GUATEMALA: Jesus Is Lord of this Country

Source: The Christian Post, August 26, 2013

The President of Guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, declared Jesus Christ as the Lord of the country last week during their first national prayer breakfast.

Leaders from government, economic, religious, and indigenous backgrounds gathered in Guatemala City to pray for their nation’s peace and to have God as the center of the universe.

“Today we name Christ as Lord of Guatemala and we declare in his name that each of our generations will be generations that will live in a prosperous Guatemala,” said Molina, according to Hispanic news outlet, AcontercerCristiano.net.

During the meeting, leaders were also encouraged to implement principles and values within their businesses, universities, and neighborhoods. In addition, speakers including Manuel Espina, president of Guatemala Prospera – an organization that trains national business leaders on how to foster developmental change within their community – asked leaders to embrace prayer as the sole method by which their country can succeed.

» Read full story.

SOMALIA: Internet Provides Gospel Access

Source: St. Francis Magazine, August 2013

As Christians, we confess that all human history takes place under God’s sovereign control, including the advance of the gospel and the growth of Christ’s church.

Seemingly unrelated or random events are actually orchestrated within God’s eternal plan. The impact of gospel communication to the Somali people via the Internet is a case in point.

Somali involvement with the Internet extends back to its early days. In 1997, journalist and author Michael Maren estimated that Somalis posted more messages on the Internet than all other African nationalities combined. A conservative global estimate of Somalis with Internet access would be 3,000,000. The vast majority of Somalis in the Diaspora use the Internet daily to stay in contact with their relatives in the Horn of Africa.

Somali was one of only 11 African languages recognized by Google in 2006. At present, there are well over 300 Somali-language websites. A BBC report said, “Facebook has taken off in Somalia since Islamist militants al Shabab fled the city several months ago, loosening social restrictions and making the streets safer. New accounts have grown by 50% in the past six months, and there are now more Facebook users than estimated Internet users in Somalia, thanks to mobile phones and computer sharing.”

» Read full story.

» See also an article recently posted by Joshua Project, Using Facebook to Reach an Unreached People.

NORTH AFRICA: Returning with a Message

Source: Arab World Media, August 15, 2013

About fifty years ago “Rasuul” had a vision in which he saw a dirty and beaten man with ragged clothes standing next to a woman. The woman told him, “Follow this man.” Rasuul was indignant. How could he follow this man? He was unclean and not worthy of following. He didn’t understand. But he recalled the words of the Qur’an – that if you don’t understand something, you should ask the “people of the book.”

So, when he came across an Italian missionary, he asked for a copy of the Tawrat (first five books of the Bible). While he was still averse to reading the gospels, he read the Tawrat and believed it was true.

Rasuul decided to settle in a neighboring country. His outlook on religion had changed. While he simply said he believed in the first five books of the Bible, he gave all of his children the freedom to choose their religion [and] most of his children chose faith in Christ.

One day, when they gathered together as a family, Rasuul’s daughter read Isaiah 53. As she read, Rasuul’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed, “This man is the man in my vision! Who is he?” His daughter told him it was Jesus. From that day, the animosity towards the gospels and Jesus fell away, and Rasuul followed Christ.

Three years ago, Rasuul passed away, but before he died he called his children together and asked them to do something. “Our people must know the truth about Jesus,” he said. “Please go and tell them about the decision I made, and the truth about Jesus.”

Now, we hear that at least one of Rasuul’s children is making plans to return to his homeland and share the good news with this people group. Praise God for this opportunity and pray that many would be amazed as they learn of Rasuul’s faith in Christ.

» Full story.

 

 

NEPAL: 100 Days of Prayer

Source: Boudha Prayer, August 2013

In the Northwest corner of Kathmandu, Nepal, lies one of the most sacred places in the whole Tibetan Buddhist world: Boudha stupa, or Boudhanath, a place of worship for both Buddhists and Hindus. The surrounding area is home for thousands of Tibetans, exiles as well as tribal people from the Himalayan areas. Every year thousands more come to Boudha on pilgrimage – Buddhist prayer there is unceasing.

Now we are calling Christians all over the world to join in on focused prayer for Boudha and the Tibetans there. In 2013 we are setting aside 100 days of prayer. Between September 1st and December 9th we invite individuals and churches to pray with us for this area. Boudha is an important Tibetan crossroads and we believe that a movement of God in Boudha will affect the whole of the Tibetan Buddhist world.

» Email Boudha100 for more details and information about how you can pray personally, with a group, or on a prayer journey.

» See also this collection of images and an article about the holy site on a Buddhist travel site (Kechara).

Missions Catalyst 8.21.13 – Resource Reviews

In This Issue: Explaining the world, expecting great things, and more

Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!

Marti WadeMarti Wade is a writer, speaker, and project manager for the Church Partnerships Team at Pioneers. As a mission mobilizer, she has also trained and sent out many short-term teams to do relationship-based research to serve among the world’s least-reached peoples.

Marti has managed and published Missions Catalyst since 2004 and is the author of Through Her Eyes, a book about the lives of women serving cross-culturally in the Muslim world. She and her husband Chris live in Oregon.

MAPS: Forty that Explain the World

worldmap

 

Source: Washington Post and others

Have you seen the Washington Post’s collection of 40 Maps that Explain the World? It was inspired by the more light-hearted (but sometimes a bit offensive) 40 Maps They Didn’t Teach You in School and probably the Business Insider’s 36 Maps that Explain the Entire World. See also a discussion of the Washington Post maps and what they mean, which includes a video and some additional links.

William Carey (see below) said, “to know the will of God we need an open Bible and an open map.” Do any of these maps open the world to you? How could we (appropriately) use them in our speaking, writing, and blogging? Have you already done so?

» Comment on this item below.

BOOK: Expect Great Things

Source: William Carey Library

Expect Great Things: Mission Quotes that Inform and Inspire, compiled by Marvin J. Newell. William Carey Library, 2013. 368 pages.

Expect Great Things includes 700 quotations from 250 former and contemporary missionaries, statesmen, teachers, and preachers, from pithy one-liners to thought-provoking paragraphs. It doesn’t provide a lot of context, but it cites original sources, organizes the quotes into 70 categories, and includes an index. Its biggest selling point may be its reliability as a reference. Each quotation has been carefully verified as to its source and wording.

“Read them for personal encouragement,” urges Newell, the Senior Vice President of Missio Nexus. “Paste them on your website, blog, or other social media. Tweet them to a friend. Include them in sermons, speeches, newsletters, and lesson plans. Pass them along to others to encourage them along their way to Great Commission familiarity and commitment. ‘How good is a timely world’ (Proverbs 15:23).”

» Purchase this book for US$19.99 from the publisher or elsewhere. Also available from William Carey is the newly revised Writing Exceptional Missionary Newsletters.

WEBINAR: Church Planting Movements

Source: Sixteen:Fifteen

What are church planting movements and why are they important? What does it take to see these movements happen among unreached people groups?

If you have an hour and a good internet connection, you might take a look at how colleagues with Pioneers addressed such question in a recent webinar for Sixteen:Fifteen, a ministry that does church mission coaching.

Church Planting Movements – Making Disciples and Church Planting in Hard Places explores some of the practices and assumptions that characterize a few common church-planting approaches. A recording of the presentation, including questions from those who watched it live, is posted on the Sixteen:Fifteen website and can be viewed or downloaded for free.

» Watch the webinar. You might also be interested in previous webinars, including several in partnership with Avant Ministries that deal with aspects of church-based mission teams.

» See also Ed Stetzer’s article, Church Planting and the Mission of God (Christianity Today).

REPORTS: Mission Research Data

Source: Justin Long

Looking for data about the status of world missions and the contexts in which the least reached peoples live? Mission researcher Justin Long has published a great package of materials (a downloadable .zip file) which might contain something that would interest you. It includes:

1. District-by-district population surveys for Central, East, South, and Southeast Asia (continuing to be developed).

2. Current version of three longer reports with forecasts for the Cushitic world (Horn of Africa – Afar, Beja, Somali, and Oromo peoples), the Persian cluster of peoples (Iran), and the Turkic cluster of peoples (Turkey).

3. A 63-page bibliography of mission articles published 2010-2013 in nine journals, with links to articles online (though some require a subscription).

» Purchase this collection of materials for US$10. Or, if you prefer, make a donation to Justin’s ministry and get updated and additional materials sent to you monthly throughout the year.

 

BOOK: New Biography of Adoniram Judson

Source: Christian Focus Publications

Adoniram Judson: Devoted for Life, by Vance Christie. Christian Focus Publications, 2013. 384 pages.

One of America’s first and, in his own time, most well-known of missionaries, Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) served for nearly four decades as a Baptist missionary to the people of Burma. After more than twenty years on the field he said, “The motto of every missionary, whether preacher, printer, or schoolmaster, ought to be, ‘Devoted for life’.” When asked, he always listed as a critical qualification for missionary service the intention to devote one’s entire life to it.

Not many have paid as high a price for such a commitment, facing imprisonment, discouragement, and great illness, loss, struggle, and hardship. Adoniram Judson: Devoted for Life provides a complete chronicle of Judson’s life and family and includes many quotations from books and letters. It also paints an informative picture of the times in which he worked.

This volume and 20 others that might interest you are part of a series from the publisher on History Makers.

» Get the paperback for US$13.49 from Amazon (or elsewhere); US$9.99 for the Kindle edition.

» See also an informative review by blogger Tim Challies, or, from Christie’s blog, 10 Significant Reasons to Read Adoniram Judson’s Biography.