In February you were asked to pray for successful political negotiations to bring stability in the Yemen where armed men roam the streets and a few thousand Christians live. Saudi Arabia is now moving heavy military equipment to areas near its border with Yemen, raising the risk of being drawn into the worsening Yemeni conflict. The build-up follows a southward advance by Iranian-backed Houthi Shi'ite militants who took control of the capital, seized the central city of Taiz at the weekend and moved closer to the new southern base of US-supported President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The slide toward war in Yemen has made the country a crucial front in Saudi Arabia's region-wide rivalry with Iran, which Riyadh accuses of sowing sectarian strife through its support for the Houthis. The conflict risks spiralling into a proxy war with Shi'ite Iran backing the Houthis, whose leaders adhere to Shi'ite Islam, and Saudi Arabia and the other regional Sunni Muslim monarchies backing President Hadi.