I sat on a flight that lasted roughly 12 hours, had a few hours to kill in an airport and tried not to fall asleep, and then another short flight later. I arrived in our base country bubbling with excitement. I kept peering out of the taxi window and commenting on how pretty all of the buildings were to my coworker. I was immediately enraptured.

Our Sunday fellowship is made up of people from all over the world. There are many from the US and Australia, of course, but also people from Korea, the Philippines, and other Southeast Asian countries. On a recent Sunday, we sang in the local language and then came back to the chorus in English, which repeated: “Worthy is the lamb who was slain.”

t was dark as the call to prayer rang out across the city in Arabic. Close your eyes and listen and you might think you are in the Middle East or North Africa. But open your eyes and look around. There are rivers and jungles and houses on stilts. You are definitely in Southeast Asia. 

One of our mentorship teams recently had the opportunity to have lunch with some missionary workers in our base town. This couple has been here for almost two decades and they have many stories to share. However, it was one of the locals that captivated the room with his own story.

As I sit here on the patterned carpet, bare-foot, and leaning up against the patterned couch, my heart overflows with love for these women. I long for the ability to communicate with them on a deeper level, yet I am depending on my smiles and my few Arabic words to convey everything I cannot express with complex words.

Raising Support can appear as a very daunting task for anyone, but the way we approach support raising is somewhat different. 

We just made a big decision – one of those decisions that requires a leap of faith and much trust. It was one that we were excited about and longed for deep in our hearts.

As a integral part of the program, Cafe 1040 uses homestay visits as a way for students to get unparalleled insights into the culture and life around them.  This story is from a Spring 2015 Cafe 1040 Graduate.

For a lot of people, June 17th through July 17th is just another thirty days of the year. However, for many Muslims around the world, these thirty days constitute the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic Muslim calendar, a time devoted to increased prayer and fasting.

No matter your career, the majority of us probably didn’t end up in our jobs because we saw a massive billboard that laid it out for us and then our great Aunt’s dog spell it out with his kibbles. The truth is, the Lord calls us to listen and follow His direction, which is most often filled with many steps of faith. 

We landed in a very small Muslim village among an unreached people group. I was a bit nervous hearing that we were stepping into a place like that. The sound of the prayer call from the Mosque filled the streets when we first arrived

Hospitality – in the states we associate this with words like inviting, welcoming, and understanding. It is such a simple word. I would have never thought one word could hold so much depth – that one word could dictate a culture. Living here in Southeast Asia has redefined my view of what it means to be hospitable.

From the time John was a child, he had been having dreams about God, dreams of a person so bright that he couldn’t see. 

For several years, our team in North Africa has had the opportunity to reach out to a local Muslim couple – Khalid and Amira. Khalid is an influential community figure and has been instrumental to the work we are accomplishing here.

At a time when we were feeling the weight of discouragement, God led us to a man named Harry, and for that, we’re grateful.

Across the world, storying has been especially successful among people groups who are oral – they remember and pass on information by telling stories. As a practice of communicating the truths of Jesus in any culture, we teach our students how to story, that is to tell the story of Jesus in an engaging, story-telling format.

There is a portion of the world that has little to no access to the best news that the world will ever hear. That fact and the statistics that support such a statement helped bring us to this part of the world.

We asked them why they chose to live here, and what they were seeking. They replied that they wanted to know truth and follow Buddha. The conversation progressed into sharing that we loved Jesus. They told us they had never heard that name. 

“I often catch a whiff of incense as I walk the streets of Southeast Asia. It’s burning all around at temples and pagodas, and in the shrines housed in nearly every home and business. The smell reminds me that I too should be praying, just as the call to prayer in the Muslim world reminds me to pray not just 5 times a day, but without ceasing.”