SBC Life Articles by Alan James

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--When 79-year-old June Livingstone discovered she could see the latest pictures of her family and grandchildren on Facebook, she decided it was time to sign up. But it wasn't her loved ones who completely hooked her on the social media craze. It was missions.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Being ready at a moment's notice to board a plane and evacuate a country is a reality for many Christian workers in North Africa and the Middle East.       Trying to share the Gospel in nations with unstable governments is difficult in the best of circumstances. But as refugees flee the crisis in Libya, and other nations such as Yemen, Egypt and Syria continue to struggle with political unrest, the task is increasingly challenging. Though people are turning to Jesus during this time of conflict, Christian workers say the environment is far from ideal for ministry.       "It really is challenging trying to minister in this climate," Christian worker Sam Morgan* said. He and his family have served among Shia Muslims in the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf since 2005.       In recent weeks, the Morgans have seen an increase in political protests.       "There are news cameras everywhere," Morgan said. "If you go to downtown where everybody is protesting, and you're the only American, immediately people are attracted to you because they feel like you're there to stand behind their cause."       Some of the people Morgan meets with and ministers to have pleaded with him to join the protests in their country. But Morgan always declines.       "We're not here to fight for [that] cause," he said. "We're here to fight for the cause of Christ."       Morgan said his biggest concern is whether he and his family may have to evacuate and leave behind years of ministry at the ring of a telephone.       "There have been moments ... where I wonder if we're going to be on a plane tomorrow morning," he said. "One day you're in a country, the next day you're not. All those friends and that whole life you had, it's gone.       "It's hard."       While tensions in the Middle East have been front page news in recent weeks, Morgan said political protests and conflict often are a way of life among his people group.       "In our country, they burn tires every Friday, and they have since we [moved] here," he said.       "Then it's over, and Saturday goes on and everybody is with their families and we move on and do our ministry."       Avoiding awkward political conversations can, at times, be nearly impossible, said Marshall Jackson*, who has ministered to people in the Middle East for the past six years.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Japan has always been Yugo Kobari's home away from home. He grew up there. Kobari, now 52 and pastor of Chicago Japanese Mission Church in Mount Prospect, Ill., admits he struggles to keep back tears when he watches the news.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Tapping away on his computer keyboard, David uses Facebook to read the latest on what's happening in Egypt and elsewhere in North Africa and the Middle East -- and to monitor his family's safety.

TULSA, Okla. (BP)--For Alex Himaya, the ongoing crisis in Egypt is personal.       Himaya, whose father is Egyptian, has about a dozen relatives living on the outskirts of Cairo, where protests and violence continue to unfold each day. Some family members have armed guards protecting their businesses from looting.

PHOENIX (BP)--David Johnson occasionally wonders, if he had it to do all over again, whether he would have allowed his 21-year-old son Jeremiah to go to Mozambique to share the Gospel among the Moniga people.       "I always said my whole pastoral life and parenting life the one thing I don't think I could ever handle is losing a child," said Johnson, director of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary's Arizona campus.       That fear became a reality for Johnson and his wife Diana on April 12 of last year when the student missionary lost his life in a motorcycle accident on the mission field in Mozambique. The Johnsons continue to struggle through the pain of losing their son. One thing, though, gives them peace.       "Our son could have died any number of ways," Johnson said. "But knowing what he was doing ... has made things completely different for us.       "Jeremiah was serving the Lord, following Christ and spreading the Word in Africa."       Last June, the Johnsons traveled to Mozambique to retrace their son's steps and meet the people with whom Jeremiah had built relationships. There, Johnson baptized 17 men and women whom his son helped lead to Christ during Jeremiah's short time in the country.       "I've baptized people in the Jordan River in Israel," Johnson said. "In fact, I baptized my mother in the Jordan River, and it was not anything compared to [the baptism service in Mozambique].

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (BP)--Carved into the concrete floor of a one-room house in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, are the words "With God all things are possible."       The family living there lost their home Jan. 12, 2010, when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake shook Haiti, claiming 230,000 lives and leaving more than 1.5 million people homeless.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Baptist Press is carrying a 12-part series re-publishing some of the most significant stories of 2010. Three stories will appear each day through Friday, Jan. 7. Baptist Press initially published the story below on Dec. 17, 2010. WAR, W.Va. (BP)–Pastor Travis Hyde didn’t exactly get the reaction he’d hoped for. He saw dropped […]

WAR, W.Va. (BP)--Pastor Travis Hyde didn't exactly get the reaction he'd hoped for. He saw dropped jaws and looks of disbelief; one woman appeared to almost fall out of her pew.       In 2006, when Hyde became pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in War, W.Va., about 15 people were in the pews on Sundays. As the Christmas season approached, Hyde challenged the congregation to set a goal of $500 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions.       "It was obvious from the look on some folks' faces that they thought that was an impossible kind of task," Hyde said. "The most they had given in the past wasn't much more than $150."       In this small coal-mining town of about 700 people, giving money can be a sensitive topic.       There are few stores in War. Many buildings are abandoned or closed for business. The local post office does not deliver mail, and cell phone coverage is unreliable unless the town's only cell phone provider is used. In the 1950s, when more coal mining jobs were available, the town's population neared 3,000. Today, many of those jobs and the people who lived there are gone.       "I tell people that War is one of the closest places you'll come to in the United States to a third-world country," Hyde said.       "The economic struggles here in War are tough," Hyde's wife Cathy added. "There are a lot of people who are unemployed. There are a lot of people who are on disability. We see people who struggle to pay heating bills, power bills, to buy groceries."

No one in the clinic's waiting room is smiling — except Anna Banda. She chats happily with people at the Circle of Hope clinic on the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia. There are few — if any — empty seats as they wait to be tested and treated for AIDS. One mother leaves the clinic carrying […]