Category: News Briefs

Source: Mission Network News, January 31, 2025

[On January 31], Rwandan-backed M23 fighters captured Goma, a key city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo bordering Rwanda. A city of 2 million already, Goma was crammed with an additional 300,000 people fleeing M23’s advance.

Government leaders of the DRC called Goma’s fall a “declaration of war” by Rwanda. In the days since then, M23 has captured more cities. It’s an advance that could escalate an already deeply conflicted region.

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says [these] events can be traced back to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. But another key factor is the DRC’s extraordinary wealth of natural resources, Kelley says. The DRC is rich in minerals such as gold, diamonds, and cobalt. Other powers want access to these resources.

Millions of Congolese are paying for this conflict-turned-humanitarian-crisis. Kelley says the global church must remember the gospel call as the hands and feet of Christ.

Read the full story. Let’s pray for those in this volatile region. See the INcontext video below for some ways to pray.

At this writing, M23 has declared a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons (Al Jazeera and other sources).

India: Pentecostals on the Rise in the Punjab

Source: God Reports, January 15, 2025

“A wave of Charismatic Christianity—drawing from the worldwide Pentecostal movement—is sweeping through Punjab in tidal volumes and generating all sorts of conflicting emotions, (giving) a deep sense of belonging and ecstatic hope for those on the inside, disquiet for those watching from the ringside,” according to a (2022) report by India Today.

Part of the success has been the “Punjabization” of Christianity. Converts are allowed to keep their name and traditional dress, against the older missionary custom of requiring them to change both, The Tribune News reported [in December 2024].

Churches are stylized to look similar to Sikh places of worship. Worship services approximate Sikh ceremonies, in which congregants may sit on the floor and they sing like they do in Sikh services.

“They’ve made it so localized, so familiar that they have made the transition of the community so smooth that a lot of people are attracted to them,” according to The Tribune.

Read the rest of the article for stories of three megachurch pastors leading churches in the region or click on The Tribute News link above for a video interview (just under 13 minutes long).

See also Beyond the Headlines: “Ever-Present” Persecution in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (International Christian Concern).

Source: International Christian Concern, January 16, 2025

About 400 million people inhabit the Sahel, a narrow strip of the vast African continent hugging the Sahara desert’s southern reaches and stretching from Senegal’s Atlantic coastline in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Sahel is a region plagued by extreme poverty, deep civil unrest, and rampant extremism that threatens to eradicate the very fabric of society.

In many parts of the region, law and governance have been practically abolished, supplanted by terrorist forces intent on establishing their vision of an Islamic caliphate.

Terrorist groups in the Sahel are increasingly taking the place of failed governments.

Read the full story. Not exactly “new” news, is it? But there have been some recent developments. See some helpful articles (from Justin Long’s Weekly Roundup): West Africa’s junta-led nations announce deployment of a joint force as extremist violence spikes (AP) and Nigeria’s cocoa industry in shambles as farmers battle theft, violence (Human Angle).

Source: Middle East Concern, January 31, 2025

City of Life Ministries (CLM) in Sderot, a town adjacent to Gaza, requests prayer for a court hearing [which was held] on February 2. They have an ongoing legal battle over using their rented premises for humanitarian aid and meetings of the Messianic congregation.

Sderot, known as “the bomb shelter capital of the world” because of its numerous refuges from missile attacks, was targeted when Hamas launched its attack from Gaza on October 7, 2023. Militants killed 50 civilians and 20 police officers in what became known as the Battle of Sderot. CLM ministers to those displaced by the attack and supports reservists of the Israel Defense Forces, among others.

Since 2020, CLM has faced repeated opposition from ultra-Orthodox Jewish extremist groups, influencing Sderot Municipality to open a case against CLM and pastor Michael Beener for alleged zoning regulation violations. At an initial court hearing in March 2023, the judge remarked that this is the only example of Sderot Municipality pursuing alleged violations of zoning regulations in this area, implying discriminatory treatment.

Read the full story.

You might also be interested in the case made by Ted Esler that despite the “blood of the martyrs” theory, religious persecution mostly works.

Source: International Mission Board, January 28, 2025

International Mission Board missionaries commissioned a new facility in Nairobi, Kenya, on January 26 to prepare Africans to reach the nations. IMB missionaries, along with senior leaders from Richmond, gathered to pray for healthy African churches to send African missionaries and to praise God for the work he is already doing across the continent.

The goal of the Lead Global facility is to equip churches to engage unreached people groups effectively. IMB missionaries aim to help African Baptist churches reach a point where they can send and support missionaries independently. Historically, missionary support has not been a priority in African church budgets, so the IMB team is working to help churches understand the value of this investment. IMB and Lead Global will work together to help churches fulfill their role in the Great Commission.

Read the full story.

We rejoice in how God has used missionaries of African descent for many years. See below for an new initiative highlighting diverse African American ministry leaders (Chasm Gaming and the National African American Mission Council).

Missions Catalyst News Briefs 2025.01.15

1. India, China, Tibet… Praying for Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims
2. World: Digital Nomads as Global Marketplace Multipliers
3. Colombia: Pastor and His Family Killed in Heartbreaking Loss
4. Bhutan: God Answers Prayers on a College Campus
5. USA: A Taste of Heaven Right There on Death Row

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Sources: Various

It started this week—the Kumbh Mela, a massive Hindu festival touted as the world’s largest religious gathering. Between now and February 26, at least 400 million people are expected to visit the confluence of three holy rivers. Many of these pilgrims are spiritually hungry. Pray they will have dreams and visions of Jesus that will lead them to the Good News.

As we mentioned in last week’s Missions Catalyst, some are also taking time this month to pray for the Buddhist world. Check out 21 Days of Prayer for the Buddhist World, January 9-29 and consider joining prayer events for the Buddhist world on January 29 (Chinese New Year). Pray for the gospel to spread in Tibet, where an earthquake in a sacred city killed more than 126 people, displacing many more (BBC).

The 30 days of prayer for the Muslim world sneaks up on us earlier every year due to the lunar calendar. This year, it’s February 28 to March 29. Will you pray for Muslims during Ramadan? Consider ordering a prayer guide booklet or PDF such as those from World Prayer Guides.

Source: Global Partners, January 1, 2025

A digital nomad is a location-independent worker who leverages mobile technology to live and work remotely from somewhere in the world that has sufficient internet and travel options for them to do their job.

Why should those who care about increasing access to the gospel be interested in the idea of digital nomads? Well, the answer is simple: many of the more unreached places in the world are also places that are hard to get a job in. Being a digital nomad gives someone another way in.

Read the full story.

A recent article in Mission Frontiers asserts, “Millions of ordinary Christians from Majority World churches are finding employment around the globe [and] have access to millions from unreached lands who are also in the economic diaspora, as well as to the people of the host countries.” The whole edition is on mission and migration.

Speaking of ways the gospel can cross new frontiers, read YouVersion Bible App Hits Record 798K Installations in Single Day. January 5, 2025 was their best day ever, and the largest increases were in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East (The Christian Post).

Source: Crosswalk, January 2, 2025

An evangelical pastor and his family were killed [December 29] in Colombia after a gunman on a motorcycle shot them as they were eating outside a restaurant after a church service. As reported by The Christian Post, the gunman killed Pastor Marlon Lora of the Prince of Peace Villaparaguay Church, his wife, Yorley Rincon, and 24-year-old daughter, Angela Lora Rincón, in the municipality of Aguachica. Meanwhile, their 21-year-old son, Santiago Lora Rincón, was injured in the shooting.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Lora and his church belonged to the Missionaries Biblical Churches denomination, in which he visited and managed nearly three dozen congregations in various parts of the country.

The full story reports that discrimination and threats against religious leaders have been on the rise in Colombia. Let’s pray for Colombia.

Source: God Reports, December 31, 2025

Evangelizing is prohibited in Bhutan. Being a Christian is also illegal in the Buddhist nation. But Pastor Rajiv, who lives outside the country in a border town, has been reaching Bhutanese for Christ for over 10 years.

“Christianity is not a permitted religion,” Pastor Rajiv explained on a Voice of the Martyrs radio show. “In a way, it is illegal to be a Christian.”

[One of his strategies has been] to enter the country as a tourist and, visiting different colleges and schools, consistently praying for a Bible study at each. And God answered; Bible studies have been initiated at all 15 universities.

To launch a Bible study at a certain prestigious science and technology university, Rajiv was “praying and wondering” when the fruit would appear.

He was holding a food and volleyball fellowship at his home one evening and a first-time visitor, a freshman, enjoyed himself so much that he pledged to start a Bible study in his senior year.

It came faster than that. In his sophomore year, he was playing Christian music in his room to see if anybody would come to him identifying as a Christian. A freshman came in his room and said, “I like this music.”

“So, you are a Christian?” he asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

Next, the freshman gathered all his courage to kneel and pray before turning in for the night. After he prayed, to his surprise he saw the three other roommates were praying and kneeling—they, too, were believers. The Bible study was born.

Read the full story or click on the link above to listen to the related podcast episode.