Yemen (MNN) — On March 4, the U.S. re-designated Ansarallah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Also known as the Houthis, they are one of several players in civil war-torn Yemen, along with ISIS and al-Qaeda. 

A woman we’ll call Isabel* is a Christian serving with nonprofit organizations that meet humanitarian needs in Yemen. She says disruptions are part of daily life for their partners. 

“It’s prohibited people from being able to travel deep into certain parts of the territory, and constrained movement to areas that aren’t controlled by Houthi rebels,” she says.

yemen, map, Ethiopia

(Photo courtesy of Lara Jameson/Pexels)

“Some groups that I work with that are doing translation work may literally be working together while bombs are falling in their neighborhood. They live in an extremely precarious situation when it comes to just physical safety.”

Since 2023, Houthis have raised havoc on international trade in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Yet no international policy like this one from the U.S. can reach to the heart of someone caught up in radical Islamic ideology. Isabel glimpsed that during one meeting with a mixed group of Yemenis.

One man spoke up, saying, “If you had told me I’d be sitting around this table with brothers from my country who were part of different political factions, plus an American, I would never have believed you. But only through the grace of God and through our shared love of Jesus could we be here together today.”

Yemen is number 3 on the World Watch List from Open Doors. Would you join in praying for secret Yemeni believers? Many of them deal with divisiveness, danger and opposition. Isabel asks that you pray for their safety and provision. Pray also for people in Yemen to be open to hearing a new message, open to building peace together through Jesus. Then, trust God! 

“I think it’s easy to forget, particularly as Western Christians, that there are people in other parts of the world that are living out stories we read in the Bible that we may think don’t happen anymore. For example, the small numbers of believers in these areas of such destruction and despair are truly being salt and light. [There] may truly be only 10 people in their city that know God,” Isabel says. 

“It’s really opened my eyes to how big God is, how good God is and how He continues to work with His people, with His children, to bring hope and new life in places like [Yemen].”

 

*Name withheld for security

Header photo is a representative stock photo courtesy of  Jiří Zeman via Pexels.