Missions Catalyst

Source: God Reports, November 17, 2023

City officials in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, have announced they will eliminate all decorations celebrating Christmas, according to a report by the Jerusalem Post.

“Bethlehem Municipality crews announced the dismantling of Christmas decorations installed several years ago in the city’s neighborhoods and removing all festive appearances in honor of the martyrs and in solidarity with our people in Gaza,” the municipality wrote on Facebook.

A spokesperson for the city also told the Telegraph, “The reason is the general situation in Palestine; people are not really into any celebration, they are sad, angry, and upset; our people in Gaza are being massacred and killed in cold blood.”

“Bethlehem should send out its own message of condolence and mourning.”

Prayers and religious ceremonies will still be allowed to take place, according to the Post.

The city is majority Muslim. Seventy years ago, Christians made up 80 percent of the population, but now comprise about 10 percent.

Read the full story.

The prophet Isaiah also lived in a day when the Middle East was in turmoil, as Stan Key from OneWay Ministries points out.

Lifting your eyes to the nations, also see and share Pray for the Christmas Season (INcontext International), and ponder these words from John Piper: “God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of His name among the nations.” 

Source: International Mission Board, December 4, 2023

Michaela Knippers grabs the bulky virtual reality goggles off the desk and tightens them onto her head. Her husband, Justin, is already strapped in and waving his hand in the air to scroll through different maps he sees through the goggles.

As new International Mission Board missionaries to Osaka, Japan, they’ve been studying Japanese all day and their brains need a break. For these 20-somethings, that means jumping into the virtual world—a video game simulating reality that, for them, is both relaxing and their place of ministry. 

The couple finds a spot to chill in a virtual backyard that resembles countless real ones—neon tiki lights, Texas-sized mosquitos buzzing around, potted plants, and multi-colored flowers. In the back corner, Justin spies some friends around a fire pit and presses his controller forward to walk over. Within minutes, the missionary shares an insight from Scripture.

Read the full story and watch an interesting three-minute video.

Source: Wycliffe Bible Translators, November 17, 2023

[On March 14] the Kabwa language community of northern Tanzania celebrated the completion of a 14-year project to translate and publish the New Testament in their own language. As partners together with them in this long and challenging journey, SIL Tanzania also celebrates alongside the Kabwa people.

Watch a video of the Kabwa New Testament dedication produced by SIL Tanzania (5.5 minutes).

In another story from Wycliffe, a man in Mexico reports, “The most beautiful experience that I have lived is listening to the Word of God in my language.” May we, too, cherish God’s Word.

Source: Eternity News, November 20, 2023

“My family came to Australia in 1972,” [says Anglican Archbishop Kanishka Raffel]. “My parents were Sri Lankan. My mother’s family was Buddhist, and so my two sisters and I were raised as Buddhists in Australia, which was unusual then.

“In my third year at university, I thought I should devote myself a little to the study of my religion. So, I started privately reading Buddhist literature. I visited the temple. I developed my meditation practice. But in God’s kindness, I’d had Christian friends at high school and at university.

“I said to one of my friends, ‘What’s being a Christian all about?’ And he said being a Christian meant he’d ‘lost control of his life to Jesus Christ.’ Remember, I had devoted the year to serious study of Buddhism and was trying to develop, especially through meditation, control of my emotions and my ambitions and my desires, in order to be released from them. And here was my friend, who I respected, who said he’d lost control of his life to somebody who lived 2,000 years ago!”

Read what happened next in the Archbishop’s journey of faith. Another article from Eternity News reports that Raffel is the first person of non-European background to hold his position. Read his insights on sharing the gospel with South Asian migrants.

Source: Mission Network News, December 4, 2023

On November 30 in Washington D.C., Jesus Film Project, a leading initiative dedicated to engaging the watching world with Jesus, announced the launch of their latest cinematic undertaking, JESUS (2025). This ground-breaking film, set to hit theaters worldwide in December 2025, brings the story of Jesus to life as depicted in the Book of Luke, introducing the story to a new generation through cutting-edge film technology.

JESUS (2025) serves as a spectacular remake of the iconic 1979 JESUS film, which holds a Guinness World Record as the most translated film of all time. Fusing unparalleled visual effects and computer graphics, the film benefits from the expertise and talent of a stellar technical and production team, whose credits include Pixar, Disney, and Star Wars.

Dominic Carola, the director of JESUS (2025) has worked on notable animated films such as Mulan, The Lion King, and Lilo & Stitch. Carola said,

“I feel honored to serve with this truly dream team of feature animation veterans and impressive studio industry artisans. We are working towards presenting the true story of Jesus beautifully animated and making his story more accessible to the world. Leaning into a classic artistic approach, we’re combining that with ground-breaking digital innovations to deliver a visually stunning and emotionally resonant portrayal of Jesus’ life like never before. The team is thoroughly excited that subsequent aspects of the animated film will be used across various platforms, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and the emerging Metaverse.”

Read the full story or learn more from The Jesus Film Project website.

Also from The Jesus Film Project, read a fun article about Christmas traditions around the world. Does your tradition include watching a film about Jesus? You have quite a few choices!