Around the World: Fighting leprosy, hurricane relief and more quick takes
Around the World is our monthly rundown of news briefs, links and quotes from Churches of Christ all over the globe. Got an idea for this column? Email Erik Tryggestad at [email protected].
INDIA
HYDERABAD — Leprosy isn’t found just in Bible stories. Every year about 100,000 people in India contract the bacterial disease, which causes loss of sensation in the nerves and can result in paralysis. Despite running one of the largest leprosy elimination programs in the world, India accounts for more than half of new cases globally, The Hindu reported.
Sony and Kyle Clayton
Kyle Clayton wants to serve India’s leper communities, which suffer from both the disease and the stigma associated with it. Clayton, the son of longtime India missionary Ron Clayton, and his wife, Sony, recently launched India2.0. Through the organization, the couple plans to work as teachers in India and to offer Bible classes to people with leprosy.
The Claytons want to help Indians such as Venkateswarlu, a Christian who lives in a one-bedroom house in a leper colony with his three children and three grandchildren. A small Church of Christ meets in their home. The Indian evangelist who converted Venkateswarlu struggles to offer regular Bible teaching in the colony, “partly because of travel issues, but mainly due to the potential for contracting the disease,” Kyle Clayton said. The minister needs equipment to teach online and material to distribute in the colony.
Venkateswarlu and others with leprosy also need support, Clayton said, as they are unable to work and are dependent on small amounts of government aid.
Learn more at teamindia2.org.
JAMAICA
BULL SAVANNA — Church members across Jamaica and the U.S. spent recent weeks repairing damaged homes and providing aid in this community of St. Elizabeth Parish, which was devastated by Hurricane Beryl. Members of the Bull Savanna Church of Christ and the Patrick Gardens Church of Christ in Kingston, Jamaica, distributed relief supplies. The efforts resulted in doubled church attendance and requests for home Bible studies, relief workers said.
LEBANON
BEIRUT — Despite recent missile strikes in this Middle Eastern capital and growing tensions with neighboring Israel, Christ followers continue to worship and share the Gospel.
The Lebanon Church of Christ, a congregation associated with the International Churches of Christ, recently announced the appointment of Alaa and Daniella Saad as evangelists for the congregation.
Christians in Lebanon pray for Alaa and Daniella Saad of the Beirut International Church of Christ and for Shady and Luna Kishek of the ICOC in Amman, Jordan.
Among the church’s converts is a man who owns a hotel in the Beirut suburb of Ashrafieh. Before the hotel’s grand opening, the Christian offered space in the hotel for church members to conduct their Deep Roots Bible study program.
“And after completing his own Deep Roots studies, Alfred decided to declare Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and he was the first baptism in the hotel pool!” said church member Layla Matar in a report for Disciples Today, an ICOC publication.
MEXICO
MEXICO CITY — About 200 women participated in the fourth Women of the Valley of Mexico gathering. The Church of Christ that meets in the La Piedad neighborhood hosted the event, which included classes on parenting, raising children as a single mother, and widowhood.
“Women of all ages were united in the same feeling — and with the same desire — to glorify God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” organizers said.
NICARAGUA
SAN SEBASTIÁN DE YALÍ — Workers with Misión Para Cristo, a nonprofit associated with Churches of Christ, conducted a gospel campaign in this town near Jinotega recently. The goal was “to encourage the church and share Jesus in the community,” workers with the ministry said. The campaign resulted in two baptisms.
See misionparacristo.com.
RUSSIA
BARNAUL — Members of Churches of Christ in this Siberian city hosted a day of games and Bible lessons for children from orphanages and hospitals.
“All the children, both older and younger, were invited to approach a cross drawn on a poster and write down what they would lay down at the cross, things they wished to part with, such as hatred, fatigue, unbelief and resentment,” church member Galina Novikova said.
Church members dance with children in Barnaul, Russia.
The post Around the World: Fighting leprosy, hurricane relief and more quick takes appeared first on The Christian Chronicle.
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