Next, the hostage situation in the Philippines has caused quite a bit of concern for many Christian groups working in the area. Far East Broadcasting Company’s Jonathon Mortiz says the terrorism of the extremist Muslim groups seems to be targeting Christians. He says that has created a cause for concern. “We have stations in [the] Mindanao area, and we’re very much looking at this because the same people group that murdered our two programmers in 1992 are the same group that are doing this hostage taking. We’re thinking that this will be controlled because the negotiator coming from the government is also a Muslim.” Mortiz adds that they are optimistic about the future for ministry, but need prayer. “It’s very, very hard for us to penetrate them more. But, we are reaching these people through public service announcements, news and through good programming. These times of hostage takings affects the Muslims and the Christians.”
News Archives
Keston News Service is reporting that Belarus city codes that regulate the use of buildings appear to be targeting charismatic churches in the country. Congregations are also having difficulty getting permission to meet in private apartments under revised codes. No churches have been permitted to build since President Aleksander Lukashenko came to power. Several congregations have also been warned that they could lose their regular meeting places. Please pray for the believers in Belarus.
We turn next to Russia where indigenous churches are looking for ways to help support their ministries. Send International’s Dwayne King says they’re providing churches with sawmills. He says these churches are starting businesses, which is providing the income they need. “The concern that we’ve had for a number of years is that we help the Russian church to be more supportive of themselves. To diminish the affects of dependency we’ve really worked hard at this to try to give them ways in which they can support their own churches.” According to King, because of the poor economy, the need is great for these types of programs. “This is a growing trend and every church is asking for ideas, instruction and training in different businesses and different kinds of work that they can become more self- sufficient.”
We begin today in Russia where there has been a recent change that could seriously impact international adoption organizations. Initially, Bethany Christian Services responded with alarm at what appeared to be a moratorium. However, BCS’s Tom Jackson clarifies the situation. “Legislation that was prepared during Yeltsin’s era never had the implementation regarding adoptions. And now, Putin has signed the implementation plan. This is now going to help to control less-than-desirable agencies, so they’ll have some ability to manage the adoption process.” Although they’re respected, Jackson says they’ll be affected. “It’ll probably cut our adoption activity by a third to a half for this year, because of the need to supply the information, collecting that and having that evaluated, and approved. It has slowed down the children that would have come through Bethany this year.” Bethany manifests the love of Jesus Christ by helping families with quality social services.
Meanwhile, a group of politicians in India are demanding that a local Hindu organization, known for attacking Christians, be banned. The Bajrang Dal’s mission has been to promote Hinduism and they have used violence against those who work to convert Hindus. Some feel that a member of this militant group was involved in the murder of missionary Graham Staines and his sons. Political leaders said that the BJP-led government in the state should be fired for failing to protect Christians.
Voice of the Martyrs is reporting that after 15 days of imprisonment, Chinese authorities have now released evangelist Li-Dexian. Despite his treatment, VOM says he is weak but recovering and in good spirits. The evangelist continues to preach at an unregistered house church and authorities regularly arrest him in hopes of forcing him to stop. The treatment by his captors has also intensified. The Public Security Bureau recently visited the house church and told members to officially register or stop meeting.
Next, while Hurricane Mitch destroyed much of Honduras more than a year ago, the devastation didn’t effect evangelism and church planting. That’s the word from CAM International’s Harold Krause. Krause says as they assisted in relief aid, evangelism went right along with it. “Our philosophy is not just to help with physical needs, because that’s really just a Band-Aid if it’s not accompanied with spiritual help. So, we budgeted into our program right from the beginning to do evangelism, use the Jesus Film and it has really opened a lot of doors. We have about 40 new churches just with our mission in Honduras as a result of this.” Krause says the hurricane was key in this explosive church growth program. “God has used this to wake up His church. Many of our people had not been involved in evangelism as they ought to. Not only in Honduras, but also here in the United States. We had 45 work teams that came down, not just to do work, but to do evangelism.”
Topping today’s news, Christians around the world are being asked to pray for the people being held hostage in the Philippines. Christian and Missionary Alliance’s Sandi Dutton says some of the hostages have a connection to CMA. “Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels are holding 27 hostages, many of them teachers and children, six of them are Christian and Missionary Alliance Church members. They’re demanding that all of the crosses be taken down and that all Christians leave the island. The military has begun air and ground assaults on the camp to seek the release of the hostages and to overthrow the Muslim rebels. This is being compounded by the hostage situation of international tourists in Malaysia by Filipino Muslims who are bringing their captives back to the Philippines.” Pray for the safety of the hostages and that missionary work continues in that region despite the on going threat of violence.
Meanwhile, Walk Thru the Bible is preparing to launch a new program in the Philippines. Terry Sparks says their team is preparing to travel into the area in the middle of next month to open a teaching and discipleship curriculum for area believers. This comes in response to the realization of the ministry’s long term goal of planting 50-thousand churches. “World Teach is a wonderful follow-up to the planting of those churches, and in fact, I think that goal has been achieved in the Philippines and the goal may have even been increased to 70-thousand churches. World Teach comes along at a time when those churches need to be followed up.” Sparks says their vision is to guarantee solid growth and teaching for future ministry. “There’s a lot of spiritual interest in the Philippines, but people really need to know the Bible. Our expectation is that while we’re there, we’re going to be able to train 500 to 1000 World Teachers to teach personal holiness. That would be our largest launch ever.”
Christian groups continue to lend their support to the victims of an emerging famine in Ethiopia. Glen Guthridge, missionary with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, says they’re targeting the people who aren’t in the food aid pipeline. “What we are seeking to do is seeking to find places were there are gaps that need to be filled. A response that has a more human face to it. We want it to be able to deal with some of the needs that are being faced by the people who may be missed by these bigger organizations.” Guthridge says evangelism is moving forward as they empower churches to assist. “And we’re going to continue to try to do those kinds of things that will multiply the efforts that are going on in ways that will make a difference for Christ.” IMB officials say every dollar raised goes directly to relief efforts.
