Missions Catalyst

Source: Mission Network News, February 10, 2022

In Pakistan, a 17-year-old boy led his entire tribe to follow Jesus. Rehan worked as a waiter at a roadside restaurant. He often worked 12-hour days, trying to scrape together enough money to feed his family.

One day, a truck driver began visiting the restaurant. Over time, Rehan noticed how well the man, Safdar, treated him and asked him why. Nehemiah with Forgotten Missionaries International (FMI) tells the story.

“Rehan said, ‘How is your attitude towards a waiter so gentle? Have you joined some other sect than Islam?’ Safdar gave him an audio Bible. Rehan took it home and began listening. Then Safdar suggested Rehan take off from his work and spend time together to answer his queries and questions at the FMI Discipleship center.”

Rehan realized how much Jesus loves him and he was baptized a couple of months ago. He didn’t stop there though; he gathered his family together and told them as well. His parents were moved by the message but still feared backlash from the tribal leaders. Nehemiah says when someone in Pakistan starts following Jesus they often face persecution from their tribe and family.

Nehemiah says he invited three FMI partners to help him share the gospel with the tribe. “One evening, he gathered all the tribe’s members under one big tent. First, Rehan showed a movie about Jesus. Then an FMI partner shared a 15-minute devotion about new hope in Christ. That day, a 17-year-old-boy led his whole tribe to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Praise God for this tribe of about 60 people, and ask him to strengthen them. Pray the story of Rehan and his tribe would not be an isolated one.

Read the original story or listen to the audio broadcast.

You might also be interested in Looking Back on 30 Years, in which the UK Director for Frontiers considers factors that have led to the movements toward Christ we see today in the Muslim world.

Source: Morning Star News, February 2, 2022

Islamic extremists stopped an evangelist on his way to participate in a debate about Christianity and Islam in Kampala, Uganda, and beat him unconscious, he said.

Charles Kamya, 43, said he was about 300 meters from the open-air debate site in the Bwaise area of Kampala [on January 29] when two men stopped his car.

“I stopped my car only to be ambushed by six other Muslims in Islamic attire who resurfaced from the bush at around midday,” Kamya told Morning Star News from his hospital bed.

He said one of the assailants told him, “You have been terrorizing our religion. Today Allah has called you, and you are going to meet him.”

“Some beat me badly while others cut me with some objects, and I lost a lot of blood as they pulled me out of my car and threw me out,” he said.

A blow to the head with an iron bar left him unconscious for about two hours, he said. A passerby found him in a pool of blood and called police.

“They arrived immediately and saved my life,” Kamya said. “The attackers did not damage my car or take anything inside the car. They only wanted to destroy my life.”

The full story points out this is just the latest in a series of instances of religious persecution in Uganda. Another story from the same source: Former Mosque Leader in Uganda Beaten for Faith in Christ.

Interested in Uganda? The New Humanitarian recently ran an article about conflicts in the Karamoja region.

Source: International Christian Concern, February 4, 2022

Ten Iranian Christian converts previously cleared of all accusations are being forced by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to participate in re-education classes led by Islamic clerics. The ten Christians, eight of whom were cleared in a Dezful court in November of any crime, appeared after being summoned via phone.

The IRGC led the arrest, charges, confiscation of property, and threats against the Christian converts in Dezful. These mandatory Islamic re-education classes directly conflict with the rulings of the Civil and Revolutionary Court of Dezful that said the group “merely converted to a different religion.” The court noted that this apostasy could be punished under Islamic Sharia law but was “not criminalized in the laws of Iran.” The courts also ruled they “didn’t carry out any propaganda against other groups.” The IRGC-mandated classes were presented to the group to “guide them back onto the right path.”

Read the full story.

Also from Iran, read Heart4Iran Delivers Hope to Iran’s Next Generation (Heart4Iran and Mission Network News).

Source: Middle East Concern, February 4, 2022

Christians in Algeria request prayer for church leaders in Ait Atteli, a village in Tizi Ouzou, the province in which most Algerian Christians live, as officials have started proceedings to close their church.

The provincial governor filed a case on February 1 against the pastor and his father who owns the land where the church is located. The case is based on a 2006 ordinance regulating non-Muslim worship. No date has been set for the court to hear the case. The church was established in 2006 and joined the EPA (Église Protestante d’Algérie), the legally recognized umbrella of Protestant churches in Algeria, in 2011. It has more than 90 members.

In recent years several churches have been closed under this ordinance, which requires non-Muslim worship to be held only in buildings licensed for that purpose. The licensing commission established under the 2006 ordinance, has yet to issue a single license.

The government has waged a systematic campaign against Protestant churches since November 2017, leaving 16 church buildings closed and at least four other fellowships ordered to cease their activities.

Read the full story.

In other news, evangelicals are among those signing the country’s first “National Charter for Peaceful Coexistence” in neighboring Tunisia (Evangelical Focus).

Got a heart to pray for the persecuted? See also five ways you can pray for Chinese Christians during the Olympic Games (Voice of the Martyrs).

Source: God Reports, February 3, 2022

In 2013 Caleb Byerly woke up with a start and began to furiously write in his journal everything he saw in a rather unusual dream. For the previous five years, [Caleb] had been engaged in mission outreach to indigenous people and tribal areas in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

“In the dream, I was standing on top of this mountain. I was looking out across the mountain, and I saw a tribe of people,” he told God Reports. He had never seen the tribe before and felt drawn to them, so he asked, “What tribe are you? What people are you?”

“We’re the Tinananon tribe,” they replied. Caleb had never heard of this people group and he began to carefully observe their actions in his dream.

A tribal chief walked to the front carrying a musical instrument.

“He took two small sticks, and he began to play this instrument. As he played the whole tribe started to dance and they started to worship. This kind of sound of worship just filled the place. It was as if heaven and earth just collided. After that, I woke up from the dream.”

God has spoken to Caleb through dreams previously, so he meticulously recorded in his journal the name of the Tinananon tribe. He made detailed drawings of the bowl, its dimensions and materials, a wooden ring that goes around the bowl, the strings connected by wooden pegs, and the two sticks used to play the instrument.

The full story describes how Caleb, an instrument maker by trade, built the instrument he saw in his dream, found the Tinananon tribe, and helped bring them the Bible in their language. It’s pretty amazing!

Hear Caleb tell the story in a 2019 episode on The Unseen Story, a podcast with first-person stories that build faith in God’s power and presence. Actually, Google will help you find this story told in quite a few places.

Note that Caleb Byerly and his wife founded Evergreen Missions, which includes a focus on promoting indigenous music, poetry, and more.

Watch Caleb play the salimbaa in the video below.