Faith Facts

• Sarah Ellington Stone, 19, daughter of Southern Baptist pastor Mike Stone, passed away after years of chronic illness.
• The Stone family has long been active in Southern Baptist life and traditional Christian ministry.
• Pastor Mike Stone has publicly upheld biblical values and family-centered faith throughout his ministry.

After several years of chronic illness, Sarah Ellington Stone, the younger daughter of prominent Southern Baptist pastor Mike Stone, has died. She was 19.

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Faith Facts

• Valentina Peralta, a 26-year-old missionary, wife, and mother, was killed in a traffic accident while serving in church-planting work in Santa Marta, Colombia.
• Peralta and her husband Daniel Escobar both graduated from Baxter Institute in Honduras and were preparing to launch a Christian school in their hometown.
• The Christian community across Latin America is mourning her loss, remembering her joy, energy, and faithful love for Christ and family.

A traffic accident in Colombia claimed the life of 26-year-old missionary Valentina Peralta on Monday. Peralta was driving a motorcycle to a children’s ministry event when a truck struck the vehicle, killing her and injuring her passenger.

She served alongside her husband Daniel Escobar on a church-planting team in Santa Marta. The couple has a two-year-old son and is native to the historic port city on the Caribbean Sea.

“We are all devastated by this loss,” said workers with Great Cities Missions. “Valentina was a bright light in the community. She and her husband … spent their time in the field faithfully loving and serving the people of Santa Marta.”

The couple graduated from Baxter Institute in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where they prepared for ministry across the Spanish-speaking world. Peralta was set to serve as a teacher at a new Christian school the mission team plans to launch in Santa Marta.

Gaby Medrano, a friend from Baxter Institute, recalled Peralta’s energy and love for her family. “I will always remember Vale for her energy, her love for her family, her joy that she would pass on to others,” Medrano said.

Medrano also remembered Peralta’s humor and the love of Christ that united them. “She knew how to be family,” Medrano wrote in a social media tribute.

Church members held a memorial service for Peralta in Colombia on Wednesday. Believers across Latin America continue to mourn the loss of a young woman remembered for her faithful service and deep love for Christ.

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Faith Facts

• Taybeh, the last entirely Christian town in the West Bank, has lost ten percent of its residents in just three years.
• Local believers report repeated attacks on homes and property by radical settlers.
• Church leaders warn that continued violence threatens the survival of ancient Christian communities in the Holy Land.

Once a thriving center of Christian life, Taybeh now faces an alarming population drain. Families are packing up and leaving after a string of violent incidents that local residents blame on nearby settler groups.

Church leaders say the attacks have intensified since 2021. Stones hurled at homes, fields set ablaze, and intimidation at checkpoints have become regular occurrences for the town’s shrinking Christian population.

“Our young people see no future here if the violence continues,”

one local pastor told reporters. The constant fear has pushed many families to seek safety abroad or in safer areas inside Israel.

Christian leaders across denominations are calling for urgent prayer and international attention. They fear that without intervention, the town that once hosted Jesus will soon stand empty of the faithful who have lived there for generations.

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