Category: News Briefs

Sources: Various

Athletes, sport fans, and tourists from around the world are gathering in Sochi, Russia for this year’s Winter Olympic Games (February 7-23). What a great opportunity to pray for all those in Sochi and the countries they represent! Many Christian ministries have also been planning and preparing for outreach events for many months. Will you join us in lifting them up?

Engage Sochi includes three virtual prayer walking guides to take you around the Sochi region and the Olympic venues where the games will be held.

Athletes in Action‘s website features stories about the journeys of some of this year’s competitors.

Russian Ministries and more than 500 Russian churches are partnering in a scripture distribution effort; pray for that!

» Know about other ministry efforts, prayer campaigns, or interesting stories related to the Olympics? Let us know.

Source: Joel News International 888, January 9, 2014

Almost 3,000 young people from 40 nations in Europe started the New Year at the Mission-Net congress in Offenburg, Germany, where they received faith, hope, and vision for their continent. Jeff Fountain was one of the speakers who shared about seven signs of hope he sees in Europe today. These signs are:

1. New prayer initiatives are emerging across the continent.

2. The shakings of God: [God] has been shaking the Marxist world, the Muslim world and now the world of Mammon. “Everything not based on God’s kingdom will be shaken,” says Fountain.

3. New spiritual hunger: Despite (or because of) secularism, spiritual hunger is rising. Here is a ripe harvest field for incarnational mission.

4. New expressions of church are emerging outside of traditional church walls.

5. The New Europeans: Look who God is bringing to Europe – from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Almost half of all EU migrants are already church members. Migrant churches contribute to urban church renewal bringing lost gifts of spiritual discernment, colorful worship and bold proclamation.

6. Unity of heart: Never before has there been as much convergence as today between old rival church traditions – Pentecostal, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox. Spiritual renewal movements have swept over denominational barriers.

7. Recovery of the gospel of the Kingdom: The awareness that the Gospel is not just good news about salvation, but about Christ’s lordship over all spheres of life is leading to expressions of mission involving the transformation of individuals, families, and communities.

» Subscribe to Joel News. For more perspectives on Europe from Jeff Fountain, read his Weekly Word (The Schuman Centre).

» See also Faith Rising in East, Setting in West – Europe and Christianity (Christian Post) and Sharing the Gospel in the UK: A Nigerian’s Perspective (Christian Today).

 

In This Issue: Praying the way Paul told Timothy to pray

• SOUTHEAST ASIA: Herbalist Draws Lost to Christ
• ISRAEL: Jews for Jesus Worker Recounts Deportation 
• SRI LANKA: Buddhist Monks Lead Mob
• WORLD: Human Trafficking and the Response of the Church
• BANGLADESH: Deadly Violence Mars Elections

Greetings!

The apostle Paul instructed Timothy to pray for kings and those in high positions (1 Timothy 2:1-5). Today, will you join us in praying along those lines?

1. World leaders are meeting in Switzerland to discuss Syria. Since the beginning of the conflict three years ago, an average of 6000 people per day have fled the country. Pray for Geneva II and the formation of an interim government for Syria.

2. Also pray for the leaders meeting in late February in Nepal and Kyrgyzstan to discuss Religion, Security, and Citizenship.

3. In the US, January is now National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, per proclamation by the president. Much to pray about concerning those issues!

And finally, some cool tools to help us know the world better:

1. The Refugee Project is an interactive map that shows where refugees are coming from and where they are going.

2. Ever wonder what countries are friends with each other? A good indication is where they allow visitors to come from and where they allow their citizens to go. Check out Visa Mapper and The World’s Worst Passports for clues.

Pray for God-honoring relationships among the nations’ leaders!

Praying with you,

Pat

Source: Mission Network News, January 7, 2014

The Awami League handily won Bangladesh’s [January 6] election, but the victory was marred by street fighting, low turnout, and a boycott by the opposition. Without a contender, the Awami League took more than two-thirds of seats in the contest.

Accusations over unfair process prompted strikes and protests, some of which turned into deadly clashes with police. Asian Access vice president for leader development Noel Becchetti says the process reveals an enmity that goes back decades.

Becchetti says, “When you have this kind of unrest, it puts pressure on everybody who’s simply a peace-loving citizen. When they strike in Bangladesh, most of the transportation shuts down. Most of the shopkeepers are afraid to open their stores for fear of violence. It really stops your ability to function.”

» Full story with pictures and prayer points. For history and analysis of the Bangladesh situation, read Genocide and Justice in Bangladesh.

» A great resource for prayer points on upcoming elections is The 10/40 Window Reporter.

Source: Lausanne Global Analysis, January 13, 2014

Human trafficking is a global crime affecting nearly all countries in every region of the world, and the statistics are simply staggering. Between 2007 and 2010, victims of 136 different nationalities were detected in 118 countries across the world.

Trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation accounts for 58% of all cases detected globally, while trafficking for forced labor accounts for 36 percent (double the 2008 percentage). Removal of organs, begging, forced marriages, illegal adoptions, participation in armed combat, and the commission of petty crimes are some of the other reasons for human trafficking.

The International Labor Organization estimates that 20.9 million people are victims of forced labor globally. Women account for about 60 percent of trafficking victims, and children 27 percent (two thirds of them girls).

» Read full story, including a call to the global church to respond.

» Related to human trafficking is the mistreatment of women. For stories to help you pray for and believe in change, see Deborah Meroff’s new blog, Women Without Borders.

Source: Assemblies of God World Missions, January 13, 2014

Violent protests interrupted Sunday morning services, January 12, at two churches in Hikkaduwa, a small coastal town in southern Sri Lanka. Eyewitnesses report that a mob led by Buddhist monks stormed an Assemblies of God church and Calvary Free Church, threatening worshipers and vandalizing church property.

The monks claimed the churches were illegal prayer centers and demanded that they be closed. However, worshipers say they have met at those locations since 1997. Both churches were severely damaged, and sound equipment, musical instruments, furniture, literature, and Bibles were destroyed.

» Read full story.

» The Pew Forum reports that, worldwide, Religious Hostilities Reach Six-Year High.

Source: Morning Star News, January 16, 2014

As Barry Barnett’s plane lifted off from Tel Aviv, Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport last month, he sat torn with emotion. Over the prior two weeks the British citizen had been harassed, arrested, interrogated, locked in jail, and deported from a country that he had loved deeply since childhood.

Still, he was filled with an unquenchable desire to continue doing that for which Israel had deported him – proclaiming Christ to his fellow Jews.

If the deportation order stands, not only may Barnett never set foot in Israel again but, more importantly, it could set a legal precedent to limit missionary work or other forms of religious expression by foreign visitors.

» Full story with picture.

Source: Baptist Press News, January 16, 2014

Born into a strict Islamic family, Perkasa’s journey of faith began two years ago when, in town on business, he encountered [a couple who were] Christian workers.

He heard the gospel presentation during the visit, and an inner wrestling began in his heart. He decided to follow Christ and renounced his Islamic faith.

His family, learning of his conversion, called him to dinner and a fight ensued. Perkasa was beaten and struck in the head with a pistol. To this day, he insists God protected him, as he “did not feel any pain.”

Perkasa began visiting the [missionaries] daily, studying the Scriptures in their home.

“There was a time I didn’t know if I could go on, but after I was baptized, I had boldness,” Perkasa said. “I was not afraid anymore … I prayed, ‘God, what should I do? I want to share your glory.'”

The answer to his prayers came when people began seeking him for healing. His father was a famous herbal medicine doctor in Southeast Asia, working everywhere from Malaysia to China. The youngest son, Perkasa traveled and learned the craft from his father. But [also] trained as a businessman, Perkasa had not practiced medicine in many years.

“Praise God he brought what I studied when I was young back to my mind,” Perkasa said.

God began sending people to Perkasa from all over the country, and in [one] year alone, Perkasa said, he shared the gospel with over 1,500 people.

» Full story with pictures.

In This Issue: Holidays, haram, and South Americans “going for more”

• COLOMBIA: Guerrilla Group Bans Worship Services
• SOUTH SUDAN: Cry Out to the Lord
• KAZAKHSTAN: Fines for “Extremist” Books 
• IRAQ: Government Declares Christmas a National Holiday
• EVENTS: Additions to 2014 Calendar 

Greetings!

This edition includes a number of stories about suffering Christians. The last year has been a newsworthy one for global persecution, says the Christian ministry Open Doors – which publishes an annual World Watch List of the top 50 countries where Christians face the most persecution.

“Hundreds of churches have been attacked in Nigeria. Entire Christian towns have been destroyed in Syria. And in North Korea, at least 80 people were allegedly killed for owning a Bible,” writes Open Doors.

As the writers also point out, however, many people are coming to Christ in some of these countries.

For an overview, read The 2014 Watch List Is Here and follow links to other resources and ways to respond.

Thanks for praying!

Source: Morning Star News, December 18, 2013

Christians in southern Colombia are living in constant danger from a guerrilla army that has banned worship services in rural areas under its control.

An estimated 150 churches have been forced to close since July, when the 32nd Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP in Spanish) launched a repressive campaign against Roman Catholic and evangelical churches in the department (state) of Putumayo.

The FARC-EP has prohibited celebration of the Mass and Protestant worship in most small towns and villages. Only congregations that have express permission from the rebel group are allowed to hold services without fear of retaliation.

Christians at greatest risk are the members of house churches and the itinerant evangelists who serve them.

“Every time my husband or another church leader leaves to go preach in the countryside, I can only ask, ‘Lord, continue to watch out for the safety of every one of them,'” Jeanet Ortiz Pinto, wife of itinerant evangelist and radio speaker Angel Pinto, told Morning Star News. “My heart is saddened to see what is happening around us.”

» Read full story.

» Here’s some good news from Colombia: Biggest Christian Gathering in South America “Going for More” (Christian Today).