Her posts criticized leaders in the country. But independent investigators say nothing in the posts included violent material.

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA says, “There was another woman jailed for 34 years earlier in August for activity on Twitter. Both are good reminders that even though Saudi Arabia is trying to present itself as reformed, new, and modern, there are still these draconian restrictions on the people.”

This move complicates Saudi Arabia’s already fraught relationship with the West. Nettleton says, “Whether it be Jamal Khashoggi, whether it be the treatment of women or the treatment of Christians, Saudi Arabia is not a free country. It is not a place where the human rights of every person are respected and upheld.”

How to pray

These challenges extend to converts from Sunni Islam to Christianity. But the persecution often comes first from their families.

Ask God to fill them with peace. Nettleton says, “The other specific prayer request is to pray for Christian women. Women are often isolated anyway because they’re women. And then, if you’re a Christian woman, you have even more isolation. In some cases, they don’t have a physical relationship with other Christians.”

“They may read the Bible online. They may watch satellite television that has a pastor who is discipling them and communicating to them.”

The header photo shows a pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram in Saudi Arabia. (Photo courtesy of Ali Mansuri via Wikimedia Commons.)

But what if Christians viewed social media not as a cultural battlefield but as their mission field?

Doug Hutchcraft with Ron Hutchcraft Ministries says, “If you’re like me, it might take all of the self-control you have to not express your own frustrations about what’s going on in the world. But why be another loud and argumentative voice? Why not be the one that chooses to be the peacemaker? When was the last time you got into an argument on social media and actually convinced somebody of your viewpoint? It’s more our heart to want to be right than to want peace.

“Like any other medium, it’s not that social media is good or bad, but rather how we choose to use it.”

(Photo courtesy of Nordwood Themes via Unsplash)

Ron Hutchcraft Ministries recently hosted a conversation on Facebook Live with Native American young people through their On Eagles’ Wings outreach. They talked about loneliness, suicide, the pandemic, and what it all means in the context of faith.

Hutchcraft says, “It was amazing – even though it’s an online thing and you’re not in the same room – how much God used that.”

When we set aside our personal agendas on social media, it opens the door for Gospel-focused interactions like this.

So what does it look like to engage social media day-after-day with the mindset of an ambassador for Christ?

If a friend or family member seems like they are struggling on social media, reach out to them! You can send a note of encouragement, ask how you can pray for them, or even invite them to join a virtual Bible study with you.

Also, when we feel attacked or offended by something on social media, Hutchcraft says we need to replace our own agendas and pride with the Gospel.

“In 1 Corinthians 9:12… the Apostle Paul who was being thrown in jail, who has been almost murdered a couple of times, he says, ‘I will put up with anything rather than get in the way of what the Gospel is trying to communicate.’”

(Photo courtesy of Chad Madden via Unsplash)

Hutchcraft says, “My rule as a communicator has to be, ‘Could this encumber the Gospel? Could this give people a reason to continue to reject Jesus?’ They already have those reasons perhaps because of other Christians they’ve met. But when they’re through reading what you’re writing, maybe you could be the one that is a magnet for who Jesus is.”

Finally, pray. When you see a post from someone on social media and the Holy Spirit stirs your heart, pray for them. And if you’re getting ready to write a post, type a comment, or share something, stop and pray about it first.

Prayer sounds so simple, but it’s easy to forget.

“How many of us actually pray right before we go on Facebook?” Hutchcraft asks. “How many of us actually pray right before we go post something on Instagram?

“People need every day for someone to be the salt and the light and to know what a merciful God looks like.”

Click here for more resources from Ron Hutchcraft Ministries on being an ambassador for Jesus.

Header photo courtesy of Prateek Katyal via Unsplash.

That’s the principal driving many ministries to use social media as a tool for good. Among them is Horizons International. Pierre Houssney of Horizons International says that many of the problems social media causes are found or amplified in the Middle East and North Africa.

That sounds like a bad thing, but actually, it gives ministries an opportunity. “What we’re able to do now is put the Gospel in front of them while they’re spending all these hours on social media looking at videos and pictures and having conversations, and we’re finding that a lot of people are really open to the gospel,” Houssney says.

New Power in New Technology

Social media is a tool not to be taken lightly. “Any power or any media, it could have a lot of influence for bad or influence for good,” Houssney says. Fortunately, the Church already has a track record of reaching the Middle East with technology.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

In the 90s, satellite TV provided ministries with access points to the Middle East and North Africa, even beyond previously closed borders. However, that interaction was largely one way. Satellite TV ministries could provide people with access to Gospel hope, but responses were limited to written letters, emails, and call-in channels.

Those ministries still have effective outreach work to this day, but Houssney wanted to emphasize response and dialogue. “It’s a very low cost for the ministries, and it’s very easy for the people that are responding to the content to respond,” he says.

Beverly’s Testimony

Using social media effectively means using relationships effectively. Beverly knew how to do that.

“I have a friend whose name is Beverly (she actually passed away last year),” Houssney says. She “was living in in Colorado, and she had an amazing heart for Tunisia, for North Africa, and for Muslims… In her spare time, she would spend a lot of time on Facebook, just kind of getting to know Tunisian women and other Muslim women and befriending them, sharing the gospel with them, and mentoring them.”

Over the course of a few years, Beverly created a network of contacts, many of whom were believers, that focused on encouraging one another and sharing the hope they had found in the Gospel.

Pure Heart of the Middle East

Stories like Beverly’s are why Houssney wants to properly utilize social media as a ministry tool. Horizons International now has a social media platform called Pure Heart of the Middle East that focuses on sharing testimonies with the Middle East and North Africa region.

(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)

“We’ve been posting videos about stories of transformation, where converts from Islam are sharing their testimonies of how they experienced Jesus and had their lives changed,” Houssney says. “As a result of that, people are people are really responding in amazing ways. Some of these videos are getting upwards of 120,000 views by people in the Middle East and North Africa.”

People who want to respond are immediately put in contact with pastors and volunteers ready and waiting to have conversations. So far, it’s been effective. “Just in the past few months, we’ve had 35 people come to Christ who are being discipled through this Facebook platform in the Middle East and Africa, all from a Muslim background,” Houssney says.

Want to get involved? Connect with Horizons International to learn more. You can also check out Pure Heart of the Middle East right here. Mission Network News even has our own Facebook group you can join.

In the meantime, “Pray that God would raise up more harvesters also to be getting involved on social media instead of just consuming content that’s meaningless or watching funny cat videos on social media,” Houssney says. Pray that believers “would really get involved in the lives of seekers from a Muslim background to have an impact for the Gospel.”

Header photo courtesy of Unsplash

Tensions have grown over the last several months between the US and Iran. When the US withdrew from the nuclear deal — which required Iran to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for lifting international sanctions — it threw international relations for a loop. Now, with the US sanctions reimposed, Iran’s economy is suffering.

While Iran is noticeably frustrated with the US government, Iran’s parliament is also displeased with Rouhani. According to Business Insider, Iranian lawmakers have summoned Rouhani to explain why he allowed the nation’s economy to decline, even while the nuclear deal was in place.

It is easy to focus on the players on the prominent, political stage in this conflict. However, there are millions of others who are deeply impacted by these interactions — the Iranian people.

David* with Heart4Iran says, “We hear from [Iranians] that things are kind of at an all-time low in Iran. They have no freedom to move. We have heard that flights from Iran to Europe are being canceled [and] that people don’t have any money because of the huge inflation that’s happening and the currency devaluation that is happening. People just aren’t able to afford daily life and so it’s a lot of pressure and a lot of stress.

“When the news of these tweets comes out or when things flare up, it just makes the situations worse inside the country and the people feel the pressure.”

There have been rumblings for a long time in the Iranian Revolution’s wake — a slow swelling of distrust and disillusionment. The people feel restricted by their government and failed by corrupted leaders.

However, the disappointment does not stop at Iran’s politics. David also says, “We look at it as kind of a trend that’s been going on for years now — that people are disillusioned with Islam.”

Iranian family watching the Jesus Film. (Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran)

This may be, in part, why Iran has the fastest growing Church in the world. Heart4Iran seeks to equip and encourage believers in Iran and reach Muslims for Christ. David hears this building hunger for spiritual answers in Iran firsthand.

“Every day, people call us from Iran and they talk to us about their problems, they talk to us about what’s happening on the ground, they talk to us about religious things, and they talk to us about Christ. So we hear from them what’s happening and these political things that are going on in the background just seem to be part of a growing kind of pressure that is building on them.

“It’s just a stark contrast that the Gospel presents versus what they are being shown on a daily basis and what they are living on a daily basis. So God gets a lot of glory in that because His true identity is shown in Christ and when they hear that, they run to it.”

Our Iranian brothers and sisters in Christ are carefully and boldly spreading the Gospel in their nation. What they need now is the encouragement of fellow Christians.

(Image capture courtesy of Heart4Iran)

“We definitely should be praying for the people of Iran. They are going under a lot of intense pressure right now…. So we just want to pray that God will be glorified in this situation. These pressures can lead to people soul searching, and a lot of times that happens. People call us and they want to talk about the message of hope and the message of love in Jesus Christ that they’re seeing on Mohabat TV,” David shares.

Mohabat TV is a major part of Heart4Iran’s ministry. Through Mohabat TV, they broadcast the Gospel on satellite television into the homes of Iranians searching for truth.

“As the Body of Christ around the world, I want us all to pray for them. Pray for the people in Iran. They are coming to Christ, and they are experiencing new life in Christ, and this could just be the catalyst that makes that happen.”

(Header photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

*Name changed for security purposes

#Hashtagactivism

International (MNN) – The widespread debate surrounding the modern day phenomena of ‘slacktivism’ is quite surprising.

For those of you who don’t know this term, it was reportedly coined in 1995, a combination of slacker and activism.

We’ve all witnessed it showcased time after time on our social media feeds where it’s also known as hashtag activism. The name itself begs the argument, does slacktivism just add to the noise? Is it a waste of time — a mirage to make people feel better when there’s so much bad going on?

The bad side of slacktivism

We spoke with Compassion International’s Social Media Specialist, Eryn Carman. She recently published a piece on how to be effective in the things you post.

Carman explains, “When you see a trending hashtag for a social cause, people jump on the bandwagon and retweet and repost things that have to do with, say, that hashtag or that social cause they see blowing up on their Facebook or Twitter or Instagram.”

The main criticism is that people often aren’t doing anything helpful behind the words they share.

“Slacktivism itself is mostly known because there‘s no action taken behind the words you’re putting out on social media. So they’re saying it’s a negative thing to be a slacktivist.”

The issue that can arise when we post without action is that we post too much. A rush of posts about causes and/or tragedies can quickly become overwhelming for others.

On one side, sharing every social cause and injustice that comes across your feed puts you at risk of being an alarmist — someone who constantly spreads bad news just for the sake of spreading bad news.

Carman says this can be a problem: “The Bible continually tells us not to worry. The way we speak about tragedy and injustice through social media can actually contribute to fostering a sense of fear.”

The other problem that can occur is that we stop caring. “Our social media feeds are overflowing with hurt in the world. Post after post after post of news and injustices. At some point, we just grow numb to it. We’re just not created for infinite empathy. We can’t care about every injustice and every cause. And that’s called compassion fatigue.”

While the above issues are common, Carman says there is a positive side to slacktivism, if we’re careful.

The good

While sharing every possible cause and news story that crosses our path can actually be unhelpful, Carman lays out some tips that can help social media users make a difference, not just noise.

For instance, “It can be highly effective if people are connected to the cause personally — if it’s something they are passionate about and if it’s an actual genuine outpouring of who somebody already is.”

Once you’ve honed in on a cause, it’s important to connect to an organization that has a system of change already in place. This helps people interested in your cause to do more than “like” or “share.”

Be thoughtful about your activity

Photo courtesy of Jason Howie via Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/d41HES

“I think we all need to take a moment and pause before we hit post. Mostly to pray and meditate. Pray about why you use social media, how you use it. Meditate on your motives for posting something or replying to something,” Carman says.

Sometimes we get caught up in sounding the alarm. Over and over again. But as we’ve already mentioned, this can raise fears unnecessarily. It’s not about ignoring the facts, but about making sure they are, indeed, facts.

“One practical way to cut down on that is to do your research. Make sure you’re checking facts before you post something. Become an expert in the area of this cause. Because the more intelligently we can speak about something, the more influence we can have,” Carman says.

She encourages users to take account of whether they are behaving consistently online and off. There’s an inherent danger in the fact that on social media, we miss nonverbal social cues and communication. We become emboldened to talk to friends and strangers in ways we wouldn’t face-to-face.

To address this, Carman advises, “It’s helpful as an exercise to imagine that you’re sitting across from someone, one person specifically, and talking just to them before you post anything. Imagine that, and it will help you temper your words with grace and with love and wisdom instead of posting hastily.”

Your cause and social media

So many causes grapple for our attention. And for Christians, we usually have the goal to support the greater cause of telling others about Jesus. In light of the tips mentioned above, let’s look at Compassion International as an exemplar.

Let’s say you care deeply about children living in poverty. Good! You’ve established a focus passion. However, publishing facts to social media, no matter how well informed they are, won’t be enough to change the reality that is.

You have to find a means to turn your cause into action. The easiest and probably most effective way to do this is to connect with a group or organization that is already doing this work.

Act for Compassion is one example of a cause that works. Photo courtesy of Compassion International via Facebook.

Compassion International allows you to help out a child in need while creating greater opportunity for them to hear the Gospel and know Jesus.

And what’s more, they have resources developed specifically to help you be an advocate on social media for your cause.

You can start your own fundraiser for impoverished children through their Act for Compassion campaign. You’ll also inform your friends about the rewards that come with being a child sponsor. Learn more about that here.

It’s important to note that when you become an advocate for something, it gets personal. And that’s a good thing. It’s you sharing your own ministry and helping activate the Body of Christ to do something.

“When it comes to posting on social media about a cause or something you care about, the reason it can be effective is because it’s connected to you and who you are. The more personal something is, the more people are likely to connect with it.”

Carman says if we aren’t sure whether or not we should post or re-post something, we should consider this rule of thumb: “When in doubt, if it doesn’t have to do with you directly, if it doesn’t impact your life or something that you care about, don’t post about it.”

Becca Bishop works in Public and Media Relations for Compassion International. She leaves us with this really good question: “Are the things that we do pointing to Christ? How are the things that we are saying on social media building up His kingdom?”

(Photo credit: The JESUS Film Project via Facebook)

International (MNN) — A final report isn’t due for weeks, but this year’s Giving Tuesday is expected to raise at least $40 million USD. According to Philanthropy.com, the estimated online donations associated with #GivingTuesday last year ranged from $21 million to $32 million.

As the #GivingTuesday movement clearly demonstrates, using social media isn’t just an option for nonprofits and ministries: it’s a necessity.

“It’s just really important to be on social media to share your message,” says Doug Weiss, social media manager for The JESUS Film Project (JFP).

“If organizations understand how powerful it is to get your story out there, it can really make a difference in what they’re doing.”

JFP is one of the non-profit groups fully utilizing social media for ministry.

“We’re now reaching over a half-million people around the world,” Weiss shares, adding that the ministry is actively communicating the Gospel on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

Social media and blogs are becoming increasingly useful for ministry and evangelistic outreach because the Internet can go where missionaries can’t.

For example, PIONEERS is starting a digital media outreach to the Arab world.

Weiss says some of their Facebook friends have said they watched the JESUS film for the first time after clicking on a JFP post. He adds, “A lot of people also are asking, ‘How can I use the JESUS film in my country? I’d like to show the film to people I know; how can I get a hold of the film?'”

One of the graphics shared on
The JESUS Film Project’s Facebook page.
(Graphic credit JFP)

Sharing Christ through social media isn’t just for ministries, though.

“If [readers] know people who’ve never heard the Gospel before, or have never seen a film about Christ, they can share it with [those people] on social media,” says Weiss.

“You can share any of our films or clips through social media, either by sharing it to your Facebook page or through a Tweet.”

The JESUS Film Project shares some great starting points in this blog.

What do you think? Is an active presence on social media just another tool, or is it a necessity? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

If you’re a Facebook user–which you very likely are, have you ever considered using it to reach people with the Gospel?

Courtesy of Wikimedia commons– http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Facebook_icon.jpg (public domain)

Reach Beyond thinks it’s a great idea and tweeted about it in reference to an article by Joshua Project (read here).

The article, inspired by Laura Krokos, details how to take out an ad that will connect users of Facebook to ministry resources they would never otherwise see. Check it out!

This concept fits Reach Beyond’s Manifesto to reach the unreached which states, in part:

“We refuse to stand idly by as people enter eternity without Christ when we can share the Good News that transforms them through the media they use.

“We will leverage, to the best of our ability, God’s gift of media and medical technology to reveal His eternal wisdom to those who have never heard the name of Jesus.

“We will employ every resource, talent, and ounce of energy God gives us to shine the light of His grace into the darkest recesses of the planet.”

How appropriately that manifesto aligns with the idea of using Facebook as a resource for lost people. And according to extensive research done both in America and Globally, it has great potential.

PEW Research Center reported earlier this year that 57% of adults in America use Facebook, and the half of those that don’t use it live with somebody does. 73% of Americans ages 12-17 are on Facebook.

Each of these Facebook users reaches an incredible amount of “friends.” The networking is huge. For example, users age 18-29 have a median Friend count of 300.

And that’s just in America.

Started in America in 2004 as a way to connect college kids, it only took two years for Facebook to go global. Already in 2011 Huffington Post was reporting that 75% of users lived outside of the United States.

PEW’s research backs this up.

In 2012, they indicated that in many countries, about half of the population used Facebook and other social networking sites. The increase in social-network interest coincides with greater accessibility to cell phones and internet.

What’s even more interesting is that many low-income populations are especially involved with networking, and once they get internet access, they are connected to social media.

And get this: based on a poll of 21 countries in 2012, 14% of users were using social media to discuss religion.

That may not seem like a lot, but some Arab countries were rated for religious use as high as 63%.

As of this year, PEW finds that even in emerging countries, as they gain greater access to internet communication devices, there is a heightened interest in social media. It’s become part of their everyday life.

Countries like Egypt, Russia, the Philippines, and Tunisia have just under 90% of their internet users involved in social networking.

Of 22 emerging and developing countries surveyed by PEW, a median 43% of internet users share religious views on social media sites like Facebook. This is most popular in the Middle East.

This is why linking Facebook to evangelistic resources is such a good idea: it connects ministries with people in need, just like that.

Even in emerging countries where internet usage is low, there are people around who speak their language who are on Facebook and who can pass the word along.

Many ministries, like Reach Beyond, offer resources (like these) that help people understand the Gospel and know who Jesus is. However, there are so many people in need who don’t even know they exist.

Consider following the steps as outlined in the Joshua Project article to make people around the world aware of the resources that ministries like Reach Beyond are offering.

AMG uses the airwaves to share the Good News of Christ around the world.
(Image, caption courtesy AMG)

International (MNN) — Media often gets a bad reputation. Many believers feel TV and the Internet are places where evil thrives. But maybe the real problem is the fact that few know how to use social media and traditional media for the Great Commission.

Tasos Ioannidis of AMG International says for 60 years, they’ve been using media to share the Message that can save people from sin.

“Only heaven will show how many people have been touched through media,” says Ioannidis. “God is using it in amazing ways, and when people dig in and find out how God is using it, they will be amazed.”

At AMG, “media” can take a wide variety of forms. In several countries (often those closed to overt missionary activity), they work through newspaper and Web evangelism by placing Gospel ads in newspapers, magazines, and on Web sites. The ministry also shares Christ through “traditional media” such as book/periodical publishing, Gospel tracts, and radio.

“Through media–whether it’s printed or through radio, or the Internet these days, you can enter homes that a Christian person would not be able to go in,” Ioannidis shares. “In their own home, they’ll have a chance to think and respond. God is using that in tremendous ways.”

See how AMG reaches the Muslim world through media evangelism in places like Turkey.

Despite its success, AMG’s media ministry is no stranger to criticism.

“Who would think of using media to put the Gospel message [in]?” asks Ioannidis. “A lot of people think it is a waste of resources to do that, but it’s exactly the opposite.”

Social media is one such area of controversy. Many people, especially younger generations, advocate the positive uses of social media: 24/7 communication with friends, reconnecting with colleagues and classmates, finding a job, etc.

“We have a lot of people who contact us through our Facebook page in different countries.”

But social media carries many negative side effects as well: cyber bullying, identity theft, less face-to-face interaction, to name a few.

“Social media is just a tool. It can be used well or it can be used poorly, like a lot of things,” says the AMG President and CEO. “Our experience with social media is that it is a very powerful tool to attract people to get them to respond.

“We have a lot of people who contact us through our Facebook page in different countries, asking for New Testaments, asking to enroll in a Bible correspondence course. Also, Twitter is a great way to get the word out, share little truths. These blurbs catch peoples’ attention, and they contact us, asking to know more.”

Today, AMG uses the radio, newspapers, Internet, social media, and printed publications to share God’s Truth with people around the world. After 60 years of media ministry, the most effective methods have changed and continue to change; but the Message and impact are still the same.

“We have seen church growth in many countries around the world through media,” says Ioannidis. “It is a great, cost-effective way to put the Gospel into places you could not access otherwise.”

Access is a double-edge sword, though. Ioannidis explains, “There are countries in which we operate that are restricted, where the government tries to block the Internet sites or that proclaim the Gospel.

“Pray that the Lord will keep the doors open so that we will continue to use media for the glory of God.”

Program costs can also present significant barriers. Click here to help AMG’s media ministry overcome them.

(Photo courtesy SEND International)

USA (MNN) – “‘I searched radio in Alaska’ or ‘I searched church planting in Spain’ and ‘I found SEND International and I got engaged, and here I am today.'”  When’s the last time you heard that from a missionary?

This statement encapsulates a trend that’s redefining the Information Age.

The advent of the Information Age means that the average consumer processes facts through multiple sources.  It changes how people think, sort and research their interests. By default, the people groups utilizing the tools are also sorted by generation.  “Praise the Lord that God uses the technology to bring people in. It’s quite a generational shift”, notes SEND International’s media director, Keith Baum.

The Barna Research Group just released a report summarizing the challenges facing ministries:

1)      People feel modern life is accelerating and becoming more complex.

2)      People want to be culturally informed, but they are becoming accustomed to skimming content.

3)      People are moving beyond mere facts and information, and are looking for holistic integration of faith and life.

These results reveal a different kind of intellectual currency utilized by today’s consumer-one that ends up incorporating meaningful life with faith.   Baum explains that thinking was behind the total revamp of SEND’s presence on the Internet.  “90%  of our people were going to 10-percent of our web pages. We did a little further research to find out what pages they were going to and it turns out they were ‘opportunity’. People were looking for opportunities to go, to give, they were looking for resources that could help them.”

Getting the word out on opportunity-driven ministry to a multi-focused audience means conquering the noise of the cultural acceleration. How?  With repetition.     “You not only need  to have videos  up on YouTube, you need to have a website, you need to have

(Image courtesy SEND International)

blogs, you need to have Facebook, you need to have Twitter, e-blasts… and all these things need to work together because people are running on all these different channels.”

Does it work?  Since SEND revamped their information age approach, he says, “75% of our last missionary candidate school  came to us saying they had never heard about SEND before, but they found us through a search on Google, or Yahoo, or Bing! or some search engine.”

(Image courtesy SEND International)

SEND is an interdenominational evangelical mission organization with about 600 Christian missionaries in more than 20 areas of Asia, Eurasia, Europe and North America. They focus on church planting among the unreached.  Baum adds,  “In trying to use the tools that are available to us to further God’s kingdom, our passion is that not just the technology be used, but that more missionaries will head to the field, that more donors would come online to help those missionaries in the field to support them, that more prayers would come forth to pray that the Gospel would go forth to the unreached people of the world.”

It all boils down to: pray, give or go.  There are links for these action points here.

This weekend, blogger Raechel Myers and her husband are headed to Guatemala with Food for the Hungry. (Image courtesy RaechelMyers.com)

This Sunday, FH is bringing another team of bloggers to Guatemala. MNN recently caught up with blogger Raechel Myers, who’s going with her husband.

“We have not even traveled outside of the country and we’re in our 30’s,” Myers says with a laugh. “This is a new experience for both of us, but we are really excited to not only experience it firsthand, but from a blogger perspective.

“Getting to share it and experience it from this perspective I think will be really fantastic.”

Myers and her fellow bloggers will see how FH brings new physical and spiritual life to impoverished villages.

FH began working in Guatemala in 1976, after an earthquake killed more than 22,000 people and left 1 million without homes. Since then, Guatemala has faced many natural disasters and economic challenges. FH is working to keep children in school and building healthy communities.

According to the World Food Program, Guatemala has the fourth highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world, and Latin America’s highest rate of stunting in children.

Myers says they hope to serve in whatever way they can.

“We also want…to be a mouthpiece, not just to the people in Guatemala, but also to the people back home,” she states. “We hope to make change.”

Bloggers will be in Guatemala from August 4 through 9.

“I hope to walk away with a clearer understanding of the world,” says Myers. “I hope to walk away with a clearer understanding of God’s grace all across the world and His love all across the world in every situation; and I think even His presence everywhere.”

Follow the trip on Raechel Myers’ blog.

Pray Myers and the entire team can help further God’s Kingdom in Guatemala. Pray comfort for any fears of leaving a comfort zone.

“That’s one thing where I just, I really trust the Lord — that He will be in and through that, and just give us peace that passes understanding,” says Myers.

Ask the Lord to show bloggers His will in each situation and encounter.

“Every day, every moment, what can we be seeing? What can we be hearing? What can we be learning that we can further the Kingdom?”

Join @MNNTeam and the entire team of FH bloggers on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time for what Myers calls a “Twitter party.”

“Jump in and say hello, and encourage us; we would love that! And even just to ask questions; we’d be so happy to get to chat,” Myers says.

“You can also just follow the Twitter hashtag #fhbloggers and you’ll be able to ask questions while we’re there.”

See how FH works in the nation of Guatemala.

(Image courtesy FH)