News from Gaza, Tanzania, Algeria, Tajikistan and More

  1. World: Churches Accelerate Progress Toward the Bible in Every Language
  2. Middle East: Regional Leaders Worry as Ramadan Approaches
  3. Tanzania: 11 YWAM Missionaries Killed in a Road Accident
  4. Algeria: Ministry Leader Charged for Holding an Unauthorized Assembly
  5. Tajikistan: Demand for Exorcisms on the Rise, Despite Crackdown

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World: Churches Accelerate Progress Towards the Bible in Every Language

Source: Mission Network News, February 16, 2024

Approximately 1,300 languages still lack God’s Word, but that number is shrinking at a faster rate with every passing year. In 1999, new translation projects were begun every two weeks on average. Now, the pace has accelerated to every 17 hours, according to Wycliffe USA.

John Chesnut, President and CEO of Wycliffe USA, recently visited a church translating Scripture in Madagascar. “They drafted four full Bibles in four years. And then they said, ‘Hey, we want to get the quality better. Can you come help us?’”

“They will dedicate four completed New Testament translations this summer. The translations are part of a goal Wycliffe USA set 25 years ago and hopes to complete next year. They called it Vision 2025 and started praying for Bible translation to begin in every remaining language.

“It was really a God-sized prayer saying, ‘Lord, what would we need to do in order to see all these languages started by 2025?’” says Chesnut.

Praise God that churches like those in Madagascar are stepping up to the challenge. Wycliffe USA reports more and more churches are engaging in Bible translation for their local languages.

Read the full story.

See also From Flicker to Flame, a short documentary from Ethnos360 about the dedication of the Simbari Bible (Papua New Guinea) and read an OMF report about the dedication of the new Tampuan Bible Dedication (Cambodia).

See also Wycliffe Bible Translators to Sell Florida Headquarters (Ministry Watch).

Middle East: Gaza War Worries Regional Leaders as Ramadan Approaches

Source: Mission Network News, March 5, 2024

Senior U.S. and Israeli leaders are meeting in Washington this week to discuss the Gaza crisis. The U.S. began humanitarian aid drops this weekend in the latest attempt to alleviate suffering.

Hamas officials have not agreed to a temporary ceasefire that Israel signed off on, so the war rages on, sending ripple effects throughout the region.

“Remember that whatever is happening in Gaza is affecting not only the surrounding countries but also the whole Middle East—Yemen, Dubai, Jordan, Egypt,” Fadi Sharaiha with the MENA Leadership Center says.

“All over the Arab world, people are feeling it.”

The timing of Israel’s potential expansion into Rafah has some Middle Eastern leaders on edge. Ramadan—the Islamic month of fasting—begins the same day Israel vows to begin its assault on Rafah.

Read the full story. Other sources are also reporting uneasiness across the region.

Please take a minute to watch this video from INcontext and pray.

Tanzania: 11 YWAM Missionaries Killed in a Road Accident

Source: Evangelical Focus, February 27, 2024

A Christian ministry lost 11 of its members in a traffic accident in Tanzania (Africa) on Saturday 24 November.

“Leaders and students” taking part of a masters program of YWAM were “on a field trip with other local YWAMers” near the city of Arusha. “One mini-bus was struck and overrun by a large truck with failing brakes,” YWAM Ships Kona said.

“Five injured individuals are still hospitalized and two more people in critical condition to be rallied around in prayer,” an update the day after the incident said.

Other media, citing official sources in the country, confirm that a total of 25 people died: one girl, 10 women, and 14 men. Among the dead were an American, a South African, and a Kenyan. The injured included people from Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Switzerland, the UK, and Mali.

Local and international leaders of YWAM were trying to respond to the tragedy on the ground with details of repatriation, medical evacuation, family support, and funeral arrangements.

YWAM has opened a link for donations to help pay for expenses that are expected to rise to US$350,000.

Read the full story with prayer points.

In a February 26 letter, YWAM Cofounder Darlene Cunningham said, “We have not seen a tragedy of this magnitude in all of YWAM’s history and we are all devastated.”

Algeria: Ministry Leader Charged for Holding an Unauthorized Assembly

Source: Middle East Concern, March 5, 2024

Pastor Ourahmane is a senior pastor overseeing a number of churches and Bible schools in several areas of [Algeria], in addition to his responsibility as vice president of an association of more than 45 Protestant churches.

In March 2023, he was investigated by the authorities, after a small number of Christian families spent three days during a school holiday in a church compound under his supervision. The compound has a small church, which had been sealed in 2019 by an order from the governor of the province.

Pastor Ourahmane was not informed of the court hearing or the verdict (two years in prison and a fine) until mid-September 2023. He was charged with holding an unauthorized religious assembly (worship) and holding worship in a building not permitted for worship. The charges are based on two articles of the Ordinance to Regulate non-Muslim Worship, enacted in 2006.

On November 19, there was hearing appealing the verdict [but] the sentence was upheld. Pastor Ourahmane has filed a further appeal.

Prosecuting the vice president of the EPA is an escalation of a campaign, started in 2017, to close Protestant churches and harass leaders. Only a handful of churches are still open. Several Christians, especially church leaders, have faced court cases on different charges.

Read the full story.

See also Africa’s Largest Mosque Inaugurated in Algeria after Years of Delays (The Guardian). It features the world’s tallest minaret and its prayer room can accommodate 120,000 people.

Tajikistan: Demand for Exorcisms on the Rise, Despite Crackdown

Source: Radio Free Europe, February 25, 2024

Exorcism is a key source of income for Sabohiddin Shodiev, a popular cleric in his rural community on the outskirts of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. Shodiev—not his real name—says that every week he treats about 15 clients who ask him to expel what they believe is an evil spirit, or jinni, possessing them, or to rid them [of] “an evil eye.”

The 53-year-old cleric has been practicing exorcisms—which he learned to do from his father—for more than two decades. Most of Shodiev’s clients come from Dushanbe and nearby districts, but some travel from faraway regions to seek his help.

Three Tajik clerics who spoke to RFE/RL claimed the demand for exorcisms is on the rise in the predominately Muslim country.

There are no official statistics in Tajikistan on exorcisms or the number of people performing the centuries-old practice, which survived decades of religious crackdowns during the atheistic Soviet era and most recently the Tajik government’s attempts to restrict exorcisms.

Some Tajiks see the ongoing efforts by the secular government as a way to keep a tab on “all things religious.” As part of that campaign, Islamic hijabs have been banned in schools and offices, while growing a long or bushy beard is frowned upon for young men.

Read the full story.

(Copyright © 2024 RFE/RL, Inc. Used with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty).

Also from Tajikistan, some there are speaking out about local popstars wearing immodest clothing (Eurasianet).

Seeking revival, new Norse temple & the biggest election year in history

  1. Middle East: A Former Aide to Arafat Believes Revival Will Break Out After the War
  2. USA: What Happened at Asbury University?
  3. Iceland: After 1,000 Years, a New Temple Built to the Norse Gods
  4. Infographic: 2024 Will Be a “Super Election” Year
  5. USA: A Buddhist Monk Asks How to Share the Gospel

Read or share the email edition.

Middle East: A Former Aide to Arafat Believes Revival Will Break Out After the War

Source: God Reports, February 8, 2024

A former sharpshooter Muslim and aide to Yasser Arafat, Taysir “Tass” Abu Saada strongly believes a revival will break out after the Israel-Hamas war.

“We are looking at a good revival going on already in the Gaza Strip due to what has happened,” [Saada] told CBN. “Despite the destruction that is taking place, I believe God has a purpose to get the Palestinians in Gaza to wake up and look at different alternatives to what they believe.”

[Saada] is himself a Palestinian, though born in Qatar. He passed through the Palestinian militant ranks from sharpshooter to aid to former PLO Chairman Yassar Arafat. Today, however, he is a Christian overseeing teams who evangelize in the West Bank and Gaza.

In the CBN report, [Saada] confirmed an earlier story that 200 Gazans received Jesus en masse when they all received the same dream about Jesus on the same night.

The full story includes a link to an interview with Saada. More of his personal story is told in a 2010 Tyndale House book, Once an Arafat Man: The True Story of How a PLO Sniper Found a New Life.

A Missions Catalyst reader asked if we’d heard the reports that 200 Gazans dreamed of Jesus on the same night in November. We had our doubts and couldn’t confirm the story. This one seems a step closer to the source. Pretty wild, though. Let’s pray for God to bring revival by any means he chooses.

USA: What Happened at Asbury University?

Sources: Asbury University

On February 8, 2023, what began as a routine Wednesday morning chapel service with the student body turned into a multi-week outpouring that some have described as a revival. Led by students, the services attracted college students from hundreds of other colleges and universities, beginning as soon as Wednesday evening.

Then, news of the continuous services spread around the world, and attracted people from as far away as Russia and Japan. Media outlets arrived en masse to cover the spiritual awakening among young people. Countless reports of life change, salvation, and re-dedications to Christ were some of the amazing results of the outpouring events. Asbury staff, faculty, students and volunteers worked tirelessly to welcome the visitors to campus, with orderly lines to get into Hughes extending a half mile long around campus.

Since then, the community has worked to share what God did, and spread the gospel and testimonies of life change. Also, Asbury’s pastoral care staff is working to disciple and mentor students impacted through the outpouring through different initiatives on campus.

The events lasted for 16 days, culminating in a service specifically for Gen Z students on February 23, 2023. Yet, the Lord continues to move across the Wilmore community, Kentucky, the United States, and the world.

A page on the Asbury University website includes at least a dozen links to articles reflecting on this event and its impact a year later.

Of course, we saw some more skeptical responses to the anniversary, too. This author claims none of the churches in the area saw significant growth or transformation (Samuel Sey).

Iceland: After 1,000 Years, a New Temple Built to the Norse Gods

Source: Religion News Service, February 6, 2024

With the 2011 movie “Thor,” the Avengers film franchise made Thor, Loki, and Odin the equals of Iron Man and Black Panther, transforming these ancient Norse gods into mythic Marvel superheroes.

But followers of Ásatrú, or Norse paganism, still honor their gods, and in Iceland, where Ásatrú is the second-most-practiced religion after Christianity, a new temple to the Norse deities is rising now on Öskjuhlíð, a hill overlooking the center of the capital city of Reykjavik. Dedicated to the whole pantheon of Norse gods and nature spirits, it is the first pagan temple to be built in more than 1,000 years.

The opening of the temple was initially planned for 2016, but the 2008 financial crash, which hit Iceland hard, delayed construction, and progress was further inhibited by the COVID-19 pandemic. Magnús Jensson, the architect of the Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins (“the Temple of the Ásatrú Fellowship”) and a member of the pagan community, said that the plan now is to open the temple in stages over the next few years.

Read the full story. Religion News Service recently ran another interesting story about sacred items smuggled out of Nepal being returned to that mostly Hindu nation.