> Middle East and North Africa

This past summer, Nasser al’Qahtani, our Regional Team Leader for the Middle East and North Africa, was able to host a very special retreat for our national partners within the region. It was the first event of its kind for these team members from places like Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia. They came as couples and families and focused on learning the essential discipline of Sabbath and rest, not just for the retreat but for a lifestyle of healthy ministry. They each returned to their countries refreshed and energized. 

As Nasser looks to the future, he anticipates another visit to the Arab Peninsula. He was recently invited to serve on the Board of a new coalition of evangelical organizations operating within the region. They have asked him to help facilitate cooperation between mission agencies, to develop ministry best-practices in the region, and to speak into difficult situations and conflicts. He will speak on behalf of local believers and the national church. This opportunity for in-person ministry in the region will also give him the chance to meet with our other ministry partners, workers, and interns. Among those Gospel workers is a Canadian couple that is exploring a long-term mission assignment in the region, which is another new development that is an encouraging sign to us of God’s Spirit at work in this part of the world. 

Another great example of a new initiative in this region involves one of our partners in Egypt named Irfan. He previously served in neighboring Sudan for seventeen years, and now he is passionate about returning there from time to time to support the ministry of the Gospel in that needy country. Last year, Irfan partnered with Nasser to lead a one-week mission training school in Khartoum, Sudan. Soon after, Irfan went to Senegal to lead a similar school for a group of Mauritanian believers. Following the success of both of these schools, Irfan is eager to provide more training opportunities in Sudan, where about forty young believers from non-Christian background are hungry for equipping in Gospel ministry. Seeing the need for long-term discipleship, Irfan has planned six training sessions in Sudan over the next two years, the first being offered in early 2023.

> Sub-Saharan Africa

In the DR Congo, one of our national partners, Nzuzi Mukawa, is organizing a mission to a region called Kwango, which will accomplish two goals: first, to reinforce the Gospel work that was started earlier this year, and second, to forge into new areas where the Gospel has not reached. The mission will include preaching, teaching, evangelism, distributing Bibles and Christian literature, assessing and meeting humanitarian needs, and training existing leaders.

In Malawi, our Regional Team Leader, Doug Hiebert, just hosted a three-day summit with our African mission leaders. The first two days were focused on worship, prayer, and learning from each other, in order to bring encouragement and strengthen unity. The third day involved visiting churches and various mission projects in the area so that our partners could be inspired by each other’s ministry. The overall goal was to provide a stronger network of support and to work more effectively together.

> Latin America

Last year, Emerson Cardoso, our Latin America Regional Team Leader, was introduced to new church-planting opportunities among indigenous people deep in the Amazon rainforest. Eleven new churches joined the MB conference and indigenous leaders from thirty different tribes were being equipped to plant eighteen new churches. This ministry partnership is unique because it requires cultural sensitivity between Latinos and indigenous leaders in a way that will open the space of reconciliation with our Western partners. Emerson is working closely with Einer Zuluaga, our worker in Panama who serves among Indigenous peoples there, and who has insight into the intercultural challenges. A summit meeting with Indigenous leaders is planned for June 2023, in hopes of moving forward in this ministry with a renewed sense of integrity, community, and hope.