Pray that the Church would learn how to love and pastor the younger generation, many of whom have become disillusioned with both society and the Church. Some of them, because of their participation in the protests, have been arrested or have broken relationships with their families.
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The Christmas scene in Egypt might be completely different from the celebrative scenes in many other countries throughout the world. Nonetheless, it is not so different from the first Christmas scene in Bethlehem.
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As a woman from a patriarchal Naga society, I am keenly sensitive to Mary’s role in the Christmas story. What immediately fascinates me is that she was chosen to bear the Son of God – what an honor! In a world in which women are dishonored and marginalized, this is a great story of honoring women.
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As I grew older, I searched for the deeper meanings of Christmas. But what I found meaningful about Christmas at one stage of my life would not always suffice for the next. It seems to me that, as we grow and experience life in many ways, Christmas grows with us. We do not leave it behind. It shows up every year. It meets us at different points in our lives and we ponder its meaning anew.
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It is customary for Chinese churches to reach out to local communities at Christmastime. However, as the situation worsens for many churches, and as Christians are constantly discouraged and even threatened, I am really not sure how we could sit around the table again this year to sing Christmas carols and retell the story of the Nativity. We Christians are in tears, crying as the psalmist once cried out in overwhelming desperation: “How long, O Lord, will you look on…” (Ps. 35:17).
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In Japan, where only 1-2% of the population is Christian, people do not celebrate Christmas in the way Christians around the world do. Our culture generally associates Christmas with romance; thus, young people feel urged to find someone with whom to spend this “romantic holiday.” Alternatively, many families perceive Christmas as the day when they eat Kentucky Fried Chicken together (it is funny but true!). For many Japanese, Christmas is not the day for celebrating our Savior’s birth.
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We congratulate Dr. Anwar Berhe, a recent LeaderStudies graduate. He is faculty and department head for the Christian-Muslim studies program at Evangelical Theological College in Ethiopia. Next month, he’ll become ETC’s Academic Dean for undergraduate programs — a role in which he’ll mentor many students as they seek to serve the Church more effectively. We …
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As the spring semester begins at many institutions, we highlight this article by Jason Tan from the most recent issue of our sister publication, the InSights Journal for Global Theological Education. In it, you can learn about ways to understand pastors’ individual contexts in order to provide them with more helpful education.
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Today we invite you to read this post by Sofanit Abebe, a LeaderStudies recipient from Ethiopia. She talks about the challenges and opportunities she faces as she seeks to cherish the identity Christ has given her:
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We congratulate Prabodith Mihindukulasuriya, a LeaderStudies recipient from Sri Lanka, who successfully defended his dissertation last week. His research explores how British Christians contributed to the Sri Lankan campaign for justice. He’ll guide believers to think carefully about Christianity and national identity.
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This week, Yohanna Katanacho is visiting Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary as part of his ScholarLeader of the Year award. Today, January 20, he’s teaching students about the Gospel of John. Later, he’ll speak about Christianity and national identity. We praise God for Yohanna (a former LeaderStudies recipient) and for the sisters and brothers at UETS …
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What strikes me about the Christmas story (according to Mathew’s account) is that the first Christmas was not a quiet and nice story at all. On the contrary, from the very beginning, on that first Christmas, the good news of salvation for humankind was jeopardized by hatred and violence.
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We celebrate with Suraja Raman, whose article was published in “Desi Diaspora” (ed. Sam George of the Lausanne Movement and published by SAIACS, a VSI school). If you’re interested in what it means to teach cross-culturally for Indians living in Africa, you will find this piece helpful.
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We ask for your intercession on behalf of Beni. Our town has been brutally attacked twice in six days. The armed group that has been killing civilians in the Beni territory since 2014 has made incursions into the town of Beni and into our neighboring town of Oicha, killing over 75 of the most vulnerable inhabitants over the last three weeks. On November 24, one of the members of our contractor’s construction crew, the son of one of our campus guards, was killed in his neighborhood near our main campus.
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Anne Zaki spoke on Revelation 22:6-21 during the December 31, 2018 session of Urbana 18, InterVarsity’s 25th student missions conference.
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