LATEST NEWS & PRAYER REQUESTS FROM CHINA AND THE COUNTRIES IN THE BACK TO JERUSALEM VISION

This page is updated frequently, so please check back often....

13 Feb 2007 NIGER - God at work among the Tuareg people Latest News

Approximately 11 million people - in 41 different tribes and ethnic groups - inhabit the north African country of Niger. 98% of Niger's population are Muslims, making it one of the most unreached countries in need of the Gospel in the world. The Baptist Press News recently told how a Tuareg man came to faith in Jesus Christ: Ibrahim first came into Warren and Sharon Hesslings’ life as a Tuareg language guide for Warren. Though Ibrahim was at first belligerent when the Bible was brought up, his defensiveness turned to intrigue as he studied the English Bible to learn Hessling’s language. “One day he came to the house here and he said, ‘Today, I have to do something,’” Hessling recalls. “Several hours later he prayed the sinner’s prayer and accepted the Lord as his Savior.” Ibrahim didn’t wait long before he was sharing the same message with his family. But they rejected his faith. The Tuareg people drink water from a common bowl, but after Ibrahim’s conversion, he was given his own bowl of water. And, in a culture where water is life, the water left in his bowl was tossed out. When Ibrahim was unemployed, his family refused to feed him. “He’s never been beaten, but he may as well have been for what he has been put through,” Warren says. Although Ibrahim’s own family has persecuted him for his faith, he continues to share the message of Jesus Christ. It is Ibrahim’s example that gives the Hesslings hope that the Tuareg will embrace Christ. Ibrahim has seen drastic changes in the lives of his people - moving from their historically nomadic life to urban living - and the turmoil that has placed on Tuareg society. Among the changes is exposure to the Gospel. While Tuareg are traditionally Muslim, Ibrahim says they are searching for meaning during this time of transition. He found a steady foundation in Jesus Christ at a shaky time in his own life. He made the move to Niamey, Niger, from his home village five years ago, joining other Tuareg in the hunt for something better. When he began serving as a language guide for Hessling, however, he saw the concept of homeland in new light. Ibrahim recalls the first year he spent with Hessling as the two read the Bible together. Each lesson brought more questions for Ibrahim, which finally led him to know the Bible as truth and accept Jesus as his Savior. “I tried to share my understanding, what I believe, with my people, to my cousins,” Ibrahim says. “They refused to agree with me.” Soon, a family of believers developed around Ibrahim, however. He had been teaching the Koran to his friend, Amir*, but when Ibrahim went to meet his friend after his conversion, Amir said he didn’t need the lesson that day. “I said, ‘I’m a Christian today. You’re a Muslim today, no problem. I will still teach you the Koran - change nothing,’” Ibrahim recalls. “Finally he agreed so I taught him the Koran until he moved into my house.” One morning, Amir saw Ibrahim reading his Bible and asked what he was reading. Ibrahim read the biblical story of Jonah to Amir. That began a regular Bible study for the two, which eventually replaced the Koran study altogether. Today, Amir is also a believer in Christ and thus a brother to Ibrahim. A third housemate also has become a believer in Christ, so the three now study the Bible and encourage one another in the faith. Day-to-day challenges can easily overcome them, from family struggles to the basic need for food. These believers are encouraged, however, that their persistence will not only keep them strong in their faith, but also lead others to Christ. They return to their home villages whenever money and time allow. Though they may face persecution, the believers share the faith that drives their lives. Hessling notes this is the way the Gospel will be taken to Tuareg far and wide. One barrier to evangelizing the Tuareg is the vast distances that exist between them, yet a bridge exists in their nomadic lifestyle to open lines of communication between villages. Ibrahim alone has traveled to Chad, Libya, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali and parts of the Mediterranean. With the openness among Tuareg today, Ibrahim longs for more helpers to come and help share the message. American missionaries, he says, are especially needed now because Tuareg have no problems with Americans. Additionally, there aren’t enough Tuareg believers to take the message to all his people. “Our work has become vast now,” Ibrahim says of the Gospel. “Our work has become heavy for us. I hope one day God will provide helpers.”

07 Feb 2007 INDONESIA - Parents Forgive Killer Latest News

For the last several years severe tensions between Muslims and Christians on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi have led to many clashes and deaths. In October 2005, three Christian schoolgirls were killed in the town of Poso. The Muslim militants who committed the murder have met with the Christian parents of the three slain girls. During their meeting the parents told the men they forgave them. UK-based Release International said, "In an extraordinary scene, the families embraced the three Islamist extremists on trial for their daughters' murders and shook hands as a sign of peace." The three defendants - Hasanuddin, Irwanto and Haris - repented of their crime and have expressed their deep sorrow. The three men face the death sentence for beheading the Christian girls as they walked to school. A fourth girl escaped but suffered serious machete wounds. A spokesperson said, "Thank God for the powerful witness of the three Christian families who have been able to extend Jesus' love and forgiveness to the men who killed their daughters. Pray that peacemaking efforts in Poso will gather momentum and bear fruit."

08 Dec 2006 BTJ missionaries seeing fruit

As more Chinese missionaries continue to leave China for other countries, with a passion for Christ and for the lost peoples of the world, we have been greatly encouraged by reports coming back from many of them. We can not give specific details due to obvious security concerns, but here are highlights from a small group of house church missionaries who are working in a predominantly Muslim country.... "Before leaving China I was trained in how to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Muslims, starting with what the Qu'ran says about Jesus. One day I started talking with a Muslim lady who operates an internet cafe. She wanted to learn more, but was afraid. I told her, "Just take the first step towards Jesus." Now I am ministering the Gospel to her almost every day. Please pray she will soon count the cost and give her life to Jesus." "During the month of Ramadan, when all Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset, two of us also felt that Jesus also wanted us to fast, but unto Him. We fasted for 40 days, and many wonderful things occurred during this time. I met a woman who had breast cancer, and was fearful of dying. I prayed for her, and the next day she went to her doctor and he said he could not believe the results! She went back for further testing and the doctor pronounced her completely free of all cancer! She has now begun to follow Jesus. Praise the Lord." "In this country there are a small number of Christians, but most of them live in fear of persecution and never share the Gospel with anyone. We have been praying that they would stand up and be bold like Jesus told us to, and not to hide their lights under a bushel. Please pray with us that this would happen." Many Back to Jerusalem missionaries are beginning to see God move throught them and fruit is being produced for the kingdom of God. The workers have overcome many obstacles, and are learning to be excellent witnesses in the cultures and languages they have been sent to. They remind us of a quote by Samuel Zwemer, a great missionary to the Muslim world in the first half of the 20th century. Zwemer wrote, "There is nothing finer not more pathetic to me than the way in which missionaries unlearn the love of the old home, die to their native land, and wed their hearts to the people they have served and won.... How vulgar the common patriotisms seem beside this inverted homesickness, the passion of a kingdom which has no frontiers and no favored race, the passion of a homeless Christ."

23 Oct 2006 ISRAEL - Israeli man miraculously led to Christ by Chinese Christian. Latest News

In 1975 an important conference called "Love China" was held in Manila, the Philippines. It brought together more than 430 delegates from 23 countries, representing 15 Protestant denominations and 55 mission organizations. Time magazine correspondent David Aikman called it, “the first full-scale gathering anywhere in the world of evangelicals concerned about the Christian witness in China since the Communist government gained power in 1949.” In 1975 China was a very different place than it is today. Those were dark days. The Cultural Revolution was in progress, and Mao was still in power. It was uncertain if the Church in China had survived 25 years of brutal persecution. One of the speakers at the Love China conference was Arnold Lea. He summarized 20th century Church history in China, and said the following: "One emphasis that caught the imagination was the Back to Jerusalem Band. Its purpose was that Chinese should move from China back through Central Asia, back to the place where on the day of Pentecost the Church was born. It was a vision given to a young man in Northwest China. And I wonder whether one day the Back to Jerusalem Band will not be once again formed, that there will go out from China a band which will visit not just Chinese but other inhabitants of Central Asia and, indeed, the world." In 1975, the thought that China might one day send missionaries outside of its borders was considered far-fetched, yet by the grace and power of God, this dream has become a reality! Although the number of Chinese who have gone overseas remains modest right now, there are encouraging signs of a rapid increase in the coming months and years, as more missionaries are trained in China, and more believers are being exposed to the vision. Some cynics have scoffed at the prospects of house church Christians from China having any impact on the mission field. If God only used people who are wise in the ways of the world, this might be true. The good news is that God uses those who are fully committed to Him and who hear His voice, and there are many in China who qualify on this basis. The following testimony comes from a Western evangelical Christian who has spent many years living and working in the Middle East: "While visiting Jerusalem, I attended a small church on a Sunday morning. After the service I chatted with the pastor, who mentioned that I should talk to a new Israeli believer and get the story of how he had come to know Jesus Christ. I went over and introduced myself to this man, and he began by telling me a remarkable story.... This man was a shop owner. He was working one day when a Chinese Christian entered the shop and told the Israeli that he had a message from God for him. The two had never met each other before. The Chinese Christian then proceeded to tell the Israeli man, by word of knowledge, several things in his life that he was struggling with, things even his own wife didn't know. The shop owner was shocked and a little afraid. He realized there was no other way the Chinese visitor could have known these facts unless God had revealed them to him. The Chinese believer also told him that he had a disease, and that God wanted to heal it. Even as the Chinese man spoke, this Israeli felt the healing power of God flow through him. Before leaving, the Chinese visitor told the shop owner to go to the small church and ask the pastor to explain the salvation and healing that Jesus Christ brings. In utter astonishment, the Israeli man did just that, and the pastor led him to Christ. When I heard this incredible story, I realized that if 100,000 Chinese missionaries able to hear the Lord like this were released in the Middle East, the impact would be beyond what we could imagine."

12 Oct 2006 NORTH KOREA - On the Brink of Life and Death Latest News

In the wake of the apparent nuclear weapon test in North Korea's Hamgyong Province four days ago, it is a good time to focus on this hermit nation of 25 million people, and ask for your fervent prayers on behalf of the secret believers there. North Korea has experienced more than half a century of bizarre, demonically-inspired rule, which has plunged the nation into economic and social disaster and isolated them from the rest of the world. A powerful cult based around worship and adoration of Kim-Il-sung, who died in 1994, has transferred to his son, Kim-Jong-Il. Sadly, it has been reported that the Kim-Il-sung's mother was a Christian, and taught the Bible to her son when he was a young boy. The 'Great Leader" travelled to the Societ Union and became passionate for the ideals of Marxism. He returned to North Korea and started the Korean War in 1950. Many believers around the world are not aware that North Korea up to that time was a strong place of Christian revival. The capital city, Pyongyang, was even known as the "Jerusalem of the East." There were hundreds of churches, but these were brutally suppressed by the Communists. Tens of thousands of Christians were slaughtered by the mad leader, and hundreds of thousands more fled south into what is now South Korea. North Korea has been labelled the world's worst persecutor of Christians by Open Doors in their annual World Watch list. There are an estimated 300,000 people suffering in North Korean prison camps. The most recent edition of Operation World says, "over 100,000 Christians are interned in labor camps." Large numbers of North Koreans have attempted to flee across the river into northeast China in the past decade. Many have succeeded in the risky venture, only for the Chinese authorities to round them up and send them back to North Korea, where they are executed. Although the condition of North Korea seems depressing, there is a sign of hope. God is in charge of the nations of the world, and He loves the North Korean people. A certain number of Chinese missionaries have been praying for and focusing on ministry opportunities into North Korea in recent years as part of the Back to Jerusalem vision. Although we obviously can't give any details of their work, we do ask for you to pray that the Lord might greatly help them to bring His Life to this place of Death. In addition, thousands of South Korean Christians have a great burden for their compatriots in the north. Many have been in training to take the Gospel into North Korea as soon as the country opens up. They understand the risks, but are willing to die if necessary for the Name of Jesus to be rightly honored and lifted up in this needy nation. Nuclear weapons in the hands of Kim-Jong-Il is not something the world can tolerate. The gracious and all-knowing Heavenly Father, will also not tolerate the suffering of His people forever. At this time, events in the material and spiritual realms seem to be coming to a head for North Korea. Realizing that our fight is not against flesh and blood, please pray for North Korea.... Pray that multitudes of North Korea would soon find life and freedom in Jesus Christ. Ask God to move mightily to bring genuine and sustained revival to North Korea. Pray all structures in North Korea that keep people from hearing and understanding the Gospel would collapse. Fervently pray for those Christians from China and elsewhere who are risking their lives to reach out to North Korea. Cry out to the Lord to protect and sustain the thousands of believers suffering terrible in prison throughout the country.

08 Oct 2006 PAKISTAN - Missionary's children brutally murdered and burnt! (Anycost Jesus Mission)

The 15-year old son and 14-year old daughter of an underground missionary couple in northern Pakistan were brutally murdered and their dead bodies were burnt by the terrorists a northern districts of Pakistan in September. The boy, Shalom, and his sister, Sharon, were high school students. Police and military forces are supportive to the militants, who also demolished a church and set some houses on fire. Shalom and Sharon were kidnapped along with their missionary parents and two other younger sisters 10 days before the murder. The militants ordered them to convert to Islam and join them in working against Christians. When they refused, the militants first killed Shalom. Then they raped the girl and cut one of her breasts. She bled to death. The murderers left the dead bodies in a ditch, poured petrol over them, and set them alight. The police issued a false statement saying that it was an accident and the petrol tank of the motorcycle opened while they were fallen into the ditch and a spark caused Shalom and Sharon to catch on fire and burn to death. Believers in this area are greatly distressed and fearful. The militants have forbidden them to pray or not even to speak a single word about Christ or Christianity. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Pakistan who are undergoing such severe persecution. Pray the militants and those who oppose and kill God's people would repent and serve the Living God, like the Apostle Paul did.