NewsBytes - August 2010

CONTENTS:

1. FLOODWATERS DEVASTATE PAKISTAN
2. MUDSLIDE IN CHINA
3. RUSSIA: FIRES & TOXIC SMOG
4. MEDICAL TEAM IN AFGHANISTAN KILLE
5. BRAZIL'S AMAZING AMAZON MISSIONARIES
6. BIBLE TRANSLATIONS STILL URGENT
7. SOLAR PANEL RADIOS FOR THE ROMA (Europe)
8. TIBETAN BOY ENTHRONED AS 'LIVING BUDDHA'
9. PASTOR IN DAGESTAN MARTYRED
10. 3 CHRISTIAN AID GROUPS ORDERED FROM SOMALIA
11. MALDIVES: ISLAMIC & TROUBLED
12. UK CHURCH LEADERS CALL FOR STRONGER CHILD PROTECTION
13. CHRISTIAN TEENS IN THE U.S.
14. A FILM FOR THE NATIONS (International)
15. ANNUAL PRAYER FOR MUSLIMS-& CHRISTIANS IN MUSLIM LANDS
16. LIVING WATER (International)
17. IN FACT: DEATH FROM UNCLEAN WATER
18. RESOURCES:
    * Free tracts * Free evangelism tools * Supplies for short-term mission trips * Free church bulletin inserts

1. FLOODWATERS DEVASTATE PAKISTAN

Heavy monsoon rains have precipitated the worst floods in Pakistan's living memory, leaving millions homeless and claiming the lives of over 1,600 so far. As rains continue and defences crumble, more villages are inundated and rescuers are unable to reach many people in time. Major roads are cut off, complicating relief efforts being made by hundreds of Christian and secular agencies. Shelter is the most desperate need, followed by water, food, clothing and medical attention. The majority of the crops for the country are produced in Punjab, which has suffered major flood damage. With many crops destroyed, food prices have doubled. The Bishop of Peshawar warns that already-marginalised Christians are in danger of receiving little or no aid. [MISC. REPORTS]

2. MUDSLIDE IN CHINA

More than 1,100 people are now known to have died in a massive landslide in Gansu province, northwest China, on 7 August, making it one of the deadliest incidents so far in the country's worst flooding in a decade. Frantic search efforts continue for 635 people still missing. According to reports, buildings 7-stories high crumpled like paper in the path of the mud, which buried an entire town. More than 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and another 3,000 flooded, leaving many without shelter. More rains in this mountainous area threaten further landslips and hamper rescue efforts by the army. The Three-Self Movement of the Protestant Churches in China (TSPM) and the China Christian Council (CCC) are rallying prayers for survivors. [BBC NEWS & CHRISTIAN POST, 12 Aug.'10]

 

3. RUSSIA: FIRES & TOXIC SMOG

Since mid-June, when a tenacious heat wave set in, more than 30,000 forest and underground peat bog fires have ravaged the countryside outside of Moscow. According to official counts, 52 people have died in the fires, and 4,000 people are now homeless. In Moscow, hundreds of elderly people have died from the combination of heat and smog. At one point, President Dmitry Medvedev told his people that the country's fate was in the hands of the Almighty. Wildfires in the Bryansk region-a region profoundly affected by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster-are creating concern that the fires would stir up harmful radiation particles that had settled in the soil. In the middle of the heat wave, School Without Walls students and other young Christian leaders welcomed over 7,000 children and teenagers to Russian Ministries' evangelistic summer camps, and shared with them the hope of Jesus. [EVANGELICAL NEWS, 12 Aug.'10]

4. MEDICAL TEAM IN AFGHANISTAN KILLED

10 members of an International Aid Mission [IAM] Eye Camp team in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, were murdered on 5 August. The 10 men and women (2 Afghans, 6 Americans, a German and British national) had just trekked 100 miles through the Hindu Kush mountains to give eye care to some of the country's poorest and most remote communities. 2 Afghan team members survived the attack, which is still being investigated. IAM is an international charitable, non-profit, Christian organisation that has benefited an estimated 5 million Afghan people since 1966 in the areas of health and economic development. [www.iam-afghanistan.org]

 

5. BRAZIL'S AMAZING AMAZON MISSIONARIES

400 Indians from14 of Brazil's ethnic groups arrived in old buses, trucks and jeeps for the 38th annual indigenous conference, held in mid-July at a remote mission station in the Amazon jungle. At their meeting, speakers were both Indian and 'white;' and each Indian missionary was given the opportunity to present their church-planting work. Of Brazil's 355 ethnic groups, an estimated 120 are still unreached with the gospel. The Indians at this conference realise they are key missionaries to reaching every tribe in the Amazon region. [HCJB Global News Update, 26-30 July'10]

6. BIBLE TRANSLATIONS STILL URGENT

Though there are approximately 6,900 recognized languages worldwide, more than 2,000 have no written translation of God's Word. India has more than 150 languages without a Bible translation. That's one reason why Wycliffe Associates (WA) will build a translation training centre in northern India. The centre will be housed on the campus of a Bible school and, according to WA President Bruce Smith, will primarily have nationals working on the various translations. Construction is set for this autumn. [ONE NEWS NOW, 18 June'10]

 

7. SOLAR PANEL RADIOS FOR THE ROMA

Broadcaster Trans World Radio has distributed more than 2,000 solar panel radios, produced by Galcom Canada, to Roma people living in remote areas of Romania, reports the Fellowship of European Broadcasters. TWR has also distributed 4,000 sets in the Balkans. The Roma are Europe's most despised people group, numbering approximately 15 million. [INSPIRE, www.twr.org]
 

8. TIBETAN BOY ENTHRONED AS 'LIVING BUDDHA'

After years of searching by senior Buddhist monks, a 5-year-old Tibetan boy was chosen to be the reincarnation of the fifth Living Buddha Dezhub who died in March 2000. With the approval of the Chinese government, Losang Doje was made the 11th Panchen Lama and given the religious name Dezhub Jamyang Sherab Palde in a ceremony attended by hundreds of chanting monks. Tibetan Buddhism has 3 most important monks: the Dalai Lama (political and spiritual head), Panchen Lama (regarded as second in command) and Karmapa Lama (head of largest Buddhist sub-sect Karma Kagyu). Buddhism has between 400 million and 1.5 billion followers.
[PRESS TRUST OF INDIA, 2 August'10]

 

9. PASTOR IN DAGESTAN MARTYRED

A dynamic Christian pastor has died after being shot in the head as he was leaving church on 15 July, in what is being seen as a bid to intimidate converts from Islam in the strongly Islamic republic of Dagestan, in the Caucasus. Pastor Artur Suleimanov (49) was himself a convert from Islam, and his church, the Hosanna House of Prayer in the capital, Makhachkala, is one of the largest in this small Russian republic (population 2½ million) troubled by Islamic insurgency and terrorism. Suleimanov left behind a wife and 5 children. [MISSIONS CATALYST, 21 July'10]

10. 3 CHRISTIAN AID GROUPS ORDERED FROM SOMALIA

Al-Shabaad, a group known to have close ties with al-Qaeda, ordered World Vision, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), and Diakonia to cease their operations at once and leave Somalia. 'Acting as missionaries under the guise of humanitarian work, the organisations have been spreading their corrupted ideologies in order to taint the pure creed of the Muslims in Somalia,' stated the militants. A World Vision spokesman said that although they are a Christian organisation motivated by Christian values, staff members are prohibited from proselytising. The ADRA also insisted it was solely focused on implementing emergency relief and development. Over half of Somalia's people are in urgent need of aid due to heightened conflict in some areas and drought in others. [CHRISTIAN TODAY, 11 Aug.'10]

 

11. MALDIVES: ISLAMIC & TROUBLED

After Saudi Arabia, the Maldives is the only nation that claims a 100% Muslim population. More than 300,000 people live in the Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago featuring 1,192 islets 435 miles southwest of Sri Lanka. Arrival-departure cards given to arriving airline passengers carry a list of items prohibited under Maldivian laws, including 'materials contrary to Islam.' 70,000 expatriate workers, however, representing several non-Islamic religions, including Christianity. In the past several years Christian expats have either been arrested for attending worship in private homes, or denied visas for several months or years on suspicion of being connected with mission agencies. But the islands suffer from a high divorce rate and huge drug problems, with an estimated 30,000 addicts. [MIADHU NEWS, CHRISTIAN POST, 12 Aug.'10]

12. UK CHURCH LEADERS CALL FOR STRONGER CHILD PROTECTION

An emergency meeting of black majority church leaders was held to address a recent episode of Channel 4 TV's Dispatches documentary which looked at the physical abuse of children in some rogue African churches in the UK, who believe them to be witches or demon-possessed. After 'Britain's Witch Children' aired on July 26, the Evangelical Alliance and Churches Together in England facilitated the meeting of leaders with child protection professionals, calling for stronger regulatory measures and recommitting themselves to zero tolerance of exploitation. In parts of Africa, branding a child a witch is now outlawed, but in Britain this practise is perfectly legal, despite the fact it can have horrific consequences, even resulting in the death of the child. The UK has about 3,000 African churches. [CHRISTIAN TODAY, 13 Aug.'10]

 

13. CHRISTIAN TEENS IN THE U.S.

A Barna Group survey shows that teenagers are consistently among the most religiously active Americans, with nearly 6 out of every 10 teens engaged in some type of group spiritual activity in a typical week. Yet a new study reveals that among born-again Christian teenagers, the proportion who said they had explained their beliefs to someone else with different faith views in the last year had declined from nearly two-thirds of teenagers in 1997 (63%) to less than half of Christian teens in the December 2009 study (45%). [www.barna.org]

14. A FILM FOR THE NATIONS

The 'JESUS' Film continues to be the most-translated, most-watched film in history. Since 1979 the "JESUS" film has been viewed by several billion people all across the globe, 7.5 million per year, and has resulted in more than 225 million men, women and children indicating decisions to follow Jesus. It has now been translated into over 1000 languages, with a new language being added nearly every week. According to Dr. Stephen Steele, former CEO of DAWN Ministries, 'Three quarters of all churches planted in the last decade around the world used the "JESUS" film as part of the church planting process.' [www.jesusfilm.org]

15. ANNUAL PRAYER FOR MUSLIMS-& CHRISTIANS IN MUSLIM LANDS

Millions of Christians are taking part in the 30 days of Prayer for the Muslim World during Ramadan, 11 Aug.-9 Sept. Some Muslims become more open to the gospel during this period, but as Rody Rodeheaver with I.N. Network explained, Ramadan is also a time when moderate Muslims may become much more aggressive about their faith. During the 30-day observance last year in Egypt, a church was burned to the ground and at least 155 Egyptian Christians were arrested for not participating. Muslim-background believers are in particular danger. For a prayer guide see http://www.30-days.net [MISSION NETWORK NEWS, 13 Aug.'10]

 

16. LIVING WATER

In 1990 a group of believers went on a mission trip to Kenya and were so impacted that when they returned they began Living Water International (LWI), a Christian agency now celebrating 20 years of bringing clean water and the gospel to thousands of people worldwide who don't have clean water. "God just broke their hearts," says LWI's Paul Darilek. LWI now helps the poorest of the poor in 26 countries with the hope they will not only enjoy drinking water but the living water of Jesus' gospel. School supplies and medicine have also been distributed in some places, like Angola, as part of an effort to bring communities to health and self-sufficiency. [Living Water International: www.water.cc]

17. IN FACT:

6,000 children died today from water-related illnesses. Over 2 million unsafe drinking water deaths occur in the world each year. The majority are children. Unclean water, together with the poor sanitation it creates, is the number one killer in the entire world; beating war, malaria, AIDS and traffic accidents. [UNICEF, BLUE PLANET RUN, WHO]

RESOURCES:

• Sports-related and other tracts provided free by OM South Africa to download and use: www.omsa.org.za
• Evangelism Tools from OM LifeHope including sketchboard talks, paper or rope illustrations, puppeteering and open air evangelism tips and more. www.lifehope.om.org/index.php/Evangelism-Tools
• The Missionary Service Fellowship (USA) Warehouse Programme is designed to provide churches/ministries with supplies to take on short-term mission trips and use as tools to share the gospel. www.missionaryservicefellowship.org
• Hundreds of free, downloadable church bulletin inserts or handouts on a variety of topics, from evangelism to holidays, marriage, biographical vignettes, and children's inserts. http://www.bulletininserts.org

 

NEWS BYTES is compiled monthly by Debbie Meroff of Operation Mobilisation, based in London, England. HTML version and back copies available from www.om.org/en/news/newsbytes. 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. For a free e-mail subscription send a 'subscribe' message to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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