carry the death penalty. Open witness is dangerous, conversion is a family catastrophe, and the social pressure of Islamic community life is immense. Yet God is at work: Pakistani house churches are multiplying, diaspora believers are returning, and a generation of young Pakistanis is asking questions that Islam has not answered.5

Recent news: In July 2026, the European Parliament denounced the forced conversion and marriage of a 12-year-old Christian Pakistani girl to a 30-year-old Pakistani Muslim man. Courts in Pakistan had supported the man all the way to the Federal Constitutional Court. This is not an uncommon situation in Pakistan, where Christians and Hindus are often persecuted for their faith in this primarily Muslim country.6

Unreached people groups: Pakistan has a population of 255,220,000 and of that, 101,624,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Pashtun, Jat (Muslim Traditions), Shaikh, Arain (Muslim Traditions), Rajput (Muslim Traditions), and Sayyid, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

God, You are the God of the impossible. You have shown Your miraculous works throughout Your Word, in which Your people will delivered out of Egypt, incurable diseases were healed, and many were raised from the dead, most importantly, Jesus! Pakistan is in need of a miraculous move. Do again, what You have done in the past, Lord, and save Your people from persecution. The Pakistani Church is small, but You can use the smallest remnant, filled with love for You, to reach their neighbors. Let there be a movement the Punjabi, Pashtun, Sindhi, and Baloch peoples. Grace them to know You, Lord, in Jesus’ Name, amen.

Qatar

 “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” Matthew 16:26 (NLT)

Qatar is a small peninsula jutting into the Persian Gulf that spent most of its history as a quiet backwater of fishing, pearl diving, and Bedouin herding. The discovery of oil in 1940 and then liquefied natural gas in the 1970s transformed it into one of the wealthiest nations per capita on earth virtually overnight. The Al Thani dynasty has ruled Qatar since the mid-19th century, and today the country is one of the Gulf's most globally engaged players — home to Al Jazeera, host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and a sophisticated foreign policy broker between rival regional powers. Qatar's native Qatari population makes up only around 12% of the total; the rest are migrant workers from South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the West, drawn by construction, domestic work, and professional employment. This demographic reality means that Qatar — despite being an Islamic state — hosts one of the world's most religiously diverse populations within its borders.7

People live in Qatar today in a country where extraordinary wealth and global connection exist alongside a native Qatari population almost entirely closed to the gospel. Expatriate Christians — Filipino nurses, Indian engineers, African laborers, Western professionals — make up a significant portion of the population and can worship with some freedom. But Qatari Muslims themselves have almost no access to genuine gospel witness. The 2022 World Cup brought the gospel through believers from 180+ nations; the question is whether those seeds took root. Qatar's native citizens live in comfort and religious insularity that may be the hardest soil of all: not hostile, just deeply, quietly closed.8

Recent news: “Afghan Christian convert and former government official Ziba Mastoor says she fled to Qatar earlier this month after Taliban intelligence operatives pursued her from Afghanistan into Pakistan, leaving her dependent on a temporary visa and fearful that deportation could place her life in danger.”9 This is an example of the persecution Christians are facing throughout the region, When they try to escape persecution in their home countries, they often have nowhere to go.

Unreached people groups: Qatar has a population of 3,116,000 and of that, 2,251,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are Arabic Gulf-spoken Arab, Palestinian Arab, Persian, Lebanese General Arab, Syrian Arab, and Urdu, among others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Lord, reveal Yourself to the unreached in Qatar. They have so much! They are a wealthy nation with so much to offer the world and the region. They are very modern, but most do not have You. Let their unrealized need of You become recognized. Let the many temporary workers in the nation find ways to share the Gospel with those that have no idea they need You. And we pray for an end to religious persecution in Qatar. Let the government protect the rights of the religious minority. Grant Christians who have been imprisoned or treated unjustly for their faith in Pakistan supernatural grace and joy. Let their example be a witness to those around them who will see their love and trust in You. We ask this in Jesus’ Name, amen.

Sources

1. https://lightthenations.org/oman
2. https://lightthenations.org/oman ibid.
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUeUkpKhLD0
4. https://lightthenations.org/pakistan
5. https://lightthenations.org/pakistan ibid.
6. https://eclj.org/religious-freedom/eu/le-parlement-europeen-denonce-la-persecution-systematique-des-chretiens-au-pakistan
7. https://lightthenations.org/qatar
8. https://lightthenations.org/qatar ibid.
9. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-903285
10. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 9 - September 30

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Saudi Arabia

“I am the Lord! There is nothing too difficult for me.” Genesis 18:14 (CEV)

Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and the custodian of its two holiest sites — Mecca and Medina — which together draw over two million pilgrims annually for the Hajj. The Arabian Peninsula was largely tribal and polytheistic when Muhammad began his prophetic ministry in Mecca around 610 AD; within a century of his death, the Islamic empire stretched from Spain to Central Asia. The modern kingdom was forged in the early 20th century by Ibn Saud through a series of military campaigns, sealed by a theological alliance with the Wahhabi Islamic reform movement that continues to shape Saudi religious life today. The discovery of oil in 1938 made Saudi Arabia extraordinarily wealthy and globally influential. The kingdom funds mosques, madrassas, and Islamic institutions across the world, making its theological export one of the most significant forces in global Islam. Saudi Arabia has no churches, no public Christian worship, and no legal pathway for a Saudi national to follow Christ.1

People live in Saudi Arabia today in the most symbolically closed country on earth for the gospel — the land that gave the world Islam, where the Quran was revealed, where the Prophet is buried, where conversion is apostasy and apostasy carries the death penalty. A significant portion of the population are expatriate workers who include Christians, but Saudi nationals themselves are among the most comprehensively sealed from the gospel of any people on earth. Yet God is sovereign over Mecca and Medina as He is over every place, and there are growing quiet testimonies of Saudis coming to faith — mostly through satellite television, online ministry, and unexplained dreams.2

Recent news: On the 4th of August, 2026, 27 Christians, including children, were deported from Saudi Arabia for praying “un-Islamic prayers.” These Lebanese Believers had gathered together to worship in a private home. Saudi Arabia is not welcoming to any religion other than Islam but is especially intolerant to Christianity. Even though a law was passed in 2006 allowing Christians to gather in worship in private homes, this has not been the reality.3

Unreached people groups: Saudi Arabia has a population of 34,566,000 and of that, 29,552,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Saudi-Najdi Arab, Saudi-Hijazi Arab, Bengali-speaking South Asian, Egyptian Generals Arab, Urdu, and Bedouin Arab, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

God, Saudi Arabia is a country that seems entirely impossible to receive the Gospel message. But for You, all things are possible. In this land of physical Islamic strongholds, let the miracle of a risen Christ be seen. Jesus is not dead, but alive! Jesus is the answer to every pilgrim’s longing and need. Jesus is not bound by Saudi law preventing the Gospel presentation to the seeking millions making the Hajj pilgrimage. It is possible for revival to begin in this most forbidden place! We say, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come to the Saudi-Najdi Arabs, Saudi-Hijazi Arabs, Bengali-speaking South Asians, Egyptian Generals Arabs, Urdu, and Bedouin Arabs in Saudi Arabia!” Amen.

Syria

"’Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’" Acts 9:5 (NIV)

Syria is one of the oldest inhabited lands on earth — Damascus may be the world's oldest continuously occupied city, and the region has been home to civilization for at least 10,000 years. It was here, in Antioch on the Orontes, that followers of Jesus were first called Christians, and it was on the road to Damascus that the apostle Paul was stopped in his tracks by the risen Lord. The land passed through Assyrian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Arab rule before becoming a center of the early Islamic Caliphate. The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus — built on the site of a Byzantine church, which itself stood on an earlier temple — is one of the oldest and most significant mosques in the world. After centuries of Ottoman rule, Syria became a French mandate after World War I, then an independent republic in 1946. In 2011, protests against Bashar al-Assad's government became a catastrophic civil war that killed over 600,000 people, displaced more than half the country's population, and shattered cities. In late 2024, the Assad regime fell. The ancient Christian communities of Syria — some of the oldest churches in the world — have been decimated by decades of war and emigration.4

People live in Syria today in a nation struggling to emerge from one of the most devastating conflicts of the 21st century — a land where the gospel first took root, where Paul was transformed, where ancient churches still echo with Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. Syria's Christian population has shrunk dramatically through war and emigration. The majority Muslim population — Sunni, Alawi, Druze — carries generations of trauma, loss, and religious identity shaped by sectarian conflict. In the chaos of reconstruction and political uncertainty, there is also unprecedented openness: Syrians who have lost everything are asking deep questions about God, meaning, and hope. This ancient land, which gave the world some of its earliest missionaries, may be ripe for a new movement.5

Recent news: Former terrorist, now President, Ahmed al-Sharaa has surprised many as he has begun to govern Syria. While al-Assad ruled with an iron hand, killing over 500,000 Syrian Sunni Muslims, al-Sharaa said he desires to see Syria take its place as a key nation in the Middle East, so many changes are being made. For the time being, changes appear to be (at least in conversation and interviews) positive, but it is too soon to know for sure. Women are not being forced to wear the hijab, and there are no sharia restrictions being imposed on minority groups. “Christians,” he (al-Sharaa) says, are “an essential part of the fabric of Syrian society,” and there will “be no more injustices against the Kurdish people,” and Kurdish forces will serve in the Syrian army.6

Unreached people groups: Syria has a population of 25,620,000 and of that, 24,443,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Syrian Arab, Middle-Eastern Turkmen, Alawite, Kurmanji Kurd, Saudi-Najdi Arab, and the Druze, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Lord, this is the place where Saul was converted to Paul. We pray for many such conversions – Sauls turned to Pauls in encounters with Jesus through dreams and visions and divine appointments. Could relationships be formed where those who receive these dreams then supernaturally know how to find Christians to disciple them? Make it so, Lord. In this place where Christians have been so persecuted, we ask for a turnaround of justice. Can we dare to believe that Christians could be safe and worship freely in Syria? We also pray for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees that have been scattered throughout the nations. Bring the Gospel to them in the lands they have fled to. Someday, let Syria be a refuge for them to return and share their new faith in Christ with their own countrymen. Thank you, Jesus. We know this is not impossible for You. You are the God of miracles! Amen.

Somalia

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life... nor any powers... will be able to separate us from the love of God." Romans 8:38–39 (NIV)

Somalia occupies the Horn of Africa — the continent's easternmost point — and has been a maritime crossroads for over three millennia. The ancient land of Punt, mentioned in Egyptian records as a source of incense and gold, is believed to be located along this coast. Arab traders brought Islam to the Somali coast in the early 9th century, and Somali identity and Islamic identity have been intertwined ever since. The Sultanate of Ajuran in the medieval period built hydraulic engineering systems still in use today, while Somali poets and scholars produced a rich oral and literary culture. Italian and British colonial rule in the 19th and 20th centuries divided the Somali people across arbitrary borders — between present-day Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya. After independence in 1960, military dictator Siad Barre's brutal rule ended in 1991 in state collapse, unleashing decades of clan warfare, famine, piracy, and then the al-Shabaab Islamist insurgency. Somalia remains one of the world's most fragile states, though Mogadishu has seen significant reconstruction since 2012.7

People live in Somalia today in one of the most comprehensively closed countries on earth for the gospel — 90.9% unreached, with Christianity effectively illegal and conversion carrying the threat of death by family, community, or al-Shabaab. The 0.48% who identify as Christian are almost entirely hidden believers or recent converts whose faith is a carefully guarded secret. Al-Shabaab controls large swaths of the countryside and enforces a brutal interpretation of sharia. Yet the Somali diaspora — spread across Kenya, Ethiopia, Europe, North America, and Australia — has produced a growing number of Somali Christians, and their prayers and witness are slowly reaching back into the homeland through technology, visits, and the unstoppable movement of the Spirit.8

Recent news: Somalia “has been ranked the second most dangerous place for Christians to live (besides North Korea), on the Open Doors World Watch List.” Somalia has been fighting the terrorist group al-Shabaab for almost twenty years. This group, and other Islamic extremists have tortured and killed Christians without government intervention or protection. To share the Gospel in Somalia is to risk death, yet Somali evangelists say the church is growing despite persecution, and discipleship is being done creatively through social media.9

Unreached people groups: Somalia has a population of 19,655,000 and of that, 19,224,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are Somali, Rahanweyn, Somali Bantu, Barawani Swahili, Garre, and Southern Oromo, among others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

God, look on Somalia with compassion. This war-torn, nation, living in fear of al-Shabaab, needs Your intervention. The very tiny numbers of Christians desperately need You to show up for them like You have in the stories they have read in the Word. Their government is not protecting them, the al-Shabaab seek to kill them; they are living like living martyrs. We appeal to You, great God of the Universe, to grant grace for salvation and evangelism in the hardest of circumstances. Embolden the Church that remains to reach the Somali, Rahanweyn, Somali Bantu, Barawani Swahili, Garre, and Southern Oromo, among other, people groups of Somalia. Let every single community and clan be reached, even in the diaspora, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Somaliland

“Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands.” Isaiah 49:15–16 (NASB)

Somaliland occupies the northwestern corner of the Horn of Africa — the former British Somaliland Protectorate — and has functioned as a self-declared independent state since 1991, though no UN member state formally recognizes it. When Siad Barre's Somali military regime massacred an estimated 50,000 to 200,000 members of the Isaaq clan in the late 1980s and bombed the capital Hargeisa to rubble, the Somali National Movement drove the regime out and declared independence upon its collapse. What followed was remarkable: while the rest of Somalia descended into chaos, Somaliland held elections, built institutions, disarmed militias, and created one of the most stable corners of the Horn of Africa. Hargeisa has been rebuilt; Somaliland has held multiple peaceful elections and transfers of power. The people are ethnically Somali, predominantly of the Isaaq clan, and almost entirely Muslim. The land holds ancient rock art, trading history with Arabia and the Indian Ocean world, and a resilience forged through immense suffering.10

People live in Somaliland today in a nation that does not officially exist — unrecognized, unseen, and almost entirely unreached. The stability that sets Somaliland apart from its southern neighbor has not translated into openness to the gospel; conversion from Islam remains a profound social and cultural rupture, and believers are almost entirely isolated. Yet the same resilience that rebuilt Hargeisa from rubble is present in the small, quiet community of Somali believers who have come to faith — often through diaspora contact, dreams, or digital resources. A people who survived genocide and rebuilt a nation have a capacity for endurance that, transformed by the gospel, could become an extraordinary force for the kingdom.11

Recent news: Somaliland is reaching out to the EU, the US, to Israel, and Taiwan to build support for national recognition, even as it builds infrastructure and economic development to establish itself as a sovereign nation. The burgeoning nation plans for a long journey, but one that determination will eventually see become a reality.12

Unreached people groups: Somaliland has a population of 19,655,000 and of that, 19,224,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are Somali, Rahanweyn, Somali Bantu, Barawani Swahili, Garre, and Southern Oromo, among others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Father, this is the brave little country that could! They have many of the components for societal transformation in place, yet, without Christ. We bless them in their endeavors and ask for Your supernatural assistance. Let them shift their mindset on religious freedom, Lord, so that the Gospel can spread freely. Show them that this type of freedom is what makes the governments of the West successful. We pray for the Gospel to be translated in the languages of Somaliland so brave Church members can reach every group with the love of Jesus. Thank you, Lord, Amen.

Sources

1. https://lightthenations.org/saudi-arabia
2. https://lightthenations.org/saudi-arabia ibid.
3. 27 Christians deported from Saudi Arabia for 'un-Islamic prayer' | ChristianToday Australia
4. https://lightthenations.org/syria
5. https://lightthenations.org/syria ibid.
6. Enough with the Hand-Wringing: Al-Sharaa Is Better Than Assad | The Washington Institute
7. https://lightthenations.org/somalia
8. https://lightthenations.org/somalia ibid.
9. Growth despite fear: The persecuted Church in Somalia
10. https://lightthenations.org/somaliland
11. https://lightthenations.org/somaliland ibid.
12. President Bihi Addresses Nation on Independence Day - Somaliland NTV
13. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 10 - October 1

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Sudan

“The Lord provides safety for the oppressed; he provides safety in times of trouble.” Psalm 9:9 (NET)

Sudan is one of Africa’s largest nations, home to ancient Nubian civilizations that rivaled Egypt in power and sophistication. Centuries of Arab migration, Ottoman influence, and British colonial rule shaped its complex ethnic and religious identity. Today it faces ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis.1

People live in Sudan, as a nation torn apart by civil war between rival military factions that has displaced millions and left entire communities without food, water, or medical care. The population is overwhelmingly Muslim, and Christians — concentrated among southern and Nuba Mountain communities — face severe persecution, including forced conversion and destruction of churches. Hundreds of people groups across dozens of languages have little to no access to the gospel.2

Recent news: In June 2026, over 160 churches were destroyed in Sudan. This comes in the midst of being named the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Ongoing war between factions of the Sudanese military have left tens of millions displaced and 20 million more starving, while close to half a million have died. Christians are the greatest target in this warfare. Churches have been targeted, and congregations beaten and kidnapped. Also, when aid is available, Christians are reported to be the last to receive assistance.3

Unreached people groups: Sudan has a population of 51,662,000 and of that, 30,551,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Sudanese Arab, Gaaliin, Guhayna,Arabized, Shaikia, Gawamaa, and Fezara Kawahla, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Father, you are the one that heals the brokenhearted. You are the one who provides all things, and a refuge in times of trouble. Your Church is in great need of You to manifest Your compassion in these areas. Comfort them, so that they may comfort others who do not yet know You. We ask that the turmoil and fighting in Sudan cease. Be their Peace, Lord. Let the government receive revelation from above on how to restore their country and meet the physical needs of so many people displaced, physically harmed, and hungry. Let the Church be an answer to their neighbors, ministering to them, though they also have great needs, for such is the Kingdom. Let their faith and knowledge of Your love, give them all they need to minister to others, showing them the love of Jesus, and leading them to salvation. Amen.

Tajikistan

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity but of power and love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (TLV)

Tajikistan is a mountainous Central Asian nation with deep Persian cultural roots. Once part of the ancient Silk Road and later absorbed into the Soviet Union, it gained independence in 1991. Despite high literacy, it remains one of the poorest countries in the region, with Islam deeply woven into daily life.4

People live in Tajikistan, Central Asia's poorest nation, where many families survive on remittances sent home by men working abroad in Russia. Islam is woven into every aspect of daily life, and the government tightly controls all religious activity — registering churches, censoring materials, and monitoring believers. Evangelical Christians make up barely 0.1% of the population, and most Tajiks have never met a follower of Jesus.5

Recent news: “Tajik President Emomali Rahmon’s authoritarian government regularly commits particularly severe violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), restricting nearly all aspects of religious life to mute nonstate religious influences and strengthen its control over the country. Rahmon’s government has crafted and continues to refine a particular interpretation of Hanafi Sunni Islam, often invoking the support of state-appointed religious leaders and institutions to legitimize its religious policies and FoRB violations. At times, those who deviate from the state-sanctioned version of Islam have faced detainment, fines, and prison sentences—and, in some cases, individuals have died under suspicious circumstances in state custody, showing evidence of physical abuse or medical neglect.”6

Unreached people groups: Tajikistan has a population of 10,787,000 and of that, 10,590,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Tajik, Northern Uzbek, Shughni, Shugnan-Rushan, the Deaf, and Kyrgyz among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

God, the Christians of Tajikistan are in need of You to intervene in their nation’s affairs. They are heavily persecuted for their faith – fined, imprisoned, or suffering physical abuse and medical neglect, or even killed. Save Your people! The unreached people of Tajikistan need to hear their testimonies of Your miraculous deliverance from evil. Hear and heal and save and deliver the Tajik, Northern Uzbek, Shughni, Shugnan-Rushan, the Deaf, and Kyrgyz and the many others, Lord. Amen.

Tunisia

"So is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire." Isaiah 55:11 (NIV)

Tunisia was the heartland of ancient Carthage — the Phoenician city-state that rivaled Rome for dominance of the Mediterranean world before being destroyed in 146 BC. Under Rome, the province of Africa Proconsularis became one of the wealthiest and most sophisticated in the empire, and it was here that early Christianity produced some of its towering giants. Tertullian, who first systematized Christian theology in Latin, wrote in Carthage. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, died a martyr's death. And Augustine of Hippo — whose Confessions shaped Western theology for sixteen centuries — was educated at Carthage, where he first heard the gospel that would eventually capture him. "Our heart is restless," he wrote, "until it repose in Thee." The Arab conquest in the 7th century swept away this ancient church with remarkable speed, and Islam took permanent root. The city of Kairouan, founded in 670 AD, became one of Islam's holiest cities and the base for the Islamization of all of North Africa and beyond. Tunisia gained independence from France in 1956 and in 2010 triggered the Arab Spring when a fruit vendor's act of desperate protest ignited a regional uprising. Today Tunisia's small but growing Christian community is one of the most remarkable stories in North African missions — from virtually zero native believers in 2000 to thousands today, largely through satellite television and social media.7

People live in Tunisia today in the country that gave the world Augustine — the man who prayed, "Lord, make me chaste, but not yet," and whose relentless pursuit ended in surrender to the God his heart could not escape. That restlessness is alive in Tunisia again. Of all the countries in North Africa, Tunisia has seen the most documented growth in indigenous Christianity in the 21st century — thousands of Tunisians coming to faith through satellite TV ministry, YouTube, and WhatsApp discipleship chains. The church is largely invisible, meeting in homes, and believers face significant family and social pressure. But after 1,300 years of silence, the Word is moving in the land of Augustine and Tertullian.8

Recent news: In response to the rapid growth of the Church, primarily conversions from Islam, the government has begun increased surveillance of church activities and on individual activities of converts, as well. There is pressure for converts to return to Islam, and social penalties if they do not do so. They may be rejected by their families, lose their possessions and inheritances, even be abandoned by their spouses. Women may face domestic violence.9

Unreached people groups: Tunisia has a population of 12,349,000 and of that, 12,290,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are Tunisian Arab, Libyan Arab, Arabic-speaking Algerian, General Black African, and Syrian Arab, among others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Lord, we rejoice at hearing the news of how the Gospel has spread throughout Tunisia. The hunger of the people and the boldness of Believers there to share their faith is encouraging. But there is still much work to be done. Hold back the persecution from those converting from Islam. Hide them, so they might be discipled and learn to stand strong in their faith in the midst of the persecution. Strengthen them with stories from the Bible and current testimonies of overcoming persecution. Make them confident in using the spiritual gifts you have given them, so Christ is seen and experienced as well as told of. Let their rising faith propel them to reach every people group in Tunisia that hasn’t yet heard, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Sources

1. https://lightthenations.org/sudan
2. https://lightthenations.org/sudan ibid.
3. https://cbn.com/news/world/christians-caught-crossfire-sudans-brutal-civil-war-160-churches-damaged-or-destroyed 
4. https://lightthenations.org/tajikistan
5. https://lightthenations.org/tajikistan ibid.
6. https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2026-05/2026%20Tajikistan%20Country%20Update.pdf
7. https://lightthenations.org/tunisia
8. https://lightthenations.org/tunisia ibid.
9. Tunisia : World Watch List - Open Doors UK & Ireland
10. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 11 - October 2

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Turkey

“Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first.” Revelation 2:5 (RSV)

Turkey is the land where the church was born into the Gentile world. The Apostle Paul was a Turk — from Tarsus, in what is now southern Turkey. All seven churches of the book of Revelation stood on Turkish soil: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. Constantinople — modern Istanbul — was the capital of the Christian Byzantine Empire for over a thousand years, and the Hagia Sophia stood as the greatest church on earth for nine centuries before the Ottoman conquest of 1453 turned it into a mosque. The 20th century brought the Armenian genocide, which killed over a million Christians and erased the ancient church from Anatolia, followed by Atatürk's secular republic. In 2020, Erdoğan converted the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque, a signal of the cultural direction Turkey is moving.1

People live in Turkey today in a nation with one of the richest Christian histories on earth and one of the smallest Christian populations — fewer than one percent, and most of those are members of ancient ethnic minority communities, not ethnic Turks. Estimates suggest only three to five thousand Turkish Muslims have ever become followers of Jesus, making Turkey one of the least-evangelized large nations on earth. Believers face legal ambiguity, social pressure, and occasional violence. And yet interest in Jesus is growing quietly — fueled by online content, the Bible in Turkish, and a generation of Turks who are less satisfied with the answers their culture offers than their parents were.2               

Recent news: The European Parliament recently held a religious freedom event. Victims of religious persecution in Turkey shared their experiences. The said both the government and other parts of society were directly stopping Christians from working and ministering there to a greater and greater degree. One missionary who had worked there with his family for 10 years was banned from Turkey for “activities against the Turkish state security.” They had no recourse to dispute the vague charge. Over 60 Christian missionaries have shared the same fate. Their stories moved the Parliament, especially since their 2022 European Report on Turkey, condemning the oppression of religious and ethnic minorities, continues to be ignored.3

Unreached people groups: Turkey has a population of 87,685,000 and of that, 83,925,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Turk, Kurmanji Kurd, Alevi Turk, Syrian Arab, and Southern Zaza, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Lord, it seems impossible that in this country, where the Apostle Paul first spread the Gospel of the Kingdom and discipled churches that are mentioned prominently in the Book of Revelation, the Church is almost non-existent. We pray for the small struggling church that remains. Strengthen them, Lord. Do not let them give up. Let them remember what You have done there and take hold of the words spoken to the seven churches. Let them apply those words in prayer and action to love their neighbors, forgive their government, and look for You to rebuild the remnant into a fresh and vibrant move of God. Let the Turk, Kurmanji Kurd, Alevi Turk, Syrian Arab, and Southern Zaza, among many others, be reached with the Good News. Thank you, Jesus, amen.

Turkmenistan

"Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown." Revelation 2:10 (NIV)

Turkmenistan sits at the heart of ancient Central Asia, where the Silk Road once carried silk, spices, and the gospel across the known world. Merv — located in what is now southeastern Turkmenistan — was one of the great cities of the ancient world, at times the largest city on earth, and home to an early Christian bishopric. Arab conquest brought Islam in the 7th century, and successive waves of Mongol and Timurid rulers left the region's magnificent tilework and domed architecture as their legacy. Russia absorbed the territory in the 19th century, and the Soviet era suppressed all religion for decades. When independence came in 1991, it brought not freedom but one of the most repressive personality cults in the post-Soviet world — first under Niyazov, who styled himself Turkmenbashi, and then under the Berdymukhamedov family, who continue to rule today.4

People live in Turkmenistan today in one of the most closed and controlled societies on earth — a country that ranks among the worst in the world for press freedom, political rights, and religious liberty. The government controls all religious activity; unregistered churches are illegal, and evangelical Christians face raids, fines, detention, and imprisonment. The ethnic Turkmen population is almost entirely Muslim, and the number of Turkmen believers in Jesus can be counted in the hundreds. A small underground church exists, sustained by believers who gather in secret, often with no pastor and limited access to Scripture. They are among the most isolated Christians in the world.5

Recent news: Turkmenistan has been discovered to be a possible leader in teen suicide in Central Asia, according to the most recent government reports available. Rates for suicide and attempted suicide of teens is greater than Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. The reasons for this were varied, with no one reason higher than any other. Also, there was no correlation with family background or income, with the exception that homes where fathers were not present had greater rates of depression and increased attempts. This fits global statistics. It was noted that the country had no educational programs aimed at preventing depression and suicide.6

Unreached people groups: Turkmenistan has a population of 7,619,000 and of that, 7,050,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Turkmen, Northern Uzbek, Aimaq, Tatar, and Turk, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

God, Turkmenistan is yet another country where a once flourishing Church has been almost completely disbanded under Islamic rule. Send the gospel across sealed borders through radio, the internet, returning migrants, and the Spirit's movement in dreams and visions. These are things the government cannot control. And, Lord, give the young of Turkmenistan hope for their future. Regardless of religious background, we ask that they would live and not die and (someday) proclaim the works of the Lord as You say in Psalm 118:17. In Jesus’ Name, we proclaim Turkmenistan’s church will spring to life and multiply! Amen.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth... But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven." Matthew 6:19–20 (NIV)

The United Arab Emirates is one of the youngest nations on earth, yet it stands on ancient ground. The coastal communities of the Trucial States were long-established trading peoples when Britain made them a protectorate in the 19th century. Oil was discovered in Abu Dhabi in 1958, and the federation of seven emirates was born in 1971 under the visionary leadership of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. In barely two generations, the UAE transformed from a collection of fishing villages and desert towns into a global crossroads — home to the world's tallest building, one of its busiest airports, and a financial center rivaling London and New York.7

People live in the UAE today in one of the most cosmopolitan societies in the Muslim world — and one of the most unusual. Roughly ninety percent of UAE residents are foreign workers: South Asians, Filipinos, Egyptians, Westerners, and others drawn by opportunity to a country of extraordinary wealth. The Emirati citizen population — the actual inheritors of this land and its resources — numbers fewer than a million. Churches exist openly for the expat community, and the UAE is relatively tolerant by Gulf standards, but conversion from Islam remains illegal and Emiratis themselves are almost entirely beyond the reach of open gospel witness. Every year, millions of people from every nation pass through Dubai International Airport, many of them from unreached peoples. This land is a crossroads — and God is not unaware of it.8

Recent news: The United Arab Emirates was once suspiciously considered a birthplace of terrorism in the Middle East. After 9/11, it was discovered that two of the hijackers had come from the UAE. Since then, the nation has worked hard to correct this international view of their nation. They have succeeded. Now, during regional conflict with Iran, the UAE is seen as “one of America’s most capable allies in the Middle East.”9

Unreached people groups: The UAE has a population of 11,346,000 and of that, 8,346,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are General South Asian, Emirati Arab, Egyptian General Arab, Telugu-speaking South Asian, Southern Baloch, and Northern Pashtun, among others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Father, Your Word tells us that earthly treasures cannot save us. They cannot satisfy us or meet the deepest needs of our lives. In fact, You warn us that it is hard for a wealthy person to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Many in the UAE have wealth beyond our imagination, but they are caught in a religious system that denies them access to the Gospel message. They are gaining the whole world but forfeiting their soul to Islam. We pray for the international Christian community residing there to be a bold and ready to share their faith as they work and live among the Emiratis. Let their lives be lived in such a way that they become a curiosity to their Muslim neighbors. Let the Emiratis reach out and ask about Jesus. May the millions of Asiatic workers there do the same. Let homes become places of communion and discipleship, and let many come to Jesus in the UAE, in Jesus’ loving name. Amen.

Sources

1. https://lightthenations.org/turkey
2. https://lightthenations.org/turkey ibid.
3. Victims of religious oppression in Turkey reveal why Christian po | ChristianToday Australia
4. https://lightthenations.org/turkmenistan
5. https://lightthenations.org/turkmenistan ibid.
6. Turkmenistan — A Hidden Leader in Teen Suicides in Central Asia | Zemin täzelikler
7. https://lightthenations.org/united-arab-emirates
8. https://lightthenations.org/united-arab-emirates ibid.
9. How the UAE won over Washington
10. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 12 - October 3

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Uzbekistan

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6 (NKJV)

Uzbekistan sits at the heart of ancient Central Asia — a land of staggering historical weight. Samarkand was one of the great cities of the ancient world, a crossroads of the Silk Road where Chinese silk, Persian ideas, Indian mathematics, and Roman coins all passed through. Alexander the Great conquered it and reportedly said it was more beautiful than anything he had imagined. Timur made it the jewel of his vast empire in the 14th century, filling it with architects and craftsmen from across the known world — and the result was some of the greatest Islamic architecture ever built. Christianity came through these roads early: Nestorian Christians traveled the Silk Road deep into Central Asia, planting communities as far as China, long before Islam swept westward and extinguished their witness. Arab conquest brought Islam in the 7th century, and the region became a heartland of Sunni scholarship. Russia absorbed the territory in the 1860s. Soviet rule suppressed all religion for seven decades and enforced collectivization. Independence in 1991 brought authoritarian rule under Islam Karimov, and since 2016 under his successor Shavkat Mirziyoyev — slightly more open, but still tightly controlled.1

People live in Uzbekistan today in Central Asia's most populous nation — 97% Muslim, with Islam woven into the culture for fourteen centuries. The government tightly regulates religious activity; evangelical Christianity exists in a legal gray zone, and proselytism is criminalized. Yet a small but real church has taken root: estimates suggest tens of thousands of Uzbek believers meeting in homes, navigating a careful dance of faith and legal risk. These are not people who inherited Christianity — they paid a real price to find it. Meanwhile, the vast majority of Uzbeks have never had a genuine encounter with the gospel, and the great Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, which once carried so many ideas across the known world, have not yet heard the most important one.2

Recent news: Uzbekistan has a young and tech-savvy population. 60% of Uzbeks are under 30. As a result, the nation is undergoing a quiet, but consistent tech revolution, greatly benefiting the nation. Some of the sectors being impacted are: “fintech, IT and digital services, not to mention sectors like green energy and high-value manufacturing.” The country is welcoming global tech investment and encouraging the rapid development of digital financial services.3

Unreached people groups: Uzbekistan has a population of 37,053,000 and of that, 35,191,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Northern Uzbek, Tajik, Kazakh, Karakalpak, Tatar, Kyrgyz, and Tukmen, among many others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Lord, Uzbekistan is a nation unknown to many, yet it has made its mark on history in the past and is positioned to do so again in this modern world. You have given them a destiny. Your watchful eye is on them. We pray especially for the young adults who have embraced a digital culture and are helping to mold the global future with their knowledge and expertise. Reveal Jesus to them through the technology they are developing. Let it be the means of evangelism that reaches them. Let them turn from Islam and embrace the one Who has all knowledge and wisdom, but also loves them deeply, and cares for every need. You are the only Way, Jesus. Strengthen the small numbers of Believers meeting in house churches across the nation. Move on the hearts of government leaders to allow greater freedom of religion, so the church can expand more rapidly. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

Western Sahara

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise... He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)

Western Sahara is one of the least known and most contested territories on earth — a vast, mostly empty expanse of Saharan desert stretching along Africa's northwestern coast, slightly larger than Colorado. The indigenous Sahrawi people are a nomadic Berber-Arab people who have lived across this desert for centuries, known for their hospitality, their tribal structures, and their camel herds. Spain colonized the territory in the late 19th century as Spanish Sahara. When Spain withdrew in 1975, Morocco marched 350,000 civilians into the territory in the Green March and annexed it, triggering a war with the Polisario Front — the Sahrawi independence movement backed by Algeria. A 1991 ceasefire was supposed to be followed by a referendum that never came. Today the territory is divided: Morocco administers the western portion while Polisario controls a thin eastern strip. Over 100,000 Sahrawi refugees have lived in desert camps in Algeria for fifty years, waiting for a political resolution that has not arrived.4

People live in Western Sahara today scattered across one of earth's most isolated and disputed territories — and in sprawling refugee camps in the Algerian desert, where tens of thousands of Sahrawi have waited in tents and mud-brick shelters for half a century. The Sahrawi are 100% Muslim, and Western Sahara is one of the few places on earth where every single recognized people group is classified as unreached. There are no known indigenous followers of Jesus, no churches, and almost no access for gospel workers. The combination of geographic remoteness, political instability, and Islamic identity has created a territory the gospel has effectively never entered. It is a people that most of the world has never thought to pray for — in a land that barely registers on the global map. But God knows every name.5

Recent news: President Trump made Morocco very happy in August when he acknowledged Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. Western Sahara is mineral rich, which the United States needs, so the U.S. president is hopeful that the acknowledgement will equate to increased economic and technological cooperation in the territory.6

Unreached people groups: Western Sahara has a population of 601,000 and of that, 579,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are the Sahrawi, Tekna Berber, Regeibat, General Moor, Izarguien Berber, and Imragen, among others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Father, Western Sahara is a harsh and empty place, yet people you love are living there. It is, as far as missiologist can tell, 100% unreached. May our hearts break for the lack of anyone there that can share the Gospel with the nomadic people living in that hard place. Every single lost person on earth matters to you, no matter how hard they are to find. They are not forgotten by You. We pray that this new economic move by President Trump and Morocco leads to those who know You coming into Western Sahara to work. A highway will be built there. Let it be a highway of holiness. Let it be a way in the wilderness. Make it a pathway of salvation to the Sahrawi, Tekna Berber, Regeibat, General Moor, Izarguien Berber, and Imragen people of Morocco, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Yemen

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” Romans 10:14 (ESV)

Yemen occupies the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula — a land of dramatic contrasts, from the Hadhramawt valley's ancient mud-brick tower cities to the high mountain plateaus of Sana'a to the Tihama coastal plain. This is one of the oldest continuously inhabited parts of Arabia, home to the ancient Sabaean kingdom — the civilization of the Queen of Sheba, who traveled to Jerusalem to test Solomon's wisdom. The ancient South Arabian kingdoms controlled the frankincense and myrrh trade routes, luxuries the entire ancient world desired, making Yemen fabulously wealthy. Islam came to Yemen in 628 AD during the Prophet Muhammad's own lifetime, making it one of the earliest and most deeply Islamicized lands on earth. The Ottoman Empire, Zaydi Imams, British colonial control in Aden, and eventually two separate republics — North and South Yemen — united in 1990. In 2014, Houthi rebels swept out of the northwest, and the civil war that followed drew in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran, and others, turning Yemen into the world's worst humanitarian crisis.7

People live in Yemen today in the middle of a catastrophe without end. Over four million people have been displaced, millions face food insecurity and disease, children are dying of preventable illness, and the institutions of a functioning state have largely collapsed. Yet the spiritual situation is equally desperate: Yemen is among the least-reached countries on earth. Fewer than one in five hundred Yemenis is a follower of Jesus — and most of those are foreign workers, not Yemeni Arabs. Islam entered Yemen during the Prophet's own lifetime, deeply woven into Yemeni tribal identity and family life. The tiny number of Yemeni believers who exist navigate extraordinary danger. This is a land the gospel has almost never reached, in a country the world has largely given up on. God has not.8

Recent news: Iran-backed Houthi rebels operate out of Yemen. They have caused much havoc in Yemen as a result. They have recently been striking Saudi Arabia to retaliate on behalf of Iran for the Saudis support of the U.S. in their recent conflict with Iran. The Houthis are also striking commercial shipping targets in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. This puts Yemen and the Yemeni people at risk of retaliatory attacks in the areas where the Houthis are entrenched.9

Unreached people groups: Yemen has a population of 41,774,000 and of that, 40,633,000 are unreached. The primary unreached people groups are Northern Yemeni Arab, Yemeni Arab, Hadrami Arab, Tihami Arab, Akhdam Muhamasheen, and Somali, among others. Click here to learn about each.

Pray with us: 

Lord, we pray for the Yemeni people. In this war-torn, devastated place. Set this people free from the Houthis and the terror they cause. They attract warfare, and the people of Yemen need salvation, for their eternal souls, but also from life in the shadow of the Houthis. Your Word says, “Come unto me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest.” We pray this for the Yemenis. Turn their hearts toward You. Let them cry out to You. Let Jesus be found by them in their desperation. Where man cannot help them, Lord, provide for them. Send more aid and more aid workers to share the love of Christ with them. Thank you, precious Jesus. Amen.

Sources

1. Uzbekistan - Light The Nations
2. Uzbekistan - Light The Nations ibid.
3. Why Uzbekistan Is The Next Big Investment—and Digital Leads The Way
4. Western Sahara - Light The Nations
5. Western Sahara - Light The Nations ibid.
6. A $1 billion highway, a US.-backed green project and Trump's letter: How Western Sahara became a new focus of US.-Morocco ties
7. Yemen - Light The Nations
8. Yemen - Light The Nations ibid,
9. Houthis strike Marib again as UN warns Yemen nearing wider conflict
10. Country information and unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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Day 13 - October 4

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Focus on Unreached People Groups

Today is our final day on our journey in prayer through the Greater Middle East. We hope your heart has been touched for the 38 countries and the treasure of souls we have prayed for. To wrap things up, we want to invite you into a more intimate day of prayer. We want you to pray for the unreached people groups residing in your own nation.

Wherever you live, whether in Egypt, or France, or the United States of America, there are unreached people groups there. They are all around us, living in our cities, shopping in our neighborhood stores, with children in our local schools. Living our day-to-day lives, we may not even have thought to pray for them to encounter Jesus. Sometimes, we think of the unreached as far away across the globe and not right in our midst.

So, today, go to joshuaproject.net and look up the unreached people groups in your country, or state, or province, or city:

• Choose “People Groups” at the top of the page.
• Choose “By Geography” on that page.
• Choose your country from the dropdown box.
• Here, you can make many specific choices to find unreached people groups to pray for. Look for the “Progress Scales” with the arrows pointing to red to find the most unreached.
• Click on the picture to the left of the name and you will see great research about the group. Educate yourself.

You can also take that information and prayer walk or prayer drive the neighborhoods where many of these people groups live. They will often choose to live near one another.

As you pray:

• Ask the Lord to give you HIS heart for the people group. Repent of any preconceived notions or prejudices you may have against the group.
• Using the resources above, learn all you can and make a few notes that will help you pray specifically for them.
• Research and see if they have been mentioned in your local or national news recently.
• Some of these groups are mentioned in the Bible. Look up those passages of scripture and read about them.
• Ask the Lord to give passages of scripture to pray for your chosen group(s). Jesus loves us using the Word as a sword to spiritually set the captives free!

Finally, pray with us one more time:

Father, break our hearts for what breaks Yours. We know that You sent Your one and only Son, Jesus, to die on a cross for all the people of the world. Yet so many still do not know You. They have not yet heard the hope-filled message of the Gospel. Forgive us that we have been apathetic in our intercession for the lost whom You came to seek and save. We are now your hands and feet and mouthpieces in the earth. You have anointed us, as Believers in Jesus, to enforce the victory of that cross, to intercede with passionate, fervent prayers, and to share the Good News as often as we are able with those who have yet to hear. Where we cannot go, we can intercede. We can believe for You to present Jesus through dreams and visions, as You so often do for those in the Greater Middle East. There is no obstacle for the Holy Spirit!

[Pray here for your chosen people group.]

So, Lord, we say, “Let Your Kingdom come and Your perfect Will be done for [name your chosen people group] on earth as it is in heaven.” Save them, heal them, and provide all they are in need of, both physically and spiritually, in Jesus’ marvelous and loving name. Amen.

Unreached people group information from Joshua Project.

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