In his book The Jesus Revolution, pastor and author Leith Anderson shares a story about the tension that sometimes comes between obeying God and obeying the law of the land. A number of years ago, he and three others were traveling to a Communist country where Christians were regularly being persecuted. They did not have a direct flight to their destination, so they had to stay in a neighboring country ...

[Vern], an elder at my church, listened patiently as I described my vision to reach Muslims in South Asia. He then replied, "Tell me about your ministry to Muslims here."

"Well, I don't actually know many Muslims here," I answered. "I'm too swamped with work, school, and ministry at the church to spend much time that way."

Vern then gently asked, "What kind of ministry do you think will better prepare ...

In an article for Today's Christian about the rapid growth of the church in China (now 70 million strong), Rob Moll tells the story of a missionary and businessman called Uncle Daniel, offering a glimpse into God's work in a seemingly closed society:

Uncle Daniel spent years as a missionary to China's rural villages. There, he said, it was like the Book of Acts, complete with miracles, exorcisms, ...

The unoccupied fields of the world await those who are willing to be lonely for the sake of Christ.

—Samuel Zwemer, U.S. missionary (1867–1952)

At Teen Missions, campers give up virtually their entire summer for [a boot camp] on evangelism. They spend two weeks in Merritt Island, Florida, learning the work of a missionary before heading into the world in teams of about 25. They are schooled in evangelism, construction, and Bible studies. They don purple construction hats as they work the ground with hoes and wheelbarrows. They practice public ...

In her book Radical Gratitude, Ellen Vaughn tells the story of a family friend named Jerry:

Some years ago Jerry was in Russia on a short visit with Prison Fellowship International. He and a group of friends visited a number of prisons, and finished their work a few days early. They asked their hosts if they could go visit children in the hospital.

They were taken to a 750-bed hospital in Moscow at ...

Retired pastor Sam Duree, age 77, could be enjoying his golden years in an easy chair. However, instead of just letting the days fly by, Duree is building birdhouses to support a Moscow seminary.

Duree spends four hours a day planning, sawing, sanding, drilling, gluing, and nailing cedar fence pickets in a workshop in his garage. He then hits the road with 35 different kinds of birdhouses, selling ...

A few Sundays ago, I was heading home after preaching three times. I was tired and looking forward to opening my laptop and reading my favorite blogs—particularly ones focused on missional theology and leadership. Just then I received a text message from a friend. He was inviting me to a club to see a band with a number of non-Christians, including one I had been trying to build a relationship ...

In the first half of 2009, news reports poured in of pirate vessels attacking vital shipping lanes along the coast of Somalia in southern Africa. Entire shiploads of cargo were held for ransom by pirates, delayed severely, or even lost at sea.

Amid that chaos, Mark Wilson was learning the ropes for his new job as logistics coordinator for the U.S. headquarters of Africa Inland Mission (AIM)—a ...

Luis Palau, the Argentine-born international evangelist, describes how God expanded his ministry:

...

And the Lord gave me a verse. It sounds a bit bombastic, sort of big-headed, so I don't like to quote it in public. But to paraphrase, the Lord basically says, "I will open up nations to you." I took it personally, as a word from the Lord, and I wrote in the flyleaf of my Bible, "1966 (February, I ...