North Korea’s Partially Sunk Frigate Has Already Been Ceremoniously Relaunched (June 12, 2025, The War Zone)
New satellite imagery indicates that North Korea has held a new launch ceremony or a similar event for its second Choi-Hyun class frigate. How North Korea managed to get the ship looking like it does now, even superficially, so quickly after it sat in the water for days isn't clear.
Is Thailand on the Cusp of Another Military Coup? (June 11, 2025, The Diplomat) (Subscription required)
Border tensions with Cambodia, a Shinawatra in power: the current situation bears an alarming resemblance to the country’s last two military takeovers.
The urgent search for a new regional and global order (June 2, 2025, East Asia Forum)
The shifting balance of power in Asia, with the United States no longer a guaranteed force for stabilisation and China asserting itself as its strategic peer, demands that middle powers find new ways to protect an open, rules-based order.
Evangelical Fault Lines Revealed in South Korean Election (June 6, 2025, Christianity Today)
In South Korea, far-right politics are characterized by an anti-Communist and anti-China posture. These ideas have become entrenched within some Korean evangelical circles, leading them to label people who “criticise conservativism or conservative policies as pro-North Korean communists and antichrists…”
Sri Lankan mob disrupts Christian gathering on Tamil rights (May 26, 2025, Union of Catholic Asian News)
A mob stormed a Christian-led gathering on Tamil rights and constitutional reform in a city near the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, after accusing attendees of undermining the nation’s constitution.
Sudan’s Civil War Haunts Seminary Students (May 30, 2025, Christianity Today) (Subscription required)
Though the wars in Gaza and Ukraine garner more press attention, aid groups consider Sudan as having the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Many Sudanese people are subsistence farmers. But violence and displacement have drastically impacted agriculture, throwing half the country into food insecurity. The civil war has particularly hurt Christians.
60 Years Later, Complete Bible Translated in Contentious Indonesian Province (May 14, 2025, International Christian Concern - Persecution.org)
After 60 years of faithful work across two generations of one family in missions, the Bible has been fully translated into the Ngalik language in the Indonesian Province of Papua.
Faith instead of fear: remembering 21 Libya martyrs (March 5, 2025, Mission Network News)
The Islamic State isn’t in the news cycle as often as it used to be. In 2014 and 2015, the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria was topping headlines almost every day.
Uzbekistan: a hidden agricultural gem in Central Asia (May 10, 2025, MEER)
Uzbekistan, a country in Central Asia, is home to one of the most fertile agricultural lands with a potential of being an agricultural goldmine for global investors. The country ranks in the top 15 in terms of producing various agricultural goods, including apples, cucumbers, grapes, onions, plums, tomatoes, and watermelons.
Selling comfort: ‘loneliness economy’ emerges as more South Koreans live alone (April 19, 2025, South China Morning Post)
Loneliness-driven businesses capitalise on people’s feelings of isolation and social disconnection to make profits. Such loneliness-driven businesses include psychological counselling and therapy, dating apps and even controversial dating services in return for money.
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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
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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