November is Native American Heritage Month, and you may not realize that Native Americans were the first mission field in North America. However, “as far as missions are concerned, we’re doing better all over the world than right here with the First People of our land,” Ron Hutchcraft of Hutchcraft Ministries says.

“After 400 years of missions, only four percent are estimated to have a relationship with Christ.”

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

Native communities don’t connect with Jesus

Many Native people see Jesus as “the white man’s God,” especially when so much loss – land, language, culture, and lives – was carried out in the name of Christianity. Yet Jesus is deeply relevant to the Native experience. “Jesus was not a blonde-haired, blue-eyed guy like we see in some paintings. He was a tribal man,” Hutchcraft says.

“If you asked Him, He’d say, ‘I’m from the tribe of Judah.’ Our Native Americans would say, ‘I’m Apache, I’m Sioux, I’m Cherokee, I’m Choctaw,’ or ‘I’m Seneca.”

Along with tribal heritage, “He lived on land occupied by others – the Romans. He was from a place that people thought, ‘Nothing good comes from there.’ Some people may say that about Native communities,” Hutchcraft says.

“Jesus was also a victim of gross injustice, as many Native Americans have been.”

A rising movement

These connections are transforming Native young people through Hutchcraft Ministries’ On Eagles’ Wings outreach. More about that here.

Summer of Hope 2025
(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

“I have had the privilege of watching Native young people who are not only survivors, but more than conquerors, as they have told their hope story on that reservation basketball court. They have shown a boldness that would shame many of us,” Hutchcraft says.

“With a deep spirituality that the Creator has built into them, an understanding of suffering and injustice and abuse, and with the warrior spirit – when all of that comes under the Lordship of Christ, fasten your seat belt. They are a force,” he adds.

“They are hope with skin on.”

Hutchcraft Ministries’ Warrior Leadership Summit and On Eagles’ Wings Leadership Center focus on discipling Native young people to become pastors, missionaries, and youth leaders for their own communities. Here’s how you can help.

Header image depicts a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, c.1912-1915, titled The First Thanksgiving, 1621. (Wikimedia Commons)

The nearly two-year war is only one of many current events dividing people across the world. 

“We are so polarized. ‘If you are not 100% with me, then you are 200% against me,’” says Fadi Sharaiha with the MENA Leadership Center. “This is not right. We need to talk. We need to discuss.”

How should the global Church respond to events in Gaza? Sharaiha first acknowledges the evil in this war. Neither side is innocent. People are dying on both sides, and Hamas still holds 48 hostages.

“In the midst of the whole evil that is around us, I believe that God is still worthy of all the blessings and all the glory,” he says. 

“I [also] want to acknowledge the need for us to go back to the basics and remember what Jesus said about peacemakers: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.’ We are called to love our enemies.”

(Photo courtesy of Nathan Dumlao via Unsplash)

Sharaiha says believers don’t have to understand every aspect of the war in order to respond the right way. He studied the history of the conflict between Israel and Palestine at the United Nations University. Even after receiving lectures from different leaders, not everything was clear to him. 

“But you need to get the Bible. You need to get ‘Who are we? What is our identity?’ We are called to be peacemakers. We are called to love our enemies,” he says. 

Talking about peace is premature in the midst of active war. But one day, people with great wisdom will have to begin that restorative work.

“The governments right now are really calling on both Israel to stop, and Hamas to surrender the hostages and surrender their weapons,” he says.

Even when the fighting ends, a different battle will continue in people’s hearts.

“I am very concerned about people dying today, but also I’m concerned about the one who did not die, next year,” Sharaiha says. “They will be filled with so much hatred, agony, trauma. That’s why we need to make sure that we are preaching Jesus to those people.” 

In the complexities of the Israel-Hamas war, please pray that the Church will be a peacemaker. Pray that the gospel of peace in Christ will reach more people in Gaza and Israel. Pray for the MENA Leadership Center, as it plans training courses that will one day equip leaders for trauma healing and refugee ministry. 

Header image is a stock photo courtesy of Marek Studzinski via Unsplash.

Kurt Rovenstine with Bibles for China explains, “Proselytizing kids in China is against regulations and policies, and it’s pretty closely monitored.” 

Whether you’re a Christian or a Chinese Communist Party member, it’s clear why kids are so important: “You affect kids, you change a generation,” says Rovenstine. 

Christians want the next generation to know Jesus personally. The Chinese government has different goals. This summer, officials in Shanghai trained kids to reject the religious groups the government has deemed illegal or xie jiao (“evil cults”).

(Photo courtesy of Jerry Wang via Unsplash)

Bibles for China works legally in China, without opposing the government. But Rovenstine says the situation calls for prayer and action. 

“Anytime there’s a challenge, God equips His people with creativity, opens doors and creates avenues for the gospel to move forward in spite of what is inhibiting it,” Rovenstine says. 

Today, Bibles for China is printing children’s Bibles in Mandarin outside the country, plus other resources. These can be carried into China by hand.

“I had an email [recently] from the gentleman that took some of our children’s Bibles. He’s been sharing them with people that are headed back to China, and they’re taking them back two and three at a time,” Rovenstine says. This method isn’t a problem because the Chinese government “is just trying to make sure they’re not being printed and distributed in mass.”

Pray that every Bible and resource reaches the right family and child at the right time with the good news of Christ!

Pray that God will open the eyes of kids being taught false things about God. Pray that they will look for truth and find it in Scripture. 

Header photo is a representative stock image courtesy of Note Thanun/Unsplash. 

What she found there changed her life.

Aneliya at summer camp. (Photo courtesy of Valentin Lupashko/Slavic Gospel Association)

One evening during worship, Aneliya came forward in tears. She prayed, and believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Later, she shared her story with a pastor — a story marked by pain and abandonment.

Aneliya’s father was drafted to the front lines of Ukraine. Not long after, her mother found another man and left the family, walking away from her two children. Aneliya and her younger brother now live with their elderly grandmother, trying to process trauma far too heavy for their young shoulders.

“She told me that this camp saved her,” the pastor reported. “She experienced spiritual renewal and found hope again.”

According to Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association (SGA), Aneliya’s story represents the hope many young people found in Christ this summer.

“These stories are of young kids saying they did not know of the love of God. They did not know they could go to heaven. They did not know of the grace of God. They were angry and confused, and now they walk away with hope,” Mock says.

But this ministry took place against a backdrop of war. “The war zone of Ukraine is getting more violent…. The nights are getting worse, the missiles and the drones are constantly coming in and harassing families,” Mock says. “In fact, we were told by one family that when they go to bed at night, they know that they’ll be awakened at 1:30, at 2:00 in the morning, often for four to five hours, and the sirens are blaring [while] they’re in shelters.”

For churches in Ukraine, the response may seem surprising. “What would you do if missiles and rockets were raining down every night?” Mock asks. “And their answer is this: ‘Well, what we’re going to do right now is we’re going to hold a summer camp.’”

(Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

That commitment to Gospel service and encouragement is exactly what SGA exists to support. “The joy that we have is to serve the churches in these embattled countries who are faithfully ministering in their community.”

As summer camps wind down, local congregations are already preparing for the next outreach.

“We might think we’re done with summer camp. We can relax,” Mock says. “They’re already thinking of Christmas outreach. They never stop planning and prepping and ministering to the people in their communities.”

Pray for Aneliya as she begins attending church, and for many more young people across Ukraine who need the peace only Jesus can bring. Ask God to strengthen local churches as they continue year-round discipleship in the face of exhaustion, loss, and war.

Header photo courtesy of Valentin Lupashko/Slavic Gospel Association.

Doyle’s friendship with Amir first began when Amir reached out to him online. 

“I started sharing the gospel with him, and gloriously over the internet, he came to faith in Christ. It was beautiful,” says Doyle. “And he was reading some of the books that I’ve been privileged to write, and asking questions, and grew up Muslim, but just so drawn to Jesus.”

While about to go on stage and preach at a Jewish Messianic church in Tel Aviv, Israel, Doyle received a text from Amir.

“He’s calling me from Iran,” says Doyle, “and I said, ‘Amir, I have to go up and preach right now. But would you like to say something to the people in Israel?’ I’m going up to a live microphone. ‘What do you think?’ I’m whispering it to him. He said, ‘I would love to.’ I went up and said to the congregation, ‘We don’t normally start this way, but I have on the phone Amir from Iran. He loves Jesus, and he has a message for you.’”

Amir proceeded to remind Doyle, and the congregation he was preaching to, of an important truth—that no matter where we’re from, all Christ followers are united as brothers and sisters in the family of God.

“He said, ‘Brothers and sisters, we want you to know the majority of Iranians don’t hate you. It’s exactly the opposite. We love you. And for me, as a believer in Jesus, I want you to know I’m praying for you. Please pray for us here. And one day we’re going to get together, Iranian believers in Jesus and Jewish believers in Jesus, and we’re going to worship together. Maybe it’ll be in Jerusalem, maybe it’ll be in Tehran together, but we look forward to that because we both love Jesus, and that’s what keeps us together.’” 

According to Doyle, “The people were stunned—and then, it just broke into this standing ovation. I mean, where are you going to hear that message?

“It just reinforces that’s the answer to all this,” continues Doyle. “Jesus has no boundaries. Jesus has no borders. Jesus’ family is of all nations. He’s the one that brings peace and reconciliation between people. War won’t do it. United Nations won’t do it. Government won’t. Only Jesus can.”

Header photo courtesy of Uncharted Ministries.

“Yes” meant three years of preparing and recording more than 600 episodes of Mission 66 Bible studies. Today, Mission 66 is being adapted into new languages — including English. 

Sayão says that especially within that busy season of teaching, he prayed God would touch his own heart first. 

“What I understood [was] that if I do not preach to myself in the way that I will be challenged by the Word of God, I can’t say anything to anybody else. I must really understand, not only to teach, but to be taught by the words,” he says. 

The need for Bible teaching in Brazil

“I would say that I have a dream, because there are some areas of the world that people are so hung[ry] for God. They are thirsty for something deep in their hearts,” Sayão says.

Brazil is among those places. Sayão explains that although there’s been tremendous growth in the Church (think 60 to 70 million people today, he says), not everything is as it could be. 

“We have some churches with a lot of syncretism with some other [beliefs from] the mystical society. We have some church[es] that need more biblical and theological training,” he says.

“My prayer is that through this way (Mission 66’s relational, narrative focus), we can really reach people. How many people will come to Jesus and will grow in their relationship with God? So hallelujah, praise the Lord.”

Where true life is

It all comes back to God and His Word. Sayão doesn’t see himself as a theologian but as someone blessed by God to know His love and purposes for us in Jesus.

Luiz Sayão is the creator of Mission 66, originally broadcast in Portuguese (Photo courtesy of TWR)

“I am telling you that what happens when you find God — the Word of God — you find Jesus. I’m like a beggar that found bread,” he says. “I found bread for my soul, my life.”

Those same riches in God’s Word are available for all of us, by God’s grace. Sayão urges readers to set aside the concept of “religion” in their thinking. 

“But remember that we have a God [who] created the universe, that brought us salvation in a very profound way through Jesus. He wants to bless your heart, to forgive your sins and to bring you close to His heart,” he says. 

“So pay attention to that, and I hope that the same grace of God that touched my soul one day will touch you and change your life forever.”

To learn more about God’s Word with Mission 66, visit its webpage on TWR 360 or follow along on your favorite podcast player.

Header photo courtesy of Aaron Burden on Unsplash.

The ministry journey you share can change lives — if it carries two powerful ingredients: the story and the number.

Dr. Jenn Murff from MENA Leadership Center says, “When you share stories, it allows relationships to be restored. It allows discipleship to take place because people can relate to those stories.”

The power of a story lies in its ability to connect a person to their own experiences — both good and bad — to the emotional side of life, and to an example they can apply to their own journey. Jesus knew people needed that bridge in order to accept the Gospel.

He was a master storyteller: “Jesus uses stories to make the kingdom relatable. He uses stories to make the kingdom approachable. He uses stories to be able to connect the hearts and the minds of His people to His kingdom.”

A simple story can guide a person to their Creator (photo courtesy of Eduardo Braga via Pexels)

Numbers are equally important. They help measure the expansion of God’s kingdom — whether through miracles, healings, souls saved, or symbolic figures. Moreover, they help us grasp the power of the Gospel in a practical way!

The apostles ensured that future generations would have this tool. Jesus spoke to the multitudes; the twelve disciples caught one hundred fifty-three fish; five thousand people were fed with five loaves of bread and two fish, and so on. Yet, separated from the story, a number can steal the spark from the testimony of God’s work.

Zacchaeus, the Samaritan woman, Bartolomew, Philip — just a few of the lives He transformed through His personal, one-on-one attention.

“He sees the one, he sees the multitude. And so it’s important that we don’t lean so heavily just in one area, but we remember both, because Jesus remembered both,” says Murff.

This principle is vital both in personal evangelism and in the work of ministry. “You have to be able to share those stories in such a way that it connects with the human heart,” Murff adds.

Visit MENA Leadership Center to discover how the Gospel is transforming lives through ministry stories in the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond.

The Gospel is a tapestry of stories woven into one grand narrative. Find your place in it!

Header photo courtesy of Matheus Bertelli via Pexels

Lana Silk with Transform Iran describes Iranian believers this way: “They love Jesus. They prize Him above all else. They are prepared to be persecuted, to be victimized, to be tortured, even imprisoned, killed, whatever it takes in order to continue to love Him and serve Him.”

Many believers are leading others to the Lord even when they are still new to the faith themselves. Silk says many Iranians have deep pain and need discipleship to help them deal with it rightly.

One Iranian woman we’ll call Shirin* radically encountered Jesus — but first He asked her to take a step in her own heart.

(Photo courtesy of Transform Iran)

Shirin was attending an underground discipleship gathering with Transform Iran. She told God that she wanted a vision of Him, like she had heard about from other Christians. Later, the speaker told everyone in the room that they needed to take care of any unforgiveness in their hearts before taking communion.

“She knew God had laid out a clear choice for her, that she had to forgive every person who had hurt her along her path,” said Silk.

Shirin obeyed and prayed. Suddenly, her body began to tremble as the Holy Spirit began working inside her. She then felt a fire in her body.

“She closed her eyes, and then she saw Jesus standing there, His face glowing,” Silk said.

Afterward Shirin talked about how Jesus’ crown was golden. She described His appearance and smile with clarity. Silk said, “He spoke to her. He hugged her, kissed her on the forehead. He told her not to be afraid. He told her how much He loved her, and in that moment, He met the desires of her heart.” 

When Shirin surrendered her resentment to the Lord and chose to forgive, God mightily answered her prayer.

Read more of the account of Shirin’s story here.

Please pray for the underground Iranian church. Pray for more profound encounters with the Lord, continued strength and resources for gospel ministry, and that they would be filled with courage and protected by God.

“God is living and active, and that means He’s living and active everywhere, and He’s living and active in Iran,” Silk said.

*Name changed

Header photo courtesy of

A Muslim man once asked Tom Doyle with Uncharted Ministries this question. They were traveling together in Tehran years ago. The two men had just exchanged the facts that Doyle was a Christian and his guide was a Muslim. 

“I think all of the young people in Iran are going to convert to Christianity,” the man said.

“What? Why would you say that?” Doyle replied.

“Well, who would you want to follow? Jesus, who talks about love and joy and helping people and sacrificing ourselves for others? Who would you want to follow? Him? Or that guy?” 

They were near Palestine Square, and the man pointed up to a multi-story mural of Iran’s Ayatollah.

Today, Doyle says, “I hope [we] won’t just fall into group think: ‘Iran is this horrible enemy’…. Never before have they been more open to Jesus.” 

Nuclear tensions continue

For people in Iran today, life under their leaders continues on shaky footing. Iran is still at cross purposes with other powers that be. On Wednesday, the regime suspended cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog. Surveillance cameras have already been removed from its nuclear facilities, the report says.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (Photo courtesy of Khamenei.ir, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=150832367)

Iran also rejected a U.S. invitation to immediately resume diplomatic conversations about its nuclear program. It might be just a pause, though; Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS News through a translator, “The doors of diplomacy will never slam shut.” 

Whatever happens next in these conversations, the everyday people will pay the price. For many it will be through the struggle for daily existence; for others, through deep anxiety. Others will lose their lives. Some 935 people were killed in Iran during the 12-day Israel-Iran war, many of them civilians. 

Yes, leadership matters. You’ve probably heard that many Iranians want a change in their government. Doyle affirms that Christians in Iran are among them. 

“Obviously, they don’t want their country to go through destruction or loss of innocent lives at all, but this is something they have been praying for for decades, that this fanatical leadership would be removed,” he says. 

At the same time, Christians following God have different marching orders. “Our goal is for every human life to hear the gospel and to come into a saving relationship with Jesus,” says Doyle. 

Find your place in the story. If you’re a Christian, consider how good it is that God leads His people and the world perfectly. Please pray along with Uncharted Ministries that more Iranians find Christ, even in today’s chaos.  

Header photo: Tafresh, Markazi Province, Iran (Photo courtesy of Mostafa Meraji via Unsplash)

Brad Hutchcraft with Hutchcraft Ministries says, “These are young people who remember what it’s like to be lost, to remember what it’s like to not have Jesus part of their lives. And they want their peers, they want other Native people to find the hope of Jesus they have.”

The 2025 Summer of Hope will begin with the Warrior Leadership Summit for youth. The team expects 500 warriors to attend, representing dozens of tribes. The youth will spend five days learning from God’s word, hearing from great Native Bible teachers, participating in amazing worship, and learn how to live for God on a daily basis.

These conference leaders will then spend the month of July visiting tribes and proclaiming the gospel to their peers and Native American youth. 

Hutchcraft says, “It’s important for these local young people to learn that there is hope, there are answers, and there is healing that can take place. For that message to come from someone that looks like them and who has walked a similar road as they have is just an amazing time where walls come down and people are set free.” 

Many of the issues rural communities face are magnified in Native America. These messengers of hope, however, can touch hopelessness with their own stories and can say, “We were in the same place. We’ve been the abuse victims, we’ve been the suicide attempts. We’ve been the gang members, the drug dealers. We’ve been these things, but we found hope, and his name is Jesus.”

These Native leaders reach youth with the truth– that Jesus is for everyone. They can paint the picture of a Jesus who is more like these Native young people than they ever realized.

After 400 years of mission history with Native Americans, only 4% know Jesus. Hutchcraft believes this is changing and walls are coming down. 

Please pray that God’s hand will be in the logistics and for provision for the team. Pray for ready churches and ministries who will continue to pour into youth after the team has left. 

Pray also for the “three opens.” Open doors, so that there will be open doors to receive the team. Open hearts, so that people come to these events to be ready to hear about the hope of Jesus. Open mouths, so team members will boldly share how their life has changed and how to have a relationship with Jesus. 

Photo courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries