Day: June 22, 2016

1. NIGERIA: Interviews in an IDP Camp
2. BANGLADESH: A Faith that Makes the List
3. BUDDHIST WORLD: A Spiritual Movement
4. PAKISTAN: “You Reconnected Us with the Lord”

Greetings,

I’m wrapping up my work on this batch of news briefs on June 20, which the UNHCR has declared World Refugee Day. Today the world has more than 60 million displaced people, a number we have not seen since World War II.

Many churches and Christian groups are taking time to focus on prayer, awareness, and responding to the crisis by observing World Refugee Sunday June 19 or June 26, but how about making it World Refugee Week?

You may need to first introduce your group to Refugee Realities: Common Myths and Assumptions, a six-minute video put out by the International Association for Refugees. For mature audiences, see a powerful four-minute video created for World Refugee Sunday by We Welcome Refugees or a Pulitzer-prize winning collection of moving photos about the refugee crisis.

Several of the stories below put a human face on the situation and may stir you to pray.

We also recommend When the Story Becomes a Person, by World Relief, and the related video, Syria: The Search for Refuge, as well as their article Six Ways You Can Help Syrian Refugees Today.

Overwhelmed? I also offer you this inspirational six-minute video, The Man Who Broke the Mountain Alone. It came to me via Joel News and tells the story of Dashrath Manjhi worked for 22 years to carve a path through a mountain for his poor Indian village.

blessings,
Pat

Source: Jubilee Campaign, June 8, 2016

Jubilee Campaign Netherlands traveled to Nigeria and interviewed people staying in IDP (internally displaced persons) camps. They have been displaced from their homes due to violence from Boko Haram, the deadliest terrorist group in the world. Another militant group that has become quite active in Nigeria are the Fulani militants. This group also violently attacks villagers and drives them out of their homes, contributing to the large-scale IDP problem in Nigeria.

» Learn more and watch interview videos (two videos, 19 minutes total).

» You may have heard about two Nigerian Christian leaders abducted for ransom last week. One of them, Mike Adegbile, heads the Nigeria Evangelical Missions Association. We’re happy to say both were freed.

Source: Voice of the Martyrs, June 10, 2016

[Fani] put his hands in his right pants pocket and pulled out some crumpled pieces of paper. Under the room’s single light bulb, he handed them to me.

I unfolded the papers to discover copies of newspaper articles. Although I couldn’t read Bangla, I knew why he was excited. His story was print-worthy. The articles discussed a top-ten list created by the Islamic extremist group Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. The list ranked the most-wanted Christians in the region—those who were working among Muslims. Fani was number eight on the list for living a bold Christian life, sharing the gospel, and baptizing former Muslims.

“Oh my goodness, I saw this news on TV, but I didn’t know he was one of them,” our translator said after Fani explained what he had just handed me. Fani’s inclusion on the list didn’t bother him. He was actually thrilled to see his name in the paper.

“I am very happy because my name is on the list,” he said. “How many people can get their name on the list?”

I then asked him if he was worried since his name—and Christian faith—were now in print, for potentially thousands of Muslims to see.

“No, I have no worry,” he said. “I am not nervous. If God wants me to die in this way, why not? It is up to God. What can I do?”

» See full story with picture.

Source: Asian Access via Mission Network News, June 17, 2016

Knowledge and logic may help you win an argument, but it’s not always the most effective way to lead people to Christ. Oftentimes, just showing God’s love has the greatest impact.

That was the case with one Tibetan priest. Last year, we told you about a Buddhist Lama from Tibet who came to Christ and had a vision to plant churches throughout the valleys of the Himalayas.

Joe Handley, President of Asian Access, says one of the major reasons why this man became a Christian was because of the love believers had shown him in providing relief efforts when a natural disaster struck a nearby country a year ago.

Now, Handley has an encouraging update:

“This priest had such an influence in his community, in his nation, that 62 other Buddhist monks have now decided to follow Christ,” Handley says. “It is really remarkable.”

That’s not all. “Just within the last year alone, [church leaders] are estimating that more than 200,000 people have come to Christ as a result of the labors of the Christian community there.”

» Read full story.

Source: Operation Mobilization, June 15, 2016

Sindh is Pakistan’s largest province and includes a diverse mixture of languages and faith traditions with the majority being Muslim, a small percentage Hindu, and a minority Christian. OM trained and sent out believers to proclaim the life-changing message of Jesus to [twelve Sindhi people groups] living in ten different cities across the province.

One team visited a remote village because the team’s host heard there were believers living in the area. After going from house to house, team members reached a small mud house, where an elderly man, Najeeb, invited them in.

“Our whole family came to Christ ten years ago,” Najeeb told them. “We were rejected and faced discrimination from society for this. We remained steadfast in our faith, but the pastor stopped visiting us after two years because of fear. Now for the last eight years we were out of Christian fellowship and we thought no one would come to us.”

Team members encouraged Najeeb and his whole family, worshiped together, and gave them Christian literature in their local language. The team’s host then committed to visit Najeeb regularly.

“We thank you and praise God for this arrangement,” Najeeb expressed. “You reconnected us with the Lord!”

» Read full story.

» See also an OM story from nearby Bangladesh on Crossing the Distance Online as well as a recent report on The Nomads of Our World.