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Launch of the State of the Great Commission Report (April 19, 2024, Lausanne Movement)
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INDIA: Is this the end of religious tolerance in the subcontinent? (March 26, 2024, Release International)
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Celebration of Easter in Asian countries with tradition and rituals (March 19, 2024, Travel and Tour World)
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This is the happiest country in Asia, according to the World Happiness Report (March 19, 2024, CNBC)
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The fastest-growing countries for software development, according to GitHub (February 5, 2024, Rest of World)
Year over year, the data shows Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Pakistan had the fastest-growing developer population.
With Starlink and Satellite Launches, Mongolia’s Digital Transformation Reaches a Milestone (March 6, 2024, The Diplomat)
Mongolia’s digital transformation is inevitable. Currently, only 23.8 percent of Mongolian territory – less then a quarter – is covered by telecommunications services, including access to high-speed internet. Another 40 percent of the territory is sparsely populated by nomadic people with no access to the internet.
North Korean women are now the breadwinners – and shifting this deeply patriarchal society towards a matriarchy (Mach 7, 2024, The Conversation)
With this shift, it became a whole new lexicon that was derogatory around men, because the economic power had shifted. Women are the breadwinners in a very tight economic times, and men were another mouth to feed.
Update: how is the war in Ukraine affecting global food prices? (February 3, 2024, Economics Observatory)
It is projected that almost 600 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030 if the war is sustained, with Africa – home to some of the world’s poorest and most hungry populations – hit the hardest. This is around 23 million more people than if the war in Ukraine had not happened.
Reaching the unreached: outreach vaccination for children in Viet Nam’s remote areas (January 18, 2024, World Health Organization)
Dak Nong, a mountainous province located in the Central Highlands region, is home to more than 40 different ethnic minority groups. Living in separate villages and hamlets, many far from district and commune health stations, bringing children in for routine immunizations is not always possible for parents and caregivers.
At least 33 killed in Afghanistan as heavy rains set off flash floods (April 14, 2024, Al Jazeera)
Twenty of the nation’s 34 provinces were lashed by the heavy rains, which followed an unusually dry winter season that has parched terrain and forced farmers to delay planting.
9 incredible things to do in Macau that are absolutely free (April 20, 2024, Lifestyle Asia)
Budget travellers often skip Macau, thinking it’s nothing more than a city filled with luxurious casino hotels. While it’s certainly a paradise for big spenders, don’t let that fool you. This city is bustling with historical and cultural gems that don’t cost a fortune. In fact, your wallet will remain intact if you just know where to look.
Beyond the Blackboard: A teacher’s pledge to protect and inspire the next generation (January 31, 2024, UNICEF)
The key to addressing child marriage and adolescent pregnancy lay in creating awareness and providing access to information and services in schools and communities, especially in high risk and hard-to-reach areas.
United Arab Emirates struggles to recover after heaviest recorded rainfall ever hits desert nation (April 19, 2024, The Associated Press)
The UAE, a hereditarily ruled, autocratic nation on the Arabian Peninsula, typically sees little rainfall in its arid desert climate. However, a massive storm forecasters had been warning about for days blew through the country’s seven sheikhdoms.
Plight of Central Asian diaspora drives IMB alumnus to press on (March 21, 2024, International Mission Board)
Before former International Mission Board worker Allison moved back to the United States, she’d already developed a deep love for and passion to reach the Central Asian diaspora. Working with Central Asian refugees and asylum seekers in Europe opened her eyes to the felt needs of the people, as well as their spiritual condition. Her friend Aziza’s story often comes to mind.
Herders on front line of India’s Himalayan dispute with China say they’re losing grazing land – and a way of life (April 16, 2024, CNN)
High in the Himalayas, the people of a remote northern Indian territory fear their way of life is under threat from the changing climate, looming development – and border tensions with China. At stake, they believe, is the future of Ladakh, one of the world’s highest elevation regions, where indigenous tribes maintain nomadic traditions on sprawling plains hemmed in by mountains punctuated by Buddhist monasteries.
The Chinese émigrés leaving the pressures of home for laid back Chiang Mai (April 13, 2024, The Guardian)
Chiang Mai, a tourist hotspot popular with backpackers and nature-lovers, has become an unlikely second home for thousands of new Chinese émigrés. More than 110,000 Chinese nationals applied for long-term visas in Thailand between January and September in 2022, nearly the total number for 2019.
The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind and Chinese Christianity (April 16, 2024, ChinaSource Blog)
Given the significant influence of American evangelicalism on the development of contemporary Chinese Christianity, how should Chinese Christians critically study and integrate evangelical theology into our practices?
The External Cross: A Pastoral Letter (April 15, 2024, China Partnership Blog)
This pastoral letter, from February of this year, encourages and commends believers for the way they have borne up under the outward persecution of recent year.
China in the Mirror: Challenges and Realities: Reflections on China, Part 1: The Context in 2024 (April 15, 2024, ChinaSource Blog)
The 1990s and 2000s saw a substantial expansion of the space within which the Chinese church was allowed to exist. This space has shrunk considerably in the last ten years. Yet despite the challenges faced, the sovereignty of God is not restrained by human politics. In fact, over the last 40 years basic missiological principles to guide cross-cultural ministry in restrictive environments have been forged in China.
An Exploration of Islam in China: More Context from the ChinaSource Archives (April 12, 2024, ChinaSource Blog)
In order to help our readers better understand how to share the gospel effectively, we’re pulling together some of the most relevant articles from the series, along with a few reflections on Ramadan.
For China’s Factories, the Paris Olympics Have Already Started (April 9, 2024, Sixth Tone)
Merchants in Yiwu — a city in eastern China famous for its massive wholesale goods markets — are reporting a surge in orders from France, with local factories rushing to churn out everything from tricolored inflatable thunder sticks to novelty Eiffel Tower ornaments.
The Chinese Bible: History, Challenges, and Recommendations (April 10, 2024, ChinaSource Blog)
We can thank God for giving Chinese the Bible in their own language, to strengthen and grow what is now one of the largest Christian churches in the world, and one with the potential to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Christian School Education in China (April 9, 2024, ChinaSource Blog)
The suppression of Christian school education, combined with a law that restricts children under 18 from attending Sunday school, severely curtails the ability of the church to disciple its children. This is a strategic space to watch.
How “Runology” Is Changing Ministry to Diaspora Chinese (April 8, 2024, ChinaSource Blog)
We are in the midst of another wave of immigration from China. With all that has gone on in relationship to missions in China this presents a great opportunity to impact China from the outside in. There are several issues that we need to be aware of related to this new wave of immigrants landing on our shores.
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Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs. Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University …View Full Bio
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Blessing Asia
In October-2022 more than 500 Christian leaders from across Asia gathered in Thailand for the Asia 2022 Congress, sponsored by the Lausanne Movement and various partnering organizations. I had the opportunity to participate in the Congress virtually and was mightily blessed. From Bible exposition to K-pop worship, and through seminars and workshops, the participants were encouraged by the stories of what God is doing in countries all over Asia. Clearly, God is on the move.
A beautiful vision was portrayed in a video of the popular worship song The Blessing, featuring singers from all over Asia. Here it is:
Many of the sessions have already been posted on their website and to their YouTube channel.
One that I found particularly helpful considering all that is going on in China was a presentation titled Church and State Relationship in Asia Today. You can see the video here.
I encourage you to spend some time on their website; there are fantastic resources for understanding God’s work in Asia today.
Original link: https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/blog-entries/blessing-asia/
Image credit: Andrea Brucker, via Unsplash
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