Month: September 2024

Source: The Christian Post, September 16, 2024

California Pastor David Lin has been released from a Chinese prison after nearly two decades and has returned to the United States, ending a case that sparked an international outcry from free speech advocates and U.S. officials who say he was wrongfully detained.

Lin’s daughter, Alice Lin, told the outlet that the State Department notified her on Saturday that Chinese authorities had released her father from prison and that he would arrive in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday.

“No words can express the joy we have—we have a lot of time to make up for,” she said.

Lin was active in China’s underground house church movement, which involves discreet religious gatherings often held in private homes and not connected to state-sponsored religious organizations. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has noted that this movement “has long faced hostility from Chinese authorities,” and participants often face “intimidation, harassment, arrest, and harsh sentences.”

Although Lin has staunchly maintained his innocence, he did not raise the attention of his case because he felt his imprisonment was a God-ordained mission field, his daughter said.

Read the full story.

Source: Christian Freedom International, September 11, 2024

The call came from an old acquaintance. He requested help for five people who had escaped from North Korea. They were hiding in a hut in the mountains and were unable to enter a village due to China’s severe security.

So, I collected clothes, daily necessities, and 15 solar audio Bibles, with the determination to be martyred if I was captured.

By the time we reached them, the five people were in the worst condition. For a long time, they had not even washed their faces, let alone showered. They were just waiting to die.

One who had tuberculosis held my hand and apologized, saying that she is thankful for being treated as a human being and wanted to hug me but would not because she was contagious.

We discovered a way to disguise them to move to another area, and then after showering and changing clothes they were sent to different locations.

The trip was a trial from the beginning. As I was leaving one area, police opened my bag. They confiscated ten audio Bibles. They did not find five [enough so each refugee could have one]. Then they let me go.

Read the full story and (from the same source) Getting God’s Word to North Koreans.

Source: Global Gates, September 10, 2024

While out evangelizing in Houston, a group met a local Imam (a devout leader of a Muslim mosque) named Mohammed. Someone from the group began to share the gospel with him, and to their amazement, he came to faith in Christ! What shocked them even more was what this new brother said next.

Mohammed had heard the gospel many times before from one Christian after another. This time, however, after his eyes were opened, he couldn’t wait to tell those in his community about Jesus. The difference being instead of a group of Americans sharing the good news, Mohammed himself would go and tell his community in their language. He looked at the group and said,

“It took about a thousand of you, with a thousand of your words…to ‘catch me.’ But with one word, I can go and catch a thousand.”

That “thousand” people Mohammed referred to live in North America’s global gateway cities and abroad in the unreached people group’s country of origin. Through the means of technology, Mohammed continues to have frequent conversations with friends and family from his homeland.

The gospel conversion that began in North America is traveling to and through families on the other side of the world! The result will repeat for generations to come. It’s a full-circle strategy.

Read the full story (on Facebook) and pray for more men and women like Mohammad, who, once reached, can catch a thousand with a word.

See also a short video from Global Gates on Reaching the Ends of the Earth through Los Angeles (YouTube).

1. Tür​​​​​​​kiye: The Last Church in Bursa Ordered to Evacuate
2. Tajikistan: New SAT-7 Program Reaches Isolated Women
3. Bangladesh: Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Council Pushes for Secular State
4. Greece: How a Blind Refugee Reunited with His Family
5. USA: Revival and Back-to-School Baptisms at Ohio State

Read or share the email edition or scroll down for more.

Source: Middle East Concern, August 23, 2024

In July 2024, the Regional Directorate of Foundations ordered the evacuation of the “French Church” in Bursa before August 24, claiming that the historical building is structurally unsafe as the groundwater level is very high and a reinforcement project must be implemented. No alternative meeting places were proposed and the request for the church to erect a tent for meetings was refused (barring special religious holidays). Bursa used to have more than 100 functioning churches, but the French Church is the only church open for Christian worship there.

Representatives of the church, in collaboration with a certified office of the Chamber of Geological Engineers, prepared a report, assessing the risks as considerably lower than claimed by the Directorate of Foundations, noting that during thorough structural examinations and restoration work from 2002 to 2004, no significant problems were revealed. Repairs had been made to any superficial cracks.

In an August 20 press statement, the Bursa Protestant Church Life and Culture Foundation petitioned the authorities to have the evacuation order canceled.  The “French Church” was built in the late nineteenth century by French traders and restored in 2002-2004. Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant communities use it as a regular meeting place of worship.

Read the full story and a related story that links to the pressure to close with an upcoming anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which is expected to draw many to the region (Mission Network News). Sounds like this church was ordered to close in 2016, though the government eventually backed down.

Meanwhile, in what our sources describe as a “sweeping move,” the country of Nicaragua has closed down scores of Protestant churches and non-profit organizations, along with other civic groups (Christian Solidarity Worldwide). The government is also seizing the property of these groups.

Source: Mission Network News, August 27, 2024

Less than one percent of Tajikistan’s population is Christian, and believers are rare in rural districts and villages. Christians can’t gather legally and face persecution if they confess their faith. Women, more so.

SAT-7’s Joe Willey says the need for encouragement has never been higher. A new satellite television program is part of a wider strategy to increase support for Tajik Christians in their lives of faith.

SAT-7’s new program, In the World of Women’s Thoughts, focuses on biblical examples of Christian womanhood. “It is a program that says, ‘We’re broadcasting in your language; it’s specific to you,’” Willey says.

Because Tajik is closely related to Dari, the program will also benefit isolated Afghan women.

Read the full story or read the press release from SAT-7 (which is more descriptive and includes a Tajik worship video you may enjoy).

Source: Religion News Service, August 29, 2024

Amid a spike in violence against religious minorities in Bangladesh, a national council of Buddhists, Hindus, and Christians is renewing a campaign for the Muslim-majority South Asian nation to remove Islam as the state religion.

In mid-July, student-led protests demanding reform of the country’s job quota system turned violent, culminating in the collapse of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5. After Hasina’s resignation, the anger aimed at her government poured onto religious minorities, especially Hindus and members of Hasina’s party, the secular Awami League, which is backed by much of the Hindu community.

The attacks on Hindu houses of worship, homes and businesses, as well as Awami League politicians, have resulted in the deaths of at least 650 people since the violence began, according to a report by the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a human rights organization, argues that enshrining Islam as the state religion has been detrimental to the country’s religious minorities and aspirations of greater democratic rule.

“According to the communalist and fundamentalist forces, Islam does not coexist with other religious faiths and beliefs and also contradicts democracy, in which they have no belief,” said Monindra Kumar Nath, the council’s joint general secretary.

The council said earlier this month that there were 1,045 cases of human rights violations against religious minorities between June and August.

Read the full story.

Source: Christian Aid Mission, August 29, 2024

“Tal” was just 18 when he arrived in Greece as a Syrian refugee. He was alone and desperate to reunite with his mother and sister, who had already relocated to Denmark. To join them, however, he needed to apply for asylum, obtain an ID, and get a passport. But he knew next to no one, did not speak the language, and did not understand the legal system.

Tal was also nearly blind.

Through word of mouth, Tal learned of a ministry that assisted refugees. But how could a teen who could barely see make his way to an unfamiliar place?

He put the ministry’s address into his GPS and followed the phonetic directions. But when at last he reached the building, he could not find an entrance. He stood outside, frustrated that he could not see well enough to locate a door.

At last, a ministry worker saw Tal there, looking lost and uncertain. “Do you speak Arabic?” the man asked Tal. “Yes,” said Tal, as the question spoken in his native language lifted his spirits for the first time in a long while.

Not only did Tal receive help applying for asylum, but the ministry also transported him to and from his medical appointments, provided him with food, and took him to the refugee camp, where he would file his official asylum application and receive accommodation.

Over the next several weeks, Tal and the ministry worker who first saw him standing outside the center became friends. As the man helped ensure that Tal’s needs were met, he also shared the love of Jesus with him, and a gospel seed was planted.

The full story explains that the ministry even arranged for someone to accompany Tal to Denmark. Praise God for all who respond to the opportunity to “go the extra mile.”