Missions Catalyst

1. Editor’s Note: Year in Review
2. Kenya: Seeing Teso People Move from Superstition to Belief
3. India: How Anti-Conversion Laws Are Used to Police Christians
4. Afghanistan: Closing the Last Open Door for Women’s Education
5. Wales: How the Blood of a Missionary Led to the Largest Revival in North Korean History
6. Why an Iranian Christian Celebrates Hanukkah

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Dear friends,

Happy New Year! ’Tis the season for best-of and year-in-review articles. Are you reading these? Have you written one? These caught our eye:

• Ted Esler’s take on 2024’s most important global missions stories
• Marv Newell’s list of notable missionary deaths
• Prayercast’s annual year-in-review video, You Reign
• Catalyst Services’ list of the best mission books of 2024

Reflecting on our own lives may be the most helpful thing of all. See How to Process Your Past Year: Here’s What Works for Me, from Seth Barnes.

Before we get on to the news stories, a huge thanks to all who gave to support Missions Catalyst in the last month. We exceeded our goal and look forward to serving you in months to come!

blessings,
Marti Wade & Pat Noble

Source: Haggai International, December 19, 2024

The church service came to an end, and Pastor Vincent whispered a quiet prayer under his breath. With many new members from the Teso tribe in his congregation, he prays that they would come to rely on the one true God and not combine their Christianity with the indigenous beliefs and witchcraft he has witnessed in this region of Kenya.

Although it is the second largest tribe in Uganda, the Teso community that lives along the Kenya-Uganda border was separated from the larger tribe during the historic scramble and partition of Africa in the 19th century and faces many challenges.

Pastor Vincent has been aware of the struggles and religious syncretism in this community and formed a team in 2019 to start praying for this unreached people group. His unwavering commitment to the Teso people has led to the planting of 15 churches in the Siaya and Busia counties in the last two years.

Read the full story.

Note that Joshua Project considers the Teso of Kenya “partially reached.”

Source: Religion News Service, November 29, 2024

While they purport to protect poor Hindus from being exploited, anti-conversion laws have been found to have a more demonstrable effect of generating violence against Christians.

In July, more than two years after a Christian prayer service at his home was raided by police, a court in Uttar Pradesh in northern India acquitted Abhishek Gupta, a 41-year-old radiologist, of violating the state’s anti-conversion law.

Legally, his victory was more than a win; it was a rout: The judge in the case cleared Gupta and a co-defendant of trying to recruit Hindus into Utter Pradesh’s tiny Christian minority but further ruled that the complainant, a member of a Hindu nationalist activist group, was not eligible to file the case and that police investigators were “the real culprits.”

But personally, the case has ruined Gupta, he said. “My entire family is Christian. I pray on Sundays. I don’t know why anyone would think I was converting anyone,” Gupta told RNS by phone from his home village in Gorakhpur, where he moved after he and his wife, a nurse, were asked to resign their jobs for fear their employers would be harassed by vigilantes. “We exhausted our life savings, and our life was turned upside down,” he said.

Read or listen to the full story, which provides more context on these laws and recent developments and reports that there have been 733 incidents of violence against Christians [in India] in the past two years, most spurred by false allegations of conversion.

See also Christians in Vietnam Arrested Before Christmas (International Christian Concern) and 25 Christians Killed During Christmastime Celebrations in Nigeria (various sources, via The Roys Report).

Source: Mission Network News, December 26, 2024

The Taliban in Afghanistan recently came out with another harsh restriction. Afghan women are now banned from education in nursing and midwifery—the last open door for women’s education in the country. Many women who were already in these educational programs suddenly found themselves turned away by their institutions.

Nehemiah with FMI says, “For many Afghan women, nursing and midwifery have historically offered great opportunities for professional development and community service. Training women in this field is not only practical but essential for ensuring access to healthcare for Afghan women and children.

“The suspension of education in these critical areas further undermines the country’s ability to address its healthcare challenges, putting countless lives at risk.”

Ask God to comfort Afghan women and restore their freedoms.

Read the full story with prayer points.

Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest rates of maternal mortality, and the UN estimates the country needs an additional 18,000 midwives.

Source: Back to Jerusalem, December 22, 2024

In May 2024, I found myself in a small chapel in the remote countryside of Wales, standing unexpectedly in front of a picture of Robert Jermain Thomas, North Korea’s first Christian missionary martyr.

Inside the walls of Hanover Chapel in Llanover, South Wales, an energetic Korean named Pastor Daniel Yoo pointed to the picture on the wall and revealed to me a story that I had never heard before about the first missionary martyred in Korea on August 1, 1866.

The tiny chapel is now a popular destination for South Korean Christians, with thousands making their pilgrimage to the Welsh church every year. “Korean Christians owe so much to this man,” Pastor Daniel said as he pointed to the photo of Robert Jermain Thomas. “He gave his life to preach the gospel in Korea, and Korean Christians want to come here to honor his sacrifice.”

Pastor Daniel was from South Korea. His church sent him as a missionary to Wales, bringing the connection full circle.

Read the full story. Remarkable!

Source: The Christian Post, December 27, 2024

For me, as an Iranian Christian coming from an Islamic background, Christmas and also Hanukkah have special and deep meanings. As over 2 million Muslim background Iranian Christians celebrate their salvation during Christmas, Hanukkah reminds them how the past and future of the two nations, Israel and Iran, are tied together.

Hanukkah vividly commemorates the awe-inspiring victory of the Maccabees, a courageous and determined group of Jewish fighters who triumphed against the formidable Greek-Syrian army in 164 BCE. Upon reclaiming the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the Maccabees aimed to relight its sacred menorah but discovered only a scant amount of purified oil, sufficient to keep the flame aglow for a single day. However, this oil miraculously illuminated the menorah for an astounding eight days.

In the year 2024, these eight days span from Wednesday, December 25, coinciding with Christmas Day, through to Thursday, January 2.

As we read in the Bible, the visionary Persian King Cyrus commanded and generously financed the construction of the second temple. This monumental undertaking began in 538 BC. Cyrus’s benevolence knew no bounds; he not only funded this grand edifice but also liberated the Jewish captives, urging them to return to their sacred homeland, Jerusalem, to rebuild their temple.

Because of how the Second Temple was built, everything connected to it serves as a powerful beacon of the once-thriving friendship and deep-seated alliance that bound Israel and Iran. As we are celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah, let us remember that according to the Bible, both nations will be saved. Once again, they will be friends, and both will be used in the end times to bring the good news to the world.

Read the full story.

In this edition:

1. Syria: Hope Prevails in the Country’s New Dawn
2. India: Christians Banned from Eight Villages
3. Myanmar: Millions at Risk of Starvation as Government Cracks Down
4. Malawi: Doors to Prison System Swinging Open
5. North Africa: The Untold Story of Christianity in Morocco

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Source: INcontext International, December 12, 2024

Despite the challenges ahead, Christians can be hopeful for the people of Syria. The end of the civil war offers a chance for peace, reconciliation, and restoration. As we pray for Syria, we envision a future where:

• The gospel can spread: Throughout the 13 years of war, Syrian Christians have been a light in the darkness, offering hope and help to their communities. We pray that this season of transition will allow the gospel to flourish and that Christians in Syria will continue to be a beacon of love and truth.
• Return of refugees: We also think of the millions who had to flee [and] are now faced with the decision to return home. In particular [we think of] those refugees who have come to know Christ while living outside Syria. We pray that God will lead many of them back “home” to strengthen the Church in Syria and to contribute to the spreading of the gospel throughout the country.
• Healing and rebuilding begin: The scars of war run deep, but we pray that God will bring healing to the nation—healing for families, communities, and the land itself. We pray for wisdom for leaders tasked with rebuilding the country and that justice will prevail for the many victims of war crimes.
• Peace becomes the foundation: As Syria moves toward elections and a new government, we pray for stability and a commitment to peace that transcends political and religious divides. May God’s hand guide this process, and may His justice and mercy prevail.

Read or watch the full story. It describes Assad’s swift fall and factors behind in and suggests more ways to pray.

For a deeper dive on the situation in Syria (and more), see Justin Long’s 12/12 Weekly Roundup. You might want to subscribe.