Christian news of the week — 25 October 2026

From Spain to the Faroe Islands, and through radio waves crossing continents, this week the church shows that faith is lived with open hands: helping families, walking with listeners, and bringing the Word within everyone’s reach.

• Spain: evangelicals create the “Under His Fig Tree” network to help families facing housing difficulties
• TWR brings together almost 100 leaders from 21 countries to strengthen radio and media mission
• Faroe Islands: first New Testament in Faroese in almost 90 years
• More than 500 million Christians cannot freely access the Bible

Spain: evangelicals create the “Under His Fig Tree” network to help families facing housing difficulties

On 14 October, the Spanish Evangelical Alliance (AEE) published a statement on the housing situation in Spain, calling for a national housing pact and announcing the creation of the “Under His Fig Tree” network, through which evangelical churches and organisations want to support vulnerable families.

The initiative, presented in Madrid, will hold its first meeting on Saturday 6 February 2027, open to churches, organisations, lawyers, social workers, businesspeople and landlords, with the aim of coordinating support for 150 families during 2027, the year the Alliance celebrates its 150th anniversary. The background is well known: in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca and Málaga, rents have doubled in less than a decade, and thousands of families, young people, pensioners and workers find it increasingly hard to secure decent housing.

Alongside its demands to the authorities, the Alliance proposes five lines of action: emergency funds in churches for families unable to pay two or three months’ rent, support from the moment an eviction notice arrives, reasonably priced rentals from evangelical property owners in collaboration with Diaconía’s “Vecindad Inclusiva” programme, a review of underused church premises that could serve as temporary housing, and collaboration with the authorities. For the Alliance, housing is “a matter of dignity and love for one’s neighbour”, and it recalls that “property is legitimate, but not absolute”.

Source: Evangelical Focus

TWR brings together almost 100 leaders from 21 countries to strengthen radio and media mission

In September, Trans World Radio (TWR) brought together 98 leaders and representatives from 21 countries in Central Europe — most from Europe and the CAMENA region (Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa) — for its 2026 National Partner Conference, under the theme “Partnerships in Times of Transition”.

During the week, partners shared what God is doing in their countries and learned from one another how to walk with each listener and donor: a first contact is not enough; patient, personal follow-up is needed. In the Netherlands, the “Missie & Media” experience centre in Barneveld showed how a visit can become a journey: a curious visitor receives a thank-you email the next day, a survey after ten days, and a tailored newsletter within a month. In Romania, the team connects via WhatsApp with 760 listeners of the “Thru the Bible” programme and knows of 15 people who have come to God and remain in church, and 55 more who have restarted their journey with Jesus. “We are part of His orchestra, and He is a great orchestrator,” the leader of the Arabic ministry summed up, encouraging partners to do their part with excellence and trust God for the results.

Source: Evangelical Focus

Faroe Islands: first New Testament in Faroese in almost 90 years

For the first time since 1937, a New Testament in the Faroese language has been published, produced by the Faroese Bible Society and presented on 8 October, according to United Bible Societies (UBS).

The ecumenical project was led by former Lutheran Bishop Hans Jacob Joensen, together with representatives of the Lutheran state church and the Free churches. The new translation, made from the original languages into modern Faroese, reflects the islands’ liturgical customs and vocabulary, and includes footnotes, glossaries and maps, with a design intended to be easy to read. The goal, explained Faroese evangelical politician Jenis Rana, is a translation that reaches today’s young people and around which all Christians on the islands can come together, where Faroese is spoken by some 70,000 people. The story is not over: the Psalms are already on their way, as a step towards a complete, updated Faroese Bible.

Source: Evangelical Focus

More than 500 million Christians cannot freely access the Bible

The 2026 report of the Bible Access List, produced by the Bible Access Initiative from the situation in 106 countries, reveals that more than 500 million Christians face restrictions on accessing the Bible, even though there have never been so many translations and formats available.

The strictest restrictions are found in Afghanistan, followed by Yemen, Somalia, North Korea, Eritrea and Mauritania, classified as having “maximum restrictions”. Persecution affects every dimension of access: printing and distributing Bibles is prohibited or severely restricted in 39 countries, importing them in 38, storing them in 37, and owning them in 34. Added to this are socioeconomic barriers: more than 550 million Christians in 33 countries face poverty, lack of electricity, illiteracy or lack of internet, and an estimated 82 million have no Bible. More than 400 million live without internet access, and 277 million live in countries where the online environment for Scripture is unsafe. As co-author Wybo Nicolai summed up, availability is often confused with access: the fact that the Bible exists does not mean that someone who wants one can obtain it.

Source: Evangelical Focus

Spiritual impact

These four stories portray one church in action: sitting at the table with families without housing, sowing by radio in dozens of countries, translating the Word for a small language, and not forgetting the millions who still cannot open a Bible freely. The faith we proclaim is also measured by the burdens we help carry and by the Word we bring closer to others.

Prayer point: Let us pray this week for the 150 families the “Under His Fig Tree” network wants to support in Spain, for TWR’s listeners and partners in Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East, for the young people of the Faroe Islands who will read the New Testament in their language, and for the more than 500 million Christians facing barriers to accessing the Bible: may the Word reach their hands and their hearts.

Verse: «Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path» (Psalm 119:105).