How Media Help Bring Refuge for Persecuted Christians

In places where Jesus followers face threats, imprisonment and even death, media can be a place of refuge and encouragement.

“How strange,” wrote a Syrian woman named Salam, “that a feeling of safety, as if I wasn’t alone, seeped into my soul.”

Salam was referring to Hope for Syria, one of 27 programs TWR (also known as Trans World Radio) broadcasts to Syria. The Middle Eastern country is featured this year as part of  International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, which is this Sunday, Nov. 1. It is spearheaded by Open Doors, which advocates for persecuted Christians.

TWR has been calling attention to the persecuted church this month and will continue to do so in November as part of our ongoing Hope Within Reach series. We’re calling it “Hope in the Shadows,” and have been particularly focusing on the four nations of the Horn of Africa this month and on the Pakistan-Afghanistan-North India region, which we refer to as PANI, next month.

Why these regions? First, Somalia and Eritrea, from the Horn of Africa, are ranked second and fifth, respectively, on the 2026 Open Doors World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. Pakistan ranks eighth, Afghanistan 11th and India 12th. Second, all are places where the Word of God is crossing borders via TWR’s media ministry, reaching places where traditional missionaries can’t always go. 

The stories vary from place to place. But there’s a common theme: lives transformed when the hope of Jesus Christ penetrates to “closed” places. “Today, I face life with hope and patience,” a listener in India wrote. “I thank God for reaching me through this radio program and giving me strength to move forward with peace.”

The Middle East is also clearly a region of grave concern. Open Doors is calling attention to the June 2025 suicide attack of a church in Damascus, Syria, in which 22 Christians were killed. Just last Friday, Oct. 23, an attack on a church in Jordan left nine Christians dead and 34 others injured. Worldwide, Open Doors reported 4,849 Christians were killed for their faith between Sept. 30, 2024, and Oct. 1, 2025. (Totals haven’t been determined for 2025-26.)

In war-torn Syria, ranked 6th on the World Watch List, a “fragile transition” is taking place since the end of a 13-year civil war in December 2024, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. But Christians face pressure to conform with majority beliefs, Open Doors reports, especially in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo.

TWR wrote about Syria in March as part of our “Hope Under Fire” series. We shared Salam’s story, which began with her feeling shaken and alone, left with her child as her husband served in the military. Scrolling through the web, she came across TWR’s Hope for Syria Facebook page. That led her to the program that gave her hope, even in the darkness.

That was true also for another Syrian woman, named Annan, who reported she had “passed over from the darkness … to the light of Jesus” after listening to a TWR program and following accompanying social media posts. She also reported that the program “is being shared widely” and is changing many lives. 

“The program has been my anchor, and now I’m telling others about Jesus,” Annan wrote.