Charisma Staff

Makul Pillai worshipped many gods and goddesses, but his spirit still wasn’t satisfied. When he fell sick one day with severe breathing problems, he didn’t even bother petitioning his gods for help. Instead, his family took him to the hospital.

He was diagnosed with a severe lung infection that would require three days of treatment. After being discharged from the hospital, Makul happened to meet Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Siraj Rangan who was serving in his region. Makul shared the agony of his health problems with the missionary, and Siraj assured Makul that it was Jesus Christ who could take away his infirmity.

Siraj then prayed for him and invited the distraught man to attend a Sunday worship service.

Tributes continue to roll in for John Stott, the world-famous pastor, theologian, author of numerous best-selling books and Rector Emeritus of All Souls Church in London. He died Tuesday at the age of 90.

New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote (quoting Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center) that if evangelicals chose a pope, they would likely select John Stott.

As a principal framer of the Lausanne Covenant (1974), a defining statement for evangelical Christians, Stott was at the heart of evangelical renewal in the U.K. for more than half a century. In 2005, he was honored by Time Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” His many books and sermons have inspired and transformed millions throughout the world.

While aid groups and political movements argue about the severity of the food crisis in the eastern Horn of Africa, it is clear to everyone that an overwhelming number of people are desperate for help in this region that has experienced two consecutive poor rainy seasons. The drought in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya has resulted in a humanitarian crisis worse than any seen for more than 60 years.

YWAM associates in east Africa have reported from the area that the crisis is worse in some areas than others. In parts of Kenya alone, drought victims number over 4 million—many of them are unreached tribal people, and 80 percent of the victims are women and children. In Somalia, the victims number around 3.7 million.

The Rev. John Stott, one of the most influential evangelical thinkers of the 20th Century, died in London Wednesday. He was 90.

“The evangelical world has lost one of its greatest spokesmen,” said Billy Graham in a statement, “and I have lost one of my close personal friends and advisors. I look forward to seeing him again when I go to heaven.”

Stott’s death was announced on the website of All Souls Langham Place, the church he attended as a child, then led as rector after he was ordained. It was there, during the 1954 London Crusade, that Graham first met Stott.

In 1955, Stott introduced Graham to C.S. Lewis and in 1960, Stott participated in a gathering of 33 Christians leaders in Switzerland, led by Graham, that discussed God’s strategy in missions and evangelism.

John R. W. Stott, author and influential leader of evangelism, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 90.

Born in London in 1921, Stott was raised in All Souls Church and later began his ministry there after being ordained in 1945. Early on he began teaching of salvation and his tone for evangelism flourished.

He began his work as an author in the late 1940s. Over the years he had written and published more than 40 books. Perhaps his best known work Basic Christianity has been translated into more than 60 languages.

Stott’s leadership and influence permeated throughout England, into America and across the globe as he visited Third World countries. His travels helped him discover the incredible growth of the Christian church in the non-Western world. Moreover, he saw a lack of maturity. In an effort to raise the standards of biblical preaching, Stott founded the Langham Partnership International and John Stott Ministries in the United States in 1974.

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In the past, Malawi has affectionately been known as the “warm heart of Africa.” Over the last week, however, headlines have popped up indicating that recent unrest has turned Malawi upside down. So what exactly is happening in this typically friendly nation?

Stuart Palmer, CURE International executive director for CURE Malawi, says there is more than meets the eye with the recent violence that caused Malawi to take a place on international maps.

Despite rumors that protests turned deadly when government officials fired live ammo above an innocent crowd, Palmer says he hasn’t felt threatened. “It hasn’t been a terrible experience, what’s happened in the last week in Malawi,” says Palmer. “There’ve been many storm clouds building up to what happened over the last week.”

Authorities in a village in northern Laos have ordered all Christian residents to cease meeting for worship in private homes following the arrest of four Christians on July 10, rights advocates said.

Also on July 10, police arrested a Christian in Luang Prabang Province, ordering him to abandon his faith or face imprisonment, according to a statement from the advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom.

In Luang Namtha Province, Pastor Seng Aroun of Kon church in Namtha district, and three other Christians from Sounya village church identified only as Souchiad, Naikwang and Kofa had met at Kofa’s house for Sunday worship on July 10, HRWLRF reported. Kofa had also asked them for advice regarding a vehicle accident in May in which he had unwittingly caused the death of another person.

Parliament in Tajikistan adopted two new laws Thursday, which would ban most children under the age of 18 from religious activities.

As reported by Forum 18, these documents are to be forwarded to President Emomali Rahmon for his approval. If Rahmon signs these legal documents, it could spell out increased suppression of parent and child religious rights in the country.

Joel Griffith with Slavic Gospel Association says: “Apparently the presidential administration was sort of behind [the effort] to put this kind of a law through to begin with, so the initiative came from there. So if it’s not signed, it would certainly be a miracle.”

Ed and Linda Baker spent the last decade abroad, living in a tent in Third World countries, digging wells and spreading the gospel.

Nowadays, the couple feels more like foreigners in their Lawrenceville, Ga., home.

“I still assume there’s going to be an animal somewhere,” Linda Baker said recently. “Any animal you can think of, we had in our house.”

Both Methodists “pretty much from birth,” the Bakers raised their family in the metro Atlanta area, Ed a civil engineer and Linda a database consultant. They dabbled in missionary work in the ’90s, traveling to Honduras after Hurricane Mitch.

A house church leader has been kidnapped by Muslims in Duhok, Iraq, according to a report from Voice of the Martyrs, Canada. A young Iraqi girl recently told VOM contacts that Muslims broke into her home and took her father, Jamal.

VOM reports that Pastor Jamal works among the Shabak people—a people who have Jewish roots and speak Arabic and Kurdish.

VOM sources suspect militants targeted Jamal for working to evangelize Muslims. Several weeks ago, the home of one of Jamal’s recent converts was sprayed with machine gun fire, VOM reports, and many fear that the militants, possibly members of al-Qaida, will immediately kill him.

With the start of the month-long Islamic fast called Ramadan beginning Aug. 1, Open Doors USA is launching a 30-day campaign urging Christians in the West to pray for persecuted believers in Muslim-dominated countries.

During August most Muslims will fast from dawn until dusk, seeking to shed their sins through acts of restraint. They believe this is a time of purification accomplished through good deeds and self control.

“Ramadan is a time when Christians are especially isolated in some Muslim-dominated countries,” says Open Doors USA President/CEO Dr. Carl Moeller. “This is why it is so important for us to unite in prayer for persecuted Christians throughout the world. I urge you to use the Open Doors resources to pray for our brothers and sisters.”

Sunday, all across Haiti, thousands of “Matthews”—people who have been reaching out to friends, family and neighbors with the Gospel of Christ—turned in their church envelopes.

Written on the envelopes are the names of people who have made decisions for Christ in the past three nights after watching culturally sensitive TV programs featuring messages by Billy Graham or Franklin Graham.

 Called My Hope Haiti, this project involved nearly 5,300 churches across the country.

The “Matthew” aspect of My Hope is the use of friendship and relationship evangelism to bring one’s family members, friends and neighbors to Christ—just as the Apostle Matthew did when Jesus called him.

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