The 2025–2026 academic year at San Pablo Presbyterian Theological Seminary was marked by change, enhanced global partnerships, and sending more servants into the field. The seminary, based in Mérida, Yucatán, continues to train theology students from 20 Mexican states, as well as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Chile, and Colombia. Many students are fluent in Mayan, reflecting the seminary’s deep connection to indigenous communities in southern México and Central America.

Some of the most meaningful conversations begin with an honest question.

That was true this summer when Near East School of Theology (NEST) welcomed AfterDark, the college and young adult ministry of nearby Resurrection Church, to its campus for an “Ask a PhD Anything” event.

The program brought dozens of young people between the ages of 18 and 22, ranging from “seekers” and young believers to more mature Christian youths of the church, to the NEST campus in the heart of Beirut, Lebanon.

The invitation was simple: ask any question. Nothing was off limits.

It’s already been a busy summer for the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL).

In addition to the ongoing support for its 40 congregations, NESSL, alongside the Committee on Religious and Spiritual Affairs, hosted two camps for youth and children, with several more to come this summer.

Each camp brings together young people from across the Synod, Syrian and Lebanese alike. Located in the mountains at the Synod’s historical retreat center in Dhour Shweir, Lebanon (about 25 minutes from the Synod’s offices in Beirut), the camp offers a chance to get away from the realities of daily life.

First founded for the purpose of providing programs for Syrian refugee children, the Compassion Community Centers continue to provide a safe place for children to learn and to grow.

Operated by Compassion Protestant Society (CPS), the diaconal arm of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL), the Compassion Community Centers have long been providing programs each morning for Syrian refugee children. In the last year, in response to the rising need during the current regional crisis, the centers expanded their impact by launching a new afternoon program for Lebanese public-school students affected by conflict and educational disruption.

Radmard, which means “man of purity,” is a one-of-a-kind ministry that focuses on healing Muslim background believing men of their addictions and showing them how to replicate this healing among family and friends. Reza, the ministry’s leader, and his team do all this in the name of Jesus Christ, spreading Christ’s light in one of the darkest spaces in the world as one of our Persian Diaspora partners. Radmard cultivates safe spaces for men, empowering them to confront their histories of rejection, abuse, and addiction.

In June, the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cairo, Egypt (ETSC) honored 86 graduates during its annual commencement ceremony. Graduates completed degrees across seven unique programs. While the classes and components of each program are unique, their purpose is the same: prepare pastors and leaders to serve the church in Egypt and Christian communities in the Arab world and beyond.

The variety isn’t just about the degrees. As ETSC continues to stretch its impact and reach, these graduates came from all over the world. In this graduating class, in addition to Egypt, graduates represented eight countries including Canada, Lebanon, Kuwait, Sudan, Italy, the Netherlands, Oman, and Syria.

Across the Arabian Gulf region, uncertainty and rapid change have touched every generation.

For the youth in the Gulf, life had generally been predictable. Weekdays were busy with studies and scrolling through social media. Weekends offered time to hang out with friends.

While they could read news updates about war and political fractures, it felt like distant, low-definition background noise – tragedies happening to other people. It was all safely contained behind a screen.

Until the night the sky changed.

The mission of The Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS) in Rwanda is to provide well-trained graduates who are committed and equipped to serve the Lord and share His Good News with others. Essentially, the students are answering the call to action found in Romans 10:14:

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

Students in the Bachelor of Theology and Religious Studies program are thoroughly trained from a theological view and become skilled in the practical application of biblical lessons in their unique context. Scholarships provided by The Outreach Foundation have helped students answer their call.

The Rwanda Governance Board was clear last year: houses of worship that didn’t meet its new standards would be forced to close. The standards include changes like adding freshwater tanks, adequate safe parking, handwashing stations, toilets for men and women and pastors with theological degrees.

The Presbyterian Church in Rwanda (EPR) faced a great challenge following these new government mandates. Ninety-nine parish temples were closed.

The experience of Jesus and the apostles at this point in His ministry closely resembles the daily lives of many pastors today. They simply longed for time alone, a pause from ministry responsibilities, and an opportunity to rest.

With this in mind, the SARA (Serving as Support, Refreshment and Friendship) Institute has been fulfilling its mission of providing a place of care, encouragement, and spiritual formation for hundreds of pastors throughout Brazil. Over the years, countless pastors have found renewed strength, refreshment, and a healthier rhythm for ministry after participating in a retreat.

From the bustling neighborhoods of world-famous Rio de Janeiro to beach communities on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and villages in the remote Amazonian rainforest, the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPIB) is faithfully expanding the kingdom of God - one church plant at a time. Under the capable leadership of Rev. Caio Baptista, Secretary of Evangelism, the IPIB is actively managing 29 church plants in Brazil; along with emerging works in Portugal, England, and the U.S. Below is a brief snapshot of just a few of these remarkable ministries.

We are overjoyed to share with you the community building and restorative work happening in the South Sudanese refugee camps in the Gambella region. In an area that is often overwhelmed by challenges and under resourced, there is a fledgling hope for healing.

For more than a decade, leaders of the Eastern Upper Nile and Nasir Presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan have been divided. The two administrations built a figurative wall between them. They had given up on each other. But God never gave up on them.

When an individual lives far from home and family, it can be challenging to find a sense of belonging or an anchor for the complexities of life. There are many barriers to this, but one is language. The simple act of communicating is suddenly difficult.

So, what happens when an individual like that gets access to the Bible in their heart language (native vernacular)? The Bible Society of the Gulf sees it regularly. Lives are changed.

“You remembered us.”

These powerful words were spoken by a believer from Central Asia in acknowledgement that we not only returned to visit but also told of ongoing prayers for Central Asia within our churches.

The words acknowledge something else; they have, at times, felt forgotten.

Being a Christian in Central Asia is challenging. With a population estimated around 83.7 million, only about .3% are evangelical Christians. Believers face increasing persecution from authorities and ever-present social pressure from their communities. Most Central Asian countries are constitutionally secular, and Christians often encounter discrimination or even violence. Moreover, conversion to Christianity from Islam is illegal and can result in being rejected by one’s own family or expulsion from one’s community.

Most students, whether just starting out in school or nearing the end of graduate school, look forward to summer vacation. It is a chance to take a break, get some much-needed rest, or catch up on all the things that get pushed to the side in the midst of the rigors of academic pursuit.

For a Master of Divinity student at Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cairo (ETSC), summers look a little different. Rather than a break, summers are a time for internships, or as ETSC describes them, “the classroom of life.” Summer internships provide an intentional opportunity for students to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to ministry.

The Outreach Foundation has partnered with Novus Foundation in Warsaw, Poland, since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Leaders Piotr and Stasha Nowak, and Pablo and Aneta Montano are engaged in full-time theological training of church planters while also providing professional counseling to war refugees, cancer patients, and others. They recently shared two stories that exhibit the impact of their work.

Estimates are that more than one million people are currently displaced in Lebanon. Most are from southern Lebanon, having been forced to flee the latest hostilities. Many went to Beirut, but 50 miles north, people in the town of Tripoli saw waves of displaced people arrive.

The National Evangelical Church of Tripoli, one of the churches in the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL), sought ways to offer relief. At the same time, the Compassion Protestant Society (CPS), the diaconal arm of NESSL, discerned how local churches could respond meaningfully to the growing humanitarian needs of the crisis.

In the hard neighborhoods surrounding Comas, Perú — where extortion, prostitution, and drug trafficking shape daily life — children grow up with few role models and even fewer opportunities. When two 11-year-olds were asked, “What do you do for fun?” their answer was heartbreaking: “Breaking into houses and stealing.”

Into this reality, the Reflejo team has stepped with the hope of Christ.