By Justin D. Long, ed.

No. 120—June 19, 2018

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News & Events

Morocco: Christians want marriages recognized in Morocco – Reuters
… demographic growth (marriages, births) is an important element of church growth worldwide. Without it, the church doesn’t have a significant chance of getting in front of population growth rates.

6 million struggle to get food in Africa’s Sahel region – UN
… “levels not seen since 2012… rapid deterioration in B Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal.” This can significantly destabilize a region.

Egypt: family planning policies: can families be persuaded less is more? Link
… “debunking idea that having many children = source of income now and later in life”
… subsidy cuts have couples rethinking their assumption that children = prosperity

Egypt: Wave of arrests sends alarming message at start of Sisi’s second term – Link

If you have a meeting in Ethiopia, you better double-check the time – Link
… 7am East African time is 1am in local Ethiopian time…

Ethiopia, Somalia agree to strengthen “brother” relations – VOA
… first Ethiopian leader to visit in over 40 years … market relationships can always lead to possibilities for Gospel spread through personal contact …

Saudi Arabia: Why an Arab Christian is optimistic about the changes – Link

Op/Ed: “Who really put Saudi women behind the wheel?” – Link
“… not the courageous advocacy of those feminists that led to this moment, when the kingdom is about to finally lift its ban on women driving, but rather the grace of a crown prince engaged in ferocious revisionism…”

The war in Yemen:
As Saudis go to war, the Crown Prince attends a soccer match – NYT
Video: How the Saudi blockade is starving Yemen – NYT
Saudi, UAE announce 5-point plan for relief in Hodeidah port – Reuters
Attack multiplies horror and death in Yemen – ReliefWeb
Explainer: Why Yemen is at war – Reuters
How Yemen became the most wretched place on Earth – Economist, 2017

“Ramadan Kitchen” gives Syrian refugees a taste of home – NYT

Turkey’s state of emergency may end in mid July says give official – Hurriyet

Turkey: Erodgan’s plan to raise a “pious generation” divides parents – NYT
… “public schools closing, on little or no notice, being replaced with religious schools…”
… “Outside religious groups are teaching in schools, without parental consent…”

Iraq: In post-ISIS Christian town, heroism and paradox abound – Crux

Iran: hard-liners flex new strength, leading Iranian lawyer arrested – NYT
… in stark contrast to last Roundup’s linked article about loss of power on their part

Afghanistan: First cease fire in 18 years, for Eid – VOA
… but Taliban rejected a proposed extension – Washington Post

India is facing the “worst water crisis in its history” – BBC
… “Deadly tensions rise as water supply runs dangerously low” – NYT

India: rumors spread on social media, fuel deadly India mob attacks – US News

Dust storms drag New Delhi air quality back to dangerous levels – Reuters

India: the personal wake-up call to prayers, a Ramadan tradition, is endangered – NYT

Nepali Christians face new pressure – Asian Access

Mongolia: Young monks lead revival of Buddhism after years of repression – Link

China: Doklam, 1 year later: China’s long game in the Himalayas – War on the Rocks

Op/Ed: What is Chinese Christianity? ChinaSource

China: S. Korean missionaries fearful as crackdown on ‘infiltration’ gathers pace – SCMP
… growing number of arrests has community worried

What South Korean Christians want from North Korea – CT

The biggest winner of the NKor summit is China – Washington Post

Why North Korea is hell for women – Harper’s Bazaar

Indonesia’s forgotten bloodbath – #LongRead – Foreign Affairs

World Cup evangelism v Russia ban – CT
… “Banned from sharing the gospel at games, Protestants adopt new missionary strategy.”

Venezuelan migrants in Colombia tops a million in 15 months – Reuters
… and, capital runs out of water – Link

USA: Scripture offers much material for arguments about dividing families – Economist
… “an outburst from Jeff Sessions about a new border policy has people scouring the Bible”

USA: To be poor and ignored during Ramadan – NYT

Raw Data / Resources / Collections

First UNODC Global Study on Smuggling Migrants – Link

On Pew’s new study of religion and aging:
The Pew Survey itself – Pew
What young adults in 100 countries think of religion – CT
Young more religious than old in only two countries in the world – Guardian
Religiously affiliated ‘nones’ pursuing spirituality, not community – LA Times

Analysis

Why most refugees do not live in camps – Economist
… 66m displaced, 23m refugees, 69% do not live in camps, prefer cities/towns

The next plague is coming: is America ready? – Atlantic
… “The epidemics of the early 21st century revealed a world unprepared, even as the risks continue to multiply. Much worse is coming.” These are going to impact the church, Christianity and missions. (For example, Ebola in Sierra Leone had a massive impact on church growth there.)

The mafia is more powerful than it’s ever been – Slate
… organized crime impacts mission efforts all over the world: drug trade, human trafficking, social justice, etc., all impact missionary strategy and even missionaries.

USA: Marketers largely shun childless single women – Link
… found this interesting because single women outnumber single men in most agencies by margins like 3-1 (big agencies) to 10-1 (small agencies).

Noteworthy

J. D. Payne: Church planting is not the single most effective evangelistic methodology.
… “We are not called to plant churches, but think we are. It is out of disciple-making that churches are birthed.”

Kouya: Apollos: a model missionary for today

Internet, Digital, and mobile tools:
… in a previous issue I noted the Internet wasn’t a silver bullet. Several readers wrote to suggest a nuance between “Internet streaming” and “local digital media distribution”; the latter can be far greater than the former. Some Links:
… a simple tool for assessing digital tech available in country – Link
… digital ministry atlas for 40 least reached countries – Link
… h/t Jonathan W, Keith W, Mobile Advance, Mobile Media Forum

Tiny, essential Google tricks for way better search results – Link

57 email etiquette tips to avoid writing sloppy emails – HubSpot
… I also use Grammarly.com …

How to tell a good story – NYT
… and, Michael Lewis’s 9 rules of story telling – Heleo

Future, Tech

China: 4 workers + robots = processing, shipping 200k packages daily – Link

China’s surveillance state will soon track every car – WSJ
… where are those Westerners going? …

China: Companies cash in on surveillance program targeting Uighurs – Foreign Policy
… many of those cashing in have Western investors…

USA: The week that the drone surveillance state became real – Quartz
… and, In Newark, police cameras and the Internet watch you – NYT
… anyone w/Internet access allowed to watch feeds from ubiquitous surveillance cameras
… “Citizen Virtual Patrol”: asking viewers to assist the force by watching over the city and reporting anything suspicious

USA: Surveillance + AI = Virtual Border Wall? Wired
… what the founder of Oculus would like to do with US Govt
… “a general platform for geographic near-omniscience”

Apple undercuts popular law enforcement tool for cracking iPhones – Reuters
… change default settings to cut off comm through USB port when phone has not been unlocked in the past hour

“There’s no solid evidence people get addicted to social media” – Business Insider
Or: “How heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness” – Economist

How to talk about God in Silicon Valley – Link
… and, Silicon Valley has a problem with conservatives – Link

China: best VPNs, summer of 2018 – Link

Google is training machines to predict when a patient will die – Link

Quotes

“God is in the business of using ordinary men and women who say yes to him.” ~Aila T.

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