Currently, about a dozen of India’s 28 states have anti-conversion laws, according to Greg Musselman of Voice of the Martyrs, Canada. Most of these laws have been implemented after Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took up power within the Indian government. 

“It is definitely intensifying,” says Musselman. “People are coming to the Lord, and then that can, you know, put these evangelists and pastors and those that have converted into great danger. But there’s also the daily aspect, the psyche within the Christians to keep their faith very quiet and silent. And that was not the case, you know, 10, 20 years ago, when you could be a Christian, you could meet openly, no problem.”

In the northern state of Uttarakhand, an amendment to the existing anti-conversion legislation was passed into law this past summer, introducing more stringent penalties along with a ban on digital propaganda

“Uttarakhand is the first state to include digital media, and this of course now is a major concern, because social media is used for evangelization. You know, Christians there want to share their faith.” 

In the state of Chhattisgarh’s capital, Raipur, more than 200 house churches were notified that worship gatherings within private homes are no longer permitted, restricting worship to officially registered buildings. 

“They allege these illegal conversions are taking place in these house churches, and the reality is that people are converting and coming to Jesus,” says Musselman. “One pastor was detained for violating that order, and then a legal petition objecting to the police directive has now been filed. There’s court hearings going on, and so it is putting pressure on the church.”

Anti-conversion laws can also make it illegal to use anything that could be considered allurement to convert others to Christianity. This can include preaching about heaven or hell—even caring for the poor and those who are dying would be considered “bribing people, because you’re showing compassion and kindness,” says Musselman. 

The impact, he says, is that “many Christians are being arrested. Leaders are being pressured. They’re stopping these house church meetings.”

“But the positive side is that the gospel is going forward. In spite of all these restrictions, these anti-conversion laws, the pressure and everything that’s happening, the gospel is still going forward. And, you know, our Indian brothers and sisters are aware that this is a spiritual battle and that they need to be praying. They need to be asking the Lord for wisdom.”

Spreading awareness is important, although Musselman acknowledges the voices of advocates are often drowned out by politics. Overall, he emphasizes the importance of prayer. 

“In terms of where we go now, is prayer. We need to be praying for our brothers and sisters, and then through that, really praying that God will give wisdom to our brothers and sisters in India.”

Header photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs Canada

“They say the blood of the martyrs [has] so fertilized the soil of Africa that everywhere you plant the gospel, it germinates,” says Ray Mensah with OneWay Africa. 

With that missionary history of sacrifice comes responsibility.

“The Bible says to him that much is given, much is expected or required. So now that Africa has the largest number of Christians, Africa has to play a significant role in world evangelization,” Mensah says.

“Africa cannot continue to be a mission field. Africa has to be a mission force. We believe we are [a] mission force but want to be [a] full-scale mission force, sending praying, supporting in every area.”

That’s why Mensah and other African leaders are planning the Africa Missions Conference September 23-27, 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya.

(Photo courtesy of Annie Spratt via Unsplash)

“It will be a place for networking, for partnerships, for new movements to rise up,” he says, adding, “We’re hoping that some of the denominational heads in Africa will come and churches that are not missionary, and they will catch the fire for missions.”

The conference carries an open invitation for you to come in person. Mensah calls for anyone around the world interested in missions to attend — whether field workers, leaders, intercessors, trainers or [those] carrying other roles.

“I challenge all those with passion for missions to stand with us globally. Especially also if someone is listening and you are African in the diaspora… we are calling you, come!” Mensah says, sharing that many nationalities will be represented. “Be part of the mission movement. God is doing wonderful things in Africa, and we invite you, come back home.”

Jesus Film Riders (Image courtesy of OneWay Africa)

The conference committee is also praying that the gathering will lead to national missions associations being launched in every sub-Saharan country. These have already begun in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya and Malawi in the past decade or so.

“We have realized that mission movements, or national mission associations, help to push or propel missions in the country to reach the unreached,” Mensah says, adding, “Once those movements are formed, it will be a turning point in missions in Africa.”

Mensah sees [that] God is raising every part of His Church to be active. Learn more about the conference and register here. 

“I believe the Africa Missions Conference will be that part of the global Church in action, and Africa taking its place and playing its role, together with North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Oceania, together for the Great Commission to take the gospel to the ends of the earth,” he says. “Amen!”

Header photo of Jesus Film Rider courtesy of OneWay Africa.

(Screenshot courtesy Global Advance)

South Asia (MNN) — Two weeks ago, the Pakistani Army started shelling Indian positions along the Line of Control, or more accurately: the border between India and Pakistan.

Ceasefires, violations, control. That’s what a decades-long conflict is boiling down to. Recent peace talks haven’t made a huge headline splash, maybe because the peace talks weren’t following the traditional diplomatic lines.

In fact, the talks were part of a training conference hosted by Global Advance, and they involved not politicians, but church leaders. Global Advance founder David Shibley explains, “Global Advance was able to convene 10 delegates from Northern India–very strategic church leaders–and 10 delegates from Pakistan. We came together in a third neutral nation for what we called a ‘Tri-Nation Summit.'”

Despite the state conflict, says Shibley, “There was no contention between the delegates at all. In fact, it was wonderful to see what the Holy Spirit did in a real unity of heart and purpose to see this area of the world be discipled for the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Here’s one reason why: these were leaders of the body of Christ. The biblical message of peace they share unites them. It was born out of a Lausanne committee meeting several years back. Putting feet on the dream took longer. “We convened 16 months ago the first Tri-Nation Summit. This was the second one following up and allowing for a greater development of strategy for each one of those nations.” As the 2013 Summit concluded, delegates agreed to pray and fast on the third day of each month, which laid the foundation for the 2015 gathering.

(Photo courtesy Global Advance)

Once the leaders came together, they discovered the joy of common purpose. In fact, the joint prayer meetings could be considered a breakthrough for the Gospel in this region. It puts the phrase “peace talks” in a whole new light. “They met together individually…as national representatives and came away with fresh new plans for fresh evangelistic initiatives in each of their three nations, and also for very creative ways to continue praying for each other.”

Shibley goes on to note that some of the leaders witnessed an answer to prayer 16 months ago that gave them confidence to move forward. “Immediately after the summit, India and Pakistan lessened their border restrictions. We think that was significant, and we think that it was an indication that the Lord really is up to something in that part of the world.”

Referencing The Kathmandu Commitment from 2013, Shibley says, “They came away with an emphasis in two areas: first of all, being sure that each unengaged, unreached people group would be reached. Most of them are targeting the year 2020. Secondly, [they came away with] a fresh commitment to the mentoring of young men and women who feel called into Christian vocational ministry.” They renewed that commitment once more. Global Advance is coming alongside church leaders with vital resources. The challenges these church leaders face carry more risk than ever before. “In certain pockets of these areas, the Church is growing at unprecedented rates, which is also increasing hostility against the Church and against Christianity in general. So, we need to be praying that believers will stand boldly, that they will be winsome, that they’ll be gracious.”

Shortly after the nation had observed a minute of silence to
remember the 13,000 people killed in the March 11 disaster and the 15,000 who
officially remain missing, buildings began swaying and the disorientation of
another temblor began to build.

Electricity had been partially restored across a huge area
of northern Japan from the April 7 aftershock, but the latest tremor took parts
of the system offline again, including the critical systems at the Fukushima-Daiichi
nuclear plant.

In response, the Japanese government widened the evacuation
zone around a stricken nuclear plant. This last month has seen the worst tragedies to envelop the country
since World War II.

Wycliffe Associates is trying to fund
some aid efforts to the quake survivors. Through its Missionary 911 fund,
Wycliffe Associates helps the work of Bible translation move forward in the
face of such emergencies as natural disasters and civil unrest by providing
assistance that can include temporary housing, evacuations, and the replacement
of some personal belongings.

Wycliffe Associates' Bible translation
partner in Japan, Wycliffe Japan, is scrambling to help meet the most basic of
needs of those around them and is asking for help with funds. Akira, director
of Wycliffe Japan, sent this urgent request: "Please remember in your prayers
both the people of Japan and the churches in Japan at this difficult time." He
reported that all personnel and their immediate families who were
in Japan at that time  thankfully have been accounted for and are safe.

"The initial relief work is going on,
but it will take years and years to restore those affected churches," says
Akira. "That is why Wycliffe Japan needs our support so that Christians and
churches who survived the disaster will be restored quickly and be able to
reach out to the community as the light of the world," states Bruce Smith,
president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. The most critical needs include
things like food, temporary housing, replacement of lost belongings, clothing,
and blankets.

Smith adds that with so much recent
turmoil in the world, the organization's Missionary 911 fund can get depleted
quickly.

Wycliffe Associates involves people in
accelerating the work of Bible translation through their time, talents, and
treasure. Because millions of people around the world are still waiting to read
the Scriptures in the language of their heart, Wycliffe Associates is working
as quickly as they can to translate every verse of the Bible into every tongue
to change every heart. The organization partners with nationals, mother tongue
translators, staff, volunteers, and supporters to direct and fund these
efforts, as well as provide logistics, networking, and technical support.
Through a growing global network, Wycliffe Associates is striving to overcome
local limitations of time and resources to achieve the goal of beginning the
translation of God's Word in every remaining language that needs it by 2025.

Jeff Palmer of Baptist Global Response says to put the
distress into perspective, the quake on April 07 was of the same strength as
the one that leveled Haiti in January 2010.

However, "We assessed our folks very quickly to make
sure they were okay. We were anticipating a lot worse situation, but the news
coming out is very, very good."

While the physical damage wasn't made worse, the psychological
damage was a huge setback for the hundreds of thousands already displaced by
the original massive quake. The partners in the joint relief effort–which
includes the Tokyo Baptist Church, the Japan Baptist Convention, members of the
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Network and International Mission Board
personnel–were already in place dealing
with the logistics of feeding and housing thousands of survivors from the
earlier strike.

They're also building the base for what's coming. Eventually, more in-depth counseling will be
necessary to stem the inevitable tide of post-traumatic stress disorder that
accompanies trauma like this.

"We do have a team
right now, on the ground, from  the
U.S.–some specialists in trauma
counseling. They're working with our Japanese partners. They're doing a lot of
processing with them, but they're also doing training with them as they go out
into the areas to do the feeding, and the food distributions, and the clothing
distributions."

The trauma counseling training was already underway. Right now, Palmer says, they have a group of
180 Japanese believers ready to start work. "We are equipping them with
culturally sensitive materials, and of course, biblically-based materials on
how they can minister to people who experienced a terrible disaster. The folks that are ministering have
gone through it, too."

The scope of the crisis and the overwhelming hurt means
burnout can happen quickly. Who helps
the trauma counselors? Palmer explains,
"We have some checkpoints in place. We monitor how our team is doing. We
provide good counseling, good debriefing, with all of our teams as we go along."

Restoring physical safety is a high priority, but so is
reuniting family and creating community wherever possible. "If we
can get these tools–like grief counseling, like mud-outing, debris cleanup,
how to feed large groups, mass feedings–we have this expertise and skills, and
we can put those into Japanese partners. It just multiplies the ability to
really meet people in their need."

Palmer says there's a lot riding on the shoulders of the
response teams. "Be praying for wisdom and knowledge as we train and equip
Japanese believers to really be the ones where the water hits the wheel out
there in ministering to people."

You can also support the effort. We have a link here.

It's the same area already devastated
by the March 11 quake and tsunami, and residents were immediately
evacuated. A tsunami warning was issued
and then cancelled when no wave formed. 

While that's one bit of good
news, the strong aftershock is wreaking havoc on the survivors' psyches. Matt Panos with Food For the Hungry says
their team from Japan International Food
for the Hungry (JFHI) is already on the ground dealing with the aftermath of
the earlier temblor.   

So far, "We
have still not yet had any word on any additional damage, or any additional
loss of life, or any other issue that would be supplementary to the initial
quake and tsunami."

Their greatest concern is the
supply chains. "There are between four and six million people without access to
food and water. Their traditional supply chains of grocery stores and things
were all destroyed."

A disruption could be costly in
terms of human life. "We're praying for stamina and strength, and that the
supply chain would not be broken. This earthquake could cause breaks in our
supply chain for getting food and water."

In the more rural areas, "At this
point the supply chains that are in place that are bringing supplies in, food
and water, that are connected to literally hundreds of small Japanese churches
around Japan that we've already been funneling money to. They're developing
their supply chains, they're buying supplies and water, and they're moving them
into the northeastern part of Japan."

It's also winter in Japan. In addition to the shock of another earthquake,
some of the earlier rescue work will have to be re-done. Panos explains that "the temporary housing is simply not equipped
to handle additional earthquakes of any magnitude. So, if this current one was large enough to
where it really shook people, many of the temporary housing situations that
have been built have probably either come down or been damaged."

"We've got hundreds of churches
represented now in north Japan. This opportunity is just incredible to have the
hands and feet of Christ available to those who've been displaced."

As survivors make sense of their
loss and grief, JFHI is networking with churches to provide encouragement to
the survivors and convey Christ's hope. Panos describes one incident where a relief team did a supply
distribution in one area. "A woman, an
unbeliever, had said to her, ‘You must be the face of Jesus.' That was her
comment back to her, realizing she was a member of a Christian church. That's the
exact image we want to portray."

JIFH is training pastors and
church staff to give emotional support to disaster survivors. Church members
and volunteers are ministering to communities in distribution and clean-ups,
with special focus on assisting the elderly.

There are many needs. Click here to see where you might be able to
help.

No one knows what the future holds for them. With more
crowding and more ambiguity, many are leaving for an equally uncertain future,
but it's more familiar. Jeff Palmer with Baptist Global
Response explains, "We found that there are a lot of people that are
not in those shelters. They've gone back to their homes. They're staying in
their cars, and there's no electricity and no heat."

"People still want to go back, to start
cleaning up, and to pick up. The problem is: there's nothing there. A house may be still standing, but the power has
not been restored. There's no electricity and heat, and it's still below zero in many of these areas.
65% of those population areas are over 60 years of age."

That's presenting another problem. The oldest members of the communities are
often among the more vulnerable. In humanitarian crises, Palmer says, "If you're not in a shelter and
you ‘re not being cared for, you're kind of in limbo. There's a lot of those
areas that we're finding and we're mobilizing help to them."

BGR has a partner on the ground. "One of the things
that we've been able to do is find ways to be able to get hot meals, warm
clothing, and sanitary needs to those people who are without electricity and
water."

They've already launched a feeding program for 3,000 with
the help of a national partner. However,
the needs are quickly outstripping their supplies and know-how. BGR
is training local partners on how to develop long-range plans, administer them,
and deal with the other logistics of response.

It's an absolute necessity to answer the ever-changing
situation, Palmer says. "The feeding program
is going through a local partner of 3,000 meals a day. We're going to be helping them to increase
that to 6,000. You don't just feed 3,000 more people without some
skills and some plans of HOW you do that."

Another advantage to working through the local church partners is
meeting the RIGHT needs. People working
on the ground can communicate specific, if unusual, needs. For example, Palmer says, "One thing we're
doing is helping distribute long underwear. With the elderly people being
affected, it's one thing that is being requested by people on the ground."

And then comes the clean up. First, there's the physical part: "Eventually,
we'll be helping with clean out teams and training them: how do you go back and
recover such a widespread devastated area? How do you clean out? How do you mud out?" 

Then, the emotional: "This week, we're doing training and
equipping in grief and trauma counseling. We're trying to train Japanese spiritual
leaders. They're fatigued also. A lot of these folks are trying to shepherd and
care for their people, and they've lost family. They've lost houses. "

Why? "Basically, the Gospel goes from person to
person. It doesn't go from a project. It doesn't go from just food and water. Those things
are important, but it's the people that we are working with, that are followers
of Christ, that are showing the compassion of Christ, that are ministering and
giving that cup of cold water, giving that word of Hope."

Damages to the area are estimated to cost hundreds of billions of
dollars. BGR needs funds to get behind
their national partners. You can help. Follow the link in the sidebar.

Japan's earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis have shaken confidence
in the surety of day-to-day life. However, survivors still need to eat, drink, and stay warm as they begin
to wrap their minds around the enormity of rebuilding.

Asian Access is walking alongside the people through their
network of churches, the unsung heroes of the catastrophe. They sent a First response team a week after
the disaster.

Another team followed on the heels of the First Responders. Jeffrey Sonnenberg was a member of the team that
wanted not only to figure out a more efficient resource plan, but also to share
the hope stories.

Thousands are still in evacuation shelters with no idea how
long it will be before they can go "home" again. On a positive note, the infrastructure is
showing signs of improvement. Water is flowing
again, and food is making its way into the damaged areas.

Moving out of the early days of the disaster, Sonnenberg
says, "People are looking more for clothes and for containers to put clothes
into as they're in the evacuation centers. So we're seeing it progress into a
different stage."

Local churches are standing in the gap for those too far
removed from the urban centers that are seeing the infrastructure
repaired. "They were going in to assess and have been
very involved in trying to bring relief aid goods to the evacuation centers,
especially some of the more isolated communities."

It will take years to restore the damaged communities. However, "We've seen some great examples of churches going out into their communities,
helping to deliver supplies to people who need them, helping people to clean
out their homes, to get the muck and the junk out of their homes. Pray for the
churches as they go out as the hands of Christ."  

Naturally, with nearly every headline about Japan talking
about the nuclear crisis, the question had to be asked: "Is the radiation
affecting the team? Are they safe?" Sonnenberg responds, "Asian Access is very much aware of the radiation
issue. There is the ‘no-access' zone that we have not sent people into."   

Recent reports indicated that radiation was found in some vegetables
grown near the crippled nuclear site. That report set off a panic. Is
it becoming a concern for the churches involved with the food
distribution?  Not really, Sonnenberg
says. "Currently, the area we've been
working in–Sendai, the radiation is a non-issue there. We're monitoring it
very carefully."

While the Japanese have responded with great dignity to the
crisis surrounding them, the strain is taking its toll. Their church teams are in place to help. "People are still very much in a state of
shock. They're still really trying to grapple with the reality [of] what's
going on. People are beginning to question and [they're] wrestling with issues
of death and ‘what happens after I die.'"

Mortality questions could be the tool that gets past the
traditional resistance to the Gospel. "We
are seeing people being more open to hearing about Christ, but to be honest, a
lot of the effort, up until now, is just being able to get people the most
basic of needs. Now, we'll need to focus a lot more on the spiritual needs, as
well."

The scope of the response in Japan is both taxing and
mind-boggling. And Asian Access is asking for
help.  They need prayer support for their
teams, as well as wisdom for how they will continue to move forward. They also need funds. Damage estimates are in the hundreds of
billions. Immediate survival
needs involve food, water, shelter and heat for hundreds of thousands. 

Asian Access received a $1,000,000 matching
gift pledge to help meet the spiritual and physical needs. Their team is made up of 400 pastors
and 1800 churches…and the potential for eternal impact is huge.  Effectively, for every gift sent to help A2
and their church teams, the impact is doubled.  

There's more detail on the matching gift fund here.

Radiation levels in the sea near
quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant are 3,000 times above legal limits. The new numbers suggest that radioactive
water continues to leak from the plant, threatening coastal livelihoods. Radioactive materials have also been found in
locally-grown vegetables.

Even as more bad news emerges, it doesn't change the
struggle to survive the next 24 hours for the hundreds of thousands of people who
remain homeless. Government
reports say there are 27,600 who are dead or missing. Damage could reach $310 billion, making the quake, tsunami, and radiation
crisis the most expensive natural disaster on record.

Pioneers has three teams on the
ground evaluating where their relief response will be most effective. Spokesman Matt Green says, "They're still in the process of really
assessing how they can serve the nationals and what impact the radiation and
contamination will have on their continued ministry in the affected area."

The Red Cross says the number of Japanese people in shelters
has dropped from nearly half a million to 244,000, and more supplies are
reaching the areas that need help the most. The top priorities are still getting
fuel, housing, clothing and medicine to the survivors. Almost one million people still do not have
running water.

Pioneers ministry leadership at the
Orlando, FL, base stands ready to support the efforts of those teams in any way
needed. Green explains that "their
hope is to connect with national believers and do what they can to alleviate
the suffering, and also resource the nationals to really love their fellow
Japanese."

Green goes on to add, "Our teams
there are building relationships, coming alongside the Japanese Evangelical
Church, serving them and helping them learn to reach their own people."

Operation World reports that only
1.5 percent of Japan's 126 million people are believers. And based on
statistics from the Joshua Project, the Japanese are the second-largest
unreached people group in the world.

Although Pioneers church planting teams
were in areas physically unaffected by the earthquake, they want to bring hope
to those who are suffering. At the
same time, Green says, "Our hope would be that God would use this to mobilize more
people to go and serve in Japan. We've seen this happen in other parts of the world
where disaster has hit."

Mobilizing more people to help is
not a priority until the government gets the crises under control. However, that idea goes farther when applied to
ministry in the future. In fact, Green
says, this may have been a wake-up call from God. "One
of the Japanese pastors said to the team yesterday, 'We have, up to now, been
mostly concerned with increasing our numbers rather than faithfully
proclaiming the Gospel and demonstrating the love of Christ.'"

Please join Pioneers in prayer for
the people of Japan, asking that God would spare the lives of those still in
danger, and that their team would be His agents of love and mercy. "Pray for the softening of hearts of the Japanese
people. They've been resistant to the Gospel for many years. God is the only one who can open their hearts."

Damage assessments are just beginning, but some areas are so fragile that the assessors can’t get close enough to investigate. It is clear, however, that the destruction will rise into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

For some of the survivors, rebuilding is far off in the future, and the immediate concerns involve restoring heat, electricity, running water, and finding shelter, food and communications.

The official death toll nationally rose to 8,277 on March 20, with 12,272 still missing. Nearly 500,000 people are homeless.

Aid is most effective purchased from inside the country, but that often requires an established network for both getting the supplies and for distribution.

Asian Access has that ability. They’ve also received a $1,000,000 matching gift pledge to help meet the spiritual and physical needs of those who have been impacted the most.

This gift and the funds given to match the pledge will help them achieve their mission for Asian Access/Japan “to unite the church” and “extend the transforming power of the Gospel.”

A2 is working with 400 pastors and 1800 churches–approximately 20-25% of the congregations in Japan–to help meet the spiritual and physical needs of several communities across the nation. They’re also partnering with CRASH–a ministry of Grace Church which has grown into the largest Christian coordinating agency.

Details are still coming in, but A2 estimates nearly 300 churches were in the tsunami-impacted areas. They’ve launched a disaster response team for CRASH to set up a relief base in the affected areas. A few churches are already serving as shelters and are receiving those who have been left homeless.

If you can help, A2 has already set up a special Japan Tsunami Relief Fund. This will provide aid to hard-hit areas, delivered primarily through local churches. There may be no greater opportunity for the Gospel’s advance in Japan than right now. Click here to learn more.