Mission India regularly encounters adults who were trafficked as children and teens. Broken and abused, they are in desperate need of life skills and Christ’s love.

Mission India’s Raina Miller says, “In India, there’s not the hope of Christ, by and large. A lot of people don’t know who Jesus is. Ninety percent of the people groups are unreached by the Gospel. So if they’re living in hopelessness, they’re desperate.”

Nanya (Photo courtesy of Mission India)

That desperation often leaves children vulnerable. Miller shares the story of Nanya, a young woman who came out of bonded slavery.

“Her dad, who was an alcoholic and really struggling, he had sold her off into a bonded labor contract for two years,” Miller says.

“She was sent off to work for a family [with] crazy hours – like 5 am to 11 pm for two years straight. She just had no life outside of that…. When she was working, she earned none of the money. It all went to her dad.”

When Nanya gained her freedom at 18, she didn’t know where to go next and couldn’t read or write. Eventually, she joined a Mission India Adult Literacy Class.

“She learned, first of all, how to read and write,” Miller explains. “Second, she learned how to save and earn money in ways that had dignity and were something that she can be excited about.”

The best part? Miller says, “She also discovered the love of Jesus and received him as her Savior!”

Today, Nanya runs her own business as a beautician and shares her skills with other young women.

Adult Literacy Class (Photo courtesy of Mission India)

Miller says, “Adult Literacy Classes are meeting people in their hardest, deepest, scariest moments and helping them find a way out. Sometimes that’s trafficking; sometimes that’s other situations that they’re stuck in. But our Adult Literacy Classes also provide education around these issues to help prevent them in the future…. We’re really excited about that aspect of our Adult Literacy Classes and just the holistic impact that they make.”

This month, there’s an opportunity to help more people like Nanya.

Every donation to Mission India will be matched up to $300,000. Normally, $40 covers the tuition for one Adult Literacy Class student — but through the end of April, that same $40 will allow two students to enroll.

You can give today at missionindia.org.

Header photo courtesy of Deepak Kumar/Unsplash.

Sarani grew up battling serious heart problems that made her very weak and sapped her energy. Life was difficult for Sarani and her parents.

Sarani and her manger coloring scene. (Photo courtesy of Mission India)

Raina Miller with Mission India says, “The family spent every rupee they had on her treatments, and nothing was working. Her mom tried going to temples and praying to their gods, desperate for help — and of course, none of it worked.”

Then Sarani was invited to a Children’s Bible Club run by Mission India. There, she heard stories about Jesus, and especially how He healed the sick. Those stories stayed with her.

“So her Bible Club leader…encouraged her to pray, and Sarani prayed her very first prayer,” says Miller. “It was just the simple words, ‘Please, heal me.’ This time she was praying to the God who hears, not to idols and visiting temples and doing rituals.”

What happened next surprised everyone.

“Within two months, her strength returned — after a lifetime of these heart problems! Her physical heart got stronger, and her heart was also changed by the love of Christ.

“She had joy again, and she was so grateful to Jesus for healing her that she received Him as her Savior.”

Today, Sarani’s faith is spilling over in creative ways. She recently drew a Christmas manger scene — and Mission India turned her artwork into something families around the world can enjoy.

(Photo courtesy of Mission India)

Miller says, “We actually turned it into a coloring page so that kids here in the US and their families can color it together. You can download a copy, print it off, make as many copies as you’d like, and you can color along with Sarani to celebrate with her!”

Download Sarani’s Christmas manger coloring page here!

While Sarani’s story is joyful, it’s also a reminder of the spiritual need in India.

“There are millions more children like Sarani who have never heard of Jesus, and they’re still waiting for hope.”

Mission India is inviting believers to respond through prayer and giving during a year-end matching challenge.

Miller explains, “If you’d like to give toward the matching challenge, you can go to missionindia.org/double, and every gift you give toward 10-Day Bible Clubs will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to December 31.”

Please pray that more children in India would hear the Gospel and experience the hope Sarani found in Christ.

Header photo courtesy of Mission India.

If you have a passion for spreading the Gospel, India is one of the most critical mission fields — and now is a key time to support Mission India as they touch kids’ hearts.

(Photo courtesy of Mission India)

Raina Miller with Mission India says, “Giving Tuesday falls during our 10-Day Children’s Bible Club matching challenge, so it’s a great time to take advantage of that…. Every dollar that you give to 10-Day Children’s Bible Clubs is currently being doubled — so $1 is doubled to reach two children with the good news of Jesus!”

India is home to 1.4 billion people, and 96% have never heard the Gospel. Mission India works with local Christian partners for these Children’s Bible Clubs — even as believers face intense persecution.

“India is actually the 11th most dangerous nation in the world for Christians,” Miller explains. “There are people who are ostracized from their communities, they are facing violence, they’re facing intimidation in all different forms for following Christ…. And yet, we’re finding that the more persecution increases, the more the Church grows.”

(Photo courtesy of Mission India)

You can donate to Mission India’s 10-Day Children’s Bible Clubs today at www.missionindia.org/double.

This Giving Tuesday, help make an eternal difference for children in India.

Miller also asks, “Pray that the kids who are reached through the Bible Clubs that are being sponsored during this match would have their hearts changed in a way that pushes them to lead others to Christ as well. [Pray] that it just creates a domino effect where the kids reached through this match then go on to reach entire communities!”

Header photo courtesy of Mission India.

Now imagine sending your child to school for the first time in a brand-new country — in the middle of a war.

Beit Hallel Congregation’s Back to School Project (Screenshot courtesy of Beit Hallel Congregation)

That’s the reality for thousands of Jewish immigrant families in Israel this fall.

Beit Hallel Congregation in Ashdod recently ran its annual Back to School Project, which helps immigrants and low-income families who are struggling to afford the basics.

Pastor Israel Pochtar with Beit Hallel Congregation says, “For those who are new in Israel and not well established…they struggle financially to send their kids to school. The needs are bigger than in a normal year when there’s peace.”

The church distributed backpacks and school supplies, turning the project into a celebration. Pochtar says, “We had an opportunity to tell every family and every kid that the help comes from Christians. You’re not alone in this world, but you have Christian friends. You have people who pray for you, stand with you, [and] give.

“This practical help, it’s such an expression of the love of God, and love of Christians who help you in the name of God and the name of Jesus.”

Beit Hallel Congregation’s Back to School Project (Screenshot courtesy of Beit Hallel Congregation)

Nearly all the families who benefit are Jewish immigrants from countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Ethiopia.

“They are not Christians; they’re Jewish. But they hear about us, they hear about our organization and our congregation. They know we are helping people unconditionally, and they come to receive help, and they’re grateful to learn more about that.”

Beyond physical needs, Beit Hallel Congregation seeks to calm fears and encourage children.

“We see kids are nervous. Kids are under stress. So we’re talking to them, encouraging them, telling them stories of others who’ve been in the same situation. It really encourages them and makes it easier for them,” says Pochtar.

Although the main distribution is complete, the project continues in smaller ways as new immigrant families arrive daily. Neighboring cities like Ashkelon and Beersheba have even asked for help after seeing Beit Hallel Congregation’s efforts online.

Beit Hallel Congregation’s Back to School Project (Screenshot courtesy of Beit Hallel Congregation)

“If there are friends who want to help, they are welcome to join,” Pochtar says. “There’s still opportunity!”

Donate to Beit Hallel Congregation’s Back to School Project.

Above all, he asks for prayer. “Pray for us. Pray for Israel. Pray for Jewish people and our team in Israel who are working hard to be a blessing and a light.”

Header photo: Beit Hallel Congregation’s Back to School Project (Screenshot courtesy of Beit Hallel Congregation)

So, what exactly is a 10-Day Children’s Bible Club? Regan Miller with Mission India explains, “It’s like Vacation Bible School on steroids, we like to say. They sing songs, they play together, they do Bible-based skits, they hear Bible stories, and they learn how to pray, and they all have so much fun while they’re doing it.”

Through these Bible Clubs, Mission India partners with local Christian leaders to share the Gospel with children across India.

“Even after the 10 days are up, the locals that led the Bible Clubs are still around,” says Miller. “[They] can continue to build relationships with the families and pour into their lives.”

Miller shares the story of a Bible Club leader, Manpriya, whose ministry impacted an entire family for Christ.

Sachtek (Photo courtesy of Mission India)

A 13-year-old boy named Sachtek was deeply worried after his father, Shibu, suffered a heart attack and was told he wouldn’t fully recover.

“After Shibu came back from the hospital, their neighbor, who was a Christian, came to visit. Her name was Manpriya and she shared the Gospel and offered to pray for Shibu’s healing. As she was praying, Shibu felt the Holy Spirit just overcome him and from that day on, his health started to improve,” says Miller.

“Sachtek was amazed. So when Manpriya invited Sachtek to the 10-Day Bible Club she was going to lead, of course he said yes!

“During the 10 days, Sachtek learned more about the God who healed his dad. He asked Manpriya tons of questions about Jesus and about God’s saving grace, and he ultimately received salvation.”

Today, Sachtec is attending a local church – and you can reach other kids like him.

The majority of believers come to faith in childhood between the ages of 4 and 14. Now is a key time to grow the Gospel’s reach by connecting with Indian kids!

Give today at Mission India’s website here, and see your gift doubled for the Great Commission in India.

Header photo courtesy of Mission India.

The El Niño phenomenon has led to below-average rainfall across southern Africa, forcing Zimbabwe among other nations in the region to declare a state of disaster earlier this year. 

But even if rain came today, the drought carries long-term consequences.  

“It doesn’t mean they just don’t have food now,” Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach, “but it [also means] there’s going to be a food shortage in the future.”

Vulnerable children in the “Our Kids” program in Zimbabwe. (Photo courtesy of CWO)

Families in Zimbabwe have lost their crops. They have to spend hours a day securing water, sometimes even digging holes in dry riverbeds for even a bucketful of dirty water. Children are at risk of losing the opportunity to go to school as their parents and grandparents have to focus on getting the next meal on the table. 

In the midst of this, CWO serves families taking care of orphaned children.

“There are times where we’re going to need to supply these families with food that we hadn’t planned on — as well as the pastors of the churches we work with,” Yoder says, explaining that “The people will come to their pastors with their needs, and so they’re (the pastors) going to be swamped with requests for food.” 

October is the hottest and driest month of the year for southern Africa. Would you consider a gift to CWO’s work in Zimbabwe ahead of time?

“If somebody’s hungry and their stomach’s growling, I don’t know that they’re going to hear you share the gospel with them,” Yoder says.

He points to Jesus. “Most of the time, he met physical needs — he met people where they were in their need — and then he shared who he was and shared the gospel with them. We mimic that in what we do. Whether it’s giving food or clothes or medical care, education, we come alongside people and try to meet them right where they are. That opens the door to share the gospel with people.”

Visit cwomissions.org/zimbabwe to make a donation to help serve the people of Zimbabwe’s physical needs.

Header photo contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024 and is courtesy of European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery via Wikimedia Commons. These Copernicus Sentinel-2 images, acquired in March 2023 (top) and 2024 (bottom), show the changes caused by the drought along the borders of Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. See the full image comparisons here. 

Kenya is among many countries whose people struggle find enough water to live.

“Don’t we just take clean water for granted?” says Brian Dennett with AMG International. “Our national leader (in Kenya) shared stories of people they work with that travel 12 miles in a day just to fetch water for cooking and drinking. Talk about how precious that water is with the amount of labor it takes to get it.”

Photo is of a bore well AMG installed in India to help fight extreme heat. (Image courtesy AMG India)

Multiple years of low rainfalls in the Horn of Africa led to a terrible drought in 2020–2023. Losses of livestock, crops and natural water sources were devastating. Then, heavy rainfalls and floods in late 2023 brought a different kind of destruction. It’s going to take a long time to recover, and in the meantime, help is needed. 

“In many countries like Kenya, we provide water filter systems. We’ve done hundreds of borewells just in the last several years. Like everything we do, we include the gospel,” says Dennett. 

The next time you turn on a faucet, would you pray for thirsty people in the world? Pray that ministries like AMG would be able to be the hands and feet of Jesus, offering physical water and the true spiritual water that Jesus is. 

You can partner with AMG to do this very thing. A gift of $60 covers one filter that can work for around seven years. Or you can give toward a borehole well, which costs as little as $3,000. 

“We’ve actually targeted five villages that are in desperate need of clean water. We’re going to be building wells in each of those five villages. Then in other parts (of the world), we want to be able to continue providing hundreds, maybe thousands of water filters,” Dennet says. 

(Header photo is a representative stock image taken in Kenya in 2023, courtesy of Evans Dims via Unsplash.)

The Body of Christ as such plays out within single church congregations — and on regional and international scales.

Yernathen* is a North African leader who serves with A3. He tells us, “The (North African) region has been looking for models, especially Christians — they have never had an example or a model of how they build the church.” 

Two years ago, A3 was invited to serve a deep need for mentorship and training among leaders in the Middle East and North Africa. 

Mentorship can shape a person’s entire ministry. Yernathen shares the story of one young pastor who chose to stay when war broke out in his country. When asked why he didn’t flee, the pastor said, ”I had a mentor in my life who said, ‘Keep God’s perspective in front of your eyes. Don’t lose sight of God’s plan in your life and in your country.’Each time I remember that man, I cannot betray him.” (Representative photo courtesy of StockSnap on Pixabay.)

The invitation came with good reason. God has done amazing things through A3’s leadership development ministry in Asia for decades. (Learn more about A3’s intentional learning cohort model here.) 

Yernathen says there are sensitive areas in North African cultures where the church could come into conflict with the government or with the established Islamic societies as a whole, in ways that could hinder the expansion of the Church. It requires wisdom and care and trust to be established between churches. 

“Over the past, we’ve had several mission organizations coming up with different ideas. Some of it was good, but some of it, unfortunately, was not appropriate for the culture,” Yernathen says. 

“A3 comes with the idea of ‘we are one.’ Because they have their experience in different places in Asia, I think they have the sensitivity of fixing those problems, even before they emerge, because we address them before we have to go through them again. So the discipline of putting the principles of faith, the principles of being together, helps us to grow.” 

Already leaders within Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania and Egypt are being built up through the initiative — and it’s not stopping there. Yernathen says these individuals are inviting leaders in other countries such as Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire to join their groups.

“It seems like it’s expanding naturally without having to push it or without having to put it an agenda or an emphasis or one region or the other,” he says. 

(Graphic courtesy of A3)

He says the entire movement can be traced back to the faithful, visionary leadership of one North African man, who is now with the Lord. 

“(He) challenged us [African leaders] to get together, because there is much more we could do together than just if we stayed each one by himself. 

God is truly building up His Church in North Africa through life-giving relationships. Would you prayerfully stand behind this movement as well? Ask God to point you to an African nation or people group that you will pray for and strategically invest in. One way to do that is through A3.

“It’s God’s Kingdom, to which God has brought us together as one body of Christ to fulfill His command in all nations that He’s sent us to,” Yernathen says.

“So I’m not looking at churches in the West as a separated from this journey, but as partakers of God’s calling in their lives to enhance our ministry, and to give us the ability to serve effectively.”

*Pseudonym

Header is a representative stock photo courtesy of Artem Beliaikin/Unsplash.

SGA’s Eric Mock explains the goal of Operation Winter Warmth is to provide blankets and heaters for people in the region who otherwise would go cold.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people — especially the elderly — shivering and enduring. We’re able to help them out, and that’s the point of the Operation Winter Warmth program,” Mock says.

“Also, through SGA’s Compassion Ministry, we are bringing bags of groceries to people that might otherwise not have food.”

Church growth

(Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

Churches have seen much growth from this program, especially since the pandemic. Many people don’t have an income with which to buy food or heating supplies.

The Christians in this region see hardship as an opportunity to love as Jesus loves.

Mock says, “I think that’s a great lesson for us in America, where it’s a little easier for us to click on our computers or order something up so that we are not inconvenienced in our lives.

“Can we see hardship not as something we want to quickly get rid of, but as an indication that God is at work in our life? He has not forgotten us or abandoned us.”

You can get involved with this work here.

Pray the love of these Christians will clearly show the love that Jesus has for all people. Ask God to grow and strengthen churches all across the former Soviet Union.

Header photo courtesy of SGA.

This Giving Tuesday, what better mission to support than one sharing the Gospel with unreached kids?

(Photo courtesy of Mission India)

Mission India is raising support for their 10-Day Children’s Bible Clubs in India, and there’s a unique opportunity to stretch your dollar even farther for the Great Commission in this key country.

Regan Miller with Mission India says, “We actually have friends of Mission India that have offered to match gifts toward 10-Day Bible Clubs, up to $550,000.

“One dollar normally reaches one child with the Gospel through this program, which is already incredible. But with the match, $1 is doubled to reach two children!”

India has the most unreached people groups in the world. So it’s no surprise “many of these kids that we’re reaching through this program have never heard of [Jesus] before,” says Miller. “So they’re hearing about Jesus for the first time and it is so cool to see how that changes their lives and changes their families.”

Where else can you do that much with just $1?

(Photo courtesy of Mission India)

Miller says, “If you want to impact 200 kids, you give $100! If you do the math, it’s just crazy to see how far your gifts can go.”

Give to Mission India’s matching challenge here!

Your gift means Indian children like Afreen get to hear about Jesus Christ’s love in a 10-Day Bible Club — maybe for the first time in their lives.

Miller says, “She got to go through a gift of $1 from somebody, just like the dollar that you can give now during our matching challenge. She loved it…and at the end of the 10-Day Bible Club, she responded to the Gospel and received salvation!

“She still lives in this community where it’s not accepted to be a Christian in many homes, so she actually has not yet told her parents that she believes in Jesus. Even though her parents don’t know, and even though she thinks they might not agree with her decision to follow Him, she is choosing Jesus and that’s really exciting.

“We are just praying with Afreen that she can witness to her parents and that she can boldly proclaim her faith and that her parents will come to know Him too.”

Please pray also for Mission India’s leaders to have wisdom and guidance as they launch Bible Clubs across India.

Header photo courtesy of Mission India.