KAPSOWAR, KENYA — In a remote part of eastern Africa, American missionary doctors and African medical professionals bring compassionate care to some of the area’s neediest people. It’s led one American family to dedicate the rest of their lives to serving on the continent. George Thomas of CBN News reports from Kenya. George: I traveled…
LVIV, UKRAINE — Samaritan’s Purse is providing compassionate medical care in a clinic at the Lviv train station in Ukraine for sick and injured refugees who are fleeing the carnage across their country. Natasha – Lviv Resident: Many refugees are coming from completely different corners of our Ukraine. People are demoralized. They don’t see what…
CENTRAL UKRAINE — Samaritan’s Purse is in Ukraine providing medical and trauma care for internally displaced people and for those living in conflict-affected areas. Anastasia and Vadym Ermishyn – Ukrainian Internally Displaced Persons: When the war started, we were awakened at 4:30 a.m. by the sound of explosions and air raid sirens. Tavel Litvin –…
WILLS POINT, TX – GFA World (Gospel for Asia) founded by K.P. Yohannan, has been the model for numerous charities like GFA World Canada, reveals in a new report: National missionaries — those working in their own countries — are the “new pioneers” of the 21st century, and they’re proving to be an “unstoppable compassion…
WILLS POINT, TX – Compassion is more than just a word. In fact, dictionaries identify compassion as a noun, i.e., a thing. But the complete meaning of compassion goes far beyond being a noun. By its very nature and derivation, compassion describes physical action. Compassion is the juxtaposition of two Latin words that means “to…
KERALA, INDIA – January 26 is celebrated annually as Republic Day in India. The holiday observes the anniversary of the date in 1950 when the Constitution of India became law. Although the actual document was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on the 26th of November, 1949, the effective date was purposely set as January 26…
WILLS POINT, Texas —Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Sisters of Compassion recently delivered gifts to improve the lives of children and poor widows in a remote village in northeastern India. The Sisters of Compassion are specialized women workers trained to minister to the poor. The items they supplied included school supplies for the children and tin…
WASHINGTON and FORT WORTH, TX — Prison Fellowship International (PFI) and Eastern European Mission (EEM) have signed a new agreement to provide 71,000 adult, 8,500 teen and 34,500 child-friendly Bibles to seven PFI national affiliates across Eastern Europe, which will be distributed to prisoners and their families in the months and years to come. The…
DENVER, COLORADO — Alaska alumni were encouraged and strengthened together by the power of God’s Word during the 2024 Operation Heal Our Patriots Reunion in Colorado. This year’s reunion was the largest ever, with more than 700 military couples attending. The weekend event included worship, fellowship, and workshops on marriage and spiritual renewal. Is your…
UGANDA— Today an estimated 1.3 billion people in the world live with a disability. Many of these people are in developing countries where they have limited access to medical care and mobility equipment. And too often, poverty and discrimination intensify the difficulties of living with a disability.That’s why the Joni and Friends program—Joni’s House—is committed…
WASHINGTON — Prison Fellowship International’s flagship in-prison program, The Prisoner’s Journey® (TPJ) has reached its 10-year anniversary. This program, launched in South Africa and Nigeria in 2014, now runs in 35 countries across six continents. TPJ takes those in prison on a journey of self-discovery through the Gospel of Mark where they encounter Jesus the…
RIO DE JANEIRO — The humanitarian organization, Joni and Friends, aims to provide wheelchairs in Rio de Janeiro to respond to Jesus’ mandate in Luke 14: “…bring the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame…so that my house will be full.” Katie Oliver – Wheels for the World: Over 40 million people live in…
BRAZIL — Joni and Friends aims to provide wheelchairs to respond to Jesus’s command in Luke 14 to “Go out quickly…and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame…so that my house will be full.” Their Wheels for the World program is just one of the ways they seek to answer that…
WILLS POINT, TX — A U.S.-based global mission agency says several of its partner churches were left “broken” by a devastating earthquake that struck remote Western Nepal Nov. 3, killing more than 150 people. “We have also lost cherished members of our church family in this heart-wrenching tragedy,” said K.P. Yohannan (Metropolitan Yohan), founder of…
PERU — Marleny was without support for her daughter Gaudalupe, who lives with disabilities. Running out of hope, Marleny had nowhere to turn for help in Peru. That’s when Jesus came in… A neighbor visited Marleny and told her about Jesus. The Good News strengthened Marleny to keep going, and she joined a local church….
PLANO, TX — Prestonwood Baptist Church and Prestonwood Christian Academy will host their annual Biblical Worldview Conference September 24–26 at the church’s Plano Campus. Formerly named Biblical Worldview Institute, the conference has drawn students, educators and parents from throughout North Texas since 2005. It is designed to challenge mainstream culture with intentional, thought-provoking speakers and…
EL SALVADOR — Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. They bring this vision to reality through programs like International Family Retreat. Andre’s family in El Salvador experienced finding inclusion in Christ, transforming acceptance and love through family retreat…
EL SALVADOR — Yolo didn’t know Family Retreat could bless her family. She first got involved with Joni and Friends by encouraging another family to attend Family Retreat. After hearing the story of Alex’s family and the challenges they face navigating life with his autism, she decided to help raise funds to give them the…
IRAQ — Farah was just one of around 70,000 Christians who fled to Erbil to escape the advancement of so-called Islamic State in 2014. When she returned, Open Doors partners helped her to restore her home and business in Nineveh Plains. Farah can well recall the day in 2014 when her family fled their home…
ALASKA — Chef Pasquale Presa came to Samaritan Lodge Alaska to cook for Operation Heal Our Patriots veterans and their spouses. He also shared some secrets with their cooks about preparing great Italian dishes for our heroes. Pasquale Presa – Pasquale’s neighborhood Pizzeria: I have a special bond to the United States. We came to…
WASHINGTON — A new Baylor University study provides evidence of the virtuous effects of religion on mental health among prisoners, affirming the mission of Prison Fellowship International (PFI) in-prison program, The Prisoner’s Journey® (TPJ). “This study confirms what we have believed for a long time,” said David Van Patten, Chief Operating Officer of PFI. “That…
MICHIGAN – Joni and Friends Family Retreat specifically focus on families navigating the challenges of disability. They strive to create a rich, Christ-centered environment at each Family Retreat that is safe and accepting for each member of the family. Find out how life-transforming this was recently for the Rojas family. Gerardo Rojas: Our idea of…
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA — Joni and Friends works to equip and mobilize churches to welcome and embrace people with disabilities by removing barriers and creating a church culture that sees all people as indispensable parts of the body of Christ, created in God’s image, and worthy of dignity and respect. Parent 1: Our experience with…
ROMANIA — Didina was paralyzed at age 22 due to an unknown condition. Then for 30 years she lay in a small dark bedroom wanting to die to get free from the bed that felt like a prison.Joni and Friends Wheels for the World volunteers heard Didina’s story and came to provide her with physical…
EL SALVADOR — Through its flagship Wheels for the World™ program, Joni and Friends collects and restores used wheelchairs, then delivers the like-new chairs to people around the world in need of mobility equipment.Joni and Friends recently opened its first international wheelchair restoration center, located in El Salvador—the first of multiple centers slated to open…
WILLS POINT, TX — Mission agency GFA World (Gospel for Asia) is helping to provide vital aid to traumatized survivors of the massive earthquake and aftershocks in Turkey, as the number of deaths now stands at more than 47,000. “Right now, Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is working with our partners to bring relief to the…
GUADALAJARA, MEXICO — After many years of not being able to have children of their own, the Price family felt God was calling them to adopt children with disabilities. One of their many adopted children, Vicki Price, was a joy to all who met her, always smiling even though she lived with a debilitating disability.Her…
RIDGELAND, MS — Did you know that there is an unreached people group in your neighborhood? Only 5-10% of the world’s disabled population are effectively reached with the Gospel. That makes people with disabilities one of the largest unreached people groups in the world! For Joshua and his mother, a welcoming church in Ridgeland, Mississippi…
EL SALVADOR — Four-year-old Ian from El Salvador was born prematurely. Lack of oxygen at birth caused a brain injury, leaving Ian with cerebral palsy. Living under the double weight of poverty and disability, Ian’s parents couldn’t afford a wheelchair for their son. Then, at a Joni and Friends Wheels for the World™ outreach in…
ENGLEWOOD, FL — You could barely see the petite woman standing on her porch behind the mangled trees and debris from Hurricane Ian. Despite the massive destruction, the 74-year-old woman who goes by “Christmas” greeted Randy Martin and Will Murphy, two chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT), welcoming them into her Englewood,…
ATLANTA — Prison Fellowship International (PFI), an international nonprofit ministry working to transform the lives of prisoners through Jesus’s love, was in the spotlight Thursday as a diverse group gathered at the American Society of Criminology 77th Annual Meeting to examine the future of criminology. During an examination of the robust role of religion in…
IRAQ — Mimi (12) was very young when she fled her home in Bartella with her grandparents after so-called Islamic State invaded the Nineveh Plains. Until recently, Mimi’s parents were considering leaving Iraq – until they received a microloan to set up a farm through Open Doors partners. Mimi: “I love Iraq, because it is…
FORT MYERS, FL — Cissie Graham Lynch, daughter of Franklin Graham, lives with her family in Fort Myers, Florida, one of the areas slammed by Hurricane Ian. The state’s deadliest storm in 87 years claimed well over 100 lives, destroyed businesses, washed away homes, and tossed boats against houses, into trees, and along the roads….
FORT MYERS, FL — As Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains walked down streets strewn with debris, they stopped to talk to one shocked survivor named Elaine whose home and yard were covered with fallen trees affected by the hurricane. The conversation turned to spiritual matters, and Elaine decided it was time to surrender her…
HEDINGHAM, RALEIGH — Jennifer Metallo is among several crisis-trained chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team who call Raleigh, North Carolina, home.On October 13th a teenage suspect opened fire in a residential area in Raleigh, shooting and killing five people and leaving this community overcome with grief. Metallo, who has traveled as a chaplain…
FORT MYERS, FL — While in Lee County, Florida, Franklin Graham noticed the streets lined with furniture after people’s homes were flooded in Hurricane Ian. “It just breaks your heart,” he said. “But the chaplains are encouraging them, loving them, praying with them.” As homeowners endure the aftermath of the Category 4 storm, crisis-trained chaplains…
PLANO, TX — Prestonwood Baptist Church, Christian Thinkers Society and Prestonwood Christian Academy will host “Anchored,” a 2-day conference hosted by the school’s Biblical Worldview Institute (BWi), Nov. 1 and 2. Hosted at the church’s Plano Campus, BWi Anchored features world-class speakers including Dr. Sean McDowell, Alisa Childers, Dr. Scott Stripling, Dr. Craig Evans, Dr. Randy…
IRAQ — As a young boy living in Baghdad, Fadi experienced a lot of trauma when the Iraq war broke out in 2003. But Fadi has stayed to serve as a lay leader in his church. Fadi: “During the period of 2006 and 2007 there would be 15 or 16 explosions in just one day…
AL-HWASH, SYRIA — When Alaa was displaced because of the Syrian war, he found a brighter future through a Centre of Hope, which helped him to establish a sawmill business. Alaa: “It’s an indescribable feeling for someone to be displaced, to lose his house, to lose everything he has.” It was 2011 when Alaa fled…
JACKSON, MS — Reyna is a mother to four children in Jackson, Mississippi. Her oldest kids, Belen (19) and Leonardo (16), have disabilities that require the use of wheelchairs and around-the-clock care. Even with the help of her 10-year-old son, Yahir, to feed and change his siblings, Reyna lives in a state of mental and…
UKRAINE — The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) continues to resource churches as they serve the needs of people across Ukraine impacted by the ongoing conflict. As soon as the war began the WEA set up a fund to help support the churches to provide vital supplies and transportation. They say local Christians have the best…
EL SALVADOR — The World Health Organization estimates that over 75 million people in the world today need a wheelchair, and more than 85% of them can’t access one*. The brunt of these unmet needs hits people in developing nations, like Marcela in El Salvador. Marcela suffered cardio-respiratory arrest at birth, which caused cerebral palsy….
UKRAINE — A team of Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains is seeing a growing openness to the Gospel as they minister to thousands of people throughout Ukraine impacted by the war. Over the past five months they’ve trained 200 Ukrainian chaplains, prayed with over 3,000 people and have led over 350 people to Christ….
USA — Prison Outreach Helps Provide Wheelchairs — The Joni and Friends Wheels for the World program provides life-changing mobility and the hope of the Gospel to people living with disability worldwide. They collect used, manual wheelchairs across the United States that would otherwise end up in landfills. The wheelchair restoration process begins in federal,…
UVALDA, TX — At a growing memorial site, the community of Uvalde, Texas, is processing many emotions after a deadly school shooting. Residents and Billy Graham RRT chaplains share how God is providing much-needed hope. Valerie Joseph – San Antonio Texas Resident: It’s been very emotional. I have two kids of my own. A four…
UVALDA, TX — Billy Graham Rapid Response Team Chaplains are on the ground and praying with the community of Uvalde in Texas as they process through grief and trauma from the recent school shooting. As the community is devastated by this tragedy that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers, Billy Graham RRT…
CHIANG MAI, THAILAND — Namthan has cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. She cannot walk or even sit on her own and has a permanent shunt surgically implanted in her brain. Raised Buddhist, Namthan’s parents believed that bad karma caused Namthan’s disability. But when Joni and Friends brought Namthan a wheelchair through our Wheels for the World…
CHIANG MAI, THAILAND — 12-year-old Pleng was born with cerebral palsy. Unable to afford a wheelchair for Pleng, her family resorted to carrying her, or just staying home. In addition to struggles with immobility, Pleng’s family suffered from shame, believing Pleng’s disability came from bad karma—a deserved punishment, or curse. When Pleng arrived at the…
ORLANDO, USA — Meeting in Orlando for this year’s Operation Heal Our Patriots Reunion, more than 400 military couples were inspired, challenged, and encouraged by powerful speakers and workshop leaders who pointed to Christ for healing and restoration. The annual event reunites alumni who have been to Samaritan Lodge Alaska for a week of Biblically…
USA — Sergeant Josh Whiting joined the Army because he wanted to serve his country and defend freedom. But after two deployments, Josh began suffering from PTSD, withdrawing from his family and suffering bouts of rage. As a Veteran struggling to re-enter civilian life and re-connect with his family, Josh agreed to attend a Joni…
