“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Col 2:6-7)

It has been suggested that every organization needs to identify its “brand,”– something unique that distinguishes it from all the others.

As a Christian organization, we are not primarily in the business of “marketing a brand,” but it is good to identify the unique hole in the charitable space (or niche) that we aim to fill.

So what is it that distinguishes Persecution Project from other Christian charitable organizations?

At our core has always been a love for the persecuted church, and a desire to serve the most forgotten, marginalized and persecuted communities in Africa.

The practical side of how that looks for us has developed and changed over the years. Things that might have been important 30 years ago have been eclipsed by time, relationships, and events, but the core of who we are today is the same as when we began.

For almost 30 years, we have maintained our focus on one region of the world: the two Sudans.

From my first visit to Sudan in 1998, we began to develop a relationship with one of the most marginalized, forgotten, and persecuted communities of Christians in the world: the Nuba people.

While we have worked in many parts of both Sudan and South Sudan, it has been the Nuba Christian community where we have developed the strongest ties. The Nuba mountains is a region in northern Sudan geographically the approximate size of the state of Georgia or the countries of Rwanda and Burundi combined.

The first modern convert to Christianity was recorded in 1917 in the town of Heiban in South Kordofan’s Nuba mountains. Today, there are more than 3.5 million ethnic Nubans who identify as Christian.

The Nuba Christian community is the largest community of believers in the officially Islamic Sudan. For this reason, they have been subject to the worst incidents of persecution, terror, and genocide by the forces of radical Islam for more than 50 years.

As we know, many worthy charities have a presence throughout the world. Some tend to “crisis hope” and serve the most pressing needs: an earthquake in Venezuela, a hurricane in Puerto Rico, or a tsunami in Indonesia. This is all good and important work.

But Persecution Project has “camped” in one community for nearly 30 years. This relationship with the Nuba people has changed me and my organization. As we have accepted the privilege of fellowship with this persecuted community, the courage and faithfulness of the Nuba people has given back in their example of love and faithfulness.

During my first visit to the Nuba in 1998, the region had been under systematic bombardment with only brief interruptions. Most impressive to me was the joy of the people in spite of great hardship and suffering.

Two years later, one of the worst attacks in modern Nuba history took place. A well-known Christian school in Kauda was targeted and bombed. Dozens of children and teachers lost their lives. Many dozens of others were wounded and maimed by this intentional act of terror.

During this attack, a young primary school student named Kuti was separated from his classmates, including two of his brothers. He fled to the rocks and hid there for days before he was found by a relative. Kuti was severely traumatized and unable to speak. He didn’t speak for more than one year until a relative brought him out of Sudan to allow him to heal and continue his schooling in Kenya.

Years later, I was introduced to Kuti and hired him to manage some of our projects in Nuba.

Today, 15 years later, he continues to serve the ministry of Persecution Project. Kuti was instrumental in developing and directing our Trauma Healing program, which is helping rebuild broken Nuba lives with a biblical approach to addressing the mental, emotional, and spiritual effects of trauma.

The people God brings into our lives changes who we are. This has certainly been true for me. I used to exhort our friends and partners to “use your community to serve their community.” But now, I have come to realize “their” community is my community. Kuti’s community is my community. It is our community.

After a near 30 years of working in one community, I realize there is no “them” and “us.” It’s just us.

Some of those reading these words have been partnering with us from the beginning– more than 29 years ago! Some of you are more recent supporters. But when anyone supports Persecution Project, they become part of this same community and shared history.

We couldn’t do this without you. Thank you for making our community your community as well.

OUR COMMUNITY

The post Deeply Rooted appeared first on Persecution Project.

In nearly 30 years of ministry, we have never seen conditions as desperate as they are right now in Sudan’s Nuba mountains. But, at the same time, we’ve rarely seen such an outpouring of love from our ministry partners.

The needs on the ground are truly desperate right now.

Intense fighting inside the Nuba mountains during the last four months has violently uprooted tens of thousands of families.  Hundreds have died in fighting, but many more risk death from exposure, malaria, and hunger-related illness during this rainy season that will not end before the end of October or perhaps November.

Exposure and disease is actually killing many more people than bullets and bombs, especially infants, pregnant and lactating mothers, and the elderly who find themselves violently uprooted from their homes.

Extreme privation combined with the rapid influx of more than 3.5 million souls into the Nuba in the last three years alone have led to destabilization of entire communities. 

The relentless pressure from outside has triggered internal conflicts causing division inside Nuba along tribal lines, and the eruption of battles between armed factions. It’s tragic.

We’re watching many good people break under the pressure and give in to their anger, anxiety, and prejudice. But we are also seeing some tremendous acts of selflessness and courage by Christians who are placing themselves into harm’s way to rescue families from this crisis.

Thank you for your generous and sacrificial part in helping Persecution Project reach some of the most affected and desperate communities with life-saving help.

As God works through you and our other partners to fill our hands, we will continue to work to help deliver crisis relief and spiritual hope during this rainy season.

Please continue to pray, support and stand with us and the Nuba church during this critical moment. May God’s name be exalted and may His people be encouraged and empowered as they attempt to reflect the love and compassion of our Savior during this terrible moment.

The Bible consistently presents care for widows, orphans, foreigners, and the vulnerable as a central expression of justice and faithfulness to God.

God’s heart for the vulnerable and oppressed is clearly communicated throughout the scripture. God calls on us to defend widows, orphans, the poor, and others who are vulnerable and oppressed – this is not merely an act of charity – but a core expression of justice and demonstration of “true religion.”

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CrossWay Community Church in Grand Rapids, MI hosted a very successful Car Wash/Bake Sale in July to support the purchase of Emergency Shelter Kits for displaced Nuba families. The day’s activities ended with a Sudan update provided by Persecution Project’s Director of Ministry Advancement, Ed Lyons.

If you would like to invite a PPF speaker to your church event, please contact Ed at ed.lyons@persecutionproject.org.

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Right now, Persecution Project is involved in perhaps the most aggressive outreaches we’ve conducted in our history. Multiple flight rotations, many tons of freight moving by road, and weather wise, all taking place during the worst time of the year.

We are deep into the rainy season. The roads are rivers. The only reliable way to move is by tractor. It’s slow and expensive, but it’s the only way we can reach thousands of families suffering from disease and exposure.

We can confidently say that if you’re reading these lines, it’s because you’ve been divinely recruited to pray for the persecuted in Sudan. They need your prayers right now. We need your prayers right now.

The security situation inside the Nuba mountains is worse than anything we’ve seen in the last 15 years. The influx of more than three million displaced people in the last three years, combined with shortages of every item for basic survival (food, shelter, safe water, medicine) has created tensions and aggravated old communal wounds and rivalries.

The local Church is working every day to encourage peace and, above all, patience in “waiting on the Lord” for help.

We have successfully delivered shelter tarps, emergency food supplies, blankets, mosquito nets, soap and salt, cooking pots, and other crisis relief items to thousands of displaced families. Additionally, we’ve distributed thousands of audio Bibles to those needing to hear the comforting words of Scripture in their language.

We’re entering the most challenging part of the year. August is typically the worst month in terms of getting access to remote areas like the Nuba mountains. While we desire a good rainy season for the sake of the farmers in the region, we also know that good rain means our work gets more difficult. More importantly, more rain means more sickness, disease and death for those displaced and homeless due to the war. So, we’re working as fast as we can. Every day of delay can be measured in greater loss of life.

But we can end on a high note. While the challenges we face are enormous, we have been overwhelmed with encouragement from YOU. Our ministry partners have responded with prayers and giving to meet the need thus far. Please continue to let us hear from you. Your prayers are our spiritual bulwark, and your generosity is loading plane after plane of relief supplies. Please keep it up. You’re making a difference.

Anyone in Sudan will tell you Persecution Project punches way above its weight class… and that’s because of partners like you. Thank you!

The post A Call to Prayer appeared first on Persecution Project.

By Brad Phillips

Each evening, as I sit down in the comfort of my own home to give thanks with my family for God’s provision of health, food and shelter, I remember there are many fathers and mothers in the Nuba mountains of Sudan sitting under a tree watching their children die slowly from the impact of hunger and exposure-related illness.

We have previously written about conditions facing tens of thousands of displaced Nuba families affected by Sudan’s current war.  

Violence, war and terror have left millions of Sudanese homeless and hopeless.

I want to share a brief update regarding our rainy season campaign to provide Emergency Shelter to vulnerable Christians families.

The Nuba region has experienced a massive influx of refugee/returnees. The population has more than doubled since the current war started in April 2023 (from 2.9 million to now more than 6.2 million souls).

For displaced Christian families seeking refuge, heavy seasonal rains threaten their lives, as lack of shelter (combined with hunger) means exposure to many illnesses.

God answered our prayers and paused the rains during the last few weeks, allowing our team to accelerate the delivery and distribution of life-saving emergency shelter supplies to families across the Nuba mountains. We successfully distributed tarps, mosquito nets, cooking pots, plastic buckets for storage and washing, soap, and other essential items to more than 2,400 vulnerable families – approximately 14,800 people in Heiban County.

These families now have a fighting chance to make it through the most difficult months of the rainy season and begin to rebuild their lives.

Additionally, 3,400 families received audio Bibles from our local church ministry partners, led by Pastor Musa. 

This rapid response was made possible by your generosity. But the reality is that the need far exceeds the 5,000-family goal I previously shared in our appeal.

Our prayer is to do more, as God allows, to encourage and assist our persecuted family during this critical moment.

As we see the needs continue to increase, my prayerful goal now is to help 10,000 families during this rainy season.

Please join me in praying daily for the Nuba.

And please continue to help us respond to this urgent crisis.

Thank you for not turning away.  May God bless you for your part in this ministry.

The post Responding With Your Love appeared first on Persecution Project.

The Nuba mountains of Sudan are home to that country’s largest Christian community. And this community has been under a humanitarian blockade since 2011. This means there is a shortage of nearly everything, from food, to medicine, to fuel.

But there is no shortage of courage.

A couple years ago, we introduced you to a brave woman named Honey. Honey was living in the capital, Khartoum, with her husband and several children when the latest war began around her home on April 15th, 2023.

As Honey recounts, the artillery fire was very heavy. Then everything went dark. She woke up in a hospital a few days later. To her horror, she discovered that one of her legs had been amputated. Worse, two of her children were killed in the same attack. Honey’s husband, who was away at the time, never returned home.

Through the amazing courage of Pastor Musa (Moses) and his assistant, Emmanuel, buses were organized to evacuate some of the most vulnerable in the Nuba diaspora living in Khartoum. Thankfully, Honey and her surviving children made it onto one of the buses. She now lives in a refugee camp in the Nuba mountains. But her life is far from easy.

For decades, the Nuba have successfully resisted the Islamist Sudan Armed Forces, carving out a comparative safe haven for millions of their fellow Sudanese (mostly ethnic Nuba) who have fled from other parts of Sudan to escape the current civil war which has split the country into at least three major pieces.

The number of refugees arriving, like Honey, has steadily gone up. Three years ago, there were around three million people living in the Nuba mountains. Today, there are over six million— one million having arrived in just the last few months.

One of the new camps is called Umdulu. It is home to 50,000 internally displaced refugees… and growing by around 100 families per day (approx. 700 people). Many traveled for weeks arriving with only what they could carry. The new arrivals are living under trees or whatever straw shelter they can throw together.

But it gets worse.

The rains have begun. And the weather will worsen for the next several months, making transport very difficult. Thankfully, we use tractors which can access most places. But they’re slow and expensive. In the meantime, refugees are exposed to the elements, and when people start getting sick, they will swamp the few hospitals available.

This is a growing crisis. These are the worst conditions we’ve seen since 2011. We committed to sending immediate help to 5,000 additional families above our current budgeted distributions. That’s approximately 35,000 more people. It seems like a drop in the bucket, but we must do something.

The “help” we’re sending is very basic: a heavy-duty tarp to keep off the worst of the rains; a mosquito net to ward off malaria (one of the biggest killers this time of year); a plastic bucket for storage and washing. A heavy-duty cooking pot; and a large bedsheet.

Additionally, the encouragement these families receive will help keep them going until they can be absorbed by the broader community to begin rebuilding their lives.

Please pray for the Nuba people. We can still make a difference. But it’s not Persecution Project. It is God working through your ACTIVE COMPASSION. It may seem little on paper, but to those receiving your help— and those looking on from a distance— the love of Christ is being proclaimed in word and deed.

Pray we can work fast. Since the rains have started, every day we don’t move means the ground gets muddier and the costs go up… and more people suffer. Thank you!

The post The Growing Crisis appeared first on Persecution Project.

We recently received the heartbreaking news that a good friend and member of our Sudan team was killed in the Nuba mountains. 

Yassin Hassan was an accomplished Nuba photographer and videographer who we had the privilege of knowing for 15 years. During this time, Yassin’s combat photographs and videography (some of which featured prominently in many award-winning films, including our film Exodus) was instrumental in helping to get the story of his people’s struggle out to the rest of the world.

Yassin leaves behind his wife, Tereza, as well as an infant son and daughter.

His death is another reminder of the real cost of Sudan’s Islamists’ decades-long war on the Nuba people. Yassin was a fearless warrior who used his camera to lift up the faith and courage of his people. He has now paid the greatest price.

As his family and community mourn this great loss, please join us in praying for Yassin’s widow and children. 

May God work through Yassin’s example of courage and service to raise up more faithful and courageous men in his community.

May God rest His soul.

The post In Memoriam: Yassin Hassan appeared first on Persecution Project.

The current war with Iran might not be a “World War” but it certainly has global reach.

Persecution Project works primarily in areas heavily influenced by traffic in and out of the Persian Gulf. With shipping from the region coming to a standstill for weeks, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in costs across every category of our ministry:

> 6-ton Relief Flight: Increase from $13,800 to $14,800 (7 percent)

> Shelter Tarps: Increase from $30 to $33 (10 percent)

> Galvanized Pipes for Borehole Repairs: Increase from $20 to $22 (10 percent)

> Therapeutic Food: Increase from $6.30 a box to $7.00 (11 percent)

> 40 ft. Truck Hire: Increase from $16,000 to $18,000 (12.5 percent increase)

>Ladies’ Hygiene Kits: Increase from $12 to $14.5 (20.8 percent)

> Diesel: Increase from $1.50 per liter to $2.50 (66.6 percent!)

The list goes on and on.

Of course, many reading these lines can probably relate. “I’m seeing the same thing in my monthly budget!” This is why we’re so grateful for your continued support of the persecuted church. Every time we receive a special gift during these difficult times, we thank God for His great love being shown— because we know many of our supporters are really feeling the pinch.

We have received a few touching letters from long-time supporters apologizing because they have to reduce their regular giving because of financial pressure. We pray for them because we know where their hearts are.

But we have also received greater support from many partners because they know the current crisis is increasing costs and impacting outreach. They’re digging deeper and taking on additional burdens for the sake of the Gospel.

So, we press on. We must with such great love behind us and great need before us. We press on TOGETHER for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Thank you for your sacrifice. We will not stop. We will continue to do all we can, as God provides.

The post Pressing On appeared first on Persecution Project.

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.

The post Water in a Thirsty Land appeared first on Persecution Project.

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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