Category: News Briefs

Source: Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin, September 14, 2021

In July this year, Gaya District in the north Indian state of Bihar found itself at the center of a religious conversion scandal after it was reported that hundreds of Mahadalits had left Hinduism and converted to Christianity. Indian mainstream media reported the story as a case of exploitation of superstitious villagers. “Reports claim the rampant conversions are being carried out under the pretext of curing maladies.” But, reading further, one can only conclude that the Spirit of God is moving in that place.

The story begins with Kewla Devi, a Mahadalit village woman whose chronically ill son was not responding to medical treatment. When someone urged Kewla to seek the help of Christians in adjoining Wajidpur village, Kewla—with nothing to lose—did. The Christians prayed and her son recovered.

So remarkable was this miraculous healing that, not only did Kewla and her whole family become followers of Jesus but so too did around 135 Mahadalit families in Belwadih village. The new Christians—who no longer use vermilion to mark their foreheads, nor pray to Hindu gods or goddesses—all insist they converted freely of their own will, without any inducement.

Read the full story. It includes links to Indian news sources as well as prayer points.

Yom Kippur starts a few minutes before sunset on September 15. For nearly 26 hours, Jews everywhere will gather and pray for forgiveness. (Image: Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center)

Greetings!

Before we get into other stories from around the world, I want to point out that The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur starts just before sunset tonight (September 15). For practicing Jews everywhere, this is the holiest day of the year. Many will be earnestly seeking God today.

Want to pray for them? The book of Hebrews is a good place to start.

Poke around Chabad.org to learn more about Yom Kippur observances and other Jewish practices.

I also found the following articles on the topic of atonement helpful, though admittedly they might be more useful for reaching secular Jews.

• Atonement Is in Our Blood (The Gospel Coalition)
• The Scandal of Blood Atonement: “Why All the Blood and Cross-Talk, Christian?” (Probe).

Blessings as you pray,
Pat

Source: Back to Jerusalem, August 2021

The Taliban is turning to China for help after taking over Afghanistan last month, according to the Taliban Spokesman for International Media (English), Suhail Shaheen. The Taliban is excited about China’s potential economic “One Belt One Road” investment, without realizing the spiritual implication of the Silk Road strategy of the underground house church missionaries.

As Chinese businessmen and contractors begin to flood into Afghanistan by the thousands, laced in those numbers will be [Chinese] missionaries armed with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Could a back door to Afghanistan be opening up for the first time in our lifetime? Could the nightmare of the rise of the Taliban today, like the rise of Mao Zedong in 1949, be the beginning of the largest house church movement ever experienced in Afghanistan’s history?

Read the full story.

Another article asks the question, “What if the next Billy Graham is currently part of the Taliban?” See also Pray for the Taliban (SAT-7).

Source: Christian Aid Mission, September 9, 2021

Tribal factions in an area of the Philippines were hostile toward each other until native missionaries brought bananas, corn, and gospel seeds.

Members of the tribe lived in isolation from each other due to decades of conflict that at times flared into war. At first, native missionaries arrived not with a message of eternal life but with the suggestion of community farming.

For the local missionaries, the suggestion was based on the biblical tenets of inter-dependent community, fruitfulness, and creativity as people made in the image of a triune, fruitful, and creative God. For the tribal villagers, it was just a necessary evil; persuading the factions to work common lands was not easy, but the villagers knew they were in desperate need of income.

As they began to work toward the common goal of providing food that could be marketed with enough left over to feed themselves, they began to live together more closely and formed new hubs of community, the leader of the native ministry said.

“With the missionaries facilitating, they planted corn and bananas for sources of livelihood,” the leader said. “But coupled with this was the missionaries’ promise that they had a more important matter to share with them besides the development of their community.”

Having already experienced a measure of reconciliation, the villagers were primed to learn of the one God who reconciles wrongdoers to Himself by sacrificing the Holy One.

The workers began teaching villagers about Christ, and within a year most of them had put their faith in Him. A local church emerged, he said, and the community has also flourished; harvest profits have enabled people to meet the costs of the education for their children.

Read the full story.

Source: OMF USA, August 7, 2021

February 12, 2021, the media announced the surprise appointment of Tetsushi Sakamoto to fill a newly created cabinet position in response to recent troubling trends. In an attempt to reduce widespread loneliness, social isolation, and increased suicide rates accelerated by the restrictions of COVID-19, Mr. Sakamoto now serves as the official Minister of Loneliness.

Loneliness had already been identified as a growing problem among the Japanese populace in previous years, but the serious measures recently taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 only served to hasten this harmful trend.

For the first time in eleven years, there has been a rise in the number of suicides in Japan after several years of decline due to various public campaigns. In fact, in 2020 in Japan, more people died from suicide in one month than the total number of deaths associated with COVID-19 in the whole country.

Loneliness has been linked to other serious health issues such as heart disease, eating disorders, and mental illness. Women and the elderly have been particularly affected by recent job losses and the implementation of social limitations. The prolonged depression of the Japanese economy and an alarming but steady decline in birthrate is symptomatic of related social dysfunctions that seem to be eating away at the heart of the country.

While innovative government initiatives to reverse this destructive trend of loneliness are commendable, a sustainable and truly effective solution to such a deep-rooted problem lies well beyond the authority and power of political leaders.

From the very beginning of time, when God created man in His own image as a relational being, He declared that “it is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18).

Read the full story.

Also from OMF, read an article from an Australian missionary to Japan on Lonely Missionaries: Why and What Can We Do About It.

Source: Gateway News, August 26, 2021

Gateway News received reports from two Christian leaders who were both led by the Holy Spirit to carry out healing missions in KwaZulu-Natal in the wake of the looting and unrest in South Africa that started in the province in July.

Pastor John Mathuhle, who is from Senekal in the Free State, was dispatched to Phoenix, north of Durban, to build bridges of hope and healing in an area where communities were torn apart as the July unrest led to violence that claimed about 36 lives there and fanned racial tensions in the area.

Reporting on his mission, Pastor John said that watching media coverage in July of malls burning as thousands of people looted all they could get their hands on was like watch apocalyptic movies of the end of the world. It also brought back memories of October 16 last year where a tense standoff between angry farmers and armed EFF supporters in Senekal nearly turned into a bloody civil war.

“Had the Lord not intervened through His Church across the nation, it only had to take one bullet or one throw of a stone for the whole situation to break into a blood bath—that’s how close it was,” he wrote.

But, in response to the prayers of many believers throughout South Africa and beyond, God intervened, miraculously turning people’s hearts from conflict to reconciliation and community rebuilding. The experience left him and others in the Eastern Free State town feeling indebted to the nation and the world for standing with them in prayer, said John.

Read the full story.

For a report on the events of July read Sparked by Zuma’s Arrest, Unrest in South Africa Escalates (Christian Science Monitor).

Source: INcontext Ministries, August 2021

More than 1,000 Boko Haram fighters and their families have surrendered in the last several weeks in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad following the death of their leader Abubakar Shekau in May. Among those who have turned themselves in are two top commanders and one expert bomb maker. According to the Nigerian military, the surrenders are the result of a recent offensive operation aimed at dispelling the fighters from their strongholds.

The newest wave of defectors and their families took part in a ceremony in which several of them were seen holding signs that read, “Nigerians please forgive us” and “peace is the only way.” They and their families were given food rations and clothing by the military.

Civilians have criticized the military for its “humane” treatment of extremists while so many people in Nigeria are living without basic necessities, like food and clothing. However, the military says it is using the resources to persuade more fighters to surrender by showing them their families will be taken care of.

The full story provides a Christian perspective and prayer points. And it points out that other fighters joined different groups after leaving Boko Haram.

Note that rehabilitating extremists is not without risk or controversy. Some characterize it as “pampering,” says an article from Arise TV.

Source: Mission Network News, August 26, 2021

Many Haitians have resumed church services inside church buildings damaged by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake on August 14. Christians are mourning the dead but also praising God for their own safety.

Meanwhile, relief efforts into the country have been hampered by gang violence. Various groups have blocked roads and even hijacked vehicles transporting food. One gang leader has offered a truce to allow aid into the damaged peninsula where the earthquake hit, but it’s not clear how much of an impact it would make unless more gangs commit as well.

As the aid trickles in, some politicians have begun supplying it themselves or even using their planes to transport injured patients. They are especially motivated to do so by the upcoming general elections.

The full story shares how one ministry is responding. See also additional MNN reports about ministry efforts in Haiti. Typically these articles include prayer points and other ways to respond.

See also Churches In Haiti Lie In Ruins After The Earthquake But Still Try To Comfort And Help (NPR)