AsiaStories

IMB missionaries Ken and Susan Quaid* use their home not only to love the children but to train nannies in a new work-release program. The couple wants to help young women break the cycle in Thailand that promotes many to go into prostitution to make a living.

Delhi is a sprawling, energetic intersection of old and new, wealth and poverty, religion and science. People from all over South Asia come for jobs, education, and asylum. Some come willingly while others are forced here.Even though I’ve lived and worked in South Asia for years, I am easily overwhelmed by the city and want to know it better. Join me on a prayerwalk though the Delhi.

More than 300 pastors have been able to share the Gospel with more than a million people among Manila’s urban poor. House groups among squatter communities lead to an explosion of the Gospel, all through training sessions every month.

Our adventure started on a treacherous, muddy path. But our story in this remote Thai village began six years earlier — when the medical clinic closed and a community development organization supported by the World Hunger Fund took its place. See how one community slowly transformed because of your help.

Two years ago, IMB missionary Al Hoopes began supervising a program that teaches Filipino villagers the basics of agriculture, herbal medicine, community development and moral values. Now, approximately 600 people have graduated from the program and have built vegetable and herb gardens near their homes. The program has changed the lives of many Filipinos, including a woman named Rowena Gonato who resorts to her newly acquired training when her children grow ill.

A team of five volunteers from the University of Mobile in Mobile, Ala., minister to people in villages along the Oras River on the Filipino island of Samar. With no contacts in each village, they arrive on boats and ask to stay for several days. Relying on Filipino hospitality, the volunteers become part of the village community as they study the Bible with residents. They discover not only how welcoming villagers can be to Christ followers but also how deeply rooted they can be in their own traditional beliefs.

Journeyman Esther Tallbott* ministers in villages located along the Oras River on the island of Samar in the Philippines. With a Filipino partner, she boats up and down the river holding Bible studies with villagers, but despite her love for the Filipino people, Tallbott finds life in the Philippines difficult. She deals with feelings of isolation and inadequacy, but the Father used these emotions to get her attention. On a river in the Filipino jungle, God gave Tallbott no other option but to relinquish control of her life to Him.

Tears streamed down Sam James’ face as he stared into the abyss outside his airplane window. Somewhere in the darkness below lay the country he risked his life – and the lives of his wife, Rachel, and their four children – to save. But unlike so many American men and women who came to Vietnam, James wasn’t a soldier. He was a missionary.

Dira Amar* was a successful career woman in a Muslim nation while rearing six children. Then tragedy hit. She was accused of corruption and embezzlement, ending up in prison. There, behind bars, she found peace and love.

Village admits Creator God heals baby but chooses to continue following ancestral spirits.

Floating medical clinics gain entry into village houseboats in Cambodia. Local believers share Gospel with neighbors as translators.