Missions Trips

Ahmed, an Iranian Muslim shopkeeper, had an Iranian Christian friend who shared his faith in Jesus with him.  Ahmed just laughed it off but then he had a dream.  In his dream, Ahmed was walking along the road with a companion, telling a crowd of people about the Injil (New Testament). They met John the Baptist, who was looking up into the sky. He said, “There will be a revolution tonight.” Ahmed then turned to his companion, and realized he was Jesus, who signalled with his eyes that he should continue on. He went towards a mosque and found a knife on the steps.

This dream disturbed Ahmed so much he went straight to his Christian friend and asked for an Injil. The next day, Ahmed left the Injil on his desk and went to work. When he came home for lunch, he found his wife weeping. She had started to read the New Testament and had been quite overwhelmed. Ahmed told the men at work he had something important to do and took some time off. He began reading the Injil and comparing it with the Qur’an. He too very deeply impacted by the life of Jesus. Around 2 o’clock that night he was convinced that Jesus was the way to God.

Right away he went to his friend’s house and this time demanded to be taken to a local pastor so he could become a believer in Christ. His friend objected saying that the pastor was in bed. ‘What if I die tonight?’ he pleaded but his friend encouraged him to wait for the morning.  The next day they phoned the pastor who was on the road to Tehran. However, he turned round and came back to Ahmed’s town to meet and lead him in a prayer of commitment. Ahmed’s wife and son were thrilled, because they had already decided to believe!

Pray that more Iranians find Jesus through dreams and visions!

Go to Elam Ministries for more information about how you can help reach Iran with the Gospel!

The atmosphere of celebration surrounding the preparation for the World Cup in South Africa enhanced the excitement of the team of short term missionaries participating in the Ultimate Goal Challenge, an outreach to share the good news of Christ with locals, visiting athletes and tourists. On Monday, 7 June, participants of all ages arrived in Magaliesburg eager to see God at work in the coming weeks. Some traveled from Pretoria, while others came from as far as Singapore and Alaska, the USA.

Opening Night took the participants on a virtual journey around South Africa, with a dynamic blend of dances, sketches, songs, language and cultural trivia. The theme for the outreach is—One Team & One Goal. The ultimate goal is to bring glory to God and win souls for eternity with God. The night ended with joyful and energetic worship.

“I feel it is so special to have that many people willing to serve God, all from different countries and walks of life,” shared one participant. Praise God for this outreach currently happening in South Africa. Pray for opportunities for the participants to share God’s love with many, especially with those visiting from other nations.

Teams have already fanned out, going into rural areas sharing the love of Christ as depicted in this photo.

Maria is a Bosnian woman who has lived in the same place for 30 years. Her children are grown, and she is retired and lives alone. In 2008, a missionary with Operation Mobilization (OM) in her city began a house church that met in Maria’s apartment. It was very small–only two local women in addition to the missionary.

A few months later, Maria broke her arm and was unable to cook for herself, so she arranged for a neighbor, Lucia, to bring lunch each day. Occasionally, Lucia would drop off lunch during the house church meeting. She wouldn’t stay although she was invited to. Then Maria told the group about the needs in Lucia’s life, and the church group began to pray regularly for her. Within a few months, Lucia was regularly attending the house church and then gave her life to Christ and was baptized. After that, her son also came to faith.

Then the little group began to discuss the needs of another woman in the neighborhood, Iris, and began to pray for her. Not long after, Iris began attending the church meeting in Maria’s apartment. Later, a long-time friend of Maria’s also began coming to the meeting.

The church group now numbers seven, up from just two in about a year’s time. This is a good picture of house church growth. As the OM missionary helps to disciple the new believers, the Gospel travels through already established relationships they have. These women are simply praying for people who are in need and then speaking to those around them. This house church of seven represents approximately 23 people who attend OM-connected house churches in this city. Pray that each one will multiply as members love their neighbors.

Operation Mobilization’s work in Eastern Europe continues even though the wall of communism is long gone. For many years, Operation Mobilization (OM), a Christian mission organization whose goal is to reach the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, produced and smuggled Christian literature to nations behind the iron curtain. Below is a picture of one of the brilliant ideas that emerged from that era. In the hand is a portion of scripture that has plastic pages. These were produced in the 1980’s and smuggled into the Soviet Union specifically for prisoners. It was made of plastic because if a prisoner was reading it and a guard walked by, he could drop it into his cup of tea and conceal it. One prisoner found the words to be so inspiring and dear to him, that he slept with the scriptures in his mouth. How valuable is the Word of God to you?

OM East, the ministry of OM that currently works in Eastern Europe, is bringing hope to the forgotten and persecuted peoples of Eastern Europe. OM East provides literature and practical aid to people groups such as the Tatars, Nenets, the Bayash and others.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
(Proverbs 31:8-9 NIV)

Here you can DOWNLOAD the different country and people profiles:

Albania

AIDS HIV Situation

Crimean Tatar

Georgia

KazanTatars

Roma

Sakha Yakut

Slowakei

Ukraine

For more information about Operation Mobilization’s work in Eastern Europe, and for information about short term missions trips to that area of the world, you can access the following web sites that tell you how you can get involved.

OM International

OM East

OMusa

“You brought those Bibles into Romania under communism?” asked Dina who now works with the Christian mission Operation Mobilization (OM) in her home country of Romania.  In the 1980’s OM smuggled and distributed tens of thousands of Bibles into Romania that was ruled by Ceausescu, the dictator who did his best to stamp out Christianity.  In those days, Dina was the local secretary of the communist party in her town. She had gotten her hands on one of the Bibles, wrapped it up in newspaper, and carried it with her wherever she went. When asked why she had carried a Bible with her, she responded, “Because I believed that it would bring me good luck!”  She came to faith about ten years ago and her life has never been the same since!