God is using simple house churches to make himself known in unreached parts of India… and the world. See related story below (Asian Partners International).
Source: Mission Frontiers, May 2019
Editor’s note: The following is excepted from an interview with Indian mission leader Victor John and describes a church-planting movement among the 90 million Bhojpuri of North India.
The movement started in 1998. I had begun focusing on work among the Bhojpuri since 1992 and in 1994 we began the ministry in earnest. We held the first Bhojpuri consultation, began a systematic survey for all the Bhojpuri districts, and made a decision to focus on obedience-based discipleship. We didn’t start with a blueprint for how the ministry would unfold; everything has been evolving through the years.
The real breakthrough with significant numbers happened when we released the first edition of the Bhojpuri New Testament in 1998. After that the movement began growing exponentially. It wasn’t a huge movement at that time. Things were happening in various places, but we had no idea of the big picture of what the Lord was doing.
In 2000 an audit was done by the International Mission Board (IMB), and they pointed out that exponential growth was taking place. The tipping point had been in 1998, when things just shot up. We only had 800 pastors at that time, and all of their ministries had grown within the previous two or three years. The IMB’s audit showed the rapid growth curve and it hasn’t stopped since then. Additional audits have been done by other groups in subsequent years, showing the endurance and growth of the movement.
I just met yesterday with 35 or 40 leaders who shared amazing stories. We were counting the generations of believers and churches and it’s over 100 generations! Every generation of believers starts a new church. We don’t count the number of believers (how many people got saved). We count the number of churches started.
» Read the rest of this interview. Readers may want to check out the rest of this edition of Mission Frontiers, focused on India: The Greatest Challenge to World Evangelism.
» For more of the story, get the new book Bhojpuri Breakthrough: A Movement that Keeps Multiplying, by Victor John with Dave Coles. The paperback edition $US15 from WIGTake Resources if you order before the end of May. An US$9.99 Kindle edition should be available soon. See excerpts: Bhojpuri Movement Transforming Social Dynamics (Mission Frontiers) and Bhojpuri Girl Raised from the Dead (Beyond).
Source: Create International, April 2019
Years ago, the Lord led Create International to do two films for Algerian Arabs, a very unreached people group. Later while attending a mission conference in Malta we met up with our friend who played a significant role in one of these films. He told us how God is using this film in miraculous ways and how the Lord has given him a new ministry as a result.
» Listen to the story (18-minute interview). This is the first in a series of podcast episodes from Africa. You might also want to check out other resources and opportunities from Create International, a ministry of Youth with a Mission.
Source: Open Doors, May 7, 2019
[It] seemed like any Sunday for 80-year-old [Assemblies of God] Pastor Pierre Ouédraogo, who has spent 40 years serving his church and village community in the northeastern Soum province of Burkina Faso. On April 28, he gathered for worship with his congregation. And like every Sunday, he preached the Word of God with the wisdom that seasoned years of life and ministry bring.
But shortly after the service, an ordinary Sunday suddenly turned deadly and a church building where worshipers had just gathered became a crime scene.
Pastor Pierre was still talking with several congregants in the churchyard [when] a dozen men on motorbikes stormed the area.
A local leader who wished to remain anonymous told World Watch Monitor, “The assailants asked the Christians to convert to Islam, but the pastor and the others refused.”
Reportedly, the attackers gathered Pastor Pierre and the five other congregants under a tree and then confiscated their Bibles and cell phones.
“Then they called them, one after the other, behind the church building where they shot them dead,” the leader said.
He and his five congregants [one his son] were buried the same day in a ceremony that drew people from both Christian and Muslim communities. The pastor leaves behind his wife and six other children.
The community leader said that when he and others advised the pastor to leave the area, he refused, saying he “would rather die for his faith than leave the community he has been serving for 40 years.”
» Read full story or the related story from World Watch Monitor (with background on the spike in violence in this region). See also a report on this attack from the BBC, as well as one about another attack on a Catholic church this past Sunday (May 12). Let’s pray for Burkina Faso.
Source: FEBC Radio, April 23, 2019
This month, FEBC’s South Africa team hosted a live broadcast in a village in Mozambique that is 97% Muslim. After listening to FEBC’s broadcasts for months, the villagers invited staff to come and share the gospel with them. After hearing, 40 people gave their lives to the Lord for the very first time.
Two new listener clubs, each comprised of 20 people, were formed as a result of so many villagers hearing the gospel. Villagers said they will strive towards establishing more listener clubs and will study the Word of God until they know it very well.
Praise the Lord for this incredible harvest of new believers in Mozambique!
Source: Operation Mobilization, May 9, 2019
Yaro was an Islamic teacher who was very well versed in the Qur’an. Over time he found himself drawn to Jesus over Mohammed and wondered: Why are we not teaching about Jesus in the mosque if the Qur’an mentions him so much and with so much virtue? When he went to his leaders, they told him not to ask such questions.
One teacher did answer him, however. He said: “This is a secret; if we started to teach about Jesus in our mosques then we might as well open churches.” That comment stayed with Yaro, and when he heard the gospel, he committed his life to Jesus.
When word of Yaro coming to faith reached the other Islamic leaders and teachers, they confronted Yaro, beating and interrogating him. Despite the pain, Yaro stood by his decision to follow Christ and would not deny his new faith.
Because Yaro was an Islamic teacher, everything he owned had been provided by the mosque. By deciding to follow Christ, Yaro lost a stable income as well as his home and everything in it.
During this hard time Saida, Yaro’s wife, decided that if her husband was a follower of Jesus, she needed to be one as well and gave her life to Christ. Together with their two children they were stranded, without a home or food and with just the clothes on their back. Family and friends turned them away, saying that as long as Yaro and Saida were Christians, they could not help them.
» Full story shares how OM came alongside this couple, who continue to grow and share their faith.
» Readers might also be interested in the testimony of a pastor from Ethiopia, once part of a child-sponsorship program, who shares how God intervened in his life and transformed him (Compassion International).
13 Ways Normal Christians Can Show Care for Muslims during RamadanBy Shane Bennett
Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, has begun.
From May sixth until the moon gets full and goes away again, practicing Muslims avoid food, drink, smoking, and sex during daylight hours. Discipline, celebration, devotion, and spirituality characterize this month for nearly 25% of the world’s population.
It’s also a great time for people like us to reach out in care to connect with our Muslim neighbors, friends, co-workers, and family. Here are thirteen ways to do that. You can likely think of more.
Were you that kid who always got straight A’s? You’ll probably do them all and feel guilty for not thinking of more. Otherwise, just join me in picking one or two. Aim to be a blessing and give out some of the wonderful gifts Jesus has given you.
We are blessed to live in a day when resources and opportunities to pray for Muslims during Ramadan are proliferating. I suspect God is pleased with even a simple, “Bless those Muslims,” but none of us, no matter how isolated, have to settle for that. Check out these:
The 30-days high-quality, insightful booklet has been guiding prayer for Muslims since 1993. As beautiful as the print versions are, it’s probably a bit late to order them now. Instead, grab copies of the pdf for adults and kids.
While writing this column, I’m messaging with a North African bud in England. I started with this: “Happy Ramadan! I would love to pray for you during this month. Can you share with me what you’d like me to ask God for?” His response opened an amazing conversation that’s still going on and involved me sharing a ham-fisted but good-hearted treatise on what Jesus is really up to.
Go to joshuaproject.net and pick a group from this list to pray for until Ramadan ends. I picked the Ansari. If you want, you can join me in praying for the good kingdom of God to come to this people group in wonderful ways this month. I’m pretty high tech, so I wrote “Ansari” on a Post-it Note and stuck it on my bathroom mirror.
Check out this free, simple, super-short Ramadan prayer guide that can be freely copied to share with your home group or church.
Join thousands of others who will pray each Friday during Ramadan. Sign up here and Crescent Project will email you a reminder and specific prayer points each Thursday.
The rock stars at Prayercast are releasing a high-quality prayer-facilitating video each day during Ramadan. Sign up for daily reminders. I’m planning to show this one at my church on Sunday. It’s very moving.
Consider gathering a few friends at church or in a home on the Night of Power toward the end of Ramadan. As Muslims around the world seek forgiveness and their destiny for the coming year, ask God that the abundant life of Jesus would be poured out on them.
Keep praying! If you’d also like to put feet to your prayers this Ramadan, here are some ideas that will get you in increasing connection with Muslims.
Some Christians choose to show solidarity with Muslims by following most or all the decrees of Ramadan. Trusting they’re obeying God in this, more power to them. May their example move the hearts of many. I’m planning on chucking one meal a week. (I’m pretty spiritual that way!) Would you join me in skipping lunch on the Fridays of Ramadan? If you’re in, shoot me an email and we can pray for each other (as well as for Muslims). Thank you.
Direct this greeting to your Muslim friends. If you don’t have any, simply say, “As a Christian, I’d like to wish Muslims everywhere a blessed Ramadan. May God fill you with joy, keep you safe, and answer your prayers for forgiveness and new life.” Here and here are two examples from a couple of friends I respect a great deal.
We honor someone when we ask about her experience and opinions. Aim for easy-answer, low-offense questions like, “Can you tell me what your family does for Ramadan?” or go deeper with, “I’d love to hear what Ramadan means to you.”
The fast-breaking meal each evening during Ramadan is called iftar and is a wonderful time to connect and celebrate with local Muslims. Google “Islamic center” and your town, then call or email to see if a visit is possible. Since you’re the one reading, you’re the designated group leader! Thanks for stepping up and gathering a small cadre to go with you.
Ramadan is a great time to pass out cards to Muslim newcomers, letting them know you’re glad they’re here. Check out welcome cards here and maybe grab some for yourself and your church.
Eid al Fitr is the celebration at the end of Ramadan. Families get together for food and fun. In some situations, gifts are a part of the festivities. A simple gift of chocolates, flowers, or a plant would likely be received as a kind and thoughtful blessing. Eid will happen on or around June 3rd of this year. If you want to sound like the cool kids, learn to say, “Eid Mubarak!” That basically means “Happy Eid.”
Okay, so you have a life and probably would have plenty to keep you busy even if it weren’t Ramadan. Fair enough. God is certainly not asking any of us to do all these things. In fact, he may not ask you to do any of them. We are people of grace, not works, after all.
If, however, you do take up any of these suggestions, particularly the more public ones, you will join a growing group of Christians who want to act like Jesus toward Muslims. Together we will reaffirm that Christians do not hate Muslims, but on the contrary, though falteringly and sometimes hesitantly, we love them. And we want for them, as for ourselves, every bit of the forgiveness, hope, and abundant life Jesus came to bring.
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Source: Barna Group, April 19, 2019
Each year, Barna examines behaviors and beliefs related to the Bible among American adults, a study conducted in partnership with American Bible Society. In the 2019 “State of the Bible” report, we find encouraging boosts in Bible engagement and that, despite continued skepticism, scripture still impacts the daily lives and beliefs of many Americans.
» Read more of the report here.
» For the seventh consecutive year, Australia is calling the nations of the world to join with them in three days of prayer and fasting for the United States of America, April 30 to May 2. May 2 is America’s National Day of Prayer. Consider joining Australian brothers and sisters in prayer for their upcoming elections May 18. Watch Australian Election Prayer & Fasting.
Source: INcontext Ministries, April 30, 2019
The fact that many of the casualties of the Easter Sunday bombings were Christians obviously drew the attention of the Christian world and especially the Christian media, looking at the incident through different ‘lenses’ than those of the secular media. Here are three misconceptions circulated by Christians in the wake of the attacks, and clarifications about the truth.
Misconception #1 The world didn’t report the Sri Lanka attacks with the same intensity as the mosque attacks in New Zealand.
Misconception #2: Political leaders intentionally neglected to mention “Christians” and only referred to “Easter worshippers.”
Misconception #3: The suicide bombers were “animals” and uneducated people, gullible to radicalization.
» Read what INcontext has to say and see other articles in their Perspectives series. INcontext Ministries exists to serve churches and the wider Christian community and even encourages readers to contact them with research requests.
