Mission Network News - Asia

Myanmar (MNN) — April was a tough month for believers in Myanmar.

Officials released more than 3,300 people from prison, including a Baptist pastor, in mid-April to mark the Buddhist New Year. On the night he was released, police re-arrested the pastor, his wife, and a Christian colleague.

It is not an isolated incident. “This re-arresting of innocent people, like this pastor and other Christian leaders, has been a practice they’ve been doing ever since the coup,” AMG International’s Brian Dennett says.

“The intent is to cause fear and insecurity among the church congregations and local citizens.”

Junta leaders believe the Christians have power and influence over their villages and congregations. Four days after the Buddhist New Year arrests, Myanmar’s army attacked a Christian-majority village.

“[At] two o’clock in the morning, they dropped the bombs, injuring many [and killing] a Sunday school teacher from an AMG church and a child. That teacher’s mother was also injured; [she] lost her leg in the bombing,” Dennett says.

“This is the second time they’ve targeted this village since January. They want to show people they have power over your life and that only when the population submits and obeys the government will there be hope for them.”

The Light ASEAN Hostel focuses on meeting the deepest spiritual and physical needs by providing aid, relief, shelter, and educational support for displaced children from Myanmar.
(Photo, caption courtesy of AMG International)

Pray for AMG International as it provides help and hope in the name of Christ. “Every time we reach out, we are looking to share our hope in Jesus,” Dennett says.

“The hope is not in any government, particularly not this military junta, and we also meet their very deep physical needs.”

You can financially support AMG’s work here. AMG and its church partners are supporting a refugee community from Myanmar in Thailand.

“We have built homes and a school and are attending to people’s medical needs [through] a clinic. It’s a bustling, busy community,” Dennett says.

“One thing we’ve had a particular concern for is all the unaccompanied children and youth. These are kids who have been separated from their families and are living alone in this refugee community,” he continues.

“We are trying to expand and build more housing for these kids and a school. We already have one school there, and we need another desperately.”

Header image depicts tanks associated with the Myanmar military. (Wikimedia Commons)

India (MNN) — We’re nearing the one-year anniversary since violence broke out in Manipur, India.

It began as ethnic clashes over economic benefits between the Meitei and minority Kuki people. But soon, the clashes spiraled into violent attacks targeting tribal Kukis — most of whom are Christian.

In early May 2023, Meitei extremists in Manipur burned 250 churches, and over 160 people died in the conflict.

Today, Manipur still looks like a guerrilla war zone.

Regan Miller with Mission India shares, “We actually had a ministry partner go to Manipur recently to get an update, and he shared with us his quote:

‘My heart is heavy as I heard some stories directly from the victims. Even now, many are on the road with illegal weapons. I saw them walking around. I was asked not to go into some villages, as many bullet sounds were heard. One person said in his village every night there are sounds of bomb blasts.’

(Photo courtesy of Mission India)

“It’s just crazy to think that this was front of mind for a lot of us that were supporting India a year ago. Now, there’s so many other things taking place that it can be easy to forget, and in actuality, our prayers are still needed so much.”

More than 60,000 tribal Christians are displaced and can’t return to their villages for fear of attack.

Even though schools in Manipur eventually re-opened, many parents still won’t send their children back to school.

“There are Christian families that are hesitant to send their kids to school because they don’t know if it’s safe,” says Miller. “So that can really disrupt everyday life and affects kids’ education. It just means there’s a ripple effect over a long period of time.”

As we approach the one-year anniversary, pray for an end to the violence in Manipur and for persecuted Christians to represent Jesus.

Header photo courtesy of Mission India.

Indonesia (MNN) — Mount Ruang is keeping Indonesia’s Disaster Management Agency on alert. The volcano on the northern part of Sulawesi Island has had at least eight large-to-medium eruptions over the last week. On Wednesday, authorities issued the highest-level alert for active volcanic activity.

Bruce Allen with FMI says, “Authorities are concerned that the volcano […] will collapse into the sea. And if people have seen photos of glaciers in Alaska, calving and just dropping into the water, you can imagine what happens if a mountain [collapses] that’s 2,500 feet tall. So there’s a tsunami alert because that could trigger tsunamis.”

Around 11,000 people are in the affected area of northern Sulawesi Island and nearby islands. At least 3,000 people have evacuated, and authorities are helping more flee the area.

Evacuation efforts were hampered by the closure of an international airport in Manado due to heavy falling ash. However, the airport was re-opened on Monday after authorities downgraded the volcano alert level to a three.

Mount Ruang, Indonesia (Photo courtesy of Suratman/Volcanological Survey of Indonesia/Wikimedia Commons)

“I’ve been on erupting volcanoes in Indonesia. It’s necessary to evacuate because this hot ash with the lava burns everything. The poison gases can kill, and then the threat of a tsunami is very severe,” explains Allen.

“It’s not just for the island where Mount Ruang is located. Another island could face the severest impact, Tagulandang. It’s only separated by about a half mile of water from North Sulawesi, the island where Mount Ruang is. So if there is a tsunami, all the water getting pushed out because of the volcano would just hit that coast.”

FMI works with Christian ministry partners in Indonesia for evangelism, church planting, and discipleship. Allen says none of their partners are in the area on volcano alert.

Please pray both for people fleeing the threat of disaster and for local Christians in areas receiving evacuees. Pray for opportunities for the Indonesian Church to show Christ’s comfort.

Allen shares, “I’ve been on a volcano while it’s erupting, and I was able to see how the majority population is just thinking of themselves. It’s the Christians who reach out and make sure the people are being fed [and] have water, things like that. So pray that people would encounter Jesus through the actions of Christians at this time.”

Bible distribution in Indonesia, July 2019. (Photo courtesy of FMI)

Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. Having a widespread Church community and ministry work is important so when disasters occur, Christians are there to offer relief and Gospel hope.

Allen says, “I have a dozen church planters waiting for support in Indonesia, and if we can support these church planters and come alongside them and empower them, we’re going to have impact in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation where most of us would never get to travel or have engagement with people. But we can stand alongside others who are already there.”

Click here to support FMI church planters in Indonesia.

Header photo of Mount Ruang courtesy of Devicanatasya/Wikimedia Commons.

China (MNN) — Amid increasing difficulties, Christians in China need multiple ways to access God’s Word. 

“You hear good news, and you hear bad news. Some people say, ‘Well, you can get the Bible about anytime you want. Then others will say, ‘We’ve struggled to be able to find the Bible online,’” says Kurt Rovenstine with Bibles for China. 

(Photo courtesy of Bibles for China)

But a recent gathering with Chinese pastors left him with this word: “Their take is that it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to be able to access Scriptures online.” 

Print or digital copies that can be secured and accessed offline are becoming more and more necessary. 

“Restrictions of websites, the permissions that are sometimes difficult to get, and all of the things that are happening in China make it so much more important to have that Bible that you can tuck under your pillow,” Rovenstine says. 

The work that Bibles for China does is entirely legal within the nation. They have ongoing distribution plans for 2024 and avenues to carry them out. 

“We want to pursue that as aggressively as we can, because we don’t know how long this door is going to stay open,” Rovenstine says.

But the work is hard. They need the prayer support of the Church as their network of partners engages in critical Kingdom work. 

“Whether you live in the West or in Europe, or in the Far East or the Middle East, the enemy is at work against the truth of Scripture and the truth of the one true God,” Rovenstine says. 

“We need to pray for those who are on the frontlines. We need to pray for those who are supporting the work that we do and other missionary organizations do — for those who are seeking and who are lost and who are hurting.”

Header photo courtesy of Bibles for China. 

Sri Lanka (MNN) — Five years ago this Sunday, suicide bombers linked to Islamic terrorists carried out a deadly series of attacks in Sri Lanka. Bombings at three churches and three hotels killed 269 people and wounded more than 500 others. 

It also happened to be Easter, making it an especially pointed attack. Christians are a minority in Sri Lanka, making up 1.7 million, or 7.7%, of the population (source: Joshua Project).

(Screenshot)

In the years since then, the government has largely met calls for thorough investigation with inaction and silence. A trial of suspects in the bombing began in late 2021 but to date no one has been convicted or punished for the killings. Many people gather each year to protest this silence.

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach (CWO) says, “It is a time to remember. Being a believer is not not necessarily a safe thing. It’s a battle, and I think that’s part of what was going on (in Sri Lanka).”

The gospel continues to be opposed in Sri Lanka, but Christians are resilient.

“There’s been physical attacks on Christians, (people) attacking them if they do open a church, if they do any kind of evangelism,” Yoder says.

“But what’s impressed me is the desire (of) those who know the Lord to not let any of that deter them from sharing the gospel, and especially discipling others — helping them grow in their faith so that they can share the gospel with others.”

Since 2021, the CWO team serve kids and families by offering education programs and meeting tangible needs. (Learn more here.) They do their work with sensitivity to the culture, in order to build relationships where they can then share the gospel. 

“We’ve had parents of some of our children in the after-school program (whose) concern was, ‘You’re going to make our children believe the way you do.’ We’ve reassured them, ‘No, but we use Bible stories to help the kids learn to read,’” Yoder says. 

Ministry in Sri Lanka. (Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)

“So they’re relieved by that, but then that opens the door because they want to hear, ‘Why do you want to love us? Why do you want to help our kids, if you’re not going to push the gospel on it?’ It just opens that door, and so people are willing to listen in the ministries that we do there.”

Now that you know more, will you pray? 

“Pray for the believers in Sri Lanka as they openly share the Gospel, as our staff there disciple others to grow in their faith so that they can share the gospel with others, share the love of Christ,” Yoder says.

Pray also for those still grieving for the people who were killed in 2019. Ask God to bring His perfect justice to those responsible for the attacks. 

Header photo of Sri Lanka is a representative stock photo courtesy of Vinnath Satharasinghe via Unsplash.

India (MNN) — Tomorrow kicks off a gargantuan exercise of democracy: India’s general election. There are nearly 970 million eligible Indian voters. The polls open tomorrow and the process will take 44 days in multiple phases across the country.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is campaigning for a third consecutive, five-year term. Voters will also elect lower parliament house members.

The outcome of this election will impact India’s politics, culture, and Christian ministries. Unfortunately, Christian persecution in India has risen over the last several years under the current political system.

No matter the election’s outcome, Rev. Jason Woolford, President of Mission Cry, says Indian Christians will remain faithful to the Gospel.

“We’re thankful for partnerships that we have there – partnerships where they’re willing to risk their livelihood and even possibly imprisonment by understanding the importance of the Word of God because it’s the only thing that’s going to deliver.”

Mission Cry shipment of Bibles and Christian books to India. (Photo courtesy of Mission Cry)

In fact, you can pray for a Mission Cry shipment currently en route to resource a seminary in eastern India.

Woolford says, “This new seminary will be filled with Bibles and Christian books – seminary materials – instantly after the shipment that will be arriving over the next couple of months.”

Pray for a growing Gospel impact in India. You can help by supporting the Mission Cry container headed there now!

“For us to send a container filled with half a million dollars worth of free Bibles and Christian books, it cost us $11,000,” says Woolford. “That’s all it costs to send half a million dollars worth of free Bibles and Christian books where they’re freely distributed and given to our Mission Cry partners on the other end.”

Click here to donate to Mission Cry.

Also, ask the Lord to grant Indians wisdom as they head to the polls over the next several weeks.

Header photo of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

China (MNN) — They made it! Bibles for China has received word about 50,000 Mandarin Bibles meant for seekers and believers in Russia. 

Kurt Rovenstine with Bibles for China explains, “There’s actually quite a large Chinese population (in Russia). They kind of live together within Moscow, but also along the border up above in extreme northeastern China.”

Bibles in another shipment that were distributed to Chinese who live in Russia along the China border. 
(Photo courtesy of Bibles for China)

In 2022 the team was ready with a partner organization to distribute the Bibles to Chinese people living in Russia. But then the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out and plans had to change. 

Rather than keep the Bibles in a warehouse indefinitely, they released them to Chinese churches in the Moscow area for use in training and evangelism. Then they waited. 

More than a year later, they have received word that all 50,000 Bibles were distributed.

“Just in the last few months, the last of those (50,000) were all distributed. That was very, very much an encouragement to the work that we do, and a reminder that, that God is good, you know, when we step out on faith.” Rovenstine says.

“Those Bibles are in the hands of people who at least have the opportunity to read them and to discover the truth that they contain. That was very much an encouragement to the work that we do, and a reminder that God is good. When we step out on faith, and even when it seems as if there are roadblocks before us, God opens doors and gets the truth out to those who want to read it,” Rovenstine says.

Praise God for His living Word, and pray for more open doors for Bibles for China to reach Mandarin-speaking families.

“The power of the Word of God is amazing. God is not going to let that truth go away simply because the world is opposed to it. When God’s people walk in obedience, He opens doors for us to do the work that we do,” Rovenstine says.

Header photo courtesy of Bibles for China via Facebook. 

Nepal (MNN) — Imagine growing up in the heart of the Himalayas.

Visitors are an extreme rarity because your tiny village is only accessible by air. Few people can read, so tradition and legend dominate your thought pattern.

This is life in Mugu, Nepal. “If you were to ask these people who Jesus is, many of them would say, ‘I don’t know. Who is his father, or where does he live?’” Keys for Kids’ Greg Yoder says.

Keys for Kids’ partners, Good News Nepal, recently supplied dozens of audio Bibles to a handful of Christians in the region.

“It’s in the northwest center of Nepal, very hard to reach. There’s just one little airstrip that they (Good News Nepal) fly into, and then they walk to the little village,” Yoder says.

“The Mugu region happens to have a church there, but they didn’t have any resources.”

As the Good News Nepal team visited with a handful of Mugu villagers, “they were able to provide Storytellers to kids and teenagers,” Yoder continues.

“Now, the kids have something that they can not only know who Jesus is, but they can grow in their faith.”

Storytellers are solar-powered MP3 players with hours of Keys for Kids stories on them and a dramatized audio Bible in Nepali. More about that here.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Even though these units were given to young people, they’re reaching the whole family. “Moms and dads are finally learning about God’s Word through the Storytellers because many of them can’t read,” Yoder says.

Now that you know, will you pray? “We can’t do anything without prayer partners,” Yoder says.

“Pray that God will provide the resources we need and safety for our partners on the ground, Good News Nepal. On top of that, you can support us. These units are not cheap. They’re about $35 each” to produce, Yoder adds.

Help Keys for Kids reach the next generation here.

Header image depicts a father and his children on the rooftop of their home in the Mugu district, Nepal. (Wikimedia Commons)

Taiwan (MNN) — The 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Taiwan Wednesday has killed at least 10 people and injured more than 1,000.

Taiwan has a long history of quakes. Since the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in 1999 that left thousands dead, Taiwan instituted stronger building codes and improved its emergency response teams. This time, the death toll is low, but rescue efforts are urgent. Taiwan’s National Fire Association said Thursday more than 700 people remain stranded. 

(April 3 earthquake damage at National Hualien Girls’ Senior High School. Official Photo by Shufu Liu / Office of the President courtesy of 總統府 via Wikimedia Commons: https://rb.gy/xbeqcy)

Joe Handley with A3 says, ““Taiwan is one of those countries that’s well prepared for a disaster like this. However, this was the largest quake they’ve had in over 25 years.”

Relief work will continue for months ahead. More than 100 buildings have been damaged and many landslides have impacted the eastern side of the island.

“The churches I know are actively engaging with what’s happening. You know, in moments like this, Jesus shines,” Handley says. 

“The church in Taiwan is robust in many ways. (It) has had a strong presence in the country and has been very missionary-oriented for years.”

Handley asks the global Church to consider the long-term as we respond to this disaster.

“Right now you do have the immediate response needs that are happening. I encourage people to give now; give to those opportunities that they see to help the local church rally around their own people,” he says. 

“Pray for the local churches, and then think long-term. Don’t think just ‘now and then out.’ Think long-term: What impact does God have planned for Taiwan?”

A3 works to disciple and resource Christian leaders in the countries in which it serves. Learn how you can partner with them here for the long-term strengthening of the Church around the globe. 

Header image is an Official Photo by Shufu Liu / Office of the President, courtesy of 總統府 via Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons: https://rb.gy/hboi2o.

Japan (MNN) — The search for survivors continues today in Taiwan. The strongest earthquake in 25 years hit Taiwan yesterday during the morning rush hour, triggering tsunami warnings as far away as southern Japan.

“We didn’t feel strong shake; however, we receive warnings through our smartphones, and then almost [immediately] the community loudspeaker announces the recorded tsunami warning to move to a higher place,” A3’s Takeshi Takazawa says.

“After the warning, the tsunami started to hit some of the smaller islands closer to Taiwan.”

Thankfully, no deaths were recorded in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture as communities heeded the evacuation orders.

A “tsunami warning is not like crying wolf. It’s a serious business,” Takazawa says.

“The big earthquake in 1995 in the Kobe area shook up Japanese people. Then, in 2011, we experienced a triple disaster with tsunami, and many people lost their lives.”

Wednesday’s earthquake affected communities in several regions in Taiwan. Pray that Christian leaders can deliver help and hope in the name of Jesus.

“Jesus is in control of everything, even this quake or tsunami. In the midst of that, God’s care, love, and protection are there,” Takazawa says.

“God is way more powerful than this.”

As believers meet needs, pray they will have opportunities to tell people about the Lord’s soon coming.

“Jesus left words for us about ‘the beginning of the end,’” Takazawa says. “These things (natural disasters) will happen more and more, but that’s not the end.

“Something way bigger, way more drastic will happen in the future, and we must be prepared. Our hearts, spirit, life, and community need to be prepared for more.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Matt Paul Catalano/Unsplash.