Asia/Pacific Updates

Prayers for Pentecost

Lee Grady suggests we join together in these prayers as we anticipate Pentecost Sunday, May 27:

1. Lord, send the wind of sincere repentance. The original outpouring at Pentecost triggered a wave of repentance that resulted in 3,000 conversions. The greatest miracle on earth occurs when a sinner’s heart breaks before God and he or she is born again. Lord, unleash a flood of conversions! And as sinners repent, let backslidden Christians, disillusioned believers and weary saints return to You.

2. Lord, send the wind of spiritual renewal. One breath of the Holy Spirit can bring life to dry bones! Lord, send the refreshing wind of Your presence into lifeless congregations. And with Your wind, send a flame on every Christian’s head—especially those reluctant Gideons and timid Timothys who know they are called but need Spirit-inspired confidence.

3. Lord, send the wind of a youth awakening. When the winds of Pentecost blew the first time, Peter preached from the prophet Joel, saying, “ ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions’ ” (Acts 2:17, NIV). Lord, raise up and strengthen ministries to reach our schools and college campuses. Send another Jesus Movement to this generation.

4. Lord, send the wind of supernatural demonstration. Forgive us, Lord, for limiting You! When the first Pentecost occurred, normal people were “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49), and they began to heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons. Unleash the miraculous in the American church. Let the same miracles that are occurring in Asia, Africa and Latin America become common in our nation.

5. Lord, send the wind of bold evangelism. When the first disciples were touched by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, they declared “the mighty deeds of God” (Acts 2:11, NASB) to every racial and ethnic group that had gathered in Jerusalem. The true anointing of the Holy Spirit always results in evangelism. Lord, turn up our volume! Let the gospel be preached in every language spoken within our borders.

6. Lord, send the wind of divine intervention. Our nation is in desperate crisis. Families are disintegrating, morality has eroded, perversion is celebrated, and our culture is becoming hostile to biblical faith. Unless the Lord answers with His holy fire from heaven, we are sunk. Lord, deliver us from evil! Extend Your mercy and send a Third Great Awakening. Amen.

  -- from Fire in My Bones

Redeeming the Children

Several of our pastors in Myanmar run homes for orphaned or abandoned children, a severe problem in this nation. Many of these little ones were abandoned after one parent died and the other parent remarried, but the step-parent refused to accept them. Most are of mixed race, with parents from different tribes, and so relatives don't want to take them in. Some children have parents who are debilitated by drug use. 

Thank the Lord for those who take on this ministry of redeeming the rejected and giving them a loving welcome into the family of God!
Support is needed to keep these homes for children operating. To partner in this ministry, send donations to IPHC World Missions, PO Box 270420, earmarked for project #73014P. Or you may sponsor a child directly through People to People Ministries.

Global Day of Prayer

This Sunday, May 27, is Pentecost Sunday. It is also the Global Day of Prayer, on which churches around the globe are encouraged to unite in prayer for the world. 

Let us join together in prayer for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us, and on our desperately needy world. 

For more information, as well as resources to aid in observing the Global Day of Prayer, go here.

For prayer topics for the Asia/Pacific region, go here. 

Ministry in Myanmar

In April, I traveled to Myanmar to teach and preach at the annual pastors' conference. My voice got quite a workout, as over three days I spoke in seven of the eight sessions.
Afternoon temperatures reached 100 degrees F in Kalemyo where the conference took place. But energy and enthusiasm remained high even with no air conditioning in the meeting hall. 

The Kalemyo airport shut down before my return, necessitating a 12-hour overnight drive to cover 250 miles in order to catch a flight in Mandalay. The first 60 miles took six hours on dirt roads, as we navigated ruts and craters and circumvented broken bridges. But the Lord provided an experienced driver and an air-conditioned four-wheel-drive vehicle, and we made it safely and on time.

Over two hundred pastors, church planters and leaders gathered from around the nation to worship the Lord in song and dance, listen to His Word, fellowship together, and pray for one another. Some walked two days to catch a 15-hour bus in order to reach the venue!

 

After more than 20 years of oppressive rule by a military dictatorship, Myanmar is taking its first steps toward democracy. Nobel prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi has taken her seat in parliament, and the new prime minister has released political prisoners, liberalized the state-run economy, and expanded the rights of citizens. Christians still face discrimination, but they are hopeful that God is now answering their prayers for a new era of freedom. Please join them in praying for the light of the gospel to shine brightly throughout Myanmar!

Missions in Japan: Now is the Time

The people of Japan comprise a unique target for gospel outreach. That is because they are the largest people group basically unreached with the gospel that is completely open to missionaries, with freedom of religion guaranteed by Japan’s constitution.

Over 70 percent of Japan’s 127 million citizens claim no personal religion. Still, their identities are deeply tied to the rituals of polytheistic Shintoism, and most conform to the ancestor veneration of Buddhism. At the same time, the younger generation struggles with social anxiety (hikikomori) and an alarmingly high suicide rate.

Despite 500 years of Christian presence in Japan, only 1.5 percent of its people call themselves Christians (evangelicals account for about one third of that number). But the strategic potential of these Jesus followers to evangelize the peoples of Asia and beyond is impressive; they are recognized to be hard-working, well-educated, and financially strong.

Now is a pivotal time for gospel outreach in Japan. Churches remain few and small, with mostly women and children in attendance, a traditionally western format, and dependence on their pastors (or missionaries). Now, as a post-war generation of these retire, there are too few students in Japanese seminaries to replace them.

Last March’s earthquake/tsunami has led to unprecedented unity among previously splintered church groups, and to acknowledgment that deeper than the needs for relief and reconstruction is the need to build on increased receptivity to the gospel, especially in areas directly affected by the disaster, by planting new churches. This has led existing Japanese churches to appeal for more missionaries to capitalize on these signs of a dawning new openness.

-- from College Church website

China Plans to Eradicate House Churches

China’s government is engaged in a three-phase campaign to eradicate Protestant house churches, according to a statement released on April 20 by the China Aid Association (CAA).

The government’s strategy was clearly outlined in a document released last September during a training class for “Patriots in the Christian Community” run by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA).

From January through June of this year, the document called for local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of house churches nationwide and create dossiers on each of them. In phase two, for the following two to three years, authorities would strongly encourage unregistered churches to affiliate with the government-approved Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM); and in phase three, to be completed within 10 years, churches refusing to comply would be shut down.

According to the document circulated last September, the government plans to use “humane law enforcement measures” to achieve the total eradication of house churches.

-- full article in Charisma News

 

Worst Persecutors

This from First Things:

North Korea remains the worst country in the world for persecuting Christians, and the only one to receive the "severe persecution" ranking in Open Doors' 2012 World Watch List. The communist state has imprisoned as many as one in four Christians in labor camps.

Rounding out the bottom ten are Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Iran, Maldives, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Iraq, and Pakistan. All are Islamic countries, and in numbers two to six "indigenous Christians have almost no freedom to believe at all." 

Seven of the next ten on the list are also Islamic countries, the others being Buddhist (Laos and Bhutan) or Buddhist and Communist (Vietnam).

The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church, Tertullian noted (from close observation) in the early third century. The report concludes by quoting a pastor in a Gulf country: "When we suffer, we bring a credibility to the gospel that cannot be ignored, because we show that Christ is worth it, and that is the secret of growth under persecution."

For more information, see World Watch List.

Leadership Conference in Thailand

In early April, I traveled to Thailand for a conference with our pastors and church leaders on "Maximizing Leadership." IPHC has over two dozen churches in that country, including congregations not only among Thais but among Filipinos, Nepalis, Burmese and Indians as well.
Missionaries Albert and Jiep Gonzalez have done outstanding work in Thailand as pastors, teachers, disciplers, and mentors. 

I taught three sessions and preached in an evening service, and found the attendees ready to commit themselves to serving the Lord and eager to learn how to be more effective leaders. We took time to pray for the leaders of each church, and everyone found encouragement in the teaching, worship and fellowship.

 

I thank the Lord for the strong sense of unity among the churches and leaders. While the percentage of believers in Thailand is still quite small, there will be great growth ahead on this solid foundation!

Pray for North Korea

In spite of the change in leadership in North Korea this year, many things remain the same….

• Famine and starvation continue to ravage the population
• Refugees are still repatriated
• Prisoners continue to suffer under harsh conditions
• North Korea remains the #1 country on the Open Doors World Watch List of the worst persecutors in the world

Amid this oppression the nation is preparing elaborate celebrations to honor Kim Il-Sung's 100th birthday. All citizens are required to participate in worshipping him, this "god-like figure"…all citizens including Christians. Living in fear of discovery they must "outwardly" show respect, but their hearts belong to Jesus.

Join us in special prayer on April 15. On that day the nation of North Korea will be celebrating the "Day of the Sun" with lavish fanfare. But together with our North Korean followers of Christ we will be celebrating the victory in the true "Son," Jesus Christ!

  -- from Open Doors

 

Continental Missionary Conference

During the first week in April, missionaries from across the Asia/Pacific region gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for our annual conference and retreat. Our international staff includes missionaries from the US, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan and India. This is a key time when we come together for fellowship, planning, and above all, prayer. We were especially blessed by the presence of Executive Director Dr. Doug Beacham and his wife Susan, who imparted vision and inspiration to all of us. 

 

We were also blessed by the ministry of Dr. Garnet and Frances Pike, who declared for us a "fresh anointing" from the Lord. Under their direction, retiring missionaries Hobert and Marguerite Howard anointed each of us with oil, and prayed that the anointing that characterized their 60+ years of ministry in India would energize the rest of us to carry on their legacy. 

 

Lord, grant that we may serve with the same integrity, faithfulness and persistence as the Howards, and finish well!