CHINA (BP) -- China is purportedly the largest publisher of Bibles in the world, but the communist nation has now apparently blocked online Bible purchases for its residents. Beginning last week, searches for Bibles at leading online retailers in China came up empty, according to reports from The New York Times and CNN. The reports indicate certain Bible studies or illustrated storybooks were available through searches. Two merchants told CNN the Bible could be purchased through … [Read more...]
Ridgecrest team brings hope to Ukrainian orphans
SPRINGFIELD – Wendy Farrell’s heart for mission work among orphans of the Ukraine grew out of her love for one Ukrainian teenager. In March, Farrell led a mission team of three families and two college students from Ridgecrest Baptist Church here to the Ukraine to work among the European nation’s orphanages. Theirs was only one of many short-term mission teams commissioned by Ridgecrest to share Christ’s love across the globe, from Ecuador, Nicaragua and Cuba to Europe, Africa and South … [Read more...]
Rwanda closes thousands of churches, arrests 6 pastors
KIGALI, Rwanda (BP) -- An estimated 6,000 churches have been closed across Rwanda and six pastors arrested in a government crackdown that began March 1 with 700 closures in the nation's capital of Kigali, according to news reports. The six pastors, who reportedly tried to rally public support for the churches in Kigali, were accused of "masterminding" a plot to disobey the government, the BBC reported March 6. The closures come as the Rwanda Governance Board (RGO) is conducting a … [Read more...]
MLK50 raises $1.5 million scholarship to help minority students in Memphis
MEMPHIS – More than $1.5 million dollars have been raised for the “MLK50 Dream Forward Scholarship Initiative” that will allow Christian colleges and seminaries to invest in the educational future of minority students. Two schools with Missouri Baptist ties – Hannibal-LaGrange University and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary – are participating in the scholarship initiative. Through this scholarship initiative, a broad range of financial aid resources will be given to selected … [Read more...]
Church planter uses radio to highlight refugees’ plight
NOEL – Three years ago, Josh Manning was a manager at Walmart. His career was going smoothly, and planting a church wasn’t on his radar. Neither were refugees. The idea that he might have a half-hour radio show was ludicrous. And yet because of God’s calling, all those things have changed. Regular church attenders at a nearby Buffalo Creek Baptist Church, Manning and his family decided their lives were going to be different. They ended up in Noel, deep in the southwest corner of Missouri, … [Read more...]
St. Joe church launches first global missions effort
HINCHE, Haiti – Women were the first to share the Gospel with the world, and now a group of women from Renovation Church here are following suit. The four-year-old Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) church plant sent a team of women to Haiti on the church’s first international mission trip. According to team leader Chelsie Kormeier, the trip is the first step in what they believe will be a long journey of obedience to the Great Commission. The team, consisting of four adult women and … [Read more...]
American pastor charged with ‘terrorism’ in Turkey
IZMIR, Turkey (BP) -- American pastor Andrew Brunson has been indicted in Turkey on charges of terrorism. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) claims the charges amount to an admission "that Turkey considers sharing the Gospel an 'act of terrorism.'" "The 62-page indictment, wholly lacking merit, provides no evidence regarding criminal action by Pastor Andrew, which comes as no surprise," the ACLJ stated in a March 20 news release. "Pastor Andrew, who has lived in Turkey for 23 … [Read more...]
‘The most unreached place in North America’: Springfield family plants churches in Montreal
MONTREAL, Canada – Soon after James Copeland, the former missions pastor at Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Springfield, moved his family to Montreal, he met a self-described atheist named Michael. Over time, Copeland’s friendship with Michael grew. And nearly five months later Michael admitted that he’d been watching the worship services at Renaissance Church online – an English-language congregation near the heart of Montreal where Copeland serves as the lead pastor. Today, Michael attends … [Read more...]
Sweden 1st to offer payouts to sterilized transsexuals
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (BP) -- Transgender Swedes forcibly sterilized to expressly prevent reproduction are eligible for payouts of about $27,000 each under a new law that is reportedly the first of its kind worldwide. Sweden's one-house parliament, the Riksdag, adopted the legislation March 21 affecting people forced to undergo sexual sterilization under the Gender Recognition Act of 1972 before changing their gender designation on legal documents. "People who applied to change their … [Read more...]
Opera singer from Brazil sparks Vienna house church
VIENNA (BP) -- When Maria* began to feel God nudging her to share Christ with Persians, she didn't know exactly what a Persian was. (There's no Persian language and no Persia on the map.) But within a week Maria met a girl from Iran. When Maria asked what language she spoke, the girl said "Persian," so Maria invited the young lady to study the Bible. Maria didn't set out to start a new Persian church. She was just obeying God. But that Bible study has now grown to over 100 people -- a … [Read more...]
Kidnapped pastor’s family ‘solid and secure in Jesus’
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (BP) -- A Malaysian pastor threatened with death for trying to convert Muslims to Christianity remains missing more than a year after his February 2017 kidnapping in Kuala Lumpur, a family friend confirmed to Baptist Press today (March 26). The family of 63-year-old Raymond Koh has heard nothing of his whereabouts or health since his abduction by as many as a dozen masked men in broad daylight, family friend and Nashville-area pastor Greg Wilton told … [Read more...]
Lebanon doctor sends medical supplies across the globe
LEBANON – Doctors are called to take care of their patients, but one Missouri doctor’s passion has made patient care possible all over the world. Over the last twenty years, Dr. Jeff Bond has gathered medical supplies and shipped them to hospitals in South America, Asia and Africa. God has used this ministry, whose impact is not diminished by the fact that it has no official name, to provide care, save lives, and even open up an entire wing of a children’s hospital in Nepal. The story … [Read more...]
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