Category: News Briefs

Source: CBN News, June 1, 2015

A giant cross is rising in a place where Christians often suffer persecution for their faith: Karachi, Pakistan.

The 140-foot cross stands at the entrance of a Christian cemetery in the center of the city. It’s being built by Parvez Henry Gill, a Pakistani businessman who said the idea came to him in a dream.

“I want to show the world the Christian community in Pakistan has religious freedom,” Gill said.

While some have criticized the cross, Gill said he “leaves that to God.”

» Read full story or watch video clip.

» Read also 140 Foot Cross in Pakistan: Practical or Novelty? (Mission Network News) and People of the Cross (Voice of the Martyrs). On another note, read about the removal of crosses in China (Christianity Today).

Source: ASSIST News Service, May 22, 2015

Unlike Mother Teresa, who came from poverty and took a vow of poverty, Mama Maggie came from wealth. And during an encounter when she was a successful marketing executive, connected with a child in the garbage slums—a famous district of Cairo that has been mostly neglected.

She eventually gave up her marketing career and started a ministry called Stephen’s Children.

“Many times when the kids are asked what do you want to do when you grow up, they’ve really never thought that far in advance. And some of the kids, can you believe, have never been called by their name by anyone,” [author Marty] Makary said.

Mama Maggie’s ministry teaches the children a trade like shoe and clothing manufacturing—marketable skills for earning money and serving others, whether in the garbage slums, or elsewhere.

Makary said they’re not talking about getting out of the garbage district.

“They’re talking about serving the garbage district. And sure enough, a good number of the full time staff were kids in the ministry themselves, have graduated and want to give back,” he explained. “I’ve met doctors in the clinics over there and they’re working for almost no money.”

» Read full story. Note that seven of the 21 Egyptian Christians killed by ISIS in Libya last February were involved with Mama Maggie’s ministry. See Makary’s book, Mama Maggie: The Untold Story of One Woman’s Mission to Love the Forgotten Children of Egypt’s Garbage Slums.

» See also Retirees Volunteer, Impact World for Christ (IMB Commission Stories).

Source: GodReports, May 19, 2015

“Alice” grew up in Eritrea, then spent almost 20 years in the United States. But she answered a call to go back to her people and share the Good News of Jesus Christ and lead Bible studies.

When Alice attempted to leave Eritrea in 2009, authorities arrested her at the airport. All her possessions were confiscated and she was thrown into prison. There were no charges filed, no lawyers, no trial, just an indefinite prison sentence, according to International Christian Concern (ICC).

“It was as if she had just disappeared,” noted Troy Augustine with ICC.

Alice’s family did not know her specific location for five years. Her mother spent many tearful nights, wondering if her youngest daughter was still alive.

In the prison, Alice witnessed boldly for her faith. Through Alice’s influence, Muslim inmates turned to Christ in their darkest hour as they faced abuse.

It is estimated that 1,200 to 3,000 people in Eritrea are currently in jail for their faith, the majority of whom are evangelical Christians. Because of these abuses, Eritrea has been called the “North Korea of Africa.”

» Read full story.

» Also read Not All of Eritrea Marks an Anniversary of Freedom (Mission Network News

In this issue: Glimpses of the Global Church

1. HAITI: Time to Send Out Missionaries
2. SOUTHEAST ASIA: Calling Hispanics to Change the World
3. IRAN: Actor Transformed by the Gospel
4. NEPAL: Miriam Refuses to Stop Praying
5. SYRIA: “We Are Going Through a Terrible Moment”

Dear Readers,

My all-time favorite prayer for the nations is from Psalm 24: “Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.” You may also recognize it from Handel’s Messiah. I was delighted to find that the same prayer is being sung by Pakistanis. Enjoy this upbeat version in Hindi/Urdu, Punjabi Zabor 24:7-10.

Don’t forget that this week you have the chance to join millions who are praying this Global Day of Prayer, Pentecost Sunday, May 24. As you consider how to pray, may I again commend to you the resource World in Prayer? I noticed that they often give praises for “good news” as well as lift up the “bad news” before God. The May 8 edition of World News This Week in Prayer is a great example.

Also this week, Christian Solidarity Worldwide has asked for prayer for China. Watch this two-minute video and access more resources.

William Carey famously said, “To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map.” Wouldn’t he love to see the maps we have now? Here are some I bet he would have used (all from Flowing Data):

• Map of Most Common Race (US counties)
• Disaster Risk Indices Estimate Impact on People
• Self Printing a Wall-Sized World Map

A recent Lausanne Global Analysis challenges our ideas about data:

“What is happening in mission statistics is wonderful for prayer and for mobilization. By and large, what is missing are actionable data. To obtain data that informs on-the-ground ministry, another step is needed,” says the report, adding that  for national churches and mission organizations to use data in developing and implementing their strategies, the information needs to be reliable, recent, detailed, and reportable.

“The way to do this is to change from gathering statistics for missionaries to gathering data for a nation: national church statistics. An outsider perspective has to be changed to an insider perspective. That is the major challenge facing missionary statistics today.”

I hope you’ll read the whole article. Meanwhile, some insider perspectives; today’s newsbriefs highlight stories of laborers for the kingdom whom God is raising up from all over: a Haitian missionary, Hispanic mobilizer, Iranian evangelist, Nepali intercessor, and an Assyrian advocate. Thanks for standing with them in prayer.

Blessings,
Pat

Source: OM News, May 7, 2015

Pastor Marc had a vision to mobilize the Haitian church into missions, and now his prayers are becoming a reality. Six Haitians have joined OM full-time this year, and OM has a vision is to send even more, especially to French-speaking North Africa.

Ruth is a nurse with a passion for HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention. She is also a new OM missionary from Haiti who is raising support to travel to schools and communities around Haiti providing education to those who are still greatly affected by stigmas and lack of knowledge. HIV and AIDS is a big problem in Haiti and is on the rise.

“I wanted to go to people and teach them more about HIV and AIDS and also about Jesus,” Ruth said. “I want to go all over Haiti, I want to go school to school, mountain to mountain… I really like that, and I wanted to be a nurse-missionary!”

There are many Haitians who are excited about missions and want to make a difference yet struggle to raise the funds necessary. But they persevere, determined to overcome the many challenges to serve in whatever way God calls.

» Read full story.

» Note: Former receiving nations that now send workers may avoid making the mistakes of those who came to them. Watch this humorous Cautionary Tale (Helping Without Hurting in Short-Term Missions).

Source: IMB Commission Stories, April 30, 2015

Hispanic followers of Christ are ready to change the world, declares singer Coalo Zamorano, one of the top contemporary Christian musicians in the Spanish-speaking world.

That’s the message—and the title—of Zamorano’s new music video (Cambia el Mundo), produced in partnership with IMB. The video, shot in a part of Southeast Asia mostly untouched by the gospel of Jesus Christ, invites Hispanics to “open your hands, your heart… change the world, change the world today.”

“The next missionary movement is going to come from the Hispanic community,” said Zamorano, 42, an internationally renowned singer, composer, producer, and Latin Grammy winner.

“I think that God is already calling many people in the Hispanic world to bring the gospel… We must go, we must be brave and believe in God because he is going to open doors.”

» Read full story and watch video.

Source: Iran Alive Ministries, May 14, 2015

A movie actor named Arash [called] our counseling center. Arash described himself as “a money-loving and angry man who would do anything to acquire riches.” Arash went on to explain that his greed and anger cost him his friends [and] his career and ultimately left him depressed and despondent.

While flipping through the channels on his satellite TV one evening, Arash stumbled across our network. After several hours of listening to God’s Word, Arash came to understand that Jesus had a different purpose for his life.

In his living room, in front of his TV, Arash asked Christ into his heart and trusted him to forgive him of his sins and transform his life.

After a short period of time, Arash noticed that his greed was replaced with compassion and his anger with joy. Cautiously optimistic, he re-launched his acting career and has found it to be a great source of peace and a platform for sharing Christ with others.

» Read full story. You might also appreciate, from the same source, Jesus Visits Iranian Prisoner in His Dream and Sets Him Free!

Source: IMB Commission Stories, May 6, 2015

Miriam awoke from her Saturday nap on April 25 with a start. Since she was up, the elderly woman decided to start her daily noon prayer 15 minutes early.

The prayer was made up of the normal requests—asking God to give her husband health; watching over her adult son; tidbits from people requesting her intercession; and asking for her neighbors and her country of Nepal to know Jesus… [then] a loud noise cracked throughout the brick home.

“I thought it was a car,” the toothless woman said with a giggle one week after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake. “But then the house started shaking and everyone was screaming, ‘EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAKE!’”

Her husband came to get her out of the second-story bedroom, but she refused to move. She refused to stop praying. She knew that she, a leper with no fingers or legs, could do more good by praying to God for her country’s protection than going outside to safety. Her husband only argued once, then sat on the floor and joined her.

» Full story includes pictures, prayer points, and a brief video.

» Also check out this amazing collection of infographics on Nepal (Pinterest/GMI).

Source: World Watch Monitor, May 8, 2015

As hard-fought land battles continued during March and April, dozens of the displaced Assyrian families began fleeing Hassaka to resettle abroad. “The situation in Hassaka is bad and very fragile,” Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana of the Assyrian Church of the East told World Watch Monitor. The clashes have now come close to the suburbs of Hassaka city, where the archbishops of the Assyrian Church of the East and the Syriac Catholic Church are headquartered. Only 800 Christian families remain in the province, he said.

“Assyrian Christians are facing a danger that threatens their existence in their historical regions,” Youkhana told the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights in Brussels on April 23.

The future of Hassaka’s Christians became increasingly precarious after Syria’s revolution took an overt Islamist turn in 2013, once the Assad regime had pulled most of its army forces out of northeastern Syria.

An Assyrian doctor working in a government hospital in Qamishli told World Watch Monitor in late March that it was impossible to trust any of the sides fighting for control of Hassaka province.

In Beirut, Bishop Yatron Koliana of the Assyrian Church of the East sadly agreed. “We are fasting and praying that the governments of the world will not give weapons or facilitate things for the Islamic State and their allies,” he told World Watch Monitor. ”Sometimes we feel that Christians here are being sold for oil and gas. So we plead for prayers, that the big decision-makers will have mercy in their hearts to save us.”

» Read full story.

» Editor’s Note: Long-time Missions Catalyst readers know I like to look at holidays as bridges for sharing the gospel, and lately I’ve taken more of an interest in the traditions of our Orthodox brothers and sisters. Tomorrow (May 21) many celebrate Ascension Day. Not a big deal to most Christians, but it does mark the day Jesus gave us the Great Commission! See Ascension Day and the Great Commission (Orthodox-Reformed Bridge).

In This Issue: Responding to Terror

• GUATEMALA: Hardened Gang Member Transformed
• WORLD: A Christian Response to the Crisis in the Mediterranean
• NEPAL: Death Toll Climbs, Christians Reaching Out
• USA: Perspectives Study Program Equipping 8,000 New Students Annually
• WORLD: Incomprehensible Languages

Dear Readers,

If you click only one link in this edition, let it be Who Would Dare to Love ISIS? A Letter from the People of the Cross to ISIS from a group called Mighty. This POWERFUL video message will take less than four minutes of your time.

For some helpful insights into the emotional lives of violent jihadis, read the transcript of Thomas Hegghammer’s lecture, Why Terrorists Weep. I like to think that Missions Catalyst news stories are a great source of fuel for prayer, and this may be the best fuel I’ve seen yet for prayer on this topic.

Finally, take a look at African Man Turns to Christ Moments before Beheading, which describes Mathew Ayairga’s response when, on a beach in Libya, ISIS militants tried to force him to follow Islam (BosNewsLife).

Blessings,
Pat