Sure, you might be missing the bowls of spicy fish, the explosive chaos of fireworks, the family gatherings and overall festivity that marks the lunar calendar. But you can still play a part by making a special donation to our missionaries at Within Reach Global.

Make a special donation to our missionaries at Within Reach Global! @within_reach
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Red packets (also known as red envelopes or 红包 in Chinese) are monetary gifts which are given during holidays and particularly during Chinese New Year.

It’s the perfect time to make a special donation to our missionaries at Within Reach Global. And we’ve decided to make it easy for you by embedding the form below for you to give right now! Please, no pressure… although this is a cultural norm you don’t want to miss!

Giving a red packet 红包 is a cultural norm you don’t want to miss!
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Here’s why we invite you to give: our missionaries are taking the Gospel to regions where it has never gone before. They are seeing salvations, baptisms and revival among unreached ethnic tribes. There is fruit in this ministry, and we invite you to sow where the Kingdom is at hand!

There is fruit in this ministry, and we invite you to sow where the Kingdom is at hand!
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Millions of Chinese have returned home to their provinces or villages to spend time with family and friends. This year, the year of the rooster, the number of travelers have increased dramatically. Check out this incredible post by CNN.

Post highlights include the following: 

• Chinese authorities expect 2.5 billion trips by land during the “chunyun” mass migration; 
• Total distance traveled is 1.2 billion kilometers—equivalent of traveling from Earth to Saturn!

Happy Chinese New Year from all our missionaries at Within Reach Global!

The post Give Your Red Packet (红包) For Chinese New Year appeared first on Within Reach Global.

Quit your job.
Move to a foreign land.
Learn the language.
Make a difference.

Though that may be the case for some (if that’s you, stop making excuses!), it may not be exactly what  God wants for every single Christian.

This hilarious video tells the story of misplaced passion. Here’s what you probably should not do.
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So what does God want?

There’s no doubt in my mind that at the forefront of his heart are the unreached people groups of the 10/40 Window—people who have still never even heard the Christian gospel message. They’ve never heard of what a Jesus is. They have no churches in their vicinity. They do not know a Christian.

I’m not suggesting that you sell everything you have, and move to the poorest village in China. What I am suggesting is that you get involved in intentionally reaching unreached people groups with us at Within Reach Global.

Warning: it might take some cash! It might require giving above and beyond what you’ve already set aside “for God”. It might take some more hours on your knees, praying, interceding, asking God to send workers to his ready harvest. It might require you adopting an unreached people group, or a missionary working among the unreached. It might stretch your faith, and break your heart, and make you shed more tears than you have before. It might cause you to consider people outside your own personal sphere.

God is drawing us beyond our comfort zones.

Less padded pews.
Less sexy, feel good Christian infomercials.
Less going through the motions, pretending that we are living our lives for God when really all we are doing is perpetuating dead religion.

Less padded pews. Less sexy, feel good Christian infomercials.
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The more we come to see the heart of God, the more we realize it is full of people. And if there are some out there who have never heard about him before, then they should be the ones on the top of our priority list.

The post This Hilarious Guy Quit His Job, Left His Wife And Travelled To Save The World appeared first on Within Reach Global.

Thank you so much for your generous donations! Check out Project Bare Feet photos of Facebook, and continue to pray for opportunities to bless these children.

We need your help to buy 125 pairs of shoes for poor children in Bulacan, Philippines asap. Let’s make this a reality for these precious kids before their graduation from elementary school on March 28th! An easy $12 will buy a new pair of shoes and 3 pairs of socks for each child. Ponder that as you read their stories below.

Project Bare Feet
A new Within Reach Global ministry
In partnership with Ako Ay Pilipino Movement

As my 4 year old son and I walked down the busy street on the way to the market in Francisco Homes, Bulacan, he commented about the children walking to school. They were wearing tattered slippers, and many were even barefoot. “Mommy, why don’t those kids have shoes?” my son asked me. “Why are they barefoot?”

The childlike amazement of his statement touched my heart. I thought to myself, “What if my kids were in the same situation?” I couldn’t help thinking what I would do.

Something rose up inside me. I told myself, “Something needs to be done right now to help these children.”

Later that day, I stopped by Francisco Homes Elementary School near the market, and found the guidance counselor of the school. He told me that there were 3,500 students attending the school. I looked around and, to my despair, I saw barefoot children everywhere. Only a few of them had flip flops on, and those were already ragged and destroyed.

Some of the students studying in the elementary school spent their entire lives living in garbage dumps. When they weren’t at school, they spent their day scrounging for food and clothing with their impoverished parents. Their parents work as tricycle drivers, house helpers, construction workers, and scavengers, and so were unable to provide for their children’s needs.

Lanie Payas is 13 years old and currently in 2nd grade. She lives in Barangay Kaypian, and is the 3rd born of 6 siblings. Her father is a casserole maker, and her mother sells bread. Her family survives on less than $50 a month. Lanie is one of hundreds of students in Francisco Homes Elementary School living in severe poverty. She helps care for her siblings while her mother sells pandesal bread in the morning. Although she attends school, she is forced to wear frayed and threadbare clothing and flip flops because it’s all they can afford. Some of the kids at school tease her about her family’s poor conditions.

Elija Balo is 8 years old and is a 2nd grade student. His father is a construction worker and his mother is a typical housewife. He goes to school everyday, but because of the financial condition of his family, he does not have a normal childhood. His dream is simple. He wants to have a descent house and wear a pair of shoes.

Alfred Toledo, a 10 year old 1st grade student. He is 15th among 21 siblings. His father is a gardener and his mother is a vegetable vendor. His daily 5 pesos allowance is not enough for him to buy food. Alfred helps his mother by taking care of his younger sibling before going to school. His dream is to have plenty of food on their table.

These children are a few of the hundreds of students living in poverty at Francisco Homes Elementary School. They desperately want to pursue their studies, but their families can not afford to further their education.

It just tears me up inside to see these precious children trying to cope. They are constantly being bullied for being poor, and most suffer from rejection on a regular basis.

So here’s what we want to do.

We want to provide 125 pairs of brand new shoes for barefoot children in Bulacan.

We need your help! You won’t believe how inexpensive these shoes actually are. An easy $12 will buy shoes and three pairs of socks for these 125 impoverished students!

Will you help them? How can we say no?

We need a total of $1,500 by March 28th to buy 75 pairs of boys shoes and 50 pairs of girls shoes in time for their elementary graduation. What a joy it will be to see these children’s faces shining as they walk proudly in their new shoes!

Poverty is a major obstacle to the success of our future Filipino generation. I believe that God has called all of us who live in comfort to reach out to those who are less fortunate.

I pray that you are stirred to action by this simple plea. Thank you for your help!

The post Project Bare Feet appeared first on Within Reach Global.

This is really becoming a wonderful partnership between Within Reach Global and Love For The Poor, as ministries and individuals from around the world unite to bless “the least of these.”

“New shoes on us!”

True religion. It’s about orphans and widows and those in need. We believe it makes God smile.

They donated heaps of toys to the kids as well, and smiles could be seen around the whole room. It was very moving to watch.

Just recently we took a couple visiting partner pastors from America to Love For The Poor center. They shared a quick encouragement with the orphans, but more importantly, their presence blessed the children. Many college students from The Hub were there as well, volunteering their time to bless the children.

One of our visiting pastors noticed that the children’s beds were simply wooden boards with sheets on top. “If it’s not good enough for you and me,” we thought, “it’s not good enough for these precious little ones.”

Check out our Facebook photos here.

So we immediately went down to the foam outlet and purchased top notch mattresses for these children. It was a quick and easy decision––a WWJD moment! And the children were incredibly touched. They wrote us all letters, one of which translated says this:

“Thank you for buying mattresses for our beds. I am so grateful. I believe that God will bless you greatly. Thank you for coming to see us too. I am very happy. I know that you love us with the love of God. I have no way to repay you. I am only able to think of you often.” ~Lily

Moving. It tugs on your heart strings. It also moves the heart of God.

This is what we want to encourage you with now:

Do you have an active part in fulfilling the Great Commission? (Statistics say that only one out of one hundred believers do.) It’s the Great Commission not the Great Suggestion: “Go into all the world.”

We want to encourage you to take part in sowing prayerfully and financially into the 10/40 Window––the final frontier, the last region on earth where they are still waiting for a single chance to hear the name of Jesus.

Feel led to give? Why not start sowing monthly into this ministry. You can donate on our Donate Page.

Thank you for your prayers and support! You can truly make a difference with us.

The post Shoes And Mattresses For Orphans appeared first on Within Reach Global.

For the past year, we have been praying about ordaining more of our local missionaries. The ministry among unreached people groups is growing, and we need a supernatural kind of breakthrough in the tribal areas we travel to. We need an apostolic anointing to impact the ethnic minorities who have yet to hear the name of Jesus.

In May 2010, we ordained Brother Yang as the apostolic leader over the tribal ministry of Within Reach Global. In only one year, we have recognized his growth and influence as a Christian leader. He travels around the province, overseeing our many church plants on the borders of China, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam.

But our ministry team of local missionaries is growing, and we are recognizing new leaders faithfully rising to the occasion as well. God is promoting them for the task of reaching the unreached, the untouched, the unloved.

We called our co-workers up to the front:

Brother Li
Brother Hu
Sister Li
Sister Zhang

Their faces shown with godly humility as we shared stories of their faithfulness.

Check out our Facebook photos here.

“He treks up narrow foot paths for over ten miles, spends the night on the mountain under a tree, wakes up the next day, and preaches the gospel to the unreached villages near Vietnam.”

“Whenever I am struggling with a personal problem, I know I can can call her. She is always there to listen, give advice, and pray for me. I really appreciate that.”

“He has the joy of the Lord all over him! When he preaches the gospel in his own tribal language, they listen and are amazed at the power of God.”

Each of us shared about a time that was memorable to us. We appreciated our four local missionaries who were getting ordained.

We laid hands on them and began praying for each one. The room was filled with God’s presence and anointing. “Lord, set apart your servants today! Fill them with Your glory to march forward with the torch of Christ, shining the light of Your salvation into the darkest regions of Southeast Asia!”

Alongside all our local missionaries and visiting partner pastors from America and the Philippines, I laid hands on each of them. “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I ordain you as an apostolic leader! Receive a greater anointing as God sets you apart for His service!”

The volume was turned up. Everyone began praying aloud as tears of joy fell. Hands outstretched. Passionate prayers. Love, joy and freedom. The presence of God was evident and tangible and memorable.

Afterward, we hugged them and told them how proud we are of them. God is truly using these faithful servants to reach their own nation and beyond.

“I pray that every one of you has the opportunity to get ordained,” I told the rest of our local missionaries. “God has a time table for each of you. As you are faithful in the small things, He will promote you to greatness!”

It is such an honor to serve the underground Church. We believe that the task of a foreign missionary is to work himself out of a job; to raise up local, indigenous ministers whose reach will stretch beyond the ability of the foreign missionary. Our job is to stand behind them, encourage and empower them, and watch as God uses them to fulfill the Great Commission.

The post Ordaining 4 New Local Missionaries appeared first on Within Reach Global.

Everyone’s got problems. We know that there are things in your life that take your time and energy, and weigh heavy on your heart. But would you mind taking a moment to reflect on how blessed you truly are as you read this post, and see if God speaks to your heart about being an instrument of blessing to those less fortunate than you?

Christian is an active Filipino boy who loves to smile. Though he is surrounded by huge challenges, his shining face triggers a hope that God’s hands are big enough to embrace even the most impossible situations.

His mother shared some of his needs with Within Reach Global, and we felt compelled to reach out our hands to this family.

As a single mother, she is struggling to provide the therapy Christian needs on a daily basis. On top of that, he needs a private teacher so that he will continue to grow and learn in an environment that fits his needs.

“Christian’s daily therapy costs $11.00 per session,” she told us. “But I don’t know how I can pay these prices.”

As she was sharing, we thought of the scripture in James 1:27:
“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress…”

Honestly it’s a small price to pay to help a family in their difficult time. Would you consider paying for one day of Christian’s therapy? It’s only $11.00. Or one week for $77.00? Maybe you feel inclined to give one month’s worth of therapy, a total of $330.00. Every little bit counts.

We simply want to be a small part of the big thing God is doing in the nations, and we felt that this was a perfect way for someone to jump on board and help with Christian’s situation.

Go to our Donate page today and push the special needs kids link. Thank you in advance for your love and support.

The post Autistic Filipino Boy Needs Help With Therapy appeared first on Within Reach Global.