Papua New Guinea (WAS/MNN) -- When the new airstrip was
dedicated and opened in Megamanau, Papua New Guinea, the villagers
celebrated.
All around, men robed in traditional warrior dress and
makeup were a testament to the fact that something important was taking place.
If planes don't have a safe place for landing, then anything
requiring transport comes to a screeching halt. Since
it takes a three-day walk to reach the nearest road, the airstrip is critical
to getting translators, volunteers, and supplies in and out.
In this case, Wycliffe Associates partners caught the
vision. They provided a heavy-duty
commercial lawnmower and training to help complete the airstrip. The mower will be vital in controlling the
tall grass and other vegetation in order to keep the airstrip safe for takeoffs
and landings.
Since 2006, a pair of translators, Marcus and Lisa
Mellinger, have been working on
completing the four Gospels and the Book of Acts. The new airstrip will provide a tremendous
boost as they work toward the completion of the Scriptures.
Photo courtesy I.N. Network USA.
Turkey (MNN) -- According to Israel National News, over 200 people were arrested for alleged involvement in the recent military coup to overthrow the Turkish government. Perpetrators included high ranking generals and politicians.
Several reports say that the secularist coup had been in the making since 2003 when the Justice and Development (AK) party came to power. Sources go on to say that the coup planned to bomb several mosques, and that a staged conflict with Greece was underway in order to justifiably overturn the mostly Muslim government.
Although Christians were not directly involved in this conflict, Behnan Konutgan with I.N. Network in Turkey says they were originally a target of the coup.
"These plans to overthrow the regime also included plans to kill and persecute Christians so that they could blame the Islamic party," says Konutgan. Fortunately these threats were extinguished by the Turkish government, which has been protecting Turkish Christians. Konutgan says Christians are in no real danger at this time.
However, believers do have a role to play in the wake of this uprising. Fighting between groups has been going on for over 30 years, according to Konutgan. This unrest is causing a country comprised of 99 percent Muslims to reevaluate.
"People are really tired of this [unrest]," notes Konutgan. "This political unrest leads people to question what they have always believed, and they are searching for answers. This situation opens a door for Muslims to think about Christ."
Christians have the opportunity to share their faith as Turks search out truth after the upheaval. Konutgan believes many will take that opportunity, but asks that all believers pray.
"Pray that all church members will be prepared to take every opportunity to glorify God and reach the people of Turkey with the salvation of Christ."
(Photos released by the Southern Baptist IMB)
Chile (MNN) -- There is a growing sense of chaos as despair
builds in Chile. A quake measuring 8.8 shook the city of Concepcion Saturday--a city of more than
200,000 people.
Chile's president, Michele Bachelet, declared a "state
of catastrophe" in three central regions of the country. Several hospitals were evacuated, and
communications with Concepcion were knocked out.
The toll is ghastly: the loss of life is climbing, and
damage estimates are in the double-digit billions.
Jeff Palmer is with Baptist Global Response, a key partner
of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board in disaster relief
situations.
He says they have an assessment team en route to support
their team on the ground there. U.S.
headquarters got word from IMB leaders in Chile that all field personnel have
been accounted for and are safe.
In the meantime, Southern Baptists have released $50,000 for immediate relief needs in Chile. Palmer says, "We've already gotten reports
and some requests for help. We're able to provide immediate things like the food, the water, the tent materials,
shelter needs for those who are living outside because either homes have
been damaged or homes have been destroyed, so they need some type of
shelter."
A compassionate response during a soul-searching time opens
many doors. "By touching people
where they need help physically, by helping them where they are, that's
the first way of ministering to them. Communicating the love of Christ speaks volumes--communicating the love of Christians around
the world who want to respond and help."
Keep praying for the team. Missionaries indicated that on Saturday, they "were stunned, almost
immobilized, but today we are beginning to think about how God can use us." You can help. Click here.
Haiti (MNN) -- Haiti has always been a religious country, but since the quake in January, it's absolutely booming with spiritual curiosity.
CURE International was performing surgeries in Haiti almost as soon as the earthquake hit and has been working there since. CURE Senior Vice President Dale Brantner recently returned from Haiti, where he discovered that people are open to faith after this tragedy.
"We just found an overwhelming openness to pray," says Brantner. "Every day when coming back to the hospital, people seek you out saying, ‘You prayed for my child yesterday. Will you come back and please pray again today?'"
This openness is good, but Brantner says syncretism is great in Haiti as people try to connect voodoo with Christianity. After visiting mostly hospitals rather than homes, Brantner says it is hard to say if that is a large threat as Haitians turn their eyes to Christ right now. Either way, he is certain that Haiti is in a perfect place right now for rebuilding the country in a fresh way.
"Haiti has been shaken to the core, and there's an opportunity for them as a nation and for countries that aid this country, to help them build the right kind of infrastructure with integrity and purity. And the same is true of the Church."
Another obstacle to this growth, however, lies in the hands of the Muslim community. Brantner saw plenty of Christian aid while in Haiti, but "what I also saw was probably more aid from Islamic charity than I have ever seen in one place, and I traveled Afghanistan. I was surprised that in Haiti I was seeing so much Islamic aid."
People are ready to turn somewhere in regard to faith, and Brantner admits that it is a spiritual battleground in terms of who people will turn to. The opportunity to build the Church is great right now, but prayer is needed.
"I think there's a window of opportunity. My prayer is that the Church continues to follow through, that the Christian faith prevails, and that people see the reality of the love of Christ in all of this."
CURE has been ministering Christ's love to patients in Haiti since the quake and is working hard to bring children to get care in the CURE facility in Dominican Republic. Their hospital there is the best in the country. It will help many who need reconstructive surgery and who need to know the love of Christ. Click here to learn more about how you can help CURE help Haiti.
(Photo by BBC Worldservice/ Schoolgirls in Haiti)
Haiti (CMP/MNN) -- Quake-ravaged
Haiti wants schools back in session by the end of March. However, officials estimate that the
earthquake damaged roughly 80-percent of schools. The quake also destroyed the Education
Ministry, which hasn't been able to resume its duties.
The government is still trying to
assess the extent of the damage to the education system, even as they try to
mandate a quick return to the classroom. Further complicating that deadline, hundreds of survivors flocked to school grounds and set up makeshift refugee
camps. City officials say they hope to
evacuate people and relocate them elsewhere so the schools can operate.
Compassion International is trying
to bring some normalcy back into the lives of the more than 64,000
children they're serving. But until new
buildings can be built, many schools may have to meet in tents.
In addition to
assessing and rebuilding schools, Compassion is also training children and
their families to be safe while living in tent cities.
Compassion is partnering with
Engineering Ministries International to determine what repairs are needed at
school buildings serving Compassion's church partners and how to improve
buildings and facilities to withstand any future earthquakes.
Compassion is also continuing the
difficult process of taking a census of every registered child who was
significantly impacted by the earthquake. They work through one-to-one
sponsorships for the long-term release from the cycle of poverty in Haiti.
Pray for the staff as they act as
the hands and feet of Christ.
Tanzania (MNN) -- What do you get
when you take one of the oldest people groups in the world, add a socialist
government and eliminate a way of
life? You get a people group that time
forgot, living in the remotest parts of Tanzania: the Sandawe
The Sandawe language is tonal and includes
clicking sounds as consonants.
Formerly hunters and
gatherers, they were forced to become pastoralists, with disastrous results.
Speaking in a language totally
unrelated to other languages around them, it is difficult to learn, and
communication barriers further isolate them. Between location and communication, these people have little or no
access to medical care. They are deeply religious but closed to
Christianity.
Open doors are one reason Jonathon Eager (ayger) with Africa
Inland Mission runs a medical clinic in that central
region. The Eagers live in a village
called Magambua (Mah-gahm-boo'-ah), which is part of Lalta Ward, in Kondoa
District, in Dodoma Region.
Because life there is rugged, there
is also a dispensary, an eye clinic, and mobile health clinics run by the
Eagers.
Jonathon explains they are there
because "we partner with the local pastors and local evangelists, and
they're being able to come to the clinic and share with patients. They pray with patients and comfort families when they're
going through a difficult time. It really opens a lot of doors to care for them
and to bring them the good news."
The Africa Inland Church has
three Tanzanian families and one missionary family engaged in outreach to the
Sandawe. A Bible translation project is underway in the Sandawe
language.
Several Anglican and Pentecostal
groups have worked with the Sandawe people, and there are Gospel recordings in
their language.
There's a lot happening
to bring the hope of Christ to a few, but that means missionaries who serve in isolated areas have a heavy load to carry. They are susceptible to burnout. Currently, the Eagers are back in the United
States on furlough, but they will head back to Tanzania in July.
Jonathon says animism is a huge
obstacle, but "there is tremendous freedom when people accept the
Gospel and come to the Lord and are freed from that. It's neat to see our local
Sandawe Christians being a witness to that."
Pray for additional financial
partners to join their ministry.
Monthly support rate targets
have increased. Pray for resolution of
some tensions between local church leaders in Usandawe, and for their SIL
neighbors and friends. And, pray that the
village of Birise will be able to cut their airstrip well during the rainy
season so that the monthly medical flights can land. Click here for more details.
(Photo courtesy Living Water International)
Haiti (MNN) -- As relief work continues in Haiti, Duane Zook of Global Aid Network (GAiN USA) says two of the greatest threats have become dehydration and malnutrition.
Many small Haitian communities had barely enough clean water before the earthquake hit. One Living Water International report says Croix-Des-Bouquets, a village in close proximity to Port-au-Prince but not as devastated by the quake, had a polluted cistern until recently. The water was not always clean, but residents made do.
After the earthquake, Croix-Des-Bouquets was inundated with displaced people from Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, leaving the village with minimal, unclean water.
A team with Living Water International was recently able to fix the cistern and water pump leading to it in Croix-Des-Bouquets. The community is now able to enjoy plenty of clean, safe water, and has enough to share with the many people taking refuge there.
LWI teams have been restoring as many wells as possible in Haiti to bring clean drinking water to quake survivors. Water is necessary to keep them hydrated, but clean water is necessary to avoid waterborne diseases.
Unfortunately, providing clean, safe water for a country who never had an abundance of it to begin with is no easy task. Living Water Haiti Program Director Jim Mohney says, "Rebuilding after this catastrophe will be a problem of years, not months."
Throughout the process, plenty of opportunities to share the Gospel are sure to present themselves. LWI provides clean water in Jesus' name. Pray that many would see Christ shining through the LWI teams in Haiti, that the teams would be bold in their proclamation of the Gospel, and that many would come to the Lord as a result.
If you would like to support the work of Living Water International in Haiti, click here.
International (MNN) -- Easter is one of the most important celebrations in the Christian faith, but many people don't really know why. One ministry has sought to remedy that.
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries created 72 Hours that Rocked the World to paint an easily-understood picture of the Easter story. The booklet is short enough for people to read quickly but is rich with content about Jesus Christ and the Christian life.
The booklet includes inspiring stories, humor, warmth and a full presentation of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in non-religious language. The booklet also gives readers the opportunity to surrender their lives to the Risen Savior.
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries encourages people to use these booklets as an outreach to lost friends and family during the Easter season.
View and order copies of 72 Hours the Rocked the World before Easter on April 4, 2010 by clicking here.
The Dnieper River in Ukraine.
Ukraine (MNN) -- Have you ever wanted to take a cruise? To experience a different culture? Or to meet believers from across the world? Russian Ministries has a trip that includes all of the above.
Join Anita Deyneka, president of Russian Ministries; Sergey Rakhuba, senior vice-president; and about 40 other believers on a "cruise with a purpose" this August. The Viking's cruise will journey through the Black Sea and Dnieper River in Ukraine.
Russian Ministries has been working in Ukraine for years and has a well-established ministry there. The cruise gives participants an opportunity to see the impact of the ministry throughout the country.
"In every city where we stop, we will have a chance to visit churches, spend time with Christian leaders, and to see projects that Russian Ministries has initiated and invested resources and developed," says Rakhuba.
The cruise will serve as a time of relaxation of course, but it will also be a chance to recharge spiritual batteries. Plenty of ministry presentations will be done on board, and the fellowship with believers in Ukraine will create unforgettable bonds.
"[When you go on the cruise] you build a bond with national missionaries. You build a bond with national church leaders," says Rakhuba. "You see their needs. You see what they are doing, and you become a part of that. And you continue praying for them and supporting them. You feel that you are part of the big, international family of Christians."
This is not a regular, hands-on missions trip, but a chance to observe the impact of Russian Ministries and the Kingdom of God firsthand. Cruise-goers will get the opportunity to visit orphanages and churches, and will have the chance to meet believers from Russian Ministries as well as other ministries in Ukraine.
"This truly will be an eye-opening opportunity," says Rakhuba. "People can start building connections. They see how they can get involved and play a significant role in the future supporting those ministries that are in great need there."
The cruise is scheduled for August 3 to 15, 2010. Consider attending with your spouse or a friend. If you would like to take this opportunity to fellowship with believers and share in the joy of a ministry, visit www.russian-ministries.org and click on the bottom link to the Ukraine cruise.
USA (MNN) -- During the next month, thousands of college students in the U.S. are converging on Panama City Beach, Florida--not just for fun in the sun but to be part of an effort to help Haiti earthquake victims. Through Campus Crusade for Christ's annual Big Break outreach conferences, spring breakers will have a hands-on opportunity to help prepare and pack meals for 1 million Haitian earthquake victims.
More than 2,500 students from across America are expected to attend one of five week-long events between Feb. 28 and April 3. Each outreach event helps students to grow spiritually while having fun and sharing their faith on the beach with the thousands of other students enjoying a more stereotypical spring break.
Campus Crusade for Christ is partnering with Kids Against Hunger and the Global Aid Network (GAiN) to pack and ship the million meals to Haiti. Kids Against Hunger has been responsible for packing more than 120 million meals that have been distributed in 60 countries in the last decade. Global Aid Network, the relief and development arm of Campus Crusade for Christ International, responded immediately to the earthquake distributing more than 1 million pre-positioned meals. In addition to Spring Break efforts, Global Aid Network plans to mobilize 11 additional medical teams in Haiti through its partners during the next 90 days.
"I'm hearing from students around the country who are excited about this opportunity to help ease the suffering in Haiti in a tangible way," says Mark Gauthier, national director of the U.S. Campus Ministry for Campus Crusade for Christ. "I'm thankful for both the students and for the thousands of partners whose generous gifts will help pay for the meals and the shipping costs."
Charles Debtor of Global Aid Network, or GAIN USA, says students will focus on packing a million meals for Haiti and outreach at the same time. "Each afternoon they'll go on the beach and gather unaffiliated students who are just there for a good time on the beach, and bring them to be a part of this food packing project. So, it's Christian students reaching out to other students."
These meals will provide ministry opportunities in Haiti. "With a staff team there, they are networking with their contacts of more than 100 churches throughout Haiti."
The students will combine four ingredients to create a highly-nutritious, vitamin-fortified soy/rice mix. When cooked with six cups of water, each meal-mix swells 14 times in size to form a tasty casserole or porridge. The million meals the students pack will fill six tractor trailer trucks.
Today's college students want to make a difference in the world. After Hurricane Katrina, 17,000 students traveled to Mississippi and Louisiana to join Campus Crusade relief projects.
Campus Crusade for Christ International serves in 191 countries. In America, more than 62,000 students at 1,100 campuses are actively involved. Campus Crusade's mission is to build spiritual movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.
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