News headlines for December 26th 2002

(Nepal)–Topping today’s news, Maoist rebels, fighting to end the constitutional monarchy in Nepal, say they are ready to hold peace talks with the government. Despite the violence and political unrest, the Gospel continues to advance in Nepal. East West Ministries'[1] John Maisel. “We’ve had to move one of our training sessions out of a place where we’ve had a number of guys get beat up by Hindus and moved to another location that’s a little bit safer.” Maisel says not only do they have to be wary of Maoist guerrellas, but they’ve been targeted for persecution from Hindus. “There’s chaos from a human perspective all over that particular area, but the good news is its’ probably one of the most significant works that we have going today in the last year we’ve seen over 30 churches started, the people coming out of Butan for training and then going back there underground and the same thing in Nepal.” Pray for courage for those attending the training centers. Pray also for safety for Christians to be able to make it to the centers.

(Colombia)–Elsewhere, ministry is growing in Colombia, even as the oppression of the drug cartel slates heavier. Book of Hope’s[2] Rob Hoskins says now, even the children are involved in this spiritual warfare. He describes one outreach being handled by a 10-year old student and her younger sister. “What’s remarkable is that Book of Hope has a ministry going on in the schools and it’s being led by two young ladies. They have, at great peril, gone into some really risky areas to take the Book of Hope to the children in the schools.” Hoskins asks Christians to pray for those involved with ministry in Colombia. “They’re in an area where there are drug lords in that area, and it is possible that they might come under some persecution for this step they’ve taken to embrace Christ and the Christian message. So, we need to cover them and we need to really cover our workers there in prayer.”

(Congo–Kinshasa)–The United Nations Security Council is welcoming last week’s signing of a peace accord in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And yet, even amongst the celebration, Grace Ministries International’s[3] Sam Vinton says the effect of the discord may be evident for a while. “My father is amongst a group of people in that area of the Congo where the government is not there. You have these bandits; you have these rebels in control.” Vinton says the security issues are having an impact on some of their work. “We got word from him that at one of our big churches where he attends, where we have up to a thousand people on Sunday, there were only 12 of them last Sunday, because people have fled into the forest, and this is the rainy season. We should concentrate again, our prayers on Africans who are suffering, because of the problems that are created by many of their leaders.”

(Mongolia)–Meanwhile, all charges have been dropped against church officials in Mongolia. According to Voice of the Martyrs[4] , elders of the Church of All Nations in Ulaanbaatar were facing criminal charges and confiscation of all tithes and offerings because the church wasn’t registered, despite efforts to do so since 1999. The Buddhist government of Mongolia has been working to prevent the growth of Christianity in the country. Despite these efforts, the church has moved into a larger hall and is continuing to grow.

(Mozambique)–And, African Inland Mission[5] team members throughout Mozambique give thanks for the refreshing time spent together earlier this month at their annual conference in Nampula. They were encouraged through times of sharing and praying, and were spiritually refreshed through Bible teaching. Pray for the team members as they persevere in bringing the Gospel to unreached Mozambicans, and work alongside believers in establishing strong churches in that country.

[1] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=EWM [2] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=BOH [3] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=GMI [4] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=VOM [5] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=AIM ———————————————————————

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