In This Issue: News from Libya, Iraq, India, and More
- WORLDWIDE – Islamic Prophets
- INDIA – Gujarat Village Leader Stops Gang Attack
- BENIN – Voodoo Worshiper Encounters Jesus
- IRAQ – More Bloodshed, Christians Cry Out
- LIBYA – A Journey from Terrorism to Triumph
- EVENTS – Encounter Culture Online Training, Shake the Nations Conference
Missions Catalyst e-Magazine is a free, weekly electronic missions digest designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Please use this for your prayers, pass along what you learn to others, and forward this edition to anyone you think might be interested!
World News Briefs, edited by Pat Noble, are published twice a month.
WORLDWIDE – Stories of the Islamic Prophets
Source: St. Francis Magazine, August 16, 2009
Stories of the Prophets a free book on the lives of the Islamic prophets, helps you understand how Islam views its prophets, and how it views history in general. The 228-page book can be downloaded for free.
>> Source.
Editor’s note: I had to download WinZip to open this .RAR file. I’m glad I did. This book is a real treasure for anyone reaching out to Muslims. I read about Jonah and found some major differences from the biblical account; important to know if Jonah came up in a conversation!
>> In a similar vein check out the Times article, World’s First Muslim Superheroes. I found the debate about role models in the Muslim world very interesting.
INDIA – Gujarat Village Leader Stops Gang Attack
Source: Mission India, August 20, 2009
We recently received word about an attack on one of our literacy classes in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The attack happened less than a week ago.
A mob of two dozen men brazenly marched into the class wielding pipes, stones, and sticks. It was around 6 p.m. and class was just getting underway for the evening. Many of the students had already put in a full day of backbreaking work out in the fields. The Hindu extremist mob shouted threats and began hitting the students. A female student, Sapira, suffered a fractured hand, and several other students had minor injuries.
Thankfully, the village sarpanch (an elected leader) quickly arrived when he heard what was going on. He is not a Christian [but] this sarpanch has clearly already seen the benefits of literacy in his village. He stopped the gang of attackers, telling them that the class is helping the underprivileged and illiterate make a better life for their families.
In Gujarat, where this attack took place, less than 1% of the 50 million people are Christian. Nearly a third of adults are illiterate.
>> Full story with picture.
See several other stories about persecution in various parts of India:
>> From Karnataka – Hindu Militants Attack Christian Training Meeting
>> From Rajasthan – Extremist Disrupt Prayer Meeting, Attack Christians
>> From Orissa – India’s Claim to Be a Secular State Questioned in Book on Violence
BENIN – Voodoo Worshiper Encounters Jesus
Source: ASSIST News Service, August 16, 2009
It’s amazing what the Lord is doing in Benin. Voodoo worshipers are giving their lives to Jesus on a daily basis. This is the story of Abraham, who recently gave his life to Jesus after so many years of faithfulness to [the] system of African sorcery.
Dorothy Forsberg, the Benin Republic representative of Serving In Missions (SIM), added that practicing voodoo is the tradition into which Abraham [who took that name after becoming a Christian] was born. His family made regular sacrifices to the gods and visited witch doctors for healing when they were ill.
“Abraham didn’t know about Jesus. In fact, the first reports that he heard about Christians came from a neighboring village and were less than flattering,” she said.
The day came when a group of Bible school students came to share about Jesus in Abraham’s village and distributed pictures and taught them a simple song recounting the gospel.
“The song stuck with him, but he wasn’t convinced,” she noted. “He had been seeing a witch doctor for some time because of his health issues, and he was afraid that this man would kill him if he turned away from voodoo. The witch doctor had become Abraham’s ‘master’.”
>> Full story with pictures.
>> Get more glimpses of what God is doing among tribal peoples through Reach Beyond Your World, a series of 60-second radio spots from New Tribes Mission.
IRAQ – More Bloodshed, Christians Cry Out
Source: Mission Network News, August 16, 2009
After a period of relative peace, the situation in Baghdad has become worse again. There have been explosions, and many people – Christians and Muslims – have been killed in the attacks.
The most recent attack claimed the lives of 95 people, while injuring more than 500 in the heart of Baghdad.
Unfortunately, hospitals and doctors are not able to cope with the injuries and with taking care of the wounded. As a result, many of the wounded survive the explosions but die in the hospitals.
A coworker of Open Doors in Baghdad has sent three e-mails writing about the chaos in Baghdad and his emotions about the escalating violence and loss of life.
>> Full story with all three emails.
>> See also Iraqi Immigrants Struggle to Adjust to Life in the US (New York Times). You’ll have to register to read it. Scroll down to watch the video, “Uday’s New Face.” Well worth your nine minutes, 47 seconds.
LIBYA – A Journey from Terrorism to Triumph
Source: ASSIST News Service, August 23, 2009
While the majority of Lockerbie family members and US government officials are angry about the recent decision to release Abdel Basset El Megrahi on compassionate grounds and the hero’s welcome he received upon returning to Libya, one Lockerbie victim’s opinion stands in stark contrast.
Lisa R. Gibson, an American attorney who lives in Castle Rock, Colorado, lost her brother in the 1998 Lockerbie bombing. [Gibson], the Executive Director of the Peace and Prosperity Alliance and author of Life in Death: A Journey from Terrorism to Triumph, has chosen to focus her efforts on serving the country of Libya in humanitarian and education projects.
Having seen the way Libyans have also suffered, she took the Bible at its word where it says, “Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”
The PPA is working in conjunction with the Libyan government and the Gaddafi Development Foundation to build bridges of people-to-people diplomacy through service, goodwill, and humanitarian and education projects. [Gibson] hopes to meet Muamar Gaddafi for the first time in person when he visits the US in September.
>> Full story with pictures.
>> Listen to a radio broadcast of Lisa’s story.
EVENTS – Encounter Culture Online Training, Shake the Nations Conference
Source: Marti Smith, managing editor
September 15 – Encounter Culture (online, global). Become a skilled learner through this new, 10-week training course from Caleb Resources, learning techniques used since 1988 for cultural research worldwide and documented in Exploring the Land.
October 10 – Shake the Nations (Wichita, KS, USA). One-day conference explores the biblical basis for missions, the challenges of reaching the least-reached, and the need for transformational church-planting. From Mission to Unreached Peoples.
>> See the Missions Catalyst Events Calendar for additional events.
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