“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”
Matthew 28:18-19a
The Harvest is Plentiful
Did you know that today there are 3.2 billion people who are still waiting to hear the name of Jesus for the first time? Out of the 17,000 ethnolinguistic groups in the world, there are 7000 who have yet to hear the gospel shared with them. The harvest is plentiful, there’s lots of work to be done, but there are few who will obey the call to “Go!” We here at Saving Grace World Missions feel a calling to train, mobilize, and send people who have a burden to reach the lost and feel called to full-time missions work. Over the years we have come across many who felt a calling at one time in their life, but had no clear path to fulfill that calling, so that vision faded away. We know there are many called out ones, right here in the Calvary Chapel movement, who just need a clear path and people who will come alongside them and help them fulfill their calling as missionaries. This is why we at Saving Grace continue to reach out to our Calvary Chapel community of churches, letting them know about our Calvary School of Missions summer program in Rosarito, Baja California, as well as our year-long Missions Training School in Yorba Linda, California. We are here to come alongside churches and individuals who have a passion to go but may need assistance to fulfill that call. Please continue to pray for our missions equipping programs as we seek to raise up the next generation of world changers. |



The Roots in Japan
In January, Jeff and Alishia Root packed their bags and headed to Osaka, Japan to live as long-term missionaries. Because they were able to join an existing Calvary Chapel work in Osaka, they were blessed to have instant fellowship and a community of like-minded Jesus-followers. But although they are able to come in and have plenty of people to be with and plenty of ministry to do, their first priority is learning language and culture. So we checked in with them to see how their transition has been so far and our conversation was eye-opening for sure.
Question: We’d love to hear more about your transition to Japan. Is there one thing that you can say has been the most surprising for you guys?
Alishia- The way that the Lord has been so gracious to us in revealing His love towards us, beyond what was expected or what I thought I needed.
Jeff- The level of understanding of the Word and the maturity of the Japanese Christians has really been a pleasant surprise. And the level of teachings being taught at the church are very similar to America.
Question: What do you miss most about America?
Alishia- Intimate relationships with other believers who speak the same language.
Jeff- I miss the convenience of everything being in our own language, like packaging and transportation.
Question: What has been the most challenging thing you have faced so far?
Alishia- Death of a dear friend in the church. And the grieving being difficult because of trying to minister to the people in their grief, as well as processing my own.
Jeff- Dealing with immigration and getting our visas sorted out.
Question: How has language learning been going? What has been the most challenging about language learning?
Alishia- It’s been fun to learn words and repeat them. And that’s been surprising.
Jeff -Slow and frustrating, like trying to eat an elephant in one bite.
Question: What are you looking forward to most on your return to Japan?
Jeff- I’m looking forward to getting past settling in and moving on to learning language, culture, ministry, and relationships.
Alishia- Growing in relationship with the ministry leaders. And getting back to the young adults group and pouring into some of the younger women in that group. Also seeing and experiencing the transition of going from a single language to bi-lingual.
Please pray for the Roots as they settle back into their lives in Japan and seek to make disciples and be a blessing to the local church!



Pastors Faithful in Persecution
Persecution in South Asia is on the rise due to a government that pushes its anti-Christian agenda and seeks to wipe out the Church by severe restrictions and pro-Hindu propaganda. The escalation of persecution is demonstrated in this recent article published at efe.com. At least 147 incidents* of violence against Christians occurred in 2014, 177 incidents in 2015, 208 in 2016, 240 in 2017, 292 in 2018, 328 in 2019, 279 in 2020, 505 in 2021, 599 in 2022, and 687 in 2023. Here we can clearly see that being a Christian in this region of the world has become more and more difficult. But even in the midst of this cultural pressure, our workers in this region are fearlessly following God’s calling to go and make disciples, even at the risk of their own lives. We are grateful for each church planter who continues the work of the ministry and we rejoice with them that many are still being saved and baptized, and churches are still being established. Please pray for these beloved brothers and sisters as they seek to continue to be bold for Jesus, and walk in wisdom towards those who are threatening their churches.
*incidents can refer to entire churches being attacked



Our State-Side Staff Highlight

Gary Barrow
Gary has been a missionary with SGWM for many years but recently he has joined our team and is living state-side. He has been overseeing Zoom class teachers for our CBIs in South Asia as well as doing missionary care. He recently was able to do a 3-month trip to South Asia where he was blessed to visit several of our workers there and encourage them in their church planting ministries. He is a huge asset to our team and we are so happy to have him!
The Great Blessing of Furlough
One of the most important things for our missionaries’ spiritual health and connection to the Body of Christ is furlough. It is imperative that they are able to come home, visit family, friends, and the church, get some rest, and be ministered to both spiritually and emotionally. Missionaries take a furlough usually once a year or every 2 years. When they come home, we at SGWM make it our aim to give them whatever they may need for their stay here. Because they have sold all they have and moved overseas, they don’t have the things they need when coming home. So we seek to provide housing, a car, a place to share their updates, and a meeting with one or two of our team members for a debrief. These things make their arrival back state side much more smooth and takes away hurdles that could hinder them from having an effective, fruitful, and restful furlough. We believe that because our missionaries have given up so much to move overseas, we want to put out the red carpet for them upon their arrival. Over these next 2 months, we will have 14 of our missionaries home on furlough. Please pray they can get all the rest and love they need to go back and be effective, healthy church planters as they seek to fulfill the Great Commission. Here are some of the families who will be here in the next couple of months.



Thank you for partnering with us as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission by raising up and sending out! |
We ask that you would prayerfully consider becoming a financial partner with SGWM. Financial partners are crucial to help operating costs at the SGWM home base, allowing us to serve missionaries worldwide. Donate to SGWM | ![]() | SGWM.com | 714-993-4801 To read more about the Calvary School of Missions please read the Calvary Chapel Magazine Spring 2023 edition, pages 16-22. |