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.

A new report is out from a UN fact-finding mission. It adds more evidence to the documentations of human rights violations surrounding Iran’s 2022 “Women, Life, Freedom” protests, some of which carry through even to today. 

Among the concerns it highlights are gender-based violence, executions and imprisonments of women, men and even children in Iran. Some of the evidence, the Mission affirms, amounts to crimes against humanity. 

Also noted in the report is the Iranian regime’s increasing surveillance and criminal prosecution of women who defy the mandatory hijab laws. (More on that here — an ominous warning text to the woman’s personal cell phone is the least worrisome thing in this scenario.) 

The sobering reality 

“[Women in Iran are] more treated as possessions, tools to get what men want from them. For that reason, women go through a vicious cycle of despair from the beginning,” says Lily Meschi from Iran Alive Ministries.

(Image courtesy of Mostafa Meraji on Unsplash)

Education and marriage offer no escape. 

“Education is very important for women in general in Iran, in the Middle East. That’s why Iranian women are among the most educated in the Middle East. So they pursue education to find their identity. Then after they land a job or they start their career and whatnot, they’re mistreated by men,” Meschi says. “Most superiors are men, and most do not shy away from making advances and doing things like that to women.”

For middle- or lower-income families, education may be less attainable. For these girls, “they’re usually given into marriage [to] the first person that shows interests in the women. They usually get into toxic situations because of that,” Meschi says. 

These toxic realities include abuse, divorce, and temporary marriages. Child marriages and “honor killings” are also present in modern-day Iran. 

“It’s a vicious cycle. Women generally depend on men for provision, and so they’re emotionally abused, verbally abused and they’re physically abused,” Meschi says.

The only way out

The political and cultural climate of Iran appears hopeless for women, doesn’t it? But that’s exactly where Meschi says the gospel is a counter-cultural light. 

“When they find Christ, when the gospel is shared with them, they find true freedom. They find true identity, and they cling to that,” Meschi says.

(Photo courtesy of Mostafa Meraji via Unsplash)

“That’s why women that are Muslim-background believers are so on fire for the Lord. They’re so bold. They are at the frontlines of the protests that are happening in Iran, and they want change for others as well. They want the identity that they have found in Christ, as daughters of the Most High God, for others to experience the same thing.

“They’re saying that, you know, to live in Iran under such oppression is to die every single day. Why not die for the sake of the gospel? To a new believer and to a woman that came to Christ in Iran, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Please pray for women in Iran. Pray for the good news of God’s LOVE for them to penetrate their worlds. Pray for political and cultural reversals to open Iran up to the gospel!

You can join Iran Alive Ministries to share gospel hope. Their team ministers to underground and online churches in Iran. They also broadcast gospel hope into Iran via satellite TV.

“We basically let people know, and especially women, that you’re not enslaved to God. You are a child. You are a daughter [or son] of the Most High God. You are crowned with a crown of life,” Meschi says. 

Visit Iran Alive’s website here. You can also sign up to receive updates and testimonies from inside of Iran — simply text “Iran” to 85789. 

Header photo courtesy of Hasan Almasi via Unsplash. 

One Indian father, Danesh, is a day laborer and he noticed many of his coworkers had an alcohol addiction. At first, he didn’t join their excessive drinking. But eventually, Danesh gave in to alcoholism and his life spiraled out of control from there.

(Photo representative, courtesy of Mission India)

Bartholomew* with Mission India says, “He ended up spending a lot of what he earned on alcohol, leaving little for his wife and his son. Unfortunately, he would just get drunk to the point where he would fall asleep whenever he fell. He was drunk to the point he didn’t know where he was when he would pass out.

“That would also heap shame onto his family’s name. Obviously, drunkenness is a sin, and it really heaps shame on his wife and his son and on himself to a point where his wife didn’t feel like they could actually go out in public.”

A church planter with Mission India named Vimesh began building a relationship with Danesh.

“Vimesh over time asked to meet with him, and Vimesh just continued to encourage him to give up alcohol. Vimesh prayed over him and for him [and] he shared the Gospel,” Bartholomew says.

“Over time, Jesus freed Danesh from that addiction and recently he received Jesus as his Savior.”

This father went from being an alcoholic who shamed his family to a spiritual leader pointing his family to Jesus.

“Now his family attends a church, they pray together, and they can go out in public and not be embarrassed. So just that [life change] of Danesh now is also [impacting] his family.”

This father went from being an alcoholic who shamed his family to a spiritual leader pointing his family to Jesus.

An Adult Literacy Class with Mission India. (Photo courtesy of Mission India via Facebook)

“We as an organization love working with fathers and encouraging fathers to come to know Jesus and be changed by the love of Jesus,” Bartholomew says. “Through that change, those fathers then are changing the lives of their kids, the lives of their families, and really, in some cases, changing the entire direction of the family name going forward for generations. So it is quite powerful to see.”

To give a gift to Mission India in honor of your own father, grandfather, or a father figure in your life, click here!

Your gift will help advance the Gospel among dads in India and lead to new Christ-following legacies that can be passed down for generations.

Bartholomew says, “You can pick any of the programs. I would recommend Adult Literacy Classes or Church Planter Training as those are two programs that deal specifically with adults. Go give a gift of any amount and write, ‘In honor of my father’ in the comment section, and then let your dad know or your granddad know that you’ve done that — that you supported a potential life change of a father or father-to-be in India.”

*Last name omitted for security purposes.

Rob Myers with DOOR International says many Deaf kids don’t even get exposed to sign language until around 7-9 years old when they get to attend a Deaf school. “Even the teachers can often become a second family to Deaf people. Because this is the first opportunity that they have to access information and have friends that they can talk with in their heart language.”

Her family didn’t know sign language, so she felt very alone at home. Myers says, “A vast majority of them have grown up in homes where they can’t communicate well with their own parents. It’s very common for Deaf people to have an everyday experience where they’re sitting around the dinner table, and there’s talking and laughing and information being exchanged. And those Deaf kids are cut off from all of that information.”

Encountering Jesus

One day, a DOOR International 2-by-2 church-planting team visited her school, and she learned the story of Jesus. Her family didn’t take well to her becoming a Christian. They kicked her out, but a Deaf church welcomed her in.

Eventually, her father, a devout Muslim, got sick. The Deaf church paid his medical expenses. Moved by their love, he too embraced Jesus.

Myer says, “In a lot of communities, deaf people are looked down upon, and they’re not thought of as even being capable of having faith or being involved in a faith community of any kind. So when a young Deaf person comes to faith, it actually can transform the entire family.”

Pray the rest of this girl’s family would also encounter the love of Jesus.

Header photo courtesy of DOOR International. 

However, Frontiers USA shared an encouraging story with us about one former Muslim father in Iraq who recently became a Christian. This man got to do something not many Christian fathers get to do: baptize his own son.

An Outward Ripple of Faith

(Photo courtesy of Frontiers USA)

Uday came from a devout Muslim family, part of the 98 percent of Iraqis who are Muslim. Two decades ago, Uday encountered a missionary who shared the Gospel with him. This began Uday’s journey to Christ. When he met a worker from Frontiers USA, the two began studying the Bible together, and Uday’s faith began to flourish.

Frontiers President Bob Blincoe says, “He went home every day after the Bible study and shared it with his son…. That’s an amazing thing when you see a man who doesn’t want to be a believer in secret. He wanted to redeem the people around him, especially his own family.”

Finally, the day came when Uday wanted to make a public profession of faith.

“Uday was baptized with several other new believers in that city. Coming up from the water, Uday turned to his son and baptized his son. We didn’t know that the son had come to faith, but because of the father sharing his faith in the family all the time, his son came to faith too,” Blincoe says.

“So now we’re thrilled that these two have come to faith. And another young man named Hamid – a colleague and friend of the son of Uday – has also come to the faith. So Hamid and Uday’s son are now two believers who have linked arms with one another to endure in the faith despite persecution and to share their faith with many more.”

(Photo courtesy of Frontiers USA)

Iraqi Culture

According to Open Doors USA, Iraq has a very tribal culture. Rejection of Islam is seen as a rejection of heritage and family.

Muslim family members in Iraq often take it upon themselves to avenge the dishonor they perceive has been brought on their family by attacking or killing Christian converts.

“You can understand how important it is then when more than one family member and sometimes entire families come to faith,” Blincoe says. “There is still a threat from the administers of Islam, but there is no longer a threat from the immediate family.”

That’s why whole families in Iraq coming to faith in Jesus is so powerful – a redeemed family changes the legacy of entire generations.

Fruitful Missions in the Muslim World

As Frontiers continues to carry out faithful ministry in the Muslim world, Blincoe says they hope to see more families like Uday’s come to know Jesus.

(Photo courtesy of Frontiers USA)

“We’ve had so many failures of planting churches in the Muslim world that it has driven us back to the Bible to find almost what’s hidden in plain sight. In the book of Acts, in the book of Genesis, in the great number of households that Paul is greeting at the end of Romans 16… whole families come to faith and link arms to one another to help one another and be encouraged.

“It’s one of those keys that the Bible talks about – the whole family coming to faith – that have increased the number of enduring churches in the Muslim world.”

So how can you pray? Blincoe offers this simple yet profound request: “Pray for whole families to come to faith in the Muslim world.”

Join what God is doing in the Muslim world at frontiersusa.org!

Header photo courtesy of Frontiers USA.

Ali grew up in a Muslim home. Despite his faith in Islam for most of his life, Ali had some big questions that kept him awake at night. He was looking for spiritual truth. In college, he met some followers of Jesus who first introduced him to the Gospel. But, Ali’s big questions remained.

He says, “I always felt insignificant. And I just wanted to know that I was not an accident. I was not just a chance or, you know, a man and woman thing that they did together and then I kind of was put on the earth. That was one of the [questions]. And I just wanted to know, ‘Who am I? Who am I to you? Am I significant?”

For some time, Ali did not receive any answers to these deep questions. In fact, he gave up, choosing to remain within the religion of Islam because he wasn’t sure where else to go. But then, a Christian friend invited him to a prayer meeting. Ali agreed to go, asking God to reveal Himself and answer some of the deep questions he had harbored for so long.

Photo courtesy of Frontiers USA.

And God certainly did answer. Ali’s friends prayed over him, and God spoke.

“He said that ‘You are my son. I planned you before you were in your mother’s womb. And I had you and I have you now. You are significant. You are special. And I love you so much. I sent my Son to die for you. I know the struggles that you are going through. And I know the pain that you are going through. Don’t worry, just trust me. I will make everything ok for you.’”

This is just one of the many stories of transformation that Frontiers has encountered in their work to reach the Muslim world for Christ. And they’re continuing their work so more stories like this can happen.

You can join God in what He’s doing in the Muslim world at frontiersusa.org.

Edmonds and his family lived for a long time overseas and raised their children outside of an English-speaking context. But eventually, he shares, “Our oldest son, he had a desire to go to an American college. So just before his junior year in high school, we put him on an airplane all by himself and he flew to the United States to live with one of my brothers and be incorporated into an English-speaking school. And that was tough for him in many ways because he’d grown up in another culture, another context.

“I was reflecting on that from the standpoint that I had to trust my brother and sister-in-law at that point. I had to trust the people into whose hand I was going to place my very own son. I thought about it in relationship to Jesus, that the Father gave his own Son who couldn’t speak the language when he became a baby, he turned [Jesus] over to Mary and Joseph, he turned him over to a harsh and cruel environment. But he trusted them to care for [Jesus], to nurture him, to protect and provide for him.”

As we ponder the meaning of Advent, it’s a poignant picture of loving sacrifice – a sacrifice that Jesus not only made himself later on that cross, but also the sacrifice of a Father sending his Son down to earth to reconcile the world to himself. This sacrifice that cost our Heavenly Father was his grace to us.

Edmonds was struck again by this reflection on his recent trip to Uganda and Rwanda. Food for the Hungry brought together senior leadership for strategic ministry planning. They visited northern Uganda where there are a lot of refugees coming from South Sudan. Some of the displaced people even trekked for six months to reach safety in northern Uganda.

“It’s estimated there could be 1.2 million people there who have fled in from South Sudan because of the war, the conflict, and the drought situation. Nine out of 10 of them tend to be women and children.”

One of Food for the Hungry’s critical ministries in northern Uganda is medical clinics in the refugee camps.

“We’re working in that context of Adjumani, [and] here come these mothers. They’ve often been traumatized, they’re confused, the children are fearful and timid — and yet at the same time, our people, our staff, and the people we’ve mobilized are there to love them.”

As FH and their ministry partners provide medical care for refugee children, there is still often a language or cultural barrier present. They try to reassure parents, most of them mothers, that their children are receiving good medical attention and will be cared for. And some of the mothers are uncertain about allowing strangers to tend to their children. But as the FH team builds trust with the mothers, “reluctantly, cautiously, these mothers will hand their children into our care because they believe somehow…that we will love [and] care for their children.”

(Photo courtesy of Food for the Hungry)

It struck Edmonds that the decision to hand over your child into the temporary care of a stranger is especially agonizing for these refugee mothers who have worked so hard to protect their children.

“I think about that for Christmas. God has given his own Son to us in such a way and he says, ‘Come, follow me. Follow the way of Jesus.’”

This Advent reflection, the recognition of God’s sacrifice that led to Jesus being born as a human child, fully God and fully man, is what gives us hope in the Gospel. And that is what Food for the Hungry’s ministry is all about.

“That’s the work of Food for the Hungry, to be relational, to follow Jesus, to invest wisely, carefully in nurturing and seeking the well-being of these people who often are simply just survivors of a cruel world right now — a world that’s been negatively affected, whether it be by drought and famine, whether it be by war, civil war, and hardships.”

Edmonds says proclaiming the Gospel through relational service is truly the heartbeat of their outreach, and really at the heartbeat of the Great Commission. “We lead off and we say we follow Jesus. The second value that we establish is our work is relational. So I think as we look at the Great Commission, the call that’s been on our life, we make a statement that we’re following Jesus.”

Click here to learn more about FH and how you can support their ministry.

(Photo courtesy Global Advance via Facebook)

“It was a really God-kissed time: a lot of interactions, a lot of prayer between generations, one for another,” shares Global Advance founder, David Shibley.

“One of the great emphases of Global Advance now is equipping ‘Next Gen’ leaders to help fulfill the Great Commission.”

A group of 13 father-son pairs gathered last week in Dallas, Texas, to learn best practices and transition tips from Equip Ministries. The forum wasn’t just for ministry leaders; pastors and other church leaders were involved, too.

Tom Mullins, President of Equip Ministries, is “the leading authority in the country on ministry transition,” Shibley shares.

“It was a beautiful time. We genuinely felt the applause of heaven over this, and I believe the Church in America is going to be stronger for it.”

How to do leadership transition

(Photo courtesy Global Advance via Facebook)

No matter the industry or arena, each leader must face the question of succession. Reasons can vary for a leader’s departure, but the fact remains that no leader can reign forever.

According to reports cited by Shibley, an estimated 60% of U.S. churches are currently in some stage of leadership transition. As stated so eloquently in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

Shibley began seeing this truth take shape around him and decided to address the issue.

“My contemporaries, my friends–particularly pastoral leaders–many of them were in some stage of vocational transition,” he says.

“So, we thought that we would [create] something of a ‘pilot forum’ or the discussion of how to transition well in ministry, and also how to raise up spiritual sons in ministry.”

As leaders and their sons–both spiritual and literal sons–gathered to learn from Mullins, they also shared times of prayer and made concrete plans for their futures. “It was amazing what happened in less than 48 hours,” says Shibley.

(Photo courtesy Global Advance via Facebook)

Please pray for these ministry leaders as they enter a season of transition. Pray also for the leaders of Global Advance, as they determine what to do with this forum moving forward.

“I know that this is needed. The format is still a bit unclear into the future.”