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(Malawi)–We begin today in Malawi where several churches and Christian relief organizations were attacked by a Muslim mob linked to al-Qaeda. SIM International’s[1] Tim Kopp says those involved have been deported, but he’s still concerned because Islam is growing in the region. “Christians and churches in the area of Mangochi are supposedly a target, and therefore we’re encouraging our folks to lay low and be very careful.” SIM is involved in church planting and is helping with food distribution because of the lack of food brought on by drought. Kopp is asking people to earnestly pray and financially support their ministry efforts. “Our prayer would be that for many of these folks that tend to be caught in the crossfire, as is so often the case in these kinds of circumstances, that their hearts would be sensitized to the things of God and that perhaps as a result of these difficult days that they would find in their hearts a desire to turn to God and know Him.” Scripture distribution and personal evangelism are important parts of their outreach.

(India)–Next, two major newspapers in India are now revealing escalating persecution of Christians in that predominately Hindu nation. According to Mission India[2] of Grand Rapids, Michigan, this is important because until now this has gone mostly unreported in the secular press. They’re reporting at least 50 attacks against Christians in Karnataka alone. Mission India supports more than 500 workers, and they’re being attacked at a rate of one or two each month. Pray for safety as they continue sharing the Gospel.

(Middle East)–Some progress is being made in the quest for Middle East peace. Yet, there are concerns for ministries. World Bible Translation Center’s[3] Dale Randolph the anti-Christian, anti-Western sentiment building in the Middle East may force believers into careful action. “I feel it dictates maybe a look at how we do outreach. Anything that’s very visible and that calls attention to itself is going to be very difficult. But outreach that is quietly done, but is just on relationship, dealing with people, I see no problem with it.” Randolph says their Arabic New Testament should be ready for release as early as next month. He says the next phase needs to be bathed in prayer. “Praying generally that the Lord will continue to soften the hearts of the Muslim world, which I think is happening. I find more and more talk over there about Muslims who are genuine, who are sincere, saying, ‘I want to see what this Christianity is about’, and asking for Bibles.”

(Venezuela)–Elsewhere, isolation can serve as a boost to evangelistic work. While Venezuela’s unrest disrupted other ministries, New Tribe Mission’s[4] Steve Sanford says they made a breakthrough with the Yuana, a remote tribe in central Venezuela. The tribe had no written language, so teams concentrated on creating an alphabet. With that, the doors to the hope of Christ swung wide open. “We have recently finished presenting the Gospel to them for the first time in their history. There were about 100 to 120 adults in our valley at that time and they all came and essentially all of them trusted Christ for their salvation.” Sanford explains that with this breakthrough, there comes an encouraging growth among the Yuana. “Since then, we have been continuing to teach on through the New Testament. We’ve taught the book of Acts, we’ve taught now the book of Romans. Of course, we’ve translated both of those books now as well. We’re seeing the Lord raise up some potential leadership in that church.”

(Haiti)–And, an Indiana church approved a missions budget to build a home for a family in Haiti. For Haiti With Love[5] says with the funding promise, the work moves forward. A family has been selected and workers are locating the needed materials to begin building. For Haiti has partnered with churches to build over 60 homes for the project. Through this project, many lives are touched while the house stands as a reminder of the hope of Christ.

[1] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=SIM [2] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=MNI [3] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=WBTC [4] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=NTM [5] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=FHWL ———————————————————————

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