An online petition was launched to repeal the amendment of Belarus criminal code, that allots two years of imprisonment for religious activity without registration, reports Christian megaportal InVictory.org. The author of the petition is Alexey Shein, co-chair of the Belarus Christian Democracy party. The goal is to collect 5,000 signatures. In his appeal, Mr Shein notes that, since 2006, 18 people have been convicted under this law. ‘There are hundreds of Christian communities and ministries that work without registration in Belarus. A lot of organizations tried to register but they were denied. At the same time, the right to freedom of association means the right to found free associations,’ underlined the author.

Pray: for a huge response to the petition and that the authorities will reconsider their amendment. (Je.1:19)

More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue15362.html

Christians gathered to worship this weekend in Vanuatu, only a week after a deadly cyclone killed nearly 20 people. Pastor Barry Phillips told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that they have joy despite the circumstances. ‘The cyclone is the biggest one in but people are still happy. They have joy because they know that God is with us,’ Phillips said. ‘The trees are damaged, the buildings are damaged, but surely it will be rebuilt.’ Rebuilding efforts are underway on the Pacific Island nation. All-though there's concern that many of the outlying islands still don't have any way to communicate with the outside world and many people are still worried about basic necessities like water, shelter, and food.

650 people gave their lives to Jesus during a week of 24-7 prayer in South Africa which culminated on New Years Eve. And that was just the beginning of an incredible January for Peter Sekhonyane who mobilises prayer in giant tents around the South African townships. ‘Speak about the power of prayer,’ he says. A few days later they launched three nights of prayer in Johannesburg, and these continued for two weeks! ‘Out of that time of prayer we ended up with 812 conversions and no single shop was attacked,’ says Peter. Such stories demonstrate, once again, the powerful transformational relationship between prayer, mission (more than a 1000 people saved in January alone through prayer meetings), and justice (protection on businesses in a deprived and volatile part of the world). More about Peter Sekhonyane's remarkable story in this video on the ‘More’ link.

Every night in Sonagacchi, in India, more than 10,000 women stand in line waiting to be picked up for sex. Many of them were trafficked into prostitution. But now Freeset, a Christian business, has bought a building that will transform India's most infamous sex district. The 20,000-square-feet Gateway building is situated at the front of the red light district, but it will not be turned into more brothels where probably 1,000 women would be working. The new space will give Christian businesses the opportunity to employ women and free them from sexual slavery. One of the biggest issues facing those who want to start businesses in Sonagacchi is a lack of space. The Gateway building would act as a business incubator, gradually helping more and more freedom businesses to start and so providing an increasing number of opportunities for Sonagacchi's women.

SAT-7 Egypt Director says ‘Resistance through forgiveness’ videos of a 10-year-old Iraqi displaced by Islamic State (IS/ISIS) and of a brother of two Egyptian labourers beheaded in Libya, both voicing forgiveness for their persecutors, have been watched by a million viewers and drawn the attention of mainstream Arab media which rarely cover Christian news. Under the title ‘Iraqi Girl Myriam Faces IS with Love’, pan-Arab broadcaster Al Arabiya told how the clip of young refugee Myriam had spread via social media and was impressing ordinary viewers and media commentators. A columnist in Lebanese newspaper Al Nahar said the SAT-7 interview with her ‘should be presented in Lebanese schools as a lesson in humanity’. Farid Samir, Egypt director of Christian satellite channel SAT-7, which made both clips, said: ‘The massive interest in them shows the impact of resisting violence through forgiveness’.

The past decade has seen a groundswell of passion among Christians in China to pursue cross-cultural ministry. A corresponding wave of activity among outside organizations and churches has aimed at equipping China's church for this task. Much of this activity has focused on training individual workers and establishing the ‘highway’ by which they might make their way to countries neighbouring China and beyond. A closer look at the current movement suggests that, while these efforts are an important part of the overall equation, there are other, perhaps more fundamental, pieces that need to be put in place in order for a sustained sending effort to emerge. The growth of mature sending movement will take time. Some have suggested that internships with international agencies may be a wise intermediate step for equipping the future leaders of this movement.

More than 15,000 Kenyan young people have undertaken the Alpha course, thanks to a unique partnership between Alpha and Compassion International. Compassion, which engages in anti-poverty and educational programmes through child sponsorship, partners with local evangelical churches in 26 countries around the world. It aims to offer children and young people a ‘holistic’ curriculum which includes their physical, spiritual, socio-emotional and intellectual development. Alpha's evangelistic programme, founded at Holy Trinity Brompton and based on talks on Christian basics and small group discussions over a meal, has been widely used in the UK and elsewhere. A Compassion report on its partnership with Alpha in Kenya says the Alpha Youth course helps young people address doubts about their faith in a supportive setting. Compassion Kenya Director, Joel Macharia, says: ‘It attempts to answer the questions and to resolve the conflicts between individual beliefs and sound biblical teachings that the individual takes personal responsibility for his or her beliefs and feelings.’

Undaunted by the slaughter of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya, the director of the Bible Society of Egypt saw a golden gospel opportunity. ‘We must have a Scripture tract ready to distribute to the nation as soon as possible,’ Ramez Atallah told his staff the evening an IS-linked group released its gruesome propaganda video. The world stopped for a moment on hearing the news of 21 Coptic Christians, murdered by IS on the shores of a beach in Tripoli. Coptic Christians don’t get much attention on the world stage, but this was different. The pictures of those orange-clad men on the beach surfaced everywhere, the stories of their lives gaining more attention every day. Less than 36 hours later, the booklet ‘Two Rows by the Sea’ was sent to the printer. One week later, 1.65 million copies have been distributed in the Bible Society’s largest campaign ever.

The words ‘Christ’ and ‘Jesus Christ’ have been removed from a list of banned offensive terms by Marks & Spencer. The u-turn follows an online barrage of comments after it emerged, Sunday 1 March that the terms had been banned. Customers who had previously tried to include them in greetings with online purchases of flowers were prevented from completing their orders, with an on-screen notification, reading: 'Sorry, there's something in your message we can't write.' The policy emerged this weekend when Geraldine Stockford, a pastor’s wife from Christ Church Teddington, was blocked from ordering a £35 bouquet of spring flowers as a gift. The message Geraldine had tried to enter ran: ‘Thank you for your care and practical help for Margaret in her last days. With love from her church family, Christ Church Teddington. ‘

SAT-7 TÜRK has become the first Christian channel on Turkey's national satellite. It has begun broadcasting on the government-regulated Türksat 4A satellite, meaning that it can now reach more than 50 million viewers across the country as well as other Turkish-speaking viewers around the world. Executive Director Melih Ekener has expressed his delight at the development. He said: ‘We are overwhelmed and truly believe it is a miracle that we can finally broadcast on Türksat. We have hoped, dreamed and prayerfully anticipated this launch since the station began airing on SAT-7 ARABIC in 2006. It is really a miracle and we are very thankful to God for what he has been doing. This would not have been possible without the Turkish authorities taking the time and interest to engage with Christians and accept our applications, granting us a frequency on the official state satellite. We praise God for this moment.