GFA missionary kidnapped, released

GFA missionary kidnapped, released

By: Babu Thomas

Monday, 30 July 2012, 22:45 (IST)

A Gospel for Asia (GFA) missionary who was abducted by a terrorist group last week has been apparently released, according to the head of the global mission agency.

Pastor Ponnachan George was on July 27 kidnapped by five armed terrorists from the Bible school campus operated by GFA in the Karbi Anglong district of Assam.

"I talked to Pastor Ponnachan a few hours ago. He simply wept for a long time, unable to say much. He thanked God and the Body of Christ for the massive fasting and prayer that took place on his behalf," said GFA Founder and President, KP Yohannan.

After kidnapping the pastor at gunpoint, the terrorists blindfolded him and tied his hands behind his back and forced him to walk for hours deep into the forest to their hideout. 

"Throughout Ponnachan's entire ordeal, his captors repeatedly told him they were going to shoot him and would not spare him. He could hear them discuss their next moves and plans for demanding money, but he remained calm," informed Yohannan.

"We may be able to share more details later about the week-long, near-death experience he went through. But right now, we thank God for answering our prayers and causing these terrorists to release him unharmed without the huge ransom they demanded," he added.

GFA had earlier sent an email to its supporters soliciting prayers for the safe release of George. The mission agency maintains a policy of non-negotiation with terrorists for money. In similar instances, it has relied solely on prayer and fasting.

"I was frightened and really thought I would never be freed. I thought about my wife and young children and felt helpless. That is when I began to meditate on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I reminded myself that my leader sent me out with a one-way ticket to this mission field. The passage in Acts 20 where Paul says 'I don't regard my life dear to myself' became a source of strength," Ponnachan told Yohannan after his release.

Reportedly, the local police force, army personnel and high-level officials, both from the state and federal governments, had helped in securing the release of George. 

"Without their intervention, Pastor Ponnachan's freedom would not have been possible. We thank God for these officials who have been so helpful in securing the release of our brother," Yohannan said on Monday.

George oversees the ministry in the Karbi Anglong region, which includes 26 Bridge of Hope centers educating children, three radio broadcasts in the Karbi, Assamese and Kuki languages, a Bible college and more than 200 churches.

Source: http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/gfa-missionary-kidnapped-released/7505.htm

The 'Christianity of the heart'

The 'Christianity of the heart'

By: Zac Poonen | Christian Fellowship Church

Monday, 23 July 2012, 19:15 (IST)

In 1 Samuel 13:8, we see the first reason why Saul lost his kingdom. Samuel had told Saul to wait for him and he would offer a sacrifice to the Lord, before Saul went into battle. Saul waited for 7 days and Samuel didn’t come. So Saul decided to offer the sacrifice himself (13:9). He knew that he was not a priest, and that it was against God’s laws for him to offer the sacrifice to God. But because he had been so blessed in his ministry as a king, he felt he could go outside the boundary that God had drawn around him and enter into another ministry. Many preachers have made this mistake. We must recognise the ministry God has given us and stay within the boundaries that God has drawn around us. Just because God has blessed us in one ministry, we cannot move into another ministry that God has not called us to. Many years ago, I recognised that God had not called me to be an evangelist. I realised that He had called me to teach believers. And so, I have stayed within my boundaries, despite all the pressure that others have put on me to go outside my boundaries. I don’t want to repeat Saul’s mistake. Other people have the ministry of an evangelist and I value them and respect them and work with them – and submit to them in the sphere of their ministry. Uzziah was another king who tried to be a priest. God struck him down with leprosy. Here we see that God took away Saul’s kingdom from him, when he tried to be priest. Recognise your ministry and stay within your boundaries; and allow other people to fulfil their ministries. This is the simple law of the body of Christ.

We also see Saul’s impatience here. A few minutes after he had offered the sacrifice, Samuel came as he had promised. What a different story it would have been if only Saul had waited just a few minutes longer! Because of his pride and impatience, he lost everything. But he still sat on the throne of Israel for another 30 years. There are many who are sitting on their thrones in Christendom today, like Saul - who have lost the anointing of God long ago. But because they have got money and human authority, they sit on their thrones directing their organisations. Saul degenerated from a wonderful young man, who started out in great humility, to become one who was useless to God!

Samuel then told Saul, “Your kingdom shall not endure now. You have acted foolishly. The Lord now seeks for somebody who is a man after His own heart” (13:13,14).

See the emphasis here on the heart. When Saul was anointed as king, the Bible says that his head stood out among the people, for he was taller than everybody else (1Sam.10:23). He was distinguished by his head – his brains. But God was now looking for someone who was distinguished by his heart. David was different from others, not because of his head, but because of his heart! He was a man after God’s own heart (1Sam.13:14).

There is a vast difference between a “Christianity of the head” and a “Christianity of the heart”. Saul represents the first and David represents the second. This is the essential difference between religious people and spiritual people. The Lord sought out for Himself a man after His own heart and He found David. Our head represents our brains, our intelligence and our cleverness. Our heart represents our devotion to the Lord and our worship of Him. The Father seeks for worshippers, not for scholars (John 4:23). If you are not a worshipper, if you are not devoted to Jesus Christ, no matter how clever you may be, you can end up like Saul. David finished his course triumphantly even though he made mistakes, because his heart was right.

Chapter 14:35. Here we read of the very first altar that Saul ever built. And there we see the reason for his failure: He was not a worshipper first of all. Saul’s ancestor, Abraham, had been a worshipper. Wherever Abraham went, he built an altar to worship the Lord. But Saul was just a smart, clever man and not a worshipper. Jesus said in Matthew 4:10, that we had to worship the Lord before we could serve Him. Beware of a Christianity that only resides in your head, and that does not lead you to a devotion to Jesus Christ and to a worship of God the Father.

Source: http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/the-christianity-of-the-heart/7490.htm

The reality for Christians in India

Christian athletes honoured!

Christian athletes honoured with Eric Liddell awards

By: Solomon Izang Ashoms, 2K Plus

Sunday, 12 August 2012, 22:55 (IST)

As the London 2012 Olympic Games drew to a close, More Than Gold, a Christian outreach organisation that seeks to enable local churches to engage with big sporting events in host cities around the world hosted the inaugural Legacy Award breakfast in honour of Eric Liddell.

The Eric Liddell Award honours one male and one female Olympian who display outstanding character at home, in their community and on the field of competition. The award is given in memory of Eric Liddell, winner of the gold and bronze medals for Great Britain at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Liddell is best known for the portrayal of his Olympic experience in the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire.

The male recipient of the award was the 2008 Olympic decathlon gold medallist from the USA, Bryan Clay.

He told 2K Plus International Sport Media: “It’s a huge award, it means a lot to me that people think that what I do off the track is worthy of praise. My faith plays a huge role in my life and it’s amazing that somebody recognises that.”

The female athlete honoured at this inaugural event was British rower and double Olympic silver medallist, Debbie Flood.

Beyond his athletic successes, Liddell is known for his consistent character and strong Christian faith. Following the 1924 Olympics, he chose to return to his birthplace in China as a missionary, rather than train for further competition. By 1941, life in China had become so dangerous that Liddell sent his wife and daughters back to Great Britain. Two years later, he was interned in a Japanese POW camp, where he died in 1945, just four months before the end of World War II.”

His eldest daughter, 77 year old Patricia Liddell Russell said, “He was a wonderful dad and it’s great the award is given to these athletes because there’s more to winning gold than winning gold.’’

From: christiantoday.com

Archaeologists think!

Archaeologists think Jerusalem find could be biblical

By: Katherine Weber , Christian Post

Sunday, 5 August 2012, 1:01 (IST)

An Israeli excavation team believes it has found an artifact depicting the Bible's Old Testament story of Samson fighting a lion.

Professor Shlomo Bunimovitz and Dr Zvi Lederman, excavation directors at Tel Aviv University, reported that while recently digging at the Tell Beit Shemesh excavation site, just outside of Jerusalem in the Judaean Hills, they found a small circular stone seal, less than an inch in diameter, which depicts a man with long hair fighting a feline figure.

The seal was found near the River Sorekm, which served as the ancient border between Israelite and Philistine territories, and dates to the 11th century BC, which was biblically during the ruling of the Judges, one of whom was Samson, according to The Telegraph.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israeli archaeologists speculate that the seal does not represent a biblical Samson, but rather a story of a local hero who fought a lion and eventually morphed into the biblical Samson tale.

The archaeologists chose to focus their study of this area more on the stark differences between the Philistines, who travelled across the Aegean, and the local people, who were first the Canaanites and later the People of Judah.

Reportedly, archaeologists found a plethora of pig bones on the Philistines territory, while they found close to none on the Israeli territory, showing the locals chose not to eat pork to differentiate themselves from the Philistines.

These details, as Bunimovitz told Haaretz, "add a legendary air to the social process in which the two hostile groups honed their separate identities, the way it happens along many borders today."

In early July, archaeologists uncovered what they believed to be Samson's image on a rare mosaic in a synagogue in Huqoq, an ancient Jewish village that lies just a few miles west of Capernaum, in Galilee.

"This discovery is significant because only a small number of ancient (Late Roman) synagogue buildings are decorated with mosaics showing biblical scenes, and only two others have scenes with Samson (one is at another site just a couple of miles from Huqoq)," Jodi Magness of the University of North Carolina, who is co-conducting the dig, said in a statement.

In the Old Testament story, God bestowed supernatural human strength upon Samson. This strength, which Samson discovered while fighting a lion, was contained in his long hair.

Eventually, Samson was seduced by Delilah, who cut his long hair, robbing him of his strength and resulting in his imprisonment by the Philistines.

From: christiantoday.com

Attack on Nagapattinam Christians!

NATION

Attack on Nagapattinam Christians leave 15 injured, one dead

By: Babu Thomas

Monday, 9 July 2012, 18:25 (IST)

Some 15 Christians were wounded and one reported dead after extremists allegedly from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh launched a series of attacks in Sirkali taluk, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu.

According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), tensions began on June 21 when the Hindutva extremists went to the area and ordered the local population to boycott Christians, impeding them from praying and going to worship services. The extremists had apparently visited the village in May with the same demands.

To prevent any untoward incident, the local authorities on June 23 had organized a meeting to reconcile the two warring communities.

The meeting also involved KA Jayapal, Minister of Fisheries, whose efforts too failed to convince the extremists to leave the village.

Following the meeting, an armed mob reportedly attacked Christian homes with clubs, sticks and other implements, burning and plundering four buildings and forcing the Christians to flee.

About 15 people were injured in the clash and two are said to in critical conditions.

After the assault, few of the victim families reached the Poompuhar police station which sadly refused to take action. The matter was subsequently taken up with the authorities of the district of Nagapattinam.

Meanwhile, on June 24, one Christian, Mahalingam was found dead in the hospital under unclear circumstances. His son Rajendran claimed that his father was killed by the extremists. The police however have recorded it as a natural death.

"Christians in the village are facing a very difficult time. They were socially boycotted and they were not allowed to attend or conduct any worship meetings. Few Christian families have even fled the village in fear," the area leader Pastor Samuel Ramachandran told EFI.

Fron: christiantoday.com

Conhecendo a India!

Conhecendo a India!

A Índia é um pais situado no sul da Ásia, limitado ao norte pela China, Nepal e Butão; a leste por Myanmar; a noroeste pelo Paquistão  e ao sul pelo Oceano Indico. Situado a nordeste da Índia e ao norte da Baia de Bengala fica o Bangladesh. 

Sua extensão é de 3.287.782 km, sétimo maior pais em área demográfica. Contem 1.21 bilhões de habitantes sendo o segundo pais mais populoso do mundo. É uma republica composta de 28 estados e sete territórios, é um sistema de democracia parlamentar.

Em 1991 foram implantadas reformas econômicas que transformaram o pais em uma das maiores economias do mundo, porém, por uma infraestrutura insuficiente, uma burocracia pesada, altas taxas de juros e uma divida social elevada (pobreza rural, analfabetismo, sistema de castas, corrupção ...) a economia do pais é constantemente sufocada, o que impede a exploração de toda sua potencia.

Sua renda per capita é consideravelmente baixa, cerca de 50% da população depende diretamente da agricultura para sobreviver e mais de 40% da população está abaixo da linha da pobreza.

A indústria e os serviços, por sua vez, tem se desenvolvido rapidamente nos últimos anos representando respectivamente 26% e 55% do Produto Interno Bruto. Diferentemente da Agricultura que representa somente 18%.

A principal língua é o híndi, porém pode-se encontrar até 400 dialetos e idiomas por todo o pais, dentre eles 21 são considerados oficiais.

A religião predominante na Índia é o Hinduísmo, cerca de 80% da população, e o restante é dividido em  11% islâmicos, 3,8% cristãos e 5.2% outras.

O Hinduísmo é uma das religiões mais antigas do mundo. Não há um fundador desta religião, ao contrário de outras O Hinduísmo e composto de toda uma intersecção de valores, filosofias e crenças, derivadas de diferentes povos e culturas.Para compreender o Hinduísmo, é fundamental situá-lo historicamente. Por volta de 3 000 a.C., a Índia era habitada por povos que cultuavam o Pai do Universo, numa espécie de fé monoteísta. Pouco depois, em 2 500 a.C., floresceu a civilização dravídica, no vale do rio Indo, região que hoje corresponde ao Paquistão e parte da Índia. Os drávidas eram adeptos de uma filosofia de louvor à natureza, de orientação matriarcal e baseada no princípio da não-violência. Porém, em 1 500 a.C., os arianos invadiram e dominaram aquela região, reduzindo os antigos drávidas à condição de "párias" - espécie de sub-classe social, que até hoje permanece sendo a casta mais baixa da pirâmide social indiana.

Devido a maioria da população ser do Hinduismo, a cultura do pais está diretamente ligada a esta religião constituindo um sistema social, na medida em que divide a sociedade em diferentes castas. Determinadas pela hereditariedade, as castas constituem grupos de pessoas e famílias que se diferenciam uns dos outros de acordo com a posição social que ocupam, com mais ou menos privilégios e deveres.
O sistema de castas estabelece uma rígida segregação social, por meio da qual se explica o papel de cada indivíduo na sociedade. Esse fato, na verdade, consolida as enormes desigualdades sociais existentes no país, uma vez que a mudança de um indivíduo para outra casta é considerada uma grande ofensa à religião hindu. 
O sistema de classificação evoluiu para o plano político-social-religioso. Em sua estrutura mais antiga, o sistema era constituído de quatro castas: os brâmanes (sacerdotes), os xatrias (guerreiros), os vaixás (burgueses) e os sudras (artesãos). Cada casta tem suas próprias normas e está rigorosamente separada das outras. Não é permitido o casamento misto, nem a refeição em comum, nem a participação conjunta em atividades profissionais. A quebra de qualquer dessas obrigações implica a exclusão da casta, pelo que o indivíduo fica privado de todo direito social e se torna um pária, sem casta.
Mais tarde esse número de castas inicial aumentou e chegou a mais de três mil castas e subcastas, divisão que ainda influi poderosamente na sociedade indiana, apesar da extinção legal das castas em 1947. Nessa época, o sistema dividia a população hinduísta indiana em cerca de 17 milhões de brâmanes, vinte milhões de membros das outras três castas e mais de sessenta milhões de outras categorias, entre as quais a dos intocáveis (harijans, povo de Deus).O Hinduísmo e o Budismo originaram- se no país, e o Cristianismo e Islamismo foram introduzidos no primeiro milênio DC.

Em 1793, William Carey,pastor e sapateiro inglês, foi a Índia com sua família como primeiro missionário. Dedicou-se profundamente a tradução da bíblia para um dos dialetos locais, e após dois anos (1795) inaugurou a primeira igreja batista.

O trabalho era muito lento, pois em sete anos mesmo com centenas de pessoas freqüentando aos cultos, não havia nenhum convertido. E no ano de 1818, 25 anos de missões batistas na Índia, haviam 600 convertidos, e milhares de pessoas freqüentando aos cultos, todavia Carey já havia conseguido se infiltrar na cultura hindu e gerando influencia para mudança de costumes comuns como sacrificar crianças e queimar as viúvas com seus esposos falecidos, mostrando que esses rituais não estavam nem no próprio livro da religião hindu.

Desde então grupos missionários estão sempre presente no país, entretanto, por sua maioria ser da religião hindu, o cristianismo não e aceito e os cristãos são extremamente perseguidos.

Devido ao grande numero de línguas a dificuldade de material bíblico é enorme, 
visto que enviamos em inglês e é necessário traduzir para pelo menos 5 línguas locais, 
portanto precisamos de suas orações, para que dia após dia o Evangelho de Jesus  seja cada vez mais aceito pelos Indianos.

In Andhra Pradesh, 22 women go missing every day

Mahesh Buddi, TNN | Aug 11, 2012, 04.35AM IST

HYDERABAD: Hinting at the existence of a large-scale human trafficking network, state police have found that at least 22 women and girls have gone missing every day in the state this year. In what is a matter of great concern, the total number of women and girls that have gone missing in the state in the last four years stands at a staggering 23,760.

The combined data collected by state police and the women and child welfare department clearly hints towards rampant trafficking in women and girl children in the state. A total of 47,181 persons have gone missing in the state since 2009 including 16,787 children and 12,882 women.

Of the total number of missing children in the state since 2009, about 66% (10,938) are girls. And, the number of missing girls seems to be only increasing as, till July 2012, another 2,786 children have gone missing with over 70% of them (1,955) girls. That means that about 10 girls go missing each day. Similarly, 2,519 women were missing till July this year, which means every day 12 women go missing.

The alarming fact is the number of women and girls that remain missing in government records in the past four years. Since 2009, a total of 23,760 girls and women have gone missing in the state and they are yet to be traced. This hints at the possibility of these victims being caught in the clutches of human traffickers.

To help the family-members track down these missing persons, police have launched a website displaying their case details — http://missingperson.ap.nic.in. Explaining the usefulness of the web portal, additional DG VSK Kaumudi said that one can search for the missing or found person's details on the said website and approach the concerned police station or other government agency for further assistance. The website also features the details of unidentified bodies.

Apparently, railway police find many of these missing children at railway stations and, with the help of NGOs, either rehabilitate or hand them over to family-members.

"If someone finds a missing boy or girl, they can upload the photograph on the website with the person's details after cross-checking the same on the missing persons list. We hope that this facility will help some missing persons to reunite with their families," the ADG said.

 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com