Prisoners of Hope

While the world's attention has turned elsewhere, Sudan has become the fourth most dangerous country on earth to follow Jesus. A civil war now in its fourth year has killed an estimated 150,000 people and displaced roughly 14 million, and Christians are being crushed between two armies that answer to no one. In the Nuba Mountains, pastors are being executed and churches bombed. Across the border i...

Sudan is home to the world's largest displaced population, and for Christians there, survival itself is no longer certain. In this episode, Josh sits down with our ministry partner Cliff, to talk honestly about what is actually happening on the ground: the decades of genocide against Sudan's Black African tribes that set the stage for today's war, the fight for oil, gold, and territory now raging...

Nigeria has become the deadliest country in the world to be a Christian. Last year, roughly 72% of all Christians killed for their faith globally were killed there – in village raids, in burned churches, and in homes that became coffins. In this episode, Josh Youssef sits down with Dr. Sainom, the Help The Persecuted team leader in Nigeria and a peace builder who has spent decades in the Middle Be...

Iran hasn't left the headlines in over a year, and the pressure on its church has only intensified. In this episode, Dr. Sasan Tavassoli and Help the Persecuted field coordinator Qasem join host Joshua Youssef to give an on-the-ground account of a country caught between war, economic collapse, and a regime tightening its grip.

Almost five years after the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous places on Earth to follow Jesus. In this episode, Joshua Youssef talks with two Field Ministers who live that pressure every day. Marjan shares the story of a young believer marked for death by his own father and brothers and of a grieving father who found new hope through our Enduring Livelihood Ministry....

What does it cost to follow Jesus in a country where converts are turned away from churches and worship must be kept to a whisper? Joshua Youssef sits down with Bassam, one of our Field Ministers in Morocco, who shares the night he came to faith in Jesus and how he now walks alongside believers who risk family, job, and freedom to remain steadfast in Christ. Show notes: • Discover the Steadfast Ca...

Yemen is the only country we serve where it is too dangerous to bring a believer who lives there onto the podcast, even with their voice disguised. This week, Joshua Youssef sits down with Saif, a coordinator who serves the Yemeni church from outside its borders, for a rare look at the Christians the world rarely sees: imprisoned, watched, and pressed on every side, yet remaining steadfast in Chri...

Egypt is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, yet for those who follow Christ out of a Muslim background, that faith can cost them their family, their livelihood, and even their lives. This week, Joshua Youssef sits down with Mark and Rami, two of our Field Ministers in Egypt, to talk about how they walk alongside believers who, in spite of overwhelming pressure, are remai...

What does it cost to follow Jesus in Iraq and Syria? This week, Joshua Youssef sits down with team leads Daniel and Nabeel, who share the testimonies that brought them to faith and the lives being changed around them through your generosity: a convert rebuilding through a small grocery shop, a family who found refuge in a new safe house, and believers who wait all year for the one gathering where...

In Libya, converts face death if discovered. This week, Joshua Youssef sits down with Aseel, one of our Field Ministers in Libya, for a conversation about ministry in one of the most closed countries on earth. Aseel shares the story of a South Sudanese couple kidnapped at knifepoint, a Libyan family hunted by their own nephew, and why our Emergency Relief Kits have become proof to scattered believ...

Christians in Pakistan live as a small minority in a country where a single blasphemy accusation can cost them a job, a community, or their lives. This week, Joshua Youssef sits down with Rachid and Farhan, two of our Field Ministers in Pakistan, to talk about how they get to minister to Christians, who, in spite of overwhelming pressure, are remaining steadfast in Christ. Show notes: • Discover t...

What does it look like to follow Christ where war has come to your doorstep and the harvest is right in front of you? In this week's episode, Joshua Youssef sits down with Pierre and Laila from our team in Lebanon. Both share the moments they moved from knowing about Christ to truly knowing Him. Hear stories of women who came to faith at great cost and of displaced Muslim families welcomed through...

For Iranian women who follow Jesus, persecution comes from every direction—the state, the family, the community. In this episode of Prisoners of Hope, our CEO, Joshua Youssef, talks with Shirin, who ministers to women in Iran through Help The Persecuted's online Pederaneh ministry. Shirin shares what daily life looks like for female converts: arrests, isolation, lost custody of children, and a leg...

In this week's episode, our CEO Joshua Youssef talks with our Field Minister Feruza, who serves in Uzbekistan and across Central Asia with her husband Jasur. She shares how she came to faith after watching the Jesus film on a borrowed VHS, what it's like to follow Christ in these former Soviet nations, and how we can be praying for believers there. Join our prayer network: htp.org/prayer Learn mor...

In this podcast episode, our Field Minister Marjan shares how he came to faith, why he turned down an opportunity to flee to the United States, and what it's like worshiping Christ in the face of the constant threat of torture and death by the Taliban. Join our prayer network: htp.org/prayer Learn more about our work in Afghanistan: htp.org/afghanistan

He went to comfort a grieving community and nearly didn't come back. In the second episode of our Steadfast series on the Prisoners of Hope podcast, Dr. Gideon Para-Mallam us into the heart of Nigeria's Middle Belt, where Christians are being killed, kidnapped, and driven from their homes by Fulani militants and Boko Haram. From a man who lost 10 family members in a single attack, to a widow whose...

He's lost count of how many converts call him "father." In this first episode of our Steadfast series on the Prisoners of Hope podcast, Salam, who serves in a closed country in the Middle East, opens up about the weight and the joy of ministering to former Muslims who have lost everything to follow Christ. From a tailor whose father-in-law tried to kill him, to a 10-year-old girl who wanted to joi...

Iranian Christians Fares, Mahdi, Qasem, and Laith share firsthand accounts of the Iranian government's deadly crackdown on protesters, the resilience of the underground church, and what it means to be steadfast in faith when persecution and terror abound.

Joshua Youssef, CEO of Help The Persecuted, sits down with Field Ministers from Lebanon, Jordan, and Iran to talk about the unfolding conflict in the Middle East and how we can be praying. Give today to help persecuted Christians at: HTP.org/war

This week, Josh sits down with our Field Minister Salam to understand the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. This time of Islamic prayer and fasting can be especially dangerous for Christians in the Islamic World. So what is Ramadan, and how can we be praying this month for Muslims to come to faith in Jesus, and for Christians who find themselves in increased danger?

In this follow-up episode, we sit down with Dr. Sasan Tavassoli again who describes the developments from the past two weeks. He emphasizes the brutality of the Iranian Regime, explains the danger for persecuted Christians, and invites us to participate in a time of prayer and fasting for Iran February 6-8.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Sasan Tavassoli—a former Shi'ite Muslim from Iran, ordained Presbyterian minister, and co-founder of Pars Theological Centre—to talk about current political upheaval shaking the nation and the explosive growth of Christianity in Iran.

As Syria's regime change continues to send waves of refugees into Lebanon, Field Ministers Pierre and Laila share stories from the frontlines of ministry—Christmas gatherings where Muslim children hear about Jesus for the first time, families fleeing persecution who find refuge in our safe houses, and the quiet miracles that keep hope alive in chaos. This is a conversation about courage and how Go...

In our final episode of 2025, Joshua Youssef interviews our Field Ministers across the Islamic World to hear how they celebrate Christmas and how our Winter Relief Outreach is making a difference in thousands of people's lives as winter sets in. Aseel shares the dangers associated with celebration in Libya, where she could be arrested any moment. Qasem talks about what it was like celebrating Chri...

In this personal episode of Prisoners of Hope, Joshua Youssef sits down with his father, Dr. Michael Youssef—Egyptian-born theologian, founder of global ministry Leading the Way, and author of many books—for a conversation about the faith that has shaped the persecution of Christians for over 1,400 years. Drawing from his PhD research on radical Islamic movements, his own family's survival as Egyp...