A recent gang massacre in Haiti’s Artibonite region killed at least 70 people, destroyed more than 50 homes, and forced about 6,000 to flee. Even as National Police deploy armored vehicles, gangs controlling much of the capital continue their brutality, with instability spreading beyond Port-au-Prince.

“This is both a humanitarian crisis and a spiritual crisis,” says Brian Dennett with AMG International.

Families are living in constant fear. There have been kidnappings, shootings, and destruction of property — evidence of a broader collapse in Haiti, with very few basic services available. Hospitals have shut down due to the violence, and more than 1.4 million people have been displaced, fleeing their homes.

(Photo courtesy of AMG International)

As violence has overtaken the capital, many families have fled, heading south of Port-au-Prince.

“These regions, which were very quiet previously, are now pretty overwhelmed with all of these displaced people. And many of them are arriving with nothing,” adds Dennett.

As systems collapse, ministries are stepping in.

“We came up with a strategy with our team,” explains Dennett, “there to enter specific communities where there were a lot of displaced people.” They are providing food, clothing, water, and shelter while also establishing churches and hosting outreach.

The Gospel follows the aid. “People are are looking for hope. They’re looking for truth, and so as we come alongside and meet their most desperate needs, we are also sharing the love of Jesus and the Gospel with them,” says Dennett.

They have expanded Bible school work, equipping a new generation of pastors and leaders. Their hope is to reach tens of thousands of people with the Gospel, while also providing support during this difficult time.

“I think this is a really unique opportunity in Haiti for the church to rise up in a time where their systems really have collapsed,” adds Dennett.

Pray the Church will shine in the chaos, and that ministries have the resources to continue serving those in need.

Visit AMG International to partner with them in supporting the Haitian church.

Header photo courtesy of AMG International.

Guatemalan flag (Photo courtesy of Shalom de Leon via Unsplash)

Guatemala (MNN) — The well-organized gangs of Guatemala City offer a very real threat of brutality and danger in “red zone” neighborhoods.

In January, a coordinated gang uprising broke out across three different prisons in Guatemala City, which held 46 people hostage.

This uprising led to the escape of several prisoners, as well as to the death of ten police officers. Following the event, President Bernardo Arevalo of Guatemala declared a state of emergency. This resulted in law enforcement being able to use increased force against gang members.

“They were able to regain control of the prison, but it was definitely a sign of the brutality and the danger associated with these now very organized gangs,” Brian Dennett with AMG International says.

“Red Zone” neighborhoods are areas of Guatemala City known for their high crime and violence rates.

“AMG is in seven of those neighborhoods, working with thousands of kids in Guatemala City,” Dennett says. “We are a safe place for these kids to be, while mostly single moms are working during the day to help support their families. They are with us, they’re safe. We feed, provide medical assistance, lots of care for these kids, and keep them from the violence that’s happening in these communities.”

AMG also provides an annual camp for these kids where they can enjoy a completely different environment.

“Kids can escape those desperate neighborhoods and actually run and be in the woods and in a safe place,” Dennett says.

“During that time at camp each year, there’s a strong focus on sharing the gospel and learning these kids’ stories and weaving all of that through, and it becomes just a beautiful time.”

When former students of AMG share their stories today, Dennett says many of them indicate they actually gave their lives for Christ while at camp.

Please pray for children in the “Red Zone” neighborhoods of Guatemala City. Pray that, as Christians care for them daily, the kids will clearly come to see the character of God and make faith decisions to follow Him.

Pray that as children receive a break at camp from the dangerous neighborhoods they live in, their retreats will be a time of peace and a time to grow closer to the Lord.

Photo by Juan Carlos Pavon via Unsplash

Guatemala experienced a devastating earthquake in 1776.

Brian Dennett with AMG says that the organization first started working in Guatemala in February of 1976, in response to a devastating earthquake. This earthquake resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and displaced 1.2 million people, a quarter of the entire population.

“AMG responded very quickly,” Dennett says. “About a week after the earthquake, we already had people on the ground doing relief work, which has long been a way that AMG has entered a country and responded to really deep needs, while all along sharing the gospel at every opportunity.” 

After rebuilding houses and communities, AMG built a child care center.

Today, AMG has 35 schools in the country reaching thousands of students, as well as hospitals, clinics, and children’s camps. 

“(It’s) just a very vibrant gospel-centered ministry that has led thousands of people to Jesus over the years and continues to do so well,” Dennett says.

Photo provided by AMG International.

Through the ministry, countless lives have been changed.

“One very notable story when I think back over our history is the story of Nydia,” Dennett says.

Nydia grew up in a violent neighborhood in Guatemala City and began attending an AMG school at three years old. 

During the course of her education growing up, she gave her life to Jesus Christ, graduated, got a scholarship, and later went on to pursue a master’s degree in finance. 

Today, Nydia serves as the Chief Financial Officer of AMG in Guatemala City.

“Not only is she a beneficiary, but she is a passionate disciple maker herself, now mentoring and leading other young people in our program, sharing her story and really being a shining example of what the Lord can do and how you can emerge from poverty and your life can really mean something,” Dennett says.

With countless stories like Nydia’s of students who have grown up through the programming, Dennett says, “Everything we do revolves around the gospel and bringing Jesus, really our only hope, into dark situations like this.”

“50 years is just amazing, and for me to think back at just the tens of thousands of lives that have been touched and the church that has been strengthened as a result of the work there, (it’s) very emotional to think back.” 

Dennett says he spent 12 challenging and beautiful years in Guatemala with his family. 

“I saw tremendous change even while I was there,” says Dennett. “And when you see someone come really from darkness into light with the gospel, it’s just a beautiful thing.”

To join in the celebration, Dennett and the CEO of AMG, Tasos Ioannidis, and several others will be in Guatemala to speak at a large event this Saturday.

Please pray for travel safety for the celebration and for God’s continued blessing over the work happening in the country. 

Photo provided by AMG International.

“These armed groups are infiltrating schools, communities and manipulating kids as well as their families – their moms and dads – with promises of money, with future opportunity, protection and a better life, which is simply untrue. The numbers really are staggering. Last year alone, Columbia recorded 600 cases of child recruitment. And that is such a low number compared with reality. Many humanitarian groups are estimating that the number is closer to 1000s of children.”

Displaced and Vulnerable

The violence has displaced many of the families AMG serves in Soacha and Cali. This pushes them into deep poverty and which makes them more vulnerable to armed groups. Additionally, these groups are increasingly targeting kids in public schools and major cities rather than solely relying on their previous technique of kidnappings.

(Photo is a representative stock image courtesy of Alejandro Jovica via Pexels.)

“Boys are recruited as fighters or as couriers, and girls are frequently subjected to sexual violence,” Dennett says. “We’ve heard of armed groups even using kids as human shields in altercations. Just that happened weeks ago in Guaviare, where nineteen people had been killed in a military operation. Among those nineteen were seven children.”

Child Development Centers with AMG

AMG runs a child development center in Cacau, Colombia where children can be physically safe from the violence while they learn, are mentored, and cared for spiritually. The staff there has been able to work with local churches to help protect kids.

“In another case, we had a 16-year-old boy was sent to Soacha because armed groups were targeting him directly. Though he was too old for sponsorship in AMG, he found a place to belong, to heal, to grow spiritually at our center and be mentored.”

(Photo is courtesy of AMG International.)

Just like they have for that boy, AMG has offered countless children a place to thrive despite violence and pain. Dennet notes that their staff operates in difficult places and dangerous circumstances. However, God is at work!

“We’re offering security and safety, education, hot meals, spiritual formation and a lot of love – a place for these children to belong. And for many of these children, these centers are the difference between being targeted by the groups and being safe and protected. Really the difference between despair and hope.”

Please pray for these children. If you’d like to help support AMG financially, click here.

Header photo is courtesy of AMG International.

The October 6 attack saw the death of 24 people and injury of another 47 people, including many children.

This deliberate action at the hands of the government came in several waves as a way to disrupt their own people, despite fuel shortages.

2025 Myanmar earthquake relief (Photo courtesy of AMG International)

Brian Dennett with AMG International says this has happened in the context of a brutal civil war that has been raging for almost four years, with 82,000 people being killed by this government, and nearly three and a half million people displaced.

Meanwhile, many in Myanmar are still recovering from the devastating earthquake that hit the country this March.

After the earthquake, AMG launched a relief effort that has reached 36,000 people since March.

Dennett says the 6,000 families that AMG has helped heard a clear gospel presentation.

“We’ve been able to build around 50 permanent homes. 227 families are in temporary shelters, and we’re planning 40 more homes this quarter. We’ve fed thousands, provided water and sanitation to thousands more, drilled wells, provided generators, solar panels,” Dennett says.

Throughout this crisis, churches have also touched lives in Myanmar.

“Ten churches were rebuilt and repaired, and also used as sites to distribute all of these much-needed services to those who were affected. That’s serving both believers, our brothers and sisters, and also just our neighbors there. So, it’s been beautiful to see the church come together, with our faithful partners here and the church locally in Myanmar, to become centers of hope, where people are helped, and [are] also finding the hope of Christ,” Dennett says.

Working to create long-term solutions for clean water, housing, and other necessities, AMG and the locals need prayer. Please pray for our brothers and sisters and the needs of the church network in Myanmar. Pray for locals’ safety and the safety of those who are serving despite dangers.

“As we shift from more emergency relief to getting things rebuilt and supporting the community there, [pray] through all of this, that Christ’s love would be made known and that the church would be strengthened,” Dennett says. “What the enemy means for destruction, God is using to build faith and even resilience among His people there, and we’re seeing that over and over again.”

Please pray for the end of this ongoing violence in Myanmar. Pray that God will continue to take what the enemy meant for evil and use it to reveal Himself to His children, who desperately need to meet Him.

To partner with AMG, go to amginternational.org to support their work in Myanmar and in other places around the world, serving and spreading the good news of the gospel.

Header Photo provided by AMG International: Myanmar earthquake relief

AMG will soon celebrate 50 years of work in Guatemala. AMG has built schools, medical projects, clinics, and hospitals, responding to others’ needs. Today, it works with a large network of churches and schools in the country.

Over the last ten years, one of the biggest focuses within the country has been combating the widespread abuse, neglect, and trauma in the lives of children.

Even more alarming are the numbers of children, both girls and boys, suffering at the hands of sexual violence in desperate situations.

The local statistics show that on average 17 reports of child abuse are filed daily, and numbers are much higher than this because so much goes unreported.

Brian Dennett with AMG says, “Much of the abuse is happening very close to home, with seven out of 10 aggressors being family members.”

Over 10 years ago, AMG partnered with International Justice Mission (IJM) from Washington, DC, to open a child protection facility that works to rescue children, prosecute abusers, and provide Christ-centered counseling for children and their families.

AMG also provides legal support for families by working to put abusers behind bars. 

To be a part of restoration and transformation and really focusing on their dignity and hope for them is such a blessing. 

Abuse is especially common in areas of Guatemala City. (Photo by Juan Carlos Pavon via Unsplash)

Dennett says that the organization has seen great results from their work in Guatemala City, and has become a model or test site in how they will combat these issues in other countries as well.

AMG and IJM are also both working to create systemic change within the government.

“Together with IJM,” says Dennett, “We’ve co-written a groundbreaking law that speeds up the process of child abuse cases and avoids re-victimization of those kids. The law was actually passed by the Guatemalan government, by Congress, and has been a major victory for children’s rights.”

“Our vision to restore these children and build a culture where abuse is not tolerated has been just one of the greatest endeavors that we have undertaken,” says Dennett.

As AMG seeks to provide the healing of Christ, their work is seeing fruit.

At just 10 years old Camille was being abused by her grandfather. Her world collapsing, her teachers and the AMG team noticed her complete lack of joy.

“She had lost her happiness, her voice, any hope,” says Dennett. “But through our child protection program and our team there, she found healing, including her family. She received counsel, legal protection, spiritual care, and really just a lot of love surrounding her.”

Today, Camille is smiling again. She has hope and is dreaming of a future, possibly even helping other girls like her.

“Her story really represents a lot of children in Guatemala and other countries, where we’re able to rescue, heal, and really provide a new life, all wrapped in the joy of the Lord, coming to know Jesus, and who they are in Jesus. And of course, like everything we do, the gospel is at the heart of our work. The love we have for and from Jesus motivates us.”

Restoration is beyond emotion and the organization uses a spiritually motivated methodology with a child’s identity being rooted in Christ.

“Every child we work with is hearing the truth about who they are and who Jesus is, and that they are loved, they are valuable, and that they are just beautiful masterpieces created by the Lord and never forgotten,” says Dennett.

AMG is trying to raise around $50,000 to expand its program in Guatemala to provide safe environments, counseling, individual and group therapy, and spiritual formation for children, bringing relief and restoration.

Please join AMG in prayer and advocacy for these victims of abuse and give if led to break the silence and bring hope and justice.

Header Image by Kaufdex from Pixabay

Church planters in Muslim-majority Indonesia have their work cut out for them. This is especially true in Aceh Province, located in northern Sumatra. The region is nearly 100% Muslim and has been governed under Sharia law for decades.

But right where it’s hardest to live for Christ is right where one Christian and his family have gone. Brian Dennett with AMG International shares the story of a man we’ll call Dodi.

(Photo courtesy AMG International)

“Dodi is not from Aceh. He’s from a different province, and he was blessed to be born into a Christian family. But prior to really coming to the Lord himself, he ran off to the big city of Jakarta,” Dennett says.

“Through many disappointments and really coming to recognize a profound emptiness in his life, he eventually fully accepted Jesus as his Savior, started going to church, and now has a passion for reaching his people with the gospel — eliminating that same emptiness that he had.”

Through his church, Dodi learned about AMG and a Bible school that they operate in Indonesia. He went through that Bible training and has been sent out along with his wife and family. 

“He chose the Aceh people because of that distinction of being so devoutly Muslim and [having] so few Christians. That became a burning challenge and passion for him,” says Dennett.

Dodi and his wife have dedicated themselves to this mission. “They’re planning and praying to open a house church in every village of the province of Aceh.”

It’s no small task. Aceh has a population of 5 million, Dennett says. Would you pray for more gospel workers like Dodi to go among the Aceh? Then pray about supporting gospel workers like them with AMG. 

Not all church planters in the region come from a Christian background like Dodi. But that can be a strength! “The effectiveness of using Muslim-background, local Christians to reach their own people just cannot be underestimated,” says Dennett. “This works, and when approached with love and humility, many are open to hearing about Jesus.”

Find out the difference your gift can make in AMG’s Church Planting 2025 initiative here. 

Header photo courtesy of AMG International. 

This tragedy compelled Pastor Reuben Musiime and his associates to begin a radio ministry in Uganda that would share the truth of the Gospel, according to Brian Dennett of AMG International, which partners with Pastor Reuben.

“They were really devastated by that. After reflecting, they felt called to help people all over Uganda to understand the gospel and what salvation is truly about, so that they could enjoy their walk with the Lord, and that they could be confident in knowing who the Lord was and what His purpose was for them,” says Dennett.

Photo courtesy of AMG International via amginternational.org

Today, the ministry reaches around ten million listeners with messages ranging from walking with Jesus, family life, church, social issues, and more.

“The program revolves around healthy doctrinal teaching right out of the Bible, warning believers about emerging false initiatives and false prophets and cult activity in Uganda—even the prosperity gospel, which is pretty rampant all over Africa,” says Dennett, who spoke during the ministry’s series on how to be a Christian father. “We do have so much in common as brothers and sisters, no matter where we live. Our struggles and challenges are not so different.”

Radio has proven to be a powerful way to start conversations and share the truth of Jesus in parts of the world that are challenging to reach with the Gospel. To partner with media evangelism initiatives at AMG International, go to amginternational.org.

“Please be in prayer,” says Dennett, “as we seek to reach people around the world for Jesus.”

Header photo courtesy of AMG International.

While the practice of bonded labor in the country has been illegal since the 1990s, it is not commonly enforced. Debts carry on to children so the slavery is cyclical and inescapable. Entire generations are being born into slavery as families work for years to pay off their initially small loans. 

These factories, which require the laborious and exhaustive work of adults and children, are known to cause severe health issues and do not report back to families on how much debt is owed or what the interest rates are.

Brian Dennett with AMG International says, “These [kilns] are all over Pakistan and [slaves] make bricks one by one, by hand. This has been going on for years and years. It’s a long-held practice in Pakistan. People are forced to toil from dawn to dusk with quotas of what they have to produce.”

(Photo courtesy of Muhammad Muzamil via Unsplash)

Thanks to AMG and its supporters, Rasul and his three children were rescued from slavery in a brick kiln. 

“This was [his] daily nightmare,” says Dennett. “Working conditions where your lungs are filled with dust all day long. [Spending] hours in the hot sun, sunburns, [with] his own young children working right alongside him stacking bricks instead of learning to read and write.”

“Many of these families are Christians, our brothers and sisters [who are] highly discriminated against in the workplace anywhere else in Pakistan. It drives them into these terrible situations.”

The AMG team in Pakistan works with legal professionals to try and rescue these families and stop this cycle. Last year they began to raise money for a school so that the children of slaves will have an opportunity to escape the cycle.

Set to open in the next couple of months, Dennett says, “We’re going to have a beautiful, safe facility within walking distance of the brick kilns in that area. This is going to provide many children the opportunity to study in a Christian environment where the gospel is shared [and] where hope is shared. We’re just excited for this to grow and to see more and more families get out of slavery like Rasul was able to.”

The school will share the gospel and hope of Jesus and will welcome the children of slaves from all faith backgrounds. 

The school will be operated using child sponsorship funding but has a remaining need of roughly $40,000 for final startup expenses, like school supplies and furnishings and welcomes funding for this project and in general. 

Please pray for the team working in this area as the gospel is not always welcomed in Pakistan. Pray that God’s hand will be on the school and a step toward ending this labor. Pray that the resources and support for this ministry will be strong and empower the team to do good work. 

Header photo of man in Lahore, Pakistan courtesy of Lumensoft Technologies via Unsplash.

AMG International has wrestled with questions like this for years, Brian Dennett says. The organization recently tested a new model called Participatory Integrated Planning, which Dennett says has been used in other development scenarios. 

“But we wanted to heavily modify that to be church-centered [and] gospel-focused,” he notes. 

“The idea is that we take parents of sponsored children and we help them to learn how to dream, how to plan for their future, how to take stock of the resources that they have, and then consider what the gaps in their life are in realizing those dreams and hopes.”

Sharing their plans for the future (Photo courtesy of AMG International)

Other ministries are working with AMG to strengthen economics alongside its child sponsorships. Pilot efforts in Uganda have had outstanding results. On a recent trip to Uganda, Dennett met a family with a story to tell. After a year of making and pursuing plans, they had new crops, a beekeeping business, and much more. 

“They shared images that they had drawn of their living conditions a year ago, and then the plan they had come out with to transform their entire life, including their property,” he says. 

“It’s just beautiful to see the pride they had in their property, and all of this operating alongside the child sponsorship program. Then the fact that the family was also encouraged to be a part of our local church there and are growing in their faith.”

In Uganda, one woman shared at a community meeting with AMG and its partners that their local community was working together like never before, “thinking through how how to have a brighter future for the whole village, and AMG, kind of serving as a sidekick, lovingly coming alongside them, along with our partners and and leading them down this path,” Dennett says.

As always, the gospel revolves around everything AMG seeks to do among families and communities. 

“We consider these opportunities to start conversations, to love people well, and to show them Jesus through our work,” Dennett says. “To see people come from darkness to light in communities like this is just beautiful.”

Would you pray for AMG’s mission in Uganda and prayerfully consider sponsoring a child in need?

“Visit AMG kids.org and sponsor a child, and you’ll not just change the life of [that] child, but the whole community,” Dennett says. 

Click to visit amgkids.org today.

New crops of a family who took deliberate stock and made plans for their future. (Photo courtesy of AMG International)

Header photo of sponsored kids courtesy of AMG International.