At the beginning of each year, the organization Open Doors, which serves persecuted Christians worldwide, releases its annual “watch list.” The list identifies the 50 countries that most brutally persecute Christians, including the top five below. Learn more at opendoors.org.
1. North Korea
North Korea remains a brutally hostile place for Christians to live. Authorities either send Christians to atrocious labor camps or kill them on the spot – and their families will share their fate as well. It is almost impossible for believers to gather or meet to worship. A new ‘anti-reactionary thought law’ makes it amply clear that being a Christian or possessing a Bible will be severely punished.
• Pray the Holy Spirit will continuously pour supernatural peace and strength into believers held in labor camps
• Pray Christians who bravely gather in secret will be protected
• Pray for the North Korean regime, that they will allow the country to be helped and influenced by the wider world.
2. Somalia
Somalia is a majority Muslim nation, and society expects all Somalis to be Muslim. The group al-Shabaab has repeatedly committed to eradicate Christians from the country. Christians from Muslim backgrounds may be killed on the spot.
Christians also face serious persecution from their family and community. Anyone even suspected of being a Christian convert is closely monitored by their own family members.
• Pray for peace and for God’s protection over His church
• Somali believers face great isolation. Pray that they will know God’s comfort and find ways to grow in their faith
• Pray for God’s wisdom and protection over Open Doors’ work in the Horn of Africa and that it will bear much fruit
3. Yemen
It is extremely dangerous to be a Christian in Yemen due to the country’s strict Islamic laws and the presence of militant Islamic groups.
The population is overwhelmingly Muslim, and it is illegal to convert from Islam to Christianity. Yemen is strongly tribal, and tribal law prohibits members of the tribe from leaving. Yemeni Christian converts are at great risk of being killed by their families, clans and tribes.
Islamic extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and so-called Islamic State threaten so-called “apostates” with death if they do not return to Islam. In other areas, converts risk imprisonment. In detention centers, Christian detainees have reportedly suffered physical and mental torture.
• Please pray for brave secret believers
• Pray for humanitarian aid to reach all people in need
• Pray that God would change the atmosphere of scrutiny and mistrust so that all Yemenis can live safely, and with openness and freedom
4. Eritrea
Believers in Eritrea continue to suffer extreme persecution, as over the years, government security forces have conducted hundreds of house-to-house raids to catch Christians. There are thought to be 1,000 Christians indefinitely detained in Eritrean prisons, not officially charged with anything. Some leaders of ‘unofficial’ churches have been imprisoned in terrible conditions, including solitary confinement in tiny cells, for more than a decade.
The authorities perpetuate a stigma against believers and encourage neighbors to spy on and report each other.
Christians as young as 14 are being conscripted into the armed forces to fight in the conflict in Tigray. There’s no time limit on military service, and Eritrea does not allow conscientious objection. In fact, Christian prisoners are often “released” into military service instead of being allowed home.
• Please pray those in power have a huge change of heart towards Christians
• Pray for supernatural strength, hope and joy for imprisoned believers and their families
• Pray for Open Doors’ work to strengthen the new believers coming to faith in such a challenging context.
5. Lybia
Libya is effectively a lawless land where both native Christians and those passing through face extreme violence. With no central government, militant Islamic extremist groups and organized crime groups both wield power. They target and kidnap and even kill Christians.
If a Libyan from a Muslim background becomes a Christian, they are likely to face intense pressure and abuse from their family and the wider community to make them renounce their faith, or even be killed. Christians who publicly express their faith and try to share the gospel with others are likely to face arrest or retribution.
Christian refugees from sub-Saharan Africa pass through Libya, and are likely to encounter harassment and threats from the Islamic extremist groups. They could also be abducted and used as slave labor by organized crime groups.
• Please pray for nationwide stability, that law and order will come quickly to Libya
• Pray that God would break the power of the organised criminal gangs exploiting vulnerable people
• Pray for Christians to be able to communicate safely with one another and be encouraged
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