‘Post-Christian’ no more? Churches rethink Europe
God and Google led John Adesoye to Christ. The Pentecostal…
Around the World, October 2019
Featured photo (above): Children at a park in Bristol, England, learn the story of Joseph — as told by puppets from a 25-foot-high pyramid. “Although Glastonbury (a nearby music festival) had the likes of The Killers, Carrie Underwood and Liam Gallagher playing on its Pyramid Stage … we had the Grand Pyramid at Giza Stage, complete with its own sphinxes,” said Robert Daniell, web coordinator for the Bristol Church of Christ. The church’s annual Park Day brought visitors from the area who enjoyed games and dress up. The next day the church sponsored a “Praise in the Park” event, setting up a tent for Sunday evening worship. “There were 65 worshipping in the open, including many visitors,” Daniell said. “Please keep the visitors in your prayers, that they may come to know us, and more importantly, the love of God.
ALBANIA
Shkelqim Kafexhiu
DURRES — For a decade, Albanian Christians have gathered at the shores of the Ionian Sea to sing praises to God, fellowship and share the Gospel during weeklong camps.
“It has been proven again and again in these 10 years that this camp has been a great tool for leading people to Jesus,” said Shkelqim Kafexhiu, preacher for the Durres Church of Christ.
This year was no exception. Fourteen people were baptized during three weeks of camps, Kafexhiu said.
GREECE
ATHENS — After more than five years of serving refugees from the Middle East, the Omonia Church of Christ is shifting its outreach ministry “into an in-depth spiritual nurturing” program, said minister Alexander Melirrytos. Through in-depth Bible study and discipleship, the church seeks to help the refugees “get a deeper understanding of their faith in Jesus, learn more about their salvation and build strong relations with God and his family.” The ministry will also help the refugees through hardships, Melirrytos said, adding that one goal of the program is to “prepare them so they can reach others and minister within their extended families.”
INDIA
MIAO — Garry Jones asks for prayers “for the Indian government and its people to become less aggressive against the work of Christ and against our work in northeast India.” India, the world’s second-most populous country, has experienced an increase in attacks against Christians since 2015, according to Open Doors USA, a nonprofit that supports persecuted believers. In 2018, at least 12,000 Christ-followers were attacked, the group reports. Jones works with Spiritual Sword Missions, an outreach of the Clinton Church of Christ in Tennessee. This fall he travels to northeast India for a full slate of gospel meetings, medical camps, preacher evaluations and construction of a secondary school at the Theophilus English Medium Christian School. Workers also are setting up a vocational classroom where Christians will learn carpentry and construction.
PHILIPPINES
C.L. Thomas
MANDAUE— “I, as a Christian, have a duty and an obligation to share the Gospel in all my encounters and engagements because God purposed me to be there.”
That was one takeaway reported by participants in the 58th Asia Mission Forum, which brought members of Churches of Christ from across the region to the island of Cebu. Keynoters included C.L. Thomas and Tim Brumfield from Sunset International Bible Institute.
SPOTLIGHT
Faces of hunger
KALOMO, Zambia—Heartbreaking faces fill the pages of the latest Zambia Mission newsletter. The southern African nation is in the midst of a severe drought.
Vivian Siabwacha
“The maize (corn) withered. There is nothing,” said Vivian Siabwacha, a 47-year-old widow with three children. “We don’t know how we will get through.”
Churches of Christ in Zambia are responding as best they can to the need, and Zambia Mission requests additional aid.
Meanwhile, Churches of Christ are growing in Zambia, as evidenced by four recent lectureships. More than 2,000 believers gathered on the campus of Namwianga Mission. Graduates of Namwianga’s George Benson Christian College spoke at lectures in Chishi, Isoka Sikongo with a combined attendance of more than 1,000. About 65 baptisms resulted from the four lectureships. If you would like to help you can find out more details at zambiamission.org.
