25,000 Japanese commit suicide every year. Yet in spite of this God is moving among young people. In Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar their is a strong church planting movement evolving. Our time there will be to equip and empower church planters with a means to develop sustainable income.
Margaret Foster - Wife
Papua New Guinea is a land of almost 9 million people who speak over 800 different languages. For those almost 9 million people, there are only approximately 500 doctors in the country. Every year 1 in 20 children under the age of 5 will die. Many die from common things such as diarrhea from drinking contaminated water. About 40% of the country has no access to a source of clean water. While looking up statistics on PNG you will see that it is considered a Christian nation, it is very much in name only. While much of the coast has been evangelized as well as some of the bigger cities, when you go into the interior of PNG, you will be met with people who still live as they have for thousands of years. They still practice their animistic tribal customs. While some may have heard of Christianity and may even call themselves Christian, most will take one or two aspects of Christianity and merge them with their animistic beliefs. There is not a true separation and a turning away in many cases.
Lead Pastor of International Christian Assembly, a church of over 40 nationalities located in Bangkok, Thailand. Launch Chi Alpha at one of the largest Universities in the world in Bangkok. Continue to lead "Sealed" a ministry touching those enslaved in human trafficking.
According to the CDC, there are over ONE BILLION people in the world who live with some form of disability*1, including... - 61 million adults, one out of six children, in the United States. *2 - Within the disability population, more than 200 million experience considerable difficulties in activities in daily life. *2 - If pulled together, individuals with disability would represent the third largest nation in the world, with the highest rate of abuse, divorce, suicide, homelessness, and joblessness (WHO 2011 report). *3 *1 - 1 Billion people worldwide *2 - 61 Million Americans - Disability Impacts All Info Graphic *2 - Increase in Developmental Disabilities Among Children in the U.S. (1 out of 6 children) *3 This stat can be found in the WHO Disability Report on the WHO website here:
Estonia is a small country, about 1/5 the size of Minnesota with just 1.3 million people. About 400,000 of them live in Tallinn, the city we live and work in. Estonia is one of the least religious countries in the world. Only 14 percent believe religion has any influence on their lives, and less than 1 percent are Evangelical Christian (Pentecostal, Baptist, or Methodist). After centuries of various occupations, Estonia was established as a country in 1918, but Soviet and Nazi occupations would follow. Estonia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The country is around 70 percent Estonian and 20 percent Russian, although some border cities are up to 90 percent Russian. Despite such a difficult past, Estonia leads the way technologically. Skype, Pipedrive, and Wise were all born in Estonia, and it's not uncommon to see delivery robots pass by on the sidewalk.
As of June 1st, 54,325,725 Gospel Presentations, 2,759,142 Evangelism Responses, and 458,621 Discipleship Connection. All in 242 countries and territories, as tracked by Google.
Tod and Andrea Chapin are pioneering a ministry in the capital city of Edinburgh in Scotland. They minsiter to university students and young families seeing lives transformed by the power of Jesus and giving the spiritually hungry an encounter with the living God.
John focuses on apostolic work on the University of Minnesota campus (most recently with fraternities) and is an associate pastor at Sojourn Campus Church in Minneapolis. Jolene is currently seeking strategic direction on how to reach the U of M arts community as an independent choreographer.
Mark and Janie have served as missionaries in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, since 1994, where they have been involved in university campus ministry, leadership development, and church planting. Through their “Churches for Churches” program, the Durenes are helping with new church plants in 5 cities, including Teung, where River Valley Church partnered to launch the church. Currently, they are helping to train several other potential church planters, and also serve as mentors to many other pastors throughout the northern Thailand area. In addition, they are the directors of the Global University Thai’s second Bachelor’s program, where they are training current and future Thai ministers. Mark serves as the AGMF Thailand Country Moderator, as well as on several national boards, including Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand (Northern region); Every Home for Christ, Thailand; Thailand AG Northern Region Board of Presbyters; and others. Janie writes Sunday school curriculum for several churches and directs the children’s program at a church in Chiang Mai.
Mike and MonaRe’s mission field is Latin America, where they work primarily in evangelism and international ministry, in addition to leadership training.
Japan has a population of 126 million people with roughly 37 million of those living in the Tokyo area. We have close to 600,000 foreigners living in Tokyo with that number expected to rise dramatically in the next few years based on Japan's shrinking labor force. Less than 1% of Japan's population consider themselves an evangelical Christian, with an estimated 95% of the population never having had an adequate presentation of the gospel. It is widely recognized as the 2nd largest unreachable people group in the world. Japan also has one of the highest populations of elderly people in the world and one of the lowest birthrates in the world. Japan's culture is heavily influenced by Buddhism and Shintoism but with many living out an atheistic or agnostic existence. Our church is located directly across the street from Tokyo University, one of the largest universities in Japan. There are around 28,000 students currently enrolled there.
Mentoring men that are coming out of addiction (some are still fighting it); men coming out of incarceration; All In Ministries is open to all men