Read the Weekly Roundup: March 29

By Justin D. Long, ed.

Perspective, Insight, Context, Analysis

Don’t Miss

4/16, Beyond’s Discipleship Nugget #11: “Stories from a Movement” – Register Link
Join us to hear one missionary’s journey, including first hand stories from the movement she and her team saw God bring about.  That movement now has disciples who have made disciples to 22 generations in about five years, and more than 17,000 churches among Hindus and Muslims.

Jon Hirst (Generous Mind, GMI) is hosting an Innovation Event (online, live, free):
Most organizations value innovation and desire to see its rewards. But few are able to make innovation part of their culture. Now you can learn about how to bring a culture of innovation to your ministry with a free live web event on April 20th at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time. Register at http://www.innovationinmission.com

My blog posts

50,000 American workers? A brief reflection on the implications. Link

Categories of Difficulty: different reasons for difficulty of access. Link

What we mean by “unreached,” and the importance of reaching them. Link

Church gathering (vs. Church Planting). Link

Four marks of a good candidate. Link
Events

Syria’s Civil War is far from over: a Brookings unpacked video. Link
Peace talks have failed to make progress, and violence is more likely in 2018. Link
… the ends of wars are rarely as clean as the ends of movies.

Turkish forces are operating 10km inside Iraq, creating a buffer zone. Link
… Iraqi military ordered to take control, secure border with Turkey. Link

Kim Jong Un visits China, his first trip out of country. Link
… ‘visit to China fails to hide strain in relations.’ Link
India: Hindu-Muslim riots at Hindu festival in West Bengal. Reuters

… 3 killed, dozens injured, 2 days of violence
Pakistan: court ruling aims to publicly identify all religious minorities. Religion News
Iran: names current year “Support for Iranian Products.” Al-Monitor

… ‘continuing to focus on the economy, its Achille’s heel’
… But just about anything continues to spark protests. Like water. Reuters

… “Wide-mouthed vigilante vs. Women’s right activists”: Protest is dangerous. Iran Wire
… The alarming phenomenon of teenage suicide in Iran. Iran Wire

Myanmar: Interfaith elopements spark mob violence. Link
… a Buddhist woman ran away with a Muslim man …

Ethiopia: Unexplained Internet cut off in Oromia. Link

DR Congo: warnings of catastrophic aid crisis. Link
… 13.1 million in need of humanitarian aid.

Mali making efforts to free northern region from separatists, jihaidsts. Africa News

Cameroon’s Anglophone regions are ‘no-go’ areas, France warns citizens. Africa News
… warns against travel to northern areas, dominated by Boko Haram

Cameroon’s Pentecostal churches are under fire. DW
… due to allegations of improper behavior by some pastors …

Cuba has a new president. Foreign Affairs.

Raw Data

USA: warehouse storage of collected junk, $38 billion industry. Curbed
… consumerism.
Cities are too big: radical plans to cap populations of Shanghai, Beijing. Guardian
… Shanghai, to 25m; Beijing, to 23m.

Below average rains forecast for Somalia: cattle losses, malnutrition. UN

National, religious identities converge in Central, Eastern Europe. Pew
… vast majority of populations say they believe in God, identify with Orthodox

At least a million sub-Saharan Africans moved to Europe since 2010. Pew
Rising birth rates not enough to replenish EU population. VOA

Analysis

Barna: 51% of USA churchgoers haven’t heard of the Great Commission. Barna

As French Catholics hail a martyr, the faith is fading in Europe. Economist

Turkey’s ‘holy war’ in Syria puts a more religious nationalism on display. CSM

Will China’s “Belt & Road” initiative outdo the Marshall Plan? Economist

Jesus is Lord: the indigenization of Megachurch Christianity in the Philippines. Academia

Myanmar improving but still “super challenging” for business. Straits Times

Most connected cities, based on volume of first/business class passengers. Knight Frank
… how many of these are “unreached” cities? How many “unreached” cities not on the list?

Blogs & Opinions

Eddie Arthur: “I’m not going THERE!” Link
… “if you aren’t prepared to go where there is a gospel need…”

A brief bio: The life of Adoniram Judson. Link

Mustafa Akyol: How Islamism drives Muslims to convert. NYT
… cites research from Miller & Johnstone.

Kabul: This is what I do when I hear the bombs explode. NYT
… what life is like in some parts of the unreached world.

How to: use Google Forms, Sheets & Maps to survey your community (for free). Link
Future, Tech
$40 billion more spent on Internet ads than on TV ads this year. Recode.
How autonomous cars will “seep” or “step” into reality. Benedict Evans
… actually, some interesting lessons here for movements, too …
Self-driving farm tractors do farm work in Xinijang. Global Times
The five things that kill your iPhone’s battery the fastest. ZDNet
… cold weather, screen brightness, poor cell coverage, rogue apps, notifications

More to read
Global Chinese Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity. Book Review.

Quotes

“Men fall in private long before they fall in public.” ~J. C. Ryle

“It would be a shame for God to want to do more and for you to settle for less.” ~@stevenfurtick

“I’m not suffering from anything that a good resurrection can’t fix.” ~D. A. Carson

“If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.” ~David Livingstone

“Idols are slave-traders disguised as abolitionists.” ~John Starke

“Don’t judge a man by where he is, because you don’t know how far he has come.” ~C. S. Lewis

“One of the most destructive forces to our faith is procrastination.” ~@thalbig

“The things that we love tell us what we are.” ~Thomas Aquinas

“Safety is an idol that neuters our witness and contradicts kingdom.” ~Jon Huckins

“Hope itself is like a star—not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity.” ~Charles Spurgeon

“Mass crusades, in which I believe and to which I have committed my life, will never finish the Great Commission; but a one-by-one ministry will.” ~Billy Graham

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