The following articles have been selected because they are informative, instructive, entertaining, or simply interesting. Articles appearing in Your Friday Five do not represent an endorsement.
Missionaries deemed “essential workers” in Brazil.
Missionaries gain access to Amazon’s Indigenous peoples, despite pandemic, RNS
When the first COVID-19 cases hit Brazil in March, the government agency in charge of protecting the country’s Indigenous peoples, the National Indigenous Foundation, ordered all civilians to leave the Indigenous reservations. Only essential workers, such as health care personnel and those involved in food distribution, could remain.
But a new law signed by President Jair Bolsonaro on July 7 has made an exception for one group: Christian missionaries. A simple form from a doctor vouching for a faith worker’s health is enough to allow the person to stay as an essential worker.
Famed leader of Samaritan’s Purse calls for prayer march in DC.
Franklin Graham announces national prayer march in Washington, Baptist Press
Evangelist Franklin Graham is asking Americans to join him in a Washington prayer march Sept. 26 to plead for God to save the nation from its present distress.
“Our communities are hurting. Our people are divided, and there’s fear and uncertainty all around us,” Graham said in a video announcing the event. “So let’s join together and do the most important thing, and that is to pray.”
Don’t forget God’s servants in dangerous places.
How to pray for missionaries displaced by COVID-19, Southern Baptist Texan
As more time passes, many missionaries find themselves unexpectedly back in their countries of origin. While many might assume “coming home” is nothing but fun, many, if not most, missionaries are standing in a now unfamiliar place without the blessing of goodbyes to friends or much time to pack. Many of these missionaries also had to make this return without knowing when, if ever, they would be able to return to their home and place of service.
God loves a cheerful giver, but it looks like cheer is in short supply
Who Are the Most Generous? Not Who You’d Expect., Christianity Today
[A]ccording to a study by the Barna Group in 2019, the three most charitable cities in America are all in Idaho: Pocatella, Idaho Falls, and Jackson. Christians in these cities give on average $17,977 to charity annually. Surprisingly, Las Vegas—often called “Sin City”—comes in second with a rate of giving of $10,410. America’s largest cities do not even make it onto the list of the top 50 most charitable cities in the US. That means that Christians on average in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, and Philadelphia give less than $3,308 per year.
A word of encouragement.
Remembering God’s Faithfulness in the Face of a Detour, Dave Harvey
Follow David and Paul’s example of faith. Look to the ways God has delivered in the past: “If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8:31–32) What father wouldn’t run to his kids in their moment of weakness? Whatever detours you’re facing—tribulation or distress, pandemic or persecution, you can have confidence that your God is present with you.