Category: News Briefs

Source: Religion News Service, December 29, 2022

Taken as a whole, the news of the past 12 months tells a story of deepening division in American and global society, as issues from abortion to antisemitism seemed to not only inflame debate between individuals but to destabilize institutions. Faith communities and organizations, often at the center of some of the year’s most indelible moments, were no less vulnerable to these roiling shifts. Here are RNS editors’ picks for the most significant stories in faith in the last year.

See what makes the list. Not sure more than a few of them would make what we at Missions Catalyst think of as Heaven’s headlines, though other stories in this edition of news briefs might.

Source: Dave Coles, Mission Frontiers, January 1, 2023

I often tell people, “My job is to hear about the incredible works of God and proclaim the incredible works of God. That’s a pretty unbeatable job.” Sometimes when speaking to a group, I tell them, “I’m going to give you some good news: the kind of news you almost never find on the internet or on TV. Most of what’s out there is bad news. Scary news. Irritating news. I’ve got news that is thrilling!”

Read this issue of Mission Frontiers. It reports that the number of known disciple-making movements has more than tripled in the last five years. And they’re spreading. New research suggests that 80–90% of currently existing movements have been started by other movements rather than an outside catalyst.

Want the data? Read Justin Long’s article How Long to Reach the Goal? or see the recently updated DMM Dashboard. “If you have prayed for movements to spread around the world… they have,” he says.

You might also be interested in Ministry Leaders Unite on Fulfilling the Great Commission by 2033 (Empowered21, via Christian News Wire).

Source: Morning Star News, December 4, 2022

[On November 20] Muslim extremists burned down a house where a cell fellowship was meeting in eastern Uganda, a week after Muslims in another area caned two converts, sources said.

Arafah Senyange, 28, and his brother Zulufa Hajati Nakimuli, 43, were beaten with [a] cane on November 13 in Busembatia town, Bugweri District (formerly in Iganga District) for converting from Islam to Christianity in October, Nakimuli said.

The two brothers were studying the Bible under a mango tree outside their father’s home after returning from a Sunday service in Busembatia when one of their brothers, mosque leader Hamuza Lubega, arrived shouting the jihadist slogan, “Allah Akbar [God is greater],” he said.

Lubega seized their Bible and began tearing its pages, then called their brothers Shafiki Kato and Ahmad Sewanyana, Nakimuli said.

“We were accused of bringing an unholy, corrupted book into the home of a Muslim family and following Issa [Jesus] as the Son of God, which is blasphemy in Islam,” Nakimuli told Morning Star News. “Shafiki was sent to get some more family members with [a] cane to use on us. As they arrived, they started beating us with it.”

Read the full story. Also from Morning Star News: Killings in Kaduna State, Nigeria Darken Christmas Season.

Source: Voice of Justice and Jubilee Campaign, November 2022

There is no shortage of human rights atrocities taking place across the world at this very minute, from the military coup in Myanmar, to the slaughter of Christian communities in Nigeria, to the internment of millions of Uyghur Muslims in China. While we wish it was possible to be on the ground in every one of these places and contexts offering legal and humanitarian assistance and speaking to admirably resilient faith-based communities, we recognize that we must work within our geographic and personnel constraints.

Voice for Justice has worked tirelessly to expose the ever-increasing thousands of cases in which young girls from the Christian community in Pakistan are abducted from their workplaces, their educational institutions, and even from the refuge of their own homes, at which point they are forcibly married to men 20 and 30 years their elder and converted to Islam against their will. Meanwhile, these girls’ families are largely left helpless as the very state actors—police officers, courts of law, judges, religious leaders, and the like—who are tasked with protecting the nation’s people and advancing their interests instead aid and abet perpetrators, breeding a culture of impunity under which these horrific crimes can persist unmitigated.

See the full report, Conversion Without Consent.

Also from Pakistan, a Chinese missionary to Pakistan declares, “If I Die in Pakistan, Leave My Body There” (Back to Jerusalem). The author adds, “This sacrifice is the heart of preaching the gospel message to all the nations; it is the heart of the Chinese missionary vision, and it is perhaps what is needed to complete the Great Commission in our lifetime.”

Source: Beyond, December 7, 2022

One of the great joys in Joel and Becky’s work has been to see “Tazig” believers celebrate Christmas and remember God incarnate in their own culturally relevant ways.

Last year one of their teammates’ sisters returned to visit her Himalayan family. Priscilla’s sister has lived in the United States for the past ten years and has become an American citizen.

As Priscilla and the other Tazig believers were making plans for their Christmas celebration, her sister, Amrita, asked, “Oh, you are going to celebrate the English New Year?”

Priscilla replied, “No, we are making plans to celebrate Christmas when the Creator God came to the earth and lived as a human.”

Amrita never understood Christmas. For 10 years she had heard people in the United States say, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.” Since her people celebrate the Tibetan New Year over multiple days, she thought Christmas was just the start of our New Year’s celebrations. Amrita had never heard the Christmas story.

Thankfully, Priscilla told her about God sending his Son to the earth and all about Christmas. A few days later, Amrita joined the Tazig Christmas celebration, knowing for the first time what it was all about.

Read the full story and ask yourself if there might be someone in your life who doesn’t know the reason we celebrate Christmas.

Source: Christian Today, December 13, 2022

Today almost 30 percent of the population in Kazakhstan is Christian. While the majority are still from a non-Kazakh background, the number of Kazakhs who confess to following Jesus Christ as their Lord is growing.

The number of evangelical registered churches in Kazakhstan today stands at approximately 400, including all Russian-speaking and Kazakh-speaking churches. The vast majority of them belong to the Evangelical Alliance of Kazakhstan (EAK). You will find ethnic Kazakhs in almost all of the evangelical churches today, about 100 of which are registered Kazakh churches.

The Kurultay (convention) of Kazakh pastors is one of the most important annual meetings in Kazakhstan. They come together to fellowship with each other and discuss the most important current issues among the Kazakh-speaking population. And they share with each other the problems that hinder the growth of God’s kingdom in the country.

“We believe that God has positioned us strategically and given us, the Christians of Kazakhstan, a missionary calling to take the good news to Muslim peoples living near and far. Kurultay organizes short-term missionary trips and sends long-term missionaries. This happens not only within Kazakhstan but also outside of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstani pastors and missionaries go to other countries of the Turkic world because of our cultural affinity and religious background to plant churches,” [says the leader of the Kurultay].

Read the full story.

Got about 15 minutes? Listen to David Garrison and Zane Pratt talk about Christianity in Central Asia, or as Garrison calls it, Turkestan (Maverick Podcast).

From neighboring Mongolia, read East Asian Believers Spread Christmas Message in Spite of Bitter Cold (International Mission Board).

Source: Christian Aid Mission, December 15, 2022

When a local Christian worker in Burma (Myanmar) visiting homes knocked on one door in the country devastated by a military coup, he didn’t realize a military family lived there.

Area residents were resentful and/or terrified of the family since the February 2021 coup unleashed havoc in the country—protests, crackdowns, and sheer random violence left many areas paralyzed.

“This family had the feeling that they were isolated because military personnel were hated by all the people,” the leader of a native ministry said.

The worker had visited other homes with the gospel and had seen families put their faith in Christ.

“Lastly he happened to reach the home of a retired lieutenant and his family—usually no one visited this family,” the leader said. “When he visited them not knowing who they were, the family was so happy for his visit.”

The worker told them how God’s love and salvation were available for all who came to him in repentance. Touched by the worker’s kindness, the family invited him to visit them again.

“He lovingly visited them, and they invited him to visit again and again,” the leader said. “And finally the retired lieutenant came to faith in Christ and received believer’s baptism. Now this man invites their neighbors to his home, and they have believers’ fellowship every Sunday, and sometimes on Saturday also.”

Read the full story.

An update from the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin asks us to pray for a Christian leader in Burma. Reverend Dr. Hkalam Samson, former chairman of the Kachin Baptist Convention and current chairman of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly, was arrested on December 4.

Source: ChinaSource Quarterly, Winter 2022

At a recent gathering of more than 100 China ministry professionals, I was struck by how many of the attendees operated with the assumption that the era of expatriates living and ministering within China’s borders was over. Only a handful of those in attendance had any plans to live and work in China while most of the conference focused on ministering from a distance.

While there is real value to serving the Chinese church remotely, is it the case that expatriate Christians can no longer live and minister within China?

The full story makes a case that there is still room for foreign expatriates to serve in China, despite many challenges. For a closer look at the challenges and opportunities facing Chinese missionaries, read Where Is the Chinese Missionary Movement Headed in the New Era?

You might also want to read A Voice From China—Interview with a Senior House Church Leader, which is quite interesting and grapples with some of the same issues (Asia Harvest). See also Six Reasons Why We Should Listen to Christians from around the Globe (OMF).

1. Mozambique: Missionary Pilot and Two Others Imprisoned
2. Morocco: Finding Faith on the Internet
3. Bangladesh: Helping 1 Million Rohingya Refugees
4. Europe: Myths, Truths, and Opportunities for Mission
5. Indonesia: Discovering Christ as a Kurdish Refugee

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