Around the World
Let’s Not Go Empty-handed!
By Travis Hunsaker
This past November we spent some time visiting family in Iowa. The reason for our visit was not the same reason many of you gathered with family, for Thanksgiving. We returned to Iowa due to the passing of my grandfather, Clyde “Neil” Hunsaker, on November 18, 2021. I was reminded once again that this life is temporary. As James 4:14 says, we are a “mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” These past few weeks I’ve been contemplating life and death. The truth is, Grandpa was 85 years old. The fact that he was at the end of his life doesn’t diminish the pain of losing him. But as the hours and days passed from the time of his passing, I found a glimmer of hope and joy amidst the pain and sadness as I thought about the undeniable fact that we will once again meet in heaven.
As I allowed my mind to dream and wonder about that day, I tried to imagine what Grandpa will look like in his heavenly body (1 Corinthians 15). I pictured him once again young and strong, able to move mountains. I pictured him with broad shoulders, rough hands, charcoal black hair and beard, and a half grin on his face, much the way he looked when I was only a little boy standing waist high to him. I have imagined how he met Jesus face to face for the first time at the pearly gates of heaven. And even in the grief, I felt joy in my heart because I knew that Grandpa Neil knew his Savior (Philippians 3:20-21).
The idea that heaven really is not that far away was cultivated and began to grow in my spirit. Heaven is not a faraway land or a mystical place; it is a place that is much closer than we care to admit. As I began to meditate on this, I believe God started to reveal some truths to me.
Thinking of going to heaven is much like my family returning to Iowa. My wife, Heather, and I are missionaries to Mexico and live in Tijuana. Each year our home church, First Church of the Open Bible in Clear Lake, Iowa, brings our family back during the Christmas season for a time of rejuvenation and reconnection with our family and friends. Every year I start a list of things I want to bring back with me to Iowa. I start formulating this list weeks, if not months, before we leave because I do not want to forget anything.
Iowa is just a 30-hour road trip from our home in Tijuana. You can see it on the map. It is a real place, a place with which we are familiar. Iowa is the place where we plan to visit family and friends during the holidays; a place to which we prepare ourselves to go.
Heaven is also a real place, a place that we can know about and should be familiar with. A place that we are to be preparing to visit for eternity. A place where we are excited to travel and meet with our loved ones who have gone before us. When my Grandpa Neil crossed over from death to eternal life, he was met first and foremost by his Savior, Jesus Christ, my sister Nel, who passed in 2006, and numerous other family members who have gone before him. Now on the other side of eternity, Grandpa Neil waits for us so we can be reunited as a family in our perfect, heavenly bodies that the Lord will bestow on us.
Just as I create a list of things to take when I am preparing to go to Iowa, we should have a list for heaven as well. Who do we want to take with us to heaven? Which of our family members do not have Christ as their Savior and need to accept Jesus? Which of our friends need to hear the gospel one more time? I want to have a list of those I love, whom God has purposely placed in my life. It is often most difficult to witness to those loved ones in our lives who have not yet accepted Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Sometimes it can be most difficult to witness to our longtime, dear friends. And yet if strangers coming to Christ are worthy of all of heaven rejoicing, how much more so our unsaved loved ones?
In these times we are living in, I would encourage you to focus on the trip that really matters, our eternity in heaven – not just for ourselves, but for our unsaved family members and friends as well. Make a list with me of the people you love that are not yet in the family of Christ. Pray for their hearts and souls to be won for Christ. Don’t give up! Tell them of Christ again from a position of LOVE. Who cares if they use some coarse language or belittle you while you are sharing with them? Their eternal souls are worth it! I rejoice with every stranger that I see come to Christ, but how much more so when it is a lost family member or friend. I want those people with me in heaven, an eternity with the Lord where our tears are wiped from our faces and our disgrace has been removed (Isaiah 25:8).
If you’d like to support the Hunsakers’ mission, you can donate HERE
About the Author
Travis and Heather Hunsaker have been married for 17 years. They, along with their children, Wesley (10) and Mya (8), live in Tijuana, Mexico. They have served at Puente de Amistad as missionaries since 2016 and have been the directors since 2019. Travis and Heather say they are just “low-key people who want to serve the Lord and help others along in their journey to serve.”
In parts of Nigeria today, land is no longer just a livelihood – it’s a battleground. In search of increasingly scarce water and grazing land, semi-nomadic Muslim herdsmen are moving their flocks south into areas already inhabited by Christian farmers. This encroachment has intensified conflict, resulting in thousands of deaths, the displacement of millions, increased kidnappings, and deepening ethnic tensions. This is the environment in which Open Bible’s ministry continues day after day.
Despite these challenges, the Gospel is advancing.
Okon Obot, Open Bible’s Superintendent in Nigeria, shared the following story with me:
Recently we held an evangelistic crusade in one of the affected regions. Despite security concerns, people came looking for hope and peace. Evangelistic crusades remain a powerful and effective way to share the Gospel in village communities where fear and uncertainty are a part of daily life.
The theme of the crusade was “Arise and Shine,” and over 300 people gathered. By the end, sixteen people had given their lives to Jesus and fifteen were immediately baptized and welcomed into the church, each a testimony to God’s faithfulness.
A high point of the crusade was the reconciliation of a family of brothers divided for five years. Under the conviction of the Holy Spirit as the Word of God was shared, they chose forgiveness and were restored to one another. They returned to their homes with joy and peace.
In response to God’s work in their lives, the brothers donated a large piece of property in their village, Mbabuu, for the construction of a church building.
This is where the 2026 Global Harvest Offering, “Build Hope for Africa,” comes in. When we reach our goal of $200,000, Nigeria will be one of the recipients. Open Bible will partner directly with Pastor Okon to build a new church building in a place like the village Mbabuu.
This is more than a construction project – it is the next step of what God is doing. Despite hardship, churches in Nigeria are growing and new buildings are needed to serve expanding congregations and reach their communities.
Your gift to “Build Hope for Africa” can help provide a visible witness of Jesus in a region marked by instability and equip local leaders like pastor Okon to continue evangelizing where the need is great.
In a place where land is fought over, God continues to build His Church!
Snapshots of the vibrant ministry happening in Nigeria:
About the Author
Tammy Swailes is passionate about cross-cultural Christian education, so working with INSTE Bible College to disciple and equip leaders throughout Europe and beyond is a great fit! Tammy has lived in Europe since 1999 – first in Hungary and now Ukraine. Before that, she was in Japan, as well as Spokane, Washington. She now serves as INSTE regional director in Europe, assisting INSTE programs in five languages. Tammy has her undergraduate degrees in both Missions and Christian Education and a MA in Intercultural Studies. Photography, good coffee, multi-cultural experiences, and the family’s Yorkie are some of Tammy’s favorite things.
Have you ever wondered, What in the world are our Open Bible missionaries doing now? We wish we could visit every church or sit down over coffee and share what God is doing where we serve—but that isn’t always possible.
So this month, we’ve gathered brief notes from missionaries around the world. As you’ve read these updates from around the world, we invite you to pray for our missionaries—their families, their ministries, and the communities they serve. Please also share these stories with your church so others can join in prayer.
Use the interactive map below to see the updates:
Trouble seeing the map? Click HERE
About the Author
Tammy Swailes is passionate about cross-cultural Christian education, so working with INSTE Bible College to disciple and equip leaders throughout Europe and beyond is a great fit! Tammy has lived in Europe since 1999 – first in Hungary and now Ukraine. Before that, she was in Japan, as well as Spokane, Washington. She now serves as INSTE regional director in Europe, assisting INSTE programs in five languages. Tammy has her undergraduate degrees in both Missions and Christian Education and a MA in Intercultural Studies. Photography, good coffee, multi-cultural experiences, and the family’s Yorkie are some of Tammy’s favorite things.
Ask Open Bible pastors in Africa what the biggest problem in their church is and most reply with one word: REVIVAL! Just as Saul once ravaged the early church in Acts 8, our African brothers today face similar conditions: harassment, arrest, and even death for following Christ. But in the face of persecution, our churches are experiencing rapid growth in thirteen African nations. They’re calling for our help, not to alleviate the suffering, but to build new church facilities to serve their expanding congregations and communities.
The Global Harvest Offering of 2026 is “Building Hope in Africa,” and it is our opportunity to participate in this revival. In this initiative, we will partner with our missionaries and national directors to fund thirteen new church building projects across the continent. God is using faithful missionaries and nationals to plant churches, raise leaders, and reach communities with the hope only found in Jesus!
… in the face of persecution, our churches are experiencing rapid growth in thirteen African nations.
Our missionary partners are many: the Godwins, the Kopps, the Parkers, Okon Obot, Peter Mahoye, the Moores, the Welches, and our brothers and sisters throughout the Antioch Network.
Thirteen churches.
Thirteen countries.
One goal:
to raise the $200,000 needed to
cover the costs for all thirteen projects.
With over 230 Open Bible churches in the United States, we can meet the financial goal of the Global Harvest Offering if each church gives $875. Alternatively, just 2,000 people giving $100 this year would meet the goal. Your support in this effort helps build more than walls; it builds hope, community and the Kingdom of God. Look for the QR code or this link to give to Building Hope in Africa today. Thank you for your partnership to build hope for Africa.
