KERALA – Workers supported by Gospel for Asia (GFA) held rallies and gatherings across the subcontinent in observance of the International Day of the Girl on October 11. Now in its 25th year, the UNICEF-backed day was initially named the International Day of the Girl Child. The movement calls for a world “where every girl…
GENEVA – The World Economic Forum (WEF) has generated its Global Competitiveness Index for 40 years. According to the WEF, “the report shows that those countries which integrate into their economic policies an emphasis on infrastructure, skills, research and development, and support those left behind are more successful compared to those that focus only on…
VIRGINIA BEACH – Operation Blessing began in 1978 under the leadership of businessman, Bible teacher, philanthropist, and founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, Pat Robertson. Over the years, Operation Blessing has “touched the lives of millions of people in more than 90 countries” and every one of the United States. Operation Blessing exists to provide…
ROME – When the United States Secretary of State speaks, it is usually about political affairs of state. When Mike Pompeo addressed a symposium in Rome on October 2, his message was about increasing global threats to the right of religious freedom. Secretary Pompeo was a featured speaker at a symposium about the work of…
CAIRO – It was only a decade ago that the Muslim Brotherhood – recognized by the United States as an Islamic terrorist group – seized control of the Egyptian government. Although Egypt is a Muslim nation, the March 12, 2013 edition of the Egypt Daily News cited the Brotherhood as the enemy of Egypt just…
HONG KONG – Speculation about the future of Hong Kong abounded in 1997 when Great Britain handed over its governing authority to mainland China. Anxiety-ridden headlines predicted China would move swiftly to integrate the city under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). When a one-country, two-systems approach was proposed, the world breathed a…
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…
NEATH, England – Seven years after Christian doctor Rebekah Brettle launched the Neighbourhood Prayer Network many lives have been impacted through this ambitious initiative to mobilize believers to pray for every street in the UK as well as reach out with Christ’s love to their neighbors. At a time when countless people across the nation…
TYLER, TX – CityFest East Texas is a large, multicultural music festival scheduled for October 5-6, 2019, with Andrew Palau as the featured speaker. The festival will include performances by top Christian recording artists Blanca, Marisol Park, Ryan Stevenson, The Newsboys, Pat Barrett, and Lecrae. Additionally, award-winning country artist Josh Turner will perform during the…
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,…
BEIRUT – Lebanon has declared a national “state of economic emergency.” President Michel Aoun told the Lebanese people, “We have to unite our efforts to come out with solutions to the economic crisis that is strangling the dreams and hopes of our people.” One of the leading factors that have driven Lebanon to the edge…
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’…
Some of us are old enough to remember grandparents, aunts and uncles who could not read or write. Yes, right here in the United States. Those we may recall were the children of parents who had been prevented from learning these essential skills because their survival was existential. Their progenitors had to work the family…
GENEVA – Nearly a million Rohingya are interred at refugee camps in Bangladesh, having fled their homes to escape persecution in their native Myanmar. Tensions have been rising over the past several months and have reached a point where remaining in Bangladesh may become as dangerous as of being back in Myanmar. The UN Office…
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…
Former wrestler Ghita Ignat supports those freed from penitentiaries. “Many of us have never worked. I, for example, for 40 years had never done physical work,” says Eusebio Laurian Stefanescu. After spending 12 years in prison a door opened for him at Urspack packaging factory in the locality of Bosanci, Suceava, and his life was…
Samaritan’s Purse has opened an emergency field hospital in Freeport in the Bahamas to provide vital medical help to those impacted by hurricane Dorian. They received more than 90 patients on their first full day of operation (Sept. 10). Distributions of emergency items (shelter plastic, water filters, and more) continue in the Abacos. Their DC-8…
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…
BAHAMAS — Samaritan’s Purse has established a base of operations in Marsh Harbour—working to bring emergency shelter material, clean water, and critical supplies to families who lost everything. Marsh Harbour, a small town of fewer than 10,000 people in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas, hit international news as Category 5 Hurricane Dorian made landfall there…
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….
Vernon Brewe, founder of World Help, discusses the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, and the immediate desperate help needed immediately. “Bodies are floating all through the water in Marsh Harbour.” These are the words in an urgent text message I received recently. Most news reports say the death toll…
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA) has released a new special report entitled “Literacy: One of the Great Miracle Cures.” Subtitled, “Resolving the Limitations Illiteracy Places on the Human Spirit,” noted author Karen Mains explains that illiteracy is a multi-faceted . . . problem that results in [fewer] job opportunities and low income,…
Teen Challenge is an organization that operates a support program for people with an addiction to drugs. The first center for boys in Romania was inaugurated in 2007 near Bucharest, in Gradistea. According to statistics it is estimated that there are over 100,000 drug users in Bucharest. “I saw a program which I really liked…
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…
Welsh councillors in the UK have defended their freedom to conduct prayers before meetings in the face of opposition from those labelling it ‘discriminatory’. Councillor Paul Penlington called on Denbighshire Council in North Wales in the UK, to conduct prayers away from the council chamber, and has received the support of the National Secular Society….
BAHAMAS — Samaritan’s Purse made its first airlift of the Emergency Field Hospital to the Bahamas on September 5, at the request of the World Health Organization and the government of the Bahamas. Multiple flights will follow. A team of 16 staff members, including doctors and nurses, was on the flight to help set up…
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…
BAHAMAS — Samaritan’s Purse is airlifting the Emergency Field Hospital to the Bahamas today, September 5, 2019, at the request of the World Health Organization and the government of the Bahamas. A team of 16 staff members, including doctors and nurses, will be on the flight to help set up the mobile hospital. The 40-bed…
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…
VENEZUELA – More than four million Venezuelan Refugees have sought refuge in other countries, due to the severe economic crisis at home. Thousands cross the border into Colombia every day, and many of those continue on foot into the interior. They walk alone or with their children, and depend on the kindness of others for…
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)….
LAREDO, TX – The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (RRT) is offering respite for immigrant families alongside Samaritan’s Purse at centers in Del Rio and Laredo, Texas. “They have nothing,” Billy Graham chaplain Barbra Grabowski said, explaining these immigrant families travel anywhere from 10 days to a month to get to this point. Many come…
SEOUL, KOREA — After three intense days with deep discussions and productive sessions, the bi-annual meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) ECHOS Commission came to an end recently. Fourteen young committee members and staff from 20 different countries all over the world had gathered in Seoul, Korea to further strengthen the WCC young…
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…
BUCHAREST – Twenty kilometers outside of Bucharest, in the locality of Balotesti, is a place where young ladies find help to rebuild their lives and to live free from drugs. The center for girls “House of Joy” functions under the umbrella of Teen Challenge Romania. The need to provide a home just for girls became…
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…
