RAW Mission

This week we meet 'Keziah', a Californian girl who moved to Jordan to live among poor, illiterate, nomadic Bedouins for 8 years before relocating to the Arabian Peninsular, where God called her and her husband to reach out to highly educated, wealthy elites. These two different locations meant exchanging a world of sheep, goats and camels for skyscrapers, SUVs and designer clothes. But t...

In one of the most strict Islamic societies on earth, where the Ayatollah-led government enforces Sharia law and morality through the infamous Islamic Revolutionary Guard, an unprecedented movement to Christ among ordinary Iranian Muslims has been happening for the last 40 years. In this episode Matt interviews an Iranian lady called Mariam. She tells how, through dreams, through the Word of God,...

In this episode we hear from a lady who has been working with Syrian widows for many years in the Levant. These are widows who ­fled the war in Syria, having witnessed the brutality of ISIS first hand. You’ll hear stories of deep friendship, of community transformation and, most importantly, of ladies finding the love and hope that Jesus offers. Other topics covered include primary and secondary t...

A team of guys headed into the Middle East to watch some football, but also (and far more importantly) to share the gospel with fans from the many Muslim nations represented in the tournament, most of whom will never have met a follower of Jesus. Ben, Mike and Matt reflect on the adventures they had, the unique opportunities that this World Cup presented, Arab hospitality, the very real challenges...

After growing up and studying in France and in the UK, Jonathan worked for Tearfund for a while before sensing the call of God to move to South Lebanon, to serve the Palestinian refugees community and to share Jesus. He tells the story of how he narrowly escaped the bombing of Beirut airport during one of the conflicts between Hezbollah and Israel, as well as how a mysterious man gave him intel to...

When 10 Muslim boys decided to steal some papaya from a Korean missionary in Northern Ghana, a chain of events started that led Rahman and many others to become followers of Jesus. In this episode Matt meets Rahman and hears his story of coming to Christ and the impact that it had on his family. This is why Jesus sends us out, even commands us to go. (Matt. 28:18-20) Topics in this episode include...

In this episode Jono shares about the years he and his family spent in Jordan & Lebanon. Jono met about 700 taxi drivers over several years living in one city and he had around 400 gospel conversations. But he faced the same objections to the good news again and again: "You believe in 3 gods. The Bible is corrupted. Jesus is only a prophet..." This led him to create a fantastic serie...

We continue to hear from Benjamin - a South Indian who, along with his wife, has spent many years proclaiming the good news of the kingdom to Muslims in North India, thousands of miles from home and family. What happens to Ben when a Christian in his town insults the local Muslims and it gets into the newspapers? How was running a chicken farm beneficial to Ben's gospel ministry?! Why did Ben...

In this episode you'll meet Benjamin - a South Indian who, along with his wife, has spent many years proclaiming the good news of the kingdom to Muslims in North India, thousands of miles from home and family. We discuss the huge needs and particular challenges of India - the world's second most populous nation and second largest 'Muslim' country in the world, where there is on...

**WARNING** This episode contains some harrowing stories of violence against women, so is not suitable for younger children. We continue to hear stories from Afghanistan & Pakistan in this episode - this time from Roxanne, whose husband Jeff was interviewed a fortnight ago. Roxanne shares her experiences in the land of the Taliban: the deep friendships that she made, the incredible miracles th...

Jeff, a photographer, (& Roxanne, who we'll be hearing from in our next episode) have been on church planting teams in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan & India. They have decades of experience and some jaw-dropping stories of God's power and protection. What happened when an Afghan young man's father came to kidnap him and send him to to his death as a Jihadi on the frontli...

In this episode Matt interviews Ian Nicholson, one of the founding leaders of 24-7 Prayer and the Guildford Boiler Room (now Emmaus Road Church ) and one of 24-7’s International leadership team. The stories covered take us all over the world: to India, Austria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Russia, Romania, Bangladesh and Ibitha (Spain)! Ian shares about coming to faith, being a youth leader and a church p...

The current situation in Ukraine has dominated world headlines for months and will, no doubt, continue to do so for a while, with so many being killed and displaced - and with no end in sight. In this episode Matt interviews 'Nick', a Russian believer who is doing everything he can to support Ukrainian refugees in Russia. He shares about his experiences in the refugee camps, mobilising t...

What is the point of doing short-term mission trips? Don’t they do more harm than good? Hit and run evangelism with no cultural understanding?  Are they really a good use of time and money? We at Frontiers are all about long-term church-planting teams, but we often introduce people to the Muslim world through short-term trips. In this episode Matt continues his conversation with three young people...

What is the point of doing short-term mission trips? Don’t they do more harm than good? Hit and run evangelism with no cultural understanding?  Are they really a good use of time and money? We at Frontiers are all about long-term church-planting teams, but we often introduce people to the Muslim world through short-term trips. In this episode Matt continues his conversation with three young people...

In this gripping episode Matt talks to Brian & Jeleta, as they recall some harrowing events from the years that they lived in Cairo, Egypt. Brian relates how he was taken away by the police in the middle of the night from his home, leaving Jeleta and their one-year-old son behind. He and his friends were imprisoned for sharing the gospel with Muslims, making disciples, distributing bibles and...

In this episode Matt talks with 'Diana' about her 25 years serving in Turkey.  As a Chinese-American woman, Diana has fascinating insights into Eastern cultures. She also talks about raising daughters in a Muslim context and how a godly marriage spoke volumes to many of her friends who lived under the constant threat of domestic violence. She relates a frightening dream that her husband...

In this episode Matt talks to three students, all buzzing with God’s heart for the nations and considering the call to go.  Zach, Lena and Astu (all in their 20s) are at the same university and doing an amazing job encouraging their Christian Union (CU) to reach out to international students, running all night prayer meetings and much more. Astu also shares some stories from her childhood, growing...

In this episode Matt catches up with Joe, an old friend who came to help with the shelter-building relief work following the huge Pakistan/Kashmir earthquake in 2005. Since then, Joe and his family have lived in Pakistan and the Middle East, working among the poor and, over the last several years, with Syrian refugees. They discuss the negative impact that geopolitics, money and NGO work can have...

In this episode we pick up where we left off from last week's interview with Martin Goldsmith.  Martin talks about the importance of storytelling and how parables can be reframed for an Islamic context. He also talks about an occasion when some young men threw stones at him for talking about Jesus! We discuss colonialism, slavery, gender stereotypes in other cultures and whether it's app...

Martin Goldsmith is something of a legend in the UK, as an author, speaker and long-term missionary in South-East Asia. Now 87 years old, he has been married for 60 years.  He has spent his life studying & teaching God’s word and sharing the good news with people from all over the world. He is a brilliant storyteller and has a cheeky sense of humour!  In this episode Martin talks about his exp...

In this episode we meet Samir Rocha, a Brazilian full of passion for Jesus, for the church and for reaching Muslims. He has spent many years leading a team in Asia and is soon to return there to set up a training and mentoring programme for Latinos and others from the Global South to become church-planters in the Muslim world. He and Matt talk about calling/guidance, the advantages of on-field pra...

In this episode you’ll hear Trish's story and her experiences of life in some very dangerous places in North-East Africa. She speaks frankly, humbly and powerfully about some traumatic events in her own family (including a nasty car crash), personal struggles with guilt and shame, civil war, evacuation, burnout and loneliness.  Alongside all of this, she and her husband have had the great joy...

In this episode Matt interviews Daniel Waheli, who spent 20 years church-planting in Africa and India. Hear his incredible stories about an 'indestructible' witchcraft-charmed shirt, a local lady who had a dream about two of his team 15 years before they arrived, death threats and Daniel's two months of solitary confinement in an African prison. Daniel also talks about how to share...

In this episode Matt meets a biomedical scientist and teacher, called Nekesa. She has a West African heritage, grew up in France, studied in Germany and The Netherlands, and is now serving on a team in East Africa!  We discuss the challenges of leaving parents behind, how to deal with the constant stream of marriage proposals she faces, and how she overcame her fear of sharing the good news with M...