Mali: three killed
World Watch Monitor
Date posted: 1 Feb 2016
Eight young people were shot and three
killed when
an unidentified
gunman
opened fire outside a Christian radio station
in Mali on 17 December.
The motive for the attack on the Tahanint
radio station in Timbuktu is unknown, but
witnesses described the gunman as a turbaned
Tuareg. Tahanint, which means ‘mercy’ in
the local dialect, had just finished broadcasting for the day when the eight were shot outside the building. The radio station is closely linked with a local Baptist church and
evangelical mission.
IS THERE REVIVAL IN ETHIOPIA?
JEB
Date posted: 1 Feb 2016
In the last 20 years something like 70,000 people have come to Christ in Ethiopia.
This is a story untold by the secular media, but it is a vibrant movement of God’s Spirit in this land presently facing food shortages. Most of the people whose lives have been touched are from an Orthodox Church background, but many Muslims have found Christ too. Those who have seen what the Lord has been doing have been astonished.
Nigeria: sacrificial faith
Morning Star News
Date posted: 1 Dec 2015
Amid ongoing dangers, Christian leaders in Nigeria in October recalled the exemplary faith of indigenous missionaries who gave their lives in areas overrun by Islamic extremist militants.
While President Muhammadu Buhari told an India-African summit in late October that Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has been contained to ‘sporadic’ attacks in remote areas, leaders of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) told how Nigerian missionaries sent to those areas have suffered.
Taking every opportunity
Daniel Shwe
Date posted: 1 Dec 2015
How Christmas invitations led to conversions of Chinese students
My name is Daniel Shwe.
Oxford: Christ uncovered at CU mission
Alistair Reid
Date posted: 1 Apr 2015
Seventy-five years ago, the Christian Union at Oxford (OICCU) hastily threw together an outreach initiative to the university in the heart of the Second World War.
It was small and disorganised, and their speaker, Dr Martin Lloyd Jones, pulled out at the last minute with illness. But an enduring idea was born: a focussed initiative, once every three years, to give as many Oxford students as possible the opportunity to hear, engage with and respond to the gospel. That vision has remained constant, and so 9-14 February saw Uncover, the Silver Jubilee of triennial OICCU missions.
South Asian Concern celebrates
Victoria Vinet
Date posted: 1 Nov 2015
On 19 September, at the King’s Cross Baptist Church, there was cause for celebration as a congregation of supporters of the South Asian Concern (SAC) movement marked 25 years since their founding in 1989.
SAC is a charity focused on revealing the uniqueness of Christ in a cross-cultural effort to bring him among these multi-faith communities.
news in brief
Burma: building protested
Buddhist structures have been erected in a Baptist church compound, it was reported in late October.
Ethnic Karen Christians in Hpa-An, capital of Karen state, have protested a Buddhist pagoda and a stupa since building began in August. Myaing Kyee Ngu Sayadaw, a revered Buddhist abbot and founder of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, led the building despite the protests of the Christian community. The Karen Buddhist community reportedly did not support the monk’s decision. The Baptist church has been a functioning fixture at the site since 1919.
Assisting in Newport
Bernard Lewis
Date posted: 1 Dec 2015
On 17 October, Heath Church Cardiff and Emmanuel Chapel Newport met together to ordain Ben Fiddian to the Christian ministry and to induct him as assistant minister at Emmanuel.
The ordination was conducted by Wyn Hughes, the minister and elders of the Heath, while the induction was conducted by the minister of Emmanuel.
Small church on a small island
Phil Lo Bao
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
Phil Lo Bao reports on the spiritual needs of the Isle of Man
‘The Isle of Man, where is that?’
Some surprising facts emerge from Christian survey
Hope Together
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
The ‘Talking to Jesus’ report presented to the
Anglican Synod in late November showed
that 40% of people don’t believe Jesus was a
real person. But it also showed that younger
people are actively sharing their faith.
However, more
than
half
of
non-Christians have had a conversation with a
practicing Christian about
faith
in
Jesus
(57%). Having had
that conversation, of
those who had not become a Christian, one
in five (19%) still wants to know more about
Jesus Christ.
Rebuilding a nation
Phil Reid
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
Phil Reid walks us through the ideas embedded in Nehemiah 8.1–12
A nation lies in ruins. There is a need to rebuild – physically, morally, spiritually.
Moorlands Bible College opens £3m new building
Ian Kennedy
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
On 4 November, Moorlands College welcomed Christian campaigner Baroness Caroline Cox to open the new Wessex Auditorium and Community Hub.
The building project saw the demolition of a ‘temporary’ dining hall and chapel built in the 1970s to make room for a Community Hub that has already revolutionised student life at the college. The Wessex Auditorium, which seats up to 300 people, is a focal point for student worship throughout the week, epitomised by the ten-foot tall steel cross standing to the north.
Cyprus: across the Muslim world
John Lodge
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
In November, representatives of the Middle East Reformed Fellowship (MERF) fields and support bodies came together for the International Council (IC) at the John Calvin Centre in Cyprus.
40 years on from small beginnings in Beirut, Lebanon, in the 1970s, MERF now has a ministry in every major country dominated by Islam.
The Third Degree
Student carol services
Kate Duncan
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
Carol services remain a popular part of Christmas for students.
Christian Unions (CUs) are uniquely placed in their universities to provide that festive celebration and share the good news of Christ incarnate in creative ways.
Yorkshire: ready for action
www.yorkshirecamps.org.uk
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
November 21 and 22 saw the open day and dedication service for Netherside Hall, Yorkshire, the Yorkshire Camps venue that featured in April’s en.
After two weeks of torrential rain it was yet another answer to prayer that the official opening of Yorkshire Camps’ new venue was on a weekend which was dry, even if the countryside was dusted with snow.
New dawn for Greenisland
Greenisland Baptist Church is an evangelical congregation meeting seven miles from Belfast along the north shore of Belfast Lough, with its building about to undergo demolition and rebuilding.
It was founded in 1996 after seven local people started to meet to pray for the community. The church had a number of temporary venues until 2000 when it purchased and renovated the old health centre at the heart of the village. Within a short space of time the Lord blessed the congregation, which grew fourfold. For the past ten years, a capacity of 200 for Sunday services has been severely strained. In 2006 the possibility of meeting in a replacement building at the current location, or elsewhere in the village, was explored.
news in brief
Bonaire: radio upgrade
TWR are to upgrade the shortwave/AM transmitter on Bonaire to 450KW, doubling the potential audience to 100 million people across Latin America, it was reported in September.
TWR have been broadcasting Bible teaching from Bonaire for over 50 years. Thousands of pastors and small home churches exist purely because of the evangelism and discipleship offered through TWR’s broadcasts. The upgrade will cost around £2.5 million in total.
Persecution class
Ray Porter
Date posted: 1 Nov 2015
Book Review
JARS OF CLAY
What the West Needs to Learn From the
Persecuted Church
Read review
Effective or defective?
David Baker
Date posted: 1 Nov 2015
Almost 450 church leaders met together for
the 2015 ReNew Conference at Chesford
Grange – the third conference that Anglican
Mission in England (AMiE), Church Society,
and Reform had organised together with the
purpose of encouraging church leaders to
pioneer, establish, and secure healthy local
Anglican churches throughout England.
Although I had hoped to attend, I was not
able to, so am grateful to Brian O'Donoghue
of St Helen’s Bishopsgate for most of the following report. In his chairman’s address,
William Taylor of St Helen’s outlined the
history, necessity, and strategy of ReNew and
introduced this year’s theme - ‘Shoulder to
Shoulder; partnering
together
in mission
and ministry’. He stressed the need for interdependence – in prayer, people, and finance.
The working class and Christ
David Binder
Date posted: 1 Dec 2015
David Binder interviews SixtyEightFive founder, Ian Williamson.
Many have argued that the evangelical church in the UK has been largely dominated by the middle class.
How to pray for the war
Balance is crucial. It is especially crucial when it is easy to swing to extremes.
Following the Commons’ decision on 2 December for RAF airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria after the terrorist atrocity in Paris, there is a new recognition that the UK is at war. Our security forces are thwarting many planned attacks, but there may be reprisals meted out on us. The question is: how can Christians be praying in a biblically sensible way?
Facing extremism
Of course we need to be balanced towards Islam. Many Muslims are civilised people of peace and we need to honour them. But with Hilary Benn’s speech to Parliament the penny seems to have dropped that those supporting Islamic state are as much fascists, seeing themselves as superior beings willing to liquidate all ‘inferiors’, as the Nazis. The West is now engaged in a Third World War. So, how should we pray?