Religious freedom, i.e., the separation of church and state appears to be gaining greater legal standing around the globe. Yet, according to the latest Open Doors World Watch List, persecution of Christians is on the rise. Christians are not the only ones being persecuted. People of any faith who are in the minority are increasingly…
CANBERRA – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison published an open letter this week to “Australians of all faiths.” The catalyst for the letter is the parliamentary debate on freedom of religion versus discrimination against sexual orientation in religious schools and institutions. A Missions Box report published on October 17, 2018, asked the question, “Australia: Can…
SANTA ANA, CA – According to its website, “For over 60 years, Open Doors has worked in the world’s most oppressive countries, empowering Christians who are persecuted for their beliefs. Open Doors equips persecuted Christians in more than 60 countries through programs like Bible & Gospel Development, Women & Children Advancement, and Christian Community Restoration.”…
“For China’s Christians, these are desperate times.” That was a comment made by U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence in October 2018 in a speech where he described the Chinese Communist Party as “avowedly atheist.” Perspective Magazine, which covers U.S. foreign policy from a Christian perspective observed that “in 2018, China’s religious repression has reached ‘a sustained…
‘FEBC Today’ reaches 400 stations, millions of listeners with news of how international broadcast ministry continues to take gospel to unreached communities around the world LA MIRADA, Calif. — Missionary radio broadcaster FEBC (Far East Broadcasting Company) has reached another media milestone as a 400th North American Christian station adds the inspiring FEBC Today show to its lineup….
Worldwide gathering in San Antonio Jan. 30-Feb. 1 to tackle ‘challenges and opportunities’ facing private Christian school movement COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Global leaders in the private Christian school community are convening next month to look for ways to reshape their movement and continue offering distinctive, faith-based education in an increasingly pluralistic and post-religious world. Around 1,000…
MUMBAI – The supply of clean water is a world-wide issue. Access to and availability of clean water is so common to American households that we rarely think about it. Turn on the tap. Out flows safe, clean, potable water. Even when Gospel for Asia (GFA) and other NGOs explain the need for clean drinking water…
WASHINGTON – On November 15, 2018, the American Law and Justice Center (ACLJ) published a petition to release John Cao, a U.S. pastor imprisoned in China on fabricated organizing illegal border crossing charges. Cao, whose family resides in North Carolina, was arrested by Chinese officials in March 2017 as he crossed the border between Myanmar…
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA) Special Report – Discussing the impact of education on the eradication of extreme poverty. When considering the issues of poverty and lack of education, an old saying comes to mind: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” Poverty and low education are each self-perpetuating: Those born into…
JOSE C. PAZ, Argentina — Over the past 40 years, God has used the Luis Palau Association in a special way to bless the nation of Argentina. From the historic evangelistic festival in Buenos Aires in 2008 to similar festivals and outreaches in nearly every province and major city in the nation, millions have heard the…
Despite claims by some that radio broadcasting is dying, it remains at heart of FEBC’s pioneering ministry, even as it uses new-tech pathways to share the gospel LA MIRADA, Calif. – As it marks 70 years of proclaiming the gospel to some of the farthest corners of the world, FEBC (Far East Broadcasting Company), the…
International Day for the Unreached drive gains further traction with addition of four new organizing partners, bringing years of Great Commission passion and experience to campaign COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A campaign to concentrate focus on reaching those who have yet to hear the gospel is gaining further momentum with the addition of four more…
JAKARTA – Many Americans assume that measles has been eradicated. The disease that once plagued us as school children is rarely seen in the United States today. A combination of events could change that, beginning with one halfway around the world in Indonesia. Let’s begin by reviewing fundamental data about Indonesia shared in a recent…
Forgotten Missionaries International: Building partnerships to empower indigenous church plantersThis is the second article in our new “Spotlight” series that homes in on our primary intent of “Connecting the Church in the West to news of what God is doing through nonprofits around the world.” This article shines the Spotlight on Forgotten Missionaries International (FMI),…
NEW DELHI – On Monday, November 5th, the United States imposed economic sanctions on 50 Iranian banks, 65 Iranian aircraft, 200 individuals, and all shipping vessels used for the transportation of Iranian oil. The U.S. granted India and seven other nations waivers allowing them to continue importing Iranian oil on a declining basis for the…
GUJARAT – Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the world’s tallest statue in Gujarat, India today. The enormous structure, the image of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, also known as the Iron Man of India, is 597 feet tall, 177 feet taller than the Spring Temple Buddha in China. To put its size into perspective for Westerners, India’s…
Most people who know of Pearl S. Buck remember her as the author of the 1932 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Good Earth. It was assigned reading for many Baby Boomers. The book was the Western world’s first accurate representation of life in China. Mrs. Buck was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Literature for “notable…
One WEDEW unit can produce 2,000 liters of water per day Welcome to the first of a regular series of news articles to be published by Missions Box News (MBN) on the subject of clean, safe-to-drink water and clean water scarcity worldwide. It is part of a metamorphosis at Missions Box News to raise awareness on…
YANGON – Myanmar, formerly Burma, may best be described a line from Rogers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I” in which the king exclaims, “It’s a puzzlement.” In a recent article, we related the story of a Christian pastor in a small village in the Chin state in northwest Myanmar. The gist of the story…
RANGOON – Most Western people still know Myanmar as Burma – a country somewhere in South Asia. Situated east of the Bay of Bengal, Myanmar borders Bangladesh, India, China, and Thailand. Myanmar, then Burma, was evangelized in the early 1800s by Adoniram Judson who also completed the first Burmese language Bible. In 1950, there were…
In the face of death, Robert Jermain Thomas remained faithful in his mission to share the Good News with people of Korea even though it was not open to the Gospel. Life as a Student As Robert grew up, his relationship with the Lord thrived, being the son of a preacher. At the age of…
Gospel for Asia (GFA World) Special Report on Slavery & Human Trafficking Written By Palmer Holt of InChrist Communications Around 10 million people are currently behind bars somewhere in the world. Some have yet to face trial, a few have been wrongly convicted, but most are prisoners for a crime they have committed. Meanwhile, four…
“Depend on it. God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply. He is too wise a God to frustrate His purposes for lack of funds, and He can just as easily supply them ahead of time as afterwards, and He much prefers doing so.” ―James Hudson Taylor, missionary to China and founder…
WASHINGTON, DC – Sam Brownback, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom open the first meeting of a three-day Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom conference in Washington DC sponsored by the U.S. State Department. In his opening speech on 24 July, he said, ‘ The lack of religious freedom anywhere is a threat everywhere.” His…
KINSHASA – The Congo has been at war for a very long time. Most people who live there have never experienced an extended period of peace. The inability to stabilize the government has turned a country with enormous economic resources into a graveyard for more than six million people. While rebels and militia continue to…
I travel at least once a month between where I live and where my parents live. Every once in a while, as I wait in airports, I see people who are foreigners and do not know the God who loves them. It really breaks my heart, because according to God’s Word, they’re heading to hell…
VIENTIANE – At approximately 8:00 p.m. local time on 23 July, the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam on the Xe Pian River in Laos collapsed. Within minutes, eight Laotian villages were completely destroyed whilst others were inundated, making travel and escape impossible. Reports on the number dead, injured, or missing vary as time goes by. It…
Using nationals to reach nationals, organization promotes evangelism and Bible distribution under stricter laws COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — As the Chinese government clarifies its religious beliefs policy, Bibles For The World (BFTW) President John Pudaite says his organization will focus on the urgent need for effective Scripture distribution while helping believers understand their religious rights. According to Pudaite,…
WASHINGTON DC – The Pew Research Center has released its comprehensive annual report on religious restrictions around the globe. The report compares restrictions in 2016 with previous years across two distinct categories: government-imposed restrictions and societal hostilities. More than a quarter (28%) of the 198 countries included in the research were identified as having either…
ABUJA – The country of Nigeria is an enigma. While, on the one hand, the Nigerian Minister of Health announced today that the country’s efforts to eliminate polio within its borders “are beginning to yield results, considering the fact that we have spent 18 months without a case of poliovirus,” the country stands at the…
WASHINGTON – Lovers of freedom around the globe rejoiced to hear the news on 10 May 2018 that three Americans held prisoner in North Korea had been returned to the U.S. When the men and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived at Joint Base Andrews at 2:00 a.m., President Trump was on hand to greet…
SWINDON, UK – The United Bible Societies (UBS) released a report on the 2017 aggregate Bible distribution results of the 200 Bible Societies working together in more than 200 countries and territories around the globe. United Bible Societies claims to be “the largest translator and distribution of Scripture on the planet,” providing approximately 70% of…
Expansion of International Day for the Unreached alliance announced at NRB, underscores ‘growing importance’ of Great Commission campaign NASHVILLE — A movement to accelerate missions efforts among peoples who have yet to hear about Jesus continues to gain momentum, with two new additions to the International Day for the Unreached organizing group. Frontier Ventures and William…
TAEBAEK, South Korea – Ben Torrey is the great-grandson of Dr. Reuben Archer Torrey, author, preacher, and one of D.L. Moody’s associate evangelists. Ben’s lineage is one of preachers. His grandfather was a missionary to China. His father was the founder of Jesus Abbey in South Korea. After his father died in 2002, the staff…
Wills Point, Texas – GFA (Gospel for Asia) – Discussing the Missing Women Quandary on Mother’s Day by Karen Mains I have decided that Mother’s Day has the potential to make as many women unhappy as it does to make them feel loved and revered. This realization hit me early in my marriage when I…
SEOUL – “Until All Have Heard.” That’s on the header of the Far East Broadcasting (FEBC) website. FEBC has been working to help reach that goal with the Gospel sine 1945. This year, FEBC is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its first broadcast on June 4, 1948. Originally based in Shanghai, the company relocated to…
NEW DELHI – As the world moves on to other matters following World Water Day, the World Water Forum, and Cape Town’s postponement of ‘Day Zero’ until 2019, a global water crisis continues, nonetheless. A crisis already exists for many people in South Asia and there are indications that conditions could get worse before they…
Global Clean Water Crisis – a Special Report by Gospel for Asia (GFA World) Written By Karen Burton Mains The “Blue Marble” photo of Earth shot from Apollo 17, the last of NASA’s Apollo missions as the rocket ship was hurtling toward the moon, wasn’t the first satellite image of our planet, but it was the…
BEIJING – The People’s Republic of China released a white paper today entitled, “China’s Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief.” A title like that might encourage Christians about the prospects of sharing the Gospel in mainland China. However, this may be a classic example of not judging a white paper by its…
What if every day you turned on your faucet and risked becoming seriously ill from drinking the water? That is a question posed on the website of Water for Thirty Thousand. It is a question that needs to be asked of all of use in the Western world. We take water for granted whether it…
Chinese president, Xi Jinping, got rid of term limits, the amount of time a person can spend in office, in the People Republic of China. Once this is in place, the president is able to stay in office as long as he wants. NPR reports, “The move represents a dramatic departure from rules that have…
Several billion people around the world live without sufficient access to clean water. Over one billion people lack water supplies. Another 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year. Read Gospel for Asia’s Special Report on The Global Clean Water Crisis here. A 2014 survey of the world’s 500 largest…
MUMBAI – March 24, 2018, is World Tuberculosis Day. TB is often misunderstood, not only by the public but also in the ability to accurately track. Therefore, myths abound among the populace and statistics are often misleading, even for the experts in the field, including the World Health Organization (WHO). This is especially true of…
Gospel for Asia (GFA World) Special Report on the global problem of violence against women Written By Michelle Jimenez, GFA Staff Writer Geeta, a mother of two, lived in the slums and struggled to put food on the table every day with the meager 20 rupees her husband gave her. That amount equaled less than…
WILLS POINT, Texas – Gospel for Asia has just released a significant Special Report in conjunction with the international observance of World Water Day on March 22nd. If we take anything for granted, it is water. Like the air, it is always there. With water being so commonly available, why would there even be a…
BANGALORE – There is not always something that local citizens can do to remedy the problem of polluted water. However, residents of Bangalore who live alongside Gottigere Lake have banded together to reclaim the polluted water and return the lake to its once-pristine condition. In view of World Water Day on March 22nd, here is…
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea – Prime Minister Peter O’Neill declared a state of emergency on 01 March after the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea were hit by a massive, 7.5 magnitude earthquake on 26 February. Aid workers from Australia, New Zealand, China, Israel, and other countries around the globe have been rushing to…
NASHVILLE – Dr. Billy Kim and evangelist Luis Palau were honored at the opening of the National Religious Broadcasters annual convention in Nashville. The two renowned and highly-respected preachers were co-inductees into the NRB Hall of Fame. The two join a list of a veritable “Who’s Who” in Christian broadcasting that includes Ray Ortmund, Chuck…
NASHVILLE – Getty Music, OMF International, International Justice Mission, and Blue Letter Bible are joining together to promote the 3rd Annual Gospel Hymn Sing on Sunday, February 25, 2018. The theme and hymn this year is “Jesus Shall Reign.” The annual event, an attempt to help evangelicals understand the need to reach over two billion…
KATMANDU – At four minutes before noon on April 25, 2015, Nepal was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter about 48 miles northwest of the capital city of Katmandu. It was the worst natural disaster to hit Nepal in more than 80 years and the deadliest day in the region’s recorded history….
