“Things are certainly in full swing with youth work in the Kairos Centre,” writes Ben Haas from Newscastle, Northern Ireland, UK. He’s not kidding. The week fills up with activity almost every night. Ben recently shared a list of the programs that go on each week.

• Tuesday: After-school homework haven; Bible study/prayer/fellowship with the volunteers; Drop-in for those between first through third year.

• Wednesday night dinners (and probably more things that I’m not thinking of).

• Thursday: Drop-in for those in primary school; Drop-in for those fourth year and up.

• Friday: Indoor football for boys, girls’ nights in Kairos, followed by drop-in till midnight.

• Saturday: YL/Fused (at the Newscastle Baptist Church); girls’ Bible studies

• Sunday: Drop-in for all ages following the evening service.

“The point is, there is a lot going on,” shares Ben, “and it takes many people who are actively involved who invest a significant amount of time, energy, and money. Remember to pray for our volunteers and the young people in our community that we care so much about. Pray that we all will have a close daily walk with God. Pray that as we work alongside each other that we will truly love one another. Pray also that we will have a heart of compassion like Jesus who came to seek and to save the lost.”

It all began in Korea. Leaders at the large and influential Onnuri Community Church in Seoul, South Korea, adapted the the U.S.-based “Promise Keepers” men’s program to be relevant to Korean men. The movement spread first among the churches all over Korea, and then to Korean churches all over the world. It soon became an evangelism tool, as the program was offered in offices, prisons, board rooms, and many other secular organizations in Korea.

With many Korean missionaries serving in Japan, it did not take long for the program to be adapted once again for Japanese men. Chichi no Gakko was born. The phrase literally means “Father school” and was first offered in Japan about four or five years ago. Hisashi Tateishi, the missionary pastor of the Japanese Gospel Church in Greenwich, Connecticut, reports that meetings take place once or twice a year in many locations all over Japan.

Last year several Japanese churches in Hawaii got together to offer the Father School program. They invited Pastor Tateishi and Pastor Cho (a Korean minister serving the Shodai Japanese Church in New Jersey) to participate. Those two men, along with Pastor Lee (a Korean minister serving the Bryn Mawr Japanese Church in Pennsylvania) formed a committee to offer the program in the New York metro area.

Although the earthquake and tsunami tragedy last March delayed the event, their work comes to fruition this month as the first-ever “Father School” will be offered in Teaneck, N.J. Feb. 17th -19th. Ten people from the Japan Father School ministry will come to assist the ministry team. Pastor Tateishi said that a half-dozen members of the Korean Father School of Metro New York will help out – even though they don’t speak Japanese! The team is hoping that at least 20 men, from five or six Japanese churches, will attend this first-ever event.

There are times when well-laid plans work to help a project hit the mark perfectly; everything that was expected was accomplished. There are other times when we assess a situation and know from the start that “it won’t all get done.” It is in those moments when we marvel at what the Lord can do.

Such was the case with the recent short-term missions team to Ecuador, led by former missionaries George and Linda Hege. Eighteen volunteers from five different churches in southeastern Pennsylvania went to Ecuador during the first week of January with a monumental task. The goal was to get the newly constructed sanctuary at the Amigos en Christo Church in Cotacachi ready for use. The team was joined by several Liebenzell missionaries, the eight members of the IMPACT Team from Germany, and various members of the church in Cotacachi.

“No one, not one of us or the Ecuadorians, thought we would come close to finishing the planned projects,” reported George Hege. “But somehow, by God’s grace, we built 200 feet of brick wall, put five coats of paint inside and two coats outside, and installed all of the electrical wiring for the new sanctuary.”

Katrin Winkler from the IMPACT Team shared, “What mades this project amazing was the collaboration with so many great people from three different countries. We were a diverse group of Americans, Ecuadorians and Germans with different languages and cultures, but the same God connects us.”

All of this was accomplished in five days – AND, the group still had time for ministry programs at the church each evening. “We celebrated and shared our faith with the men, women, young people, and children,” said Hege. There was a kids’ program one afternoon, a football game (Ecuadorians vs. “the gringos”), and separate youth, men's, and women's evening programs.

On Saturday, the freshly painted and lighted sanctuary held the first of many worship services to come. Songs in Spanish and English rang out praise to God who had accomplished more than anyone expected.

“School had just let out. As always, the sides of the road were crowded.  I drove cautiously past the crowds, knowing that people – especially children – can be unpredictable. But everything happened so fast. A young boy darted out from the crowd and, despite my evasive maneuvers, his head hit the fender of our car. The boy lies motionless on the ground.” Alex Biskup notes that, in cases such as this, the driver is always at fault. Many drivers just keep going. For Alex and his wife Tabea, this is not an option.

Alex prays as he takes the boy to a nearby hospital. He is awake and crying as the emergency room nurse cleans his wounds – but there is no doctor to examine him or take x-rays. The minutes seem like hours as they wait. They try another hospital – still no doctor. Alex phones one of his coworkers who knows of a doctor on duty at a third hospital. Once they arrive, the bill must be settled before the doctor will see the patient. “At such moments, you think, ‘What is more important? To pay the money or to save a human life?’” Alex pays the bill and the boy is examined and treated. There is more waiting room prayer. After a night in the hospital the boy is released.

Alex reports that the boy has fully recovered. More often than not, however, stories like this in Burundi do not have happy endings. “The accident has triggered many questions for us: How important is life and health in Burundian society? And, most importantly, how can the gospel change this culture so that people value life as much as God does?”

In the wake of the most serious violence to strike Nigeria in recent months, Crystal Gosnell asks for prayer for the country. At least 185 people were killed in coordinated bombings and gun attacks in Kano, Nigeria’s second largest city, on Friday, Jan. 20th. Many believe the attacks to be the work of the Islamist group, Boko Haram.

“Please pray for the people of Nigeria,” writes Crystal from the Ministry of Mercy in central Nigeria. “In Boko Haram's attacks, as with all terrorism, whether domestic or foreign, the people are innocent victims - viewed as collateral damage - sacrificed for someone else's ideals. Please pray for the government of Nigeria, that they would have the wisdom in dealing with this domestic terrorist group and that those within the government and police and military who are collaborating with the terrorists would be expunged and expelled.”

Ministry of Mercy is located in Otutulu village in south central Nigeria. Although far away from much of the violence in Nigeria’s northern, predominantly Muslim half, the tension caused by the unrest is felt throughout the nation.

Almost four years after work first began, staff and students at the Ministry of Mercy in Nigeria moved into their new school building on January 16th. Everyone helped load furniture and classroom items onto the truck and then walked to the new building to unload it all, and set up the new classrooms.

Crystal Gosnell writes, “A lot of work remains to be done (tiling in the bathrooms, windows, interior doors, ceiling, installing electrical fixtures, painting, furnishing), but there's a roof, running water, a floor, exterior doors that lock and burglary-proof window openings. Though it is designed to be a nursery school, we will be holding all of our classes (Nursery 1 through Primary 6) there for the time being. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.”