When Yemen comes up in the news these days, it is often in the context of tragedy. Al-Qaeda, ISIS, civil war, the Sunni/Shia conflict, extreme poverty—all make up our ideas of this land and its people. Our news outlets suggest that Yemen is a nation that embodies the depths of human depravity and that it […]
One of the highlights of being the Director of AFM is participating in the Commissioning Services of our new cross-cultural workers, the Sunday when their church publicly and prayerfully affirms their commitment to them before they launch into the field. In January, St. Mark’s in Geneva Illinois will be commissioning Elisa (not her real name) […]
My first experience in short-term missions began with four consecutive days of driving through Europe in a convoy of five beat-up Ford Transit vans. On day four, just a few hours from our destination, one of the vans broke down in the middle of a wheat field. We were living in the pre-cell-phone era, and […]
“Come to prayer. Come to well-being…” This is a portion of the adhan, or the call to prayer. All around the world it is issued multiple times every day from the minarets of mosques calling Muslims to prayer. Muslims. The word in Arabic means ‘those who submit.’ And “Muslim” (those who submit) is a good […]
Change is an intrinsic part of life and, by extension, ministry. This past year has seen an exciting change for AFM as we embrace a dynamic new approach to our Member Care ministry. Last fall one of our AFM Cross-Cultural Workers agreed to take on the role of Training Coordinator, providing valuable preparation and practical […]
Many friends and family wondered why we would go to the Middle East to minister to Syrian refugees. Our answer: clearly it wasn’t our idea, but something God put on our hearts. The Lord put too many circumstances together for us to reject serving Him in what most would call too dangerous, too far away, […]
