Iran
Support for Christian prisoners of conscience and their families
Our partner reports that the authorities' persecution of convert Christians increased in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Men in particular have been detained and imprisoned, and as the man is often the family's primary breadwinner, it leaves the family in a difficult financial situation. The Danish European Mission's donors therefore support Christian prisoners of conscience and their families - to encourage them in this very difficult situation.
In 2024, Danish European Mission donors have helped 39 Iranian prisoners of conscience and their families cover expenses such as food, clothing, medical care, rent, water, electricity and heating.
In total, 70 people who experienced persecution in 2024 were helped through the Danish European Mission's donors. Many of these 70 people experienced arrests and imprisonment during the year. Our partner says that the recipients are strengthened in faith when they receive help in their difficult situation. Our partner in Iran also provides care and mentoring to Christians who experience persecution.
Printing, smuggling and distribution of New Testaments
Our partner reports that many Iranians have lost hope. The regime continues to suppress dissent, and economic sanctions against the country make it difficult for many to make ends meet. This has created a great openness and interest in the Gospel message of hope and salvation, and the God of the Bible who cares for people.
Many Iranians receive the New Testament when local Christians witness and share about Jesus, and at home they read the written word and many come to faith in Jesus.
In 2024, the Danish European Mission ensured that 12,269 copies of the New Testament could be printed and smuggled into Iran. Iranian Christians are responsible for the distribution of New Testaments which are distributed in over 60 cities in Iran.
Pakistan
School project
In 2024, Danish European Mission's intercessors and donors supported 156 children, mainly from poor Christian families, to attend three Christian schools in Pakistan. A few children from other minority backgrounds also received education. The school project takes place in the northwestern part of the country, which is insecure by Pakistani standards. Two people are also employed to oversee and coordinate the school project.
Purchase of church and office building
In 2024, Danish European Mission's improvers and donors helped a church in Pakistan purchase a church building. The building is also used as an office where the project is administered and parents can apply for their children to join the project.
Syria
Danish European Mission donors helped people in need with food parcels and hygiene items. In total, 855 people were helped with food parcels by Danish European Mission donors in 2024.
Turkey
Travel teams share the gospel
Our local Christian partners in Turkey report that many people in Turkey are open to hearing about Jesus and many are coming to faith.
In 2024, many people heard about Jesus in Turkey, thanks to Danish European Mission's intercessors and donors who supported project teams to share the Gospel, empower new believers, and train and equip many local churches across Turkey to start new churches.
The team traveled on three trips to 29 cities around Turkey, visiting 34 churches. Each trip was around 5000 kilometers. 175 people received prayer and personal conversations.
Another church in Turkey, supported by Danish European Mission donors, shared the gospel face-to-face with around 4000 people in 2024. 1800 Bibles were also distributed and 700 Christian films were shown. 42 people came to faith in Jesus in the church and 14 people were baptized. The church team also does a lot of discipleship training work with new believers to equip and ground them in the Christian faith.
Training and equipping Christian leaders
As many foreign missionaries have been expelled from Turkey, the convert church needs new pastors and leaders who are competent and can take responsibility.
In 2024, donors to the Danish European Mission helped ensure that five future Christian leaders could receive a church-based 3-year training program, including theological education. The program is full-time and is a combination of study and practical training in churches with mentor support.
Danish European Mission donors also support another church in Turkey with leadership training, with a combination of study and practical training in churches with mentor support.
The church is also experiencing growth in their youth ministry, where young Christians are learning to share the good news with others, and young people boldly tell those they know and meet about their faith in Jesus.
In 2024, the Danish European Mission supported 123 people with leadership training.
In 2024, 52 adults and 12 children from all over Turkey attended the annual conference for students in the leadership training program. This time together greatly encourages them as they continue to serve in their communities.
Summer camps
Danish European Mission donors also helped 80 Turkish children attend a Christian summer camp in Turkey. Half of the children come from unchurched homes.
Kanal Hayat and Sat7 Türk
In 2024, the two Christian Turkish TV channels were supported by Danish European Mission donors and improvers. The channels communicate God's love in Jesus in their own way.
Ukraine
Russia's attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has created a humanitarian disaster in the country.
Since the start of the war in 2022, donors have been helping Ukrainians in need, especially the many war refugees, through the churches' compassionate work. The Danish European Mission works with a church in Poltava, which is close to the front.
In 2024, 200 electric blankets, 475 gas cylinders with top burners for cooking, 20 bread ovens and 1240 boxes and bags of food were distributed to families in need. In addition to that, Christian literature was also offered, 950 were distributed in total.
In total, 1240 people were helped close to the frontline in Ukraine in the regions of Summy, Poltava and Kharkiv in 2024.
Yemen
Although a peace agreement has been reached, the civil war has had terrible consequences for the civilian population. According to the UN, 80% of the population lives below the international poverty line and more than half of the population is in need of humanitarian aid.
In 2024, Danish European Mission donors helped 292 Yemenis with food parcels.
Egypt
Al-Beshara: Media Mission
Al-Beshara's media work in the Middle East has been supported by Danish European Mission donors since 2022. The work aims to lead Muslims to faith in Jesus through YouTube videos and Facebook posts and help them find a local church in their country.
In 2024, the Facebook pages were hacked and the two employees, who are paid by Danish European Mission donors, continued to evangelize locally in Egypt. As a result, three former Muslims were baptized in 2024. One convert had seen Al-Beshara's videos and contacted the team. The other two came to faith through the employees' local efforts.
The association Al-Beshara was closed as of January 1, 2025, and the activity has been transferred to the Danish European Mission.
Secret projects
Afghan refugees
In 2024, Danish European Mission donors supported an Afghan pastor who leads a Christian community in a European country. The church is made up of Christian converts from Afghanistan and Iran who have fled due to difficult political and social conditions in their home countries. The pastor also holds weekly online Bible studies with Afghan Christian converts.
In a country in Central Asia, Danish European Mission's intercessors and donors helped 17 Afghan refugees receive monthly food and Christmas gifts. Four Afghans accepted Jesus in 2024 through this work.
Help for the evacuation of a convert family
In 2024, Danish European Mission's intercessors and donors helped a convert family in a Central Asian country who were facing violence and death threats in their village to be rehoused in a safe place in their own country.
Bags of hope
With the support of Danish European Mission donors, 3938 people in two countries in Central Asia were helped through the Bags of Hope project in 2024. In one country, 1385 Bags of Hope were distributed to 921 people in 207 families, while in the other country, 1215 bags were distributed to 3017 people in 431 families.
Bags of Hope are large carrier bags with at least 8 kilograms of food that local Christians distribute to poor families who are in a difficult financial situation. Bags of Hope is part of the churches' work of mercy to help people in need. Through it, Christians show care and love for people and often get to tell them about Jesus and pray for their needs.
The recipients of Bags of Hope are poor families with children, single women and widows with many children, but also alcohol addicts whose children are not getting enough food.
The bags are an essential supplement to a family's diet for a week. Many people have come to faith in Jesus through Bags of Hope over the years, and the churches in the project have helped vulnerable families get back on their feet and ultimately have a better life.
Danish European Mission donors also supported half of the salary of a project administrator.
In the same country, Christmas aid was given to 300 poor children in the form of bags of fruit, nuts and other healthy sweets. A festive children's program was created with songs, games, Christmas games, and the telling of the Christmas gospel.
In total, 3938 people in 638 families received 2600 bags of hope in two countries in Central Asia.
Church planting
In another country in Central Asia, a married couple and five evangelists were supported with salaries in the second half of 2024 by Danish European Mission donors to plant new churches. 66 people accepted Jesus and 16 house churches were started through the ministry of the couple and the five evangelists.
Theological education for pastors in the Muslim world
Many pastors and Christian leaders in Central Asia have only a short Bible school or no theological education at all. This can result in theological bias or unhealthy practices. That's why it's important that church leaders receive a good and sound theological education.
In 2014, a pastor training program was started with the help of Danish European Mission donors, to the great benefit and blessing of the churches. The training is church-based and students travel 2-4 times a year to training sites to receive training. In between the physical seminars, students meet monthly or weekly in their hometowns to study together with mentoring assistance from an experienced theologian. This form of study has proven to be very fruitful and encouraging for students in the theology program, as they are not just left to their own devices with a lot of homework.
By 2024, students could study theology at either diploma, bachelor or master level.
Pastors are also trained in leadership, pastoral care, ethics, finances and many other topics that can help them in their ministry and create health in churches.
In one country, in 2024, donors supported 93 people to receive a theological education and one person to prepare to write a PhD so he can play a leading role in establishing a theological institute in the region in the future. It is not possible to study theology at PhD level in Central Asia, so the student is affiliated with a Western European university.
Danish European Mission donors also supported the salary of an administrator for the project. In another country in Central Asia, Danish European Mission improvers are helping 41 convert Christian church leaders receive theological training. Danish European Mission donors also supported the salary of an administrator for the project and an interpreter who translates teaching materials into the local language.
Future and hope for vulnerable women
In a country in Central Asia, the Danish European Mission's intercessors and donors support women who have been exposed to violence, trafficking and prostitution. The project has a shelter and crisis center for women where they can be safe and where women can receive counseling and medical care during their stay.
Job training is also offered in trades such as sewing, cooking and various arts and crafts. Some vulnerable women also need legal help in cases where their abusive husbands try to pressure and threaten them back into marriage. The work is led by local Christian women.
In 2024, Danish European Mission's improvers and donors have helped to:
- 31 women, 10 teenagers and 35 children stayed in shelters.
- The shelter had 6 support groups for vulnerable women.
- 172 women have received job training in sewing, cooking, jewelry making, embroidery and hairdressing.
- 102 of the women received diplomas for the courses issued by the Ministry of Employment in their country, giving them further opportunities.
- 14 women were employed in the project after job training and 75 women found work after completing job training.
- 54 women and girls have received counseling and advice.
- 388 women have received legal advice and 37 women received legal representation.
- 4 lawyers were assigned to the project to help the vulnerable women.
Seminars and information on human rights, domestic violence and human trafficking
In 2024, donors supported the organization of seminars for public officials by project staff. 462 public officials, including doctors, police officers and other government officials attended training on domestic violence and human trafficking.
In 2024, seminars were held for doctors on dealing with victims of sexual abuse and several seminars for government officials.
- 12 seminars were held for 1573 teenagers and young people on the topics of domestic violence and human trafficking.
- 5 information sessions were held for 122 women. The meetings aimed to raise awareness among women about their rights, what to do in case of violence, and information about human trafficking and manipulation.
- In addition, in collaboration with a local church, a women's conference was also held with a total of 15 women attending. The topics were specifically targeted at Christian women.
Church planting in Central Asia
With the support of Danish European Mission donors, two pastors, along with a team of volunteers from a church, were able to travel on 22 trips to preach the gospel in a country in Central Asia in 2024. The trips were to areas around the country where people were unreached with the gospel and 45 people accepted Jesus during 2024. The Bible was also taught in the homes of new Christian converts. The two pastors were supported with salaries by donors to the Danish European Mission.
Seminars for men
In 2024, seminars were held for 30 people with Bible teaching for men in the same country in Central Asia. The seminars targeted men, challenges men may have, and topics of interest to men from a biblical perspective.
Summer camp for kids and youth
In a neighboring country in Central Asia, in 2024, Danish European Mission donors and supporters helped ensure that two summer camps were held for 43 teenagers, as well as a special camp for 42 children and teenagers with disabilities who all came from very poor families.
The summer camps were held at a camp with small cabins and a large lake with a beach. Local Christians ran the summer camps and provided games and fun competitions, swimming, sports, singing, music and dancing, Bible stories and opportunities for prayer.
At the camp for children with disabilities, 30 mothers also attended, which led to many good conversations. Many of the children did not come from homes where their parents were Christians, and the summer camps have helped build bridges to the church so that more are now open.
In another country in Central Asia in 2024, Danish European Mission improvers and donors ensured that local Christians could hold a similar summer camp with activities and Christian music and singing, as well as Bible preaching for 40 young people and 92 children, many of whom came from unchurched homes. Three young people accepted Jesus.
Church planting on the border with Afghanistan
In a neighboring country to Afghanistan, Danish European Mission donors support local Christians in reaching people with the Gospel in a conservative Muslim area. The work takes place among families in their homes, where a Christian visits them and discusses topics from the Bible. The method used is not direct preaching, but a slow approach to the Gospel. First, they talk about creation and stories from the Old Testament, and how points from these stories can be applied to everyday life. Slowly over a few months, the New Testament is approached, where the story of salvation in Jesus is told. If a family wants to receive Jesus as their savior, their home can later become a house church.
In 2024, eight homes were worked in. Three of the families have embraced the Christian faith and are witnessing their faith and Jesus to their loved ones and acquaintances.
Two evangelists visited people in their homes and from this slow approach, they shared the gospel with Muslims.
Children's Bibles
In 2024, Danish European Mission's donors and supporters helped ensure that a new children's Bible could be translated and edited for print and distribution. Children's Bibles are essential for underground Christians to teach their children the Word of God.
Medication and medical care for poor believers
In 2024, Danish European Mission donors helped local Christian converts in a very closed country in Central Asia help 31 poor, sick Christians with medicine and medical care. Some of the things they helped with were: Different types of medicine, cancer treatment, four different types of hospital surgeries, and dental care.
Through this care work, converted Christians are also given the opportunity to share their faith and Jesus. Often also an opportunity to pray for the sick and their needs.
Meetings with business partners
In 2024, employees as well as board members traveled and visited many of Danish European Mission's partners. The trips consist partly of monitoring how funds are used, but also encouragement and sparring with the local partners.
In 2024, Danish European Mission's donors ensured that seven key workers in a number of projects were able to attend a Christian gathering in their region where they could meet with Danish European Mission staff, a board member and other Christians. As a result, key workers in project teams were strengthened and encouraged through teaching, personal mentoring, Christian fellowship and worship.
Courses and pastoral care for inmates
In 2024, donors to the Danish European Mission have helped 5,586 women, men and teenage prisoners attend seminars and receive pastoral care during their time in prison. Local Christians, who are trained psychologists, teach courses in the prisons on topics that are relevant to the prisoners, who have wounds on their souls and have often been victims of violence or perpetrators of violence themselves. Many have also experienced problems in their families and broken relationships. In total, 228 courses were held by the project teams for prisoners in 2024.
Some of the topics in the training were: Forgiveness, values and their influence and how to get out of a crisis. The purpose of the seminars is to restore broken and devastated people who have often had their hopes shattered.
Prisons do not allow the project team to share the gospel or refer to the Bible in their teaching, so the team communicates the biblical principles in other words, to great effect.
The inmates express great satisfaction and gratitude for the training and talk about how their lives are transformed and they experience new hope and joy in life.
At each seminar, inmates are offered personal consultations. The inmates ask many questions during the consultations, often about the trainers' faith and life. Through this, the team can share their faith in God. At the end of the consultation, prayer is offered.
In 2024, 197 received personal consultation, 172 requested prayer, and 8 inmates accepted Jesus.
After release, former inmates contact the team again and the team can tell them about a legal church or house church where they can meet other Christians and receive more Bible teaching.
India
Danish European Mission donors have supported education through our partner in several churches in India.
A seminar day was held in a church for 50 women from different villages. The topic was "Self-esteem" with a focus on the biblical view of us as human beings, equal as man and woman, but with different tasks.
A seminar day was also held in a church for 65 pastors from rural areas with the topic: "God's Mission - the call and mission of the church".
In rural areas, parenting seminars were held in churches in 6 villages, focusing on the biblical view of the child and Christian education in the home.
Teaching days focusing on the Bible and the relationship between law and gospel.
Kyrgyzstan
Egehuset: Support for former orphanage children
Since 2011, Danish European Mission's improvers and donors have supported the Christian transition house Egehuset, which helps teenage girls who have previously been orphanage children into adulthood. The girls have no family to live with when they leave the orphanage at the age of 16. Seven girls aged 16-20 have lived at Egehuset in 2024. While living at Egehuset, the girls receive support to complete secondary education and are socially equipped to function in society.
At Egehuset, Christian female staff members care for the girls and invite them to weekly Bible studies. The Danish European Mission's donors have helped cover the salaries of three staff members and the project manager, as well as the daily food and travel costs for the girls.
Moldova
Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe. In 2024, Danish European Mission's improvers and donors helped cover transportation costs so that two truckloads of emergency aid in the form of clothes, shoes and items collected in Danmark could be sent to southern Moldova and distributed to poor Moldovan families and Ukrainian refugees, as well as helping children at a children's camp.
North Africa
Social media
Many people are open to the Christian faith in North Africa. In 2024, our partner was in personal contact via digital platforms with many seekers. Furthermore, spiritual seekers watched videos with Christian messages and gospel preaching in their own language. They can then contact us to find out more, and online conversations, prayer and training in the Christian faith are also offered.
Support for persecuted convert Christians
In 2024, the Danish European Mission's preparers and donors also supported persecuted convert Christians in North Africa to receive physical as well as online pastoral care and counseling in the specific situation of persecution they faced.
North Korea
North Korea is one of the world's most closed countries, with reports of hunger and malnutrition in parts of the country, especially outside the capital Pyongyang. In 2024, North Korea had one of the highest rates of tuberculosis in the world.
Smuggling of medicines
In 2024, Danish European Mission's intercessors and donors helped ensure that Christians in the underground church in North Korea could receive medicine.
Help for North Koreans on the run
In 2024, two North Korean refugees were helped from China to a safe third country. China does not grant asylum to North Korean refugees in the country, but forcibly repatriates them to North Korea, where they are likely to be imprisoned.
Armenia
Sunday school for Armenian refugees
In 2024, donors to the Danish European Mission supported Armenian war refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh. The project consists of running Sunday schools for refugee children in the capital Yerevan, and in many small towns in Armenia where the refugees are located. Local churches in Armenia are responsible for the Sunday school work in collaboration with the Danish Armenian Mission.
Eritrea and Tigray
In November 2020, Eritrea's army attacked the Tigray province in northern Ethiopia, initiating the Tigray War with horrific systematic abuses against the civilian population. In 2021 and 2022, the area was also invaded by large swarms of locusts, which further exacerbated the situation with famine.
In 2024, 66 children were helped with the support of Danish European Mission donors in collaboration with Helen Berhane. The children received support for their daily nutrition, health and hygiene.