Christianity

World Watch List 2025

As we prepare to enter 2026, we encourage you to become aware of the massive persecution of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world, and then do something. Anything. Pray. Call or email your leaders in Congress, your state leaders, your friends, fellow Christians, contact your local media, and organize.

Christians are in trouble around the world. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” – Matthew 5:10-12

Please review the World Watch List – Open Doors’ annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/

Here are some quick, alarming data points

  • 4,476 Christians were murdered for their faith last year
  • 1 in 7 Christians are persecuted worldwide
  • 1 in 5 Christians are persecuted in Africa
  • 2 in 5 Christians are persecuted in Asia
  • 7,679 Churches and Christian properties attacked

COUNTRY LIST – https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/

Most Christians are persecuted by Islamic Oppression, followed by Communist or dictatorial oppression, and others.

Here are the top oppressors in order

  • North Korea
  • Somalia
  • Libya
  • Eritrea
  • Yemen
  • Nigeria
  • Pakistan
  • Sudan
  • Iran
  • Afghanistan
  • Central African Republic
  • Mauritania
  • Myanmar
  • Mali
  • Syria
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Maldives
  • China
  • Algeria
  • Tunisia
  • Morocco
  • Burkina Faso
  • Turkey
  • Cuba
  • Niger
  • Ethiopia
  • Laos
  • Tajikistan
  • Qatar
  • Egypt
  • Brunei
  • Jordan
  • Oman
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Colombia
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Mozambique
  • Bangladesh
  • Vietnam
  • Bhutan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kuwait
  • Malaysia
  • Indonesia
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Russia
  • Sri Lanka
  • Western Sahara
  • Kosovo
  • Bahrain

Notice that most of these countries are “allies” or trade with the USA. We encourage you to reach out to Secretary Rubio and the State Department to put more pressure on these countries to protect Christians, or you won’t be doing business with the USA, nor will we protect you if you can’t protect us.

The Lord has told us we would be persecuted for his name, but we also have a duty to stand up for our fellow Christians here in the USA and around the world. This is the greatest level of persecution in the world that NO ONE is talking about. It’s time that changes before it’s too late. Even here in the USA, we are facing existential challenges.

According to Russell Contreras, in his article in Axios titled “The Great Unchurching of America” – https://www.axios.com/2025/12/26/great-unchurching-america-religiously-unaffiliated The U.S. is undergoing its fastest religious shift in modern history, marked by a rapid increase in the religiously unaffiliated and numerous church closures nationwide. Why it matters: The great unchurching of America comes as identity and reality are increasingly shaped by non-institutional spiritual sources — YouTube mystics, TikTok tarot, digital skeptics, folk saints, and AI-generated prayer bots.

Christianity is under fire. When you are facing the fire of persecution, what you do or don’t believe suddenly becomes very clear. Throughout human history, tyrants have tried and failed to stamp out the Christian faith. The same thing is true in our time on a global scale. Countless believers are choosing imprisonment or death rather than choosing to deny Christ.

If you were faced with the same choice, what would you choose? Stand up while you can. Even in the USA, we are under threat. You might want to think about that, because the global persecution of Christians is only going to intensify during the very challenging years that are ahead of us.

“If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” – John 15:19-20

WEEKLY MEDITATION 27 OCTOBER – 2 NOVEMEBR 2025

Lord, we thank you for coming into our world as the light and the way. We ask that you help us understand your word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and open our hearts and minds so that we may incorporate your word into our daily lives. We know we can do all things through you. Jesus, we thank you for your peace and comfort. Your wisdom, guidance, grace, and forgiveness. Your provision, blessings, and healing. You are our rock and salvation. Please help us to see your blessings in our lives and give us a spirit of gratitude to you and for you…in Jesus’ name, we pray.

– Amen

This week, we wanted to bring to your attention the horrific persecution of Christians worldwide. Whether it’s soft persecution like in the West (USA, Canada, Australia, UK, EU) or aggressive persecution in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

The Bible tells us in scripture, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” – Matthew 5:10-12, “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake; endure to the end” – Matthew 5:10-12, or “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” – 2 Timothy 3:12, and more!

It is clear that we will be persecuted for our faith in the Lord. It is also clear that we are called to help those persecuted. Matthew 5:44, which instructs us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.

Here are a few high-level stats from the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule

  • 18,000 Christian Churches burned since 2009
  • 50,000 Christians Martyred (Murdered) since 2009
  • 5 Million Christians Displaced Since 2009
  • 7,000 Christians Martyred (Murdered) in 2025 alone!

Christianity is the largest world religion, and its adherents live across the globe. Approximately 10% of the world’s Christians are members of minority groups that live in non-Christian-majority states. The contemporary persecution of Christians includes the official state persecution, mostly occurring in countries that are located in Africa and Asia because they have state religions (Communist/Socialist) or because their governments and societies practice religious favoritism. Such favoritism is frequently accompanied by religious discrimination and religious persecution.

According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom‘s 2020 report, Christians in Burma, China, Eritrea, India, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Vietnam are persecuted; these countries are labelled “countries of particular concern” by the United States Department of State, because of their governments’ engagement in, or toleration of, “severe violations of religious freedom”.[15]: 2  The same report recommends that Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, the Central African Republic, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Sudan, and Turkey constitute the US State Department’s “special watchlist” of countries in which the government allows or engages in “severe violations of religious freedom”.[15]: 2 

Much of the persecution of Christians in recent times is perpetrated by non-state actors which are labelled “entities of particular concern” by the US State Department, including the Islamist groups Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Houthi movement in Yemen, the ISIS- Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province in Pakistan, al-Shabaab in Somalia, the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Islamic State as well as the United Wa State Army and participants in the Kachin conflict in Myanmar.[15]: 2 

As we start our journey toward the end of 2025, we ask that you consider making a donation (we DO NOT get paid in any way for advocating this) or find some other way, even if it is simply sharing this post, to help our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted and martyred as you read this.

Here is a list of organizations that help and support persecuted Christians around the world. Again, we are NOT affiliated with these organizations, but they are the largest supporters of persecuted Christians worldwide. Please consider supporting one or more of these organizations. We, as the body of Christ, are called to support our brothers and sisters around the world.

God Bless You!

Also, please write your government representatives and encourage them to support Christians worldwide and stop the persecution of our faith! Bring awareness to this terrible challenge.

WEEKLY MEDITATION 5-11 FEBRUARY 2025

Lord, we thank you for coming into our world as the light and the way. We ask that you help us understand your word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and open our hearts and minds so that we may incorporate your word into our daily lives. Jesus, we thank you for your peace and comfort. Your wisdom, guidance, grace, and forgiveness. Your provision, blessings, and healing. You are our rock and salvation. Please help us to see your blessings in our lives and give us a spirit of gratitude to you and for you…in Jesus’ name, we pray.

– Amen

“If people’s thinking is controlled by the sinful self, there is death. But if their thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace. When people’s thinking is controlled by the sinful self, they are against God, because they refuse to obey God’s law. Those people who are ruled by their sinful selves cannot please God.” (Romans 8:6-8)

“We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

“Surely you know that the people who do wrong will not inherit God’s kingdom…In the past, some of you were like that, but you were washed clean. You were made holy, and you were made right with god in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6: 9, 11)

WEEKLY MEDITATION 20-26 JANUARY 2025

Lord, we thank you for coming into our world as the light and the way. We ask that you help us understand your word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and open our hearts and minds so that we may incorporate your word into our daily lives. Jesus, we thank you for your peace and comfort. Your wisdom, guidance, grace, and forgiveness. Your provision, blessings, and healing. You are our rock and salvation. Please help us to see your blessings in our lives and give us a spirit of gratitude to you and for you…in Jesus’ name, we pray.

– Amen

“No king is saved by his great army. No warrior escapes by his great strength…But the Lord looks after those who fear him, those who put their hope in his love. He saves them from death and spares their lives in times of hunger. So our hope is in the Lord. He is our help, our shield to protect us. (Psalm 33:16, 18-20)

“If God is with us, no one can defeat us. He did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all. So with Jesus, God will surely give us all things. Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one, because God is the One who makes them right” (Romans 8:31-33)

“The Lord’s love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning; Lord, your loyalty is great. I say to myself, “The Lord is mine, so I hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to those who seek him” (Lamentations 3:22-25)

WEEKLY MEDITATION 23-29 DECEMBER 2024

Especially this time of year, we thank Jesus for coming into our world as the light and the way. We ask that you help us understand your word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and open our hearts and minds so that we may incorporate your word into our daily lives. Jesus, we thank you for your peace and comfort. Your wisdom, guidance, grace, and forgiveness. Your provision, blessings, and healing. You are our rock and salvation. Please help us to see your blessings in our lives and give us a spirit of gratitude to you and for you…in Jesus’ name, we pray.

– Amen

A blessed Merry Christmas from all of us at Sola Fide Digital Ministries

Then the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a shining cloud]; and so the holy (pure, sinless) Thing (Offspring) which shall be born of you will be called the Son of God. [Exod. 40:34; Isa. 7:14.] (Luke 1:35)

But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, you are little to be among the clans of Judah; [yet] out of you shall One come forth for Me Who is to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth have been from of old, from ancient days (eternity). [Gen. 49:10; Matt. 2:5-12; John 7:42.]  (Micah 5:2)

Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, the young woman who is unmarried and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us]. [Isa. 9:6; Jer. 31:22; Mic. 5:3-5; Matt. 1:22, 23.] (Isaiah 7:14)

WEEKLY MEDITATION 29 JULY -4 AUGUST 2024

Jesus, we thank you for coming into our world as the light. We ask that you help us understand your word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and open our hearts and minds so that we may incorporate your word into our daily lives. Jesus, we thank you for your peace and comfort. Your wisdom, guidance, grace, and forgiveness. Your provision and healing. You are our rock and salvation. We cling to you through your word and the presence of the holy spirit. Please help us to see your blessings in our lives and give us a spirit of gratitude to you and for you…in Jesus’ name, we pray.

– Amen

“Know and believe today that the Lord is God. He is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other god! Obey his laws and commands that I am giving you today so that things will go well for you and your children. Then you will live a long time in the land that the Lord your God is giving to you forever” (Deuteronomy 4:39-40)

“Correct your children, and you will be proud; they will give you satisfaction” (Proverbs 29:17)

“Fathers, do not make your children angry, but raise them with the training and teaching of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4)

WEEKLY MEDITATION 22 -28 JULY 2024

Jesus, we thank you for coming into our world as the light. We ask that you help us understand your word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and open our hearts and minds so that we may incorporate your word into our daily lives. Jesus, we thank you for your peace and comfort. Your wisdom, guidance, grace, and forgiveness. Your provision and healing. You are our rock and salvation. We cling to you through your word and the presence of the holy spirit. Please help us to see your blessings in our lives and give us a spirit of gratitude to you and for you…in Jesus’ name, we pray.

– Amen

“In Christ, we are set free by the blood of his death, and so we have forgiveness of sins” (Ephesian 1:7)

“I tell you the truth, everyone who lives in sin is a slave to sin. A slave does not stay with a family forever, but a son belongs to the family forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be truly free” (John 8:34-36)

“We have freedom now because Christ made us free. So stand strong. Do not change and go back into the slavery of the law” (Galatians 5:1)

WEEKLY MEDITATION 15-21 JULY 2024

Jesus, we thank you for coming into our world as the light. We ask that you help us understand your word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and open our hearts and minds so that we may incorporate your word into our daily lives. Jesus, we thank you for your peace and comfort. Your wisdom, guidance, grace, and forgiveness. Your provision and healing. You are our rock and salvation. We cling to you through your word and the presence of the holy spirit. Please help us to see your blessings in our lives and give us a spirit of gratitude to you and for you…in Jesus’ name, we pray.

– Amen

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. That person will not be judged guilty but has already left death and entered life” (John 5:24)

“I tell you the truth, whoever believes has eternal life” (John 6:47)

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never die, and no one can steal them out of my hand. My Father gave my sheep to me. He is greater than all, and no person can steal my sheep out of my hand” (John 10:27-29)

WEEKLY MEDITATION 3 9 JUNE 2024

Jesus, we thank you for coming into our world as the light and to be. We ask that you help us understand your word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and open our hearts and minds so that we may incorporate your word into our daily lives. Jesus, we thank you for your peace and comfort. Your wisdom, guidance, grace, and forgiveness. Your provision and healing. You are our rock and salvation. We cling to you through your word and the presence of the holy spirit. Please help us to see your blessings in our lives and give us a spirit of gratitude to you and for you…in Jesus’ name, we pray.

– Amen

“They are blessed who grieve, for God will comfort them…They are blessed who hunger and thirst after justice, for they will satisfied” (Matthew 5: 4,6)

“I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in him. Then your hope will overflow by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13)

“The Lord says, “My thoughts are not like your thoughts. Your ways are not like my ways. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts…So you will go out with joy and be led out in peace” (Isaiah 55: 8-9, 12)

WEEKLY MEDITATION 5-11 FEBRUARY 2024

Jesus, we thank you for coming into our world as the light and to be. We ask that you help us understand your word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and open our hearts and minds so that we may incorporate your word into our daily lives. Jesus, we thank you for your peace and comfort. Your wisdom, guidance, grace, and forgiveness. Your provision and healing. You are our rock and salvation. We cling to you through your word and the presence of the holy spirit. Please help us to see your blessings in our lives and give us a spirit of gratitude to you and for you…in Jesus’ name, we pray.

– Amen

“Don’t be afraid, because I have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross the rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you. This is because I, the Lord, am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:1-3)

“Don’t worry, because I am with you. Don’t be afraid, because I am your God. I will make you strong and will help you; I will support you with my right hand that saves you…I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, and I will tell you, “Don’t be afraid, I will help you” (Isaiah 41:10,13)

“How great is your goodness that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you have given to those who trust you. You do this for all to see. YOu protect them by your presence from what people plan against them. You shelter them from evil words.” Psalm 31:19-20)