MALAYSIA: Woman Wins 13-Year Fight for Right to Call God “Allah”

Source: World Watch Monitor, March 17, 2021

A Malaysian woman’s campaign for Christians’ right to use the word “Allah” for “God” has succeeded after almost 13 years of court hearings and delays.

Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill has been campaigning for the right to use the word ever since immigration officials at a Kuala Lumpur airport seized eight Christian CDs from her in May 2008 because the CDs used the word “Allah” in a Christian context.

After a seven-year legal battle, Ireland was given back the CDs in 2015, but she maintained that the court had failed to address her constitutional right as a Christian to use the word.

In October 2017, her lawyer, Lim Heng Seng, noted that 60% of Malaysia’s Christians speak the Bahasa Malaysia (“language of Malaysia”), which uses “Allah” for “God.” The word, which predates Islam, has been used by local Christians for hundreds of years, since Europeans first spread the religion, long before Malaysia even came into existence.

He said Christians were never consulted when in 1986 the country banned Christians from using the word, and that the government’s blanket ban was unconstitutional and discriminatory.

After years of delays, including several this year due to COVID-19 lockdown, the Court of Appeals judge Nor Bee ruled in Ireland’s favor that the 1986 directive by the Home Ministry to prohibit Christians from using four prohibited words, including Allah, was not a blanket ban.

Read the full story. An article from the BBC includes additional background, and the case is more fully described in a piece from Malay Mail (which identifies Ireland as “a Sarawakian of the Melanau tribe.”) Note that this decision is being appealed (The Star).

USA: Four Positive Signs We’re on the Cusp of a Church Revitalization Movement

Source: Sam Rainer, Church Answers, via The Christian Post, April 4, 2021

I believe we are on the cusp of a church revitalization movement. The signs are there. Will churches follow them? On the road, a sign is no good unless it helps you travel to your destination. The signs point in the right direction for a church revitalization movement, but for it to happen churches will need to move.

1. Almost every church is smaller, but the core is stronger than ever. The return rate of people in churches is highly localized right now. Additionally, larger churches have lower return rates, while smaller churches are recovering more quickly. By this fall, Church Answers expects most congregations to be at 80% pre-pandemic levels.

2. The number of church adoptions [mergers] has the potential to catch the number of church closures. When a church is adopted, a healthier and stronger congregation receives a more vulnerable congregation into the family. Two families are brought together.

3. Pastor tenure will be longer after the great reshuffling. Like people in other professions, pastors are exhausted and struggling with decision fatigue. A great reshuffling is occurring. Over the long term, we expect pastor tenure to lengthen and get better, especially as Millennials enter the prime of their careers. With longer pastor tenures, revitalization is more likely.

4. The neighborhood church movement is primed for a launch. The neighborhood church is associated with a particular neighborhood. It is common for them to carry the name of the community. They were originally started in the community and for the community. For years, we have dismissed the potential for these churches. I believe they are primed for a comeback.

The full article includes links to a new “master class” and conference about church revitalization.

Also worth noting: As various sources report, less than half of Americans now claim a formal congregational membership (Baptist News).

Resurrection & Beyond: Resource Reviews

Image: Wycliffe Bible Translators. See below.
  1. Letter from the Editor: Resurrection Resources
  2. Prayer Guides: More on Praying for Muslims
  3. Event: Five Days of Prayer for Sikhs
  4. Article: Caring for National Partners
  5. Infographic: The Most Linguistically Diverse Countries
  6. Events: Conferences, Courses, and Webinars

See the email edition or scroll down for individual articles.

Resurrection Resources

Dear readers,

Easter is almost here, and I want to take this chance to let you know about a few Easter-related resources you may want to check out.

1. Wycliffe Bible Translators published a fun article describing unique ways this holiday is celebrated in different parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Maybe you want to try a few!

2. In Discovering Jesus’ Identity on Easter, Christianity Explored suggest that instead of hoping someone grasps the fullness of the gospel in a single church service, who not use your Easter service to invite spiritual seekers into something deeper: a place where they can explore Scriptures and understand for themselves who Jesus is? It may be too late to rewrite that Easter message now, but keep this in mind as a way to follow up with a friend who joins your celebration.

3. Who is Jesus? What did he do? And why do those things matter? George Murray’s booklet Remembering Jesus is simple, straightforward, and cuts to the heart of every person’s most desperate need—Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life-giving hope that we all need. Now until Sunday, William Carey Publishing is offering a buy-one, get-one-half-off deal on packages of these booklets.

Happy Easter!
Marti Wade

Prayer Guides: More on Praying for Muslims

Sources: Various

Last month we featured materials from the 30 Days of Prayer campaign. Note that there are two different sets of material being distributed under that banner this year (with somewhat different topics) and designed for use April 13 to May 12.

You may also have seen that Global Gates is offering those who join their mailing list a free downloadable version of the booklet they created in partnership with World Christian. That’s the one about the Muslim diaspora in North American cities.

A few more ideas:

  1. Open Doors would love to email you a guide to praying for Muslims during this time. They have also created some memes you can share on social media.
  2. Frontiers USA is distributing an email series to help you pray for Muslims during this time: Open the City Gates.
  3. Prefer visual communication? You may like the email series from Prayercast best. Their emails will include a new prayer video for each day of Ramadan.

Readers may also be interested in a new book coming out this month, Pillars: How Muslim Friends Led Me Closer to Jesus, by Rachel Pieh Jones. We learned about it through an item from A Life Overseas.

Event: Five Days of Prayer for Sikhs

Source: Lausanne Sikhism Working Group

Just 500 years ago, Sikhism began in the land of five rivers—Punjab—and its members carry five symbols and pursue five stages of spiritual development.

Can you take five days (April 11-15) to join others in praying for Sikhs, the followers of the world’s fifth largest religion?

Learn more or purchase a 12-page full-color booklet for US$2 from World Prayer Guides.

See also Leading Sikhs to the “Ultimate Guru” (Lausanne Global Analysis) or watch the short video Sowing Among Sikhs (Pioneers).

Article: Caring for National Partners

Source: Catalyst Services

While many churches are expanding their care for missionaries, they may remain unaware of the care needs of their national partners and other national Christian leaders working alongside them. It’s easy to falsely assume that nationals either don’t need care or have caring support systems within their own community.

This issue of Postings highlights the very real care needs of our national brothers and sisters and presents seven ways your church can help them flourish.

Read Caring for National Partners: How Western Churches Can Help Them Flourish and see also Missionary Care: Where Does a Church Began?

Events: Conferences, Courses, and Webinars

Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar

All those listed below are online events. The shortest ones are often free or low cost. A few training organizations are offering small, face-to-face events, some of which are listed on our website.

April 1 to May 1, Strategic Storytelling for Movements. Mentored course by Mission Media U on applying elements of story to your outreach.

April 5 to August 8, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. New online classes begin regularly.

April 6, How to Tell Dangerous Stories. Virtual gathering for mission marketing/communication staff, provided by Missio Nexus.

April 6-8, Support Raising Bootcamp. Similar events held throughout the year in various locations by Support Raising Solutions, but provided virtually as needed.

April 7, Short-term Missions and the Local Church. Virtual gathering for church mission leaders from Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen.

April 11-15, Five Days of Prayer for Sikhs.

April 12-13, People Raising Conference. Be equipped for raising personal support.

April 13, Optimize the Effectiveness of Your Board. Webinar from Missio Nexus.

April 13 to May 12, 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World. An annual prayer campaign. This is the 30th year.

April 22, Essentials for Fundraising and Development for Missions Agencies. Webinar from Sixteen:Fifteen.

April 22, The Blessed Alliance: Men and Women Serving God Together. Webinar from Missio Nexus.

April 22, Setting A Good Example: Training Other Disciples. Nugget training from Beyond.

April 22-23, Spiritual Care Symposium. Provide by the Christian Community Health Foundation.

April 28-30, BAM Global Congress. Rescheduled from 2020, now moved online for greater global access. A series of related webinars will precede the event. Prefer a face-to-face conference? One is planned for Chicago in late 2021.

View complete calendar. Corrections and submissions are welcome.