As the providers of airfare to thousands of international mission trip participants each year, we here at Ministry Travel realize that we are more than a travel agency–we are story facilitators!

Whether its someone’s first mission trip to Africa or a veteran missionary returning to the field somewhere in Asia, each person our travel consultants work with has a story. Usually they have several stories of the incredible things they experienced while on mission. Regardless of what they actually do on the field, the experience of ministering cross-culturally usually changes their perspective. The things that used to bother them now take on a new light when viewed through the perspective of the world’s needs.

Rick, one of our clients, writes about his favorite mission trip and how it changed his perspective:

My favorite trip was a visit to an orphanage in Ensenada, Mexico. Those 30-40 kids brought tears to our eyes & our hearts. A group of us from Christ’s Church of the Valley in Phoenix, went down to work at Rancho El Refugio, which is a Christ-centered school being developed for the underprivileged children in the area. While dining at a local taco shop upon our arrival, one of our vans was broken into and several members of our group lost their luggage, passports and medications. Despite spending several hours that evening at the police station, local pharmacy and shopping for replacement clothes, our group arose early the next morning to serve breakfast and play with the children at the orphanage. Each of us walked away with a new perspective on life that day.

Most people would view a trip where their passport and luggage was stolen as a terrible trip, but for Rick and his team their perspective was changed thanks to seeing the world in which those orphans lived. The reality of what those kids were experiencing paled in comparison to the minor inconveniences that Rick and the team endured.

Thanks, Rick for sharing your story, and for reminding us about the importance of keeping things in perspective!

And don’t worry…we’ll keep providing great discounts on international airfare so that there can be more stories of lives changed!

Do you have a mission trip story that you would like to share? Visit the discussion board on our Facebook page at facebook.com/ministrytravel and tell us about your experience.

Hundreds of Christians have been arrested or placed under house detainment in China over the past five weeks, according to a Baptist Press report. Easter weekend alone saw the arrests of 500 believers. The crackdown comes on the heels of a clash between one of the largest unregistered churches in Beijing and the Chinese government.

Shouwang Church refuses to register and place itself under the limitations of the communist government. Those limitations include prohibitions against evangelism outside of the church building, conducting Sunday School and the baptism of anybody under the age of 18, according to ChinaAid’s Bob Fu, who was quoted in the report. In addition to the arrests, the government has also forced church members out of their homes in an effort to pressure the congregation into compliance.

Religious freedom is also an issue in India and 12 other nations that top a watch list issued by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). According to Mission Network News (MNN), the commission recently released its annual list of countries that it feels requires close monitoring because of violations committed or tolerated by their governments.

In India, the government has been slow to prosecute violence against Christians, with “assaults, burnings, lootings and other attacks occurring on a daily basis,” MNN reports. Joining India on the list are Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Venezuela. Egypt was recently moved onto the USCIRF “countries of particular concern” list in light of its growing violence against Christians.

Missions awareness is now as close as your cell phone thanks to a new app released by the International Mission Board. CompassionNet is available for Apple’s iPhone and phones operating Google’s Android. CompassionNet focuses on encouraging “strategic” prayer for unreached people groups. It features audio, video and written content that is regularly updated. To download the free tool from Apple, go to http://ow.ly/4Qylu  and for Android, http://ow.ly/4Qymy.

The scenes on the television screen are shocking. Entire Japanese communities devastated by a recent major earthquake and ensuing tsunami. While you have heard about the incredible loss of life and concerns of nuclear reactor explosions, you may not have heard about how the missions community is scrambling to meet needs on the ground amidst the devastation.

Baptist Press reports that a Southern Baptist disaster relief assessment team arrived in Tokyo on Saturday, the day after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and 23-foot tsunami wave rocked Japan’s northeast coast. The assessment team is working with local churches, government officials and non-governmental organizations to evaluate needs and create a blueprint for relief. According to the report, while the Japanese government is requesting international assistance, it does not intend to request large numbers of international volunteers. So the Southern Baptist relief effort will focus on resourcing Japanese Baptist congregations so that they can provide assistance to their communities.

Peter Howard with Food For the Hungary (FH) told Mission Network News(MNN) that they too are taking their cues from partners on the ground. The immediate need was for warm clothing for communities without power near the Fukushima nuclear plant where nightly temperatures dropped to near freezing. FH was able to send two trucks of supplies to the area. Relief efforts, however, are hampered by lack of fuel and roads that are impassible in some areas. Like Southern Baptists, FH is focused on resourcing local churches so that they can distribute aid to their communities.

In fact, the organizations we surveyed were all planning to partner with local Japanese churches as the most effective way to quickly get aid to those in the disaster region. The challenge, however, for some of these organizations is connecting with their partner churches.

According to another MNN report, the status of most of the 300+ churches in the affected region is unknown. Communication is difficult with many wireless lines and landlines down. The Wesleyan Church Denomination reported Monday that some of their partner churches in the region “survived major damage and some of their members are still missing.”

The Foursquare Church denomination initially could not get information on their churches in the region, but has since learned that all 42 of their Japanese congregations are safe. Other groups are still assessing how the disaster has impacted their partner churches.

What can the average person outside of Japan do to help? All the ministries and denominations surveyed said the same thing—pray and give cash. They ask for prayer for the safety of workers, for spiritual openness among those impacted by the disaster, and for strength for local volunteers. These groups are asking for cash rather than material donations as cash can be converted quickly into needed resources. For those seeking to go to Japan, the airports have all re-opened and Ministry Travel can make your air travel arrangements. Contact us at MinistryTravel.com or 1-877-541-5726.

The world has watched dramatic events recently unfold in Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya. Although many tourists and missions workers have fled Egypt and currently are staying clear of the North African nation, Christian workers there and in the region are asking Western Christians to “run toward Egypt,” according to a recent Baptist Press report.

Believers familiar with the scene see this as an unprecedented open door for Americans to come and serve alongside national Christian workers. “So instead of stepping back in fear, we need to step in and roll up our sleeves and get in the fields white unto harvest,” one worker was quoted as saying.

The report goes on to say that the gap between Christians and Muslims, which had been widening over the decades, is now “slamming together” as a result of men from both faiths standing together to protect their homes from looters during the recent uprisings.

Other ministries are also echoing the call to greater Christian involvement in Egypt and throughout North Africa and the Middle East. In a recent Mission Network News story, Jason Woolford with Christian Resources International commented on what he sees as unique windows of opportunity for gospel advancement in these countries. “We definitely have short windows—or it would appear that we could have a short window—to get God’s Word there.”

Woolford’s organization ships crates of Bibles and other Christian materials to a network of believers in these countries for distribution to pastors and individuals desiring to learn more about Christianity.

In the news yesterday were reports of four Americans killed by pirates after their boat the Quest had been captured last week off the coast of Somalia. Christianity Today is reporting that two of the four killed, Scott and Jean Adam, were a retired couple who spent most of the last decade sailing the world distributing Bibles. Scott Adam is a graduate of Fuller Seminary and he and his wife Jean were members of Santa Monica’s Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California.

According to a Reuters story, the kidnappers were in negotiations with a U.S. Navy ship that was following the pirates when the killings occurred.

Sudanese Christians, who live predominately in southern Sudan, are elated about the outcome of a recent referendum to divide the African nation. “Secession has become a reality—99 percent of southerners chose separation but we will not be sad…we will go to the south and celebrate with them,” said Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir yesterday in a quote by the Reuters News Service.

Persecuted Christians who fled Sudan to neighboring Kenya were excited to be able to cast their vote for independence. According to the International Mission Board (IMB), eight voting locations were established in Kenya to allow Sudanese there to cast their ballot.  “I am so happy that I voted…I want to go back to my country. I believe God will bless our new country,” one Sudanese Christian told IMB reporters.

The predominately Muslim north and Christian south have been at odds for years, with southerners feeling increasingly threatened by the north’s enforcement of Islamic law. Christians are hoping that the new country will provide religious freedom and equality.

While the issue of secession is accepted by both sides, Reuters points out that there are still major unresolved issues. These include disputes over the border, citizenship and how to share the nearly $40 billion in external debt. Also, the central Abyei region will hold its own referendum on whether to join the north or the south.

The issue of persecution is also center stage for the Asian nation of Vietnam. “Vietnam’s crackdown on religion is systematic, severe and getting worse by the day,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, in the organization’s just released World Report 2011. The report sites repeated police harassment of religious groups, including the detainment of a Mennonite pastor who is awaiting trial. Other religious leaders are being held under house arrest.

There is, however, a glimmer of hope. The Southern Baptist Convention recently reported that one Vietnamese church they helped start more than 35 years ago is alive, thriving and has birthed many other churches. In 2008 Grace Baptist Church was officially recognized by the government. The church survived, according to a retired Southern Baptist Missionary, because it held its own deed to building and land, giving it legitimacy with the communist government.