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Pope Francis would absolutely baptize an alien from Mars, if one showed up at the Vatican and asked for it. During his weekly homily on Monday, Franics said that aliens — which he imagines could be "Green, with that long nose and big ears, just like children paint them" — should be baptized just like anyone else who asks for it, because it's not up to any human to decide who should receive the Holy Spirit. In other words: if God prompts some Martians to come to Earth, find the Pope, and say "we want in on this Catholicism thing."...

“Two thirds of active missionaries are married couples. Another third are single women. The rest are single men.” This is not exactly a statistic, per se. It’s a sentiment, and sometimes a joke, expressed by mission leaders, mission recruiters, and most recently, by a bunch of twenty-something singles in my living room. It is a sentiment that reveals a striking truth about missionary work today: There are very few single men choosing to go. The real statistic is this: For AIM and other similar organizations, somewhere between 80 and 85 percent of all single missionaries are women. For every 10...

SNIPPET: "Indonesian anti-terror police, Densus 88 secure a terror suspect's house during a raid in Mojosongo, Solo in Central Java. Indonesian police have arrested 11 members of an Islamic group allegedly planning attacks on American diplomatic missions, a spokesman says." SNIPPET: "The group had planned to hit the US embassy and a US consulate, as well as a building near the Australian embassy in the capital Jakarta that houses the office of American mining giant Freeport-McMoran, police said. Police said they were from a new outfit called HASMI, the Sunni Movement for Indonesian Society, and explosives and a bomb-making manual...

America is one of the fastest-growing mission fields in the world, the most recent issue of Unfinished magazine says, but if Christians are not careful they will miss opportunities to reach their "least reached neighbors." The fall edition of the magazine, which is published by The Mission Society, focuses on the increasing diversity throughout the U.S. and how Christians can engage in cross-cultural ministry without leaving the city they live in. The diversity that can be found in cities and university campuses, in particular, provides both opportunities and challenges for ministries that hope to do mission work here at home....

Over 6,000 new churches were planted among Muslims in 18 different countries in Africa over the last seven years. And hundreds of former sheikhs and imams have become followers of Jesus Christ over that period. In just a few years, 45 different "unreached" Muslim-majority people groups in Africa now have access to God's word, with more than 3,000 news churches planted among them. These awe-inspiring statistics, mix with heart-warming narratives about former Muslims, flow out naturally as one talks to Jerry Trousdale, a former church planter among Muslims in West Africa and now head of a disciple-making movement among Muslim...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists say NASA is about to propose major cuts in its exploration of other planets, especially Mars. And NASA's former science chief is calling it irrational. With limited money for science and an over-budget new space telescope, the space agency essentially had to make a choice in where it wanted to explore: the neighboring planet or the far-off cosmos. Mars lost. Two scientists who were briefed on the 2013 NASA budget that will be released next week said the space agency is eliminating two proposed joint missions with Europeans to explore Mars in 2016 and 2018. NASA...

Today I heard a very moving testimony from a woman missionary named Kimberly Smith on Focus for the Family. Mrs. Smith is a missionary who helps victims of human trafficking. While she was in Sudan she came upon a woman who had been raped by the Muslim janjaweed. She herself was also raped. This is an all too common occurence in Sudan along with human trafficking. Kimberly Smith wrote about her experience in her book "Passport Through Darkness". This mission seems like a very worthy work for churches that might like to adopt this ministry as their own. It doesn't...

Next Thursday, as the rest of us tuck into our turkey feasts, hundreds of needy families in Southern California will open "Boxes of Love." Delivered by several churches led by Pacific Crossroads in Santa Monica, Calif., the boxes contain ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal for six. They allow impoverished families to skip food lines and neighborhood pantries and enjoy the holiday in their own homes. What's unusual about the Pacific Crossroads congregation—and what underpins efforts such as Boxes of Love—is its theologically conservative raison d'être. A member church of the Presbyterian Church in America, Pacific Crossroads is committed to Reformation...

Many of China's churches are overflowing, as the number of Christians in the country multiplies. In the past, repression drove people to convert - is the cause now rampant capitalism? It is impossible to say how many Christians there are in China today, but no-one denies the numbers are exploding. The government says 25 million, 18 million Protestants and six million Catholics. Independent estimates all agree this is a vast underestimate. A conservative figure is 60 million. There are already more Chinese at church on a Sunday than in the whole of Europe. The new converts can be found from...

A family trying to do some good work was shot overnight in Oakland. Oakland police responded to a shooting in the 1000 block of 47th at 12:33 a.m. and found at least two shooting victims inside a van. Police said a man and a woman were with their two young children and were handing out food to the homeless when they were shot. Police said the family had just pulled to the side of the road when an unknown suspect pulled up alongside them and opened fire on their van. The family lives in East Oakland and often handed out...

His name is Clemente Vismara. He spent his life in the missions. He planted the Church where Christianity had never come before. An ordinary sanctity, that simply put into practice the Sermon on the MountROME, May 23, 2011 – The beatification of John Paul II has rocked the whole world like a hurricane. "But there are also other exemplary witnesses of Christ, much less known, whom the Church joyfully points out for the veneration of the faithful": this is what Benedict XVI said at the "Regina Cæli" two Sundays ago. Humble, ordinary saints – including those who will never get...

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--It was a secret Ishaq* held close for 13 years -- one that caught journeyman missionary Craig Evans* by surprise when the young man revealed it. In 2007, Evans began visiting a quaint Central Asian village where he befriended Ishaq. One day while Ishaq's family answered the local mosque's call to prayer, Evans was able to talk with his Muslim friend alone for the first time. Glancing around nervously, Ishaq leaned closer and whispered, "My one desire in life is to be near to God." He explained that he had happened upon a Bible 13 days earlier and...

HOUSTON (BP)--Champion Forest Baptist Church leaders credit a year-long emphasis on missions giving for the fact that its 5,000 members gave more than $175,000 to missions through the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering on a Sunday morning. The amount was $37,000 more than the next-largest giver to the North American missions emphasis in 2009, the latest year for which individual church reports have been posted. "We promote the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering every spring," said David Fleming, pastor of the Houston congregation. "But we found people can and would give more to missions if they would put it in their monthly...

Two Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries are finding it difficult to minister to their congregations because of problems with their landlords. Sujin Kamal leads a congregation of 15 believers in one of South Asia's most populated cites. Due to the population density of the city, it is difficult to find space to buy or rent. Pastor Sujin was having worship services in a small rented house, but his landlord is now telling him he can't continue having Christian worship services there and that he must move out. In a similar situation, GFA-supported missionary Balveer Gode's landlord shut down a Sunday school....

Missionaries from South Korea believe they are the target of new regulations that would revoke passports from those who commit illegal activities abroad. The South Korean government has stepped up changes to its passport rules following complaints from foreign governments of lawbreakers and amid increased activities to spread the gospel in the Middle East. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has tried to limit missionary activities in dangerous places, especially in Islamic nations after highly publicized kidnappings and killings. In 2007, the Taliban abducted 23 Korean Christian voluntary workers, and two of them were killed by kidnappers. And in...

In 2010, Gospel for Asia-supported leaders exhorted teenagers in South Asia to follow Christ more closely. They held youth events in various regions where the teens worshiped together and listened to Bible teachings, which resulted in many young people drawing even closer to the Lord. Throughout April and May, a GFA-supported speaker traveled to multiple cities to host some of the youth camps. He challenged the teens to grow close to God and opened the invitation for them to attend GFA-supported Bible colleges. At the first camp, 75 youths, ages 14 through 19, experienced an inspiring—and stretching—three-and-a-half days. "I think...

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Trustees of the North American Mission Board approved sweeping changes Wednesday, Feb. 9, altering the focus, strategy, leadership and organizational structure of the Southern Baptist entity. The changes come almost five months to the day after trustees voted last Sept. 14 to approve Kevin Ezell as NAMB's president. The package of changes approved by trustees involves four primary areas: NAMB's national strategy; a regional approach to how NAMB will do its work; an organizational restructuring that will align NAMB's staff chart with its new strategy; and four new vice presidents who will give leadership to key ministry areas....

Every year, thousands of people congregate in a South Asian town to see a vast array of animals. This town hosts a livestock festival that occurs for a few weeks each fall, and some Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries joined in the excitement to spread their enthusiasm for Jesus. At this event, people trade various kinds of livestock—from chimpanzees to water buffalos to cats to ponies to bears to rabbits! Typical farm livestock, such as poultry, pigs and sheep, also are at the festival. But the biggest attraction there is the large number of elephants, which are often used for labor...

ARLINGTON, Texas (BP)--Green Bay Packers chaplain Troy Murphy was born in Hawaii, loves warm weather and is happiest when he's on the water, wearing board shorts and spending time with his wife and four daughters. But the senior pastor of Green Bay (Wis.) Community Church also loves to warm the hearts of men, and that's what led him to take over as the Packers' spiritual coach two years ago. "I am very strong on relationships and very much want to help these men and others," Murphy said. "I don't connect football with God, but I view being a chaplain as...

ARLINGTON, Texas (BP)--When the Pittsburgh Steelers made their last Super Bowl visit in 2009, team chaplain Kevin Jordan was just a rookie in his first year of NFL ministry. But when the Steelers return for Super Bowl XLV in Texas this weekend, Jordan returns as a seasoned spiritual veteran attuned to the team's spiritual needs. Jordan, 38, said he appreciates the strong support and access given to him by head coach Mike Tomlin and his staff. "Coach Tomlin understands the big picture with this team," Jordan said. "I like what he is doing and he understands what I'm all about."...