Category: News Briefs

Source: Asia Harvest, October 2019

[During the Cultural Revolution] in the 1950s a total of 49 Chinese pastors from the Wenzhou area were arrested and sent to prison labor camps in northeast China’s frozen Heilongjiang Province. Of these men, Miao Zizhong was the only one to survive the ordeal and return home alive.

Miao grew up without knowing the gospel, and he regularly hurled foul-mouthed insults at the servants of the Lord. He became an angry man, bitterly lashing out at other people without provocation.

Everything began to change in Miao’s life in 1948, one year before China became a Communist country. When he was 32 he contracted a serious disease, and when he went to the largest hospital in Wenzhou they declared his case incurable and advised him to return home and prepare for death. News got around that Miao was perishing, and a relative visited and pleaded with him to believe in Jesus Christ. He accepted the gospel and repented of his sins.

From the moment Miao received God’s offer of salvation, his physical condition improved, and after a while he was completely healed. Overcome with gratitude to the Lord for sparing his life, Miao surrendered his future to God’s service, and he immediately traveled to another district to preach the gospel.

For the next six years Miao continued to proclaim good news to the spiritually hungry people of Zhejiang, until the authorities caught up with him in the winter of 1954. He was hauled in front of a “struggle session” by the local people’s militia, and was lectured about the evils of Christianity and commanded to sign a statement renouncing his faith. With a calm demeanor, Miao looked his persecutors in the eyes and declared:

“Jesus is the Savior of my life. I would be ungrateful to deny Him and as such I would go to hell. I cannot do this.” Upon hearing that, the cadres began to gnash their teeth and with their fists they started beating Miao viciously. He prayed fervently, asking the Lord for help. The evil men used every method, but in the end were unable to coerce him into submission.

» Full story includes a picture of Miao Zizhong, who went on to serve the Church in China for decades. It’s an excerpt from the recent book Zhejiang: The Jerusalem of China. We pray that the testimony of this house church leader will stir up the faith of believers in China who are again experiencing heavy persecution.

» From another Asian context, read Pastor Spends Months in Canoe to Bring Gospel to Filipino Islands (Mission Network News).

1. SYRIA: A Horrifying Scene
2. NIGERIA: Violence Targets Pastors
3. SOUTH ASIA: Miraculous Escape
4. AFGHANISTAN: Forgiving the Taliban
5. UKRAINE: Every Day on Their Knees—for Five Years

Source: Open Doors, October 14, 2019

Last Tuesday [October 8], the heart of Qamishli, a city in northern Syria, was beating with life. Kids were in school, men and women were at work, shops were open, taxis were driving.

Explosions ended the peace in the town on Wednesday afternoon, October 9. Turkey had begun an offensive military action against Kurds in northern Syria. People rushed back to their houses, kids were dismissed from their classrooms, and the streets emptied. Life stopped.

George Moushi, the pastor of the [Evangelical Christian] Alliance Church in Qamishli, saw the need of the people in this situation. He went out to estimate the damage, to see what he could do for his people. Unfortunately, missiles don’t differentiate between a child or a grown up, between a terrorist or a mother.

Pastor George described the damage he saw on the ground. “Thankfully the bombs didn’t hit the center of the city where the majority of people are,” he says, “but, despite that, there were deaths and people injured.”

“Today I visited a Christian family whose house was hit by two missiles. Fadi Habsouna, the father of two children, was injured and lost his house and his shop. His wife was also severely injured in her spine and she is in a critical state. Doctors said she needs surgery and she might be paralyzed forever.”

» Read full story as well as Urgent: Christians in Syria Need Your Help which includes ways to pray and an opportunity to give.

» See also Turkey’s Syria Offensive Explained in Four Maps and read how neighboring Lebanon is calling for help as they experience their worst forest fires in decades, which have now spread into Syria (BBC). Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin just published a special edition on Syria. Look beyond the headlines and pray for this region.

Source: Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin, September 25, 2019

[It has been] reported that Baptist pastor Elisha Noma (abducted by Fulani herdsmen on August 14 had been “released unharmed” on August 31 upon payment of ransom. However, in a subsequent interview with Morning Star News (MSN) Pastor Noma revealed that he certainly was not released unharmed as reported in Nigerian media. To extract ransom, Pastor Noma’s Fulani captors phoned his family and then beat, cut, and burned their hostage in the hearing of his loved ones.

Since being released Pastor Noma has received medical treatment for cuts, burns, and a broken hand. MSN reports: “In August alone, more than 40 pastors in Nigeria were either kidnapped or suffered some form of violence from herdsmen or Boko Haram terrorists, according to figures obtained from [Christian Association of Nigeria].” Pastors are particularly vulnerable because of their profession and their distinctive clothing. Please pray.

» This episode of the Bulletin includes summaries and updates on situations in Papua, Ethiopia, Algeria, Burkina Faso, India, Iraq, and Nepal. A section on the website for critical prayer requests highlights the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, observed by most

Source: International Mission Board, October 14, 2019

He was an Islamic leader of leaders in his city. Early in his career, he was sent to study Islam in Pakistan. After his studies, he returned to his home country and began to lead the Islamic gatherings. He was also tasked with teaching and preparing hundreds of other young men to become leaders in the mosque. He was a leader and trainer of Islam.

One day at home, he had an encounter with Jesus. He said, “It was the first time in my life that I ever felt peace in my heart. I knew Jesus was real.” He kept this decision to himself for a period, but he finally shared it with his wife. She panicked and reported him to his father and brothers. They immediately came to his location and demanded that he return to Islam. He kindly refused and explained that he had peace for the first time. They beat him severely. They also forced him to leave his home, his city, his wife, and his children. He was never to return unless he would deny Jesus and return to Islam.

[Later] a group of radical Muslims came to him at night, wearing masks, and beat him. They threw him into the trunk of the car and then drove him to a militant training camp outside of the city. After some initial beatings, they then informed him that he would be executed at sunrise…

» Read full story.

Source: SAT-7, October 3, 2019

“When the Taliban found out my brother was a Christian, they hung him upside down, broke his hands and fingers, and burned his face with cigarettes. They put that child of God through the most dreadful torment and killed him.”

Alborz [in Afghanistan] was devastated and felt unable to forgive his brother’s killers.

“Feelings of hate became my constant companion,” he admits. “The anguish and bitterness that filled my being took its toll and soon I found myself with no friends. Even at home I did not speak with kindness to those around me.”

Fathers in this part of the world are likely to encourage or even demand that a murdered child is avenged by his siblings, but Alborz’s father had been a believer in Jesus for more than thirty years.

“When my father told me that I must forgive my brother’s killers or it would destroy my life, I could not accept it.”

For three years Alborz struggled and had further conversations with his father. During this time he also read the New Testament, which deeply affected him.

“The words of Jesus about anger, revenge, and forgiveness had a huge impact on me,” he says. “Reading the Sermon on the Mount truly shook me. My tears flowed, my heart softened, and I finally forgave the Taliban. That moment the burden I had been carrying was lifted from me.

“For the last eight years I have been a genuine believer and I am now able to forgive. I have a great joy in my heart that God has placed there. …I’ve chosen to see beyond despair.”

» Read full story.

Source: Baptist Press, October 11, 1019

In March of 2014 tanks and guns and men with masks appeared on the streets of Kharkov, Ukraine, throwing everything into upheaval and threatening the 23-year religious freedom that had nurtured this post-Communist generation. Nearby cities of Lugansk and Donetsk were also under attack by separatists, but those battling in Kharkov didn’t know what they were up against.

Pastors and evangelical leaders put out a call for prayer—seven o’clock every morning, in the city square, for anyone who wanted to fight the real battle taking place for their city—the spiritual battle. Within a week, 150-200 believers showed up to fight on their knees because they remembered the spiritual darkness that shadowed their land under Communism. This wasn’t a political battle, it was and is a spiritual battle of epic proportion as their freedom to worship, meet together as churches, pray publicly, and share their faith with others was all being threatened.

“This is the generation of the children whose fathers were killed for their faith, whose fathers spent most of their time in prison for their faith. We knew the real face of Communism, and it was trying to come back. We were standing on our knees, and we said, ‘Lord, we don’t know what to do. Our eyes are on you, Lord.’ The only hope was on the Lord,” said Pastor V., a Baptist pastor and one of the leading organizers of the prayer meeting.

“At this point, I’d be afraid not to pray,” said Pastor V. “We know what’s at stake.”

» Full story includes five lessons learned from these praying Ukrainians.

  A Frontiers worker shares how his team is using Facebook to connect with hundreds of Muslims who want to learn about Christ. See story below. This edition of News Briefs features several other stories of unusual or unexpected ministry.

1. MUSLIM WORLD: Bible Studies with Bots
2. RUSSIA: A Hitchhiker’s Prayer Comes Full Circle
3. USA: Multilingual Student Says His Autism Is a Gift from God
4. JAPAN: Unlikely Encounter on a Frozen Volcano

Source: Frontiers USA, September 16, 2019

“We have been waiting for this chance to study God’s Word,” Khadija said at the start of the Bible study.

Khadija and her husband, Rayan, live in a remote community—a place that may never have been open to the gospel had it not been for Facebook.

Some months ago, Rayan started engaging with us on our team’s evangelistic Facebook page, where he watched videos about Jesus and read passages of Scripture.

Like hundreds of other Muslims who have visited the Facebook page, Rayan also studied the Word with the page’s bot, a software application that runs automated mini-Bible studies.

After Rayan completed the mini-Bible study, we connected him with one of our Muslim-background believing partners. This gave Rayan the chance to meaningfully interact with a follower of Jesus.

But before ever meeting a believer in person, Rayan had already shared Jesus with more than a dozen people. His entire family had started reading the New Testament with him, and he had even been studying the Word with several coworkers using a smartphone app.

» Read full story with prayer points. Such things are happening in many other places, too, as ministries leverage tech resources for evangelism and discipleship. While smartphone access is unequal economists now estimate that as many as six million North Koreans, a quarter of the population, now have mobile phones (Reuters).

» Another Frontiers article caught our eye and reminds us not to overlook evangelism opportunities: Jesus for the Non-poor (Frontiers UK).

Source: SEND International, September 25, 2019

A couple of years ago, as Jami and her family were packing up to move from Ulan-Ude, Siberia, to a small village populated by the Buryat people, they were struck by an overwhelming need to gather prayer support for their ministry.

“We felt a fresh desperation to come to God, seek him, and ask others to engage in the spiritual battle of prayer with us,” Jami said. The SEND team in Siberia has sought to pull together 1,000 people committed to praying for the Buryat people.

Now, the team says God is moving in hearts like they’ve never seen before! God graciously is allowing our teammates to see answers to some of those thousands of prayers. Jami shares about one answer that encouraged her family:

A few years ago, as we drove through some towns near Lake Baikal, we picked up a Buryat lady who was hitchhiking. It turned out she was a believer, and we had a lovely conversation. She asked us to pray for her son who was far from God. We did pray for him, but then we lost connection and didn’t think much about her as time passed.

Then we moved to our home in Spring Village. For the last several months, a Buryat guy in his late 20s has been coming to our home group. At first, he seemed a bit abrasive and antagonistic, but through the months, he has grown softer and hungry for the Word. He reads the Bible ravenously every day, and comes to the group with questions that he writes down throughout the week.

We believe that God has plans for this young man. He is a leader and has a heart for God and for his people. He shares his faith with enthusiasm and boldness, bringing unbelieving friends to church, our home group, and other evangelistic events.

At [an August] Buryat Partnership meeting back in Ulan-Ude, we spotted a face we knew: The hitchhiking lady! And, as it turns out, the young man in our group is the son we prayed for years ago!

» Read full story. Lord, raise up more prayer teams to seek you on behalf of the unreached.