Weary faces fill the pews in the stone-hewn basement church in Jordan. Perhaps that’s not surprising as three-quarters of this congregation are refugees, who have fled from neighbouring Iraq. This one church, in the small town of Ma’in, cares for 100 Iraqi families as well as many local people. Also, outside the services, it provides both practical and pastoral support for some 350 Syrian families. The church at Ma’in offers counselling and practical support for refugees. The extraordinary couple at the heart of this work are Pastor Amjad and his wife Sanaa. Bible Society volunteers, they provide Bible-based trauma counselling for adults and children alike. They also distribute much-needed aid: anything from food to bedding, stoves to nappies, Bibles to electric fans. As much as anything else, they pour out the milk of human kindness. So, it’s no wonder the church is full.

Sanaa is originally from Syria, so when people started fleeing her homeland, she wanted to help. Now, the couple have been working with refugees on behalf of Bible Society for seven years. She started to teach the children Arabic, English and Bible stories. “The children started to change,” she says. “The parents asked me, ‘What do you do? The children have changed. They are calmer now.’ I told the parents, This is not my work. It is God’s work. That was a turning point in our lives. The parents started coming to church too.”

With little to do, the ‘negative’ also comes into the lives of the refugees. So, daily visits from Sanaa, Pastor Amjad and others in the church, are supportive and encouraging. Back in the church, the refugee congregation spends 40 minutes singing and praying. When Pastor Amjad preaches he doesn’t gloss over difficulties in life, but seven years of doing this have taken their toll. Pastor Amjad received a cancer diagnosis 17 years ago. He works 7 days a week. “My body is so tired,” he says. “There’s so much pressure because of the refugees, but I feel God is encouraging me to do this job.” And with that, he turns off the church lights, shuts the door and heads off to a funeral.

Source: Christian Today

Bible Study: Nehemiah 1:2-11

JANUARY PRAISE God for refugees who have found hope and salvation through Jesus.
PRAY that God will show them His plans for their future so they may trust Him in every way while they wait.

A recent report by the Spanish Government says the Evangelical church is on the upswing in Spain. According to the Religious Plurality report, released by the country’s Justice Ministry, as of 31 December 2016 there are 3,910 Evangelical churches in Spain, up from 3,769 in 2015. In other words, last year a new Evangelical church opened in that country every two and a half days. These numbers do not include unregistered house churches or Bible study/ prayer groups. Of a total Spanish population of 46 million, there are around 1.5 million Protestants, of which 500,000 are Evangelicals. However, groups working in the country have identified 587 towns with populations exceeding 5,000 without an Evangelical witness.

The Evangelical church is also on the upswing in France (population 65 million). At the end of 2016, the number of Evangelical churches in that country was 2,440. According to a report by the National Council of Evangelicals in France (CNEF), in 2016 a new Evangelical church opened in that country every 10 days. CNEF serves as an umbrella organisation for 70% of French Evangelicals. Overall the number of Evangelical churches increased by 35 and the report noted a slight “acceleration” in growth over the last two years. Aside from the increasing number of churches, CNEF added that many churches are also experiencing growth, citing the church Lille Metropole which recently increased its seating capacity from 800 to 2,000. Over 30 Evangelical churches in France have congregations of 1,000 or more.

The number of Evangelical Protestants has increased tenfold in the past 60 years (in 1950, there were 50,000 practicing Evangelicals). It’s no exaggeration to say that, compared with the activity just 10 years ago, France is becoming a hotbed of Evangelical activity. While this is, in no way, persuading millions of French people to accept Christ (34 percent of the country is atheist), we see in France today a real shift in the spiritual ‘tectonic plates.’ “One wonders what the secular philosopher J.P. Sartre would make of this renewal of Christian faith in the land of ‘laïcité’, says French researcher Sebastien Fath.

Source: Christian Post

Bible Study: Habakkuk 2:13-14

JANUARY PRAISE God for the steadfast work of godly men and women who have laboured with love and dedication to build up evangelical churches.
PRAY their labours may see increasing fruit.

The United States Congress will continue opening sessions with prayer after a challenge to the tradition by an atheist. A federal court ruled against a lawsuit brought by Daniel Barker, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Barker argued he was denied the opportunity to give an opening invocation in Congress while other guest chaplains were allowed to do so. U.S. District Judge, Rosemary M. Collyer, said in her decision that House rules didn’t allow Barker to lead the prayer because he had left his faith.

Barker claimed he met all the requirements, but the chaplain denied his request because he was ‘ordained in a denomination in which he no longer practices’ and ‘is not a religious clergyman’. In a ruling Wednesday, Collyer dismissed Barker’s claims that he had been discriminated against. Collyer also pointed out, opening prayer has been a part of Congress for more than two centuries and doesn’t conflict with the establishment clause according to the United States Supreme Court. House Speaker, Paul Ryan, was quick to applaud the decision. “Since the first session of the Continental Congress, our nation’s legislature has opened with a prayer to God.

Today, that tradition was upheld and the freedom to exercise religion was vindicated. The court rightfully dismissed the claims of an atheist that he had the right to deliver a secular invocation in place of the opening prayer,” Ryan said. He continued, “Recently, especially following the return of Majority Whip Steve Scalise, this institution has been reminded about the power of prayer. I commend the District Court for its decision, and am grateful the People’s House can continue to begin its work each day, as we have for centuries, taking a moment to pray to God.” Scalise also responded to the decision on Twitter saying, “Our rights come from God, so it’s only fitting the House begins each day united in prayer.” Barker says Collyer’s decision was tainted by her “personal bias against nonreligious people.” Collyer was appointed to the court under George W. Bush.

Source: Christian Post

Bible Study: Psalm 2:10-11

JANUARY PRAISE God for the evidence of answered prayer, highlighted by House Speaker Paul Ryan, as he referred to the miraculous recovery and return to the House of Steve Scalise who was critically shot in June.

Chevan was born in Nineveh, the city where Jonah preached. His father was a sheikh and preached at the mosque. As a young man, he was drawn to journalism and became a reporter of television and movies. As a result of his popular culture coverage, Islamic extremists targeted him. He knew not to stick around and travelled to Lebanon. One day while walking down a busy street near downtown Beirut he ran into a pastor handing out Bibles. The pastor reached out his hand and offered a Bible. “No, I don’t take it, I am Muslim” Chevan said. “You don’t have to be a Christian to read the Bible,” pastor Gergis responded. “It’s happy news.”

Two days later, the same pastor approached Chevan on another street, without recognising him. “I told you I don’t want it,” he responded gruffly. Improbably, the pastor ran into Chevan on the beach a few days later, and offered him a Bible again. “You know this is the third time you’ve offered me this Bible. This time I will take it, just because I want you to stop.” Chevan took the Bible home and started reading. Suddenly he was seized with curiosity to discover ‘happy news’. “I wanted to know what the secret was in this book,” he said. “It was magnetic to me. The next day I went to the Bible, I don’t even know why. I just wanted to open it again. I felt like something amazing was in this book, but I didn’t know what it was.”

The Sunday after, he found an ad in the newspaper about a church and decided to attend. Originally, his plan was to expose the Christians’ false worship. By ‘coincidence’ it was Pastor Gergis’ church. Two months later Chevan discovered the secret behind the Bible’s magnetism: it’s a living Word. Unlike other books, the words in the Bible are alive and they offer new life to all who believe. In response, at the age of 29 Chevan surrendered his life to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, and was born again. Now, as a refugee in the USA, he dreams about becoming a pastor in his home town of Nineveh.

Source: Esteban Orozco, Joel News International

Bible Study: 1 Thessalonians 2:13

JANUARY PRAISE God for Chevan’s curiosity leading to him immediately being struck by the Bible’s magnetism and finding it to be God’s living Word.
PRAY for many in the Middle East to have similar experiences.

Although licences to hold Christian worship or build churches in Dubai are restricted, over the years, a large number of Christian congregations have grown up in the city – most of which are thriving. The United Christian Church of Dubai, an evangelical congregational church, is one such example. From small beginnings among the expatriate oil workers back in 1962, it has grown to a congregation well in excess of 1,000, from some 50 nationalities. Now meeting in a modern, purposebuilt, church complex, it has spearheaded the development of similar church plants in Abu-Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain. UCCD is not formally aligned with any denomination or international ministry organisation. However, it benefits from fellowship with churches and pastors throughout the world, especially in Arabia.

Another expanding congregation is Christ Church in the Jebal Ali district of Dubai. Christ Church recently held a double ordination, to enhance its ministry team. In the presence of the Minister of State for Tolerance, Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, highlighted the warm relationship and mutual respect which exists between the authorities in the UAE and the Anglican church. Opened in 2002, Christ Church has seen weekly attendance grow from approximately 40 people to more than 200. Over 40 different congregations worshiping in 16 different languages use the site.

A message on its website says: “We are open to new ideas and want to witness to the saving grace of God which we have found through Jesus Christ. We want to be part of the fabric of what makes Dubai good, drawing people closer to God and helping them to live well, alive to the Spirit of God.” The double ordination service comes as the construction of a giant new Anglican cathedral in nearby Abu Dhabi enters its final months. All Saints Anglican Church will have room for 4,200 worshippers following its completion in December this year.

Premier News; uccdubai.com

Bible Study: Daniel 7:13-14

JANUARY PRAISE God for a strong Christian witness in the Gulf.
PRAY they will find ways of reaching out to the local Muslim population and see much fruit in their communities.

Venezuela has the most faltering economy in South America, a result of the populist measures adopted by ‘chavismo’, a political movement initiated by the late ex-president Hugo Chavez, and maintained by the current President, Nicolas Maduro. Faced with this, all public services are struggling, including hospitals. An example is the dilapidated state of Central University Hospital Antonio María Pineda in the city of Barquisimeto, in terms of its cleanliness and infrastructure. It has motivated a group of evangelical Christians to generously invest money and personal effort in its restoration. Local church, the “Iglesia Evangélica Pentecostal Misionera Primitiva” has contributed over 3 Billion Bolivars in restructuring work, including much they themselves have done by way of an altruistic contribution to their community.

Pastor Carlos Garcia said they began to intervene in the medical centre in December 2016. At the time of writing, the areas they have restored include, delivery rooms, cardiology, neurosurgery, pavilion, dialysis, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), day care for children and surgery (men’s section). According to García, the intervention includes provision of services – to construction, electricity and lighting, carpentry, plumbing, reconditioning walls and equipment, cleaning and fumigation.

“When we started the works, the services were in the maximum state of deterioration and abandonment; there was rotting and trash of all kinds,” Garcia said. One of the areas most dilapidated was men’s surgery. They called it “Batman’s Cave”, Nataly Valenzuela, a member of the volunteer team, explained that one of the things most worrying them is that the areas continue to be maintained and cleaned, after the enormous effort that they have put in. For this reason representatives of the Church meet weekly with relatives of inpatients to discuss the measures they need to follow to maintain the hospital.

Source: Mundo Cristiano TV

Bible Study: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

JANUARY PRAISE God for impoverished Christians, living in the midst of a broken economy, to be so generously.
PRAY their example may be emulated.

Religious leaders in the Islamic Republic are urging their government to increase pressure on Christians in the face of church growth. Despite difficulties, Christianity continues to expand in Iran, to the point of becoming a major concern for Islamic leaders. According to Mohabat News, an agency specialised in the situation of Christians in Iran, the rate of growth in the country has been “exponential” in the last two decades. Even some main Islamic leaders, such as Ayatollah Alavi Boroujerdi, have pointed to “accurate reports indicating that young people are becoming Christians in Qom and attending churches in houses.”

Another Ayatollah, Makarem Shirazi, has also been “alarmed at the number of young Iranians becoming Christians,” and blames “foreign influence” on conversions. Wahid Khorasani, another Islamic leader, has criticised government officials “for negligence in not preparing strategies to counter the spread of Christianity.” Mohabat News points out “the high rate of conversion of Iranian youth to Christianity comes despite rigorous Islamic indoctrination of young people in families and the education system. The Islamic government of Iran devotes massive budgets supporting Islamic organisations promoting Islam among young people. Irrespective of these efforts, young Iranians seem increasingly distant from Islam, a matter of great concern to the Iranian Islamic government.”

In this situation, the authorities have begun to persecute the Christians more severely. The New York-based Centre for Human Rights in Iran reported in July that Iranian authorities are increasingly imprisoning Christians who have converted in the country. Despite this strategy of repression and persecution, the growth of Christianity has not stopped. “Church leaders believe millions can be added in the coming years – such is the spiritual hunger that exists and disillusionment with the Islamic regime,” Elam ministries said earlier this year. “Because Iran is a strategic nation, the growing church in Iran will affect Muslim nations throughout the Islamic world,” the
ministry added.

Source: Mohabat News; Elam Ministries; Protestante Digital

Bible Study: Psalm 2:2-8

JANUARY PRAISE God He is able to break the tightest bonds.
PRAY this strategic nation will be changed from what was once referred to as an “Axis of Evil” and become a light for salvation.

Nepal is the world’s only Hindu state, with 86% of its 26.5 million people practising Hinduism. According to John Pudaite, President of Bibles For The World (BFTW), the sudden recent spiritual growth spurt in Nepal has been possible following a change in the political situation. “For centuries, Nepal was under a very restrictive monarchy and as the country opened up to democracy and developed its own constitution, all of a sudden people realised they did have a choice when it came to what they believed. Christ’s message of mercy and truth is appealing to many, causing the Church to grow at an unprecedented rate.”

Over the past five years, BFTW has supplied two million copies of the Gospel of John and 100,000 full New Testaments in the country. “We’ve been working through a network of about 1,800 frontline workers and they’ve been using our Scriptures in their evangelism as they share the Gospel with people in their villages and towns,” Pudaite says. One of BFTW’s newest partners seeks to reach the so called ‘unengaged, unreached people groups’ in areas that are physically, culturally, and spiritually challenging to reach.

Following the lifting of restrictions, the Church in Nepal has grown steadily, and by some estimates evangelical Christians now represent almost 2% of the population. Press reports indicate 170 Christian churches operate in Kathmandu alone. However, it is very young and still finding its feet. The congregations in some churches are small, with just a handful of believers meeting together. There is a great need for growth to spiritual maturity
and for good quality training for pastors and leaders.

In small congregations in remote places, the leader may simply be the only person in the church who can read. Further growth is taking place among the Tibetan expatriates’ descendants who fled Tibet to Nepal following the Chinese Communist takeover. Some are being trained to reach their own people for Christ. Indigenous ministries are now conducting missionary training programs for scores of Tibetan Christians each year, according to Christian Aid Mission.

Source: John Pudaite in Missions Catalyst; accross.co.nz

Bible Study: Ephesians 3:17-19

JANUARY PRAISE God for the huge influx of Scriptures to support growing churches. PRAY that hunger for God’s Word may grow deep in Nepal.

A group of UK parliamentarians is calling on government to do more to support healthy family life, asking it to: • Create a Government focused on supporting families. Appoint a cabinet-level minister to ensure family-friendly policies are prioritised and coordinated, and ensure departments carry out Family Impact Assessments.

• Encourage Local Authorities to work with voluntary and business partners to deliver Family Hubs. Government to enable councils to develop hubs offering help to parents with children across age ranges, and relationship support for couples in distress or at risk of separation.

• Promote active fatherhood in a child’s life. Ensure fathers are involved from day one, and maternity services
should review and improve support for fathers. Legal changes mandating fathers to be named on birth certificates should be brought into force.

• Remove financial disincentives for people on low incomes to form lasting couple relationships. Boost the marriage allowance for lower income couples with children, and enable people on Universal Credit entitled to marriage allowance, to receive it automatically. Reduce couple penalties in Universal Credit.

• Use childcare funding to support parenting. Taking part in a weekly Stay and Play session with their two year old child should be a requirement of accepting free childcare if the parent is not in work.

• Promote healthy relationships to tackle the mental health crisis. Ensure children and young people’s mental health services assist families, offer couple counselling where needed, and any child experiencing domestic violence to be offered support.

• Relationship Education supporting stronger families. Relationship education should promote the importance
of commitment with a Government-funded online platform targeted at enabling young people to develop good relationships.

• Help prisons to nurture family support to reduce reoffending. Family and other supportive relationships must be treated as indispensable to the success of government reform aiming to make prisons safer and reduce re-offending.

Source: Christian Concern

Bible Study: Mark 3:23-25

JANUARY PRAISE God for the Manifesto’s emphasis on promoting to young people commitment in relationships. PRAY they will recognise the benefits of long-term commitments.

“When Christ claimed me for His own, I was not converted out of homosexuality, I was converted out of unbelief” wrote former lesbian, Rosaria Butterfield, as she explained why she signed The Nashville Statement on gender and sexuality. The statement was released by a broad coalition of Christian leaders, including J. I. Packer and Francis Chan, articulating God’s design for human identity as male and female. “I signed The Nashville Statement because my conscience compels me so, because the promises of liberty on the world’s terms are false and deceptive, and because many who currently claim to have Christ’s forgiveness and salvation must be called to account for leading good people astray with false promises and filthy lies,” she continued.

Rosaria Butterfield, a former professor at Syracuse University and Geneva College, stated: “Evangelical Christians at the dawn of the 21st century find themselves living in a period of historic transition. As Western culture has become increasingly postChristian, it has embarked upon a massive revision of what it means to be a human being. By and large the spirit of our age no longer discerns or delights in the beauty of God’s design for human life. The issue is not primarily homosexuality; it’s Scripture.

The issue is not primarily gay marriage it’s whether the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart,” she said. Butterfield recalls her life as a lesbian until her conversion in 1999. “Conversion to Christ did not initially change my sexual attraction for women,” she explained. “What conversion did change immediately was my heart and mind. My mind was on fire for the Bible and I could not read enough of it or enough about it. The Gospel gave me a light that was ruinous. It ruined me for the life I had loved. The Lord’s light illumined my sin through the law and illumined my hope through Jesus and the Gospel. Our real identity is not in the sin we battle but in the Saviour we embrace,” she said.

Source: The Christian Post

Bible Study: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6

JANUARY PRAISE God that Rosaria has understood and articulated that the issue is not a LGBT lifestyle as such, but an attitude to the Bible.
PRAY that, somehow, God will show the relevance of His Word to today’s world.