Thumping music filling the air. Smoke rising from barbecue grills. And the ice-cold beer flowing freely. That’s the typical scene at block parties in north Philadelphia when the Deliverance Evangelistic Church van turns the corner—right before these street missionaries change the spiritual climate.

Indeed, the secular street party doesn’t daunt outreach leader David Young or his team of devil-busting soul-winners. As the group arrives, prayer, preaching and a call for souls goes forth in the City of Brotherly Love. Within 30 minutes, the block party bows to the gospel message.

It’s called “Operation Take the City,” a soul-winning program Deliverance Evangelistic Church runs in the hard streets of Philadelphia. Through its various outreach strategies the church sees about 3,000 people saved every year—in a city chilled by the realities of HIV infections that are dramatically outpacing the national average and one of the highest crime rates in the nation. read more

Rich Wilkerson has 2020 Vision—the name of his goal to reach 100,000 souls for Christ before 2020 by planting satellite campuses of Trinity Church across South Florida.

With its Miami Gardens facility jammed to capacity with four weekend services that minister to more than 4,000 members—and with a fast-growth online campus reaching about 500 people a week—Trinity returned to its roots by reopening its original church building in September.

“We’ve been crying for space,” Wilkerson says. “My cousin, David Wilkerson, used to tell me to put all my eggs in one basket and then guard that basket with my life. He said you can never be dynamic until you become specific. So we’re reopening our original campus and we plan to launch on South Beach or midtown Miami next, God willing.” read more

Carl Keyes has been working tirelessly to change the lives of individuals and communities around the world for decades. Now the founder of Aid for the World, an international humanitarian-aid organization, is spearheading a project of a different kind in his own backyard: a safe house for young girls rescued from the sex-slave industry.

“I get hundreds of emails every week from people that need help,” Keyes says. “Of course, I can’t help everybody, but when I read an email about a woman who was trying to rescue girls from forced prostitution and needed help renovating a historic home to house them, it felt right,” he adds, noting that the woman, Debbie Colton, had read about his organization in Charisma and decided to pursue his help.

“What has happened to these girls is not even human. Family members or boyfriends get young girls hooked on drugs, they are chained to a bed, and 25 to 30 times a day a man comes into their room for sex,” Keyes says. “When Debbie told me about this, I hit the ground crying and praying. I had to do something.” read more

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas presented a bid for full membership in the United Nations in September, blaming the failure of the peace process on Israel. Abbas called for a return to the 1967 lines. Meanwhile, Jews were at the Western Wall—praying. “Israel wants peace and a Palestinian state,” says The Israel Project’s Founder and President Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi. 

“Sadly, sometimes they seem to want it more than the Palestinians. I deeply hope that President Abbas will recognize that the issues of security, borders, water and refugees need to be resolved with mutual respect and agreements ... and cannot be imposed by the United Nations. He should drop his preconditions and hate and come to peace talks right away. Israel is ready for this conflict to end so both sides can have a better future.” read more