We begin today in the Ivory Coast where missionaries are questioning their safety in the wake of a coup in that traditionally stable country. A military junta that took power on Friday ousted President Henri Konan Bedie, who fled the country. Scott Ross is with New Tribes Mission. “We contacted our people out there and they advised us that it looked like it was going to be more of a peaceful coup, if there is that such a thing. It wasn’t aimed at any civilians necessarily, it had a lot to do with the military not being paid and different things. We only have really one couple in the capital city. We have many couple around the country. The coup was taking place in the capital so they didn’t feel that they were threatened at this point, but they were just staying indoors. The U-S embassy had instructed all American personnel to stay indoors and off the streets.” The Ivory Coast has been peaceful since declaring its independence in 1960. Evangelism is not expected to be affected by the new government.
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Next, while Russian forces continue their onslaught of Chechnya, missionary radio is hoping to expand its impact on the region. Far East Broadcasting Company is using radio to speak to those impacted by war in the region. However, FEBC’s Victor Akhterov says that impact will be expanding in January. “We hope to switch another better AM frequency and we’ll be broadcasting 16 hours a day, so the impact of FEBC Russia will multiply. At this time we have five hours of daily broadcasts and it is working miracles.” Akhterov says this is just another attempt at helping the church be more effective in ministry. ” We are just letting pastors talk about the every day issues, including these issues of war. We present the Christian point of view and people like it and people come to local churches.” Giving pastors more opportunities to share the Gospel.
Meanwhile, Americans are heading to Venezuela to assess the devastation left by a massive mudslide that destroyed towns and villages near Caracas. The Southern Baptist International Mission Board is helping both physically and spiritually. Last week they released 80-thousand dollars for food, water, and medicines. A team is also on the ground assessing how to help with long term ministry evangelism projects. The I-M-B is asking people to pray that God uses this tragedy for His glory.
Meanwhile, in an effort to stamp out all minority religions Turkmenistan has deported two Baptist pastors and their wives. After suffering months of interrogation, threats, fines, and arrest, the two couples were both deported last Thursday. According to Compass Direct, Turkmenistan is the most religiously repressed of the former Soviet republics and continues to stamp out all religious practices that are not officially sanctioned with Muslims or the Russian Orthodox Church.
We begin today in Cuba where Christians are still being persecuted for their faith. Now, there is evidence that evangelistic work is now being hampered. World Servants’ Chris Clum (kluhm) explains the changes they’ve seen recently that have caused concern. “We have partnered with a group of pastors-we’ve gone in as a humanitarian group-we’re going in to meet a specific need, which has given us the ability to get visas. But, the last two years, it has gotten increasingly more difficult to get into the country…and this last summer, [the government] decided they weren’t going to let us in, so we had to re-route our team to the Dominican Republic.” Clum asks that people pray for mission groups in Cuba as the difficulties they face continue. He adds that despite the obstacles presented, evangelism will not cease. “I think that the best way to go into Cuba is to go in to do relational evangelism, because the big, overt kind of evangelism is the things that the government is going to be opposed to…but the relational evangelism works wonderfully. People are curious–they’re hungry for it.”
Next, we turn to South Africa where the field of missions is wide open and still growing. SIM’s Steve Weiandt has worked in Africa for more than thirty years. He is particularly excited about the growth of one ministry aimed at the miners in Pietermartzburg. “We have literature, we take bookmobiles and evangelists. They go and they sell literature, and then they hold evangelistic meetings. Then, they do hospital visitation on the mines and follow up a lot of those that show interest.” Weiandt adds that there’s a need for more missionaries to help develop the nationals’ work. “This is developing now to further follow up and tying it in with our church planting ministries. In the past, because of the men all being immigrants from other countries, those men would go back and start churches in their home countries. More and more, it’s local people starting churches in the localities.”
Poverty’s grip has shaken Eastern Europe to its foundations. As more people grow disillusioned with their governments, many are turning to Christ. As a result, the church is exploding and Global Advance is readying a Frontline Shepherd’s conference in Russia and Ukraine. Dr. David Shibley says: “Right now, they are begging for us to come and provide training and resources for them. We believe in seizing opportunity for the Gospel, and that’s why, even in the midst of Y2K concerns and the potential for some real hostility, we believe it’s time right now to strengthen the hands of our brothers and our sisters in Ukraine and in Russia.” Shibley says the meetings next month will shape a new role. “We are looking to train probably around 12-hundred Russian and Ukrainian pastors to help mobilize the evangelical wing of the church to help fulfill the Great Commission…raising up the Ukrainian church and the Russian church to be a tremendous force in the earth and a new missionary force for the 21rst century.”
And finally, many mission groups are looking at what God has done over the last ten decadesas they look to the new century. For Jaars International’sNard Pugyao (POOG-yow), seeing his people, the Isnag, be evangelized through a video ministry is an exciting prospect for the future. “I’m praying that every one of those 35-thousand Isnags would hear about the good news of Jesus Christ. That’s why the passion that I have is that they too, will know the good news of Jesus Christ and know him in a real way.” Pugyao adds that the vision of groups like Wycliffe Bible Translators and its partners is: “…to translate the Scriptures in the hearts of those two-thousand more languages by the year 2025. I’m praying that other mission organizations would take the vision and the passion to go and disciple and make these people grow.”
We begin today’s newscast in Venezuela where the loss of life isn’t the only problem facing to people of that South American country. Bill Gwyer is with New Tribes Mission. He just returned home to the United States and says travel or shipping in and out of the country is at a stand-still. “It’s already effecting New Tribes because we’ve got people that are coming in and going out. It’s going to affect everybody for the next good month. They expect the main airport to be closed down for a whole month, so it’s going to be a real challenge just for us to get back to the country.” Gwyer and his wife are staying at D & D Missionary Homes in Florida. He says evangelism will be difficult during this time. “The physical needs up there in Caracas are so great that everybody is being utilized just to help out in some many ways. In that capacity there’s the great opportunity to share the word. But right now, just trying to get into the city is a major thing with the roads being out.”
Meanwhile, a snowstorm of historic proportions didn’t stop evangelicals from helping the needy in the Balkan region. World Hope’s Joel Samy and his team handed out Boxes of Hope to orphaned children in Bosnia and Croatia. “These boxes were individually wrapped and given by families in the states, but most importantly we’ve been able to include Christian material from Child Evangelism Fellowship and also the God Cares about your Cares booklet. This was all done during the worst snow storm that has hit this central Bosnian region recorded this century.” Samy says five feet of snow feel in a short period of time, causing one of their vehicles to slide off the road into a land-mine zone. Despite that, he’s thankful for the response from these Muslim people. “It’s really special to see these children start opening the Christian material and then start reading the material word by word. So, we are delighted by the response of these children have toward spiritual things.”
