Topping the news today, new legislative restrictions on Christians in India are
growing in the wake of a Christian missionary’s murder. For security reasons,
we’ll call this worker “Mike”. He works with an organization in India, and says people
must now register with police in Orissa State to explain their reasons for converting. “It
has scared people from wanting to share their faith and also scared Christian
organizations from sending mailings to people on their mailing lists because they’re
afraid people will find out that they’re receiving Christian mailings and thus bring
persecution on people that are receiving the mailings. So it’s pretty much put a damper
on quite a few outreach activities and just simple communication.” Mike says that only
means Christians should pray harder. “The Bible says in Ephesians 6 that our battle is
not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities of the darkness of the
world. So prayer is not just a cliché, it’s very, very important to win battles in places
like India.”
News Archives
We begin today’s newscast with details from Ethiopia. Voice of the Martyrs
workers are reporting evidence of severe persecution of evangelicals by both Muslims
and Orthodox Christians. VOM’s Todd Nettleton says: “I think it is a fear on behalf of
the Orthodox Church leaders that evangelical churches are growing very rapidly and
they’re not quite sure how to respond. In this case, it’s especially bad because a good
portion of the persecution is coming from other so-called ‘Christians’.” Nettleton urges
Christians from around the world to remember their persecuted brothers and sisters in
Ethiopia in prayer. “Pray that they will continue to be a strong witness and will live out
their faith on a daily basis, and then I think we can pray that God will pour out His
Spirit on the Orthodox Church there and fill those people with the love for other
Christians, so that part of this persecution can be ended-the part that is coming from
other people who call themselves ‘believers’.”
In today’s headlines, while the battle for Grozny is nearly over, ministries are
struggling to assist thousands of refugees in desperate need after years of
fighting in Chechnya. Russian Ministries George Law says only a handful of relief
agencies are permitted to assist the 800,000 refugees in camps along the border.
“There are only three or four agencies that are able to work in and around Chechnya.
Russian Ministries has received governmental approval and requests for aid and
assistance. We’ve been allowed permission to work there since we already have staff
on the ground.” Law says with the assistance, comes the opportunity to share the
Gospel. However, the situation is grave. “Right now refugees are receiving typically a
half a pound of bread per day and some soup. One meal a day is all they’re given. I
think children are allotted some milk.” Law says prayer is needed for finances to
purchase more supplies.
Elsewhere, police in eastern India have arrested the prime suspect in the
murder of Leprosy Home Mission worker Graham Staines and his two sons.
News agencies report the leader of the mob that attacked the Staines, Dara Singh, was
captured this week in a wooded area after an attempt to buy a weapon. Singh has
confessed to killing the Staines, along with two other murders and faces a February
14th court date. He has also been linked to other attacks on missionaries.
Although Mozambique is no longer in civil war, the many years of turmoil have
taken their toll. The country is one of the poorest in the world, both economically and
spiritually. SIM missionaries Jay and Amy Smoker are involved in an
agriculturally-based ministry where they’re teaching new business techniques to the
Makua (muh-KOO-wa) tribe. “Mozambique has been through a very difficult
period-17 years of civil war-[there’s been] a lot of breakdown of infrastructure. We’ve
taught improved grain storage-many people like to sell their produce right at harvest,
even though that’s the time they get the lowest prices, and we’re trying to teach them to
store their grain and sell it later.” Smoker adds that the other part of their work has
gotten enthusiastic response. “We started a small prayer group and we started showing
the Jesus Film. We were able to show this film 36 times this year, and exposed over
83-thousand people [to the Gospel]. We always went into a local church setting or
with the Farmer’s Association and we never took it in unless we accompanied it with a
seminar on prayer or spiritual powers.”
Next, seminary students in Africa are not waiting till they graduate to use their
gifts to lead others to Christ. Workers with Grace Ministries International at the
Seminary in Nairobi spent their Christmas vacation sharing the gospel in villages across
Kenya. Using evangelism techniques and VBS programs hundreds of Kenya’s learned
of God’s love for the first time, with many turning their lives over to Christ. GMI
missionaries are hoping to return often to the villages to continue their discipleship
efforts.
Topping today’s news, mission workers in Chechnya say the fall of Grozny is the
opportunity of a millennium to reach Chechens for Christ. Russian Ministries’
George Law says they’re working with mostly Muslim Chechen. “These people now
are seeing Christians provide them with help, with bread, with Bibles or scripture
portions, with care, with blankets to warm them. And they’re beginning to realize there
is a difference between the traditional, nominal Orthodox Church and Evangelical
Christianity. And they are excepting this and to our amazement, people are coming to
Christ.” Some 800,000 refugees have fled Chechnya during the years of fighting
between Russians and Chechen rebels. “Pray for the missionaries that are down there
they’re working in difficult situation. The work is not without danger. We also want to
pray for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. There is going to be hate for generations
to come and only the Gospel is going to be able to overcome that.”
Meanwhile, the Bridge International has continued to share the Gospel in
Russia despite the recent upheavals in the economic and political realms along
with the war in Chechnya. In fact, the Bridge’s R.K. Ulrich says their work has seen
encouraging results in St. Petersburg. “We have completed a full year’s course of
training of church planters. They have a Bible school there-they call it the “Bible
Training Center”-their people that graduated from the school just before Christmas,
they are being dispatched in various areas this month.” Ulrich says, because of the war,
there is a lot of desperation. “In the midst of that whole atmosphere, just sending those
young people into these communities to say there is hope, here is a Bible-there is
something to look forward to. We are starting up again in March, and my prayer is that
God will send the right people to the Bible school…the students called to apostolic
work.”
Two years ago, Hurricane Mitch swept through Central America, killing 11,000
people and displacing 3 million. The devastation was complete, setting both
Nicaragua and Honduras back more than five decades. However, Christian
Reformed World Mission’s Mark Volkers says due to their teams’ work, they’ve
seen a positive. “As a result of Hurricane Mitch, two new churches have been
added-there are now five new churches in this suburb, because the people there have
seen the concern and the care, not only of the missionaries, but of the Christian
Reformed people there, the Nicaraguan Christian Reformed people. They’ve seen how
these people are in it for the long haul, how they take great care and help people get
their lives back together, both physically and spiritually.” Volkers says their approach
has opened doors to evangelize. “That’s been one of the things that has spoken to a lot
of the people there-the Christian Reformed Church has been there before Mitch, they
stayed during Mitch, and they’re still there long after Mitch and don’t plan on going
anywhere, but want to continue helping these countries rebuild.”
Next, Baptist International News is reporting a suspected arson has completely
destroyed a boys’ dormitory building on a church campus in the Philippines.
Preliminary reports indicate that the fire was started in the middle of the wood floor in
the only unlocked room in the building. However, there were no students in the building
at the time of the fire and no injuries to anyone. Please pray for the students and
administrators as they rebuild the young men’s lives and the boys’ dorm.
