Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Only 15 out of 113 Chibok school girls still alive?

by Robert MacNaughton

Global Christian News, 15 April 2018

Four years into the abduction of about 300 school girls in Chibok, north eastern Nigeria, the Nigerian government has claimed that it has encountered difficulties in securing the release of the remaining girls.

 “We know that this is not the news parents want to hear after four whole years of waiting, but we want to be as honest as possible with you.” The statement added, “Don’t give up hope of seeing our daughters back home again.”

Contradicting the government’s position, Ahmad Salkida, a journalist has declared that only 15 out of the remaining 113 Chibok schoolgirls, are alive.

 “I regret to state here that only 15 out of the 113 Chibok girls are alive today, based on my investigations in the last three months and we have already seen some of them in a video.” Salkida claimed.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

China blocks online Bible sales

by Robert MacNaughton

Bibles, already banned from stores, are now disappearing from online retailer websites. Amazon has been warned against the sale of Bibles as an “illegal publication”.

This follows the release of a government White Paper on religion.  A “5-year plan” outlines measures to enforce an interpretation of Scripture to affirm and promote “the core values ​​of socialism” within all Christian faith communities and forms of worship.  The latest crackdown appears to be an effort to enforce these restrictions across China.

The printing and distribution of Bibles resumed in China in the early 1980s, following the end of the Cultural Revolution.  

It is predicted that, by 2030, there could be over 160 million Chinese Christians across all denominations.

Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Good Friday holiday reinstated in Indian state, April 4th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

World Watch Monitor March 29, 2018

Widespread protests have forced the government in Christian-majority Meghalaya State in north-east India to restore the Good Friday holiday.

The coalition government had declared that Good Friday would be a normal “working day”, but the move was withdrawn on Tuesday, 27 March.

P.B.M. Basaiawmoit, a Presbyterian Church member wrote a letter to key government officials as soon as he heard about the plan on Saturday, 24 March.

In his letter, he had questioned why Christians were being denied the religious freedom guaranteed to them under the constitution.

Meanwhile, leaders of the National Awakening Movement also sought “clarification” on the order, saying, “This decision was against the sentiments of the Christians and against the provisions of the constitution.”

Basaiawmoit said. “This cannot be seen in isolation from the BJP becoming a part of the ruling coalition after the February election.”

Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Turkey, April 4th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Steadfast Global, 16th March

Please pray as a matter of urgency for Pastor Andrew Brunson who was formally charged on 13 March with being a member of the terrorist group connected with Fetullah Güllen.

The indictment issued by the prosecutor in Izmir Province is demanding a life sentence for Andrew if convicted.

The indictment has been passed to the courts where a decision will be made as to whether the case should proceed to trial.

Andrew has been in custody since October 2016.

Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Egyptian government gives legality to 53 churches, April 4th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Barnabas Fund, 22 March 2018

A special Egyptian committee legalised 53 Egyptian churches and related buildings in February, but thousands more still await registration.

In January 2018, the Egyptian government announced that Christians would be officially allowed to hold meetings in unlicensed buildings, pending their formal recognition as places of worship.

Thousands of churches in Egypt have never been officially registered. The previous restrictions made the process so difficult that many congregations had no option but to worship illegally in unlicensed buildings.

Despite the present repeal, a local court in Atfih handed down a large fine to the owner of an unlicensed church building on 31 January.

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Blythswood Update, April 4th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Talita Kum

Continue to give God thanks for those in Blythswood and their Romanian partners who are committed to working with these younger children in Talita Kum – the seeds of future Romania.  Pray for the power and grace to keep on loving when children prove difficult to handle.

Many of these children would have no other opportunity to see the Christian faith being lived out daily and may have seen all kinds of questionable behaviour.  So please remember those Romanians who have been called by God to pour their lives into the young.

 Daniel Centre

Please continue to pray for Daniel Centre’s staff and volunteers.

 Young men who have had to fend for themselves and learn to be independent are now having to learn how to live in a close community supervised by committed Christians and with other young men drawn from a variety of backgrounds.  That can prove a bridge too far for many young men.

 But the power of God can break down barriers and defences and open up these lives for unlimited Christian growth and potential.  The daily spiritual dynamic of the Centre is critical for the future of these young men.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Barnabas Update, April 4th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Christians in hiding as Turkish forces seize Afrin

Barnabas Fund, 22 March 2018

Christians in Afrin in northern Syrian went into hiding on 18 March and villages were reportedly “cleared” of Christians and other religious minorities as Turkish armed forces and Syrian rebels seized control from Kurdish militia.

Jihadist militants fighting with Turkish armed forces are eliminating the presence of religious minorities and “consider Yazidis ‘infidels’, while announcing that if you kill Christians, you will go straight to paradise.”

“This horror is reminiscent of the initial actions of ISIS in Iraq … This situation foreshadows ethnic cleansing and genocide,” said Nadia Murad, a Yazidi genocide survivor.

Instead of protecting Christians, Kurdish militia have been known to conscript them to fight against the Turkish army.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update, April 4th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

There has been exciting contact with a Cape Town organisation which makes Christian resources available online at a non-academic level.  They are keen to collaborate with NetACT, already coming up with solutions to technical challenges that Fraser was expecting to have to deal with. 

 Invited by the Head of the local High School to address the assembly after the Easter break, Pastor Christopher volunteered Dawn.  Exciting, but sometimes a bit daunting.

 We will can move into a more permanent house next week and finally settle after 5 months here.  Much of the furniture (and the house) will be provided by Hugenote College. 

 We now have plane tickets and health insurance for James and Ruth to visit us this summer.  Some things are worth far more than their monetary value.

 Pray for the safety of the Muslim converts still in their village in Nigeria.  There’s a lot of opposition towards the women.

 Paul recently led an InReach training session and, during one of the breaks, strolled out and bought food for a group of “undesirables” sitting under a tree.  He met them again the next day and introduced several of them to Jesus as Lord and Saviour.  The local pastor was convicted that for many years he had been propagating the doctrines of his denomination instead of the love of Jesus. 

 Thank God for a huge prayer gathering in an area of Cape Town where few white people had been before.  Dawn also visited a local Muslim community festival, about the only white person there.  Pray that Jesus’ followers will realise that all barriers can be overcome by His love.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

The Pope and the Persecuted Church, March 21st 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Pope Francis and religious freedom

World Watch Monitor, March 19, 2018

Pope Francis has met some of those who have suffered persecution because of their Christian faith, including Rebecca Bitrus, a Nigerian woman terribly abused by Boko Haram, and the family of Asia Bibi, on death row for blasphemy since 2010 in Pakistan.

 “Religions … have a specific and unique role to play in building peace. They cannot be neutral, much less ambiguous, where peace is concerned,” he said.

 In Egypt in May 2017, he said “violence is the denial of every true religion” and his visit seemed to inspire a more vigilant approach to religious hate speech against Christians and a new church was built with Muslim support.

 He has raised the plight of persecuted Christians with many heads of state in over 30 countries and was the first Pope to have ever visited Myanmar, a staunchly Buddhist country.

 He seeks to repair relations with fellow religious leaders to address persecution of Iraqi and Syrian Christians.

 In 2017, he met leaders of the World Evangelical Alliance to discuss collaborating in promoting religious freedom in a world where persecution of Christians is on the rise.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

The Persecuted Church in North Korea, March 21st 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Growing up in North Korea

World Watch Monitor, March 20, 2018

Until he was 9, John was cared for by his parents, but they then abandoned him. Sleeping rough, he survived the 4-year famine that started in 1994.

 He finally left all that he had known and journeyed to the UK, where he attended university.

 Told from childhood that Christianity was evil, he now wears a cross and talks about his past with a gentle smile.

“History in primary school was about the Kim family – a propaganda of loyalty.  When Kim Il-sung died, I cried.

We had an anti-Christian education throughout. Foreign missionaries were wolves, Christianity an American religion and becoming a Christian a crime.  If anyone became a Christian, they would disappear overnight.

As a child, I had to watch a public execution of a man who smuggled what we thought was a Bible from China.  

When I reached China myself, I was shocked to find that wise words attributed to Kim Il-sung were from the Bible and that North Korea had started the Korean War in 1950.”