Category: News Briefs

Source: Arab World Media, August 15, 2014

Saudis are taught from a very young age that Islam is the only true religion and that the Christian Bible is corrupt. Anyone who questions these basic teachings faces harassment and harsh penalties from their family and acquaintances. Sometimes it results in their death. You can imagine, therefore, how difficult it is for them to change their mind about these things or even to express an opinion on the subject.

But regardless of the penalties, Saudis are responding to Christian media. This month our video of a Saudi man’s testimony has continued to generate a large number of comments and inquiries. There are several known local believers and many of them came to faith at least partly through Christian media. Since Sharia law includes the death penalty for leaving Islam, local believers must use extreme caution in telling others about their new faith. Many attempt to leave Saudi Arabia to avoid detection.

Our prayer is that God will touch the hearts of relatives and friends of these Saudi believers so that they too will believe, and that the Christian church will be birthed in Saudi Arabia.

You may think that it is not possible for foreigners to live in Saudi, or at least, that if they do, everything must be forbidden. But I am happy to say that I have lived here for ten years with my husband and children and I love it!

» Read full story.

In this issue: Schisms and signs of solidarity

• IRAQ: From Symbol of Terror to Sign of Solidarity
• PHILIPPINES: Village Seeks Exclusion from Islamic Region
• GAZA: Church Bells Silenced
• INDIA: Non-Hindu Religious Activity Banned in More than 50 Villages
• SRI LANKA: Buddhists Launch Anti-Christian Campaign

Dear Readers,

Recent headlines are filled with story after story about conflicts between cultural and religious groups; see stories below. This brings to my mind a book by one of my favorite analysts, Richard Swenson, titled Hurtling toward Oblivion: A Logical Argument for the End of the Age. Are things getting worse?

I’m also reading Steve Addison’s Movements that Change the World. Though I’m not known to be a pessimist, I can’t help but think: Is it too little too late?

Maybe both can be true in the end. Doesn’t scripture give us both narratives, that it gets better and that it gets worse? An article on the Evangelical persecution complex asserts that among Christians, a sense of victimization may be exaggerated with results that are dangerous or at least distracting.

Some of the conflicts seem to be rooted in the desire of more and more groups to be separated from those they consider to be “other.” Identity and self-determination or freedom will probably be driving forces in both movements to Christ and the race to destruction. One thing is for sure: The next generation will be key. The children of Syria and Gaza are being taught very early that death is better than being swallowed up by the “other.” Watch the video Syrian Children on the Frontline (jump to the 10-minute mark to hear from the children).

Solidarity is a beacon of hope in this tumultuous time. I was encouraged by a seven-minute video from YWAM New Zealand, Resolutions to Impact the World (shared by INcontext Ministries). Whether you believe we are hurtling toward oblivion or seeing movements to Christ that will change our world, please watch this video and resolve to impact the world that God “so loves.”

Standing in solidarity with you,
Pat

Pat Noble has been the “news sleuth” for Missions Catalyst since 2004. In addition to churning out the news, she is working to create a SWARM (Serving World A Regional Mobilizers) in Northern New York using the NorthernChristian.org website. You can connect with her at www.whatsoeverthings.com.

Source: Assyrian International News Agency, August 8, 2014

Assyrian people in Fairfield [Australia] and across the globe have changed their profile picture on social media to the Arabic letter “N” in a show of support for people being persecuted by Islamic State terrorists in northern Iraq.

On July 19, Christians in the city of Mosul and on the surrounding Nineveh Plains were issued with an ultimatum to leave, pay a tax, or face death by the sword. The next day IS fighters drew the Arabic letter “N” on all property owned by Assyrian Christians.

Nasrani is the Arabic word for Christian and the letter was being used in a way that harkened back to the Nazis’ use of the Jewish star before World War II.

Within days Assyrian Christians were changing their profile picture and over the course of the week T-shirts proclaiming #WeAreN were being sold. An effort to send aid to those displaced by the conflict also got underway. Twenty-three-year-old Steven Barkho of Cecil Hills was one of the thousands of people [and many more worldwide] who changed his profile picture. “We didn’t think it would go viral as quickly as it has,” he said. “It isn’t just Assyrians changing their profile picture, it’s Christians and other people everywhere. For me it is just a way of saying to ISIS, ‘If you want to go for these people you have to come for us.’”

» Read full story, and see Assyrians Demonstrate Worldwide against ISIS Persecution.

» See also In Pictures: Iraq United vs Islamic State (Al Jazeera). Also note that today (August 6), a Global Day of Prayer for Iraqi Christians has been called.

Source: Worthy News, August 4, 2014

A Christian town in Mindanao is protesting its incorporation into the newly created, semi-independent Islamic region of Bangsamoro in the Philippines, according to Barnabas Aid.

Wao’s mayor, Elvino Balicao, is seeking an exemption from Bangsamoro’s Islamic law and has asked that his town remain directly under the administration of the Philippine government.

Wao is located in the middle of the Muslim-majority province of Lanao del Sur; Wao is the only Christian-majority town in the province.

After a decades-long insurgency, the Philippines signed off on a peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to establish Bangsamoro.

» Read full story.

Source: Mission Network News, August 4, 2014

Church bells have been silenced at a small Baptist church in Gaza. Since the region has turned into a war zone over the past few weeks, the small Baptist community is no longer holding church services.

An Open Doors contact shares: “We considered having a church service in our church on Sunday during the ceasefire. But since it became very clear that the ceasefire was not being kept, we decided it was irresponsible to meet together in the church.”

To encourage each other, the members of the church stay in touch with each other through telephone—if the lines are working—and also through organizing house meetings.

Apart from the Baptist church, the only two other active churches in all the Gaza Strip are the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. Both churches have welcomed refugees from areas in Gaza that have taken heavy incoming artillery fire. Among the 1.7 million Muslims, there are approximately 1,500-2,000 Christians.

» Read full story and a related story on the emotional and spiritual toll of the war in Gaza.

»See also Colin Chapman’s analysis piece, Trying to Make Sense of Gaza (The Institute of Middle East Studies).

Source: Morning Star News, July 21, 2014

Church leaders in India have asked national and Chhattisgarh state officials to reverse a ban on non-Hindu religious activity that more than 50 villages have reportedly adopted.

The resolutions were passed under the pretext of stopping alleged forcible conversions of Hindus. Belar village banned all non-Hindu activities in a council meeting on July 6, after about a dozen villages adopted a similar resolution in Sirisguda village on May 10 that included a ban on non-Hindu missionaries.

“To stop the forced conversion by some outsiders religious campaigners and to prevent them from using derogatory language against Hindu deities and customs, the Sirisguda Gram Sabha [Village Council] bans religious activities such as prayers, meetings and propaganda of non-Hindu religions,” the resolution states.

“This resolution goes against the ethos of the constitution, which guarantees to everyone the right to equality and freedom of religion,” said attorney Tehmina Arora of religious rights group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) of India.

» Read full story.

» See also Indian Villages Outlaw Christian Practices (World Watch Monitor).

Source: Barnabas Fund, July 15, 2014

A hardline Buddhist group in Sri Lanka launched a four-day campaign against “Christian fundamentalism” in the country as Christians face vicious attacks in ongoing efforts to stop their activities. Buddhist groups such as the Ravana Balaya are becoming increasingly militant in Sri Lanka, and as their agenda gathers greater support, attacks on Christians are becoming more frequent. In two recent incidents, Christians were hospitalized with injuries sustained in mob violence.

» Read full story.

» The phenomenon of militant Buddhism in Sri Lanka is not limited to anti-Christian activity, but also includes violence against Muslims.

In This Issue: Stories of global engagement

• BURUNDI: Lawmakers Pass Bill to Curb Proliferation of Churches
• NORTH AFRICA: Ramadan Adds Extra Pressure for Christians
• ISRAEL: Messianic Jews, Arab Christians Gather Amid Violence
• IRAQ: New Prayer Movement among Kurdish Christians
• PAKISTAN: Proclaiming a Message of Hope

Dear Readers,

This edition seems to have a theme: engagement. State and church engagement, and on a global scale. As Missions Catalyst readers I am sure you are all engaged globally, but let me share some stuff about what others are doing.

The Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) is an evangelical but non-partisan, non-proselytizing, non-profit organization that “works at the critical intersection of religion and global affairs, building sustainable environments for religious freedom worldwide.”

This four-minute talk by the chairman of their board is inspiring! I was so impressed with the speaker I had to know more. Read J. Brady Anderson’s bio (Wycliffe). For more about the IGE, listen to this five-minute interview with the president.

Global engagement can be intentional or forced. Many of us learned from Perspectives on the World Christian Movement about voluntary or involuntary going or coming. Here is one church’s response to the immigrant “border children” now coming to the US.

Want to be more globally engaged with foreigners and refugees? Read this and pray this, along with the words of Ezekiel 22:29-30 (thanks for this insight, Neal!).

Pat

Pat Noble has been the “news sleuth” for Missions Catalyst since 2004. In addition to churning out the news, she is working to create a SWARM (Serving World A Regional Mobilizers) in Northern New York using the NorthernChristian.org website. You can connect with her at www.whatsoeverthings.com.

Source: Christian Post, July 11, 2014

Citing a survey last year which found that there were some 557 practicing Christian denominations in the small Central African nation, Burundi’s lower house of parliament has passed a bill requiring churches to have at least 500 members and a building to stanch the “proliferation of churches” in that country.

Under the proposed law, foreign churches will need at least 1,000 followers before they can register as a legitimate church, according to the BBC.

Evangelical churches have been cropping up at a rapid pace in the predominantly Christian nation of nearly 9 million people since the end of a long, ethnic-based civil war in 2005 in which an estimated 300,000 people were killed.

The government, led by born-again Christian President Pierre Nkurunziza, believes that the church community is currently too haphazard, with just about anyone being able to start a church, and it has also been plagued by scandals as well. One recent scandal involved a pastor imploring barren women who wanted to conceive to sleep with him.

The BBC said the bill got unanimous support from the MPs in Burundi’s National Assembly and is likely to get the same reception in the Senate.

» Full story also reports some of the Christian push back against this legislation. See also Burundi Law to Limit Church Members (BBC).

» From another part of the world, readers might be interested in the registered Chinese church’s views of Christianity (IMB Asia Stories).

Source: World Watch Monitor, July 3, 2014

In about 50 countries across the world, some 1.6 billion Muslims have [been] fasting from sunrise to sunset for the 30 days of Ramadan. Much as it’s celebrated by those who choose to participate, it also brings a heightened pressure for non-Muslims if they do not agree that they should be forced to fast.

Often the pressure comes from social discrimination, but in a country such as Algeria or Morocco, where Islam is the state religion, breaking the Ramadan fast in public is punishable by a fine and imprisonment.

A majority of [Algeria’s] Christians are Kabyle Berber, and many object to being forced to fast at this time of year.

Last year, during Ramadan, there was a joint effort by the police in the same region to arrest public non-fasters. This sparked a wave of outrage among human rights activists, and in reaction, hundreds staged picnics in protest against ‘forced’ fasting.

» Read full story.