In 2012, we launched our Nuba Borehole Repair Project. At that time, there was a population of 1.2 million souls in the entirety of South Kordofan’s Nuba mountains. The number one need was access to safe drinking water. Dirty water was killing more people than anything else.

Our strategy to take down this “Goliath” was to hurl our small stones— sent in the form of small teams of safe water engineers repairing as many broken boreholes as possible. The results have been nothing short of a miracle for the community.

With limited to no funding for this project, we set our sights on repairing 15 boreholes— knowing that each borehole, intended for 1,000 people, would likely serve more than 3,000 due to war and displacement conditions.

Our vision was significant… but too small, because God’s love for the Nuba is great and His vision for us still greater. As of this writing, I can report that in the past 14 years we have provided access to safe water to over 3 million Nuba.

This is significant because contaminated water accounts for more than 80 percent of all illness and disease in the war-torn Nuba mountains.

Sudan has been recognized as the #1 Humanitarian Crisis in the World today. And the need for clean, safe drinking water has never been greater or more critical. Due to the war and terror instigated by Sudan’s Islamist regime, millions of Sudanese have been violently uprooted from their homes.

One consequence is that the “sharia-free” Nuba mountains region has become the number one safe-haven for millions who have been forced to flee— especially Christians. Today there are more than 5.6 million souls in the Nuba mountains (up from 1.2 million in 2012).

In the Gospel of Matthew our Lord reminded us of the value of providing even one cup of water in His name. Right now, we are asking you to prayerfully consider doing just that. It costs less than one dollar to provide safe water access to a thirsty soul.

As needs have grown exponentially three years into the current war, we are praying with our Nuba brethren that God will continue to expand our capacity to respond.

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Persecution Project seeks to minister to victims of war, genocide and religious persecution. We bring physical relief but also spiritual hope to those who have often been neglected or forgotten. 

For this spiritual hope, we rely heavily on our indigenous ministerial partners on the ground. These shepherds live in targeted communities and are often the victims themselves of severe persecution. 

Through their example and faithful proclamation of the gospel, their flocks find the strength to live day-by-day through tremendous hardship and challenges.

But shepherds also have needs, and that’s why Persecution Project has sponsored many ecumenical pastor/evangelist conferences where faithful teachers can receive instruction and encouragement.

At these ecumenical conferences, pastors, pastor’s wives, and evangelists meet to share their experiences and to receive encouragement and practical training on ministering to communities wracked by war and persecution.

These conferences are sponsored by Persecution Project’s Discipleship and Evangelism program, and they are responsible for serving thousands of Shepherds needing refreshment so they can continue the hard work of leading their congregations through great trials.

Please pray that these pastors and evangelists do not grow weary in their work. Pray also that we can continue supporting their ministry to the poor and broken-hearted.

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On Christmas Day, the world learned of President Trump’s ordered strike against Islamist terrorists in Nigeria for their relentless persecution of Christians.

But at the same time, more than a thousand miles away in Sudan, the Islamist regime of Abdel Fattah al Burhan launched a strike against Nuba Christian worshippers at a Christmas Day celebration. 

The Nuba mountains of South Kordofan State is home to Sudan’s largest indigenous Christian community. Consequently, it continues to be the number one target of religious persecution by Islamists like Burhan.

Initial reports indicate that 12 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed by the Christmas Day drone strike. Another 19 worshippers were severely wounded. 

This is the second drone attack inside the Nuba in less than one month. The previous occurred on November 29th and claimed the lives of 49 Nuba civilians. 

The Islamist terror in Nigeria is certainly a problem, but it mostly involves rogue groups operating against official government policy and sanction.

But in Sudan, it is the “official” government which is perpetrating acts of terror and genocide against its own people— especially the Christian population.

The addition of drones ushers in a new era of terror for the Christian population. In the past, old, noisy Antonov bombers would at least provide some warning. But small, comparatively quiet drones can strike at any time, day or night.

May God expose and defeat the wickedness perpetrated by Sudan’s Islamists. May He also encourage and sustain Nuba Christians as they minister to family, neighbors, and all those impacted by this terror in their community.

Please join us in prayer for our persecuted Nuba brothers and sisters in Sudan. Pray also for the safety of our staff.

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Dear Persecution Project Family,

Since April 15th, 2023, the population inside Southern Kordofan Sudan (Nuba mountains) has swelled by more than 1.6 million souls, bringing the total number to more than 4.5 million!

All of the recent arrivals were forced to flee with only what they could carry. The current war has resulted in mass death, displacement and famine.

Perhaps the greatest challenge among the Nuba right now is famine conditions that lead to a deadly condition known as “severe wasting.”

The most affected among the displaced Nuba population are small children, the elderly, and pregnant and lactating mothers.

In Sudan’s Nuba mountains, more than 300 children continue to die every day from the effects of “severe wasting.” This is a direct result of the destructive behavior of the Islamist SAF regime in Khartoum.

In response to these conditions inside Nuba, Persecution Project launched its “Therapeutic Feeding and Medical Care Campaign” to combat severe wasting.  November 1, 2025 marked one year since the implementation of this campaign.

I am grateful to report that during these past 12 months, God has answered prayer in a miraculous way —allowing our medical teams at GRH and Tujor Hospitals to treat and save more than 27,000 patients!

Our medical teams, led by Drs. Alamin and Martin, have treated an average of more than 2,300 patients per month (mostly small children).

It is not an exaggeration to say this has been a miracle for the Nuba people. For much of the year, the roads in the Nuba become swamp land… quite literally. Moving large, heavy shipments of food becomes extremely challenging.

The airspace has been closed by the SAF Islamists since 2011, so everything must be moved overland. And this is often a problem money can’t fix. To get through requires sheer will power, and we have been blessed with a team so dedicated, they are willing to do what it takes to break through to our hospitals.

Our guys persevered, not just because of the extreme need waiting for them at the hospitals, but because of the people behind them: you.

They know that the burden they’re carrying is one borne first by you. It is a burden of love for the persecuted Church. Love for them.

This is our team— yours and mine. Our brothers and sisters working together to bring the love of Christ in word and deed to the suffering and persecuted.

I hope it encourages you to “not grow wearing in your well-doing.” You are making a difference!

This is a cause of great thanksgiving for us. As we gather to celebrate the greatest gift of all — the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ— remember that there are unseen members of your family still present with you in spirit. I pray your Christmas holiday is full of grace and peace.

From my home in East Africa to yours, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Sincerely,

Brad Phillips
President

The post A Christmas Letter appeared first on Persecution Project.

The Persecution Project team recently visited our friends at Mt. Horeb Church in Lexington, SC, for a screening of our film Exodus. Mt. Horeb has been a dedicated ministry partner with Persecution Project for over 20 years, and it was great to meet with so many friends and celebrate what God is doing in the lives of His people in the war-torn Nuba mountains of Sudan.

Exodus tells the inspiring story of two courageous Christian leaders in Sudan who risked everything to save their people from certain death at the hands of Islamist terror groups. You can watch the one-minute film trailer at NubaExodus.com and find a link to a form which lets you schedule a showing at your church, organization, or small group!

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Our team recently sent us a batch of photos from Fall outreaches which we are pleased to share here. We hope that these images encourage you in your prayers and giving when you see our spiritual family receiving tangible examples of your “active compassion.”

As we approach Thanksgiving, we have much to celebrate and thank God for in 2025. No matter what trials and hardships we have faced, we are constantly reminded by our Lord that He loves us and shows us His love frequently through the lives and actions of His precious ones, wherever they are in the world— from the mountains of Southern Kordofan to the Kansas Prairie.

When USAID funding was cut to many organizations working in Africa, there was a general panic among many because of the dependency this funding had created over decades. But Persecution Project has always been “dependent” on God working through people like you.

Thank you for generosity and “investing” in Heaven.

The post Fall Distribution Updates appeared first on Persecution Project.

Twenty-five years ago, Brad Phillips asked me to join the board of directors of Persecution Project. I agreed out of friendship to Brad but also from a sense of basic duty. While I had no personal connection to the persecuted church in Sudan, I had been taught my whole life that Christians are supposed to “remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” (Heb. 13:3)

For the first five years, I dutifully did my job as a board member, safely far away from the community which was being served by the efforts of Brad and our small staff.

Then, in July 2005, I made the “mistake” of traveling to East Africa. For the first time, I met some of the actual people I was supposed to be “remembering.”

It changed my life… but I wasn’t fully aware of just how much. That trip was the first of many. Then my whole family relocated to the continent, where we resided for nearly eight years to be closer, not to “the work” per se, but to the people.

All good relationships require a significant investment of time. And the longer I spent with the persecuted, the more I began seeing them not as a “duty,” but as part of me. My wife and children are not my “duty.” They’re my vocation. They’re my life. I have a connection with them which is unique and precious. The persecuted church began to become part of my extended family.

I began seeing the people I visited and served, not as a collective blob of suffering humanity, but as individual members of my extended family. And, like my family, their needs became my needs. Their crosses, my cross.

I remember meeting John Garang, the first President of South Sudan. He was on his way to Khartoum to be sworn in under the “New Sudan” following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended one of the longest civil wars in Africa. Garang was a strong Christian and fought for his people to have the opportunity to live free of “political Islam.”

Garang took his oath of office in English, not Arabic, and placed his hand on a Bible, not the Koran— a clear signal to the Islamists all around him. They took notice. Garang was dead within a few weeks, losing his life in a mysterious helicopter crash.

I remember Pastor Mattabush, one of the first Christian converts in the Nuba mountains by some Australian missionaries from the Church of Christ who visited after World War II. When the missionaries were expelled by the Islamist government, Mattabush carried on the mission and became a spiritual father to his entire county.

He was arrested numerous times and endured horrific torture. His captors didn’t want to make him a martyr, but he was converting too many prisoners to the faith, so they eventually let him go. Mattabush passed away a few years ago at a ripe old age, surrounded by a large family and congregation of the faithful.

I remember Owida, a little refugee girl who lived in a straw house after her village was burned down by Islamists. I gave her family a tarp to put over their shelter and she gave me a bundle of peanuts in thanks. Have you ever received a gift of food from a starving child? It will break you. A year later, I attended a church service nearby and noticed Owida singing on the front row of the choir. Jesus was so right when He instructed us to become as little children. When I read that verse, I think of Owida.

I remember Dr. Ahmed Zakariah, who took an abandoned clinic and turned it into the Gigaiba Referral Hospital. When Brad and I met him, he had literally just survived a horrific bombing which killed a man next to him and put dozens of pieces of shrapnel in Ahmed’s back. Ahmed labored vigorously under extremely stressful conditions to heal the broken bodies pouring into his hospital. Later, Dr. Ahmed would tragically lose his life to a flash flood.

I could go on and on giving little biographical sketches of my extended family members in Africa. I want to tell their stories to you because they’re your family as well. Mattabush was your spiritual father, too. Dr. Ahmed was your brother. And Owida is your child.

I personally embarked on this mission out of a sense of duty. But I was surprised by love, because love has kept me here 25 years later. Not so much my love for the persecuted church… but yours.

Without your love and commitment to our family in Sudan, they would likely still be a collective blob in my mind. But your generosity has allowed me and my colleagues to build amazing relationships with so many people— and be shaped by them.

But just like our brothers and sisters in Sudan, we want to see you as part of the family. We try to connect with as many of our ministry partners as we can, but we need your help.

Would you share some of your own story with us? What draws you to this mission— this relationship? You can use visit our website and send us a note. (persecutionproject.org) We want to know how God has worked in your life to connect you with ours and our extended family in Africa.

We want to hear how you have been surprised by love.

The post Surprised by Love appeared first on Persecution Project.

We were saddened to hear of the passing of Judith Brown, a long-time ministry partner to Persecution Project. Judy is one of the unsung heroes of the persecuted Church in Sudan. For 17 years, Judy faithfully gave to help her suffering brothers and sisters a world away, knowing she would probably never get to meet them in this life.

Judy’s friends probably had no idea that this little lady living in a small town in Colorado was such a powerful warrior on behalf of the marginalized and persecuted in Sudan. But God saw it all, and we’re certain many of the people Judy ministered to through her partnership with Persecution Project were there to greet her at her homecoming.

Rest in peace, Judy.

The post In Memoriam – Judith Brown appeared first on Persecution Project.

Persecution Project’s Safe Water Emergency Borehole Repair team recently reported that they have completed the 99th repair in 2025, putting us on track for another record year in providing safe, clean water to Nuba families in Sudan.

More than 80 percent of all disease in the Nuba is traced to contaminated water supplies. Every functional safe water well is a major victory for public health in these communities.

Special thanks go out to our friends at Convoy of Hope, for generously supporting our borehole repair program in 2025. Our Safe Water donors make this good news possible for us to share with all our ministry partners!

The post Safe Water Program Update appeared first on Persecution Project.

Persecution Project’s team in the war-torn Nuba mountains recently forwarded our home office a report, along with photos, of a recent distribution of aid to refugees fleeing the ongoing civil war in Sudan.

Persecution Project’s team targeted 7,500 refugees fleeing from the village of Umdulib, in Tolodi county, which has suffered severe attacks by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in recent months.

Our team was able to distribute thousands of shelter tarps, blankets, sleeping mats, and other emergency supplies to the refugees.

This distribution is the only non-food aid these refugees have received since fleeing their homes with virtually nothing.

But Persecution Project was there to help— thanks to the faith working through the love of thousands of ministry partners like you.

We were there for them, because you’ve been there for us. Your faithful prayers and giving has made it possible for us to get help to very remote and dangerous parts of the country, so that when the need arises, we can immediately respond.

We hope these photos from this latest distribution encourage you in your giving. Imagine the encouragement received by the people receiving these items when they learn their needs were met by caring Christians, who heard their cries thousands of miles away.

Thank you!

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