Category: News Briefs

Source: International Mission Board, January 7, 2020

Prayer strategy leaders in Japan long to see the nation transformed by the hope of Jesus, and they’ve committed to pray daily for the nation. There is excitement and enthusiasm for what they see God doing. Rather than yielding to the darkness, they are invigorated by the light of the gospel. Across Japan, [we] are hearing reports of God doing amazing things that offer hope of what may come:

• A church in the heart of a bustling shopping and social hub in Tokyo has been languishing. This church’s leaders wanted to know why Tokyo Baptist Church was healthy and growing. When they approached the church for answers, God opened the door for the leaders to speak of the importance of standing on the authority of Scripture and yielding to the lordship of Christ. Through ongoing discipleship efforts and prayer, this church could soon be revitalized and play a key role in reaching the city.
• A healthy church near Yokohama has been holding festivals with remarkable results. The festivals allow local residents to meet Japanese Christians and see the joy they have found in Jesus. This has prompted people to visit the church following the festivals to learn more about what they have seen and heard. The pastor of the church is praying for God to reach ten million Japanese people by 2024.
• Japanese people are choosing to listen to and believe the gospel as it is proclaimed during international sporting events, at ongoing festivals, and through personal relationships. Additionally, Japanese business people are learning from Christian business leaders how faith and business can intersect.

Increasing prayer, churches working together, and more people hearing and responding to the gospel through the church’s desire to engage the lost have all been precursors to spiritual awakenings in past generations. The signs point to a growing spiritual awakening in Japan.

» Read full story. The Olympic Games will come to Tokyo this summer; visit the Prayer page of IMB’s Olympic ministry website.

» For some perspective on urban Japan, see Every Country Highlighted on This Map Has a Smaller Population Than Tokyo.

Source: Morning Star News, January 21, 2020

The Rev. Lawan Andimi had a treasured life—a loving family, an affectionate congregation, respect from his colleagues.

The kidnapped district chairman of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN) in Michika County, in northeast Nigeria’s Adamawa state, had stated in a video that he trusted in God should he lose his life to Islamic terrorists of Boko Haram. The rebel militants executed the father of eight children on Monday [January 20], the head of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) confirmed [Tuesday, January 21].

Ahmad Salkida, a Muslim journalist who has been a primary means for Boko Haram to release information, reported in a tweet that the group beheaded Pastor Andimi on Monday afternoon.

CAN President Samson Ayokunle today confirmed in a comment to the Nigerian newspaper the Daily Post that Pastor Andimi had been executed.

Pastor Andimi had said in a Boko Haram video released by Salkida on January 5 that he hoped to be reunited with his wife, children, and colleagues.

“If the opportunity has not been granted, maybe it is the will of God,” he said. “I want all people close and far, colleagues, to be patient. Don’t cry, don’t worry, but thank God for everything.”

Pastor Andimi, who also served as chairman of CAN’s local chapter, was kidnapped on January 2 when Boko Haram attacked two Christian communities in the area.

» Read full story. Heartbreaking. We were ready to publish a report highlighting the pastor’s January 5 statements when we saw the news that he had been killed. Please be in prayer for his family and community.

» Meanwhile, in Iran, a prominent Christian rights activist has disappeared.. This is a great time to pray for Iran (Prayercast).

Source: Barnabas Fund, January 6, 2020

The United Wa State Army (UWSA) in control of the Wa Special Region in Myanmar (Burma), bordering China’s Yunnan province, has allowed at least 50 churches to reopen.

Local church leaders issued a plea for prayer when the China-backed, Communist influenced separatist group closed more than 100 churches in northern Shan State in 2018, demolishing some and banning the construction of new church buildings. At least 200 Christian leaders and workers were “investigated” and detained. All have since been released.

A Bible school was also shut down and 41 of its students arrested and forced into hard labor as military porters.

Local church leaders welcomed the reopenings and reported that most church buildings in the towns of Panghsang, Hopang, Kho Pang and Namphan are now open for worship, leaving only one church and a school building still closed.

[The region] is home to several ethnic groups including Wa, Kachin, Ta’ang, Lahu, Lisu, Kokang, Shan, Chinese, and Burman. Christians form the largest religious group in the region, estimated to be 30 percent of the population.

» Read full story or check out what seems to be the source of this report, which clarifies some details (The Irrawaddy).

Source: Mission Network News, January 7, 2020

Small groups typically revolve around local communities and churches, but technology is opening a window of connection.

The program is based on Whatsapp, a free messaging, video, and voice application. Sammy Tippit Ministries provides daily videos, resources, and training for small-group leaders to share. It’s up to the group leader to form and operate the group.

“We’re not providing the technology but we’re taking already existing technology and taking small groups and saying ‘form those groups where you can actually communicate on a daily basis,’” said Founder Sammy Tippit.

He doesn’t see these virtual groups as replacements for in-person small groups. The groups are intended for believers who are separated by distance to supplement traditional weekly in-person gatherings.

Currently, a group of believers in China who are unable to meet physically are using these resources to meet weekly for devotions and prayer.

» Read full story.

» Read about another trend affecting global ministry, the migration of Christians and rise of diaspora congregations (The Gospel Coalition).

Happy New Year!

Since the turn of the year (or decade) is a time of reflection, I’d like to submit to you some gems I’ve found while sleuthing for news.

• First, thanks to Paul Neeley of Global Worship for pointing to this BEAUTIFUL poem. See especially item number 3. I am going to frame this one! Hope you like it.
• We can always count on something thoughtful and challenging from INcontext. Read Just a Minute: 20/20 Vision.

Blessings for 2020 and beyond,
Pat

Note: Did you miss our January 1 issue of Missions Catalyst? It included several year-in-review and new-year items and our 2020 events calendar.

In This Issue

Bible 2020 is a year-long campaign encouraging us to speak the words of the Bible aloud across every country and nation. To get involved, join the global community using the app. More info below.

Source: Scripture Engagement, December 2019

“Imagine a world-wide community speaking the words of the Bible together across towns, cities, and continents. Lives will be changed! Together we will read, speak, and hear the words of the Bible each day.”

Bible 2020 is a year-long campaign encouraging us to speak the words of the Bible aloud across every country and nation. It [began] on January 1st, 2020. To get involved, join the global community using the app.

Bringing together the history of oral Bible tradition and the global reach of modern technology, Scottish Bible Society has developed the Bible2020 App, 366 days of short inspirational Bible verses that you can film yourself speaking and share with your community so that together we can cover the globe in God’s Word through the year. The app will collate the videos and post them on a wall, letting you see and hear the nations speak the words of the Bible.

» See full story with promo video.

» It is also Year of the Bible, an initiative of The Table Coalition (formerly Mission America Coalition), a ministry of Lausanne.

Source: Worthy News, January 1, 2020

China will roll out new measures to further circumscribe the spiritual activities of its citizens on February 1, as state news reported [Monday, December 30] that the 42 articles of the Administrative Measures for Religious Groups had been approved.

The articles, which follow the ratification of the Regulations on Religious Affairs published in 2018 that have [caused] plaques of the ten commandments [to be] replaced by photographs of President Xi Jinping in state-run churches, oversee all a church community’s life, activity, and gatherings.

Article 17 states unequivocally that “religious organizations must spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party…educating religious personnel and religious citizens to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, supporting the socialist system, adhering to and following the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

The process of “Sinicization” has already been well underway in state-run Three-Self Patriotic movement churches, with communist officials writing socialist-friendly sermons for pastors and the government reviewing plans to re-translate the Bible with a Chinese socialist edge on the way to creating a new religion.

» Read full story or a similar piece from a Catholic source, Asia News.

» See also: For China’s Underground Churches, This Was No Easy Christmas (LA Times). On the other hand, read this: Sudan Celebrates Christmas Publicly for First Time in Ten Years (Middle East Eye).

Source: World Watch Monitor, December 18, 2019

A Protestant pastor sentenced to three years in prison for “singing extremist songs in church and so inciting religious hatred” has been freed three months early.

Kholmatov, who with wife Gulya has three children, was arrested on unspecified charges during an April 2017 raid on his church. Affiliated churches in the Sogd region were also raided and closed down earlier that year.

Kholmatov said, “I’d like to express my huge gratitude to all the people who supported and prayed for me, my family, and my church. All these three years I felt your prayers. They helped me to stand, they helped my precious wife and children, they helped the members of my church who were left without a pastor then [kicked out of] our building. Your prayers helped us to stand strong through all these difficulties, to grow spiritually, and to transform into the nature of our Heavenly Lord! Thank you from all my heart! Glory to God!”

» Read full story.

» See also: Tajik Authorities Detain 27 Suspected Members Of Banned Muslim Brotherhood along with an analysis piece, Four Issues Central Asia Faced in 2019 (and They’re Not Going Away) (RFE/RL).

Source: Global Recordings Network, December 2019

Note: Kate is a CMS missionary in South Asia. She recently wrote to GRN about her experience with using GRN’s resources.

Eighteen months ago, we started an elderly people’s fellowship at church. Four days a week 15-20 people over 70 years old meet at the church. Most of them are illiterate, and none of them went to Sunday school as children nor grew up in Christian homes. This group has provided an amazing opportunity to help participants grow deeper into God’s Word in a way that is accessible to them. It’s amazing how much they have grown!

We recently did a series on Joseph. We used the GRN colored pictures to show the story on the wall. The group loved coloring in, because it’s totally new for them. So, each week we also gave them a black and white picture of the story and they colored their own. These were then stuck into an exercise book and they used them to retell the story to each other.

We also used the Joseph excerpt from the “Mighty Men of God” audio-visual presentation. They enjoyed the 10-minute overview of the Joseph story. They loved this way of learning from the Bible and have asked that we do the same again but with other series. We are planning to show Exodus next.

» Full story with pictures and check out the GRN Bible Picture pack and other teaching resources available for purchase.

Source: God Reports, December 27, 2019

On a Christian medical and dental mission to Myanmar (Burma), a large number of Buddhists showed up for free medical attention. Some also visited a prayer room adjoining the clinic, which led to an unusual incident that seemed [to those present] to signal a clash in the spiritual realm.

Senior Pastor Mark Morrow, from Crosswalk Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, was in the prayer room and witnessed the remarkable occurrence. [He] down and couldn’t believe his eyes. It was a heavy mahogany or teak table, very sturdily built, that had cracked from one end to the other.

“I was the closest one to that table. My shins were two inches away,” he recounts. “The table cracked in front of me. There wasn’t a temperature change, no weight on the table. As soon as the Buddhists said ‘Dear Jesus’ and said that prayer to accept him, the table popped. The Burmese people jumped. They saw something tangible had happened.”

Pastor Morrow believes the physical manifestation resulted from a battle in the spiritual realm for the hearts of the people—that God raised a standard against the enemy. “The spirit of God just broke the back of whatever demonic forces were holding those people back,” he concludes.

» Full story with pictures and short video.