But that’s led to an urgent prayer request from FMI’s partners. 

Patrick Anthony with FMI says the investigations are definitely a positive thing, but they’ve had unexpected consequences. “What that’s done, though, is it has closed some buildings that our partners were planning to use to house children for their Christian summer camps,” he says.

Summer camps (Photo courtesy of FMI)

Camps begin next month. They are life-changing moments where kids and their families hear the gospel, many for the first time.

“Local leaders tell us they think there [are] about 10,000 Christians out of [Türkiye’s] 85 million population,” Anthony says. With so few believers scattered across the country, summer camp offers a much-needed time of fellowship and discipleship for Christian children. 

Another thing gives this year’s summer camps special meaning. FMI’s partner — a pastor we’ll call Izzet —and his team are celebrating 35 years of fruitful ministry. 

“It has not been easy for 35 years,” Izzet writes. “We have experienced much oppression and cruelty, but every year we have seen the hand of the Lord protecting and providing. Sometimes our camp was attacked with axes, sometimes with guns. Sometimes we were interrogated by soldiers and police. Sometimes we were kicked out of the facility in the middle of the camp. But we never put out our campfire for 35 years. Our prayer is that one day our campfire will burn in every city of Türkiye.”

Over the decades, Izzet and his team have watched campers grow into pastors and ministry leaders. Some kids have aged out of the program return as camp counselors.

Please pray for safe solutions to this summer’s urgent housing needs. Anthony says the challenges are signs of spiritual opposition. 

“At the same time, it shouldn’t surprise us and should really encourage us to be praying more and looking for the Lord to deliver in ways that perhaps we didn’t expect,” he says. “The director of the ministry (Izzet) is asking for people to pray.”

To support FMI summer camps financially, make a gift to the Tangible Resources fund at FMI’s website.

Header photo courtesy of FMI. 

We now know at least 100 people have died. Authorities expect that number to go up as crews go through the hardest-hit town, Lahaina. Over 1,300 people are still missing.

Hawaii, USA (Photo courtesy of Evan Brandt/Unsplash)

Mabel Todd, the widow of FMI founder Ed Todd, lives on the unaffected side of Maui. She says, “The horror of it is just overwhelming. There are a lot of stories of praise, of course, of people who were rescued. But there are so many more that didn’t make it. So it is really overwhelming and it just is making our island sad.”

Todd works at a local ministry school and says people are taking in displaced family and friends, showing Christ’s love in tragedy.

“Hawaiian people, Maui people are so generous and so giving. It wouldn’t matter how many had been displaced. They’ll make room for them in their homes, and that’s what’s happening even among our school families.”

Please pray for the Lord’s comfort for those grieving in Maui today.

“Prayer is the most important thing,” Todd says. “We’re praying for just the peace of God to come over this island and that somehow that anger will be repressed as people learn to trust in God’s grace and mercy.”

Header photo of fire spotting helicopter over the wildfires in Maui, Hawaii. (Photo courtesy of Kahunapule Michael Johnson/Flickr: https://rb.gy/s87vy)

Two Haitian young women recently became single mothers. But with no family to support them and nowhere to go, these young mothers and their babies have been homeless.

For Haiti With Love builds Pilgrim Houses for needy families in Haiti to demonstrate God’s love. But Eva DeHart at For Haiti With Love says they need something fast for these two young moms. Tiny homes fit the ticket.

“They won’t be anything like the [Pilgrom Houses] that we normally build,” DeHart says. “But they will be secure, clean, comfortable shelters for these girls and their babies.”

For Haiti with Love’s 29th Pilgrim House (Photo courtesy of For Haiti With Love)

Haiti is in a housing crisis and has been for a long time. Before the 2010 earthquake, the Haitian population already lacked 700,000 housing units. Then almost 300,000 homes were destroyed in the earthquake, and few have been rebuilt satisfactorily.

DeHart says, “It’s a growing population without really a growing construction industry. So if there is a home available to rent, the owners can charge top dollar for it. Then it takes several families living in that home to be able to afford it.”

They still need at least $2,000 to start construction on the tiny homes. Whether you can give $2,000, $200, or $20, every little bit helps.

Donate to For Haiti With Love here and help them be Jesus’s hands in Haiti.

While these two single mothers and their babies wait for housing, please pray for their safety. Ask God to be their comfort and strength.

Header photo courtesy of Zach Vessels via Unsplash.

The spike in population has limited places for refugees to stay. Many are living in slums or overpriced apartments that have many problems. Apartments are so expensive for some refugees that multiple families are living in one apartment together.

Housing Complications

Some property and building owners have taken advantage of these situations and spiked the prices for poorly constructed housing.

“People that own a little bit of land, or some property, or apartments, they will exploit Syrian refugees to get income out of this and they can charge a lot because the refugees don’t have other options,” Horizons International’s Pierre Houssney says.

“There’s really a lack of safety net in society for these Syrian refugees because nobody cares and the people that do care cannot care enough just because of the sheer numbers of them.”

Houssney shares the story of a boy named Mohammed whose family lived in an illegally constructed home in Beirut. The house was built on top of an apartment building and the electricity had not been installed correctly.

As Mohammed and his family were leaving their home one day, they looked back and saw it engulfed in flames. Their home and all their possessions were destroyed.

Houssney explains, “When something like a tragedy like this happens, they don’t have insurance where they can restore their home. The fabric of society, it just has a big gaping hole that they fall through.”

The government told Mohammad’s family that they weren’t allowed to move back to their home because it was an illegal structure. They were left with nothing – no belongings and no money. They were forced to live on the streets.

School of Hope

(Photo courtesy of Horizons International)

However, Mohammad attends Horizons International’s School of Hope, a school for refugee children living in Lebanon.

He told his teachers what had happened.  Houssney says, “We’ve been able to raise a little bit of funds just from the people that support the school so that we could get them a place to stay.”

As a way to show the Love of Jesus, School of Hope helped to provide for Mohammad and his family. But still, not all of their needs are met.

“They’re in an empty apartment now. They don’t have any possessions to speak of other than the clothes that were on their back at the time when they had just left their house.”

Houssney shares that Mohammad’s story of loss is not rare.

“It’s a very sad situation and we’re seeing things like this happen in Lebanon all over the place.”

But, there can be stories of hope like Mohammad’s as well. Horizons International’s School of Hope speaks life and the Word of God into kids’ hearts and they could use your support in continuing to do so.

“We appreciate your prayers and support especially for School of Hope, which is our school for refugee kids. We have 98 mostly Muslim-background students that we’re sharing the love of Christ and education with. We’re hoping to expand that number from 98 students to 120 students for the fall semester.”

Get Involved

Come into children’s lives and the lives of their families. Show the grace, mercy, and provision of God by encouraging them through Horizons International.

One of the most important actions to take is praying for the refugees and for those who have been exploited and may be in danger due to housing complications.

There are other ways to encourage refugees as well through donations, mission trips, and, Houssney says, “I think each one of us has to go before God in prayer and say ‘Lord, what do you want me to do? This is what I have. It’s all for you.’ And I believe that when people do that, God does inspire them to action each in his own way.”

Houssney says the biggest need for the Church in Lebanon is that God would raise up servant-hearted leaders that strive to empower others in the name of Jesus. Please be praying God would raise up believers to stand firm in His name and lead others to do the same.

Flooding in Sierra Leone. (Photo courtesy of Crossroads Prison Ministries)

When your life at a young age is about survival on your own, it’s no surprise that many of these orphaned street kids land in juvenile prisons for petty crimes.

Crossroads Prison Ministries works with orphans in Sierra Leone’s juvenile prisons. The kids go through the ministry’s Bible study program with a mentor where they can ask questions about God, Scripture, and even begin to follow Jesus. Crossroads’ Sierra Leone Director, Lahai Kargbo, personally mentors several kids in the juvenile prisons and shows them the care and love of Christ they so desperately need.

But Cynthia Williams, International Director of Crossroads, says a major challenge comes when juvenile orphans are released.

“These children literally have nowhere to go — no family, no home, absolutely nothing. So when they’re released, they will most certainly end up back in the streets again. And these vulnerable kids get caught up in the cycle of survival and then the return to prison and then long-term that really leads to a life of ongoing crime.”

Williams traveled to Sierra Leone in October and visited the juvenile facilities where Kargbo is ministering through Crossroads.

“Lahai and, of course, Crossroads were greatly burdened to not allow these children to be released back on to the streets. So as they’re being released, Lahai has actually been taking them into his own humble home which consists of just a couple of small rooms.”

She shares, “I remember sitting across from him and the tears were just streaming down his cheeks. He said, ‘We cannot walk away. If we tell them that God loves them and that we love them, and then we do nothing in their time of greatest need, what does that say to them? We’ll lose them both in life and especially to the faith.’”

Kargbo has taken in at least six orphaned children who were released from juvenile prison. All of them are students in Crossroads’ Biblical mentorship program. But more are continually released and he recognizes this isn’t a sustainable solution.

Crossroads Sierra Leone Director, Lahai Kargbo, with a facility director. (Photo courtesy of Crossroads Prison Ministries)

Williams shares, “We’ve been working with Lahai to find a long-term sustainable solution. Unfortunately, all of the orphanages that have been contacted in Sierra Leone have turned down requests to take the children, saying they cannot risk taking kids with prison records. We understand that.

“Then we’ve also been looking to the local churches to help. Unfortunately, this has not yielded positive results either. Not only does the church in Sierra Leone have few resources, it’s a country that is desperately impoverished, but again understandably, there is apprehension about taking these kids in that are at risk.”

Crossroads is continuing to seek God’s wisdom for a long-term solution for these juvenile orphans. Meanwhile, they have some critical financial needs.

“There are significant immediate needs for housing, for clothing, for food and schooling expenses for these kids as Lahai works out how to care for them as they’re coming out. And again, most of these kids are our students. All of them that he is taking in are Crossroads’ students, so they are particularly important to us.”

If you’d like to financially support Crossroads Prison Ministries, click here.

“We’re also looking to partner with maybe organizations that do orphan care. We’re still working on that part of it. So if there are those who have connections in these areas, we would be so glad if they would just contact Crossroads to let us know of any interest in coming alongside to help us in-country,” Williams shares.

“Our ultimate goal is to partner with organizations that then can partner with the local churches. We really want to empower the local church to take on this responsibility. So we need a lot of prayer.”

Click here if you’d like to contact Crossroads to see where they are at in caring for Sierra Leone’s orphaned juvenile prisoners and how you can help.

“The bottom line for Crossroads is that we are called to care for the orphans very clearly in Scripture. We are also called to care for the prisoner. Then how much more the orphaned prisoner? So we just would be so grateful for prayer that the Lord would raise up those who will be able to partner with us in this most important focus and ministry to care for the orphaned prisoners in Sierra Leone.”

Over the last few months, the organization has been collecting signatures in their “Hope for the Middle East Campaign.” As of last week, they had gathered well over 800,000 signatures. The petition urges support for Christians in the Middle East, particularly Syria and Iraq, especially in light of the major rebuild that is just beginning in the war-torn nations. They will present the signatures to the UN Secretary-General and his office.

“So many Christians have been displaced and pushed out of their homes in the Middle East. And we want them to be part of their communities. What we’re really asking is that Christians have the same rights in civil society as everybody else, are part of the restoration and reconciliation within their countries—Iraq and Syria. Christians need to be part of that. And that they have a right to housing, you know, the basics of life and that they should not be discriminated upon in Iraq and Syria and the Middle East just because of their faith in Jesus.”

More specifically, the petition asks three things:

• The right to equal citizenship
• Dignified living conditions
• Involvement in reconciling and rebuilding their society

Why it matters to be a voice for the voiceless

The petition was created after Open Doors surveyed Christians in the Middle East on what their greatest needs were going forward.

(Photo and header photo courtesy of Open Doors USA)

Curry says the petition is not just about creating a bill and establishing international pressure on the issue, but also to create awareness of the situation and draw the Body of Christ into advocacy.

He explains that if we miss this opportunity to direct change going forward, we’ll be feeding into a negative cycle of oppression in the Middle East. Now is the time for action. But, he says, this isn’t just a calling for some portions of the Church, but all.

“The entire Body of Christ has been called to pray for and to reach out and care for people who are in prison for the name of Jesus. So it’s a universal calling; I think it’s important to recognize that. And so, when we are advocating, caring for, speaking out for people who are followers of Jesus, we are doing what the Lord has asked us to do. We are being obedient.”

While there is time

Another factor that can seem far away in the west is our own connection with persecution. Curry reminds us that it doesn’t take much stretching of the imagination to see how persecution could quickly hit home.

“Eventually this persecution may come to you and some of your family. And we need to recognize that we wish somebody would speak out on our behalf, this is our chance to do it for our brothers and sisters around the world.

“And it’s not a long stretch to imagine that persecution could increase in the west, that laws could be passed… all kinds of things which are going to be used to paint Christians as intolerant and all these sorts of things. That’s only going to grow. Aggressive secularism is going to impinge upon the rights of Christians over time, certainly.

“Wouldn’t you like to know that people around the world are going to be thinking and praying and lifting you up when your time comes? Absolutely, you would. That’s why we need to reach out and care for our brothers and sisters around the world.”

Learn more about this petition, here. And pray. Ask God to create a ripple effect among the Church and peoples of influence. Ask God to strengthen the foundation of believers in the Middle East so that those who haven’t heard of Jesus before can know him.

Volunteers
from First Baptist Church in Knoxville, TN helped Buckner International build the 2-bedroom,
$15,000 house, the McAllen Monitor reports. The interior of the house is not yet finished, but Rolando Rosales has a friend who will help
him paint the floors and install the kitchen floors and appliances.  

Buckner
is there to help if needed, but the agency deliberately leaves the homes it
builds unfinished so the new residents can have a sense of responsibility and
ownership. "We're helping fill the gap
that they just can't cross," explained Albert Reyes, president of Buckner
International.

Working odd jobs, 41-year-old
Rosales has struggled to provide for his family since his wife's death. "I take it day-by-day," he said. "It was
pretty hard at first." 

Kevin, the oldest Rosales boy,
says he picked the smaller bedroom for himself and his brothers because it will
be easier to keep clean. "I'm excited to
move in," he said. The 12-year-old wants
to be a U.S. Border Patrol agent when he grows up.  

The
family also needs to obtain furniture for the house, and Calvary Baptist Church of McAllen plans to
donate some for them. Rosales had been repairing a trailer to use for the move when thieves broke into it, stealing the
mattresses and toys, and scattering clothing all over the yard. Now he is thankful for all that God has
provided for his family. 

"I
feel very happy and grateful," said Rosales.

In
2009, Buckner's Rio Grande Valley chapter built 28 homes and repaired 450. Nearly half a million people–many of them
impoverished–live in the colonias of Hidalgo county. 

"[Our work] is a drop of water in
the middle of the desert," said Jorge Zapata, Buckner's colonia program
director in the Valley.