Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – August 4th 2021

Continue to pray for South Africa after looting and riots and for how communities are coming together to clean up and rebuild.  Give thanks that churches were allowed to open last Sunday for people to meet in person.

NetACT partner colleges are keen to make greater use of the portal but Fraser is still struggling to update one NetACT site with a new and improved version of the software.  He also faces a couple of sensitive and challenging issues requiring wisdom, tact, courage, one concerning attitudes amongst NetAct colleagues of different backgrounds, and the other with church in Wellington and the attitude and hang-ups of another person in leadership.

Prisons are still closed to spiritual workers.  Pray for men who struggle to follow Jesus with no other encouragement and those tempted to return to gangs to be protected.  It’s always challenging to be released after a long prison sentence but in these days especially so.

Dawn asks for wisdom as she meets someone who believes all sorts of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.

A couple at church live by a river in Wellington where many people sleep rough. They are generous and try to show God’s love but have been robbed many times, often by those they’ve previously helped.  It’s a terribly stressful situation in which to live. Pray for protection for them.

Edwin and Mbulelo were released in July, need to join a Bible teaching church, be loving and patient as they rebuild relationships, and be protected against the temptations to return to their old ways.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Chinese Churches Ordered What to Preach – August 4th 2021

Church in Chains, 21 July 2021 (excerpts)

Pastors of churches registered with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the government-controlled Protestant churches, have been ordered to preach sermons based on President Xi Jinping’s recent speech marking the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party.

In the president’s speech, delivered on 1 July, he eulogised the party’s achievements and stated: “Only socialism can save China, and only socialism with Chinese characteristics can develop China. We will never allow anyone to bully, oppress or subjugate China. Anyone who dares try to do that will have their heads bashed bloody against the Great Wall of Steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people.“

Officials issued the order to pastors at a national conference of the China Christian Council (which oversees education in TSPM churches) on 8 July led by Xu Xiaohong, chairman of the TSPM, and Wu Wei, chairman of the China Christian Council. Both officials are state-appointed. The theme of the conference was “Learning and Implementing the Spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Speech of July 1”.

At the conference, pastors were told that they are expected to make President Xi’s speech a main object of study and preaching and a matter of discussion for Bible study groups. Failure to do so would demonstrate that their churches are not fully “Sinicised”, which is necessary for churches to be allowed to operate.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

What it Means to Follow Christ in Algeria – August 4th 2021

Voice of the Martyrs, 29 July 2021

Algeria is a shining example of church growth in North Africa and is also a leader for theological training and church development in the region. Nearly all of the church growth has occurred within the Berber community.

Although churches are allowed to meet openly, in 2018 the government temporarily closed many church buildings and harassed congregations.

Berber Christians, who are watched carefully, have gained a collective voice through an Evangelical association of churches.

Sharing the gospel with Arabs can cause serious problems, but Berber Christians continue to share the gospel boldly in and around al-Qaida terrorist camps.

Secret communities of Arab Christians exist throughout the country. While it is not common for Christians to be imprisoned, one believer was imprisoned for nearly a year in connection with a social media post. He received a presidential pardon in July 2017.

There is a Bible Society in Algeria, but the printing and importation of Bibles is carefully monitored, limited and controlled by the government.

Bible distributions are risky for the distributors and congregations involved, and Bibles are often confiscated by government officials.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Local Islamic Leaders Call for Arrest Of Christians – July 15th 2021

Voice of the Martyrs, July 8, 2021 (excerpts)

After Mannan left Islam to follow Jesus Christ in Bangladesh, area Islamic leaders called for villagers to ostracize his relatives, even telling local vendors to deny them food.

As animosity toward Mannan and his relatives grew, the Islamic leaders and angry Muslim villagers called for police to arrest him and his relatives, falsely accusing them of causing trouble.

On June 15, village police called Mannan, his relatives and the Islamic leaders to the police station. In front of about 100 villagers, the police called for peace and coexistence, and worked to calm tensions.  The police official said there were no grounds for an arrest to be made and stated that Bangladeshi law allows for freedom of religion.

Praise God for the police officers, who prioritized peace and religious freedom.  Pray for Mannan to remain firm in Christ and for his relatives to decide to follow Jesus as well.  Pray that the hearts of the Islamic leaders and villagers will be softened and that they turn toward Jesus for forgiveness, salvation, and everlasting life.

Churches are careful when offering relief to the poor and needy because they do not want to encourage false conversions among people claiming faith in Christ solely for economic benefit.

While Bangladesh is a majority-Muslim nation, the government avoids undue influence from Islamists and actively fights extremism. Millions of Bangladeshis are learning about Christ and the Bible through media outreaches.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Barnabas Update – July 15th 2021

18 killed by suspected Fulani Islamist militants

Barnabas Fund, 13 July 2021 (excerpts)

Eighteen Nigerians were killed in Christian-majority southern Kaduna State when suspected Fulani Islamist militants stormed two villages in Zangon Kataf Area.  9 villagers died and houses were destroyed in Makarau on 11 July in an assault that began at around 5 p.m.

“These attacks are too much for us to bear, no one is safe in our communities,” said a resident. “Nobody can go to his farm now.”

Residents of Warkan were asleep when a large number of gunmen swept into the village at 2 a.m. on 9 July, killing 9 villagers and razing houses. Many others were injured. “The entire village is in confusion,” said a resident. “The destruction by the suspected Fulani is unbelievable.”

The attacks were condemned by the Congress of Northern Nigeria Christians (CNNC), which called on the country’s President Muhammadu Buhari and State Governor Nasir El-Rufai to protect people from the “incessant killings” and said the growing insecurity has made it almost impossible for farmers to go to their farms and people to go about their daily lives.

They also called on the good people of Nigeria and the Christian body as a whole to rise up and pray for God’s intervention to touch the hearts of those that have given themselves to killings, kidnapping, rape, maiming and the destruction of properties to have a rethink and stop.”

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – July 15th 2021

Pray for a peaceful resolution to the standoff between ex-president Jacob Zuma and his supporters and the South African state.

Pray for prisoners who can have no visitors and are missing the spiritual input. Pray for prison officers as they have a dangerous and difficult job. Pray especially that those who know Jesus will be strengthened and able to minister to colleagues and inmates.

Dawn has delivered textbooks for men in Drakenstein Medium A to start a Bible study course.  The chaplain has to work as an ordinary officer in the single cells section and no one is providing spiritual input for the inmates at all. His concern is that some men will slip back into the gangs. Pray for believing inmates to encourage and strengthen each other in God and volunteer spiritual workers will be allowed back in.

Fraser is waiting for Stellenbosch IT dept. to help him with a computer problem as the IT department has retained control over certain aspects of his laptop

Jacob Zuma’s supporters have incited rioting and violent protests, businesses are being looted, locals are resorting to “mob justice”, the covid19 vaccination rollout is being halted and the army deployed.

A lot of shootings are occurring among the taxi firms in Cape Town, making it hard for those from the townships with no other means of transport to hold down honest jobs. So much seems to be conspiring against ordinary families.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Murdered Pakistani Christian case opens – July 15th 2021

Barnabas Fund, 13 July 2021 (excerpts)

A Christian factory worker in Pakistan died after being allegedly abused physically by two co-workers. A murder inquiry is ongoing.

Shahzad Masih, 36, was confronted by Muhammad Abdullah and Muhammad Fizan on 18 June in Faisalabad. Lawyers acting on behalf of Shahzad’s family claim that the pair subjected him to a violent indecent assault, causing severe internal injuries, including damage to his lungs and liver. Despite an immediate colostomy procedure, Shahzad was unable to recover and died on 20 June.

Christian lawyers representing the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) filed a murder case against the alleged perpetrators as well as the factory manager, Asad Mahmood.

Shahzad had been staying in factory quarters with Muhammad Abdullah and Muhammad Fizan when he was assaulted.

Before dying Shahzad was able to testify against the two co-workers and stated that Asad Mahmood was also involved in the incident.

Muhammad Abdullah and Muhammad Fizan were arrested by the police. Asad Mahmood was granted pre-arrest bail.

The CLAAS Team also met the accused persons in custody.  They confessed to indecent assault but contested a further charge of committing sodomy with Shahzad.

The trial was adjourned.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

First Sentences under New Law in Iran – July 15th 2021

Morning Star News, July 6, 2021 (excerpts)

The first Christians to be punished under a newly amended law in Iran aimed at halting the growth of Christianity and other religious groups were sentenced to five years in prison for spreading “propaganda” against Islam after they refused to renounce Christ.

Amin Khaki, Milad Goudarzi and Alireza Nourmohammadi, all converts from Islam, were sentenced under Article 500 of Iran’s newly amended penal code, which states that “any deviant education or propaganda that contradicts or interferes with the sacred Sharia law will be severely punished.”

Members of the Church of Iran, the three men were given the maximum prison sentence allowable under the amended article and fined 40 million tomans (US$1,600). Another member of the church, Hamet Ashouri, was told the same day that his appeal of a 10-month prison sentence on charges of “propaganda against the regime” had been denied. Ashouri is also a convert from Islam.

Along with increased prison terms, the law allows the state to take away certain basic rights, such as voting, for as long as 15 years. Religious freedom activists warned that the amendment, which was first proposed in 2020 and passed by parliament on Jan. 13, could be used to attack religious dissidents and minority groups.