[2025 Ramadan] Day 10 The nation that will once again rise up in revival and conceive life as gospel warriors on the front lines. North Caucasus

(Dagestan)

The southern part of Dagestan was evangelized and churches were established earlier than the rest of the country, around the 4th century. The Arabs who remained in Dagestan and the Muslims, who came to spread their religion, forced them to embrace Islam. The 18th century Kafkaesque wars also led to the Islamization of the Dagestan people, who later found their identity in Islam as a result of their bitterness towards Orthodox Russia. Nowhere else in world history have so many people converted to Islam so quickly.

After the war between Russia and Chechnya, an Islamic fundamentalist movement quickly emerged, and Islamic militants confronted the government and intimidated the churches. However, Christians in Dagestan worshiped together and kept their faith in the midst of fear, and there was a revival of the Holy Spirit in Dagestan, to the point that Muslim imams would tell patients who were not healed after being prayed for by the imams to go to church and pray in the name of Jesus. Then, in 2010, Pastor A of Church H was martyred by Islamic militants, and the blood of martyrdom was sprinkled across Dagestan. Since then, the scattered Christians have lost the revival and strength they once had because of fear, and they have become more concerned with protecting their own faith and less concerned with sharing the gospel with those who come to hear it or welcoming and nurturing those who come to them.

The war between Palestine and Israel has sparked an Islamist movement on social media, with Palestinian flags and pro-Palestinian writing on campuses, buildings, cars, and streets. In Mahachikala, the capital of Dagestan, there were massive protests at the airport to prevent Jews from entering the country, and there was strong Islamist incitement to monitor the entire airport and search for Jews. Even people who don't normally observe Ramadan are encouraging each other to observe it like a campaign. In the evenings, free water and dates are handed out everywhere, and there is a sense of pride in observing Ramadan. Islam has a spiritual and collective hold on the souls of Dagestan.

But through the powerful prayers of the global church, the lies and darkness of Islam will be driven away!

Eight of the over 30 ethnic groups in Dagestan still do not have a single believing Christian. The peoples of Dagestan are a small minority, but as the global church prays in faith, the hope of heaven will come to Dagestan and they will rise up as a holy people who will see the glory of God!

(Ingushetia)

Ingushetia is the smallest and poorest of Russia's republics, and is an ethnic group that underwent mass conversion to Islam in the 19th century. They were forcibly relocated by Russia during World War II and have since returned home, but territorial disputes with neighboring ethnic groups persist. Officially 100 percent Muslim, Ingush is spiritually untouched, like a roadside where seeds are scattered and birds pick them up.

During the war between Palestine and Israel, we met and interacted with a 13-year-old sister of the Ingush people. She asked us, “Are you on the side of Israel? Are you on the side of the Palestinians?” Even young children are hurting as Muslims from the war and are struggling to unconditionally side with Muslims and hate those on the other side who are hurting them.

Ingushetia is a land so poor and rugged that even Russians don't enter it. It's a land that is haunted by its past history and is wary of outsiders, keeping a wall around its heart to avoid being hurt and hurt again.

But thankfully, according to the official evangelization rate survey by ethnic group in North Caucasus, there are more than 20 believing Christians among the Ingushetians, and when the Church Youth in North Ossetia short-term mission team visited, they found an Ingushetian Christian young man standing alone in his faith. Hallelujah!

Now Ingushetia will become a land of hope that conceives life! During the month of Ramadan, through the prayers of the world church, the strong spiritual hold of Islam in Ingushetia will be broken.

(Kabardino-Balkaria)

Kabardin-Balkar is living under a radicalized version of Islamic law. A growing number of young people believe that homosexuality is acceptable.

In a city in Kabardin-Balkar where there is no official church, a group of Christians has been established through a local worker to gather and worship. God is already raising up a chosen remnant in Kabardin-Balkar! Through them, Kabardin-Balkar will be raised up as an outpost of missionary revival to serve all nations!

(Today’s Prayer)

1. During the month of Ramadan 2025, through the prayers of the global church, may all the darkness that holds the North Caucasus in its grip depart, and may the aches and wounds be healed by the blood of Jesus, and the work of forgiveness of sins and salvation be accomplished.

2. Let the church of Your body be planted in the North Caucasus, and let workers be sent out from the Russian and world churches to spread the gospel in a land that desperately needs laborers.

3. Let the vision of 10,000 disciples of Jesus Christ in North Caucasus by 2030 be fulfilled, serving all nations.

(Chechnya)

After losing the Caucasian War in the 18th century, Chechnya became part of Russia and had a tragic history under Stalin, with more than 100,000 Chechens dying in forced migrations. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chechnya declared itself independent in 1994, leading to the First and Second Chechen Wars, which left 90% of the capital city of Grozny in ruins, killed thousands of men, and left many orphans and widows.

We met an old woman who had lost her arm in the war, and she told us, as foreigners, “The Russians took my arm. I was standing on the veranda of my house when a soldier shot at me and I lost my arm. I can't say this outside. It's forbidden.” He said with sad eyes.

The pain and hurt that still lingers among the Chechen people needs the prayers of the global church.

The Chechen people have been the focus of international attention and condemnation for terrorism in the past, but are now entering a period of social stability as they strive for peace and reconstruction. In this context, ethnic Chechens are looking to Islam for their national identity. The president of Chechnya has proclaimed himself the leader of Islam, building large mosques in every city, emphasizing Islamic education and dress, and framing Chechnya as an Islamic republic. The Chechen president deifies himself, and his policies are designed to intimidate people into submission, often arresting those who oppose him without anyone knowing.

Recently, however, there has been a growing number of young people who are responding to the truth and the gospel, people who want to escape the contradictions of Islam and the oppressive social atmosphere. They want to live outside the country rather than live in the repressive Chechen society. And since the Russo-Ukrainian war, more than two million Russians have traveled to the North Caucasus region, including Dagestan and Chechnya, every year instead of traveling abroad. Previously, Russians were afraid of the North Caucasus as a tourist destination due to its strong image of terrorism, but the social climate has changed dramatically, with many Russians traveling to and from the region and interacting with the locals. In addition, Baptist churches are now recognized as official churches in Chechnya, and Russian workers from cities across Russia continue to be sent to Chechnya to evangelize.

Amen! The Lord will set the Chechen people free, who have been imprisoned in lies and fear for so long! He will establish His Church in the land of Chechnya and raise it up as an army to bear the front line in the final war!