BURKINA FASO, WEST AFRICA — When she was 13 years old, Habiba* was kidnapped by Islamic extremists in Burkino Faso. She eventually escaped, but she is still haunted by the traumatic memories of the kidnapping. *Name changed for security reasons Habiba*: I still remember the scene.I can’t sleep at night. I have nightmares. Sometimes I…
LOVES PARK, IL — A U.S. mission is rushing to support Ukrainian churches racing to help families impacted by the catastrophic dam collapse in southern Ukraine as a counter-offensive gets underway. “People are desperate for water, food, and a way to charge their phones as flood waters surround them and the counter-offensive goes on,” said…
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO — Stephanie* was 18 years old when members of the ADF, an Islamic extremists group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, targeted her town. After five months in captivity, she escaped and walked to freedom. Although she is still recovering from her ordeal, she can still see God’s provision in her…
EGYPT — Christian charity Help The Persecuted has helped more than 1000 Sudanese refugees who have fled the conflict in their country to start new lives in Egypt. As well as providing medical help, food and water they are sharing the hope of Christ and offering prayers for everyone they help. As thousands continue to…
UKRAINE —Samaritan’s Purse food distributions in Ukraine are accomplishing so much more than simply providing nutritious food that is in short supply. More than 161 million pounds of groceries have been given out so far, and Mariya, for one, has given her life to the Lord as a result. When the war left her with…
LIBERIA — Dozens of Liberian beekeepers are learning the trade through the Beekeeping for Economic Empowerment (BEE) program. The BEE program is a Samaritan’s Purse livelihoods project that teaches families new skills to harness the natural abundance in their communities, to increase their income, and to make a better life for their families. J Sheriff…
EGYPT — Christian charity Help The Persecuted has helped more than 950 Sudanese refugees who have fled the conflict in their country to start new lives in Egypt. As well as providing medical help, food and water they are sharing the hope of Christ and offering prayers for everyone they help. As thousands continue to…
SHAWNEE, OKLAHOMA — Neil and Zana, married for 48 years, had always wanted to serve together. Once they retired, they discovered that volunteering with Samaritan’s Purse on disaster relief deployments was a perfect match for them.The couple recently served in Shawnee, Oklahoma, to help bring relief to heartbroken homeowners whose properties were badly damaged when…
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…
LOVES PARK, IL — A one-of-a-kind podcast featuring inspiring stories from Ukraine, Russia, former Soviet countries and Israel will give Americans the hope they’re looking for, its producers say. “We’re delivering an entirely new type of podcast,” said Michael Johnson, president of Slavic Gospel Association (SGA, www.sga.org) that produces “Encountering Hope – The Podcast.” “They’re…
NIGERIA — In the 2014 Nigeria kidnappings, Boko Haram kidnapped over 270 girls from their school in Chibok in northern Nigeria. Nine years on, nearly 100 girls are still missing, and their parents are in agony. Open Doors speaks to those mothers and fathers as they continue to deal with the trauma of their children…
WILLS POINT, TX — A new three-month campaign aims to help some of the poorest families in Africa and Asia “sew their way out of poverty” — one stitch at a time. Texas-based mission GFA World’s “Sewing Their Way Out of Poverty” campaign aims to provide 500 new sewing machines and vocational training for 500…
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…
NIGERIA — This month, Leah Sharibu from Nigeria turns 20. Her teenage years were spent mostly in captivity after bravely refusing to renounce Jesus after she was among more than 100 girls kidnapped in February 2018. Open Doors caught up with her mother, Rebecca, to find out how she and her husband are doing as…
NAMIBIA — As God works through Operation Christmas Child to reach the remote Himba tribe in Namibia, southwest Africa, they are hearing, believing, embracing, and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Pastor Rizera Hipakua – Volunteer: Jesus Christ is my Savior. He’s my personal Savior. I really love Jesus. I want to follow Jesus…
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…
LOVES PARK, IL — The Ukraine war and growing desperation in hard times are driving a surge in the number of children expected to flock to Bible camps this summer across the former Soviet Union, a region once steeped in atheism. Amid fears the Ukraine conflict could escalate at any moment, Illinois-based Slavic Gospel Association…
GRAND GEDEH, LIBERIA — Samaritan’s Purse is helping mothers and children in Liberia where malnutrition and infant mortality rates are high by providing access to safe delivery rooms and critical maternal healthcare training. Daniel Ruiz – Samaritan’s Purse: The needs for mother and children across Liberia are many. Malnutrition rates are high. Maternal and infant…
COLOMBIA — Like many of the youth in Colombia, Reina* was recruited to the illegal armed groups who fight to gain and control territory for drug trafficking and other criminal activities. Now according to Open Doors in her forties, Reina has found faith in Christ and left her old way of a criminal life behind….
HOUSTON — On Saturday, April 29, churches and parachurch organizations from across the region descended on metro Houston to lend a helping hand to neighbors enduring varying levels of hardship. In partnership with Love Has No Limits (LHNL) for 1DayHouston, CityServe International resourced 96 local churches so they can provide tangible support as part of…
WILLS POINT, TX – KP Yohannan, founder and director of GFA World (Gospel for Asia), whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, and Metropolitan of Believers Eastern Church, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide — shares on the impact of George Verwer, his life and ministry, radically changing lives….
TURKEY — Samaritan’s Purse has distributed over 3,500 tents and hygiene kits to families in Turkey whose homes were badly damaged or destroyed when devastating earthquakes struck the region. Fatma Daglen – Beneficiary: Life is very hard for us right now because most of Hatay has been destroyed in the earthquake. The working conditions have…
IRPIN, UKRAINE — On the second day of their mobile dental clinic the team from Kyiv Jewish Messianic Congregation had already treated 27 patients in Irpin, an area near Kyiv badly hit by the war. Dentist: This is the 2nd day of our mobile dental clinic field trip. In total, 27 people received treatment. Each…
WILLS POINT, TX — Few people knew George Verwer, legendary founder of Operation Mobilization (OM) who died April 14, in the same way as KP Yohannan, founder of GFA World, who first met Verwer at the age of 17. More than a half-century ago, Yohannan, the self-described “skinny village teenager,” responded to Verwer’s radical invitation…
ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI — Samaritan’s Purse volunteers in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, are helping clean up properties after a fierce tornado swept through the area and damaged or destroyed homes. But mainly they are “loving on homeowners” as one volunteer said and sharing with them the hope of Christ. Daniel Gerardo – Volunteer: I’m Daniel with…
NORTHERN IRAQ — In 2014 when ISIS entered Mosul persecuted Iraqi Christian Namir was forced to flee the city with his family and seek safety in Northern Iraq in Erbil. But he struggled to earn a living to feed his family until he received help from Christian charity Help The Persecuted to start up his…
SOUTH EAST ASIA — Jade* is an Open Doors worker who supports Muslim-background believers in a country in south east Asia. Tragically, she lost her fiancé in an attack on a church. But despite the tragedy, it’s because of his example that Jade herself came to enter the ministry. *Name changed for security reasons Jade…
UKRAINE —Samaritan’s Purse is providing warming centers in Ukraine where people can come to get warm, gain access to news, charge their phones, eat a hot meal, and find shelter during bombings. Ryan Lane – Samaritan’s Purse: Samaritan’s Purse is here in southeastern Ukraine, and indeed, all across the country, setting up warming centers like…
COLOMBIA — María Alejandra, a Venezuelan migrant, praises God for her new community in Colombia and for the physical and spiritual help that the Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse has provided to her family and neighbors. María Alejandra: They are my two daughters. They are my reason to live, and because of them, I keep going….
UKRAINE — Throughout the war in Ukraine, Great Commission Media Ministries has coordinated the evacuating of many children and families from some of the worst-hit parts of the East of the country. Here’s just one story of how Hannu Haukka and his team rescued Andrei’s family and many others from near Mariupol and brought them…
AFGHANISTAN — Sitara* was already studying in a different country when the Taliban forcibly took control of Afghanistan in August 2021. Here she shares what life is like for the women who remain in Afghanistan. *Name changed for security reasons. Sitara* – Afghanistan Christian: Taliban took Afghanistan and everything changed, like the days changed to…
WILLS POINT, TX — Few people knew George Verwer, legendary founder of Operation Mobilization (OM), in the same way as KP Yohannan, founder of GFA World. From the earliest OM days in Asia, Yohannan recalls the unprecedented impact Verwer made on global evangelical missions over 60 years in the world’s hardest places. No One Tells…
ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI — Becky Myles praises God for the Samaritan’s Purse volunteers in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, who cleaned up debris on her property and searched for precious keepsakes after her house was destroyed by a tornado. Becky Myles – Homeowner: You hear all the potential of a tornado, but you never really think a…
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…
ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI — Samaritan’s Purse has staff members and a Disaster Relief Unit in the Rolling Fork/Silver City area of Mississippi to help hurting homeowners in the wake of a devastating EF-4 tornado. Serving as the hands and feet of Jesus, they will cut up trees, tarp roofs, and sift through debris. Shannon Daley…
TURKEY — Samaritan’s Purse is installing hygiene containers in Turkey, each complete with three showers, three toilets, and sinks. These facilities will be maintained for up to a year through their partnerships in Turkey. Reg Smallwood – Samaritan’s Purse: I’m here with Samaritan’s Purse in Antakya, Turkey, formerly called Antioch. What I’ve noticed around here…
A good friend and well-known Christian theologian visited our work in Asia. He came to one of the leprosy colonies, filled with people who are in horrible pain and suffering. They are so alone, rejected by everyone, without any hope of relief. Then, he was invited to share something to those who had gathered, share…
BAKERSFIELD, CA — On Saturday, March 25, CityServe International officially launched CityServe Costa Rica in Carrillo Canton. In partnership with the Mission in Action Foundation, CityServe Costa Rica has hit the ground running with a robust plan to resource a network of local churches to help impoverished communities. CityServe Costa Rica opened with 8 containers…
WILLS POINT, TX — Mission agency GFA World (Gospel for Asia) now provides a water lifeline to nearly 40 million desperate people – a number roughly equal to the entire population of California. Globally, 663 million people lack clean water. Every year, around 500,000 people — including 360,000 children under the age of five —…
ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI — Dozens of Samaritan’s Purse volunteers are assisting homeowners in Rolling Fork and in Amory, Mississippi, where a long band of powerful thunderstorms, spawning multiple tornadoes, carved a 100-mile path of destruction across the Magnolia State March 24, damaging and destroying hundreds of homes and knocking out power across Mississippi. Kathy Martin…
LOVES PARK, IL — Courageous pastors, some wearing bulletproof vests, are risking everything to deliver life-saving aid to desperate people living near the frontline of the war in Ukraine. “Jesus used to go where there was pain, where it was difficult, where people needed him,” said armor-wearing Pastor Vlad, as he and church members distributed food…
WILLS POINT, TX — Mission agency Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is challenging people to “pray tenaciously for the world’s vulnerable women like never before” — including the more than 250,000 women and girls who’ve disappeared without a trace in the U.S. As the annual International Women’s Day takes place in March, the Federal Bureau of…
COLOMBIA — Samaritan’s Purse is serving some of the millions of Venezuelans living in Colombia through mobile medical units, which provide care for pregnant women, family medical care, and safety education for vulnerable populations. Tom Ovington – Samaritan’s Purse: What we have found here in Colombia is that there are literally two million Venezuelans that…
BAKERSFIELD, CA — This week, a team from CityServe International joined Dream City Church in Phoenix, alongside hundreds of leaders from all around the world, during a three day leadership training at the Dream Conference. At the conference, CityServe was pleased to announce a new global partnership with Dream City Church and various Dream Centers…
ALEPPO, SYRIA — Many people in Syria felt abandoned when they saw the response to help them was too slow following the devastating earthquake last month which left thousands homeless.However Christian charity Help The Persecuted was quick to mobilize their team to provide vital supplies as well as work alongside local churches to also care…
MALAWI —Hours and even minutes are crucial when it comes to cholera. Without timely treatment, this disease can quickly claim the lives of children and adults. In the southern African nation of Malawi, more than 45,000 people have come down with this life-threatening illness in recent months, and sadly, over 1,500 of these patients did…
LOVES PARK, IL — Thousands of abandoned and unwanted orphans in orphanages across Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet countries are highly vulnerable to recruitment by organized crime groups, a U.S. mission agency says. “When children turn 18 they age out of the orphanages and have to fend for themselves,” said Michael Johnson, president of…
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…
COLORADO SPRINGS— YWAM Emerge’s aquaponics program, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is creating a global model that is being replicated throughout the world. The program helps local ministries to generate income and a healthy food source that is sustainable and reproducible. Josh Emhoff – director of YWAM Emerge: When my wife and I decided to…
