Topping the news today, missionary radio broadcasters in Russia are wondering how the election of Vladimir Putin to the presidency will affect their work in the country. Far East Broadcasting Company’s Victor Akterov says Putin’s policies could have a direct impact on them. “Nobody really knows what’s going to happen to religious freedom. We have two licenses pending one in Moscow and one Izhevsk for getting new frequencies and all the paperwork ready, but everyone is waiting to see what Putin is going to say. Nobody’s really sure about what’s going to happen.” According to Akterov, Putin’s election should concern many Christians. “There is no democracy in Russia. The real opposition to Putin is the communist party right now. The Democrats are no where to be seen. And, this is a huge problem for us because if we don’t have democracy we don’t have religious freedom. That’s the concern that we have.”
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Next, poor economic conditions are having an impact on evangelism in Latin America. That’s the word from the President of Latin America Mission’s David Befus. Befus says as monetary values go down, hope fades. However, he says that actually helps mission groups. “In an environment where they have no hope materially and economically, it actually becomes more advantageous to a mission organization because people are really looking for something to have hope in. And, so it creates a good foundation to talk about the hope that is eternal, the hope that is in Christ.” Inflation and unemployment are in double digits in many countries. Befus says that’s creating problems for the local church. “In absolute terms the offerings for the church in local currency are greater, but in terms of what that can buy it’s less. Where you really see it is with the Latin American Missions movement. They’re not able to sustain their missionaries overseas that they were able to before.”
Since the Pope’s visit, many evangelistic groups were hoping to see a change for the better in Cuba. Among them was the Christian Reformed World Mission. One missionary, whom we’ll call ‘Dorothy’ says the Gospel is still going forward, although they still struggle with poverty and the Communist government. “As far as open worship, that we are allowed. There are some problems getting buildings registered and so on…we’ve been evicted a couple times from certain places, but the worship services themselves may be held within our designated building.” “Dorothy” says despite the church’s needs, believers are on a mission. “It’s the people-you look at their faces; it’s just a complete blank hopelessness, but they see that our church people have something and they start asking ‘What is it?’ and they come to church to try to find out. We’re just praying for a lot more openings and for the government to loosen up on some of the restrictions that are placed on the churches.”
Meanwhile, as part of its relief and rehabilitation effort, Food for the Hungry will provide replacement farm supplies to families in Mozambique. Devastating flooding destroyed the crops, and the group is working to ensure that families will have food to harvest in a few months. FH is seeking help with funding for the agricultural and household assistance packets which will cost around $30 each. Through this, team members will be able to share their faith as they meet the people’s needs.
Topping the news today, Vladimir Putin handily won victory in Russia’s presidential election over the weekend. He’s already considering government changes along with economic reforms for his bankrupt country. Russian Ministries’ Peter Deyneka says a good economy will help the evangelical church. “To this point, 60-70-percent of all of the income that Christians have earned has gone to frankly just stay alive – for food and clothing. Economic stability would allow Christians themselves to participate more in funding the evangelization of their country.” However, Deyneka says there is some concern that religious freedom will be curtailed. “The last four months where Putin has favored the Russian Orthodox Church more will not develop further. In general the Russian people feel that this will be a time of new stability and accelerate the growth of Russia, economical politically, but for Christians, spiritually.”
Elsewhere, there are growing concerns over violence against believers in Dehli. One indigenous mission group fears India’s government is patterning itself after a nearby world power. This could signal an increased conflict coming for the church. For security reasons, the group will remain nameless and we’ve changed our source’s name to ‘Mike’. “I think there’s possibly some parallels here with China. India has been a strong socialist country and now they are beginning to restrict the freedoms, both in religious areas as well as political areas, so I’m wondering if India is following the model of China.” Mike says there’s a lot at stake for ministry. “It’s very, very crucial that there be some serious prayer going on, I believe for India. I think we’re at a crossroads, so we need prayer that there would be continued and increased freedom of religion, freedom of thought and freedom of expression-and I believe that this is indicative of the spiritual battle going on.”
Islamic-led government forces led a bombing attack on a Christian school in Southern Sudan last week. A number of students and their parents were injured, but there were no fatalities reported. According to witnesses, six bombing runs took place over the grounds of the Christian Liberty Academy. Many Christian activists are calling for total U-S sanctions against Sudan as a result of the bombing and the continued persecution of black Christians in that area.
Meanwhile, missionaries are asking people to pray that they’ll be able to overcome barriers in Spain in their effort to lead the country to Christ. Jack Lendel is with Operation Mobilization. He describes some of the obstacles. “There’s historical, there’s cultural, maybe religious barriers that keep people away from the Gospel. And, the evangelical church, to start with, is very small and just considered a sect.” According to Lendel, people are coming to Christ, but in small numbers. He says Christians need to pray for their work in southwestern Spain. “We have targeted 10 towns. We now have teams working in four of those towns in church planting. Recently we’ve seen some growth in one town where we’ve worked for eight years and suddenly we have a group of 12 now of these who have come through and decided that they want to meet together. So, that’s very encouraging. We can just pray that we’ll see that growth, that we’ll persevere. We want to see more Americans join us.”
Topping today’s news, President Clinton’s visit to India wrapped up with more talks and a visit through Pakistan. But the apparent anti-American sentiment rampant in the countries may hurt evangelistic outreach. One indigenous mission group is watching how the events will effect them. For security purposes, we’ve kept the group nameless and changed the name of our source to Jim. “Certainly, anti-colonialism is involved, but also, the BJP Party wants to make Hinduism the national religion there. Consequently, those that are tied with the West and with Christianity (is how they look at it) they very much then, are against them.” Jim says the request for prayer is more than a cliché. “For the missionaries, prayer is an absolute reality. The spiritual battles are very, very strong. Quite a few of the Indian Christians have been hurt by Hindu militants. For several months, we were very, very low key on any outreaches that would be considered evangelistic. We’re just a little more careful in how we do it.”
Meanwhile, malaria is at epidemic proportions in Mozambique as the flooding continues in that African country. That’s the word from International Aid’s Sonny Enriquez who just returned from a fact-finding mission there. Enriquez says the situation isn’t getting any better. “Before I left the number of people in the relief camps were about 300,000 plus. Today, the report is that is has gone up to 400,000. There’s a major, major threat of malaria epidemic. The kind of malaria that they have in the country is deadly. Once you have it, within 10 days, you’re dead.” Enriquez says the evangelical church is involved. “We are partnering right now with an association of evangelical churches in Mozambique. I am very encouraged by what I’ve seen as far as their active involvement in all aspects of relief work.” Because of that many are coming to Christ.
