KYRGYZSTAN: Project Toktogul

Source: Far East Broadcasting Company, January 3, 2019

On December 14, FEBC Kyrgyzstan received an FM frequency for the station they plan to launch in Naryn, a city in the central part of the country. Less than a week later, Janysh, director of FEBC Kyrgyzstan, abandoned his vehicle due to heavy snow and rode for four hours on horseback in -10-degree weather to the top of a mountain to visit the transmitter site and begin initial planning. The station is expected to be up and running by late spring or early summer once the snows have melted.

In a video sent from Janysh during his snowy trek, he explains how part of the first stages of planning involves determining whether FEBC should rent or build their own transmitter. As the staff continues to make plans for the new station, lots of funding and prayers are needed to help the station meets its launch-date goals.

» Read full story or jump to the Project Toktogul page and watch the 15-minute video, which I highly recommend. Maybe it really speaks to me because I am sitting in a deep freeze here in Northern New York!

» Readers might also be interested in a recent edition of the Global Missions Podcast exploring the question How Is God at Work in Central Asia?

INDIA: Hindus and the Ganges River

Source: International Mission Board, January 4, 2019

The Ganges River begins in the Himalayan mountain range in northeast India, near the border of China. It meanders southeast across the plains of northern India, delivering offshoots of its holy water via new rivers as it makes its way toward the Bay of Bengal on the coast of Bangladesh.

All along, as far back as history has recorded, people have asked more from the Ganges than fish, hydration, and a good bath. As early as one thousand years before Christ, people who would eventually be known as Hindus viewed the Ganges as a birthplace of the divine. It’s believed to be a crack in our physical world where the supernatural can slip through and immerse us mortals in its wonders.

Hindus have submitted various creation narratives about how the Ganges River came into existence. [Some] hold that the river not only sprung from a god but is itself a goddess. Rajiv Malik, a writer for Hinduism Today, summarized this view by writing, “Ganga is a living Goddess who can be felt in one’s life and can have a positive and profound impact every time one has her divine [viewing].” People with Malik’s view will refer to the river as Mother Ganga.

Despite the varied opinions, the cornerstone of most Hindu beliefs about the Ganges River is that because of its divine origin, it offers divine opportunity. For that reason, people travel for days and stay weeks along the riverbanks, hoping to siphon a bit of blessing and peace.

» Read full story.

» Let’s pray for the up to 150 million people who will participate in this year’s Kumbh Mela pilgrimage. See Why Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj Is Festival to End All Festivals or see it in dramatic pictures (The Guardian). See also In a Muslim-Majority Country, a Hindu Goddess Lives on (National Geographic) or watch the Prayercast video on praying for Hindus.

WORLD: Five Tech Trends That Will Impact Mission

Source: International Mission Board, January 14, 2019

In 1949, Father Roberto Busa approached Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM, with a simple proposal: let’s bring words to your computer! Busa recognized God’s ultimate creativity and dominion over all creation. And he challenged Watson to take the computer beyond pure computational power and make it work with text.

Busa was motivated by a desire to digitize the works of Thomas Aquinas so they could be accessible to anyone with a computer, but the result was that digital text revolutionized communication. Busa once said, “Since man is a child of God and technology is a child of man, I think that God regards technology the way a grandfather regards his grandchild.”

I wonder what God thinks of his technological grandchildren today? Is he pleased with the way we have used our God-enabled creativity to create the tech that is impacting this world?

Let’s take a quick tour of five technology-enabled trends and explore their implications for Christian mission.

1. Uberization
2. Blockchain
3. Surveillance
4. Artificial intelligence
5. Internet of things

» Read full story and consider each trend’s implications. I learned a lot!

AFRICA: Putting Jesus’ Teachings into Practice

Source: Frontiers USA, January 21, 2019

“No, don’t beat the thieves,” Sheikh Idriss said into the phone as I sat in his simple home on the edge of the village. “And don’t arrest them, either. Let them go and tell them to come to the civil court tomorrow morning.”

The thieves were two poor women. They’d been caught stealing corn from the sheikh’s fields. The normal response was to punish them with a beating.

For several weeks, Idriss and I had been studying the Bible together. Most recently, we’d read about forgiveness, and today, Idriss saw a chance to put Jesus’ teachings into practice.

“Jesus says to forgive them,” Idriss said to me after finishing the phone call. “I want to take these things we’re studying in the Word and teach them to my people.”

Idriss leads a Muslim tribe of almost 100,000 people. As a civil judge, he used to rule his court with an iron fist. Idriss still gives out firm judgments—but now he delivers them with kindness and mercy. When men and women come to him for counsel, he often presents them with a gift: a portion of God’s Word.

» Full story reports that a ministry team has shared Jesus with dozens of sheikhs in this region. Some have clearly declared Jesus their Savior.

» See also another story from Africa, this one from Togo, Gospel Workers Push through Hardship (Christian Aid Mission).

WORLD: High Levels of Persecution in 73 Countries

Source: World Watch Monitor, January 16, 2019

In its latest annual survey of 150 countries monitoring how difficult it is to live as a Christian, the 2019 World Watch List showed extreme, very high, or high levels of persecution [in 73 countries]. A year earlier, it was 58 countries.

[Open Doors] reports that new laws in China and Vietnam seek to control all expression of religion. It says that in China, it’s the worst religious repression there’s been in more than a decade; some even say since the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976.

In the north and Middle Belt of Nigeria, meanwhile, at least 3,700 Christians were killed for their faith—almost double the number of a year ago (an estimated 2,000)—with villages completely abandoned by Christians forced to flee, as their armed attackers then move in to settle, with impunity.

Nationalistic governments such as India and Myanmar continue to deny freedom of religion for their sizeable Christian minorities, sending the very clear message that to be Indian, one must be Hindu, or to be Burmese one must embrace Buddhism. Extreme persecution also comes at the hands of radical Islamic militias.

In Mexico and Colombia, persecution mainly comes when church leaders challenge corruption and cartels. But, globally, it also comes from family and friends, from fellow-villagers and work colleagues, from community councils and local government officials and from police and legal systems. Christian women and girls face more persecution pressure in family and social spheres; men and boys are more likely to experience the brunt of pressure from the authorities or militias.

» Read full story and see the 2019 World Watch List Report.

Scanning the Edges, Rustling the Hedges

Missions-Catalyst-no-tagline_largedaniel-chen-193019-unsplashScanning the Edges, Rustling the Hedges

Where field meets woods or fence meets field, that’s where the wild things are.

By Shane Bennett

Over Christmas and New Year, I’ve been tooling around Indiana and Ohio. Good days in real places… driving roads so hilly a Rambler could catch air… looking out over ponds and fields and woods, trying to channel my inner Wendell Berry.

Being here reminded me of one of the coolest classes I took in college, Wildlife Biology. I should have killed it. It was dead center in my sweet spot as 19-year-old. Instead, I got a C; in part because I couldn’t remember the number of square feet in an acre! (Still can’t.)

One thing in that class that did stick: the idea of “the edge,” the frontier where field meets woods or fence meets field, and the ditches that border country roads or drain acreage. That’s where biology really happens. That’s where the wild things are.

Over the years I’ve developed a habit of scanning the edge while I drive. Of course, this must be balanced with watching the road and firing off important texts. (Not really! Don’t text while driving!) I look at the road but also beyond, gazing along fence rows, scanning where weeds and trees abut. Sometimes, and with increasing frequency as the habit solidifies, my scanning is rewarded by the scamper of a squirrel, the flash of a white-tail deer, or a new bird for the life list. Simple, good pleasures for which I say thank you to the Father.

Fascinating Creatures

This is a risky metaphor, but I regularly have more passion than sense, so let’s try it: There are edges in our lives, geographic ones and social ones. These edges are inhabited by fascinating creatures. People aren’t possums and I know my unguided curiosity can reduce humans to concepts and make the amazing creatures we all are into caricatures like those drawn on the streets of Disneyland. But the point stands:

Fascinating people lie on the edges of the main pathways of our lives. As followers of Jesus our invitation is to see them. Really see them. As well as connect with them, learn from them, and when appropriate, serve them.

Jesus was the master of this. I’m sure I don’t understand the full measure of social capital he happily spent to hang out with the woman at the well in John 4. You can almost see her, shy as a bird looking for a place to hide, when Jesus strode up to her at the well, uninvited.

Scan the landscape of your life for a moment. Who’s hanging out on the edges? Who’s the woman at your well? Your Zacchaeus? Who’s sick, in body or mind?

Because you’re smart, you’re probably already dissecting the metaphor and part of your brain is saying, “Hold on, Buddy.” Here are some cautions, caveats, and cop outs:

1. Wild things are wild.

Deer are beautiful, but you don’t bring them into your living room. You don’t let raccoons ride in the car with your kids. Caution is required.

But Jesus did this kind of thing! It stresses the heck out of me. I hear about folks who are loving marginalized people, opening their homes and I think, “Those are the heroes.” Jesus gives a wonderful parable in Luke 14 to show God’s commitment to those on the edges. A man scheduled a feast and the cool people wouldn’t come. So, he went after the rest, relentlessly. We are the rest. There are still more in the hedges and the streets, the ESL classes, and the little tent towns by the river. Does God want us to take them to lunch? Invite them home for dinner and a swim? Would Jesus do it?

2. You gotta keep your eye on the road.

You have a life. People who count on you, stuff that requires your attention, commitments long since made that must be honored. There’s no time to scan the edge, is there?

Now it would be absurd for me to judge your life. But let me say something outright that this time of year invites us to consider: There may be some things we could drop, stop, ease up or let go. Bob Goff famously says you can quit anything on a Thursday. If you’re reading this article the day it goes out, that’s tomorrow.

Anything come to mind? I’m taking an almost imperceptible step in the right direction by backing off on Words with Friends. If that doesn’t kill me, I’ll look for the next way to get my phone out of in front of my face to free a little time and attention for the edge.

3. There may be other people in the car.

Your posse might not approve you caring about people in the edges. For some of us this is a bigger deal than it should be. “If the tribe thinks it’s silly, maybe I shouldn’t do it.” Personally, I’m realizing with fresh disgust how deeply I crave the approval of my people. It’s not pretty, but it’s real. Let’s face it.

Last week, driving home with a pastor friend, I pulled up by a panhandler at a stop light. I grabbed snacks someone had given me out of my bag, asked him if he was hungry, and handed them over, perhaps in part to impress my friend. That went south when he commented that the guy had been there awhile and was being used by his family who capitalize on his diminished mental state.

God gives us friends and family for our benefit. But he also gives each of us nudges, passions, and weird ideas for the benefit of that community and beyond. Grace to you as you walk out the balance. I know I need that grace.

There’s also this perennial mobilizer warning: Just because something is your thing, don’t communicate that it’s everyone’s thing. (Unless of course it’s connecting with Muslims, which clearly God wants to be everyone’s thing!)

4. Finally, you can’t live in the edge.

I’m a 53-year-old white guy. I’ll never roll with the gangs like Father Greg. As someone who can drive a manual transmission, I can only marginally relate to Millenials. And as much as I love Muslims and am honestly devoted to them and the hope of life for them, I don’t understand a fantastically huge amount more than I do understand.

We can’t be them, the people who are in the edges for us. But we can be quiet. We can listen, look, and cherish. We can risk the embarrassment of reaching out and being rebutted, being told we don’t belong. We can try to connect, risking unintentionally assuming the role of patron, walking arrogantly in our privilege. We can live maybe a little more dangerously, a little more generously. If we’re careful, we just might learn something deeper about the dignity of humanity, the shrewd power of the underprivileged and the tender heart of a great God toward those in the edge.

I want to give it a go. Care to join me?

USA: The Go Documentary

Source: Grace Church, 2018

“When it comes to missions, the world in severely unbalanced: only 2.4% of all missionaries go to the unreached; there is only one missionary for every 278,431 unreached peoples; and out of every dollar Christians give to missions, a little more than a penny goes to the unreached. These statistics broke our hearts. We wondered what we could do about it. After a long journey of discovery, we realized what the true issue was: No one knew about the problem. And if no one knows, how can anyone care?”

Two guys, one a filmmaker who serves as his church’s communication director, the other the church’s director of outreach and mobilization, led efforts to change this at their Kansas church and beyond. They and a team of creatives ended up making the Go Documentary. It explains the reality of unreached peoples and their need for Bible translation and other ministries and takes viewers on a journey to Nepal for a first-hand look.

The documentary premiered at their church in September. “We were so encouraged to see people take to heart the message of the film. Sixty families signed up to translate Bible verses into a rare Nepalese dialect.”

They’ve now entered it in multiple film festivals and are eager to see how God will use it. Well done!

» Watch the Go Documentary (37 minutes) and see the related website.

» Another story from the USA reports on the launch of a movement to prayerwalk every college and university campus in the nation by January 2020 (Intervarsity, via Mission Network News).

TURKEY: In This City

Source: Arab World Media, January 1, 2019

Istanbul, Turkey. A city where East meets West. The Bosphorus Strait, a narrow waterway, connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It also divides the city in two: half on the continent of Europe and half on the continent of Asia. Thousands from the Middle East, displaced by wars, call this city “home.” We pray that they will meet Jesus on their journey.

Most Arabs in the city are trying to get settled, secure a decent job and find some semblance of decency, community, and hope for their or their family’s future. Most hold menial, manual labor jobs and their salaries are very low. Their children are slowly being integrated into Turkish schools and Turkish society. While some still desire to return to Syria, most Arabs who have made it to Istanbul are trying to settle there as immigrants.

As a secular state, the Turkish government does not have laws against conversion or proselytism. However, social pressures and persecution are very prevalent. Friends and family members can make life difficult. There are distinct pockets of different sects and groups that are associated with ISIS and other extremist groups.

Fear inhibits new believers from sharing their faith and stunts the growth of the church among their people. Fear also prevents disillusioned Muslims from actively pursuing a life of faith in Christ. Imagine how much seeking, sharing and evangelism could happen if the barriers of fear were removed!

» See full story for facts about the city, a vision for ministry, and ways we can pray.

» Also read Now Our Faith Is Real, an account of how the gospel has spread from one family of Syrian refugees to more than 300 people meeting to read scripture (Frontiers).

NORTH KOREA: One of Five Countries Where Christmas Is a Crime

Source: Open Doors, December 6, 2018

Slowly, the five friends make their way to the women’s outhouse they use each day. They look back. No one has followed them. In the stench of the room, they gather in a corner. Saying little, always in muttered whispers, they stand quietly. One woman softly sings. Another leads a short prayer.

Year after year, this is what Christmas looks like for these believers in a North Korean labor camp. Counting the cost, they risk their lives to come together to pray and sing, reflecting on the coming of their Savior—both 2,000 years ago and one future day they all hope comes very soon.

For millions of believers like these, the celebration of our Savior entering the world must be a risk-laden secret Christmas. They know that there is a war on Christmas—and what that war really looks like.

While we see Christmas trees on every corner, persecuted believers might not ever see a single Christmas decoration. If they do, it’s only in a secret celebration because in several countries, Christmas is illegal and banned outright. Any Christmas celebration carries with it the potential for fines, arrest, and imprisonment.

» Read full story or watch the video (less than three minutes long).

» Sure, Christmas observances can obscure or distract from the message of the incarnation instead of highlighting it, but we’re rejoicing in fruit from holiday outreaches reported by churches and in missionary newsletters. And see Iraq Declares Christmas a National Holiday (Gulf News).