A quick look at the news will let you know that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are on fire.
International observers say that in the past five years we have seen at least 10, and possibly as many as 15 wars or significant armed conflicts in the region. They include wars in Gaza, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and elsewhere. These conflicts have left at least 200,000 people dead.
Graphic by Alex Shuper / Unsplash+
But these wars are not the whole story. I was in London last week at a conference of church leaders from the region hosted by Strategic Resource Group (SRG), which provides research, strategy and funding for scores of evangelism and discipleship projects in the area. I learned of another spark that is catching fire in the MENA region: The spark of revival.
Back in January, I told you about this phenomenon by citing my friend and former WORLD colleague Mindy Belz, who said, “New findings show evidence of an ‘ongoing conversion phenomenon’ in the Middle East and North Africa at a historic level not seen since the first century.” A recent issue of International Journal of Frontier Mission says, “Researchers out of Amsterdam’s Free University tallied an estimated 270,000 new converts to Christianity over the last 10 years.”
Why all the conversions? The reasons are varied and complex, but what I learned in London last week is that a combination of trauma care, church planting, media and digital ministries, and the unmistakable work of the Holy Spirit are having an impact.
The Numbers Tell A Story
The numbers are remarkable. Take Yemen, for example. That country has long been considered “hard ground” for the Gospel. Twenty years ago, missiologists were not sure of the existence of even a single church in the country. Today, the country has 180 small, secret house churches. A recent report by the Danish European Mission estimates 10,000 Christians in the country.
Other countries in the region have similar stories. According to Barnabas Aid, Tunisia’s Christian community had grown from approximately 400 believers in 2010 to 15,000 in 2025. It reports annual evangelical growth of 4.7%.
Access to MinistryWatch content is free. However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. To make a donation, click here.
Algeria’s story is even more striking. Algeria saw tremendous growth throughout the 2000s and 2010s, even though in 2006 Algeria adopted Ordinance 06-03, regulating non-Muslim worship. The law was passed in part because of the growth of the church.
SRG’s efforts have played a significant role in this revival. It has funded more than 250 carefully vetted ministries and more than 1,900 individual projects in 23 countries. SRG has been responsible for the translation of the entire Bible into seven languages in just the past five years alone. It has 24 Bible translation projects underway.
Lessons From London
I came home from London with a few lessons worth considering:
- First, never doubt the impact a few committed people can have. SRG began when real estate investor and developer Paul Schultheis decided to recruit a few friends and focus their efforts on a single region. The number of SRG “resource partners,” or funders, has never been large, but by being strategic and focused they have had an outsized impact.
- Second, SRG understands the power of information. It deeply researches the ministries it funds before it gives them money, and it does rigorous follow-up to make sure the money is used as promised. I have, frankly, heard some ministry partners complain about the reporting requirements SRG places on ministry partners. I know of ministries who no longer seek SRG funding because the reporting requirements are so rigorous. But I also talked with ministry partners in London who told me SRG has made them better, more strategic, more effective, because of this accountability.
- Third, never underestimate the power of personal relationships. I heard a lot of numbers in London. I heard a lot about systems and processes. But I also heard a lot about personal relationships, about the power of just “showing up” in people’s lives during a time of need. Trauma-informed care has, for example, become a big part of doing ministry in the MENA region. As one Lebanese pastor said, “Burying a family’s dead is a powerful way to evangelize.”
- Fourth, it is the Holy Spirit who saves, not our processes, programs or projects. God uses systems and processes, but a lot of what I heard about in London defies logical explanations. I heard many stories of Muslim men and women who had dreams about Jesus and then sought out Christians to explain the dreams. Those explanations resulted in their conversion. I must admit to a healthy skepticism about such stories, but I have now heard them so many times that I cannot deny them. I once asked Reformed theologian Michael Horton if he was a “cessationist,” someone who believed that miracles had ceased. His reply: “I used to be, but I’ve seen too many things I can’t explain.” To which I say, “Amen.”
I am a journalist, not a prophet. I don’t predict; I report. But if what I saw in London is any indication of what is happening in the Middle East and North Africa, and I think it is, the future will be exciting indeed.