Valentine’s Day, February 14, commemorates the martyrdom of Valentine, a Christian minister in Rome who defied Emperor Claudius II’s ban on Christian marriages. In keeping with this celebration of love and marriage, I informed our missionaries that I would accept only love-themed articles for publication in this issue of AF.

Well, okay, I didn’t make any such stipulation. However, all of our missionaries did submit love stories this month.

Love stories? Yes. Actually, it’s all they ever write. The articles in the following pages might not look like it on first inspection, but they are all pieces of the grandest love story ever told. Picture this: A magnificent Prince, His life consumed by love, searches the world over for His lost bride-to-be whom He has freed—at unimaginable personal cost—from the clutches of an evil pretender to His throne. There is no greater love story than that, folks!

Yes, AFM missionaries always end up falling in love with the unreached people groups they serve, but that is not why they go. They go to be matchmakers. If the gospel is a love letter, then missions is the epic journey of that letter to its most distant, most oblivious recipients. The Divine Lover will have no rest until the words of His heart’s plea are communicated clearly to every addressee.

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