[2025 Ramadan] Day 8 Georgia, the missionary outpost! Rise up with the spirit of the martyrdom of the early church! Azerbaijan, the last trumpet of revival! Take the gates of the enemy!

<Georgia>

Georgia is a Greek word meaning ‘farmer’ and was adopted as the name of the country after ‘Giorgi’, who was canonized as a saint of Georgia. Georgia is located in the Caucasus Mountains region, east of the Black Sea. It borders Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia to the southeast, and Turkey to the south.

The three countries of the Caucasus refer to Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, and all three countries have been constantly invaded and ruled by powerful countries such as the Mongol Empire, Persia, Rome, Arabs, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia due to their geographical characteristics where Asia and Europe intersect. Due to this background, Georgia is known as a Christian country, but it is influenced by Mongolian shamanism and Islam, and also worships icons that are not in the Bible.

Currently, the religious distribution of Georgia is 83.9% Orthodox, 10.7% Muslim, 3.9% Armenian Apostolic Church, 0.8% Roman Catholic, 2% Buddhist and others, and 0.4% Protestant.

Georgian Muslims are Sunni and live in the Republic of Adjara, which borders Turkey, and most of them observe Ramadan fasting. In particular, the majority of people in the mountainous villages where 95% of Muslims live observe Ramadan. Most families in the Adjara region have Orthodox Christians and Muslims living together. If the husband is Muslim and the wife is Orthodox, unfortunately, the Orthodox Christian wife observes Ramadan fasting with her Muslim husband. They happily fast during Ramadan and hope to visit Turkey, which they long for and consider their homeland, after finishing the fast.

Turkey is targeting the Adjara region, selecting smart and religious Muslim youth as scholarship students and supporting both tuition and living expenses, and sending them to study Islamic theology in Turkey and then re-dispatching them as religious leaders in Georgia. Currently, Turkey is trying to raise funds to build a bigger temple even though it already has one in Batumi, the capital of the Adjara Republic.

In contrast, most Georgian churches are strongly clerical, believing that they should not read the Bible directly but can only hear and interpret the Word through priests. As a result, they have become churches that do not evangelize because they do not know the Bible and the Gospel apart from the Word, and religious pluralism is rampant, saying that all gods are one God.

The Orthodox Church in Georgia has made an implicit non-aggression pact with the 0.4% of evangelical Christians in Georgia, excluding them as heretics and not sharing to each other about their religions. Therefore, most churches are afraid to spread the Gospel.

However, thankfully, the Lord has allowed us to fellowship with a church led by a pastor who personally met Jesus in a Muslim background, and the church members are praying for Muslims and sharing the gospel. Also, the local church where the short-term mission team had visited this winter was greatly challenged by seeing the mission team preaching the gospel to Muslim areas and praying for them. The evangelical churches in this land are gradually opening their hearts to preaching the gospel to Muslims and praying for them.

<Azerbaijanis, a minority in Georgia>

There are 300,000 Azerbaijanis living as a minority in Georgia. They live without hope, harboring wounds and pain from the surrounding Christian countries of Russia, Armenia, and Georgia. That is why they want to find their identity in Islam even more.

Many Azerbaijanis living as a minority in Georgia are leaving for Europe, Russia, Turkey, and other places in search of jobs because life is difficult. As families live apart due to livelihood issues, families are often separated, and children in broken families grow up under the negative influence within their homes. They often get married at a young age and get divorced easily. Due to financial difficulties in broken families, they easily fall into the path of drug distribution and often end up in prison. The gospel is very needed in this land.

House churches that believe in Jesus are rising through missionaries in the M, G, and R regions among the ethnic minority areas, and ministry for the next generation is also beginning. The history of salvation will begin among the wounded ethnic minorities of Azerbaijan! During Ramadan, they will come to know the truth about false Islam and come to Jesus Christ, who is the real healing and the truth.

<Azerbaijan>

“Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations!

Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts. (Jer 51:27)

Azerbaijan is a country with the history of Minni mentioned in Jer 51:27, and is a people called to war to overthrow the Babylonian Empire in the past.

Azerbaijan has worshipped Zoroastrianism since ancient times, but after Bartholomew, a disciple of Jesus, preached the gospel and was martyred, it was the first in the Caucasus region to accept Christianity. Afterwards, it was Islamized under the rule of the Arab people, and currently 95% of the population is Muslim, 0.05% are evangelical Christians, and the population is about 10 million. Due to the long war with Armenia, most of the people live with the wounds and pain of war, hatred and resentment, and especially the young generation suffers from the aftereffects and trauma of war. However, the government is only focusing on rebuilding the territories in the conflict zones that have been reclaimed, ignoring the difficulties of these people.

Currently, Islam in Azerbaijan is secular Islam and has little religious significance. Since Novruz Bayram, a major holiday in Azerbaijan, overlaps with Ramadan, it is not easy to find people who fully participate in fasting. Nevertheless, during Ramadan, you can meet people who go to the mosque to pray or start Islamic prayer (namaz). Also, during this period, young people are often seen reading and searching for various religious books, thirsting for the truth.

Recently, young people in Azerbaijan are feeling skeptical about Islam and are falling into secularism and materialism. With so much knowledge flooding through media such as YouTube, we see them becoming absorbed in the ideas they want to believe in rather than seeking the true truth. Also, there is a growing number of atheists who do not want to be bound by any religion or who deny the existence of God. In these times, the youth of Azerbaijan need the gospel the most.

During this Ramadan, the youth of Azerbaijan must have a spiritual breakthrough. We hope that this land and its youth will break through and rise up only with the truth. Just as the land route that was closed after Covid is reopening in May of this year, may the spiritual doors of Azerbaijan will open!

(Today's Prayer)

1) Orthodox and Muslims have lived together in Georgia for a long time, but it is hard to find the truth and life in the church where idolatry, clericalism, and religious pluralism are rampant. Since the true salvation that gives eternal life is only in Jesus, may the Muslims and Orthodox Church of Georgia be restored with the gospel and become the descendants of faith in the lineage of 100,000 martyrs who did not deny Jesus until the end.

2) There is hatred, animosity, hurt, and fear among the youth of Azerbaijan due to the long war with Armenia. Even among the Azerbaijani people, who remain as a minority in Georgia, there is a misunderstanding about the gospel due to the wounds they received from the Christian state in the past. May they come to know the love of Jesus that their wounds and misunderstandings will be resolved and healed. Please pray that they will hear the gospel and that their eyes, ears, and hearts will be opened to understand the love of Jesus and the path to salvation. In particular, please let the spirit of the world and the spirit of Islam that bind the youth of this land be casted out, and may the Azerbaijani minority in Georgia and the land of Azerbaijan be renewed in the gospel only.

3) During Ramadan, may the Muslims in Georgia, the ethnic minorities of Azerbaijan, and the Muslims of Azerbaijan meet Christ through dreams and visions! Let them confess Jesus as the Messiah who will come again, not as a prophet. The global church must commission workers to spread the gospel to them. Please raise up evangelists and let them hear the gospel. Please visit them in their dreams and visions, and let many people come to Jesus Christ! Especially during this Ramadan season, may the next generation and the youth of this land rise up. Let the young people of faith rise up together to testify the gospel and overcome spiritual darkness!