Category: News Briefs

Source: The Christian Post, August 10, 2024

Rwanda closed more than 5,600 churches in July 2024 after nearly a third of the inspected places of worship failed to meet legal standards. The Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) said that 13,000 religious institutions were inspected in collaboration with the local authorities.

RGB Chief Executive Dr. Usta Kaitesi, told Kigali-based news site IGIHE—which reported an even higher number of over 7,700 churches closed—that the board, in collaboration with local authorities, carried out the inspection over two weeks in July. She revealed that a large number of the churches affected did not have the requisite permits to operate places of worship while others could not provide the qualifications of the leaders.

Kaitesi said that faith-based organizations were given ample time to comply with the regulations. She added that a significant number of the affected churches had minor infractions, which could be rectified and their permits reinstated. A majority of places of worship impacted by the ongoing crackdown were Pentecostal churches.

Read the full story.

Several other stories about battles over churches and church buildings have come our way recently:

• Read about a new decree that makes worship difficult for persecuted Christians in Vietnam (Global Christian Relief).
• Learn why a Baptist group in Uzbekistan is frustrated at the recent demolition of two buildings under construction, evidently due to pressure from a state-appointed Muslim cleric who opposed Christian activity (Forum 18).

Source: God Reports, August 13, 2024

Abraham Aguilar was a backslidden pothead when he attended the Potter’s House Church in Palmdale, California, and felt God impress on his heart: It’s either now or never.

As a result of Abraham’s simple decision to receive Jesus at the altar, he has turned into an evangelizing machine as a senior at Palmdale High School, and 895 students gave their lives to the Lord in 2023-24.

“I thought my senior year was going to be just another year of school,” [he said]. But God had other plans.

“I just started witnessing to students, teachers and janitors,” he reports. “People were very open. During the lunch line, I would open my mouth and start boldly proclaiming God’s words.”

First, a group of 12 was saved, and they launched a Bible study on campus. By the end of the semester, 275 teens had prayed to receive the Lord. Their high attendance was 73 at the lunch Bible study. They had to move from a classroom to the gym.

In the second semester, Abraham got even bolder. He preached in the school square, and 70 students responded. By the year’s end, 895 high schoolers gave their lives to Christ.

Read the full story.

In this issue:

1. Editor’s Note: Surprising Stories and Strange Reversals
2. Nigeria: Christian Remained in Captivity to Aid Elderly Muslim Woman
3. Taiwan: Widowed Missionary Returns to the Field as a Single Mom
4. Japan: Keys to Revival in a Resistant Nation
5. UK: What Are So Many Iranians Doing Here?

Read or share the email edition.

Greetings,

Sometimes a theme or a common thread ties our news briefs together. This edition is a bit different, but I did notice some strange reversals and surprising stories popping up in many sources.

Larger-than-life figures have fallen in Bangladesh. Scroll through these images (The Guardian) and consider their significance when you read about South Asia, the heart of the unreached world (INcontext).

Another battle is taking place on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where people are fighting over a statue of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, and whether that god has a right to the realm of Chaac, the Mayan god of rain (Religion News Service).

Join me in praying for more to turn their eyes to the one who controls not just the seas, rain, or rivers but all the cosmos. Habakkuk wrote of him: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

Amen and maranatha!

Pat

Source: Christian Daily, July 29, 2024

A kidnapped Christian in Nigeria declined to be released so he could continue aiding a Muslim captive in her 80s, [said] the elderly woman in a social media video.

The kidnapped woman, Hauwa Adamu Kahutu, is the mother of a well-known singer in Nigeria, Dauda Adamu Kahutu, also known as Rarara. She and the abducted Christian, Bala Timothy, were eventually released on July 17.

“In spite of being a Christian, he helped me in doing almost everything,” Hauwa Kahutu says in a video posted on Facebook by group of Hausa music artists associated with her son. “He brought water for me to do ablution whenever it was time for me to say my Islamic prayers. My eyes were covered and it was difficult for me to pray, but Bala Timothy would assist me during my prayers and other tasks.”

“Bala Timothy, I thank you for being kind to me and helping me survive our ordeal in the hands of our captors,” she says, with her singer son beside her and Bala Timothy shown in a separate screen. “God bless you!”

See the full story with photo.

On another note, see also Nigerians Vow Days of Rage as Hardships Mount (BBC).

Source: God Reports, July 31, 2024

Businesswoman Akane Fujimoto had all the success—career, house—but she felt purposeless and empty.

So the nominal Buddhist prayed to the God her mother had received 10 years earlier: “If you really exist, if you really love me for who I am, if you have a purpose for my life, would you please appear or prove it to me?”

”I could feel God hugging me, a deep hug,” Akane says in a Know Christ YouTube video. “I came to repentance for the first time in my life. I couldn’t stop weeping. I realize[d] that everything I was looking for … was there. I experienced love.”

That was 2.5 years ago. Today, Akane has a vision to save all of Japan—a feat reputed to be hard due to the stronghold in the nation that makes the people that makes people resistant. Where others have struggled, Akane is optimistic.

“I heard from other Christian people that sharing the gospel is hard in Japan, but actually it is quite fun,” she says. “They have material things. They are in a comfort zone. You cannot compare [that] to the fullness of Christ.”

Akane says the vaunted Japanese resistance to Christianity consists of pride, worrying what others think, competitiveness, and suspicion of the gospel.

But the very same strongholds of resistance are the keys to revival.

Read the story or watch the 28-minute video it’s based on, also below.

Source: Bible Society, July 19, 2024

At a church in the southwest of England, a young Iranian receives an easy-to-read Bible in modern Persian. He can’t believe it. “If they see you holding a Bible like this in Iran,” he says, “they kill you.”

Bible Society is known for international Bible translation and distribution, but the story that inspired its founding 220 years ago involved providing Scriptures within Britain in a non-English language. Today, while Bible Society remains the main publisher of the Scriptures resources in Welsh, multilingual domestic outreach also means putting the Bible in the hands of refugees.

Not everyone is enthusiastic about new arrivals in this country. Increasing numbers in recent years are remarkable at least statistically, and at the General Election, various parties promised they’d make the numbers fall. But for the Church, more people within reach is more to reach, so you’ll find churches at the forefront of welcoming new arrivals—wherever they’ve come from.

What turns visitors into members? It would seem to be the Bible. If refugees are coming for the welcome, they’re staying for the Word.

Read this interesting story about faith in Iran, immigration issues, a network of welcoming churches, and more.

See also a video from Radical, The Gospel Is in Iran (But Can Christians Survive?) Randall at Frontiers says, “This 20-minute documentary is sobering, but it is also filled with hope. Consider hosting a movie night with your friends or church small group so that you can discuss it and pray for Iran together.”

For news from another part of the Middle East, follow Christian Mission to Gaza. Also read Gospel Opportunities Arise from Widespread Fear in Lebanon (Heart for Lebanon via Mission Network News). 

Source: Beyond, July 11, 2024

Lakshmi poured some of their precious water over John’s feet and wiped them with her hands. John wept unashamedly. As she washed, Lakshmi thanked Jesus for John and the message he had shared. You see, John hadn’t just preached to the brick-makers. He had spent time with them. He had eaten their food and drunk their water. He had shown them how to follow the God who loves them and knows them by name. Lakshmi and several others soon became beloved co-laborers with John in their community.

A few months later, monsoon season arrived, [and] the brick-making families decided to go back home to see family.

But when Lakshmi and the other leaders shared their plans with John, he was sad and confused. Why leave? A year ago, when they arrived, they had been idol worshipers. Now, there were 17 house churches among the 40 families of the community. “Why go home?” he asked. “Please stay. We can pray and wait out the monsoons. Don’t go.”

That was six weeks ago. John recently learned that each of the 17 families has started at least one new Bible study in homes among their family and friends back home!

Read the full story.

From another part of the world, read about missionary explorers venturing into Amazon jungles looking for isolated people groups (International Mission Board).