Prestonwood Baptist Church Pastor Jack Graham (second from right) presents a $1 million dollar gift to IMB President Paul Chitwood (second from left) Sunday, Aug. 1. Also pictured: L. Gilberto Corrdera, pastor of Prestonwood en Español (left) and John Brady, IMB’s Vice President for global engagement (right).
TOKYO (BP) – Japan’s population is aging. Almost 30 percent of its population is 65 years old and older. This statistic is affecting church planting, church health and church growth. International Mission Board missionaries and Japanese Christians must answer the question, “Who will lead the next generation of believers?”
Many Central Asian refugees found themselves grounded in one country on the refugee highway, routes often traveled by refugees crossing country borders, in 2015 and 2016 and the grounding continues due to the pandemic. This is the longest missionaries William and Darlene King*, who serve with the International Mission Board, have had with refugees whose journey on the refugee highway is somewhat of a modern-day telling of Homer’s Odyssey.
Jose and his wife, Juanita*, were Spanish speaking immigrants to Israel, working in a newly opened coffee shop when Ben and Christy walked in that spring evening.
We are now in the third wave, and it is the highly contagious Delta variant. So many people are getting sick. In fact, my husband tested positive this week, and my daughter and I are experiencing symptoms, so we are all in quarantine for two weeks.
In a small town near Madrid, Spain, a missionary couple, Walker and Becca Welch, walked around a university hoping to meet Chinese students and share the gospel. Usually, the town’s university hosts more than 300 Chinese exchange students every year. Unfortunately, due to COVID 19, the Welches have had few opportunities so far this year to get to know them.
Today, a Christian couple sits in prison. Arrested for sharing the gospel, they wait for another trial date to face the authorities and angry family members. They’ve been to trial already but have not yet heard a final verdict or sentencing. Trials are often postponed and drawn out, while government leaders look for further evidence against Christians and hope that believers will renounce their faith in Christ.
Wally Contreras of First Baptist Church Gahanna, Ohio, had a passion for missions before he became pastor in January 2020.
Traumatic experiences are part of the context for many missionaries, pastors and leaders who currently work with people who have been affected by some type of tragedy, especially in this time of pandemic. The suffering and the aftermath left by these experiences are part of the challenge that the Christian worker faces in presenting the message of the gospel.
A Uyghur family prepares dinner over an open fire.
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