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The kidnap of a pioneering American missionary on 14 October is a ‘terrible tragedy’ for the communities he served for 24 years, according to the local mayor, and it has raised security concerns among the country’s missionary community.

Jeff Woodke, 55, who worked for a branch of the US-based Youth With a Mission, was abducted by unknown assailants from the town of Abalak in northern Niger. They killed two guards and he was taken to eastern Mali where Mujao – a radical Islamic group – have a stronghold.

Around 15 million Australians voted in the Federal election held on 2 July.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had called for a double dissolution election, so seats in both the lower house, the House of Representatives, and the upper house, the Senate, were up for grabs. After winning a landslide in the 2013 Federal election, Turnbull’s conservative Liberal-National Party Coalition government was expected to win comfortably.

Myanmar’s economy is booming. International investor Jim Rogers says: ‘If you can find ways to invest in Myanmar, you will be very, very rich over the next 20, 30, 40 years.’ In 2012 the military government allowed foreign companies to have 100% ownership of the companies they start in the country.

The economic tide is rising fast. Everyone seems to have a mobile phone. Construction sites, modern hotels and shopping malls are everywhere in Yangon (Rangoon). The Myanmar Times is transitioning from a weekly to a daily edition. Tourists are now free to travel beyond the usual sites of Yangon, Pagan, Mandalay and the beautiful Inlay Lake. Luxury coaches ply the well tarmaced highways. Will the church in Myanmar be able to surf the wave?

The publication of an article that questioned a religious tenet led to the ban of another Iranian newspaper early in November.

Media is tightly controlled in Iran, and censorship is particularly tight when it comes to religious topics. Christians should pray for a change in media climate and for freedom of expression to be protected

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) on May 13 released a new report on human rights in Burma following a four-week fact-finding visit to the country.

The report welcomes signs of political change in the country, including ‘significantly increased freedom’ for media, civil society and political actors, and improvements in freedom of expression in some areas, but warns against ‘premature euphoria’ and highlights ‘many very grave challenges and concerns, particularly in respect to the protection of human rights, including freedom of religion or belief’.