Day: September 20, 2017

Missions Catalyst News Briefs 09.20.17

1. USA: Nabeel Qureshi Goes Home
2. SOUTH SUDAN: New Radio Station
3. MUSLIM WORLD: “Impossible to Plant a Church in a Muslim Country”
4. PAKISTAN: VBS Ministry Reaches Thousands
5. ETHIOPIA: Church Attacked, Told to Close

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Greetings,

This edition gives us a lot to think about when we think of what it means to be the Church. Many point out the Church is not just a building or institution, and I heartily agree. But buildings and institutions can be important tools.

• The Potomac Ministry Network believes that buildings are important, doing fifteen Extreme Church Makeovers since 2010.
• During the recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida, both church buildings and people brought hope to those in the storms’ paths.
• In El Salvador, Christian Science Monitor reports that “for several hundred former gang members, help has come from perhaps an unlikely place: churches.”
• Finally, one of the craziest stories I’ve ever heard, but Snopes says it is true. The year was 1876. Read When God Used a Hurricane to Relocate a Church.

Blessings,
Pat

Watch Dr. Nabeel Qureshi (1983-2017) share his perspective on life and death in a message he shared in Houston in June.

In keeping with our theme of the Church, let me say the Church has lost a gift with the death of author and apologist Nabeel Qureshi. Christian news sites on the internet are blowing up with this news as eulogies, condolences, video clips, and quotes from Nabeel abound. Please pray with me for his family and friends, including David Wood who led him to Jesus (I hope I get to see their crazy handshake in heaven).

Nabeel summed up his recent battle with cancer well in saying:

“Without Jesus, we approach life with the expectation of death. With Jesus, we approach death with the expectation of life.”

The Church has lost the gift of Nabeel the man, but she has inherited an amazing, powerful legacy.

» Learn more (The Gospel Coalition). You might also want to read the piece Ravi Zacharias wrote about why this Muslim-turned-Christian speaker resonated with so many (The Washington Post).

Source: Words of Hope, September 18, 2017

This summer, a new radio station started airing Words of Hope Dinka radio broadcasts in South Sudan. This allows programming to be heard in more parts of the country than was previously possible. The close partnership between Words of Hope and the station allows for Christian programming to be coupled with better listener follow-up in this remote area.

The country of South Sudan continues to struggle with a long-running civil war and refugee crisis. Words of Hope currently supports radio broadcasts in three languages in South Sudan: Dinka, Nuer, and Bari. The ongoing civil war has forced many Nuer and Bari listeners out of the country and into refugee camps in Kenya and Uganda. The Words of Hope Dinka studio, located on a compound in the city of Rumbek, has been able to operate continuously since it was dedicated in May of 2013.

» Read full story and pray for growing collaboration between broadcasters, local churches, and Christian workers so that all who hear the good news and respond may be discipled.

» Did you know that South Sudanese refugees in Uganda now exceed one million? (UNHCR). The Guardian recently published a photo gallery that tells some of their stories.

Source: SBC International Mission Board, September 14, 2017

“There is no church here. There are no Christians, and,” he added, “there never will be.” His tenor and words stung. They exposed at once the great need of our city of 450,000, as well as the seemingly impossible task. But what this grizzled Muslim man, a stranger to me, didn’t know was that already there were five Muslim-background Christians meeting in my nearby home.

Today, four years later, the fledgling church in that city has disbanded. All missionaries have been forced to leave. The dozen or so local believers who once gathered have mostly moved on. Those who remain live either in isolation or secrecy. Others have fallen away. And I’m left to wonder if perhaps there was something the old man knew that I didn’t. That maybe his city is unreachable. That maybe church planting is impossible.

Without a doubt, missionaries in the Muslim world face an incredible assignment. Usually we think first of the danger or the obvious antagonism to Christianity. While such challenges are real, I can honestly say they may be the least of our worries when we seek to establish a church where there is none.

In some ways it’s easy to be an evangelist in the Muslim world. I’ve found the people friendly and hospitable. Many are overtly religious, relational, and even appreciate lively conversation about religion, God, and Jesus—more so than most Christians I know.

The challenge is this: how do you gather those who do believe?

» Read full story. Readers might also appreciate, from the same source, an article for mission workers on expectations vs. expectancy for mission workers and one for pastors on preaching the biblical basis for missions.

Source: Missions Network News, September 15, 2017

In the last couple of years, Pastor Vazir and his church made the decision to reach out to their community and bless the children there with the gospel.

Then, this summer the number of Christians in Pakistan began growing after Pastor Vazir essentially put his church’s VBS program on wheels.

“He ran 55 different VBS programs across the city of Lahore and outlying areas over the course of the three months this summer,” Bruce Allen [of Forgotten Missionaries International] shares.

“Seven thousand people attended those VBS programs and nearly 2,800 people placed their faith in Jesus Christ as a result.”

“In developing this ministry team that has fanned out in the Punjab province, what they wanted to do was identify places where there were a ton of children and youths, without a VBS program, but at least had Christians living in the community who would be there on site for follow-up,” Allens explains.

» Read full story. Also note that a surprising new census report shows Pakistan’s population has more than doubled in 20 years (Washington Post). That means a lot of children and youth.

» Another recent story from Mission Network News comes from Japan and describes a church whose paster has a vision to see churches become as common in that country as convenience stories. That would take them from 8,000 churches to 55,000 and truly impact Japan for Christ.

Source: World Watch Monitor, August 11, 2017

A Pentecostal church in Ethiopia has been ordered to stop meeting in a residential area in the wake of a mob attack on the church after which a church member was arrested for “illegal activities” that “incited religious clashes.”

The Full Gospel Church in Tikil Dingaye, 20km from the historic city of Gondar in Amhara State, previously applied for land on which to build a church, but its application was refused, leading the church to purchase a house in which to meet.

Although Ethiopia guarantees religious freedom on paper, Pentecostal churches in rural areas often face restrictions in a society dominated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC).

The attack on the church took place early in the morning of Sunday, June 11, when a mob destroyed the church’s meeting hall, offices, and the accommodation of a church worker. They also stole money from church members and assaulted some of them, including one man whose front teeth had to be removed due to the injuries he sustained.

The attackers are thought to have belonged to a student movement called Mahibere Kidusan, seen by its critics as “fanatical” in the way it operates to protect the traditions and dominance of the EOC in society.

» Read full story and others from World Watch Monitor, which reports stories from around the world of Christians under pressure for their faith.