Missions Catalyst 09.07.11 – World News Briefs

In This Issue: Good News for the Poor, Captives Set Free, and More

• MEXICO: Despite Freezing Temps, Many Blessed
• MIDDLE EAST: Underground Bookstore Supplies Thousands
• LIBYA: Winds of Change
• ARABIAN PENINSULA: Muslims Interested in Christianity
• AFGHANISTAN: Two Men Missing
• TURKEY: Property Seizures Overturned

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!

Greetings!

I hope you checked out some of the resources and ideas Shane recommended for this Sunday, the tenth anniversary of 9/11. See our website for additional thoughts from readers. There are many ways to encourage your flock to get to know some Muslims. If this is too extreme for your church, might you try getting to know some Muslims virtually?

Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq just finished their second Ramadan road trip traveling to 30 mosques in 30 states in 30 days (reaching Vermont and New Jersey just in time for Hurricane Irene).

You could also give a listen to Unheard Voices of 9/11, a new website just launched last Friday.

Compassion Radio does it again with a compelling interview with Warren Larson, Thinking “Christianly” About Muslims. Jump in at the 8.5-minute mark to hear what he has to say about stereotypes.

Blessings,
Pat

MEXICO: Despite Freezing Temps, Many Blessed

Source: Global Recordings Network, August 2011

On Thursday of the first week of [a February GRN] outreach the temperature got down to 30 degrees, freezing most of the crops planted in the agricultural zone north and south of Culiacan. Besides damaging the crops, the bitter cold made it very hard for the migrant workers.

Camp managers were sending people home on the buses because there were no crops left to pick. These precious souls were going home having lost their year’s income and without having heard that God loves them.

We decided not to continue with our one-camp-a-day schedule and go to as many camps as we could while some workers were still in the valley. We gave out CDs, New Testaments, calendars in Indian languages, and other material. By the end of the project 12,600 CDs had been given out, in more than 120 languages and dialects!

We thank God for the thousands of people who braved the cold weather to watch the films at night and stay for prayer for their families. More than 3,600 made a decision for Christ. Even as we huddled and shivered in the camps, the angels of God rejoiced in heaven over the wonderful harvest of souls that entered his kingdom this year in Culiacan.

>> Full story with pictures.

MIDDLE EAST: Underground Bookstore Supplies Thousands

Source: Mission Network News, September 1, 2011

The manager of one bookshop in a Middle Eastern nation requested that Biblica send as many Scriptures as possible to him, certain that there is a great window of opportunity in his country to share the Good News. In response, Biblica endeavored to send 11,000 Scripture pieces to the store owner.

Typically, Biblica can only get about 30 or 40 pieces into such a hostile nation at a time. In addition, the ministry certainly did not have the US$70,000 it would cost to provide and distribute the materials in their budget. The Lord overcame both of these hurdles, however, when a ministry partner offered to pay half of the cost, and another organization offered container space to send the large shipment.

The materials are now all going to stock an underground bookstore that could reach tens of thousands with the Word of God in a nation that is seldom able even to see one copy.

>> Full story.

LIBYA: Winds of Change

Source: Pat Noble, September 2011

Looking for news and analysis from Libya? I love articles like these because they help me pray more proactively:

– How the African Sahel Could Be Affected by Tripoli’s Fall (Christian Science Monitor).

– Hundreds of Returning Tuaregs Alarm Mali, Niger (ReliefWeb).

>> See also: Migration Crisis from Libya (interactive map from the International Organization for Migration).

ARABIAN PENINSULA: Muslims Interested in Christianity

Source: Open Doors, August 18, 2011

“At least one Muslim a week asks me to explain more about my Christian faith,” says Jonathan, an expatriate in a country on the Arabian Peninsula. Several Muslims have come to Christ after hearing the gospel from this man.

Marcus sees a great need in the country that he is living in right now. “Where are the workers?” he asks, looking through the windowpane of the restaurant. “We need more workers to share Christ with the Muslims who are seeking.”

John and Rebecca are a young couple living in the same country. They are very enthusiastic about the local young people. “In one year, I have built about 25 good relationships with young locals,” John says. “Some I can share the gospel with, others I could already give a Bible to.”

Daniel actively searches for interested local people at the places where they usually meet in their free time. During the weekends or in the evenings you will find him talking about Christianity with small groups of interested Muslims. “I have been able to form some very good relationships,” he says. “One man is very open to the message of the Bible.”

>> Full story.

AFGHANISTAN: Two Men Missing

Source: Serving in Mission, September 1, 2011

Please pray with us for two German men who have gone missing in Afghanistan. Willi Ehret and Siegbert Stocker were hiking on Friday, August 19, and did not return to their driver. They were not in a Taliban area. To date there is no news and no one is claiming to have kidnapped them.

Willi Ehret worked with SIM in Nigeria many years ago where he met his wife, Ruth, a missionary nurse from Switzerland. More recently they have been serving in Malawi with another organization.

Please pray for the safe and swift return of the men, and for great comfort and peace for their families, especially for Ruth and the Ehret children who are living in different parts of the world.

>> Full story.

>> Praise God for setting captives free. See: Dutch Missionary Freed in Congo (Worthy News), China Releases Five House Church Leaders (Baptist Press), Iranian Authorities Free Christian after One Year in Prison, and Christians in Bangladesh Cleared of Charge of Offending Muslims (Compass Direct).

TURKEY: Property Seizures Overturned

Source: Compass Direct News, August 30, 2011

The Turkish government made a historic U-turn in state policy, issuing an official decree inviting Turkey’s Christian and Jewish communities to reclaim their long-confiscated religious properties.

The decree comes 75 years after the Turkish government seized hundreds of lands and buildings owned by its Greek, Armenian, Syriac, and Jewish communities.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the surprise decision on Sunday evening (August 28) in Istanbul, addressing a large gathering of Istanbul’s non-Muslim religious leaders representing 161 minority foundations.

Invited as the honored guest for an iftar (fast-breaking) meal near the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan, Erdogan declared, “The times when citizens in our country were oppressed for their beliefs, their ethnic heritage or the way they dressed is over.”

Seated next to the prime minister at the dinner, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of the Greek Orthodox Church told the press afterwards that the new decree represented “the restoration of an injustice.”

>> Full story.

>> See also Turkish Leaders Smooth Way for Christianity (Christianity Today).

Pat Noble has been the “news sleuth” for Missions Catalyst since 2004. In addition to churning out the news, she is working to create a SWARM (Serving World A Regional Mobilizers) in Northern New York using the NorthernChristian.org website. You can connect with her at www.whatsoeverthings.com.