Christianity growing in Afghanistan

Pray that many more in Afghanistan will come to Christ.

Afghanistan, a country long suffering from civil wars, has not experienced peace for many years. Ongoing bombings by fundamentalist Muslims have stolen peace from the lives of Afghanis. However, the country has recently seen signs of change as people hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

According to Mohabat News, "Informed Afghan authorities acknowledge that Christianity has obtained a special place not only among youth, but also among various layers in society. (In addition), house churches are growing tremendously."

Further, an independent Shi'ite website in Iran reportedly quoted a knowledgeable Afghan official as saying, "There is evidence of widespread Christian propaganda in Afghanistan, and the existence of more than 10 churches that operate secretly in residential houses have been proven."

New reports indicate that some members of the country's parliament have embraced Christianity. A Farsi news service also published a report on these conversions, writing, "Evangelism and Christian propaganda is taking place in the country at a high level, but this is the first time that those who call themselves representatives of the Afghani people not only have become 'apostates' but have joined Christian ministries to evangelize. This time they want to present their Christian services to Muslim people through parliament."

Muslims make up the vast majority of Afghanistan's population at 99.85 per cent. Christians account for 0.05 per cent. While there is limited freedom to practice other religions, there is no freedom to propagate another faith or to convert from Islam.

Please pray for Afghanistan.

• Thank the Lord for the way He is working in this nation. 
• Ask Him to give Afghani Christians a strong and mature faith with a bold desire to share the gospel. 
• Pray the Lord will continue to work to bring many more to repentance. 
• Pray for protection of believers in Afghanistan.

For more on the trials Christians face in Afghanistan, please visit our Afghanistan Country Report.

Witnessing recommendations encourage Christ-like conduct

This document encourages Christian conduct
for believers living in multi-religious communities.

A five-page document with recommendations for Christian witnessing has been released after five years of negotiation, reports the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The document received consultations from the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue and the World Evangelical Alliance. Along with the WCC, these bodies claim to represent nearly 90 percent of the world’s Christians.

The document (available here) says its purpose is to provide guidelines for church councils and mission agencies for witnessing among different religions.

“It is hoped that Christians across the world will study this document in the light of their own practices in witnessing to their faith in Christ, both by word and deed,” reads the introduction.

It goes on to outline the Christian’s need to imitate Christ in acts of service and justice and pray for the forward motion of Christ’s mission. It also specifically outlines a principle for Christians to reject violence in all forms, including abuse of power.

“[Christians] … reject violence, unjust discrimination or repression by any religious or secular authority, including the violation or destruction of places of worship, sacred symbols or texts,” the document states.

You can read WCC’s full article on the release of the document here.

What do you think? Is this document helpful in uniting Christians around the world in a purposeful dedication to Christ-like conduct, love, and bold witness?

Egyptian Christians flee to Libya

In this CBN News exclusive report from eastern Libya, Gary Lane talks about Libya's faith community, the proof that Muslims are being converted to Christianity in the North African nation, and how some Egyptian Coptic Christians have relocated to Libya so they can be safe and free to worship (Length 1:51).

Searching for peace

Below is a story VOM contacts shared about a grandmother in Iran (courtesy of our sister-mission VOM USA). It's an amazing story of God meeting a devoted Muslim woman in her darkest hour.

Searching for peace

Zahra’s life was bleak. Her grandson had a terminal illness, and the secret police had killed her two daughters on the same night. Zahra’s daughters were university students, one 20 and the other 23. To cover up the crime, the secret police forced Zahra to claim it was an accident.

All she wanted was to be with her children. She spent all her time thinking about her daughters, crying, smelling their clothing and kissing their pictures. She had lost her desire for life.

“The loss of my daughters was more than I could bear,” Zahra said. “I tried to put an end to my life four times.”

Zahra was taken to the hospital, clinically depressed, hopeless and miserable. “In my search for peace of mind, I tried every possible means but could not find comfort or a way of escape.”

Then one night she was invited to a church service. She had never been to a church, but since she had tried everything else, she decided to give Christianity a try. She didn’t know anyone there, but God met her there. At the end of the sermon, the pastor had a message for someone in the meeting.

He said, “There is a woman here whose grandson is terminally ill. The Lord says, ‘I healed him.’”

Zahra was shocked. Was the message for her?

She went home and called her son in Tehran to ask about her grandson. She learned that he was feeling better. Later, doctors who examined him said there wasn’t a trace of sickness in his body. “We don’t know how this happened,” they said.

A devoted Muslim, Zahra could not understand what had happened. “If Muhammad is the final prophet,” she thought, “why should Jesus heal my grandson?”

A few nights later, Jesus came to her in a dream and told her, “Zahra, I healed your grandson. You are healed as well.”

When Zahra woke up, she was a different person. Her sadness was gone and she had an inexplicable peace.

“I committed my life to Jesus,” she said. “Since then, I am following my Lord. He saved me from all my troubles and sins. He has given me purpose and hope. I am a witness for all he has done for me.”

‘Being offended’ comes with the territory

Albert Mohler, author, speaker and president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently wrote a piece for Christianity.com titled “How Not to Fight Atheism.”

He refers to a group in Texas that began running advertisements on public buses that read, “Millions of Americans are Good Without God.” Christians expressed outrage and called for a boycott of public transportation. The transportation authority then voted to ban ALL religious ads on buses. Supposedly, both sides cheered the decision.

Perhaps the Christians should not have been clapping.

In Mohler’s words:

Christians are sometimes our own worst enemy, especially when we claim to be offended. Those pastors and concerned Christians who demanded that the transportation authority ban the atheist ads actually gave the secularists the Grand Prize. By precipitating (and, of all things, celebrating) a ban on all religious messages from this public space, these Christians surrendered Gospel opportunities simply because they were offended by an atheist advertisement. No wonder the atheists clapped.

This is a disastrous strategy. Are Christians so insecure that we fear a weakly-worded advertisement on a public bus? These bus ads represent just how weak the atheists' arguments really are, but the response from agitated Christians represents a far more dangerous weakness. Instead of responding to the ads with a firm and gracious defence of the Gospel, these activists just surrendered the space altogether, rather than to bear the offense of the cross.

Christianity has enemies, and the greatest victory of these enemies is to prevent the proclamation of the Gospel. The strategy so celebrated in Fort Worth is a route to evangelistic disaster. Religious liberty is a friend of the Gospel, and constraints on religious speech serve the cause of the secularists.

Being a Christian does not mean never having to be offended. Like the Apostle Paul, we are called to bear the offence of the cross gladly. If Paul had followed the Fort Worth strategy, Acts 17 would never have happened.

As Christians, "being offended" comes with the territory. Take a moment to read Acts 17. I'll leave you with the last three verses: "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, 'We will hear you again on this matter.' So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them."

Some believed! That makes everything else Paul experiences worth the offence.

You can read Mohler’s full story here.

Bhutanese government may legalise Christianity

Bhutan

As Christians living in the Western world, it can be difficult to imagine daily life without Bibles, Christian literature and our pick of churches in a 15-kilometre radius. And, yet, there are populations of people in this world who are unable to freely worship or attend a church of their choice.

In the South Asian country of Bhutan, government officials recognise only Buddhism and Hinduism as the country’s two religions. As a result, only these two communities have the right to openly practise their beliefs and build places of worship.

That may soon change as Bhutan’s religious regulatory authority is expected to consider recognising Christianity before the year’s end.

For the first time in Bhutan’s history, the Buddhist nation’s government seems ready to grant much-awaited official recognition and accompanying rights to a miniscule Christian population that has remained largely underground. The authority that regulates religious organisations will discuss—at its next meeting in late December—how a Christian organisation can be registered to represent its community.

Thank the Lord that movement forward is being made. Pray for our fellow Bhutanese brothers and sisters and their efforts to share Jesus Christ with those around them. Pray that the meeting will take place in December and that God will move among those gathered and open hearts to hearing His name and the words of His people.

You can read more about the plight to legalise Christianity in Bhutan by viewing “Legal Status Foreseen for Christianity in Buddhist Bhutan” posted on Charisma Magazine.