A Free Service of OM NEWS & INFORMATION*
CONTENTS:
1. MAF PLANE CRASHES IN TSUNAMI AREA
2. ERITREA: MORE CHRISTIANS JAILED
3. EASTER UNWRAPPED FOR NEW ZEALANDERS
4. DANCING THE GOSPEL
5. PNG WARRIORS TURN TO GOD
6. MONGOLIANS BEGIN REACHING THEIR COUNTRYMEN
7. SUPREME COURT CONSIDERS RIGHTS FOR DALIT CHRISTIANS
8. INDIAN 'GODMAN' FILM MAY REACH 1 BILLION VIEWERS
9. CHURCH PLANTING BY HELICOPTER IN MADAGASCAR
10. DONKEY DISTRIBUTION
11. NO CHICKENS IN THIS KFC!
12. RELIGIOUS RENEWAL IN FRANCE?
13. UK CONVERTS IN DANGER
14. RECORD ENQUIRIES THANKS TO PASSION FILM
15. CYBERCAFES AND MISSIONS
16. GOD'S SMUGGLER
17. GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER
18. IT'S THE GOSPEL TRUTH
RESOURCES
"10 ways to avoid becoming a missionary" * Easy English materials * Ethnic Harvest * Family Worship
1. MAF PLANE CRASHES IN TSUNAMI AREA
Just weeks after an Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) plane crashed in a remote area of Papua New Guinea Feb. 22, killing New Zealand pilots Chris Hansen and Richard West, MAF is investigating a second accident. A plane crashed while distributing relief supplies near the tsunami-affected city of Aceh, Indonesia, on March 9. Both MAF staff members onboard are safe, but the plane was badly damaged when it landed on an unprepared area of road short of the landing area, and hit debris. [MISSION NETWORK NEWS/HCJB 11 Mar.'05]
2. ERITREA: MORE CHRISTIANS JAILED
A group of 27 Sunday school teachers and students arrested in the Eritrean capital of Asmara in February, while they were having classes, make a total of 214 Christians jailed by police authorities in the past two months alone. Most of the students are young people, who are being held with their teachers at a local police station. Two weeks before, 14 members of another church were apprehended during a Bible study at the home of their pastor, and 15 women were jailed as they met for prayer. Local authorities reportedly described these evangelical believers as "a threat to national security." Some Protestant Christians are suffering imprisonment in metal shipping containers or underground cells for refusing to renounce their faith. To join Christian Solidarity Worldwide's new lobbying campaign see www.csw.org.uk [COMPASS DIRECT 2/05]
3. EASTER UNWRAPPED FOR NEW ZEALANDERS
Without Jesus, Easter is like eating an empty Easter egg: a hollow experience. This is the message of the "Easter Unwrapped" stage show, to be presented to schools and churches around New Zealand in the lead-up to Easter. Rick George, who runs the show, has for the past six years been the New Zealand contact for Oasis, which produces children's resources and creative stage shows for schools and churches. [CHALLENGE WEEKLY/WORLDWIDE PHOTOS 24 Feb.'05]
4. DANCING THE GOSPEL
Expressing the Bible in Aboriginal dance is bringing a new generation of Aborigines to church and removing resentment at church complicity with past government behaviour, according to Australian newspaper, The Age. Anglican Board of Mission-sponsored dancers visited the Yarrabar aboriginal community, south of Cairns, this week and re-enacted scenes such as the temptation of Jesus in traditional dance. "Since we revived our culture there has been a big interest in God," said Revd Wayne Connolly. There is a lot of unresolved anger amongst Aborigines against white people and the church's part in the programme - only ended in the 1960s - of separating Aborigine children from their families and assimilating them into white families and church missions. "But gradually healing is taking place," says Mr Connolly, and the Yarrabar church is increasingly looked to for counselling, support and vision in the 3000-strong community. [THE AGE 14 Feb.'05]
5. PNG WARRIORS TURN TO GOD
More than 500 warring tribesmen in Papua New Guinea repented and surrendered their arms following a month-long evangelistic rally in Koroba, Southern Highlands Province. Jack Peter, a member of the Wesleyan Evangelical Gospel Ministry which ran the rally, said that rival clans the Tokomu, Beteke, Yatamali and Mukuja came together, testified and made peace. Peter said: "Most of the firearms, marijuana and other weapons that have been used during the tribal fight since April 2002 were handed in and burnt. And this was the first time this has happened in our tradition without any compensation being paid." [CWM
NEWS/WORLDWIDE PHOTOS 10 Feb.'05]
6. MONGOLIANS BEGIN REACHING THEIR COUNTRYMEN
Mongolia is not typically known for being open to the gospel. Dominated by Buddhists and Shamanists, less than 1% of the population claims the Christian faith. Dan Jacobson, a missionary serving in Mongolia with New Tribes Mission, and says he's seeing a change in his ministry. There are now churches in nearly all of Mongolia's 22 provincial centers. Jacobson says his ministry initially focused on evangelism, but it's shifting to "discipleship and setting up the church in such away that it becomes totally Mongolian," with local leadership to oversee and run it. "They are starting to see their own people be set free from things that bound them for hundreds of years, and to me they are much more effective [than foreign missionaries]. We're starting to see Mongolians step forward and reach their own people. I think that's when we're truly going to see the abundant harvest," he said. (MNN/HCJB 11 Feb.'05]
7. SUPREME COURT CONSIDERS RIGHTS FOR DALIT CHRISTIANS
India's Supreme Court has decided to study the legal implications of denying job and education quotas to Dalit Christians. Under the present quota system, approximately 26% of jobs and educational placements are reserved for members of lower castes. Initially, religious adherents were excluded from these provisions. Due to recent lobbying efforts, the government amended the law and included Dalit Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs under the quota system. However, Dalit Christians and Muslims are still excluded, and India's 240 million "untouchables" still face harsh restrictions. [COMPASS 2/05]
8. INDIAN 'GODMAN' FILM MAY REACH 1 BILLION VIEWERS
An India version of Book of Hope's film about Jesus, "The Godman," is expected to be viewed by up to 1 billion people in India at the end of this year when the production is complete, says ministry spokesman Chad Causey. The film, being produced in English and Hindi and dubbed in "6 or 7 languages," will air on the country's national television networks. "The Godman" is animated and particularly aimed at audiences of children and youth. Production in Spanish is also expected to be completed in 2005. [MNN 10 March '05]
9. CHURCH PLANTING BY HELICOPTER IN MADAGASCAR
40 new churches have already been planted among a 2.4-million-strong people group in Madagascar's eastern rainforest. Because the rainforest is so dense, teams of four evangelists fly to their starting point by helicopter, then travel on foot for 2 weeks through difficult and sometimes dangerous terrain, planting new churches and strengthening existing ones. The helicopter picks them up again, often hundreds of miles from their starting point. The interdenominational Madagascar Mission was started in 1998 and partners with other mission agencies for short-term outreaches. The Mission plans to start 7 Christian radio stations in strategic centres to help reach unreached people groups and provide a means of follow up and support for newly-planted churches. [FRIDAY FAX 11 March '05]
10 [The bible continues to be distributed in the Arab world as well.]
11. NO CHICKENS IN THIS KFC!
An American evangelist is training young missionaries in one of the nation's most unlikely places: public schools. Bob Heath, founder and director of Kids for Christ (KFC) USA said his organization has seen more than 6,000 children accept Christ since it began launching Bible clubs in Tulsa, Oklahoma public elementary and middle schools in 2001. In turn, the children have used the tools they learned during the weekly meetings to lead 2,500 of their friends and family members to salvation. "I ... simply wanted to empower people--children and their parents and leaders--to start Bible clubs in their schools," Heath told "Charisma" magazine. Though some Christian organizations have been challenged for hosting Bible clubs in public schools, Heath said he hasn't received any significant opposition. KFC has requests from groups nationwide interested in beginning Bible clubs in their local schools. [CHARISMA, 17 Feb.'05]
12. RELIGIOUS RENEWAL IN FRANCE?
"Bible sales are currently at an all-time high in France," reports the French Bible Society. 100,000 Bibles and 50,000 New Testaments were unexpectedly sold in 2003. La Bible Expliquée, a Bible with explanations for seekers, sold 80,000 copies in the first month, even in secular bookshops and supermarkets. "God, your shares are on the rise!" reported a business magazine on the sudden rise of religious interest in the post-materialistic age. Since 1950, the number of Evangelicals in France has multiplied from 50,000 to 350,000 and many nominal Catholics have experienced a renewal of their faith through Alpha Courses. Daniel Liechti, researching for France Mission, estimates that one new church was planted in France every 11 days for the past 35 years. There are now 1,850, plus another 800 to 1,000 immigrant fellowships. 40 million of the 60 million French population consider themselves Catholics, but only 5 million attend a church service at least once each month. There are some 5 million Muslims, 650,000 Jews and one million Protestants. [CHRISTIANITY TODAY/FRIDAY FAX 11 March '05]
13. UK CONVERTS IN DANGER
Some 3,000 Christians in the UK are in danger because they have chosen to convert from Islam. Some are being actively harassed and persecuted, but according to Barnabas Fund many church leaders seem more interested in defending their attackers than in standing up for the rights of the converts. Nissar Hussain, a Muslim-background believer in Bradford, has suffered three years of harassment from the local Muslims in his neighbourhood. His car has been torched and rammed, bricks have been thrown through his window many times, and there have been threats to burn the house down. Other converts, especially young women, have been rejected by their family and sometimes brutally assaulted; some are
threatened with death. [BARNABAS FUND 10 March '05]
14. RECORD ENQUIRIES THANKS TO PASSION FILM
A record number of people contacted the Christian Enquiry Agency (CEA) in Britain for information about the Christian faith in 2004, it has been announced. The CEA, which works on behalf of major denominations and Christian agencies, received 5,000 enquiries last year, up by about 3,000 on 2003. According to Director Jeff Bonser, many of the additional queries were generated by Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ. Response postcards were handed out at cinemas after the film. Around 1,000 people a day also logged onto the site www.rejesus.co.uk site, an estimated one-fifth of them enquirers. Meanwhile, Mel Gibson has cut 5 to 6 minutes of the most violent material from his The Passion film to create a more family-friendly version. [BAPTIST TIMES/WORLDWIDE PHOTOS 24 Feb.'05]
15. CYBERCAFES AND MISSIONS
Evangelistic Internet cafes (Icafes) provide a strategic platform for self-sustaining missionary work among unreached people groups. Operating as a normal business in the community, they witness to the unreached via friendship evangelism and the formation of house churches. The income from the icafe helps support the indigenous Christian missionaries who run it. The computers are generally recycled computers that have been donated. Background to this use of Internet cafes can be found on the Cybermission website
http://www.cybermissions.org/icafe/index.html where you will find a powerpoint presentation providing some background, typical operational statistics for a properly run icafe, a summary and diagram of the process of setting up an icafe, an article on the social impact of secular cafes in China and useful links for those using internet cafes in ministry. [CMDNet 19 Feb.'05]
16. GOD'S SMUGGLER
76-year-old Dutch evangelist Andrew van der Bijl, better known as "Brother Andrew," was told by doctors 50 years ago that he was "too weak to travel" because he suffered from chronic back pain. Since then he has visited 125 countries and travelled an estimated 1 million miles. In the 1950s and '60s, he successfully transported thousands of Bibles into communist countries, and a 1967 book about his adventures, God's Smuggler, gave his ministry the worldwide support he needed to expand. In 1981, during an ambitious effort called "Project Pearl," his organization, Open Doors with Brother Andrew, delivered a shipment of
1 million Bibles to China via a large sailing vessel. Open Doors now has 27 offices worldwide with 350 full-time employees and an army of volunteers. The ministry smuggles 1 million Bibles to China annually and distributes many more to 45 other countries. Exactly what is the grand total?--"We don't count," he says. "Millions. But God is the perfect bookkeeper. He knows." [Charisma News, 8 March '05]
17. GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER
Momentum is gathering for the inaugural Global Day of Prayer (GDP) set for Pentecost Sunday, May 15, 2005. An estimated 200 million Christians from all of the 280 nations of the world, including those in the 10/40 Window, will unite in asking God to bless the nations, so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord (Hab.2:14). GDP is being coordinated by the International Prayer Council, Transformation Africa, Prayer Week and many other Christian organisations and prayer networks. Leading up to the campaign, from May 6-15, intercessors are encouraged to pray day and night for 10 days for congregations, cities and regions. On May 14, prayer warriors are urged to spend a whole night of prayer for youth.
http://www.wholenight.com Finally, on May 15, Christians are asked to unite for prayer in stadiums, churches, market squares, etc. For more information visit
http://www.globaldayofprayer.com [CMDNet 5 March '05]
18. IT'S THE GOSPEL TRUTH
* The church has grown more in the 20th century than in all the previous 19 centuries since the time of Christ combined, with almost 2 billion adherents worldwide.
* Every day 166,000 people hear the good news of Jesus Christ for the first time.
* Every year, 27 million people profess faith in Christ as Savior for the first time.
* About 1.6 billion people have never yet heard the life-saving good news contained in John 3:16.
* In 2000, evangelical Christians worldwide (pop. 647.8 million) collectively earned $6.85 trillion.
* Evangelical Christians worldwide annually give approximately $181 billion. - [
http://www.generousgiving.org]
[mert: That amounts to 2.7%]
RESOURCES
"10 ways to avoid becoming a missionary" See
http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/10ways.htmEASY ENGLISH materials for those working overseas.
http://www.easyenglishworld.comETHNIC HARVEST: Foreign language gospel resources and practical ministry
ideas to help churches become more effective at multicultural ministry in their communities.
http://www.ethnicharvest.orgFAMILY WORSHIP: Website run by Ichthus Christian Fellowship with worship
resources including songs by email.
http://www.familyworship.org.uk****************************************
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NEWS BYTES is a monthly roundup of world mission-related news compiled by Debbie Meroff, who is based with OM's International Coordinating Team in London, England. Material may be freely copied and circulated. Items do not necessarily reflect OM position and questions should be directed to the original news source. Html version can be found on www.om.org. Please do not hit "reply" to this email as subscriptions are automated. For a free e-mail subscription send a message to:
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