Missions Catalyst 09.19.12 – World News Briefs

In This Issue: Stories from Iran, Ghana, Indonesia, and more

• IRAN: Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani Released, at Home
• CENTRAL ASIA: Harvest Time
• INDONESIA: Showing Jesus to the Sundanese
• JORDAN: Teacher Killed in Jordan Remembered and Loved
• GHANA: Christian Businesses Become Self-sustaining

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 share it freely!

IRAN: Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani Released, at Home

Source: Worthy News, September 10, 2012

Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who was sentenced to death and became a symbol of what his church called “suffering Christians” in this heavily Islamic nation, could embrace his wife and children Saturday, September 8, after he was unexpectedly released from prison, Worthy News learned.

“Thanks to all who have supported me with prayers,” he told BosNewsLife in a statement through an interpreter.

The 35-year-old pastor appeared tired but said he always kept his faith, even behind bars. “I experienced especially the presence of the Lord on my side every time,” Nadarkhani said in brief remarks.

Nadarkhani had urged Christians not to give up hope that he would be released one day.

His wife Fatemah “Tina” Pasindedih and their two young sons, Daniel and Yoel, could be seen rushing to their father armed with flowers as he opened the iron door of the notorious prison where he had been held for over 1,000 days.

“This is an answer to prayers,” added Firouz Khandjani, his friend and council member of the pastor’s “Church of Iran” house church movement.

In a letter Pastor Nadarkhani earlier called his long detention and [threat of] execution “a trial of faith.”

His sudden release suggested disagreements within Iran’s leadership about the pastor’s punishment, Iranian Christians said.

>> Read full story with picture.

Editor’s note: Don’t forget this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (observed November 4 by some and November 11 by others). For some good new materials contextualized for an American audience, see One With Them.

CENTRAL ASIA: Harvest Time

Source: OM International, September 6, 2012

The Silk Road Challenge is a groundbreaking outreach of local Central Asians reaching out to other Central Asians all across the Silk Road. One outreach team this summer offered to help a family harvest a field. It must have seemed strange to the father, yet he accepted the help. During a break, the team ate watermelon with the family and learned more about them, including their problems and their reasons for no longer calling themselves Muslims.

Seeing their open hearts, the team shared about Jesus and the life he brings. The father had watched a film about Jesus and admitted, “I want to go to heaven, but I think I’ll go to hell because I am a bad person.” He wanted to believe, so the team continued sharing. The father accepted Jesus!

A believer who lives in the village and knows the family will help them as they embark on their new life with Christ. Please pray for the discipleship of those who have come to faith along the Silk Road.

>> Read full story.

>> See another OM story about Central Asian believers reaching out: God’s Church in Afghanistan. Several other ministries have recently published glimpses of their work in Central Asia: see New Partner in Central Asia Led by Former Muslim Women (Partners International) and Greater than Healing (Pioneers).

INDONESIA: Showing Jesus to the Sundanese

Source: Partners International, August 17, 2012

The 36 million Sundanese people are one of the world’s largest unreached people groups. Indonesian Church Growth Network (ICGN) operates an Arts Center where Sundanese Christian artists can express their talents through their treasured Sundanese cultural arts. Their common goal is to glorify the Lord Jesus, their Savior, through drama, television production, dance, singing, and songwriting – all in Sundanese.

Popular television shows include “Father’s Village,” a pre-evangelistic drama that is shot in a village setting and focuses on problems typical to a Sundanese community. The father figure in the show gives advice on solving problems directly from God’s Word.

“As a result of our programs, [main character] Pastor Didi is widely known as ‘father.’ He has been given a platform to show Jesus to the Sundanese. He portrays to the entire Sundanese world that a follower of Christ does not have to become Western but can remain culturally Sundanese.”

ICGN’s programs reach an estimated audience of 50,000 people.

>> Read the full story, which includes an account of how this program brought new life to a dying Sundanese shaman and his extended family.

JORDAN: Teacher Killed in Jordan Remembered and Loved

Source: Baptist Press, September 14, 2012

A warm breeze whips sand around cars creeping down the main street of Irbid, Jordan. A man gestures to catch the attention of a carload of Americans, then lays his hand over his heart.

He knows there is only one place they can be going. It seems the whole city is mourning the death of Southern Baptist representative Cheryll Harvey.

“Even now, I can’t believe she has died,” said Eman, a young Jordanian woman, as she clutches a small cup of the bitter Arabic coffee typically served at wakes.

Eman is among dozens at the wake, shedding tears, sharing stories, and paying their respects. They are crowded in the small classrooms in Irbid where Harvey taught.

“Many people loved Miss Cheryll,” Eman said, “many, many.”

Harvey, 55, from Texas, taught English and other subjects in Jordan for 24 years. She was found stabbed to death in her apartment September 4. Robbery was the apparent motive, according to police reports.

“She was the most selfless person I knew, and the busiest. I don’t know how she did all she did every day,” one colleague said. “She started this center in 2000, and from the very beginning, people came and it grew and grew. And she spent so much of her time visiting the students in their homes. People just met her and loved her immediately.”

>> Read full story, which includes pictures. See also Suspect Arrested in Death of IMB Worker and Slain Southern Baptist Worker Laid to Rest.

GHANA: Christian Businesses Become Self-sustaining

Source: Mission Network News, September 17, 2012

Thirty entrepreneurs received business training from Global Advance at Marketplace Mission Conferences held in southern Ghana’s two most-populated cities [in July 2011]. Local leaders took the information they gained and used it to start a savings and loan bank.

Now Ghanaian Christian businesses are being funded from within, creating a more sustainable financial environment.

Financial stability shines like a beacon of hope to a nation with nearly one-third of its residents living at or below the poverty line. As Ghanaian communities take notice of believers’ success, pray that business leaders would be able to share their source of hope – Jesus Christ.

Ghana’s GDP grew from US$5.9 billion in 1990 to US$32.3 billion in 2010, ranking it among the top ten regions in Africa for highest economic growth experienced over the last decade. According to the World Bank Group, Ghana’s economy grew at 14.4 percent last year thanks to new oil production and a recovered construction sector.

>> Read full story with additional prayer points. See also a previous story, Christian Businesses Set the Bar.

Marti Wade is a writer, speaker, and project manager for the Church Partnerships Team at Pioneers. Since the mid-90s she has also helped prepare cultural research teams to explore unreached communities and mobilize efforts to serve them.

Marti has managed and published Missions Catalyst since 2004 and is the author of Through Her Eyes, a book about the lives of women serving cross-culturally in the Muslim world. She married Chris Wade in May 2012.