Praying for the Persecuted and for the Hindu World

Sources: Various

Praying for the Persecuted Church

A variety of organizations have put together materials for this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (observed both November 1 and November 8). Take a look. What can you use? Thanks to Missio Nexus for this roundup.

15 Days of Prayer for the Hindu World

November also marks 15 days of prayer for the Hindu world, scheduled to coincide with a number of Hindu holidays. Resources include:

Books: How to Send 100 Missionaries (and Others)

Source: Various

How to Send 100 Missionaries

How to Send 100 Missionaries: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building and Leading a Mission Agency, by David A. Matthews. Reflejo, 2026. 184 pages.

The founder of Reflejo, a thriving Latino mission agency, shares a practical roadmap for building a missionary-sending pipeline through a church, movement, or mission agency, especially in the developing world. (I love that this was first published in Spanish!)

How to Care for Yourself and Serve a Hurting World

What Really Matters: How to Care for Yourself and Serve a Hurting World, by Hal Donaldson. Baker Books, 2024. 192 pages.

Donaldson started Convoy of Hope, a faith-based organization serving the vulnerable across the U.S. and worldwide. Here he shares truths about self-care, ambition, and resilience that he had to learn the hard way. A bit too prescriptive for me, but pretty solid. Used copies available.

Modern Missionary Stories

To the Nations: Modern-Day Stories of Faith, Courage, and Adventure, edited by David J. Smith. William Carey Publishing, 2026. 216 pages.

This brand-new collection of brief, inspiring missionary stories looks family-friendly and easy to fold into devotions with a group. I haven’t read it yet, but the sample on Amazon provides a taste. If you get a copy, let me know: does it feel too American or have other limiting factors?

Bonus: Coming Soon for Kids

A while back, we highlighted a book that featured an updated version of the song Jesus Loves the Little Children. One Missions Catalyst reader says she gives out copies as baby shower gifts!

Author Tara Hackney has a new book coming out in March. All the Children of the World is an A-to-Z storybook about kids around the world, written for families with children ages 6-10. Fun!

Subscription: Bring the Nations to Your Mailbox

Source: Wonder Letters

Wonder Letters grew out of a simple question: how do you help your own children care about unreached people they’ve never met, in places they’ve never been?

A returned missionary began crafting hand-illustrated letters with stories, activities, and prayers from around the world. Every letter is a window into another life, another culture, another corner of God’s creation. Your family will never see the world the same way.

Learn more or subscribe. A subscription could also make a good gift for a family you know. But you can also get a taste by buying a single issue focused on a culture that interests you.

After last month’s roundup of tools to use in praying for the unreached, a reader reminded us of another resource for families. See Who Are Frontier People Groups? This illustrated prayer toolkit is available in multiple languages and great for all ages (Indigitous).

Articles: Liturgy, Stewardship, Planning, and Spirituality in Missions

Sources: Various

A Liturgy for Those Burdened by the Unreached

Source: East-West Ministries

If your heart is burdened for those who don’t know the gospel, this liturgy is for you. As you pray, let your heart be reminded that the beauty of the gospel can overcome spiritual darkness.

Pray the liturgy, one of several in a collection. Beautiful.

Missions Stewardship

Source: Catalyst Services Postings

Leading a church in missions is like caring for a garden. If gardeners focus all their energy on simply watering their plants, or they neglect watering while constantly pouring on fertilizer, their crops will produce little or nothing at all. But if they balance nourishment and care, their garden thrives for the benefit of many.

Read about the 4 M’s: members, missionaries, money, and media.

Then you might want to read Local Church, Global Impact: Questions Your Church Must Answer (Justin Schell). Planning an event? Listen to Ideas for Your Global Sunday or Global Series (Jeannie Marie).

Mission Trip Planning Checklist: 12-Month Planning Timeline

Source: Storyline Missions

This checklist walks through how to plan a mission trip from about a year out to a few weeks after you come home, with the practical items (partners, passports, budgets, forms) and the team items (Scripture, prayer, training, roles) side by side. Print it, share it with your co-leaders, and adjust the dates to your trip.

Check out the checklist (and other training resources from Storyline, like their eight-lesson Bible study. It will remind you of Perspectives).

Integrating Spirituality and Innovation in Missions

Source: Innovation in Missions

A new field guide brings mission leaders and practitioners practical wisdom from innovators, theologians, and spiritual directors. I had a hard time figuring this one out. Is it something you sign up for, or purchase? No, it’s purely a digital resource to help people in the mission world bring together spiritual direction and practical action through a series of exercises and reflection questions.

Explore the field guide.

Events: Where to Find Training or Inspiration in November

Source: Missions Catalyst Calendar

November 1, International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (global). An annual event, also observed November 8 by some.

November 1-13, Language Learning Accelerator Course (Union Mills, NC, USA). Pre-field training provided regularly by the Center for Intercultural Training.

November 2 to March 7, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (online class). New online classes begin regularly. A Spanish-medium class also begins in November.

November 3, Turkey Prayer Briefing (Mesa, AZ, USA). Facilitated by the International Turkey Network.

November 6-7, Northwest Arkansas for the Nations (Fayetteville, AK, USA). An annual regional mission event.

November 6-7, MissionConnexion Southwest (Phoenix, AZ, USA). A regional mission conference held annually. Come early for pre-conference events, including a 7 Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission Workshop and The Unfinished Story for Youth.

November 6-8, Catalyze Idaho (Filer, ID, USA). A mobilization/training event from Frontiers.

November 12-14, The International Conference on Missions (St. Louis, MO, USA). A (very large!) annual event rooted in the Christian/Disciples of Christ tradition. 

November 12-14, Global Missions Health Conference (Louisville, KY, USA). An annual event from the Christian Medical and Dental Associations; seems to be the premier event for medical missions.

November 12-14, Missional Enterprise National Conference (Colorado Springs, CO, USA). For business leaders and aspiring missional entrepreneurs, sponsored by the Navigators.

November 16-20, Storytelling Training (online). Offered regularly by StoryRunners, a ministry of Cru.

November 19, The Mobilized Church Workshop (Red Deer, AB, Canada). Provided by Sixteen:Fifteen in partnership with the Global Missions Toolbox and others. Get your church to one of these!

November 21, Turkey Prayer Briefing (Denver, CO, USA). Free event facilitated by the International Turkey Network.

November 29 to December 4, Debrief Retreat (Union Mills, NC, USA). Retreats provided throughout the year by the Center for Intercultural Training.

November 29 to December 4, Interlude Debriefing Retreat (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA). Provided regularly by Barnabas International; the next one will be in January in Florida.

See the complete calendar. Submissions are welcome. 

Under a Cloud in China, Breakthrough in Kenya + More

In this issue:

  1. China: Under a Dark Cloud
  2. Kenya: Breakthrough for the Thuri People
  3. Egypt: Christian Conversion, Persecution, and the Internet
  4. Nepal: 24 South Korean Christians Arrested
  5. USA: Powerful Revival Hits University Campus, 700+ Receive Christ
  6. Mexico: Celebrating the Completion of the Purépecha Bible

… plus links to more

Read or share the email edition, or scroll down for more.

China: Under a Dark Cloud

Source: Asia Harvest, October 12, 2026

There is a famous saying that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” In the past, whenever the government [of China] wanted to severely persecute believers, they started by removing all foreign Christians to cut off their influence and to prevent news of what was to follow from reaching the outside world.

In March 2018 we wrote, “You are unlikely to hear much fresh information about the Church in China. Thousands of Western Christians have been expelled from the country, and news about the Church is becoming difficult to access. The government is trying to throw a blanket over the Church so that the rest of the world can’t see or hear what’s going on inside the country.”

The same dark things that occurred in China in the early 1950s were now happening again.

In 2018, Xi Jinping had the constitution amended to make himself “President for life,” and he began to change laws to facilitate his crackdown on religion.

Around this time, many church leaders we know decided it was prudent to cut all communication with believers outside China, as the state was collecting information using unparalleled levels of surveillance, including through 400 million facial-recognition cameras that were installed in every part of China.

Sadly, since that time, everything we predicted has happened. News from China has dried up, not only to us but to every Christian ministry. The news that does occasionally leak out usually tells of mass arrests and persecutions.

The truth is that the Church in China has now gone underground again. It is the sixth or seventh time in history that almost all foreign Christian influence and activity has been shut off from China.

When the Almighty God allowed his bride in China to undergo severe, prolonged persecution a few generations ago, a purified remnant emerged of suffering saints who had discovered a richness in Christ that they would never have otherwise experienced. From the ashes came one of the greatest revivals in Christian history, with at least 100 million people coming to faith in Christ.

Read more.

See also Stories from Inside the Church in China (China Source). Well worth the read.

Kenya: Breakthrough for the Thuri People

Source: Global Recordings Network, October 9, 2026

A team recently took six audio players loaded with gospel materials to the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya. We gave these players to responsible church members from the Thuri tribe (originally from South Sudan).

The response was incredibly enthusiastic. Two years ago, I had the privilege of creating the first-ever written alphabet and writing system for the Thuri language. Because of this groundwork, we are now seeing a steady stream of new ministry materials.

This caught the attention of the JESUS Film Project. In a major milestone, their leadership officially approved a new language code to record and produce the JESUS film in the Thuri language. This historic recording project is scheduled to take place in late October of 2026. For the very first time, the Thuri people will be able to watch the story of Jesus in their own mother tongue.

After listening to the audio Scriptures we recorded with GRN, [an 83-year-old Thuri woman] wept with joy and said, “Now I can hear God speaking directly to me in my own language.”

Read the full story.

Scripture access is not the only challenge in this part of the world.  Read how attacks are straining churches in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, a region now home to close to a million people, mainly Christian refugees (Mission Network News).

Egypt: Conversion, Persecution, and the Internet

Source: International Christian Concern, September 30, 2026

Caleb ministers to college students at the National Christian University, one of several private Christian institutions and secular schools [in a country where] public, state-funded schools are Muslim, and Al-Azhar University, the largest public state university, is considered the historic and premier center of Islamic study.

Cairo has 23 million residents, including 3.5 million college students. [Caleb] has observed that many college students increasingly use the internet, especially social media, to explore ideas that challenge their traditional belief systems and allow them to exercise freedom of thought and speech. With internet availability, they can compare Islam with Christianity. At the same time, the internet gives the government an effective tool to surveil users and prosecute those whose posts are deemed violations of blasphemy laws and/or cybercrimes.

In rural areas especially, community pressure adds to the risk of converting to Christianity, with many converts ostracized by their families and communities. Caleb shared that he knew of a young Muslim man who was comparing Islam to Christianity online. His family found out and planned to kill him. His sister warned him, and he fled to safety.

Sadly, the sister was then killed in his place.

The full story includes much more context and analysis.

On a happier note, read Known by Jesus: God at Work in Egypt (Every Generation Ministries).

Nepal: 24 South Korean Christians Arrested

Source: International Christian Concern, October 14, 2026

Nepalese Police arrested 24 South Korean Christians after complaints were lodged against them for “illegal religious teaching, training, and promotion.”

Sources in Nepal and South Korea state that the Koreans were arrested at a gathering at the Nepal New Covenant College (NNCC) on October 9. NNCC Principal Sarad KC told UCA News that “the visitors were interacting with believers inside a local Bible college and not preaching or sharing the gospel in public with the intention of proselytization” [evidently in violation of the terms of their tourist visas].

Read the full story. Looks like all 24 of the Koreans were released by October 14 and returned to Korea (Korea JoongAng Daily).

According to ICC, there have been increasing reports of South Korean Christians and missionaries being detained and discriminated against in Nepal, Russia, and other nations.

Also from ICC, see Seven Letters from the Persecuted Church. Four of the letters are from Nepal with others from India and Bhutan.