Month: May 2025

Source: Mission Network News, May 12, 2025

When Scripture translator Ed Maxey first set foot in Papua, Indonesia, he was closer to death than he knew. Mission Aviation Fellowship’s Linda Ringenberg tells the story.

“He was so exhausted from the hike that he laid down in the mud. He didn’t know that at that time the Ngalik warriors were hiding and surrounding him because they didn’t know who these people were, and they were going to kill him. The fact that he lay down was a sign of weakness, so they decided they were going to spare his life.”

That was over 60 years ago. Since then, the Ngalik people have benefited from Ed and his wife Shirley’s efforts to translate the New Testament into their language, a work that was completed in 1992. The Maxeys’ son Buzz and his wife, Myrna, became the second generation of translators, heeding God’s call to translate the Old Testament for the Ngalik people.

As of this year, the Ngaliks have a complete Bible in their heart language.

See the full story with pictures and praise God for this milestone.

The Maxeys were Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries. Read a longer article about this work from the Alliance or watch the eight-minute video, also below. It’s really well done.

This happens as Papuan Christians face increasing persecution in their region, another article says, adding, “The completed Ngalik Bible translation is expected to dramatically boost evangelism and discipleship efforts in Papua” (International Christian Concern).

In another part of Indonesia with a considerable Christian population, Borneo, work is just beginning on the Old Testament, 25 years after the New Testament was completed. Read Palangkaraya Hosts First Step toward Complete Ot Danum Bible (United Bible Societies).

1. Kenya: An Evangelist in the Silicon Savannah
2. UK: Quiet Revival as Gen Z Goes to Church
3. Nepal: Celebrating 25 Years of the Anglican Church
4. USA: The Largest Water Baptism in U.S. History
5. Africa: Urgent Need for Laborers to Share the Gospel

Read or share the email edition.

Source: Haggai International, April 23, 2025

You’ve heard about Silicon Valley — the northern California region home to some of the world’s most influential tech companies — but what about the “Silicon Savannah?” Nairobi, the bustling capital of Kenya, has experienced rapid growth in the tech industry, becoming Africa’s 21st-century technological hub.

Mary Joy Kimani has worked as a manager with a Fortune 500 technology company for more than a decade. In her role, she connects companies around the world with technological systems and products. But her drive, ambition, and commitment to excellence come from a deeper place. A believer since childhood, Mary Joy’s faith undergirds everything she does and led her to her current role.

When she first joined the company, she was told she had been hired as an “evangelist” for the company, not a typical job title in tech, but one she identified/resonated with given the urgency and passion with which she shares her faith, both in the marketplace and in ministry to teens and young adults. Through her work with the Christian Unions, Mary Joy visits high schools in and beyond Nairobi, sharing the gospel with hundreds of teens. She often sees 15-50 students respond to Christ in a single visit.

Read the full story.

Here are some ways to pray for Kenya, described as having “a little bit of all of Africa in one country” (Prayercast).

Source: Christian Today, April 8, 2025

Church attendance in Britain is rising thanks to Gen Z, new research commissioned by the Bible Society has suggested.

The research, conducted by YouGov, found that last year around 12% of adults attended church at least once a month, up from just 8% in 2018.

Leading the charge were men aged 18-24, with over a fifth attending church at least once a month, a staggering increase from just 4% of that demographic in 2018. Women in the same age bracket have also been attending church in larger numbers, going from 4% in 2018 to 12% in 2024.

Around a third of 18-24-year-olds who do not attend church say they would go if invited by a friend, and a quarter said they are interested in learning more about the Bible.

There are now over 2 million more people attending church than there were six years ago.

Read the full story or read the Bible Society report.

Here’s a more global resource from the UK Bible Society that might interest you: a collection of free, daily devotional leading up to Pentecost and reflecting on the Book of Acts. Learn how the Holy Spirit enabled the early church and how you can pray for the global church today.

Source: Anglican Frontier Missions, March 25, 2025

“As we worked with an unreached people group in the 1990s, I often wondered what kind of church these new believers would form as they organized into worshipping communities. To see the fruit of those early labors—a healthy, vibrant, and Christ-centered church—is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

“Today, the [Anglican Church of Nepal] stands as a testament to God’s faithfulness, demonstrating the five core values of collaboration, relational unity, indigenousness, prayer, and being strategic that we at AFM uphold for healthy churches and missions.”

Read the full story for observations about how the Nepali church embodies these values and encourages us to pray for the unreached and those who serve among them.

Learn more about believers in Nepal and how we can pray for them (Global Mission Mobilization Initiative).

Every three years, a large Anglican Missionary Conference is held in North Carolina. The next one is September 17-20. Learn about New Wineskins.

Source: Crosswalk, May 5, 2025

More than 7,000 people were baptized Saturday in the waters off Huntington Beach, California, in what organizers called the largest single-day baptism event in American history—and a milestone leading up to an even larger gathering planned for June.

It was the second year in a row for the “Baptize California” gathering, which saw 6,000 baptized along Huntington Beach last year but a record 7,750 this year.

The all-day event stretched until the evening, with men and women, young and old alike, lining up to publicly declare their faith in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean as well as in portable baptistries. Bethel Music and the husband-and-wife team of Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe were among the featured singers.

Some 30,000 people were in attendance.

“You were part of the largest water baptism in American history,” pastor Mark Francey of Oceans Church, which hosted the campaign, told the crowd. “Who thinks that God could do it in the other states of America?”

Francey is one of the pastors behind June 8’s Baptize America, in which thousands of U.S. churches nationwide are expected to participate in what is being called the “largest synchronized baptism in history.” June 8 is Pentecost Sunday.

Read the full story and pray for those who were baptized or will be in June. May they grow deep in their faith and share it with others.

In some places, the decision to get baptized or baptize someone else can be costly. Hear what happened after a Muslim-background man baptized a new believer in his region (Frontiers USA).

Also from Crosswalk, read an article about the new record number of Bible app downloads recorded on Easter Sunday (featuring a video interview with the CEO of YouVersion).

Source: International Mission Board, May 5, 2025

Africa has an urgent need for laborers to share the gospel. The image among Christian circles often portrays this area as mostly evangelical and reached. But according to International Mission Board missionary Josh Rivers, that’s not really the case. 

“Senegal is less evangelical than Iran,” Rivers, who has worked as a missionary in West Africa for more than 20 years, emphasized about a country steeped in Islam. “There are many places across Africa where the gospel has taken root and churches started. But there are many places where the gospel is not being proclaimed. That’s where we need believers to go and make disciples.”

Read the full story to see how veteran missionaries address questions like why the gospel hasn’t spread further in Africa, what can be done and how churches can help.

See also an article about a ministry training pastors and believers in Malawi to counteract false teaching (FMI, via Mission Network News).

Do you connect with African immigrant communities, particularly in the area of church planting? Check out a new network, the African Diaspora Church Planting Network.

In a completely different part of the world, please pray for the church in Haiti, where more than 50,000 Haitian people have now been displaced (Haitian American Friendship Foundation).