Niger is in 28th position in the World Watch report 2023 by Open Doors as Christian persecution is increasing. Mohamed Bazoum is the President since 2 April 2021 and the current Prime Minister of Niger is Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, since 3 April 2021. Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world where the agricultural economy is frequently destroyed by drought, making it insufficient to support the growing population.  Unfortunately, slavery is still practiced in isolated areas of the country.  Nigerian children are trafficked for labor in gold mines, sexual exploitation, and begging.  Women are abducted and sold into domestic servitude or prostitution, and young boys are kidnapped for work in stone quarries. Less than one percent of the population claims the Christian faith.  Ninety-seven percent of the nation is Muslim, with 76% of the people listed as unreached ethnic groups. An increased threat of violence from militant groups like Boko Haram against Christians persists.

Kyrgyzstan remains one of the poorest countries in post-Soviet Central Asia. Unemployment, corruption, inflation, and religious and human-rights violations still plague people’s lives, as it did before the Tulip Revolution. In 2010 a parliamentary constitution with elaborate checks and balances was adopted, making Kyrgyzstan the only Central Asian country in which the president is limited to a single term. Most Kyrgyz are nominal Muslims, but a growing Islamic identity is concerning. A lack of growth in the Church has been observed. There is diversity even within Kyrgyz culture: city, youth, and village cultures, Russian and Kyrgyz speakers, let alone other people groups including Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Uyghurs who live in Kyrgyzstan. This poses a very real challenge for effective church planting.