Mission Network News

Katey Update

2008-03-01T11:15:00.000-08:00

I want to thank everyone who has been praying for Katey Kingsbury, the newest member of the Mission Network News staff. Since my last post, Katey has made incredible progress.

Katey has been moved to a rehabilitation hospital to begin her recovery from her closed head injury. She's now walking with little assistance, she's eating some solid foods, and is still recovering from her neck surgery.

Last week Thursday, Katey received a day pass from the hospital and was able to travel back to Cornerstone University to participate in her best friend's memorial service on campus. It was great seeing her on campus again and seemed to give her more inspiration to work hard during her therapy.

Keep praying. She's a got a long way to go.

Greg Yoder

MNN staffer in hospital

2008-02-05T07:11:00.000-08:00

I would like to ask everyone to be praying for MNN's newest staff person, Katey Kingsbury. She's actually a student at Cornerstone University. Because of her interest in broadcasting, she started volunteering with MNN last year. We allowed her to try writing for us a little and she did a great job. She improved so much that we decided to hire her part time.

Her first 'official' day on the job was January 22. On January 23 Katey and her friend were on their way in to school. On snowy roads her friend lost control of her vehicle, crossed the center line and the two were hit head on. Her friend was killed, but Katey survived.

Katey's been in critical condition since and she really needs your prayers right now. She's made remarkable improvements, but she suffering from pneumonia and sinus infection. This needs to clear up immediately for her to continue to recover. Would you pray earnestly with us that God will heal her of these infections and the head trauma she's recovering from? I would really appreciate it.

Greg Yoder, Anchor/Executive Director
Mission Network News

Christmas at Mission Network News

2007-12-24T06:25:00.000-08:00

For the first time since I started working at Mission Network News, the news teams has Christmas Eve and Christmas off. Each year, for whatever reason, we've worked Christmas Eve to try to get stories written so we could take Christmas off. That means we would write stories to cover Christmas and the day after Christmas.

With Christmas Eve on Monday, the team wanted to take two days off. So, I told them -- get the stories written and you can have the days off. THEY DID IT.

So, MNN is off Christmas Eve and Christmas. I'm praying that nothing major happens. A few years ago a tsunami hit over the Christmas holiday, but MNN was ready. We sprang into action calling everyone we knew in the region. Because we were ready, we were one of the first organizations to have audio from the field. Many news rooms use MNN as a resource to get story ideas. Since MNN had contacts on the ground, they used our news makers. Since all of our news is about what God is doing around the world, almost all of them got a glimpse of the Gospel.

Thank you for listening to Mission Network News and have a Merry Christmas.

Greg Yoder, MNN

IDOP coming November 11

2007-11-06T17:22:00.000-08:00

The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is coming November 11, 2007. It's a day where Christians around the world remember those who are facing abuse because of their faith in Christ. This year Mission Network News has done a couple of things to raise awareness of the persecuted church.

On November 1, MNN and Discovery House Music kicked off the Better Than Life Tour. The tour features songs and artists from the Better Than Life CD project. The concerts in Grand Rapids, MI and Cleveland, OH saw many Christians who are interested in the persecuted church attend. Scott Krippayne, Shannon Wexelberg and Charles Billingsely shared from their hearts as they sang songs inspired by stories of today's faithful servants. We still have events in Columbus, OH and a free event at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA.

MNN is also making available two new resources to help Christians focus on the persecuted church. First is the Better Than Life CD, a project we co-produced with Discovery House Music. We've also helped produce a book with the same name which features 30 stories of persecuted believers around the world. Both resources are available on our website.

And, finally, MNN has also produced the 2007 MNN IDOP Radio Broadcast. It's already available for download at http://www.MNNonline.org/idop.

It should be a great weekend.

Better Than Life

2007-10-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

In less than three weeks the Better Than Life Tour will officially be underway. The Better Than Life Tour was designed to do more than just raise awareness of the persecuted church around the world.

In partnership with Discovery House Music, Mission Network News has put together a concert tour that will help Christians celebrate today’s heroes of the Christian faith. Today’s real life stories come alive in a unique way through 10 news songs featuring Scott Krippayne, Shannon Wexelberg and Charles Billingsley.

The program is also designed to challenge believers in North America to share their faith no matter what the cost.

Here’s where you can see Better Than Life:

November 1, 2007
Sunshine Community Church
3300 East Beltline
Grand Rapids, MI
7:00 PM

November 3, 2007
Grace Church
7393 Pearl Road
Middleburg Heights, OH
7:00 PM

November 9, 2007
Genoa Baptist Church
7562 Lewis Center Road
Westerville, Ohio 43082
7:00 PM

You can get tickets at Itickets.com .

'Better Than Life' CD project

2007-06-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have been following the Mission Network News International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church music project may be interested in an update.

Before I do that, I need to remind you that Discovery House Music is allowing MNN to be a part. We're thrilled. This has been a dream of mine, for certain.

We finally have all 10 songs selected and the producer has already started getting the music tracks completed and the singers will be in the studio beginning June 26.

We finally have a name for the CD. It's been dubbed, 'Better Than Life."

If you haven't been following our blogs, let me explain. Discovery House music is allowing Mission Network News to partner with them to develop a CD with music that focuses and celebrate those who are persecuted for their faith. In fact, many of the songs are inspired by stories heard on the Mission Network News broadcast. The other songs will challenge Christians to share their faith no matter what the cost.

Featured on the CD will be Charles Billingsley, Scott Krippayne and Shannon Wexelberg.

We're also planning a seven city tour. We have approach radio stations and churches in seven cities. We have verbal commitments for all seven. Visit this blog often to find out what cities we'll be visiting.

I can tell you the dates: November 1, 2, 3 and November 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. I know what you're saying -- eight dates. Yes, eight dates, seven cities. We're in one city with two concerts. I can also tell you we're starting off the tour in Grand Rapids, Michigan with 91.3, WCSG.

Greg Yoder

MNN in Nebraska

2007-05-06T13:44:00.000-07:00

I am in Lincoln, Nebraska through the end of Monday, May 7, visiting Back to the Bible. They're having their international directors meetings this week. I came to thank them for their work abroad for God's Kingdom, but also for the help they've been to Mission Network News.

James Kanaganayagam was one of my first interviews. He is the Sri Lanka country director. We have talked on the telephone for years, but have never met face to face. We were able to do that this weekend. What a wonderful servant. We'll be featuring James on our Tuesday broadcast this week.

I was also able to meet up with Berni Dymet-Australia, Leandro Tarrrataca-Brazil, David Logacho-Ecuador, Prem Swaroop-India, Frans Silalahi-Indonesia, Ettore Calanchi-Italy, Berington Laing - Jamaica, Clem Guillermo - Philippines, Henryk Dedo - Poland.

What a great group of men who are serving God no matter what the cost.

Be listening to Mission Network News throughout the week as we'll be presenting stories from many of these men.

Greg Yoder, Anchor/Executive Director

IDOP concert gearing up

2007-05-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

Mission Network News and Discovery House Music are partnering together to develop a music cd that will celebrate those that are persecuted for their faith. The CD is yet to be named. In fact, all o the music hasn't been selected yet.

However, Shannon Wexelberg, Scott Krippayne and Charles Billingsley have agreed to sing on the project. Shannon, Scott and others are writing for it as we speak. This week we began calling radio stations to see if they'd like to have these three come in concert.

I won't tell you who those stations are until they say 'yes,' but we have at least three stations that have said a 'tentative' yes, as we try to secure dates. The dates of the tour (yet to be named) will be between October 25-November 11, as we remember the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

Please be in prayer for this project. We're praying that we'll sell enough CD's and tickets at each event that we'll be able to send funding to families who are affected by persecution where heads of households can't support their families.

As we have more confirmed dates for the concerts, we'll be letting you know on our broadcast and on our website.

We're hoping to be in eight or nine cities in the United States.

Greg Yoder, Anchor/Executive Director

Stories for the week

2007-05-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

We have some exciting stories we'll be sharing with you this week.

Laura Carlson has been working on a series of reports on short-term missions that good and the bad. The reports began airing today. You can either listen on our website at http://www.MNNonline.org or you can read the reports. Today is basically the introduction to the series. Tomorrow we'll focus on the good of short-term missions.

I've also be following the three martyred Christians in Turkey for the last couple of weeks. When we first heard about the killings we had no idea how horrific it was. Throughout the week we'll have reports on the impact their deaths have had on the country. Today we have Voice of the Martyrs, Canada talking about the situation. Tomorrow, World Evangelical Alliance will have some interesting things to report from the nation.

And, be praying for Ruth Kramer. Her father was diagnosed with cancer. I'll let her share details with you about that. Be praying for complete healing for him. He works with Transport for Christ.

IDOP cd project making progress

2007-04-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have been following this blog you know the Mission Network News is co-producing a music project to celebrate the persecuted church around the world.

Right now we have Shannon Wexelberg, who has written five songs for the project, who will be singing on the project. Scott Krippayne, in the process of writing, is also singing. Charles Billingsley is going to sing. And, Regi Smith is in the process of write and perhaps singing.

We hope to have the music selected by the end of May and hit the studio in July.

It's turning into a bigger project. We hope to do some video for a Day of Discovery television broadcast. Plus, we're hoping to do a four or five city tour before International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, which is November 11.

Pray for us.

Welcome Sharon Felten

2007-04-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

In January Mission Network News began operating a couple staff members short. The resignation of my assistant was difficult. She wrote stories for us and did the proof-reading for our website and e-mail lists. She also coordinated all of our newsletter and bulletin insert projects.

However, late last month, we were finally able to hire her replacement. I'd like you to welcome Sharon Felten. Sharon has been on the job for about two weeks. She's handled some major projects already and has done a wonderful job editing letters, the website and e-mails that come to you on a regular basis.

Sharon just completed her first bulletin insert and is getting ready to finish her first newsletter. So, she's making a great contribution already.

If you'd like to welcome Sharon, send her an email by clicking here.

In the meantime we're gearing up for a great spring and summer. We're also getting ready to assist in the production of a CD that will celebrate the persecuted church around the world. Original songs are being written as we speak. The CD will feature some of the best singer songwriters in Christian music today.

We expect to begin production some time in July. Pray for us.

New project for IDOP

2007-03-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

While the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is eight months away, Mission Network News is already planning for it.

We've asked Brother KP Yohannan of Gospel for Asia to speak on our IDOP Radio Broadcast this year. He has agreed to do it, we're just not sure of the logistics to get him on the air. He's back and forth to India so often that it's going to be difficult to accomplish.

The other project we're working on is an IDOP Music project. Currently we're doing some market research to see if there would be an interest is purchasing a project completely dedicated to honoring and celebrating the persecuted church. Discovery House Music is doing the work and committing the resources, MNN is trying to get commitments up-front.

While it's not certain who will be on the CD it looks like Shannon Wexelberg, Scott Krippayne, and maybe Charles Billingsley could lend their telents to this project. Again, things could change, but I'm pray this will happen.

I would like to ask you to pray that this project will move forward. We hope to release the CD by October 11, which is one month before IDOP.

MNN at NRB next week

2007-02-09T18:33:00.000-08:00

Every year about this time MNN is hopping with activity. Why? Our annual trek to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. It used to always be in Washington DC. Then it got too expensive to go there. Now they go all over. This year it's in Orlando, Florida.

Why do we go? To tell radio stations about us. We also go to find out the latest trends in the radio industry and to see old friends.

It's a lot of work, sometimes frustrating but also fun.

Incredible stories around the globe

2007-02-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

I'd like to invite you to take a moment and go to our website, MNNonline.org.

This week we have some incredible stories. Flooding in Jakarta, Indonesia is flooded more than 75-perent of the city. Also, Fatah Palestinaian police have taken over the Gaza Baptist Church, a partner with Open Doors and Brother Andrew. Also, women who are working as missionaries with Gospel For Asia were beaten.

All of these stories can be found on our website. Make sure you search our archives to find them all.

We also have a few stories about work abroad that needs your help.

Changes are coming!

2007-02-06T21:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since anyone has posted anything. We're going to try and change that.

MNN is getting ready to make some changes. We're adding some special new features to our website that will help radio stations. We'll be adding our daily scripts along with audio to help provide news stories for news department who are hurting for content.

Obviously, this is for MNN affiliate stations only. I'm excited about what this could mean.

Greg Yoder, Anchor/Executive Director

Hope everyone had a happy Easter

2006-04-17T04:36:00.000-07:00

What an incredible resurrection Sunday at our church. It was so good to get together with fellow believers and praise God for the sacrifice of His Son on a cross, but more importantly, defeating death and living today -- preparing a place for His children. I can't wait.

This week on our broadcast we're going to focus on Easter outreach and find out how successful it was. We'll also be giving you an update on the '100 Days of Hope' in Rwanda -- Book of Hope has been instrumental in making that ministry possible. We'll also be bringing you updates on the Dr. Samuel Thomas arrest in India. Not to mention any other late breaking news story that has an impact on evangelism and other missions related work.

By the way, if you have some story suggestions for us, feel free to give us some ideas. Post them right here.

Greg Yoder, Executive Director

MNN Activity this week

2006-04-10T04:31:00.000-07:00

This week should be a great week for Mission Network News. Easter is always a really great time for evangelism. We'll be watching for new and unique ways of sharing our faith in a dark world.

Here are some of the stories we'll be following this week:
1. Hopegivers International situation, Dr. Samuel Thomas is still being held in jail.
2. Mission Aviation Fellowship is starting a new program in Russia, using national pilots.
3. A curse on Christians backfires in Guinea-Bissau West Africa.
4. Easter outreach all week long.

I hope you can join us either on the radio or at our website http://www.MNNOnline.org.

Greg Yoder, Executive Dirctor

MNN's faithful are amazing

2006-04-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

Mission Network News has some pretty amazing friends. I don't talk enough about them, but I am today. You all are great!

In the Month of March we has more access to our website than EVER before. Last month we had 2.2 million hits, nearly 600,000 pages views, and nearly 10,000 people receiving our e-mail updates. That's a lot of people interested in what God's doing around the world.

What's even more important is that these people are getting actively involved in outreach. Last month we had dozens of people contact organizations featured on our Short-term Missions Database, stmbd.org. It looks as though more and more people want to be used by God overseas.

Even more cool? You were instrumental in getting Mission Network News on radio stations around the world. Last week I received word that a radio station program director received about a dozen calls from listeners asking them to put MNN on their radio station. They did. We're not on 963 radio outlets in 90 of the top 100 markets.

Praise God. He's the one that makes these blessings flow (I didn't want to quote the song). And, thank you for be willing to listen to Him.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director

MNN on Siruis Radio

2006-02-27T18:53:00.000-08:00

I thought I would let everyone know that today (February 27) is the first day for Mission Network News to be aired on Siruis. Thanks to Family Net, MNN is now heard on channel 159 at 7:25am and 9:00am.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director

More and more responses

2006-02-25T07:16:00.000-08:00

I have been amazed in recent weeks at the number of people responding to Mission Network News. We used to always get comments like;
"I love this website."
"I never knew you were hear. It helps me pray."

Now the comments are more profound. Here are just a few of them;
"I love hearing your mission news each morning as I drive to work. I often share prayer requests with the biblestudy I lead at work."

"I have been using MNN for several years in my daily prayer time. It has been a wonderful tool for me. In addition, our entire missions committee and my pastor (who happens to be my husband) uses it to keep up on what is happening with our brothers and sisters around the world. It has enhanced our involvement in the missions ministry of our church and the links you provide are immeasurably valuable."

"I have MNN on my home page so that I can get Mission news everytime I sign-on."

"If I hear something interesting on MNN or missed something, I refer to this website. I have gleaned good info from MNN for mission presentations to our congregation."

It appears Chrisians really want to know what's going on in the missions world. Continue to pray that God would provide the funding to allow us to continue calling Christians to be 'doers of the word and not hearers only.'

Greg Yoder, Anchor and Executive Director

Going to National Religious Broadcasters Convention

2006-02-16T05:59:00.000-08:00

On Friday, February 17 I am off again. This time I'm heading to Dallas, Texas for the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. I look forward to this and dread this every year. I enjoy renewing old friendships and meeting new people, but I hate the 'trade show' feel to it.

If you're not familiar with NRB that a time when about 6,000 Christians broadcasters (both television and radio) get together to try and better themselves in broadcasting. There are sessions to help you manage better, to program your station better, to play better music. There are trend sessions -- to find out the latest and greatest broadcasting trend. And, there's the awards night.

But, one of the biggest parts of this is the exhibition hall. That's where the radio and television programers, radio & television stations, radio and television equipment sales, etc get to set up booths and tell everyone how good they are. While I love talking about Mission Network News, I don't like the feel of doing it in an exhibition hall. I feel like I'm a sales person. I guess in a way I am…but it's way out of my comfort zone.

Pictured here are Brian Harcey, the manager of WLJN radio, Rochunga Pudaite the found of Bibles for the World and me. The great thing about NRB is just being able to talk to good friends. We do a lot of laughing at NRB. We also have traditions at NRB. First night there, we get together and eat ice-cream and hot buffalo wings. Why? I couldn't tell you…it's just tradition. We'll do it again this year.

This year, I have two goals. I'd like to get Mission Network News placed on two major networks. I would also like to find someone who could translate Mission Network News into Arabic.

Pray for MNN and the team. Ruth and Faith will be back at the office keeping the broadcast on the air. Chris DeCollibus and I will be in Dallas talking about MNN. We'll be accompanied by six other people who work with our sister ministries here at Cornerstone University.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director
Mission Network News

MNN in Romania/Moldova

2006-02-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a trip to Moldova and Romania. What a wonderful trip. I can't begin to tell you how exciting it is to see the birth of Christian radio in two former communist nations.

While there I was able to visit with Little Samaritan Mission. They own 12 radio stations in Moldova and 22 stations Romania. The ministry in Moldova is made up of music and programs. Their programming is made up of music, programs and news. The music is made up of both Romanian, Russian and English songs. Most of the programming is in Romanian, but it also features Russian and English programming, too. Mission Network News is featured on Radio Little Samaritan. The programming in Romania is similar.

What's exciting is the number of people who are responding. Little Samaritan's Florin Pindicblaj was on the air for an hour on Sunday evening. I eventually joined him, but during that time there were more than 5,000 people people attempt to call the radio station. We also heard that the radio station was responsible for 90-percent of the church growth at one of the churches in the area.

Because Christian radio isn't common in either nation, they're programming to a wide audience and seeing a possitive response.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director

In Romania

2006-01-27T21:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

I'm on my way to Romania. Pray for us. We'll be meeting with Little Samaritan Mission. This organization translated Mission Network News into Romanian and Russian. They do it every day, Monday through Friday. I'm not only excited to see their radio ministry, but I'm also looking forward to seeing their work with orphans and the poor. I'll have plenty of reports for you. Just keep listeing to MNN.

By the way, I just got word that Family Net Radio is now airing MNN on Sirius Satellite Radio on Channel 159 at 7:23am and 9:00am (eastern).

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director

"End of The Spear"

2006-01-23T05:43:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of discussion about the movie, "End of the Spear" that made it's debut on the 'big screen' over the weekend. I haven't seen it yet. I was just wondering what everyone thought. Please post your comments here.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director

Happy New Year

2006-01-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

It was a great 2005. MNN saw some incredible milestones. We added another language (Spanish) to ou web site translation. We started broadcasting on more than two dozen new radio stations. And, we have more than 6,000 news friends that we didn't have last year at this time.

God has been so good to us. But, more importantly, I pray that we have been faithful to what God wants us to talk about.

As I look ahead to 2006, I know that any Christians will face difficulties. I know missionaries will have hardships. I also know that many of these difficulties and hardships will go unnoticed by the world. I hope that MNN can be the means by which people can heard about it. I'm praying that we'll be able to call more and more Christians to action for the great good, God's kingdom.

Thank you for your part in this ministry and I look forward to you support in 2006.

Greg Yoder, Executive Director

MNN Update

2005-12-05T05:48:00.000-08:00

I like to give our listeners a update on what's going on here at the 'home front' (Grand Rapids, Michigan). We've got a lot of things in the works right now and we need your prayers.

1. We're getting ready to celebrate our 15th anniversary. We'll be celebrating our 15th year begin in 2006. This will mean some exciting things, but more on this as we get closer.

2. Korean translation is still in the works. I must admit that talks have stalled (all my fault), but I plan to get this going again soon. Currently MNN is available in English, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish.

3. MNN is still making available our church bulletin inserts. Pray that we'll get into more churches. While church have to pay for this, it basically covers our printing and shipping costs. The goal is to keep missions in front of your church each month. Some many churches aren't aware what's happening on the mission field, so we're trying to help.

4. We're getting ready to launch a new program that can help mission agencies get the word out about their organizations. While we think we're doing a good job already, there are many newspaper and magazines that aren't aware that MNN provides great resource for them. So, in the days ahead we hope to inform them abour our service and offer special reports for them.

5. On a side note, pray for our funding. With Hurricane Katrina and other disasters funds have been diverted away from ministries like MNN to help with relief efforts. We traveled to the area in September to help raise awareness and encourage people to give to Katrina relief. Without some of our stories, many of the organizations would have gone unnoticed. Please help if you can.

That'll do it. Thanks for reading this to the end.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director

Thanksgiving, what are you thankful for?

2005-11-26T05:59:00.000-08:00

I thought I would include the letter I sent to everyone on our email list. While I know many people who read this aren't Americans and don't celebrate our American holiday, I'd like you to tell us what you're Thankful for. Here's the letter and then chime in.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends:

Greetings from Mission Network News. I'm sitting at home trying to put some thoughts in an email. The topic is "Thanksgiving." My friends in the United States understand why I'm doing this. Thursday, November 24 is the Thanksgiving Holiday in the U-S. It's a day set aside to thank God for all the many blessing He's given us.

I've been reflecting on that the last couple of weeks and it's hard to believe all the wonderful things God has done for us. First, He has allowed you to be a part of this internet and radio ministry. In the last month we've added more than 1,000 new friends to our email updates. That means we have about 8,500 people receiving this email. That's pretty incredible. Why am I thankful for that? Because this tells me there are hundreds of people around the world who are as interested in missions as I am. It also tells me more and more people want to be involved in some way. That's exactly what's happening. Here are just a few comments.

"It is really heart rending sometimes when I read the reports in your email news...when I think of the liberties we experience here in the US, I realize that unless we partner in prayer with our brothers and sisters experiencing these struggles then we are not really free. May the Lord help us to do our part on this side of the Kingdom."

~ Missouri Listener

"We have three people who are going to Burkina Faso in February because of a report on MNN. I am also meeting this week with the missions director at a church because of a report on MNN."

Christian World Outreach

That's what MNN is all aboutвЂ¦encouraging believers to be James 1 Christians, "Be doers of the Word and not hearers only." That's so important. There are some many people who hear what's happening in the world and understand the needs, many others talk about it. But, few do anything about it.

This Thanksgiving I'd like you to reflect on that. I'm sure many of you are doing something about the Great Commission call. But, there are many others who aren't doing anything. If you'd like MNN to continue doing what we're doing, go to http://www.MNNonline.org/support to help us.

In the meantime, THANK YOU for the part you're playing in pointing people to Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Greg Yoder, Anchor/Executive Director

Winter

2005-11-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

Well, winter has begun. It's cold and snowy today here at the MNN office in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As I was bitterly griping at the bitter wind whipping at my face while walking to my car, I was struck with a very humbling thought that provided a reality check for my complaint...

The devastating earthquake in Pakistan/India in October has left millions without homes. Usually we think of that region of the world as very hot, but the Kashmir region sits along the Himalayan Mountains, and these millions of people are left, even after a month since the earthquake, with nothing to shelter them from the bitter mountainous wind, rain, snow and cold, and not much hope for relief and shelter. This tragedy is nearly forgotten in the wider world, and yet so many people have been impacted by it. Why is that?

I had better think twice before I complain of my cold hands and the snow that beats mercilessly on me for a whole 30 seconds between my office and my car. It puts winter in a different perspective for me.

"God, make us more sensitive to the sufferings of others, and not just that, but call us to action on their behalf."

~ Faith, Executive Assistant

What an honor/IDOP is Sunday

2005-11-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

I received a fax today that shocked me. I was totally caught off gaurd. It was from the National Religious Broadcasters. It said, "Congratulationson being nominated to take part in the 2005 NRB Annual Media Awards selection process for "Best Radio News Format!"

Mission Network News has never been nominated from something like this. Even if we don't win, it's an honor. We'll find out if we win in February. We'll see. I'm just praising God for watching over us and pray that we can continue encouraging Christians to get off their seats and involved in Great Commission outreach.

The MNN IDOP Radio Broadcast is done and it's exciting to see the number of radio stations that plan to air the broadcast. Last count we had 353 radio stations in four countries will be airing the broadcast. That's about 300 stations more than last year. It's pretty exciting.

If you'd like to listen to the broadcast, go to http://www.MNNonline.org and follow the link.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director
Mission Network News

Record month for our web site

2005-10-31T16:31:00.000-08:00

While we still haven't counted Monday yet. We've already set a record for the number hits on our web site. Through October 30th, we have 1.7 million hits on our web site. That's more than 100,000 hits more than our previous record. There are a number of factors for this.

1. The translation of MNN into Spanish on our web site.
2. Word of mouth (or email) of our Russian translation.
3. A great promotional give-away (Celtic Cry).
4. Compelling stories.

This is a direct result of you, our readers and our listeners.

Thank you for helping Mission Network News grow all over the world.

Greg Yoder, Anchor/Executive Director

IDOP getting ready

2005-10-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

Mission Network News is getting ready for our 3rd annual International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. We have a great line-up for you this year.

The featured speaker will be Brother Andrew with Open Doors International. We'll also have KP Yohannan with Gospel for Asia, Sergey Rakhuba with Russian Ministiries, Tom White with Voice of the Martyrs, and Christians from all over the world sharing their experiences and prayer. The 55 minute broadcast will also feature the music of Celtic Cry - The Heart of a Martyr from Discovery House Music.

The event will be co-host by Ruth Bliss (our weekend anchor) and me. I'm excited about this broadcast. I believe thiss could be something that could challenge many Christians to get involved in ministry where Christians are persecuted for their faith.

Please pray for us as we begin producing this year's IDOP event.. Pray that many radio stations will air it and that it will encourage many to participate in the Great Commission.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director

Wow, what a response!

2005-10-20T04:51:00.000-07:00

I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has responded to us in the last few days. As many of you know, we have been offering our 2006 calendar on our website and on our broadcast. the calendars have flown out of the office. In fact, I had to pull the ad off our website just to make sure we have enough. I hope to make the calendar available again next month. We'll see where we stand because we won't be reprinting them.

Also, Mission Avaition Fellowship is offering the CD, "Celtic Cry-The Heart of a Martyr" from Discovery House Music. Those too have be very popular. In just a couple of days we've received several hundred requests. What a bless this music will be to many of you. The CD is still available. Go to MNNonline.org to get your free copy.

It has really been a blessing to hear from so many of you. This is a first in the history of Mission Network News. To put it in perspective we've been getting 20 to 50 responses every 20 minutes. It's been amazing.

The only thing I would ask is that you put the response you made to the 'free' stuff into action that can help Mission Network News continue sharing the needs of missionsaries around the world. There are incredible needs. Needs that you can help with financially, prayerfully or by going overseas. I hope you'll use these resources to make an enternal difference in someone's life.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director

Beyond the Gates of Splendor

2005-10-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Faith here, the Executive Assistant/STMDB Coordinator/Secretary Extraordinaire. I'm in charge of much of the behind the scenes, non-radio broadcast responsibilities here at MNN, though I do some writing for the broadcasts as well.

Last month, our free giveaway, thanks to International Aid was an incredible documentary film called Beyond the Gates of Splendor, the story of the 5 missionaries who were killed in January of 1956 by the savage tribe known as the Aucas (now known as the Waodani) in Ecuador. The documentary is not only the story of what happened then, but it also tells what God has done since then. You can see a preview of it and read other info about it by going to their website www.beyondthegatesthemovie.com.

We had an enormous response to this giveaway, more than 800 people! That, to me, is beyond simply a "big" number for our giveaways, but it tells me that people are still interested in this powerful story that happened 50 years ago. I've seen the documentary, and it is a fantastic and moving story, with testimonies from the widows and families of the 5 men and others.

If you didn't get a chance to sign up for a copy during our giveaway, the documentary is now available for purchase in Christian bookstores across the USA. It's definitely worth it to have this film in your library!

Every Tribe Entertainment has also come out with a full length film of this story. The film is called End of the Spear and releases in cinemas in January 2006, the exact month of the 50th anniversary of the killings. I had the privilege of seeing a pre-released viewing of this film, and let me tell you, it is probably the most moving film I have ever seen. It's told from the compelling and powerful perspective of the Waodani tribe. It's a phenomenal film that I encourage all of you to see and take your friends (both churched and unchurched friends) when it releases in January.

That's all for now from me!
Have a fantastic day and may your eyes be open to see God at work in and through and all around you!
Faith Maguire, Executive Assistant

Are we getting disaster weary?

2005-10-18T05:44:00.000-07:00

As I look at the news events we've covered over the last year I can't help but wonder what's next? When I came to Mission Network News 10 years ago I could count on one hand the number of disasters we covered between 1995 and 2000. Yes, there were a few, but nothing like we're seeing today.

Here's what we've covered in the last 13 months.

The Beslan, Russia terrorist attack (Sept. 04)
East Asia tsunami (Dec. 04)
Massive Flooding in Bombay (July 05)
United States hurricanes (most recently Sept. 05)
Guatemala mudslide (Oct. 05)
Pakistan earthquake (Oct. 05)

Those are just the disasters I remember. I'm sure there are others that I'm forgetting.

The reason I mention this is that we're beginning to see some of these areas go without. Since many people have already given generously to the people's needs in the tsunami zone or the hurricanes, the people in Pakistan may not get the help they need. Is it because there isn't any more money to donate, or is it because we're getting used to seeing disasters in the world?

What's incredible to me, is to see how God uses each of these events to draw people to Himself. Yes, may people curse God for allowing this to happen, but many understand their need for Him and turn to him with open arms.

We serve an incredible God. Thank you for being a part of this.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director

A new week...watch God work

2005-10-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

We have a lot on the schedule this week. The United States will be receiving Burmese refugees soon, many of theme children. We'll take a look at how Christians in the U-S can help.

An organization can help your short-term mission team have an evangelistic outreach on EVERY trip. It's pretty cool.

And, MNN will follow up on the Iraqi constitution vote over the weekend.

Obviously, you can't plan the news and we'll be all over that, too.

Keep listening and reading. We'll be here.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director

New things

2005-10-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Mission Network News has been pretty busy the last few months. I thought you'd all be interested to know what we've been up to.

1. Spanish translation of our braodcast scripts went live on Monday, October 1oth.
2. The 2006 Mission Network News calendars were delivered and are now available (free).
3. We're getting ready to launch a new language very soon.
4. The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Chruch broadcast production meeting is coming.

These are just a few of the things we're working on. Keep praying for us.

Greg Yoder, Anchor & Executive Director

Excited about Kashmir

2005-10-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

I'm getting pretty excited about what God has in store for the Kashmir region of the world. I went back in our archives and looked at all the stories MNN has done on the Kashmir region and while we've done a number of stories on the region, most of them have been negative. The most recent story was about the Christian woman who was kidnapped by Muslim radicals.

This earthquake, I now believe, will be what God is allowing to take His message of salvation to an area of the world that has either rejected Him, or have been prevented from hear the Gospel.

There are now many Christians making their way to the region. This is unprecedented. Most Christians stayed away from the region because of security reason. Now, they're being welcomed in with open arms.

My fear is that Christian organizations will go in with physical assistance and completely forget about what they really need, Jesus. Pray that these groups will not get side-tracked.

On a completely different note, MNN is now being translated into Spanish on our web site only. Tell all you Spanish speaking friends. We can now be read in Romanian, Russian, Spanish and English.

Greg Yoder/Anchor & Executive Director

makes me wonder...

2005-10-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

i'm watching all of the natural disasters we're covering--volcanic eruption, mudslides, earthquake, famine, disease, war, pestilence...with the scourging the earth is taking, makes me wonder if it's really the labor pains and the groanings of the beginning of the end.

1 thess 5 talks about this-- ¹Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, ²for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁴But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. ⁵You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. ⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. ⁹For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

as we believe the Bible is true, we must think on these things and ponder their implications...if we are followers of Christ, we are put here not only to glorify the Father, but also to be salt and light...

as the earth travails, what more should we do to be more than a lump in the pew? will the stuff matter in the end?

ruth bliss,
mnn producer

Earthquake in Pakistan/India

2005-10-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

I think a lot of people are wondering about the earthquake that hit along the Pakistan/Indian border. I know I am. I'm wondering about Roman 8:28, "and, we know all things work together for good…" I know it with my head…

This is an area of the world hard to reach with the Gospel. Many of the 30,000 plus who died probably didn't know Christ. They probably had never heard His name. How is this good?

I have to remember that God is sovereign. He holds the world in the palm of His hand. It's His plan, not mine.

In talking with Dave Stravers of Mission India of Grand Rapids, Michigan yesterday, he reminded me what happening in the tsunami zone. Despite the devastation and death, God allowed fellowships to be planted in areas that were hard to the Gospel.

I'm pray that God will do the same in this area.

Greg Yoder, Anchor/Executive Director