Category: News Briefs

Source: Mission Network News, May 8, 2014

In This Issue: Considering life after conversion

• ISRAEL/PALESTINE: May Muslims Become Christians?
• WEST AFRICA: Christian and Muslim Clerics Pledge to Tackle Insecurity
• NORTH AFRICA: A Fisher of Men
• SOUTH SUDAN: A Mother’s Story

Greetings!

This week’s stories cause me to think more deeply about conversion and the lives of those who convert. If only societal transformation followed as spontaneously as it did with the Koti people of Mozambique (World Outreach International). Often, though, things are more complicated, and in some places persecution seems the norm (see Christian Converts in Laos Told to Leave Faith or Face Expulsion, from Morning Star News).

But what about thinking beyond conversion? You can find lots to ponder in the most recent edition of St. Francis Magazine; see one story below. Also check out a report about Malaysia, Islam: Purchasing Converts (Voice of the Martyrs) and Five Reasons Muslims Convert (COMMA Network). And of course, pray for the young girls kidnapped in Nigeria, who are apparently facing forced conversion and marriage. May God bring them back.

Until All Hear,
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: St. Francis Magazine, April 2014

D. Alexander Miller recently published “Religious Freedom in Israel-Palestine: May Muslims Become Christians, and Do Christians Have the Freedom to Welcome Such Converts?”

This article seeks to understand the challenges and context of Christians who are also ex-Muslims in the Holy Land. Attention is paid to the difference between the contexts in the West Bank and Israel, and how the established Christian churches sometimes safeguard their own precarious sense of security by turning away Muslims who seek to know more about the Christian faith and converts from Islam.

Converts often feel a great sense of internal emotional and spiritual liberation/freedom in discarding Islam for Christ. The challenge to the churches in Israel-Palestine is to be a home where that new identity can flourish, and where, if possible, other challenges facing the convert, from physical danger to the loss of a job, can be addressed as well. To date, most churches, including evangelical ones, have not been up to this dangerous task.

» Read full article.

» See also Roland Muller’s article In Search of Community (EMQ, via COMMA Network) and David Garrison’s Why Muslims Are Becoming the Best Evangelists (Christianity Today).

Source: World Watch Monitor, May 3, 2014

The focus of the search for the missing Nigerian girls has moved across the Nigerian borders to Cameroon and Chad, with some reported sightings. (See Nigeria’s Kidnapped Teens Feared to Be Abroad.) As if almost in anticipation of the world’s spotlight falling upon them, and in response to incidents shortly before the girls’ kidnap, locals have been attempting to be pro-active, rather than reactive, to such unsettling events.

Christian and Muslim leaders in Northern Cameroon, fearful that their region may become another area of sectarian violence, have opted for preventive measures.

”We want to say no to what is happening, unfortunately, in neighboring Central African Republic and Nigeria. We want to live here in good relationships between Muslims and Christians. We say no to all those who want to come from outside to disturb our current climate of peace,” said Philip Stevens, Bishop of Maroua-Mokolo, in a telephone interview with World Watch Monitor.

The long-standing peaceful cohabitation witnessed by religious communities in Northern Cameroon has been challenged in recent months following the abduction of the girls, and of several Europeans, by Boko Haram militants.

» Read full story, and see links there to previous stories about kidnapping in Cameroon.

» See also Nigeria’s Kidnapped School Girls Moved to Cameroon and Chad, Some Forced to Marry Islamic Extremists (The Christian Post).

Source: Open Doors, April 30, 2014

The sun has set and darkness falls over the Mediterranean Sea. Fish is just being served on plates to us, six men grouped around two joined tables with a paper tablecloth. Next to me is “Labib,” a modern version of Peter and Andrew. He is fishing in North Africa for men and women ready to be caught in the nets of the Kingdom of God. In North Africa, one of the biggest fishing tools is satellite television.

One of the church leaders in North Africa shared, “Sometimes we see people not coming to church. For example, women are kept prisoners in their homes because of their Christian faith. With television, we can reach them and they continue to grow. I also know several farmers. Because they live far from a church, they can’t go regularly, but they can watch the programs on television.”

Recently, Mustapha Krim, President of the Protestant Church in Algeria, said: “About 70 to 80 percent of the Christians in the Algerian protestant Churches came to church through Christian television.”

After the meal, we had a walk along the seashore. Some ordinary fishermen sit on the stones with their rods to try to catch a sleepy fish, while Labib is fishing with his mobile phone.

Labib receives some ten phone calls in the two hours I am with him. He connects two of the callers with a follow-up team in one of the churches close to the place where the interested person lives.

» Read full story.

» Readers might also be interested in a recent report, based on 2012 research, on the Christianization of Algeria (Answering Islam).

Source: Debbie Meroff, OM News, April 30, 2014

In July 2011, Africa’s largest nation split in two. Sudan’s Christian and animist-majority people in the South finally achieved independence from the Muslim-majority North after years of violence that left over two million dead.

In June 2012, [OM field leaders] Iskander and Marie decided they could no longer put off moving from Khartoum to Juba, in South Sudan.

“The Arabs weren’t happy to have Christians in the North,” relates Marie, explaining that landlords were demanding more and more rent, and Christians were required to pay to register with the government. “I had to report every day to officials. If I’d stayed in Khartoum, I’d be in prison,” she says simply, “but we moved to South Sudan with deep fear in our hearts.”

Moving to Juba has turned out to be a nightmare for the whole family. “Up North we never saw guns and blood running in the streets,” says Marie. “People didn’t die there like they do in the South. Now many who came from the North have gone back. Others have gone to Uganda. The streets of Juba are empty. Food in the market is very expensive; there is a huge inflation rate because everything – even vegetables – is imported from Uganda. But we have decided we are not leaving. If we die, we’ll die in Juba. We are waiting on the Lord, and praying for God’s will.”

“This isn’t just a war between two tribes, it’s spiritual warfare,” Marie adds. “Pray for southerners – tribes – to have forgiveness and acceptance for each other! Pray for healing … I think that we mothers are the most concerned,” she reflects, “because we see our children suffering.”

» Read full story, see also author Debbie Merroff’s new venture, Women Without Borders.

» Also read another story describing results of the unsettled situation in Sudan, Pregnant Christian Woman Could Face Execution for Apostasy in Sudan (Barnabas Aid).

In This Issue: The unstoppable gospel

• UKRAINE: Unity and Spiritual Awakening
• INDIA: Eunuchs Coming to Christ 
• THAILAND: Believer Sold His Own Blood to Help Bible Students
• WORLD: Potential Reach of Scripture Recordings Climbs to 80 Percent 
• CHINA: Christianity in Chinese Society
• YEMEN: Do You Want to Know More about Jesus?

Greetings!

As Christians around the world gather to celebrate the Resurrection, we’re reminded that the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is also at work in and through his Church. Today’s news briefs include stories of that power made manifest.

Blessing,
Pat

About Us

People of all denominations pray together each day in the public square in Kharkiv, Ukraine (photo by Sergey Baliuk).

Source: Rostyslav Stasyuk, Ukrainian Bible Society, via United Bible Societies, April 2, 2014

The dramatic events in our country have led to a remarkable unity and a spiritual wakening across the nation. It has been amazing to see the solidarity between representatives of different religions. … Last week, Archbishop Eustratius of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate), shared the astonishing news that Crimean Tatars − the Muslim minority in the disputed territory of Crimea − have offered to host the church’s services in their mosques.

“They said that if it became difficult for our priests and parishioners to pray in our churches in Crimea, they would make room for us in mosques. They have also assured that they would help protect our rights,” said the archbishop.

“Over the past month, as the situation in Crimea and the southeastern regions has escalated, churches, and individual Christians have become very active in speaking out and sharing the hope and encouragement found in the Bible. Christians of different denominations have been fasting and praying together for peace and wisdom for Ukraine’s leaders and other world leaders involved in the situation.

In Eastern Ukraine, prayer meetings are held every morning in the central squares of Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Dnipropetrovsk. In the city of Lviv in Western Ukraine, a 15-minute prayer session is held every hour from 9am to 9pm in the central square. In Kiev, the prayer tents that were erected during the protests in Maidan square are still there, and many people still come and use them as places of prayer.

The same kind of thing is happening in almost every city and town in the country.

» See also Missionaries Expect God to Work in the Midst of Eastern Ukraine Crisis (Commission Stories) and “Holy Desperation” in Ukraine (Baptist Press).

Source: Mission Network News, April 11, 2014

Eunuchs. Castrated males. There are about 1 million of them in India. Eunuchs are ignored by society. They form their own communities. Are people reaching them with the gospel? Are they ignored by Christians, too? A worker with Scriptures in Use (SIU) says yes, but not any more.

“We introduce storytelling to cultures that are non-literate, or what we call traditional oral learners. … Jesus told stories. He told parables. He allowed the story of the parable to speak to the hearts of the individual listener.”

[SIU’s] India partner became what’s called a “well-wisher” to the eunuchs in a community in Orissa State. As the relationships were established, the storytelling began. It started with 14 [participants]. The stories began with the Fall and continued through to the New Testament. “For three days we shared stories and then asked questions about the stories. At the end of the three days, we finally got to the Gospels. When it was done, all 14 of them accepted the Lord.”

It wasn’t a one-time thing. “We’re seeing some significant changes in them personally and then this desire to begin, in some way, to share their faith with fellow eunuchs and their families.”

» Read full story.

» Following India’s ongoing elections? You might be interested in this article about how Indian Christians view them (Christianity Today).

Source: God Reports, April 2014

“Teaching the Karen tribal people is such a privilege,” [write missionaries from the California-based organization, Pastoral Training of Asia]. “Serving in the refugee camp with no electricity [or] running water and pit toilets [is] always eye opening. Those living there are happy, not complaining but rather glad for the safety from … the hands of the Burmese soldiers.”

» Read full story.

» Readers might also be interested in Refugee Survey − Most Do Not Want to Go Back to Burma (Karen News).