Month: November 2019

Source: Various

Recent military action in northern Syria has brought more devastation and displacement. Watch a new video crying out to God for Syria (Prayercast).

Northern Syria is now divided into five zones with leaders are at odds with one another (Al-Monitor) and the region faces a critical water shortage (Syria Direct). Recent violence is taking quite an emotional toll on Christians (Open Doors).

Of course, this has been going on for some time. The Syrian Network for Human Rights recently reported that more than 14,000 people died under torture at the hands of the Syrian regime from 2011 to 2019, while the families of another 130,000 still detained wonder if their loved ones are still alive (The National).

That’s a lot to take in. And against that backdrop, we read this. World Vision asked Syrian refugee children in Lebanon what they are thankful for.

» Read Syrian Refugee Children Find Hope in Thankfulness.

Source: Forum 18, November 14, 2019

Three Protestant pastors given long jail terms in absentia for leading New Life Pentecostal Church in Kazakhstan’s commercial capital Almaty lost their appeal at Almaty City Court on November 1. The three have said they will appeal to Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court in the capital Nur-Sultan.

The pastors were variously accused of founding the Church in 1991 with “criminal intent,” and “by means of the technology of psychological and psychotherapeutic influence with the aim of causing psychological harm to the health and stealing others’ property by means of deception and abuse of trust… with the use of information technologies and methods of turning the victims into a state of changed consciousness (trance).”

The case against the three pastors is “complete drivel,” Yevgeny Zhovtis of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Humants and the Rule of Law commented. “I have read the verdict. It is nonsense.”

The three convicted pastors now live in the United States. Pastor Zaikin told Forum 18 “we still want to return to Kazakhstan.”

Pastor Kryukov says attendance at New Life Church’s various services on an average Sunday in Almaty is currently about 850.

» Full story includes pictures and much more detail.

» Pray for this region with a new Central Asia video from Prayercast.

Source: OMF International, November 2019

In 2017 I had the pleasure of spending three months in a Southeast Asian country as part of OMF’s Serve Asia program.

In all honesty, at times the needs seemed overwhelming due to cultural differences, the lack of healthcare, or limited resources and the lack of facilities which I had become used to. However, it challenged me to depend wholly on God and to ask him first. I also had to “think outside the box” and look at what was available and what would work best locally.

An example was using a combination of crates and bricks to raise the height of a bench to help a man with cerebral palsy do his work. He loves his role of sawing and sanding wooden board for artwork!

The lack of language also made things more complicated although I managed a few language lessons and grasped a few basic phrases which always caused my new friends to smile (and sometimes laugh).

I was also able to spend time helping at a local Christian home school. This allowed me to use my occupational therapy skills in sharing resources and advice for teachers and assistants working with children with additional learning needs.

Admittedly, I had only envisaged this as a short-term trip. However, the experience has opened my eyes to the opportunities for the gospel in this country and God has started a work in my heart as to the real possibility of longer-term mission. I was surprised by what God could do through me.

» Read full story.

» Other stories about using your talents in missions: Read how a man who worked in marketing saw his skills repurposed for ministry (Beyond) and how runners are needed in Susan (Mission Network News), plus follow the journey of a Malaysian Chinese girl pursuing God’s call while honoring her elderly parents (OM).

» See also, from Pioneers, Why Not You? Why Not Now? and Discerning Your Calling.

Source: God Reports, October 16, 2019

Peter and Tammy Russell work with Wild Hope International in Tanzania after spending years working with Kenya’s Maasai. Recently, they had a five-day getaway on the pristine beaches of Zanzibar. Peter had looked forward to the time to “relax, read a good book, enjoy some good food, swim, and exercise.”

“As we flew in over the Indian Ocean, the aquamarine and coral blue of the waters surrounding the emerald archipelago formed a picture so breathtaking that I felt my soul start to rejuvenate,” he recounted.

[But] that night Peter had a disturbing dream. “I saw Maasai going to perform a sacrifice filled with occult meaning. When I woke up, I shared the dream with Tammy, we prayed together, and the heaviness lifted somewhat. But later in the day it came back, and I had a stirring in my heart to have church on the beach.”

When Sunday arrived, Peter and Tammy took a walk on the beach.

When a young Maasai man greeted them, Peter answered him in Maasai. The young man was shocked to hear his language coming from a tourist.

“I have a message on my heart to give to you Maasai here. Can you gather your friends together?” Peter asked.

» See full story with pictures.

Source: Barnabas Fund, October 22, 2019

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the Indonesian Muslim political party and world’s largest moderate Muslim movement, has made a significant break with Islamic conservatism in an unprecedented decision to abolish the legal category of “infidel” (kafir) for non-Muslims.

The groundbreaking move, apparently aimed at sweeping away Islamic doctrines often used by extremists to justify terrorism, was first announced at the NU national conference in West Java earlier in 2019.

Around 20,000 Muslim scholars gathered to create and endorse a new Islamic legal framework (fiqh). The new rulings include a raft of changes embracing the modern definition of nation state, instead of a caliphate, and recognizing all as “fellow citizens,” irrespective of their religion or ethnicity, with equal rights and obligation to obey modern national laws.

Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim nation and the NU claims to have more than 90 million members. Its revisions of Islamic doctrine and legal rulings are expected to reverberate throughout the Muslim world.

» Read full story.

» The NU also eased a ban on non-Muslim greetings, that is, greetings associated with the other religions of Indonesia (The Jakarta Post).