Faith

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 22-28 SEPTEMBER 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

“For we live by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13

“Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” – John 11:40

WEEKLY MEDITATION 1-7 SEPTEMEBER 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

“Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” – Romans 10: 9-11

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” – Ephesians 2:8

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Romans 5:1

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 6-12 JANUARY 2025

Happy New Year to all of you! May God bless you, and the comfort of the Lord strengthen you throughout this new year. A year of hope, blessings, protection, healing, purpose, abundance, grace, and mercy follow you every day in this new you. God bless you from Sola Fide.

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

“I will always sing about the Lord’s love; I will tell of his loyalty from now on. I will say “Your love continues forever; your loyalty goes on and on like the sky” (Psalm 89: 1-2)

“So know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God. He will keep his agreement of love for a thousand lifetimes for people who love him and obey his commands” (Deuteronomy 7:9)

“Jesus will keep you strong until the end so that there will be no wrong in you on the day our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful” (1 Corinthians 1:8-9)

WEEKLY MEDITATION 30 DECEMBER 2024 -5 JANUARY 2024

We thank you 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

“The Lord says, “My thoughts are not like your thoughts. Your ways are not like my way. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” “ (Isaiah 55: 8-9)

“Don’t worry and say, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear? The people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them. Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well.” (Matthew 6: 31-33)

“If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful, because he must be true who he is…God’s strong foundation continues to stand. These words are written on the seal: “The Lord knows those who belong to him,” and “Everyone who wants to belong to the Lord must stop doing wrong” (2 Timothy 2:13, 19)

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 15-21 DECEMBER 2024

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

“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 and really are not even able 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 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)