FROM CHRISTIANITY TODAY:
Finding Sobriety — and Jesus — in Vietnam’s Christian Drug Rehabs
In Vietnam, approximately 60 Christian-run drug rehabilitation centers are achieving remarkable success by combining abstinence, Bible study, and prayer. These centers report numerous instances of individuals overcoming addiction and transforming their lives, often becoming pastors, spouses, and active community members. One such example is Hung Quang Pham, a former heroin user with AIDS, who experienced physical healing and a renewed purpose through faith. The effectiveness of these programs has drawn the attention of Vietnam’s communist government, which has struggled with the high relapse rates and human rights concerns associated with its compulsory treatment centers. The government is now exploring the methods employed by these Christian facilities to address the nation’s addiction crisis.
News From The Nations
We curate missions-related news items from around the world.
Reading these stories can fuel our prayers for the unreached and provided a backdrop for our conversations with the Lord about where He would have us focus our missions efforts.
We encourage you to read these articles with your eyes open to God's work and an expectant heart, listening for His direction.
Image courtesy of Saiba Rahman. Used by permission.
Navigators Missionaries Use Farm For Outreach
FROM ALBIA NEWSPAPERS:
Navigators Missionaries Use Farm For Outreach
Tom and Ai Van Sickel have lived as a married couple in Tsukuba, Japan for over two decades. As global workers with Navigators World Missions, they lead small-group Bible studies and use their 3/4-acre farm to reach out to their Japanese friends and neighbors. The Moravian Union reports that the Van Sickel Farm Tsukuba includes over 1,300 blueberry trees, 300 blackberry bushes, and 300 raspberry bushes, along with lavender, kiwi, and honeybee hives. They sell their fruit from a hut on the farm and at the local farmers’ market, and they have also started shipping their produce to other areas of Japan. Their farm has thus become a platform for outreach to the city of Tsukuba!
Visit the Albia Newspapers Website to read this story entitled Faith & Farming
Photo courtesy of Wadim L. Used by permission.
Children In Lebanon Find Relief At Summer Camp Amid Threats Of War
FROM MISSION NETWORK NEWS:
Lebanon (MNN) — Amidst growing war threats, Triumphant Mercy Lebanon provides children with a brief escape through summer camps. These camps offer a safe space for fun, learning, and spiritual growth, allowing kids to momentarily forget their harsh realities. The camps aim to instill faith and hope, despite the ongoing conflicts surrounding them.
View This Story entitled Children In Lebanon Find Relief At Summer Camp Amid Threats Of War
Pandemic Creates Gospel Opportunity in Vietnam
FROM MISSION NETWORK NEWS:
Vietnam (MNN) — The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unexpected opportunity for the spread of the Gospel in Vietnam. Amid the crisis, the Church began reaching out to meet people’s physical needs, which led to opportunities to share Christian teachings. This activity was noticed by the government, which subsequently allowed the Billy Graham Association to hold festivals.
View This Story entitled Pandemic Creates Gospel Opportunity in Vietnam
Clever Web Navigation Allows International Media Ministries to Bring Hope to Iran
FROM MISSION NETWORK NEWS:
Iran (MNN) — While Iran’s hangings and brutal crackdowns on dissenters have taken the spotlight recently, the regime’s oppression extends to the worldwide web.
“They have this huge Revolutionary Guard hacker community taking down Christian sites and checking on people who might be Christian,” Denise Godwin with International Media Ministries says.
Dramatic Conversion from Islam to Christianity in Central Asia
FROM ADVANCING NATIVE MISSIONS:
Dramatic Conversion from Islam to Christianity in Central Asia
Rastin and Maryam (not their real names) grew up in a Central Asian country that was formally a Soviet republic. Rastin grew up as the son of a nominally Christian Russian mother and an East German father who thought God was a tyrant, punishing those who misbehaved. Maryam was the daughter of an observant Muslim family. Both Rastin and Maryam came to faith in Christ, met each other, married, and now pastor a house church and support themselves through a bee-keeping business. Click the button below to read the rest of the story!
Photo courtesy of Advancing Native Missions. Used by permission (personal correspondence).
The Extraordinary Re-Evangelization of Europe
FROM THE LAUSANNE MOVEMENT:
The Extraordinary Re-Evangelization of Europe
“No other continent (but Europe) has been exposed to Christianity for such a prolonged period and in such an extensive way. Yet just as Europe was the first continent to be Christianised, it was also the first to be de-Christianised … Many see Europe as thoroughly post-Christian or secular, yet the reality is much more complex than that. And out of the spotlight, an extraordinary re-evangelisation of Europe is taking place. Three dimensions of this can be identified: diaspora churches, church planting movements and platforms, and the next generation.”
Map courtesy of Wikipedia. Used by permission.
Thor Is Beating the Lutheran Church in a Battle for Believers in the Land of Fire and Ice
FROM NEWSWEEK:
Thor Is Beating the Lutheran Church in a Battle for Believers in the Land of Fire and Ice
Iceland’s fastest-growing religion is Ásatrú, a revival of the worship of Viking deities. It tripled in size from 2007 to 2017 while the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland that once made up 90% of Iceland’s population in the 1990s but has now fallen to 64 percent of the population.
Photo courtesy of Caleb Charters. Used by permission.
While Iceland has been called “the most godless country in Europe,” in reality God has not abandoned this nation of about 300,000 inhabitants. After reading the Newsweek article, read this 2017 article by Gunnar Gunnarsson, the pastor of Loftstofan Baptistakirkja, the only Baptist church in Reykjavik: Europe’s Most Godless Country May Surprise You.
