“The Middle East is often characterized as full of explosive religious tension, and I don’t want my spiritual community in the West to misunderstand this region”. An interview with Christian journalist Jayson Casper, in Lebanon.

TWR’s mission in the Middle East and the faith of its leaders remind us that hope is not only alive but also returning to the place where it all began. 

Growing up in an Evangelical church in the Middle East, the question of an Evangelical Christian’s relationship to power was not something we discussed. Still, we faced one less temptation.

War reshapes the future. It robs children of their innocence and replaces it with fear. It cripples economies, fractures societies, and plants seeds of hatred that can last for generations. 

The Arab Baptist Theological Seminary seeks to provide emotional and spiritual support to people displaced by war in Lebanon. “Even as the sound of drones grows louder in our skies, we continue to witness glimpses of Christ’s love in action”, says Loulwa El Maalouf.

To receive the displaced is to echo the heart of Jesus who “did not come to be served but to serve”. Still, we feel the tension: the urgent needs of today and the long work of tomorrow. By Wissam Nasrallah, president of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut.

The complexity of the international situation requires believers not to remain silent in indifference or to clamour in partisanship, but to speak clearly, as a result of a conscience formed by Scripture. A commentary by the Italian Evangelical Alliance.

In an interview with Evangelical Focus, the secretary general of the World Evangelical Alliance urges Christians to be sensitive to the reality of Iranians and to be careful not to impose their perceptions or eschatologies from cultures far removed from the Middle East.

In Jordan, there is “no panic in the streets but definitely a collective awareness that the region can shift overnight”. Churches are “calling for focused prayer gatherings, encouraging believers not to spread fear”, the Christian leader says.

A pastor of the Iranian church in Barcelona analyses the impact of the fall of the Ayatollah regime’s leadership and the situation of Iranian Christians in the diaspora, where they hope for rapid political and social change that will restore religious freedom in the country.

I had the privilege of traveling to Malta to learn from ministry partners in the Middle East. Watching the side by side in the region and beyond, I was reminded once again of the blessing that comes when we collectively seek the Kingdom of God.

Human rights violations against Iranian Christians include “imprisonment, exile and forced labour”, says a new report.

God is continuing to work, even amid the horror and suffering of the Iranian people.

If injustices are not addressed, the conflict not only simmers, but will threaten to boil over again, maybe in years or in a generation, but with greater force and consequences.

On 7 October 2023, Hamas attacked Israel and spent hours murdering people in the south of the country, where the Nova Music Festival was taking place. An exhibition in Berlin recalls the assault on the festival. 

The WEA appoints an Arab Christian with extensive church experience in the Middle East. He is director of the Nazareth Baptist School and has been involved in initiatives for reconciliation between Israel and Palestine.

 Bold theology acknowledges its own limitations and welcomes the sanctifying work of the Spirit.

Because of our cultural glasses in the West today, we miss the criticism that the Old Testament makes of the culture of the time. A classic example of this is the ‘lex talonis’ in Exodus.

The Middle East and North Africa now looks like a battleground for global power games—where innocent lives are disposable, and regime change is a tool, not a goal. This is not justice. This is not God's heart.

The Middle East, a region marked by political turbulence, religious conflict, and a deep, often painful, history, provides a complex yet rich backdrop for theological education.

Middle East expert Matthew Barnes explains the difficulties the Christian community faces in Syria in the midst of the great political instability of recent months.

Trans World Radio's Farsi ministry shares Jesus through various media, from radio to the metaverse.

“We must assume that everything that’s in the news, or even on social media, will be seen by governments and other armed groups. And that can have terrible repercussions on the Christian population”, says an Open Doors representative in the Middle East.

New Testament writers desired believers like us to be at home with eschatology, owning it for our lives, so that it doesn’t feel strange or scary.

The church leaders have already spent years in prison. The European Parliament condemns the “systematic repression” of Christians and other minorities in the country.