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LEBANON: CHRISTIANS IN CRISIS

It’s now a year since the brutal Islamist atrocity that ignited the Middle East, the plight of our Christian brothers and sisters continues to worsen. In just the past few weeks the ongoing conflict has spilled over into Lebanon like never before. Christians (around a third of the population) are among the many Lebanese people who do not support the Hezbollah terrorist group. “We consider them the oppressors,” said our project partner.

Some Christians have been forced to flee to the north, where IDPs Camps in some areas of the north are run by Hezbollah, so there are fears that any aid distributed through local government will not reach Christians. Those who have remained in the south, including many Church leaders, can expect no humanitarian assistance from institutions controlled by Hezbollah. These Christians  are determined to stop their homes, their churches, their historic Christian lands from falling into the hands of Islamists.

Our brothers and sisters here have endured poverty for many years. Since the Port of Beirut explosion in 2020 the Lebanese economy has collapsed. Food and medicine have become almost unaffordable. Political and social institutions are in disarray. Please pray for our brothers and sister in Christ, as they endure the threats of war, lack of food, shelter and medical supplies.

[Sourece: BarnabasAid.]

OPERATION BLESSING HELPING VICTIMS OF HURRICANE HELENE

The death toll from Hurricane Helene is still rising in the Southeast. Now, it is well above 200. And the damages from the storm’s destruction could go as high as $160 billion. Search and rescue operations are still underway but many people in hard-to-reach areas remain in desperate need of help. While the National Guard troops are now on the ground in Asheville, many residents say they have received little help from the federal government. In the absence of government assistance, many of the hurricane victims must rely on help from private citizens.

CBN’s Operation Blessing is on the scene, serving up hundreds of hot meals daily, distributing water, solar-powered lanterns for people without electricity, and delivering help to unreached people in Swannanoa and hard-hit neighborhoods. Operation Blessing is a Christian nonprofit, humanitarian organization dedicated to partnering with God’s people, to demonstrate God’s love by alleviating human suffering. [Source: CBN News]

IMPORTANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIND

An ancient mosaic located near the site of the prophesied battle of Armageddon in Israel contains a reference to Jesus as God. The Megiddo Mosaic, on display at the Museum of the Bible in the US, is part of an exhibition that runs through July 2025. The mosaic bears images of a fish, a symbol of early Christianity, and a Greek inscription that reads “To God Jesus Christ.” Carlos Campo Museum of the Bible CEO told the Christian Post it provides insight into early Christianity at a time when the Roman Empire still persecuted followers of Christ.

It’s one of the earliest artifacts that refer to Jesus as divine, he says. In addition to recognizing Jesus as God, the mosaic includes the names of five women. Israeli archaeologists discovered the mosaic in 2005, but this is the first public presentation. [Source: The Christian Post]

LAUSANNE 50: BELIEVERS IN ASIA, AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA FILL GLOBAL GAP

Over 5,000 Christian leaders from 202 countries joined the recently concluded 4th Lausanne Congress held in Seoul, South Korea in late September, 2024. Studies show that by the year 2050, the Global North will only be 20 percent Christian with the other 80 percent being in the Global South which is Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Since 1980, the number of Christians in the majority world has exceeded the number of Christians in the West. As a result, the number of missionaries sent from the West is rapidly declining with the gap filled by Asia, Africa, and Latin America. To address this challenge, Dr. Jonas Kang of the Korea World Missions Association spearheaded the new movement, Christ Over Asia, Africa and Latin America, or COALA. Its goal is to promote polycentric missions for more effective evangelization and church growth.

National Director of the India Missions Association, Dr. Isac Soundararaja added, “If those churches become missional churches, probably the day will come that these churches in Asia, Africa, Latin America will take the gospel of Jesus Christ and start moving to the Western and other side of the globe.” The church leaders believe that through the COALA movement, more missionaries will be mobilized to help hasten the spread of the gospel and bring back revival to the Global North in North America and Europe. Reverend Hwa Yung, Bishop Emeritus of the Methodist Church in Malaysia, explained, “The churches in the West should be revived and the churches in the Majority World should mature. Our concern is there will be a true partnership of the church throughout the world that we may continue to obey God and proclaim the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ.” [Source: CBN News]

THAILAND’S HILL TRIBES

Many hill tribe Christians in the northern regions of Thailand suffer discrimination because their faith is viewed as a foreign religion and ethnically they are not seen as ‘proper’ Thai nationals. Thailand is a largely Buddhist country and in general is tolerant of other religions, but Christians among ethnic minorities face particular challenges. Pastors and other Christian leaders need wisdom and grace as they seek to build up churches and Christians among the hill tribes.

One means of shepherding these Christians is through radio, where Christian broadcasts go out in 19 ethnic languages. Some Christian ministries specifically address the issue of drug addiction, which is a major problem among hill tribe youth. Across Thailand more than 42,000 people are currently doing Bible correspondence courses. [Source: Barnabas Aid / FEBC]

IRAN – CHRISTIAN CONVERT DETAINED BY MINISTRY OF INTELLIGENCE

Please pray for Mojdeh Falahi, a Christian convert from Islam who was arrested on 9 September and at the time of writing was still being held in a detention centre run by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence in the southern city of Shiraz. Mojdeh, 36, was arrested at the prosecutor’s office in Shiraz.  Mojdeh, a hairdresser, had visited the prosecutor’s office to provide a Christian friend with documents required for his release following his own arrest the previous day. However, she was herself immediately detained on charges of “Christianity” and “illegal Christian activities”. Mojdeh’s family visited the prosecutor’s office repeatedly in the week following her arrest and requested to see her, but as of the time of writing they had been refused permission and Mojdeh had yet to be granted access to a lawyer.

The family are no strangers to harassment from the authorities for their Christian faith. Mojdeh’s older sisters, Maryam and Marjan, were among a group of eight Christian converts arrested in Bushehr, 200 miles west of Shiraz, in July 2019. Both sisters received heavy fines for their Christian activities in 2020. Maryam, a nurse, was banned for life from working for any national institution, including the hospital where she had worked for 20 years. In a separate court case in 2020, a judge ruled that Maryam and her husband, Sam Khosravi, could no longer maintain custody of their adopted daughter, Lydia, because they were Christians and Lydia, of unknown parentage, was considered a Muslim. Unlike the historic Armenian- and Assyrian-speaking Christian communities of Iran, Farsi-speaking Christians such as Mojdeh and her family are converts from Islam – that is, apostates – and therefore punishable according to Islamic law for practising the Christian faith.

PRAY – that Mojdeh will receive proper legal representation and that the charges against her will be dropped. Ask that she will know the depths of God’s love and comfort in her ordeal and that she will soon be restored to her family. [Source: Barnabas Aid]

– compiled by Guido Kettniss