Greetings!
Did you catch the live stream of the big temple dedication? It was celebrated globally. More than a billion people around the world watched and 8,000 were present.
No, it wasn’t the temple in Israel. It was India’s new temple of Ram, built on the site of a former mosque and dedicated last Monday in what some see as a symbol of the nation’s turn away from the secular, multicultural vision of its founders.
As you take it in, ask the Lord to guide you in praying for India and the watching world.
You might also be interested in news about a mosque destroyed last month in Gaza. Previously, it was the site of the Dagon temple we read about Samson destroying in Judges 16:25-30 (perhaps the sort of thing described in Isaiah 42:8) and after that a Byzantine church and a Catholic cathedral (Religion News).
Thanks for praying,
Pat Noble
Source: Beyond, January 10, 2024
Wayan was known as a “wise man” or shaman. He was accustomed to using his dark arts to harm others. In the neighborhood where he lived, he was highly respected and feared because people believed he possessed great “knowledge.” Many people sought his guidance, advice, and help with mystical matters.
One day, Wayan’s wife asked him to pick some coconuts from the backyard. He agreed without giving it much thought and immediately climbed the 30-foot-high coconut tree.
Suddenly, his wife heard a loud shout from behind the house. Wayan had fallen out of the coconut tree! For the next three months, he needed assistance from his wife or someone else to carry out his daily activities.
One day, he remembered someone who had come to their village a few years before he fell ill. Ketut, a disciple of Jesus in the region, had tried to share the gospel with Wayan at that time. However, on Wayan’s orders, he had been rejected and expelled from the village. Now Wayan asked his wife to find Ketut’s address and invite him to come and pray for him.
Read what happened next. Today, Wayan is one of the leaders of a movement on his island in SE Asia. His ministry has birthed more than 2,000 disciples, 285 small groups, and 28 small group leaders.
See also a short article and video about the continuing revival in war-torn Myanmar, where one church movement has grown from 2,000 people to 7,000 in the last year (Asia Harvest)
Source: The Christian Post, January 20, 2024
The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) has reclassified India as a “restricted nation” in its 2024 Global Prayer Guide, citing the escalating radical Hindu extremism and the persecution of Christians under the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government.
The restricted nation designation is typically reserved for countries with federal laws explicitly restricting Christian worship and evangelism. The group contends that India’s situation is unique due to the ideological shift under the current government.
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election in 2014 and his subsequent reelection in 2019, Christians in India have faced increasing opposition and violent attacks in spite of constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, VOM said in a statement shared with The Christian Post.
The Christian ministry claims Modi’s administration has fostered an ideology known as Hindutva, or Hindu purity, which aims to establish a “pure” Hindu nation, explaining that this ideology has led to heightened persecution of religious minorities.
Notably, 12 Indian states have implemented laws banning what they claim are “forced” religious conversions, posing severe penalties for Christian evangelists, including lengthy prison sentences for activities as basic as sharing a Bible or praying with someone, VOM said.
The anti-conversion laws claim that Christians “force” or give money or material items to Hindus to persuade them to convert to Christianity. They typically state that no one can use the “threat” of “divine displeasure,” which means Christians can’t talk about Heaven or Hell since it would be seen as luring someone to convert.
Also from this news source, read about a new animated series on Amazon Prime getting backlash for its positive portrayal of Lucifer. Though, as another article points out, “People have been grinding out remakes of this particular fanfic since the days when they had to do it on papyrus.”
Source: East-West Blog, January 15, 2024
In the early weeks of winter, many Buddhists will celebrate the Buddha’s enlightenment on Bodhi Day. Some Buddhists observe the holiday on December 8, but Buddhists who follow the lunar calendar observe this day in January.
Enlightenment is a key aspect of Buddhism. Followers of Jesus who want to share the love of Christ with Buddhist friends should understand enlightenment and celebrations like Bodhi Day.
If your Buddhist friends celebrate Bodhi Day this year, ask what they believe about enlightenment and how it can be realized. Then, ask if you can share what you believe about suffering and the way to be liberated from it. As you do, pray that God would soften their hearts to understand the gospel and accept Jesus’ free gift of grace.
See also, an article about the (related) Chinese Laba Festival as celebrated by Buddhists in New York and described as the start of their Chinese New Year Celebration. Read Distributing Buddha’s Congee Thousands of Miles from Home and watch a short video (Religion Unplugged).
Source: Lausanne Movement, January 15, 2024
Africa became the continent with the most Christians in 2018, surpassing Latin America (which surpassed Europe in 2014). It is tremendously encouraging to see that those who were previously the object of the majority of mission endeavors have now become the major force behind present-day mission endeavors around the world.
The African continent now has 1.4 billion people and most of the world’s population growth as we head towards 2050 will be in Africa. It has been predicted that by the year 2050 one quarter of the world, as well as 50 percent of all global evangelicals, will be African.
Like the rest of the world, Africa is becoming increasingly urban, with the rise of megacities like Cairo, Lagos, and Kinshasa. By 2050, the continent is set to have four more: Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Nairobi in Kenya, Khartoum in Sudan, and Luanda in Angola.
Africa has the youngest population in the world. The 25 countries with the lowest median age in Africa are also the countries with the lowest median age worldwide. More than 50 percent of the population in Africa are youth.
Christianity is expanding from Southern Africa, as well as East Africa, yet even more rapid is the expansion of Islam from North and West Africa.
When we consider the demographics and position of the region, the church in Africa and the Middle East will to a large degree shape the future of the global church in 2050.
Read the full story for reports from a recent Lausanne gathering of 789 African and Middle East Christian influencers and leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. See also another Lausanne article, Help! I’m Scared of Younger Leaders. The headline made us smile.
To hear more from emerging leaders across the global church, plan on joining (or hosting) a watch party for the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization coming up in September. We’ll share more about that as the details are released.
Also from Africa:
Duane Frasier of Joshua Project shares about a small group near the coast of Kenya called the Dahalo. A few years ago, the number of people who prayed for them as “the unreached people group of the day” actually exceeded the total Dahalo population. But a pastor from Nairobi realized his church could be part of the answer to those prayers. He traveled by plane, bus, boat and motorcycle to reach the group, at one point in disguise to avoid attention from local extremists. But now the Dahalo have a body of believers reading Swahili Bibles brought to them by the congregation in Nairobi (Mission Frontiers). Praise God.
Read or share the email edition, or scroll down for more.
Source: International Christian Concern, December 20, 2023
In mid-December, more than 10,000 Christians in Sibu, Sarawak Region celebrated Christmas with a parade organized by the Association of Churches in Sarawak. This follows another significant Christmas caroling event in early December, where nearly 2,500 Kuching Christians and carolers gathered to sing songs, worship God, and celebrate the birth of Christ.
ICC welcomes these peaceful events in Malaysia, a nation where Christians and churches have, over many years, been attacked and persecuted. Christmas can often be a risky time for many Christians around the world.
Read the full story, or this one with lots of pictures: Record-Setting Turnouts in Recent Sarawak Christmas Gatherings (Christianity Malaysia).
Source: Christian Freedom International, December 26, 2023
Terrorists massacred at least 160 people in predominantly Christian areas in central Nigeria on December 24 and 25.
Many of those killed were preparing church Christmas programs. Most were elderly, women, and children who could not escape. [More than] 300 were wounded.
“These terrorists who attacked these Christian communities were in the hundreds, and they carried out the attacks as the hapless Christians were preparing for Christmas programs lined up by their pastors,” Dawzino Mallau told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
Local officials in central Plateau state confirmed the massacre. In one area, 113 people were killed in coordinated attacks in at least 20 villages. Hundreds of homes were also destroyed.
Read the full story with prayer points.
See also Christmas Massacres Challenge Secular Explanations of Nigeria Conflict (Christianity Today) and a more encouraging story from West Africa: In Muslim-Dominated North Ghana, Christians See an Explosion of Baptisms (Real Clear Religion).
Source: Religion Unplugged, December 27, 2023
Soon after Aziza Saidova and her husband performed their Islamic wedding ceremony, the pair walked three rounds around a small fire that was lit outside their home before entering it.
This step is something that Zororastrians do before entering homes as a way to ward off any evil. However, Aziza and her husband, who are both Muslim, made it a point to incorporate it into their ceremony. Both from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, a city with a rich history along the Silk Road, they live among generations of Muslims who incorporate Zoroastrian traditions into their daily lives.
The religion has roots in Persia, and followers are spread out in modern day Iran, India, and Central Asia. It was widely practiced in Uzbekistan for years before Arab Muslims conquered the Silk Road in the seventh and eighth centuries. Today, over 90% of the country is Muslim, however Zoroastrianism still has a large influence in the region.
The full story also explores changing attitudes towards faith and tradition.
More from Uzbekistan: Did you know the country is experiencing an energy crisis? Rising fuel prices have renewed interest in an ancient strategy for staying warm (RFE/RL video).
Looks like Prayercast has a new video from Central Asia, this one focused on Uzbekistan’s neighbor Kyrgyzstan. Watch and pray.
