From Scoffer to Follower

Vita, a television anchorwoman in Lviv, Ukraine, was negative toward the evangelical church. She would say, "it's a sect and people are brain washed." She took pictures at events organized by New Hope and the local church and her attitude started to change. Today she is a follower of Christ and wants to be baptized and serve the Lord. It was a big surprise to all who know her.

(From the Connect newsletter, November 2010, a publication of New Hope International)

Hindu radicals continue to target Christians in India

One night in July 2010, at midnight, Hindu radicals marched through a village in Karnataka state, India. They were wearing their distinctive bright orange headbands. More than 500 believers were rounded up and forced to pray to Hindu gods.

Four pastors were also arrested that night. One of the pastors later said, "I was frightened. I didn't know why they had come to harass me. They beat me with their hands on my legs and head. They yelled that I was forcibly converting people to Christianity, and then they dragged me off to jail. They asked me to renounce Christ. I told them that I had surrendered my life to Christ and will not worship any other god. They threatened me but finally left. I felt sympathy for them, and I pray for their salvation."

As the world's largest democracy, India proclaims religious freedom. But a rash of anti-conversion laws landed many Christian pastors in jail, leaving families alone without food or income. Many of the Christians are from tribal clans and lower caste ethnic groups. They are generally poorer and less educated than those in higher caste groups. Yet they stand firm in their faith in Christ and remain committed to spreading the gospel.

(news from Voice of the Martyrs, November 2010)

Please pray for persecuted believers in Pakistan.

"We are happy that Jesus is caring for us, and we don't worry about what is coming tomorrow".

(Voice of the Martyrs, from a persecuted believer in Pakistan, 2010)

Testimony of Adoptive Parents in Ukraine

"I minister as a deacon, and my wife serves as librarian in our church. For 13 years we did not have children and it was a tragedy for us. We did not understand why this happened - we blamed God.

"Now we know that we had to change our own lives before trying to influence a child's life. We were thinking about adoption, but we were not sure about it. We hesitated until our friends fostered three children through the New Hope Orphan Care ministry here in Ukraine. We decided to visit the orphanage and that day we met Ruslana there.

Orphan children

"We discovered that she ended up in the orphanage because her parents were deprived of parental rights. We decided that we could help Ruslana and she could fill the emptiness of our family.

"Today she is eight years old. She struggles with some light mental delays and defects in her speech. We love our daughter very much and we hope to raise her as a Christian and protect her from evil."

(from November 2010 newsletter from New Hope International, New Hope Orphan Care Program - Ukraine. For information on supporting foster parents in Ukraine, click here)

The Crucifixion Earthquake left its Mark

A distinctive mixed layer less than one inch thick of laminated Dead Sea sediment proves that there was a Jesus who was crucified - by the mark of the earthquake that God sent. As recorded in Scripture!

The New Testament testifies to an earthquake at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Matthew 27:50-51 recounts that "when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split."

Judean Desert Near Wadi Ze'elim

Dr Steven A. Austin, Senior Research Geologist of Logos Research Associates, travelled to Israel's Wadi Ze'elim to study sediment deposits of the Dead Sea.  As he describes in his article Great Earthquakes of the Bible:

An outcrop of laminated Dead Sea sediment can be seen at Wadi Ze’elim above the southwestern shore of the modern Dead Sea near the fortress of Masada. In this sediment outcrop is a distinctive one-foot thick “mixed layer” of sediment that is tied strongly to the Qumran earthquake’s onshore ground ruptures of 31 B.C. (see Figure 2 below).

Thirteen inches above the 31 B.C. event bed is another distinctive “mixed layer” less than one inch thick. The sedimentation rate puts this second earthquake about 65 years after the 31 B.C. earthquake. It seems that the crucifixion earthquake of 33 A.D. was magnitude 5.5, leaving direct physical evidence in a thin layer of disturbed sediment from the Dead Sea.

The Bible is confirmed yet again, by Science! Jesus was crucified - and God sealed his death with an earthquake that leaves its mark even to the present day.

Christ rose from the dead, and He leaves his mark in our lives and all over eternity. That is good news!