Dr. Dennis Jackson
Executive Director
WOW! When I look back on the past year, I’m filled with gratitude and celebration. Your prayers and generosity caused a ripple effect as the gospel spread throughout families, communities and even entire cities and regions!
Eleven new missionaries have been appointed and are building their partnership teams and preparing for ministry. We are launching five new fields so that more people have the opportunity to hear and respond to the Good News about Jesus. Fields like Kethra, our newest field in the Turkic-Arabic Area.
We are cheering on missionaries who are creatively sharing the gospel in their communities. Whether it’s through hosting “coffee house nights” on the Karis field or fostering connections through English camps in Central Europe, people are hearing the Gospel and choosing to follow Jesus!
Praise God! He is at work as we press forward to share the gospel in unreached and hard-to-reach places around the world. Thank you for helping reach so many people with the gospel!
I have had the privilege to serve as the Executive Director of Global Partners for nearly 14 years. As I near the end of my time in this role, I reflect with wonder on all God has done to build His kingdom around the world. Since 2012:
- 131 new missionaries have been sent to some of the least reached places in the world.
- 18 new fields have been opened in partnership with your missionaries.
- Thousands have decided to follow Jesus and are making disciples.
- Well over 600 national pastors have been trained to ordination, moving from less than 25% ordained to 38% ordained.
I am so thankful that you have shared in this important mission to reach the 4 in 10 people who live without access to the gospel. I can’t wait to see how God will use you in the future in engaging this global, hope-filled mission!
In H+S Love,
Missionaries Mobilized
We celebrate stories of joy-filled, fully surrendered living—stories of giving our lives away for the global mission, just as Christ gave his life for the world.
EMBRACING THE CALL
During a sabbatical in the Middle East, I was unsettled by prayer chants echoing through the streets. Initially, I was unfamiliar with their purpose, and I was flooded with unease as individuals would react to these chants by kneeling to pray.
I was embarrassed – I wasn’t praying multiple times a day, let alone kneeling in public. And I felt disdain because of the prejudices I harbored against Muslims.
Yet in the midst of this discomfort, a powerful conviction resonated within me, as if from the Lord: “Do you hear this? This is the sound of a cry, a search for Me, a search for a Savior, though they don’t know how to find Me.”
A profound shift occurred in my heart. My ignorance melted away, replaced by a burning desire to respond.
I realized that what I had perceived as a disturbance was, in fact, a lament – the cry of the lost.
Shortly after, I attended a mission training school for six months, preparing my family to serve in a Muslim country. I unexpectedly found myself in New York City for eleven years, but this allowed me to develop a proper understanding of what it truly means to be a faithful witness and servant of the Gospel.
I’m not fully mature or entirely ready for this mission, but I am approaching this rekindled challenge with humility and resilience. I humbly embrace this call to serve the Turkic-Arabic people.
Partnerships Engaged
We look for partnerships that are both relational and strategic. Relational means regular, ongoing contact. Strategic means a long-term investment with a clear aim in mind.
Join Team Amplify by setting up a recurring monthly gift today! By joining the team, your gifts help to clear financial hurdles for every Global Partners missionary.
Visit gponline.org/teamamplify for more.
COMMUNITY HEALTH IN MONDULKIRI
In a very rural part of the Mondulkiri province in Cambodia, the Bunong indigenous people live as a minority, speaking their own dialect. Over the years, many were pushed to the outskirts of society and off their land. Generally, they have limited access to education and healthcare.
World Hope International Cambodia (WHI) has worked to assist the Bunongs by improving agriculture and farming, installing safe water, strengthening primary and secondary schools and helping students optimize their learning experiences, among other things.
For the past year, Global Partners (GP) missionaries Romy and Linda have had the opportunity to partner with WHI in community health development efforts, focusing mostly on women and children’s health. Because of WHI’s credibility and reputation among these indigenous people, Romy and Linda have been welcomed and trusted as well. The couple has routinely traveled to six Bunong villages facilitating sessions about health-related topics, including breast cancer awareness. This was a particularly special opportunity, because 6th grade girls from a school supported by WHI participated in a session of breast cancer awareness.
As Romy and Linda are transitioning to part-time roles with GP soon, they are grateful to have worked alongside Younas, a Bunong WHI staff member. Younas has helped in translating and facilitating the workshops, and has already taught lessons to more women in other remote villages on his own. Romy and Linda are thankful that he’ll continue to press the work forward.
Generosity Inspired
Regardless of where your mailing address says you live, we all joyfully leverage all our resources for the sake of the mission.
WHAT IF?
The year was 2008, and College Wesleyan Church in Marion, Indiana had just completed a major capital campaign to raise funds for a new building project. At that point, most churches would have celebrated that the campaign was complete, and any fundraising pushes would be in the far-distant future. But, someone within the congregation said, “We just raised $5 million to put up the rest of this building. What if we were to raise that much money and give it away now?”
This dangerous question led to another capital campaign – the “What If?” campaign – to raise money for global strategic initiatives. The church rallied to the cause, raised additional funds – and gave it all away to grow God’s kingdom globally. The result – College Wesleyan Church was transformed. According to Executive Pastor Emily Vermilya, “People started to have a vision for how the local church impacts the global church. They started asking ‘how do we partner with places—not just give our funds, but how do we actually become relationally involved?’”
Today College Wesleyan continues to raise money for strategic initiatives to bless people outside their church. They look for opportunities to relationally invest in the global church. All because someone was bold enough to ask, “What If?”
Followers Multiplied
As a result of partnering with Global Partners, your church will play a key role in more stories — stories of personal transformation and stories of the transformed being gathered into newly planted church communities.
BAPTISMS IN WATER BARRELS
Guinea is one of the 11 French-speaking countries in Africa where The Wesleyan Church is growing, despite significant challenges.
The country is approximately 89% Muslim (even though the government claims to be secular) and at first glance, it appears open and diverse. But beneath the surface, Christian churches struggle to survive.
In one day of my visit, we saw over 65 mosques, but only one Catholic church. Most Protestant churches have been forced to shut down or go underground due to community pressure and noise complaints. One of the most urgent issues is land access. It’s nearly impossible for churches to purchase property, as most landlords are Muslim and refuse to rent or sell to Christian groups.
In the midst of these barriers, we encountered a courageous and passionate team of believers. Joel and his team are bold, creative and deeply committed. They minister in prisons—even baptizing new believers in water barrels behind bars. They preach in the streets, perform evangelistic dramas and lead home groups. They’re hungry for biblical training and are eager to multiply it—some have already committed to launching new Bible studies based on the material I taught.
This visit deeply impacted me. These leaders are shining the light of Christ in one of the hardest places imaginable.
Leaders Developed
As the gospel takes root in an area, we are eager to turn over responsibility and authority to well-equipped local leaders. We are continually working ourselves out of a job.
DEVELOPING LEADERS IN SOUTH ASIA, TOGETHER
In a certain South Asian country, 88% of people are Buddhist. In fact, saying you’re from this country is essentially claiming to be Buddhist, as life, government policies and spiritual worldviews are all tied to Buddhism. There is technically freedom for anyone to believe and follow their understanding of faith, but church buildings are not allowed. Instead, believers must practice their religion in their homes.
Amid a dire economic situation and a deeply Buddhist culture, the Gospel has started to take root in a certain people group, and there’s a desire for biblical teaching. Without biblical teaching being available in-country, some believers have traveled to receive it – but leaving home isn’t possible for everyone.
Along with Sri Lankan, Australian, Indian and East Asian believers, a few Global Partners (GP) missionaries have joined together to help teach 11 local pastors – bringing biblical teaching to them. The hope is to help strengthen the local church with sound teaching so that these local South Asian pastors will go on to teach future pastors, and so on.
One of GP’s missionaries who is involved says: “We know without a doubt that God loves this place, and in the short amount of time we’ve spent there, we have come to love it as well. Pray that the Lord would help us to establish His kingdom there — one more place to know His grace.”
Churches Reproduced
Global Partners’ missiology seeks to move each field through five phases—the fifth and final phase being “Multiplying Movements.” A church reaching this phase is not only mature enough to be self-supporting, but it is also parenting new works by planting churches and sending missionaries.
PIONEERING NEW PATHWAYS: FROM MEXICO TO SOUTHEAST ASIA
The churches of Asia, Africa and South America long to participate in God’s global mission. But building a large sending operation can be difficult and costly. Limited financial resources and restricted visa access often close doors before they open.
Marketplace work, whether in teaching, medicine or business, offers a powerful alternative. It provides a locally understandable reason for being present in hard-to-access places. And because it’s financially sustainable, it frees more people to say yes to God’s call.
In one Southeast Asian country, the people are surprisingly open to the Gospel. The local church, though still small, is growing quickly. The moment is urgent. The fields are white for harvest, but access is limited. Governmental restrictions make it hard for missionaries to enter, unless they come with skills that meet economic needs.
This year, The Wesleyan Church in Mexico has sent Daniel*, a Wesleyan Mexican physician, to serve there. By using his skills to teach medical students and work at an international clinic, he aims to bring the hope of the Gospel to everyone he encounters.
Praise God for Daniel’s* obedience! He is helping create pathways for the Church to send missionaries out of places like Mexico. We are eager to see what God will do through him and those who will follow, in a place that so desperately needs the light of Jesus.
*Name changed due to security guidelines
Nations Transformed
We are convinced that the gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to transform lives, families, communities and entire nations. We eagerly anticipate the “great multitude” from “every nation, tribe, people and language,” standing before the throne of God. In the meantime, we believe God can use us to see nations made new – from everywhere to everywhere.
A KINGDOM FORCE OF LOCAL BELIEVERS
It was a Wednesday afternoon when I found myself eating the locally beloved dish, čevapi, with a friend when my phone rang. One of our Croatian pastors was calling to tell me about a local woman in another part of Eastern Europe who has a desire to plant churches and would love to partner with us in ministering in this unreached part of the country. I sat in a bit of shock, as it was only a couple of days prior when I received an email from our other Croatian pastor stating there was a family in their church who was increasingly interested in the ministry occurring where we are, with a desire to pray and potentially partner together. It was then that I realized God was answering our prayers for local believers from surrounding areas to come and partner with us in ministering to this unreached part of Eastern Europe.
This story of how Eastern Europe is being transformed is still unfolding, but God is calling forth a Kingdom force of local believers to come together and minister with one another in order for the unreached to be reached. We believe God is doing immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine, and we are bearing witness to that truth through this work of partnership and answered prayer!
