Faith through hearing — and signing — the Word
FAIRFAX, Va. — Sunday morning at the Fairfax Church of…
Around the World: Serving the deaf, praying for a new king and more quick takes
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Around the World is our monthly rundown of news briefs, links and quotes from Churches of Christ all over the globe. Got an idea for this column? Email Erik Tryggestad at [email protected].
Featured image (above): Clowns and magic tricks were part of the festivities as the ESPERO School for Deaf Adults hosted a summer festival on its campus in western Honduras.
The school is a ministry of Mission UpReach, which is associated with Churches of Christ. The deaf are an underserved population in Honduras, the ministry’s directors said, and the school teaches them Lengua de Señas Hondureñas (LESHO, Honduran sign language) and job skills.
During the festival, students gave presentations in LESHO and displayed work from the first quarter of the school year. Learn more at missionupreach.org.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
SARAJEVO — Zagreb Bible Institute, a Croatia-based ministry associated with Churches of Christ, is taking its curriculum in advanced Bible studies into Sarajevo, the scene of a brutal siege during the Bosnian War of the mid-1990s.
Monika Bajic
Monika Bajic, a lecturer for the institute, recently taught Introduction to the Old Testament to 17 students at an evangelical church in Sarajevo.
“We explored the importance of the Old Testament for Christians and the peculiarities of Jewish literature,” she said. “And we focused particularly on Genesis, especially Genesis 1-3.”
Bosnian evangelical Christians “face an extremely difficult and complicated environment,” the institute’s administrators said in a recent newsletter. A little more than half of the nation’s 3.5 million people claim Islam as their faith. Most of the rest claim the Catholic or Serbian Orthodox faiths.
“We are thrilled and humbled to be used by God to strengthen them and help the believers in this war-torn country grow in faith and service.”
RUSSIA
VORKUTA — Winter lasts for at least eight months in this coal mining town just north of the Arctic Circle. But spring is here.
Mikhail Derbanov talks about baptism.
The Church of Christ in Vorkuta had dwindled to two women in their 70s when minister Mikhail Derbanov arrived two years ago to revive the congregation. Patiently, he shared the Gospel and planted seeds, and now the church has about 15 in attendance. He is training potential leaders.
“If I want the church to just live, everything is already done,” he told E. Korlyukova in an interview with In Christ, a publication for Churches of Christ in Russia and Belarus. “There are brothers who will stay and be able to hold worship services. But (to train) leaders who can grow the church further, that’s another five to seven years.”
SENEGAL
DIALAKEGNY — Although this West African nation is predominantly Muslim, most towns have a Catholic church. But not Dialakegny, whose inhabitants are mostly Fulani, a people who were among the first in Africa to convert to Islam.
Arnold Dzah, a minister for Churches of Christ in Senegal, visited a Christian in the village and invited neighbors to hear the Gospel. (They were not allowed to visit people in their homes.) Despite many obstacles, 250 people learned about Jesus, and four were baptized, Dzah said.
ZIMBABWE
BULAWAYO — “The Message to the Seven Churches and the Church Today” was the theme of the annual Southern Africa International Lectureship (SAIL) in Bulawayo, based on Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Attendees came from more than seven churches — a lot more.
“The Message to the Seven Churches and the Church Today” was the theme of the annual Southern Africa International Lectureship (SAIL) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, based on Revelation chapters 2 and 3.
About 2,500 Christians attended from nations including Botswana, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Namibia, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and the U.S. The next conference is scheduled for March 29-31 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
NETHERLANDS
BERGEIJK — Challenge Youth Conference, a 24-year-old event among Churches of Christ that drew 12,000 people to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., this year, has jumped the Atlantic.
Students take notes during a breakout session at the first CYC Europe.
Christians in Western Europe hosted 64 believers from six countries and 10 nationalities for the first CYC event in Europe, held at a campsite in the Netherlands. Among the participants were refugees from Ukraine who traveled from their temporary home with the Sopot Church of Christ in Poland.
“In Need” was the event’s theme, and classes focused on “In Need of Courage,” “In Need of Mercy and Grace,” “In Need of Christ” and “In Need of Growth.”
Participants in CYC Europe enjoy a nature walk in the Netherlands
“We pray that God will continue to guide and bless everyone in their spiritual journey of growing closer to him,” organizers said. “We are excited to start planning for next year!”
UNITED KINGDOM
SHEPSHED — On a rainy Saturday, members of the Shepshed Church of Christ gathered in a church member’s home for an indoor barbecue and to witness an event that hadn’t happened in 70 years: the coronation of a British monarch.
Royal bunting adorns a post box in Nottingham, England.
“As we receive a new king, let’s pray for him and his family that he will be a good and faithful king,” church members said in a social media post of King Charles III.
Across the newly crowned king’s realm, Christians gathered with their communities to celebrate.
“Great way to meet the neighbours,” Mark Hill, a member of the Northampton Church of Christ, posted. “Thankful to King Charles III for an excuse for a party.”
