We turn next to Venezuela where the December mudslides are being called the
worst natural disaster in South American in the last century. International Aid’s
Sonny Enriquez just returned from that country. He says they’re taking a two-pronged
approach to attacking the disaster. “First, is the immediate response to their current
situation, and this is predominately to emergency relief commodities. Now the plan of
the government is to set up new communities. That’s where we would like to see how
we could be of help to the church partners and their new communities, specifically in
the area of health care.” Enriquez says when they help physically, people open up to
the Gospel as did one of their military escorts. “This military escort was observing us all
throughout the trip and then at the end he said tell me something more about what
you’re doing. And, again, the team just came to him and started sharing and later one
he says I’d like to be a Christian too.”
News Archives
We turn next to Venezuela where the December mudslides are being called the
worst natural disaster in South American in the last century. International Aid’s
Sonny Enriquez just returned from that country. He says they’re taking a two-pronged
approach to attacking the disaster. “First, is the immediate response to their current
situation, and this is predominately to emergency relief commodities. Now the plan of
the government is to set up new communities. That’s where we would like to see how
we could be of help to the church partners and their new communities, specifically in
the area of health care.” Enriquez says when they help physically, people open up to
the Gospel as did one of their military escorts. “This military escort was observing us all
throughout the trip and then at the end he said tell me something more about what
you’re doing. And, again, the team just came to him and started sharing and later one
he says I’d like to be a Christian too.”
The Russians have been trying to wrest Grozny from Chechen militants for a
month, and the fighting has left the area pock-marked and battle-scarred. The
violence has also caused foreign ministry to slow down or evacuate, but as Book of
Hope’s John Young says, that doesn’t mean that the work of the Gospel has stopped.
“Right now, we’re not doing any work in Chechnya because of the war that’s going on
down there. But, we have folks in our national churches that have been involved in
ministries in the southern Russia area-there’s always something going on, and that just
continues to give God opportunity.” Young explains the phenomenon that changes
evangelistic outreach in these times. “When things are smooth and going great is when
people are satisfied, and they don’t feel like they need any spiritual help, but a place
that’s in turmoil is a place where God is and where God wants to reach out and touch
the hurting people. Even though there’s constant turmoil there, it continues to be an
open door.”
Meanwhile, the Christian nephew of an Indian parliament member was recently
attacked by members of a fundamentalist Hindu party. Compass Direct reports
that the Shourie family has been at odds since the nephew’s conversion, since Arun
Shourie has been at the forefront of a campaign against Christians. During the attack,
fundamentalist Hindu party members referenced the murders of missionary Graham
Staines and his sons and threatened further violence.
Topping today’s news ministry leaders in Sudan have mixed reviews of the
government upheaval there. The Bridge International’s R-K Ulrich says they are
working among the refugees in Uganda and those returning to Southern Sudan. She
says the Muslim government has been trying to stamp out Christianity in the south. She
says she’s concerned violence will resume. “There’s always a risk to be taken in a
country like that. Because people go in and they rebuild. If the government makes the
decision that they become a more hard line government again, they may come back
again and raid the whole area and pull the people out again.” Ulrich says they’re
equipping pastors to be leaders. “As they go in, instead of it being the chief that is doing
magic and witchcraft, the chief is the pastor who gives the good news of the Gospel.
So we have helped finance some educational programs, carpentry tools and wood
work, setting up some Bible Schools.”
Next, despite the government shake-up in Sudan it’s not affecting the work of
SIM International. That’s the word from SIM’s Ron Frazee. “SIM has retained a
presence in the north in the capitol of Khartoum. Through the darkest hours SIM has
remained there and the government of Sudan has allowed a small contingent of SIM
missionaries to remain there. And, there are quite a few ministries going on. They’re
legitimate. The government knows about them.” Frazee says SIM helps 93 existing
congregations and 108 developing churches. He says they also have prison, street
children, and refugee ministries. Frazee tells us why SIM is allowed to stay. “Obviously
it is a government that favors Islam. Still, they are happy for the missionaries to be there
and realize that the missionaries are helping with relief programs, resettlement, and
other programs that are very beneficial to the society at large.”
World Servants is sending a training team to several small villages in remote
parts of Central Mexico next month. Chris Clum says they’re very excited about the
trip because it is the culmination to a ministry that was years in the making. “There’s
been some resistance we’ve had from the government to go up into the mountains…and
we’ve also had some resistance just from the shaman and some of the traditional
Indians that have been opposed to the Christians coming up into the villages. It’s been a
long time coming, but they’ve actually asked to come and to provide training for them.
We’re excited that these doors are starting to open up.” Clum says in spite of an
openness to the Gospel, they’re asking that Christians pray for the work of the teams
and the local believers. “Often times in some of these villages of a 100, 125, there
might be only one or two Christians-so these guys are isolated, they have to deal with
language barrier…there’s a lot of issues that they have to deal with. Pray for unity for
them-pray that God is going to give these guys passion and vision to love and to serve
and to reach their villages for Christ.”
Meanwhile, the internet is giving people around the world a chance to know
Jesus personally. Audio Scriptures International now has “A Portrait of Jesus”
available on the internet in 85 languages. The selection of scripture readings from the
Gospel of Luke, are available in Real Audio and MP3 formats. ASI also has entire
Bible readings in Albanian, with Mandarin and Russian available soon. Currently entire
New Testaments are available in some 200 languages. You can find ASI at
www-dot-AudioScriptures-dot-org.
We begin today’s newscast in the Democratic Republic of Congo where fighting
continues, despite the signing of a peace treaty. Sam Vinton is with Grace
Ministries International. He says their work is continuing. “We have received a
number of letters now from some of our pastors. Schools are reopened and a number
of places where we work – medical work – especially in Kipaka, in the Muslim area,
surgeries are again being performed and things are going well there. There seems to be
a civil kind of government controlling things.” However fighting just 125 miles away is
causing African leaders to ask for U-N help in ending the violence. While the fighting
continues, Vinton says many are open to the Gospel. “We’re hearing good reports as
far as the ministry going on in the churches. Responsiveness for the Gospel is there.
That, we are hearing continually and people are still believing in the Lord and going on
with their lives spiritually even though they’re suffering spiritually.”
Meanwhile, the death toll continues to climb in South America, where
Venezuela is stilling digging out of an incredible mudslide. Pastor Samuel Olson
lives there and is working with Feeding Starving Children International. Olson says
more than 50-thousand are dead and 250-thousand are homeless. He says the need
for food is incredible. “We’re talking about 160,000 children that have to be attended
to on a daily basis. The crops of the nation have been destroyed in five of the states.
The ports can hardly bring in things from the outside because of the recession that
we’re in.” Olson says Feeding Starving children wants to help 10-thousand children at a
cost of 90-thousand dollars. He says as they help, many are open to the Gospel.
“They’re so open to having people pray with them, give them counsel, helping them to
come to grips spiritually with their own lives. And, they want people to come, whether
to pray, whether to receive a word, to show movies like the Jesus Film, it’s an open
field.”
