In This Issue: What can stop the spread of the good news?
- EGYPT: God Came to Garbage City
- LIBYA: Egyptian Christian Detained
- BURUNDI: Sweet Dreams
- SOMALIA: Peacekeeping Troops Bring Bibles
- KAZAKHSTAN: Court-ordered Book Burning
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Quotable
“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
“Who then is the one who condemns? No one.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:31-34, 38-39
Greetings!
This week we read about attempts to stop the spread of the good news. Though books were confiscated in Libya and Kazakhstan, the gospel spreads by through dreams, trash collectors, and in the hands of UN troops!
The Committee to Protect Journalists recently published its first-ever CPJ Risk List. I was surprised at some of the countries they considered dangerous for reporters. Where do you think freedom of the press declined most in 2012? This video (3.5 minutes) might surprise you.
I’ve combined the CPJ’s six risk indicators and Paul’s words in Romans 8:38-39 to express the unstoppable power of the gospel:
I am convinced that neither fatalities, imprisonments, restrictive legislation, state censorship, impunity in attacks, or the driving of messengers into exile will be able to stop the news of the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Praise God!
Pat
EGYPT: God Came to Garbage City
Source: Joel News International, March 5, 2013
As the sun sets over Mokkatam mountain on a Thursday evening, the garbage collectors leave the rubbish in the streets and move into the grounds of the Cave Church. Here they gather for a time of teaching and preparation for ministry.
Adel Gad El Karim serves at the church. “Someone told me not just to think of myself as a garbage collector. Because in Jesus my value is great. So now I’m an evangelist and the nations come to me [visiting the church] and I can tell them how Jesus changed my life.”
Changing lives and pointing them to the Father is the goal of Father Samaan’s life, who has become as dear as an earthly father to the people of Garbage City. He is their arbitrator and confident. He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. He is their spiritual leader and companion. But to God the Father he is simply a man who has lived a live of obedience and whose daily prayer, “More of you and less of me” has been answered.
“This is our time to change our world,” says Father Samaan, “and the Lord will support this work of the Holy Spirit. But we’re not just talking about Jesus in words but also in miracles which will follow our faith, and the world will see and believe and come back to Christ.”
» Learn more about or subscribe to Joel News.
» See also Fr. Samaan and Garbage City (video, YouTube).
LIBYA: Egyptian Christian Detained
Source: Middle East Concern, March 11, 2013
On February 22, we requested prayer following the February 10 arrest of Sherif, an Egyptian Christian businessman, in Benghazi. Sherif remains detained. A number of other Christians were arrested in the following days, including four Egyptians and three non-Arab expatriates who were working as language teachers or businessmen, each of whom knew Sherif in business or social contexts.
We regret to report that one of the Egyptians, Ezzat Hakim Atalla Abdel-Malak, died in detention [March 10]. A few days ago, he reported having severe chest pains. He was taken to a hospital and received some treatment before being returned to the detention facility. However, this treatment proved insufficient. His body is understood to show extensive bruising caused by physical abuse while detained.
Sherif runs a bookshop in Benghazi. The stock includes Christian books, intended for sale to the many expatriate Arabic-speaking Christians living and working in Benghazi and the surrounding areas. He, and the others detained, have been accused of proselytizing, although no formal charges have yet been made against any of them.
» Full story with prayer points.
BURUNDI: Sweet Dreams
Source: Simon Guillebaud, February 27, 2013
Last week an old man had a dream. Jen Eckersall was upcountry visiting homes and doing a discovery Bible group with a few families when he said: “Last night I had a dream in which I saw a white person and two Burundian missionaries coming to my house and knocking on my door.” He looked over at Jen and the team and said, “Those people in my dream were you three. Can you explain to me why you were knocking on my door?”
Jen’s teammate shared with him Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
Beautiful.
God prepares people’s hearts to listen to and receive his message. It’s happening repeatedly around the country. We (the Scripture Union team) were in the North on the weekend and visited five schools, six churches, and showed films at five locations (not bad for a few days’ work) and in the process saw hundreds of lives impacted, some for the first time, others coming back to God, one demon-possessed man flipping out in the service, and more. The battle is so very real out here. Thanks for those of you who pray.
» Please pray for Burundi, as the fragile nation recovers from a devastating fire.
SOMALIA: Peacekeeping Troops Bring Bibles
Source: United Bible Societies, March 4, 2013
Last month, Bibles were given to 1,000 Sierra Leonean soldiers awaiting deployment as African Union peacekeepers in Somalia. The men danced to show their thanks to the Bible Society. “Many of the men have been longing for a Bible,” said army chaplain Lieutenant Conteh Padre, “so this really is the right gift at the right time. When they are in Somalia they will read these Bibles in their quiet times. Even some of the soldiers who are Muslims are saying that they want to read it.”
“These Bibles will be like a second weapon,” Major Kargbo, Chief Chaplain of Sierra Leone’s Armed Forces, told the men. “You will go to Somalia armed with these Bibles, which will help you in your mission to bring peace. Meditate on the Word of God each day and let it be your shield and guide in the difficult times ahead.”
» Full story with pictures.
» See also Somalia: Humanitarian Snapshot (United Nations infographic). And for another encouraging story about the message going out, see a story from Madagascar, They Got “The Story” (Operation Mobilization).
KAZAKHSTAN: Court-Ordered Book Burning
Source: Forum 18, March 14, 2013
In what may be the first such instance in Kazakhstan, a court has ordered religious literature to be destroyed. A total of 121 books, confiscated from Baptist Vyacheslav Cherkasov, were ordered destroyed in the northern Akmola Region, according to the verdict seen by Forum 18 News Service.
The books [included] Bibles, children’s Bibles, and other books and leaflets on the Christian faith, mainly in the Kazakh language. Cherkasov was also fined one month’s average wage.
If he loses his appeal, court executors will carry out the destruction.
A Justice Ministry official in the capital Astana told Forum 18 that “most likely the books would be burned.”
» Full story.
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.