News Archives

Next, a group targeting Tufts University students in the United States, lost its official status after it denied a leadership position to a lesbian. The Tufts Christian Fellowship, an affiliate of InterVarsity, was stripped of its funding and university status after the Tufts Community Union Judiciary ruled that the fellowship group had discriminated against a junior at the school. The woman, who was openly gay, applied for a leadership position, but was rejected. While the decision is being appealed, the group continues to meet off campus.

Meanwhile, Indonesians are reaching Indonesians with the Gospel. Medical Ambassador’s Terry Dalrimple just returned from that country. He says they’re targeting the Lampungese (lah-puh-NEEZ), an unreached people group in South Sumatra. “About 2 million devout orthodox Muslims. They have no scriptures in their language. There are no churches among them. 90-percent of these people have never heard the Gospel in any form. We have been working together with a group of Javanese churches.” Dalrimple says Javanese believers are training the Lampungese in sanitation, hygiene, micro enterprise and other development programs. “While visiting in their homes these believers are also going to share with the Lampungese how they can live more healthy lives spiritually. And, they’ll be doing Bible studies with them, evangelizing them and we’re cooperating with this project with Far East Broadcasting Company.”

Minorities and immigrants are among the growing segment in the Southern Baptist organization. Within the last 50 years they’ve begun including the black population of the deep south. Currently, over 2,000 congregations are made up of African-American groups and 43-hundred are non-English speaking. The Philadelphia area alone has 25 foreign-language congregations that continue to expand. The denomination is targeting two large cities a year as part of their “Strategic Focus Cities Initiative”.

Meanwhile, street children of northern Brazil will be the focus of a new ministry outreach for UFM International. Missionary Frank Dearmore is preparing to go to the city of Belem (behl-ehm’). He says the need to reach street children with the Gospel is great. “Brazil only has about 2.5-percent of the world’s population. But, at the same time they have in the neighborhood of 10-percent of the world’s street child population in North Brazil. In particular, it is a very different world than south Brazil and most of the ministry that has been done with street children have been concentrated in the south.” Dearmore, who’s staying at D & D Missionary Homes in Florida, says it’s a “one-child at a time” type of evangelistic approach. “They need love. They need touch. And, so, when you can establish that kind of relationship with them, then I think they’re widen open to come to know the one who will give them unconditional love in any circumstance and that of course is Jesus Christ.”