Day: March 20, 2019

Source: God Reports, February 26, 2019

Educational authorities in the Chinese district of Lishan have initiated a push to eliminate religious belief in kindergarten, requiring students to sign a statement saying they will “advocate science, promote atheism, and oppose theism.”

The commitment also requires the pupils to pledge they will not view religious websites or engage in religious forums online, according to a report by The Colson Center.

The plan bars schools from hiring teachers that hold religious beliefs. “With regard to existing teachers, it calls for increased supervision, including ‘comprehensive inspections of teachers’ preparation for lessons in order to root out any and all religious content,’” according to the report.

[President Xi Jinping] has made the compulsory separation of children from religious life a linchpin in enforcing China’s official atheism.

» Read full story.

» See also China Official Says West Using Christianity to Subvert Power (Reuters, h/t Justin Long).

Source: Morning Star News, March 11, 2019

The Somali pastor of an underground church in Kenya near the Somali border suffered a broken thigh bone and other injuries after Muslim extremists beat him with wooden clubs last Friday night [March 8], sources said.

Pastor Abdul, a 30-year-old father of three, had finished leading a prayer gathering at 9 pm on the outskirts of Garissa and was on his way back to his house when several ethnic Somali Muslims attacked, he told Morning Star News from his hospital bed, still visibly in pain.

Pastor Abdul said he did not know the assailants. As they approached him, he said, one of them told him: “We have been following your movements and your evil plans of changing Muslims to Christianity.”

Leader of an underground church of 30 former Muslims, he clandestinely met with them in smaller groups on varying days for worship, prayer, and Bible study, he said.

“My family is in great fear, and Christians have located us to another place. Our prayer, for now, is to get a safe place for my family. My life and that of my family is at stake.”

His children are eight, five and three years old.

» Read full story and pray for this man and his family.

» From another part of Africa, see Egyptian Edict Is an Encouraging Sign for Christians (Open Doors and Mission Network News).

Source: Beyond, March 15, 2019

We invite you to join us in praying these colorful Bible passages over the Hindu world as Holi approaches.

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Isaiah 1:18

Father, we pray for you to prepare them and their own sin to fall on them so that they would be ready to accept the Good News. May their sins turn from scarlet to white as snow through acceptance of the Lordship of Christ Jesus.

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. Acts 16:14

Lord, we ask you to open the hearts of Hindus to pay attention to the good news of the gospel when your followers speak to them. May many thousands of Hindus come to be called worshipers of the one true God.

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. Revelation 7:9

Thank you, Almighty God! Thank you for your promise that members from every Hindu believing people group would be counted among those standing before your throne at the end of days.

» See full article and read If You Can Find a Christian, another inspiring piece from Beyond about ministry in the Hindu world.

Source: INContext Ministries, March 15, 2019

On Friday March 15, 2019, [more than] 49 people were killed and more than 20 seriously injured in mass shootings at two mosques full of people attending Friday prayers in Christchurch, New Zealand. Christians can learn three valuable lessons from this tragedy.

For most viewers, watching the act of terror unfolding on their televisions, the perpetrator is the one carrying the weapon and the one who finally pulls the trigger. However, the one who pulls the trigger is only the final link in a long chain of negativity, suspicion, fear, and hatred. Every post on social media that polarizes people becomes another link in a deadly chain that has the potential to influence someone who is willing to pull a trigger.

We need to be constantly reminded that our words either give life or drain life. There is no neutral exchange. Our comments influence people. We should take extra care of the possible “hidden” messages we communicate in the name of Christ. Truth should never become a motive for guiding people into a place of suspicion or hatred.

» Read the rest of this opinion piece about the New Zealand massacre. Food for thought.

» Also read about the social component of terrorism and the myth of the lone wolf attacker (Deutsche Welle) and Today, We Weep with Those Who Weep (Muslim Connect). Thanks for praying for New Zealand.

Source: Operation Mobilization, March 7, 2019

Eliza, one of the local believing women who moved back to the mountains, started practicing her professional trade in her new home. Then a church in the city gave her a grant to purchase more equipment and take on apprentices.

She hired two local girls, taught them her craft, and slowly started telling them about Jesus. “Sometimes they would watch movies in the national language about Jesus, and she would share her testimony. They were just really amazed that she was from their ethnic group, but she was a believer in Jesus,” Ellen recounted.

As Eliza shared, she read the Bible with the girls and showed them from the Word who Jesus is.

“Why didn’t anyone tell us this before?” one of them wondered. “We’ve grown up our whole lives and not known about Jesus.” Eliza also gave both apprentices New Testaments in the national language, and one of the girls took it home to her father, read it with him and watched a couple of the DVDs about Jesus with him, too. From their conversations, Eliza said she believed both young women decided to follow Jesus.

“They’re some of the first people we know of that have become believers in our town, that haven’t gone somewhere else, but have actually heard from a local person and have come to faith,” Ellen stressed.

“She shared so much sooner and so much deeper. She said to them: ‘God brought you because he knew you were ready to believe.’ We never saw that [openness] ourselves, but watching a local sister share the gospel, that was really exciting.”

» Read full story and another from OM about a Russian man engaging the least reached in the Caucasus. (Father, raise up more laborers like these.)

» See also: Tajik Christians Fear Talking about Their Faith (Institute for War and Peace Reporting).