It came in a small brown package but carried along a big gift.

The package was filled with letters, pictures, notes, and prayers, all meant to encourage MVI missionaries Tim and Julia Dang.

Tim and Julia have an incredible story of fleeing Vietnam as children, then meeting and marrying in U.S. before sensing God call them back to Vietnam as missionaries. A homeschool co-op in Virginia recently found their story on our website and shared it with the children as they studied Vietnam in their world geography section. The children were inspired by their story and wanted to encourage Tim and Julia as they served God. The children (and some of the parents) wrote letters to Tim and Julia for us to share with them.

“I am a homeschool mom of three wonderful, curious girls between the ages of 1-9, and I feel so honored to write to you today. I co-teach world geography with an emphasis on missions and in our class we included ways for the kids to better understand the cultural and spiritual climate of a specific country. We thoroughly enjoyed learning about Vietnam this month, and I shared your biography with the kids which is posted through MVI. We are so encouraged by your story and had no idea how difficult it is to share the gospel there. Keep fighting the good fight and stay strong in the Lord. And wherever you may be in the world, always know that a group of kids (and parents!) are actively keeping your family in our prayers! You are very loved.”

“I learned about you in geography class. I was very impressed by the work you have been doing. Remember that in hard times, your father loves you and is very kind to you. I loved learning about Vietnam and I really want to visit to share the Gospel, and to see the beautiful lagoons, grottos, and deltas!”

“My family has a prayer board where we put things we are praying for. We are going to put your family on it.”

“Your story is amazing and inspiring. My teacher told us your story while we were in class. We learned about Vietnam and how not many people know Jesus. It is so important and life changing how you are teaching people to become leaders. Your journey has been hard, but God has led you to this place. Thank you for teaching so many people in Vietnam about Jesus.”

When Victor Neagu was around 7 years old growing up in the eastern European country of Moldova, he was gifted a Bible, a special full-color children’s Bible that he cherished. “I loved that Bible, and I read the same stories all the time,” he remembers.

Victor’s faith remained strong as he married and had two children, one with Downs Syndrome. The need for medical care took him to the United Kingdom, but it was also there that God multiplied his ministry in Moldova. He traveled with Missionary Ventures on teams back to Moldova and visited schools. They passed out clothing and other supplies where it was most needed, and God especially stirred Victor’s heart for the children. He began to pray for them regularly, and he remembered how much he loved his special Bible. “I felt like God was asking me, ‘would you do the same thing for other children?'” says Victor.

From there, Love4Moldova was born, as Victor was empowered through Missionary Ventures to return regularly and visit schools, handing out full-color Bibles to children ages 7-11. This year’s team will visit 27 schools. “It changed my life,” says Victor, “this simple children’s Bible, and if it changed my life, it could change many, many other children’s lives.”

The church has mud walls and a grass roof, but it is a place of worship for more than 20 people who have gathered to sing praise to Jesus and listen to Pastor Pablo Mutica share the Word of God. Pablo is also the pastor of three other churches in northern Mozambique, but having multiple churches is typical for many pastors in the region. They visit, preach, and a church grows. This new church has only been gathering for four months, because Pastor Pablo had never been able to visit before, but now he can, due to a transportation provided by MVI and our partnership with Christian Motorcyclists Association. In his previous eight years as a pastor and farmer, he had to travel by foot to reach new villages. Now he can travel faster and farther.

Craig Wheeland helped coordinate with MVI/CMA and The Wesleyan Church of Mozambique to help gift Pastor Pablo and five other itinerant pastors with transportation to multiply their ministry. “My heart definitely wants to GO to the frontier,” says Craig. “I want, like Paul, to see foundations laid where there are no foundations. My problem is I’m too old to learn the culture and the language so my goal is to find men who are like-minded and already know the culture and language, put them on a motorcycle, and pray God sends them to the next village that doesn’t yet have a witness of His love, mercy, and grace.”

As this new church worships Jesus with Pastor Pablo, many people around the world are cheering them on.

Even in wanting to bless others, we are often blessed. 

In San Cristobal, Guatemala, MVI missionary Teresa Harwood has reached out to the local community in a variety of ways. One unique opportunity has come lately in working with her local church’s worship band. She proposed the idea to have the band write a new song for the church and community. She had hoped they would create a song in the Poqomchi’ language, where there is a lack of Christian songs. They loved the idea and began using John 21:15-17, where Jesus restores Peter, as their inspiration. “We hope it will be used as a reminder of the grace of God to the congregation and to the surrounding community as sadly there is a huge emphasis on works-based salvation in the Guatemalan evangelical church,” explains Teresa. “The band and I have spent lots of time in prayer, praying for the Lord to speak to our hearts, and praying that the Lord will use this song in the growth and edification of his church.”

They wrote the song in Spanish first and plan to translate it into Poqomchi’ soon.

“Even before sharing the song with the rest of the church, the Lord has been at work,” says Teresa. “At a recent meeting, the band leader said that through this time working with me, he has learned the importance of prayer.”

Listen to the Spanish song (with lyrics in Spanish and English).

As a 10-year-old Muslim in Benin, Africa, Moustafa started having dreams of a man who walked on water and said to him to “Go quickly meet your Alpha.” These dreams haunted him into his teens and he wondered, who is this Alpha? He couldn’t find peace from his inner confusion and emptiness. As an adult, he met a Christian for the first time in neighboring Togo. His name was Yao and they became friends. Yao talked to Moustafa about Jesus, telling him that He was the Alpha for whom he had been searching and read John 3:16 to him.

Moustafa’s life was transformed by the love of God, and he returned to his home in Benin, to share with other Muslims the Good News.

His father was furious that he would become a Christian. He tried everything to stop him, including threats to his life. He had him arrested on false charges and was brought before the Muslim chief of police. In a miraculous turn of events, the police inspector turned to the accusing father and said, “this young man is free to choose his own religion” and set him free.

A movement began during this fiery persecution, and Moustafa has now planted 25 churches in Benin. Even though he suffers daily so others may know of the love of God in Christ, he perseveres. Through our partnerships with Christian Motorcyclists Association and Le Pont International, Moustafa, along with 9 other pastors in Benin, received a motorcycle in order to reach hard-to-reach places with the Good News. He is training leaders in 25 villages, and doing open-air gospel meetings and sharing the love of Christ.

In the tiny Kingdom of Tonga, where Missionary Ventures has helped empower Tonga Christian Radio, our New Zealand office (MotiVate) invited their young adult leadership for a retreat in Auckland. Twenty-four young people attended – for 17 of them, it was their first time to leave their island nation and all testified to God’s divine provision for their airfares, food, and accommodation.

It was an amazing time of transformation and restoration for these young leaders. Willy Florian, who leads Tonga Christian Radio, reported, “The impact of this retreat has amazed our local pastors here on the island and the congregation itself as our young people started ministering to them. One pastor said, ‘I don’t know what happened to them there, but it was good, and I wish we were all there with them.’ The boldness, change of mindset, and hunger for God from our youth has brought me a lot of tears of joy and I’m humbled to see what God is doing.”

They live in the wake of Pablo Escobar, the notorious drug lord who destroyed many lives in Colombia. It’s a community of displaced castoffs – people who are without homes, disabled, unwanted, and mostly made of single mothers with multiple kids. Their street in the village of Macajan is even called Via Escobar, acknowledging his legacy of ruined lives. 

Ana Villalba has a special heart for these people, because she’s one of them. She is a single mother who raised five children alone after she left her abusive and unfaithful husband who got caught up with the wrong people. But she knows and loves God and can speak about His faithfulness in her life. After leaving her husband, she struggled to support her children by selling fruits, vegetables, and other items in the local market. She was fortunate to receive government housing and she was active in her church.

Ana was always outgoing and friendly, and one day met a woman named Albani who told her about the Via Escobar castoffs. Ana was touched to hear about this community of people like her, who needed to hear about God’s love. She began visiting Macajan with Albani. As she shared with them, she grew to love the people, and began to dream with them about a church in their community. They found a plot of land and began to pray. It was a difficult journey for Ana to get to Macajan, but she was committed to regularly mentor and disciple these young believers. 

Pastor Jose Herrera has known Ana for 20 years and seen her passion for the Lord. “Though she has suffered a lot in life, we have never heard any wrong from or about her,” he says. “She has a great testimony. She is a woman of integrity, without malice, and dedicated completely to the Lord’s work.” Pastor Jose has encouraged Ana in her faith and now, through MVI missionaries Don and Mary Wolfram and MVI’s partnership with the Christian Motorcyclists Association, we were able to bless Ana with a motorcycle to further her ministry. She will now be able to visit the community more regularly and easily. “Ana is a small tenacious woman with a huge desire to spread the gospel and show God’s love,” says Don. “The bike will be a huge time saver and will greatly expand her sphere of influence with the gospel.”

MVI and CMA, along with two of our other ministry partners, Jesus Film and Global Christian Relief, were recently in Colombia to present Ana and eight other pastors with motorcycles to expand their ministry. The team visited Via Escobar and Macajan and prayed over Ana and the plot of land that will soon become a church for the community. The foundations for a church roof are already beginning. Join with us in praying for Ana and the other pastors and their ministries in Colombia – God is doing a mighty work!