Series: Horizons

July 1, 2022

Laura McKillip Wood

Amor Builds More Than Houses

Amor Builds More Than Houses

By Laura McKillip Wood She was only 9 years old, but Gayla knew what God was telling her. “I will follow you, God,” she promised, certain she was hearing him tell her to be a missionary. That commitment made at Guadalupe Christian Service Camp in New Mexico stayed in little Gayla’s mind over the next few years, even though she did not know exactly how it would play out. By the time she was a sophomore in college, Gayla had shelved the idea of cross-cultural ministry. She was studying speech therapy at Arizona State University. Her pastor, Don Hinkle, who

May 1, 2022

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Healing Destruction from the Inside

By Laura McKillip Wood Natasha Reimer watched the video flash across her screen, horrified at the view of devastation and death in Ukraine. Lives lost, homes destroyed, orphans created.* She closed her laptop and dropped to her knees. “God, what will become of my people?” she cried. “What can I do to help them?” She prayed this same prayer every night for weeks. Years before, Natasha had attended Kentucky Christian University and eventually earned a master’s degree in diplomacy and international development at University of Kentucky. Although she made her home in the United States, her heart was in Crimea,

March 1, 2022

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Julio and Arminda Arria: From Mission Field to Missionaries

Noni stretched her back as she straightened from her work. She’d been putting in long hours at the café she owned trying to pay off debt incurred when the café was closed during the worst of the pandemic, but she still owed money and worried she would not be able to pay it. She thought of her son, who had been pressuring her to let him move to live with his father. Her eyes teared up as fear filled her heart. The future seemed uncertain, and she wondered what would happen to her and her family. Just then, the door

January 1, 2022

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

A Bright Future for Resident in Intercultural Ministry

As Katie Hughes made her way to her car at the end of another long school day, she reflected on her day in the classroom. After years of studying to become a teacher like her mom and other family members, she felt disappointed and exhausted in her student-teaching experience. The more time she spent in the classroom, the more she questioned her decision to become an educator. Was this really what God had planned for her? A New Plan Katie talked with her parents and began to take an inventory of the gifts and interests God had given her. She

November 1, 2021

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Serving God in the Second Half

By Laura McKillip Wood Amy and Terry Ruff visited a friend soon after arriving in Ghana. During that visit, the Ruffs struck up a conversation with another guest. As they got to know one another, the man told the Ruffs, “You need to meet my friend, Solomon*.” He gave Solomon’s phone number to Amy and Terry, and they called him to set up a meeting. Solomon told the couple where to drive and said he would wait for them by the side of the road. After driving several hours, the Ruffs repeatedly thought they had reached the rendezvous site, but

September 1, 2021

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Medical Ministry Brings Change

Ludmilla and June sat in a makeshift examination room in a small Ukrainian Baptist church where a team of medical missionaries had set up a clinic. June helped the elderly woman pull her arm from her sleeve as she listened to her story of the cancer treatment and its effects on her body. Ludmilla also had a broken shoulder and a wound at the base of her neck that the surgeon would not operate on since it might involve cancer. The oncologist did not want to treat her because she had an open wound. Ludmilla was left to manage her

April 1, 2021

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

OneIN Uses Trusted Links to Partner with Nationals and Spread the Gospel

Shampa sat next to her husband, Mukul, in their apartment in Calcutta, India. Their neighbor sat across from them, nervously describing how the company he had worked for as a day laborer had closed due to the COVID-19 quarantine. Money was scarce before the lockdowns, but now survival would be nearly impossible. This man was a member of the house church Shampa and Mukul had started, and here he was, struggling right in front of them. Shampa glanced at Mukul. She looked back at their neighbor. “As long as the lockdown continues, you and your family can come and have

March 1, 2021

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

An Ending and a Beginning

Maureen closed the book she’d been trying to read and switched off her bedside lamp. Burrowing into the covers, she tried not to think about the future. She felt her spirit stirring, as if God was about to do something big and different, but she didn’t yet know what that would be. “God, here I am. Send me,” she prayed for what seemed like the millionth time. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, still unsure of where God would take her. Several months later, an insightful missionary friend invited Maureen to attend a Global Perspectives on the World

February 1, 2021

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Abide Sees a Better Tomorrow for Residents of North Omaha

Shaun grabbed the basketball and dribbled around the court. He glanced at the other guys warming up, unsure whether he belonged. His grandma had been pestering him to go to church with her for a long time, but he just did not feel ready. He didn’t like all of the singing and preaching and old ladies talking about how much he’d grown. He did like basketball, though, and he heard he could play on a team the church sponsored. He decided to give it a try. Maybe he wouldn’t have to talk about himself while playing basketball. And he knew

January 1, 2021

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Ministry to Muslims Provides Relief and Growth

Hassan stepped off the bank and felt the river water swirl around his ankles. He took another step, his confidence growing. He knew his choice to follow Jesus was the right one. He grasped his wife’s hand and smiled at her. They’d come a long way in the last few years. Tears welled in his eyes as he remembered how his desire for revenge had almost endangered the lives of his family. When he found the tortured, lifeless bodies of his father and brother on his doorstep in Syria one horrible morning, he had decided to exact revenge on the

November 22, 2020

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Drinking Tea, Sharing Meals, and Making Disciples

Musa* lives in a Muslim country in the Middle East. Since he grew up hearing stories about the great prophet Jesus, he thought he knew all about him. That changed when he became roommates with Yosef*. Yosef shared his faith in Christ as the Messiah with Musa, and they began studying the Bible together. Before long, Musa accepted Jesus and wanted to be baptized. Christians in his country usually baptize new believers in a river, but because of the pandemic occurring at the time, public beaches were all closed. Musa’s baptism would have to wait. As time passed, Musa became

October 24, 2020

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Ministry in Post-Christian England

Leslie sat in the dorm lobby on her Christian college campus thinking about the last question on the get-to-know-you survey she and the rest of the girls in her dorm were completing. Her sophomore year had just begun, and Leslie had been considering where God was leading her. The last question asked, “What is something you have dreamed of doing?” She scribbled her answer in the blank: “missions in Europe.” Leslie Hall had been learning about the decline of Christianity in Europe, and she wondered what God might be doing there. “I guess God paid attention to what I wrote,”

September 22, 2020

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Meeting Needs of Street Kids in Kenya

By Laura McKillip Wood Anthony blinked hard. His head spun. He fingered the bottle of glue in his pocket; the effects of huffing it still lingered, dulling the memory of the night before, when a man from the neighborhood found him alone in the dark and took advantage of him. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. Nobody cared that he had nowhere safe to go, no one to feed him or provide for his needs. I’ll never be anybody, he thought. He shook his head as the dizzy numbness took over his thoughts. The Need Kenya has roughly

August 15, 2020

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Churches BeFriend Across Cultures

By Laura McKillip Wood Rebecca sits on a blanket in the yard that surrounds her home, a one-room grass hut. Her four children play around her, along with her sister’s five children. Rebecca is the sole support for her children, her mother, her sister, and her nieces and nephews. Rebecca’s husband joined the military in South Sudan, their home country, years ago. He left the family to fight in a war there and has not returned. Eventually, she and her family fled from their homeland to Adjumani, a community of refugees in Uganda. Life has been difficult for Rebecca and

July 15, 2020

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Bob Milliken: A Focus on International Students for the Long Haul

Afzal (not his real name) found Bob Milliken by chance. In fact, he somehow stumbled upon the Facebook page for Bob’s rural church and started commenting on some of the posts. Bob, the pastor of the church, and Afzal, a musician in the Middle East, began a correspondence that led to a friendship. Before long, they were talking worship, and Afzal told Bob he is a Christian worship leader in his strict Muslim community. Afzal is passionate about helping Christian musicians learn how to lead worship in their own communities. He had been discipling a group of 10 to 15

June 14, 2020

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

A Ministry Born in Kentucky and Chile

By Laura McKillip Wood Ignacio left the Catholic church long before he began studying at a university in Santiago, Chile. Although he was a self-proclaimed agnostic, a friend from his neighborhood invited him to El Oasis, a student group designed to provide students with a Christian community to call “home” during their college years. Ignacio loved music and discovered that an alum of his university led the band at El Oasis. Before long, Ignacio was a regular, hanging out with the other music lovers who attended. His interest in the band grew, and he asked to join it. The staff

May 17, 2020

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Churches and Businesses Partner to Reach Out

By Laura McKillip Wood Revo’s family had nothing when they arrived in the United States. They pinned their hopes on a new life in the West after fleeing dangerous political unrest in Southeast Asia. After a long and difficult process, they settled in Omaha, Nebraska,. Their apartment had only the bare minimum Revo, his wife, and their children needed for survival. Not only did they have few furnishings, their children had no beds. An organization named Sleep in Heavenly Peace heard about their situation—and the situation of many of their refugee neighbors—and sprang into action. Reaching Out Sleep in Heavenly

May 1, 2020

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

God Uses a Match Made in Poland

By Laura McKillip Wood Andrzej Korytkowski survived a complicated and traumatic family life that resulted in his parents’ messy divorce when he was 13. His mother became preoccupied with recovering from the breakup of her marriage and re-establishing herself, so she did not focus much energy on Andrzej and his brother. The boys spent most of their days with friends, at school, and finding things to fill their free time. They became independent, but they did not have much of a family life or support from parents. Andrzej especially missed having a father figure in his life. At this vulnerable

Help Keep Christian Standard Free & Accessible with a Tax Deductible Donation

We can do more together!

Every gift makes a difference!

No, thank you.
100% secure transactions - receipts provided.
Does Your Church Want to Support Christian Standard?

Would your church consider including support for Christian Standard in its annual missions budget? Your support would help us not only continue the 160-year legacy of this unifying ministry, but also expand the free resources, cooperative opportunities, and practical guidance we provide to strengthen churches in the U.S. and around the world.

We can do more together!

Every gift makes a difference!

No, thank you.
100% secure transactions - receipts provided.
Secret Link