Missions Catalyst 07.20.11 – World News Briefs

In This Issue: The Church That Keeps on Growing

  • KAZAKHSTAN: “Absurd” Charges for Praying for the Sick
  • IRAN: Christianity’s Appeal Rising
  • WORLD: Baptists Embrace 3,800 People Groups
  • BANGLADESH: Christians Cleared, Face New Charge
  • IRAQ: The Church That Keeps on Growing
  • NIGERIA: Seluja Church Targeted
  • EVENTS: Support-raising Solutions

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!

Greetings!

Christians in Kazakhstan are accused of hypnosis; believers in Bangladesh are charged with “hurting religious sensibility.” In our last edition of news briefs we reported the release of a significant document on best practices for Christian witness in a multi-religious world. What’s the connection? Just that as heaven watches earth, so does hell. What would the response be from each if more Christians were both faithful and wise in sharing their faith? What if we were more united?

By the way, it seems to me that the “click through” numbers for Missions Catalyst have dropped. After each issue goes out I like to see which story gets the most attention. It’s rewarding for me to know you are praying. It also clues me in to what you like best.

I’d like to let you in on something: The headlines are not always the best reading. Sometimes the links at the end of many items point to the better story. We may not run those items as headline news simply because we have not secured permission from the original publishers to do so. So think of the news briefs as a hot fudge sundae with nuts – there’s some real good stuff at the bottom.

I’m watching, so click away!

Pat

KAZAKHSTAN: “Absurd” Charges for Praying for the Sick

Source: Forum 18, July 5, 2011

Pastor Yerzhan Ushanov of Taraz could face up to two years’ imprisonment if criminal charges of harming an individual’s health, brought by the KNB secret police, reach court. The KNB claim a visitor to the church suffered after Pastor Ushanov prayed for him using hypnosis.

“This is not the first time the authorities in southern regions of Kazakhstan [brought] such absurd accusations against pastors for allegedly using hypnosis, while in reality all they do is pray for the sick,” church members complained to Forum 18 News Service. The police’s Department for the Fight against Extremism, Separatism, and Terrorism then raided the church’s Sunday worship after an alleged complaint of food poisoning, and the KNB searched Pastor Ushanov’s home.

>> Full story.

IRAN: Christianity’s Appeal Rising

Source: Worthy Christian News, June 6, 2011

An increase in the arrest of Iranians converting from Islam reveals an abundant harvest resulting from evangelism by clandestine house churches in the Islamic state, according to Iranian Christian leaders.

“Persecution has escalated to an unprecedented level,” said Abe Ghaffari, executive director of Iranian Christians International. The increase in persecution is believed to be directly proportional to the number of Iranian Muslims converting to Christianity, estimated [to be] in the thousands. Many of those conversions may have begun after the Islamic state lost credibility in the disputed 2009 national elections.

Government persecution is making Christianity even more attractive, said David Yeghnazar [of Elam Ministries]. “When government officials are on television telling people not to read the Scriptures, that generates more interest in the Scriptures,” he said.

>> Full story.

>> Read Reliving the Book of Acts, a story about Iranian asylum seekers in Germany (OM Headlines), and Persecution: Does It Help or Hurt Church Growth? (Operation Reveille).

WORLD: Baptists Embrace 3,800 People Groups

Source: Baptist Press, June 29, 2011

“Let’s get to it already. We’re ready to roll.”

Micah Fries’ sentiment echoed throughout the crowd as IMB President Tom Elliff gave an invitation during the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting June 14-15 in Phoenix, Arizona. Elliff told messengers he felt like he was “holding back a dam” of Southern Baptists ready to walk forward and “embrace” the remaining 3,800 unengaged, unreached people groups around the globe.

Al Jackson, pastor of Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn, Alabama, said he wasn’t surprised when he saw the number of people rise up from their seats to respond to the challenge that night.

While Lakeview Baptist continues to work among Arab Swahili[-speaking] people along Africa’s east coast, Jackson said he wants the church to keep learning and finding ways to help reach the unengaged [and] unreached.

“For pastors, we’re inundated with the immediate,” he said. “It’s easy to let the unseen be neglected, [but] God is a God of nations.”

>> Full story with pictures. Check out the IMB’s compelling video at Call2embrace. Could it be used by non-Baptists, too?

>> See also Strategic Partnership Targets the Unreached (YWAM Frontier Mission News).

BANGLADESH: Christians Cleared, Face New Charge

Source: Compass Direct, July 11, 2011

Police in Bangladesh have charged two Christians and their four Muslim friends with “hurting religious sensibility” just three days after they were cleared of any wrongdoing.

A group of Christians under the direction of the Way of Peace movement had arranged a two-day health camp offering free treatment to poor villagers in Damurhuda earlier this year. Around 100 villagers attended the camp for free treatment on March 23, and a Japanese doctor treated them. The next day, more than 400 people were supposed to attend the health camp.

The Japanese volunteer doctor offered Christian leaflets and Bibles to the patients, telling them they were under no obligation to take the literature, sources said. Area Muslims stirred up residents against the doctor [and] had police arrest the Christians. The foreign doctor was not named in either of the cases filed against the six nationals.

One of the accused, 30-year-old Christian convert Nurul Islam, told Compass that the Japanese doctor had discussed with villagers the devastation of the earthquake and the tsunami that ripped through northeastern Japan on March 11, showing some pictures of its destruction published in newspapers.

“He also talked about life, how transient it is, and also about eternal life in the after-world,” said Islam. “He recited some verses from the Bible about eternal life and how to achieve it. Then he told the people that he had Bibles [anyone] could take if they liked.”

“The police investigation alleged that we were propagating Christianity under the cover of free treatment,” Islam said. “If we had that kind of motive, we would not seek permission from the government and police. We would have done it secretly.”

Villagers were not upset about the Bible distribution, he said.

>> Full story with picture.

IRAQ: The Church That Keeps on Growing

Source: OM Newsbytes, July 2011

St. George’s Church, located in Baghdad’s Red Zone, is one of the only Anglican churches in Iraq. Though an estimated 800,000 Christians have fled the area in recent years, the church has grown to 4,000.

Iraqi Anglican Canon White estimates more than 550 Muslims attend St. George’s, though there may be more. Last year he baptized 13 Muslims; within a week, 11 of them were murdered. Says White, “We say to them, ‘You realize this is dangerous;’ and they always say, ‘We just love and want to follow Jesus.'”

To guard against suicide bombers and other attacks, at least 30 armed officers surround St. George’s. Each worshiper is searched before entering the building. But with unrest now part of daily life, White says the church must be a beacon of peace to a nation filled with turmoil.

“When you’ve lost everything you realize that Jesus is all you have left.”

>> Full story.

>> Give a listen to Iraq: Country of Hope, an interview with Norm and Cher Nelson (Compassion Radio).

NIGERIA: Seluja Church Targeted

Source: Christian Solidarity, July 13, 2011

According to an eyewitness, a bomb was thrown into the premises of an Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) church in the Madalla suburb of Suleja while members of the congregation were taking part in a weekly prayer service on Monday, July 11. The bomb fell short of the church building, damaging the outer walls and causing no injury.

The first bomb attack on a church in Suleja occurred on Sunday, July 10, when three people were killed and three injured in an explosion at the All Christian Fellowship Mission during a church committee meeting. On the same day, dozens were injured in Kaduna State when a bomb exploded in a dustbin at a popular night spot.

>> Full story with picture.

>> For an encouraging observation, read The Danger of a Single Story and the Good Samaritans of Arewa (Carmen McCain).

EVENTS: Raising Support?

Support Raising Solutions is planning several Personal Support Raising Bootcamps:

July 21-22: Colorado Springs, CO, USA

August 18-19: Fayetteville, AR, USA

September 19-20: Alexandria, LA, USA

>> Learn more and find  other resources to help you raise support on the SRS website.
Pat Noble has been the “news sleuth” for the Missions Catalyst since 2004. In addition to churning out the news, she is working to create a SWARM (Serving World A Regional Mobilizers) in Northern New York using the NorthernChristian.org website. You can connect with her at www.whatsoeverthings.com.


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