In This Issue: Nigeria, Uzbekistan, China and More
- NIGERIA – Ninzo Encouraged by Traditional Ruler to Translate Bible
- UZBEKISTAN – Bible and Mel Gibson Film Banned in Karakalpakstan
- KENYA – World’s Oldest Student Baptized
- CHINA – Video Details Chinese Christian’s Torture
- TAIWAN – A Kung-Fu Master Finds Christ
- EVENTS – Finding Your Part, Ministry to Muslims, and More
Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!
World News Briefs, edited by Pat Noble, are published twice a month.
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NIGERIA – Ninzo Encouraged by Traditional Ruler to Translate Bible
Source: The Seed Company Prayer Focus, April 16, 2009
About 35 percent of the [100,000] Ninzo people consider themselves Christians, but because they do not have the Scriptures in a language they really understand, very few people actually follow biblical principles in their daily lives.
The Ninzo people’s traditional ruler practices [a different] world religion. However, he challenged Ninzo Christians to start a Bible translation and literacy project!
The Ninzo team is in the final stages of reviewing the Ninzo New Testament among themselves and testing it with other mother-tongue speakers.
The team plan[s] to publish about 200 copies of 1 and 2 Timothy and James for use in local churches and for wider community testing.
Every Monday an average of 25 people or more gather to review or just listen to the Ninzo New Testament books in their language. They love it. Praise God that his Word is resonating with local speakers as they listen to it.
>> See full story with picture and prayer points.
Editor’s note: Read about a great challenge in Nigeria, Abuse of Child Witches on the Rise, and pray for the written, living Word to deliver this nation.
UZBEKISTAN – Bible and Mel Gibson Film Banned in Karakalpakstan
Source: Forum 18, May 20, 2009
Nurulla Zhamolov, the senior religious affairs official in Karakalpakstan Region in northwestern Uzbekistan, has banned the Bible, the Mel Gibson film “The Passion of the Christ,” and other religious literature, Forum 18 News Service has learned.
The bans state that the material – which also include a hymn book, a Bible encyclopedia, a Bible dictionary, and a children’s Bible – is “banned for import, distribution, or use in teaching.” The material was confiscated during police and NSS secret police raids, and it remains unclear what further activity the authorities may undertake following the bans or how widely they will be used.
No officials in the region or the capital Tashkent were willing to discuss the raids and the country’s harsh censorship of religious literature, which applies to religious literature of all faiths. The latest known prisoners of conscience studied the works of Said Nursi, a Turkish Muslim theologian whose works are banned.
>> Read the full story.
Editor’s note: Please also remember to pray for Uzbekistan’s Pastor Dmitry Shestakov, whose health is deteriorating.
KENYA – World’s Oldest Student Baptized
Source: Ecumenical News International, May 25, 2009
The man declared as the world’s oldest pupil, [90-year-old] Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge, says he has embraced Christianity and has been baptized, five years after he began studying at primary school at the age of 85 and learned how to read the Bible.
To the cheers of a packed congregation, the world’s oldest school student was baptized sitting in a wheelchair, which he now has to use following the onset of stomach cancer.
In 2004, Maruge was entered into the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest pupil. Maruge said he went to school at same time as two of his 30 grandchildren, so as to be able to read the Bible and count money.
Despite his failing health, Maruge said he hopes to sit for his final primary school exams one year from now.
>> Read the full story.
Editor’s note: The prime minister of Kenya was recently baptized as well.
CHINA – Video Details Chinese Christian’s Torture
Source: Baptist Press, May 18, 2009
Gao Zhisheng, a Christian human-rights attorney in China, has been missing for more than 100 days. A new video describes the torture he endured previously at the hands of government officials.
Gao, a 2008 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and a Chinese army veteran, was voted one of China’s top 10 lawyers in 2001 by a Chinese ministry of justice publication. In 2007 he sent an open letter to the US Congress detailing widespread human rights abuses in China.
Following the letter, Gao was kidnapped and held by public security officers for more than 50 days [and repeatedly] physically and verbally tortured, as recounted in the video.
“He was told that he would be killed if he told anyone about what happened,” the senators wrote in the letter. “Mr. Gao was last seen on February 4, 2009 at a relative’s home, where more than 10 public security officers and others forcibly removed him from bed and whisked him away to an unknown location. Mr. Gao’s whereabouts are still unknown.”
>> Read the full story with pictures and watch the video (viewer discretion advised)
Editor’s note: Reports about human rights in China vary. See the CBN report China’s Communists Get Religion, and the new book Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang, and listen to Justin Long’s 42-minute interview with ‘Gary’ about the paradox of China.
TAIWAN – A Kung-Fu Master Finds Christ
Source: Joel News International 682, April 13, 2009
Taiwanese kung-fu master Liu Chang, a widely respected karate expert, found Christ when giving a routine seminar at a Virginia-based Baptist college in America.
Liu was one of two visiting instructors at a martial-arts seminar hosted by assistant professor Doug Minnix. Minnix runs a karate ministry which involves Scripture memorization and Bible study. He [also] invited Kimo Wall, a former Zen Buddhist now Christian, who is a longtime sensei (martial arts teacher).
During an after-hours dinner, Lui shared [about] a series of events. The circumstances, he believes, were magic, because they were too well-orchestrated to be coincidence. Wall responded, “Not magic, but a miracle, the power of God.”
Sensing God’s direction in the entire experience, Minnix gave Liu a Chinese/English Bible. “He opened the book, and with tears in his eyes and a humble disposition, said, ‘All my life I hear about this book, but today is the first day I see it.'”
God touched Liu in a way he had not felt before, and he expressed his desire to learn more about Jesus. “I will never forget Bluefield [College],” Liu said. “It is the place where I first talked to God. I go home and tell people here, and they cannot believe. ‘You talk to God?’ Amazing.”
>> Subscribe to Joel News. For more about this story, including pictures, see also Kung Fu Master Finds Christ during Bluefield College Martial Arts Seminar.
EVENTS – Finding Your Part, Ministry to Muslims, and More
Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar
1. Finding Your Part
Finishers Project was conceived as a ministry to mobilize mid-career adults looking for ministry-oriented service opportunities. Finishers Forum events, though, welcome people of all ages:
September 25-26 (Cleveland/Akron, OH, USA).
October 9-10 (Fort Collins, CO, USA).
October 23-24 (Albuquerque, NM, USA).
November (Phoenix, AZ, USA). Exact dates to be determined.
January 29-30, 2010 (Tyler, TX, USA).
The Journey Deepens is planning several retreats for those seeking direction:
June 26-28 (Philadelphia, PA, USA).
November 12-14 (Louisville, KY, USA).
2. Ministry to Muslims
Zwemer Institute for Muslim Studies offers several summer courses:
June 29 to July 3 Islam through Christian and Muslim Eyes (Columbia, SC, USA). Instructor: Steve Johnson. This course is also available through distance learning.
July 6-10 The Spirit World of Islam (Columbia, SC, USA). Instructor: Warren Larson.
July 13-17 Approaches to Muslims (Columbia, SC, USA). Instructor: Phil Parshall.
Horizons International provides weekend and week-long events now called Engaging Islam. Upcoming dates and locations include:
June 12-14 (Dearborn, MI, USA).
June 15-19 (Dearborn, MI, USA).
July 6-17 (Foz do Iguacu, Brazil).
July 20 to August 7 (Boulder, CO, USA).
Encountering the World of Islam will launch another online class on August 7.
The annual 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World, coinciding with Ramadan, is planned for August 22 to September 20.
3. Miscellaneous Events
June 17-27 – Refresh Conference (Wilderswil, Switzerland). Missionary retreat.
June 18-21 – American Society of Missiology and Association of Professors of Missions, joint annual meeting (Techny, IL, USA).
July 24-26 – Interserve’s Northeast Summer Conference (Rindge, NH, USA).
September 11-12 – Christian Web Conference (Los Angeles, CA, USA).
September 15-17 – International Society for Frontier Missiology (Orlando, FL, USA).
September 17-19 – CrossGlobal Link (formerly IFMA) Annual Conference (Orlando, FL, USA). Topic: Ethics – Serving Jesus with Integrity. Plenary speaker Jerry Rankin. Additional programming from the Evangelical Missiological Society (EMS). Register by June 17 for best rates.
November 7 – Discerning Your Call to Mission workshop (Pittsburgh, PA, USA).
>> For more events, see the Missions Catalyst events calendar.
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