Winter 2025 SGWM Newsletter

 “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38There are more than 3 billion people in the world who have yet had the opportunity to hear the sweet, saving gospel of Jesus. That number is so big it’s hard to even grasp. Jesus Himself recognized that there are vast populations of people who need to hear, but there are not enough workers going to these places to share about what He has done. But rather than saying, therefore “Get up and GO”, He calls His followers to pray. And this year we at SGWM have been reminded of the power of prayer and the realization that the world will only be won by praying to the Lord of the Harvest Himself. And what are we praying for? We are praying that God will send out multitudes from the body of Christ to the darkest corners of the world to seek out the lost and boldly proclaim the gospel.
Vision Tours and New Territories
God continues to open doors all over the world.
One of the many things we do at SGWM is pray and remain open to new opportunities and new fields. As we intentionally raise up those who feel called to go, these students are praying fervently about where God wants them to invest their lives. All of them are praying for the unreached and asking God if there’s a specific place He wants them to go. It’s exciting to partner with each of these students as God begins to show them where He wants them. As we pray, we also go. We provide opportunities for the students to visit various locations within the 10/40 window. As we travel with them, we spend time praying over the city or country. We visit various ministries and other believers in the area. We ask a lot of questions and learn more about the location. Last year we were able to take teams to Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, South Asia, and the Middle East. Through these trips there has been confirmation through open doors, and there have also been closed doors. But these trips are essential in providing the next step for these future missionaries to get to the field working full time. At SGWM, we also continue to walk through the open doors presented to us. Last year Pastor Trent and his wife Debbie traveled to the Republic of Georgia. They had been invited to that country to find out more information about a ministry that specifically raises up pastors from a neighboring country that is very closed and where Christianity is illegal. These pastors lead small underground house churches where there are only one or two families gathering together to meet in secret. God is moving in this country and amongst believers there is a deep belief that soon this country will open and God is going to use all these trained pastors to go out and share boldly the message of the gospel. This is an effectual door that we see God opening and we are excited for a future partnership in this area of the world. Please pray for the Missions Training Students as they seek God’s direction for their future. Also, pray with us as we step into new opportunities and frontiers that God is opening before us.
Team in Japan for their vision tour.Meeting with the team in the Middle East. This was both a vision tour and missionary care.Team in Southeast Asia meeting with local pastor learning about the church culture there.
Pastor Trent and Pastor Vlad strategizing how best to train those coming from a bordering persecuted country near Georgia.Team in the Philippines praying about a new work training up Philippinos and those from that region to church plant amongst the unreached.The team in South East Asia praying about a possible new frontier for raising up nationals and church planting.
God is Moving in the Middle East
Did you know that more missionaries have been sent to the Middle East in the last 20 years than in the last 100? In theaters in 2004, The Passion of the Christ played 100 times a day to packed audiences…in the Middle East! In December 2001, Al Jazeera reported that there were large numbers of Muslims converting to Christianity. God is moving so powerfully that Muslim background believers are reaching out to their own people in record numbers. God is stirring the hearts of those in the Arabic world so much so that 50 million Muslims are tuning into the Arabic Christian radio program of Father Zachary which is broadcasted around the world. So many muslims have come to the Lord through this program that he has become a threat to the Muslim world. Another exciting truth that has come to light in recent months is that there are thousands of copies of the Arabic Bible being downloaded from the Bible app every month! God is doing something and we are excited to be smack dab in the middle of it. We now have 10 missionaries committed to language and culture learning in the Middle East. While in this season of learning, the team is building relationships both inside and outside of the church. They are specifically asking God how they can effectively church plant in this region and what it would look like to raise up and train the nationals to reach their own people through church planting. Please pray for our team as they seek to establish a hub to all of the Middle East.
Christmas Outreaches to the Most Unreached
In many restricted countries, the Christmas season provides a strategic time for our national workers to reach the most unreached among them. In these areas of the world conversion is illegal, publicly proclaiming Christ is not permitted and many governments forbid Christians from sharing their faith. Even with hostile governments and persecution growing, our brothers and sisters are offered a reprieve during Christmas and are able to visit villages, singing songs, showing the Jesus film, giving gifts and sharing about the greatest gift ever given. So they take full advantage of this time and spend days reaching out to several groups.
Children’s Outreach is a huge part of reaching these villages.Providing meals is a great way to get the community to come out.Many will come and patiently wait for hours to see the program.
Our national pastors and workers have opportunities to invite their unbelieving neighbors, villagers, family and friends to come and hear about Jesus who was born to save us from our sins. With months of planning, much prayers and invitations extended we were able to host Christmas outreaches in 35 locations throughout Pakistan, Nepal and S. Asia. We saw thousands of people attend, hear the Gospel of Jesus and many shared a meal together. 

The Christmas outreaches took place in open fields, tents, courtyards, on mountain tops, in prisons, and in the most remote places you can imagine. We are grateful for the many people who provided funding and prayers that are necessary to see the Gospel go out to the ends of the earth. 

Please pray for those who heard the good news of Jesus during Christmas that the seed of the Gospel would take root in their hearts and they would desire to know Jesus personally and start coming to church to learn the Word of God.
Thank you for partnering with us as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission by raising up and sending out!