Editor’s note: Soon after their arrival, Southern Baptist representatives new to South Asia often spend a day in an unfamiliar city as part of their cultural orientation. They go to learn culture, prayerwalk and share Bible stories about Jesus as the Lord leads them. Below are the stories of three Southern Baptist journeymen who spent a day in Haridwar, India. We hope their first-person accounts give you insight about how to pray for those who live in and make pilgrimages to Haridwar, the site of the current Hindu Kumbh Mela festival that began Jan. 14 and continues through April 28.

A dip in the Ganga and other randomness

New to Haridwar, journeyman Kacee Dallion is dropped off at what she mistakenly thought was the Hindu bathing place at the Ganges River. She now affectionately refers to this spot as "the holy brook."

The last few days have been packed full of activities. I have traveled all around Delhi visiting various religious sites and cultural destinations including Muslim, Hindu and Sikh places of worship. Each is unique and interesting. On Saturday, our group went to Haridwar. This entailed a four-hour train ride north of Delhi. Upon arriving, we split into several groups and explored the city as we completed several tasks. There were point values attached to each activity to make a sort of competition out of it, even though winning was not the priority. Our group learned many things while having a really fun time. This city is important to Hindus. It is the first major city the Ganga (the Ganges River) runs through. The river is thought to be holy and pure. Many of you have probably heard of how dirty and polluted it is in reality. However, in Haridwar it is pretty clean because of how far north it is. Therefore, I and two of the guys decided to swim in it and go completely under water. This ensured us the full point value we could earn. Our group ended up winning the competition by two points, so the swim in the Ganga was worth it. It has been a few days since then and none of us has gotten sick, so that’s a good thing. Anyway, it was a good day, and we were able to encounter and engage many locals. — Harry Laing*

A woman sits on her balcony relaxing in the afternoon sun in Haridwar, India. Residents of the city rent out their homes during the Kumbh Melas when millions of Hindu pilgrims come to take ritual baths in the Ganges River.

Haridwar and the holy river

Feeling as excited as an elementary school girl going on a field trip, I boarded the train. With my face glued to the window, I watched the scenery and observed the daily life of the villagers as we rode past. They served tea, snacks and breakfast with the hospitality that is a part of every facet of life here. Once I arrived at the destination, my group went on a scavenger hunt-type mission. Each group was handed a simple instruction sheet. Then we were left on our own to navigate in a new city where we did not speak the language. We immediately found an auto rickshaw and asked the driver to take us to the riverbank. With great confidence, he assured us that he knew just the place. Seven kilometers (4.35 miles) later, after driving down a narrow dirt road dodging cows and bikes and wheelbarrows in the road, he stopped at a statue, and we got out. We walked hesitantly to the riverbank. It looked like a canal with rocks, and children were fishing. We thought, “People travel from all over the world to see this?” For a brief moment, we thought we were not at the right place, but we dismissed it and began trying to interview people. Then we decided to walk the 7 kilometers back to the train station. We felt like movie stars as the three of us walked down this narrow path through the village. Curious onlookers stared unashamedly, and some of the bolder ones snapped pictures on their camera phones and giggled as we passed. We smiled and greeted them with the few words that we knew, but any other conversation was impossible. Along the way, we found a girl who spoke English at a beauty salon, so we were able to share stories with her while my friend had her eyebrows threaded (an Indian method for shaping eyebrows). When we met back with our friends at the end of the day, we began comparing pictures — then we realized that we had been in the wrong place the whole time! They laughed hysterically when we showed them our pictures of what we have affectionately termed the “holy brook.” We were slightly disappointed that we missed out on seeing the holy river, but I would not have traded our adventures for anything! It also is very motivating for me to learn the language so that I do not get dropped off in some remote village the next time I jump in an auto. — Kacee Dallion*

A man stops to eat a snack on the bank of the Ganges River in Haridwar, India.

The spiritual city of Haridwar

On Jan. 20, we went to Haridwar, which is a spiritual city located on the Ganges River. We have learned a number of stories from the Word that we were to tell others at this city. I felt so burdened. I honestly didn’t even want to share with anyone — I was intimidated. Only after talking to the Father and walking in faith was He able to break these chains and burdens from my back. By the end of the trip, we were able to share the Truth with a national English tutor for about two hours! It was amazing! I cannot say that he was fertile soil, but we were obedient. I pray that Adjur’s eyes will be open to the falseness of his faith and that the truth of Jesus will break through the darkness that surrounded us. — Tristan Yeager*

–30–

*Name changed.

February 28 : Nowhere to Go. At the beginning of February, H called a Christian brother in another city to report that he is facing a very difficult situation. The village in which H lives has a Muslim majority. He said that members of the village judiciary council have summoned him to a meeting, saying that they have enough evidence against H to prove that he is guilty of blasphemy. H told his Christian brother that he is afraid and is considering fleeing the area, but that he does not know where to go. Please pray for H and his family. Ask God to give H wisdom and to put a hedge of protection around him and his family. Please also pray for the men who wish him harm. Ask that Isa (Jesus) will visit them in dreams and reveal Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life.

March 1 : Wedding Bells. Thank you for praying as J, a young Bihari Muslim woman who now follows Jesus as her Savior, prepared to marry H, a Muslim man whom her Muslim brothers chose to be her husband. In August, you began praying that the wedding would not take place if it was not God’s will. J and H did wed in December. J knows that you are praying for her, and that gives her strength. Please continue to pray for H’s salvation. Ask that this marriage will soon be rooted in God’s love and based on His Word. Please keep praying also for the salvation of J’s brothers.

March 2 : New Truth. God is continuing His work among Muslims through the power of His Holy Spirit acting in them. It’s true! Please pray this month that the myriad of seekers who are meeting weekly in homes to learn more “new truth” about their Redeemer, Jesus, will receive what they hear. Pray for protection of the Muslim-background believers from those who would, in ignorance, persecute those who teach. Pray for patience in teaching so that they will not get ahead of the Lord’s leading. Pray that those who come to faith will genuinely come to faith in spirit and in truth, so that they can become part of the growing community of Muslim-background believers.

March 3 : On the Move. Thank the Father that, indeed, He is “opening closed doors and closed hearts” in India as he works through partnerships. Here is just one recent report: “Things have almost begun to move ‘out of control’ in one place. B met two key players in the work in G at recent meetings that have great potential for partnerships. God has great things in store for 2010!” Continue to pray that visa issues will be resolved as cross-cultural workers and partners work hand in hand.

March 4 : Graduate Leads the Way. Last year you were asked to pray for some local seminary students who chose to learn the ropes of sharing Jesus with the Deccani Muslims. One of those students has graduated and is now leading a team of students this semester to do the same thing! He has taken the responsibility all upon himself to train them and to push them out into the community. Praise God for this man’s courage, boldness and faith! Praise God for the consistency with which he is doing this (now for two semesters!). Please pray for the students, asking that they will simply obey God’s Word in faith, humbly and gently proclaiming the Good News. Ask God to give them opportunities to proclaim Jesus, and pray that they will have the discernment to identify those times and to proclaim Him boldly!

March 5 : Hurting Hearts. The atmosphere of neighborhoods in Karachi can be tense at times due to ethnic, religious or political violence. Please claim Isaiah 41:10 for harvest workers and followers of Christ in the city: “Do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will hold you in my righteous right hand.” And Proverbs 11:11: “Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.” Pray that the body of Christ will bring the blessing of Christ’s peace and comfort to the people of the city. May our God be known as the God who heals! Emotions during tense times, especially when there is violence, can run very high. One sister asks you to pray “that God would calm the storms of grief and anger in the hearts of hurting people here.”

March 6 : Agricultural Model Site. Pray for the continued development of an agricultural model site that includes agricultural techniques for sloped land, goat-raising, and garden projects. This model site is key for Christian community development workers who are engaging villages, serving as a training site as well as bolstering the integrity of their work. Volunteers from the United States who have helped to develop these techniques are returning in March to assist with the site and encourage national workers. Pray that their visit will be empowering and “vision catching” for national partners.

Posted on Feb 12, 2010 | by Staff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Thousands of Christians in India’s Orissa state still live in makeshift shanties along roadsides and in forests a full 18 months after Hindu extremists forced them from their homes in a spasm of violence that claimed more than 100 lives and destroyed nearly 4,900 homes and church buildings.

Government officials have failed to provide promised assistance to more than 10,000 families driven from their homes after Christians were falsely accused of killing a Hindu leader in August 2008, Raphael Cheenath, a Roman Catholic archbishop, told Compass Direct Feb. 6.

“The block officers have been playing with the facts, indulging in corrupt practices and cosmetic exercises whenever political and other dignitaries come to visit or inspect,” Cheenath said in a statement. “Innocent people are coerced into giving a false picture … This is a national calamity.”

Cheenath’s comments came the day after a European Union delegation concluded a visit to Orissa that Hindu nationalist leader Jual Oram called “interference into internal affairs of a sovereign independent member state under the U.N.,” Compass Direct reported. EU representative Gabriele Annis said the delegation was able to hold “open and frank” discussions with officials during the visit.

Christian leaders in the area said district authorities attempted to hide the plight of Christians by evacuating nearly 100 people from one village prior to the EU delegation’s visit.

Of 3,232 complaints filed with police after the 2008 violence, only 832 cases were formally registered, Cheenath said. Of that number, only 123 cases have been transferred to courts. Of 71 cases tried to date, convictions have been handed down in 25 cases. Nine of 10 murders have been closed without any conviction.

“Who will bring justice in the case of the nine murder cases?” Cheenath asked.

–30–

Compiled by Baptist Press assistant editor Mark Kelly.

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=32281

Posted on Feb 9, 2010

by Carol Pipes

TORONTO, Ontario (BP)–A former Muslim, North American Mission Board missionary Nadeem Qazi’s conversion to Christianity set his life on a path of sharing his faith no matter the cost.

Born to Muslim parents in Pakistan, Qazi was raised like most Muslim children in the upper caste. By age 8, he had studied the entire Quran and learned how to follow the practices of Islam.

Qazi left Pakistan to pursue a Ph.D. in Europe when he was 25. When he met a group of Christian students in Denmark who told him about a loving God who meets people’s needs, Qazi heard the message at a time when he felt utterly hopeless, and he gave his life to Christ.

It took him awhile before he found the courage to write to his family in Pakistan about his new life. His father became angry and didn’t accept Qazi as a Christian.

“My family said I was dead to them and to never come back home,” Qazi recalled. “But I have no regrets. Praise God, He took me from there and gave me love I never knew.”

Eventually, God sent Qazi back to Pakistan to share the Gospel with his people and help start churches.

“There was so much joy going back with a different mandate and challenge.” Qazi said. “The people there are very hard, disappointed and disoriented, but you love them and that makes the whole difference.

“We had a tremendous opportunity to share the Gospel.” He saw many people convert to Christianity, even his own sister.

In addition to starting churches, Qazi helped start schools for Pakistani Christian children living on the streets with no means of getting an education.

After many years of ministry in Pakistan, Qazi began to receive letters from the Pakistani government warning him to leave the country because his life was in danger. He and his wife Jamila escaped to Canada, where they found “such a freedom here we never knew.”

Nadeem and Jamila were surprised that a neighborhood of Toronto named Brampton seemed so much like Pakistan and southern Asia.

“There were more people with the turban and Pakistani and Indian dress who spoke the same language,” Qazi said. “We started building friendships and sharing God’s Word with them.”

Toronto is one of North America’s most ethnically diverse cities. More than 50 percent of the population was born outside of Canada, according to Jeff Christopherson, NAMB missionary and church planting strategist for southern Ontario. Christopherson is always on the lookout for indigenous leaders from people groups around the world who have a heart to reach their people. When he met Nadeem and Jamil he asked if they would help reach south Asians in Toronto and eventually start a church.

The invitation resonated, with Jamila noting, “I knew God had a different plan for us in this city.”

Many Pakistanis and other south Asians use public transportation to get to and from work, so the Qazis began traveling the city by bus looking for people who speak one of the nine languages they speak.

“We sit next to them and start talking,” Qazi said. “We get their names and addresses so we can visit them. It’s a good way to reach out.”

Because they speak so many languages, the Qazis are able to connect with many people groups.

“God’s words will speak to their heart in their own language,” Jamila said. “It has much deeper meaning and value than any other language. It’s much sweeter to them.”

When immigrants first arrive in Toronto they are in culture shock and “lonely and desperate,” Qazi said, so he and his wife help them find apartments, furniture, even jobs as they adapt to their new surroundings.

The Qazis have been working primarily among Hindu, Sikh and Muslim groups. They have started a couple of Bible studies in Brampton that they hope will grow into a church. Many of these people would never be in the same room in their home countries. One meets in the home of a Sikh family who accepted Jesus two years ago.

“We have a such a passion for these people,” Jamila said. “We see them struggling in the same way as they struggle in Pakistan. Our heart breaks because they are not free in this country. So we really want to share God’s love with them that they may understand all this freedom in Christ.”

–30–

Carol Pipes is a writer for the North American Mission Board. To view a video about Nadeem Qazi and other missionary and chaplain ministries through NAMB and its state partners, visit www.namb.net and click on the “Missionary Focus” gallery. Pray for the more than 3,000 contacts Nadeem and Jamila Qazi have made in Toronto that they will come to know the Lord.

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=32254

by Erich Bridges

Posted on Feb 11, 2010

Visit “WorldView Conversation,” the blog related to this column, at http://worldviewconversation.blogspot.com/. Listen to an audio version at http://media1.imbresources.org/files/106/10631/10631-56748.mp3.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–What do you think about when you look back on the past year of your life?

Family joys and heartaches, perhaps. Victories and defeats on the job or at school. Sickness and health. Events in the lives of close friends. Odds are, you aren’t remembering the physical beatings you took for Christ.

Rasheed* and Farooq* are.

I’ve written several times about Rasheed and Farooq, two Muslims in India who have become committed followers of Jesus Christ. They lead a growing movement of Muslim-background believers in Mumbai, India’s largest city. The urban giant’s 20 million people include some 2 million Muslims — a large but often marginalized minority that is showing increasing openness to the Gospel.

Last time we checked in with Rasheed, he was lying in a hospital bed with a head wound, broken rib and internal injuries suffered during a brutal attack at the hands of people angered by his stand for Jesus. He had led two Muslim men to faith in Christ. One of them went home and told family members. Enraged, they found Rasheed, pushed him down and beat him with a cricket bat until others rescued him. He was hospitalized for nearly a month.

“Rasheed is almost fully recovered now,” says a Christian worker who keeps in touch with him. “He is looking for work again while continuing to teach six leaders of jama’ats” — indigenous worship groups composed of Muslim-background followers of Jesus — and leading five jama’ats himself.

“While he was recovering, three more Muslims gave their lives to Christ through the faithful witness of believers in his groups.”

Farooq, meanwhile, has stayed busy with more than 70 Shi’ite Muslim “seeker groups” investigating the Gospel. Spiritual seekers in the groups now probably surpass 1,000.

“The Muslims they speak with are incredulous,” reports the worker. “They say, ‘This is the first time we have heard this truth.’”

The year 2009, the worker adds, was a “very good year — and a difficult year ” for both Farooq and Rasheed.”

A selected chronology of the year’s events in their lives and ministries:

– Rasheed begins a jama’at in his hometown and four more elsewhere.

– Farooq is framed, arrested and beaten for sharing his faith with Muslim seekers. He loses his possessions and sustains painful leg injuries. “I did nothing wrong,” he declares. “I know that God was with me in jail and through the whole ordeal. I can trust Him for anything!”

– Exonerated and released from jail, Farooq promptly restarts the seeker meeting that was the source of his persecution.

– Nawab* becomes a believer in Farooq’s native place. He begins two jama’ats and currently conducts a weekly seeker meeting.

– Many women’s seeker meetings begin. More than 50 women now attend three jama’ats.

– Thirty new leaders are trained to launch seeker meetings following extensive evangelistic outreach during an annual Muslim festival.

– During Ramadan outreach efforts, two leaders are beaten for sharing Jesus. One lies in a coma for several days. Both recover.

– At least 52 new jama’ats are begun during the year, bringing Farooq’s total to more than 100. It’s getting harder to count them, he reports.

“It wasn’t an easy year, but God has done amazing things in the hearts of Farooq and Rasheed, as well as in the hearts of the Muslim-background believers whose faith and fearlessness have grown in ways we never could have imagined,” reflects the Christian worker.

Next time somebody tells you the Gospel will never penetrate the Muslim world, or that Muslims aren’t interested in knowing about Jesus Christ, remember Rasheed, Farooq and many others like them.

They beg to differ — and they put their lives on the line daily to prove otherwise.

–30–

*Names changed.

Erich Bridges is global correspondent for the International Mission Board (imb.org).

http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=32271

Posted on Feb 12, 2010 | by Staff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)– Global activists promoting the “global warming” cause suffered a serious setback Feb. 4 when the government of India announced it would form its own panel to study the impact of climate change on the country.

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is headed by an Indian scientist, R.K Pachauri, has faced growing criticism over the credibility of its work. Pachauri’s most recent climate change assessment falsely claimed most of India’s Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035, the Telegraph newspaper reported. Other scientists, however, say that while some glaciers appear to be melting, others are advancing and at current rates it could take more than 300 years for India’s glaciers to disappear.

“There is a fine line between climate science and climate evangelism. I am for climate science. I think people misused [the] IPCC report, [the] IPCC doesn’t do the original research which is one of the weaknesses … they just take published literature and then they derive assessments, so we had goof-ups on Amazon forest, glaciers, snow peaks,” said India’s environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, according to the Telegraph. “I respect the IPCC but India is a very large country and cannot depend only on [the] IPCC and so we have launched the Indian Network on Comprehensive Climate Change Assessment.”

The UN panel’s claim that glaciers would disappear by 2035 “was clearly out of place and didn’t have any scientific basis,” Ramesh added.

The day after India’s announcement, news services reported the Netherlands asked the UN climate change panel to explain an inaccurate 2007 claim that more than half the country was below sea level, when in fact only 26 percent of the country is below sea level. IPCC experts apparently reached that figure by adding the area below sea level — 26 percent — to the area threatened by river flooding — 29 percent, a spokesman for the Dutch environment ministry told reporters.

On the basis of that 938-page IPCC report, politicians around the world vowed to take dramatic action to reverse “global warming.” The false claim about India’s glaciers and labeling river flood plains as below sea level provide new ammunition for critics who contend the entire “global warming” campaign is a political ruse to enrich advocates of green technology, with devastating consequences for the world’s poor.

–30–

Compiled by Baptist Press assistant editor Mark Kelly.

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=32281

Feb. 21 : Storying Women. Please pray for an upcoming storying project among the women of Amritsar. This project will focus on chronological Bible storying as a mode of discipleship. Ask God to raise up national women who have a desire to lead other women in storying groups.

Feb. 22: Word Made Available. An international brother is praising the Lord that the Asmani Kitab for Muslims is now available. This process has taken over four years to complete and makes the Bible available to Rajasthani Muslims in a script that the majority of them read – Devanagri Urdu. Rajasthani Muslims will now be able to read stories about Moses, David and the prophets of old. They will also be able to read about Creation, the fall of man, Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, and other stories from the Bible. Praise the Lord that His Word will never return void!

Feb. 23 : True Disciples. As a result of the trainings that occurred over the last several months, there are 12 new believers from one Indian Muslim community! Members of five churches were trained late last year, and they took seriously the biblical mandate to take the Gospel into their communities. These 12 new believers are still fragile in their faith, not even understanding the basics of Bible study. It is tempting for those who won them to faith to simply bring them to existing traditional churches in their area. A significant problem with this is that there are serious cultural and language barriers that would prevent these new believers from seeing Jesus Christ. They would see lots of tradition and ritual but not blatant disciple-making. Coming from a Muslim background does not prepare them to understand the Christian traditions existing in their area. Please pray that these new believers will be discipled in following Jesus Christ through loving obedience to His Word rather than simply ‘pew-sitting’ in existing churches. Pray that those mentoring them will focus on loving obedience to God’s Word as the normal Christian life.

Feb. 24 : Breaking Ground. Thank you for praying a year ago about the radiation cancer center at Bangalore Baptist Hospital. Finally, ground has been broken and construction is underway. Pray that all will progress in a timely way, and that this will open many hearts to Jesus Christ.

Feb. 25 : No Fear. “A few months ago, we asked you to pray about the first persecution our network experienced. God has continued to protect the local believers and help them endure threats and suffering. During the onset of these problems, a brother was followed by Muslims to a meeting. A few days later, those men beat him and threatened him. For two months, this brother kept a low profile. He and his wife relocated in order to avoid further persecution. Just as he came out of hiding, the men holding the other brother under house arrest saw the two men talking in the street and alerted a local mosque. A mob came out to meet them and beat them severely with sticks. Please pray that they will not be overcome by a spirit of fear. Also pray for wisdom for his spiritual advisors to know how to encourage him through this. Please pray that his persecutors will soon become his brothers and that those who beat him will one day raise their hands with him to worship Jesus. Please continue to pray that God will call out other laborers to join us, as we long to see the Muslims of of this Indian state come to know Jesus as their Savior. As persecution keeps some from being able to meet together, ask God to provide new networks of believers to help nurture these house churches and start others.”

Feb. 26 : Festival of Colors. Holi, one of the most loved Hindu festivals, begins this year on February 28, and is celebrated for three days. Also known as the Festival of Colors, Holi is a time when Hindus, and South Asians from other religious backgrounds, celebrate by throwing colored powders and water on anyone and everyone. It marks the spring harvest and thanksgiving for nature’s abundance. Holi has roots in several Hindu legends of gods and goddesses. Many claim that Holi represents unity and brotherhood, as everyone indulges in uninhibited festivities, regardless of cast, creed, color, race, status or gender. Pray that South Asian followers of Christ will be wise in deciding how to be salt and light during Holi. Ask God to provide opportunities for the lost to hear the truth of His Gospel. Pray that many South Asian Hindus will discover the incomparable brotherhood and unity found in the body of Christ.

Feb. 27 : Garment Factory Workers. Approximately 2 million people work in Bangladesh’s garment export industry. Eighty-five percent of the workers are girls and young women, many of whom earn less than 50 cents a day. While this, for the first time, puts money into the hands of girls who in traditional Muslim societies could not work outside the home, the wages, working conditions and hours in these factories are far below Western standards. The booming industry employs many Bihari Muslims, male and female. Gospel outreach to garment factory workers is very limited because they often work 12 to 14 hours a day and there is little time for Christians to meet with them. Please pray that God will raise up people and strategies to share His Word inside the factories. Pray for the salvation of the garment workers. Ask that they will have fair and safe conditions in which to work.

Feb. 14 :  God’s Love Demonstrated. In October, millions of people in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, India, lost everything they had to unprecedented flooding. Teams from Indian Baptist Society went into numerous villages to provide encouragement, food, clothing, cooking pots, etc., to these suffering people. Teams have returned to do follow-up, much to the surprise of the villagers. The IBS teams have demonstrated the love of Christ, not only with tangible help and words, but also with the Gospel. The villagers said, “Thank you, for when we were hungry and without food, you came to help us.” Please continue to pray that in the aftermath of disaster, and as a result of the seeds that were sown by the IBS teams, there will be many who will come to know Jesus. Pray for the IBS teams who will continue to follow up and reach out to these villages with the love and message of Jesus Christ.

Feb. 15 : Human Trafficking. World statistics report that India, with 1.16 billion people, is second in population only to China. With an estimated 27 million babies being born in India each year, more than 30 percent of the population is under the age of 14. Human trafficking is a huge problem in India; however, recent newspapers in one major city reported that 66 children (ages 5 to 15) were liberated from slavery. Praise God! Please pray that these children and all the children of India will know true freedom. Pray that release will be proclaimed to the captives and that the oppressed will be set free.

Feb. 16 : Beaten for Jesus. Recently a church planter working among Muslims was taken from his family to a local mosque, interrogated and beaten upon discovering his Bible. Afterward, he was put under house arrest at his family’s home. He was allowed to leave the house to purchase milk. During that short time, he ran into one of the other church-planting trainers. He was scared but began crying when he talked about wanting to continue in discipleship/training. What an amazing testimony of faith, and very humbling for the one who mentors this young man. Things like this have continued to escalate in recent days. Please pray that the Lord will use what is intended for evil to invade this entire family with eternal hope. Pray that this will spur the new believers on to a renewed devotion to Christ Jesus and obedience to His Word. Pray that the groups that continue to meet will evolve into healthy, reproducing churches despite the persecution.

Feb. 17 : Working Together. Please pray for an upcoming media project that will focus on reaching the Jat Sikhs and other Sikh people groups. Several Great Commission Christian organizations are working together on this project. Ask for guidance as workers arrange logistics, write scripts and make plans for shooting video. Pray for all that is needed to produce the videos and other media. Pray that many Jat Sikhs will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as a result.

Feb. 18 : Empowered to Grow. This month a new training will start in Kolkata, involving 25-30 cell group leaders, to help them in sharing their faith, discipleship, and forming other cell groups. The training will be once a month for 10 months. This particular church is hoping to double the number of cell groups from 40 to 80 this year. Pray that the leaders will be empowered to take what they learn and teach others so that the groups will multiply with new believers and disciples for Christ.

Feb. 19 : Faithful in Persecution. “December and January were challenging months for some of our national brothers as they faced persecution and threats. Upon discovering a Bible in his backpack, one man’s family tied him up and took him to a local mosque, where he was put on trial for his new beliefs, threatened and slapped around by his accusers (it is similar to some of Paul’s experiences with the Jews in later chapters of Acts). Finally he was sentenced to house arrest. For weeks our brother remained in the custody of his family members, unable to join with believers for encouragement or training and removed from the believers and house groups he has been nurturing. Finally he escaped the clutches of these captors and is currently in hiding. Please continue to pray for this brother as he seeks direction about the future. He said that returning to his family would result in his death, and he would prefer to die in service to Jesus. Please pray for Muslim-background believers throughout this Indian state to grow in their faith and receive training to help them make disciples of others. Continue to ask God to soften the hearts of their neighbors and family members so that they also will receive this Good News. Ask God to use this persecution to strengthen His church and spread His message throughout the state. Pray that those being persecuted will be encouraged, remain faithful, and continue to share with boldness.”

Feb. 20 :  Ready for Baptism. “There are 15-20 more people who are ready to be baptized. Give thanks to the Lord with us for this good news. Things often take a long time to happen, so now we ask you to pray that an actual baptism event will take place. Typically, we teach for several hours about true faith, doing our best to confirm the participants’ belief, and then they are baptized. The entire event concludes with a large meal. God is faithful and worthy to be praised!”

WORLDVIEW: The year of living dangerously

by Erich Bridges

Posted on Feb 11, 2010

Visit “WorldView Conversation,” the blog related to this column, at http://worldviewconversation.blogspot.com/. Listen to an audio version at http://media1.imbresources.org/files/106/10631/10631-56748.mp3.
 
RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–What do you think about when you look back on the past year of your life?
 
Family joys and heartaches, perhaps. Victories and defeats on the job or at school. Sickness and health. Events in the lives of close friends. Odds are, you aren’t remembering the physical beatings you took for Christ.
 
Rasheed* and Farooq* are.
 
I’ve written several times about Rasheed and Farooq, two Muslims in India who have become committed followers of Jesus Christ. They lead a growing movement of Muslim-background believers in Mumbai, India’s largest city. The urban giant’s 20 million people include some 2 million Muslims — a large but often marginalized minority that is showing increasing openness to the Gospel.
   Read the rest of this entry »

Posted on Jan 13, 2010

by Tom Strode

WASHINGTON (BP)–An organization that serves the persecuted church again has rated North Korea as the worst oppressor of Christians. It was the eighth consecutive year that Open Doors gave the Asian regime the top ranking, this time 25 points ahead of Iran, the No. 2-rated country.

Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of the world’s population live in countries with high restrictions on religion, according to a report by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life titled Global Restrictions on Religion.

Nearly 70 percent of the world’s 6.8 billion people reside in countries with high or very high restrictions on religion, the Pew Forum reported. Although only 64 of the 198 countries or territories studied have those levels of restrictions (32 percent), they contain the large majority of the world’s population.

The Pew Forum divided its study into two categories, one assessing government restrictions and the other social hostilities. The first encompasses actions, policies and laws by the government. The second consists of actions by social groups or private organizations and individuals.

In the government restrictions ratings, the countries that scored “very high,” or in the top 5 percent of the scores, were, in descending order, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Uzbekistan, China, Egypt, Burma, Maldives, Eritrea, Malaysia and Brunei.

The countries that ranked “very high” in social hostilities were, in descending order, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Somalia, Israel, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Saudi Arabia.

In rankings by region, the Middle East-North Africa had the highest scores in both government restrictions on and social hostilities toward religion, while the Americas were the least restrictive in both indexes.

Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and India were the most restrictive among the world’s 25 most populous countries when both categories are considered. Meanwhile, the least restrictive of the 25 most populous countries were Brazil, Japan, the United States, Italy, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

North Korea was not included in the report because of a lack of access to the information required, according to the Pew Forum. Pew acknowledged that the North Korean regime is reportedly “among the most repressive” in the world. It also is likely the most closed society in the world to outsiders.

North Korea’s No. 1 ranking on the Open Doors list of the world’s worst persecutors of Christians was no surprise, the organization’s president said.

“There is no other country in the world where Christians are persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner,” Carl Moeller said in a Jan. 6 news release from Open Doors. “Three generations of a family are often thrown into prison when one member is incarcerated.”

The regime of dictator Kim Jong-Il has an estimated 200,000 political prisoners, including 40,000 to 60,000 Christians, according to Open Doors.

A longtime North Korean observer, who was not identified by Open Doors for safety reasons, said, “Christians are the target of fierce government action, and once caught, are not regarded as human. Last year we had evidence that some were used as guinea pigs to test chemical and biological weapons.”

Despite the repression, “the number of Christians in North Korea has grown in the last 10 years,” Moeller said.

According to Open Doors, the 10 countries where persecution of Christians is worst, with scores in parentheses, are North Korea (90.5), Iran (65.5), Saudi Arabia (63.5), Somalia (62.5), Maldives (62.0), Afghanistan (61.5), Yemen (60.5), Mauritania (59.5), Laos (56.0) and Uzbekistan (56.0).

North Korea and Laos have communist governments, while the other eight countries are Islamic states.

The U.S. State Department maintains a list of “countries of particular concern,” a designation reserved for the world’s most severe violators of religious freedom. The eight countries now on that list are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.

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Tom Strode is the Washington bureau chief for Baptist Press.

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