Hello friend. We are not naturally good at waiting. We want to see progress, answers, fruit—something we can point to and say, There, God is doing something. But his kingdom often grows underground before it breaks into view. 

We tend to measure by what we can see, but God is often at work long before anything breaks the surface. He knows how to keep a seed alive while it waits, and he knows how to bring growth in his perfect time.

Let’s trust that what seems hidden to us is never hidden from him.

In today’s edition:

🇹🇯 Why the gospel in Tajikistan still grows, even where new churches cannot open.

🌱 What a waiting seed can teach us about evangelism, prayer, and the work of God.

🇲🇽 How Mexico’s World Cup summer could become a rare moment for bold, hopeful witness.

No New Churches Allowed 🇹🇯

Tajikistan is a small Central Asian nation bordering Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. It emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union with deep scars from atheistic rule and civil war, and today it remains one of the region’s poorest countries, heavily dependent on remittances from abroad.  

The government is strongly secular and keeps tight, authoritarian control over religion. Unregistered church activity is illegal, religious materials are tightly controlled, and pressure on believers comes from both the authorities and their communities.

Christians make up a tiny minority, and for many—especially Tajik converts from Islam—following Jesus can bring suspicion, pressure from family, and close state scrutiny. That pressure has only deepened in recent years. 

In 2022, Protestant leaders reported being told that no new churches would be registered, effectively freezing the number of officially recognized congregations in the country. Christians were also warned that children and teenagers could not take part in religious events—minors are generally allowed to attend only funerals.

And yet the gospel has not stopped spreading in Tajikistan. Even where new churches cannot easily open, Christ is still sustaining believers, drawing people to himself, and strengthening the faith of those who quietly and courageously follow him.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for Tajik believers to stand firm under pressure and be encouraged with wise, trusted fellowship.

🙏🏼 Pray for churches facing registration barriers and state scrutiny—that God would make a way for gathering, teaching, and discipleship.

🙏🏼 Pray for the gospel to spread among Tajik families and communities, even where open witness is difficult.

A seed knows how to wait 🌱

I recently interviewed a Turkish pastor who grew up in a nominal Muslim home. He memorized parts of the Quran for schoolwork, but he never embraced its message. 

By adulthood, he was an atheist and a mountain climber, searching for meaning by scaling some of the highest peaks in the world.

Until one day, he fell. And for the first time in his life, he prayed. He asked God to help. Not long after, a couple of hikers showed up in a spot where few people tread. Now the atheist mountain climber was on a quest to seek the God who rescued him.

He searched out other religions and found them lacking, until he remembered a gift he received a long time ago: When he was a child, a couple of missionaries had given him a book. It was the Gospel of John.

That little book was the start of a new life for Pastor Kerem Koc. Many other believers eventually played a part in his conversion and discipleship, but it all started with a couple of missionaries giving a little kid a short book. A tiny seed that lay buried for years.

Until one day, it took root.

Kerem’s story reminds me of a remarkable fact I once read about seeds: “A seed knows how to wait.”

Hope Jahren, a scientist who studies trees, writes that most seeds wait for at least a year before they start to grow, and that a cherry tree “can wait for a hundred years with no problem.” This is possible for one crucial reason: “A seed is alive while it waits.”

Is that how we think about the seeds we’re planting in Christ’s kingdom?

How often do we speak a word, or pray a prayer, or have a conversation, or invite a friend to church—and it seems like it falls to the ground with a thud? Like it withers where it lands?

Instead, what if we remembered that a seed is alive while it waits? That no seed planted is hopeless or pointless?

Another pastor I once met grew up the Indian son of a Hindu priest. When he was a child, a couple of Christians gave him a Bible as he passed by on the street. He read it in secret—and he loved this man called Jesus. When he came to Christ’s crucifixion, he was stunned. Why would anyone kill a man like this?

For years, he wondered about Jesus and what it all meant. When friends in college invited him to a Christian prayer meeting, he went. The seed was still there, alive and waiting. By the end of the night, he knew he wanted to follow Jesus forever. Today, he preaches the gospel in his hard-to-reach homeland.

The Christians he briefly encountered years before never knew what came of the seed they planted in a little boy who passed by. And neither do we. We don’t know what might come of the conversation we initiate. The comment. The prayer. The invitation. Who knows how God might use them? Who knows how he already has?

This makes evangelism less a strategy and more a lifestyle. Yes, we need to be intentional about seeking specific opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers. We need to be deliberate about gospel conversations. But we also need to live our whole lives sowing seeds in a thousand different ways. 

Sometimes those seeds will fall on rocky ground. Sometimes they’ll get choked by thorns. But sometimes, they’ll fall on soil made good by God’s grace. And those seeds will bear fruit, whether we ever know it on this side of heaven.

Some plant. Some water. But God gives the growth. Let’s spend our days planting seeds and watering the ones that might already be waiting. In fact, sometimes we may not really know whether we’re planting or watering as we go. But God does.

Because a seed knows how to wait. And God knows how to give growth. 

—Jamie Dean

A Summer Stage, A Deeper Need 🇲🇽

This summer, Mexico will co-host the FIFA World Cup 2026, alongside Canada and the United States. The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19, with Mexico hosting matches in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. The world’s eyes will be on the country, and millions of fans will flood stadiums, streets, and public squares.  

But beneath the energy and excitement is a deeper spiritual need. 

Mexico is often seen as a historically Christian country, yet in many places the gospel is blurred by fear, tradition, and violence. Following Jesus in parts of Mexico can be dangerous, especially where organized crime pressures churches and pastors through extortion and intimidation.  

A global event like this creates a rare moment: nations coming to one place, conversations opening more easily, and local churches positioned to welcome, serve, and speak of Christ. As crowds gather this summer, pray not only for safe matches and joyful celebration, but for visitors and residents alike to encounter something greater than spectacle—the hope of Christ.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for churches in Mexico to welcome people with wisdom, compassion, and bold gospel witness during the World Cup season.

🙏🏼 Pray for protection and perseverance for pastors and believers serving in places marked by pressure, corruption, or violence.

🙏🏼 Pray that the attention on Mexico this summer would become an opportunity for many to hear clearly that true hope and life are found in Christ alone.

📍 Attention Worthy

• During Secret Church, believers around the world helped fully fund critical gospel work in 10 countries across Asia. Now the next 5—including North Korea—are within reach. Help make Jesus known across Asia today.

• Both Ends of the Rope is a new podcast from Chad Farmer, one of the voices featured in Hard to Reach: Japan. Built from years of ministry in Japan, it offers honest conversations about going, sending, and what it really takes to do both well.

• What happens when churches go quiet about hell? Losing the doctrine of hell doesn’t make our witness gentler or more loving—it hollows out the urgency and mercy of the gospel itself.

Hello friend. Sometimes the work of God is quieter than we expect. It doesn’t always arrive with obvious momentum or visible results. More often, it unfolds through steady faithfulness—through whispered prayers, patient discipleship, and ordinary believers who keep trusting him in places where following Jesus is costly.

None of that, however, means his work is small.

God is still strengthening believers, still raising up leaders, still drawing people to himself through local churches that keep praying, sending, and serving. What looks ordinary or unremarkable to us is often exactly how his kingdom moves forward—with patience, courage, and hope that is never wasted in him.

In today’s edition:

🇰🇵 Why the church in North Korea still whispers—and how Christ is drawing people to himself there.

🗺️ What Scripture actually means by “missions” and why the local church is God’s Plan A for the Great Commission.

🇲🇦 How church-rooted formation in Morocco is strengthening believers to live and share the gospel with courage.

Where the Church Whispers 🇰🇵

North Korea has long been one of the hardest places on earth to follow Jesus. 

Once home to a vibrant Christian presence—Pyongyang was even known as the “Jerusalem of the East”—it is now a land where owning a Bible, praying, or openly professing faith can lead to imprisonment, torture, or death. The ruling regime demands absolute loyalty and treats Christianity as a direct threat, so for the few believers who remain, faith is often hidden, fragile and costly.

And yet the church has not disappeared. 

God is still sustaining a small body of believers who meet in secret, and many North Koreans who flee the country encounter Christ for the first time beyond its borders. In a place where almost every door seems shut, the gospel is still finding its way in—quietly, securely, and often unseen.

This is part of the work Radical is helping fuel across hard-to-reach countries in Asia—secure gospel efforts in places where open witness is nearly impossible. Even in North Korea—one of the most restricted places on earth—Christ is still drawing people to himself.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for secret believers to be protected, strengthened, and encouraged with safe fellowship.

🙏🏼 Pray for more North Koreans to encounter Jesus through the few channels where the gospel can still reach them.

🙏🏼 Pray that Christ would continue building his church in North Korea, even where the world sees only darkness.

The Local Church: God’s Plan A for Global Mission 🗺️

As words get used over centuries there can be a drift in their meaning. 

For example, the word “nice” came from Old French and had the meaning in Middle English of “stupid” or “ignorant.” This word developed—I’ll spare you the details!—into the meaning today of “fine” or “pleasant.”

A similar drift has happened with the word “missions” in Christianity. 

However, unlike the word “nice,” the word “missions” is a biblical word and we can’t let the meaning drift. We must go back to the Bible to recover the original sense of the word.

Missions is an English word that comes from the Latin word missio, and this Latin word is a translation of the Greek word apostellō, which means “to send.” 

So missions is about sending. And an individual who is sent, in the Bible, is called an apostolos, a “sent-one,” or, today, a “missionary.”

But who can send? And who is sent?

When we look at the Bible we see at least three categories of senders and sent-ones; and only one is still in effect today.

The first “missionary” is Jesus (Heb. 3:1), as he was sent by God the Father (John 5:36).

The second type of missionaries are the disciples. 

In this instance, Jesus is the sender and his disciples are the “missionaries” (Matt. 10:1–20; John 17:18, 20:21). This group includes the Apostle Paul, as he was sent by Jesus after his conversation on the Damascus Road (Acts 9:6; Gal. 1:12). We call this group the apostles (often with a capital “A”), and by that we mean those sent by Jesus.

But they are not the only apostles mentioned in the Bible.

Barnabas (Acts 14:14), Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25), and a group of unnamed individuals (2 Cor. 8:23) are all called apostles. In the ESV, this is not as clear, because the Greek word apostolos is translated “messengers” in Philippians 2:25 and 2 Cor. 8:23 to distinguish this group from the Apostles sent by Jesus.

Since there are other apostles—other missionaries, other sent-ones—we must ask, “Who sent them?”

In 2 Corinthians 8:23 we are told they were sent by “the churches.” 

Paul says that Epaphroditus was sent by the church at Philippi, and Acts 13:1–4 shows Barnabas was sent by the Holy Spirit through the church at Antioch. 

This is our third group of missionaries: those sent by the churches.

So missionaries are individuals sent by local churches for gospel work.

In the ancient world, churches lacked the infrastructure—travel, communications, finances—that we have today to continue supporting missionaries. And so, after an individual was sent by a church, they would look for other churches who would send them on. Paul, likely sent by Antioch, was seeking the Romans to send him on his way to Spain (Rom. 15:24). When churches send people on, people like Zenas and Apollos (Titus 3:13), they become co-laborers in this gospel work (3 John 5–8).

Today, however, many missionaries are sent through agencies, often with very little connection to the local church. 

Local churches are vested with Christ’s authority on earth (Matt. 16:18–19), not agencies. Mission agencies can help local churches, but they ought never replace local churches. Mission agencies may prepare and support missionaries, but only local churches can send missionaries.

As the word “missions” has accumulated meaning, we often think of mission work as requiring someone to travel across an ocean, learn a new language, and stay for 20 years. What’s interesting is that the Apostle Paul did none of these things! 

Using a modern definition, even Paul wasn’t a missionary.

The biblical definition, however, is simply an individual sent by a local church to do gospel work.

What if a church sends a team to do construction work on a new building for gospel preaching—are they missionaries? Probably not. We must be careful not to let everything become missions, because then nothing will be missions. And it’s not wrong to adopt a mission strategy that involves crossing oceans and learning languages. But we can’t let a particular strategy define for everyone what missions is. 

We need the Bible to define missions.

So, when a persecuted, underground church in Iran, Afghanistan, or China sends their pastor to preach at another small, persecuted, underground church that currently lacks a pastor, they have engaged in biblical missions.

When churches of North Africa train missionaries in Tunisia and send them to share the gospel in Morocco—they did not cross an ocean or learn a new language—they have engaged in biblical missions.

You don’t have to be a perfect church to do missions. 

Think of the messiest New Testament church, Corinth, sending Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus to refresh Paul (1 Cor. 16:17–18). And you don’t have to stay for 20 years to do missions—though that may be helpful.

And so, start today. 

Send people. Send gifted people. Send people to cross the street, cross country lines, and even cross oceans. Send people for short-term and long-term work. Find teams you can join. 

If you have no one to send, find those sent by other churches that you can send on.

But if you are a church, be engaged in missions by sending laborers and becoming co-laborers.

—Jonny Atkinson

Sent Across Borders, Rooted in Christ 🇲🇦

Morocco is one of North Africa’s strongest Islamic strongholds, and today less than 1% of the population identifies as Christian. 

Christianity has ancient roots there, but openly following Jesus can still carry a real cost. It is illegal to convert a Muslim to another religion or to criticize Islam, which means many believers live and witness with wisdom, patience, and quiet courage.  

And still, God is at work. Radical partners with Moroccan church leaders through a training program, seminars, and Bible studies that help disciple believers and strengthen churches. 

In a place where open witness is costly and many believers feel alone, that kind of steady, church-rooted formation matters deeply. Christ is still drawing people to himself and raising up leaders who can shepherd his people with clarity and courage.  

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for bold and wise gospel conversations in a place where open witness can carry real consequences. 

🙏🏼 Pray for Moroccan believers to be strengthened through healthy churches, biblical teaching, and faithful discipleship. 

🙏🏼 Pray for Moroccans at home and abroad to know that true freedom and life are found in Christ alone.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Hard to Reach: Nepal is now live on our YouTube channel. See the cost of taking the gospel into one of the hardest-to-reach places on earth—and the cost of staying faithful once you come to Christ.

• Church planting isn’t a solo assignment for a gifted leader. Preparing to plant starts long before anyone is sent—and the whole church should feel the weight and joy of that work. 

• Discipleship is more than showing up to the right events. Real growth happens when believers move toward one another with intentional, life-shaping relationships that strengthen both people and the church. 

• Prayer and evangelism are not competing priorities. They fuel each other—deepening dependence on God while giving us courage to speak of Christ with greater love and clarity.

Hello friend. Some places feel far—not just from us, but from the gospel itself.

Mountain villages, crowded nations, hidden valleys where the name of Jesus is still rarely heard, if at all. But distance has never limited God. 

He is not absent from the places that seem hardest to reach. He isn’t stopped by resistance, isolation, or slow progress. He keeps drawing people to himself—often quietly, often patiently, often through ordinary believers who trust him one step at a time.

In today’s edition:

🇧🇹 Why the gospel in Bhutan moves quietly through mountains, homes, and hidden faithfulness.

🇳🇵 What Nepal reveals about the real cost of reaching people shaped by spiritual blending.

🇮🇳 How patient, local faithfulness is carrying the gospel into the crowded complexity of India.

Where the Gospel Quietly Climbs 🇧🇹

Bhutan is a small Himalayan kingdom where Buddhism shapes nearly every part of public life. Though the country is known for peace and beauty, following Jesus can still carry a quiet cost.

Christian groups are not freely recognized, public worship is heavily restricted, and converts from Buddhism are often viewed with suspicion by their families and communities. In many places, faith stays personal, discreet, and carefully guarded.

And yet the gospel has not stopped in Bhutan. 

It moves slowly, often through relationships instead of platforms, through whispered discipleship instead of public ministry, and through believers who keep meeting, praying, and sharing Jesus in hidden ways.

For many Bhutanese, access to the gospel is still painfully limited. 

There are villages where no church exists, valleys where few believers are known, and mountain communities where the name of Jesus is rarely heard, if at all. Whole people groups still live without a local witness, without Scripture in hand, and without anyone nearby to tell them who Christ is. Even there, he is not absent.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for Bhutanese Christians to stand firm under pressure and know they are not alone.

🙏🏼 Pray for the gospel to take root in remote mountain communities where Jesus is still barely known.

🙏🏼 Pray for households across Bhutan to be transformed by the hope of Christ and become lights in hidden places.

Why Nepal’s Spiritual World Won’t Fit in a Pie Chart 🇳🇵

If you asked most people what religion looks like in Nepal, they'd probably say Hindu. And they'd be mostly right. 

81% of the country identifies that way. 

Another 8% call themselves Buddhist. 

Clean numbers. Neat categories.

But spend any real time there, and you'll realize the pie chart lies.

Hindu tradition in Nepal runs deep—over two millennia. Indo-Aryan migrants brought Vedic rituals and ideas about karma and rebirth that fused with tribal and animist traditions already rooted in the land. Nepal would eventually become the world's only officially Hindu state, a distinction it held until 2008. 

But when the monarchy fell and the country declared itself secular, it didn't push religion out. It made room for all of it.

That complexity hit me hardest in Lumbini—the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama (A.K.A. Buddha).

Standing at the ruins of the palace where his father once tried to shield him from suffering, I kept thinking about what broke that open: an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a wandering ascetic who somehow looked at peace. 

Four sights. A whole life unraveled.

Siddhartha rejected both indulgence and extremism, sat beneath a fig tree, and—Buddhist tradition says—woke up. Liberation through ethical living and meditation, not ritual or the accident of your birth. 

A direct challenge to the religious world around him. Except Buddhism wasn't born outside that world. It grew from inside it.

So what does this mean?

Well, here's the simplest way I can put it: in Nepal, religion doesn't work like a multiple-choice question. Most people in the West grow up assuming you pick one — you're Christian, or you're Jewish, or you're Muslim. 

But in Nepal, the dominant traditions don't demand that kind of exclusivity.

Hinduism, at its core, is remarkably open—it tends to see different gods, teachers, and spiritual paths as different expressions of the same ultimate reality. 

So when Buddhism arrived, rather than replacing Hinduism, it got absorbed into it.

The same sacred figure might be worshipped as a Buddhist symbol of compassion in one temple and a Hindu deity in another—and many Nepalis wouldn't see a contradiction there at all. You can light incense at a Buddhist shrine in the morning and make offerings at a Hindu temple in the afternoon, and nobody blinks. 

That's syncretism: not a blending born out of confusion, but one built over centuries of two traditions living inside each other.

What you believe in Nepal, and how you practice it, depends entirely on who you ask. Not contradiction—layering. A religious world that has spent thousands of years absorbing and refusing to stay in clean categories.

Which raises a harder question I kept coming back to the whole time I was there: What does it actually cost to bring the gospel to people whose entire spiritual world is built on blending?

That's what we spent weeks trying to understand. 

Next Saturday, we're releasing Hard to Reach: Nepal on our YouTube channel—an honest look at the spiritual landscape of this country, and the real cost of reaching its people with the gospel. We hope you'll watch.

—Steven Morales

P. S.: If you want to watch it sooner, join us for Secret Church on April 17. We’re doing an exclusive premiere for Secret Church attendees. Remember to use code COMMISSION for 20% OFF your registration 😉

Clarity and Courage in a Crowded Land 🇮🇳

India’s gospel story stretches back centuries, possibly even to the apostle Thomas or the generations soon after him. Yet today, Christians make up only about 2.3% of the population in the world’s most populous country, and vast numbers still live with little or no clear access to the gospel. 

Hindu nationalism is growing, anti-conversion laws in multiple states make open witness and baptism increasingly difficult, and many new believers face real pressure from both the government and their own communities. In some places, churches can gather openly; in others, house churches are shut down and preachers are jailed. 

And still, God is at work. 

In rural India, Radical is helping a local church share the gospel with tribal communities—equipping church leaders, translating ministry resources into the regional language, and helping send workers into places where Christ is still barely known. It’s quiet, patient, deeply local work. But in a country where so many have never heard the gospel clearly, that kind of faithfulness matters. 

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for protection and perseverance for Indian believers as opposition grows.

🙏🏼 Pray for new converts to find strong Christian communities and be encouraged in their faith.

🙏🏼 Pray for the gospel to spread with clarity and courage among unreached peoples across India. 

📍 Attention Worthy

• Secret Church is only a week away. Use code COMMISSION to get 20% OFF on registration (including group packs!). Join us April 17 at 6 PM (EDT)!

• Religious diversity doesn't disprove Christianity. Gavin Ortlund explains why—and how believers can confidently affirm Jesus while engaging others with humility.

• What does faithful witness look like in a world that no longer feels remotely Christian? The church’s witness is bigger than scattered ministry activities—it’s part of who the church is.

• Missions strategies matter, but they can’t substitute the One who gives growth. When the soil is hard and progress feels slow, remember to trust the One whose power, not our methods, advances the gospel.

Hello friend. There are days when the bad news feel close enough to touch—a diagnosis you didn’t expect, a country unraveling in war, a prayer that still hasn’t been answered. In moments like that, it can feel as though the story has stopped in the dark. 

But Scripture teaches us this: “weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). 

While his people are weeping, waiting, and wondering what comes next, God is still at work. Not absent. Not delayed. Not indifferent. He is faithfully holding us through every part of the story, leading us toward the day when sorrow gives way to joy.

In today’s edition:

🇱🇾 How Christ is drawing people to himself in Libya, where the church often has to remain unseen.

🗓️ What it looks like to live with resurrection hope when life feels more like Friday than Sunday.

🇺🇦 Why Ukraine needs more than relief—and how the church can embody hope in a weary land.

Where the Church Stands Unseen 🇱🇾

Libya remains one of the hardest places in North Africa to follow Jesus. 

Though the gospel has ancient roots there, today less than 3% of Libyans identify as Christian, and most of the country remains unreached. Years of political fragmentation, violence, and instability have made life especially dangerous for believers. For Christians—especially converts from Islam—following Jesus can mean rejection, surveillance, and the constant pressure to keep their faith hidden.

Radical’s partners use online outreach in Libya and the surrounding region to connect seekers with believers for evangelistic conversations and discipleship, helping bring the hope of the gospel to those who may never encounter it openly.

God continues to sustain a small and often isolated body of believers, many of whom have little or no safe local fellowship. Even in the shadows, Christ is still drawing people to himself.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for the gospel to spread across Libya and for many to see that Jesus is the one true Savior.

🙏🏼 Pray for isolated believers to be protected, strengthened, and connected to safe fellowship and discipleship.

🙏🏼 Pray for peace and stability in Libya, and for God to use local gospel leaders to make disciples and strengthen his church.

Living like it’s Friday or Sunday? 🗓️

The other day I was reading Genesis 37, and I was struck in a fresh way by the last two verses. After Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery and convince their father, Jacob, that Joseph is dead, we read this about Jacob in verses 35-36:

“All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.”

What struck me in meditating on these verses was how God was working while Jacob was weeping. As Jacob was mourning over death, God was orchestrating a plan for life…not just for Jacob, but for his entire family, including the very sons who had just trafficked their brother.

It all made me think about the disciples on Good Friday. We can only imagine all the emotions they felt, the questions they had, the confusion they experienced, and the sadness that weighed them down.

Yet when you think about it, we’re not actually that distant from those disciples.

How many times in this wearying world have we experienced similar emotions, questions, confusion, and sadness? When tragedy strikes our families or friendships? When death steals away someone we love? Or when a situation seems essentially hopeless?

Amidst such emotions, questions, confusion, and sadness, it’s really good to remember: God is working. As followers of Jesus, we know that Good Friday is not the end of the story. We know that Resurrection Sunday is coming. And this changes everything.

Specifically, this changes our outlook on our lives. Without question, we still grieve. But in the words of 1 Thessalonians 4:13, we grieve with hope. We mourn with supernatural comfort and confidence that one day the King who conquered sin and death will make wrongs right for all who know him.

And this changes our outlook on the world. When you read the news, for example, about the Middle East, there’s much reason to grieve. At the same time, there’s much reason to rejoice, for the church in the region is growing and the resurrection power of Jesus is spreading.

The gospel is a constant reminder that when we see—and feel—reasons to weep, we can trust that God is at work.

So ask the question today: where do things feel like Good Friday in your life or in the world around you? Then press in and pray—and live—like you know Resurrection Sunday is coming. And share that good news with a weary world that desperately needs to hear it.

—David Platt

Hope for a Weary Land 🇺🇦

_{Sonia Dauer/Unsplash}

After years of full-scale war, Ukraine is still carrying enormous pain. 

The conflict has become Europe’s largest displacement crisis since World War II, with families scattered, cities scarred, and daily life shaped by grief, uncertainty, and endurance. Even as Ukrainians continue to show remarkable resilience, the weight of war presses deeply on homes, churches, and communities. 

Ukraine is often seen through headlines about maps, missiles, and negotiations. But beneath those headlines are millions of image-bearers—neighbors, children, widows, pastors, and weary believers—who need more than relief. They need the steady hope of Christ. 

In moments like this, the church has a unique opportunity to embody that hope through prayer, presence, and practical love.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for peace that is just, durable, and protective of the vulnerable.

🙏🏼 Pray for families who are displaced, grieving, or exhausted—that God would sustain them with daily mercy and surround them with care.

🙏🏼 Pray for churches in Ukraine to remain steady and compassionate, serving as places of refuge, truth, and hope in the middle of war.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Secret Church is almost here. Join us on April 17th for six hours studying God’s Word, praying for the persecuted Church and taking faithful action for the spread of the gospel. Get 20% OFF using code COMMISSION at checkout.

• How can we better support women missionaries on the field? Keri Folmar offers practical reminders for how churches and sending communities can help them endure, flourish, and keep serving well.

• Struggling to make time for evangelism? This piece makes a simple case for seeing your car as an ordinary place God can use for meaningful gospel conversations.

Hello friend. As news cycles fill with reports of strikes, shifting alliances, and the movement of armies, it is easy for the heart to grow heavy with a specific kind of anxiety. We look at the Middle East and see a region in turmoil—but through the lens of the gospel, we see a region filled with image-bearers of God who are currently living in the shadow of fear.

Our goal this week isn't to decode the geopolitical "why," but to remember the "Who" that reigns over every border. 

In the middle of conflict, Jesus is still drawing people to himself. He is still the Prince of Peace in places where peace feels like a distant memory. 

Let’s look past the maps and the missiles to the brothers, sisters, and neighbors who need us to stand in the gap through prayer and steady witness.

In today’s edition:

🗺️ Why regional instability creates unique dangers for the Middle East’s smallest religious minorities.

👑 How to find steady confidence in a seated King during a heavy news cycle.

🇱🇧 Why Lebanon remains a vital, strategic corridor for the gospel despite a humanitarian crisis.

The Weight of Instability 🗺️

The Middle East is currently facing a volatile intersection of military conflict and humanitarian crisis. For our brothers and sisters in the region—many of whom already live under the pressure of being a tiny minority—increased instability brings unique dangers. 

When governments are preoccupied with war, religious minorities often face increased scrutiny or become easy targets for local hostility. Displacement is not just a statistic; it is families leaving behind their Bibles, their small house churches, and their livelihoods to find safety in lands where they are unwanted.

How to Pray:

• Pray for the protection of believers in conflict zones, that God would be a shield around them and their families as they navigate displacement.

• Pray that earthly leaders would be granted a common-grace wisdom to seek the preservation of life.

• Pray that the church in the Middle East would not be silenced by fear, but would instead find unprecedented opportunities to show Christ’s compassion to their grieving neighbors.

Finding Footing in a Tilting World 👑

_{UNSPLASH/Mohammed Ibrahim}

The headlines of March 2026 are heavy. Between the reports of military strikes in Iran and the rapid shifts in regional power, it feels as though the world is tilting on its axis. 

When we see nations in turmoil, our natural instinct is to scan the news for a sense of control, hoping for a headline that promises stability. We look for a diplomatic breakthrough or a de-escalation report to catch our breath, but often, the next notification only brings more weight.

It is a difficult place to be, even from a distance. The secondary trauma of witnessing global upheaval through a screen can lead to a paralyzing sense of helplessness. We feel the "groaning of creation" in every refreshed feed. Yet, as believers, our stability is not found in the absence of conflict—it is found in the presence of the true King.

Scripture tells us that while "the nations rage and the kingdoms totter," God is not pacing the floors of heaven. He is not surprised by the movement of troops or the rhetoric of earthly leaders. He is seated. In the Middle East right now—across every border currently being contested and in every city where families are hiding away in fear—Christ is actively reigning. He is not a distant observer of the crisis; he is the sovereign Lord who "makes wars cease to the end of the earth" (Psalm 46). 

This isn't a call to ignore the tragedy of war or to minimize the very real human suffering occurring in the region. Rather, it is a call to remember that no missile, mandate, or regime change can move the needle of God’s eternal purposes.

His mission to redeem a people for himself from every tribe and tongue is not hindered by regional instability; historically, it is often accelerated by it.

Our call to share the hope of the gospel doesn't change when the world gets louder; if anything, it becomes more urgent. In a culture of panic, the most radical thing a Christian can do is remain steady. 

So, how do we practically live out this "wartime" faith when the world feels like it’s falling apart?

• Pivot Your Feed: Every time a news notification hits your phone, take it as a prompt to intercede. Instead of spiraling into a debate about foreign policy, immediately pray for the protection of believers in that specific city. Pray for the underground networks of Iranian believers who are navigating this chaos with incredible courage. Let the news drive you to the throne room, not the comment section.

• Check Your Hope: If your peace depends on a specific geopolitical outcome or a return to a "calmer" era, it is a fragile peace. Ground your hope in the fact that the gospel has always flourished in the soil of instability. The church began in the middle of an empire that sought to crush it, and it will endure long after modern borders have been redrawn.

• Redirect to Jesus: In your workplace and your neighborhood, be the person who isn't shaken. When others express dread, don't meet them with partisan talking points—meet them with Christ. Point them toward the cross and the King whose kingdom cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28).

Our task is not to fix the world’s problems through our own strength or political savvy, but to point the world toward the One who holds the world in his hands.

The King is on his throne, and there he will remain. Let that be enough for us today.

—Camille Suazo

A Strategic Corridor for the Gospel 🇱🇧

Christianity in Lebanon dates back to the earliest centuries of the faith, yet today, less than 1% of the population identifies as Protestant.

The nation is currently facing a humanitarian catastrophe, with massive displacement following intensive regional strikes. Despite this volatility, Lebanon remains a vital corridor for the gospel to reach Syria and other restricted parts of the Middle East. Some of Radical’s partners leverage Lebanon’s unique geography to train church planters and supply urgent humanitarian aid to communities devastated by the conflict in the region.

How to Pray:

• Pray for the hundreds of thousands of displaced families, that God would be their shield and provide for those sleeping in makeshift shelters or on roadsides.

• Pray for the regional church planters being trained in Lebanon, asking for supernatural courage as they carry the gospel into war-torn, restricted areas.

• Pray for the logistics and safety of partners delivering aid through Lebanon into Syria, that meeting physical hunger would open doors for the gospel.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Secret Church prices increase March 18. Remember, you have 20% OFF as a The Commission subscriber. Use code COMMISSION at checkout!

• Massive growth in the Iranian church is the result of a sovereign God working through a people refined by suffering. Learn how to pray for Iran’s New Day.

• Remaining in Beirut during war requires pastoral courage anchored in the scars of Christ. This sober, hopeful perspective will help you understand what it means to be a long-term witness amidst the sirens.

• Sharing the gospel in large groups can feel intimidating for those who are naturally reserved. Here’s a shy guy’s guide to fostering deep, one-on-one connections in a crowded world.

Hello friend. Some of the hardest moments in life are the ones where you can do almost nothing. Sitting beside a hospital bed. Watching news from a country torn apart by war. Loving someone who wants nothing to do with Jesus. Those moments expose how little control we have—and how much we need a Savior who really sees and really acts.

The good news is that helplessness isn’t the same as hopelessness. 

In Scripture, desperate people simply bring others to Jesus and lay them at his feet. That’s still our call today: to pray, to show up, to carry those we love—near and far—into the presence of the One who can do what we never could.

In today’s edition:

🇾🇪 What following Jesus looks like in Yemen’s fractured land

👣 Bringing your friends to Jesus’ feet—literally and figuratively

🇬🇹 Why Guatemala’s growing numbers still need deeper discipleship

Seeking the Light in a Fractured Land 🇾🇪

Yemen is home to more than 34 million people, yet it remains one of the most physically and spiritually isolated places on earth. 

After a decade of civil war, the nation has fractured into competing power centers, leaving nearly 70% of the population in need of emergency assistance just to survive. For millions of families, daily life is a search for bread and clean water amidst "famine-like conditions" and a crumbling healthcare system.

In this environment of instability, the spiritual climate is one of the most restrictive in the world. 

Following Jesus is considered a capital offense under Sharia-based legal systems, and those who turn to Christ face "maximum pressure" from the state, their tribes, and even their own families. For the few who follow him, faith is often a solitary journey marked by the constant threat of discovery and the weight of "honor killings."

Still, God is not absent in Yemen. 

Despite targeted campaigns to root out "apostates," a small, indigenous church continues to meet in secret, proving that even in the world’s most closed nations, God’s Word cannot be stopped. Our prayer is for these brothers and sisters to endure with hope, serving as a living witness in a land that has known so much sorrow.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for physical survival—asking that God would provide daily bread for the 18 million Yemenis facing acute food insecurity and open doors for relief to reach isolated regions.

🙏🏼 Pray for the protection of secret believers—that God would provide them with miraculous ways to gather and that the Holy Spirit would shield them from discovery and harm.

🙏🏼 Pray for stability and peace—that political rivalries would be restrained, detained workers released, and a way paved for the gospel to be heard by every Yemeni.

Put Your Friends on a Stretcher and Bring Them to Jesus 🧎🏽

For the last few weeks, I’ve spent many nights in a hospital room with a close friend recovering from a major stroke. She was young and healthy before her brain bleed, and her sudden crisis was a shock. 

During the first nights, I’d sit next to her in the dark while she breathed through a ventilator, and I’d read the Songs of Ascent. Her favorite is Psalm 121: “I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”

I developed a new appreciation for Psalm 130: “My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning.” 

As she began to recover and breathe on her own, I found myself gravitating to the gospels. But I found myself unsure how much to read aloud. Especially when it came to the accounts of Jesus healing people: the blind, the deaf, and yes, the paralyzed and lame. 

Was this too raw?

We boldly pray for my friend’s healing, but we’re not exactly sure when or how Jesus will answer. At one point, I found myself thinking: If only I could put her on a stretcher and sit her right at Jesus’ feet. I’d even climb a ladder and cut a hole in the roof like the men who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus in Luke 5.

But then I realized: that’s exactly what we’d been doing all along. 

Every prayer, every cry, every plea that she couldn’t make for herself was us bringing her to Jesus, sitting her at his feet, and asking him to do her good. 

And we believe he will. Because he is good. He does good.

I also began to think about how much this applies to other people in my life who need Jesus. People who are physically fit and financially secure and think they have everything they need—but don’t realize they are spiritually sick and just helpless as my friend lying in a bed, unable to do anything to save herself. 

In fact, they’re more helpless. Because they don’t realize they need Jesus at all. 

What can I do for them?

The same thing I’m doing for my sick friend. I can bring them to Jesus. 

Just like so many people in the gospels who brought their sick friends and family and laid them at Jesus’ feet, I can bring my spiritually sick loved ones to him. I don’t know exactly what he’ll do, or how he’ll do it, but I trust his power. I trust his goodness.

That seems to be the essence of bringing our friends and family to Christ—not only in prayer, but in presence. When we speak about him. When we invite them to church. When we ask them just to read a simple book about him. 

It often seems like so little because we realize we have no power to save. But we believe in the power of the One who does. All we can do is bring them to him, and lay them at his feet. 

When Jesus healed the paralyzed man carried by his friends in Luke 5, the author says that Jesus saw their faith. That included the faith of his friends. So, I’m going to keep bringing my physically sick friend to Jesus in prayer. She already knows and loves him, and she trusts that he will be good to her, as he always has. 

But let’s also renew our resolve to bring our spiritually sick friends to Jesus—with our prayers and our presence. And let’s trust that Jesus sees our faith. That it matters to him. 

And let’s also trust that, however he works, a final day will come when “amazement will seize us,” and we will “be filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen extraordinary things today.’”

—Jamie Dean

Faith Beyond the Surface 🇬🇹

Guatemala is often cited as a success story for the gospel in Latin America, with nearly 40% of the population identifying as evangelical Christians. 

Yet, behind these encouraging numbers lies a complex reality of deep-seated poverty, systemic corruption, and a history of civil unrest that continues to push thousands to migrate in search of safety and stability. In many communities, the prosperity gospel has taken root, offering a distorted view of Christ that prioritizes material wealth over biblical discipleship and the hope of eternal life.

For the church in Guatemala, the challenge is not just to grow in number, but to grow in depth. True faithfulness involves moving beyond nominal identity to a life-altering encounter with God’s Word that transforms how one loves their neighbor and seeks justice in a broken society.

How To Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for biblical clarity—that the prosperity gospel and syncretism would give way to repentance, sound doctrine, and discipleship rooted in the true character of Christ.

🙏🏼 Pray for the vulnerable and displaced—that families facing poverty or violence would find tangible help through the local church and the lasting peace found only in Jesus.

🙏🏼 Pray for deep discipleship among the next generation—that young Guatemalan believers would be grounded in Scripture, mobilized for mission, and burdened for their unreached neighbors.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Praying consistently can feel strangely hard—even when you want to. Start with a simple first step: ask God for help, trusting he meets weakness with grace.

• Busy seasons don’t cancel the Great Commission. A gentle, realistic encouragement for making disciples when life feels full—helping you pursue faithfulness without pretending you have endless time or energy.

• Not going overseas doesn’t mean you’re sidelined. Here's a vision of when staying can be as active as going—through sacrificial support, prayer, and joy-fueled generosity that helps reach the nations.

Hello friend. Most of us naturally reach for what’s comfortable. We avoid risk, keep our plans tidy, and quietly hope obedience to Jesus will fit neatly inside an easy life—even though we’d never say it like that. 

But again and again, Scripture shows us a different pattern: God calls his people into costly yeses—and meets them there with a deeper joy than comfort can offer.

From places where access to the gospel is limited, to cultures where “Christian” is mostly a label, to whatever decisions sit in front of you this week, the same truth holds true: Jesus is worth more than ease. And wherever obedience feels hard, he is not pushing you out alone—he is walking with you into it.

In today’s edition:

🇳🇪 Limited access in Niger—and how God still strengthens his church.

👣 What it really means to say “yes” to Jesus when it costs you.

🇧🇷 Why Brazil’s “Christian” culture needs deeper discipleship and a steady church.

Limited Access Can’t Stop God’s Work 🇳🇪

Niger is home to more than 24 million people, and the overwhelming majority still has little to no access to the gospel. Islam shapes much of public life, and daily realities—poverty, food insecurity, political instability, and violent extremist threats—press in on families and communities across the country.

In many rural villages and desert communities, Jesus’ name is rarely spoken with clarity or understanding. For those who do follow him, faith can be costly and isolating. Small pockets of believers often live quietly—limited access to Scripture, few mature leaders nearby, and real social pressure if they’re known as Christians. And when instability rises, ordinary ministry becomes even harder: travel is risky, gatherings can be disrupted, and trust can be fragile.

Still, God is not absent in Niger. He is drawing people to himself, sustaining his church in hidden places, and keeping the light burning where it seems least likely. Our prayer is not just for “more information,” but for a living witness—local disciples who know the Word, love their neighbors, and endure with hope.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for Nigerien believers to be strengthened in isolation—rooted in Scripture, protected from harm, and encouraged with wise, trusted fellowship.

🙏🏼 Pray for unreached communities where the gospel is unknown—that God would send workers, open doors through relationships, and grant clarity and courage to share Christ.

🙏🏼 Pray for stability and peace—that violence would be restrained, families protected, and space created for churches to gather, disciple, and multiply.

Following Jesus When It’s Not Easy 👣

Does saying “Yes” to Jesus mean saying “No” to ease?

It certainly seems that way.

I think about Jesus’ words in Luke 9:23:

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

I don’t think anyone heard those words and walked away thinking, “This is going to be easy!” No one heard the word “cross” in that context and thought “comfort.”

But what does this look like in everyday life? This question immediately calls to mind a couple of different conversations I’ve had just this week.

One was with a brother who was burdened for the persecuted church in northern Nigeria. 

He told his wife he thought God was leading them to go on short-term trips and serve our suffering brothers and sisters there. When he shared this with his wife, she immediately said they needed to pray and make sure the Lord was really calling them to do this because she knew there would be much risk involved. So they joined hands with their kids and prayed specifically for God to show them if he was leading them to do this. 

Within hours, he received a completely unsolicited email from someone in northern Nigeria asking him to come over and help them. Today, he is serving the church there at great risk. A couple of his fellow team leaders were just abducted and tortured (and thankfully—and miraculously—released). 

God is working in powerful ways through the work they are doing, but no one would call it easy.

I had another conversation with a brother who, many years ago, found himself in an unplanned pregnancy with his girlfriend at the time. 

He was sharing with me how seemingly everyone was telling them to get an abortion, saying how hard it would be to finish college and have a career with a baby who would be a barrier to that. Knowing that it was the right decision to have this child didn’t make that decision easy. 

But this brother and his wife now work alongside other women and men in the same circumstance, helping them get the support they need to thrive as parents, and the son who was born to them is now thriving with his own children.

Finally, I think about a young adult who grew up a devout Muslim here in the United States. 

A couple of years ago, she heard the truth about Jesus for the first time, and she found herself drawn toward the gospel. But she knew that if she trusted in Jesus as her Savior and Lord, many in her family (and, namely, her dad) would react very negatively. Yet she became a follower of Jesus anyway, and she’s still working through how to best love her family as she’s ostracized from them.

So how is Jesus asking you to say “Yes” to him and “No” to ease? 

Maybe he’s calling you to go short-term—or longer—somewhere else in the world for the spread of the gospel or the building up of the church. 

Maybe he’s calling you to come alongside women and men with unplanned pregnancies, or children, or single parents in need.

Maybe he’s calling you to open your home and share the gospel with your Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, or agnostic friend, neighbor, or acquaintance.

Maybe he’s calling you to take a specific stand for Jesus on your campus or in your workplace.

Obviously, I don’t know all that he’s calling you to do. But I do know this: 

It won’t be easy. And it will be worth it.

So don’t be surprised when it gets hard (see 1 Peter 4:12-19). Yet do be confident that you’re not alone. 

Truly believe that the One who calls you to take up a cross daily has borne the cross on your behalf, and he now lives in you so that you can boldly step into the hard with the supernatural strength, peace, joy, love, and hope that only he can provide. 

According to Jesus in Luke 9:24:

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

—David Platt

Beyond Cultural Christianity 🇧🇷

Brazil is a country of striking contrasts—spiritual familiarity and spiritual need, side by side. Many Brazilians identify with Christianity, yet the gospel can be blurred by syncretism, prosperity messaging, or a “Christian vocabulary” that never becomes personal faith. At the same time, Brazil is home to dozens of unreached people groups, especially in hard-to-reach regions where access is limited and long-term presence is rare.

Right now, everyday life is also shaped by climate strain—seasons of “too dry, too wet,” with communities facing drought, flooding, and the ripple effects on food, health, and stability. In that mix, local churches have a unique opportunity: to be known not for noise, but for steady truth, costly love, and humble service.

Pray for Brazil’s church to grow in depth—not just attendance. Pray for believers to be grounded in Scripture, mobilized for mission, and burdened for neighbors who have never heard the good news clearly.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for spiritual clarity—that cultural Christianity would give way to repentance, faith, and discipleship rooted in God’s Word.

🙏🏼 Pray for unreached peoples, especially in hard-to-access regions—that God would send long-term workers and raise up local believers to make disciples.

🙏🏼 Pray for strength and compassion in seasons of climate pressure—churches serving wisely, families protected, and the vulnerable cared for in Jesus’ name.

📍 Attention Worthy

• The Commission subscribers get a Secret Church discount—use code COMMISSION for 20% off. Join us April 17 for six hours in God’s Word, praying for the persecuted church, and responding for the spread of the gospel in the world’s hardest places.

• Feeling pressure to move faster than faithfulness allows? A missionary shares what he wishes he knew sooner: patience isn’t procrastination—it’s trust in God’s sovereign timing. 

• Paul isn’t the only church-planting template in the New Testament. This piece widens the lens—highlighting models from Timothy, Titus, Priscilla & Aquila (and even Jesus) for the contexts many planters face today. 

• Language learning matters—but God may have already put a “common tongue” in your hand. With about 1.5B English speakers worldwide, this article explores how English can serve the Great Commission (without replacing local languages).

Hello friend. Scripture says “the end of all things is at hand,” but it doesn’t tell us to panic, stockpile, or close the door.

Instead, it calls us to be clear-minded in prayer, sincere in love, and open-hearted toward others. The God who welcomed us through Jesus makes us a people who welcome—into our lives, our spaces, even our ordinary routines.

That matters in places where following Jesus must stay hidden and in places where Christianity feels mostly cultural—whether in Somalia, Georgia, or your own neighborhood.

Wherever he has put you, you’re there on purpose. Take it as an invitation to live your days—however many are left—with a heart that is awake, open, and ready for his return.

In today’s edition:

🇸🇴 Hidden believers in Somalia and the quiet courage it takes to follow Jesus.

🍽️ A basic meal, an open door, and how God uses ordinary hospitality.

🇬🇪 When “Christian” is cultural in Georgia—and what real faith looks like underneath.

Where Meeting a Christian Is Almost Impossible 🇸🇴 

Somalia is one of the most difficult places in the world to follow Jesus. 

In a country where almost everyone is Muslim and over 99% of people remain unreached, even being suspected of Christian faith can bring severe consequences. For many Somali believers, faith must stay hidden, and isolation can make ordinary discipleship—learning Scripture, praying with others, sharing the gospel—feel nearly impossible.

Life in Somalia has been shaped by years of conflict, displacement, drought, and extremist influence. In that kind of pressure, fear can set the pace for everyday life.

But Jesus is not absent from hard places. 

He saves, sustains, and builds his church even when it can’t gather openly—often through quiet relationships and the few channels where the gospel can still be heard.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for secret believers who are isolated—steadfast faith, wisdom in daily decisions, and safe, genuine fellowship.

🙏🏼 Pray for clarity and access to the gospel through the few open avenues available—media, humanitarian relationships, and personal witness.

🙏🏼 Pray that God would raise up Somali men and women who know Jesus, grow as disciples, and share his love with courage and humility.

When the End Feels Near, Set the Table 🍽️

As Christians, we are living in what the Bible calls the last days. The end of time is near; Jesus’ return is only getting closer each day. He told us his return will be like a thief in the night. 

We must be ready, and we must be working, awaiting our master’s return. And billions of people have yet to even hear the good news of the Savior. The work to be done is massive, and the time is running out. 

How then should we be living?

You should have people over for dinner. 

This isn’t my idea, it's actually Peter’s: “The end of all things is at hand … show hospitality to one another” (1 Pet 4:7–9).

Peter states that “the end of all things is at hand” and lists out a few things Christians ought to do in light of that, and then concludes by showing hospitality to people. 

Hospitality is central to the Christian identity. 

Consider how Paul tells Christians to “welcome” (Rom 14:1) those weak in faith because Christ has “welcomed” us (Rom 15:7). Paul shows that one of the major areas in which we can welcome others is in eating and drinking (Rom 14:3–23). 

Or think about the fact that we remember our Lord’s saving death for us by sharing a meal, the Lord’s Supper, together. Christian hospitality can include a warm meal, but it can also include lodging, particularly for traveling missionaries (3 Jn 8).

Christian hospitality should extend to unbelievers around us. 

It’s well documented today that we live in the loneliest generation in modern history. We were made for relationships, but many today live very alone lives. The warmth you enjoy through the friendships and hospitality of your local church is alien to so many people today. 

Showing hospitality to unbelievers opens a great door—pun intended!—for the gospel. While many people won’t enter the door of a church, they may enter your door to share a meal. And bringing unbelievers into the community of Christians creates opportunities for them to experience the presence of God (1 Cor 14:25).

Also consider the nations in your neighborhood.

While billions have never heard the gospel and while many people groups and nations have few or no believers, many of these very people are now your neighbors, your co-workers, or your fellow students. 

You don’t need to go to the nations to reach the nations. Simply show hospitality.

What if my home is small? You can likely fit at least one more person in there! 

What if I’m not a good cook? You can order food or play a board game! 

One of my pastors used to say, “All you need to show hospitality is a cup of water and a couch—and many nations don’t even sit on couches, so just throw cushions on the floor!” 

Hospitality isn’t ultimately about what material things you share—the size of your home or the taste of the meal—it’s about the message that you get to share: the good news of Jesus.

What will you share when they are with you? As one of my friends says, “Simply gossip about Jesus.” 

What he means is this: naturally—and it should be natural if we love Jesus!—drop Jesus into your conversations. 

Share what you’re doing at church this week.

Share what you’re learning in the Bible. 

Share how you pray to Jesus. 

Share how Jesus has saved you and turned your life around. 

Share his wondrous deeds in your life. 

And most importantly, pray that God will give boldness and openness for you to share the hope of the gospel.

So what can you do this next month? 

Is there one unbeliever in your life you could reach out to? Could you begin having an unbeliever over once a month? 

Who do you regularly see at the grocery store, at work, in your neighborhood, at your park, at a local restaurant, or at school that you could invite? 

This isn’t starting a formal “hospitality” ministry; this is just doing life, eating food, sharing your home with those around you. 

Jesus was mocked by the Pharisees for eating with and being a “friend of sinners.” Will you join in imitating him?

—Jonny Atkinson

When Everyone Is Christian—and Few Know Christ 🇬🇪

Georgia sits at a tense crossroads right now—caught between deep public hope for a European future and a growing atmosphere of political pressure and distrust.

Over the last year, protests and crackdowns have become part of the national rhythm, and many Georgians feel the weight of uncertainty about where the country is headed. 

Spiritually, Georgia is often described as “Christian,” but for many, faith is more inherited than inhabited. 

The Georgian Orthodox Church has shaped the nation’s identity for centuries, yet Protestant believers remain a tiny minority—often misunderstood, sometimes quietly discriminated against, and frequently limited by social pressure rather than open violence. 

That’s why discipleship matters here—patient, Bible-rooted, life-on-life formation that helps tradition become conviction. Radical is helping equip workers through a training center focused on making disciples and planting churches in hard-to-reach places—pairing biblical instruction with language and cultural preparation for long-term ministry

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray that God would steady Georgia in a polarized moment—bringing justice, wisdom, and restraint to those in power.

🙏🏼 Pray for many Georgians to move from inherited religion to a living, Bible-rooted faith in Christ.

🙏🏼 Pray for pastors, planters, and disciple-makers to be equipped for patient, life-on-life ministry that forms deep conviction, not just tradition.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Watch Hard to Reach: Indonesia (Full Documentary) to see gospel work across the archipelago—from major cities to remote, unreached islands—through the courage and quiet resilience of local believers.

• Trace the Great Commission all the way to the local church. See why “make disciples” naturally leads to baptism, teaching, and planting churches that can outlast the missionary.

• Keep the gospel within arm’s reach when life gets loud. Let this “7,000 pennies” picture help you hold big gospel truths in a way you can actually access on a Tuesday.

• Bring a calmer, more human tone to apologetics.Recenter on Jesus—not winning—so objections matter, but never become the main thing.

Hello friend. We live in a world trained to skim—feeds, headlines, short clips, fast takes. And if we’re honest, we can start carrying that pace into our life with God: a glance here, a verse there, and then we’re on to the next thing.

But Scripture invites us to something different: to slow down long enough to actually listen—to let God’s Word soak in, reshape our instincts, and steady our hearts.

And that matters not just for our own souls, but for God’s global mission. 

Believers in places like Pakistan and Nigeria don’t have the luxury of “casual Christianity.” Following Jesus can cost them everything. And still, they choose to follow Jesus and make him known—because he is worth it.

Let’s choose to resist the hurry—and take one small step of unhurried faithfulness toward the Word and the world God loves.

In today’s edition:

🇵🇰 Pakistan—faithful witness under pressure, and leaders being equipped for patient, relational mission.

📖 The Message—a simple 2026 reset: stop scrolling Scripture and start sitting with it.

🇳🇬 Nigeria—pray for believers enduring violence and displacement, and for courage to keep making Jesus known.

Faithful Witness Under Pressure 🇵🇰

Pakistan’s population of over 250 million people includes one of the largest concentrations of unreached people groups on earth. Many have never heard a clear, faithful presentation of the gospel.

In a Muslim-majority country where discrimination can be quiet—at work, at school, in the form of “second-class citizen” treatment—and danger can be sudden—false accusations or mob violence—believers often live on the margins. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are frequently used to target religious minorities, and even rumors can ignite violence. 

Add to that a backdrop of economic pressure and rising militant violence in parts of the country, and everyday ministry can feel costly.

Still, quiet seeds of faith are being planted. Radical is training young believers and church leaders from rural areas in Pakistan.

Through Bible teaching, mentoring, and one-on-one pastoral care, we’re strengthening them in Scripture, encouraging endurance, and equipping them to share Christ with their Muslim neighbors through patient, relational witness.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for believers facing quiet discrimination at work and school—may God grant favor, wisdom, and steady joy.

🙏🏼 Pray for open doors through everyday relationships with Muslim neighbors—hospitality, compassion, and conversations that are natural, patient, and Spirit-led.

🙏🏼 Pray that the rural trainees Radical is equipping would be deeply rooted in Scripture, discerning under pressure, and courageous to shepherd others even at a high cost.

Stop Scrolling the Bible—Start Sitting with It 🪑

Could I interest you in trying a physical Bible this year?

No, I’m not a Bible salesman, but hear me out.

We live in a golden age of access to Scripture—an age our spiritual ancestors could hardly imagine. 

Every verse is a tap away. Podcasts read the Bible to us while we drive (perhaps you’d like to give ours a listen?) AI apps can summarize the Isaiah scroll in an instant. If there’s a way to consume Scripture quickly, efficiently, and with minimal friction, someone has designed it.

And yet somehow… We are still starving. 

In places where following Jesus is costly, we hear stories of believers clinging to Scripture as if it were their only oxygen. In the West, we often drift past verses like billboards on a highway—glanced at, but never entered.

But James tells us the goal is not to hear the Word and nod politely; it is to look intently, to linger, and then to do (James 1:22–25). 

That kind of hearing can’t be microwaved. It requires something we’ve nearly lost: attention.

But here’s the hopeful part: you don’t need a monastery or a six-month retreat to change this. 

You just need a Bible—an actual, physical Bible—open on the table.

There’s something grounding about paper and ink. You can’t swipe away Leviticus. You can’t toggle to Instagram when a verse hits too close or too far, for that matter.

A paper Bible invites you to slow down. To think. To notice. To obey. And that kind of slow consumption—small but serious—can bring peace to a distracted heart. 

So as 2026 begins, here’s a simple challenge—nothing flashy: Pick a book of the Bible. Pick a plan. Commit with one other person. 

Read slowly. Ask questions (Ok, I promise I’m not a salesman, but maybe try this book for help?) Read expecting God to speak. 

And when he does—obey.

If thousands of us did that this year, and thousands of communities were shaped not just by access to Scripture, but by actual submission to it, imagine what God could do. 

He might just use you to bring Jesus to the attention of someone who desperately needs to know him.

—Steven Morales

Endurance to Keep Making Jesus known 🇳🇬

Nigeria is a land of massive gospel opportunity—and real, costly suffering. 

The gospel first came to the southern coast through Portuguese merchants centuries ago, then spread more widely through missionary movements and the growth of local churches.  

In the 1970s, university-campus revivals helped ignite student fellowships and mission movements that strengthened the church’s reach.

Yet many Nigerian believers live with daily vulnerability as Islamist militants and armed groups carry out attacks, kidnappings, and destruction—especially across the northeast and the Middle Belt, with violence spreading beyond areas once considered “safer.” 

Millions have been displaced, trying to hold faith and family together amid trauma and loss.

Nigeria’s church is large—but in places where fear can feel louder than hope, believers need fresh courage to hold fast to Jesus and keep making him known.

(To hear a first-hand witness of what’s happening in Nigeria, listen to the latest episode of Everyday Radical with Dr. Arllen Ade of Healing Africa Ministries.)

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for steadfast faith and wise leadership in churches grieving violence, rebuilding, and caring for displaced families.

🙏🏼 Pray for protection for believers who gather to worship under threat—and for boldness to keep making Jesus known in the aftermath.

🙏🏼 Pray for the rescue of those abducted, and deep healing for survivors and families living with uncertainty.

📍 Attention Worthy

• If Iran’s regime cracks, what happens to the underground church? A glimpse into Iranian believers’ hopes—and the urgent question of readiness if freedom suddenly arrives. 

• A different “blessed” scorecard: these Beatitudes reframe fruitfulness as meek, dependent, often hidden—before it’s ever impressive.

• Disciple-making reset: a back-to-basics guide that clears the noise and recenters what actually matters on mission.

• An evangelism experiment: talk less, listen longer, ask better questions—and watch how clarity (and compassion) show up when you slow down.

Hello friend. A new year has a funny way of turning the volume up on everything—hopes, goals, regrets, promises. And it’s tempting to think we’ll finally live “on mission” once life feels a little more put together.

But Jesus doesn’t wait for ideal conditions.

He meets us in the ordinary—and fills the ordinary with eternal meaning. Because while your life may feel small on a Monday morning, God can (and does) use it to draw people to Himself in places where Jesus is not known—yet.

In today’s edition:

🇸🇾 A glimpse into Syria—where hardship is real, and the need for hope is urgent.

☕️ The Great Commission in the ordinary rhythms of everyday life.

🚪 Pray for Kenya, where millions remain unreached even in a nation with many churches.

Hope in the Rubble 🇸🇾

Syria’s connection to the gospel stretches back to the early church, when Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. 

Yet today, less than 3% of Syrians identify as Christian, and believers often face opposition and persecution from the Muslim-majority. 

Years of war and displacement have only deepened the need for hope.

With our support, a theological seminary is discipling refugee believers and church leaders from Muslim backgrounds—training them in their native language through both online and in-person classes so they can shepherd healthy churches in their communities.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for Syrian believers to be lights in their neighborhoods, even as they themselves suffer loss.

🙏🏼 Pray that displaced families would encounter Christ through aid, friendship, and the love of His people.

🙏🏼 Pray for peace in the land and for the rebuilding of churches that will stand as beacons of hope.

Meaning in the Ordinary ☕️

I’m spending these first days in 2026 at large conferences mobilizing 18–25 year-olds for mission around the world.

I believe in the catalytic value of large gatherings like this.

Right now, I invite you to pause for a moment.

Before you even read the next sentence, pray for God to move by his Spirit during these days in ways that will resound to his glory among the nations for generations to come.

At the same time, I’m reminded that mission in this world doesn’t revolve around “spiritual highs” that come with large conferences once or twice a year. 

Instead, mission in this world consists of walking with God in a long series of Monday mornings all throughout the year. 

It’s the commute.

It’s your job.

It’s class.

It’s the gym.

It’s dinner with your family.

This is part of what I love about the Great Commission. When we read Jesus’ first word in this passage, it sounds like a command.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…

But in reality, the word that’s translated “go” here is a participle, not a command, and participles communicate ongoing action. 

The only command in this verse is to “make disciples.” 

In other words, it’s like Jesus is saying, “As you go, make disciples of all nations.” And when you realize this, you feel the wonder and meaning Jesus is attaching to everyday life.

As you go to work, make disciples of all nations…

As you go to school, make disciples of all nations…

As you go to this store, make disciples of all nations…

As you go to that restaurant, make disciples of all nations…

As you go to the gym, make disciples of all nations…

As you go on this trip, make disciples of all nations…

As you go to gather with the church, make disciples of all nations…

Jesus means for the Great Commission to be infused into our everyday lives everywhere we go and in everything we do. 

And this means that the normal routines of your life are not a distraction from mission in the world; instead, they’re the place where devotion to mission comes to life!

Imagine having a simple conversation one day this week with a co-worker or classmate in which you invite them to come to church with you. Imagine them coming one Sunday, hearing the good news of God’s love for them, and placing their faith in Jesus for eternal life. 

Your conversation at that water cooler at work or in the hall of your school before second period this week could actually lead someone to be enjoying and exalting Jesus 100 trillion years from now. 

Every single moment of your life could actually lead to everlasting fruit in others’ lives.

So here’s my encouragement for the next 7 days: each morning, pray, “God, as I go today, please help me to live like I’m on mission at every moment.”  

Then see your life all day long through that lens. Only God knows how your normal life this week might lead to fruit that lasts far beyond this world.

—David Platt

The Unreached Next Door 🚪

Kenya is often seen as a Christian nation, yet millions within its borders have little to no access to the gospel.

Out of more than 57 million people, over 5 million still live among unreached people groups, with little to no access to the good news of Jesus. Many of these groups are in rural or marginalized communities where cultural and linguistic barriers keep them separated from gospel witness. 

Even where churches are strong, these neighbors remain invisible to many believers.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for Kenyan believers to see the unreached not as distant “others,” but as neighbors to love—crossing cultural and tribal lines with humility and joy.

🙏🏼 Pray for pastors and churches to send workers to overlooked regions, trusting God to provide even when resources feel thin.

🙏🏼 Pray for God to raise up disciple-makers in every people group, until all in Kenya can hear the good news.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Start 2026 by making Jesus known: become a Radical monthly partner and get David Platt’s How to Read the Bible free this January.

• What it means to be ambassadors for Christ—and why words are central to the missionary task.

• “No time.” “Too confusing.” “Not relevant.” Three common excuses for neglecting the Bible—and practical ways to crush them.

Hello friend. With Christmas just days away, it is easy to get caught up in the warmth and familiarity of the season. But as we reflect on the arrival of the King, we are reminded that the manger is inseparable from the mission. 

The angel’s announcement wasn't just for a few shepherds. 

It was "good news of great joy that will be for all the people." (Luke 2:10)

That word—all—changes everything. It compels us to look beyond our own celebrations to the places where this joy has not been heard—just yet.

In today’s edition:

🇹🇿 Praying for truth to prevail in Tanzania

🚼 Why the Three Wise Men’s journey matters for the Great Commission

🇲🇦 The church’s quiet, steady growth in Morocco

Sowing truth where confusion grows 🇹🇿

From the Serengeti plains to the Indian Ocean coast, Tanzania is full of natural beauty—and image-bearers of God. 

Around one-third of Tanzanians identify as Christian, yet many in rural and Muslim-majority communities still live and die without ever meeting a follower of Jesus. In other areas, syncretism and false teaching can cloud the truth of the gospel, leaving people with confusion instead of the hope that is ours in Christ.

In the middle of all of this, God is at work through local believers, churches, and ministries seeking to make disciples and strengthen the church.

How to Pray

🙏🏼 Pray for Tanzanian believers to be rooted deeply in the true gospel, growing in sound doctrine, holiness, and love, so they can gently but clearly resist false teaching and point others to Christ.

🙏🏼 Pray for unreached peoples along the coast and in remote rural regions—where there may be few or no churches—that they would hear the good news of Jesus, respond in faith, and gather in healthy local churches.

🙏🏼 Pray that God would raise up faithful, humble leaders who will plant and shepherd healthy, multiplying churches across Tanzania, and that these churches will boldly yet wisely share the gospel with their neighbors.

A baby for the nations 🚼

The scene in the beginning of Matthew 2 really is stunning when you think about it.

Matthew writes his Gospel primarily for Jewish readers—to show them Jesus is the Messiah. 

It’s why he opens his account of Jesus’ life with a genealogy (a record of names) that specifically goes back to Abraham, the father of the people of Israel. He starts by saying, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ…”

Keep in mind that “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. 

It’s a title that declares, “The promised Messiah is here!”

And that’s what’s so stunning. 

Matthew records the birth of Jesus in the last verse of Chapter 1. Then, in the very next verse (remember: chapter divisions were not there in the original writing!), he tells about “wise men from the east” who saw a star in the sky and had come to see the king of the Jews.

These were not ordinary fellows. They almost certainly were men of standing with both position and wealth. And they were definitely not Jewish. 

Not long ago, I was praying for the Parsee people of Iran and India. They’re one of the oldest surviving Zoroastrian people groups. They worship Ahura Mazda, which they believe is the creator god. As I read about them, I learned that Persian kings like Cyrus and Darius were likely believers in Ahura Mazda, and these wise men likely were, too.

And these wise men are the first people Matthew records coming to see Jesus! 

Of course, we know from Luke that shepherds came when he was born. The wise men likely came months after Jesus was born—keep in mind, there were no Wise Men Airlines to transport them there, and camels don’t travel quite as quickly as planes. 

It’s a good reminder to move the wise men out of your nativity scenes in your home. Put them on the other side of the room because it’s going to be a while before they make it. (Or maybe just bring them out next summer…that’ll be a little more biblically accurate!)

But Matthew is making a point from the beginning of Jesus’ life. 

This baby was not just born for the Jews. 

This baby was born for the nations. 

I love the scene when they arrive. Just imagine Matthew 2:10-11:

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.

Wow. They “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” That’s like quadruple joy! 

Then these prominent, high-ranking, influential, powerful men from the nations far from Israel bow down and worship a Jewish baby.

The point is clear: 

Jesus has come for all the nations. 

Jesus brings joy to all the peoples. 

Jesus is worthy of worship all over the world.

So this Christmas, I invite you to pray and live for the same purpose for which Matthew wrote: the spread of Jesus’ glory among all the nations!

—David Platt

Replanting the gospel in ancient soil 🇲🇦

Though the gospel first came to Morocco in the 2nd century, centuries of conflict and the dominance of Islam have left the church nearly invisible, with less than 1% of Moroccans identifying as Christian today.

Sharing the gospel remains restricted, and many believers live quietly under pressure. But rest assured—God is at work.

Moroccan church leaders from Muslim backgrounds are being discipled, trained, and sent to equip new believers with tools for evangelism and discipleship by Radical. Across the country, churches are multiplying through pastoral internships, Bible studies, and biblical education programs that raise up a new generation of leaders committed to Christ’s mission.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for Moroccan believers to be strengthened in faith and bold in witness, even when faced with pressure to remain silent.

🙏🏼 Pray for the training and discipleship of new leaders, that God would multiply healthy churches across Morocco.

🙏🏼 Pray that the gospel would spread through North Africans sent out for cross-cultural ministry, reaching places where Jesus is still unknown.

📍 Attention Worthy

• ​​A short book can make an eternal difference. Gifting them with a copy of All You Want for Christmas can help loved ones look past the holiday noise and find true joy in Jesus.

• Missions involves more than just sending individuals. The local church is non-negotiable in God's global plan—and there’s danger in minimizing its role.

• We often worry that structured prayer isn't "authentic." However, this simple framework can actually fuel spontaneity and keep your prayer life vibrant.

Hello friend. So much of the Christian life can feel like a tug-of-war between desire and fear. You want to live generously, pray boldly, maybe even take risks for the sake of the gospel—but then money feels tight, the future feels uncertain, and it’s easier to pull back and play it safe.

Into all of that, God doesn’t just command. He promises. 

He promises to be with his children, to supply what we truly need, to use even our weakness, and to bring people from every nation into his family. He sees believers in places like Sri Lanka and Vietnam where following Jesus is costly, and he sees you as you decide what to do with your own comfort, time, and resources.

You’re not trying to impress a distant boss. You’re trusting a faithful Father. 

When we rest on his promises, generosity stops feeling like loss, and obedience—big or small—starts to look like what it really is: confidence that God will do exactly what he said he would.

In today’s edition:

☑️ How deep-rooted traditions in Sri Lanka can’t stop God from drawing people to himself.

☑️ Why radical generosity isn’t just good for the nations—it’s good for your soul.

☑️ How quiet house churches in Vietnam are training courageous leaders where following Jesus is costly.

When Tradition Blocks the Truth 🇱🇰

Sri Lanka is a land of striking beauty—and deep spiritual darkness. Known for its Buddhist traditions, most of its 21 million people live and die without ever hearing the name of Jesus. 

A small minority of believers is scattered across the island, while whole people groups remain unreached, held back by centuries of religious customs, language barriers, and suspicion toward Christianity. 

The gospel often advances slowly in places bound by tradition, but God’s mission cannot be stopped. 

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for Sri Lankan believers to remain steadfast, sharing Christ with compassion even when it costs them socially or economically.

🙏🏼 Pray for Scripture to be translated, taught, and lived out in local languages so families far from urban centers can encounter Jesus. 

🙏🏼 Pray for God’s Spirit to break through cultural barriers, planting new and faithful churches in hard places.

Give for Your Own Good 🤲🏼

When it comes to the subject of giving, we almost always focus on how others will benefit when we give. And that’s true. 

When you give, for example, to the spread of the gospel to unreached people, that leads to indescribable good for people (and entire people groups!) around the world. But what if radical giving is not just indescribably good for them? 

What if radical giving is indescribably good for you?

I love this part about Jesus’ conversation with the rich young man in Mark 10.

The man asks Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” This man clearly wants that which is good (eternally good!) for his life. 

So Jesus answers him, “Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

When we first read these words, we hear them as a call to sacrifice. A costly call to let go of something. But look at Jesus’ words closer. 

He’s offering him an invitation to gain something—and something amazing, at that!

Jesus is inviting this man to follow Him, and think about who He is. 

He is the infinitely good, all loving, all satisfying Creator of our lives who knows what is best for our lives and promises to provide us with everything we need. And Jesus is not just calling this man to follow him on this earth. 

He’s calling this man to experience treasure for all of eternity.

When you realize what Jesus is offering this man, you realize this is an irresistible offer! It’s the most basic principle of investing. 

If you have a stock that will yield a little treasure for a little time, and another stock that will yield a lot of treasure for a lot of time, in which stock do you invest?

God, help us to apply the most simple financial sense to what matters most in our lives!

God has given you and me resources. He has invited us to follow Jesus and to use the resources he has entrusted to us (reminder: He owns them all!). He has called us to make him known all around the world—in ways that will lead to good for countless people around the world, and in ways that will lead to good for us, now and for all of eternity.

It sounds like an infinitely wise investment. Let’s not miss out on it.

—David Platt

Quiet Churches, Costly Faith 🇻🇳

Vietnam is home to more than 100 million people, where Buddhist and animist traditions still shape much of daily life. 

Around 8% of the population identifies as Christian, but many Vietnamese still haven’t heard a clear gospel message—and in rural and tribal areas, believers often face surveillance, harassment, or even imprisonment for following Jesus. Many churches meet quietly in homes, trusting God to grow his kingdom in hidden places.

In one unreached city in Southeast Asia, Radical is working alongside a local church that is training and mentoring young Vietnamese interns to plant healthy, gospel-centered churches in their own neighborhoods. 

At the same time, we’re helping equip pastors and leaders across the region—through workshops and online courses—to teach God’s Word faithfully, even when it comes at a cost.

These are small, steady steps. God is using them to spread the hope of Christ in places where fear and old beliefs still run deep.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for strength and boldness for house church leaders who risk persecution to shepherd their people.

🙏🏼 Pray for the gospel to take root in rural communities where animist practices still dominate daily life.

🙏🏼 Pray for more Vietnamese believers to be grounded in sound teaching and courageously share Christ with their neighbors.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Mission work needs more than gifted personalities. See why character, conviction, and endurance are essential when assessing potential missionaries.

• What's best for the kids isn’t always what we think it is. Explore how trusting Jesus with their children can free families to take bold steps for the sake of the gospel.

• Disciple-making is more than information transfer. Learn how teaching Jesus’ commands must be joined with spiritual formation and growth in Christlike character.

Hello friend. Happy Thanksgiving!

We’re especially grateful for you today.

You’ve stepped into God’s global mission by getting equipped through our content, praying for the unreached and sharing The Commission with your family and friends.

You’ve helped make Jesus known everywhere. Thank you for playing your unique role in the Great Commission!

As a small thank-you, and as the Christmas season draws near, we’d love to give you a free digital copy of The Name of Jesus, David Platt’s new Advent devotional.

Everyday for 25 days, The Name of Jesus will lead you through:

• A name of Jesus from Scripture

• A short reflection to draw your heart to Him

• A guided prayer—including intercession for those who have never heard His name

Our prayer is that this simple book helps you slow down, refocus your worship, and keep Christ at the center as December begins.

Thank you for joining us in this mission.

See you next Friday!

The Radical Team

Hello friend. God often does his deepest work through things the world hardly notices—small beginnings, unseen faithfulness, obedience that holds steady when there’s no applause.

He moves quietly through whispered conversations, through families teaching children to trust him, through believers who keep going in places where following Jesus is costly.

Nothing about his work is rushed or frantic.

It is always steady, always sure, always enough—carrying his goodness from one ordinary moment to the next, from one generation to the next, until hope takes root in places where it once seemed impossible.

In today’s edition:

🇺🇿 The courage of ordinary believers opens new doors for the gospel.

🚸 The next generation needs families and the Church to work together.

🇹🇳 The steady work of a few helps the gospel take root.

The Gospel Always Finds a Way Forward 🇺🇿

Christianity has been in Uzbekistan for more than a thousand years, but today believers are still a tiny minority. 

Only around 1% of Uzbeks identify as Christian, and following Jesus can feel lonely—especially for ethnic Uzbek converts who often face pressure from family or local authorities for choosing a different path.

The government has loosened a few restrictions in recent years, but sharing your faith without permission or gathering in an unregistered church can still bring fines or unwanted attention. For many believers, wisdom and courage have to walk hand in hand.

Even here, the gospel keeps finding its way forward.

In one unreached village, an Uzbek brother and his family are starting a small agricultural business—a simple, everyday kind of work that gives them a natural way to serve their neighbors, build trust, and begin sharing about Jesus. Radical is walking with them—and others like them—to plant churches in places where the soil is still hard and the gospel is still new for many.

Even under pressure, these quiet acts of faith are planting seeds that God will grow in his time.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for believers starting businesses or community projects that create new spaces for relationships, discipleship, and church planting.

🙏🏼 Pray for pastors and leaders across Uzbekistan to receive the biblical training they long for.

🙏🏼 Pray that the light of Jesus would break through fear and cultural barriers so the gospel reaches villages that have never heard his name.

Our collective responsibility for the coming generation 🚸

God’s Word makes clear that you and I have a shared responsibility to make Jesus known not just among all nations, but also among the next generation. 

In the words of Psalm 78:4…

We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.

Nevertheless, there is often confusion about the role of the family and the church in making “the glorious deeds of the Lord” known to “the coming generation.”

Some families think it’s the church’s responsibility to do this work. They look for churches with the best programs for children and students, and they drop them off there on Sundays or other times of the week, expecting other people to be the primary disciple-makers for their kids.

Other families think it’s their sole responsibility to do this work. They say, “We don’t need programs or ministries in the church to teach our kids to follow Jesus.” As a result, they minimize the need for ministries to children or students.

But what if God has a plan for both the family and the church in bringing children to know, love, and follow Jesus? 

Without question, parents are the primary influences in a child’s life, and they possess unique responsibility before God for praying and working for their children’s good in Christ. In this way, the family has a significant role in the Great Commission. 

But it’s actually the Church (the body of Christ) that has the ultimate responsibility for the Great Commission. 

When eleven men stood on a mountainside in Matthew 18, and heard Jesus say, “Go and make disciples of all the nations,” they were representing the Church, not their individual families.

All of this means that, as parents, we have unique accountability before God for children in their homes. For example, I’m accountable for the care of my six children in a way that is different from my accountability for the care of countless other children. 

It also meant that, as a part of the church—the body of Christ, collectively with other brothers and sisters in Christ (i.e., my church family!)—, we have a shared responsibility to lead the next generation among us and around us to “not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Psalm 78:7). 

In fact, every part of the body of Christ (including parents and individuals or couples with no children) shares this responsibility together. And as a parent, I praise God for the men and women who are coming alongside my wife and me to help my kids know Jesus.

All of that leads me to two specific questions I would ask you today when it comes to the next generation:

1️⃣ If you have children in your family, how are you intentionally making Jesus known to them?

2️⃣ As a part of your church family, how are you intentionally contributing to making Jesus known in the next generation?

I’m convinced every parent needs a clear and specific answer to both of these questions, and every Christian needs a clear and specific answer to the second of them.

Let’s answer these questions with action in our lives so that the next generation in all nations might “set their hope in God” (Psalm 78:7).

—David Platt

Where Almost No One Meets a Christian 🇹🇳

Tunisia sits on the northern edge of Africa—a beautiful place with deep history, known to many as the starting place of the Arab Spring. 

Beneath its landscapes and landmarks is a spiritual reality most never talk about: the vast majority of Tunisians will live and die without ever meeting a follower of Jesus. 

Churches are few, believers are scattered, and Christian witness can be hard to find. But God is still at work here.

With Radical’s support, a small team of Christian workers has helped establish a translation center—an unassuming space where Scripture resources are being created in local languages, and where workers are discipled and equipped to share Jesus in everyday conversations. 

It’s simple, faithful ministry. But in a country with so little access to the gospel, that simple faithfulness shines like a beacon.

What happens in and around that center may seem small, but it is planting seeds of truth and hope across North Africa.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for Tunisian believers and Christian workers to be strengthened as they share Christ where churches are scarce and the gospel is often misunderstood.

🙏🏼 Pray that the translation center would bear lasting fruit—producing clear resources and equipping workers who can disciple others.

🙏🏼 Pray for hearts across Tunisia and North Africa to be opened to Jesus through relationships, community, and the faithful witness of God’s people.

📍 Attention Worthy

🌏 The world is chasing joy and security in things that never satisfy. Their longing is an open door for evangelism.

🗞️ We have to preach the bad news too. True gospel preaching needs to pierce before it heals.

👣 Before missionaries ever set foot on the field, they need deep roots in sound doctrine—because shallow preparation won’t withstand real spiritual storms.

Hello friend. Every generation of believers must decide whether Scripture will merely inspire them—or truly shape them. 

Around the world, followers of Jesus cling to the Word as their lifeline, often without access to full Bibles or safe gatherings. For them, a single memorized verse can sustain faith under pressure.

This week, we’re looking at what it means to treasure God’s Word until it becomes part of us—and how that same Word is equipping believers in some of the hardest places on earth.

In today’s edition:

• Syrian gospel leaders in exile train to rebuild the church they were forced to leave behind.

• One small step toward memorizing Scripture could reshape your walk with God.

• Believers in Kazakhstan keep spreading the gospel—no matter the cost.

Faith That Endures in Exile 🇸🇾

Syria’s gospel roots reach back to Paul’s encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus.

Today, less than 3% of Syrians identify as Christian. 

After more than a decade of war, economic collapse, and displacement, many believers have fled, and those who remain often face pressure from militant groups, local authorities, and their own communities.

With Radical’s support, a theological seminary continues to equip refugee believers and church leaders in exile to shepherd their own—training them in God’s Word, both online and in person, in their native language so they can serve churches marked by trauma and hope.

How to Pray:

🛐 Pray for Syrian believers to shine the light of Christ with courage and compassion in a nation weary from conflict.

🛐 Pray for displaced families to encounter Jesus through tangible care, friendship, and the witness of the local church.

🛐 Pray for gospel leaders in training—that God would give them endurance and wisdom as they minister among hurting communities.

🛐 Pray for peace and for the rebuilding of gospel-shaped communities that shine with hope.

Memorizing God’s Word: A First Step 🪜

What is your current plan for memorizing God’s Word? I don’t mean all of it (though that would be amazing!). But some of it. 

I have a pretty firm conviction that every Christian (to the extent one is mentally able to do so) should have an intentional plan for memorizing God’s Word. 

Not long ago, I preached a sermon on 50 reasons why I believe this is true from Psalm 119, and I won’t repeat all those reasons here, but suffice to say I think the biblical ground for this conviction is pretty strong.

And why wouldn’t we want to have a plan for memorizing God’s Word? 

Psalm 1:1-2 makes clear:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

In these verses, God promises blessing (that word means “full, everlasting happiness”) to everyone who delights in God’s law and meditates on it day and night. 

Do you want full, everlasting happiness in your life? Meditation is the key.

“But that’s not memorization,” you might think. Or is it?

Think about the biblical concept of meditation. It’s not an Eastern search for inner peace by clearing your mind. Instead, it’s filling your mind with God’s Word, turning it over and over and over again, chewing on it, and digesting it. 

When you’re meditating on a verse or passage or chapter, you’re saying it over and over and over again until it’s in you. And that’s actually how you memorize Scripture.

Think about these words from Psalm 119:97:

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. 

Think about how this plays out practically in your life. Unless you’re physically carrying around your Bible and looking at it all day long, the only way it can be your “meditation all the day” is if you have God’s Word in your mind and in your mouth, thinking about it, reciting it, and remembering it all day. And you do this not because you’re following a legalistic rule, but because you actually love God’s law.

I want to encourage you, then, to make and implement an intentional plan for memorizing Scripture in your life. 

As a first step toward that end, why not start with a plan to work on memorizing one verse during your day? 

Maybe it’s a verse that sticks out to you in your regular Bible reading in the morning. Or maybe it’s a verse you’ve heard and thought, “That would be good to memorize.” You obviously have a lot of options from which to choose!

Here’s one way to do it:

1. Spend a few minutes in the morning memorizing it word by word or phrase by phrase. 

2. Write it down somewhere or on something that you can look at throughout the day (try to write it down without looking at it in the Bible). It could be on your phone, or on a notecard to carry with you in your pocket.

3. Whenever you have idle moments in the day, instead of mindlessly scrolling through the drivel this world offers you, pull out that verse and say it over and over again. 

4. Let it be the last thing you say and intentionally think about before you go to bed.

Keep doing this each day with that one verse until it’s firmly fixed in your mind. Then add another verse, and keep reviewing the other one(s) you’ve already memorized. 

In the process, just as Psalm 1 describes, you’ll be meditating on God’s Word day and night. Just as Psalm 119 describes, it will become your meditation all the day.

You’ll grow in delight and love for God’s Word, which is infinitely better than everything else we could fill our minds with in this world. And in the process, you’ll be on your way to full, everlasting happiness, just as God promises.

—David Platt

Roots in Hard Soil 🇰🇿

In the world’s largest landlocked nation, the gospel often travels quietly—but it is traveling. The gospel first reached Kazakhstan in the 4th century, but today fewer than 1% identify as Protestant.

Centuries of Islamic influence and decades of Soviet atheism have left deep marks. Believers now face government restrictions and social pressure from the Muslim majority. Christians are monitored, conversions can bring intense family and community opposition, and the church often struggles to grow.

Yet God is raising up leaders through a one-year internship program led by Radical and a local church—training aspiring pastors to plant biblical churches, share the gospel in restricted societies, and preach faithfully. Even after the program ends, leaders continue to receive support and encouragement, strengthening the church for long-term ministry.

How to Pray:

🛐 Pray for Kazakh believers to persevere in faith and to boldly share the gospel despite opposition.

🛐 Pray for young people to encounter Christ through Scripture and discipleship.

🛐 Pray for the church to grow in both number and maturity, rooted in God’s Word.

🛐 Pray that new leaders would plant healthy, multiplying churches across Central Asia.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Every Christmas card says “Peace on Earth.” David Platt’s new book, All You Want for Christmas, shows people where to find it. Get copies to give away this holiday season!

• How do you measure gospel success? Faithfulness in making disciples matters more than counting converts.

• Before sending pastors or missionaries, ask five questions to ensure they’re ready. Strong sending starts with wise preparation.

Hello friend. As the world rages, storms rise, and chaos surrounds us, remember this: through it all, God’s faithfulness remains unshaken.

Again and again throughout history, he has proven himself near to his children, turning even suffering into redemption. His presence does not waver, his promises never fail, and his purposes are always good.

The same God who walked with Daniel in the lions’ den and sustained Paul in prison walks with you today. 

Take heart—he is with you still, and he will be with you always.

In today’s issue:

• The fruit that grows in the shadows

• Praying for the persecuted church

• The storm can’t silence the gospel

🇩🇿 A Church Rising in the Shadows

Algeria is a place where following Jesus often comes at a cost. In this mostly Muslim nation, only about 1% of people identify as Christian. 

Churches are tightly regulated, and many have been forced to close. Believers can face suspicion or hostility from neighbors and local authorities, making it difficult to meet openly for worship or discipleship.

Even in the shadows, the gospel bears fruit.

Across the country, small house churches are gathering quietly, sharing Scripture, and caring for one another. Many believers come from Muslim backgrounds and are now being discipled by Radical partners to lead Bible studies, form new groups, and plant churches of their own. 

What began in secret living rooms is slowly becoming a movement of faithful men and women who want others to know the hope they’ve found in Christ.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for Algerian believers to stand firm in their faith and remain bold in their witness.

🙏🏼 Pray for new leaders to shepherd a growing underground church with conviction and courage.

🙏🏼 Pray that God would open more doors for the gospel in Algeria and use his people to bring lasting transformation in their communities.

🤲🏼 Knowing and Praying for the Persecuted Church

Not long ago, I sat with a Nigerian church leader who showed me a chilling video I can’t forget. 

Boko Haram militants stood over a small group of Christians, declaring that they intended to kill all Christians until they submitted to Islam.

Then they beheaded our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Scenes like that remind me why we must pray and act for those who suffer for their faith. 

As part of Radical, I’ve met Christians who have faced violence, social pressure, or jail for evangelism, church planting, or merely holding fast to their faith. And I also know that for many of us, their stories can feel distant, unrelatable, or overwhelming. 

Many persecuted Christians live in countries we have never visited and places whose names we might struggle to pronounce. And in a world flooded with headlines of war and tragedy, it’s easy to grow numb to the cost of following Jesus for our church family around the world.

But God commands us to remember and pray for those who are persecuted as though we are physically with them (Heb. 13:3).

That means we need to learn more about these brothers and sisters, and what it means for them to be persecuted. Here are some things to keep in mind.

Persecution is being targeted for following Jesus.

Persecution means being harassed, opposed, or mistreated because you follow Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used a word that literally means “pursued with hostility.” 

He explained that persecution can take many forms—from ridicule, exclusion, and slander to arrest, imprisonment, or even death (Matt. 5:10–12; 10:16–33; Luke 6:22–23). To be persecuted is to be singled out for faith in him.

At the same time, not every hardship is persecution. 

Followers of Jesus experience all kinds of suffering in this fallen world, just as he said we would (John 16:33). Illness, loss, disappointment, or emotional pain are part of being human. Believers and unbelievers alike face those realities. 

But persecution is different. It’s not feeling the effects of a fallen world—it’s targeted hostility. It happens when someone endures ridicule, exclusion, or harm because they follow Jesus. Understanding that difference matters.

Persecution can happen anywhere—and can come from anyone.

Many imagine our persecuted family meeting in secret because their government forbids faith, or because their family and neighbors would report them to the authorities. 

And that’s true in many places. But persecution also happens in the open. 

I just met with a pastor in West Africa whose church compound is regularly filled with over 500 worshipers. One day, militants suddenly attacked and began burning buildings, cars, and people. Public doesn’t mean safe.

Persecution ranges in severity and aims to silence witness.

In places like Nigeria, militants have kidnapped, raped, and killed believers for decades. But persecution of the church is not always this severe. 

A Christian entrepreneur in the Middle East may lose customers—or the legal right to run a business. A new believer in the Himalayas may be cut off from water or electricity. A church in Southeast Asia might pay extra (and sometimes exorbitant) fees to rent or own a building. 

In freer nations, the cost is less severe but still real.

A British Christian may be arrested for praying outside an abortion clinic; an American may lose a job for speaking on biblical sexuality. 

Regardless of how severe persecution may be, from Acts to today, the goal is always the same—to silence the spread of Jesus’ name.

In many parts of the world, our brothers and sisters in Christ are fairly safe if they are no more than good people doing good works. But when they speak about Jesus, they suffer.

Persecution is a promise for every follower of Jesus.

“Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).

Notice those words—persecution isn’t a ‘maybe’ for ‘some’ Christians.

The more we give our lives to following Jesus and making him known in our neighborhoods and all nations, particularly in places where the gospel has not yet gone, the more we will experience persecution.

So if you are not experiencing persecution to some degree, it’s worth asking: 

Am I professing and proclaiming faith in Jesus?

Am I clearly and courageously identifying with him?

Am I calling others to repent and believe because their eternity hinges on their response to him?

If the purpose of persecution is to silence witness, and we choose to silence ourselves, then we actually resemble persecutors more than the persecuted. 

We cannot let that be true of us.

Let’s intercede for our brothers and sisters in North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan, and many other places around the world—that they would remain steadfast to the end. 

And let’s live the same way: boldly and unashamedly proclaiming Jesus wherever we live and wherever he leads us, no matter the cost, knowing that he is our reward.

—David Platt

_{P. S. November 2nd is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Will you join me in raising awareness and praying for our brothers and sisters in persecuted countries this year?}

🇱🇧 Steadfast in the Storm

Christianity has deep roots in Lebanon, going all the way back to the early church. But today, fewer than 1% of people there identify as Protestant. 

Life in Lebanon is hard right now—the economy has collapsed, jobs are scarce, and daily life is marked by uncertainty and tension.

In the middle of all this, many believers are holding on to their faith and choosing compassion when it would be easier to give up.

Even here, the gospel is still moving.

In Beirut, a coffee shop ministry partnered with Radical is reaching the next generation—hosting Bible studies, apologetics nights, and support groups that invite honest conversations about Jesus.

Through those gatherings, young people exploring faith are finding not just community but the living hope of Christ. Many are now being welcomed into local churches where they can grow as disciples and share that same hope with others.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for the Lebanese church to stand firm and shine with Christlike compassion amid crisis and instability.

🙏🏼 Pray for young people in Beirut to encounter Jesus through gospel-centered conversations and relationships.

🙏🏼 Pray for refugees and the disillusioned to find lasting hope in Christ.

📍 Attention Worthy

• What if this Christmas felt different—peaceful instead of chaotic? David Platt’s new Advent devotional, The Name of Jesus, will help you slow down, refocus on Christ, and join believers around the world in praying for those who have yet to hear his name. Get your copy today.

• College can be exciting, but it’s not real life. Students need the grounding and growth that come from belonging to a local church. Read why.

• Struggle to share your faith? Here are five ways to grow as a faithful witness in your everyday conversations. Learn more.

Hello friend. Across Asia, the gospel is spoken in quiet but powerful ways. In Laos, believers whisper songs of worship in hidden rooms. In Cambodia, the church’s story is being rewritten—from near extinction to renewal. And as David reminds us this week, our lives—brief as mist—are meant for moments like these.

Each story points us back to one truth: God is always at work, even in the silence. The question is how we’ll use the short breath He’s given us—to spread the good news of Jesus, quietly or otherwise.

In today’s edition:

• The gospel may be quiet, but it’s never silent 

• We’re here for a short time—let’s make the most of it

• How God is rewriting Cambodia’s story

🇱🇦 They are quiet—not silent

Laos is tucked between mountains and borders, where less than 4% of people confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. Communist authorities tightly control religious expression, viewing Christianity as a threat to social unity and government control.

Churches must register with the state, and those who meet without permission risk interrogation, fines, or imprisonment.

Following Jesus here can cost you your home, your freedom, even your safety. Believers are treated as outsiders in a culture shaped by Buddhist and animist traditions, facing rejection from families and local officials.

And yet, the gospel is not silent. 

In hidden rooms and whispered prayers, believers gather in small groups, nurturing faith one family at a time. House churches grow through quiet invitations, discreet Bible distribution, and digital evangelism that reaches places missionaries cannot. 

What happens in those secret places is part of our shared family story. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let’s not lose sight of that.

How to Pray

• Ask God to give Laotian believers both boldness and wisdom as they live under constant watch.

• Pray that whole families—and even whole villages—would turn to Jesus together, easing isolation.

• Pray for faithful leaders to emerge who can shepherd quietly growing churches under pressure.

Let’s make the most of the mist we have 🤲🏼

I’m writing this on a plane headed toward Brazil, where I’m scheduled to speak at a large missions conference. By God’s grace over recent years, the Brazilian church has been sending multitudes of men and women to unreached places around the world.

But right before I boarded the plane, I received news that the leader responsible for producing this conference, Marco Aurelio, suffered a stroke that caused severe damage to his body and brain. I’d like to ask you to pause and pray for him and for his family as they surround him at the hospital.

As I adjust the message I’m planning to share as this conference opens, I can’t help but to think about the brevity of each of our lives. 

We know what James 4:13 says, that each of us is a “mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” I’m not guaranteed to make it off this plane, and you’re not guaranteed to make it through this article. God makes clear to us that our lives are fragile, and none of us can presume upon another moment.

Yet isn’t this part of the impetus for missions in the first place? 

Yes, we are made to seek and be satisfied in God above all else, and the most important aim of our lives is to know and love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. But if that was all our lives were about, then just as soon as we were restored to relationship with God through faith in Jesus, He would immediately bring us home to be with Him so that we could love Him perfectly forever. 

However, God hasn’t done that. Instead, He’s left us here (for at least this moment), and He’s given us a mission: to lead people around us and around the world to life in Him. And by the way, all of their lives are a mist, as well.

So I want to encourage you to live with urgency today. Is there anyone in your life who doesn’t know Jesus and hasn’t heard the gospel from you? Why not share the good news about Jesus with them today? Seriously. Why not stop right now, pray for boldness and wisdom to know how best to share the gospel with them, and do it this moment? Or at least before this day ends?

As long as God gives us breath in our lungs, a beat to our hearts, function in our brains, and the ability to communicate with our words, let’s steward these good gifts for the great purpose for which He has left us on this planet: to lead people to eternal life with Him.

And let’s not stop with the people around us. 

Let’s steward the good gifts God has given us for the spread of the gospel to people who have never heard it. Let’s follow in the footsteps of our brother Marco, and as we do, let’s not be surprised that the adversary is at work in this fallen world to prevent the gospel from spreading to the unreached. 

At the same time, let’s remember that this adversary is defeated, and let’s remember how he is defeated. In the words of Revelation 12:10–11…

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

Let’s praise Jesus for conquering Satan by shedding His blood for our sins, and let’s proclaim Jesus with all of our lives until the moment when this brief mist gives way to brilliant glory that is far beyond what any of us can imagine.

—David Platt

🇰🇭 Renewal in the Shadows

The Details: Cambodia’s story carries both scars and hope. In 1923, the first Protestant missionaries arrived. Forty years later, foreign missionaries were expelled and nearly every church was shut down. 

Today, 95% of Cambodians remain unreached, yet the gospel is quietly spreading again—especially in rural villages where believers share Jesus in simple, relational ways. 

With Radical’s support, ministries are walking with survivors of trafficking, offering safe homes and the hope of Christ, while a local Bible school trains pastors to plant new churches. What was nearly erased is being written anew—God’s hand still moving through His people.

The Takeaways

• God is rewriting Cambodia’s story—quietly, but surely.

• Victims of trafficking are encountering both healing and Christ through local believers.

• Training leaders today means a healthier, more enduring church tomorrow.

How to Pray

• Ask God to strengthen Cambodian believers as they share Christ in hard soil.

• Pray for trafficking survivors to find lasting healing and hope in Jesus.

• Pray for new leaders being trained to plant churches that transform communities for generations.

📍 Attention Worthy

• “No one’s perfect,” as the saying goes. Everyone except Jesus. He was sinless—and that’s good news for those who aren’t.

• Missionaries aren’t superhuman or super-spiritual, but they do need to be competent for the task. Here’s what that looks like.

• Evangelism isn’t the job of paid professionals. Here are practical ways to mobilize ordinary Christians for everyday mission.

Hello friend. Grace is never something we outgrow. Every prayer we pray, every act of obedience, every breath we take is held together by the same grace that saved us.

Left to ourselves, we falter. But in Jesus, we find strength for today and hope for tomorrow—again, and again, and again.

Wherever you find yourself this week—whether weary, uncertain, or joyful—trust that God’s grace will meet you right where you are and lead you forward.

In today’s edition:

• 🌱 When growth isn’t what it seems

• 🐌 The surprising power of small beginnings

• 🌍 From receiving to sending the gospel

🇨🇮 Christianity is Spreading—But Not Always the True Gospel

Côte d’Ivoire is split religiously: Islam dominates the north, Christianity the south. Many claim Christ, but often mix in traditional African beliefs.

About 40% of the population identifies as Christian, and the number is growing. But the need is great for the true gospel to be taught with clarity and depth.

How to Pray: 

• Pray for Christians to have boldness in sharing the gospel with Muslim neighbors.

• Pray for clear teaching and sound theology among believers.

• Pray for rural churches to be equipped and strengthened.

🐌 Don’t Despise Small Beginnings

More and fast isn’t always better than less and slow.

But we often think it is in so many areas of our lives, including spreading the gospel and making disciples of Jesus. And there’s a sense in which, of course, we want as many people as possible to be reached with the gospel as fast as possible. 

After all, Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:1, “Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you…”

Yes, God, may it be so!

At the same time, anyone who has spent much time sharing the gospel and making disciples knows that this is often slow, tedious, patient, painstaking work. 

Jesus modeled this well for us, spending the better part of 3 years with 12 disciples, one of whom fell away. When he left the earth, he only had 120 people who had stuck around and done what he told them to do. But there was something that was happening in his ministry of less and slow that would eventually resound to his glory around the world.

In fact, if you just do the simple math, you’ll see quite a lot of power in the less and slow. 

Let’s take the most conservative possible estimate and assume that there are 500 million true followers of Jesus in the world today. If every follower of Jesus made just one disciple over the next 10 years, that would be 1 billion followers of Jesus. And if those billion followers of Jesus did the same thing over the next 10 years, that would be 2 billion Christians. Continuing that trend, 10 years later you would have 4 billion Christians, and 10 years after that you would have 8 billion Christians. 

When you think about it this way, reaching the entire world in the span of one generation sounds pretty amazing!

So in the words of Zechariah 4:10, “Don’t despise small beginnings.” 

Be encouraged today to share the gospel and make disciples in your sphere of influence with boldness and urgency, but also with patience and perseverance. And in the process, realize that you are in a long line of people (starting with Jesus himself) whose faithfulness each and every day will bear fruit in ways far beyond what you can imagine.

—David Platt

 🇰🇷 From Mission Field to Mission Force

The Details: Since World War II, the Korean Peninsula has been divided into two countries with drastically different religious landscapes. In South Korea, Christianity is the largest religion—about a third of the population.

Less than 100 years after the gospel arrived, South Korea sent 24 missionaries in 1974. In 2024, it sent nearly 22,000. Once a mission field, it’s now a mission force.

The Takeaways: Since Asia contains the majority of the world’s least reached population, pray that South Korea would continue in its global mission efforts and send equipped missionaries to neighboring countries. 

As the younger generation is drifting away from religion, pray that they would be reached with the gospel and experience life in Christ.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Pastors: This fall, discover how to lead your church for God’s global glory in Radical’s Online Pastors Cohort—limited to 100 spots. Don’t miss it!

• A packed church calendar doesn’t equal discipleship. Here’s what true discipleship in the life of the church should—and shouldn’t—look like.

• This 10-year veteran church planter offers a good word for other church planters who think they need to cast a creative “vision” for their church.

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS:

David Burnette, Selah Lipsey, David Platt, Camille Suazo

MAKE JESUS KNOWN EVERYWHERE!

Hello, friend. When you zoom out and look at the global church, it’s impossible not to be amazed. In places you may never visit, God is building his church through ordinary believers. Their faith, courage, and obedience are all part of a story far bigger than themselves.

And somehow—by his grace—we get to be part of that story too.

This week we share stories from Indonesia to Myanmar that remind us how the gospel is moving in places—and ways—we’d never expect. Let it encourage you that the same God at work there is at work in your life today.

In today’s edition:

• Training and gospel hope among Muslim communities in Indonesia

• How a single gospel conversation in Myanmar bore fruit decades later

• A new weekly podcast about following Jesus radically in your everyday life

🇮🇩 Spreading Hope Through Training

As a majority Muslim country, with a population of over 272 million, Indonesia has great spiritual and physical needs.

Radical partners with a project that addresses some of these needs by training Indonesian community members in new agricultural and home industry technologies. But they aren’t only sharing useful skills with the community. 

This project is among a Muslim population. By partnering with local churches, they are sharing the good news of Christ and seeking to plant churches among this community. 

How to Pray: Pray for the Lord to provide opportunities for gospel conversations, as community members are being trained in these new agricultural and home industry technologies. With many religions in Indonesia claiming to be the way to God, pray that Indonesians may know the good news of Jesus as the true Savior.

💬 How One Conversation Can Change it All

I have a story I recently came across that I hope will encourage you personally and practically today. It’s from a biography of Adoniram Judson entitled, “Bless God and Take Courage,” that I was reading recently. 

If you’ve never read “To the Golden Shore” about this man and his family and how they spread the gospel as the first modern missionaries to Myanmar, I cannot recommend it highly enough. But this was another biography, and it contained a story I had never heard.

Ann Judson, Adoniram’s first wife, was doing everything she could to support her husband when he had been thrown into a deadly prison. Ann met a kind Burmese woman who would bring rice and eggs to her, and Ann shared the gospel with her during one of their interactions. But then this woman and her husband had to flee that region suddenly, and she never saw her again. Eventually Adoniram was released from prison, and Ann died.

Decades later, another missionary named Murilla Ingalls had been inspired by the Judsons to move to Myanmar and was sharing the gospel in a Burmese village. As Murilla was sharing, a Burmese man approached her and asked if she would come to his village to share about Jesus there. Murilla agreed to do so, and one day she traveled with this man to his village. 

A crowd gathered around to listen to her, and as she shared the gospel, she heard the voice of an elderly woman in the back of the crowd cry out, “That’s the rest of it! That’s the rest of it!”

Murilla stopped speaking and asked the woman, “What do you mean?” 

The older woman came walking up to the front and explained with excitement, “Long, long ago, when I was young, I was living in a place where I met a woman who was caring for her husband in prison. One day she talked to me about her God and how He had provided a way of salvation from our sins. But soon thereafter, we had to move, and I could not remember exactly how we can be saved from our sins. And now you are here sharing that part of the story!”

This elderly woman said, “I want to trust in Jesus.” Moreover, the man who had invited Murilla to come to his village just so happened to be this elderly woman’s son. He also trusted in Jesus that day. And now a church began in the village of a woman whom Ann Judson had shared the gospel with for the first time decades before.

I share this story as an encouragement to you. Don’t ever underestimate what God will do when you share the gospel with someone else. You may see the fruit of that conversation in that moment or in the days ahead, which would be awesome. But even if you don’t ever see the fruit of that conversation in this world, trust that God is still writing awesome stories that you might not be able to celebrate until eternity.

In light of this, simply put, let’s share the gospel with someone today. And let’s trust that God will work in ways far beyond what we may ever see in this world.

—David Platt

🎙️ Introducing: Everyday Radical

Your life as a Christian doesn’t just revolve around Sunday—at least, it shouldn’t. 

In Luke 9:23, Jesus invited his disciples to take up their cross daily and follow him. Now I could be wrong, but the use of “daily” here doesn’t really sound accidental. 

So, what does it actually look like to take up our cross and follow Jesus every single day? 

That is exactly what we aim to explore in our brand new podcast: Everyday Radical. Once a week, we sit down to unpack what happens when ordinary people embrace an extraordinary calling to make Jesus known everywhere. Each episode features David Platt and believers from around the world—some leading massive ministries, others quietly following Jesus in their neighborhoods—having honest conversations about what it looks like to live faithfully for Christ every single day.

We tackle the questions that many of us wrestle with: How do I share the gospel without feeling afraid? How do I trust God when life feels messy or overwhelming? Why should I focus on unreached people when there’s so much need right around me?

What I love about Everyday Radical is that it doesn’t stay abstract. It’s not about particular personalities or impossible standards—it’s about the everyday realities of following Jesus with courage and compassion, wherever he leads.

My hope is that this podcast encourages you the way it’s already encouraged me: to see your neighborhood, your workplace, and even the hard parts of your life as places God wants to use for his glory. 

I’m thrilled for you to hear it. It launches on Tuesday, September 16th! Go subscribe to be the first to listen—and once you do, be sure to leave a review so more people can discover this podcast. 

Let’s stop coasting and start living radically for Jesus—right where we are, every single day.

—Austin Huang

📍 Attention Worthy

• The worldwide body of Christ needs more than American worship songs. Biblically-informed worship songs from across the world can benefit believers in every part of the world.

• Rather than pursuing personal greatness, we should have one goal—the glory of Christ. Adoniram Judson shares about ambition for the Great Commission as a missionary.

• A helpful overview of what church planting is, and what it has to do with the task of mission.

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS:

David Burnette, Austin Huang, Selah Lipsey, Steven Morales, David Platt, Camille Suazo

MAKE JESUS KNOWN EVERYWHERE!

Hello friend. Thinking about all the work that fulfilling the Great Commission requires can be overwhelming. Does my small contribution matter? Do my prayers and support really make a difference? Short answer: Yes, yes they do. And very much so. 

We usually forget that the work of our brothers and sisters in hard-to-reach places isn’t possible without the prayers and support of other brothers and sisters in not-so-hard-to-reach places. Both are called by God to play their own specific roles in fulfilling the Great Commission. Every piece is needed to see the whole puzzle come together in the end. 

So, rejoice, take courage, and do your assigned task with passion for the One who’s called you to it!

In today’s edition:

• The fastest-growing religion in China 

• What you can start doing now for North Korea 

• A well-known story to us, but unknown to Syrians

🇨🇳 Restrictions Can’t Stop the Church

Almost 75 years ago, the Chinese Communist Party banned foreign missionaries and placed harsh restrictions on practicing religion. In spite of that, Christianity is the fastest-growing religion in China today. While millions attend state-sanctioned churches, many Chinese believers gather in house churches to avoid government control and censorship. 

At Radical, we want to see the Church continue to grow within China and across Asia. And that starts with making and equipping disciples. So, we are working alongside a Christian content platform that produces discipleship resources in multiple languages to help spread the gospel across Asia. 

This online content platform is producing sound, biblical teaching by Asian writers and pastors. This content equips church leaders and believers to plant and grow healthy, local churches and to mature in their faith.

How to Pray: With government pressure restricting believers from gathering, pray for the safety and endurance of Chinese believers as they meet together and hope to learn more about their faith. As we hope to see more disciples made and equipped, pray that Chinese church leaders and believers would be equipped to take up the baton of making disciples and planting churches.

🇰🇵 Standing with Brothers and Sisters We Cannot See

I remember the first time I stood at the demilitarized zone, or the DMZ, on the border between North and South Korea. I looked across this dividing line, knowing that on the other side I (and we) have brothers and sisters who are suffering and dying for following Jesus and making him known.

I think about Soon Yangown, a pastor in a leper colony during the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula many years ago. He refused to worship the shrines that had been set up for the Korean people to worship, so he was arrested and imprisoned. When the Japanese occupation ended, he was released.

Years later, his two oldest sons, Tongin and Tongsin, were in middle school when a mob representing the communist party came to their campus. The boys were known to be strong Christians, so the mob brought them out of the school and began to beat them. Eventually, a leader of the mob named Ahn shot and killed both the boys.

By the time Pastor Soon heard of his sons’ death, the revolt had been quieted, and his sons’ killer had been apprehended. Upon hearing this news, Pastor Soon immediately sent a messenger to the court to plead for them to spare Ahn. The judge agreed to do so, and Pastor Soon then offered to adopt Ahn as his own son.

Years later, communists invaded the leper colony where Pastor Soon was pastoring. He refused to flee and chose to stay with the church. He was arrested, imprisoned, tied up with 75 other followers of Jesus, and executed.

I wish these stories were only from the past. Unfortunately, however, suffering, persecution, and martyrdom are present-day realities for our brothers and sisters in North Korea. So what can we do for them?

For starters, we can remember them and learn about what they are experiencing. In the words of Hebrews 13:3: “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”

As Radical releases our full documentary on Hard To Reach: North Korea, I hope you will take time to listen to and learn the story of our family in North Korea as if we were with them in North Korea.

As you remember our brothers and sisters, I invite you to pray for them. Let your prayers be guided by Paul’s exhortation in Ephesians 6:18–20 for the church to pray for him while he was in prison: “To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Finally, let’s join them. They’re giving their lives to share the gospel with people around them. If you’re reading this, the likelihood is that your life is not at stake in the same way as theirs. But you can still give your life to what they’re giving their lives to: speaking the gospel and sharing God’s love in Jesus with the people you and I interact with today.

Let’s lock arms with our brothers and sisters in North Korea, following Jesus and making him known no matter what it costs, because we know that he is our reward.

—David Platt

 🇸🇾 Being the minority can be difficult

The Details: Saul’s conversion to Paul—from a persecutor of Christians to an apostle of Christ—is a well-known story from the Bible. That conversion happened on the road to Damascus, which is modern-day Syria. 

But this well-known story is only known by a few Syrians today. 

Less than 3% of Syria’s population identifies as Christian today. On the other hand, over 90% of the population identifies as Muslim. And being a Christian within a Muslim majority is difficult. Syrian Christians face pressure and persecution both from Islamic extremists and their communities.

The Takeaways: As Syrian Christians face opposition, pray for them to be able to gather as the Church and to safely practice their faith. With such a small gospel presence, pray for Syrian believers to have the boldness to share the gospel. Pray for Muslims to know that salvation comes through faith in Christ alone.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Given the complexity of identifying and reaching the unreached, we need multiple lenses for understanding this aspect of our mission.

• Jared C. Wilson argues that while suffering can be extremely painful and difficult, there is something better than never suffering: eternal life in Jesus.

• You may have many things going on in your mind during a sermon, but have you ever wondered what’s going on in your pastor’s mind? Let this inform your prayers for your pastor.

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS:

David Burnette, Selah Lipsey, Steven Morales, David Platt, Camille Suazo

MAKE JESUS KNOWN EVERYWHERE!