We begin today in Russia where the military has issued an ultimatum telling all Chechens to leave Grozny within five days or face an artillery bombardment. The Russian government guarantees safety to those who evacuate by December 11th. Open Doors’ Mike Yoder says since the border was sealed, they’ve heard nothing from the Christians who were trapped in Chechnya. “With five days, and no possibility of outsiders being allowed in this area, [we] have no way to help those few Christians that are left behind inside Grozny, inside Chechnya-one of the best things we can do is pray for them, that God will sustain them, and that they can join this exodus of terrified refugees and get over the border to safety.” Yoder says the church’s testimony is borne out in years of oppression: “An increasing time of persecution, or pressure, even the intensity of an operation that causes the church to be totally scattered, often is something that God will use to basically spread the Kingdom. God has not given up on Chechnya, and it’s not impossible that somehow they can return and it could be an unprecedented opportunity for the church.”
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Next, HCJB World Radio reports that Christians have received government permission to start a Christian FM station near Grozny, the capital of war-torn Chechnya. HCJB officials recently signed a partnership agreement with North Ossetia (oh-SEE-sha) Mission to put the station on the air. Daily broadcasts are expected to begin soon. Since 1990, the mission has worked in more than 70 countries to put Christian broadcasts on the air, often in areas formerly closed to missionary efforts.
Evangelical mission groups believe the time is short for sharing the Gospel freely in the Ukraine. Terry Sparks of Walk Thru the Bible says while a moderate was just elected president for another five years, the poor economy may end religious freedom. “We don’t think the doors will remain open in Ukraine indefinitely and it may be that these will be the last five years of freedom. People look back to the “good ole days” even though it was communist and say, I would rather have that than what we’re experiencing right now.” Sparks was in Ukraine to help with their Project Teach program. He says the program is needed to establish churches. “We learned that there were 1,500 villages that didn’t have a church or a pastor. We challenged the people to go to a village and take on the challenge of planting a church. And there were about, probably 400 to 600 people who responded to that challenge.”
Meanwhile, evangelical missionaries are making a concerted effort to reach street children with the Gospel in Mexico. Latin America Mission’s Sue Leak says LAM is building what they’re calling The Victory Center, a facility to house and rehabilitate children living on the streets. She explains the need. “We’ve found 5 and 6 year olds that are just all alone, living in the park. They’ve run away. One little boy we found in the park…definitely physically and sexually abused.” Leak hopes this center will enable them to reach these children with the Gospel more quickly. She says the longer a child has been on the streets, the more difficult they are to reach. “A kid that’s been on the street less amount of time is more likely to trust you, more likely to want to believe.” Leak hopes to house a number of homeless girls who she says are extremely vulnerable if they continue living on the streets.
Topping the news today, while European leaders want the Milosevic regime out of power, Christian groups are pointing Albanian Kosovars to Christ. Mark Hoekstra is with Audio Scriptures International. He says they just completed the Albanian translation of the New Testament on audiotape. He says it should be a draw for people. ” We got a reader from Albania. He’s one of the theater actors and one of the people that makes the movies and things. It took two weeks to do it. The entire recording has been completed. We just completed it last Friday. It’s now being processed and going to be put on cassette.” According to Hoekstra, Muslims will be the primary target of this audio scripture project. He explains why they put scripture on cassette. “The majority of the people over there don’t read, as so they don’t have access as we readers do to the New Testament. So, unless they have it in audio they actually won’t be able to hear it for themselves.”
Elsewhere, Trans World Radio is getting ready to launch a new project from St. Petersburg, Russia late next month. TWR’s Richard Greene says it’s a breakthrough for the ministry because: “We’re very excited that God has provided a major transmitting site in St. Petersburg to broadcast to the Scandinavian countries of Finland, Sweden and Norway as well as developing new ministries, particularly a teaching ministry through the Bible, to Latvia and Lithuania.” Greene says their old site will close in late January and they’ll begin broadcasting from the new site at that time. He adds that there’s a lot to be thankful for. “We certainly praise the Lord for a tremendous year of ministry. We’re now broadcasting just shy of 150 languages. We’ve increased the number of hours of broadcasting to over 14-hundred hours per week in well over 160 countries around the world.”
Japanese Christians are concerned about recently passed legislative requirements regarding the use of their national flag and anthem. Christian Reformed World Missions reports that the new legislation leans toward nationalism and encourages Shintoism, or worship of the emperor. Christians believe the change may lead people to substitute worship of the emperor with that of Christ. Many also feel that the legislation could lead to restrictions against evangelism and Christian ministry.
Meanwhile, over one-thousand people joined together to celebrate the Centenary of Mukti Church in India. Ramabai Mukti Mission says the four-day celebration included a challenge from the keynote speaker to totally commit to serving Christ and continue building God’s church. Mukti missionaries and evangelists in recent years have planted a number of churches and worship centers and seen many people makes decisions for Christ. Another highlight of the festivities was the dedication of the new Centenary Hall.
We begin today in Indonesia’s East Timor, where violence in the wake of an independence vote has begun to settle down. However, getting things back to normal is another matter. Compassion International’s Maryann Strombitski says: “The infrastructure has been totally ripped apart. They basically have no civil rule of their own right now, fresh food is hard to find, potable water is very hard to come by. Many of our church partners have not been able to return. A few of the children who we were serving have been separated from their parents.” Strombitski asks that Christians pray for their work during this time of change. “Pray that each of these children or parents who have not been able to be reunited as yet that this will be resolved in the next few months. Those who have returned, we continue to let them know that they have the hope and their faith in Christ that He is a constant in all of this [turmoil].”
Next, while a peace accord has been signed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, violence is still plaguing the country. According to reports, hundreds and possibly thousands of Zimbabwean troops are surrounded by rebels and under bombardment in the northeast. Despite the violence, Food For the Hungry’s John Farmer is traveling there today. “We’re going to an area around two towns, Kalimi and Moba. And, we’re going to be distributing seeds and tools to around 80,000 people over the next seven weeks. The area’s just become peaceful enough for people to return. And so, they need some help getting going again.” Farmer says they don’t team up with just anyone, as they’re hoping to further the Great Commission. “We can work through the church, and that’s how we like to work. In the areas that we’ve been working in for the last few years we’ve worked through the church. That’s our preferred method of operation.” Farmer says the new fighting shouldn’t affect their work areas.
