Shorter this week. I was traveling.
Events, Data Points in Trends
In western Afghanistan, villagers fleeing not just war but drought – Link
China:
With Vatican talks and bulldozers, China aims to control Christianity – Link
… after shuttering church, Beijing charges it US$175k in ‘back rent,’ ‘closing charges’ – Link
A major breakthrough (potentially) in China’s relationship with the Vatican – Link
The decline and fall of Chinese Buddhism – Link
… “how modern politics and fast money corrupted an ancient religion”
China treats Uighur children as ‘orphans’ – Link
Rare Tibet trip shows China only wants a Dalai Lama it can control – Link
The rivalry of India and China in the Maldives – Link
India launches world’s largest health care plan prior to election – Link
… insure 500 million poor people across the country
Iraqi Christian families are not returning to Nineveh – Link
… feel insecure, threatened, prefer migration
Myanmar: Pro-Chinese rebels destroy churches, kidnap clergy – Link
… I’ve seen notes from agencies about partners in-country being affected
Nigeria: voodoo festival shows strength of tradition – Link
#War / #Violence:
Libya: new battles displace 1,700 Libyans – Link
… Islamic State claiming a resurgence amidst the chaos – Link
‘Breathtaking homicidal violence’: L America in grip of murder crisis – Link
… 2.5 million murders since 2000, 33% of world’s murders, 8% of world’s population
In Korea, the world’s scariest border becoming less scary – Link
… Korea Times: Korean war may be declared over this year? Link
After a year of fighting in Yemen around the port, very little progress has been made – Link
… Yemen is the ‘world’s worst humanitarian crisis’ – Link
South Sudan: new report: over 380,000 killed in civil war – Link
Syria: Civilians in Idlib welcome truce, hope it holds – Link
Research Notebook
Experimental section based on my Places & Peoples data + Quarterly Update. Feedback welcome.
The East African Revival: PDF – BiblicalStudies.org.uk
Africanus Journal 6:1, esp. East African Revival – GordonConwell.edu
Spirit & Power: a 10-country survey of Pentecostalism – Pew
Merchants & Missionaries in Angola: PDF – Persee.fr
Christian missions and the state in 19th & 20th century Angola and Mozambique – Link
A bibliography on the East African Revival movement – JSTOR
Stats, Resources, Graphics
Oct 28-Nov 15: 2nd annual 15 days of prayer for the Hindu World – Link
Pew survey looks at the importance of religion in America by ethnicity lines – Link
… while the particular report focuses on importance of religion to Black Americans, it also features stats for White and Hispanics. Unsurprisingly men are less religious than women. This gives one factual driver to the known disparity between single men and women in mission.
USA Catholicism bears the brunt of defection to ‘nones’ – Link
… 13% of American adults are former Catholics, now ‘nones’ or Protestants
Where the world’s refugees came from in 2017 – Charts
The number of extremely poor continues to rise in Africa, fall elsewhere – Chart
Terror attacks drop worldwide – Chart
… not lowest, but 2nd lowest since 2006
FAO: The state of food security and nutrition in the world, 2018 – PDF
Commentary
“Under Caesar’s Sword: How Christian’s respond to persecution” is a new book reviewing the state of Christian persecution – Link and reviewed here – Link. The book is published by Cambridge University Press; it’s not cheap: $140. This is a major analysis and reference work.
On November 1, ChinaSource is doing a MissioNexus presentation on “The New Normal” in China. It’s free for MissioNexus members, and $25 for everyone else. Looks like a good webinar. Register here.
“A willingness to be bad” – Link
… in order to get good at something, you have to be willing to endure the period when you are terrible at it, and practice, and slowly get better.
Progress doesn’t always follow a straight line: lessons from oil pipelines – Link
UPG Stories
How an ancient Islamic holiday became uniquely Caribbean – Link
The last two Sikhs in Helmand, Afghanistan, the Taliban’s heartland – Link
Indians are partying and praying for elephant-headed God Ganesh – Link
Futuristics/Technology
UNHCR Emergency Handbook, online – Link
… ‘all you need to know in an emergency, in the palm of your hand’
China: How police databases sort China’s citizens – Link
… a look at the tags. Screen shots of available data on anyone.
… reminder: this is not new. China has been doing this for years. The church grows anyhow.
“Leave no dark corner” – this amazing interactive piece from ABC.Net.au visibly shows how surveillance and the social credit score works and integrates into peoples’ lives. Link
Google suppresses memo revealing plans to closely track search users in China – Link
Google’s “Discover” wants to replace your news feed – Link
… based on search history, web traffic, etc, ‘knows what you are interested in’
… ‘queryless search’: presents what you’re looking for before query
ZDNet: “step by step” (really practical tips) on how to erase your digital footprint – Link
… several pretty good tips and services mentioned in here.
India upholds legality of world’s largest biometric database – Link
Saudi Arabia launches high-speed rail link between Mecca and Medina – Link
… there are over 60 million pilgrim journeys each year between the two cities
Eric Schmidt (former Google head) predicts Internet will split in two between Chinese-owned and Western by 2028 – Link
More than a phone: mobile’s impact on sustainable economic development – Link
Quotable
“Don’t be the best. Be the only.” ~Jerry Garcia
“If you really want to learn how something works, try to change it.” ~Matt Mazur
“For something to be beautiful it doesn’t have to be pretty.” ~Rei Kawakubo
“If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” ~Frank A. Clark
“Eighty percent of success is showing up.” ~Woody Allen
“If your agency can handle your mission alone then your vision is too small and your strategy is too cowardly.” ~Dick Brogden