NewLife Faith News - April 10th
Compiled and Edited by Stan Hunt
World news headlines are sombre as war, terrorism, crime and natural disasters dominate. It would be easy to turn off the news, but that’s not the call of the Church. Edward Graham with Samaritan’s Purse says these stories should urge Christians to prayer and action.
He told Mission Network News God calls His Church to “run to the fire” to help people in need. This starts with meeting immediate needs – food, water, shelter, transportation, and medical help, he says. But they go in the name of Christ and for the extension of His kingdom.
Samaritan’s Purse has their own aircraft, emergency field hospitals, doctors, nurses and other medical staff. Mr Graham says currently they are in Gaza serving on both sides of the conflict as access allows. Samaritan’s Purse is also now training Christians to serve the broken-hearted in every part of the world.
Source: Mission Network News
A new version of the Jesus Film, performed in American Sign Language (ASL) premieres this month. Cru Ministry partnered with Deaf Missions to produce the newest version of the Jesus Film designed to minister to deaf people in the nations where ASL is used.
Joseph Josselyn, producer and director says in the film Jesus and all the actors are signing, because the cast is deaf.
He told Baptist Press the importance of the movie is in presenting the Gospel to the deaf community. Mr Josselyn, who is himself deaf, says language isn’t a barrier anymore. Deaf people can be fully immersed into the story.
There is no universal sign language. Globally, 70 million deaf people use one of 300 sign languages. The Jesus Film has been produced in 2,100 languages since its 1979 English premiere. It holds the Guinness Book of World Records for being translated in more languages than any film.
Source: Baptist Press
Ukrainian Churches have strongly condemned a declaration by the Russian Orthodox Church advocating for a "Holy War" against Ukraine. They are urging global Christian organisations to denounce this mandate that threatens to "wipe their country from the map".
Patriarch Kirill of Russian Orthodox Church positions the conflict as a defence against Western globalism. This is a Holy War, he said. Protecting the world from victory by the West which has fallen into Satanism. The declaration has been described by Ukrainian religious leaders as carrying full moral responsibility for the war and called for international condemnation.
According to Premier News the Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared in Kyiv - Russia's war isn't sacred, but diabolical. It serves not God but Satan. The Russian declaration denies the Ukrainian people's existence as a unique ethnic group and right to its own sovereign statehood.
Source: Premier Christian News
Christians will have the opportunity to better understand the Bible and theology through free certificate study at a Melbourne theological college. Ridley College will make all its current and future certificate subjects free from the start of May. This includes an overview of the Bible.
Acting principal the Rev Dr Andy Judd told The Melbourne Anglican the college decided to offer the opportunity after thousands took up its no cost online courses during the pandemic. Dr Judd says the enthusiasm made Ridley think that providing the study course for free could benefit more Christians from a range of backgrounds and denominations.
The goal includes serving more Christians from non-English speaking communities. The study materials will be translated into other languages including Mandarin.
Source: The Melbourne Anglican
Audio Storytellers are spreading the Gospel in remote areas of Nepal. The Storytellers, supplied by Keys for Kids, go to places such as Muga where most people can’t read and live by legend and tradition. Greg Yoder with Keys for Kids says if you were to ask these people who Jesus is, many of them would say ‘where does he live?’
Muga is a tiny village accessible only by air. Missionaries with Good News Nepal, a Keys for Kids partner, land on the tiny airstrip, then walk to the village. Mr Yoder told Mission Network News children and their families now have something that explains who Jesus is and what He has done for them, he says.
Storytellers are solar-powered MP3 players with hours of Keys for Kids stories on them and a dramatized audio Bible in Nepali. They’re also equipped with a flashlight, headphones, and USB charging cable.
Source: Mission Network News
A book from Egypt considered to be one of the oldest books in existence will go up for auction in June in London.
The Crosby-Schoyen Codex - written in Coptic on papyrus around 250-350 AD, was produced in one of the first Christian monasteries. It has an estimated sale value of $2.6 to $3.8 million US dollars according to Christie's Auctions.
Eugenio Donadoni with Christie's told Premier News the book has the earliest known texts of two books of the Bible. The 104 pages (52 leaves) contain the first epistle of Peter and the Book of Jonah. It was written in the transitional period, when papyrus scrolls start turning into codex form - books as we know them today.
The book’s preservation is attributed to Egypt's dry climate. Only a handful of books from the 3rd and 4th centuries have survived to the present day.
Source: Premier Christian News