Most believers in the West don’t wake up wondering if today is the day they’ll be discovered, detained, beaten, or killed for following Jesus. But millions of our brothers and sisters do.
And the sobering part is this: persecution isn’t just “still happening.” It’s evolving. It’s accelerating in certain regions. It’s becoming more sophisticated in others. If we’re going to stand with the persecuted church, we have to understand the trends and respond with more than a passing prayer.
Open Doors’ latest World Watch List trends paint a clear picture of what’s happening right now, and it’s a call to the whole Body of Christ.
This month, Awakening Prayer Hubs is focusing on Praying for the Persecuted Church. You can join with us at www.awakeningprayerhubs.com.
North Korea Is Still the Blueprint for Total Control
North Korea remains at the top of the World Watch List, and that fact alone should shake us. Christianity has “no place” there, and even a hint of worship can bring devastating consequences.
This is what persecution looks like when a regime aims to erase faith entirely: isolation, surveillance, fear, and brutal consequences. It’s a reminder that spiritual oppression often rides on the back of political power.
Scripture says, “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them…” (Hebrews 13:3). You don’t have to be in a labor camp to be chained. Intercession is how we step into their suffering and contend for mercy.
Syria’s Jump Into the Top 10 Signals a Surge of Targeted Violence
Syria’s rise is one of the most dramatic shifts: from No. 18 to No. 6 in a single year, driven in large part by increased violence, including attacks on churches and killings of Christians.
When persecution turns violent, it doesn’t just wound bodies. It fractures communities. It empties cities of believers. It pressures people to hide their faith just to survive.
The early church didn’t romanticize suffering, but they did refuse to retreat from obedience (Acts 4:29–31). We have to pray for boldness and protection at the same time.
Sub-Saharan Africa Is the Epicenter of Violence, and We Cannot Look Away
This is one of the most urgent realities in the report: there are now 14 sub-Saharan African countries on the World Watch List, and violence scores across the region have more than doubled over the past decade.
Open Doors notes that in the 2026 reporting period, only three countries received the maximum violence score, and all three are in sub-Saharan Africa: Sudan, Nigeria, and Mali.
And the numbers are staggering: 4,849 Christians killed for their faith, with 93% of those deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.
If you’ve been praying “general prayers” for the persecuted church, it’s time to get specific.
Displacement Is Increasing, and That Creates a Second Wave of Suffering
Persecution doesn’t always end when someone survives an attack. Many are forced to flee, hide, or abandon their land, livelihoods, and extended family networks.
Open Doors reports 224,129 Christians forced from home, increasing from the prior year’s figure.
Displacement creates vulnerability: poverty, exploitation, loss of community, and deep spiritual fatigue. The enemy loves to scatter believers and then pick them off in isolation.
Scattering isn’t always defeat. In Acts 8, believers were scattered, and the Gospel spread. But it still required courage, community, and supernatural help.
In Some Nations, Persecution Looks Like Silencing and Isolation
Not every nation on the list is defined by mass killings. In many places, pressure is the weapon. Restrictions tighten. Churches close. Believers go underground. Connections splinter.
Open Doors highlights Algeria, where dozens of churches have shut down, and many Christians have lost connection to fellowship.
They also describe increasing restrictions in China, including shrinking “allowed” religious activity and house churches splintering into smaller private gatherings under pressure.
This is warfare by suffocation: limit the church’s ability to gather, disciple, give, speak, and mobilize.
The gates of hell won’t prevail against the church (Matthew 16:18), but that doesn’t mean we stay passive. We contend for open doors (Colossians 4:3) and for courage to endure when doors close.
So What Do We Do With This?
Many believers read updates like this and feel overwhelmed. But overwhelm is not a fruit of the Spirit. The Lord never reveals a burden so we can panic, but so we can pray and act.
Here are three responses that matter.
1. Pray like it’s your family, because it is.
Hebrews 13:3 is our instruction. Start praying names of nations. Pray specific pressures. Pray for specific outcomes: protection, provision, courage, justice, and gospel advance.
2. Speak up and break the silence.
Open Doors explicitly calls the global church to “break the silence” surrounding persecution, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
If you have a platform, use it. If you have influence, leverage it. If you have a church, teach on it. Awareness isn’t virtue, but it is a doorway to mobilization.
3. Support the front lines.
Some people can go. Some can give. Everyone can pray.
15 Prayer Points for the Persecuted Church
- Lord, we ask You to intervene where Christians are being hunted, attacked, and killed for the name of Jesus.
- Restrain violent extremists and lawless regimes that are targeting believers and destroying churches.
- Protect pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and underground church leaders.
- Strengthen believers who are worshiping in secret, hiding their faith to survive daily threats.
- Comfort families who have lost loved ones to persecution and martyrdom.
- Heal trauma, fear, and grief in believers who have survived attacks, imprisonment, or displacement.
- Give supernatural courage to Christians under pressure not to deny Christ.
- Provide for displaced believers who have been forced from their homes, livelihoods, and communities.
- Open prison doors, soften hearts of guards and officials, and release unjustly detained believers.
- Confound the plans of those who seek to silence the gospel and shut down the church.
- Raise up righteous governance and justice in nations where violence against Christians goes unchecked.
- Inspire the global church to respond, not with silence, but with sustained intercession.
- Raise up bold witnesses even in the midst of persecution, just as You did in the early church.
- Let the blood of martyrs not be in vain, but cause the Gospel to advance with power.
- We declare that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, and the persecuted Body of Christ will endure and overcome.
We are raising up revival-minded prayer warriors, prophetic intercessors and watchman in community. We have monthly training, regional coaches and more. Join with us at www.awakeningprayerhubs.com.
