Category: News Briefs

Source: Weave Family, November 1, 2020

Every fall, Indian families look forward to Diwali, the biggest holiday of the year. This five-day Hindu festival celebrates the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. This year, Diwali begins on November 14.

Exploring traditions from other cultures is one way to expand your family’s view of the world and cultivate a heart for the peoples that God loves.

» Full article includes crafts to do with your children. See also 15 Days of Prayer for the Hindu World or How to Shine True Light During Diwali (International Mission Board). Thanks for praying for India!

Diwali photo by Mesh on Unsplash.

Source: World Watch Monitor, October 19, 2020

The disproportionate presence of ethnic Fulani among Islamist militants wreaking havoc in the Sahel and West Africa has led to a stigmatization of the Fulani generally, says a Protestant pastor from Burkina Faso.

“There is not a very good view of the Fulani,” said Adama, himself Fulani and a pastor in central Burkina Faso. “They are regarded as militants taking part in jihadi attacks, causing trouble in the Sahel region. But that is not all that there is to it. Not all Fulani are terrorists and not all terrorists are Fulani. We, the Fulani, are also the image of God and one first needs to see that,” he told World Watch Monitor.

Adama studied theology in the UK but returned to Burkina Faso in 2008 to serve among his own people. “Things are not the same as they were,” he said. “Burkinabe people are under increased pressure. We have got to watch our backs all the time. What we are dealing with is a far more serious challenge than Covid-19.”

As a result of the violence, many churches and schools in these regions have closed and people have fled to other parts of the country.

Pastor Adama has been trying to help those who decided to stay as well as other vulnerable communities. A training center in a village in central Burkina Faso offers skills training and people can take what they have learned back to their villages: “Now many of these villages have shops, restaurants etc.—things they did not have before.” His ministry also organizes quarterly “community health days” in which doctors are invited to visit communities to avoid people having to travel to the nearest city for healthcare.

“In the midst of stigmatization and the terrorism agenda which brings violence, we bring peace and transformation into these communities,” he said.

» Read full story. According to a recent study, Burkina Faso leads the list of countries Americans say they’ve never heard of, at least countries with more than a million people (Statista, via Brigada Today).

» From elsewhere in Africa, read about how Christian broadcasting is offering hope to isolated, unmarried women in Algeria who are trying to live out their faith amid great restrictions (SAT-7).

Source: Open Doors, October 31, 2020.

The violence that erupted in late September has continued and intensified between the two countries with multiple failed ceasefires. “A full-scale war has begun in the region,” reports an Open Doors representative for Central Asia.

“Almost every day several soldiers are killed, Yesterday more than 20 people were killed and 70 injured only from one district. Internet is completely blocked in the country. People can’t connect with anybody, can’t ask for help, can’t report what occurs now.

“All men under 55 in Azerbaijan are not allowed to leave the country, to make sure the army can be quickly mobilized. Young men have already been drafted to fight. We know of at least three believers from one church in Azerbaijan who are on the frontlines.

“The internet is completely blocked in Azerbaijan, and the authorities are not releasing information about victims. “It is prohibited to even mention or ask how many have been killed. Mass media offers no such information and they have no permission to speak about it. Only calls to ‘defend national interests’ are proclaimed from the screens and newspapers to motivate people to go to the war.

“Churches are distributing food to people in need near the front line. Two days ago, a group of believers delivering food missed being hit by a bomb by only 20 minutes. Though it’s very dangerous to serve in this way, churches said that it is also a good opportunity to share the gospel with people near the fighting.

“On the Armenian side, the situation is very similar—believers are fighting in the conflict. While politicians are arguing, civilians are suffering and dying. There are already many refugees from the districts close to the front lines. The situation is very bad and doesn’t show any signs of improving.”

» Full story includes five ways to pray.

Source: FAI Publishing, via God Reports, October 19, 2020

Iran started the year with a bang [says an Iranian brother]. On January 3, [a US airstrike] killed General Solemani. A week later, Iran shot a commercial plane down—and millions of young Iranians filled our streets in protest. Then Iran shot 11 missiles into Iraq—pushing us even closer to the brink of war. Every man in the country waited for the word.

The whole nation spent 40 days in mourning, and right as we came out of that period, COVID-19 slammed—and I mean slammed—into us. As if that wasn’t enough, we had an infestation of locusts in the south, and it wasn’t small. Think biblical proportions. A couple months after that, Tehran experienced a strong earthquake. And then we had over 13 mysterious bombings—and this only catches us up to July!

My nation has upwards of 82 million people in it. COVID-19 hit us early, and hard. All I can say is the figures the Iranian government has reported (450,000 total cases and 26,000 total deaths) are significantly low balling the toll the virus took and is taking.

As soon as the wave of the coronavirus began sweeping across our country, we in the Iranian underground church fasted as a body for 42 days. We needed to hear from God.

As I’ve met with pastors and leaders of the US church through Zoom over the course of the year, everyone is staring slack-jawed at their nation’s social upheaval, civil unrest, and medical crisis of 2020.

I can tell you firsthand after years and years of seeing the gospel take root in the Islamic Republic of Iran: the Holy Spirit will sort the secondary things out. They’re important. They matter. And He’ll give you the power to forgive your enemies. He can heal your land.

» Read full story.

» Also read: Iran’s Covid Death Toll May be Four Times the Government’s Official Tally, Says Top Doctor (NBC News).

Source: Mission Network News, October 28, 2020

Conditions are ripe for another military takeover in Thailand. According to the Thai Enquirer, there have been 13 coups since the start of the 20th century. Today, any conflict between pro-democracy demonstrators and monarchy supporters could give the military an excuse to take control.

Led by students, ongoing pro-democracy protests have been largely peaceful. Demonstrators want the current Prime Minister to resign, and they’re calling for constitutional reform. Protestors appealed to Chancellor Angela Merkel [October 27] after marching to the German embassy in Bangkok.

While difficult, seasons like this present a unique gospel opportunity. “I think this is an enormous opportunity for the Thai Church to shine the light of Christ in their neighborhoods and their communities, and be brokers of peace,” [says Joe Handley, president of the ministry Asian Access]. In turn, “that becomes a springboard for the gospel as people look to believers and leaders of the Church. They rise above the crowd and display the characteristics of Christ in the midst of these challenges.”

Asian Access comes alongside local Christian leaders to equip them for situations and seasons like these. “It is not easy to be a pastor in the midst of what’s happening,” Handley notes. “There’s all sorts of anger and frustration and violence happening around you, and people get ‘hot’ on either side. It takes a unique skill set to be an agent of peace.”

» Read full story.

» Ask God to continue to raise up Asian believers as agents of peace and messengers of the gospel. This is a focus for a 40-day prayer campaign from the Global Missions Mobilization Initiative beginning today. Learn more.

1. MIDDLE EAST: Serving on the Sidelines
2. SOMALIA: Christian Couple Arrested
3. CHINA: Faith Banned for All Children
4. PAKISTAN: Christian Acquitted of Blasphemy
5. SOUTHEAST ASIA: Woman Finds Truth of God in Unexpected Way

VIDEO: God’s Global Family

Source: Interserve Great Britain & Ireland, October 2020

In John 17, Jesus prays that all God’s people would be one, so that the world would come to believe in Him. We are called to participate in, learn from, and contribute to God’s global Church. What does this look like?

» See video source and transcript.

Source: Interserve Great Britain & Ireland, October 2020

Mind-blowing stories of transformation. Tales of healing and deliverance. Living immersed in another culture. Leading studies in the Word, discipling those with seeds of faith. Scratch, screech, take off the record—this isn’t our story.

My husband and I didn’t fit the traditional missionary role model, but God has still used us beyond what we could have imagined. Having spent four years teaching middle-class locals, Ben switched tracks and became principal of one of the two MK schools in the city—serving families who are here with NGOs, refugee projects, theological schools, etc. I have served our organization by supporting the work of short termers coming to the country and now by leading the country leadership team. I seek to provide emotional and spiritual support to those who are arriving, those learning to thrive here and those transitioning back to their sending countries. Both of us are working in the background, on the sidelines, serving the servers.

We need the language pros, the theological whizz kids; those with a heart for the outcast or able to slip the good news into every conversation. But we also need those who are willing to serve in other capacities: sending, supporting, sustaining. There are many roles in the kingdom work of God. Paul planted, Apollos watered, God brought about the sprout. But there are also those who till the soil, pull the weeds, prune the branches.

» Read full story.

» Also from the Middle East: read a story of transformative business development in Creating Opportunity When the Need Is Great (One Collective) and get another behind-the-scenes look at life in the Middle East in Giving Birth During COVID-19 (Anglican Frontier Missions). Finally, consider listening to a 14-minute podcast episode on Bringing Hope to the Middle East (Bible League).

Source: Middle East Concern, October 6, 2020

Being alerted of “suspicious activities,” police came to the house of a Christian couple on September 21, arresting both after they found Christian materials. The couple have three children.

At an October 5 press conference, a Somaliland police colonel stated that two individuals had been arrested for being “apostates and evangelists spreading Christianity,” with the case to be forwarded to the relevant court.

He also threatened that “whoever dares to spread Christianity in this region should be fully aware that they won’t escape the hand of the law enforcement officers and that the spread of Christianity will not be allowed and is considered blasphemy.”

He encouraged citizens to report those spreading Christianity to the police.

The arrest and detention of the couple has caused great fear among the local Christian community, with many believers fleeing abroad.

» See full story with prayer points.

Source: Jubilee Campaign, October 2020

In 2013, the Committee on the Rights of the Child raised the alarm regarding the People’s Republic of China’s breach of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 14. The Committee recommended the government of China to “take all necessary measures” to “effectively guarantee the right of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion for those under 18” [as required by article 14], highlighting specifically the Uyghur and Tibetan children, as well as children of Falun Gong practitioners.

Since then, however, China has effectively extended its restriction on the right to religion or belief and freedom of expression to all youth under the age of 18. Following the implementation of the Regulations on Religious Affairs in 2018, provincial governments have banned minors from attending any religious-based activities, prohibited religious curriculum in schools, engaged in campaigns to discourage children from religious conviction, harassed families, and have even similarly cracked down on the cultural and linguistic expressions and practices of religious minorities throughout the nation.

These newly introduced restrictions blatantly disregard the Committee’s recommendations and the rights the mechanism seeks to protect, as well as demonstrate China’s lack of commitment to its obligations under international treaties to protect children’s rights.

» Read full report (33 pages) and a related article, Chinese Christian Children Persecuted for their Faith (Christian Post).

Source: Mission Network News, October 13, 2020

Sawan Masih, a Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy in 2013, has been [acquitted and] released from captivity after seven years.

MNN reported on his case in 2013 and the extreme violence that followed his accusation. A mob of Muslims descended on the primarily Christian neighborhood of Joseph Colony after Masih’s accusation was broadcasted over the PA system.

Nehemiah of Forgotten Missionaries International (FMI) says the motivations behind the violence weren’t exactly religious. “The government and business community wanted to grab this colony, this land. They wanted to build a factory on this land. So first, they tried to convince Christians of this area to leave [the] colony. When they refused, they just made a story and accused [Sawan] with a false charge of blasphemy and burned the whole town. Many churches, shops, and more than 200 Christian houses were burned.”

Masih also lost many family members in the devastating attack, Nehemiah says.

Despite the lack of evidence, Masih’s case has languished in the courts ever since, prolonged by threats from extremists. Even now that he has finally been acquitted, Masih can’t leave the prison for fear of attempts on his life.

» Full story includes Masih’s photo and compares his case to Asia Bibi’s.