OM Canada - Item

NewsBytes - January 2010

OM International

RESOURCES:
* God Reports * City Relief * Farsi/Arabic Media * Unreached Peoples Site * Mission Strategy for Churches

1. HAITI DEVASTATED

On January 12 a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti, the island’s worst quake in 200 years. With the death toll steadily rising into tens of thousands and up to 3 million more injured or homeless, Christian and secular relief agencies, troops, funds and supplies have converged from all over the world. Haiti is already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80 percent of the 9 million population living under the poverty line and 54 percent in abject poverty. Roughly half of Haitians practice voodoo, which is derived from African spiritism and witchcraft. [MISC. REPORTS]

2. BELIEVERS IN EGYPT KILLED OUTSIDE CHURCH

Coptic Christians number roughly a tenth of Egypt's 80 million population, and celebrate Christmas on January 7. As worshippers were leaving a Christmas Eve midnight service in a town 40 miles from Luxor, southern Egypt, two vehicles approached and gunfire was sprayed into the crowd. Seven people were killed; six Christians and a Muslim security guard. Ten others were injured. Authorities believe the attack was in retaliation for the alleged rape of a Muslim girl by a Christian man last November that triggered widespread sectarian violence. However, the Assyrian International News Agency says police have been harassing Christians since January 7, arresting numerous members of families, mostly at dawn, without warrants. More than 100 Christian youth have been arrested without charge. [MIDDLE EAST CONCERN, 7 Jan.'10/ASSIST NEWS, 13 Jan.'10]

3. IRAQ CHURCHES BOMBED

On December 23, two churches were bombed in Mosul, Iraq. One bomb was detonated near the Syrian Orthodox church of St. Thomas. Another exploded in a cart of vegetables outside the Chaldean church of St. George. The latter bomb killed three people, including one Christian and two Muslims. A Christmas service was also disrupted by militants in nearby Bartilla. Many Christians have fled Mosul, which is the primary target for a series of attacks against believers in recent months. Earlier in December a baby girl died and many others were injured when attackers threw hand grenades at a Christian school. However, some Christians are determined to stay and proclaim the Gospel despite persecution. Only 3.3 percent of the 30.6 million population is Christian. [VOICE OF THE MARTYRS, 23 Dec.’09]

4. VIETNAM: 40,000 GATHER FOR CHRISTMAS

Christian sources in Vietnam report that some 40,000 people gathered in a hastily constructed venue in Ho Chi Minh City to worship God and hear a 1,000-voice choir on December 11, an event of unprecedented magnitude. Reports indicated that up to 8,000 people indicated a desire to follow Christ in response to the gospel message. For the last two years, authorities surprisingly granted permission to unregistered house churches in the city to hold public Christmas rallies, and last year more than 10,000 people participated in one. This year house church leaders approached the government again and although turned down twice for stadium use, used a large field. Permission was for only 3,000 people but 40,000 managed to crowd in, with over 2,000 turned away. On December 21 another rally was held without interference and 12,000 came; 2,000 responded to an invitation to follow Christ. [COMPASS DIRECT, 14 & 21 Dec.’09]

5. INDONESIAN CHURCH’S CHRISTMAS DISRUPTED

More than 1,000 people protested the Christmas Eve service of a church meeting in a makeshift facility in West Java, Indonesia. 200 Christians of the Filadelfia Protestant Church (HKBP) fearfully held their service, including the Lord’s Supper, in spite of the disturbance. The church does not yet have a permanent building, though the congregation has been trying to obtain permission for one for years, said church leaders. Protestors claimed that the Christmas service could not be held at the site because a church building permit had not been issued. However, hundreds of police and soldiers were on hand and guarded the believers. On December 27 another demonstration took place during Sunday worship, with a mob gathering and demanding that services cease. [COMPASS, 4 Jan.’10]

6. ISRAEL POPULATION

At the close of the first decade of the third millennium, Israel has 7.5 million residents, including 5.7 million Jews (75.4 percent of the population) and 1.5 million Arabs (20.3 percent of the population). The remaining 319,000 residents are made up of Christians and followers of other religions. Israel's Foreign Ministry and the Interior Ministry have debated regarding the status of, and benefits given to, evangelical Christians. The Foreign Ministry wanted to recognize the evangelicals as an independent church, like other churches recognized by Israel. An Interior Ministry representative responded that dozens of additional streams of Christians would then demand to receive similar recognition and be eligible for benefits, and the state is not able to withstand such a surge. The matter is still under consideration. Meanwhile, persecution of Israel’s Messianic Jews continues to increase. [JERUSALEM ON-THE-LINE, 4 Jan.’10]

7. BELIEVERS IN COLOMBIA JAILED

Twenty-eight indigenous Colombian Christians have been imprisoned since October for refusing to denounce their faith. A local governor called the Christians together on the pretext of a meeting on October 27 and then announced they were all under arrest. The governor wants them to maintain more of the traditional identity to the tribal region, which includes animism. The group is still being held because they refuse to reconvert. Christian Solidarity Worldwide says at last report, two of the infants being held were seriously ill. The central government has refused to act on the prisoners’ behalf. [MISSION NETWORK NEWS, 23 Dec.’10]

8. FAITH IN AUSTRALIA

According to a recent survey of Australians, 40 percent stated they actually practice a religion and 57 percent have prayed at various times. Of these, 29 percent pray daily. When tough times come, 63 percent of Australians turn to their partners or spouses for support and half turn to other family members or friends. Over a quarter turn to God. 27 percent of respondents said they do not believe in a god or universal power of any sort. More than 4 out of 5 (83 percent) accepted that Jesus was a real figure in history. [CHRISTIAN RESEARCH/EVANGELICALS NOW, Jan.’10]

9. NEW ZEALAND: CALL2NEXT GENERATION GATHERING

Call2All is a movement that began in 2007 to call the body of Christ worldwide to fulfill the Great Commission. This January 19-22, 2010, thousands of university-age students from six continents will gather in New Zealand’s Bethlehem Institute for the Call2All Next Generation Gathering. Scholarships have been given to the first 1,000 delegates from the developing world. Last year over 3,000 Christian leaders gathered in Hong Kong for the congress, and this March 10-13 the Call2All will be held in Cincinnati in the U.S. [ASSIST NEWS SERVICE, Nov.’09]

10. A GIFT FOR BUCHAREST

To celebrate the 550th birthday of Romania’s capital city, Bucharest, World Vision Romania and Biblica Europe teamed up to publish and distribute 10,000 free copies of a Bucharest City New Testament. Because the language of existing Romanian Bibles is increasingly outdated, Biblica created the New Romanian Translation which blends contemporary language with accurate translation from the original Greek. The cover of the customized NTs depict the city’s beauty and included inside are testimonies of well-known residents. [EVANGELICALS NOW, 12/09]

11. “ALLAH” CONTROVERSY, MALAYSIA

Three Malaysian churches were firebombed and others were damaged by Muslim protestors after a controversial court ruling on January 7. Metro Tabernacle Church, Kuala Lumpur was 90 percent gutted’ by an early morning attack. Petrol bombs hurled into the Assumption Catholic Church and the Life Chapel Protestant church in adjacent Petaling Jaya failed to cause damage, but Christians fear further violence. The first incidents came within hours of an appeal court ruling permitting The Herald Catholic newspaper to use the term ‘Allah’ to refer to God. Malaysia’s Muslim majority insist the term can only be used by Muslims, even though Christians in the country have used it for centuries. [THE TIMES (UK), 8 Jan.’10]

12. LIT & OTHER MEDIA DISTRIBUTION IN CHINA

Chinese Church Support Ministries thanks God that during 2009 they were able to print one million Christian books for distribution to churches inside China. Still, most Christians do not own a Bible. They must register before purchasing a Bible, and there are only 70 places to register in 3.5 million square miles! Countless Christians have copied the Book by hand; others carry one page in their pocket—all that they own. ALSO, to provide spiritual resources to house church leaders in China, TWR has distributed more than 101,500 Radio Church Kits to various on-the-ground networks and provinces since ‘94. Each kit contains a Chinese Bible, Christian literature and a portable shortwave radio so individuals and groups can listen to solid teaching programmes such as TWR’s Discipleship on the Air. [RELEASE, Jan.’10/WorldServe Ministries, TWR]

13. USA’s URBANA 2009 & PASSION 2010 CONFERENCES IMPACT THOUSANDS

The first count of Decision Cards turned in at the St. Louis, Missouri Urbana09 Student Missions Conference at the end of December showed that of the 16,200 pre-registered students attending, over 2000 made “first time decisions” to become a follower of Jesus or recommit to following Jesus. This response is an estimated 6-7 times larger than the previous Urbana 2006 conference. Also, over 5,000 made decisions to get involved in cross-cultural mission trips “short term,” from one week to two years. Another 2,400 made “long term” decisions to join missions for over two years. Over 3,770 East Asian students, mostly from China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asian nations, made up 23.3 percent of pre-registered attendees. In Atlanta, Georgia, 22,000 18 to 25-year-olds gathered January 2-5 for PASSION 2010. Challenged by director Louis Giglio and John Piper among others to be more like Jesus and more globally minded, participants donated over $1.3 million for world mission projects. [ASSIST, 31 Dec.’09/CHRISTIAN POST, 6 Jan.’10]

14. “MERCY” KILLINGS ON THE INCREASE

Euthanasia in the Netherlands continued to increase in 2009 with 2,500 cases reported. Experts believe about 20 percent more were not reported; also, assisted suicide deaths were not included. A government paper indicates that hundreds more deaths (approximately 550 in 2005) were directly and intentionally caused by physicians but not reported as euthanasia because they lacked the patient’s consent. Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition-Canada, says, “The [Dutch News] article acknowledged that people with dementia are dying by euthanasia.... but [it] didn't mention how many infants died by euthanasia in 2009. The Groningen Protocol allows infants who are born with disabilities to die by euthanasia, based on the request of the parents and the agreement of the physician." In the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg doctors can legally administer drugs to kill patients. Switzerland allows physician-assisted suicide, which involves a doctor prescribing but not administering the lethal drugs. [BAPTIST PRESS, 12 Jan.’10]

15. “WORST PERSECUTION” LIST

For the eighth year in a row, North Korea again ranked number one on the Open Doors annual World Watch List (WWL). The ongoing crackdown on Christians in Iran bumped that country from the third on the list to second. Following North Korea and Iran this year are Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Maldives, Afghanistan, Yemen, Mauritania, Laos and Uzbekistan. According to reports, North Korean leaders are desperately trying to control society in order to eradicate all Christian activities. There are an estimated 200,000 North Koreans in political prisons, including about 50,000 Christians. [RELIGION TODAY, 7 Jan.’10]

16. FACEBOOK CHURCH

Continuing with its mission to “connect the unconnected,” Las Vegas-based Central Christian Church in the U.S. recently became the world’s first church to launch a Facebook campus, holding live church services 6 times per week. The site features interactive church services with live lobby chat, personal chat, tithing, worship and teaching. Facebook has over 250 million members spanning the globe. The Church partnered with Plainjoe studios and Facebook to develop the campus after positive response from its year-old online campus. With four valley campuses and two online campuses, Central Christian has more than 15,000 attendees worldwide. [INSPIRE online magazine]

17. IN FACT: WORLD MUSLIMS

Every one in four people in the world is a Muslim; that’s 1.57 billion people. Approximately 1.35 billion of these Muslims (86 percent) have not had the opportunity to meet a follower of Christ. [PEW FORUM/FRONTIERS]

RESOURCES

www.Godreports.com, missionaries and ministry organizations can create their own webpages—their "Godreports," where they can share their vision, passion, prayer requests, needs, and updates. They can link photos, video, and worship music to their page.
CITY RELIEF: Food, clothing, office supplies, furniture, medical equipment, etc., available at no cost to established non-profit organisations who are helping the poor to overcome their circumstances through education, housing, and other programmes. www.hopeforthecities.org
In Farsi or Arabic languages: the Bible or the Jesus film, available free from http://livingwordbc.org/FreeStuffNew.asp
Peoplegroups.org is a quick and easy website for info on the status of unreached peoples in various continents and countries.
Free! All the materials you need to help your church develop or rethink their missions strategy: http://DavidMays.org/Strategy/Contents.html

NEWS BYTES is compiled monthly by Debbie Meroff of OM International, based in London, England. Material may be freely copied and forwarded. Items do not necessarily reflect OM’s position and questions should be directed to the original news source.

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