Ornitheology? | World News Briefs

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In This Issue:

  1. USA: Faith Takes Flight
  2. INDIA: Man “Converted by Carol Singers” Now Claims Membership in Militant Hindu Group
  3. NORTH KOREA: Five Gut-Wrenching Facts
  4. FINLAND: Reaching Russians
  5. USA: Transforming Virtual Conversations

geese smallerPhoto by Gary Bendig on Unsplash.

Greetings,

Sometimes the news is confusing. I’m not referring to opposing views. Nor am I referring to unreliable sources. Sometimes it is just confusing because we live in a crazy, broken, mixed-up world.

In some of the stories I found this week, information is simply missing or mystifying. I submit them to you knowing that Missions Catalyst readers are intercessors. We can always pray for captives to be set free, take flight, and escape “the snare of the fowler” (Psalm 124:7).

We know so little of what is really going on, but God knows.

Pat

USA: Faith Takes Flight

Source: ASSIST News Service, January 7, 2018
Editor’s note: Did you know January 5 was “National Bird Day”?

“Consider the birds” [Jesus] reminded the disciples as he discussed how God cares for them. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?” he asks his followers, stating, “Not one will be forgotten before God,” inferring the Lord will not forget his children. Jesus also compared birds to the kingdom of God: “The birds come and make nests.” Jesus references birds when discussing the fact that he has no home: “The birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” The Holy Spirit—in the form of a dove—descended upon Jesus at his baptism. Roughly 300 passages found in the Bible reference birds.

Reformer Martin Luther, called birds “our schoolmasters.” The Christian poet and clergyman George Herbert used birds in some of his poems. C.S Lewis used birds throughout his Chronicles of Narnia, showing their variety and beauty, naming over a dozen in Aslan’s kingdom.

Probably the best-known bird-watching clergyman was John Stott. As a great enthusiast of birds, Stott called his admiration of birds, “orni-theology.” One of his best-loved books is Birds Our Teachers. In this work he relates birds to subjects ranging from repentance, self-esteem, gratitude, work, freedom, joy, and love. Birds are more than just feathery fowl, but teachers tethering us to God’s grace and creativity, helping our faith take flight.

» Read full story to consider what we can learn from the birds.

» This article reminded me of what my friend, blogger Bev Ewart wrote about the Goose Poop and Glory as well as The Goldfinch.

INDIA: Man “Converted by Carol Singers” Now Claims Membership in Militant Hindu Group

Source: World Watch Monitor, December 19, 2017

An Indian man who claimed a group of carol singers illegally converted him has now said he is a member of the militant Hindu group Bajrang Dal and is unwilling to confirm his allegation. The complaint made [December 14] to the police by Dharmendra Dohar led to the arrest of 30 Christians, who insisted they were only singing songs.

When Dohar was asked by New Delhi TV if he had changed his religion, he said: “I can’t speak on this… If I do, I will get embroiled in the issue… It will be said that I’m changing my statement.” The “group,” [assumedly Bajrang Dal] he said, doesn’t want “such people (Christians) to come in here,” reported the broadcaster.

NDTV asked Dohar if it was Bajrang Dal or the police he was afraid of. He said: “I’m concerned about my family. It is because of me they got into trouble… We were told not to allow these people (Christians) to come into our homes and mingle with us.” Dohar also alleged that the carol singers paid him 5,000 rupees (US$80) and told him to “worship Jesus Christ.”

The incident took place in a village near Satna in Madhya Pradesh. The central Indian state has some of the strictest anti-conversion laws in the country.

» Full story offers some explanation but leaves questions unanswered.

» Also related to regional religious conflict: A highly anticipated Bollywood blockbuster has been delayed after a politician from India’s governing party offered a bounty on the heads of the movie’s star and director, claiming the film distorts Hindu legends (The Independent). The plight of Hindus in Bangladesh reportedly continues to deteriorate (Foreign Policy).

NORTH KOREA: Five Gut-Wrenching Facts

Source: Open Doors, December 13, 2017

In a new report on North Korean prison camps, one of the judges, a former child survivor from Auschwitz, said the conditions were as bad—or even worse—than what he witnessed in the Nazi concentration camps.

The report shared by the IBA (International Bar Association) War Committee offers chilling details from personal testimonies, video, transcripts, and scholarly works about the state of North Korea’s prison camps. We share these facts to help you understand the severe mistreatment, injustice, and abuse many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are subjected to daily within North Korea’s infamous prison camp system.

  1. There are an estimated 80,000-130,000 political prisoners held in North Korea’s prison camps.
  2. Inside the camps, prisoners are often “tortured and killed on account of their religious affiliation, with officials instructed ‘to wipe out the seed of [Christian] reactionaries.’”
  3. In one account, guards killed a prisoner’s newborn baby by feeding it to the guard dogs.
  4. The report also explains the fact that routine public executions are carried out in front of both children and adults, “designed to subdue the prison population.” In another case, the prison guards executed starving prisoners “found digging for edible plants on a mountainside.”
  5. There were many more cases reported of inhumane treatment, deliberate starvation, cruelty, abuse, rape, forced abortions, and murder. Some of the details in the report are too graphic to share.

As hard as it is to read—or even imagine—this is a reality. We can’t afford to look away from this—or to let our Christian family in North Korea feel isolated and alone.

» full story inluddes links to download the report or an executive summary.

» To learn about one ministry serving North Korean defectors, see English Opens Doors for North Koreans (One Mission Society).

FINLAND: Reaching Russians

Source: Resonate Global Mission, November 16, 2017

For many years, Alexander has sensed God calling him to plant a new church for Russians. Now in the last months, that vision is taking shape in new and exciting ways.

A Russian himself, Alexander joined a group of other leaders from his church and around the region for a leadership training event led by a missionary. Many in the group were interested in planting churches for Russian speakers outside of Russia.

“We met almost every month, and Alexander’s strategies for church planting grew over the course of the year,” says the missionary.

Through the process, Alexander felt he now had the new skills that he needed to take the next step. He answered a call from his sending church to plant a new church in Helsinki, Finland, a part of Europe with a quickly growing Russian population.

Alexander secured a job in Helsinki and started getting to know the city, connecting with other Christians as well as Russian speakers. One of the most important connections he made was with Saalem Church, a church that has a unique ministry of reaching out to the needs of the ethnic groups represented in the city.

“Saalem Church seems to do a great job embracing the immigrant population of Helsinki,” adds the missionary. “We attended the service there on a Sunday, and there were groups of people from all backgrounds.”

As Alexander’s relationship with this Finnish church grew, he shared his vision with members there, and they too supported his desire to share the gospel with Russian speakers. Saalem offered Alexander a space to worship and spiritual oversight, as well as visa support.

Today about 20 people are involved in the church for Russian speakers.

» Read full story.

» See also a thoughtful and gracious testimony, this one from a Mexican-American, about how the immigrant experience lends itself to encountering God (Christianity Today).

USA: Transforming Virtual Conversations

Source: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, December 12, 2017

Angelo Blancaflor became a missional gamer during his third year at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) when he realized something about his fellow gamers. He had been meeting with them online for years but knew little about their offline lives.

In high school Angelo and three online friends shifted their sleep schedules for almost a year in order to be awake from 1:00am to 4:00am Pacific Time so they could watch a game being streamed. “We bonded deeply because we were all a little bit crazy at those hours of the night, watching games and talking about whatever else, waiting for the games to start,” he said.

Five years later, they were still gaming friends, but not much more than that. So Angelo began to ask them about their families and what they did when they weren’t gaming. Eventually he asked if they could meet in person. As they established a new level of trust with each other, and developed curiosity about each other’s lives, sharing about his Christian faith began to naturally become part of the conversation.

» Full story explores Angelo’s thoughts about the opportunity and challenge of transforming virtual conversations into face-to-face evangelism and Bible study (something international missionaries are experiencing as well).

» See also Latest Trends in International Student Enrollment, which includes ideas for reaching international students on your local college campus (Collegiate Collective).