Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – August 18th 2021

by Robert MacNaughton

Fraser was finally able to successfully update the software he was struggling with.  Issues impacting Fraser’s work are the next issue of the NetACT journal, new NetACT email addresses, racial/cultural bias (conscious or not) and the extent to which NetACT should involve itself with continent-wide issues in its overall focus as an organisation.

The leadership of our church in Wellington have some big decisions to make about the church property and the future direction of the church.

Half of the Drakenstein inmates have been vaccinated against covid, the others have refused. Thank God that there haven’t been the major outbreaks we feared. Pray that the “spiritual workers” will be allowed back in.

The Wellington area is now a covid hotspot with many cases and deaths.  Pray for those who sleep on the streets.

Prisons might not reopen to spiritual workers until level 1 (level 3 at the moment). A prison officer was murdered at a Johannesburg prison this week. Pray for the safety of officers, and for Christian officers and inmates to be encouraged and distinctive in behaviour and attitude.

Dawn’s friend Beauty lives with her 2-year-old daughter as a single parent in a township on the edge of Cape Town. Abused and exploited by co-workers and others, she is still trying to live all out for Jesus, holding down a job selling clothes at a stall, attending work-based training, running a Bible study group, the music team at church, the youth group, attending the weekly prayer meeting and discipling individuals without much practical support from church leadership who just seem glad she’s taken on most of the work. Pray for love and pastoral concern.

Covid is still rife in the Western Cape. Pray that people will take sensible precautions.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Buddhist extremists attack Bangladeshi Christians – August 18th 2021

by Robert MacNaughton

Barnabas Fund, 2 August 2021, 2021 (excerpts)

The inhabitants of a Christian village in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, were forced to flee after suffering threats and two violent attacks from Buddhist radicals.

The villagers, who converted from Buddhism 16 years ago, were attacked after they refused to re-convert and demolish their church building.

The Buddhists attacked both members of the church and the building, breaking a cross, tearing down part of a wall, and damaging the roof.

The assistant pastor, Tubel Adetion, explained, “We were Buddhists and we met Jesus Christ in 2005. In January of this year, we built the church. Every day we gathered and prayed, but the local Buddhist majority didn’t like it.”

On 12 July Buddhist radicals warned the 50 Christian villagers to demolish the church within three days.

Three days later the Buddhists returned, attacked the villagers and church building, and ordered them to re-convert to Buddhism within seven days.

On 22 July the extremists returned once again, launching another violent assault against the Christian village. They also warned the villagers of further consequences if they reported the incident to police or local media.

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, Whats On

Blythswood Update – August 18th 2021

by Robert MacNaughton

The foundations of the new storage centre are now laid but lack of labour has slowed the work considerably with Nepali and Vietnamese workers now recruited.

The Kenya project for July had to be cancelled at the last moment because of a lockdown in Kenya.

There have been the ongoing departures and returns of Daniel Centre residents – most of the young men are very restless at this stage of their lives.

There are currently in residence with two possible new arrivals on the horizon to bring the Centre up to capacity.

 

Talita Kum

Adi has been very busy with summer students at TK1 and TK2, a summer camp in the mountains for 25 of the highest TK1 and TK2 achievers, make-up lessons weekly for 6 to 8 students who failed their high-school leaving exams in June, and ongoing uncertainty over the summer on EU funding.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Christian books labelled as extremist in Luhansk – August 18th 2021

by Robert MacNaughton

Forum 18, 10 August 2021 (excerpts)

The Luhansk People’s Republic has added four Christian books to an official list of Extremist Materials.

A court ruled in May that the books were “extremist” and they were therefore banned.

There are now 18 Christian works on the list, including a Russian version of the Gospel of John.

The four books include The Door is Open by nineteenth century Baptist preacher C.H. Spurgeon and Born to Die by US evangelist Billy Graham.

The books were seized from the Council of Baptist Churches in the city of Sverdlovsk.

The books, argued the Prosecutor’s Office, “incite religious discord”, contain “propaganda of exceptionalism, superiority and inadequacy of the individual on the basis of religious adherence or attitude to religion”, and thereby “violate the rights, freedoms and legal interests” of others.

The banning of the books was necessary, it added, for “defending the interests of the younger generation and securing the safety of the Republic”.

The Luhansk People’s Republic, eastern Ukraine, declared itself independent from Ukraine in 2014.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Evangelicals Take the Brunt in Vietnam – August 4th 2021

by Robert MacNaughton

Morning Star News, 15 July 2021 (excerpts)

The vilification of the Revival Ekklesia Mission church in Vietnam has somewhat quieted, but its linking of evangelicals with COVID-19 is feared to have done long-lasting damage.

State media, government agencies and the public in social media all reviled the church following the positive COVID-19 tests of two members of the REM church on May 26.

The greater evangelical community in Vietnam and abroad is supporting and helping the beleaguered REM congregation and trying to counter the disinformation campaign against evangelicals.

Reams of articles in the local press, Vietnamese-language investigative analyses by the BBC and Radio Free Asia and others, and direct communication with affected Vietnamese evangelical leaders raise serious concerns. It is unprecedented for people who have unwittingly contracted COVID-19 to be singled out for criminal charges.

There are also worrying signs that some Vietnamese authorities intend to use this COVID-19 spread as a cover to oppress faith groups, particularly evangelical Christians.

To date eight members of the church who contracted COVID-19 have now recovered and been allowed to return home but Vietnam’s recent surge in cases, coming late in the pandemic, is a severe setback for the country.

Its frustrated authorities seem to have found a scapegoat in the REM church outbreak.  State media, social media and the public engaged in what evangelicals have described and experienced as anger, hate, cursing, insults, slander, innuendo and lies.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Barnabas Update – August 4th 2021

by Robert MacNaughton

False narratives used against Indian Christians

Barnabas Fund, 26 July 2021 (excerpts)

A police directive, issued by the Superintendent of Police in the state of Chhattisgarh, India, to keep “consistent watch” on Christians demonstrates the “false narratives” used against Christians by radical Hindutva nationalist groups.

Chief among the false narratives are that Christians – and Muslims – are engaged in forced conversions of Hindus and adherents of other traditional Indian religions.   

Second is the false accusation that Christians are supporters of the Communist Party of India – as Christians provide help and education to tribal communities and low-caste “untouchables”. 

Thirdly, Christians are accused of undermining Indian values by promoting an undesirable Western culture.

Furthermore, Christians are accused of eating beef and therefore taking part in the slaughter of “sacred” cows.

The false narratives are given legitimacy by the governing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which views evangelistic and missionary activity as “a security threat” with the potential to “destabilize the nation”.

An Indian legal expert has argued that “a ban on conversion motivated by any sort of gain is in effect a ban on all conversion”, and that anti-conversion laws nullify India’s constitutional commitment to freedom of religion.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – August 4th 2021

by Robert MacNaughton

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

by Robert MacNaughton

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

by Robert MacNaughton

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.