MC – Page 2 – Missions Catalyst

Reports: A Global Persecution Index & The World Watch List

Two annual reports related to the persecuted church were released in January.

International Christian Concern’s Global Persecution Index includes:

Real-life stories of faith under fire (notably in Iran and Indonesia).
In-depth analysis of drivers of persecution in 20 countries.
Trends that underscore the urgency of the global situation.
Ways you can support persecuted Christians through prayer, advocacy, and action.

Download the report. Registration required (joining their mailing list).

You may be more familiar with the World Watch List from Open Doors, an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.

Learn more and find a plethora of related resources, including a video (also below) highlighting the top 10 countries where Christians face extreme persecution.

Read about the latest trends, some of them encouraging.

Devotional: When Serving Gets Tough

When Serving Gets Tough: A Thirty-Day Devotional for Missionaries, by Carol B. Ghattas. William Carey Publishing, 2024. 136 pages.

Where do you turn if you’re struggling, tempted, angry, tired, or just miss your mom? This little book is designed to help new or seasoned missionaries know they aren’t alone and find strength in God’s promises so they can press on despite difficulties.

Learn more or buy the book for US$7.99 to $12.99. The website includes the table of contents, endorsements, and an interview with the author.

Here’s another resource for cross-cultural workers. Download the 28-page PDF workbook Language Learning: Before Your Move Overseas, by Aaron G. Myers. It has super practical ideas for getting started.

Article: Ten Ways to Increase Your Impact This Year

Source: Catalyst Services

Dream for a minute about what your [church’s] missions team could accomplish if you were functioning at your God-given capacity. Are you secretly disappointed with the lack of momentum but are not sure why? Or maybe there are one or two areas where you know you could do better but don’t know how to get unstuck, or if it’s even possible.

This month’s Postings suggests ten concrete options to engage more of your team’s potential. Why not ask each member to pray over this list and come to your next meeting with one or two priorities for the team to adopt this year. Ask God for discernment and unity, and then define how to move upward via concrete action steps.

Read the article, written for mission committees/global outreach teams.

Events: Conferences, Classes and More Coming up in February

Source: Missions Catalyst Calendar

February 1, Santa Barbara Mission Conference (Santa Barbara, CA, USA). An annual regional mission event.

February 3-5, Frontiers’ Pastors Track (Tempe, AZ, USA). In-person missions leaders cohort to multiply church sending.

February 3-7, Storytelling Training (online). Offered regularly by StoryRunners, a ministry of Cru.

February 4, Building Resilience in Children and Youth (online). 90-minute class from Crisis Care Training International. Check out their other training classes if you work with children at risk.

February 6 to April 3, School of Mission Advocacy (online). This eight-week, affordable ($12) course by GlobalCAST Resources equips you with tools to mobilize your community for missions.

February 7-9, Missionfest Manitoba (Winnipeg, MB, Canada). An annual, community-based mission festival.

February 8-11, Field Security Seminar (Union Mills, NC, USA). Provided by Crisis Consulting International.

February 9, Virtual Prayer Gathering (online). Monthly event for members of MissioNexus. Each gathering features a different presenter.

February 12-13, Thrive Retreat for Women (Melbourne, Australia). Open to women serving in full-time cross-cultural roles. Events like these held periodically in various regions. The next one will be in South Africa in July.

February 13-15, MissionFest British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). A free, regional mission conference.

February 13-16, Haven Retreat (Da Nang, Vietnam). For kingdom-minded women serving overseas from various nations. Provided by Azmera.

February 18, Contend: Monthly Day of Prayer For Mission Mobilization (global). Coordinated by GMMI and held on the third Tuesday of each month.

February 19 to March 19, Biblical Languages Bootcamp: Greek (online). Begin to read the New Testament in Greek in five weeks. Provided by Mission Media U.

February 20-21, Support Raising Bootcamp (Fayatteville, AR, USA). Provided by Via. More classes held around the world throughout the year.

February 21-22, Midwest Care Connexion (Burnsville, MN, USA). An annual event for church mission leaders and others.

February 21-24, Haven Retreat (Bali, Indonesia). For kingdom-minded women serving overseas from various nations. Provided by Azmera.

February 24-28, Abide Debriefing (Savannah, GA, USA). Check the website for dates of upcoming debriefing retreats. Next one will be in June.

February 26-27, Move Conference (Marietta, GA, USA). Annual mission conference sponsored by Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. All are welcome.

February 27, Indigenous Missions: What Every Mission Organization and Church Ought to Know (online). Webinar from Missio Nexus.

February 27 to March 27, Foundations of Digital Engagement Strategies (online). Learn how digital media can accelerate disciple-making in your ministry. Provided by Mission Media U.

February 28 to March 2, The Gathering (Wichita, KS, USA). An annual gathering of missional professionals to plan, pray, and prepare to reach 15 of the last unreached people groups. Sponsored by Priority 15.

February 28, Coast to Coast: Covering Ramadan in Prayer (online). Join Frontiers in covering the Muslim world in prayer during this 4-hour event from 7-11pm EST.

February 28 to March 30, 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World (international).

View the complete calendar. Submissions welcome.

Global Prayers, Digital Nomads, and New Life on Death Row

Missions Catalyst News Briefs 2025.01.15

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India, China, Tibet… Praying for Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims

Sources: Various

It started this week—the Kumbh Mela, a massive Hindu festival touted as the world’s largest religious gathering. Between now and February 26, at least 400 million people are expected to visit the confluence of three holy rivers. Many of these pilgrims are spiritually hungry. Pray they will have dreams and visions of Jesus that will lead them to the Good News.

As we mentioned in last week’s Missions Catalyst, some are also taking time this month to pray for the Buddhist world. Check out 21 Days of Prayer for the Buddhist World, January 9-29 and consider joining prayer events for the Buddhist world on January 29 (Chinese New Year). Pray for the gospel to spread in Tibet, where an earthquake in a sacred city killed more than 126 people, displacing many more (BBC).

The 30 days of prayer for the Muslim world sneaks up on us earlier every year due to the lunar calendar. This year, it’s February 28 to March 29. Will you pray for Muslims during Ramadan? Consider ordering a prayer guide booklet or PDF such as those from World Prayer Guides.

World: Digital Nomads as Global Marketplace Multipliers

Source: Global Partners, January 1, 2025

A digital nomad is a location-independent worker who leverages mobile technology to live and work remotely from somewhere in the world that has sufficient internet and travel options for them to do their job.

Why should those who care about increasing access to the gospel be interested in the idea of digital nomads? Well, the answer is simple: many of the more unreached places in the world are also places that are hard to get a job in. Being a digital nomad gives someone another way in.

Read the full story.

A recent article in Mission Frontiers asserts, “Millions of ordinary Christians from Majority World churches are finding employment around the globe [and] have access to millions from unreached lands who are also in the economic diaspora, as well as to the people of the host countries.” The whole edition is on mission and migration.

Speaking of ways the gospel can cross new frontiers, read YouVersion Bible App Hits Record 798K Installations in Single Day. January 5, 2025 was their best day ever, and the largest increases were in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East (The Christian Post).

Colombia: Pastor and His Family Killed in Heartbreaking Loss

Source: Crosswalk, January 2, 2025

An evangelical pastor and his family were killed [December 29] in Colombia after a gunman on a motorcycle shot them as they were eating outside a restaurant after a church service. As reported by The Christian Post, the gunman killed Pastor Marlon Lora of the Prince of Peace Villaparaguay Church, his wife, Yorley Rincon, and 24-year-old daughter, Angela Lora Rincón, in the municipality of Aguachica. Meanwhile, their 21-year-old son, Santiago Lora Rincón, was injured in the shooting.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Lora and his church belonged to the Missionaries Biblical Churches denomination, in which he visited and managed nearly three dozen congregations in various parts of the country.

The full story reports that discrimination and threats against religious leaders have been on the rise in Colombia. Let’s pray for Colombia.

Bhutan: God Answers Prayers on a College Campus

Source: God Reports, December 31, 2025

Evangelizing is prohibited in Bhutan. Being a Christian is also illegal in the Buddhist nation. But Pastor Rajiv, who lives outside the country in a border town, has been reaching Bhutanese for Christ for over 10 years.

“Christianity is not a permitted religion,” Pastor Rajiv explained on a Voice of the Martyrs radio show. “In a way, it is illegal to be a Christian.”

[One of his strategies has been] to enter the country as a tourist and, visiting different colleges and schools, consistently praying for a Bible study at each. And God answered; Bible studies have been initiated at all 15 universities.

To launch a Bible study at a certain prestigious science and technology university, Rajiv was “praying and wondering” when the fruit would appear.

He was holding a food and volleyball fellowship at his home one evening and a first-time visitor, a freshman, enjoyed himself so much that he pledged to start a Bible study in his senior year.

It came faster than that. In his sophomore year, he was playing Christian music in his room to see if anybody would come to him identifying as a Christian. A freshman came in his room and said, “I like this music.”

“So, you are a Christian?” he asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

Next, the freshman gathered all his courage to kneel and pray before turning in for the night. After he prayed, to his surprise he saw the three other roommates were praying and kneeling—they, too, were believers. The Bible study was born.

Read the full story or click on the link above to listen to the related podcast episode.

USA: A Taste of Heaven Right There on Death Row

Source: Movements, January 13, 2025

They’d run out of protective vests, so our visit to death row was limited to one unit.

Usually, the prisoners were locked up in the individual cells 23 hours a day. They aren’t allowed to socialize. Each one would take one hour of exercise alone. All that had changed in response to what God was doing.

When we arrived, there were eight men waiting for us in their day room. We stood a meter away behind a yellow line. They stood behind a barred wall.

They were full of the love and life of God—white, black, Hispanic, Asian. It was a taste of heaven right there on death row. God’s glory was shining out from these men’s lives. I wanted to cross that yellow line, put my hands through the bars, and embrace these brothers.

They wanted to tell us what God was doing. “We don’t call this death row; we call it life row. This is where we found Jesus.”

In three years, 24 men have been executed on death row, 20 of them were disciples.

Read the full story and/or listen to the related podcast episode. Poignant. And it sounds like a book of stories about what God is doing in prisons worldwide is in the works. A different kind of insider movements? Stay tuned.

Readers might also be interested an article about youth ministry in the U.S. asking, “Is America experiencing a revival?” Spoiler alert: not yet, but there are encouraging signs (Greg Stier, via Outreach Magazine).