Elsewhere, China has begun the new year by pursuing relations with African
countries. Beijing reportedly has begun a flurry of diplomatic activity in Africa this
month. The Chinese reportedly are looking to build better relations with developing
countries, including African nations. Grace Ministries’ Sam Vinton believes this is
because: “The Africans are sensing more and more that the Western world, the United
States and Europe, have sort of abandoned them to their fighting. We are not really
doing much of anything…whereas, we look at some of those other places where we
intervened-the Chinese, right now, are being looked upon as a government that’s
willing to help them when we are not.” Vinton says although the new ties have not
immediately made evangelistic outreach more difficult: “I think eventually, if these
countries owe China, then of course, China has ways of determining policy. Whether
or not that will effect the Gospel is unclear to me. Although, with long-range
implications, there possibly could be a change of direction for some of these
governments.”
News Archives
A mission group is alarmed at the growing reports of violence and kidnappings
aimed at believers in Colombia. Latin America Mission says many key Christian
leaders are still being threatened and some churches have lost their pastors to the
violence. LAM asks that other believers pray for the protection of their missionaries
and pastors working in the country. Several are developing ministries to help the
refugees displaced by the fighting and those affected by natural disasters.
Next, a new Spanish Bible is taking the church by storm. The International Bible
Society says the new version has sold more than 1 million Spanish Scriptures in the
United States and Latin America since it was released last year. IBS says that they are
hoping Christians will use this version to aid in evangelism, discipleship, and
strengthening the Spanish-speaking Church. There are plans to introduce the translation
this year in Illinois, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and New Mexico.
We begin today in Indonesia, where fighting has broken out again this week
between Muslims and Christians. Due to the number of casualties, officials now say
this is the worst of any religious conflict in Indonesia’s 50-year history as an
independent nation. Open Doors’ Terry Madison says: “A number of churches,
anywhere from one to five churches have been burned, a number of people have been
killed, and an estimation of at least a hundred of those being called Christians.
Violence, which is very close to the tinder point, broke out and a number of houses
and mosques were burned down, businesses were destroyed.” Madison adds that the
body of Christ elsewhere should be in vigil. “We need to pray that men and women on
both sides will find common ground and realize that destroying each others’ mosques
and churches, killing each other, is to nobody’s best interest. We need to pray that the
Lord will help the Christians and the nominal Christians find some peace.”
Next, thousands are homeless and without food or water following devastating
flooding in Venezuela. Officials now believe damages could total two billion dollars.
Feeding Starving Children International’s Richard Sandbatch says the disaster has
also affected their work. “Pastor Samuel Olson is the Venezuelan Evangelical World
Fellowship president-[he] had an emergency response team, along with a feeding
station, and they lost a building and their vehicles in the torrential rains and mudslides.
So, it becomes very critical that we not only replace the food, but try to help with
vehicles as well.” Sandbatch is pleading for help from the body of Christ. “The colossal
need for Pastor Olson is wisdom. They have a disaster relief team, and all of the
sudden, their vehicles are gone. When you look at a town of Caracas and the various
surrounding areas and see how devastated it is, you say, ‘God, where do I start?’ and
‘What do I do next?'”
The new international headquarters for Sammy Tippit Ministries is being
dedicated later this month. Formerly known as “God’s Love in Action”, the
evangelistic ministry is based in San Antonio, Texas but is active in more than 40
countries around the world. As the crusades continue to grow, STM expects to
minister this year to over 1.25 million people. The new facility will allow them to
develop the staff and communication center to reach people in the world who may be
unable to attend a crusade.
Elsewhere, American Leprosy Mission is excited to be involved with a new
global alliance to focus on countries still struggling with outbreaks of leprosy.
ALM’s Chris Doyle says they recently joined the effort in order to better meet physical
and spiritual needs. “We think we’ve got the bases covered worldwide. This alliance
was launched and we’re glad to be a part of this alliance to try to really focus on some
of these countries that really need some help to eliminate leprosy as a public health
problem.” Doyle says their involvement with the partnership allows them to fulfill their
mission. “American Leprosy Mission’s focus and purpose is on the spiritual side. The
physical side, in providing leprosy treatment and rehabilitation is sort of our ‘open door’
to work with people and to work in some of the countries where you couldn’t
otherwise go as missionaries. But, our main purpose is to share the good news of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ with these people.”
Headlining the news today, the resignation of President Boris Yeltsin as
President of Russia surprised many, including missionary leaders. Russian
Ministries Peter Deyneka says he believes evangelism and religious freedom will
continue under the control of his replacement, Vladimir Putin (poo-tihn). “Apparently
he’s taking the same line as Yeltsin did, which was very apropos for Christian work
and evangelistic work right now. We can’t predict the future.” And they’re going to
need that freedom because Deyneka says there’s a new evangelistic opportunity among
the Chechen war refugees. “There are hundreds of thousands of refugees. We, here at
Russian Ministries are taking this seriously and are encouraging other mission groups to
join us in a partnership to participate in this evangelism. These are primarily Muslim
who for the first and maybe the only time in their lives will have a chance to hear the
Gospel as they are outside of Chechnya.”
Next, assessment teams are confirming reports of massive casualties and
destruction in Venezuela and missionaries say there’s much work to do. South
Baptist International Mission Board’s Dickie Nelson says up to 50-thousand are
dead and 400-thousand people are homeless. Nelson says they’re planning assistance
in two phases. “One would be very immediate that could involve things like large water
purification systems, mobilizing some of our states that have these portable kitchens
that can feed thousands of people daily. And, then more long term we would probably
be looking at volunteer teams in terms of some type of reconstruction of both churches
and homes.” Nelson says while the physical needs are important, so are spiritual needs.
“We’re looking at a people that are going to be devastated and without hope. What we
have to offer, way beyond the physical is the fact that there is hope in Jesus Christ.
We’re going to find people that are really looking for answers. And, we’re going to
offer them the Good News about what Christ can do in their lives.”
The latest fighting in Indonesia comes at the end of a year of continuous
violence that plagues an area once known as a haven of religious harmony.
Voice of the Martyr’s Todd Nettleton says: “The Muslims are not going to give up
until they hold a majority on some of these islands, and the frightening thing is that the
government has not really taken any steps to stop this. It makes it much more
dangerous to be a Christian and much more of a challenge for Christian groups to
operate in an environment that is obviously a tinderbox.” Nettleton adds that the future
of evangelism is somewhat uncertain, but: “We can pray for these brothers and sisters
that the gold that is in their lives will show through and will win others to Christ. And
then, pray for safety for our couriers, and pray for wisdom that we’ll know how best to
help.”
