Missions Catalyst

Source: Catalyst Services, April 2026

As missions resources multiply around the globe, increasingly complex collaborations seek to maximize what each entity brings to the task. Indigenous leadership is proving key to the long-term success of these multifaceted partnerships.

The Three Waves Movement is one such collaborative effort seeking to combine three very different missional forces, or waves, in South America. These waves came sequentially, but each continues to impact missions endeavors across the continent today: the first—a foreign (largely North American) wave of missionaries and churches, the second—a wave of engagement by Latino/national churches and networks of churches, and third—a growing wave of visionary indigenous churches and networks.

Determined to collaborate better, churches, individuals, and networks from each of these three waves have come together under the Three Waves Movement banner to develop strategic alliances in six South American countries. Their shared vision is to reach and disciple the 400+ tribal nations of the Amazon and South American lowlands.

The full story includes interviews with facilitators from each wave and advice for those seeking to build partnerships.

For more stories about gospel collaboration, read Ethiopian believers prepare for freedom ministry conference (Mission Network News) and We’re all part of the gospel chain. Which link are you? (A Life Overseas).

Source: International Mission Board, April 20, 2026

Daniel Bates couldn’t believe his eyes. But there it was, tucked between a pastel row of cafés and cobblestone alleys in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia—a friendly local game store. He pulled [his wife] Heather through the door and into a world alive with colorful miniature role-play scenes and towers of board game boxes.

It had been hard for the family to make close local friends when [their church] first sent them to Slovenia through the IMB. Their Slovenian language skills were still a work in progress, so most interactions with parents at the kids’ school or with neighbors stayed polite and surface-level.

But in this game shop, the connection through board games was immediate. The owner invited Daniel to join a weekly game night in another town. The distance wasn’t an issue. Slovenia, after all, is roughly the size of New Jersey, and the gaming group drew people from every direction. They used a Discord channel to keep in touch during the week.

“We use different social platforms—Reddit, WhatsApp, Messenger, Discord—as part of our digital engagement strategy for ministry. This is where people gather, so we want to be there too,” Daniel said. “We’ve found most will never talk to you in person, but they will chat on the computer with you.

“But taking these relationships from digital to physical is hard,” he continued. “That’s what made this gaming group so different. It’s hybrid. They meet physically and use their Discord channel to keep in touch during the week.”

Read the full story. Always good to see people leveraging their interests to connect with those who enjoy the same things. Evidently Daniel loves board games (and Slovenians). 

Source: Mission Network News, April 15, 2026

Many ethnic groups in Ethiopia are still unaware of the hope found in Christ. The Argobba people are one of them—but reaching them comes with a unique challenge: They are constantly on the move.

The Argobba are a traveling people, an unreached Muslim group of no more than 250,000. Farming and trade shape their daily lives. However, external pressures (conflicts between majority people groups) continue to disrupt their stability.

“And you’ve got this small group like the Agobba, who just want to live peacefully and tend their plots of land. But others are coming in, pushing them out, and moving them from place to place. Those are the dynamics that make gospel witness very challenging,” [says Greg Kelley of Unknown Nations].

This is where [the] ministry partners with local believers who know their country. Kelley explains, “They’re distributing our solar-powered audio Bible in their local dialect, their local language, and listening groups are forming.” As a result, Argobba people are beginning to know Jesus as they hear the gospel.

Read the full story.

Another MNN story explores challenges to ministry in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). nd for another interesting read, see Nomads in the Shadow of Iran’s War (Nomadic Peoples Network).

Source: Morning Star News, May 1, 2026

On April 13, two men of traditional tribal religion assaulted a pastor and his family for their Christian faith in an attempt to chase them from their land and home, sources said.

The two men came with a mob to his home [in Chhattisgarh], where his church meets, accusing Pastor Motu Sodi of luring villagers from their tribal religion and fraudulently converting them to Christianity. The two men assaulted the pastor, his wife, his non-Christian sister, and a niece.

The attackers warned, “We won’t let you stay in the village or on your own property. We want to chase you away,” he said.

After the assault on April 13, the two adherents of tribal religion filed a complaint against Pastor Sodi. Early the next morning, the two men returned, assaulted the family again and disclosed that they had filed a police complaint against them for fraudulent conversion.

Pastor Sodi then went to the police station and filed a counter-complaint against them for assaulting them.

Police registered the complaint as a “scuffle” between Pastor Sodi and the two men “related to a land dispute,” he said, denying that he fought back. “We told the police that we did not indulge in the assault but that they came and assaulted us brutally and injured us,” said Pastor Sodi.

He said he clearly told the officer that the two men targeted the family because of their faith in Christ, and that they had no argument or dispute over land. Police refused to listen.

The atmosphere in the village remains tense, he said.

Read the full story.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, a Coptic Christian YouTuber faces five years in prison and hard labor after sharing his faith online (ADF International).