Missions Catalyst

1. Editor’s Note: Glimpses of Global Christian Work & Worship
2. Global: The Explosion of the Gospel in the Majority World
3. Afghanistan: Banned from Speaking in Public, Women Find Their Voice in Christ
4. China: American Pastor Released After Nearly 20 Years in Prison
5. North Korea: A Daring Rescue
6. USA: “With One Word, I Can Catch a Thousand”

Read or share the email edition or scroll down for more.

Recently, we reported on a revival inspired by the Ohio State University football team’s Christian witness.

Let’s turn our eyes and ears toward the Fiji rugby team, who will face Japan this Saturday in the Pacific Nations Cup. Check out Fiji Hymns Popular at Rugby Matches (Global Christian Worship). I think this practice beats the Haka tradition of other Pacific Islanders. Pray the Fijians might be used to spread the good news to other nations. For more, see Yes, Fiji Olympians Are Singing Hymns (Christianity Today).

I also found inspiration watching this music video from Hyderabad, India, with thanks again to Global Christian Worship. Enjoy!

Blessings,
Pat

Source: Evangelical Focus, September 9, 2024

We are privileged to be witnessing the greatest transition in world mission ever in history. The gospel is exploding in the Majority World. Missionaries from countries closed to the gospel when I was born are going to the least, the last and the lost in every corner of the world.

YWAM Together 2024 convened 4,500 [people] from 110 nations in Manila [September 2-6] united in worshiping Jesus in many different languages—Maori, Mongolian, Portuguese, Russian, and more.

We rubbed shoulders with Nepalis working in Sao Paolo; Indians working in Istanbul; Brazilians working in Central Asia; Papua New Guineans, Chinese, Koreans, Moroccans, Ugandans, Russians, Ukrainians, Mongolians, Fijians, Belarusians, South Africans, Kenyans, Pakistanis, Argentinians, and many, many more nationalities engaged in integral missions on all continents. Those Mongolians had traveled by bus and boat for five days to join the gathering in Manila.

The Nepalis present reminded me of the YWAM team imprisoned for proselytism in the Himalayan state some three decades ago. Even today, conversions are still officially illegal. Despite these restrictions, the Nepali church is reported to be the fastest-growing in the world. Some estimate the church to be three million strong, engaging one in ten Nepalis—a thirty-fold increase since 2000.

Read the rest of the story with thoughts from Jeff Fountain and rejoice in what God is doing through YWAM and brothers and sisters from all over.

See also two stories with research and reflection about emerging generations in the Global South, Global Insight of the Next Generation (Haggai International) and The Future of Faith: Reaching a New Generation around the World (The Christian Post).

Source: Mission Network News, September 13, 2024

Afghanistan’s Taliban regime is taking its oppression of women one step further. Now, women across the country are forbidden from baring their faces or speaking in public. The ruling came down in a set of new laws approved by the supreme leader at the end of August.

Denise Godwin with International Media Ministries (IMM) says the increasing censorship of Afghan women stands in stark contrast with examples in the Bible.

IMM has been working on a television project called Women of the Bible, and several stories are complete in multiple languages. Please pray for Afghan women to find their voices and worth in the love of Christ Jesus.

Read the full story or watch IMM’s Women from the Bible series, which includes short videos about Bathsheba, Tamar, and Rahab.

Praise God for setting men free, too. Read a story from Nigeria, Son of Hezbollah Chosen to Follow a Different Path (God Reports).

Source: The Christian Post, September 16, 2024

California Pastor David Lin has been released from a Chinese prison after nearly two decades and has returned to the United States, ending a case that sparked an international outcry from free speech advocates and U.S. officials who say he was wrongfully detained.

Lin’s daughter, Alice Lin, told the outlet that the State Department notified her on Saturday that Chinese authorities had released her father from prison and that he would arrive in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday.

“No words can express the joy we have—we have a lot of time to make up for,” she said.

Lin was active in China’s underground house church movement, which involves discreet religious gatherings often held in private homes and not connected to state-sponsored religious organizations. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has noted that this movement “has long faced hostility from Chinese authorities,” and participants often face “intimidation, harassment, arrest, and harsh sentences.”

Although Lin has staunchly maintained his innocence, he did not raise the attention of his case because he felt his imprisonment was a God-ordained mission field, his daughter said.

Read the full story.

Source: Christian Freedom International, September 11, 2024

The call came from an old acquaintance. He requested help for five people who had escaped from North Korea. They were hiding in a hut in the mountains and were unable to enter a village due to China’s severe security.

So, I collected clothes, daily necessities, and 15 solar audio Bibles, with the determination to be martyred if I was captured.

By the time we reached them, the five people were in the worst condition. For a long time, they had not even washed their faces, let alone showered. They were just waiting to die.

One who had tuberculosis held my hand and apologized, saying that she is thankful for being treated as a human being and wanted to hug me but would not because she was contagious.

We discovered a way to disguise them to move to another area, and then after showering and changing clothes they were sent to different locations.

The trip was a trial from the beginning. As I was leaving one area, police opened my bag. They confiscated ten audio Bibles. They did not find five [enough so each refugee could have one]. Then they let me go.

Read the full story and (from the same source) Getting God’s Word to North Koreans.

Source: Global Gates, September 10, 2024

While out evangelizing in Houston, a group met a local Imam (a devout leader of a Muslim mosque) named Mohammed. Someone from the group began to share the gospel with him, and to their amazement, he came to faith in Christ! What shocked them even more was what this new brother said next.

Mohammed had heard the gospel many times before from one Christian after another. This time, however, after his eyes were opened, he couldn’t wait to tell those in his community about Jesus. The difference being instead of a group of Americans sharing the good news, Mohammed himself would go and tell his community in their language. He looked at the group and said,

“It took about a thousand of you, with a thousand of your words…to ‘catch me.’ But with one word, I can go and catch a thousand.”

That “thousand” people Mohammed referred to live in North America’s global gateway cities and abroad in the unreached people group’s country of origin. Through the means of technology, Mohammed continues to have frequent conversations with friends and family from his homeland.

The gospel conversion that began in North America is traveling to and through families on the other side of the world! The result will repeat for generations to come. It’s a full-circle strategy.

Read the full story (on Facebook) and pray for more men and women like Mohammad, who, once reached, can catch a thousand with a word.

See also a short video from Global Gates on Reaching the Ends of the Earth through Los Angeles (YouTube).