Category: News Briefs

Source: Lausanne Global Analysis, January 13, 2014

Human trafficking is a global crime affecting nearly all countries in every region of the world, and the statistics are simply staggering. Between 2007 and 2010, victims of 136 different nationalities were detected in 118 countries across the world.

Trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation accounts for 58% of all cases detected globally, while trafficking for forced labor accounts for 36 percent (double the 2008 percentage). Removal of organs, begging, forced marriages, illegal adoptions, participation in armed combat, and the commission of petty crimes are some of the other reasons for human trafficking.

The International Labor Organization estimates that 20.9 million people are victims of forced labor globally. Women account for about 60 percent of trafficking victims, and children 27 percent (two thirds of them girls).

» Read full story, including a call to the global church to respond.

» Related to human trafficking is the mistreatment of women. For stories to help you pray for and believe in change, see Deborah Meroff’s new blog, Women Without Borders.

Source: Assemblies of God World Missions, January 13, 2014

Violent protests interrupted Sunday morning services, January 12, at two churches in Hikkaduwa, a small coastal town in southern Sri Lanka. Eyewitnesses report that a mob led by Buddhist monks stormed an Assemblies of God church and Calvary Free Church, threatening worshipers and vandalizing church property.

The monks claimed the churches were illegal prayer centers and demanded that they be closed. However, worshipers say they have met at those locations since 1997. Both churches were severely damaged, and sound equipment, musical instruments, furniture, literature, and Bibles were destroyed.

» Read full story.

» The Pew Forum reports that, worldwide, Religious Hostilities Reach Six-Year High.

Source: Morning Star News, January 16, 2014

As Barry Barnett’s plane lifted off from Tel Aviv, Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport last month, he sat torn with emotion. Over the prior two weeks the British citizen had been harassed, arrested, interrogated, locked in jail, and deported from a country that he had loved deeply since childhood.

Still, he was filled with an unquenchable desire to continue doing that for which Israel had deported him – proclaiming Christ to his fellow Jews.

If the deportation order stands, not only may Barnett never set foot in Israel again but, more importantly, it could set a legal precedent to limit missionary work or other forms of religious expression by foreign visitors.

» Full story with picture.

Source: Baptist Press News, January 16, 2014

Born into a strict Islamic family, Perkasa’s journey of faith began two years ago when, in town on business, he encountered [a couple who were] Christian workers.

He heard the gospel presentation during the visit, and an inner wrestling began in his heart. He decided to follow Christ and renounced his Islamic faith.

His family, learning of his conversion, called him to dinner and a fight ensued. Perkasa was beaten and struck in the head with a pistol. To this day, he insists God protected him, as he “did not feel any pain.”

Perkasa began visiting the [missionaries] daily, studying the Scriptures in their home.

“There was a time I didn’t know if I could go on, but after I was baptized, I had boldness,” Perkasa said. “I was not afraid anymore … I prayed, ‘God, what should I do? I want to share your glory.'”

The answer to his prayers came when people began seeking him for healing. His father was a famous herbal medicine doctor in Southeast Asia, working everywhere from Malaysia to China. The youngest son, Perkasa traveled and learned the craft from his father. But [also] trained as a businessman, Perkasa had not practiced medicine in many years.

“Praise God he brought what I studied when I was young back to my mind,” Perkasa said.

God began sending people to Perkasa from all over the country, and in [one] year alone, Perkasa said, he shared the gospel with over 1,500 people.

» Full story with pictures.

In This Issue: Holidays, haram, and South Americans “going for more”

• COLOMBIA: Guerrilla Group Bans Worship Services
• SOUTH SUDAN: Cry Out to the Lord
• KAZAKHSTAN: Fines for “Extremist” Books 
• IRAQ: Government Declares Christmas a National Holiday
• EVENTS: Additions to 2014 Calendar 

Greetings!

This edition includes a number of stories about suffering Christians. The last year has been a newsworthy one for global persecution, says the Christian ministry Open Doors – which publishes an annual World Watch List of the top 50 countries where Christians face the most persecution.

“Hundreds of churches have been attacked in Nigeria. Entire Christian towns have been destroyed in Syria. And in North Korea, at least 80 people were allegedly killed for owning a Bible,” writes Open Doors.

As the writers also point out, however, many people are coming to Christ in some of these countries.

For an overview, read The 2014 Watch List Is Here and follow links to other resources and ways to respond.

Thanks for praying!

Source: Morning Star News, December 18, 2013

Christians in southern Colombia are living in constant danger from a guerrilla army that has banned worship services in rural areas under its control.

An estimated 150 churches have been forced to close since July, when the 32nd Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP in Spanish) launched a repressive campaign against Roman Catholic and evangelical churches in the department (state) of Putumayo.

The FARC-EP has prohibited celebration of the Mass and Protestant worship in most small towns and villages. Only congregations that have express permission from the rebel group are allowed to hold services without fear of retaliation.

Christians at greatest risk are the members of house churches and the itinerant evangelists who serve them.

“Every time my husband or another church leader leaves to go preach in the countryside, I can only ask, ‘Lord, continue to watch out for the safety of every one of them,'” Jeanet Ortiz Pinto, wife of itinerant evangelist and radio speaker Angel Pinto, told Morning Star News. “My heart is saddened to see what is happening around us.”

» Read full story.

» Here’s some good news from Colombia: Biggest Christian Gathering in South America “Going for More” (Christian Today).

Source: Window International Network, January 4, 2014

“South Sudan is the only Christian nation in our beloved 10/40 Window,” writes Windows International Network (WIN). “We must cry out to the Lord God Almighty to stop the demonic forces trying to annihilate the people in this Christian nation. Cry out to the Lord on behalf of our brothers and sisters!”

A pastor in Juba wrote to WIN [on January 4]:

“Today conflict erupted in two areas, Lui and Jumbo, where by soldiers began shooting [into the] air to protest the lack of food and supplies from the government. That created a lot of fear among the residents of these three towns and they fled to the forest. Meanwhile the soldiers begin to loot the shops and take the goods. This incident has created a lot of fear among the locals of those particular areas.

“As I’m writing now, there is a lot of gun shooting in South of Juba and the sky is full of flying bullets. It’s nighttime, and we don’t know whether the shooting will continue until morning, but please [pray] with us for protection of all in Jesus’ name. I have to go now because the gunshots are too much and getting closer. God, please cover us by your mighty arms in Jesus’ name.

» Combined from two WIN articles, South Sudan in Trouble and Cry Out to the Lord for South Sudan (which contains detailed prayer points).

» Also read Q&A: Violence in South Sudan (SIM workers Nate and Ginna Killoren) and check out this useful infographic, Untangling South Sudan Violence (Al Jazeera).

Source: Forum 18, January 6, 2014

» Read full story. Also from Forum 18, in Turkmenistan, Singing About God Here Is Banned.

Source: Asia News, via Assyrian International News Agency, December 24, 2013

Source: Missions Catalyst