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HABAKKUK 1:5
EYE WITNESS SHINE LIKE STARS
“Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed”
YOUTH MISSIONS MAGAZINE
* PASTOR’S BURIED ALIVE * INTERNSHIP IN EAST ASIA * SPONSOR AN ORPHAN
ISSUE 6 FREE
HistoryMakers is AsiaLink’s youth department. Magazines, videos, e-updates, short-term trips and visits to your churches are just some of the ways we are mobilizing the next generation into world missions. Oswald J Smith said “We talk of the Second Coming, half the world have never heard of the First”. Millions of people have still never heard of Jesus which means the Great Commission should be of the utmost importance – simply because of its importance to Him. We’re passionate about God’s glory among all peoples and that’s why we are now working in over 14 countries across Asia. God is busy. Good things are happening through some of the most dedicated Christians in the world today. We want to introduce them to you and inspire you to “look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed”.
CONTENTS F RO N T L I N E S S WO R D O F T H E S P I R I T H E RO E S O F FA I T H A S I A N WA N D E R I N G S S H I N E L I K E S TA R S
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www.historymakers.info ‘His Story Makers’
INDIA India is the seventh largest country in the world with over one million square miles and is bordered on the north by the Himalayan foothills and by Pakistan, China, Nepal and Bhutan. While being seventh largest in size, India is second in world population with over 1 billion inhabitants. Three quarters of Indians live in rural areas. Fundamental concerns in the country include massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic strife - all this despite impressive gains in economic investment and output. The government has struggled to provide adequate education, medicine and nutrition for its people. Some improvement has been made in state-run health care, yet many diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, dysentery and influenza abound. Drinkable water is hard, sometimes impossible, to find in rural areas. And the infant mortality is high: one in ten babies die. Malnutrition is a serious problem given the country's poverty level. C H U R C H / M I S S I O N AC T I V I T Y
Some of the largest unreached people groups are found here. Hinduism claims the largest block of India's population, with 82%. Muslims comprise 12% and Christianity some 2% of the population. There are almost 11 million Protestants in India though rising levels of persecution have come from militant Hindus. Government jobs and funds are often withheld from converts and surveillance of Christians is increasing. Nominalism is the biggest problem in the church–in large part this is due to the lack of discipleship training. Some of the best methods of evangelization are Christian radio broadcasts, which reach many with the Word of God. Indian indigenous agencies and workers have been very successful as well. There are now nearly 500 Indian mission and church-based agencies, over half of which are involved in cross-cultural work in and beyond India.
PROJECT NOTE India Village Ministries, see back cover
PERSECUTION INDEX
2009 Grading for India: 22nd
• P O P U L AT I O N : 1.1 billion • C A P I TA L C I T Y: Delhi • R E L I G I O N : Hindu 80%; Muslim 12.5%; Christian 2.4%; Other 4.8% • L A N G UAG E S : 1,652 • P E O P L E G RO U P S : 4,635
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SOUNDPROOF An AsiaLink staff member was recently visiting an underground church in Bhutan. The believers met in a soundproofed room so that the authorities wouldn’t be able to hear what was happening inside. For most of us, this sort of church meeting sounds unusual probably because we’ve never visited a soundproof church and never will. But, the truth be known, we’ve probably already been to a ‘soundproof’ church or could even be in one right now!
Matthew 10:27-33 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”
STUDY QUESTIONS 1
What is it that Jesus wants you to speak in the daylight?
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Jesus said to proclaim from the rooftops the things he has told us. How can we apply that to everyday life in our schools, colleges and workplaces?
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Are there parts of the world you can help others to proclaim Jesus through prayer and giving?
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Are you sometimes fearful to share with people about Jesus? Think about what Jesus said about not being afraid of what man can do to our bodies. Does that help give a different perspective on talking to your friends about God?
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If you’re unsure about how to share the Gospel effectively, we highly recommend a resource called ‘Way of the Master’. Go to www.wayofthemaster.com
Sometimes we can all misrepresent or even totally fail to present the Gospel. We become introspective and many people have no idea what is happening inside our churches or homes. We’ve become soundproof. The ‘Church’ isn’t the building we meet in – we are the Church, the Body of Christ! In other words, the Church is what’s left when the building is removed! Although we need places to meet regularly for fellowship and to encourage one another, the intention is that we go into the world so that we might ‘proclaim from the roofs’ what we know to be the only solution and antidote to a sin-cursed world. The ‘lost’ have to hear and experience the amazing grace of the awesome God whom we worship every day of every week and of every year. Nothing could be more important. Someone once said “the Church is the only organization in the world that exists for those that aren’t yet part of it”. The fact is there are people all around us who’ve no idea that Jesus died for their sins. Literally millions across Asia haven’t even heard the name ‘Jesus’ in their own language. Something has to be done. The Truth that is ‘whispered’ to us in our buildings each week must be proclaimed in places where people will take notice. The things we learn about God’s Word in the ‘dark’ are to be spoken out to an entire generation while there is still daylight! Darkness is fast approaching and nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. While there is still breath in our lungs, God is calling this generation of believers to acknowledge Him before men. We needn’t fear those who may persecute us because even if they kill the body they cannot kill the soul. We are guaranteed our inheritance in Heaven! But if we deny Christ or are ashamed of him then he solemnly warns us ‘I will disown him before my Father in heaven’. The ‘Prince of Preachers’, Charles Spurgeon, said "Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that. The saving of souls, if a man has once gained love to perishing sinners and his blessed Master, will be an all-absorbing passion to him. It will so carry him away, that he will almost forget himself in the saving of others” The last thing God wants is for His Church to be ‘soundproof’. The Church is God’s mouthpiece to this generation of souls. It is the hands and feet of Christ to a world in desperation.
“YOUNG MAN, SIT DOWN!!”
H I S TO RY M A K E R William Carey M I N I S T RY Pioneering Missionary A R E A O F WO R K India FA M O U S Q U OT E “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God”
William Carey was born in Northamptonshire, England. He was just an ordinary boy and when he left school aged 16, Carey became a shoe-maker’s apprentice. Two years later, he attended a prayer meeting that would change his life forever. Here, he committed his life to Christ. He became an avid reader, ploughing through the Bible and he also loved to read stories of the explorers discovering new parts of the world. Bit by bit, Carey became gripped by the realization that thousands of people around the world had never heard the gospel and he became convinced that it was the responsibility of the Church to do something about it.
LESSONS FROM LIFE 1
Imagine what it would feel like to be reprimanded in a public meeting! How would you have responded to the rebuke from a leader over something you knew had to change?
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India is a harsh place to live. How would you cope with the heat, sickness, culture and language barrier?
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Years of work for God literally went up in smoke. The easiest choice would have been to give up, pack his bags and go back to England. What would you have done and why did Carey decide to start from scratch despite the terrible setbacks?
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Carey was a pioneer. He was radical for his era and his life was an example of perseverance and hard work. Have you ever considered being a pioneer for the Lord? It might take a life time or even cost you your life!
He brought up the subject at a meeting in 1786, asking if the commission from Matt 28:18 was still relevant for the church today. “Young Man. Sit Down! You are an enthusiast. When God pleases to convert the heathen, he will it without your help or mine”, said the Chairman. Carey though, was undeterred. He went on to write and print a tract, published in 1792 where he wrote up the arguments for mission. In 1793, aged 32, Carey set off for India, with his wife Dorothy and three sons. From his diary in Feb 1795 he wrote “This indeed is the Valley of the shadow of death for me... Oh what would I give for a sympathetic friend to whom I might open my heart. But God is here, who not only has compassion, but is able to save to the uttermost”. Life in India was hard. Conflict with the authorities, financial problems, terrible heat, and frequent serious sickness, all took their toll. Carey had to bury his youngest son Peter, who died aged 5. His wife Dorothy suffered from mental illness. Carey persevered. He learnt the language and spent hours in Bible translation work. In the evenings and weekends he would go out preaching on foot or horseback. It would be seven years before there was a single convert! Carey and his team produced numerous manuscripts and translations in many different languages. These included dictionaries, grammar book, and whole versions of the Bible in different languages. But disaster struck in 1812, when a huge fire broke out destroying most of the work that represented decades of painstaking translation. He started again. From scratch. Carey showed incredible perseverance and unswerving devotion to the Lord and to his work. He rebuilt the printing press and went on to produce masses of books and he published translations of the Bible into forty Indian languages! Incredible! Because of Carey, many missionary societies were formed in the UK and USA. Carey was truly a pioneer, a hero of faith and has been named the ‘father of modern missions’.
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NAME Stephen Bailie AG E 30 H O M E C O U N T RY Northern Ireland JOB Accountant
ASIAN WANDERINGS It was the heat that hit me first. Not the searing sensation on the skin of a day on a Mediterranean beach but more of a suffocating blast of warm air that made me crave the air-conditioned indoors. Next came the smell. A pungent mixture of exhaust fumes, animals and rubbish. The noise was incredible – a bustling hive of activity unfolded itself in front of my eyes as I made the short walk to the taxi. So this was India. I had just stepped outside the front door of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and was soaking up my first few seconds in the sub-continent. Never before had I experienced such an onslaught on my senses! From those first moments on, I knew I had arrived in one of the greatest countries on the planet and over the next few weeks I fell in love with Asia, its people, its sounds and even its smells! Almost every facet of life is different from our sanitised, regimented existence in the affluent West. The sheer number of people is striking. In the major cities of the continent, millions upon millions go about their daily lives, leaving me astonished that my God knows every one intimately! The people I met were considerably happy despite being in the midst of difficult circumstances. Their generosity in sharing whatever they have was a lesson to me as I attempt to live in my materialistic part of the globe. Travel, however, can be a hair-raising experience. Be it by rickshaw, tuk-tuk, bus, car, speedboat or motorcycle, you’d better hold onto your hat! Driving is a contact sport – he who honks loudest has right of way, and will merrily give other vehicles obstructing progess a gentle nudge to the side! I enjoy trying new things and generally had no problems with the food (apart from one awkward encounter with chilli-cheese in Bhutan!) It is not unusual for the chicken which noisily wakes you at dawn to make another appearance on a plate that evening! Speaking of chickens, animals are everywhere. From the sacred cows wandering the streets of India to the monkeys in Nepal, you will see some interesting sights. The other unavoidable characteristic of Asian countries is that religion permeates every aspect of life. Buddhist monks with their saffron and magenta gowns are a common sight; Hindus with tikas on their foreheads smile as they pass by; ornate temples seem to appear around every corner. One thing set my trips apart from that of a mere tourist. I was travelling in Asia with a purpose! As a Christian I was different from those I encountered and I had a glorious message to share with these beautiful people. AsiaLink offers wonderful opportunities to make an eternal difference in many lives – I encourage you to take up the challenge, see the sights but most importantly share the Faith.
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