Displaying items by tag: Praise

Sejun’s parents sent him to an Indian Buddhist monastery when he was 4 years old. For nine years, he studied Buddhist texts eight hours a day in the hope of becoming a monk. When he grew tired of being beaten for not perfectly memorising the texts, he went home to Nepal and enrolled in school. Whilst there, he heard about Jesus and started attending church. He said, ‘I found the Christians to be loving, kind and caring. I saw how if people love Jesus they learn to love and care for others.’ Two years later, he placed his faith in Christ and received a Bible from someone at school. He learned what Scripture teaches about sin and forgiveness. He had learned a similar concept of sin from Buddhist texts, but the idea of forgiveness was new to him. ‘In the Bible, I found that our sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ.’

He dressed as a woman, wore makeup, called himself Danielle and competed in drag queen pageants. But there was no happiness in the gay lifestyle. ‘I looked into the mirror and couldn’t recognise myself. It scared me.’ Could God forgive him? He stepped away from pageants and went to church one Sunday. At the end of the service, Daniel walked forward to the altar to receive Jesus into his heart. The pastor gave him a warm, welcoming handshake. ‘I wept on his shoulder and he kept saying, “The Father loves you. He loves you. He loves you”. My heart began to break and I said, “Jesus, I submit, I surrender to you”’. Daniel cut ties with the LBGT community and destroyed every vestige of his former lifestyle. ‘I knew that the Father loved me. I've never felt so at home in my skin.’ He is now with Living Waters Ministries, helping people around the world to overcome brokenness through Christ.

One billion people around the world have never heard God's word in the language they understand best. There are 6,000 unique languages on earth today, and 2,000 languages need translating so that unreached peoples can read the scriptures in their heart language. A decade ago, ten Bible translation agencies formed an alliance to end what they call ‘Bible poverty’, and organised the ‘I Want to Know’ campaign, giving people an opportunity to sponsor translation of one or more Bible verses. They hope everyone will have access to the Bible in their native tongue by 2033. Walkie, a native speaker of the Yupik language of Alaska, remembers the moment his mother understood the Bible's message for the first time. ‘Before she died, I was able to read her Psalm 139 in Yupik,’ he recalled. ‘And she said, “Oh! So that is what it means to us!”’

Praise God that the Institute for Victim Care and Assistance in Guatemala has been able to give holistic care to 4,600 survivors of violence in the past six months. 60% of those receiving the trauma-informed support, co-created by the Guatemalan government and IJM, were women and children. Praise God that survivors of violence can now receive free legal, psychological, and medical support in one place. Pray for God's strength for staff members at the Victim Institute as they continue to support survivors of violence.

Many churches and cathedrals which have remained closed throughout the recent lockdown are reopening in time for in-person worship during Holy Week and Easter - but online services and events remain at the heart of festivities. The stay-at-home rule has been replaced. Now up to two households of unlimited numbers, or up to six households of six people, can meet outdoors. The rector of Bath Abbey said, ‘We look forward eagerly to celebrating the life-renewing hope of Easter. It will be a great joy to celebrate Christ’s victory over death, as a church family back in the abbey once again - especially as we were unable to meet at Easter last year.’

The following is part of an email: ‘We give thanks to God for the way the five-year community-based rehabilitation (CBR) project is going in a mountainous district of Nepal. In its first year it has already reached hundreds of people with disabilities and their families, helping them access services, including livelihoods and physical rehabilitation, and is slowly helping to change attitudes in the community so they are included with kindness and respect. C is planning a home assignment after two years without a break! Pray that his successor as leader will enjoy the work, want to stay, and adapt quickly to living remotely.’

Father Tulak was preaching at a Catholic cathedral in Indonesia when it was attacked by suicide bombers on Palm Sunday. He said God protected church members and guards, who were only two metres away from the bombers when they exploded. ‘What happened in my church is a personal testimony for the world.’ Indonesia is one the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nations. Christians in the area are unfortunately used to these types of attacks, especially during Christian celebrations. Please pray for the injured church guards, who are in a police hospital for protection.

Praise God that the International Justice Mission (IJM) has signed its first collaborative agreement with the business sector in the Dominican Republic. IJM and Aerodom, the largest network of airports in the country, are joining forces to bring an end to sex trafficking. They are launching awareness campaigns in the air terminals, equipping their staff to recognise the signs of trafficking, and establish additional protocols to report these crimes to local authorities.

Indonesia has banned schools from forcing girls to wear Islamic hijab headscarves after the case of a Christian pupil pressured to cover up sparked outrage in the world’s most populous Muslim nation (90% of the population follows Islam). The move was applauded by rights activists, who say non-Muslim girls have been forced for years to wear a hijab in conservative parts of the country. State schools across the archipelago of nearly 270 million people will face sanctions if they fail to comply with the edict. Nadiem Makarim, the education minister, said that religious attire was an individual choice and schools cannot make it compulsory.

Lebanon has failed again to form a new government. President Michel Aoun wants help from other countries to overcome the deadlock. There is economic despair as political instability drives the currency down. As the currency dips further, the minimum wage sinks below that of third-world countries. It is unbelievable how little people are earning now. They are stuck in a vicious circle, with no end in sight. Each time the currency loses value, prices go up, and people can buy fewer daily essentials. A bottle of milk was 3,000 Lebanese lira, now it’s 8,000. But that same bottle of milk bought with US dollars is less than 50 cents. It becomes ¼ of the price for people with dollars, but the poor people pay over double the price. As the crisis worsens, people have nowhere to put their hope, so they are starting to put their hope in Christ.