Young men brought clubs and brass knuckles to Pechersk Monastery in Kiev, intent on disrupting worship. Police spread-eagled them against a wall depicting centuries-old frescoes of saints, then hauled them away. Meanwhile at a small church in the centre of Kiev, a dozen men organised round-the-clock guard duty against nationalist radicals making their third attempt in a year to seize their place of worship. These incidents underline Ukraine’s potent, possibly explosive mix of politics, religious faith, and national identity that is emerging in the creation of an Orthodox church of its own. There are deep concerns about what will happen to the 12,000 churches and their property in the church split. The war between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists, which has killed 10,000+ people, has increased hostility towards the Moscow Patriarchate churches. With such passions on both sides, it is feared that more violence between the two sides lies ahead.

2018 has been a year of great triumphs and unimaginable tragedies. We have seen both incredible good and unfathomable evil. We have witnessed miracles and seen suffering. But as we look ahead, we remember and proclaim that God is sovereign over every corner of the globe. He alone is the hope of 2019 - the Hope of the Nations. Though some situations may seem hopeless, we recognise and rejoice that He reigns ‘far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title’, and that ‘all things are under His feet’ (Ephesians 1:21,22a). Nothing is impossible for Him. God reigns, and is moving today all over the world!

A fragile calm took hold in Hodeidah on 18 December, after sporadic gunfire between Houthi fighters and forces loyal to the government. Two days later it was being hailed by many as a positive step on the path to peace for the war-torn country. However the agreement is open to different interpretations by the warring parties. It talks of ‘mutual redeployment of forces’ from Hodeidah and other ports. The Houthis do not see this as meaning that they need to withdraw, while the other side thinks they must do so - a key point of contention. See. Everyone is praying that the truce will hold. The humanitarian situation is beyond atrocious. The majority of malnourished people don't know where they will get their next meal. Women can't produce milk for their children. People die daily. 22 million people need aid. 8.4 million face starvation. Pray for immediate co-ordinated availability and distribution of all that is needed.

70% of what had been Palestine until 1949 is now controlled by Israel. After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and the continuing expansion of settlements and military law in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority now has control over about 18% of the West Bank - which includes Bethlehem. The tourism industry there is yet another battleground of Palestinians and Israelis for controlling the narrative around the occupation. At Christmas there are strings of lights over the town's famous Manger Square, with a life-sized nativity scene, and pilgrims entering the church to see where Jesus was born. Tourists come in groups organised by Israeli tour companies, while native Palestinian local guides look for individual tourists to show them around their hometown. There is an unseen struggle for Palestinians, many of them Christians, to earn a living.