In This Issue: News from Egypt, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and More
- INTERNATIONAL: Disasters a Wake-up Call for Global Leaders
- ETHIOPIA: Convert Languishing for Handing Out Bibles
- INDIA: Festivals Are Times for Intercession
- BURKINA FASO: The Land of Upright People
- EGYPT: Christians Arrested for Publicly Eating During Ramadan
- UKRAINE: Prayer Group in Parliament
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.
INTERNATIONAL: Disasters a Wake-Up Call for Global Leaders
Source: World Vision, October 2, 2009
World Vision, one of the world’s leading emergency response agencies, says the recent series of disasters throughout Asia should be a wake-up call to the global community to fund efforts that reduce risk and save lives.
The aid agency, an expert in disaster risk reduction (DRR), works with communities all over the world to help reduce their vulnerabilities to disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis, and says that DRR funding must be a priority for global governments and donors.
>> Full story.
>> For updates, pictures, and videos I suggest The Guardian’s latest on Indonesia, Samoa, and the Philippines.
>> For donations, consider Humanitarian International Services Group, YWAM (donations split evenly between Indonesia and the Philippines unless you specify otherwise), Operation Mobilization (for the Philippines), PIONEERS (for Indonesia), and World Vision.
>> Feel called to do more than give and pray? Check out the Starfish Community.
ETHIOPIA: Convert Languishing for Handing Out Bibles
Source: Compass Direct, September 16, 2009
A convert from Islam who has led a push for Muslim-Christian understanding in Ethiopia has been in jail for nearly four months since his arrest for “malicious” distribution of Somali-language Bibles bearing covers that resemble the Quran, the sources said.
A source who requested anonymity said authorities likely are secretly planning to transfer [39-year-old Bashir Musa Ahmed] to [another] jail, in part to prevent other Christians from visiting him.
The source told Compass that Ahmed’s own relatives and tribe instigated the arrest with the intent of stopping him from spreading Christianity in the region.
Following a recent visit to Ahmed, the source said he looked strong in faith but seemed to have lost weight and was in need of clothes.
>> Full story.
INDIA: Festivals Are Times for Intercession
Source: Baptist Press News, October 1, 2009
Hindu festivals are “full of celebration, music, food, dancing,” Southern Baptist worker Gene Yaussy reports.
“Many times at the end of these festivals, the area resembles the state fairgrounds once all the rides have gone. Trash litters the ground and all the people have gone home.
“It is at this time that I am asking you to pray specifically for the people who are now facing the true emptiness of their faith as these many days of celebration have ended without any response from their gods.”
October is a month full of such festivals:
October 2 Gandhi Jayant
October 3 Lakshmi Puja
October 4 Valmiki Jayanti
October 8 Karwa Chauth
October 17 Deepawali or Diwali
October 17 Kali Puja
October 19 Bhai Dooj / Bhai Phota / Bhav-Bij
>> Full story.
>> Editor’s note: Download Vedic Bridge (scroll to the bottom of the page), a tract in English, Hindi, Bengali, or French to print and share with Hindu friends. I am going to use them on our missions table at church. Great stuff!
BURKINA FASO: The Land of Upright People
Source: Global Recordings Network News – Inside Tracks, October 2009
Burkina Faso is a landlocked, drought- and famine-prone country on the edge of the Sahara in West Africa [and] formerly known as Upper Volta.
Burkina Faso means “The land of upright people.” Its capital is Ouagadougou (pronounced waagadoogoo)!
In one village there was a woman known locally as “The cannibal of people’s souls.” She came to our meeting with the intent to cause trouble. We showed a film about a woman with the same name, and amazingly the woman in the film was just like this local woman.
The woman in the film came to Christ after someone prayed for her. The film frightened the local woman and with a loud cry she ran up to the pastors and asked for prayer, confessing the terrible things she had been doing for many years. The next day many came in secret to give their lives to Jesus.
>> Editor’s note: See also this video of missionaries Keith and Lynne Smith’sBurkina wedding ceremony. It is only 10 minutes long. I got a kick out of the vows. Keith and Lynne are with World Horizons working with the Fulani people. Read Keith’s blog, Under the Acacias.
EGYPT: Christians Arrested for Publicly Eating During Ramadan
Source: Operation Mobilization NewsBytes, September 2009
Authorities in southern Egypt have arrested 155 Christians and other non-Muslims for publicly eating and drinking during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan. Human rights organizations were quick to react, calling the arrests both illegal and unconstitutional.
“Every citizen has the right to eat and drink in Ramadan without being harassed,” Gamal Eid of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information told Al Arabiya. “This means that the government is implicitly endorsing turning Egypt into a religious state.”
Area Christians also feel that police are turning a blind eye to the burning of a Coptic Church near Cairo on September 8, which they believe was deliberate. Police said it was caused by a short circuit even before making an arson investigation.
>> Email OM to sign up for NewsBytes.
UKRAINE: Prayer Group in Parliament
Source: ASSIST News, September 10, 2009
Pavlo Unguryan, a Christian member of the Ukrainian Parliament, has told ANS that there is now a prayer group in the Parliament building in Kiev.
“This is truly a miracle of God. For the last eighteen years, we didn’t have any believers in our parliament, then one year ago, we had some re-elections and four evangelical Christians were elected in the Parliament. They are all Protestants in one partial party block.
“We have five political parties in our parliament, but just one block or party has Protestant evangelical believers in it. One year ago, in September 2008, we started a prayer group for these four members of Parliament. Every Tuesday morning, we unite to read Bible together and pray the Lord’s Prayer.
“I am delighted to say that now, in our parliamentary prayer group, it has grown to twelve members which also include Orthodox and Catholic Christians, as well as members from different political parties.”
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE MISSION EVENTS CALENDAR
October 29, 2009 MP3 Puget Sound Mission Network (Renton, WA, USA). New network for mission pastors and leaders. Come for lunch and a panel discussion. Future meetings are planned for the third Thursday of each month. Write to Dave.
>> See this list of other mission networks in US cities.
>> More events.
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