Category: News Briefs

Source: Jeff Frazee, via World Venture, June 26, 2021

The Syenara people of Mali are subsistence farmers and animists. Numbering about 200,000 people, they are one of about 30 dialects of the Senoufo people of West Africa are a subgroup of the Senoufo people of West Africa. The Syenara speak to their idols in their own language, but they speak to Allah only in Arabic, which they don’t understand.

Let us ask God to make himself known as the loving father he is, that he might be worshiped rightly in their language, too.

Read about a visit to the Syenara and watch the short (4.5-minute) video, Syenara Prayer, below.

Source: International Christian Concern, July 3, 2021

On July 3, Christians of all denominations in India [celebrated] the first Indian Christian Day. According to the founders of the event, July 3 was chosen because it is traditionally observed as Saint Thomas Day, the day celebrating Saint Thomas the Apostle who came to India in 52 AD and brought the message of Jesus.

“By marking it in 2021, and every year henceforth, we, as followers of Jesus, can preserve our identity within India’s cultural heritage, while uniting with all those who wish to celebrate it, irrespective of language, custom, creed, region, or religion,” the event’s founders claimed.

Father Babu Joseph, a former spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, said the initiative will also help Christianity overcome the false narratives spread by Hindu nationalists.

“This is an important step in making Christianity part of Indian history and ethos,” Father Joseph told Asia News. “In light of attempts by some right-wing organizations to create the impression that Christianity is foreign in India, it is necessary to highlight its antiquity in the country.”

Read the full story and visit the website for Indian Christian Day, which adds that the observance launches a decade of celebration leading up to the 2000th anniversary of the earthly ministry of Jesus.

See also results of a Pew Research Center survey that asked 30,000 Indians from six religions about their attitudes toward other religions.

Finally, intercede for the church in neighboring Nepal as they navigate a leadership crisis. The Nepali church has lost more than 130 pastors to COVID-19 during a second wave of the pandemic (Christianity Today).

Source: Mission Network News, June 29, 2021

Earlier this month, religious minorities in Bangladesh gathered for the annual Black Day protests. They want Islam to no longer be given the status of state religion, which it has held since 1988.

Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists in the country point out the original constitution still calls Bangladesh a secular state, contradicting the amendment [that declares Islam the state religion]. Ultimately, they want the amendment removed from the constitution. In the meantime, they want a minority commission established to help protect against injustice.

Ask God to give Christians in Bangladesh grace and wisdom. Pray that they would know when to speak up for their rights and when to live quietly.

Read the full story.

Bangladesh is also seeing a huge surge of COVID cases (NPR) with migrant workers recently scrambling to leave Dhaka and return to their villages (South China Morning Post).

See also Pray for COVID-19 Hotspot Nations (INcontext Ministries).

Source: Mobile Ministry Forum, June 2021

Pedro is a church planter working among the Yao people. They are an unreached people group with three million people living in Mozambique, Malawi, and Tanzania.

Recently, the COVID-19 travel lockdowns have made it difficult for Pedro and his team to reach the remote villages where they had seen God moving powerfully.

Pedro knew that one of the major cell companies was offering [US$8] phones, along with cheap phone lines that gave unlimited talk minutes very inexpensively. He also saw that there were now Bluetooth speakers selling for only US$10-15. What could be done if, in the midst of COVID-19 travel restrictions,  he combined the Discovery Bible Study model with pairs of these low cost phones and speakers, if they could be distributed among widespread villages? 

The results have been amazing. Groups gather at a set time in villages, then Pedro calls their mobile phone. Seated around the phone and speaker, the group can hear Pedro and interact, ask questions, and have fellowship. With this method, Pedro has been able to reach people in villages hundreds of kilometers away. Pedro and his trained movement leaders now use this mobile media package to increase their sphere of ministry. Hundreds of new Yao believers have joined the movement since the pandemic hit their country. In two weeks, 300 people came to the Lord.

Read the full story.

You might also be interested in a case study about digital outreach ministry in several countries of Southern Europe (Media to Movements).

Note that media ministry may be difficult or even illegal in some places. Back to Jerusalem reports that North Korea is cracking down on the use of Chinese-made mobile phones, as the authorities equate international phone communication with espionage. You’ll have to read their story (or another from Daily NK) to learn about a surprising connection to the country’s annual “Struggle Against US Imperialism” month observance.

Source: Haggai International, July 2021

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:17

Mongolia boasts some of the highest peaks in the world, and it is also the home of Haggai [ministry] leader Lkhagva-Erdene Namkhaidorj. An extreme mountain climber, Lkhagva-Erdene is no stranger to setting audacious goals and pushing through adversity. When she attended the Haggai Leader Experience in 2017, she realized that her passion for climbing could be woven together with her desire to advance the gospel.

“I have been hiking and climbing mountains since 2012. Before Haggai, I climbed by myself for sheer pleasure. After I came back to Mongolia, I started to contact some mountaineers and hike with them. I wanted to witness through my life and behavior.”

[Now] she has helped equip more than 100 leaders.

Many mountains are considered sacred in Mongolia, and when members of her expedition team asked why Lkhagva-Erdene didn’t participate in their religious rituals, she was able to share the gospel: “As soon as I get to any peak of the mountain, I worship the Creator of the mountain, the living God.”

Read the full story, with pictures.

See also Serving in Rural Mongolia (Pioneers Australia).

Source: World Relief, June 10, 2021

I never expected to be a refugee. I joined a university when I was 18 years old, enrolling in the English department at Basra (the Port of Iraq). At the end of my time there, I graduated second in my department. After graduation, I stayed two more years as a researcher’s assistant and then five more years when I was accepted for my master’s in the linguistics program.

I became a professor in 1987 and moved to Baghdad in 1992 to teach undergraduate and postgraduate students of the English Department at Baghdad University College of Education for Women. Life felt almost perfect.

Then, in 2003, the unexpected happened. The United States invaded Iraq. This is when my life would change forever.

In hopes to rebuild my country, I stayed three years after the US military arrived. However, the targeted people were the Iraqi brains. Doctors, professors, scientists and engineers were receiving life threats daily. I knew it was only a matter of time before they reached me.

The full story describes what life was like for Amira when she and her family arrived in the US. See also 8 Things You Should Know About Refugees (free ebook).

Source: Beyond, June 5, 2021

During an early morning taxi ride, Amy struck up a conversation with the driver. It was obvious that Mr. Wu was a Christian from the music playing and the stickers in his cab.

“Where do you worship?” Amy asked. 

“Well,” he answered sheepishly, “not everyone understands, but we have people come into our home. The taxi drivers that I meet would probably never be willing to go into a church, but they like coming to my house and hearing stories about God. My children, too!”

“That’s wonderful!”

Mr. Wu was surprised by Amy’s affirmation of his “simplified church.” After he described a typical meeting, Amy noted its similarity to a discovery Bible study. She offered two simple suggestions: a question to help the group know God better and a reproducing step where everyone shares what they learn with others.

“Oh, that’s great! I’m going to try those this week!” Mr. Wu declared.

Mr. Wu shared that he had seen Amy before and wanted to meet her. Amy knew the Holy Spirit had orchestrated their meeting. She, too, was greatly encouraged by meeting a local believer willing to take a non-traditional approach to see more people become followers of Jesus.

Read the full story.

You might also be interested in reading Longing to Be Whole: Hannah Prepares for Story Night (Pioneers USA) or The Gospel on the Amazon River (The Navigators).

Source: Frontiers USA, June 9, 2021

Damira didn’t know how much more heartache she could handle.

Her husband had recently abandoned her and left her to raise three small children on her own. Her pantry was bare, and she was running out of money to buy food for her family.

One cold morning, she left her children in the care of her sister and walked a couple of miles out of her small city to an ancient tomb in the middle of the desert. Damira spent two solitary weeks at the tomb, crying out to God for help.

At night, Damira felt petrified. She feared the evil spirits that were said to linger around gravesites after dark. She huddled against the cold exterior of the tomb, pleading with the saint to keep the spirits away from her.

She slept in fits. But each time sleep overcame her, Damira dreamed of a man who called her to follow Him.

“I will show you the right way,” He told her. She woke up from these dreams feeling flooded with peace.

She huddled against the cold exterior of the tomb, pleading with the saint to keep the spirits away from her.

Shortly after returning home, Damira met Rayanne, a Muslim-background believer [in Christ]. Rayanne invited Damira to watch a movie about Jesus. Damira agreed to see the film, even though she had never heard of Jesus.

The movie started with Jesus’ birth and His early years. But when the story jumped ahead to Jesus being baptized as an adult, Damira began shouting, “That’s Him! That’s Him!”

Read the full story. Also from Frontiers, read about A Dream That Pointed to the Word of God.