Sudan continues to face national war, mass displacement, famine danger, attacks on civilian infrastructure, and exceptionally high need for food, shelter, medical care, and protection.

Sudan ranks first because war, famine danger, mass displacement, and expanding drone attacks affect much of the country while relief remains severely limited.

Sudan remains first, but conditions have continued to worsen. Drone warfare has become an even greater danger to civilians.

The United Nations human-rights chief reported that drone strikes killed more than 1,000 civilians from January through May 2026. Hospitals, dams, schools, markets, displacement camps, aid workers, and other civilian sites were among the locations struck. Approximately 34 million people—nearly two-thirds of the population—needed assistance, while parts of Darfur and Kordofan remained under famine threat.

Families face repeated displacement, bereavement, hunger, disease risk, and the loss of medical care. Christian communities live within the same insecurity and scarcity, making worship, pastoral care, mercy ministry, and support for displaced people much harder.

Pray for the protection of civilians and safe access to food and medicine. Ask God to sustain Sudanese believers, bring justice for atrocities, and restrain those directing or supplying the fighting.

Gaza remains marked by widespread destruction, bereavement, unstable food access, displacement, and continuing military strikes.

The ceasefire reduced the heaviest fighting, but civilians still face lethal attacks, displacement, damaged homes, and unreliable access to food and essential services.

The State of Palestine—especially Gaza—remains second. Food conditions improved after the October 2025 ceasefire, but severe food insecurity and military strikes continue.

At least twelve people were killed in strikes reported on July 15, including people at a police station, a tent camp, and residential locations. Israel said some police personnel were Hamas militants and maintained that its strikes answered military activity and ceasefire violations. The United Nations human-rights office raised concerns that police personnel performing ordinary civilian duties had repeatedly been attacked. Associated Press reporting on the joint FAO–WFP assessment said that food-security conditions had improved since the ceasefire, yet approximately 1.6 million people were still acutely food insecure earlier in 2026.

Families continue to live amid grief, destroyed or damaged homes, inadequate shelter, and uncertainty over food and safety. Gaza’s small Christian community is caring for needs far greater than its numbers as believers live and serve among a deeply traumatized population.

Pray for the protection of civilians, sufficient food and medical care, and comfort for bereaved families. Pray for restraint by armed actors, justice without vengeance, and for Christians to serve their neighbors, comfort the grieving, and speak truthfully of Christ amid fear and grief.

Eastern Congo faces armed conflict, displacement, damaged health services, attacks on medical facilities, and a rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak.

The Ebola emergency is unfolding in regions where conflict and population movement already make medical access, contact tracing, community trust, and protection of health workers exceptionally difficult.

Congo rises from fourth to third because its existing conflict and displacement crisis is now joined by an Ebola outbreak spreading through unknown transmission chains and proving difficult to contain.

By July 15, Congo had recorded 2,011 confirmed Ebola cases and 754 deaths. More than 100 health workers had been infected, at least 80% of new infections were appearing through unknown transmission chains, and only about two-thirds of identified contacts had been traced. Conflict, displacement, attacks on health centers, funding shortages, mistrust, and unpaid frontline workers were hindering the response.

Families in affected areas face fear of both armed violence and contagion. Travel, treatment, burial practices, community gatherings, pastoral care, and relief work become harder when health systems are strained and communities are repeatedly uprooted.

Pray for containment of Ebola and protection for health workers and vulnerable communities. Ask God to bring peace in eastern Congo and give churches wisdom as they respond to violence, fear, illness, and misinformation.

Venezuela’s June earthquakes created one of the most sudden and deadly emergencies included in this month’s ranking, striking a country whose health care and public services were already weakened.

Although the worst destruction was concentrated in particular areas, the earthquakes caused extraordinary loss of life, thousands of injuries, homelessness, damaged infrastructure, disease risk, and urgent needs affecting approximately 1.3 million people. These conditions place Venezuela high in the July ranking.

Venezuela enters at fourth after the June earthquakes killed thousands, injured many more, and created urgent shelter and health-care needs. It was not in the April Top Ten or its five-country watchlist.

The government raised the official death toll to 4,490 by July 14, with many people still missing. On July 11, officials had reported 16,740 injuries, while the United Nations appealed for nearly $300 million to assist approximately 1.3 million affected people. Separate reporting described homelessness, crowded displacement settings, diarrheal disease, skin conditions, interrupted treatment for chronic illnesses, and severe strain on health workers and facilities.

Survivors face bereavement, destroyed homes, interrupted medical care, and fear that damaged buildings may collapse. Churches, Christian ministries, health workers, and local communities are sheltering families, distributing help, comforting grieving people, and supporting long-term recovery.

Pray for those who have lost relatives, homes, health, or livelihoods. Ask God to protect survivors from disease and further building collapses, guide rescuers and medical workers, and help churches distribute aid fairly and comfort grieving families with the hope of Christ.

Iran combines active military confrontation, danger to neighboring countries, severe state repression, and longstanding hostility toward Christian converts and house churches.

Iran ranks fifth because civilians face the danger of regional war while Christian converts and other religious minorities continue to face surveillance, arrest, imprisonment, and heightened suspicion.

Iran rises from sixth to fifth. Venezuela’s earthquake disaster places it above Iran, but Iran itself moves higher because military confrontation has intensified since April.

United States forces intensified strikes, reinstated a naval blockade, and disabled a vessel they said was attempting to break it. Iran launched missiles and drones toward Bahrain and Kuwait and threatened wider disruption of regional energy exports. Iranian officials reported deaths and injuries from American strikes, while the two governments presented competing military and negotiating claims.

Open Doors reports continuing raids on house churches, surveillance, interrogation, imprisonment, and accusations that converts serve foreign powers. It says at least 54 Christians were arrested in 21 cities after an earlier ceasefire and publicly associated with espionage.

Pray for the protection of civilians and restraint in the regional conflict. Pray for prisoners of conscience, underground churches, and families affected by war or arrest. Ask God to lead rulers and military leaders to protect civilian life, speak truthfully, and pursue a just peace.

Myanmar continues to face widespread armed conflict, displacement, limited humanitarian access, damaged health care, and disease risk.

Armed conflict, displacement, and damaged health services affect several regions. Myanmar ranks below Venezuela and Iran because those countries experienced major new emergencies in July; conditions in Myanmar have not substantially improved.

Myanmar falls from third to sixth. The change reflects major new emergencies elsewhere, not substantial improvement in Myanmar.

OCHA reported that more than 16 million people needed assistance and nearly 3.8 million were displaced. Recent hostilities in Magway alone displaced more than 100,000 people, while access restrictions continued and only 43% of required humanitarian funding had been received. The WHO Health Cluster reported thirteen attacks on health care during June. Its figure of 1,939 attacks covers the cumulative period from February 2021 through May 24, 2026 and should not be mistaken for June incidents alone.

Conflict disrupts travel, treatment, schooling, worship, discipleship, and relief work. Churches and Christian communities in affected regions must care for displaced people while facing insecurity, damaged services, and limited access to medicine.

Pray for protection from airstrikes and armed violence, safe humanitarian access, and care for displaced families. Pray for detained people, health workers, and churches serving displaced families amid armed conflict and damaged public services.

South Sudan again faces political conflict, armed violence, severe hunger, and the danger of wider civilian harm.

Renewed fighting and famine risk place civilians in immediate danger and threaten the 2018 peace agreement.

South Sudan rises from ninth to seventh because renewed fighting in Jonglei is occurring alongside severe hunger and famine risk.

Fighting intensified in Akobo, a government-appointed commissioner was killed, and the commission responsible for monitoring the peace agreement warned that renewed violence threatened both civilians and the 2018 settlement. The government and opposition gave differing accounts of the fighting and political appointments. Associated Press reported that the joint FAO–WFP assessment placed South Sudan among the hunger emergencies of greatest concern and warned of famine risk in Jonglei and Upper Nile.

Families face renewed displacement, hunger, disrupted markets, and fear that political conflict may widen. Churches and Christian communities shelter, feed, counsel, and pray with people while sharing the same instability.

Pray for civilian protection, respect for the peace agreement, and safe delivery of food and medicine. Ask God to restrain political and military leaders, sustain churches, and preserve the country from renewed nationwide war and famine.

Ukraine remains an active national war marked by missile and drone attacks, civilian deaths, damaged infrastructure, displacement, air-defense shortages, and prolonged grief.

Both countries face severe but different dangers. South Sudan ranks slightly higher because renewed fighting there is combined with immediate famine risk.

Ukraine remains eighth because the war continues nationwide and June brought the highest reported monthly civilian casualty toll since April 2022.

Secondary reporting on findings from the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission said at least 293 civilians were killed and 1,990 injured in June, the highest monthly toll since April 2022. On July 14, Russian missiles and drones struck Kyiv, damaging warehouses and a school, while Ukraine continued to face shortages in the Patriot ammunition used against ballistic missiles.

Families continue to endure bereavement, displacement, damaged homes, interrupted schooling, military separation, and repeated alarms. Churches care for wounded people, displaced families, soldiers’ relatives, and communities living with the effects of years of war.

Pray for the protection of civilians, comfort for bereaved families, and care for the wounded and displaced. Pray for integrity among leaders, endurance among churches and chaplains, and a just peace that does not merely postpone further violence.

Haiti continues to face gang violence, mass displacement, food insecurity, institutional weakness, damaged services, and widespread fear.

Haiti remains one of the most serious cases of national instability in the Western Hemisphere. It is placed below Ukraine because the war there currently has a broader national military reach, but gang violence, displacement, hunger, and weak state protection remain exceptionally severe in Haiti.

Haiti falls from fifth to ninth because several countries experienced major new emergencies. Gang violence, displacement, and hunger in Haiti have not meaningfully improved.

An investigation of the Jean-Denis massacre found that at least seventy civilians were killed and thousands were forced to flee. Criminal groups were reported active in five of Haiti’s ten departments, while approximately 1.4 million people were displaced nationally. The investigation also documented the burning of homes, churches, and schools and the spread of gang violence into farming and rural communities.

Armed groups disrupt safe movement, schooling, food production, worship, trade, and ordinary family life. Churches and ministries serve communities where travel is dangerous and state protection remains weak.

Pray for protection from gang violence, provision for displaced families, and courage for pastors and congregations. Pray for justice without cycles of revenge, restored public order, and trustworthy leadership capable of protecting ordinary people.

Yemen combines severe hunger, divided authority, long-running conflict, and renewed direct escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

Yemen enters at tenth because one of the world’s gravest hunger emergencies is now joined by the most serious Saudi–Houthi confrontation in years, increasing the danger to airports, food imports, aid routes, and negotiations.

Yemen enters the Top Ten after appearing on the April watchlist because renewed Saudi–Houthi attacks now compound one of the world’s gravest hunger emergencies.

Houthi forces launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport after strikes on Sanaa airport that they attributed to Saudi Arabia. No casualties were reported in that exchange. Yemen’s internationally recognized government said the runway strike sought to stop an Iranian aircraft from landing, while United Nations officials warned against a broader cycle of escalation. Associated Press reported that the joint FAO–WFP assessment identified Yemen as having the largest population facing Emergency or Catastrophe levels of food insecurity.

Renewed war could further disrupt food, fuel, airports, aid delivery, and medical care. Open Doors reports that indigenous Christian converts usually worship secretly and may face arrest, surveillance, torture, family separation, or death if their faith becomes known.

Pray that renewed attacks will not reopen full-scale war and that food and medicine will reach those in greatest need. Pray for renewed negotiations, protection for religious minorities, and courage and fellowship for hidden believers.