Story number 1 for 26 May 2003

(Middle East)–We begin today in the Middle East where the U.S.-backed road map for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement faces many roadblocks, the greatest of which lies in ending two and a half years of bloodshed. In this atmosphere, the people are somewhere between hope and despair. Trans World Radio’s David Tucker says they’re helping provide an option for hope through Christian radio broadcasts into the area. “Within the Middle East, there’s a major response to the Gospel because this is a very private means of listening. You can listen, you can respond to this, without interacting with any other person around you. So, the family can listen, or an individual can listen.” Tucker says the encouraging news of a surviving church is balanced by another difficulty. He urges believers to pray. “The major problem in the Middle East, at the moment, is to ensure that fruit lasts. There’s a great temptation on the part of those who learn the Gospel, because there’s no community to join, that they’ll go away, or they’ll seek to emigrate to other countries. “