Turning Fears into Prayers | World News Briefs

Nigeria_2013_0430100605“God does His deepest work in our darkest hours,” said A.W. Tozer. This edition of News Briefs includes glimpses of how people of faith are responding to some of the challenges in today’s world. Image: Nigerian Christians in prayer, via World Watch Monitor.

  1. NIGERIA: Violence Continues; Please Pray
  2. IRAQ: “Racism Is A Virus”
  3. WORLD: How Racism Hinders Global Missions
  4. INDONESIA: No to Minang Bible
  5. UK: Former Hindu Priest Shares His Story

NIGERIA: Violence Continues; Please Pray

Source: INcontext, June 17, 2020

On Saturday June 13, in Nigeria’s volatile northeast Borno state, about 20 soldiers and more than 40 civilians were killed, and many injured, in twin Islamist attacks. These attacks overwhelmed the local hospital, forcing some of those injured to lie waiting for assistance outside the facility.

The militants burned down the United Nations humanitarian aid office in the area and set fire to the police station. Jihadist fighters handed out letters to residents, in the local Hausa language, warning them, “not to work with the military, white Christian Westerners or other ‘non-believers’ and humanitarian aid agencies.”

Just a few days earlier, at least 81 people were killed in an attack on another village in Borno state. Around the same time, nine Christians were killed in a gun and machete attack, and seven others were kidnapped in North-central Nigeria. The latest attack follows similar Fulani herdsmen attacks on predominantly Christian communities.

» Read full story with prayer points and another INcontext article, Escalating Jihadist Violence in Africa’s Sahel Region.

» For more about the violence in Nigeria, including a discussion of its sources, read Incessant Killing More Dangerous than Coronavirus (World Watch Monitor).

IRAQ: “Racism Is A Virus”

Source: Preemptive Love, June 4, 2020

Ihsan Ibraheem grew up under the authoritarian rule of Saddam Hussein. He lived through the US invasion of his country, the sectarian war that followed, and the rise of ISIS. He has put his life on the line to serve those of every background. He writes:

“My friends, I’m very sorry to see what is happening in the US. I have been watching and following from my home in Iraq since the beginning of the events that led to this, and I’m really sad and worried.

“Maybe because we are not so far from this. In the last several months, violence hit Iraq really bad. We still haven’t recovered from it. Not to mention all that’s happened in the past 15 years—from the sectarian war to ISIS.

“You may think that what happened in Iraq was because of many things, any of which could be true. But I believe two of the main things that led to this are sectarianism and nationalism.

“Everywhere else, we all know it as racism.”

“It is a virus within our systems, communities, people, and ourselves—more dangerous than any other virus in the world.”

» Read full story and watch three-minute video.

» Also from the Middle East, read about how believers in Yemen are responding to the COVID-19 crisis and “turning fears into prayers” (Open Doors).

WORLD: How Racism Hinders Global Missions

Source: OMF USA, June 8, 2020

“No way. That’s crazy!”

I was shocked. I’ve studied missiology. I have an advanced degree in cross-cultural ministry. All the research I could think of said the same thing: Near cultures can reach the unreached with the gospel more effectively and efficiently than far cultures. For someone from a far culture it just makes sense. Near cultures have language, similar cultural values, and a relatively short distance to travel.

But my friends of Southeast Asian heritage were challenging one of the core tenets in my philosophy of missions. When I asked if it would be easier for them to reach a certain people group in Southeast Asia, they said “No way. That’s crazy. It would be much easier for you to reach them than us.”

I’m a white male from Midwestern US. I don’t speak any Asian languages and I know next to nothing about the culture. Both of their families came from a minority people group nearby the majority people group I was praying would be reached.

Here’s what I missed: Racism. Tribalism. Ethnocentrism. Classism. History of oppression. History of power struggles. History of cultural clashes. Generations of stories that passed on prejudice like hand-me-down clothes.

I thought racism was primarily an American problem. Turns out it’s a human problem. And these ingrained prejudices can be bigger barriers to the gospel than language or culture or distance.

As I have watched the American, and particularly the white American church struggle with how to respond to both conscious and unconscious, individual and systemic racial oppression in our country over the past several years, I’ve become convinced that we need to incorporate a gospel-saturated response to racism in our cross-cultural training.

» Read full story.

» See also 10 Encouraging Trends of Global Christianity in 2020 (LifeWay) and Missions in a COVID Crisis: Diversity Implications (World Evangelical Alliance).

INDONESIA: No to Minang Bible

Source: Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin, June 9, 2020

Indonesia is home to some 6.8 million Minangkabau. They are the fourth largest ethnic group in Indonesia and the dominant ethnic group in West Sumatra. They are 99.72 percent Muslim and 0.26 percent Christian.

On June 3, Indonesia’s Communication and Information Minister removed a Bible app, “Kitab Suci Injil Minangkabau” [The Bible in Minangkabau language] from the Google Play Store at the request of West Sumatra governor, Irwan Prayitno. Backed by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI, Indonesia’s top body of Islamic clerics), Irwan insisted that the Bible app is offensive to the Minangkabau, whose culture is based on Sharia and the Quran, not the Bible.

The action sets a precedent and has triggered fierce debate on religious freedom both in West Sumatra and across Indonesia. Please pray.

» Full story cites an article from The Jakarta Post.

Also from the Jakarta Post: Indonesia has said its citizens will not be allowed to participate in the haj pilgrimage this year, even if Saudi Arabia reopens Mecca and Medina in time.

UK: Former Hindu Priest Shares His Story

Source: God Reports, June 3, 2020

[Rahil Patel] was raised in England in a Hindu family and hungered for whoever God was.

“Hinduism is a canvas of hundreds of religions with different doctrines and ideas and philosophies… I was so desperate to search for God.”

His drive to find God led him to travel to India, his parents’ homeland [where he trained to become a Hindu priest]. After only one month, however, a small voice spoke in his left ear: “Have you made the right choice?”

It was the first seed of doubt.

» Read full story or a related 2017 article, Found By Love: A Hindu Priest Encounters the One True God (BillyGraham.org.uk). I encourage you to watch Rahil Patel’s eight-minute video testimony (BillyGraham.org) or listen watch him share it at a 2018 conference in Chennai (The Witness). He also paints a picture of what it’s like to grow up as a Gujarati Hindu in London.

A Black Sister Kindly Schools This Old White Guy

Missions-Catalyst-no-tagline_largeblack sister old white guyA Black Sister Kindly Schools This Old White Guy

By Shane Bennett
with Felicia Follum

How are you dealing with things? These are unusual days, aren’t they? My oldest daughter recently said, “When I complained a week ago about only talking about corona, I had no idea we’d only be talking about racism now!”

I suppose if you or someone close to you has COVID-19, that’s still a pretty relevant topic of conversation. Much grace and renewed health to you. And maybe you’re already weary of race talk. Can you bear with me for a few more words?

I’m wondering what God may be saying to you and me, to people like us:

  • We are people who love Jesus.
  • We are people who believe God created the races, colors, and cultures of the world for his glory.
  • We are overwhelmingly White.

If you are not White and read Missions Catalyst, thank you so much. I value your experience and would welcome whatever input you have time and inclination to give on this meager offering.

As for me, I grew up in about as bucolic a Midwest American setting as you could imagine. If my dad had shaved only his mustache, our family could have modeled for the covers of soon-to-come Amish Christian fiction. It was homogeneous, parochial, and safe, if a little boring.

I cut my cross-cultural teeth under the influence of Steve Hawthorne’s missiology which emphasized asking questions and taking the time to listen well. I’ve often challenged others to cultivate curiosity about peoples and cultures and to delay judgement, that is, don’t assume you’ve got things all figured out too early.

Maybe, like me, you feel you haven’t got this whole racial injustice thing figured out. I’d like to share with you some insights from a friend of mine.

Meet Felicia

Meet Felicia Follum. She’s an accomplished artist, helps lead her church’s mission efforts, holds two masters degrees, and was crushed on by more than one African migrant guy when we were on a short-term mission trip to care for Muslim refugees in Sicily a few years ago.

Felicia says, “Blackness isn’t my first identity, but it is an identity.” It deeply shapes who she is.

Leaving his restaurant one night, her biological father was murdered by the KKK. Just to be clear, she’s not 80 years old, recalling events from days long gone. Felicia is in her early thirties.

Sharing some of her personal experience, Felicia recounted a doctor’s visit for a sore tummy. The physician told her, “Given your demographic, statistically, you probably have STDs.” When Felicia insisted she hadn’t been sleeping around, the doctor replied, “It’s probably your husband then.”

Widening the circle, Felicia said, “I can’t think of one person of color who hasn’t been mistreated by police at least once.”

I asked her what White people might miss or not understand about their own situation. She said White privilege doesn’t necessarily mean you get more stuff or that your life is trouble free. “You still have trouble and deal with hard things. What White privilege does mean is that you don’t have blackness to deal with as well.”

What Can We Do?

Knowing how asinine it sounded, I asked, “So what is the solution to all this, Felicia?”

“First off, we’ve got to find a way to address problems starting young. 50% of Black babies are aborted. 70-80% of Black babies who are born begin life in single parent households. 90% of Black kids have more ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) than my White husband, Jim.”

“There are also actions White people can take now. And these would really work, if they’d do them.”

1. Learn

Felicia asks, “Can you name ten African Americans from US history and say one or two things about what they did? They’re there!” (For starters, check out Maggie Walker and the first missionary sent out from the US, former African slave George Liele.)

Why is it that the average American can only name three to seven? I don’t know about you, but I have a lot to learn.

Toward that end, I’ve started reading a couple of books. You can find many lists of books curated by smarter people than me, but here are mine. If you have read these or have already, I’d welcome a chat about them.

I think it’s also good to ask questions of your Black friends, if you have any. I have one. Of course, this is dicey and will not always work. Some Black people understandably don’t relish the newfound role of enlightening the light-skinned masses. Some, like my friend Felicia, are kind beyond words.

2. Listen

At lunch recently a couple of colleagues were discussing the protests, the riots and looting, the “abolish the police” ideas, and the assumed spike in crime that would follow. I kept mostly quiet, not sure what to say and accurately assessing that I lack the intellectual resources to poke a stick in that hornet’s nest.

While on the one hand I agree that people shouldn’t burn someone’s business or trash the car of someone who’s just trying to get home to her family. On the other hand, I can’t help wondering, “What motivates people to do things like that?” What is the “why” behind the action? Or maybe the “why” two or three layers deep behind the behavior?

Is it possible that I’ve only listened to people like me for so long I’ve concluded there is no reasonable motivation? There’s no valid claim for injustice. This is America, after all. Anyone and everyone can make good choices, if they just will.

Or maybe not.

Felicia says she currently has 40 text conversations underway with White people whose minds are being changed, who are seeing sin they hadn’t been aware of, people who feel like they haven’t listened to others. Yay for them and yay for Felicia. (No, I won’t give you her mobile number, because I’m selfishly angling for number 41!)

3. Engage

Felicia encouraged me and you, “Go to protests. You might not feel comfortable carrying some of the common signs nor espousing some of the sentiments. But most Christians would be okay with a sign that says, ‘do justice, love mercy, walk humbly.’ (A brilliant mantra for these days. Thank you, Micah!)

“Go beyond the sign and connect with some people. Ask good questions. For instance, ‘What are your beliefs?’ ‘What caused you to choose that sign?’ Say, ’I’m making a list of people to pray for. How can I pray for you?’ Then do it. Build the habit of asking lots of people how you can pray for them.”

Conclusion

What’s God saying to you about this? I feel mostly like I need to listen and maybe somehow validate other people’s experiences in a new way, perhaps only in my mind.

As far as action goes, I don’t know yet. Jesus set the bar pretty high when he told the synagogue that Isaiah 61:1 had been fulfilled in their midst and proceeded to confirm it by putting his very life on the line.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on all this, particularly what you’re reading, who you’re listening to and what God seems to be saying to you and us. Please respond on our website or social media, or just reply to this email.

EDITOR’S NOTE: George Floyd, Ravi Zacharias

Greetings,

Though we avoid reporting on stories already covered well elsewhere, we should acknowledge the death of George Floyd, the grief and anger many are feeling, and the violence that’s spread across the United States.

Likely you have also already heard about the May 19 death of Christian leader, evangelist, and apologist Ravi Zacharias.

With love and prayers,
Marti Wade

SENEGAL: A Church for the Wolof

Senegal photo - world ventureSource: WorldVenture, June 1, 2020

On Saturday, May 30, 2020, we broke ground for a permanent place of worship. The story behind the ceremony for a new church building began years ago. After decades of missionary work, there are only about 100 Wolof believers [known Wolof believers in Dakar]. Out of those 100 believers, less than a third attend church on a regular basis. This breaks our hearts. When we spoke to some of them, they shared several reasons for not attending.

  • “It doesn’t feel sacred.” They desire a formal place of worship.
  • “It doesn’t feel Senegalese.” The worship style of most churches is imported.
  • “They can’t understand it.” It is in French instead of Wolof, their heart language.
  • “They can’t find it.” Many Dakar churches rent houses. The rented houses do not feel like a sacred place to worship. The rented houses are in obscure neighborhoods and are often forced to move every few years.

Because of this, we felt it was important to start a church, but we wanted it to be Senegalese. We desired to plant a church in partnership with our church association. After talking and praying with them for a long time, they finally came to us and said, “We need a church in Dakar for our young people. They are full of faith when they leave the villages for work or school in the city and they come back lost.”

We had a prayer of dedication for the land and the building on Saturday, May 30. On June 2, we [began] laying the foundations of the building. As we reflect on what God has done in the past, we see how God has paved our way.

» Full story explores obstacles they had to overcome. Let’s pray for the Wolof church to grow and draw more people to Jesus.

» Maybe you heard that a company in Dakar has developed a US$1, 10-minute COVID-19 test (Fast Company). Some at the lab have gotten sick, though, and one has died (The New York Times).

» More from West Africa: read a roundup of news and analysis of three violent attacks in Burkina Faso (Sahel blog) and read about children left behind in West Africa’s conflict-torn regions.