Category: News Briefs

Source: International Christian Concern, March 6, 2024

After seeing the rise of oppressive governments, ICC’s Africa Regional Team created a comprehensive report on a repressive regime that mainstream media often forgets.

Eritrea is north of Ethiopia and Somalia on the Horn of Africa. Eritrea is often not covered in the news due to its lack of natural resources or strategic location. Despite the lack of interest from many international politicians, Eritrea holds value because of its rich history of Christianity. Tracing back to Semitic tribes living in Eritrea in 1000 BCE, Eritrea was home to some of the world’s first Christians. Through years of conflict and devastation, Eritrea has found itself governed by a dictator who commits egregious crimes against the people of his nation. Under his rule, thousands of people have died during a 30-year war, been imprisoned because of their religious beliefs, and fled the country to escape the oppressive regime.

Conditions in the “North Korea of Africa” have deteriorated with no acceptance of blame from [Ethiopian President Isaias] Afwerki. The report provides a concise yet robust historical and current overview of Christian persecution, two case studies of Christians in Eritrea, and policy recommendations. Through this report, ICC intends to raise awareness of the plight of Christians in Eritrea and recommend ways government leaders can alleviate their suffering.

Read the whole story.

In another religious liberty news story from East Africa, Christian Solidarity International reports that they helped free 1,500 Christian Sudanese slaves in the last year (Christian Broadcasting Network).

Source: Religion News Service, March 4, 2024

Terra Nueva is a tough area. Potholed roads make journeys difficult. Shops on the main thoroughfares are rundown. Many families have endured poverty and disruption since the time of the nation’s civil war, which lasted nearly four decades and led many rural families to move to the metropolitan area’s relative safety. But the cities have a high level of crime, much of it linked to gangs.

Many children in the Guatemala City metropolitan area leave school at 14. In rural areas it can be as young as eight. For those who do attend, there’s often a shortage of teaching materials, including textbooks and modern reading devices. In Mixco, 650 pupils share just 12 computers.

In response to these challenges, Mixco school administrators have introduced a program created by the Bible Society in the United Kingdom called Open the Book that dramatizes Bible stories, with students singing and dancing along as a way of learning both reading and the Bible.

Read or listen to the whole story. to see how the community is changing.

You might also be interested in another RNS story about iBible, a new animated Bible series aims to reach post-reading generation. Looks like it will launch on Easter.

1. World: Churches Accelerate Progress Toward the Bible in Every Language
2. Middle East: Regional Leaders Worry as Ramadan Approaches
3. Tanzania: 11 YWAM Missionaries Killed in a Road Accident
4. Algeria: Ministry Leader Charged for Holding an Unauthorized Assembly
5. Tajikistan: Demand for Exorcisms on the Rise, Despite Crackdown

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Source: Mission Network News, February 16, 2024

Approximately 1,300 languages still lack God’s Word, but that number is shrinking at a faster rate with every passing year. In 1999, new translation projects were begun every two weeks on average. Now, the pace has accelerated to every 17 hours, according to Wycliffe USA.

John Chesnut, President and CEO of Wycliffe USA, recently visited a church translating Scripture in Madagascar. “They drafted four full Bibles in four years. And then they said, ‘Hey, we want to get the quality better. Can you come help us?’”

“They will dedicate four completed New Testament translations this summer. The translations are part of a goal Wycliffe USA set 25 years ago and hopes to complete next year. They called it Vision 2025 and started praying for Bible translation to begin in every remaining language.

“It was really a God-sized prayer saying, ‘Lord, what would we need to do in order to see all these languages started by 2025?’” says Chesnut.

Praise God that churches like those in Madagascar are stepping up to the challenge. Wycliffe USA reports more and more churches are engaging in Bible translation for their local languages.

Read the full story.

See also From Flicker to Flame, a short documentary from Ethnos360 about the dedication of the Simbari Bible (Papua New Guinea) and read an OMF report about the dedication of the new Tampuan Bible Dedication (Cambodia).

See also Wycliffe Bible Translators to Sell Florida Headquarters (Ministry Watch).

Source: Mission Network News, March 5, 2024

Senior U.S. and Israeli leaders are meeting in Washington this week to discuss the Gaza crisis. The U.S. began humanitarian aid drops this weekend in the latest attempt to alleviate suffering.

Hamas officials have not agreed to a temporary ceasefire that Israel signed off on, so the war rages on, sending ripple effects throughout the region.

“Remember that whatever is happening in Gaza is affecting not only the surrounding countries but also the whole Middle East—Yemen, Dubai, Jordan, Egypt,” Fadi Sharaiha with the MENA Leadership Center says.

“All over the Arab world, people are feeling it.”

The timing of Israel’s potential expansion into Rafah has some Middle Eastern leaders on edge. Ramadan—the Islamic month of fasting—begins the same day Israel vows to begin its assault on Rafah.

Read the full story. Other sources are also reporting uneasiness across the region.

Please take a minute to watch this video from INcontext and pray.

Source: Evangelical Focus, February 27, 2024

A Christian ministry lost 11 of its members in a traffic accident in Tanzania (Africa) on Saturday, November 24.

“Leaders and students” taking part of a masters program of YWAM were “on a field trip with other local YWAMers” near the city of Arusha. “One mini-bus was struck and overrun by a large truck with failing brakes,” YWAM Ships Kona said.

“Five injured individuals are still hospitalized and two more people in critical condition to be rallied around in prayer,” an update the day after the incident said.

Other media, citing official sources in the country, confirm that a total of 25 people died: one girl, 10 women, and 14 men. Among the dead were an American, a South African, and a Kenyan. The injured included people from Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Switzerland, the U.K., and Mali.

Local and international leaders of YWAM were trying to respond to the tragedy on the ground with details of repatriation, medical evacuation, family support, and funeral arrangements.

YWAM has opened a link for donations to help pay for expenses that are expected to rise to US$350,000.

Read the full story with prayer points.

In a February 26 letter, YWAM Cofounder Darlene Cunningham said, “We have not seen a tragedy of this magnitude in all of YWAM’s history and we are all devastated.”

Source: Middle East Concern, March 5, 2024

Pastor Ourahmane is a senior pastor overseeing a number of churches and Bible schools in several areas of [Algeria], in addition to his responsibility as vice president of an association of more than 45 Protestant churches.

In March 2023, he was investigated by the authorities, after a small number of Christian families spent three days during a school holiday in a church compound under his supervision. The compound has a small church, which had been sealed in 2019 by an order from the governor of the province.

Pastor Ourahmane was not informed of the court hearing or the verdict (two years in prison and a fine) until mid-September 2023. He was charged with holding an unauthorized religious assembly (worship) and holding worship in a building not permitted for worship. The charges are based on two articles of the Ordinance to Regulate non-Muslim Worship, enacted in 2006.

On November 19, there was hearing appealing the verdict [but] the sentence was upheld. Pastor Ourahmane has filed a further appeal.

Prosecuting the vice president of the EPA is an escalation of a campaign, started in 2017, to close Protestant churches and harass leaders. Only a handful of churches are still open. Several Christians, especially church leaders, have faced court cases on different charges.

Read the full story.

See also Africa’s Largest Mosque Inaugurated in Algeria After Years of Delays (The Guardian). It features the world’s tallest minaret and its prayer room can accommodate 120,000 people.

Source: Radio Free Europe, February 25, 2024

Exorcism is a key source of income for Sabohiddin Shodiev, a popular cleric in his rural community on the outskirts of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. Shodiev—not his real name—says that every week he treats about 15 clients who ask him to expel what they believe is an evil spirit, or jinni, possessing them, or to rid them [of] “an evil eye.”

The 53-year-old cleric has been practicing exorcisms—which he learned to do from his father—for more than two decades. Most of Shodiev’s clients come from Dushanbe and nearby districts, but some travel from faraway regions to seek his help.

Three Tajik clerics who spoke to RFE/RL claimed the demand for exorcisms is on the rise in the predominately Muslim country.

There are no official statistics in Tajikistan on exorcisms or the number of people performing the centuries-old practice, which survived decades of religious crackdowns during the atheistic Soviet era and most recently the Tajik government’s attempts to restrict exorcisms.

Some Tajiks see the ongoing efforts by the secular government as a way to keep a tab on “all things religious.” As part of that campaign, Islamic hijabs have been banned in schools and offices, while growing a long or bushy beard is frowned upon for young men.

Read the full story.

(Copyright © 2024 RFE/RL, Inc. Used with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty).

Also from Tajikistan, some there are speaking out about local popstars wearing immodest clothing (Eurasianet).

1. Middle East: A Former Aide to Arafat Believes Revival Will Break Out After the War
2. USA: What Happened at Asbury University?
3. Iceland: After 1,000 Years, a New Temple Built to the Norse Gods
4. Infographic: 2024 Will Be a “Super Election” Year
5. USA: A Buddhist Monk Asks How to Share the Gospel

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Source: God Reports, February 8, 2024

A former sharpshooter Muslim and aide to Yasser Arafat, Taysir “Tass” Abu Saada strongly believes a revival will break out after the Israel-Hamas war.

“We are looking at a good revival going on already in the Gaza Strip due to what has happened,” [Saada] told CBN. “Despite the destruction that is taking place, I believe God has a purpose to get the Palestinians in Gaza to wake up and look at different alternatives to what they believe.”

[Saada] is himself a Palestinian, though born in Qatar. He passed through the Palestinian militant ranks from sharpshooter to aid to former PLO Chairman Yassar Arafat. Today, however, he is a Christian overseeing teams who evangelize in the West Bank and Gaza.

In the CBN report, [Saada] confirmed an earlier story that 200 Gazans received Jesus en masse when they all received the same dream about Jesus on the same night.

The full story includes a link to an interview with Saada. More of his personal story is told in a 2010 Tyndale House book, Once an Arafat Man: The True Story of How a PLO Sniper Found a New Life.

A Missions Catalyst reader asked if we’d heard the reports that 200 Gazans dreamed of Jesus on the same night in November. We had our doubts and couldn’t confirm the story. This one seems a step closer to the source. Pretty wild, though. Let’s pray for God to bring revival by any means he chooses.