Mission News Network

Sunday, 5 June 2016

Ramadan: fasting, fear, and opportunity

On Monday, the Iraqi forces entered the battered ISIS controlled city of Fallujah to take it back. But this campaign comes few days before one of the biggest Muslim holidays, Ramadan.

Muslim workers pause for a few minutes along an alleyway in the afternoon to offer their ritual prayers.

Ramadan, which is set to begin June 5 and end July 5, is the ninth month on the Islamic calendar and is a month-long holiday where Muslims fast during daylight hours and feast at night.

However, as cheery as this holiday might seem, the month-long fasting and celebration can actually endanger religious minorities in Muslim dominated countries.

Bruce Allen, with Forgotten Missionaries International, explains, “Ramadan does add fuel to the fire every year. It’s simply because there’s already the sectarian tensions between Muslims and other minority religions in Muslim dominated lands, whether it’s Christians, Hindu, Buddhists. But, one of the things that ends of getting exacerbated during Ramadan, especially when it occurs in the summer time is, peoples’ emotions.”

During this time of year, temperatures in many Muslim dominate countries, can often exceed well over 100 degrees. Combined with not eating, people can become rather cranky, or what has often been called, Ramadan rage.

“But, I was reading the reports about heavy crime in Algeria during Ramadan. And that spikes 220 percent during Ramadan. And fights and assaults raise 320 percent. And one of the issues is that people, even though it’s a month of fasting, people want to spend more on groceries on food during this month than any other month of the year,” Allen says.

Why do people spend more on groceries? Because the night brings celebration and feasting. But alongside this, child trafficking increases. Often times, poor families who are feeling the financial burden of Ramadan will sell one of their children to a trafficker to bring in the extra income. In a way, for these families, it allows them to celebrate Ramadan to the fullest while eliminating one more mouth to feed, regardless of the consequences.

Furthermore, during Ramadan life comes to a halt. Government and city businesses close for the month and it’s difficult for individuals, especially those who are not Muslims, to live their usual, normal lives. Christians have to be careful to not eat in public and generally aim to limit contact with Muslims. However for some, Ramadan is an important season to share the Gospel.

“There are many brave Christians who say, ‘this is a great opportunity for evangelism.’ For example, during Ramadan, toward the end of Ramadan, there is what’s called a ‘Night of Power’, or the ‘Night of Destiny’. And for 2016 that occurs around Saturday July 2. And what this day commemorates is when Muhammad was receiving the first recitations of the verses of the Koran,” Allen recounts.

On this night Muslims believe their prayers have more meaning. It’s the one night out of the year they’re able to call out to God from their hearts and have their prayers heard. For Christians, it’s a night of intercession and bringing the Gospel of the one true God to people who are hurting and vulnerable.

“Many Muslims are saying ‘God, I really want to know you. I want to have assurance of salvation.’ And so they’re very receptive to learn how to connect with God at that time. So we can be praying that, you know we ask God to remove the scales from the eyes of their hearts and that they’d be drawn to faith in Jesus,” Allen explains.

Pray also for the Christians in Muslim countries during this time. Pray for their safety, their solidarity with one another, their bravery to share the Gospel, and for opportunities to open up to share the story of Christ’s love.

And as you pray, remember to include the FMI team which will be traveling through the three largest Muslim dominate countries during Ramadan. Pray for their safety, their partner’s safety, and for God’s will in their work.

Mission News Network is a mission news service dedicated to keeping Christians informed on evangelical mission activity around the world; in doing so we hope to educate and motivate Christians to prayer, participation, and support of missionary work to help further the Great Commission. Follow us Twitter and FaceBook

Extremists see violence for Islamic month of prayer and fasting.

Fallujah, Iraq: it was the first Iraqi city to fall to ISIS in January 2014, the first domino to fall as city after city came under the shadow of the Islamic State’s black flag.

By summer, ISIS’ leader had declared a Caliphate, and the inexorable march pressed forward.

Today, two years later, Fallujah is at the heart of a coalition effort to retake control of Mosul, Iraq’s second city and the nerve center for ISIS movement in the region. Government forces actually moved in on Tuesday, advancing, even as ISIS retreated behind a shield of families trapped in the city.

Extremists around with similar ideology have joined the so-called Caliphate: Boko Haram of Nigeria, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar of Pakistan, and dozens of other smaller jihadist groups that can carry out military operations across the Middle East and North Africa. ISIS has also declared provinces in Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Afghanistan.

News outlets have already been broadcasting concerns about potential attacks during the month of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, which begins June 6. ISIS is calling for a ‘month of conquest and jihad’ on Europe and America

This is one focus in the world of Islam. There is another: SAT-7marked two decades of ministry on May 31. From the first time they went on the air, to the telling of Miriam’s story that got worldwide attention, SAT-7 has always been focused on one thing: illuminating countries in the Middle East and North Africa with God’s love. In a brief video statement, Dr. Terry Ascott, CEO of SAT-7 observed, “20 years ago, SAT-7 began by answering a cry from the people in the Middle East: a cry for understanding. So few people in the Middle East knew anything about the Christian faith. They didn’t know, in some cases, there was such a thing as an Arabic-speaking Christian.”

In light of what’s been happening with ISIS, that has changed the tenor of the cry to ‘Please help us!’ The humanitarian crisis is unparalleled. “With over five million people as refugees today; with another eight million people internally displaced; with 50 million people directly impacted by war”, explains Ascott, “there’s a need for help.” There’s also a cry for a better future. A cry for hope resounding in the question: “Why is this happening? Why is a Shia Muslim killing a Sunni Muslim? Why is a Sunni Muslim killing a Sunni Muslim? Why are we destroying each other in the name of our common God?”

In answer to that piercing call, he says, “We are seeking to help people in this situation by bringing them programming about trauma; we’re bringing them schooling for their children who have been displaced from their schools; we’re bringing advice of how to live as a displaced person.” Today, the SAT-7 family has grown to include five round-the-clock channels (SAT-7, SAT-7 FARS, SAT-7 ARABIC, SAT-7 TURK, and SAT-7 KIDS), broadcasting countless programs in three languages, Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish, seven days a week.

What difference does television programming make with a juggernaut loose? Ascott explains that it makes all the difference in the world. “There are so many that have turned their back on God as a consequence of the inhumanity being shown by one party to another in the Middle East today. This is the time when we can answer some of the questions, and we can bring that unique Christian message of love, of reconciliation, of forgiveness that is so specific to the Christian faith.”

Essentially, they’re providing an answer to the ‘WHY?!’ “We’re also seeking to give hope of a better tomorrow and sow the seeds of better citizenship, of the idea of co-existence, of accepting people who are different, and, of course, hope in Jesus Christ.” Pray that God continues to transform small seeds into large fruits as He has done for many

Mission News Network: Turkey: future for refugees? Following the deal st...

Mission News Network: Turkey: future for refugees? Following the deal st...: Turkey: future for refugees? Following the deal struck between the European Union and Turkey, Greece began deporting refugees and migra...

Saturday, 4 June 2016

Animated Fatima film will star José Mourinho as Pope Francis

Animated Fatima film will star José Mourinho as Pope Francis

The Vatican has approved the casting of Manchester United's manager, according to reports

Manchester United’s new manager José Mourinho is lending his voice to the character of Pope Francis in an animated film about Our Lady of Fatima.

Mourinho will be the voice of the Argentine pontiff in Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian, “the languages of the countries where he has already been a champion”, said the Portuguese production company Imaginew.

The film, called ‘Fe’, is being made to mark the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three children in Fatima. It is scheduled to premiere on May 13, 2017, the centenary of the first apparition.

The choice of Mourinho has been approved by the Vatican, according to reports in Portugal. Rui Pedro Oliveira, who signed Mourinho for the voiceover for Imaginew, said he took up the offer “without reticence or demands.”

Mourinho is expected to donate his fee from the film to a charity for underprivileged children.

The 52-year-old Portuguese manager, who is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, has spoken of his Catholicism.

“I believe totally, clearly,” he told the Telegraph in an interview last year. “Every day I pray, every day I speak with Him. I don’t go to the church every day, not even every week. I go when I feel I need to. And when I’m in Portugal, I always go.”

He said he prays for his family life and for happiness. “But I can say the reality is I never go to the church to speak with Him about football. Never!”

He and his wife Tami support several causes including a Catholic food programme in Setúbal, Portugal.

Mourinho’s first job was teaching children with Down’s syndrome and with mental disabilities. From there he went on to coaching 16-year-olds before entering professional football.

Pope approves procedure to remove bishops who mishandle abuse cases

Pope approves procedure to remove bishops who mishandle abuse cases

Under new procedures, Vatican will launch an investigation when there is 'serious evidence' of negligence

Pope Francis has established legal procedures to remove bishops who mishandle sex abuse cases, saying they can be removed from office if the Vatican finds they were negligent in doing their jobs.

In a law published on Saturday, Francis answered a long-running demand by victims of abuse and their advocates to hold bishops accountable for failing to protect their flocks from paedophiles. Victims have long accused bishops of covering up for abuse, moving rapists from parish to parish rather than reporting them to police.

In the law, Francis acknowledged that the Church’s canonical code already allows for a bishop to be removed for “grave reasons”. But he said he wanted to precisely state that negligence, especially negligence in handling abuse cases, can cost a bishop his job.

Bishops “must undertake a particular diligence in protecting those who are the weakest among their flock”, Francis wrote in the law, called a motu proprio.

The statute alters the original proposal approved by Francis last year to establish a tribunal inside the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to hear negligence cases. Francis’s sex abuse advisory board had recommended that the Congregation prosecute negligent bishops because it is already responsible for overseeing actual sex abuse cases against clergy.

But amid a host of legal and bureaucratic questions posed by that original proposal, Francis decided to streamline the procedure and task the Vatican offices that are already in charge of handling bishop issues to investigate and punish negligence cases.

In the law, Francis said a bishop can be removed if his actions or omissions cause “grave harm,” either physical, moral, spiritual or financial, to individuals or communities.

The bishop himself doesn’t need to be morally guilty: it’s enough if he is purely lacking in the diligence required of his office. When the cases concern abuse, it’s enough that the negligence is “serious,” the law says.

The procedures call for the Vatican to start an investigation when “serious evidence” is provided that a bishop was negligent. The bishop will be informed and allowed to defend himself. At the end of the investigation, the Vatican can prepare a decree removing the bishop or ask him to resign within 15 days.

If he doesn’t, the Vatican can go ahead with issuing a resignation decree.

Any decision to remove the bishop must first be approved by the pope, who will be assisted by a group of legal advisers, the law says.

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Turkey: future for refugees?

Following the deal struck between the European Union and Turkey, Greece began deporting refugees and migrants to Turkey on April 4, 2016.

The idea was to help alleviate the pressure building on Greece, as the ‘gateway’ country to Europe. At that time, notes the UNHCR, Syrian refugees in Turkey were at around 3.5 million.

International Needs USAPresident and CEO Rody Rodeheaver says it remains a fluid issue. “The refugee problem is an enormous problem from the perspective of numbers, and also from a perspective of the disintegration of life, because of all of the hurt, the destruction, (and) the chaos that many of these people have had to live through, and escape from.”

The majority of refugees live in urban areas, including cities without refugee camps, such as Istanbul, Izmir and Bursa. ”We are working in camps both in Istanbul as well as all across the country, some of them in the East.”

Plus, in an area close to Antioch, he says, they hit upon a new idea. First, the context: “There is a camp there that is made up of several hundred families that have escaped from Syria. Many children.”

Although somewhat protected, refugees and migrants face particular challenges regarding basic rights and livelihood support in Turkey. Unregistered refugees and irregular migrants are not entitled to access any public services in Turkey except emergency health services provided by public hospitals. That also means that “Children who are part of the refugee contingent cannot go to school because they do not speak Turkish.”

Rodeheaver says they also discovered Arabic-speaking Syrian teachers among the refugee population. “We have hired these teachers (who are part of the refugee community there) to teach the children.” International Needs provided a makeshift school. “We bring in supplies and these teachers are continuing to educate the children there.”

Thousands of children live in this “between” world in Turkey. Faced with the reality of not being able to return home in the next few years, “What we’re doing is saving children from living for years and years with no education and being very susceptible to indoctrination into some of the causes like ISIS that are radical.”

The International Needs team in Turkey is working to bring encouragement and relief to these refugee children and their families. A tent. A warm blanket. A jacket for cold days. Food. Shoes for growing feet. A cuddly stuffed animal for those lonely times when tears come. But now, says Rodeheaver, the reality is that these millions are stranded in a new land.

“That’s the reason I was just in Turkey: to lay long-term plans where our staff will continue to develop relationships and next-step scenarios with people that we know that, probably for ten years or more, are going to be locked in this situation.”

Ministering to refugees is a Gospel Outreach endeavor for International Needs. First, these people are hurting and need comfort. Meeting those immediate needs builds a relationship of trust, he says. ”The Gospel in one hand, and compassion in the other. There is more and more of a receptivity on the part of the people in the camp to us, as people. Relationships are being built.”

“I can’t tell you how many times our staff has heard, ‘it has been the Christians who have come to our aid. We are so grateful.’” That is what the Gospel is all about, explains Rodeheaver.

International Needs’ goal is to develop the evangelical churches who exist in those areas and “…work alongside of them to provide ongoing programs that not just handle the tertiary kinds of needs, but also would develop the kinds of relationships with these people that we can help with in situations, long-term.”

Please pray for the refugee children in Turkey who can’t go home again. The Lord knows each heart. May this be an opportunity for His comfort and hope for each young life.

Thursday, 2 June 2016

Jahanka in Gambia

The Jahanka have been Islamic holy men primarily located in Senegal, Guinea and the Gambia. As holy men (Muslim clerics) they conduct Islamic worship rituals and provide Qur'anic teaching in the villages. Often the clerics also maintain farms which are cultivated by young boys who receive education in the Qur'an in exchange for their labor. However, when they lost their slaves in this century, they had to devote more time to farming and less time to religious studies. Their Muslim tradition avoids the notion of jihad (holy war) in favor of pacifism. The Jahanka are very well respected and influential throughout all West Africa.

Ministry Obstacles

Pride in a person's knowledge often is a stumbling block to simple faith in the finished work of Christ.

Outreach Ideas

Gospel recordings exist in the language of the Jahanka. Pray for workers to take this resource to the people.

Pray for the Followers of Christ

There is an indication there are a few followers of Jesus among the Jahanka. Pray they will be instructed in God's Word, and will grow into mature disciples of Christ.

Pray for the Entire People Group

Pray the religious Jahanka people will increasingly be drawn to Isa (Jesus) of the Qur'an, and will have a growing desire to find out more about this man. Pray this desire will be satisfied.

Scripture Focus

"Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For You will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth." Psalm 67:4

Mission News Network is a mission news service dedicated to keeping Christians informed on evangelical mission activity around the world; in doing so we hope to educate and motivate Christians to prayer, participation, and support of missionary work to help further the Great Commission. Follow us Twitter and FaceBook.