Prayer Mobilization Line The following are praise reports and prayer requests from Nazarene Missions International for Wednesday, 28 January 2015 "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."[Corinthians 15:58 NIV]
Prayer Mobilization Line
The following are praise reports and prayer requests from Nazarene Missions International for
Wednesday, 28 January 2015
"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."[Corinthians 15:58 NIV]
PRAISES:
Drinkwater Praise
We give thanks to God that missionaries Mike and Sydney Drinkwater are doing well after falling ill to carbon monoxide poisoning. Sydney says, “Thanking God today for many things. This is my first time out of the house in a week, except for two hospital trips. Thankful for the second doctor who discovered the carbon monoxide poisoning in our blood. Thankful for an abundance of friends who have taken care of us in person and with sweet notes from far away. Thankful to be alive.” The Drinkwaters serve in Ecuador with Extreme Nazarene. Their young son, Max, was thankfully not affected by the carbon monoxide.
Armstrong Praise
Thank you for praying for Clark Armstrong during his recent medical procedure in the Kansas City area. He and Connie returned to their assignment at Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary in Manila, Philippines, on January 23. Dr. Armstrong will have a follow-up with his cardiologist in Manila within three months’ time. Your prayers have made a difference!
JESUS Film Harvest Partners (JFHP)
Rejoice in this update from JFHP and keep praying for film teams around the world as they show the JESUS film:
Since January 1998, Nazarene JESUS Film teams have reported:
Goals
Results
Evangelistic contacts
100 million
69,262,366
Decisions for Christ
7 million
13,123,046
Initial discipleship follow-ups
8 million
5,603,606
Preaching Points
70,000
48,060
PRAY FOR:
GLOBAL MINISTRY REQUESTS
Bangladesh Child Development Centers (CDC)
Pray for the children who attend Nazarene CDCs in Bangladesh. In a country where poverty is rampant and parents are forced to marry off their daughters well before the age of 18, the girls who are able to enroll in a CDC stand a better chance of receiving an education and having choices for their futures. Read more in Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Magazine’s Winter 2014 article, "The End of Innocence."
Refugee Centers
Continue to pray for the people in the Middle East who have had to flee their homeland and seek shelter in refugee centers. Most of the refugee families only consist of women and children. Many of their husbands, fathers and sons were killed in attacks, in the fighting, or they disappeared mysteriously. The church helps them not just with logistical things, but also in spiritual, psychological, physical and mental ways.
Nine-Mile Church
Pray for the ministry of Nine-Mile Church in Myanmar. The church was started through the prayers of a faithful woman, Rinpuii, who was a member of Trinity Nazarene Church in the small community of Kalemyo. Rinpuii had to travel nine miles to get to Trinity Church so she asked the pastor if she could start a worship service in her home, and the Nine-Mile Church was established. Two years later, the members are modeling Christ by visiting neighbors, sharing food, providing medicine to those in need. What is of utmost importance to the congregation is that their neighbors feel the heart of the church and the tangible love of Christ. Read more in this article from the Asia-Pacific Region.
Kalemyo, Myanmar (Burma):Southeast Asia team member, Bill Kwon, shares an experience of a very special blessing from a very unlikely place.
In the north of Myanmar, about 22 driving hours away from Yangon (Rangoon), the gate city Kalemyo opens the way to the Chin Tribe, truly a birthplace of Burmese Christianity. Because Kalemyo is close to this tribe, it has become a city of mega churches of various denominations. On one particular day, as I travelled the ridge that leads to Kalemyo, God led me to Nine Mile Church (NMC).
Around 10 people, including small children, gather to pray and worship as part of NMC. They meet in the house of Rinpuii, who is one of the members of the church. While they do not yet have a church building, it is a beautiful picture of the Body of Christ. They are loving the Word of the Lord, sharing life-breathing testimonies, and finding ways to share the love of Christ to their neighbors.
Nine Mile Church outside of Kalemyo
Nine Mile Church was started through the prayers of Rinpuii, who had been a faithful member of Trinity Nazarene Church (TNC) that is located in a small community within Kalemyo. She asked her pastor if she could start a worship service in her house, as she regularly traveled 9 miles from her home to TNC. The pastor agreed and even invited other willing church members to join Rinpuii. NMC has now been worshipping together for 2 years. It is a wonderful model of a church giving birth to another church.
Rinpuii sharing the Word to her small church.
The members of NMC have not heard the term “compassionate ministry” but they understand and are doing what Jesus did. They are visiting neighbors, sharing food and providing medicine to those in need through the financial gifts of the members. They do not care if they’ll be praised or get anything in return out of the good things they are doing. What is important for them is that the neighborhood feels the heart of the church and experiences the tangible love of Christ. The members of NMC are themselves, experiencing peace and joy through the service that they are giving.
It has not always been easy; trials have come. Not long after the church was started, Rinpuii unexpectedly lost her daughter. As can be imagined, this was a huge blow to Rinpuii, who at her older age, felt that she had lost all hope.
But God has been faithful. One day in the field where she was farming, Rinpuii saw a sparrow flying and singing beautifully. She felt the grace of God flowing in her heart.
“If God takes care, feeding and guiding this little sparrow, how much more has He poured out love and care to my daughter and me,” shared Rinpuii. After saying this out loud, Rinpuii was relieved from the sadness brought on by the loss of her daughter. She made the decision that to honor her daughter, she would serve the church even more faithfully.
Rinpuii shared her testimony from her well-worn daily devotional notebook, “This insufficient, this shameful and sinful woman like me…” As she poured out her heart, she could not even finish her sentence, but then she continued, “Christ has saved…”
I asked Rinpuii how we could specifically pray for her. She had two requests: that NMC would be the salt and light in the village that, like Sodom and Gomorrah, is in such need of Christ; that we pray for her son, who is now studying to be a pastor at a seminary in Korea, that he would be equipped to be able to return and make Christlike disciples within the country of Myanmar.Please join me in praying for Nine Mile Church, as it has deeply touched my heart. This church truly models what it means to be a “Christlike” church. It has taught me what the mission of the church is truly like.[Submitted. Dr. Bill Kwon, team member in Southeast Asia.]
February Missionary Prayer Focus
During the month of February, Verne E. Ward, director of Global Mission, will be communicating with and praying specifically for the following missionaries. Join Dr. Ward in praying for:
David and Jennifer Allen, South Africa Tim and Karla Deuel, Papua New Guinea Cindy Downey, Argentina Mike and Merlynn Fitzpatrick, Asia-Pacific Region Josh and Shannon Herndon, Spain Darin and Tonya Kucey, Haiti Hellen Ortega, Mesoamerica Region Scot and Tyronza Pringle, Papua New Guinea Harmon and Cindy Schmelzenbach, Melanesia Stephen and Jaclyn Tarrant, Australia Philip and Paula Troutman, Angola Grant and Aisling Zweigle, Philippines
Please remember to also pray for our missionaries who serve in creative access areas
Board of General Superintendents
Please pray for the ministry and safety of the general superintendents as they travel this month:
Philip and Paula Troutman, missionaries serving in Angola, ask for prayer for their son and his wife who serve as volunteers in a creative access country. The son has been hospitalized and is being treated for insomnia and fibromyalgia. Pray for the son’s healing, wisdom for the doctors treating him; strength, peace and rest for both the son and his wife; support from their local teammates; and for financial provision.
Priscilla Brown
Pray for Priscilla Brown who has been diagnosed with cancer and recently dealt with heart issues. Ask God to lead Priscilla to the right doctor and treatment plan and for complete healing. She is a member of the Northeast Oklahoma District NMI Council.
Christine Tarrant
Pray for Christine Tarrant who fell critically ill while visiting her sister in Romania over Christmas. She has been in a coma for more than two weeks and remains hospitalized in Romania. Christine’s siblings, Dorothy (Director of the Romania Studies Program for our European Nazarene Colleges), Paul (General Board member for Eurasia), and Rosemary are on hand awaiting clearance to medevac her to Scotland. Thank you for praying Psalm 49:15 over this situation. Christine served as a short-term missionary at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital in Swaziland in the 1970s. Her brother, Paul, is providing updates on Christine’s condition on his Facebook page.
GLOBAL CONCERNS – BODY OF CHRIST
Increase in Persecution
According to Open Doors, the year 2014 will go down in history for having the highest level of global persecution of Christians in the modern era and current conditions suggest the worst is yet to come. Open Doors 2015 World Watch List says the Middle East remains the most violent area for Christians and Africa is seeing the largest increase in persecution of believers. Pray to the almighty God for Christians who try to live out their faith in hostile areas. Click here to read more from Open Doors ministry.
"PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS REACHES HISTORIC LEVELS, CONDITIONS SUGGEST WORST IS YET TO COME"
According to the 2015 Open Doors World Watch List, the Middle East Remains Most Violent While Africa Sees Largest Increase in Persecution of Christians
SANTA ANA, Calif., Jan. 7, 2015—While the year 2014 will go down in history for having the highest level of global persecution of Christians in the modern era, current conditions suggest the worst is yet to come.
Today, Open Doors released its annual World Watch List, which ranks the top 50 countries where it is most dangerous and difficult to be a Christian. This year, the threshold was higher for a country to make the list, indicating that worldwide levels of persecution have increased. Topping the 2015 list for the 13th consecutive year is North Korea. Africa saw the most rapid growth of persecution, while the Middle East saw targeted attacks, resulting in a mass exodus of Christians.
Approximately 100 million Christians are persecuted worldwide, making them one of the most persecuted religious groups in the world. Islamic extremism is the main source of persecution in 40 of the 50 countries on the 2015 World Watch List. While persecution can take many forms, Christians throughout the world risk imprisonment, torture, rape and even death as result of their faith.
“Even Christian-majority states are experiencing unprecedented levels of exclusion, discrimination and violence,” said David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA. “The 2015 World Watch List reveals that a staggering number of Christians are becoming victims of intolerance and violence because of their faith. They are being forced to be more secretive about their faith.”
Middle East The Middle East remains one of the most violent areas of the world for Christians. Violence against Christians by the Islamic State and other Islamic terrorist groups increased in countries like Iraq (3) and Syria (4). More than 70 percent of Christians have fled Iraq since 2003, and more than 700,000 Christians have left Syria since the civil war began in 2011. Afghanistan (5) and Pakistan (8) have both increased in persecution.
Africa For the third year in a row, the majority of African nations on the World Watch List have increased in rank due to Islamic extremism. Kenya made the largest jump, moving up from number 43 to number 19. With no functioning government, Christian persecution remains severe in Somalia, which retained the No. 2 spot on the list. Both Sudan (6) and Eritrea (9) reentered the top 10 and Nigeria (10) appeared in the top 10 for the first time.
Asia North Korea remains the most dangerous and difficult place to be a Christian. An estimated 70,000 Christians remain in prison for their faith. The conditions are also worsening for Christians throughout Asia. Countries such as Uzbekistan (15), Vietnam (16) and India (21) have all seen increases in persecution. Of particular note is India (21), where persecution is driven by Islamic extremism and Hindu fundamentalism.
Persecution at a Glance Christian persecution is defined as any hostility experienced as a result of one’s identification with Christ. Recent examples include imprisonment, torture, beheadings, rape, and loss of home and assets.
While violent persecution is most often reported by media, nonviolent persecution is also on the rise. Violence has increased dramatically in Iraq, Syria and Nigeria, but Christians in other countries are experiencing persecution in their personal lives through family, community and national spheres of life. Christians are often ostracized by family exclusion, the loss of a job or even rejection from a community.
“The goal of the World Watch List is to keep Christian persecution on the radar of those enjoying the privileges of freedom,” said Curry. “The perpetrators of persecution need to know that the world is watching and stands in opposition to persecution. And for the persecuted, we want them to know that they are not forgotten.”
Methodology The Open Doors World Watch List is the only annual survey of religious liberty conditions for Christians around the world. From Nov. 1, 2013, to Oct. 31, 2014, researchers measured the degree of freedom a Christian has to live out his or her faith in five spheres of life—private, family, community, national and church life, plus a sixth category measuring the degree of violence. For more information on the methodology of the World Watch List, please visit OpenDoorsUSA.org.
About Open Doors USA For 60 years, Open Doors USA has worked in the world's most oppressive and restrictive countries for Christians. Open Doors works to equip and encourage Christians living in dangerous circumstances with the threat of persecution and equips the Western church to advocate for the persecuted. Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world and are oppressed in at least 60 countries. For more information, visit OpenDoorsUSA.org
Freedom Sunday
Unite with thousands of churches and organizations on Freedom Sunday to pray for, raise awareness of, and promote giving to surround the problem of human trafficking. Freedom Sunday will be observed on February 22, 2015. Click here to learn more from Nazarene Compassionate Ministries.
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”
– Isaiah 58:6
On Freedom Sunday, we will...
UNITE
PARTICIPATE
CELEBRATE
Unite with thousands of other churches and organizations on this day of observation.
Participate through prayer, raising awareness, and giving surrounding the problem of human trafficking.
Celebrate what God is doing to set the captives free.
YOUR FREEDOM OFFERING CAN CHANGE A LIFE.
The Church of the Nazarene has a presence in many countries where people are vulnerable to trafficking. In these areas, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) partners with local churches in anti-trafficking efforts that range from prevention and education to protection and rehabilitation.
Your Freedom Offering can change a life. On Freedom Sunday, we’re taking a Freedom Offering, which will go to support the following:
NCM Global Anti-Trafficking Fund. By giving to this fund, you are helping to offer true freedom in the name of Christ through programs that provide hopeful alternatives to modern slavery.
Scholarships for Trafficking Survivors. With support, survivors of trafficking can find a path that leads to hope, healing, and restoration. Your gift will help fund scholarships for trafficking survivors at Nazarene colleges and universities around the world.
Preventing Trafficking of Children. The church in countries like Ukraine, Armenia, and Sri Lanka is working to protect children and youth through education and advocacy geared specifically toward preventing them from becoming trafficking victims.
Church-Based Prevention. In countries like South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sri Lanka, targeted trainings and awareness programs are equipping local congregations to prevent trafficking in their communities. The goal is to expand this work extensively.
Include “Freedom Offering/ 124463” on your check, or click on the Donate Now button below.
Return to the battle again, no longer trusting in the false and insufficient human resources which so foolishly we had taken into battle, but now trusting in the limitless resources of our risen Lord.[—Alan Redpath, English evangelist, pastor, and author]
In the north of Myanmar, about 22 driving hours away from Yangon (Rangoon), the gate city Kalemyo opens the way to the Chin Tribe, truly a birthplace of Burmese Christianity. Because Kalemyo is close to this tribe, it has become a city of mega churches of various denominations. On one particular day, as I travelled the ridge that leads to Kalemyo, God led me to Nine Mile Church (NMC).
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