World in Brief

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.

Reach Beyond is increasing its outreach across Central Asia through media and medical ministries, it was reported in late October.

Radio programmes continue to air from outside the region, broadcasting information of general interest along with a clear gospel message. Medical caravans have also been in the area over the last three years, the most recent in September when team members went to a remote area they hadn’t visited before.

Initial works of renovation on a rented building for the Church of Christ Mission Centre in Vukovar have begun, it was reported in late October.

Vlado Psenko broadcasts 15-minute video Bible messages on local TV and also on four radio stations in Zupanja, Djakova, Osijek and Vukovar.

TWR Cuba, supported by TWR Canada, has purchased a house in Havana, it was reported in late October.

The newly painted house will serve as office, studio, residence and guest quarters. Growth had forced the Cuba ministry to disperse its operations. Planning for several activities each year had to take place in multiple locations because there wasn’t enough room for new initiatives. For many years, office space had been provided by Cuba’s Western Baptist Convention, which will continue to act as a partner of TWR’s Cuba outreach.

Cuban authorities were forced to halt demolition of an Assemblies of God church in the city of Santiago de Cuba on 28 October when peaceful protestors, including the denomination’s regional head, held a spontaneous sit-in at the church.

The protestors had taken part in an unauthorised march through the city and a peaceful demonstration at the local Cuban Communist Party offices to protest ongoing government confiscations and demolitions of church properties.

Around 800 young people and young families from many Middle East denominations joined together to pray for this war-torn region and its refugees at the American University in Cairo on 31 October.

The concert, called ‘I Love My Country’, was the brainchild of Egyptian praise team, the Good News Team, and Christian TV network SAT-7.

Europe’s evangelicals from all traditions are helping significantly with the current migrant crisis, the European Evangelical Alliance reported in October.

Among the projects being carried out are transit stations for migrants in Hungary, emergency rescue in Serbia and Croatia, political advocacy in Slovakia, awareness-raising to prepare churches and families to receive and host migrants in Scandinavia and the UK, and legal assistance, language courses and spiritual help or day centres for migrants and their families in Italy.

Advocates Asia, a forum of Christian lawyers in 20 Asian countries, held their 14th convention in New Delhi from 22–24 October.

The 120 delegates expressed ‘deep concern over [the] arrests, detention and disappearance of human rights lawyers and activists in China, who have been defending individuals and their rights to freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression’ and have been detained since early July. They urged the Chinese government to release them ‘immediately and unconditionally’.

India’s Hindu nationalist government has reacted ‘immaturely’ to Nepal’s decision to call itself a ‘secular’ state as opposed to a ‘Hindu’ nation in the long-awaited constitution finally approved on 16 September, a Nepalese Christian leader said in October.

A blockade on the Nepal-India border has led to extreme shortages of basic essentials in Nepal, but Indian officials deny their involvement.

Iranians can now read the new Persian translation of the Bible on their smart-phones and devices via the YouVersion app, it was reported in October.

The celebrated Persian Bible has been released on the world’s most popular Bible application and website. Millions in Iran have smartphones, meaning they can access the Word digitally.

Pope Francis has described the Bible as ‘a highly dangerous book’ that has caused countless deaths and wars, but it is a book that he loves and values above all else, it was reported in late October.

The Pope wrote in the prologue of the German edition of the Youcat Bible: ‘If you could see my Bible, you would not be particularly impressed’. But he adds: ‘It has been with me in my times of joy and times of tears. It is my most precious treasure. I live out of it, and I wouldn't give anything in the world for it.’

Experts investigating the region of Tall el-Hammam believe the remains of a Bronze Age city match the biblical description of Sodom, it was reported in October.

Not only would the site have been the largest city in the region, as described in the Bible, but it is situated to the east of the River Jordan, dates back to between 3500 and 1540 BC and is thought to have been suddenly abandoned.

Syrian militants are among refugees fleeing to other countries, and they don’t leave their Islamic extremist practices behind, it was reported in October.

They have brought brutality and a culture of fear into some refugee camps, the director of a ministry in the Middle East said.

One of the 200 Christian schoolgirls captured by Boko Haram back in April 2014 has escaped, it was reported in mid-October.

The escaped Chibok schoolgirl was being kept in the Sambisa forest camp by the terrorists. She managed to escape captivity and was rescued by Fulani herdsman. The girl reported that many of the girls, like herself, have been forced to marry Boko Haram militants and have been impregnated by them. Many have also contracted diseases such as VVF. The girl additionally revealed that those girls who refused to convert to Islam were immediately killed.

Two Muslim men who raped two Christian sisters last year were acquitted in October after Islamists bribed a key witness not to testify against them and a prosecutor failed to appear in court.

The two teenaged girls had gone to a toilet in a field near their village of Jaranwala, Faisalabad on 28 November 2014, when the men, Muhammad Shahbaz and Muhammad Azeem, abducted them at gunpoint, beat one for protesting, took them to a house and raped them. The girls recognised the men, who were from their area. The hearing at Jaranwala Trial Court collapsed on 10 October and the suspects were acquitted on 15 October.

Two Lutheran churches were destroyed in two separate incidents in October.

On 22 October, authorities demolished the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sudan in Omdurman, citing re-development reasons, after giving the church only 72 hours’ notice. Separately, another Lutheran church building was burned down on 17 October in Gadaref, East Sudan.

Middle Eastern Christians who have lived in Sweden for decades are being threatened by Islamic State (IS), it was reported in October.

The Arabic letter noon (equivalent to N) has been painted on the walls of two shops owned by Assyrian Christians in Gothenburg. The bakery and a pizzeria next door were also painted with the IS logo and messages in Swedish saying ‘The Caliphate is here’ and ‘Convert or die’.

Almost ten weeks after around 250 Christians were hunted out and captured in the Syrian town of Qaryatain, Islamic State jihadists released 50 of the hostages, who arrived safely in Assyrian villages on 12 October.

It is thought that the group is continuing to hold 185 of the Christian hostages taken from the town on 6 August, among them 75 women and several children.

Police in Turkey uncovered a 1,000-year-old Bible in October after smugglers tried to sell it to undercover officers.

Police in the central Turkish city of Tokat confiscated the ancient Bible, written in the old Assyriac language and illustrated in gold leaf, together with other priceless artefacts.

SAT-7 TÜRK is the only Christian channel among over 600 TV channels in Turkey, it was reported in late October.

Seyfi Genç, the news editor for Sat-7 TÜRK, won the Turkish equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. He explained: ‘Turkey has over 600 channels … Only SAT-7 provides a Christian opinion. Our programmes give a Christian focus on Turkish news, and tell people about Christian events and festivals’.

Muslims in eastern Uganda, angry with George Mwanika, a Christian, for leaving Islam, killed his wife Mamwikomba when they couldn’t find him on 19 October, a month after his brother was murdered.

George Mwanika said that, since the murder of his brother on 23 September, he has been receiving threatening messages from Muslims unknown to him, telling him to stop spreading Christianity or else he would face the same fate. Mamwikomba leaves three adult children and five others ranging in age from 17 to nine.

Last year saw the highest number of Bibles being given out by Bible Societies around the world, it was reported in late October.

There was a 6% rise from 2013, as almost 34 million Bibles were distributed.