December 2018 - TEAM Christian Missions Blog

She Fought for Freedom – and Lost God

Christiane tried to run and hide from everyone — even God. What she lost in the process almost killed her.

Dec 21 2018

When Christiane saw her chance to escape, she fled like a fugitive. She’d already tried to leave the country, so she went to another island in the Philippines instead. She broke the SIM card in her phone so no one could call her. She cut her hair. People back home were hounding Christiane for money — far more than she could ever give them. Her only option was to never be found. But Christiane’s hard-won freedom was not what she expected. She spent her days alone in a small room, caring for a baby and struggling to survive. “I knew…

Celebrate Christmas like the French with this traditional Yule log cake! With creamy almond filling and chocolate ganache, it's sure to delight any Christmas gathering.

Dec 21 2018

We’ve been TEAM missionaries in France for 13 years, and my husband also spent the first 18 years of his life here. So, Christmas in our home has become a unique blend of American and French traditions. We put out stockings like our American family and friends, not slippers like our French friends. We open our gifts the morning of the 25th, whereas most French children open theirs late into the evening of the 24th. We make American Christmas cookies — but we also always have a good supply of French candies, including chocolate papillotes and pâte de fruit. And…

How Missionaries Around the World Celebrate Christmas

Serving in a new country often means adopting new Christmas traditions. Keep reading to see some of our missionaries' favorite traditions from their host countries!

Dec 20 2018

Hallmark movies, cut-out cookies and letters to Santa are all pretty typical Christmas traditions — for those of us in the United States. But around the world, there are hundreds of different customs surrounding the holiday season. So what happens when our missionaries immerse themselves in their host cultures? How do they celebrate Christmastime? To find out, we’ve asked a few of them about their holiday traditions. And here are some of our favorites: Christmas Trick-or-Treating Ryan Kennedy is a second-generation missionary serving in Papua, Indonesia. He was a missionary kid there — and now he’s raising his own kids…

Women across Europe will spend this Christmas season in brothels. But friends like you are giving them hope!

Dec 11 2018

Angelika* is cold. Really cold. She tries to find a spot on the street near the big vans with curtains on the windows. Those clients are regulars, and with any luck, she’ll be able to warm up a bit in the vans when she does what she has to do with the men inside. She misses her home. She doesn’t even speak the language here. But her husband was abusive and then abandoned her and her two small children in this place. Now she is a single mother of two in a strange country — doing work she hates. This…

Missionaries around the world will hold Christmas parties and outreaches this month. Will you pray for them?

Dec 03 2018

When Haruto* went with his son to a Christmas event in their home city of Tokyo, he didn’t expect it to be life-changing. The event was actually a kids’ Christmas outreach hosted by TEAM missionaries at Christian Academy in Japan every year. The evening usually starts with a craft, a fun activity and some caroling. Then, the kids and their accompanying parents get to listen to the story of Jesus’ birth story. It was during the storytelling that Haruto became especially intrigued. He approached a TEAM missionary afterward and asked, “Is that in the Bible — that Jesus was born…

Archive - December 2018

She Fought for Freedom – and Lost God

TEAM Eats: Recipe for Bûche de Noël

How Missionaries Around the World Celebrate Christmas

Christmas: The Key to Ministering Inside Brothels

Christmas Parties that Change Lives [December Prayer Focus]