Poverty News

Australia doubles potential fines for violating child social media ban

Rising gas prices worsen food insecurity in Haiti

Haiti (MNN) — Rising gas prices from the Middle East are shocking the economy of one of the most fragile countries in the world. Food insecurity in Haiti, already a crisis, has only worsened with the US-Iran war. Because of rising oil costs, the Haitian government was forced to r...

United Methodist Church Drops Asbury Theological Seminary

The United Methodist Church (UMC) has removed Asbury Theological Seminary from its list of schools approved for ordination candidates, a decision the school attributes to differences over the denomination’s position on traditional marriage. In a statement released Thursday, Asbur...

When Despair Becomes Self-Indulgent

The great playwrights and poets often used drama to express aspects of the human experience not easily articulated. We see this in Shakespeare’s tales of unrequited love, Maya Angelou’s caged bird metaphor, and Curtis Mayfield’s interpretation of the ghetto child’s cry. When done...

In the Beginning, God

Why is self-reliance a dangerous illusion? John Piper opens Psalm 148:5 to show that God alone gives and sustains life, calling us to childlike dependence on him.Watch Now...

Give Young Men a Better Vision for Masculinity

Fifty years ago, in his book Man as Male and Female, theologian Paul Jewett noted that “contemporary theologians are not so sure that they know what it means to be a man in distinction to a woman.” Sadly, Jewett admitted that he wasn’t sure either—despite claiming that sexuality ...

MAF answers call to serve in Nigeria

Nigeria (MNN) – Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is preparing to establish a new ministry base in Nigeria. And the need is critical. In northern Nigeria, extremist attacks and poor infrastructure make travel difficult and dangerous – particularly for Christians targeted for thei...

Education upheaval in Ukraine becomes major opportunity for Christian schools

Ukraine (MNN) — School in a bomb shelter has become the new normal for Ukrainian students. Education has been disrupted by the Russia-Ukraine for over four years. The disarray is especially severe for young children. In areas on the frontline of the war, 83 percent of them show s...

Lebanon peace talks underway, ceasefire shaky

Lebanon (MNN) — Lebanese Christians are balancing hope with skepticism as Lebanese officials meet their Israeli counterparts in the United States for a fifth round of peace talks. Heart for Lebanon’s Camille Melki says, “Our prayer is that those negotiations will go forth product...

Federal court clears way for Gulf oil, gas development

Amid Ebola Outbreak, Congo Pastors Pray and Fight Misinformation

For Denis Dalanga, founder of Ministère Chrétien des Familles Church, a network of churches largely in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Ebola outbreak is ravaging his community. His niece living Mungwalu—a mining town in eastern DRC that is the epicenter of the latest outb...

Play Before the Throne

Come play! My children beckon me before I’ve even crossed the threshold. But with shoes still on, mind still at work, heart still anxious about a laundry list of potential problems, I can’t play. I politely decline their invitation before trudging away to accomplish who knows wha...

Hope for Syria’s minorities amid regional instability

Middle East (MNN) — Tensions are rising across the Middle East as a shaky ceasefire holds between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, yet Israeli strikes continue in Syria. Samuel of Redemptive Stories says the regional situation is complicated, yet connected. “It's pretty much ever...

Ask Whatever I Wish? God’s Unblushing Promises for Prayer

With every new day, two of the great wonders of God’s world pass right before our noses. These two marvels become so common that we often miss their glory. They are ordinary, in one sense, but from time to time, we do well to pause and stand in fresh awe of God and his special me...

Social Darwinism, Social Universalism, and a Biblical Alternative

Henny Youngman began his famous comedy routine, “Take my wife—please.” I’m beginning this series of columns, “Take Gil Rife Jr.—please.” I spent hours with Gil at Eden Village, a Missouri homeless community where I stayed for six days in October 2023. Of all the homeless people i...

‘The Promised Land’ Is Exodus in the Style of ‘The Office’

Can the Bible be funny? It’s one of those questions Christians love to debate, and it was on my mind as I sat down to watch The Promised Land, a situation comedy in which the situation is ancient Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. The series (free to watch on YouTu...

Is My Pain God’s Punishment?

Is my suffering a punishment? That’s often our first question when suffering lands unexpectedly on our doorstep. We wonder what we did wrong. We assume that if we check all the boxes, attend church regularly, and read the Bible, we’ll be protected from tragedy. And when that does...

Drag queen elected as school board vice president now facing child porn allegations

Netherlands reports first assisted suicide of a child under 12

Submission Holds Heaven’s Attention

Wives, be subject to your own husbands. (1 Peter 3:1) When you imagine a submissive wife, what kind of woman comes to mind? Many of our neighbors, and even some Christians, would naturally picture a timid, compliant, drab woman, one who shuffles through life in the background, he...

From factory to field: How Scripture booklets reach believers

Venezuela (MNN) — Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘It takes a village to raise a child’? A similar process applies to Scripture delivery. It takes a whole team to get Scripture booklets from the factory to the port and to people in need. First, World Missionary Press prints milli...

The Church in China: Learning to Fly in a Birdcage

In 1980, at the beginning of China’s economic reform era, a Party leader described the emerging Chinese economy as a “birdcage.” He said the bird (the nascent free market) could be allowed to fly only within the confines of a state-planned economy (the birdcage). In other words, ...

How to Save a Marriage

To redeem relationships, we need humility — but how do we get that kind of sacrificial heart? Looking to Christ and his cross strips away entitlement.Listen Now...

Christians Help Battle Measles Outbreak in Bangladesh

Pastor Anwar Hossain often travels an hour’s drive from his home in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital, to his native village to catch up with family and friends. When he last visited in April, his trip had a more pressing purpose: to comfort families devastated by the loss of their c...

Pastoral training helps the gospel stand firm in Africa

Kenya (MNN) — The Western, English-speaking world is jam-packed with Christian resources. But not every part of the global Church has that same defense line. Take Kenya, for example. Brian Dennett with AMG International says, “Especially in rural areas, these pastors often have l...

Dads, ‘Provoke Not Your Children to Wrath’—Even the Fussy Toddler

“Nice win! All right, we’re done for the night,” I said to my 6-year-old son. “Time to put the cards away.” “Ugh, I wanted to play another game!” he said, pouting. “Sorry bud, it’s already a little past bedtime. We need to get you to sleep.” Out burst an emphatic “no!” accompanie...

Appeals court blocks California law hiding child gender transitions from parents

Ebola outbreak paralyzes missions

Uganda (MNN)—In early May, a hospital in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) identified a cluster of severe illnesses affecting healthcare workers, later identified as Bundibugyo virus, one of the 4 types of orthoebolaviruses that cause Ebola disease in people. Ac...