Pocketing God’s Promises

GFA Missions

Pocketing God's Promises is a GFA missions podcast that considers inspiring stories of missionaries and gospel workers from the past and reflects on timeless truths that still transform our lives today. This podcast is for pastors, parents, missionaries, and other believers seeking to live lives of deeper consecration to Christ.

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21 episodes
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Episodes 21

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Yesterday · length unknown
From Restlessness to Rest
At age 17, Martín Valcárcel’s father died, leaving Martín with the responsibility of providing for his widowed mother and siblings. His search for good employment kept him on the move, but there was more to his restlessness than merely earning money. How did he eventually find rest? Find out in this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Source: A Pilgrim Song by Martín Valcárcel
September 4 · length unknown
When I Am Weak
God used George Schmidt in Baviaanskloof, South Africa, to begin a work that still existed 48 years after his departure. Yet this man had health difficulties, a black mark on his Protestant score card, a rough personality, a few theological quirks, and frustrating circumstances beyond his control. How was it that God used him? Find out in this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Sources: George Schmidt: First Protestant Missionary to Africa by Dr. John Dreisbach and The Pear Tree Blossoms by Bernhard Krüger
August 21 · length unknown
Under the Pear Tree
On Christmas Eve, 1792, three Moravian men arrived in Baviaanskloof, South Africa. They met Magdalena, who had been saved through the ministry of George Schmidt. How did God cause His Word to spread during the 48 years she had been waiting for a missionary to return? Find out in this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Sources: George Schmidt: First Protestant Missionary to Africa by Dr. John Dreisbach The Pear Tree Blossoms by Bernhard Krüger
August 7 · length unknown
Impossible Journey Out of Africa
Orphaned when her parents, David and Svea Flood, died, baby Aggie was passed on to missionaries Arthur and Anna Berg, who took her to America and eventually adopted her. When the Floods left Africa 100 years ago, their journey to America took four months. How did God fulfill His promise to be with them? Find out in this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Source: Jungle Trails: From Which Came a Little Girl Without a Country by Anna Charlotte Berg
June 26 · length unknown
Thank God for the Fleas
Sent to a concentration camp in Germany for their crime of hiding Jews, Corrie and Betsie Ten Boom soon discovered hundreds of fleas in their new barracks. Must they give thanks to God for everything? Find out how God enabled them to have thankful hearts in this week's episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Source: The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
June 12 · length unknown
The Ministry of Baby Kenneth
What does the tragic death of a one-year-old in the state of Oregon in the 1960s have to do with a thriving church in a fishing village on the coast of Scotland in 2026? Learn how these events are connected in this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises.
May 29 · length unknown
10 O'Clock on a Saturday Night
Hudson Taylor is penniless, his prayers seemingly unanswered. His dream of being used by God in China hangs in the balance. All that changes at 10 o'clock on a Saturday night. Find out how in this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Source: Hudson Taylor in Early Years: The Growth of a Soul by Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor
May 15 · length unknown
One Man Against a Church
Surprised at a Saturday church business meeting, young George Truett finds himself at a crossroads. Does he follow his lifelong career plans, or does he listen to a church insistent on ordaining him to the gospel ministry the very next day? Find out in this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Source: George W. Truett: A Biography by Powhatan W. James
May 1 · length unknown
When All Seems Lost
“That didn't turn out well!” Perhaps this is how C. G. Pfander felt after a public debate with Muslims in India backfired. All seemed lost. But was that the end of the story? Find out in this week’s episode of Pocketing God's Promises. Sources: Father of Faith Missions: The Life and Times of Anthony Norris Groves by Robert Bernard Dann; Church Missionary Intelligencer (1875)
April 17 · length unknown
Svea and the Egg Seller Boy
Nothing was happening for Christ. That’s what David Flood, missionary to Belgian Congo, thought. When his wife, Svea, died after the birth of their baby girl, he left Africa. But was that the end of the story? Find out in this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Source: One Witness by Aggie Hurst (also published under the title Aggie: The Inspiring Story of a Girl Without a Country)
April 3 · length unknown
A Leper Among Lepers
Could an incurable disease enable you to do Great Commission work? Mary Reed concluded that the answer was “yes.” What promise sustained her during her nearly 50 years of ministry to lepers in India’s Himalayan foothills? Find out in this week's episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Source: Mary Reed, Missionary to the Lepers by John Jackson
March 20 · length unknown
In a Tree with Jesus
John Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides in the South Pacific during the 1800s, often faced the threat of death when muskets, clubs, and spears were leveled at him. When he was forced to spend the night in a tree to escape warring natives, what promise from God comforted Paton? Find out in this week's episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Sources: John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides Islands, an autobiography edited by his brother James Paton
March 6 · length unknown
The Word of a Gentleman
During his 20–month trek across Africa, David Livingstone faced danger from animals, hostile tribes, and recurring illness. What promise of Jesus calmed him in the face of these threats? Find out in this week's episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Sources: The Personal Life of David Livingstone by W. G. Blaikie and David Livingstone: His Life and Letters by George Seaver
February 20 · length unknown
A Cat's Paw
As a 22-year-old preparing to land in China for the first time, Hudson Taylor found the sailing ship carrying him pushed dangerously close to reefs by the current. The crew needed an immediate breeze to avert danger. What did Hudson Taylor do? Find out in this week's episode of Pocketing God’s Promises.
February 6 · length unknown
He Walked with God—Why May Not I?
What made the greatest impact on John Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides? As the oldest of 11 children, John Paton’s service for the Lord as a missionary grew out of a spiritual legacy from godly parents. What did this legacy look like? Find out in this week's episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Source: Autobiography of John G. Paton
January 23 · length unknown
Victors on Palm Beach (Part 2)
One minute, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian are standing on Palm Beach. The next minute, they are ushered into God's presence as victors. How were their deaths victorious? Find out in this week's episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Sources: Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot, Becoming Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn, Life magazine’s article “Martyrdom in Ecuador” (Volume 40, No. 5, January 30, 1956), and Elisabeth Elliot’s Gateway to Joy broadcast, episodes 106-110.
January 8 · length unknown
Victors on Palm Beach (Part 1)
What makes a believer victorious in the spiritual realm? On this 70th anniversary of the Ecuadorian Five's contact with the Aucas and subsequent martyrdom, we are devoting two episodes of Pocketing God's Promises to this story. Learn about their Palm Beach victory on this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Sources: Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot, Becoming Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn, Life magazine’s article “Martyrdom in Ecuador” (Volume 40, No. 5, January 30, 1956), and Elisabeth Elliot’s Gateway to Joy broadcast, episodes 106-110.
Dec 5, 2025 · length unknown
I Have Arrived Beautifully
In a small village in eastern Ecuador where people are afraid of dying, a woman faces death peacefully. What removed the terror of death for her? Find out in this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Source: Mission to the Headhunters by Frank Drown and Marie Drown
Nov 21, 2025 · length unknown
A Grease Monkey for the Lord
What is in your hand? This was the question guiding a young man to put all his skills, education, and experiences at the Lord’s feet. God used this man’s fascination with airplanes and training as both an airplane pilot and mechanic to take the Gospel to a tribe who had never heard of Jesus Christ. Find out who this man was in this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Source: Jungle Pilot: The Life and Witness of Nate Saint by Russell T. Hitt
Nov 7, 2025 · length unknown
The Lord's Freedman
If you had been born into slavery in the 18th century, what would you ask God for? Would you ask to be freed from slavery, or would you ask God to give you a work to do for Him? Find out what George Liele asked for in this week’s episode of Pocketing God’s Promises. Sources: https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/l-m/liele-george-c-1750-1828/, Letters Showing the Rise and Progress of the Early Negro Churches of Georgia and the West Indies, and the link to a pdf version of Daniel Akin’s sermon at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, preached in 2010.

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