A Word From the Editor

Dear friends in Christ, what a week it has been for the global Body of Christ. From the crowded stadium in Uijeongbu, South Korea, where more than 21,000 souls gathered under Will Graham's voice, to the quiet courage of persecuted believers in China and Pakistan whose faith refuses to be silenced — God is unmistakably at work in the world. And closer to home, a beloved worship artist's public return to faith reminds us that the Father's arms are always open, that no wanderer is too far gone for grace.

In this edition we bring you three stories that, taken together, paint a portrait of a Church that is battered in some places, reviving in others, and always sustained by a love that will not let us go. We pray these reports encourage your heart and drive you to your knees. May God use this newsletter to fan the flame of faith wherever you are today.

— The Faith in Focus Team

Christian News This Week

🌏 21,000 Gather in South Korea as Will Graham Crusade Sparks Revival Hope

On May 17, more than 21,750 people packed the Uijeongbu Sports Complex north of Seoul for the Uijeongbu Billy Graham Crusade with Will Graham. It was a scene reminiscent of the legendary 1973 Seoul Crusade led by Billy Graham himself — an event that drew more than three million people and produced over 70,000 faith commitments, becoming the largest single crusade in the Graham family's storied history. Now, Will Graham — grandson of Billy and son of Franklin — has carried that torch into a new generation, preaching the parable of the Prodigal Son to a crowd that included Korean Army soldiers who spent the night at a local church just to be present.

More than 260 local churches united to organize the event, and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association reported that over 695 people made public commitments to follow Jesus Christ at the outreach. Korean church leaders described the crusade as "a spark for a nationwide evangelism revival," with particular spiritual significance given that Uijeongbu sits just 250 kilometers from Pyongyang, North Korea. Will Graham's message centered on a waiting Father — "The young man went home. His father was waiting on him — watching for him" — calling a generation searching for peace and purpose to find it only in Christ.

The crusade is part of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's ambitious 2026 ministry calendar that also includes festivals in Japan, Spain, and England. For the Korean church, which has navigated deep generational and societal divides, this gathering represented more than an evangelistic event — it was an invitation to renewed unity and spiritual witness to a watching nation.

Source: christiannewswire.com — 21,750 Attend Uijeongbu Crusade​

🕊️ Worship Leader Cory Asbury Returns to Faith After Five Years Away

In a story that has moved the Christian internet to tears, worship artist Cory Asbury — best known for his global anthem "Reckless Love" — publicly announced this week that he has returned to faith after five years of deliberately walking away from church and worship ministry. Asbury made the disclosure in a heartfelt social media post, describing his departure as a conscious choice made even while knowing, in his own words, "where home was." He compared the experience directly to the parable of the Prodigal Son: "This running, and His pursuit of my heart in that time, was much more of a true prodigal son story than the one that originally birthed Reckless Love."

The turning point, Asbury revealed, came through a direct confrontation from fellow Christian musician Forrest Frank, whose own high-profile skateboarding injury and subsequent songs had already captured a generation's attention. The confrontation was fraternal rather than public — a brother speaking truth in love — and Asbury credits it with opening the door for God to move. "The rebuke of my brother Forrest gained Heaven another soul," he wrote. "This past autumn, God came running to find me bruised, beaten, and broken." That image — of a running Father meeting a returning son — echoes the very parable Will Graham preached in Seoul just days later.

Commentators across Christian media noted that the story stands apart in a cultural moment defined by outrage and public takedowns. Two artists chose reconciliation over division, and the result was a prodigal coming home. The narrative resonates with Jude 1:22 — "Be merciful to those who doubt" — and serves as a powerful reminder that restoration, not condemnation, is the heartbeat of the Gospel. For the millions who have sung "Reckless Love" in churches around the world, Asbury's homecoming feels deeply personal.

Source: mycharisma.com — Cory Asbury Returns to Faith​

🔒 Christians Arrested in China, Persecuted in Pakistan as Global Pressure Mounts

Six Christians in China were recently arrested and charged with fraud and "organizing the activities of minors that undermine public order" — a charge that has become a familiar and legally elastic tool used by authorities to target house churches and Christian education programs. Multiple sources confirmed the arrests to ChinaAid, noting that five men and one other believer were taken into custody. The development comes against a backdrop of intensifying Sinicization campaigns that require churches to align with "socialist values" and ban religious instruction for children under 18. Meanwhile in Pakistan, police have failed to make arrests following reported violence against Christians, continuing a deeply troubling pattern in a country where blasphemy accusations against Christians have skyrocketed in recent years.

These stories sit within a much larger global picture painted by the Open Doors World Watch List 2026, released in January, which found that the number of Christians facing persecution worldwide has risen to a record 388 million — up from 380 million the previous year. The number of countries ranked at the "extreme" persecution level has grown from 13 to 15, with North Korea holding its grim position as the most dangerous place on earth to be a Christian for the 24th consecutive year. Syria was newly elevated to the extreme category, reflecting the ongoing devastation of Christian communities there.

For the global Church, these numbers are not statistics — they are brothers and sisters, men and women who gather in secret, who face imprisonment, violence, and forced separation from their families for the name of Jesus. Open Doors director Cristian Nani described the trend as "unfortunately, once again a record year," noting that 201 million of the persecuted are women or girls, and 110 million are children under 15. The call for the comfortable Church in the West is clear: pray, advocate, and give to those who bear the weight of the cross in the darkest corners of the world.

Source: persecution.org — Christian Persecution News​

Weekly Devotion: The Father Who Runs

"But while he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him." — Luke 15:20 (NKJV)

There is a thread weaving through every headline this week, and it is this: a Father who runs. He ran to meet a prodigal worship artist limping home from five years of wandering. He ran to meet 695 bowed heads at a stadium in South Korea, each one a prodigal who heard a grandson of Billy Graham say: your Father is watching, waiting, ready. And perhaps most achingly, He runs toward the underground house church in China, toward the bruised Christian families in Pakistan, toward the 388 million believers worldwide who are paying the price of following Him into the darkness piercing it with light.

The parable of the Prodigal Son is not a story about the son. It is a story about the Father. It is Jesus revealing the character of God — a God who does not stand at the gate with crossed arms, tallying offenses. He is the God who sees from a great way off, who is compelled by compassion, who runs. Will Graham understood this when he chose Luke 15 as his text for Uijeongbu. Cory Asbury understood this when he wrote, "God came running to find me bruised, beaten, and broken." The persecuted church in China understands this too — not as a theological proposition, but as the daily bread of survival.

What strikes us is that revival and persecution, homecoming and suffering, are not opposites. They are two faces of the same spiritual reality: a Kingdom advancing against all resistance. In South Korea, the Kingdom advances through an open-air crusade drawing tens of thousands. In China, it advances through a handful of believers meeting in secret, whose very arrest testifies to the unstoppable power of the Gospel. In the heart of a wandering artist, it advances through one honest rebuke from a brother who loved him enough to speak the truth.

Forrest Frank's confrontation of Cory Asbury mirrors Nathan's confrontation of David, and Paul's confrontation of Peter at Antioch. The Bible is full of moments when a brother speaks a hard word in love, and the result is not destruction but restoration. The Church is not a platform for performance; it is a family gathered around a Father who runs. When we correct one another, when we pray for one another, when we weep with those who weep in places we will never visit, we are participating in the Father's own sprint toward the horizon.

This week, let us be moved by the same compassion that moved the Father in the parable. Let us run — in prayer, in giving, in advocacy — toward the persecuted. Let us celebrate every homecoming, every stadium filled, every soul that turns toward home. The Father is not tired. He has not slowed His pace. And He invites us to run alongside Him.

A Prayer for This Week:

Heavenly Father, You are the God who runs. We thank You for every soul that found its way home in South Korea this week — and we ask that You sustain and multiply every faith decision made at Uijeongbu. We thank You for the story of Cory Asbury, and we pray that his testimony would reach every wandering heart that has convinced itself it has gone too far. We lift before You our brothers and sisters in China, in Pakistan, in North Korea — those who bear the marks of the cross on their bodies. Give them strength beyond human endurance. Raise up advocates for them in the halls of power. Comfort their families. And Lord, convict us in our comfort. Do not let us grow numb to their suffering. May we run alongside You, toward the broken, the wandering, and the persecuted. In the name of Jesus, who left the ninety-nine to find the one. Amen.

Recommended Reading from AnsweredFaith.com

This week's news touches on themes of faith, revival, the persecuted church, and the power of biblical love and restoration. These articles from AnsweredFaith.com go deeper on each of these threads:

​Brave Souls: The Legacy of Christian Martyrs in History​

With global persecution reaching record levels — 388 million Christians facing hostility in 2026 — this article provides essential historical grounding for understanding the long lineage of those who have paid the ultimate price for faith. It connects the ancient martyrs to the present reality of believers in China, Pakistan, and beyond, helping readers see today's persecuted church as part of an unbroken, glorious witness to Christ.

​Examples of Revival in the Bible​

As Will Graham's crusade in South Korea sparks renewed hope for national spiritual awakening, this piece offers a rich biblical backdrop for understanding how God has moved in history to reignite faith among His people. It is precisely the kind of foundation needed as the Korean church prays for revival to spread from Uijeongbu across the nation and even toward North Korea.

​Parables Bible Study — The Parable of the Prodigal Son​

Will Graham preached from Luke 15 in Korea, and Cory Asbury described his own spiritual journey as the most authentic prodigal son story of his life. This in-depth study of the parable is a natural companion to both stories, drawing out the theological depths of a Father's compassion and the full meaning of restoration that neither performance nor wandering can diminish.

This Week's Resources

📥 Digital Bible Study | AnsweredFaith.com

​Divine Healing Bible Study — 13-Week Series​

Author/Series: Pastor Duke Taber | AnsweredFaith.com Digital Downloads

This week's stories of spiritual restoration — a worship artist coming home, thousands responding at a crusade, believers enduring suffering with unshakeable faith — all point to the sustaining, healing power of God. This comprehensive 13-week Bible study on divine healing anchors that theme in Scripture, walking students through what the Word actually says about God's restorative work in body, soul, and spirit. Whether you are facing a health crisis, walking with someone in suffering, or simply hungry to understand God's heart for wholeness, this study is a deeply practical guide.

The series covers foundational passages on healing in both Testaments, the healing ministry of Jesus, the gift of healing in the early church, and how believers today can stand in faith for restoration. It is equally suited to individual devotion or small group study, and comes formatted as a clean, printable digital download. In a week where the theme of coming home — spiritually, emotionally, and physically — runs through every headline, this resource is a timely companion for your personal or group study.

​→ Download This Bible Study at AnsweredFaith.com​

📚 Book Recommendation | Available on Amazon

​The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith​

Author: Timothy Keller | Publisher: Dutton/Penguin

This week's dominant theme — a prodigal coming home, a Father who runs — finds its most searching theological treatment in Timothy Keller's modern classic. In this short, powerful book, Keller uses the parable of the Prodigal Son to overturn our assumptions about who is lost and what it means to come home. He argues compellingly that there are two lost sons in the story, not one — and that the "elder brother" mentality is just as much a form of being lost as the younger son's reckless departure. Newsweek called Keller "a C.S. Lewis for the twenty-first century," and this book is one of the clearest reasons why.

Endorsed by Bill Hybels, praised as "thrilling" and "brilliant" by reviewers across the spectrum, and praised for revealing the heart of God in a way that "wrecked me afresh," The Prodigal God is the perfect companion to the week's news. Whether you are moved by Will Graham's crusade, stirred by Cory Asbury's return, or burdened for the persecuted who trust a Father they cannot always see, Keller's unpacking of God's "prodigal" — lavishly extravagant — grace will anchor and expand your understanding of the Gospel.

​→ Find on Amazon​

Faith in Focus | Week of May 19–25, 2026 | Serving the Body of Christ