In This Issue: Preparing for the Olympic Games
- BANGLADESH: Testimonies of Faith
- AFRICA: Sharing Christ with Africa’s Migrant Chinese
- GLOBAL: Shining a Light on Corruption
- IRAN: Six-year Prison Term Confirmed for Prison
- MEXICO: Preparing for Rainy Season
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!
Photo by OM International
BANGLADESH: Testimonies of Faith
Source: OM International, July 11, 2012
With all eyes focused on London and the Olympics, [OM’s] sports ministry team in Bangladesh saw this as an opportunity to share the good news, especially among young people. The team finds it difficult to find creative ways to communicate God’s love to the younger generation in Bangladesh but has found this to be a winner: a special multicolored booklet, translated into Bangla, traces the highlights of the Olympics from past games and highlights testimonies of world-famous athletes who profess faith in Christ.
Over 5,000 copies of this booklet have been distributed in schools, colleges, and local bazaars, and more are still being distributed. Graduates of previous sports-discipleship training programs have also distributed the booklets in their home areas and are using the Olympics to reach out to young people. Please pray that many young people will find faith in Christ as they read these testimonies.
>> Full story.
>> More stories related to the London Olympics include Olympics Outreach 2012 (Arab World Media) and Olympics Provide Baptists Unique Ministry Opportunity (Baptist Press). Learn about a variety of ministries and resources through a collaborative effort called More Than Gold. Sign up for daily devotions for each day of the Games from Run the Race.
AFRICA: Sharing Christ with Africa’s Migrant Chinese
Source: SIM International, July 2, 2012
A nervous and disappointed migrant Chinese couple sat in a doctor’s office in South Africa, trying to take in what had just been explained to them. They lacked the money to pay for a vital procedure the woman needed, and they were concerned about her complicated ectopic pregnancy. Five thousand US dollars was the cost put before them for the procedure: an immense sum for a family newly arrived in Johannesburg from China, trying to eke out a living. They simply didn’t have it.
The story is one among thousands, as the Chinese population in Africa has mushroomed in recent years, dotting the landscape with ever-increasing numbers of Chinese people. They come for one purpose: to make a better life.
It’s not easy to reach the Chinese Diaspora, which is estimated at 40 million worldwide. In Johannesburg, home to some 300,000 Chinese people, three new fellowships now meet where there was no church only a year ago.
“Usually Chinese people are very relational, so you need to meet them personally, talk to them, and assure them about the truth of Christ,” says Stanley Ling, SIM East Asia Director. “The church members themselves are very mobile, so you have to make the most of your time when the people are there and train them and try to disciple them.”
GLOBAL: Shining a Light on Corruption
Source: Joel News International, June 29, 2012
Christians around the world are raising their voices in a united response against corruption and poverty. EXPOSED is a new coalition of Christian organizations that aim to challenge the global Church, business, and governments to highlight the impact of corruption on the poorest of the poor. The aim is to mobilize 100 million Christians to join together for a week of witness, advocacy, and action October 14-20, 2013.
Corruption is by its very nature deliberately hidden. This is one of the greatest obstacles when dealing with extreme poverty. Through mismanagement, illicit business practices, and poor governance, well over one trillion US dollars goes missing every year! Dr. Goodwill Shana, head of the Christian denominations in Zimbabwe, says that while corruption is present everywhere, from the boardrooms of corporations in developed countries to the dusty streets of developing nations, it plays a far more significant role in Africa by keeping the poor in the unrelenting grip of destitution.
>> Learn more about EXPOSED and/or watch a four-minute Micah Project video, Counting the Cost of Corruption (YouTube).
IRAN: Six-year Prison Term Confirmed for Pastor
Source: ASSIST News Service, July 6, 2012
The six-year prison sentence of Pastor Farshid Fathi, who has been incarcerated more than a year in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, was upheld at his appeal hearing last week.
Fathi has been imprisoned for 18 months so far, and he is now due to remain in Evin prison to serve out the rest of his sentence, according to Rev. Sam Yeghnazar of Elam Ministries.
“This move once again displays great injustice towards Christians in Iran,” Yeghnazar told ANS. “However, Farshid is a man after God’s own heart, and God will be faithful to him.
“I am convinced that the greater the persecution, the more the church will grow in Iran. Such injustice will only cause more Iranians to want to know the Jesus that people like Farshid proclaim,” he said.
Yeghnazar went on to say that Farshid has become “a shining beacon for Christ in Evin prison, so much so that the son of an Iranian Ayatollah has commented on Farshid’s sweet nature in a video available on YouTube, remarking on how beloved Farshid is amongst the inmates.”
>> Full story with picture and prayer points. See also: Iranian Pastor Nadarkhani May Face New Charges in September.
MEXICO: Preparing for Rainy Season
Source: New Tribes Mission, July 6, 2012
The rains are coming. And missionary Katie Moore says it’s been a race to finish the big stucco project before the rainy season arrives. Some neighborhood ladies have been helping her and her co-worker, Rachel Chapman, stucco their house. And they are learning a lot. In fact, Katie has learned a little more about stucco than she really wanted to know.
Of course, the best way to learn new things is to ask questions. “Naturally,” Katie says, “we tried to learn a little while we worked. I kept asking my friend, Andrea, ‘What are we doing now?'” That’s when Katie learned the truth about the ingredients being stirred together for the best stucco. Stucco, she says, “is a delicate mix of water, good dirt, and donkey droppings.”
Their Nahuatl friends can be fearful as they look toward the coming rainy season. But it’s not fear about the rain or storms. Their fear is about rainbows. “In their language the word for ‘rainbow’ is kuwah, the same word they use for ‘snake.’ They tell their kids that if they point directly at a rainbow, it will somehow get them like a snake. As rainy season approaches and rainbows grace the skies more frequently, I wonder what they think of us, taking pictures of the colors in the sky.”
“Please pray for the Nahuatl and for our team here,” Katie requests, “as we work to reveal and share the love of God that casts out fear.”
>> Learn more about missionaries from Latin America in the article Same Goals, New Obstacles (Latin America Mission).