Category: News Briefs

Source: Mission Network News, May 27, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist group, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), won [last month’s national election] by a landslide—guaranteeing five more years of power.

“My friends in the business community [find] it to be a good thing because they see it as a political stability… they don’t expect any major changes. But, I’ll tell you from the Christian community, it is really not a good thing,” [says Bible for the World’s John Pudaite].

“We have seen the escalation of persecution… during the last five years that this current party has led the government. Christians across the country are bracing themselves for another five years of the same, and many are expecting it to get worse.”

Last fall, Hindu nationalists rallied around the goal of making India a “Hindu Rashtra” (Hindu nation) by 2024. Modi and the BJP support the concept, making no secret of their “Hindu first” agenda.

» Full story explores what Hindu nationalism means for Christians and suggests ways to pray for India.

» Another article from MNN reports that Indonesia’s national election has exposed a rift.

Source: Open Doors USA, June 3, 2019

After having increasing doubts about Islam—the religion he had known all his life in Saudi Arabia—Mohammed began looking for truth online. What he found changed his heart and life as he knew it forever.

“For many years, I had doubts when reading the Quran,” Mohammed shares. “For example, the fact that Allah and Mohammed are considered to be equal. How could Mohammed, a sinful man, be equal to God?”

There were more inconsistencies. Gradually, Mohammed decided to put his Muslim faith to the test. All his life, he had been taught that missing even one of the five daily prayers would cause a Muslim immediate misfortune. Something bad would most definitely happen if you ceased praying.

“So, I decided to stop praying for just one day and see what happened,” Mohammed says. “Nothing bad happened. On the contrary, I had an amazingly successful business day.”

Mohammed’s doubt continued to mount. He began to look on the internet to learn about other religions. Soon, he learned that the message of the Bible is easy to translate and understand in every culture.

The love of God that he saw in the scriptures he read stuck with him. He continued his search online, even downloading an app on his smartphone. Through it, he learned about the basic foundations of Christianity. Mohammed felt more and more eager to meet Christians, visit a church, and own a Bible.

He traveled to two different countries in the Middle East where Christians are openly allowed to visit a church and obtain a Bible. However, these “open” churches are usually not allowed to minister to Muslims, only to Christians from families that have been believers for centuries. Mohammed wasn’t allowed to step foot in either church. He walked away, dejected and empty-handed.

» Keep reading.

»  Also read Salek’s story, The Narrow Escape (Frontiers USA).

Source: Mission Frontiers, May 2019

Editor’s note: The following is excepted from an interview with Indian mission leader Victor John and describes a church-planting movement among the 90 million Bhojpuri of North India.

The movement started in 1998. I had begun focusing on work among the Bhojpuri since 1992 and in 1994 we began the ministry in earnest. We held the first Bhojpuri consultation, began a systematic survey for all the Bhojpuri districts, and made a decision to focus on obedience-based discipleship. We didn’t start with a blueprint for how the ministry would unfold; everything has been evolving through the years.

The real breakthrough with significant numbers happened when we released the first edition of the Bhojpuri New Testament in 1998. After that the movement began growing exponentially. It wasn’t a huge movement at that time. Things were happening in various places, but we had no idea of the big picture of what the Lord was doing.

In 2000 an audit was done by the International Mission Board (IMB), and they pointed out that exponential growth was taking place. The tipping point had been in 1998, when things just shot up. We only had 800 pastors at that time, and all of their ministries had grown within the previous two or three years. The IMB’s audit showed the rapid growth curve and it hasn’t stopped since then. Additional audits have been done by other groups in subsequent years, showing the endurance and growth of the movement.

I just met yesterday with 35 or 40 leaders who shared amazing stories. We were counting the generations of believers and churches and it’s over 100 generations! Every generation of believers starts a new church. We don’t count the number of believers (how many people got saved). We count the number of churches started.

» Read the rest of this interview. Readers may want to check out the rest of this edition of Mission Frontiers, focused on India: The Greatest Challenge to World Evangelism.

» For more of the story, get the new book Bhojpuri Breakthrough: A Movement that Keeps Multiplying, by Victor John with Dave Coles. The paperback edition $US15 from WIGTake Resources if you order before the end of May. An US$9.99 Kindle edition should be available soon. See excerpts: Bhojpuri Movement Transforming Social Dynamics (Mission Frontiers) and Bhojpuri Girl Raised from the Dead (Beyond).

Source: Create International, April 2019

Years ago, the Lord led Create International to do two films for Algerian Arabs, a very unreached people group. Later while attending a mission conference in Malta we met up with our friend who played a significant role in one of these films. He told us how God is using this film in miraculous ways and how the Lord has given him a new ministry as a result.

» Listen to the story (18-minute interview). This is the first in a series of podcast episodes from Africa. You might also want to check out other resources and opportunities from Create International, a ministry of Youth with a Mission.

Source: Open Doors, May 7, 2019

[It] seemed like any Sunday for 80-year-old [Assemblies of God] Pastor Pierre Ouédraogo, who has spent 40 years serving his church and village community in the northeastern Soum province of Burkina Faso. On April 28, he gathered for worship with his congregation. And like every Sunday, he preached the Word of God with the wisdom that seasoned years of life and ministry bring.

But shortly after the service, an ordinary Sunday suddenly turned deadly and a church building where worshipers had just gathered became a crime scene.

Pastor Pierre was still talking with several congregants in the churchyard [when] a dozen men on motorbikes stormed the area.

A local leader who wished to remain anonymous told World Watch Monitor, “The assailants asked the Christians to convert to Islam, but the pastor and the others refused.”

Reportedly, the attackers gathered Pastor Pierre and the five other congregants under a tree and then confiscated their Bibles and cell phones.

“Then they called them, one after the other, behind the church building where they shot them dead,” the leader said.

He and his five congregants [one his son] were buried the same day in a ceremony that drew people from both Christian and Muslim communities. The pastor leaves behind his wife and six other children.

The community leader said that when he and others advised the pastor to leave the area, he refused, saying he “would rather die for his faith than leave the community he has been serving for 40 years.”

» Read full story or the related story from World Watch Monitor (with background on the spike in violence in this region). See also a report on this attack from the BBC, as well as one about another attack on a Catholic church this past Sunday (May 12). Let’s pray for Burkina Faso.

Source: FEBC Radio, April 23, 2019

This month, FEBC’s South Africa team hosted a live broadcast in a village in Mozambique that is 97% Muslim. After listening to FEBC’s broadcasts for months, the villagers invited staff to come and share the gospel with them. After hearing, 40 people gave their lives to the Lord for the very first time.

Two new listener clubs, each comprised of 20 people, were formed as a result of so many villagers hearing the gospel. Villagers said they will strive towards establishing more listener clubs and will study the Word of God until they know it very well.

Praise the Lord for this incredible harvest of new believers in Mozambique!

» Read full story.

Source: Operation Mobilization, May 9, 2019

Yaro was an Islamic teacher who was very well versed in the Qur’an. Over time he found himself drawn to Jesus over Mohammed and wondered: Why are we not teaching about Jesus in the mosque if the Qur’an mentions him so much and with so much virtue? When he went to his leaders, they told him not to ask such questions.

One teacher did answer him, however. He said: “This is a secret; if we started to teach about Jesus in our mosques then we might as well open churches.” That comment stayed with Yaro, and when he heard the gospel, he committed his life to Jesus.

When word of Yaro coming to faith reached the other Islamic leaders and teachers, they confronted Yaro, beating and interrogating him. Despite the pain, Yaro stood by his decision to follow Christ and would not deny his new faith.

Because Yaro was an Islamic teacher, everything he owned had been provided by the mosque. By deciding to follow Christ, Yaro lost a stable income as well as his home and everything in it.

During this hard time Saida, Yaro’s wife, decided that if her husband was a follower of Jesus, she needed to be one as well and gave her life to Christ. Together with their two children they were stranded, without a home or food and with just the clothes on their back. Family and friends turned them away, saying that as long as Yaro and Saida were Christians, they could not help them.

» Full story shares how OM came alongside this couple, who continue to grow and share their faith.

» Readers might also be interested in the testimony of a pastor from Ethiopia, once part of a child-sponsorship program, who shares how God intervened in his life and transformed him (Compassion International).

In this edition:

1.       USA: 2019 Trends in Bible Engagement
2.       SRI LANKA: Misconceptions about the Easter Bombings
3.       INDIA: Police File Charges against Pastors
4.       SUDAN: On the Cusp of Change
5.       BRUNEI: Converting from Islam to Carry Death Penalty
6.       WORLD: Redefining the Unreached

 

Source: Barna Group, April 19, 2019

Each year, Barna examines behaviors and beliefs related to the Bible among American adults, a study conducted in partnership with American Bible Society. In the 2019 “State of the Bible” report, we find encouraging boosts in Bible engagement and that, despite continued skepticism, scripture still impacts the daily lives and beliefs of many Americans.

» Read more of the report here.

» For the seventh consecutive year, Australia is calling the nations of the world to join with them in three days of prayer and fasting for the United States of America, April 30 to May 2. May 2 is America’s National Day of Prayer. Consider joining Australian brothers and sisters in prayer for their upcoming elections May 18. Watch Australian Election Prayer & Fasting.