Missions Catalyst

Source: Arab World Media, October 1, 2017

Charles has been in ministry to Muslims for thirty years, many of those with Arab World Media. As he approaches retirement, we asked him to reflect on how things have changed in that time.

“Today a Muslim enquirer in the Arab world can find a phone number on a Christian website or a satellite TV programme, make a call at minimal or no cost (if they have an internet connection), and speak to an Arab believer. This is a truly amazing development!

“When I first visited Morocco in the early 1980s, there was only one TV channel and the news focused mainly on the king’s activities. In order to make an international phone call, I had to go to the main post office, and it was quite expensive. If Moroccans were interested in the gospel, their best chance of hearing it would probably have been on the radio—one or two hours of broadcasting each evening on Trans World Radio. After that they could correspond with a media organization and do a simple Bible correspondence course. Later, it might be possible to arrange for them to meet with a believer—often an expatriate visitor.

“Today our response workers are able to send an electronic copy of the Bible to their contacts via WhatsApp. It is true that many also ask for a hard copy, because reading from a phone screen is tiresome. Nevertheless, the opportunity to find out about the gospel has mushroomed through satellite TV, the internet and, most recently, social media. What will come next?”

» Full story also goes into the ways ministry in these contexts hasn’t changed: the challenges have not gone away. Hope you’ll read it.

Source: Beyond, September 15, 2017

“One day, busy with housework at home, I heard a loud voice come through the open window. It seemed to come from my neighbor’s house. The person was telling a story. I stopped to listen. It was an amazing story about how the world came to be. Back at the beginning, God made this world a beautiful place. Amazing! I had to give my full attention to that voice.

“Once the story was finished, I went to find out more. Rini, my neighbor, told me that three months ago, she became a follower of Jesus. A man named Raj gave her an audio speaker with God’s stories on it so she could learn what it means to follow Jesus. Rini now meets with 47 other people in her home each week to study the stories. They listen to a story, and then discuss questions about it. That creation story was so beautiful. I began to attend the meetings and soon decided to also follow the God of those stories.

“One month later, I met Raj. He gave me a speaker, too, and now we have two groups meeting in our village! Just like the group at Rini’s house, we listen to a story, discuss what it teaches about God, and then try to apply it to our lives that week. We are all learning about God. I am very thankful to Raj for providing us with a speaker. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to know this amazing and lovely God. I am an illiterate woman. I cannot read or write, but the stories on this speaker have changed my life.”

» Full story includes several other examples of God working through ordinary women to spread his Word and build his Church.

» See also Reaching Beyond One (Frontiers) and pray for the woman it describes to introduce her friends and family to Jesus in such a way that men and women say, “tell us more!”

Source: World Watch Monitor, September 29, 2017

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has for the first time confirmed publicly that a U.S. pastor jailed in Turkey for the past 12 months is being held by his government as a political hostage.

In a speech at his presidential palace [on September 28], Erdoğan openly called on the United States to exchange Pastor Andrew Brunson for Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish citizen living in exile in the U.S. since 1999, who is accused of masterminding last year’s failed coup.

“[The U.S.] says, ‘Give us the pastor back,’” Erdoğan said. “You have one pastor [of ours] as well. The pastor we have [Brunson] is on trial. Yours [Gülen] is not—he is living in Pennsylvania. Give him to us. You can easily give him to us. You can give him right away. Then we will try him [Brunson] and give him to you.’”

Turkey has launched a massive internal crackdown over the past 15 months to identify and punish the FETO (Fethullah Terror Organisation) network accused of infiltrating Turkey’s armed forces and government. More than 50,000 “suspected” judges, prosecutors, soldiers, academics, journalists, human rights activists, and police officers have been jailed, held for months in pre-trial detention.

Since October 7, 2016, Andrew Brunson has been one of these prisoners.

» Read full article (or a related story from Reuters) to better understand the dynamics at play. Please pray for Brunson and his family as the anniversary of his imprisonment approaches.

» Check out the latest edition of EMQ Online for an article about a movement that bears Gülen’s name. This group has been quite active in the U.S., running a network of charter schools, interfaith dialogue groups, and cultural centers. The article focuses on ways to engage followers with the gospel (subscription required).

Missions Catalyst News Briefs 09.20.17

1. USA: Nabeel Qureshi Goes Home
2. SOUTH SUDAN: New Radio Station
3. MUSLIM WORLD: “Impossible to Plant a Church in a Muslim Country”
4. PAKISTAN: VBS Ministry Reaches Thousands
5. ETHIOPIA: Church Attacked, Told to Close

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Greetings,

This edition gives us a lot to think about when we think of what it means to be the Church. Many point out the Church is not just a building or institution, and I heartily agree. But buildings and institutions can be important tools.

• The Potomac Ministry Network believes that buildings are important, doing fifteen Extreme Church Makeovers since 2010.
• During the recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida, both church buildings and people brought hope to those in the storms’ paths.
• In El Salvador, Christian Science Monitor reports that “for several hundred former gang members, help has come from perhaps an unlikely place: churches.”
• Finally, one of the craziest stories I’ve ever heard, but Snopes says it is true. The year was 1876. Read When God Used a Hurricane to Relocate a Church.

Blessings,
Pat