This Mother's Day, as we gather with our families, receive hugs or cards, please remember that there are many mothers who are paying a heavy price for their faith.
An Afghan woman who meets with other Afghan refugees to pray and read the Bible in Central Asia.
A discipler of women in a part of Mexico where only 2% of the population is Christian and most keep their faith hidden.
A wife and mother raising her family to know Jesus and His heart for them.
A youth leader serving in a house church in Iran.
They are just a few of the millions of women around the world who are pursuing the Great Commission in some of the most difficult and even dangerous places for Christians.
Where they live, Christian women can be doubly persecuted for their gender and their faith. They survive in cultures where their voices are often silenced, their identities eroded and their rights stripped away.
Some are afraid to send their children to school. Some have been forcibly separated from their children. Some are still waiting for children who went missing years ago.
Today, will you pray with your sisters, asking God to restore and empower them? Let them know they’re not alone as they follow Jesus and build His Kingdom, especially this Mother’s Day.
Pray with women following the Great Commission
1. Sogol*, a Christian mother from Iran, recently asked the worldwide Church to pray with her for parents and children. “Parents are now afraid to send their children to school in case the conflict escalates. There are no online options for continuing education, and many parents are exhausted and overwhelmed, unable to fully support learning at home.
“Please pray for our next generation that God will protect them, grant them peace, provide safe access to education, strengthen parents and secure a hopeful and stable future for them.”
2. Your intercession is a lifeline for
Beatriz*, a missionary in a highly persecuted area in Central Mexico. She has experienced persecution firsthand, including the near-death of her young daughter. Ask God to protect her and her family.
Beatriz disciples a group of women who are discovering their true identity in God. Ask God to instill confidence in these women as they learn to study His Word.
3. Carmen* met Jesus through Beatriz’ women’s group. Carmen* was fired from her job and threatened by her ex-husband who vowed to take away the children—all because of her faith. “Pray that God gives me strength,” Carmen asks. Intercede for mothers who are raising their children to love Jesus where faith is rejected. As Carmen says, “Pray that my children never grow weary of following Christ.”
4. Pray for Afghan women like Ariana* and Zakie* who have fled their country for neighbouring nations. Pray they will find safe places to live and provision for their needs.
Ariana asks: “Pray that Afghan women not only survive, but that they would be like Esther, with boldness and courage.”
Zakie and her family worship together
Zakie fled the Taliban to Central Asia with a newborn baby and a wounded husband. She prays every day for her children: “When they go to school, sometimes they are separated from [the other kids] because they know that they are Christians,” she explains. “I pray for my children that they will be strong in their faith, steadfast.”
5. Pray for mothers who have lost children or whose children are missing. April 14 marks 12 years since 275+ girls were
kidnapped from Chibok in Nigeria. Praise God, many have escaped or been rescued. But 100+ are still missing. Pray for these young women, now around 30 years old. Ask God to place tangible signs in their lives, showing them they have not been forgotten.
Chibok mothers whose daughters were abducted in a mass kidnapping by Boko Haram
For almost a year now, Norma*, a Christian leader in Honduras, has faced a parent’s worst nightmare—the disappearance of her son. In several areas, violence from criminal groups has increased insecurity. When Open Doors met Norma, they provided counseling that became critical, life-saving support. Pray with Norma today.
6. Our sister Josephina is grieving the loss of her husband and four children who remain missing after extremist attacks in Mozambique. She and hundreds are displaced. Pray for comfort and restoration.
7. Hanan, a Syrian sister who lost seven family members in last year’s church bombing in Damascus, asks: “Pray for us to feel safe, to see our children growing up, and to be happy here. We need to live a beautiful life, not a life of fear.”
Hanan (in black) with her husband and children
8. Pray with Binta*, whose Muslim family expelled her from their home when she trusted Jesus. “Pray that the Lord will permit a reconciliation between me and my family,” she asks.
9. Pray with Ngoc*, a 63-year-old grandmother and new believer in Vietnam. She was driven away from her home by authorities when her faith was discovered. Now, Ngoc lives with her daughter and granddaughter. Pray for her as she settles into her new home. Pray that her children would respect Ngoc’s new faith in Christ.
10. The latest laws in Afghanistan legitimise violence against women and children, allowing men to beat their wives, “so long as they don’t break their bones or leave visible lasting wounds.” For Christian women who secretly left Islam, the law makes an already horrific situation unbearable. Pray with us for our Afghan sisters.
11. Ask God to comfort and encourage wives of Christian prisoners. Pray for protection, provision and the strength to care for her family in her husband’s absence.
This Mother's Day, please embrace them in prayer.
When you embrace your child, pray for the mothers who cannot hold theirs.
When you receive blessings, pray for the mothers who suffer for their faith.
When you feel safe, pray for the mothers who live in fear.
Your prayer is the most precious Mother's Day gift you can give them.
*Name changed for security reasons
