AL-HOL, SYRIA – The refugee camp at al-Hol is currently home to 70,000 refugees from the Syrian Civil War. Contained in close quarters in a space initially occupied by 9,000 persons, the population now includes about 11,000 widows, wives, and children of ISIS fighters. Local and international authorities believe that ISIS is attempting to muster…
WILLS POINT, TX – Progress cannot be measured without data and evaluation. Imagine how surprised some students are when they enter the working world where they think they won’t have to worry about bringing home a report card. They soon find that report cards are not something they have left in their past. Instead, report…
ABUJA – Conducting charitable humanitarian work in any developing country or crisis situation is difficult at best. Working in disease or conflict-ridden regions is not only hard but sometimes downright dangerous.This is rapidly becoming the scenario for NGOs working in strife-torn Nigeria where Boko Haram rebels are attempting to establish the Islamic State in West…
BAYANA, Philippines – Hunger and lack of education appear on nearly every list of obstacles faced by the poor, disenfranchised, displaced, and underserved. It doesn’t matter where they live, hunger and lack of education are as common as the lack of clean water, sanitation. An increasing abundance of plastic waste pollution is also on many,…
NEW YORK – As we head into the fourth and final quarter of 2019 and begin the third decade of the 21st century, it seems like a good time to review the progress of South Asian countries toward reaching the United Nations’ sustainable development goals for 2030. This information originally appeared in the “United Nations’…
MIRPUR – It’s too soon to have an accurate count on injuries and the death toll from a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Tuesday night, September 24, near Mirpur in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. The earliest news was had the death tolls near 20 with 100 injured in the quake that collapsed homes and businesses. By late…
STOCKHOLM – Access to clean drinking water is an existential problem that must be overcome in developing countries. It is almost always a companion of poverty and disregard for women. Safe Water Network India (SWNI) has implemented a pilot project that borders on genius. If someone who solves a problem is a hero, those who…
CANBERRA – The global water crisis continues to spread almost indiscriminately from continent to continent and nation to nation. Australia heads into the Southern Hemisphere summer with populated portions already reeling from a “serious” to “severe” water crisis as a result of 32 months of drought. WaterNSW (New South Wales) has experienced extreme low inflows…
BEIJING – For more than two years, Missions Box News has brought our readers reports of the Chinese Communist Party’s widespread campaign to clamp down on Christianity in mainland China. The big news out of China in January 2019 was not tariffs and trade wars. The CCP demanded that the first of the 10 commandments…
WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) was founded in 1998. The mission of the USCIRF is “To elevate and promote international religious freedom as a norm and practice.” During the past year, the USCIRF has issued four factsheets that summarize four types of laws used internationally to prevent the…
TASHKENT – The spotlight of the global water crisis is currently shining on the countries of Central Asia, particularly Uzbekistan. In “Water: A Time Bomb in Central Asia,” Aqua Doc emphasized that, “Agricultural water use in Central Asian countries is of vital importance, especially for Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. These countries employ inefficient irrigation methods….
BEIJING – Barely six months ago, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIFR) identified its current Countries of Particular Concern (CPC). Sixteen of the CPC were ranked as Tier One, those of the most significant concern. Of those, committee member Gary Bauer said,“If we were going to rank the Tier 1 countries, China would…
AUSTIN, TX – In January 2018, we introduced our readers to The Refuge Ranch, which was being constructed in Bastrop County, Texas. The purpose of The Refuge was, and is, to “provide long-term, holistic care in a pastoral and peaceful setting for girls, through age 19, who have been rescued out of domestic minor sex…
BHUBANESWAR – With 46 million residents, Odisha is the 11th most populous state in India. The eighth-largest Indian state by area, Odisha has a density of more than 760 people per square mile. Odisha also has one of the highest migration rates in the country. Approximately 500,000 people relocate every year, primarily due to escape…
WILLS POINT, TX – Did you know that India is home to the largest population of children in the world? That’s right. With 448 million children under the age of 18, India alone has 103 million more children more than China. Nearly 25% more.The 2011 government census also reported 10.2 million children between the ages…
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – On August 27, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs released data indicating that “1.9 million Afghan children are engaged in labor work across the country.” The ministry said the child labor problem is unlikely to improve until the country is free of the poverty and economic issues caused by years of…
KAMPALA, UGANDA – Last September, her world was turned upside down when her husband passed away. The 54-year-old mother of eight children was now a widow with a family to support. Searching for hope, she placed her faith in Jesus Christ when the pastor of a small church shared the Bible with her. Joy returned…
ABUJA, NIGERIA – On August 1, Missions Box News published an article entitled “65 Dead in Boko Haram Attack at Funeral.” In that article, we reported that Leah Sharibu, a Christian teenager who had been abducted in early 2018 along with more than 100 Chibok school children early in 2018, may have been killed by…
toiletNEW DELHI – The widespread practice of open defecation in the developing countries in Asia and Africa has long been a focus of Missions Box News, numerous FBOs, NGOs, and the United Nations. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030 include bringing the entire world to that status of being Open Defecation Free (ODF)….
NEW DELHI – Missions Box has steadfastly supported effective action to protect women from abuses wherever they occur. Mistreatment of women takes many forms across the entire globe but nowhere else is that abuse so apparent as it is in developing countries where women are traditionally held in low regard.The Provisions of NGOs South Asia…
CHENGDU – Persecution has become a hot topic, especially among Christians, reportedly the most persecuted people in the world. The annual World Watch List ranks countries where persecution of Christians runs high, even beyond imagination. Missions Box News has published more than 50 articles and news stories about the persecution of Christians in 2019 alone….
NEW YORK – August 22, 2019, marked the first International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief sponsored by the United Nations. Missions Box News first became aware of the proposed special day in July 2018 when members of the British parliament were called to consider supporting a proposal…
NEW YORK – Clean water. America has it in abundance. And we have all the benefits that come along with immediate access to it. But do we understand what those benefits are and what the impact of living with them is? The issue goes far beyond thirst. UNICEF published the first volume of a new…
ISTANBUL – A recent report published by the Middle East Forum noted that “There is an atmosphere in Turkey right now that anyone who isn’t Sunni (Muslim) is a threat to the stability of the nation.” The once widely heralded agenda of Kemal Ataturk to establish a democratic, secular republic is now a fading memory….
MANILA – About 50,000 teenagers and young adults attended the Jesus Global Youth Day in the Philippines from August 8th to 10th. The event, attended by young people from more than 30 different countries, had been purposely scheduled to align with the United Nations’ International Youth Day on August 12th. During the seven days before…
KABUL – That is one way to describe Afghanistan: 48,000 mosques; no churches. Our mental picture of Afghanistan is a country torn by Taliban tribal warfare and a haven of ISIS. That vision includes thousands of U.S. troops in-country and many more whose return to “normal life” has been hindered by afflictions that range from…
STOCKHOLM – Experts from around the world will meet in Stockholm during World Water Week from August 25 to 30 to consider the growing concerns regarding water-related issues. Access to clean water, particularly drinking water, has been the basis for numerous Missions Box News stories over the past few years as part of our effort…
SOUTH ASIA – Gospel for Asia (GFA) – More than 820 million people around the globe suffer from chronic hunger and malnutrition. Forty-five countries have “serious levels of hunger.” Hunger is the number one health risk in the world. Hunger is the root cause of “a staggering 3.5 million deaths” every year. Every 10 seconds,…
SOUTH ASIA – Sometimes, things just don’t make sense – until we dig a little deeper. For instance, this reporter has had difficulty reconciling two storylines about farmers that have been coming out of South Asia for the past year or more. Two storylines: Farmers and India’s water crisis The first involves a trend to…
WILLS POINT, TX – Only as the scourge of human trafficking is infesting the North American continent, we are at long last becoming aware of its sinister realities. Human trafficking cases are making local news headlines in places like Fayetteville, NC; Tuscaloosa, AL; and Milwaukee. Our blissful ignorance of the 16 million victims of human…
WILLS POINT, TX – A strange thing happens when we consider the cost of something. If not with our lips, our minds ask the question, “How much does this cost?” When I reflect on that, I realize that this question is inevitably self-centric. The question is inextricably connected to “How much am I willing to…
Violence against women is a worldwide problem, even in the United States of America. One in five women in the United States have been sexually assaulted In the wake of the recent #MeToo movement, sexual assault and violence against women in American and other Western countries have made headlines in unprecedented volume. According to a…
7 WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA) is honored to have been included in Beliefnet’s recently published list of nine Faith-Based Nonprofits Fighting the World Water Crisis. It doesn’t take long when ministering within developing nations to learn how personal the world water crisis is for people who have little or no access…
HYDERABAD – The International Labor Organization and the Indian state of Telangana are about to take bonafide action to weed child laborers out of the region’s cotton fields. The state and the ILO are about to embark on a collaborative mapping of the entire area’s cotton supply chain. Their goal? To rid the state’s cotton…
WILLS POINT, TX – The closure of yet another Christian church and its Bible school by authorities in Algeria spurred one of our reporters to dig a little deeper. He decided to investigate government restrictions and political persecution against the Church. He didn’t have to look far. A recent report by the Pew Research Center…
WILLS POINT, TX – Several years ago, a friend of mine invited me to lunch. He wanted to talk to me about the opportunity of a lifetime. Essentially, the idea boiled down to working alongside him in a sure-fire, money-making business. We would be mentored by two others who had already become independently wealthy. They…
MUMBAI – A strange thing has been happening with the slums in South Asia. NGOs like Gospel for Asia (GFA) have been working amongst the millions of people living in extreme poverty and struggling for survival in the slums of South Asia’s major cities. Suddenly, these slums have become a remarkable tourist attraction. In fact,…
ABUJA, NIGERIA – The latest accounts say that some 65 people in Maiduguri, Nigeria, have died in a Boko Haram attack during a funeral in the northeastern village. Another 10 people reportedly sustained injuries, eight of who are in critical condition following Saturday’s attack. Boko Haram was initially known as the “Nigerian Taliban” when it…
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA) issues an extensive Special Report on child labor: Millions of Children Trapped between Extreme Poverty and the Profits of Others In a report written by Lee Tucker, a consultant to Human Rights Watch, about the problem of bonded labor in Asia, a young girl shared, “My sister…
WILLS POINT – Dr. K.P. Yohannan and the staff of Gospel for Asia (GFA) celebrated God’s faithfulness on the 40th anniversary of its founding on July 3. After four decades of accomplishments beyond expectations in ministry or any other successful endeavor, many would accept their laurels then rest upon them, satisfied that their task is…
WILLS POINT, TX – June 30th marked the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remarked, “On this World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, let us reaffirm our commitment to stop criminals from ruthlessly exploiting people for profit and to help victims rebuild their lives.” In fact, the total eradication of human…
GENEVA – On 17 July, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the current Ebola virus outbreak in the DRC an international emergency. The outbreak has been classified as a Grade 3 emergency since August 2018. A Grade 3 emergency is a situation in which “a single or multiple country event with substantial…
WILLS POINT, TX – On November 27, we made our readers aware that Joni Eareckson Tada had been diagnosed with cancer. This was not her first adventure with the ‘C’ word. She had been diagnosed previously in 2010 and, following surgery and a treatment regimen, she was cleared in 2013. This week, Joni announced that…
HOUSTON – Ananias House is a ministry dedicated to “empowering the growth of the body of Jesus Christ in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region).” The ministry of Ananias House in the strife-torn MENA region is three-fold: Making disciples and planting churches Offering sustained hope and comfort to people suffering from conflict and…
CHARLESTON, SC – It was only a short while ago that Beliefnet released an article entitled, 10 Faith-Based Nonprofits Fighting the World Water Crisis. Both Gospel for Asia and Water Mission were honored to be included in that list. (Missions Box published a follow-up that focused on GFA’s tireless efforts to provide for the millions…
BANI, BURKIN FASO – Wearing a Christian cross on a necklace is common. For some, it is a mere prettification. Others wear one as a talisman of sorts. But, for believers, it is a witness to their faith in the finished work of Christ on Calvary. It is, for the most part, a perfectly acceptable…
VIRGINIA BEACH – Ben Kinchlow’s warm, smiling face graced our living room for nearly two decades as the host of The 700 Club on the Christian Broadcasting Network. Today, Ben Kinchlow is looking at the warm, smiling face of Jesus as He has welcomed Ben with the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”…
FRANCE – The Open Doors website explains that Christian persecution today in some countries is far worse than many of us in the Western Hemisphere understand. “In some countries, familial and social pressure make it terribly difficult to follow Jesus, while in other places, faith in Christ is threatened by daily risk of violence and…
KATMANDU – As people in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu are facing a crisis of having no water, the people in Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Indian State of Bihar are begging for relief from raging floodwaters that have displaced ten of thousands. The death toll keeps rising as new reports filter in. The…
PARIS – Just days ago, UNESCO revealed that the world is “off track” in reaching yet another of the 2030 deadlines for sustainable development. With 2020 less than six months away, we are nearly one-third of the way on the timeline to meet those goals. On July 7, UNESCO admitted that the education goal (SDG…
