Category: News Briefs

1. EDITOR’S NOTE: George Floyd, Ravi Zacharias
2. SENEGAL: A Church for the Wolof
3. CHINA: The Red Dragon Rages
4. WORLD: Seven Countries on the Watch List That Might Surprise You
5. NEPAL: Breakthrough in High Places

Greetings,

Though we avoid reporting on stories already covered well elsewhere, we should acknowledge the death of George Floyd, the grief and anger many are feeling, and the violence that’s spread across the United States.

• See how a news ministry in New Zealand reports events and asks readers to pray for the United States (INcontext Ministries).
• Read Weep with Those Who Weep (Wycliffe Bible Translators USA).
• Consider the words of InterVarsity’s Tom Lin on the ministry’s resolve to pursue justice and reconciliation.

Likely you have also already heard about the May 19 death of Christian leader, evangelist, and apologist Ravi Zacharias.

• Read a brief article about his contribution (World Evangelical Alliance).
• Watch a livestream of his funeral on Facebook.
• Pray a prayer for justice and peace Ravi wrote after another tumultuous season (Ravi Zacharias International Ministries).

With love and prayers,
Marti Wade

Source: WorldVenture, June 1, 2020

On Saturday, May 30, 2020, we broke ground for a permanent place of worship. The story behind the ceremony for a new church building began years ago. After decades of missionary work, there are only about 100 Wolof believers [known Wolof believers in Dakar]. Out of those 100 believers, less than a third attend church on a regular basis. This breaks our hearts. When we spoke to some of them, they shared several reasons for not attending.

• “It doesn’t feel sacred.” They desire a formal place of worship.
• “It doesn’t feel Senegalese.” The worship style of most churches is imported.
• “They can’t understand it.” It is in French instead of Wolof, their heart language.
• “They can’t find it.” Many Dakar churches rent houses. The rented houses do not feel like a sacred place to worship. The rented houses are in obscure neighborhoods and are often forced to move every few years.

Because of this, we felt it was important to start a church, but we wanted it to be Senegalese. We desired to plant a church in partnership with our church association. After talking and praying with them for a long time, they finally came to us and said, “We need a church in Dakar for our young people. They are full of faith when they leave the villages for work or school in the city and they come back lost.”

We had a prayer of dedication for the land and the building on Saturday, May 30. On June 2, we [began] laying the foundations of the building. As we reflect on what God has done in the past, we see how God has paved our way.

» Full story explores obstacles they had to overcome. Let’s pray for the Wolof church to grow and draw more people to Jesus.

» Maybe you heard that a company in Dakar has developed a US$1, 10-minute COVID-19 test (Fast Company). Some at the lab have gotten sick, though, and one has died (The New York Times).

» More from West Africa: read a roundup of news and analysis of three violent attacks in Burkina Faso (Sahel blog) and read about children left behind in West Africa’s conflict-torn regions.

Source: Asia Harvest, June 2020

We believe the intense spiritual battle underway in China will be a turning point in the war between the light of the gospel and the forces of darkness in China. If God’s people endure and overcome, the revival fires that have blazed in China for decades may grow to a new intensity not seen before, with tens of millions more people coming to Christ.

The militant atheists who lead the Communist Party are terrified of this prospect. They are doing everything they can to stop the gospel spreading, which (ironically) they view as a virus. Official government documents have referred to the “Jesus Fever” infecting multitudes of people.

A few weeks ago (on May 3), the below video emerged of a typical house church meeting being raided in the city of Xiamen in Fujian Province. Six brothers who were identified as leaders were taken away and have not been heard from since. Pray not only for these brothers and sisters, but for the tens of millions of believers across China who are currently facing similar trials.

» See full story. Video is about 2.5 minutes in length and includes English text and subtitles.

Source: Open Doors, June 2, 2020

Each year when the World Watch List releases, there are many countries that you probably expect to see on the list because you follow the news. You know Kim Jong Un is a dictator, so you’re not surprised to see North Korea. You prayed about the Asia Bibi case, so it might make sense to see Pakistan on the list. You joined millions of Christians in prayer for Andrew Brunson’s release, so seeing Turkey on the World Watch List isn’t a shock.

But then there are other countries that might make you do a double take. Maybe the country is a tourist destination, known more for its sparkling beaches or incredible natural wonders than its treatment of believers. Or maybe the country is made up of Christians as its majority religion—how could such a place have a problem with Christian persecution?

And yet, these are countries that are oppressing God’s people, on the World Watch List for important reasons

» Full story highlights Maldives, Qatar, Nepal, Ethiopia, Colombia, Kenya, and Russia and shares ways to pray.

Source: United World Mission, June 1, 2020

The Good News of Jesus Christ permeates even the furthest of places. Watch how God used Nepali partners to bring breakthrough in Nepal, reaching 40 people groups in 500 villages and training 2,000 Nepali leaders.

» See full story. Video is almost eight minutes long and beautifully illustrates key principles for reaching oral people, partnership, holistic ministry, etc.

» See also the Prayercast page about Nepal for ways to pray.

In this edition:

1. SAUDI ARABIA: A Tiny Church Grows
2. MIDDLE EAST: COVID-19 Lockdown Ignites Spiritual Interest
3. IRAN: Christian Sentenced to Flogging and Prison
4. LAOS: Christians Flee Destroyed Homes
5. SIERRA LEONE: Growing in Trust, Finding the Path of Truth

The small Church in Saudi Arabia needs mature believers to translate Scripture and to lead churches.

Source: Mission Network News, May 7, 2020

The small Church in Saudi Arabia needs mature and committed believers to translate Scripture and to lead churches. “It’s almost like the early Church in the book of Acts,” says Abd Al Fadi about Christianity among certain language groups in Saudi Arabia. He works with Hijazi Arabic in Western Saudi Arabia, Najdi Arabic in central Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi Gulf dialect in the East.

These groups have few Christians. Finding mature and committed believers to translate [Scripture] is difficult. Abd Al Fadi says, “Sometimes they’re busy with a job or concerned about being caught by their family or the government.”

Even if the translators complete their work, that doesn’t mean it can be distributed easily. “It’s one thing to produce the product. It’s another to deliver it to the right church or group that can benefit from it.”

Abd Al Fadi asks Christians in the West to pray that Christians in Saudi Arabia will join together in house churches and that the right materials will get to the right people.

Most of all, pray that like the early Church in Acts, the Church in Saudi Arabia would grow and multiply. Abd Al Fadi says he hopes within the next decade “We will hear about many Saudi believers who are out in the open, doing media or doing ministry and partnering with others as well.”

» Full story includes links to more in a series about unreached people groups. Consider tuning in to join them (and others) online for International Day for the Unreached on May 31.

» Also read Five Reasons Why Google Can’t Translate the Bible (Wycliffe USA).

Source: SAT-7, via Christian Newswire, April 21, 2020

Amid strict coronavirus lockdowns, millions of people across the Middle East and North Africa clamoring for a spiritual and practical lifeline are finding help right in their own homes through television.

In the region where Christianity began but is now a minority faith, Christian satellite television broadcaster SAT-7 has seen viewer numbers surge and social media interest skyrocket since the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

“There’s an explosion of spiritual hunger across the Middle East and North Africa right now as people stuck at home seek real hope and real answers,” said Dr. Rex Rogers, president of SAT-7 USA.

“Millions of people in countries like Iran, Iraq, and Turkey are clamoring to see and hear in their own language what it’s like to be a follower of Jesus in a time of crisis,” Rogers said.

In coronavirus hotspot Turkey, where 99 percent of the population is non-Christian, more viewers have contacted the SAT-7 TÜRK channel daily in the past few weeks than any day in the previous five years since broadcasts began.

In Iran, another virus hotspot, viewers’ calls and messages to the live, Farsi-language Signal show—beamed into millions of homes across the nation—jumped to seven times the usual number last month, as Iranians rattled by the pandemic turned to the show’s hosts for reassurance and practical advice.

» Read full story.

» See also Tyndale: Bible Sales up 44-60% During COVID Crisis (God Reports).

Source: International Christian Concern, April 22, 2020

On April 21, 2020, Christian human rights activist Mary Fatima Mohammadi received a suspended prison sentence of three months by the Iranian government. The sentence included a directive ordering Mary to receive a flogging of ten lashes.

Mary has come under significant pressure from the Iranian authorities over the years because of her Christian human rights activism. In the latest incident, she was arrested because she was present in the area of a protest where Iranians had rallied regarding the government’s downing of Ukrainian Airline Flight 752, [which is] highly sensitive in Iran.

After her arrest, Mary disappeared for nearly a month before she was discovered in Qarchak Women’s Prison, a jail with a reputation for various types of gender abuse. While there, Mary reported that she was beaten and suffered other kinds of mistreatment. She was eventually released on bail and charged with “disrupting public order by participating in an illegal rally.”

Her court hearing was initially delayed because of COVID-19 but took place on April 17. Iran’s Human Rights Activist News Agency (HANA) reports that during the hearing, the judge repeatedly questioned Mary about her conversion to Christianity.

» Full story includes responses from Mary and commentary about the prison system in Iran.

» See also Iranian Christians Sent to Jail, Unable to Afford Bail (Article 18).