Besides the ministry to former inmates, Mission CRY recently heard about the miraculous story of how their team was protected during a distribution.

Jason Woolford with Mission Cry says a distribution team in the Philippine Sea was headed to the Caubian islands, in their weighed-down, makeshift bamboo boat when a storm hit.

“They had too many men, too many booklets, and the propeller had hit a rock and broken off,” Woolford says. “And of course, just then a storm sets in, and as the storm was coming over them, they said it was chaos everywhere, but the Lord was protecting them.”

The storm passed over the island and around them, keeping the boat from sinking. The people and supplies stayed dry, knowing that God was protecting them.

Mission Cry sent Bible materials to the Philippines.

Missing their propeller, those in the boat began to pray.  After the storm, they discovered the propeller undamaged and in eight feet of water. They put it back on the boat and completed the mission of sharing God’s Word.

“Think of these men on this makeshift boat, trusting God, believing and then being able to complete their mission,” Woolford says. “I wonder how many people would have turned back around if they had the chance. But instead, they stood their ground, and so to God be the glory. It just shows that you can’t stop what God wants done.”

Mission CRY has sent over $500 million in free Bibles and Christian books to 180 nations around the world.

Woolford says Mission CRY is humbled to do this good work. The Word of God is more valuable than physical things.

“Food, water, clothes, it all returns void at the end of the day, but the Word of God doesn’t. It’s the only thing that does not return void,” Woolford says.

“We’ve seen this in whether we’re ministering in prisons, setting up Bible colleges, seminaries, orphanages, you name it,” Woolford says. “There are no issues when people take in clothes or take in water; there seems to be no spiritual warfare in those, but as soon as you bring the Word of God, that’s when the battle begins.”

Please pray for the Mission CRY team and for the difficulties they experience taking Scripture into difficult places. Pray that people will continue in the good work of distributing materials despite spiritual warfare.

Pray that these materials will transform lives, shaping fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, and citizens, and bringing eternal change.

Header Photo provided by Mission CRY

Climate activists blame humanity for worsening natural disasters, and they’re kicking off COP-28 today in Dubai to find solutions.

“There’s something in humanity that [makes us] want to blame someone for the natural disasters or things that occur,” International Media Ministries’ Denise Godwin says.

“It reminds me of Tertullian, who lived in North Africa in the second century. He pointed out to the culture, ‘When there’s a famine, you blame the Christians; when there’s a flood, you blame the Christians, and you send them all to the lions. How can you blame one people group for things that are opposites?’”

While no one’s blaming Christians for climate change today, she continues, “Human nature is to pick out a group that somehow must be responsible for it.”

At the same time, “There’s a sense in the modern Western news media that in some way we are (humankind is) responsible for all of the weather phenomenon,” Godwin says.

“While I think the Bible is very clear on calling us to be good stewards and not to abuse what He has given us, there is a certain aspect of making ourselves into little gods when we think we can control everything.”

Ask the Lord how you might turn current events into a Gospel conversation.

“What an amazing opportunity – if we can be creative – to have conversations with people about the power of God,” Godwin says.

For example, you could suggest, “Maybe this is a broken planet, and God is way bigger than what we imagine and think,” she continues.

“Look at the end of Job [where] God says, ‘Do you know where the lightning comes from? Were you there when I made it?’”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Philippe Donn/Pexels.

Monday’s 5.6-magnitude earthquake toppled entire buildings, and scores of people remain trapped in the debris. More than 268 have died, and the death toll will rise as responders uncover more victims. Last night, West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil told a press conference, “the majority of those who died were children.”

“The earthquake happened in Cianjur,” says Juserdi Purba, Country Director for Indonesia with Asian Access.

“This earthquake destroyed many houses, and hundreds of people were injured.”

Disaster agencies recorded 25 aftershocks in the first two hours following yesterday’s quake. Following initial reports of 48 casualties, the death toll rose by more than 100 in a matter of hours.

Churches in the Asian Access network mobilized quickly to send aid, working through a seminary near the quake zone.

“We try to collect the donation to help the people [by providing] food, [clean water], clothes,” Purba says.

“We want to show the love [of Christ] to them.”

Send help in the name of Christ through Asian Access here. Pray that the compassion of Jesus will be tangible as believers help earthquake survivors.

Indonesia sits on the so-called “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific. The country has a history of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis, with a 2018 quake killing more than 2,000 people.

“Many people do not know exactly when earthquakes will happen. The government tried to help the local people prepare themselves to face any earthquake,” Purba says.

Header image depicts damage from a January 2021 earthquake. (Wikimedia Commons)

If the volcano does have a major eruption, it would endanger island residents’ lives, water supplies, and power. Such a natural disaster would also disrupt ground and air travel.

The Taal Volcano already had an eruption of ash and lava on January 12. Since then, the volcano continued to spit and sputter and now is at a simmer. But researchers say the danger isn’t over and the volcano remains at a level 4 — the second-highest volcano alert level.

AMG International ministers in the Philippines through child sponsorship, media evangelism, medical care, and supporting national Christian leaders. AMG’s Bill Passons says they are monitoring the situation closely.

“We do have three projects that are…within a 20 or 30-mile radius of the volcano, so we do have some things that have been affected. Right now, most of the effect has been that we’ve had some covering of ash and other things falling from these not-so-minor but not major eruptions yet…. We have not had any major damage to anything at this point, but obviously it’s a concern and we continue to be on alert.”

Devastation in the Philippines from Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. (Photo courtesy of AMG International)

AMG is also raising funds and leading recovery efforts in response to the recent typhoons.

Christmas Eve’s Typhoon Ursula cut a similar path to Super Typhoon Haiyan from 2013. Many people in Eastern Samar remember Haiyan’s wrath and now must rebuild again.

“Some people that we had helped before as far as rebuilding their houses and livelihoods, their houses were destroyed again,” Passons says. “We’re coming back and reassessing how we can help them again. So that’s ongoing, obviously.”

Meanwhile, Typhoon Kammuri swept through Northern Samar on December 2nd, and AMG was directly affected.

“We had significant damage to some of our properties, our camps, [and] our hostels where we have kids. So we’re in repair mode and recovery and helping meet basic needs initially. But then [we are] helping people plan for how they can rise up out of those situations too.”

While AMG is not directly a disaster relief organization, when disasters like this happen in AMG’s backyard, they jump to respond. Passons says in the midst of hardship, God is moving hearts.

“When we respond, people get to see the love of Christ because they say, ‘Why are you helping us?’ We have compassion because Christ in us produces compassion,” Passons says.

(Photo courtesy of AMG International)

“But then secondly, when we come in there and we’re working in there, they see that our faith is real and that, yes, even in the midst of disasters that we still are worshipping. We’re still seeking Lord and He’s still good. It becomes a testing of the faith of our people there and people do notice that.”

Right now, the Philippines needs your prayers — both in the wake of the damaging typhoons and in the midst of the volcano watch.

“The situation is very tense, so just pray for wisdom and for how to respond…. Pray for peace and that we would keep our eyes focused on Christ.”

Passons also asks, “As the resources come in — and we have limited resources — just pray for discernment on how those would be best used and that they would be used in a way that would produce the most benefits and be the best for the community, not just short-term but also long-term.”

If you would like to support AMG’s ministry in the Philippines, click here!

Header photo courtesy of Exec8 via Wikimedia Commons: https://rb.gy/lcxnmr.

One initial estimate places Dorian damages at $7 billion in Abaco, Grand Bahama, and New Providence. Though Dorian’s path brought it past several Caribbean nations, the storm spent most of its time over Grand Bahama and Abaco, thereby inflicting the most damage on these islands.

USAID search and rescue workers assess damage in Abaco.
(Photo courtesy USAID via Twitter)

UN Secretary General António Guterres toured damaged areas in Abaco and Grand Bahama over the weekend. He described Dorian’s wrath as “Category Hell” instead of the Category 5 classification typically used by meteorologists.

Hurricane season can be a grim affair in the Caribbean. Steve Shantz says TransWorld Radio wants to highlight hope in the aftermath of storms like Dorian. “When a storm does hit an area and people’s lives are affected, we put special programming on the air,” he explains.

“These are usually programs that deal with how to cope with difficulty in life, how to cope with disaster, how to put your hope in Christ; also, how to deal with grief and how to deal with loss.”

Along with special programs, TWR broadcasts Christian programs like A Word With You, Family Life Today, and Pedrito El Pulpo from Bonaire to surrounding islands — including the Bahamas. Learn more about TWR’s work here.

Now what?

The Atlantic hurricane season is only about halfway done. Forecasters predict between two and nine more named storms before the end of the year, including a few more major hurricanes like Dorian.

Natural disasters leave believers powerless in every way but one – prayer.

“There’s a lot of open water out there in the Caribbean and in the Atlantic. Our prayers can be that storm tracks take [major] storms mainly through open water and away from places of heavy population,” Shantz suggests.

“We know that these storms can cause incredible damage and incredible misery.”

Team up with TWR on our Facebook Page to pray through the rest of hurricane season.

Ask the Lord to strengthen and comfort those who survived Hurricane Dorian. Pray listeners will find hope and encouragement through TWR’s broadcasts.

Header image depicts Hurricane Dorian as a Category 4 storm. Photo obtained via Wikimedia Commons.

In his research, Dieleman has noted three major developments that will likely shape the refugee and displaced persons’ crises in 2018:

1. Natural Disasters

“One is that there’s going to be more disaster-related persons. In other words, as we have seen with the hurricanes last year and earthquakes in Mexico, etc., we can anticipate a lot more internally displaced [people],” Dieleman says.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports about 65.6 million people have been forced from their homes whether by war, political instability, or persecution. Yet according to Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) more people have been displaced by natural disasters than anything else between the years of 2008 and 2016 and it looks to be recurring. In 2016 alone, 24.2 million people were displaced by natural disasters.

With the hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes that dominated 2017, hundreds of thousands have lost their homes and been forced to move elsewhere.

“There’s going to be a lot more of these events, catastrophic events in terms of natural disasters, and we have to be prepared as an organization how we are going to be able to meet the needs of persons who are suffering through these experiences, particularly because of the long-term recovery time that it would take to get back to some sense of normalcy.”

2. Reintegration

(Photo courtesy Tent Schools International via Facebook)

The second major development Dieleman has noted is the reintegration of refugees returning from their host countries to their home countries. European nations have already begun implementing plans to send rejected asylum seekers back to their home countries, including paying individuals and families to return.

As refugees return, families will be put under further pressure as some conflicts have not been completely settled. Dieleman says this pressure will also be on relief organizations.

“There’s the issue of reintegration back to their own countries and there’s going to be a lot of upheaval [and] turmoil. It’s sort of like being a refugee two times because now you’re going from your host country back to your other country – your home country. And that’s going to put a lot of stress on organizations too, in terms of how they’re going to participate in that re-entry process.”

3. Continued Flow

The final development noted by Dieleman is the continuous flow of refugees across borders. Refugees continue fleeing from the Middle East into Europe, South Sudan into Uganda, and Myanmar into Bangladesh in order to find safety for themselves and their families. These refugees are escaping the violence and persecution that has devastated their home countries and cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

While some areas, such as Iraq and Syria, have become less violent, particularly over the last year, “there’s still areas they’re predicting that are going to be more and more contentious and forcing people to leave,” Dieleman says.

How to Respond

To give the hope of a brighter future, Tent Schools is equipping and raising up refugee and displaced children by educating them in refugee camps. Many of these children have been out of school for years due to the crises that have surrounded them.

Another way to equip hurting individuals and families is by providing services “that are going to help people stand on their own two feet, either as small entrepreneurial ventures ,or giving people job skills where they can work for larger organizations.”

However, with 65.6 million refugees and Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs), Tent Schools can’t meet every need on their own. The best way to respond is by teaming up with other faith-based organizations that serve others and share the name of Jesus Christ.

Dieleman says often, this is hard for non-profits to do because they rely solely on donations and there’s always the chance of donors shifting to another organization.

Even so, “we can’t let that stop us in terms of our need to collaborate,” he says. “Every organization has strengths that other organizations don’t have and we should be relying on who can do what the best for refugee and displaced families. That’s one of the things that we as Christian organizations, I believe, need to put out there in the forefront for 2018. Let’s collaborate, let’s share information, let’s share where we are, let’s share what we’re doing, and let’s help people.”

(Photo courtesy Tent Schools International via Facebook)

Each of these major developments reminds Tent Schools to be prepared for the future so they can respond in the best ways possible whether that’s to refugees fleeing violence, people displaced by natural disasters, or those going back to their unstable home countries.

How You Can Get Involved

Tent Schools invites you to step forward to help respond to the international refugee and displaced persons’ crisis. You are so valuable in assisting those who have lost almost everything. Whether you can give financially or volunteer your time, you can make a difference. Just as Dieleman says: everyone has strengths someone else doesn’t have. A refugee may need your help to thrive again.

“We can work with them. We can help them discover ways they can use their gifts to serve the Lord and to serve those who He dearly cares about around the world, those who are marginalized people, the people who need Christ.”

Start by contacting Tent Schools International today.

Irma impacts Compassion projects

The first hit came from the category five hurricane, Irma, just a couple of weeks ago. Irma has been marked as one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded.

GOES-16 captured this geocolor image of three hurricanes in the tropical Atlantic on the afternoon of September 8, 2017. (Caption, photo courtesy of NOAA Satellites via Flickr: https://goo.gl/kxyXA4)

“Right now we know that a little over 3,000 of our children in Haiti have been affected. Several were seriously injured and one of those children lost a caregiver,” Compassion’s Becca Bishop shares.

Compassion has been in Haiti since 1968. The ministry serves 89,328 children through its Child Sponsorship Program and partners with 293 local churches. At least nine of these churches have been impacted by Hurricane Irma.

“In the Dominican Republic, there’s a little over 300 children who have been impacted by Hurricane Irma and three of our church partners have had damage,” Bishop says.

Compassion has been serving in the Dominican Republic since 1970 and serves 55,127 children through its Child Sponsorship Program in partnership with 167 local churches.

The amount of damage Irma left behind has also prevented a swift assessment period for Compassion. Not to mention, many of Compassion’s first responders are also victims themselves.

Relief and Recovery

Compassion staff members have been going door-to-door to determine who has been impacted by the storm. As one can imagine, it’s a time-consuming process. Still, Haiti and the Dominican Republic were spared the worst of Irma’s power.

(Photo Courtesy Compassion International via Facebook)

Right now, Compassion has been focusing on immediate relief which includes providing clean water and handing out hygiene kits, food, medical supplies, etc. And this aid doesn’t just help with relief, but it also helps to prevent further dangers such as water-borne illnesses.

“We’re trying to make sure that those who are unable to access clean water do have clean water. So, obviously, we want to prevent any sort of disease that could happen because of the infrastructure damages. Whether that’s to the water systems or to the bathrooms or latrines,” Bishop shares.

How to Help

However, the disaster strike doesn’t stop there. Late last week, hurricane Maria skimmed the island of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Will you consider giving to Compassion’s Disaster Relief Fund to help the ministry meet the needs of both the people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic as well as in other places?

“There are just so many needs right now. There are so many disasters that are happening all over the world where we work,” Bishop explains.

“Giving to the Disaster Relief Fund allows us to put the money where it’s needed most. So, once those needs start coming in and they start assessing how much is going to be needed to start rebuilding and repairing and long-term needs.”

Pray for the relief process to go smoothly, for safety and peace for the beneficiaries and their families, and for a quick recovery. Pray also for God to supply the physical, spiritual, and monetary needs of the beneficiaries, their families, and the relief process. And please, pray for the beneficiary who has lost a caregiver.

To help in a tangible way, donate to Compassion’s “disaster relief fund” here!

Hurricane Irma’s visible path. (Photo courtesy of Cayobo via Flickr https://flic.kr/p/XTVkqG)

With Irma’s predecessor Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Jose not far behind, and major flooding meanwhile devastating South Asia, natural disasters have eaten up our newsfeeds. We’ve talked about how kids in disaster zones are being affected, but what about kids outside the disaster zones who hear what’s on the news and are still impacted?

Bethany Christian Services says, in particular, children who have been adopted from international countries may be experiencing some anxiety at this time related to the recent natural disasters. Catherine Lafler says Bethany is currently talking with adoptive families on how to address the needs of their kids.

“Children who have been placed internationally have experienced loss and trauma in their lives by the very nature of being adopted. So sometimes natural disasters when they’re seen on the news, when we talk about them in public, when it’s talked about at school or at home or at church it can trigger for those children a lot of memories of previous experiences.

(Photo courtesy of Bethany Christian Services via Facebook)

“Bethany is hoping to wrap around our children who have been adopted, help share information with their families [on] how they can talk about it [and] help children a little bit more in terms of the impact these natural disasters have and the memories it brings back up.”

Here are some tips for parents on a post-trauma response:

“We don’t always know the full history of our children. They were placed in orphanages and the information may be scarce because of the lack of system in place. So one of the things we’ve been talking to our families about is to expect the unknown, to know that there may be things that we don’t know about our children’s history and sometimes these events can trigger memories or concerns that we didn’t know that our children had.”

Lafler says parents can look for changes in behavior, whether the child is more reclusive or acting out more, to see if they are feeling stressed or anxious about the news of these disasters.

In addition to internationally adopted kids, there’s also the impact to consider on children who have family and friends in the natural disaster zones, children who feel close to the disaster in some way, and children who are hearing the natural disaster news discussed in their circles.

“We’re encouraging our families to talk to our children, not just to expose them to the news and assume that they’ll follow it the way that we do, to be very clear with things like the storm isn’t going to come here,” she says.

“We’re also asking families to be mindful that they may have fears about those families that are still at home also. Some of our children will have family, friends, relatives, they may be concerned about other children in the orphanages, so we recommend some talking and some support around that also.”

One big thing that can be helpful is to point kids towards the restoration and recovery efforts being made and to see how they can even be part of the solution.

1. Pray openly with your kids for those impacted by recent natural disasters.
2. Have your kids pick a charity to give to for disaster relief.
3. Get your kids involved in a donation drive or fundraising effort for disaster recovery.

“It may be that part of a recovery tool for some of these children is some outreach, you know, faith through doing, faith through action.”

Ultimately, Lafler says it about keeping the communication lines open with our kids and making it a conversation. Then, whatever their fears and worries, point them to the God of all comfort and even how they can be the hands and feet of Christ in the situation.

“I think most importantly for our children, it’s watching and observing them, talking them through what’s happening, staying patient and calm and keeping routines, making sure they’re well regulated. And if you become concerned about your children’s emotions, thinking about therapeutic support, first of all. But if this has been something that hasn’t been a severe trauma trigger…and it’s more just this call and desire to help, then a small project of some sort giving back, that may well be something that could help in healing.”

Flood devastation in Peru. (Photo courtesy of Christian Aid Mission)

These floods and storms are the worst to hit Peru in over two decades, with rains ten times stronger than usual. And there’s still no end in sight, with more rain expected in the coming weeks.

However, Rosa Contreras Hart, the Latin America Area Director for Christian Aid Mission, says the Body of Christ in Peru is taking action.

“A ministry that Christian Aid Mission supports in Peru is already providing relief in the affected area. They know the language and the best way to reach with the Gospel to their own countrymen. Even though the ministry meeting hall was damaged by these torrential rains, the congregation has started reaching out to the flood victims.”

She shares, “They have already begun to provide fresh drinking water, canned food, clothing, and a New Testament to flood victims. The ministry leader that I spoke of, he said, ‘As the Lord provides, I have decided to continue to help in the area where we serve in northern Peru.’

(Photo courtesy of AMG International)

“He also added, ‘We know that this is the best moment to share hope in Christ with so many people affected by this natural disaster.’”

While the ministry leaders are providing aid, they need our help. You can support disaster relief to flood victims in Peru through Christian Aid Mission here.

And Contreras Hart asks for one more thing. “Please pray for Peru as the flooding, landslides, and torrential rain have affected many villages, leaving many people without housing and food.”

Pray for the rains to subside in Peru so that rebuilding and relief may start in full. Ask God to give the local ministry His wisdom and strength as they use their resources and time to be Christ’s ambassadors of hope to others.

TouchGlobal Crisis Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Free Church of America, is responding to three of these crises in particular.

Hurricane Irene is long gone, but the flood-wrought devastation that she left will be with the Northeast in America for years.

The Susquehanna River flooding left thousands stranded and many more thousands fighting mud and water in their homes in Pennsylvania and New York.

In Texas, wildfires have been a problem for six months. 20% of families at Bastrop Bible Church have lost their homes to raging fires in a county where 1,386 homes burned to the ground. The Texas Forest Service has responded to 181 fires that have burned over 118,000 acres.

The damage may be done from all these disasters, but that doesn't mean these affected families can move on. Some still remain homeless. Some have years of rebuilding ahead of them.

These families are not alone, though. TouchGlobal has already been involved in delivering aid and strategizing rebuild projects through local churches in disaster zone areas. The ministry's churches have already had opportunities to share Christ's love and Good News with their communities.

Now it's your turn to jump in. The EFCA has ways for you to give to all three projects financially. You can also pray for affected churches and for the hearts of those they help.

If you'd rather do a hands-on job, the EFCA is looking for teams to help with the recovery process. If your church is interested in sending a team, contact the EFCA at crisisresponse@efca.org.

To learn more about any of these three ways to get involved, click here.