Points of Prayer

  • Saudi Arabia is the home to the Muslim holy city of Mecca. Pray that those who are following the footsteps of Mohammad during their pilgrimage would be drawn to Jesus who is the true hope.

  • Pray that the descendants of Ishmael would receive their promise in Jesus the Messiah (Isa al-Masih).

  • Pray that the nearly 33 million unreached would receive dreams, visions, and encounters with the Lord and that Jesus would be understood as the Son of God and Emmanuel—God with us.

  • Pray for the safety and spiritual growth of Christians who are persecuted for their faith.

  • Pray for the underground Church in the region. Pray that they would be able to teach and disciple non-believers without the fear of retaliation and persecution.

Romans 1:16 in Modern Standard Arabic (an unspoken language)

رِسَالَةُ بُولُسَ ٱلرَّسُولِ إِلَى أَهْلِ رُومِيَةَ١:١٦
.لاني لست استحي بانجيل المسيح لانه قوة الله للخلاص لكل من يؤمن لليهودي اولا ثم لليوناني

Saudi Arabia

 

Country Facts

Population

35,354,380 (2022 est.)

Immigrants make up 38.3% of the total population, according to UN data (2019)

Ethnic Groups

Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10%

Languages

Arabic (official)

Religions

Muslim (official; citizens are 85-90% Sunni and 10-12% Shia), other (includes Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh) (2020 est.)

Despite having a large expatriate community of various faiths (more than 30% of the population), most forms of public religious expression inconsistent with the government-sanctioned interpretation of Sunni Islam are restricted; non-Muslims are not allowed to have Saudi citizenship and non-Muslim places of worship are not permitted (2013)

Location

Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen

Refugees & Displaced Peoples

stateless persons: 70,000 (2022); Thousands of biduns (stateless Arabs) are descendants of nomadic tribes who were not officially registered when national borders were established, while others migrated to Saudi Arabia in search of jobs; some have temporary identification cards that must be renewed every five years, but their rights remain restricted; most Palestinians have only legal resident status; some naturalized Yemenis were made stateless after being stripped of their passports when Yemen backed Iraq in its invasion of Kuwait in 1990; Saudi women cannot pass their citizenship on to their children, so if they marry a non-national, their children risk statelessness.

The World Factbook 2021. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2021.
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/