The leader of Evangelical Alliance Ireland has voiced concern after the daughter of a mentally unwell woman was shocked to receive her mother’s ashes by post from a Swiss suicide clinic alongside a cell phone text message confirming the death.
While American media was buzzing over a viral photo of a CEO entangled with his HR chief at a Coldplay concert, a meme-worthy snapshot of our self-awareness deficit, Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked golfer, was quietly modeling something better across the Atlantic.
For decades the global missions community has talked about deeper collaboration with local ministry leaders as partners. But self-perception can misread reality. The post-COVID political shifts in China are a reality check, according to a long-term expatriate living through changes that are shattering the illusion that he knew better than the locals about how to advance the gospel in a foreign context. It is a new era for missions, demanding a new depth of humility.
It should make us stand up and take notice when those most eager to see a Palestinian state recognized in their own back yard are anti Hamas, whereas in Europe and the UK Hamas seems to be part of the package. When it comes to understanding both sides of a conflict, even one as lopsided as this, unrealistic ideologies will not create stability. The Arab states know this. They deserve our respect.
In the United Kingdom, a lot of evidence is confirming the existence of the so-called "quiet revival" but history tells us that new moves of the Spirit need new wine skins to help support and sustain metaphorical new wine. Church planters urgently need to be developed because church plants give structure to what God is doing outside the spotlight.
The Arise Leadership Summit 2025 concluded on Thursday, July 31, with a detailed presentation of participant-generated insights and a clear call for continued collaboration to mobilize the next generation of mission leaders across Asia. The four-day gathering, hosted in Jakarta, Indonesia, brought together nearly 300 participants from 22 countries to reflect, strategize, and pray about the future of missions in their respective contexts.
The number of countries with Christian majorities declined between 2010 and 2020, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center, highlighting a notable shift in global religious affiliation. As of 2020, Christians remained the majority in 120 out of 201 countries and territories analyzed—down from 124 in 2010. That means Christian-majority nations accounted for 60% of all countries surveyed, compared to 62% a decade earlier.
