[2024 Ramadan Day 24] Yemen who will spread the praise of Jehovah among all nations

Yemen is located at the southernmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen is 2.4 times the size of South Korea and has a population of approximately 32 million people, 99.8% of whom are Muslim. Yemen is one of the oldest inhabited places in the world and is home to ancient civilizations. It is also one of the main settings for the Arabian Nights and an important setting for the Bible, a land that was ruled by the Queen of Sheba, that enjoyed the wealth of the ancient trade of the Silk Road.

Yemen's capital, Sana’a, is said to have been founded by descendants of Noah's firstborn son, Shem. Yemen has a long history of 3,000 years, with Christianity coming to the country after the day of Pentecost and Yemen even proclaimed Christianity as the state religion in the 6th century. However, it was the first Arab country to embrace Islam in 628, shortly after the founding of the religion, and has remained so ever since.

After 33 years of dictatorship, Yemen was overthrown during the Arab Spring in 2011 when its president was killed by Shiite rebels, and has been at war ever since, with Saudi Arabia backing Sunni government forces and Iran backing Shiite Houthi rebels in a civil war.

South Korea has designated Yemen as a travel ban since 2011, making it a closed land where the gospel has been unable to reach. The ongoing civil war has displaced approximately 3 million Yemenis, forcing them to flee their families and homes, and more than 370,000 people has been killed, including children and civilians. Recently, there have been occasional news reports of ceasefire talks between the two factions, but there isn’t much progress.

Amen! God has called the people of Yemen to be a nation that will spread the praises of the Lord. Though the power of death seems fill this land, our God of love will surely accomplish His work of salvation in this land.

There are many Yemenis who have fled the war and are living as refugees in neighboring countries. One of the areas where we have had 11 short-term teams so far is the land of Djibouti. Geographically, Djibouti is the closest country on the map to the Red Sea in front of the Gulf of Aden in Yemen.

Now, after 11 short-term teams have walked this land, local souls and Yemenis (including Yemeni refugees) are responding to the gospel, one by one, year after year. We've even seen some baptized in the name of Jesus, rising up as the body of Christ. We've even had two baptized people rise up as a church, fulfilling the promise that when two or three are gathered, the Lord is with them. The number of souls returning to Jesus in this land are growing. Although small, communities are rising up as the body of Christ.

A Yemeni brother who heard the gospel for the first time last winter didn't accept Jesus on the spot, but he was stirred by the encouragement to "read the Bible and then we'll talk about it," and he promised that “he will read the Bible.” After the short-term team left, the young man continued to read the Bible daily on his own, and change came over his soul. Jesus entered his life. But the young man soon faced a great trial. One of his hands was sucked into a machine at the restaurant where he was working, cutting off his fingers and disfiguring his palm. Through this painful time, through a tunnel of incomprehensible suffering, the young man finally came out with the following confession: "There have been difficult times for me, but I am so grateful that you gave me Jesus so that I could know Him in this time.” This young man continues to read the Bible alone today. He says there are so many things he doesn't know and doesn't understand, but he finds the Bible fascinating. Join us in praying for this brother who confesses, "Thank you so much for telling me about Jesus,” that Jesus would come and meet him in his heart.

[Today's Prayer]

1. Through the Yemeni people and the Yemeni diaspora who respond to the Gospel this Ramadan, may the praises of the Lord resound from the lips of the souls of the land of Yemen, the people of Sheba, and may it cover the entire Red Sea, the neighboring nations, and all the way to Jerusalem! May the Yemenis, who are now victims of war, rise up as the holy army of God, strong and bold, living victorious lives of faith, and may they rise up as missionaries and take the Gospel to the ends of the earth!

2. Would you raise up the Korean church, the global church, and especially the young generation to serve the Yemeni people! Let the young generation of the gospel, who follow the God who makes rivers in the desert and makes a way in the wilderness, go to the spiritually and physically barren and desolate places where the Yemenis are, pioneer the way of the gospel, and dedicate themselves to planting a church as the body of Christ! May they obey the Lord and go forward, and bring about the precious work of salvation to turn Yemeni souls to the Lord!