Missions Catalyst

Source: Global Frontier Missions, July 23, 2025

In an age of rapid technological advancement, instant communication, and global access to information, some may wonder: Is formal missions training still necessary? With Bible apps in seemingly every language and translation tools at our fingertips, the idea of preparing for years before going to the mission field can feel outdated. But the truth is, missions training in 2025 is more essential than ever. Here’s why.

1. Cultural complexity has increased.
2. Theological foundations are more critical than ever.
3. Spiritual warfare is real.
4. Long-term impact requires preparation.

Read the article and encourage those you influence to get trained. GFM offers excellent options, and you’ll find others on our mission events calendar.

Also from GFM: Spiritual Warfare on the Field: What Every Missionary Should Know and Language Learning Tips for New Missionaries.

Source: International Mission Board, July 17, 2025

International Mission Board missionary Tammy Richardson knelt beside the river with her phone.

Her husband, Clay, and their local pastor stood in the river, preparing to baptize Leana—the first Zoque believer to make a public confession of faith in more than a decade of ministry in southern Mexico.

As she got ready to capture the moment of Leana’s immersion, suddenly, her teammate leaned down and said, “There’s one more.”

Richardson glanced up in surprise. A moment later, tears flowed unchecked down her face.

Over the last 12 years, in raw moments of prayer, Richardson has wrestled with questions like ‘Should we go somewhere else?’ and ‘Is this ground just too hard?’

When they moved to Mexico in 2013, the Richardsons were not prepared for how long it would take to see gospel transformation among the Zoque people. Or, that it would all begin with an unexpected relationship, right under their very own roof.

Read the full story with pictures.

For more good news from Mexico, read Seeing God at Work: Reflections on Culiacan (Global Recordings Network).

From the U.S., two rather different stories about spiritual hunger:

• The Witches of Etsy describes GenZ interest in the occult (World).
• Praise God for this: 35,000 Worship and 3,200 Accept Christ in Portland, One of America’s Most Secular Cities (CrossWalk). 

Source: Back to Jerusalem, August 2, 2025

Turkmenistan, a former Soviet state, is showing signs it’s ready for tourism, which is a positive sign for missionaries who have been praying for the country to open up for decades. Not many people know much about Turkmenistan, but that is because it is about as inaccessible as North Korea, Yemen, or Eritrea, but the country surprisingly began to open up their visa process to tourists in April.

Turkmenistan has been a somewhat impenetrable Muslim nation, completely cut off from the rest of the world. According to the Joshua Project, of Turkmenistan’s 49 people groups, 16 are completely unreached.

Read the full story.

Interested in Central Asia? The Ferghana Valley is open for visitors (BBC). For more suggestions, read The 25 Best Places to Travel in 2025.

We also praise God for those able and willing to stay in places don’t make that kind of list. Read about a long-term Irish missionary among nine people kidnapped from a Haitian orphanage.

Source: Middle East Concern, July 21, 2025

Syria has witnessed three major violent events targeting religious and ethnic minorities in 2025: violence against Alawites on the coast in March, a suicide attack on St. Elias church in Damascus in June, and recent violent clashes between the Druze and the Sunni tribes in Suwayda governorate in the south.

Christian communities were favored and protected by the previous regime and now feel extremely insecure in light of this year’s events, doubting that the government has their best interest in mind, and that it may not be willing or able to protect them, even though the interim government’s statements have always described Christians as a valued, vital, and equal part of the Syrian community.

There have been dozens of smaller incidents threatening Christians through pamphlets, insulting social media posts, attacks in the streets and intimidation in casual daily interaction, but also through planned bomb attacks that were foiled by the government.

Read the full story and prayer points.

Also from the Middle East:

• Recent clashes pause Gospel work among the Druze (Mission Network News)
• Christians in Gaza Feed Thousands in Crisis Across Ethnic & Faith Lines (The Roys Report)

Source: Mission Network News, July 22, 2925

Christian leaders in Nigeria are calling for prayer as believers face unrelenting attacks from Fulani herdsmen.

Christian communities continue to suffer raids, sexual violence, killings at roadblocks, and kidnappings. Recent victims include two teenagers and a nine-month-old baby.

Believers aren’t the only ones who suffer. Fulani herdsmen, although Islamist, also attack properties owned by Muslims.

The Fulani were among Nigeria’s first converts to Islam, and this religious system is central to their identity. Yet hope remains for this people group. “We’re seeing God move in very unique ways,” [says Greg Kelley of Unknown Nations].

“He’s saving people who come from these aggressors and using them as missionaries. 300 Fulani leaders are going to be trained in the next few weeks.”

Ask the Lord to put his words into the mouths of Fulani gospel workers.

“The most passionate and enthusiastic laborers are coming out of the three largest Muslim people groups,” Kelley says.

Read the full story with links.

Also from Mission Network News:

• What’s really at stake with India’s anti-conversion laws
• How solar radios transform Haitian communities
• Pakistan reels from record-breaking floods

Source: International Christian Concern, July 7, 2025

There aren’t many reports of Christians being attacked in Bhutan. For that matter, news of any sort from Bhutan is relatively scarce.

And yet Bhutan, an ostensibly serene little Buddhist hermit kingdom that emphasizes “Gross National Happiness,” currently ranks as more oppressive than Egypt toward Christians. An added factor here is that most Christians in Bhutan are ethnic Nepalis.

Bhutan has a complicated relationship with its ethnic Nepali population, regardless of religion. Toward the end of the 20th century, many native Bhutanese became concerned that ethnic Nepalis were gaining too much influence within their country.

So, the Bhutanese government began rescinding the citizenship of more than 100,000 ethnic Nepalis (which is no small number in a country with less than 1 million persons overall), then seizing their property and expelling them from the country.

The full story reports that the country’s Christians, whose numbers are growing, meet in private settings and are both joyful and fearful.

Two more stories from East Asia:

• See Refugee Church Finds a New Home in Texas, a story about the so-called “Mayflower Church,” believers who fled China seeking a new place to worship freely (Outreach Magazine).
• Read Muslim Mob Attacks Christian Youth Retreat. This is one of several recent events related to the contentious question of where Indonesian Christians can practice their faith (Christianity Today).