Nine families with 15 children arrived in Arusha, Tanzania, in late August to begin the 12-week Church Planter Training course, reported CMF missionaries Mike and Joann Noel. Some of the families traveled more than 10 hours by bus to get to Arusha.

“The families represent seven different tribes,” said Joann. “Each tribe has its own language and culture, but the course is taught in Swahili. Can you imagine studying in your second or third language?”

The students live at the training center during the course. Their topics of study include Community Health Evangelism (CHE), spiritual warfare, the book of Acts, Farming God’s Way, literacy, discipleship, Bible story-telling, microenterprise and marriage and family issues. In addition, they’ll also receive skills training in sewing, cooking, construction, beekeeping and the use of solar panels.

Graduation from the course will be held on Nov. 20, said Joann.

“It’s just an amazing privilege to share with such a diverse group of people,” she added.

Protesters stormed the streets of Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, this past Thursday in protest of President Compoaré’s attempt to change the constitution and allow him to extend his 27-year rule by running for another five-year term during the 2015 election. Millions of protesters responded by burning the parliament building, numerous other government buildings and the homes of governing party officials.

CMF missionaries Tom and Suja Brane and their family had a front-row seat for the violence in their town, Bobo-Dioulasso, and hunkered down at home for two days, Tom reported in a news update on Saturday.

“From our porch we could hear gunshots and see smoke billowing in the center of town,” said Tom. “I passed out water to the protesters and police officers as they passed by.”

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/africa/burkina-faso/map_of_burkina-faso.jpg

Two other Burkina Faso missionary families, Brian and Tabitha Hauser and Ken and Anita Hoch, live in Sindou, a smaller town, and things are reportedly calmer there.

On Friday afternoon the president resigned and the government was dissolved. Since then, two different military leaders have laid claim to the office, while the majority of the people are backing a third person. The airports and borders have been closed.

By Saturday, the Branes reported that things had settled down and the city was regaining a level of normalcy. And they continue to feel God’s peace and protection over their family.

“However, the future of Burkina Faso is still very unclear and things remain vulnerable,” said Tom. “It is impossible for us to comprehend the depth of frustration that is fueling what is happening here in Burkina. Our prayer is that God would make beauty out of ashes and that this challenge will allow the country to build a stronger, brighter future for its people.”

Please pray for all three CMF families – the Branes, Hochs and Hausers –and for peace and tranquility to return to this once-stable country.

Christians around the world united to pray for their 100 million fellow Christians who are undergoing persistent persecution for their faith, as part of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church yesterday.

Some of our CMF missionaries recently shared stories of persecution that they have seen as part of their work. These stories will help you put some names and faces to the reality of persecution. Please continue your prayers yet another day for these Christian brothers and sisters.

From a CMF Marketplace Minister in Indonesia:
 
A Christian woman whom I know is safe enough within her immediate family, but no one else is allowed to know of her decision. She is not allowed to go to a church for Sunday worship for fear of neighbors discovering the truth. She was nearly forced to marry a local “cousin” at the end of the fasting month, just to prove the family is still on good terms with the community, but at this point her life isn’t directly threatened and her family has accepted her decision to follow Jesus Christ.

While I was in Singapore a year ago I met a young woman who was working as a maid and I had the opportunity to share the Gospel and baptize her. Since she moved back to this country we keep in contact, but it would be impossible for me to visit her as it would instantly “out” her to the community. On this island where I live, tolerance is the state of mind, even when change occurs. It’s different on the other island where this young lady lives. 
 

From a CMF missionary in Burkina Faso:

Dao made a decision for Christ and was baptized, and continues to meet regularly with a local pastor in Sindou. When I inquired about these meetings, the pastor told me that he had just heard that Dao had been threatened by the pagan “mask” society to which he formerly belonged (at least partially by virtue of heredity). A few days later, leaders of this society agreed to let Dao completely sever ties by giving them a goat and two chickens and submitting to a ritual whipping. He fulfilled their requirements and is now free from their harassment. While there may be questions as to the wisdom of giving the animals, Dao feels that he was faithful to Christ in these actions and is committed to fully follow Him. My wife and I saw the wounds on his back due to the whipping – two strokes with a leather whip. Perhaps relatively “minor,” but nonetheless the “marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17), which I do not bear on my own body.

Dao told us he continues to study the Bible with his group of friends, and that they, too, are interested in following Jesus.

From a CMF missionary in Ethiopia:

Aboma is an evangelist in Ethiopia who has been jailed for preaching in a place called Melkam. Yesterday, I drove out on my motorcycle to the main gravel road and met our lead evangelist, Girbe, who had gone to visit with Aboma and to take him money for food and water on Saturday.

Girbe told me that he had just received a phone call saying that Aboma had been released from jail. Apparently, the government officials that we had been calling at the regional (state) level had told the county government officials that they would either need to charge Aboma with something or release him. They chose to release Aboma.  One interesting side note that Girbe mentioned is that Aboma was not imprisoned alone. There is a local guy here from Melkam who has been very active in faith. His name is Aseratu, and he has only been a Christian for a few months.  He was also taken into custody because he was with Aboma at the time he was arrested.  Both Aseratu and Aboma were released at the same time.

As difficult as being arrested in Ethiopia is, we saw church growth after Melaku and Aboma were arrested last year for “dispensing medicine.” Often persecution strengthens the church. It will be interesting to see how the local population will react as they process that one of their own was arrested and jailed for his faith. Keep these new churches — Melkam, Chilanko, Guchi Dukwi, and Bura — in your prayers, as these places have a number of new Christians who have the potential to being exposed to persecution for their faith.

From a Marketplace Minister in Indonesia:

Mr. T. is a part of Going to’s big family. This whole family has stood up for us and our work in their village over the years. Going to and his son Mr. L. have defended our presence in the village many time, undergone police interrogation into the middle of the night and undergone a lot of social pressure because of us. I think that because of Mr. T.’s position in the village as Imam, he has probably taken the most pressure and stood up for us the most, allowing us to continue our work there. Here is the story about Mr. T.:

When I visited the village for the first time about 10 years ago I was cornered by Mr. T. as a young man. He shot question after question at me concerning my faith. He had been trained by a fundamentalist group, memorizing tricky questions, but because I had learned the cultural way to answer with politeness and not offend anyone, people came to listen. He was a nephew of the family I was visiting.

In the beginning he was against our presence in the village. A few years later he married into the village and built his home there. Then a few years after that, he became the government-appointed Imam over six villages.

When we did our first community development project he was active but still wary of our presence. Not long after the first project was finished we were reported to the police. It happened when all of us were out of town. He went by himself to the police station and defended our presence in the village, standing up for us, and putting his reputation and his job on the line.

Not long after this he was influenced by his fundamentalist friends and turned against us, along with 13 of the families in the village. Despite his negative attitude against us, God gave us love for him. Every time I met him, I would hug him and eventually he could not frown at us any longer. As we geared up for the second project in his village he continued his campaign against us. During the first meeting to discuss the project and negotiate the plans, he entered with no shirt and a scowl on his face. As we finished explaining the plans he turned and said, “Many friends of mine say that you are here just to change us and make us into a different religion. We have seen it happen before and that is bad.” Then he paused. “As I listen to you now I realize that this is NOT true. I know that although you are Christian, you are doing this with a pure heart and not hiding anything from us. I now declare my full support of this program!” Then he abruptly stood up, went out and came back with a nice shirt on.

Ever since then he has supported the program fully. He has again visited the police and the Department of Religion multiple times when we have been reported. He has not only put his name and reputation on the line but he has also put his job on the line, as various leaders from the Department of Religion have threatened him saying that he is a bad leader because he is friends with westerners who are Christians.

His brother-in-law called me late one night to tell me that Mr. T. had been scolded at Department of Religion so much that he had come home in tears. Paradoxically, even though he has never declared any faith in Jesus, it is possible that he has taken more grief and stood up to more angry people for the sake of our work there than any of the Christians on the team.

Stories from China:

These are links to verified recent stories from China….

http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/52649/20140923/100-chinese-christians-including-children-arrested-in-massive-house-church-raid.htm 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/05/china-christianity-wenzhou-zhejiang-churches

http://time.com/3382827/china-christians-christianity-salvation-church-wenzhou-zhejiang/