Category: News Briefs

Source: Mission Network News, January 7, 2020

Small groups typically revolve around local communities and churches, but technology is opening a window of connection.

The program is based on Whatsapp, a free messaging, video, and voice application. Sammy Tippit Ministries provides daily videos, resources, and training for small-group leaders to share. It’s up to the group leader to form and operate the group.

“We’re not providing the technology but we’re taking already existing technology and taking small groups and saying ‘form those groups where you can actually communicate on a daily basis,’” said Founder Sammy Tippit.

He doesn’t see these virtual groups as replacements for in-person small groups. The groups are intended for believers who are separated by distance to supplement traditional weekly in-person gatherings.

Currently, a group of believers in China who are unable to meet physically are using these resources to meet weekly for devotions and prayer.

» Read full story.

» Read about another trend affecting global ministry, the migration of Christians and rise of diaspora congregations (The Gospel Coalition).

Happy New Year!

Since the turn of the year (or decade) is a time of reflection, I’d like to submit to you some gems I’ve found while sleuthing for news.

• First, thanks to Paul Neeley of Global Worship for pointing to this BEAUTIFUL poem. See especially item number 3. I am going to frame this one! Hope you like it.
• We can always count on something thoughtful and challenging from INcontext. Read Just a Minute: 20/20 Vision.

Blessings for 2020 and beyond,
Pat

Note: Did you miss our January 1 issue of Missions Catalyst? It included several year-in-review and new-year items and our 2020 events calendar.

In This Issue

Bible 2020 is a year-long campaign encouraging us to speak the words of the Bible aloud across every country and nation. To get involved, join the global community using the app. More info below.

Source: Scripture Engagement, December 2019

“Imagine a world-wide community speaking the words of the Bible together across towns, cities, and continents. Lives will be changed! Together we will read, speak, and hear the words of the Bible each day.”

Bible 2020 is a year-long campaign encouraging us to speak the words of the Bible aloud across every country and nation. It [began] on January 1st, 2020. To get involved, join the global community using the app.

Bringing together the history of oral Bible tradition and the global reach of modern technology, Scottish Bible Society has developed the Bible2020 App, 366 days of short inspirational Bible verses that you can film yourself speaking and share with your community so that together we can cover the globe in God’s Word through the year. The app will collate the videos and post them on a wall, letting you see and hear the nations speak the words of the Bible.

» See full story with promo video.

» It is also Year of the Bible, an initiative of The Table Coalition (formerly Mission America Coalition), a ministry of Lausanne.

Source: Worthy News, January 1, 2020

China will roll out new measures to further circumscribe the spiritual activities of its citizens on February 1, as state news reported [Monday, December 30] that the 42 articles of the Administrative Measures for Religious Groups had been approved.

The articles, which follow the ratification of the Regulations on Religious Affairs published in 2018 that have [caused] plaques of the ten commandments [to be] replaced by photographs of President Xi Jinping in state-run churches, oversee all a church community’s life, activity, and gatherings.

Article 17 states unequivocally that “religious organizations must spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party…educating religious personnel and religious citizens to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, supporting the socialist system, adhering to and following the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

The process of “Sinicization” has already been well underway in state-run Three-Self Patriotic movement churches, with communist officials writing socialist-friendly sermons for pastors and the government reviewing plans to re-translate the Bible with a Chinese socialist edge on the way to creating a new religion.

» Read full story or a similar piece from a Catholic source, Asia News.

» See also: For China’s Underground Churches, This Was No Easy Christmas (LA Times). On the other hand, read this: Sudan Celebrates Christmas Publicly for First Time in Ten Years (Middle East Eye).

Source: World Watch Monitor, December 18, 2019

A Protestant pastor sentenced to three years in prison for “singing extremist songs in church and so inciting religious hatred” has been freed three months early.

Kholmatov, who with wife Gulya has three children, was arrested on unspecified charges during an April 2017 raid on his church. Affiliated churches in the Sogd region were also raided and closed down earlier that year.

Kholmatov said, “I’d like to express my huge gratitude to all the people who supported and prayed for me, my family, and my church. All these three years I felt your prayers. They helped me to stand, they helped my precious wife and children, they helped the members of my church who were left without a pastor then [kicked out of] our building. Your prayers helped us to stand strong through all these difficulties, to grow spiritually, and to transform into the nature of our Heavenly Lord! Thank you from all my heart! Glory to God!”

» Read full story.

» See also: Tajik Authorities Detain 27 Suspected Members Of Banned Muslim Brotherhood along with an analysis piece, Four Issues Central Asia Faced in 2019 (and They’re Not Going Away) (RFE/RL).

Source: Global Recordings Network, December 2019

Note: Kate is a CMS missionary in South Asia. She recently wrote to GRN about her experience with using GRN’s resources.

Eighteen months ago, we started an elderly people’s fellowship at church. Four days a week 15-20 people over 70 years old meet at the church. Most of them are illiterate, and none of them went to Sunday school as children nor grew up in Christian homes. This group has provided an amazing opportunity to help participants grow deeper into God’s Word in a way that is accessible to them. It’s amazing how much they have grown!

We recently did a series on Joseph. We used the GRN colored pictures to show the story on the wall. The group loved coloring in, because it’s totally new for them. So, each week we also gave them a black and white picture of the story and they colored their own. These were then stuck into an exercise book and they used them to retell the story to each other.

We also used the Joseph excerpt from the “Mighty Men of God” audio-visual presentation. They enjoyed the 10-minute overview of the Joseph story. They loved this way of learning from the Bible and have asked that we do the same again but with other series. We are planning to show Exodus next.

» Full story with pictures and check out the GRN Bible Picture pack and other teaching resources available for purchase.

Source: God Reports, December 27, 2019

On a Christian medical and dental mission to Myanmar (Burma), a large number of Buddhists showed up for free medical attention. Some also visited a prayer room adjoining the clinic, which led to an unusual incident that seemed [to those present] to signal a clash in the spiritual realm.

Senior Pastor Mark Morrow, from Crosswalk Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, was in the prayer room and witnessed the remarkable occurrence. [He] down and couldn’t believe his eyes. It was a heavy mahogany or teak table, very sturdily built, that had cracked from one end to the other.

“I was the closest one to that table. My shins were two inches away,” he recounts. “The table cracked in front of me. There wasn’t a temperature change, no weight on the table. As soon as the Buddhists said ‘Dear Jesus’ and said that prayer to accept him, the table popped. The Burmese people jumped. They saw something tangible had happened.”

Pastor Morrow believes the physical manifestation resulted from a battle in the spiritual realm for the hearts of the people—that God raised a standard against the enemy. “The spirit of God just broke the back of whatever demonic forces were holding those people back,” he concludes.

» Full story with pictures and short video.

Merry Christmas to our readers!

If you are a bit last-minute like me you might find Tearfund’s 25 Ideas for an Ethical Christmas just the ticket to help you catch up! You might also be interested in reading about the Christian roots of the fair-trade movement (Christianity Today; preview only). Did you know Ten Thousand Villages was the first fair-trade organization in the world? Let me suggest a similar organization, ECHO in South Florida. See their Christmas page if you’d like to shop.

Feeling super stressed? It might be a good time to read A Lost Screwtape Letter (Dated in December) from The Gospel Coalition. Or take my advice and spend 30 minutes watching the pilot episode of a new show about the life of Christ, The Chosen.

My news reader is full of stories of protests (Hong Kong, Lebanon, Iraq, and India) and reports of religious persecution. The night of our “dear Savior’s birth” heaven announced “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.” I have come to see the angels’ pronouncement not as a declaration but an invitation. As Charles Wesley wrote, “Joyful, all ye nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies…” the invitation is going out and…the nations ARE rising!

Peace to you and yours,
Pat

Source: International Mission Board, December 16, 2019

This month, Myanmar believers in South Thailand are hard at work. They are few in number compared to many churches, but their dedication to share the gospel story this season is unwavering. Three small churches, planted to reach factory workers, band together in December to share the Christmas story through music, drama, food, and fellowship. This will be their third year to produce the outreach events.

They can only plan events on Sunday, because that’s when factories are closed. Many of the believers work 12-hour shifts, six days a week, and then work through the night as the Sunday events approach. They will feed and give small gifts to hundreds of people who attend the events, using a portion of their $9/day salaries that they have faithfully set aside for this effort.

Please pray for the next evangelistic event planned for December 22, 2019. In addition to singing Christmas carols, the Myanmar Christians will perform a nativity drama and tell the Christmas story from the Bible. They also prepare and feed everyone who comes to the event and give them a small gift. The gifts and food also serve as a strong incentive for people to come. They recognize that this season, non-believers are often curious about Christmas and will come to an event to find out more.

» See full story with pictures and prayer points. You could also pray for churches reaching out through Christmas events in Japan, and read OMF’s Five Ways to Pray for Christmas Outreaches.

Source: OMF International, December 13, 2019

Last Christmas morning, Esther and I had a young man, Andrew, and his younger sister, Dawn [over to our house] for breakfast.

They grew up in a nomadic herding family, but Dawn was now in her final year of nursing school. After breakfast and our sharing about shepherds and uniqueness of the manger, she asked if she could share something with us.

Looking serious, she thoughtfully reflected,

“I remember when you came to our home and shared Jesus! I was just a little girl! You see the fruit of your prayer now! I am a Christian and my brother is studying to be a pastor! God cares for us, like he did the shepherds!”

A few times Dawn was so overwhelmed by God’s grace in her life that she could not speak and started crying. She said she thinks God may be calling her to work one day with children with disabilities and has been volunteering through the Christian Nurses Association.

Indeed, years ago we shared the gospel with Andrew and Dawn’s parents, not paying much attention to their children in the background. Andrew was often out tending the goats. Andrew listened to us and also read the gospel booklet that we had given to his parents. He prayed to trust in Jesus for his salvation.

In time both Andrew and Dawn went to the capital, Ulaanbaatar, to study, and they are both active in church. He is studying at Union Bible Theological College and hopes to serve in his remote home county. He has already completed his compulsory year of military service. Dawn completed nursing school and the national nursing exam, and currently works at a hospital. Andrew teaches guitar to Kazakh youth. Over our Christmas breakfast we had talked about possible ways they could share Jesus’ love with those around them.

» Read full story and praise God for the growth of the Church in Mongolia, most over the course of a single generation.