“Even schools have stopped. It’s in the whole country, not just in one part,” says Roseline DeHart with For Haiti With Love. “There’s been mudslides, the mountains washing down, flooding. People’s houses were flooded up to their hips inside their house.”

(Photo of Haitians is a representative stock photo courtesy of TopSphere Media via Unsplash)

Cap-Haitien authorities have declared a state of environmental emergency for six months. They asked for aid from the central government, but they did not receive an immediate reply.

Although flooding may seem small compared to the nation’s broader security crises, DeHart says this still affects everyone. 

“There’s still the livelihood [struggle] there,” she explains. “How to feed their family, take care of their family… It’s all part of trying to live in Haiti, and the rain just makes it worse.”

For Haiti’s base is on a mountain, so they are not experiencing the same flooding others are. They have given from their storehouse of food to serve those in need. At every opportunity, For Haiti shares encouragement based in Scripture. But they hear what people are really thinking. 

“Mentally, physically, some are giving up. They’re wondering, ‘Why is this happening to Haiti so much?’” DeHart says,

“We tell them that, you know, Jesus loves them, that there is hope for Haiti, and it’s only in God. But they say it’s hard for them to believe that there really is a God after all that’s going on.

“But we tell them there is [a God] and He is watching over them and protecting them.”

If you’ve ever known that feeling of helpless despair, pray for Haiti. Ask God to bring Haitians to know and trust in His goodness and sovereign care, even in disaster upon disaster. 

Then, pray for the rain and floods to stop. Pray that ministries like For Haiti will be able to keep serving as the hands and feet of Christ.

“Pray for peace in Haiti,” DeHart says. 

Header photo of Haitian child is a representative stock photo courtesy of TopSphere Media via Unsplash. 

“From morning to night people are running but they are not getting anywhere,” one of the women said. “Poverty is great. It is everywhere and growing constantly. People are hungry and powerless to change their circumstances.”

Representative stock photo courtesy of Pouya Hajiebrahimi via Unsplash

Lana Silk with Transform Iran translated the women’s audio messages into written English. She says it was a struggle to convey in writing what their voices and tones carried. Their sorrow and burden for their country is profound. Read their messages on the web article here.

Silk says the people of Iran are the first to pay the price for their nation’s brutal regime. 

“We must remember there is an agenda that [the Iranian] government is pushing that is evil in many ways and causing havoc through the Middle East. But this is not the agenda of the people of Iran,” Silk says.

“They’re trapped in a country with overwhelmingly high inflation rates, no prospects, no jobs, [and a] mental health crisis. [If] you speak out, [if] you do anything, you’re imprisoned, you’re tortured. It’s a desperate situation, and they’re turning to desperate means such as drugs [and] prostitution to try to deal with their own pain [and] inability to put food on their plates.” 

Transform Iran broadcasts the hope of Christ through its ministry Pearl of Persia. Pearl focuses on reaching people who are victims of trauma, abuse, addiction and prostitution. It introduces Iranians to what the Jesus of the Bible says about them as human beings. 

“[Pearl of Persia’s message is] not overtly gospel [focused] at the beginning. It’s about identity, looking after mental health, dealing with depression, dealing with addiction. When they (Iranians) reach out for help, then we present them with the full picture and we offer them the opportunity to receive counseling from a Christian. They’re loving that opportunity and seeing change through that process that we can give them through trained counselors,” Silk says.

(Graphic courtesy of Transform Iran)

Would you prayerfully consider joining this critical ministry by supporting Pearl of Persia?

“We are in a position now where we are able to expand, but we don’t have enough counselors to deal with the expected increased demand on our time for counseling and therapy,” Silk shares. 

“So if you want to see us help [and] deal with this [mental health] issue, get behind Pearl of Persia and it will be an exciting adventure.”

Silk says the circumstances in Iran are dire, but God is more than able and wants to draw people to Christ. 

“We praise Him for what He’s doing and for His overwhelming love for these people. We have hope in the future because of Him,” Silk says. 

Header is a representative stock image courtesy of Shimabdinzade via Pixabay.

That’s the principle Heart for Lebanon stands on in the deeply divided Middle East. 

“The question you want to ask (is), ‘How can you get people on a Sunday morning to sit in one room and worship Jesus Christ?’” says says Elio Constantine with Heart for Lebanon. “(Keep) in mind that these people have been programmed and brainwashed for centuries and centuries that from a human perspective, they should be enemies.”

(Photo courtesy Heart for Lebanon)

Heart for Lebanon’s Middle East Center for Justice and Missions advocates for biblical responses to injustice, for the glory of God. They want people to discover how to break these cycles of violence and hatred.

“The answer is easier said than done: It’s through Christ and Christ alone,” Constantine says. “How do we do that? Through unconditional love, patience, grace, and mercy.”

Their team goes out and befriends families from different ethnic backgrounds in Lebanon — whether Syrian, Kurdish, Lebanese and others. They spend countless hours visiting, offering prayer, giving aid and showing true friendship. 

Their love has led to hearts opening to the gospel and two diverse churches gathering. 

These principles of love are Christ-centered. Constantine says they can be applied anywhere in the world.

(Photo courtesy Heart For Lebanon)

“That’s what The Middle East Center for Justice and Missions is here to advocate for. We’re here to show the picture, to show our experience, what we have done in Lebanon, how we — now, God never tells us any indicator of success — but what our hard work has yielded,” Constantine says. 

Would you take this unfolding story into your own heart? Consider who you perceive as an enemy, or who you have been taught is your enemy. Then, commit yourself to obey Christ and show your “enemies” the same love He has given you. (See 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 about this “ministry of reconciliation.”)

“That is the only way to move past and break the cycle of hatred and despair that we’ve been living in globally,” says Constantine.

“Anywhere on planet Earth, the answer is simple. But the work is much harder. We need to have the intention and the discipline to show love unconditionally to anyone we meet along the road.”

Header photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon.

Natural disasters, like the current flooding and June’s deadly 5.9 magnitude earthquake, unite with poor governance and geopolitical challenges to test Afghanistan’s people.

The United Nations warns that without an immediate influx of funding and supplies, children in Afghanistan may not survive the winter. More than 90 percent of households in Afghanistan don’t get enough to eat every day – the highest percentage worldwide.

Despair is rampant. Shahnaz, an Afghan Christian, recently connected with a man named Ali. “He was very, very sad. He asked many questions about God and the Bible and shared many things. I called him every day or every other day, and we prayed together,” Shahnaz says.

“After two weeks, he said, ‘The day you called, I decided to commit suicide, but your call gave me hope. Your call gave me light.’”

Through its 24/7 Call Center, Heart4Afghanistan offers prayer and trauma counseling to Afghan callers like Ali. The call center and Virtual Church services provide vital connecting points when in-person fellowship isn’t possible.

“When a person comes to Christ, we cannot immediately plug them into the underground Church because it’s very difficult and dangerous. We can only help them to grow in their faith,” Shahnaz says.

Heart4Afghanistan offers hope

Heart4Afghanistan also supplied 923 Dari Bibles to secret Christians inside Afghanistan in one month. Afghans searching for the true God find Him through access to His Word.

(Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran)

One new believer recently messaged Heart4Afghanistan’s team, saying:

“I don’t know Jesus much, but I enjoy His presence every day and won’t give Him up for anything in the world! The Taliban has identified me, so I have had to move. My neighbors said they (the Taliban) came with guns to my home to arrest or kill me, but I had already left.”

Though he could’ve left Afghanistan for a safer and better life, he wants to stay and witness to his fellow citizens. “I believe Jesus is alive and can protect me in all this danger and hardships!” he told Heart4Afghanistan’s team.

Heart4Afghanistan is the newest initiative from Heart4Iran. With help from supporters, it seeks to provide 24/7 Christian broadcasting and trauma counseling to Afghans in need.

Partner with Heart4Afghanistan here. Pray this ministry will receive the funding it needs to keep serving Afghanistan’s hurting people.

Header and story images courtesy of Heart4Iran.

“When despair overshadows everything around you, sometimes it is hard to find a small flicker of hope,” Camille Melki of Heart for Lebanon says.

Yet God is still at work here. Melki points to a Syrian refugee named Frenge as one example. “She found this hope in Scripture and Jesus, and she is a strong follower of Christ now, faithful and devoted to attending our worship community,” he says.

Frenge’s story

Her journey through darkness began more than a decade ago. “She is from a Muslim Arab tribal background. She and her husband and four children came to Lebanon, fleeing a war-torn country (Syria) only to find as much hardship here in Lebanon, especially in the last two years,” Melki says.

Frenge’s anger grew as Lebanon’s crisis deepened over the years. Soon, she could no longer buy medicine for her epileptic daughter.

“The refugees cannot work legally in Lebanon. Frenge works in the agricultural fields only to make less than $4 a day,” Melki says.

“In the last two years, that $4 has dropped to less than $2 a day, so her income is very limited.”

Then, Frenge met Gospel workers serving alongside Heart for Lebanon. “Heart for Lebanon provided some assistance through the (monthly) food package, but we also have provided some encouragement and social care for her sick daughter,” Melki says.

Representative image
(Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)

Soon, Gospel conversations introduced Frenge to Christ. “We have allowed Frenge to experience hope on multiple levels. [Believers] continued to care, pray, visit, encourage and support. She couldn’t find that [level of care] before in anyone else,” Melki says.

You can help refugees like Frenge move from despair to hope.

Pray for ministry leaders facing difficult decisions. “[The cost of] providing basic food and hygiene supplies each month is now increasing roughly 25- to 30-percent because of the (global) spike in prices of goods,” Melki says.

“At Heart for Lebanon, we are torn between giving less food and [the ability to] raise more (money for food packages) … We have chosen to take the hit as a ministry and continue to give the same quantity of food that we have given normally every month, regardless of the increase in costs.”

Header and story images courtesy of Heart for Lebanon.

The Norwegian Refugee Council recently surveyed vulnerable families in southern Yemen, where living costs reached an all-time high last year. Nearly half reduced their number of daily meals in 2021 because they could no longer afford food. Two-thirds now have to use firewood for cooking because propane is too expensive.

The fighting in the Hodeidah governorate forced Ridha Saleh, 35, and her ten family members to flee to the Lahj governorate, where there are other displaced families. Ridha has been struggling to provide her family with enough food as the prices are unaffordable.
(Photo, caption courtesy of Norwegian Refugee Council)

Despair haunts every household in Yemen, but the Lord is working here, too. God continues to reconcile Yemenis to Himself, and He’s uniting entire households with a shared faith in Christ.

One man, whose wife is not a believer yet, says he woke up early one morning to read Ephesians. The man thought his wife was sleepwalking when she approached him, but then she asked what he was reading. He read some of the Scripture to her, and she exploded with questions, wanting to know more. Now, they’ve started reading the Bible together.

Pray this woman will place her faith in Christ as she learns the Gospel message. Pray for a deep work of reconciliation in Yemen that will pave a pathway for peace across bitter dividing lines.

Header and story image courtesy of Norwegian Refugee Council.

“There’s a lot of pain, a lot of loss, a lot of death… and there is a tendency to ‘stuff it’ rather than face it,” observes Ron Hutchcraft of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries. “The leader of the Center for Native American Youth said this: ‘Youth suicide is the single biggest human loss a family or community can experience.

“‘It is destroying Native American communities.’”

Nonetheless, hope remains. Learn how you can help.

An overlooked tragedy

According to Hutchcraft, many Native people – young and old alike –face life’s challenges without the hope of Christ. He calls this people group the “unfinished business” of the U.S. Church.

“Only 4% know Christ after 400 years; that is one of the Great Commission tragedies.”

John Gadsby Chapman depicts Pocahontas, wearing white, being baptized Rebecca by Anglican minister Alexander Whiteaker in Jamestown, Virginia…. The scene symbolizes the belief of Americans at the time that Native Americans should accept Christianity and other European ways.
(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

This challenge is rooted in history.  Misunderstandings about God and generational mistrust are critical components.

“I’ve been on about 100 reservations and [On Eagles Wings has] been in Canada and Alaska, and all over the continental US. Wherever you go, it’s true: Jesus is perceived to be the white man’s God,” Hutchcraft explains.

“Tragically, His name has been associated with so many of the things that they’ve lost… so much was taken from them in the name of Christianity.”

Through a recent media release, he adds, “No people on this continent have lost so much. They lost their land, their language, their family unit – and their lives. The estimated 10 million Indigenous people here when Columbus came had shrunk to only 200,000 by 1900.”

Hope for Native America

(Screenshot via On Eagles’ Wings / Warrior Leadership Summit 2018)

Ron Hutchcraft Ministries (RHM) mobilizes believers to communicate Christ to the lost in their world. Through On Eagles’ Wings, RHM equips Native believers to reach their peers.

As described here, On Eagles’ Wings is a movement of Native American young people bringing hope to their communities through Jesus Christ. Each summer, a team of Native youth travels to reservations across North America following a week-long conference called Warrior Leadership Summit.

WLS 2019 begins next Monday. Help bring hope to Native America by sponsoring a Native team member. We’ll continue the conversation later this week.

Header image courtesy of istock via ICTMN.com

This was the last Native American community the On Eagles’ Wings team visited for their Summer of Hope outreach — and it was one of the darkest places the ministry has been to in a long time.

The On Eagles’ Wings team consisted of 46 young Native American men and women from 28 tribes. They took the Gospel to 12 Native communities this summer, traveled over 3,000 miles, and led 29 rescue events.

(Photo and header photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

Ron Hutchcraft of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries traveled with the team and says it was incredible to watch Native young people reach their peers with life-saving hope. Many of the team members came from broken pasts themselves and could share how Jesus made all the difference in their stories.

Going to share that Good News with their peers wasn’t easy. And yet, Hutchcraft says, “They are overcoming their fear to go out and tell their people in hostile environments about Jesus. They understand that they are the best people to reach their own people tribe to tribe. They understand the importance of fervent prayer. They are not defined by the pain of their past. They have decided to be defined by who they really are — as sons and daughters of the Most High God.”

At each Native community they visited, On Eagles’ Wings worked with local Christians who are ready to follow-up with people who make a commitment to Christ.

“We’ve been back just long enough to start to get reports back of what’s happened when the team left and they’re having the events that we suggest they do to continue the momentum so that a movement can be born on that reservation.”

When the young Native believers with On Eagles’ Wings arrived at the last Native community — which was the most hope-starved community they visited — they were weary from a long summer of outreach.

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

However, their biggest challenge was still before them — a challenge that would become their greatest victory for the name of Christ.

Hutchcraft explains, “It’s a reservation where the tribe has declared a crisis in drug trafficking. We told our team they couldn’t wear sandals because of all the drug needles in the grass where we had our events.”

The local children behaved wildly, always fighting and even attacking the team’s equipment. However, the reason why these kids were acting out broke the team members’ hearts.

“A tribal elder explained it. She said, ‘Most of these kids have been abused, most of them sexually abused, and their parents don’t want them home ever because they just want to do drugs at home. They are in essence orphans with parents, just trying to raise themselves.’”

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

Hutchcraft shares, “That’s the environment this team came into. Now, they know broken because they have lived broken. They told their hope stories and they took time building relationships and expressing the love of Christ by the way they treated people.”

Through sports outreaches, fun prizes, music, and being willing to just sit and talk with people, the team members saw hearts slowly start to open. They had their biggest audiences of the summer show up for their events. But the best was yet to come.

On the last night, young Native men and women with On Eagles’ Wings shared their hope stories publicly and how Jesus saved their lives. It struck a chord.

“The night of the public invitation in this most broken of places was the largest harvest of the Summer of Hope as people surged forward to give their lives to Christ in this desperate place.”

The team saw double the number of commitments to Christ here than in any other Native community they previously visited.

In all, when the Summer of Hope was over, 601 Native American young people from 12 communities embraced Jesus as their Savior.

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

So who were some of the young men and women who started living new lives for Jesus? Hutchcraft says, “One was the girl who saw her sister commit suicide and had to cut her down. She gave her heart to Christ this night when the team was there.

“The five girls with cut marks all over their arms from trying to bleed out their pain. The one who had carved the word ‘alone’ in her arm. She’s not alone anymore. All five of those girls were led to Christ by one of our young warriors.

“The boy who said, ‘My dad left, my mom died, and I was just beaten up by 15 kids.’ [He] gave his life to Christ that night when he thought there was no hope.

“A relative of the boy who was set on fire, who came very much from the centuries-old traditions of the tribe, but that night he chose Christ as his Savior.

“The young girl who was molested on Christmas Eve and has tried to deal with the pain by cutting, mutilation, [and] drugs. Well, we’ve got girls who have experienced the same thing and one of them led that girl to Christ.

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

“[A] young man came,… he is the last of four people in his family left. The others have died terribly and he had even attempted suicide the week before, but God spared his life so that the following week he could give that life to Christ instead of taking it. He was kept alive until we got there and I believe he was kept alive by people’s prayers.

Hutchcraft reflects, “So in those hundreds of Native young people choosing Christ, our stories are people like this — answers to the prayers of God’s people…. This, more than anything else, is obviously a report on what Jesus did because only Jesus could have broken through on these places.”

The Summer of Hope with On Eagles’ Wings may be over, but this is just the beginning for many of the team members. Out of 46 Native men and women from the team, as many as 28 of them may be headed to Bible school or getting Bible training this fall.

“These young warriors are the object of some of the most severe and relentless attacks by the enemy of any people I know. There is so much in their background that Satan wants to use to try to drag them away from this incredible calling that they have stepped up to. They are the point of the spear of a powerful move of Jesus among the First People of this continent.”

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

To continue propelling this Gospel movement among Native Americans, Hutchcraft emphasizes the need for God’s people to pray.

“Please pray for their spiritual protection. Pray for their strength to stand in toxic environments. Pray that what they experienced this summer of how God could really use them would turn into a calling to spend their life reaching their people for Christ.

“Secondly, pray for the people on the reservations where we have been who are working on follow-up right now to secure for the future these commitments that young people made…. We’re praying that God will use the efforts of these local people who are using a strategy we’ve given them that will cause there to be an ongoing light for Christ to a younger generation for years and decades to come.”

For his third and final prayer request, Hutchcraft references Philippians 1:6, “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

Hutchcraft asks, “Let’s pray that prayer for the young warriors of On Eagles’ Wings. Let’s pray that prayer for the people who invited us to these reservations who are now trying to build a long-term youth ministry out of that momentum. Let’s pray that prayer for the young men and women who gave their lives to Christ this summer, that the good work God has begun, He will carry on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Click here to learn more about On Eagles’ Wings!

Today, we’re bringing you part one of Jonathan’s story. He recently went through Set Free Ministries for counseling and wants to share his story so more people can know there is hope.

Jonathan’s childhood was difficult. He remembers going through physical and verbal abuse when he was young. The spiritual precedent set by his parents wasn’t exactly stable. His mother dabbled in New Age spirituality and other occult practices like fortune-telling and communicating with the dead.

Eventually, Jonathan’s dad got custody of him. But there was a lot of pain.

“My mother left when I was six-years-old, and it really left me broken. I didn’t get over it until I was probably 18 or 19-years-old. So you know, my whole life, I went around trying to fill this void with anything you could really imagine.”

Later on, his father became a freemason, a decision that brought more upset into Jonathan’s life.

He says, “When he joined the masons, I initially saw a huge change in him. He became very manipulative and controlling. Really, it scared me because everything about my dad had kind of changed. It was almost like he wasn’t the person I knew anymore.”

Jonathan had heard of Jesus. In fact, his grandfather was a minister. He even attended church with his dad for a while. But he didn’t run to Jesus with his pain.

Instead, he got involved with the wrong group of friends. Looking back he even recognizes the influence the music he listened to had on his life.

“I don’t care what anybody says, what you listen to is ultimately going to define the type of person you become. It’s no different than what you watch — the books that you’re reading. What you put in is what you [ultimately] get out.”

Jonathan was looking for comfort. He wanted to get his dad’s attention. So at a very early age, he began turning to cutting. Not long after, at age 14 or 15, Jonathan began experimenting with drugs. However, when they didn’t work, he turned to heavier drugs.

“A little curiosity, it’ll really take a huge hold on your life — just that little bit. And the next thing you know, you’re spiraling out of control. It seemed at the time that you — you know, you feel like you know what you’re doing, which really isn’t the case at all.”

Things get a little darker from here, but God is in Jonathan’s story. We will share the second part of his story tomorrow.

(Photo courtesy of SOAR International)

Historically, Russia has struggled with alcohol abuse. In 2014, the BBC reported a study where 25 percent of men died before age 55. The study attributed most of these deaths to alcohol. In fact, according to Rehab International, there are 20 million people in Russia who are dependent upon alcohol.

The same is true in the Far East, even in locations that are hard to reach. In Chukotka, a federal subject of Russia in Provideniya, it’s no different.

According to the International Journal of Circumpolar Health, some of the major concerns in this region include alcoholism, suicide, underdeveloped health care, and poverty.

We spoke with Joanna Mangione of SOAR International who visited the region years ago. She describes Provideniya as a dark, treeless tundra — harsh and barren in its appearance. SOAR works with a church near the remote villages of Chukotka. Alcohol, especially among indigenous Eskimo and Chukchi people, has been an evident challenge in their work.

Mangione says, “You will see, or at least I saw, young children on the street drinking. So they’re exposed to it at a very young age. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of hope. The struggle, even sometimes with the Church, is keeping people strong in the faith — the instinct is to just fall back into their old ways and go back to doing whatever they want.”

But even in this dark corner of the earth, there is a light. Recently, we shared a prayer request with you from SOAR International for God to open new doors for ministry when others have closed in Russia. That is what He has done for them in Provideniya.

Paperwork challenges make it difficult for SOAR’s team from Alaska to visit this area, but God has brought a family in from Moldova who can minister full time. In 2012, Ruslan and Olya came to serve there under SOAR.

In 2012, the church needed some repairs. (Photo courtesy of SOAR International).

“They serve in the small church there in Provideniya. So they help, pastor the church, coordinate, [and] take care of the church and the church members. And they have continued since the U.S. teams haven’t been able to visit and go into Provideniya and do the camps we used to do — they have taken up the mantel of conducting Bible clubs and camps and Bible studies and such. So they have just kind of continued to keep the light on — the Light of Christ on,” Mangione explains.

And this light is very much needed. In fact, according to the Joshua Project, only 0.7 percent of the Chukchi, one of the people groups in this area, are evangelical Christians. Mangione says in Provideniya, people are just trying to survive. There isn’t much there as far as livelihood goes, and so many times adults have to travel to find work.

“You often will have kids living months at a time by themselves. It is a very harsh climate, a very harsh way of living, so it makes it very difficult to live there and therefore to have missionaries there. They face a lot of difficulties and struggles with trying to reach these people who are so set in their ways, but also just have a hard time believing there is such a hope that is being spoken to them.”

Even worse, the villages are often cut off from the rest of the world because of weather conditions during both the summer and winter. They can only be accessed by special vehicles.

God provided a family to serve. (Photo courtesy of SOAR International)

Recently, they were able to purchase the vehicles needed to do outreach to the remote villages.

“It’s a wonderful thing to see that God has provided and their ministry is growing and reaching out to the surrounding people.”

Clearly, the work is an uphill battle, and that is what makes your prayers so important.

“Pray that the church would continue to grow. Pray for the members of the church, that they would remain strong, that they would just be filled with the Spirit, filled with God’s strength, filled with God’s love.”

Also, pray for the missionary family as they’ve had recent health issues. Pray for their protection, strength, and perseverance.

If you’d like to support this project financially, click here.