CHENNAI – As far back as World Water Day on March 22, news agencies were aware of a water crisis of potentially epic proportions brewing on the east coast of India in Tamil Nadu. India Spend published a story on April 3 indicating that fully 42 percent of the land in India was under drought…
CHITRAL – GLOF is not an acronym for a militia or paramilitary group. This story is not about conflict. It is about a natural disaster. The lead image of the city of Chitral, the capital of Pakistan’s Chitral District, is spectacular. It is nestled in a valley in the Hindu Kush. The district is, in…
KARACHI – The Pakistani Senate has passed a bill to end child marriage, making marriage illegal for girls under the age of 18 to marry. That sounds like good news in a country where it is estimated that 21% of girls under 18 are married, often being forced to do so as early as age…
MUMBAI – Businesses and schools have come to a halt in parts of Mumbai as its 18.4 million residents endure the city’s second-highest rainfall in 45 years. The town expects, but is ill-equipped to handle, heavy rain during the monsoon season. The flooding in Mumbai, however, is not the water crisis the subcontinent faces. Nearly…
CAIRO – On July 1, the presidential committee for the legalization of churches announced that it had processed yet another wave of approvals. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told reporters that another 127 previously unlicensed Coptic Christian churches had been added to the list of properties approved as places of worship. The reauthorization was mandated by…
PHILADELPHIA – The American Bible Society recently released its report on the State of the Bible 2019. The report is published annually based on research conducted by the Barna Group. The annual report “examines behaviors and beliefs related to the Bible among American adults.” An overview of the report divides Americans into five (5) distinct…
CHARLOTTE, NC – On the morning of April 29, 2019, The Christian Post headline announced, “Norman Geisler retiring from Southern Evangelical Seminary over health issues.” Barely two months later, in the early morning hours of July 1, the renowned defender of the Christian faith moved to Heaven to be with his Lord, Jesus Christ (July…
malariNEW DELHI – The paradox of disease is that on the one hand it is an opportunity to share the gospel and on the other hand, it is an enemy that can rob us of the time needed to reach those afflicted. South Asia is the poster child for this paradox. As you read this…
![According to The Outreach Foundation, “more [ Muslims ] have come to Christ in the last 17 years than in the previous 1,400 years combined,”](https://missionsbox.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/miracles-230x300.jpg)
According to The Outreach Foundation, “more [ Muslims ] have come to Christ in the last 17 years than in the previous 1,400 years combined,” a fact confirmed by the Christian Broadcasting Network. How can that really be true? Answer these questions first. Do you believe that “God so loved the world that He gave…
BARTLESVILLE, OK – Saturday, June 29, 2019, is The Day of the Christian Martyr. It is both right and proper that we pay homage to those brave souls who committed their lives to Christ regardless of the cost. Beginning with the eyewitness account of the stoning of Stephen in the Book of Acts (Chapter 7)…
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Times describes VidAngel as “the latest in a long line of companies that have attempted to build a business by skipping and muting objectionable material for family viewing, only to provoke lawsuits from Hollywood.” On Monday, June 17, a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles ruled against VidAngel and…
CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU – About this same time last year, Missions Box News and media outlets worldwide were reporting on the looming “Day Zero” water crisis in Cape Town, South Africa. That crisis followed a drought that had lasted three years. Earlier this month, we continued to monitor the growing world water crisis in New…
GENEVA – Thousands of citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo are frightened by the onslaught of attacks upon their lives. They live daily under the threat of warring militias, the second-largest outbreak of Ebola virus ever, and increasing concerns over the spread of cholera and measles. As recent as this morning, 1,994 cases of…
HONOLULU – From as far back as I can remember as a child in church, we were taught to memorize Scripture. One of the very first verses we learned was Psalm 119:11 – “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” We knew that the more we commit…
WILLS POINT, TX – June 20th is World Refugee Day. The annual observation is particularly important this year as we are currently facing the worst refugee crisis in recorded history. Measuring the Problem According to the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, at least 68.5 million people around the globe have been displaced from their…
MISSION VIEJO – Harold Sala founded Guidelines in 1963, the same year he completed his graduate degree work. Guidelines began as a simple radio program built on the idea of connecting people with the Lord through practical, five-minute devotionals delivered over the airwaves. During the early years, Dr. Sala produced the daily programs while pastoring…
DELRAY BEACH, FL – Haiti has been plagued for years by extreme poverty and natural disasters. In fact, the natives of Hispaniola were “virtually wiped out” by Spanish settlers within 25 years of Columbus’ arrival. Haiti was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere even before the massive earthquake of 2010 in which some 200,000…
BEIJING – The Chinese Community Party hopes to have its social credit system fully operational across the entire country by 2020. What the CCP calls a social credit system, others are calling China a “digital dictatorship.” Implementation of the system is well underway. Already 13.5 million Chinese have received scores low enough to be blacklisted….
NAPERVILLE, IL – Prayercast is a division of OneWay Ministries, committed to “activating God’s people to exalt Jesus Christ and advance His gospel to the multitudes.” If prayer is, as John Wesley once said, “Where the action is,” then Prayercast is the 21st-century compass to point us to where the action is. Senator and former…
ASMARA – The tiny country of Eritrea has been called “The North Korea of Africa.” The county ranks at Number 7 on the Open Doors World Watch list of states where the persecution of Christians is the most severe. No national elections have been held since the country gained its independence in 1993. Even though…
ALGIERS – With nearly 920,000 square miles, Algeria is the tenth largest nation in the world. It is the largest country on the continent of Africa. Initially settled by the Berbers, Algeria has had a long and storied history. The country gained independence in 1962 from France which had invaded and began colonizing it in…
BWERA, UGANDA – Several Christian churches in western Uganda began an outdoor evangelistic campaign in Bwera on May 20. It was evident that the event was going well as Muslim people listened and responded positively to the Gospel message.Because so many were publicly professing their faith in Christ, Muslim leaders began staging demonstrations. The demonstrations…
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – The water crisis that has struck nations in South Asia, Africa, and South America has now expanded into New South Wales (NSW), the most populous state of Australia. There is no indication at the moment that the two years of drought, below average rainfall that has plagued the eastern part of the…
![The world is unlikely to meet a target of ending child labor by 2025, which is part of the 17 global development goals agreed [upon] in 2015 at the United Nations.](https://missionsbox.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/gfa-06-12-17-gospelforasia-RT15-04790-230x300.jpg)
LONDON – June 12 marks the annual World Day Against Child Labor. We would like to share news of advances in liberating children from this burden that robs them of their childhood, education, and the potential for a thriving future. Sadly, on a global scale, we cannot. Verisk Maplecroft issued their 2019 Child Labor Index….
PORTLAND, OR – Last year, doctors told evangelist Luis Palau that he would not be alive past Christmas 2018 due to his battle with stage four lung cancer. This week Kevin Palau announced on Facebook that his father’s health was “much better than doctors had anticipated.” Six months past the predicted month of his demise,…
GENEVA – China will play host to the United Nations’ annual World Environment Day on June 5. More than 100 countries will participate to address this year’s theme of “Air Pollution” with a special emphasis on how air pollution affects the health of children. Air pollutio𝗇 is a significant, health and life-threatening problem for people…
SHANDONG PROVINCE – The Chinese government initiated the Sharp Eyes project following its approval by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2016. Sharp Eyes is the beginning of a program to dramatically increase video surveillance throughout the nation. The goal of the project is to have “coverage across all regions, sharing…
GARDEN VALLEY, TX – Aissata was right at the center of a major milestone in the ministry of Mercy Ships. In fact, she is the milestone but she doesn’t even realize it. You see, Aissata is only seven months old. On Monday, May 20, 2019, Aissata became the 100,000th person to become the recipient of…
WILLS POINT, TX – Various international organizations observed World Water Day on March 22, 2019. World Water Day should be a time for celebrating the life-sustaining gift of clean water. Unfortunately, the Earth at large is facing a world water crisis – water scarcity caused by increased demand and diminished supplies. India Spend published a…
GHORAHI, NEPAL – Around the entire globe, the followers of Jesus Christ increasingly suffer persecution from non-believers. The sources of persecution may come from authorities at constitutional, legislative, or municipal levels, from radical followers of other religious groups, or from the creep of sin that is making societies and cultures more anti-Christ. Christians may decry…
MUMBAI – The Indian general election results will be announced on Thursday, May 23rd, 2019. Most Americans probably did not know that. Here are 10 other amazing things about the general elections in India you also probably did not know. India’s general election process has been dubbed “The world’s biggest democratic exercise.” Question: If this…
BEIJING – According to the 2018 Chinese census, there are 40 million professing Christians living in mainland China. Some informed individuals believe the number of Christians is actually closer to 100 million. Given the rising repression of Christianity under the administration of President Xi Jinping, it is reasonable to assume that many did not publicly…
CHIAPAS – It is amazing how much we do not know about our USA neighbors to the immediate north and south. We are especially ignorant of religious persecution against Protestants and Evangelicals in Mexico. Some will be surprised at the allegation because they think that Mexico is a Christian country. Accepting the fact that there…
PASADENA, CA – Sunday, June 9, 2019, is the International Day for the Unreached. This is the second in a short series of articles that will explain who they are, where they are, how we are doing, and how we can do better. In our first article, we introduced five major groups defined by the…
OSLO – In my youth, when inviting friends to come to church with me, not all of them knew where Park Avenue Baptist Church was. But, when I simply said, “You know. The church with the sign.” Everyone knew where that was. It was impossible to come into town from the west and not see…
WILLS POINT, TX – Mother’s Day is celebrated on Sunday, May 12, 2019, in the United States and many other countries around the globe. It is a day when mothers everywhere receive honor from their children. It is a single day set aside to thank mothers for all they do the other 364 days of…
YANGON – Reuters journalists, Wa Lone (33) and Kyaw So Oo (29) were detained in Myanmar in December 2017. They were charged and eventually convicted of violating the country’s Official Secrets Act. They were sentenced to seven years in prison. Today, the two men are free after spending more than 500 days in custody. They…
CHICAGO – I will never forget the first time I met Warren Wiersbe. It was in the early 1980s. I had seen a newspaper advertisement that said he would be teaching a series of messages at Peoples Church in Toronto. I had read several of his Bible commentaries, including Be Joyful, Be Free, Be Rich,…
OTTAWA – Asia Bibi is finally free 10 years after being imprisoned on spurious charges of blasphemy in Pakistan. She spent eight of those years in a cell on death row while Christians around the world prayed for her health, safety, and release. According to reports from the Canadian Broadcasting System and the British Pakistan…
COLOMBO – “You can’t say the threat is over but the situation is well under control.” That is the assessment of Sri Lanka’s Health Minister, Rajitha Senaratne, as of May 3, mere days following the terrorist bombings of several churches and hotels in this island nation. Senaratne told reporters that, internally, “Everyone is giving information….
WILLS POINT, TX – Is Malaria still a thing? Many assume malaria was eradicated more than 50 years ago, which is not bad considering that the disease was discovered in the last decade of the 19th century. If you are nodding your head and thinking the same thing, we would both be wrong on at…
NAPIERVILLE, IL – Ramadan is the holy month of fasting for Muslims around the globe. From Mecca to Michigan and from Medina to Malaysia, faithful Muslims observe sawm (a fast) from sunrise to sunset. In 2019, Ramadan begins on May 6 and ends on June 4. They awake early to partake of a carefully prepared…
LONDON – Missions Box News reported on December 28, 2018, that British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt had ordered a review into the escalation of persecution of Christians around the world. The task was assigned to the Anglican Archbishop of Truro. The complete report was originally scheduled to be released in time for Easter Sunday. However,…
PASADENA, CA – Sunday, June 9, 2019, is the International Day for the Unreached. This is the first in a short series of articles that will explain who they are, where they are, how we are doing, and how we can do better. Let’s begin with explaining who the unreached are. The simplest description might…
ATLANTA – When you visit the home page of the Haggai Institute, you immediately understand the organization’s objective. It is emblazoned right before your eyes. 2.1 BILLION PEOPLE HAVE NEVER HEARD THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST LET’S END GOSPEL POVERTY John Edmond Haggai’s dreams of becoming a missionary to China were crushed when China closed its…
NEW DELHI – Over 100 million people in three eastern and northeastern coastal states of India are being evacuated as the threat of an ‘extremely severe’ cyclone is expected to make landfall on May 3rd.Cyclone Fani has been strengthening over the Bay of Bengal and is expected to contain windspeeds in excess of 132 mph…
MADISON, WI – InterVarsity has more than 1,000 active chapters throughout all 50 of the United States on more than 650 college campuses. Since coming to the U.S. from Great Britain in the 1940s, nearly 300,000 student participants have been challenged to enter God’s global mission field through the triennial Urbana Conference alone. The many…
JERUSALEM – Slowly but surely, countries around the world are beginning to openly demonstrate their support of the nation of Israel with Jerusalem as its capital. Following the United States’ relocation of its embassy, several other countries have declared their intent to move their embassies to Jerusalem in the future. So far, the U.S. and…
FORT WASHINGTON, PA – Operation World (OW) is an organization of Evangelical Believers that provides information for Christians along with a “definitive prayer guide to every nation.” While OW strives to maintain the latest, up-to-the-minute data, it recognizes that is an impossible task. The entire world would have to come to a standstill for any…
WASHINGTON, DC – A recently-released Gallup Poll has revealed what most of us have already assumed. Church attendance in America has been declining. It’s something that we can individually perceive, but it takes an organization like Gallup to quantify. The report combines the results of surveys taken over multiple years as far back as 1938…
