In This Issue: Gathering a harvest in Pakistan
- PAKISTAN: Reaping the Harvest
- SAUDI ARABIA: Glimmers of Light
- HORN OF AFRICA: Lost Christians
- IRAN: Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s Letter from Prison
- INDONESIA: World Prayer Assembly Happening Now
Quotable
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
John 4:34-38
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PAKISTAN: Reaping the Harvest
Source: OM News and Information, May 11, 2012
In one Pakistani city, a revolution is taking place in the church. Three and a half years ago, a small OM Pakistan team settled down in the city, in answer to God’s call. The local church welcomed them, saying, “We are very glad you are back here, working again in the city doing outreach. We will do the praying; you do the outreach.”
Instead, the OM team coordinator visited the churches and offered a partnership: they would teach church members selected by the leaders about how to do outreach in the local community. Church members were invited to a weekly Bible class for three months, and 18 students came.
One particular volunteer came for three months to learn alongside the team and then returned home to his family. His short stint with the team seemed purposeless. A while later, though, when the team coordinator was visiting the [former] volunteer’s hometown, he was asked to visit him and his family. Although the coordinator was tired and short of time, he went.
The man, his parents, and his brother welcomed the coordinator. “We understand what our son has shared from everything you taught him, but something is missing. Can you share with us?” they asked.
The team coordinator used a bracelet of beads to share the truth of the gospel, and the brother asked if he could pray to confess his sin and accept Jesus into his life. The team coordinator took the [bracelet] off his arm and gave it to him. The brother rejoiced and thanked him: “Now I won’t forget,” he explained, and asked if they could go to his married brother’s house. At the end, everyone in the room said they wanted to give their lives to Jesus.
“What about our other brother?” asked the ex-volunteer. “Can we go and visit him now?” Again they set off, the group getting bigger each time.
That night 13 people came to know Jesus.
>> Full story.
SAUDI ARABIA: Glimmers of Light
Source: Open Doors, May 10, 2012
In Saudi Arabia, where conversion to any religion other than Islam is a capital crime, the Internet is making an impact, leading to both conversions to Christ and increased persecution. Recently the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia demanded that former newspaper columnist and pro-democracy Saudi activist Hamza Kashgari be tried in Islamic court for three of his Twitter posts.
The lack of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia was underscored last month when the grand mufti declared the necessity of destroying all churches in the region. This fatwa, a legal opinion or decree handed down by an Islamic religious leader, prompted a Filipino human rights watch group to advise migrant workers from the Philippines, many of whom are Christian, to exercise caution while conducting religious activities in their homes.
>> Full story.
>> Listen to a recent debate, Arabs Tell Governments to Protect Religious Minorities (Doha Debates). The moderator was unusually tough on both sides. Also read about the Malaysian Christian using social networking for electoral reform: Twitter, Texting, and Facebook Bring Malaysia’s Street Protests to Worldwide Audience (BeliefNet).
HORN OF AFRICA: Lost Christians
Source: Baptist Press, April 16, 2012
“Orthodox Christians are the Horn of Africa’s ‘hidden lost,'” said Aaron Shaw (pseudonym). “They appear to be Christian, and on maps that show a country’s religious makeup, this place is marked as a Christian region.”
The faith of their fathers was pure at the beginning, Shaw said. Christianity first came to the region nearly 2,000 years ago, just after the death of Christ.
For centuries, Christ was at the center – until outsiders wove a macabre legend into their religion, Shaw said. In the folk story, a man was approached by Satan in disguise and asked to sacrifice his son.
“Delighted to have been found worthy like Abraham, he did what they asked, cooked and prepared his son for them to eat,” Shaw said. “Satan and the men with him asked him to take the first bite of his own son, and when he did, Satan revealed himself.”
He eventually was sent to hell, Mary “tipped the scales in his favor with her mercy” and redeemed him to heaven.
Another Christ follower in the area said people’s spiritual need in the Horn of Africa is exponentially larger than any physical need they may have.
“This land has a deep spiritual famine,” he said. “People are hungering for the Word, but there are not enough people to take it to them.”
>> Full story. See also a story from another part of the Orthodox world, Russian Orthodox Church Leads National Day of Prayer amid Attacks (Christian Post).
IRAN: Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s Letter from Prison
Source: Jason DeMars, Present Truth Ministries, May 9, 2012
I have received a letter from brother Youcef Nadarkhani regarding his current condition, his thoughts about his persecution, and his response towards the burning of Qu’rans. I am very blessed by what he writes and am sincerely thankful for the testimony he is maintaining through the power of God. I am reminded of the Scripture, “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you” (Colossians 4:18).
Letter from Prison
“Greetings from your servant and younger brother in Christ, Youcef Nadarkhani.
“To: All those who are concerned and worried about my current situation.
“First, I would like to inform all of my beloved brothers and sisters that I am in perfect health in the flesh and spirit. And I try to have a little different approach from others to these days, and consider it as the day of exam and trial of my faith. And in these days which are hard, in order to prove your loyalty and sincerity to God, I am trying to do the best in my power to stay right with what I have learned from God’s commandments.
“I need to remind my beloveds, though my trial due has been so long, and as in the flesh I wish these days to end, yet I have surrendered myself to God’s will.
“I am neither a political person nor do I know about political complicity, but I know that while there are many things in common between different cultures, there are also differences between these cultures around the world which can result in criticism, which most of the times response to [these] criticisms will be harsh and as a result will lengthen our problems.”
>> Keep reading. For a report of this story that includes more history and context, see Youcef Nadarkhani Pens Letter to Supporters, Expresses Perseverance, Faith in God (Christian Post).
INDONESIA: World Prayer Assembly Happening Now
Source: Joel News, May 2012
Christian leaders from across the globe gather at the World Prayer Assembly in Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 14-18, 2012. This historic event is taking place as millions of Indonesians are connected in prayer for their nation. Thousands of prayer, mission, and marketplace leaders, along with on-fire youth and children, seek the Lord together for his strategies of “prayer-action” for the world.
On May 17 there will be a gathering in the national stadium in Jakarta with 100,000 others, including 20,000 children and 20,000 youth, with simultaneous gatherings in 300-400 cities of Indonesia, connected by live television. Tens of millions more will join in across the world by satellite TV and Internet streaming.
The full program is now available on the conference website.
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.