Missions Catalyst

Source: Global Partners, September 1, 2025

When Liz and Hamed first met in Central Europe, they brought together two distinct cultures and stories of God’s relentless pursuit of their hearts across borders. Both immigrants, their experiences ultimately shaped their calling to minister to displaced people across the world.

Hamed’s journey began in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Hamed was exposed to the gospel through his brother, who had immigrated to the United Kingdom. After becoming a believer and getting baptized, Hamed began telling others about Jesus and started an underground church in his parents’ house.

Hamed was kidnapped by the secret police, tortured for three days, and told he would be executed. By God’s grace, he escaped and fled to Central Europe, where he received asylum.

Liz’s story began in Mexico, where she was born before immigrating to the United States as a teenager. She attended church for the first time in America and decided to follow Christ shortly after. At only 14 years old, she received her call to missions and has followed that call ever since.

Together, Liz and Hamed planted several international congregations with members from Iran, Syria, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. They held baptisms every three months with as many as 50 new converts each service.

In 2023, they moved to the United States, where Liz developed a curriculum to train ministry leaders working with diaspora groups and asylum seekers and made it available for anyone to use.

In 2024, they began discussions with Global Partners about training British pastors to reach immigrant communities using Liz’s curriculum. The couple plans to support immigrants living in Birmingham while addressing the spiritual and physical needs of the persecuted church.

The full, very multinational story includes contact info for those who want to learn more or access the curriculum.

See also How to Offer Jesus Naturally to Your Neighbors and the Nations (Jeannie Marie). This one-hour training video will only be available through Sunday, September 21, but Jeanie offers many other resources.

Source: United Bible Societies, September 9, 2025

A significant step forward in Bible accessibility has been achieved with the launch of a new online platform making Scripture available in Auslan, the sign language of Australia’s Deaf community.

The Auslan Bible Translation Project has been steadily progressing for almost 30 years, led by the Auslan Bible Committee in partnership with Bible Society Australia. Since 1997, the goal has been clear: to ensure Deaf Australians can engage with God’s Word in their first language—fully, naturally, and clearly. In 2023, Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia joined the effort, further strengthening the translation work.

With the launch of the new website, the Auslan Bible has an accessible home. It offers video translations of Scripture, including the books of John and Acts, alongside a growing library of children’s Bible stories. A “passage of the day” feature provides daily encouragement, and the platform explains how translation happens and how the wider community can support the project.

Read the full story or visit the Auslan Bible website.

2025 has been a year of Bible  breakthroughs. As of August 1, just 544 of the world’s 7,396 living languages remain on the waiting list for Bible translation to begin. A year earlier, the number was 985 languages. In 2020, it was more than 2,000. In 1999, it was more than 5,000. To learn more, see 2025 Global Scripture Access (Wycliffe Global Alliance).

Source: Mission Frontiers, September 2025

It was springtime in India, and the local Saraswati festival was quickly approaching. A new Hindu friend had invited me to join his family’s celebration at their home for this religious holiday. Saikat had quickly become something of a local host for me, and I was grateful to be invited to his extended family’s gathering.

After everyone had eaten, I told Saikat’s father how much I enjoyed being welcomed by his family and his many relatives. He looked a bit sad as I said this, so I asked if any relative was missing. “Only my brother,” Saikat’s father replied. “Three years ago, he became a Christian. Since then, he never comes to our home or visits us on any of the holidays.”

His words impacted me deeply. Here I was, a follower of Jesus who had left my family and hometown 8,000 miles away to share about Jesus with Hindu people. Yet the Hindu family that I was trying to reach had already experienced the hoped-for miracle that someone in their family might begin to follow Christ. Unfortunately, Saikat’s uncle’s conversion had left only painful wounds for the rest of his family. The gospel of Jesus, at least how Saikat’s family understood it, had been distinctly not good news.

Read more. Pray for movements that overcome cultural obstacles and extend from one family member to the next.

This issue of Mission Frontiers also includes articles about conversion and transformation among Muslims, Buddhists, and other groups.

1. Eritrea: Letter Calling for Release of “The 7” Refused
2. Nigeria: Delivering the Good News in 500+ Languages
3. Russia: Baptist Activities Banned but Gatherings Continue
4. Middle East: Believers from Muslim Backgrounds Offer Hope to Suffering Sudanese
5. Pakistan: “We Are Watched All the Time”
6. India: New Restrictions on Worship in House Churches

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

Source: Christian Freedom International, August 21, 2025

The Eritrean Embassy in Washington D.C. refused to accept a hand-delivered letter calling for the release of seven church leaders who are imprisoned with no charges, no court cases, no legal representation, [and] no family visits for over 20 years. The letter was addressed to the Embassy of Eritrea and signed by a dozen organizations and over 60 individuals.

The letter reminds Eritrean officials of their obligations under international treaties and the Eritrean Constitution.

Eritrea, a small country in Africa, is often referred to as the “North Korea of Africa” due to its lack of freedom. The government exerts control over nearly every aspect of life, including religion, forcing many Christians to practice their faith in secret. Many believers are imprisoned or locked in metal shipping containers under the scorching sun.

Read the full story for details about these believers.

Also see a prayer resource about these men from Church in Chains.

Source: Global Recordings Network, August 27, 2025

We stood in an unnamed African airport at 1:30 am, holding a $600 invoice for duty on the recording equipment that we had brought with us. We had just completed an overnight train ride and an overnight flight in the shadow of the earth and had finally arrived at our destination. The head of customs curtly ordered us to leave the inspection room and report to the office [to pay duty] on this invoice.

She said she could see from our itinerary that we had been traveling close to 30 hours. She also noticed my age from my passport, which she was holding. She asked, “Why is someone your age doing this? Who is paying you? Don’t you have children and grandchildren to enjoy?” She told me that if we had been carrying Bibles as missionaries, she would let it go. But she couldn’t see why all this new electronic equipment was necessary.

I told her that we had something better than Bibles. We had the story of Jesus in more than 500 languages of her country. I asked what she spoke as a first language, and she told me. While I was trying to find it, she kept asking me who was paying me to do this…

Read the full story. It’s a good one!

Source: Forum18, August 20, 2025

Courts in Russia have prohibited the activities of several Council of Churches Baptist communities because of their refusal to seek any form of state registration. Prosecutors are seeking similar bans on at least another three, Forum 18 has found. Once a court ruling enters legal force, church leaders are at risk of fines if they continue to conduct worship services, and bailiffs may seal church buildings, preventing access by congregations.

One community, in Kurganinsk in Krasnodar Region, has been regularly meeting for worship outside its building for over three months since officials sealed it in May.

Read the full story. Long but thought-provoking. The government is likely to consider a piece of legislation that would bring further restrictions in its next session, which begins in September.

See also a first-person report from the National Prayer Breakfast recently held in Kyiv, Ukraine (Evangelical Focus).

Source: Mission Network News, August 19, 2025

The situation continues to get worse, yet hope remains. People are turning to the Lord as they encounter the peace only he can offer.

“One of the guys that I work with, who was an imam [and] became a Christian, he says, ‘In my lifetime, I never believed that I would see a Muslim come to know Christ. And then in the space of a year, I’m seeing them lead 50 to Christ,” [says John, a gospel worker].

With help from John’s ministry, new believers from Muslim-majority Sudan learn how to share Jesus and start churches.

“We have about 26 teams: 15 are inside Sudan, and 11 are in refugee points outside Sudan. They’re all leaders we have trained at our school; [350] Muslim-background believers from 65 tribes,” John says.

“We’ve been working in Darfur for a long time. Many of the house churches that were underground in Darfur are displaced, and they’re now in Chad.”

While church planting is the believers’ primary focus, they offer limited aid whenever possible.

“We’ve given them training; we try to give some support,” John says. “We did a feeding program in Chad, just the 100 most vulnerable in three camps. We were able to feed for two months and give tarps for shelter. That’s all we could do.”

In recent weeks, the leaders held biblical trauma healing workshops, and 150 Muslims came to the Lord. “Satan wants hope to be contraband, because it is hope that removes the control of the enemy; it removes their power over a person’s life,” John says.

Read the full story.

Also from MNN, read about Dodi, an Indonesian church planter choosing to work in Aceh, a field considered “100% Muslim.”

Source: Global Christian Relief, August 29, 2025

Christians in Pakistan number approximately 3 million, or about 1.37% of the population. About 96% of the country is Muslim. Tragically, members of minority faiths are treated abominably in Pakistan, and Christians frequently face persecution. Believers endure discrimination, violence, kidnappings, and blasphemy charges. Many are trapped working long hours in dangerous brick kilns to repay debts that they may never be able to cover.

“Nowhere else in the world are persecuted Christians in more danger of violence from mobs, but the violence is always well-organized and strategic,” a minister told GCR. “We are watched all the time, and the moment we spread the Word with power, we are in trouble, and we pay with our blood. But that makes the gospel spread all the more.”

The shocking persecution Christians in Pakistan face sounds like something out of antiquity: forced marriages, forced conversions, and even enslavement. But this struggle is ongoing, and Pakistani Christians need your prayers.

Get the full story with links and pictures. See also How a VBS in Rural Iowa Rescued Six Families from Slavery in Pakistan.

Please also pray for the people of neighboring Afghanistan, struck by an earthquake on Sunday; the death toll is in the thousands now.

Source: International Christian Concern, August 25, 2025

More than 200 house churches in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have been affected following new restrictions on worshiping inside a house, claiming that it’s necessary to maintain law and order.

According to media reports, the police chief of Raipur called the pastors to a public meeting a few weeks ago, announcing that Christians could no longer worship in house churches as they were receiving numerous complaints that illegal conversions were occurring in house churches.

Additionally, the superintendent of police informed the pastors that Christians would only be permitted to meet in officially registered church buildings, and all prayer meetings in private homes must be stopped to maintain law and order.

The arrest of the pastor for trying to reopen his church has alarmed the Christian leaders, who fear that this could set a precedent across Chhattisgarh.

Read the full story.

On a more positive note, readers might enjoy reading how Punjabi Christian pastors are harnessing the beats of the bhangra to express their faith and reach more people (The Print).