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(India)–Topping the news, the ethnic rift widened last week between the majority
tribe Dimasa and the Hmars in northeast India. Tribal warfare, triggered by
an assassination, led to deadly riots and curfews. In the process, believers
feel the squeeze on all sides. Bibles For The World’s[1]. “The refugees are
still coming in from North Cachar into Assam and Mizoram and Manipur. It’s
been very, very stressful and difficult to take care of them, because the people
are poor. And yet, they come without their clothes, without their houses, without
their Bibles.” He says in talking to church leaders there, the needs
were outlined this way: “They need their Bibles. They need them in this hour
of crisis. And then, the second thing is food. There’s not enough food for
them to go around. And then, the most precious thing that they need is a place
to worship. So, we need to build churches. About 20 churches have been destroyed. “

(Vietnam)–Next, an international human rights group points out Vietnam’s situation continues to deteriorate, with the government maintaining its crackdown against political and religious dissidents. International Bible Society[2] team members say the risk to support the body of Christ in the country grows, but they’re maintaining careful watch. IBS’s Hans Lennart Raask shares encouraging news. “Vietnam is not the easiest country to reach with the Bible but we have it in print and I know that it is in distribution in Vietnam today. That is mainly working through partnerships where we are not involved with the actual distribution ourselves.” Believers in Vietnam share solidarity with other Christians who face persecution. Raask says the biggest danger is discouragement. “It is a very tough country but also we get reports about a growing church and we want to support it in every way we can the struggling church in that country.”

(Bangladesh)–Polluted water may be to blame for the deaths of two children from a Gospel For Asia[3] Believers Church in Bangladesh. Three other children have also died, and the disease is reported to be spreading to all the families in the area. While officials say it isn’t an outbreak, they are watching for more cases. Cholera is an intestinal infection caused by a bacterium and frequently linked to contaminated drinking water. Pray these families will be comforted and drawn closer to Him as they grieve.

(Russia)–Meanwhile, Russian Ministries launched a new ministry to assist North American churches in developing vision for unreached people in the former Soviet Union. The effort brought 50-thousand families together with gifts packed into shoeboxes for delivery to the Russian needy. Russian Ministries'[4] Sergey Rakhuba. “That’s where we partner with Samaritan’ s Purse in order to distribute to all the orphanages and to enable national churches to have a tool in their hands to promote their evangelism.” Rakhuba says the teams then provide followup to children and families throughout the winter and spring. “Using that as the key to open the door for evangelism into families, and orphanages and many other groups that use that to reach out to poor children, orphans in Russia.” Summer provides Russian Ministries’ national missionaries with the chance to share the Gospel through children’s camps, youth retreats, daily vacation Bible school programs, and other outreaches.

(Madagascar)–And, more than a half million people living in and around a northern Madagascar city will soon have the opportunity to hear the Gospel via radio as the result of a four-year partnership involving Madagascar Mission, Radio Africa Network, four local churches and HCJB World Radio[5] . In addition to covering the city, the broadcasts will reach members of the Bara tribe, the area’s least-reached people group. Equipment installation begins in late July.

[1] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=BFTW [2] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=IBS [3] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=GFA [4] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=RMI [5] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=HCJB ———————————————————————

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