“To think that all this damage occurred in one second, but it needs about one whole year to repair is mind-boggling!” says Dr. Milad Dagher, Alliance pastor in Lebanon. The explosion that happened in Beirut on August 4th this year damaged several buildings, including the Christian Alliance Institute of Theology (CAIT), churches, ministries and offices. Let us pray and find ways to help our brothers and sisters rebuild.

Several members of the Alliance Churches located in Beirut, Lebanon, were injured and their homes damaged by the explosion in the port of Beirut that occurred yesterday. Please pray for our Alliance family there, and for the recovery of the people, the church, and the city of Beirut.

Rev. Bahij Khoury was ushered into glory after a life full of rich eternal fruit. He served the Lord faithfully for over sixty years, and he was a special gift to the Alliance Church in Syria.

Earlier this year, we witnessed the first steps of the Sudanese Alliance Fellowships in North Africa. They are translating the Word of God into the believers’ mother tongue, training new leaders and deacons, and much more. They continue to grow wonderfully despite this difficult time.

The Global Alliance Family has been serving thousands of vulnerable communities in more than 50 countries since the pandemic started. The local churches are distributing food, masks, soups and medicines and are creating awareness of proper hygiene habits and the use of protective measures. The AWF Global Response to COVID-19 will help those local churches with more funding to reach an additional 170,000 people who will experience the love and mercy of God through the hands of His servants.

The Alliance family in Russia is facing a huge challenge as the result of the coronavirus pandemic. The recreation facility Gorni Rodnik, where thousands of boys and girls have been impacted over the years, is in need of 3 million roubles (41 000 US$) by June 5 to continue to operate. Please pray that God will provide the necessary resources to preserve this unique resource for reaching the lost in Russia.

This was what the president of an African national church said during one of four meetings this week to organize a global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It summarizes our leaders’ understanding that the challenge before us is beyond our capacity, but God has given the necessary provision to His people, and we have the resolve to share it with those most in need in the communities we serve.

Pastor Nour and his team believes that this crisis is just an opportunity to put God’s compassion on display. They are finding people more open now than ever! As Pastor Nour says, “As Christians, we should help people in their most difficult time of their life, as the light is most needed when the darkness is greatest.”

Aroa, a broken teenager and atheist, had her life turned around when her mother befriended a German missionary and was sneaked into the Bethany School for teenagers in Spain, leading this entire family to know the Lord.

Maria Fe is a 21-year-old Peruvian who lives in Spain, and “preaches” via social media. Her YouTube channel, “Be the Light”, has almost 100,000 subscribers. It has received millions of views. But throughout her teenage years, “Mafe” was marginalized because of her ethnicity and her faith, leaving her lost, feeling unworthy and distant from God.

The EMERALD Regional Coordinating Committee is encouraged to see how God is working through the Christian and Missionary Alliance family in our region as new projects take shape and mission mobilization grows. We pray that God will be exalted in our region in building His Church and expanding His kingdom through the work of all national churches in the region.

The Alliance church in Spain began in 1978 by Fred and Ann Kowalchuk, missionaries sent out from the U.S. Alliance. The early years were difficult, with five congregations being reduced to three. A relay team ministered from 1993 to 1994, and the focus changed from Barcelona to Madrid.

The members of the International Commission on Theological Education (ICTE) met in Nyack, New York, to discuss ways in which the AWF can encourage the Alliance National Churches to continue to embrace and promote an Alliance ethos within their ministries and contexts.

The National Conference and the 25th Anniversary celebrations of the National Alliance Church in Russia (ECMU) took place May 23-25 in Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.

Forty participants of Arab origin from ten countries met in the Arabic Ministry Pre-Conference Workshop at the AWF EMERALD Regional Conference to share about their churches and discuss Muslim outreach.

The AWF EMERALD 2019 Regional Conference was the biggest AWF regional conference in history with more than 140 delegates present from both the region and from the wider AWF family, including Latin America.

With around 20 years of ministerial experience and dedication to God’s work, Jorge Alvarez Villarreal is the new president of the C&MA Church of Spain.