[2023 Ramadan Day 24] Proclaim the praise of Jehovah to All Nations! Yemen

Yemen is located at the southernmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula, with an area 2.4 times the size of South Korea and a population of approximately 32 million people, 99.8% of whom are Islamic. Yemen is one of the oldest human settlements, is home to ancient civilizations and is one of the main settings for Arabian Nights. It is also an important setting for the Bible, ruled by the Queen of Sheba, and it is also land that enjoyed the wealth of the spice route trade.

Yemen's capital, Sanaa, is said to have been founded by descendants of Noah's firstborn son, Shem. With a 3,000-year history, Yemen was introduced to Christianity after the events of Pentecost and even declared it the state religion in the 6th century. However, it was the first Arab country to embrace Islam in 628, not long after Islam was founded, and has remained so ever since.

Influenced by the Arab Spring that began in 2011, Yemen entered a civil war that took the form of a proxy war between Saudi Arabia, which backed Sunni government forces, and Iran, which backed Shiite rebels, after the country's 33-year dictatorial president was killed by Shiite rebels. Yemen has been a no-travel zone since 2011, making it a land prohibited to preach the gospel. The ongoing civil war has displaced nearly three million Yemenis, forcing them to flee their families and homes, and killed more than 370,000 people, including children and civilians. Recently, ceasefire negotiations across the war-torn country of Yemen seem to be making progress, but it's far from clear.

“A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord. (Isaiah 60:6)”

God has called the people of Yemen to be a nation that will spread the praises of the LORD, and while the power of death seems to be all over the land right now, God will surely begin His work in this land.

There are Yemenis who have fled the war and are living as refugees in neighboring countries, and short-term teams have reached out to them with the gospel time and time again. Now in its 10th year, the footsteps of the short-term teams has resulted in souls responding to the gospel and in a small but growing community. One brother who heard the gospel for the first time this winter didn't immediately accept Jesus, but he was stirred in his spirit and showed a genuine interest in the gospel and Jesus. When we gave him the Bible app and asked him if he wanted to read it, he said yes, and in the months since, he's often shared with us that he's been "looking at the Bible every day". "I read the Bible in secret. There are so many things I don't know and don't understand, but the Bible is such an interesting book. Thank you for telling me about Jesus." We hope and pray that Jesus will come and meet the heart and soul of this confessing brother.

There are Yemenis and Yemeni diaspora on the mainland and abroad who are responding to the gospel and coming to know and believe in Jesus Christ. We hope, pray, and wait that God's desire and vision will be fulfilled as one team member shared, "Through the Yemeni souls in Country D, Country D and Yemen will come to Jesus." Let us pray together that Jesus will be at work this Ramadan, that through Yemenis responding to the gospel and through the Yemeni diaspora, the praises of the Lord will spread from the land of Yemen, across the Red Sea, through the neighboring countries, and all the way to Jerusalem! We hope, bless, and pray that the hopeless souls of Yemen will come to know Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, and that Yemeni Christians will live with hope of Jesus and the Kingdom of God

[Today’s Prayer]

1. That Yemeni souls in the mainland and the Yemeni diaspora will respond to the gospel and receive Jesus. Lord, build up Your body of believers in Yemen and the Yemeni diaspora! Through them, let your praises be sung in mainland Yemen, in the surrounding Red Sea countries, and even in Jerusalem, and let a wave of revival rise! Lord, clothe them with spiritual and physical strength during this month of Ramadan, and let them stand firm in You by faith, looking to You, dreaming in you, holding on to You, and be victorious in the spiritual battle!

2. Lord! Let the Yemenis, who are now victims of war, rise up from being war refugees to the army of the holy God. May they be strong and bold to live victorious lives of faith, to rise up as missionaries to take the gospel to their families and neighbors and to the ends of the earth! Lord, meet the souls of Yemen in dreams and visions during this month of Ramadan and allow them to accept Jesus as their Savior! Let the powers of death and darkness that bind the land of Yemen be broken and be cast away in the name of our Lord Jesus. Jesus, the Light and the Truth, come to the land as a living hope, so that the prophecy of the lost Yemeni souls coming out as a nation that proclaims the praises of the Lord will be fulfilled!

3. Raise up the Korean church, the global church, and especially the young generation to serve the Yemeni people! God who brings rivers in the desert and makes a way in the wilderness, go to the spiritually and physically barren and desolate places where the Yemeni people are, pioneer the way of the gospel and dedicate themselves to building the church! May the young generation who only commit and obey God for the purpose of planting your body, the church be used to bring back and raise up disciples of Jesus in Yemen! Lord, be praised and glorified through the Yemeni people!