Category: News Briefs

Source: Mission Network News, December 17, 2024

A new partner with World Missionary Press [WMP] is spreading God’s Word in some of the darkest places in Malawi: their prisons.

Malawi prisons are known for overcrowding and violence. Its 23 district prisons and other facilities are meant to hold only 7,000 people yet currently hold more than 16,500.

[WMP’s] Helen Williams explains that a new local partner has forged a positive relationship with prison officials just this year. They visited the Zomba and Domasi facilities, where they shared worship songs, teaching, preaching, and testimonies, plus Scripture booklets with inmates.

“The prison authorities, chaplain, and those in charge of the prisoners took [our partners] aside and told them the best way to interact with the prisoners. It was well organized,” Williams says. “There was a foundation to build on for this. It wasn’t just ‘walk in and hand out something.’”

At the Zomba prison, the team met with 350 inmates, and 210 of these men accepted Christ.

“When they were finished there, the authorities that had let them come in and share said, ‘You’re welcome to any prison in Malawi to reach out and win souls, because your help is urgently needed where the inmates are desperate to get a hold of God’s Word.’”

Read the full story.

Also from Mission Network News, hear about the amazing fruit of an evangelistic event in Vietnam and Christians carrying on with Christmas in Lebanon.

Source: Radical, December 12, 2024

Morocco has been a crossroads between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East for centuries. To say it’s a cultural melting pot wouldn’t cut it. And a closer look at its history will show how Christianity was bonded to its lands. Discover the diverse complexities that make Morocco what it is: one of the strongest Islamic strongholds today. Learn how it’s all blending in today’s church in unforeseen ways.

Watch the video, also below (12 minutes). It’s part of Neighborhoods and Nations, a series of video documentaries that explore the big questions, challenges, and obstacles Christians face as they navigate a complex world.

Also from North Africa, let’s rejoice in the recent release of Suleiman Bouhafs, a Christian imprisoned for three years in Algeria (International Christian Concern).

1. Lebanon: Seminary Pivots to Shelter Hundreds of the Displaced
2. Pakistan: Christian Man a Victim of Fake Conversion to Islam
3. Australia: Nami’s Legacy, an Illustrated Children’s Bible for Her People
4. India: Persecution Escalates in Manipur
5. East Africa: Media Ministry Spreads the Gospel in Hostile Territory

Read or share the email edition.

Source: Mission Network News, November 29, 2024

Crises can happen in a moment, but they can also drag on beyond all expectations. Yet God has sustained his people in the Middle East to be his hands and feet during years of tumult.

Take Lebanon. It has endured decades of conflict and economic collapse. The current war no one wanted has displaced an estimated 1.3 million people.

“Crisis, wars, disruptions [are] nothing new to this region. We’re used to difficulties and hardships,” says Loulwa Maalouf with the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary.

“But at the same time, we are used to seeing God at work, and we are called to be here and be part of his work.”

Today [ABTS] not only provides biblical education to around 240 students, but it also shelters a couple hundred displaced people.

“With every crisis in Lebanon, we are used to taking a step and saying, ‘Okay, how does God want us to respond now?’” Maalouf says.

Read the full story.

Also from Mission Network News, see New Approaches Needed for Growing Mongolian Church.

Source: Morning Star News, November 28, 2024

A judge in Pakistan has overturned a verdict that denied a Christian’s effort to correct his name and religion on his national identity card as he was a victim of fake conversion to Islam, his attorney said.

[On November 16], Ahmad Saeed, additional district judge of Pattoki Tehsil, Kasur District, Punjab Province, overturned the verdict of Pattoki Civil Judge Mian Usman Tariq, who had ruled that 24-year-old Sufyan Masih could not revert to Christianity after “converting” to Islam, said the Christian’s attorney, Sumera Shafique.

Masih had definitively affirmed his Christian faith and had reiterated that declaration in his statement to the district judge, she added. He told the judge that Asif Ali, the brick kiln owner where Masih worked, had registered his name in the NADRA record as Muhammad Sufyan and his religion as Islam in a bid to enslave him.

“Being an illiterate person, Masih failed to read the form filled by the data entry operator on the directives of his employer,” Shafique said, noting that Masih had put his thumbprint on the form in ignorance.

Read the full story.

Also learn about a Baptist church in Uzbekistan that has been unable to use its building or meet publicly for worship since 2021. Other religious groups in the country are experiencing similar problems (Forum 18.)

Source: United Bible Society, November 25, 2024

Inspired by seeing the children’s Bibles available in English, Nami Kulyuru, a long-serving Pitjantjatjara Bible translator from Central Australia, had the vision to pass on the stories of the Bible to her descendants using traditional paintings.

After sharing her idea with friends and colleagues, Nami began the artistic work for this book in 2021. She was passionate about seeing the children in her community, including her children and grandchildren, have access to visual representations of Scriptures with which they could connect.

Following Nami’s passing in 2022, her family and community ensured that Nami’s legacy would live on through “Godaku Tjukurpa” (God’s Story)—the Pitjantjatjara Children’s Illustrated Bible—produced by Bible Society Australia.

Read the full story and see some of the pictures.

Check out these additional stories about Bible translation and distribution:

• Believers in Oklahoma hope translating the Bible into Choctaw will fuel revival among the people and help preserve the language, which Choctaw people were forbidden to speak for decades (God Reports).
• You may have seen a story in the Wall Street Journal reporting that sales of Bibles are booming in the U.S. due to first-time buyers and new versions. The article credits the trend to rising anxiety, a search for hope, and, in some cases, focused marketing efforts.
• YouVersion’s Verse of the Year reflects what leaders say is a global trend of seeking peace through prayer.

Source: Global Partners, November 19, 2024

For the past year and a half, severe terrorism against Indian Christians has escalated in Manipur, India. The attacks [by] Hindu and non-tribal people—known as the Meiteis—[on] tribal and Christian people have significantly worsened over time.

[In mid-November], the Meitei terrorists attacked Christian communities in Jiribam, where the most important district headquarters of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of East India is located. There, terrorists burned down and vandalized 25 houses and five church buildings.

By the grace of God, no members were injured, as the houses had been deserted in time. Now the members are displaced, staying in various places, including relief camps.

In addition to this loss, over the past week, ten young Christian village volunteers were brutally killed for guarding one of the villages with guns, [and]in a quiet village within the Jiribam district, a devoted teacher and loving mother was attacked and burned to death [allegedly by Meiteis]. As she was well-known for her dedication to nurturing children in the village, her loss has left her village heartbroken.

Read the full story and pray for peace in this region.

From neighboring Myanmar, see Decades of Abuse Leave Rohingya and Myanmar Searching for Hope, which reports that a church bombing recently killed nine people near the border with China, seven of them children (Mission Network News).

Source: Pioneers-USA, December 2, 2024

After experiencing trauma, Asha turned to drugs. But it was when she turned to Jesus that her mom called the police.

In a sensitive part of East Africa, the gospel faces much opposition from people loyal to the majority religion. Yet, some are receptive to the gospel.

A church-planting team began looking for people God was drawing to himself. One day, they connected with an 18-year-old girl named Asha and started sharing with her from Scripture. As Jesus filled her heart, she committed to follow him and was baptized.

Emboldened, Asha began sharing stories about Jesus on social media. But her mother was horrified and contacted the police. Asha spent the next 18 months in prison.

Can you imagine living in a place where your own mother would turn you over like that? Trust is scarce in this hostile environment, and after what happened to Asha, new believers are learning wiser ways to share their faith. Media strategies can help spread the gospel in places where unrest and suspicion make other ministries nearly impossible.

Read the full story.

Another story from Pioneers starts with a believer in South Asia who didn’t think her family could ever follow Jesus—especially her dad, who had done puja (a worship ceremony) to Krishna every day since he was six years old. Hear what changed his mind (Relentless Pursuit Podcast).

1. Global: Making a Difference in Media
2. Bangladesh: A Beaten, Broken Church Bravely Grows Back
3. Israel: Arab Pastor Helps Hurting Jews and Muslims in Nazareth
4. Ireland: Thousands March for Jesus in Dublin
5. Suriname: A Dying Tribe Encounters New Life

Read or share the email edition.

Source: Various

Do you tend to see “the media” as a bad influence to be warded off? Or is media a tool to embrace for good? Some of both? Either way, a good way to respond is by praying for members of the media.

October 27 was a Global Day of Prayer for the Media. More than 2,000 people from more than 25 countries joined a live-streamed prayer marathon, thousands more visited a website about the event, and many Christians working in media roles shared their stories. Check out this excellent 20-minute video with scripture-inspired prayers for the media. Maybe you could use it to pray for the Missions Catalyst team.

Check out Create International’s Gospel Gadget Podcast, particularly episode 82, Media That Is Transforming Nations. Also from Create, read A Hidden Legacy: How a Christian Thangka Sparked a Tibetan Movement.