International (MNN) — In the backdrop of the world’s active conflicts are ordinary people who suffer deeply and need the hope of Jesus. 

Denise Godwin with International Media Ministries says that at a recent church gathering, Iranian believers told her, “Remember that the people of Iran don’t want these things to be occurring. They don’t like this regime – they’re actually persecuted by this regime, and we need to pray for them as well.”

(Photo courtesy of International Media Ministries.)

Godwin says that tragic stories in the news can prompt us to pray for fellow Christians caught in them.

“All the countries that are having all kinds of dissonance, in each place there are people who feel alone, who are desperate, who are under threat,” Godwin says. “There [are] also believers who are trying to figure out where they fit in all of these war situations.”

Godwin says that although missionaries aren’t able to enter every war zone, she believes that media is reaching where people cannot. IMM’s programs have reached people in Ukrainian, Russian, and Arabic in recent years. The team is committed to spreading the hope of Jesus, and they know God is working to reach people in deep pain. (Learn more about IMM here.)

“It’s so amazing that God has — in peoples’ lives and in the Word of God — stories that jump out and touch people’s hearts and change their lives and speak to them,” Godwin says.

“Bombs falling, losing your house, being arrested by government officials — all these things are just desperate, desperate things. Those people need to know God loves them, and He hasn’t forgotten them if they’re believers. He hasn’t lost track of them if they haven’t met Him yet. He’s looking for them, yearning for them.”

Godwin says we can be a part of God’s gospel ministry of compassion by praying for others and by partnering in media missions.

International Media Ministries uses media to bring Jesus to every screen in various heart languages. (Photo courtesy of IMM)

“Pray for those that are seeking to find God. The Holy Spirit is not limited by wars and He is leading people, He is preparing hearts. [Also] pray for our fellow believers that are already in prison,” Godwin says.

“One woman is in prison in Iran with cancer, and she’s known to be washing people’s feet and bringing them to Jesus and having a little church in prison, even though she has cancer. Those are people we need to pray for and ask God to give them strength to endure.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Amir Hosseini/Unsplash.