Missions Catalyst

You’re probably feeling a range of emotions these days. Can you express them? This emotional word wheel by Geoffrey Roberts might help. (Thanks to Flowing Data.)

1. WORLD: Five Ways Isolation Can Radically Deepen Your Faith
2. INDIA: Gospel Opportunities Amid COVID-19
3. SRI LANKA: Hints of New Anti-Conversion Bill
4. HAITI: From Sorcerer to Church Planter
5. RESOURCES: Updates and Additions

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Greetings!

While we were waiting in the checkout line last week, the customer ahead of me asked, “How are you doing?” It wasn’t the “How ya doin’?” I’m accustomed to. It was more like “How are YOU doing? Are you okay in all of this?” Maybe the question was prompted by the magenta ink smear on my nose. (I was there to buy printer ink.) But I could tell the stranger was really concerned.

Times like these bring out the best and worst in people. My dear sister Andrea mentioned in our last in-person home group meeting that she is not always “the best version” of herself. For days after that sweet time of fellowship I pondered her words.

Sometimes we don’t have the right words to answer the question, “How are you?” Hence the word wheel above. For more thoughts on this all-important question, read The Greatest Gospel Question of This Moment: “How Are You Doing?” (Christianity Today).

In case you’re wondering, I’m feeling thankful and hopeful.

Pat

Source: Open Doors, March 27, 2020

Could God use this time of isolation to spark a new personal revival in our faith?

If we take to heart some of the popular stories from persecuted Christians who’ve experienced separation—some in prisons, some on house arrest, and others as secret believers cut off from any contact with Christian community because of their faith—the answer is an emphatic yes.

Here are five ways God can radically deepen our faith in times of isolation and solitude—if we’re brave enough to let him.

1. Isolation and solitude strip down our lives.
2. Isolation and solitude reveal the current that carries us.
3. Isolation and solitude form the geography for an authentic encounter with God.
4. Isolation and solitude can expand our prayer lives.
5. Isolation and solitude can increase our passion for his presence.

» Read more about these five ways to deepen your faith.

» Also from Open Doors, Stuck at Home? Worship with God’s People in These Five Songs.

Source: Mission Network News, March 30, 2020

Keeping the virus contained with 1.3+ billion people and a failed healthcare system is challenging, to say the least, but efforts are underway. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi started a three-week national lockdown.

“Travel from one state to the next is prohibited; all transportation has been shut down. People are filled with all kinds of anxiety,” says Todd Van Ek of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India.

Typically, India is one of the world’s most difficult places to be a Christian. However, “persecution has radically decreased because people are so consumed with the coronavirus,” Van Ek says.

In fact, “Parliament was going to meet and consider a national anti-conversion law, but then they shut Parliament down so it didn’t even come up for discussion,” he adds. “So we see a lot of positive even in the midst of all the problems that come with COVID-19.”

As described here, the nationwide “shelter-in-place” order ended Mission India’s typical ministry activities. However, “we’re still doing ministry; just the way we’re doing it has changed,” Van Ek explains.

Daily life in the villages is changing, too. “India is 70 percent rural, so the impact in the villages is completely different than the impact in the major cities,” Van Ek says. “In the villages, people are conducting worship services outside their home. People have more time because there’s this lockdown going on, so they’re engaged in more conversations.”

» Read full story and other reports about ministry in these times from Mission Network News.

» Also read India’s Coronavirus Lockdown Leaves Vast Numbers Stranded and Hungry (New York Times).

Source: Barnabas Fund, March 24, 2020

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa hinted that he is prepared to introduce an anti-conversion bill to “save this country” from falling into deep difficulties.

On March 2, Rajapaksa, a leading member of the majority Sinhala Buddhist community and brother of the country’s president, spoke shortly before the announcement of a general election, due to take place on April 25 but now postponed because of the coronavirus.

Addressing the annual convention of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress, Rajapaksa outlined the “threats facing the Sinhala Buddhist nation.” He identified the conversion of “traditional Buddhist families to other religions” as a major “threat.”

» Full story includes responses from local Christians.

» Also read Legal Confusion in Sri Lanka Fans Flame of Buddhist Nationalist Hostilities, Sources Say (Christian Headlines).

Source: Bible League, March 23, 2020

Thony, a 45-year-old father of three, comes from a community in Haiti where it is common to practice Voodoo. Thony not only practiced Voodoo, he called himself a sorcerer. He often worked with a woman who was a Voodoo priest, and they both served the spirits. During that time, Thony experienced attacks by these spirits, and the house of his priest partner was set on fire.

He recalls, “I became so afraid of that spiritual darkness that I decided to flee the area. That’s when I moved to a different community in Port-au-Prince.”

His life began to change for the better after his move. A pastor saw him struggling and offered to pay rent for Thony’s new home. Not long after, he was invited to attend a local church. He found new life in Christ when he went to church that day. That was 15 years ago. As he grew in his faith, he became more active in the church. Soon, the pastor suggested he attend church planter training. He says, “I was thrilled to be part of it!”

Thony loved the sense of community he felt in the training as well as the materials he received. He notes, “They have helped me fulfill my ministry significantly. I have used the books to study the Word of God with other people and to facilitate the growth of the churches where I’m a leader now.”

Today, he pastors two churches. “I used to be a sorcerer, but I am a servant of God now. I know and understand the Word of the Lord better.”

» Read full story.