The district of Rayagada [in the Indian state of Odisha] is like a step back in time. More than two-thirds of the population belong to indigenous tribes such as the Khonds and the Soras. And the tragic murder of a Christian missionary [Graham Staines] in the rural mountains of Rayagada years ago has left many believers wary of venturing into the community.
In 2021, after much prayer, fasting, and preparation, Ramachandran Periasamy’s team headed for one of the 22 villages [of the Dongoriakondh tribal people group in the Rayagada district]. Around 100 people live in this village, accessible only by foot.
“About 20 years ago, a local missionary went to this village to share the gospel but was killed by the tribal people. Thereafter a few attempted to reach the village but all attempts failed. For the last few years, no Christians have visited this place.”
Ramachandran’s team arrived in March and, to their surprise, were warmly welcomed. They prepared chicken curry for villagers and established connections with a few families. They were able to speak to the leader of the village who invited them back and has permitted them to implement valuable social programs.
Their warm reception has opened a door [for the team] to minister to the other villages in the locality, and years of church planting have taught them to win the favor of the people through relationship building if they want to credibly share the gospel.
Source: International Christian Concern, August 13, 2021
Iraq adopted a five-year plan for the protection and building of human rights on July 26. The new Human Rights National Action Plan was launched with the support of the Office of the President and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). For Christians who have faced persecution, genocide, displacement from varying threats, land seizures, and more, the commitment to protect human rights as the country pursues recovery can be a sign of hope.
The new initiative is “seeking to harmonize national legislation with international human rights standards, to strengthen national policies for the protection and [the] promotion of human rights and to build individual and institutional human rights capacities,” according to Danielle Bell, Chief of UNAMI’s Human Rights Office and Iraq Representative.
In her speech, Bell also highlighted the key links between the protection of human rights and the growth of sustainable development in Iraq [and said,] “The need for strong and coherent action on human rights is more essential than ever. The Human Rights National Action Plan provides a solid framework for the legislative, policy, procedural and institutional reforms which can prevent human rights violations in the future and which will therefore make a difference to the lives of all Iraqis.”
Since COVID-19 closed the border between Thailand and Laos, one of the things a local ministry leader misses most is face-to-face contact at border seminars with people such as 100-year-old “Uncle Pekelo.”
Still in good health, Uncle Pekelo has attended several of the ministry’s training seminars, where he has encouraged others with his testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness in the face of persecution, the leader said.
“He has endured so much in his walk with the Lord, to the point that he was imprisoned eight times for his faith,” he said. “Each time, he refused to renounce his trust in God, and to this day he continues to stand firm.”
At the church where Uncle Pekelo pastors a congregation of 50 families, local authorities once ordered the demolition of their worship building, the leader said.
“He and other believers hurried to put their Bibles in plastic bags to bury them in the jungle, to be hidden from being seized and burned… During his subsequent time in prison, he would secretly write letters to Christians in his village, encouraging them to stay firm in their faith. Does this not sound like the Apostle Paul?”
In a massive effort to share hope with millions around the world, the Luis Palau Association recently launched their latest online campaign, Take this Fear. Led by Wendy Palau, it features five messages focused on some of the most common fears women struggle with: abandonment, not being enough, losing control, being unhappy, and death and suffering.
Last year, they launched a similar campaign targeting mothers, leading to 2.8 million people being reached with the gospel ads. Seeing how effective online outreaches can be, Wendy and the team decided to go bigger with an online campaign targeting women of all ages. The vision—just like with live Palau Festivals—is for believers to use these videos as a tool to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with their friends and family.
“Fear can grip onto any of us so easily,” shared Wendy Palau. “That is why I knew it was so important to share these messages now. This tool has the ability to reach millions of people in some of the darkest and hardest to reach locations around the world with the Good News of Jesus.”
See also the article Why We Continue to Do Mass Evangelism, in which evangelist Greg Laurie addresses the argument that personal evangelism is more effective than mass evangelism (Outreach Magazine).
In my world, it’s back to school time. The three intrepid humans I’ve been riding herd on this summer vacillate between fired up and frantic about returning to the classroom. Excited to see friends, concerned about new teachers, happy that masks are “strongly suggested,” but “not required,” and perhaps secretly glad to be ridden herd on by someone else for a change!
To celebrate the season this is the first-ever back-to-school edition of Practical Mobilization. No back-to-school buzz at your house? No worries. These ideas, for the most part, travel beyond that sphere. Though I’d also humbly invite you to forward this to your friends with school-aged kiddos.
1. Surviving the “Meet and Greet”
Depending on how tight the COVID clampdown is where you live, you may have a “meet and greet” at your kids’ school in the next few days. Does that several parts of your body to involuntarily clench? Does mine! Then here’s some help for you: Treat it like a challenge to do what Jesus would. For starters, he’d bless your kid’s teacher. Ask how you could pray for them this week. (If you’re feeling super feisty, pray right then and there!) And, he’d probably talk to the people no one is talking to!
The handy acronym FORKS shows you one way to give that a go.
2. This Girl Had It Harder Than You!
Need a little pre-first-day pep talk? Try sharing the story of Nadia Nadim with your kids. Here are the bullet points:
Born in Afghanistan in 1988.
When she was ten years old, her family fled for their lives after her father’s execution.
As a refugee in Denmark, she began to excel at soccer.
Oh, and one more thing, she’s one semester away from completing med school!
Watching her TEDX talk might give you a little boost as well!
3. A Challenge on Another Level
Gospel workers around the world face brain-bending and heart-rending decisions when it comes to schooling their kids. For some, boarding school several time zones away is still the best choice. For others, it’s local school or home-schooling.
One of the most poignant photos of any of my kids is that of wee Anna sitting in her Dutch kindergarten on her first day ever of school. New classroom, new teacher, new language!
Since this challenge is real, I’m wondering if as a community we can take a moment and share some prayer and encouragement for cross-cultural workers facing school decisions and the implications of the choices they’ve made. I set up a Google doc where you can share a brief prayer or blessing for our family members around the planet. It won’t take you long, but it might be the thing that gets them through a rough day.
4. Homeschool with Global Purpose
Once you’ve chosen to home school your kids, and some of you have, the question looms large: What curriculum do you use? I’m the last person qualified to answer that for you! But here are a couple of options that have God’s global purposes at their core: Sonlight Curriculum and Unveiling Glory.
5. Middle School Survival Training
If you’re a dad of middle school girls, you might suspect there’s no way to navigate those years without tears, heartache, and seasons of moodiness. I agree and have observed that both girls and boys are their rawest, most sin-ridden selves during this time. Even so, I want kids to grow up to follow Jesus wholeheartedly and take the gospel to the most challenging and under-served parts of the world. This one-page survival training might help in a small way.
6. Life Inventory
Finally, if on that first day of school, having dropped the kids at the bus or building, you sink into the sofa and go into some sort of human hibernation until pick-up time you’ll get no judgment from me.
Assuming your nap need will ease up eventually, though, here’s something to consider that is just tough to do with kids writhing around you like a sack full of snakes: A life inventory.
Not an “everything bad I’ve ever done” list, but more like you and the Holy Spirit asking, “Where’s this ol’ train headed?”
I like the approach Ximena Vengoechea outlines, starting with writing 100 wishes on 100 post-it notes. How fun might that be? Don’t panic. Most people don’t get past 30 or 40. (Ximena, overachiever that she is, was at 121 when she ran out of post-it notes!)
A life inventory is probably not going to solve all our issues, but it might just be a fun and helpful way to put to use some of the time that theoretically will be freed up when the kiddos go back to school.
Thanks for reading the Summer Short Shots. Before you head off to your next priority, please take a moment and share a prayer or blessing for missionaries and the kids going off to school. Thank you.
A year ago today, a tragic explosion shook Beirut. The people of Lebanon are still looking for answers. See a story below for how one Lebanese ministry is serving its community (Mission Network News).
In this issue:
LEBANON: Quality Education in the Name of Jesus
THE SAHEL: Christians in Peril in “Africa’s Afghanistan”
BANGLADESH: Christians Flee After Buddhist Radicals Attack
SOUTH ASIA: Believer Makes Sacrifice to Serve His Persecutor
Children come to schools like Beirut Baptist School for high-quality education. They also get to see the love of Jesus in action. Nasrallah says, “We’re committed to providing education to the community that is Christian but also excellent. This has been a landmark of evangelical schools to serve students from all faith backgrounds and all social classes, regardless of belief or status. This is a legacy that we have in Lebanon. It started with Protestant Presbyterian missionaries in the 19th century and Catholic missions.”
These students even take classes about the Bible and attend chapels with their parent’s knowledge, Nasrallah says. It all stems from the trust Christians have built in the community.
And that trust is needed right now, during COVID-19 and the current financial crisis in Lebanon. Nasrallah says, “Our resilience has been stretched thin. At one point we even wondered if we could keep on going. So what we need today is a lot of prayer for patience, wisdom, and discernment to make the right decisions. We want to be able to find favor and grace in the eyes of the community that we are serving.”
Source: Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin, July 20, 2021
France’s Operation Barkhane, tasked with fighting terrorism in the Sahel, will come to an end in early 2022, just ahead of France’s presidential election. Troops are already being withdrawn. It comes as jihadists in the Sahel are: (1) escalating their activity; (2) enacting Sharia laws and penalties in territories they control; and (3) actively working to expand south into Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Benin.
On the night of June 4-5, Islamic jihadists—many of whom were mere children—massacred at least 160 civilians in Solhan Village, Yagha Region, northeastern Burkina Faso. Separately, jihadists in eastern Burkina Faso have targeted a Bible school, burning its library and threatening its staff.
Christians in the Sahel—especially those in the tri-border region of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—are imminently imperiled. Please pray.
The full story includes more detail, prayer points, and many links.
In other news from the Sahel, a Malian woman broke a world record. No, she is not an Olympic athlete. You should read her story.
A small Christian church in southeastern Bangladesh was attacked and destroyed twice amid weeks of threats from radical Buddhists against Christians who refused to re-convert to Buddhism. Many believers in the community are reportedly displaced from their homes.
“The radicals told us to destroy the church, but we will not,” Tubel Chakma Poran Adetion, the church’s assistant pastor, told Asia News. “If we have to sacrifice our lives, we will. They threatened us to return to our old religion, but we will not return. Jesus Christ is our savior. We will die for him.”
The pastor told the news outlet that believers at the church were previously Buddhists who “met Jesus Christ” in 2005. The Christian residents of Suandrapara built the small brick-and-tin church in January through funding provided by the Bangladesh Bawm Tribal Baptist Church.
The pastor said they gathered and prayed daily despite threats and opposition from the Buddhist majority. The Christians were given a seven-day deadline to stop all church activities and re-convert to Buddhism.
Source: International Mission Board, July 28, 2021
“Mark” found faith in Christ about five years ago, reports IMB missionary Owen Stoddard. Mark comes from a South Asian Muslim background and works as a painter in his local community to provide for his wife and young daughter.
After Mark became a Christian, he obediently participated in baptism and began to boldly share the saving power of Christ with his fellow villagers. Mark’s obedience cost him his good reputation within the community and has affected his ability to find people who will hire him.
“Deciding to trust Christ and be baptized has blessed Mark with joy in Christ and fellowship with God’s people,” said Stoddard. “However, his faithfulness to share how Christ can also save other villagers causes locals who disapprove of his bold witness to speak out against him. As a result, it has become difficult for Mark to find work. Nevertheless, he has remained faithful to Christ.”
When Mark’s South Asian country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdowns left many families without jobs and a way to find food. Many residents are day laborers, working the rice and vegetable fields to feed their families.
Yet Mark sought out the man who was the most responsible for publicizing his conversion and encouraging his persecution and gave his own family’s food to this man—his enemy.
