February 2013 ? International News

Source: ASSIST News Service (ANS) www.assistnews.net

WASHINGTON DC
International push to free an American pastor in Iran

ASSIST?s Senior Correspondent Jeremy Reynalds reports on #SaveSaeed: ?In addition to legal and diplomatic efforts by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) to free American Pastor Saeed Abedini, the group is spearheading an international social media effort to raise awareness about his plight. Christian radio stations, and concerned citizens all around the world are trying to get #SaveSaeed trending on Twitter and encourage people to sign the petition at www.SaveSaeed.org.?

ACLJ wrote, ?The idea is simple. The more people talk about Pastor Saeed and calling for his release means the more international media, governments, and world leaders are willing to put pressure on Iran for his release. It is the same idea that led to the release of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani in Iran through Tweet for Youcef. This is an easy way to help save the life of a persecuted pastor and will make an enormous difference in the life of a man whose only ?crime? is choosing to follow Christ in an oppressive Islamic regime.?

ASIA
Praying for their persecutors (Story names changed)

Gospel for Asia reports that when Haady and his family heard a GFM radio message about a wonderful God who died for all humankind, they eagerly embraced Christ?s love. Their neighbours, however, had different feelings on the matter.

?Listening to the radio (GFM stock photo)

The opposition was strong, but Haady and his family held tightly to their faith, drawing encouragement from communication with the GFA Radio staff and worshipping with a local congregation. And as they grew in their faith, they began doing something new: They prayed for their persecutors.

Whenever Haady?s family heard of an illness in the village, they asked God to heal the afflicted person. One of those people was a woman named Idhaya. For months, she had been possessed by a demon and her family helplessly watched as she began to act like a crazy woman, laughing for no reason. They had spent lots of money on treatment and begged their deities for favour, but their efforts were powerless against the evil spirit.

When Haady heard about Idhaya?s condition, he knew there was only one cure. He began to pray for her and then called the GFA Radio prayer team and asked them to join him. The team prayed with him over the phone, trusting God to deliver the woman. Overcome, the demon fled.

Idhaya was amazed. After months of bondage, she was free, healthy and able to return to a regular life ? and because of that, she wanted to make a change. No longer would she oppose the God Haady followed. Now she would follow Jesus, too. And as Idhaya grows in her new faith, Haady and his family continue to pray, knowing God will continue to do mighty things.

For more GFA information, visit www.gfa.org.

LAOS
Three pastors arrested for ?Spreading the Christian Religion?

Dan Wooding ASSIST Ministries founder, reports: ?Three Christian pastors in Laos have been arrested and detained for ?spreading the Christian religion? by reproducing a DVD of a Christian film. Pastor Bounma of Alowmai Village Church, Pastor Somkaew of Kengsainoi Village Church and Pastor Bounmee of Savet Village Church, were arrested on February 5 by the Phin District police in Savannakhet province.?

??A church in Laos

According to sources known to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the pastors took a DVD copy of a film about the End Times to a shop in Phin District market in order to make three copies. After the copies were made, the shop owner, along with the three pastors, tested one of the DVDs and watched the film through to the end.

?While they were watching, a police officer came to the shop and saw the shop owner and the pastors watching the film,? said a CSW spokesperson. ?The police officer then contacted his superior, Lieutenant Khamvee, who came to the shop accompanied by two deputies. The police arrested the three pastors and took the shop owner to the police station for further questioning. The shop owner was later released without charge. During their interrogation, the pastors claimed that the three copies were for their own use, but the authorities insisted that they were ?spreading the Christian religion? through the film. The three pastors are currently being detained in Phin district prison.?

?Children praying in a church in Laos

CSW added that although Article 30 of the 1991 Lao Constitution guarantees citizens the right to ?believe or not to believe in religions?, the 2002 ?Decree Regarding Governance and Protection of Religious Activity in the Lao PDR? (Prime Minister?s Decree No. 92/PM) places significant restrictions on the activities of religious believers. In this case, the film in question can be found in other shops in Savannakhet province, which suggests that either the film has been approved by the authorities, or that the local authorities have turned a blind eye to the sale of the film in other areas.

CSW?s Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said, ?CSW is deeply concerned about these arrests, which highlight the restrictions placed on the reproduction and dissemination of religious materials. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Laos in 2009, protects the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the public manifestation of religion and the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds in any media. We urge the Lao authorities to release the three men immediately and to lift restrictions on the reproduction and dissemination of religious materials, in line with its obligations under the ICCPR.?

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organization working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice. For further information:? kiri@csw.org.uk?or visit www.csw.org.uk.

EASTERN EUROPE
Persecution on the rise for Christians

Dan Wooding also writes: ?It?s been a long road since the revolution that swept away atheistic communism in Eastern Europe 20 years ago. The wave of religious freedom that swept the region now seems to be receding.? This was highlighted in a video story by Stan Jeter, CBN News Senior Producer, who went on to say, ?Citizens of the former Soviet Union are facing growing restrictions on their religious freedom.?

?Russian boys in church

Jeter also said that a panel of experts in Washington reported that governments are closing more churches, fining and arresting their religious leaders, and destroying church literature. ?The situation might not be a return to the Soviet era, but the signs spell trouble.?

Billy Graham Evangelical Association Crusade?s vice president Victor Ham said, ?Twenty years ago when the Soviet Union fell apart, collapsed, when the Berlin Wall fell, everybody was sort of excited about all the future possibilities. Twenty years later we are again talking about freedom. What happened??

The atmosphere is thick with intolerance in these countries. Individual pastors are reluctant to speak out against abuses and restrictions. ?Churches are being torched, crosses are being burned. There?s a lot of anti-Semitism, a lot of negative things appearing in the press about different organisations. So there?s some reason for concern,? said Lauren Homer, Homer International Law Group.

?Russian Christians during a church service

In Uzbekistan, Matti Sirvio, Greater Grace Protestant Church, queried ?Will their persecution become even worse?? and has encouraged church members to connect to the outside world as their best defence. ?I think people should all learn how to use the Internet, they should all learn the English language,? he said. ?This will connect them in the future with the rest of the world and especially with the body of Christ around the world.?

To see this video: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/February/Persecution-on-the-Rise-for-Christians-in-Eastern-Europe/

BOONE, CO
AG missionaries help transform rodeo circuit

Paul and Linda Scholtz had to chart their own course when they began ministering among cowboys, reports Dan Wooding, referring to a Pentecostal Evangel article by John W Kennedy (http://pe.ag.org).

In 1976 the newlyweds, recent graduates of Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, went on the road with a pickup truck, a saddle horse and $16 between them. ?We initially didn?t see this as a ministry,? Linda says. ?But God uses the things that we love.?

Kennedy, Pentecostal Evangel news editor, went on to say that rodeo organisers soon asked the couple to minister in an environment where professional cowboys often faced derailment by vices ranging from alcohol to prostitutes. ?We saw an incredible need for Jesus among young people who had athletic abilities, yet were overcome by sin,? Paul says.

The Scholtzes gained credibility and trust by being active rodeo participants themselves. Paul rode saddle broncs and Linda became a Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association trick rider, twice advancing to National Finals Rodeo.

?Paul worked a physically demanding schedule ? up at 4 a.m. daily sorting horses, bulls, calves and steers; then feeding 500 bales of hay; sorting cattle in the pit area; untying cattle for bulldogging and roping contests ? all while conducting prayer meetings between performances,? said Kennedy.

When he couldn?t gain access to the arena, Paul Scholtz preached from the back of a cattle truck. Meanwhile, during cowboy church, Linda held Cowkid Sunday school and puppet shows for children. Attendance at prayer meetings grew, and many contestants figured out that they needed something beyond competition to provide lasting satisfaction. Over the years, the Scholtzes, through preaching and other ministry efforts, have helped transform rodeo into a family sport.

?Chaplain Paul Scholtz prays during an altar call at a rodeo Bible camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Part of their ministry now involves conducting about 10 four-day rodeo Bible camps a year for junior and senior high youth, blending Bible teaching and rodeo instruction with events such as calf roping, bareback riding, bull riding and saddle bronc riding.The couple travels 80,000 miles annually in their Speed the Light vehicle from their base in Boone, Colorado.

?Paul, who has been a Royal Rangers commander since 1992, also does several Royal Rangers rodeos each year. The still-youthful-looking Linda conducts around a dozen trick riding camps annually,? writes John Kennedy.

Although their days as active rodeo event participants are long past, the Scholtzes still can handle horses quite well, even though Paul, who walks with a limp, has had complications from hip surgeries.

AG churches in the Rocky Mountain District raised funds to transform the missionaries? base into a working rodeo and Bible camp. The facility, dedicated in September, features a rodeo arena with bucking chutes, holding pens and grandstands.

Consequently, the Scholtzes are saving time, energy and expense because they don?t have to transport livestock and equipment all over the country.

Paul goes nowhere without his cowboy hat and boots. His guttural voice enhances an exterior image as a tough hombre. ?We can?t wait for cowboys to throw their hats and boots away and walk into church, because they?re not going to do that,? Paul says. ?God demands that we engage the culture.?

MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA
Thousands of house churches/digital Bibles/pastoral training camp

Michael Ireland, ASSIST?s Special Reporter, writes: ?There are more than 160 million Arabs living in the Middle East and North Africa, representing one of the largest unreached groups in the world. The mission of the Digital Bible Society is to produce and distribute Bibles and biblical materials in digital format, especially for regions and cultures where the message of the gospel of Christ is not readily available.?

A Digital Bible Society Mission media release ? http://www.digitalbiblesociety.com/DBS2010/english/index.htm? -said, ?The Spirit of God is stirring millions of hearts to faith in Christ in these lands ? often through visions and dreams, and now thousands of underground house churches are emerging. We purpose to assist in the worldwide distribution of digital Christian media that every believer in every nation will have free access to explore and understand the scriptures in their own language ? whether through the printed page, the spoken word (audio), or visual presentation (video).?

Courtesy: Digital Bible Mission Society - One of DBMS?s digital microchips 

The ministry is asking believers to be a part of sharing Christ?s plan of salvation with the millions who have never met him. It asks for help in equipping this next generation of brave mission pastors with the powerful tools of God?s word, stating that nestled in the beautiful countryside of Spain is an Arab training camp unlike any that is portrayed in the news media.

?Not the kind of camp you have recently heard of coming out of the Arab world, but a training camp that empowers Arab Christian nationals, equipping them with the mighty word of God. More like a school than a camp,? explained ?Stephen,? the Director of Training. ?Over 100 students come here annually from all over the Arab world for intensive training in church planting and evangelism.?

For the past two years, the Digital Bible Society has been providing this facility with audio Bibles, as well as hundreds of hours of gospel films and videos ? all in the Arabic language of the students and loaded as data files onto an SD Microchip. This SD Microchip, which is about the size of your thumb nail, is the ideal ministry tool for these students to bring God?s word back to their respected countries where the Bible is often outlawed and church planting and evangelism are forbidden.

Each microchip has all the material essential for Church growth. There are faith-building lessons for new believers, discipling, pastors, spiritual leaders, evangelism, missionaries and church planters. The SD Microchip can be used on all electronic devices, including laptops, tablet computers or Smartphones.

?These students are in need of laptops, pocket projectors and tablet computers. The Digital Bible Society is preparing to supply each student with these much needed tools to take back with them for gospel presentations and discipleship,? DBS president Ken Allen said. ?You can be a part of this great move of God that is, as the prophet Isaiah foretold, now taking his light to those who walk in darkness.?

Source: http://www.connectmagazine.com.au/?p=4565

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