Missions Catalyst 07.21.10 – World News Briefs

In This Issue: Gospel Counter-terrorism, Quichua Missionaries, and More

  • NIGERIA: Counter-terrorism by Preaching the Gospel
  • ECUADOR: Dedicated Quichua People Follow Missionaries to Asia
  • INDONESIA: Group Forms Militia-training Units
  • RUSSIA: Dagestan Pastor Murdered
  • NEPAL: Perfect Place for a Church
  • NORTH KOREA: Jailed U.S. Christian Attempts Suicide

Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!

World News Briefs, edited by Pat Noble, are published twice a month.

NIGERIA: Counter-terrorism by Preaching the Gospel

Source: Joel News, July 5, 2010

Kelechi Okengwu has taught many to face their fears. This 32-year-old Nigerian evangelist will probably never star in a movie or be featured on the evening news, but he has been a role model. Converted to Christ at 21, Kelechi has spent the past decade reaching dangerous militants who are spreading violence on Nigeria’s university campuses. Through his Gospel Mania Project, the young preacher shares his faith with leaders of The Black Axe, Brotherhood of the Black Brigade, The Big Eye, The Pyrates, The Buccaneers, and The Mafia – clandestine groups that mix African occultism with drugs and violence to spread fear and political instability throughout the country.

…Kelechi has led more than 400 of these dangerous young men and women to Jesus.

As if this level of danger isn’t enough for him, Kelechi has taken on a new and even riskier assignment in the past six months. He and his disciples are now evangelizing the Muslim terrorists who have been setting up training camps in northern Nigeria. They identify young Nigerian men who are being radicalized by Islamists from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya, and Afghanistan. Then they attempt to share Christ with them. It is the ultimate in counter-terrorism – with no bombs or bullets involved. Kelechi’s weapons consist only of (1) the Bible, (2) unconditional love and (3) lots of fasting and prayer.

>> Subscribe to Joel News.

>> Editor’s note: The villages of Maza and Areh, near Jos, were attacked last weekend. I have found a great source for accurate and up-to-date information on the news of Nigeria’s Plateau State is Carmen McCain’s blog, A Tunanina.

ECUADOR: Dedicated Quichua People Follow Missionaries to Asia

Source: Baptist Press, July 9, 2010

Sam and Chelsea Cordell (names changed) recently left 10 years of mission work with the Quichua in Ecuador to start churches among slum dwellers in a South Asian city of 14 million people. Before they left, 18 Quichua Christians committed to help the Cordells spread the gospel in their new location.

“This is an exciting example of what we want to see more and more from the Americas,” says Terry Lassiter, an IMB strategist for the American peoples.

“The idea of minority indigenous peoples doing this shows us that the Great Commission task is for all peoples.”

“These are experienced and fruitful church planters,” says another IMB missionary who will be supervising the Cordells in South Asia.

“This has great potential for the gospel in South Asia,” he adds. “We are standing on the threshold of a Great Commission breakthrough.”

>> Full story.

INDONESIA: Group Forms Militia-training Units

Source: ASSIST News, June 30, 2010

International Christian Concern says it has learned that a call to form religious militia units was made last weekend at the second Bekasi Islamic Conference, a gathering of 2,000 representatives from regional Islamic organizations. Nine of the attending organizations joined to create a group called Bekasi Islamic Presidium tasked with preparing local mosques for a war against “Christianization.”

“Apparently [Christians] want to test our patience. We are planning to invite them for a dialogue to determine what they really want. If talks fail, this might mean war,” stated Murhali Barda, General Secretary of the Bekasi chapter of the Islamic Defender’s Front (FPI) to The Jakarta Globe newspaper. Murhali went on to claim that Christians are actively baptizing Muslim converts and “are on to something.”

The head of the Bekasi Islamic Congress, Saleh Mangara Sitompul, issued a number of recommendations to the Bekasi government in line with Sharia law and recommended that every mosque in Bekasi form its own paramilitary unit.

>> Full story.

>> Also read NGOs Welcome EU-Indonesia Human Rights Dialogue and Call for Priority Focus on Religious Freedom (Christian Solidarity Worldwide).

RUSSIA: Dagestan Pastor Murdered

Source: Barnabas Aid, July 16, 2010

A dynamic Christian pastor has died after being shot in the head as he was leaving church, in what is being seen as a bid to intimidate converts from Islam in the strongly Islamic republic of Dagestan.

Artur Suleimanov (49), himself a convert from Islam, was murdered by a gunman who approached and opened fire as the pastor got into a car outside Hosanna House of Prayer in the capital, Makhachkala, on Thursday, July 15. Pastor Suleimanov leaves behind a wife, Zina, and five children, the youngest of whom is 12 years old.

Mr. Suleimanov’s church is one of the largest Protestant churches in Dagestan. In a context where Christians face regular harassment and intimidation, his life had been threatened on several previous occasions.

>> Full story with picture.

>> See also: Pentecostal Pastor Shot Dead in Dagestan (Worthy News).

>> Also read Christians Become Ghostlike with Increased Muslim Influence (Mission Network News).

NEPAL: Perfect Place for a Church

Source: OM International, July 1, 2010

We were clawing our way slowly up a steep, rocky trail when we saw a man racing towards us from the village perched on the hill far above. He reached us quickly, and as he caught his breath we explained that we had come to distribute Christian books. The man’s reaction was immediate and enthusiastic, “Come to my village and tell me more about what Christians believe!” The man was a teacher at the village school, and he called for several other interested teachers to come and hear about Christianity.

As we talked, the teachers were fascinated by the message of the gospel. “Stay with us three or four days and teach us more!” they urged. We quickly decided to extend our planned one-night stay.

When it was time to leave, we gave Bibles to each of the teachers. We promised to return in a few weeks to answer questions and share more about the gospel. It was only as we left the town that the first man who met us explained the importance of this village in the area. Many people passed through on their way to other villages. His point? “This village would be a perfect place to build a church!”

>> Full story.

>> Also read Nepal: Pastor Beaten by Maoists (The Voice of the Martyrs’ Persecution Blog).

NORTH KOREA: Jailed U.S. Christian Attempts Suicide

Source: The Christian Post, July 9, 2010

The American citizen sentenced to eight years in a North Korean labor camp for illegally entering the country attempted to kill himself, North Korea reported on Friday.

Aijalon Mahli Gomes, a 30-year-old man from Boston, was taken to a hospital to be treated after his suicide attempt, reported the official Korean Central News Agency. The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which looks after U.S. interest in North Korea because the two countries have no diplomatic relationship, knows about Gomes’ condition, the agency said.

Gomes, whom friends describe as a devout Christian, was captured after crossing into reclusive North Korea from China on January 25. He was sentenced in April to eight years of hard labor and fined 70 million North Korean won, or about $700,000, for “hostile acts” against the country.

Prior to entering North Korea, Gomes worked as an English teacher in a northern town in South Korea.

>> Full story.

>> Editor’s note: Please join Christians worldwide in a special day of prayer for North Korea next Tuesday, July 27.

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