Category: News Briefs

Source: United Bible Societies, April 18, 2016

“To have the whole Bible in San is for us a victory over the Enemy and over obscurantism. More and more Samo people (who speak San) are learning to read, and now they will be able to read God’s Word in their own language.”

These are the words of Thomas Traoré, President of the Eglise de l’Alliance Chrétienne (Church of the Christian Alliance) of Burkina Faso, at the publication of the first Bible in San—a language spoken by more than 230,000 people. The new Bible was dedicated in February, in Toma, Nayala Province, and was welcomed with great joy by the Christian community with prayers, singing, and dancing.

Work on translating the New Testament was started in 1982 by American missionary Richard Phillips and was later continued by the Bible Society and SIL. The New Testament was published in 1996, and work on the Old Testament began two years later.

“God speaks San and wants to talk to you in your language, so put your new Bible to good use,” [General Secretary of the Bible Society of Burkina Faso] Mr. Dramane Yankiné told the gathering of Samo Christians, urging them to use it as a tool to build their faith and to improve their literacy skills.

“The translation of the Word of God is in accord with the Spirit of Pentecost, when the apostles spoke in the mother tongues of the people around them,” he noted. “There is no sacred language in which God communicates; God speaks to each person in his or her language in order to be understood.”

» See full story with pictures.

» You might also enjoy reading about encouraging developments with access to the Bible in the West Africa’s Wolof language (SIM). On the other hand, please pray for Christians in Uzbekistan recently imprisoned and tortured, apparently for illegal possession of Christian literature (Forum 18 News Service).

Source: Worthy News, April 11, 2016

Last month two churches in Chile were set ablaze by supporters of the Mapuche—a Chilean movement that seeks to rid the region of religions contrary to their own indigenous beliefs.

According to International Christian Concern, the church attacks were two of five other arsons that occurred within 24 hours.

In the first attack, the Catholic Church of Santa Joaquina in the commune of Padre Las Casas was torched. Hours later an evangelical church—the Christian Union in Antinao—was also set afire. A pamphlet found at the site read: “We are going to burn all churches” and demanded that all Mapuche political prisoners be released.

» Read full story. See also related stories in Christian Times and Reuters.

» Readers might also be interested in an ASSIST News Service story about the Gathering of Nations, a native-American event that brings together 700 North American tribes (and some committed to native American ministry).

Source: SIM, April 22, 2016

The Pacific Island communities in New Zealand and the Pacific are beginning to rise up and go into the nations, proclaiming the gospel, demonstrating God’s love and power. We are seeking to journey with this nascent movement, Pacific2Nations, to mobilize the church to longer-term involvement in cross-cultural mission.

Please pray for:

• The teams and individuals receiving Kairos training and beginning to explore overseas mission opportunities.
• Pastors to continue to open their eyes to the need and the call and encourage their people to be involved in overseas mission.
• Many more Pacific Islanders to accept the challenge to be involved in God’s mission to the nations.

» Read full story and pray for the next Pacific2Nations event, near Sydney, Australia, May 27-28. Live near there? Check it out. It’s free.

Source: God Reports, May 2, 2016

He was the only blacksmith in his village in India, making plows and other farming instruments. He usually was paid with food and rarely received cash from other villagers.

One day something surprising happened. “Two people from the Baptist Church came to my village and asked me to make two dozen iron crosses for their church,” Ballipati Barburao told Final Frontiers Foundation.

They also gave him some Christian tracts about the greatness of Jesus Christ and asked him to read the material and pass it out to his family and neighbors.

When Ballipati read the tract, he was confused. “I went to the Baptist Church to give the iron designs and I asked the pastor to explain about Jesus,” he recounts.

As the two men talked further the pastor explained the gospel to him. Suddenly he understood the true meaning of the crosses he fashioned in the fire. The Holy Spirit convicted Ballipati of his sins and his need for repentance. Then God planted a seed of believing faith in his heart.

“I was absolutely impressed by the preaching and then I confessed my sins and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior,” he says.

The Holy Spirit filled him with a boldness to witness. “From that moment I became a preacher,” Ballipati says, but it was not without a cost.

» Read more about Ballipati’s challenges and how he was delivered through them.

» For a story with a different ending, read a stirring tribute to  Pastor Han, martyred a few days ago after a many years of ministry to North Koreans (Voice of the Martyrs Korea). You may have also heard about two US missionaries just killed in Jamaica.

Source: Missions Dilemma, April 22, 2016

One of the best known creations from the engineers at I-TEC is their portable dental chair. Through the Indigenous Dental Training (I-DENT program), chairs have been all around the world, from the mountains of Bolivia to the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The I-DENT training supplies indigenous Christians with the skills and equipment needed to provide basic dental care in remote areas in the name of Jesus. And because the portable dental chair is light enough to carry as a backpack or to strap to the back of your bicycle as you ride from village to village, the gospel is reaching communities that have never before heard of Jesus Christ.

After receiving the I-DENT training, eight Bolivian men and women are now able to care for their community. Because they have four portable dental chairs, they can travel deep into the mountains and share the gospel through meeting the dental needs of people who have never heard the word “dentist” and have never heard the gospel. It is truly a life-changing ministry.

» Learn more. See another Missions Dilemma article, Why Medical Missions?

In This Issue: Extreme and Surprising News

1. RUSSIA: Gospel Enters the Unknown
2. BHUTAN: A “Happy” Place, But Not for All
3. JORDAN: Most Hospitable Nation
4. ERITREA: World’s Harshest Conditions
5. BURMA: Rescuing Hunted Children
6. MALAYSIA: Court Upholds Right to Convert from Islam

Yakutsk is the coldest region on earth, with temperatures frequently well below zero. Yet the believers are warm, friendly, and faithful, say sources at Slavic Gospel Association. See related story below.

Greetings,

This week’s news is full of “extremes.” Read about the coldest city on earth, the place with the most child soldiers, the “happiest” country, the most hospitable nation, and the place with the harshest conditions. Also read what I find most surprising of all, a story about a Malaysian court upholding the right to convert from Islam!

Extremely happy,
Pat

Source: Mission Network News, April 6, 2016

Through Slavic Gospel Association, God is revealing himself to those who’ve never heard his name. Eric Mock recently traveled to Yakutsk, Russia, as part of a new program taking root.

“Yakutsk is a city that is known as the coldest city on the planet. Temperatures, I have heard: as low as 70 below zero. But very often 40-50 degrees below zero in the winter,” Mock exclaims.

“In fact, in this area, people are still herding reindeer. The area is very rugged and remote. It’s not hard to see why with those temperatures.”

Missionary work in this area is hard. Not simply because of the cold, but also because the only way to get into the area is by passing over snowy roads and frozen rivers during its harshest season. Why not travel in the spring or summer, you ask? Simple. Mud. It’s more difficult passing through the mud than it is over snow and ice.

But what isn’t so well known about this Russian land is its growing church population. While growing churches [may not] seem like a big deal in the West, it is when the first church in the area was planted in 1994.

» Read full story, which describes efforts to provide Bible training for church leaders.

» Readers might also be interested to hear about ministry to unreached Siberian Tatars (Operation Mobilization).

Source: World Watch Monitor, April 14, 2016

The visit of the young UK Royals, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to Bhutan is shining a spotlight on a small Himalayan nation perhaps best known for its own King assessing his country’s performance by factors which contribute to “Gross National Happiness.”

But despite this apparent endeavor from the Buddhist nation to ensure its citizens’ felicity, Bhutan’s minorities—including around 20,000 Christians (2.8 percent of the population)—complain that happiness does not filter down to all parts of society.

Bhutan’s state religion is Buddhism and other religions are barely tolerated, so life as a Christian is difficult. Church buildings are illegal and non-Buddhists are not privy to the same benefits, such as free education. Proselytism and incitement to convert are illegal. Bhutanese who convert to Christianity can lose their citizenship.

Converts to Christianity endure threats and pressures from village heads and clerics to return to Buddhism. They can pray and worship privately in their homes, but they struggle to meet in congregations and to obtain official permission to do so. Some Christians have reported losing their jobs after their employers found out they were Christian.

» Read full story.

» Pray for Bhutan using a three-minute video from Prayercast.

Source: Cry Out, March 2016

On February 2, King Abdullah of Jordan appealed for greater international assistance to enable his country to continue to sustain the numerous refugee communities across Jordan. The major communities are Iraqis and Syrians and they are equivalent to 20 percent of the population. The effects on housing, schooling, medical facilities, and the jobs market are becoming acute. Some live in camps, the largest of which, Zaatari, has become the fourth largest city/town in Jordan. Most, though, live dispersed throughout the country.

Less well known is that the country hosts groups of displaced persons from an estimated 40 other countries. These groups, and those endeavoring to support them, point out that few resources are being provided for them; Iraqis and Syrians get all the attention.

Let us pray that:

• Jordan will remain a stable and peaceful country despite the conflicts affecting many of its neighbors.
• Christians active in meeting humanitarian needs will know the Father’s provision, the Spirit’s enabling and radiate the Son’s love and life.
• The bereaved, wounded, and traumatized will know the healing of Jesus and find new hope.
• The economy will be expanded and infrastructure developed to provide jobs, housing, schools, etc. for the benefit of all those resident in Jordan.

» Read full story.

Source: Jubilee Campaign, February 29, 2016

The small East African countries of Eritrea and Somalia have produced thousands upon thousands of refugees who have fled to other African countries and Europe. Reports have estimated that nearly 5,000 people flee Eritrea each month.

The Committee to Protect Journalists stated Eritrea is “the most censored country in the world.” Only 1 percent of Eritreans can access the Internet. What’s more, as the Eritrean government is so strongly guarded against its citizens, any public gathering of seven or more requires a permit from the government.

Thousands of mostly Evangelical Christians are thought to be detained indefinitely, some of which are held in metal shipping containers. Although some were initially released after pledging to renounce their faith, none have been formally charged or tried and all are held until they provide similar denials of faith. During the past 15 years, these deplorable detention conditions have been inflicted upon tens of thousands of Evangelical Christians caught during Bible studies in private homes or otherwise seeking to practice their faith outside of the registered denominations.

» Read full story and see a website launched by the UNHCR, Telling The Real Story, which features first-hand accounts, audio messages, poetry, photos, and videos from Eritreans and Somalis who crossed the Mediterranean seeking a new life in Europe.

» In a recent story from a neighboring country, read (and pray about) Ethiopia Attack: 200 People Dead, 100 Children Missing (Al Jazeera).