On April 18, 1942, Army Corporal Jacob DeShazer boarded a bomber plane with his pilot, Lieutenant William Farrow, and a co-pilot, navigator, and rear gunner. Their mission was to bomb Tokyo and its surrounding cities. When the mission was accomplished, they were to land on the shores of enemy territory and elude the opposing forces as they awaited further instructions. The bombing was a success, but ...

Helen Roseveare, a medical missionary in Africa, was the only doctor in a large hospital. There were constant interruptions and shortages, and she was becoming increasingly impatient and irritable with everyone around her. Finally, one of the African pastors insisted, "Helen, please come with me." He drove Helen to his humble house and told her that she was going to have a retreat—two days of ...

At Teen Missions, campers give up virtually their entire summer for [a boot camp] on evangelism. They spend two weeks in Merritt Island, Florida, learning the work of a missionary before heading into the world in teams of about 25. They are schooled in evangelism, construction, and Bible studies. They don purple construction hats as they work the ground with hoes and wheelbarrows. They practice public ...

A 2007 article syndicated in the Agence France-Presse told of a town in Southwest Nigeria that calls itself "The Land of Twins." Why the odd nickname? The majority of families in that region have at least one set of twins, a phenomenon that baffles fertility experts. The only possible explanation scientists have come up with is the vast amount of yams the people consume. Yams contain a natural hormone ...

In an article for Today's Christian about the rapid growth of the church in China (now 70 million strong), Rob Moll tells the story of a missionary and businessman called Uncle Daniel, offering a glimpse into God's work in a seemingly closed society:

Uncle Daniel spent years as a missionary to China's rural villages. There, he said, it was like the Book of Acts, complete with miracles, exorcisms, ...

Amy Carmichael (1867–1951) was a missionary to India who suffered enormously in her life. She once wrote these words:

I have noticed that when one who has not suffered draws near to one in pain, there is rarely much power to help. I have wondered if it can be the same in the sphere of prayer. Does pain accepted and endured give some quality that would otherwise be lacking in prayer? What if every stroke ...

In his book When Charity Destroys Dignity, Glenn Schwartz describes how he confronted unresolved inner conflicts. During his time as a missionary in Zambia, Glenn had struggled with the approach his mission administrators took. He vocalized his difference of opinion and came into conflict with other missionaries and church leaders. Once home, Glenn began to experience physical symptoms that doctors ...

In the first half of 2009, news reports poured in of pirate vessels attacking vital shipping lanes along the coast of Somalia in southern Africa. Entire shiploads of cargo were held for ransom by pirates, delayed severely, or even lost at sea.

Amid that chaos, Mark Wilson was learning the ropes for his new job as logistics coordinator for the U.S. headquarters of Africa Inland Mission (AIM)—a ...

Luis Palau, the Argentine-born international evangelist, describes how God expanded his ministry:

...

And the Lord gave me a verse. It sounds a bit bombastic, sort of big-headed, so I don't like to quote it in public. But to paraphrase, the Lord basically says, "I will open up nations to you." I took it personally, as a word from the Lord, and I wrote in the flyleaf of my Bible, "1966 (February, I ...

When we started the PCA (Presbyterian Church in American) in 1973, we had no money—not a dime—and we were going to start a new denomination. One group gave us $90,000 for world missions. The only two missionaries we had were down in Acapulco. We had Dick Dye and a young lady named Ellen Barnett.

Dick Dye was down there for about 2 months, and he was discouraged. He looked up every day, and ...