The charitable donation provisions of the CARES Act have been extended into 2021, with some improvements.
Middle East/North Africa (MNN) — Muslims are coming to faith in Christ in unexpected masses, and they need biblically-based leaders. More about that here. Leadership training is an Asian Access specialty, but will it work in a Muslim-dominant context?
Believers must have an intimate knowledge of the culture they’re working in, and cultural norms across most Asian countries differ vastly from those in the Middle East and North Africa. That means leading and multiplying churches in Asia seems like it requires a different approach than in Muslim-dominant countries of the MENA region.
Middle East North Africa (MNN) — The Middle East and North Africa region is a critical ground for the hope of Jesus. According to the Pew Research Center, Christians comprise less than four percent of the region’s population, whereas 93-percent of the population follows Islam.
Asian Access President Joe Handley says missional plans in the MENA region are starting to shift, and the ministry needs your help to enter new territory.
Indonesia (MNN) — The search for survivors continues today in West Sulawesi, Indonesia. “[A] 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit West Sulawesi on January 15; 81 people die[d] and more than 1,000 houses [were] damaged,” Asian Access leader Juserdi* says.
The International Red Cross reports local and international first responders working side-by-side to comb through the rubble, searching for anyone who may be alive in affected areas. Multiple disasters, including landslides, flooding, and volcanic eruption, are stretching resources and manpower thin, making recovery efforts even harder.
Japan (MNN) — Support for the Tokyo Olympics just hit a new low in Japan. The latest spike in Tokyo’s COVID-19 infections has 80-percent of Japanese residents saying the Summer Games should be rescheduled again, or canceled altogether.
“People have different feelings. Some [are] saying, ‘it’s impossible so let’s give up’; [the] government hasn’t,” Takeshi Takazawa explains. Takazawa is Vice President for Missional Engagement and is the former National Director for Asian Access in Japan.
Japan (MNN) — The world’s most populous city is now under a state of emergency thanks to soaring COVID-19 infections. Japan reported 6,100 new cases on Thursday, with roughly half coming from Tokyo. The emergency declaration began Friday and will end on February 7.“
Over the Christmas into New Year’s holidays, we couldn’t change the trend of steep [infection] increases, especially in the bigger cities. Hokkaido and Osaka requested ‘state of emergency’-type restrictions; however, Tokyo never went into that stage,” Takeshi Takazawa explains.
Japan (MNN) — This week, the company Pfizer will deliver an estimated 2.9 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to locations around the US. The UK has already begun using the vaccine, which was developed by the German company BioNTech.
The vaccine was developed in under a year and uses new technology to vaccinate people against viruses. It needs to be kept at very cold temperatures, at least 70 degrees below zero Celsius.