Where the church stands in Yemen
Years of war have left Yemen with the largest humanitarian emergency on earth — mass hunger, collapsed healthcare, and millions displaced. It is simultaneously one of the least evangelised countries in the world, with a believing community numbering in the low thousands at most.
Christians who serve there have often done so at the cost of their lives; medical workers have been killed for their presence. Yemeni believers meet in secret, in a country where survival itself is uncertain.
Signs of hope
Christian relief and medical work that has continued through the war, often at great cost.
The honest difficulty
Famine, war and collapse layered on top of one of the least-reached populations on earth.
What "Frontier" means
The least-reached category: fewer than 1 in 1,000 follow Jesus and there is no indigenous Gospel movement large enough to grow on its own. Most people here will never meet a Christian.
In Yemen the majority religious context is Islam (~99%). The largest population still considered without meaningful Gospel access is the Yemeni Arab (~32 million).
How to pray for Yemen
Prayer is not a substitute for going; it is how going begins. Take one of these for a week rather than all of them for a day.
- Pray for Yemenis facing hunger, disease and displacement.
- Ask God to protect the small number of Yemeni believers.
- Pray for relief and medical workers serving at real risk.
- Pray for an end to a war the world has largely stopped watching.
People groups in Yemen
A nation is not one people. These are the groups profiled on this site who live here — each with its own language, its own Scripture status, and its own reasons the Gospel has or has not reached it.
Questions people ask about Yemen
Is Yemen an unreached nation?
Yemen is classified as frontier. The least-reached category: fewer than 1 in 1,000 follow Jesus and there is no indigenous Gospel movement large enough to grow on its own. Most people here will never meet a Christian. Roughly 0.1% of the population identifies as Christian and about 0.05% as evangelical, with an estimated 39 of its 42 people groups still considered unreached. Figures are rounded estimates and vary by source and year.
How many Christians are there in Yemen?
About 0.1% of Yemen's roughly 35 million people identify as Christian — approximately 35,000 people. Around 0.05% are evangelical. The largest group still without meaningful Gospel access is the Yemeni Arab (~32 million).
What is the main religion in Yemen?
Religious affiliation in Yemen: Islam (~99%). About 0.1% of the population identifies as Christian and about 0.05% as evangelical.
How many people groups are there in Yemen?
Joshua Project counts about 42 distinct people groups in Yemen, and 39 of them are considered unreached. Among the least-reached: Yemeni Arab (~32 million).
Is it dangerous to be a Christian in Yemen?
Yes. Yemen is ranked No. 3 on Open Doors' World Watch List 2025 — one of the ten countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution, measured across pressure in daily life and violence. The prayer points on this page are a place to start praying for believers there.
How can I pray for Yemen?
Pray for Yemenis facing hunger, disease and displacement. Ask God to protect the small number of Yemeni believers. Pick one of these, pray it for two minutes a day for a week, and ask one other person to pray it with you.