In the ongoing instability in Iraq, Christians are not necessarily safe even if they escape areas held by IS. Esam (an Iraqi Christian) said that friends of his who escaped Mosul after being forcibly converted to Islam have been ‘baptised back to Christianity’. Other aspects of their lives will take far longer to repair. Iraqi Christians who end up returning to Iraq know they return to a country whose sectarian fault-lines have been activated to lethal levels. Aid workers have warned that extensive reconciliation work is vital if Iraq’s many different faith and ethnic communities are to cohere again, especially as levels of trauma among all sectors of the population are thought to be extremely high. The ordeal at the hands of IS members in Mosul has been horrific. Iraqi Christians tell of crucifixions, torture and sex slavery. Esam concludes, ‘What happened is not easy, but in the end we must forgive.’

The UN has reported that 75,000 thousand children are at risk of dying of hunger and fourteen million people are in need of humanitarian aid in north-east Nigeria, as it deals with the aftermath of Boko Haram violence. Pray that they will receive all the aid they need to recover and resettle. A trauma care centre is being constructed by Open Doors in northern Nigeria to support Christians who have suffered religiously-motivated violence or abuse at the hands of Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen. Pray for Open Doors and other organisations to receive adequate funding so that they can fulfil their objectives. Violence continues with a recent spate of attacks on five Christian villages in the Kauru local government area. Most of the fatalities were women, children and the elderly, who could not escape the Fulani herdsmen’s gunfire. 120 houses, including eight house-churches, were burnt down.

Hinduism has roughly 1 billion followers, 94% in India. Hinduism is growing slowly, but is still winning followers from those searching for life’s answers in religion. There are approximately 140,000 Protestant missionaries across the nations, but only 2% serve Hindu people. Despite this, Hindus from all castes are coming to Christ after hearing Bible stories they were able to relate to. In one instance an entire village turned to Christ after hearing His Word preached in their language! Pray for the Bible translators researching people groups and their languages to produce accessible Bibles. Leaving Hinduism means persecution, even to death. New believers are considered threats to Hindu society and are relentlessly pursued, violently attacked, or shunned from the community. Doubt and fear follow them because they accepted Jesus into their lives and became outcasts in their world. Pray for the new house church movement, welcoming recent converts.

Far right Front National leader Marine Le Pen is a strong candidate for the French presidency, according to a recent poll. Her main opponent will be François Fillon, a former prime minister, who has won the presidential nomination for the conservative party. He opposes multiculturalism and has called for a new understanding with Vladimir Putin's Russia. Ms Le Pen is adamant that the same anti-establishment anger which saw Britain vote to leave the EU and Americans elect Donald Trump could sweep her to power. Do the forthcoming elections spell the end of the Eurocrats’ dream?