Hello friend. Some of the hardest moments in life are the ones where you can do almost nothing. Sitting beside a hospital bed. Watching news from a country torn apart by war. Loving someone who wants nothing to do with Jesus. Those moments expose how little control we have—and how much we need a Savior who really sees and really acts.

The good news is that helplessness isn’t the same as hopelessness. 

In Scripture, desperate people simply bring others to Jesus and lay them at his feet. That’s still our call today: to pray, to show up, to carry those we love—near and far—into the presence of the One who can do what we never could.

In today’s edition:

🇾🇪 What following Jesus looks like in Yemen’s fractured land

👣 Bringing your friends to Jesus’ feet—literally and figuratively

🇬🇹 Why Guatemala’s growing numbers still need deeper discipleship

Seeking the Light in a Fractured Land 🇾🇪

Yemen is home to more than 34 million people, yet it remains one of the most physically and spiritually isolated places on earth. 

After a decade of civil war, the nation has fractured into competing power centers, leaving nearly 70% of the population in need of emergency assistance just to survive. For millions of families, daily life is a search for bread and clean water amidst "famine-like conditions" and a crumbling healthcare system.

In this environment of instability, the spiritual climate is one of the most restrictive in the world. 

Following Jesus is considered a capital offense under Sharia-based legal systems, and those who turn to Christ face "maximum pressure" from the state, their tribes, and even their own families. For the few who follow him, faith is often a solitary journey marked by the constant threat of discovery and the weight of "honor killings."

Still, God is not absent in Yemen. 

Despite targeted campaigns to root out "apostates," a small, indigenous church continues to meet in secret, proving that even in the world’s most closed nations, God’s Word cannot be stopped. Our prayer is for these brothers and sisters to endure with hope, serving as a living witness in a land that has known so much sorrow.

How to Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for physical survival—asking that God would provide daily bread for the 18 million Yemenis facing acute food insecurity and open doors for relief to reach isolated regions.

🙏🏼 Pray for the protection of secret believers—that God would provide them with miraculous ways to gather and that the Holy Spirit would shield them from discovery and harm.

🙏🏼 Pray for stability and peace—that political rivalries would be restrained, detained workers released, and a way paved for the gospel to be heard by every Yemeni.

Put Your Friends on a Stretcher and Bring Them to Jesus 🧎🏽

For the last few weeks, I’ve spent many nights in a hospital room with a close friend recovering from a major stroke. She was young and healthy before her brain bleed, and her sudden crisis was a shock. 

During the first nights, I’d sit next to her in the dark while she breathed through a ventilator, and I’d read the Songs of Ascent. Her favorite is Psalm 121: “I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”

I developed a new appreciation for Psalm 130: “My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning.” 

As she began to recover and breathe on her own, I found myself gravitating to the gospels. But I found myself unsure how much to read aloud. Especially when it came to the accounts of Jesus healing people: the blind, the deaf, and yes, the paralyzed and lame. 

Was this too raw?

We boldly pray for my friend’s healing, but we’re not exactly sure when or how Jesus will answer. At one point, I found myself thinking: If only I could put her on a stretcher and sit her right at Jesus’ feet. I’d even climb a ladder and cut a hole in the roof like the men who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus in Luke 5.

But then I realized: that’s exactly what we’d been doing all along. 

Every prayer, every cry, every plea that she couldn’t make for herself was us bringing her to Jesus, sitting her at his feet, and asking him to do her good. 

And we believe he will. Because he is good. He does good.

I also began to think about how much this applies to other people in my life who need Jesus. People who are physically fit and financially secure and think they have everything they need—but don’t realize they are spiritually sick and just helpless as my friend lying in a bed, unable to do anything to save herself. 

In fact, they’re more helpless. Because they don’t realize they need Jesus at all. 

What can I do for them?

The same thing I’m doing for my sick friend. I can bring them to Jesus. 

Just like so many people in the gospels who brought their sick friends and family and laid them at Jesus’ feet, I can bring my spiritually sick loved ones to him. I don’t know exactly what he’ll do, or how he’ll do it, but I trust his power. I trust his goodness.

That seems to be the essence of bringing our friends and family to Christ—not only in prayer, but in presence. When we speak about him. When we invite them to church. When we ask them just to read a simple book about him. 

It often seems like so little because we realize we have no power to save. But we believe in the power of the One who does. All we can do is bring them to him, and lay them at his feet. 

When Jesus healed the paralyzed man carried by his friends in Luke 5, the author says that Jesus saw their faith. That included the faith of his friends. So, I’m going to keep bringing my physically sick friend to Jesus in prayer. She already knows and loves him, and she trusts that he will be good to her, as he always has. 

But let’s also renew our resolve to bring our spiritually sick friends to Jesus—with our prayers and our presence. And let’s trust that Jesus sees our faith. That it matters to him. 

And let’s also trust that, however he works, a final day will come when “amazement will seize us,” and we will “be filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen extraordinary things today.’”

—Jamie Dean

Faith Beyond the Surface 🇬🇹

Guatemala is often cited as a success story for the gospel in Latin America, with nearly 40% of the population identifying as evangelical Christians. 

Yet, behind these encouraging numbers lies a complex reality of deep-seated poverty, systemic corruption, and a history of civil unrest that continues to push thousands to migrate in search of safety and stability. In many communities, the prosperity gospel has taken root, offering a distorted view of Christ that prioritizes material wealth over biblical discipleship and the hope of eternal life.

For the church in Guatemala, the challenge is not just to grow in number, but to grow in depth. True faithfulness involves moving beyond nominal identity to a life-altering encounter with God’s Word that transforms how one loves their neighbor and seeks justice in a broken society.

How To Pray:

🙏🏼 Pray for biblical clarity—that the prosperity gospel and syncretism would give way to repentance, sound doctrine, and discipleship rooted in the true character of Christ.

🙏🏼 Pray for the vulnerable and displaced—that families facing poverty or violence would find tangible help through the local church and the lasting peace found only in Jesus.

🙏🏼 Pray for deep discipleship among the next generation—that young Guatemalan believers would be grounded in Scripture, mobilized for mission, and burdened for their unreached neighbors.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Praying consistently can feel strangely hard—even when you want to. Start with a simple first step: ask God for help, trusting he meets weakness with grace.

• Busy seasons don’t cancel the Great Commission. A gentle, realistic encouragement for making disciples when life feels full—helping you pursue faithfulness without pretending you have endless time or energy.

• Not going overseas doesn’t mean you’re sidelined. Here's a vision of when staying can be as active as going—through sacrificial support, prayer, and joy-fueled generosity that helps reach the nations.