From Syria: Hope Prevails in the Country’s New Dawn

In this edition:

  1. Syria: Hope Prevails in the Country’s New Dawn
  2. India: Christians Banned from Eight Villages
  3. Myanmar: Millions at Risk of Starvation as Government Cracks Down
  4. Malawi: Doors to Prison System Swinging Open
  5. North Africa: The Untold Story of Christianity in Morocco

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Syria: Hope Prevails in the Country’s New Dawn

Source: INcontext International, December 12, 2024

Despite the challenges ahead, Christians can be hopeful for the people of Syria. The end of the civil war offers a chance for peace, reconciliation, and restoration. As we pray for Syria, we envision a future where:

  • The gospel can spread: Throughout the 13 years of war, Syrian Christians have been a light in the darkness, offering hope and help to their communities. We pray that this season of transition will allow the gospel to flourish and that Christians in Syria will continue to be a beacon of love and truth.
  • Return of refugees: We also think of the millions who had to flee [and] are now faced with the decision to return home. In particular [we think of] those refugees who have come to know Christ while living outside Syria. We pray that God will lead many of them back “home” to strengthen the Church in Syria and to contribute to the spreading of the gospel throughout the country.
  • Healing and rebuilding begin: The scars of war run deep, but we pray that God will bring healing to the nation—healing for families, communities, and the land itself. We pray for wisdom for leaders tasked with rebuilding the country and that justice will prevail for the many victims of war crimes.
  • Peace becomes the foundation: As Syria moves toward elections and a new government, we pray for stability and a commitment to peace that transcends political and religious divides. May God’s hand guide this process, and may His justice and mercy prevail.

Read or watch the full story. It describes Assad’s swift fall and factors behind in and suggests more ways to pray.

For a deeper dive on the situation in Syria (and more), see Justin Long’s 12/12 Weekly Roundup. You might want to subscribe.

India: Christians Banned from Living in Eight Villages

Source: The Christian Post, December 2, 2024

In the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, eight village councils have passed a resolution that bans Christians from staying in their villages, requiring them to either renounce their faith or leave. The order impacts about 100 Christians whose property and fields were threatened with confiscation if they did not comply, according to reports.

A local leader from one of the affected villages, Michwar, upheld the decree, reportedly asserting that the authority of the village councils supersedes India’s Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.

The full story includes more details, pictures and links. Another story reports on fresh violence in Manipur as tensions between Christians and Hindus escalate. We should pray.

From the Indian state of Assam, see Pastor Charged with Converting People Through Prayer (International Christian Concern).

In contrast, on the other side of the world, Toronto, Canada has declared December Christian Heritage Month (Christian Daily International).

Myanmar: Millions at Risk of Starvation as Government Cracks Down

Source: International Christian Concern, November 25, 2024

According to U.N. research, roughly 2 million people in Myanmar are at risk of starvation in the coming months. A raging conflict between the military junta ruling the country and ethnoreligious resistance forces continues to wreak havoc across the country.

According to media sources, trade restrictions and international sanctions have exacerbated the disruption created by the conflict, already reducing some to eating rice bran—an agricultural byproduct usually used as animal feed. Some families interviewed by the U.N. have cut their food consumption to one meal a day or less.

The U.N. report comes weeks after Myanmar’s military junta strengthened relations with China, a longtime supporter of the junta along with Russia.

The full story also explains how tensions between ethnic and religious communities has created a a volatile situation for non-Buddhists across the country.

In the midst of the darkness in Myanmar, a video from Asia Harvest reports that more than 700 home fellowships and 300 additional cell groups have begun among marginalized groups in the country. Praise God.

Malawi: Doors to Prison System Swinging Open

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.

North Africa: The Untold Story of Christianity in Morocco

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).

New books, opps to intern + 12 prayers for Christmas

In this edition:

  1. Discipleship Tool: 12 Prayers to Focus Your Heart This Christmas
  2. Opportunity: Ministry Internships
  3. Roundup: Books, Books, and More Books about Missions
  4. Video: A Wedding Without a Bride
  5. Events: Conferences, Classes and More Coming up in January

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Read or share the online edition.

Discipleship Tool: 12 Prayers to Focus Your Heart This Christmas

Source: Navigators

Often, the fast-paced time and space to connect with God through prayer is difficult. Use these 12 powerful prayers for Christmas to hep you slow down and focus on the true meaning of this season—the celebration of Christ’s birth.

Share these with a friend or small group and spend time praying them together as you anticipate your Christmas celebration.

Read 12 Prayers for Christmas or download the one-page PDF. It’s great!

Looking for timely ways to pray for missionaries over the holidays? I made this list for Prayer Notes, a weekly publication from Pioneers. Feel free to re-purpose any of the content you find helpful.

Ministry Internships: Valuable Experience on the Journey to Effective Missions Services

Source: Catalyst Services

A growing number of churches are considering internships to be an important early step for young adults who express interest in missions. This trend is driven by at least two factors:

  • First, young adults are hesitant to make long-term commitments where they might fail or discover that missions is not a fit for them.
  • Second, church leaders are increasingly uncomfortable with recommending unproven young adults as ready for the spiritual, emotional, and physical rigors of long-term, cross-cultural ministry.

Read the article. It addresses components to consider, internship models, and specific opportunities that include service in the U.S. and abroad. Know someone who would benefit?

Roundup: Books, Books, and More Books about Missions

Sources: Various

Living in a world with many distractions, do you find it’s getting harder to read whole books from cover to cover? Even so, the publishing industry doesn’t seem to have waned in its production. Here are some I loved, and you might too—plus a list of books we’ve mentioned in 2024.

People Vision: Reimagining Mission to Least Reached Peoples, by Leonard N. Bartlotti. William Carey Publishing, 2024. 324 pages.

A few months ago I wrote about my struggle to call people to take the gospel to the places and populations with the greatest need and least opportunity, given all I know about the debates and divisions surrounding how we think and talk about people groups now. This book helped. It’s a compendium reflecting a wide variety of perspectives, expanded from a core first published in Evangelical Missions Quarterly (Fall 2020). It’s helped me and those I work with as we seek to harmonize theory, message and practice. The most significant work on this topic today.

Learn more or get the book from the publisher or elsewhere.

Not on Board: Jonah’s Plunge Into God’s Plan, by Steve Richardson. Pioneers, 2024. 104 pages.

Most Christians know the story of “Jonah and the whale,” but have we thought deeply about its global implications? Steve Richardson’s new book shows there’s a lot more going on under the surface than most people realize, as a surprising God sent an unlikely conscript on an unthinkable mission and got an extraordinary response—and what it means for us today.

Learn more or get the book. You can read it online for free or get the ebook for US$.99 if you don’t want to spring for a paperback.

Lead with Prayer: The Spiritual Habits of World-Changing Leaders, by Ryan Skoog, Peter Greer and Cameron Doolittle. FaithWords, 2024. 256 pages.

Is this a mission book? Not exactly. But take a look. The authors spent three years interviewing Christian leaders on six continents who collectively serve in more than 100 countries. In a winsome and inspiring way, they share what they learned from these leaders (and others) about the crucial role of prayer in their lives and work.

If you or a ministry you serve with has gotten to the point where you tend to rely on competence rather than desperately seeking God, you may need this book.

Learn more. The website also has practical tools to download.

And More Books About Mission

I won’t load you up with all the links, but here are other new or new-ish mission books I read this year. You might want to look up a few to put on your TBR (to be read) list.

Reviewed or excerpted in Missions Catalyst:

  • Cabbages in the Desert: How God Transformed a Devout Muslim and Catalyzed Disciple Making Movements Among Unreached Peoples, by Aila Tasse with Dave Coles
  • Chasing Faith Among Yaks and Nomads: A Memoir, by Ann Wyse
  • Crossing Cultures with the Gospel: Anthropological Wisdom for Effective Christian Witness, by Darrell L. Whiteman
  • The Faith Road: The True Story of Peril and Mission in Southeast Asia, by Eliot Branch
  • Hainan: Pearl of the South China Sea, by Paul Hatthaway
  • Propelled by Hope: The Story of the Perspectives Movement, by Yvonne Huneycutt
  • Shaped by the Spirit: Being Formed into an Outward-Focused People, by Kate Pocklington

Read but not reviewed:

  • Clothed with Strength: Single Women Serving Christ in the Arab World, by Christine Ford McLaren
  • Digging in the Dirt: Musings on Missions, Emotions, and Life in the Mud, by Jonathan Trotter

And here are a few I want to read but haven’t yet:

  • From Banned Book to Bestseller: Bible Mission in Contemporary China, by Cynthia Oh
  • The Mission of God and the Witness of the Church, by Justin A. Schell
  • When Serving Gets Tough: A Thirty-Day Devotional for Missionaries, by Carol Ghattas

What books are on your list?

As a social media post reminded me, this could be your last week to buy books as Christmas gifts if you plan to read them before you wrap them!