In This Issue: News from Burma, Pakistan, Congo, and More
- BURMA – Church Still Growing Despite Obstacles
- PAKISTAN – More on the Recent Violence
- SOMALIA – Four Orphanage Workers Beheaded
- CONGO – How to Evangelize 40,000 Students?
- BANGLADESH – Police Torture Pastor and Two Others
- EVENTS – Recent Additions to the Missions Events Calendar
Missions Catalyst e-Magazine is a free, weekly electronic missions digest designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry.
World News Briefs, edited by Pat Noble, are published twice a month.
BURMA – Church Still Growing Despite Obstacles
Source: Missions Insider, July 13, 2009
Devastating cyclones, bitter ethnic wars, and human rights abuses have all had a part in contributing to the poverty and spiritual darkness that characterizes Burma [also known as Myanmar] today. Despite this opposition, the church in Burma is gaining ground.
“Week-long evangelistic camp meetings in remote towns and villages are held wherever the Lord opens the door. Relationships are built by providing for some of their needs, such as food, medicine, and nursing care. The Word is preached and Bibles are given out.
“When our evangelistic team leaves the village, we leave behind a church planter. In time he will disciple a vessel chosen from the tribe to become the church leader. This new disciple is then brought back to our training center for three months of training. When he returns to his village, he will take over as pastor. Our original worker is then ‘rotated’ into another unreached area,” explains [a] Burmese leader.
While much has been accomplished, much needs to be done. Many people who survived the cyclone are still without adequate shelter or other basic necessities. More follow-up is needed in the remote villages where the gospel has been heard for the first time.
>> Full story with pictures.
PAKISTAN – More on the Recent Violence
Source: Pat Noble, August 13, 2009
Since our August 5 edition of Missions Catalyst News Briefs report on violence in Pakistan, I have come across several commentaries about the situation which I thought worth reading.
Behind the Scenes: A Refugee Camp for Pakistani Christians (video, CNN).
In the Name of Religion (Dawn Media Group) gives a broad overview of the the region’s religious violence, and includes some pictures.
How a Brave Pakistani Taught Me to Stop Whining (Charisma Magazine) is a report from a brother who speaks directly to the heart.
>> See also: Indian Christians Left in Slums, Told ‘Return only as Hindus’ (ENI).
SOMALIA – Four Orphanage Workers Beheaded
Source: The Christian Post, August 12, 2009
Members of the Islamic extremist organization Al-Shabaab had kidnapped Fatima Sultan, Ali Ma’ow, Sheik Mohammed Abdi, and Maaddey Diil on July 27 from their coastal town of Merca, 56 miles from Mogadishu, and eventually beheaded the Christians after they refused to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ.
The four Christians had been working for a local NGO that helps orphans in southern Somalia.
According to one eye witness account, all four of the “apostates” were given an opportunity to return to Islam and to be released, “but they all declined the generous offer.” When they refused, all four were beheaded for apostasy and news of their deaths was passed along to their families on August 4.
>> Full story.
>> See also a recent UN report, Somalia: Humanitarian Crisis at a New Low.
CONGO – How to Evangelize 40,000 Students?
Source: Mission Network News, August 6, 2009
Churches in the Democratic Republic of the Congo run 145 grade schools serving 40,000 students. Only about 10-20 percent of the students come from Christian homes, and the government actually requires that schools provide religious instruction.
“This is just a great harvest field,” said Sam Vinton of Grace Ministries International. “We feel that our focus is going to continue in this area for quite a while with the number of students we have.”
Logistically, the outreach is challenging. Many villages cannot be reached on bicycles or motorcycles. It’s not easy to obtain literature that clearly communicates biblical truth for 40,000 students in the Congo.
They need “literature that can be put into the hands of the new converts, regarding prayer and Bible study and their Christian life. I would say that’s what we really have to make sure we’re providing, and so it just opens up a great responsibility to us…and a great challenge, but, I think, an exciting challenge.”
Since people are the most receptive to the gospel between the ages of 4 and 14 years old, Vinton says it’s crucial for Christian ministries to reach that age group.
>> Full story.
>> Another story from Congo: The Seed Company reports that the Mayogo Bible translation is almost done and requests prayers during this crucial time.
>> Learn more about the “4/14 Window”
BANGLADESH – Police Torture Pastor and Two Others
Source: Compass Direct, August 4, 2009
At the urging of local Muslim leaders, police in western Bangladesh have tortured a pastor and two other Christians for legally proclaiming Christ.
Habibur Rahman, 45, pastor of Boalia Spiritual Church (Boalia Ruhani Jamat) in Boalia in Cuadanga district, 220 kilometers (136 miles) west of Dhaka, said he was about to meet with 11 others for a monthly meeting on evangelism when local police stormed in and seized him and Zahid Hassan, 25, and a 40-year-old Christian identified only as Fazlur.
The first question the police commander asked him, Rahman said, was, “Why did you become Christian?”
“Using a lot of filthy words, he charged me that I was teaching the Bible and converting people to Christianity in this area,” the pastor told Compass. “Police told us, ‘We will teach you in the camp how to forget your Christ,’ while dragging us to the vehicle,” said Rahman.
Police blindfolded them after reaching the camp and took them to three separate rooms.
>> Full story.
>> See also, on a more encouraging note, this testimony of a Bangladeshi Muslim who came to the US to make converts and found a Bible in his native tongue.
EVENTS – Recent Additions to the Missions Catalyst Calendar
Source: Marti Smith
September 6-8 – 4/14 Window Global Summit (Flushing, NY, USA). “God is calling us to radically change the way we view children and to respond to their strategic importance and rightful place in his kingdom.”
September 18-19 – Tentmaking Seminar (Pasadena, CA, USA). Sponsored by Global Opportunities; free.
October 2-3 – Muslim-background Believers Conference (Dallas, TX, USA). “For Muslim-background believers, pastors, missionaries, lay leaders, students, and any Christian with a burden to reach Muslims with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
November 9 – Tentmaking Seminar (Spokane, WA, USA). Sponsored by Global Opportunities; free.
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