Missions Catalyst 11.07.12 – World News Briefs

In This Issue: Egyptians praising God, Pakistanis reaching out, and more

• EGYPT: Massive Christian Rallies
• PAKISTAN: Worship Team Ministers with Songs and Prayers
• CHINA: An End to the “One-Child” Policy?
• USA: Chaplains Deployed to Hurricane Sandy
• 10/40 WINDOW: Persecution Increases

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!

Greetings!

Miss last week’s edition of Missions Catalyst Resource Reviews? Our email service hit some snags, and hundreds of messages were blocked from getting through to subscribers. Sorry about that!

Last week’s issue included reviews of the books Kingdom Journeys and A Heart for the Community, free downloads on praying for missionaries and making mobile ministry easy, an item about two study Bibles for the mission minded, and a list of mission-oriented events for the month of November. Lots of stuff – maybe too much. But I hope there’s something you can use.

» View the email edition or find the same contents on our website.

blessings,

EGYPT: Massive Christian Rallies

» Source: Open Doors, November 2, 2012

During the first weekend in October, 10,000 young people gathered in the desert 60 miles north of Cairo to sing, pray, and worship the Lord. The youth gathering was followed up with an even larger event at the same location – an October 25-28 Christian rally which drew 45,000 people. Hundreds of buses brought in people of all ages to the conference grounds, which also hosted artistic and sports activities. But the focus of the event was to present the message of salvation and call people to give their lives to Jesus at a time in Egypt when Christians are being persecuted even more.

[A Christian leader reports] that an estimated 25,000 people gave their lives to Jesus; 8,000 filled out cards requesting follow-up visits by churches; 2-3 million followed the rally on two Christian satellite channels broadcasted live each day to North America, Australia, and the Middle East; and 1,000 children participating in a special program prepared for them.

“In the evening services, attendees were challenged to put their cigarettes, drugs, magic charms, and any other material objects that represented sin in their lives, or write on pieces of paper specific sins they were repenting of, and put everything into large baskets that were passed around throughout the entire stadium. …This was a powerful symbol of a sincere decision they have all made to follow Christ.”

» Read full story from Open Doors. See also SAT-7 Broadcasts Mega-Conference Live from Egypt (SAT-7). Christians in Egypt are also facing and/or fearing persecution and leaving in large numbers. So keep them in your prayers. And see the article, Islamization of Egypt Could Spark Coptic Awakening (CBN).

PAKISTAN: Worship Team Ministers with Songs and Prayers

» Source: OM International, October 26, 2012

“Afzal” has a passion to praise God through music and a desire to pass on the excitement of worshiping to congregations and fellowships throughout Pakistan. His team is a band of talented musicians who have joined to raise the profile of worship in Christian churches in the nation and encourage others to reach out in praise to the God who saves.

One morning, the team set off on a journey to a village. They brought a few non-believing friends who were also good musicians and wanted to come. As they traveled, they chatted and enjoyed getting to know each other. They also shared about their mutual interest in spiritual things. The friends were very interested in the personal testimonies of God’s love and his goodness in sending Jesus. They were amazed, never having heard about Jesus in this light before.

» Read about how God has used this team of musicians.

CHINA: End to the ‘One-child’ Policy?

» Source: Baptist Press, October 31, 2012

A Chinese government institute has recommended Beijing revoke its “one-child” policy that has forced abortion and sterilization upon millions of its citizens during the last three decades.

A Christian human rights advocate, however, says it is premature to conclude the communist regime will actually implement the proposal.

While the recommendation from the China Development Research Foundation appears to be a hopeful breakthrough, the timing [so close to the Communist Party’s National Congress, November 8] makes it predictable, said Mark Shan of US-based ChinaAid.

One camp within the Communist Party seeks reform while the other wants to defend traditional communist ideology, said Shan, news analyst for ChinaAid. If the reform wing can gain majority control, it likely would change the one-child policy because of the significance of the program’s impact domestically and internationally, he said, noting that nearly all people inside and outside China condemn the policy.

» Read full story.

» See also Chinese Organization Pushes to End One-child Policy by 2015 (Christian Post) as well as Beware of Naive Rumors (ChinaAid). Please pray for China during the Communist Party Congress, about to convene and finalize selection of new leaders for the first time in a decade.

USA: Chaplains Deployed to Hurricane Sandy Communities

» Source: Christian Today, October 31, 2012

Chaplains are offering spiritual support in communities affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Billy Graham Rapid Response Teams have been deployed to multiple sites across the disaster zone in the north-eastern US. More than 40 people were killed by the storm, including 22 in New York alone, and many homes [continue to be] without power. [Note, these figures increased later.]

Chaplains are coming from across the US to serve in the Rapid Response Teams, which will be based initially in New Jersey and Philadelphia.

The chaplains are specially trained to deal with crisis situations and had only recently been withdrawn from Louisiana following Hurricane Isaac last year.

» Read full story, or check out a press release from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Interested in being a volunteer crisis chaplain? Learn more about the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team.

» Readers might be interested in another news item from the US. Many Crew Members Trust Christ offers a glimpse of a ministry in Seward, Alaska that shares the gospel with cruise ship employees from around the world (Send International).

10/40 WINDOW: Persecution Increases

» Source: Gospel for Asia, October 11, 2012

With persecution of Christians increasing by 400 percent in India alone and similarly throughout the “10/40 Window” [a region including North Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia] over the past 10 years, Christians everywhere are called to pray with urgency for these brothers and sisters in Christ.

In a single state of one 10/40 country, thousands of Christian homes have been destroyed or damaged by [enemies of] Christians. In another, three Christian brothers are currently in prison under accusations of forced conversions, an offense punishable by law. Six women are raising their children alone, their husbands killed because of their belief in Christ. In one nation of 17 million people, an estimated 2,000 or fewer Christians must operate underground for fear of their lives.

The biblical response of the church to persecution is immediate and urgent prayer. Believers in remote parts of the world who feel alone in their struggle are divinely strengthened and encouraged by the prayers of others to remain faithful in the face of extreme persecution, said Gospel for Asia’s K.P. Yohannan.

“Suffering is forced upon our brothers and sisters. To those of us not experiencing the normality of persecution, Jesus is asking that we participate willingly in their suffering and chains,” said Yohannan. “Through our prayers, we can be agents of God’s divine healing, hope, and help.”

» Read full story.

» Materials to help you pray for persecuted Christians are available from Voice of the Martyrs, Open Doors and elsewhere. See also an insightful analysis of this phenomenon from a secular UK source: Christians Persecuted throughout the World (The Telegraph).

Marti Wade is a writer, speaker, and project manager for the Church Partnerships Team at Pioneers. As a mission mobilizer, she has also trained and sent out many short-term teams to do relationship-based research to serve among the world’s least-reached peoples.

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 and her husband Chris live in Oregon.