EDITOR’S NOTE: BP Ledger carries items for reader information each Monday from various Southern Baptist-related entities, and news releases of interest from other sources. The items are published as received.
Today’s BP Ledger includes items from:
Louisiana College
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Hardin-Simmons University
Truett-McConnell College
Campbellsville University
Compass Direct International
International Mission Board
Louisiana College Purchases Building in Shreveport for Law School
PINEVILLE, La. (Louisiana College)–Louisiana College president, Dr. Joe Aguillard, and Louisiana College School of Law founding dean, J. Michael Johnson, have announced the College’s agreement to purchase and renovate one of downtown Shreveport’s largest landmarks to serve as the home of the new law school. Classes are scheduled to begin in August 2012.
The property, formerly known as the Joe D. Waggonner Federal Building, is strategically located at 500 Fannin Street, on one full city block in the Central Business District. The building is situated two blocks west of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of La., one block west of the La. Second Circuit Court of Appeal, and is adjacent to the new Shreveport Convention Center.
“We are delighted to announce this decision,” Dr. Aguillard said in making the mid-February announcement. “The Federal Building offers all the space we will need to serve our students and provide a superior program of legal education. Once our renovations are complete, this will be one of the premier law school facilities in the nation.”
Built in 1972, the nearly 160,000 square foot building has eight floors and five high speed elevators. As the former federal courthouse, its amenities include three furnished courtrooms and an attached garage with 300 parking spaces.
The building, which has been vacant for several years, will require an eight month asbestos abatement process, followed by a renovation.
Federal, state and local officials have expressed their enthusiasm about the school’s location decision and pledged their fervent support. “This is an exciting development for downtown Shreveport and our entire community,” said Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover. “It’s a classic win-win-win situation for all involved.”
By acquiring and restoring the vacant Federal Building, Louisiana College will benefit from a large, perfectly-suited facility and the novelty of operating a law school out of a former federal courthouse. Meanwhile, the City will benefit both by having a new influx of graduate students and activity, and by having one of its largest and most important buildings returned to use.
“The law school represents another opportunity for Downtown Shreveport. The Downtown Development Authority/Downtown Shreveport Development Corporation look forward to the additional people, additional excitement and additional activity that the school will bring,” said Liz Swaine, DDA Executive Director. “We are also thrilled that the long-vacant Joe D. Waggonner building will see the investment that will put it back into commerce.”
Louisiana College announced its plans to locate its new law school in downtown Shreveport last fall, following a lengthy feasibility study. Initial plans to renovate another downtown high rise were changed after it was determined that building could not be expanded to the size needed to accommodate the school’s projected enrollment of 330 students by 2014.
“This is a final decision that makes sense to everyone,” said Dean Johnson. “Our students will love the location and space of the Federal Building and its many unique features. We look forward to the exciting days ahead as we continue the hard work of building this important new institution.”
School officials are working steadily on all aspects of the startup, including the accreditation application processes through the American Bar Association and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. “We remain on target for our schedule, and we are very grateful for the overwhelming support and enthusiasm we are receiving locally and nationally,” said Dean Johnson.
**********
Carroll & Scarborough awards honor ministry partners
By Keith Collier & Rebecca Carter
FORT WORTH, Texas (SWBTS)–Southwestern honored two couples for their commitment to the Gospel and generous partnership in ministry, March 3. The seminary awarded Bob and Phoebe Lambeth with the B.H. Carroll Award and Stanley and Joan Togikawa with the L.R. Scarborough Award, named in honor of Southwestern’s first and second presidents.
“These are people who are very special to the work of the Lord in general,” Southwestern President Paige Patterson said, “but then, specifically, they have become very special to those of us who labor in this ministry here at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.”
Bob and Phoebe Lambeth have a passion for the written Word of God. The Lockman Foundation, where Bob has served as president since 1979, helped produce the New American Standard Bible as well as its exhaustive concordance in 1981. The Bible itself also exists in mission-strategic languages such as Chinese, Hindi and Korean.
Bob Lambeth met Dewey and Minna Lockman when he and his wife, Phoebe, served alongside them at First Baptist Church in Anaheim, Calif. Lambeth himself is a Certified Public Accountant and earned his bachelor’s from the University of Southern California.
The Lockman Foundation provides each Southwestern Seminary and College at Southwestern graduate with a free copy of the NASB Bible.
“We’re both honored and humbled,” Bob Lambeth said upon receiving the award. “From our point of view, to see all the activity, ministry, and outreach and lives that are touched, it’s a wonderful blessing to see Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary develop the way it has and to continue in this ministry, and we hope that we can be a small part of that.”
Stanley Togikawa, born into a Buddhist home, attended a school run by missionaries as a child. However, in college the Holy Spirit took hold of Togikawa’s heart and he accepted Christ while pursuing his degree in international trade.
Togikawa’s call to ministry came shortly after, and he earned a Master of Religious Education from Southwestern in 1959. Returning to his home state of Hawaii, he served the local church as a minister of education and then at the Baptist Academy in Honolulu. He also participated in relief efforts through the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention, especially serving Vietnamese immigrants in Samoa, along with his denominational service on the behalf of Hawaii Baptists from 1983-2001.
With Hilda Shiraki, a like-minded fellow church member of Olivet Baptist Church, Togikawa helped start the Shiraki Memorial Foundation, which provides scholarship funds for Hawaii students at Southwestern Seminary.
“It’s been our privilege to help students to come to Southwestern Seminay as well as all of our Baptist seminaries around the world,” Togikawa said.
“We give any student from Hawaii and some from other countries tuition and a book allowance. Up until last month, when I wrote the check, it was over $1.5 million. This will continue because the foundation was established for this very purpose to help reach people and have more preachers and workers around the world.”
**********
HSU Social Work Department Head to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award from National Association of Social Workers
ABILENE, Texas (Hardin-Simmons University)–J.L. Cole calls social work “The Jesus Profession” and openly discusses with his students that their clients in social work will be among the poorest and the most powerless in society – those very much like the people to whom Jesus often ministered.
Cole has been instructing future social workers at Hardin-Simmons University since 1976 when he came as an adjunct professor. In 2001, Cole became a full-time professor at HSU and serves as an associate professor and head of the department.
Each year, the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers selects a social worker for the Lifetime Achievement Award to celebrate lifelong accomplishments. In honoring the Lifetime Achievement Award winner, NASW recognizes the best social work values and accomplishments demonstrated over a lifetime.
To be selected for the award, a social worker must demonstrate repeated outstanding achievements, be recognized beyond the social work profession, demonstrate outstanding creativity, and must have made contributions of lasting impact.
Cole has gained a wealth of experience over his career. He worked at Methodist Children’s Home in Waco for four years, worked at Hendrick Home for Children in Abilene for five years, and was a children’s therapist, part-time, for 18 years at the First Baptist Church Abilene Ministry of Counseling and Enrichment.
Cole has also worked on a Master of Religious Education degree at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.
Cole will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award March 29, 2011, during a ceremony which also honors the Citizen of the Year, the Social Worker of the Year, and two students, an undergrad and a graduate student, as Student of the Year.
Cole is a 1967 graduate of Baylor University with a major in psychology. He earned his master’s degree in 1970 from the University of Louisville.
The award ceremony will be at 5:30 Tuesday March 29, 2011, in room 210 of the Skiles Building on the Hardin-Simmons University Campus.
**********
TMC Serves Atlanta during Spring Break
By Vicky Kaniaru
CLEVELAND, Ga. (Truett-McConnell College)–During spring break in early March 2011, a group of Truett-McConnell College students and staff volunteers traveled to Atlanta, GA, to serve in local ministries. Group members served with different organizations including SafeHouse Outreach, Atlanta Dream Center, Women’s Refugee Sewing Society, and World Relief.
“Having the opportunity to serve in Atlanta over spring break was amazing. I didn’t realize that we have such a huge mission field in our own backyard. Through working with the homeless, refugees, inner city kids, and a Muslim family, my eyes were opened to the many needs of my neighbors as well as those across the world,” said TMC student Brooke Toon.
SafeHouse Outreach (SHO) gave the group an opportunity to encourage and pray with the 200 to 250 men and women that the organization serves daily. As well as ministering to the crowd, TMC students led worship during the evening service.
TMC student Ben Ivey was positively affected by this particular ministry: “The people of SafeHouse have unspeakable joy—an infectious joy that leaves a massive impression on you. They are truly for God, for people, for the city, and for the world,” he said.
In addition to SHO, students and staff worked with the Atlanta Dream Center’s Adopt-A-Block. The group visited an apartment complex near Central Park to serve food and pray with the residents. Because of the increased violence in the area, the children in the neighborhood are not able to play outside, so it was an exciting day when TMC students took them to the park to play and share God’s love.
The students and staff were given other opportunities such as hosting a block party at an upper- income international apartment complex in Duluth. About 100 people showed up for a time of games, dinner, and face painting.
Not stopping there, the crew ended the week with the Women’s Refugee Sewing Society and with World Relief in Clarkston. There, they had the privilege of ministering to refugees and their families as well as attending a French-speaking African church on Sunday morning.
Truett-McConnell College is blessed to have students and staff who are willing to uplift and enrich those who are hurting around them by serving in ministry opportunities in the nearby Atlanta area.
**********
CU students travel all over during spring break mission trips
By Christina Miller, office assistant
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. (Campbellsville University)–“We were waiting in the dark, and then we saw all these flashlights coming from over the hills,” Becca Saylor said about an experience on her spring break mission trip with Campbellsville University in Costa Rica.
“They were people coming to church in the dark and rain from hours away,” the freshman from Lexington said.
Saylor went to Costa Rica during spring break with a group from Campbellsville University’s Baptist Campus Ministry. While they were there during the “dry” season, she said “it still rained every day.”
The trip was the last of a partnership with local missionaries Bill and Linda Egbert, who are transferring to Colombia.
The team worked with the Ngabe people, teaching English in schools and going around to houses sharing testimonies.
In Dearborn, Mich., Seth Pierce, a senior from Bardstown, Ky., said, “This mission trip is not much like others because you don’t see results; you don’t see fruit.”
In one of the largest Muslim communities in the United States, CU students met with Muslims who “were not open to Christianity,” Pierce said, “but they were open to friendships.”
Pierce said members of the team were able to build friendships with the Muslims and will continue to pray for and stay in contact with them, and “maybe break through to them in a few years.”
Alan Haven, a senior from Shelbyville, Ky. and BCM president, went to Panama City Beach, Fla. expecting to be stretched in his relationship with God and allow God to use his weaknesses.
“The point is to be used by Christ,” he said, “because through me God can use me in a number of ways for His kingdom.”
The mission trip to Panama City, called Beach Reach, consists of 400 college students ministering to spring breakers. The team gave free van rides to drunks and fed them pancakes.
Anna Stepp, a freshman from Grayson, Ky. who also went to Beach Reach, said, “If you feel like God can’t use you, just be willing and he will do it.”
She said Hebrews 10:39 was her theme verse for the week because she said she didn’t want to shrink back and didn’t want to be afraid to share her faith.
“One guy didn’t accept our ride because he refused to throw away his alcohol was ministered to by other Beach Reach volunteers. He said, ‘that’s enough,’ threw away his alcohol and rededicated his life to Jesus.”
In a correctional facility in northern Florida, members of CU’s football team ministered to men in prison through the game of softball.
Jim Hardy, assistant football coach who led the mission team, said they would usually share with the inmates after the softball game before the men lined up to go back in.
On one particular day, no one told the team how much time was left and the horn blew for the count to begin, nothing can interrupt that time. “I questioned the recreation coach and told him we had not had time to share with the inmates and he said he would check with the guards. Knowing how things are during a count I knew this was not going to happen,” Hardy said.
“Then the guard came to me and said ‘Go share with them in lines.’ I could not believe it. This never happens.”
The team spread out among the entire yard, each taking a line of inmates and began to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“We had 105 men who decided to accept Christ that afternoon,” Hardy said. “What an awesome experience; you just have to know that only God could have created that situation.”
The total number of decisions for Christ through Sports Reach that week was 333, with 204 of the decisions made through the work of CU’s football players.
For more information on mission trips at Campbellsville University, contact the Office of Campus Ministries at 270-789-5227.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with over 3,000 students offering 63 undergraduate programs, 17 master’s degrees and five postgraduate areas. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.
**********
Prospects Dim for Religious Freedom in Nepal
Right to convert could harm Nepal’s Hindu identity, lawmakers believe.
By Vishal Arora
KATHMANDU, Nepal, March 29 (Compass Direct News)–A new constitution that Nepal’s parliament is scheduled to put into effect before May 28 may not include the right to propagate one’s faith.
The draft constitution, aimed at completing the country’s transition from a Hindu monarchy to a secular democracy, contains provisions in its “religious freedom” section that prohibit anyone from converting others from one religion to another.
Most political leaders in the Himalayan country seemed unaware of how this prohibition would curb religious freedom.
“Nepal will be a secular state – there is no other way,” said Sushil Koirala, president of the Nepali Congress, Nepal’s “Grand Old Party,” but he added that he was not aware of the proposal to restrict the right to evangelism.
“Forcible conversions cannot be allowed, but the members of the Constituent Assembly [acting parliament] should be made aware of [the evangelism ban’s] implications,” Koirala, a veteran and one of the most influential politicians of the country, told Compass.
Gagan Thapa, another leader of the Nepali Congress, admitted that banning all evangelistic activities could lead to undue restrictions.
“Perhaps, the words, ‘force, inducement and coercion’ should be inserted to prevent only unlawful conversions,” he told Compass.
Man Bahadur Bishwakarma, also from the Nepali Congress, said that of all the faith communities in Nepal, Christians were most active in converting others, sometimes unethically.
“There are problems in Hinduism, such as the caste hierarchy, but that doesn’t mean you should convert out of it,” he said. “I believe in reforming one’s religion.”
Asked if the restriction on converting others violated the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Akal Bahadur of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) said, “It may, but there was a general consensus on it [the prohibition]. Besides, it is still a draft, not the final constitution.”
Nepal signed the ICCPR on May 14, 1991. Article 18 of the ICCPR includes the right to manifest one’s religion, which U.N. officials have interpreted as the right to evangelistic and missionary activities.
Akal Bahadur and Thapa are members of the Committee on Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles, which was tasked to propose the scope of religious freedom and other rights in the draft constitution. This committee, one of 11 thematic panels, last year submitted a preliminary draft to the Assembly suggesting that a person should be allowed to decide whether to convert from one religion to another, but that no one should convert anyone else.
Binda Pandey, chairperson of the fundamental rights committee and member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), told Compass that it was now up to the Assembly to decide whether this provision violates religious freedom.
The Constitution Committee is condensing the preliminary drafts by all the committees as one draft constitution. At least 288 contentious issues arose out of the 11 committees, and the Constitution Committee has resolved 175 of them, Raju Shakya of the Kathmandu-based Centre for Constitutional Dialogue (CCD) told Compass.
The “religious freedom” provision with its ban on evangelism did not raise an eyebrow, however, as it is among the issues listed under the “Area of Agreement” on the CCD Web site.
Once compiled, the draft constitution will be subject to a public consultation, after which another draft will be prepared for discussion of clauses in the Constitutional Assembly; provisions will be implemented on a two-thirds majority, Shakya said.
Hindu Identity
Thapa of the fundamental rights committee indicated that religious conversion could become a contentious issue if the proposed restriction is removed. Even the notion of a secular state is not wholly accepted in the country.
“If you hold a referendum on whether Nepal should become a secular state, the majority will vote against it,” Thapa said.
Most Hindus see their religion as an essential part of the country’s identity that they want to preserve, he added.
Dr. K.B. Rokaya, the only Christian member of Nepal’s National Commission for Human Rights, said Nepal’s former kings created and imposed a Hindu identity for around 240 years because it suited them; under the Hindu ethos, a king should be revered as a god. Most of the numerous Hindu temples of Nepal were built under the patronage of the kings.
Rokaya added that Christians needed to be more politically active. The Assembly does not have even one Christian member.
According to the 2001 census, over 80 percent of Nepal’s 30 million people are Hindu. Christians are officially .5 percent, but their actual number is believed to be much higher.
Nepal was the world’s only Hindu kingdom until 2006, when a people’s movement led by former Maoist guerrillas and supported by political parties, including the Nepali Congress and the Unified Marxist Leninist, ousted King Gyanendra.
An interim constitution was enacted in 2007, and the Constituent Assembly was elected through Nepal’s first fully democratic election a year later. The Assembly was supposed to promulgate a new constitution by May 28, 2010, but its term was extended by one year.
It is still uncertain, however, whether the approaching deadline will be met due to persistent disagreements among parties. The Maoist party has 220 members, the Nepali Congress 110, and the Unified Marxist Leninist 103 in the 575-member Assembly.
Rokaya, a member of the newly formed United Christians Alliance of Nepal, comprising a majority of Christian denominations, said Christians would continue to ask for full religious freedom. The use of inducement or force for conversions is deplorable, but the right to preach the tenets of one’s religion is a fundamental freedom, he added.
www.compassdirect.org
**********
South Asian peoples prayer requests
SOUTH ASIA (IMB)–BANGLADESH. Bahija is a 7-year-old Bihari girl who always seems to have a smile on her face. She has one brother and lives in a Bihari camp in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Her father works as a tailor in a nearby market. He has an old sewing machine and sits next to the stalls that sell colorful fabrics. Most people in Bangladesh don’t buy their clothes ready-made in the shop but have them tailor-made. Please pray for Bahija’s father to have many sewing orders so he can earn enough money to buy food for his family. Please pray that Bahija will continue to learn well in school, be obedient to her parents, and have everything she needs for life. Pray especially that she will know that God loves her and has a special plan for her [email protected]; http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/
BANGLADESH. Sewing training combined with Bible stories will begin this month among some mothers and daughters within the slums of Chittagong. Please pray that many of them will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and will have the boldness to live their lives totally dedicated to Him. http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/
BHUTAN. Recently workers in the Buddhist fields met together for training and encouragement. Father is at work! A cross-cultural worker wrote, “We are continually amazed at how God is gathering His people to march forth into this sea of lostness where Satan has reigned for so long. Continue to pray for these workers. Pray for God’s protection of them and their families. Pray that they would be above reproach in all that they do and say. Pray that God would use their families to be light among darkness. Pray that they would boldly share the truth of a loving Savior!” http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/
DIASPORA. Have you seen bearded men wearing turbans in your city or state? They are probably of the Sikh faith. They have migrated from their homeland in Punjab, India, and now live in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Sikhs believe in one Creator God, and they are searching for the true guru. Some have started to follow Jesus Christ as their True Teacher. A new house church of Sikh-background believers has met for the first time in England! Pray for wisdom as they are discipled. Pray for others who are ready for baptism and others still who are very close to making a decision for Christ. While this is great progress, there is still very little interest among churches to reach Sikhs. Please pray specifically that God will raise up awareness and a burden among Christians to engage Sikhs with the Gospel, wherever they live! http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/
INDIA. For believers, April means a celebration of Christ’s sacrifice and triumph. But in Gujarat, this is not the only religious holiday celebrated this month, nor is it considered to be the most important. Hindus will celebrate the “birth” of several of their gods. Jains will celebrate their most important religious holiday, the birth of their greatest holy man. Sikhs will celebrate the day when their guru separated them and made them a pure people. Many Hindus will celebrate the Solar New Year. Pray for the people of Gujarat who are surrounded by so much religion and so little understanding. Intercede for them as they celebrate their various holy days, asking that their eyes will be opened and their souls will come to understand the truth of the sacrifice made for them, which we celebrate this month. Pray for believers in Gujarat to be bold this month in sharing the meaning of Easter and the difference it has made in their lives and to the world. http://prayforgujarat.wordpress.com/
INDIA. “Chocolate bunnies and painted eggs? Not in Kashmir. Every year in the week leading up to Easter, workers, alongside local believers and prayer supporters in the United States, host a 24/7 prayer initiative in Kashmir. During Holy Week, during every hour of the night and day, someone is praying for God to ‘stretch out His hand and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus’ (Acts 4:30). Will you join us in being like the persistent widow in Jesus’ parable who gives the judge no rest? We are praying that the Holy Spirit will bring conviction of sin and that the preaching of forgiveness through the cross will go forth mightily in the Valley of Kashmir. We are also praying for open opportunities to distribute thousands of ‘JESUS’ films and other Gospel resources to those who have yet to hear of the true meaning of Easter.” http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/
LEADERSHIP EQUIPPING AND DEVELOPMENT (LEAD).Illness takes its toll in many ways, and currently is taking its toll among the S family. For years, the S family has poured out their lives through a children’s home, a school, a ministry to widows, and the encouragement of pastors and church planters. Currently there are three family members afflicted with extremely serious health problems. Please pray that the family will find all that they need in Christ, and that these difficult situations will open doors for sharing the Source of their strength and comfort during these trying times. http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/
MALDIVES. Over 70 percent of the population of Maldives is under the age of 35. Pray that the curiosity and passion for life that young people have will lead them to find answers in Christ and that the Lord would raise them up to take the Gospel to their own people.http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/
NEPAL. “We have been able to give church-planting training in two different churches that are made up of Chitwan Tharu. Please pray with us that those who have been taught will take their task seriously to share with their ‘oikos’ (a Greek word for friends and family or for those over whom one has an influence). God has been faithful to supply us with contacts in order to further spread the Gospel in this area. Please pray that an unbelieving family–B, S and their son S, who claim us as family–will come to faith in Christ soon.” http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/
PAKISTAN. As flood relief continues in Pakistan, pray that workers will be given God’s words to speak as they give aid. Also pray for protection and wisdom, and ask God to lead the workers to those who have been neglected by other organizations. Please pray for visas for those who desire to come and serve, and ask for more national workers with a desire to lead new house churches and to begin making disciples among new brothers and sisters. http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/
SRI LANKA. With Sri Lanka playing host to several of the games for the Cricket World Cup and competing in the final match, “The Cup that Counts” is a slogan now familiar to many. Yet with the Easter season fast approaching, one is left to ponder “the cup” that was drunk for the salvation of the world, a cup that, honestly, Jesus did not want to drink. However, in obedience to His Father’s plan for His life, He willingly drank. Now that’s the cup that counts. Pray for believers all over Sri Lanka to live their lives while remembering the cup that really counts–the cup that was drunk for them. Pray that this will inspire them to live a holy and pleasing life and that it will ignite a passion in them to share with their lost family and friends how to find victory in this life and in eternity. http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/
FORWARD CASTE HINDUS. Mrs. T is a mother and grandmother. After being locked outside of her house one evening, she was seen by some workers who invited Mrs. T to wait at their home. She had just returned home from visiting a family member at the hospital and had been inadvertently locked out, unable to rouse her son, who was inside, so that he could open the door. The workers took the opportunity to pray in the name of Jesus for Mrs. T’s family member who was in the hospital. Because of their apparent genuine concern for her family, Mrs. T asked the workers to pray for her son, an alcoholic. Please pray for Mrs. T and her family to come to know Jesus as their Savior and for her son to overcome his addiction to alcohol through the power of the Holy Spirit. http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/
SOUTH ASIAN UNENGAGED PEOPLES. Give thanks to God for a church in Colorado that has adopted the Bagata people of northeastern Andhra Pradesh, India. This church sets aside time every week to pray for God to deliver the Bagata people. A group of volunteers from this church will be coming to South Asia this month to connect with representatives onsite and with local ministers to address some of the aspects of exploring and making discoveries about the Bagata people. Pray that this church, the representatives onsite and local ministry partners will follow the Lord in all they do during this time. Also pray that God will lead them to local men and women who will share this burden. Especially pray as they develop a ministry strategy, and ask that God will plant seeds of the Gospel that will bring forth belief and everlasting life. http://prayerthreads.imb.org
SOUTH ASIAN UNENGAGED PEOPLES. Jainism is an Indian religion that calls for pacifism and non-violence toward all living things. There are approximately 5.1 million Jains living in South Asia, and their number is growing in the United States, Europe and Australia. Jains believe that their inner soul can be liberated through self-effort. They have the highest literacy rate of any religious group in India, and their libraries are the oldest in India. Pray that these precious people for whom Jesus died will realize that they can never earn their way to heaven no matter how good or smart they may be. Pray that they will encounter the One who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6, NASB). http://prayerthreads.imb.org
RESOURCES:
* “Together Adorned for Prayer” will guide women through a time of prayer for South Asian Muslim Women. http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/adorned
* Visit the new “Caravan” website for free missions materials for kids and much more! www.CaravanFriends.org
Interfaith Ev and Apologetics website: http://www.4Truth.net.
–30–
