Throughout 2023, we prayed for miracles that would let God be known in every nation, and we’ve seen him answer in wondrous ways. He’s opened doors for new church planters and campus missionaries to be sent out. He’s given our churches opportunities to show the love of Christ by serving their communities. More students and leaders have answered the call to fulfill the Great Commission, and I’m reminded that God completes every good work that he begins, including our goal to reach every nation and every campus with the gospel.
May you be encouraged by this Year in Review and what God is doing. It’s an honor to partner with you to share the good news of the gospel in the nations.
Churches Globally
Active Church Plants
University Campuses
Raising Up Campus Leaders in Stellenbosch, South Africa
College students have the potential to change the world, and we’ve seen evidence of that in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Over 100 nations are represented at Stellenbosch University, and our Every Nation Campus chapter there is focused on making disciples and raising up leaders. Student-led discipleship groups meet weekly on campus, and evangelism is a regular part of their schedule. Daleen Tait, the campus pastor at Every Nation Stellenbosch, says,
We’ve seen breakthroughs in people getting saved, people getting restored from mental illness, and our students stepping out to pray for others and trust God for the impossible.
Daleen and the church leaders know that college students aren’t simply a mission field; they’re the mission force.
These students are making a gospel-fueled difference on their campus, and they’re also being sent into their community and the nations to make an impact. Some of them began an NGO teaching robotics in local schools as an avenue to share their faith and fight poverty. One student went to study in the Middle East through his university program and ended up partnering with an Every Nation church there to lead a mission team. Other students have gone on to serve in church plants and in influential careers around the world. Because of the church’s focus on student discipleship, they take the foundation of the gospel with them wherever they go.
Through the stories from Stellenbosch and other Every Nation Campus chapters around the world, we see campus ministry as a way to share the good news of the gospel and see lives transformed. In Daleen’s words,
We have an open opportunity to reach the next generation. If we reach the campus, we can really change the world.
God has given us a mandate to reach university students all around the world, and with it, I believe strongly, comes grace to do it.
As we go out reaching out to the students, even to the community and the culture, never undermine the seed that we are sowing.
For the next 30 years and even 100 years from now, we’re going to continue to change the campus, change the world.
Opportunities for the Gospel in Kyrgyzstan
Even though faith in Jesus is uncommon in Kyrgyzstan, God is raising up local leaders to share the hope of the gospel.
Kyrgyzstan is what we call a “creative access nation,” meaning it’s taboo or prohibited to preach the gospel, so our leaders must minister in unique ways. Bishkek, the capital city, is a strategic place to reach families, college students, and other communities throughout the nation.
When our Every Nation church plant team moved there several years ago, they began reaching out on campus and to locals who spoke English. One of the first students who heard the gospel and accepted Christ is now serving as a full-time campus missionary. In fact, she’s the first local missionary that we have equipped and empowered in this region.
Since she’s originally from Kyrgyzstan, she has insight into how they can effectively reach the city and campuses with the gospel. Dan, the church plant leader, says,
It was actually her initiative to start a local public foundation, which is now our campus arm. . . . We have about three major campuses opening their doors for us. We do peer mentoring, we do life groups, and so there’s so much opportunity for the gospel as of this time in Kyrgyzstan.
Like other Every Nation church plant teams around the world, the team in Bishkek has seen how raising up local leaders opens more avenues for God to move. Where language was a barrier, they can now communicate clearly. Where closed doors kept them from preaching, they can now speak boldly. And where they’ve faithfully prayed to make more disciples, God has given them a harvest.
As God had promised, as we go and make disciples of all nations, he is with us, his Spirit is with us. So let’s go.
Our vision is to lead every person toward unity in Jesus. We really exist to show every person that we all have value, we all have hope, we all have purpose, . . . and we find our identity in Jesus. And we believe we’re here to help every person realize that.
We are so embracing the mission of going to not just our local people, but different people groups, different kinds of cultures here in Hong Kong.
To reach out to nations, we need to plant new churches. It’s not optional; it’s part of the Great Commission.
Developing Leaders for the Nations
God has called us to plant campus-reaching churches in every nation—if we are to fulfill that calling, we must be able to send out campus missionaries and church planters into new cities. As a global family of churches, together we get to develop leaders from the nations, for the nations.
Nations without an Every Nation church
Go 2023
Something indescribable happens when different cultures, nations, and languages come together to worship. In October, we hosted the 2023 Every Nation Go Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Over 4,000 leaders from 71 nations gathered to worship God, pray for the nations, and receive vision and clarity for where God is calling us to go. These leaders were sent back to their nations equipped and refreshed to see God move in new ways.
Every Nation Seminary: Global Leaders for a Global Mission
While at the Go Conference, we had a unique opportunity to celebrate a convocation for Every Nation Seminary’s first global cohort. Thirty-one students are part of this first cohort, and since the seminary launched in 2021, we now have 3 cohorts made up of 99 students from 35 different nations. Each of these leaders is active in ministry as they earn their Master of Arts in Theology and Mission.
Wildfires and Wild Faith on Maui
In August 2023, wildfires devastated the island of Maui, Hawaii.
Every community on the island felt the pain of the disaster. Fires continued for days, burning more than 2,000 acres, displacing over 7,000 people, and taking 115 lives. The historic town of Lahaina was hit the hardest—within a few short hours, it was completely destroyed.
Members of Grace Bible Church Maui, our Every Nation church on Maui, responded quickly. They cooked meals for first responders, prayed for people, and even welcomed strangers into their homes.
They set up a relief fund that churches from around the world began giving to, and through those gifts, the church was able to financially bless over 1,000 families in Lahaina. Jonavan Asato, the lead pastor of Grace Bible Church, says,
It wasn’t just getting them money and putting money into their hands, but it was being able to pray for them and represent God.
As their church prayed about how they could best serve their neighbors, God gave them something unique. They received an opportunity to build tiny homes on their church property. Displaced families will be able to live in these homes until their own properties are ready for rebuilding, then move their new home onto their own land. In faith, Jonavan and his team began working with their local government.
God answered their prayers, giving them favor with officials who agreed to approve their project months sooner than it would normally take. This timeline is virtually unheard of on Maui, and it’s only possible by the grace of God. This disaster has given people a chance to experience God’s hope and love. As Jonavan leads the church through this, he is certain of the anchor of the gospel.
The gospel is the ultimate source of hope. . . . Through all of this tragedy, what I’ve seen is it makes a believer’s conviction stronger, and it makes that hope even stronger.
From the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion of our lands, our church started helping people. . . . We felt that they needed the gospel, that they needed God, that they needed help. That is how the desire to start a church awoke. . . . We preached God’s word, and to our astonishment, when we invited people to our first service, the place we rented was full of people. We were so surprised, and we thank God for this incredible miracle.
For us Christians, we can help in so many ways. But I think the bottom line—and this is very clear for all of us as an Every Nation family—people need Jesus. In whatever season, it will always boil down to anchoring their faith in God.
We look out and we see neighbors who need some help, and there’s an opportunity there to share the gospel, to share God’s love, and God’s comfort.
Pray for new churches to be planted.
As we look back at 2023, we believe that God has more in store for us. We’re specifically asking God for more ministry opportunities among Arabic-speaking people in the Middle East and Northern Africa. He’s already begun opening doors in key cities, and we’re praying for:
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- Hearts to be open to receive the gospel
- God to send more laborers to these nations
- Grace, protection, and boldness for Christians in this area
Would you pray with us for more opportunities to preach the gospel in new nations and cities in 2024?
More Stories
Our mission has a global scale, but our real impact is measured in the lives of those who hear the gospel, become disciples of Christ, and go on to share their testimonies with others.
Returning to Malawi with the Gospel
“As we go out reaching out to the students, even to the community and the culture, never undermine the seed that we are sowing.” Watch how a Malawian student was reached by the gospel in South Africa and sent back home to start a new church.
Wildfires and Wild Faith on Maui
“Through all of this tragedy, what I’ve seen is it makes a believer’s conviction stronger, and it makes that hope even stronger.” When wildfires tore through Maui, Hawaii, in August 2023, God made a way for our local Every Nation church to meet the needs of their...
Raising Up Campus Leaders in Stellenbosch, South Africa
“Discipleship is just key so that people can know God, walk with him, fulfill their call on their lives, and really go out and just do great incredible things for God.” Watch how our Every Nation Campus team in Stellenbosch, South Africa, is discipling students to go...