The 2022 AWF EMERALD (Europe and Middle East) Regional Conference was the first regional gathering since the 2019 conference in Germany. More than 70 delegates from the region, the wider AWF family and the ICTE (International Commission on Theological Education) attended, along with more than 30 from the hosting national Alliance church.

AWF Women Ministries continues to be a blessing to our women worldwide. Formed by President Jura Yanagihara to prepare workshops for the 2021 AWF Quadrennial Convocation, this ministry has sought to connect the Alliance family worldwide through women’s ministries. This year, this ministry’s leaders take another step in God’s plan to carry out the Great Commission.

The Ministerial Update will present the ministry philosophy that drives the mission of a generation that is assuming key roles in Latin America, starting September 21.

The AWF Latin American Region is holding webinars to update its presidents, missionaries, pastors and executive leaders from the continent on the AWF’s Global Response to COVID-19. The webinars are the result of meetings held with national presidents during the first half of 2020.

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.

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.

The SALT ministry in Huancayo, Peru is perhaps one of the longest and most successful ministries under the C&MA and SALT partnership. Students from many towns around this city come at considerable expense to receive training in theology, and many go on to graduate and receive a degree which they can put to good use.

The AWF Executive Committee met last week in a videoconference in the midst of the greatest global health crisis of the century. The preparations for the AWF Quadrennial Convocation in October 2020 drew much of the attention. God continues to work by strengthening the Alliance identity and by forming many new cooperative missionary projects around the globe.

The Alliance in Africa is willing to expand its missionary effort, especially targeting unreached people groups inside their countries, in North Africa and among the diaspora population. This is the conclusion of the discernment process that took place during the AWF Africa Missions Consultation in Cotonou, Benin, January 23-25.

Almost 50 Alliance pastors and leaders from the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam and Kolkata gathered at the conference around the theme, “Deeper Life and Missions.” The conference was the third NAFI (National Alliance Fellowship of India) meeting, and attendance doubled since the second gathering. Many leaders from Maharashtra joined for the first time.

The EMERALD (Europe and Middle East) Region of the AWF (Alliance World Fellowship) sent one of the young scholars trained this past year to impart the DNA of the Alliance to a city in North Africa to introduce more than 40 refugee believers from another background to our history and distinctives.

The Rev. Dr. Arnold Lorne Cook, president of the Alliance World Fellowship from 2000 to 2004, passed peacefully into God’s presence surrounded by family and friends on January 23, 2020 at the age of 87.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance of Canada is developing new and innovative ways to cultivate a passion for mission, start new churches and engage unreached people groups in the birthplace of founder A.B. Simpson.

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.

A group of indigenous churches started 27 years ago by a pastor in a wheelchair to evangelize disabled people is the core of the newly formed C&MA Church in Nepal. This national church will join the fast-growing evangelical church in the country that was officially Hindu until 2006, when it was declared a secular state.

The C&MA churches in Central America are young and small and its largest national church (Guatemala), with more than 9,000 members, is an exception in the region. With the theme “Deeper Life in Jesus Christ,” the AWF family in Latin America met in Guatemala to bring encouragement and deeper understanding about the Alliance and its missions to the pastors and leaders of the region.

The leadership of AWF-APAC (Asia Pacific Region) chose Japan as their meeting venue to encourage the century-old Japan Alliance Church to continue to share Jesus Christ in this country. Japan is totally open to missionary work but still has a population of less than 0.5% of evangelical Christians and an evangelical annual growth rate of -0.4%.

The work in Ecuador began 120 years ago through the efforts of Guillermo Fritz and Eduardo Tarbox. Later, missionaries Homero Crisman and Guillermo Reed joined in the work. The national C&MA was established in 1945. Today, the church celebrates the 120th year of work in Ecuador, grateful for God’s sustaining at each step. The church remains completely committed to continuing the task to see societal renewal in Ecuador, and to forging and forming generations that shine for God’s glory.

“History, Theology, Thought and New Dynamics of the Christian and Missionary Alliance” was the theme of the teaching held September 3 and 4, 2019 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, organized by the Buenos Aires Bible Institute (IBBA).

“Building Healthy Churches” was the theme of the First International Congress of Healthy Church Development held in Lima, Peru, August 26 to 30, 2019. This congress, commissioned by the C&MA of Peru, was organized by the Lima Encounter with God movement of the C&MA.