Unanswered questions regarding the social interactions of individuals and entire cultures require us to pause and look deeply at ourselves, our lives and our circumstances.Read more…
UNITED STATES
U.S. churches say they have made significant advances in the fight against human trafficking in recent years, due in part to the opposition of faith-based groups. Lutherans, Adventists, the Salvation Army and the National Association of Evangelicals are educating theirRead more…
INDONESIA
Christian Freedom International (CFI) has delivered more than twenty thousand pounds of medicine, cooking utensils, tools and clothing to residents on Nias Island. Ninety percent of the residents are Christian and many believe the Indonesian government has been discriminating againstRead more…
NIGERIA
Nigerian evangelists say that a revival is sweeping the ranks of the police force in Africa’s most populous nation as thousands of law enforcement officers are casting aside their weapons and surrendering their lives to Jesus. According to the evangelists,Read more…
ISRAEL
A census taken just before the state of Israel was founded in 1948 showed that eighty percent of Bethlehem’s inhabitants were Christians. Today, Christians only make up forty percent of the town’s forty thousand residents. According to reports, the townRead more…
PUERTO RICO
The Church of God is one of many denominations in Puerto Rico that has a growing burden for world missions. Although at one point the missionary zeal in the country seemed to diminish, in the past six to eight yearsRead more…
ROMANIA
The Bible League has reached a milestone in Romania with the establishment of 1,065 new evangelical churches since 1993, when the organization first began working with national Christians. In 2005, eighty-one new churches and more than 18,200 church members wereRead more…
SOUTH AFRICA
Claudine Storbeck, a Nazarene from South Africa, was recently appointed as a World Federation for the Deaf (WFD) Expert in the area of education. Storbeck’s role will include research, planning and implementing surveys and studies on specific areas pertaining toRead more…
SWEDEN
Swedish pastor Ake Green was recently acquitted of hate speech by the Swedish Supreme Court, the nation’s highest court. The precedent-setting verdict upheld freedom of speech and religion. Green was accused of the crime after denouncing homosexual behaviors in aRead more…
TAIWAN
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a prominent congresswoman in Taiwan have endorsed the distribution of the Book of Hope, a compilation of the four Gospels which tells the story of Jesus, to public schools in Taiwan. ToRead more…
UNITED STATES
The eighty-member First Baptist Church in Avondale, Louisiana, USA, has seen two middle-aged women come to trust in Jesus Christ in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The first woman wandered into the church on the first Sunday the congregation metRead more…
ARGENTINA
A small church of only two hundred people reached nearly their entire community by distributing more than two thousand copies of the Book of Hope, a compilation of the four Gospels which tells the story of Jesus. Over a two-monthRead more…
VIETNAM
Six ethnic minority Montagnards have been sentenced to between seven and seventeen years in jail for “threatening national security,” the Vietnam News Agency reports. The men, from the Central Highlands, are Protestants who follow an evangelical Christian church not sanctionedRead more…
USA Evangelicals/Evangelicals in a Global Context
Over the past one hundred years global Christianity has experienced a profound southern shift in its geographical center of gravity.Read more…
Aceh: One Year Ago and Today
At 6:58 a.m. local time on 26 December 2004, a trembling started in the ocean off Sumatra Island some 155 miles southeast of Banda Aceh and two hundred miles west of Medan.Read more…
Reflecting on Natural Disasters: A Bridge to the Eternal
Recently, several ministry leaders and myself sat and listened to a friend of mine, Jack Munday, speak. Jack directs the Rapid Response department of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Rapid Response trains and deploys temporary chaplains to disaster areas. SinceRead more…
Lausanne Women’s Network Letter
The Forum on World Evangelization hosted by Lausanne in Thailand at the end of 2004 seems like a long time ago, but the memory of 1,500 people from 130 countries all working on particular issues related to obstacles and opportunities for the gospel still lingers.Read more…
More than a Band-aid
It would take more fingers than I have to count all the times one of my boys has fallen down and skinned his knee, arm or other appendage. In more serious crashes (meaning it involves crying and an initial hysteria that cannot be soothed by words or hugs), the only possible cure is a quickly-delivered band-aid.Read more…
The “Small” Problem of Leprosy is Bigger than We Think
In the face of devastating diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, and global needs such as poverty and trade injustice, the relatively í¢äåñsmallí¢äå problem of leprosy can often be forgotten.Read more…
InterVarsity Makes AIDS a Priority Issue for Urbana 06
The United Nations reports that nearly forty million people in the world are infected with HIV/AIDS.Read more…
Into Their World… The Hazara of Pakistan
The Hazara of Pakistan, numbering over 110,000 people, are refugees from Afghanistan. Many fled Afghanistan after the civil war of the 1800s…Read more…
After the Attack: Finding Open Doors to Share the Gospel in Beslan, Russia
Beslan is a small town where people seem to know something about nearly everyone. ItÌ¢âÂã¢s a town where hospitality is treasured and where children walk the streets freely. Beslan is a town where cows can graze wherever they please. ItÌ¢âÂã¢s a town where one can often hear the rooster crow.Read more…
Sri Lankan Devastation Allows the Universal Church an Opportunity to Give
Sri Lankan beaches are the most picturesque in the world. Soft sounds of the waves lapping, an endless strip of white, sandy beaches contrasting with deep, blue waters and coral reefs that are home to many types of tropical fishÌ¢âÂÛthese are the wonders of the Sri Lankan coastRead more…
Fighting against Forced Child Prostitution in India: How Restore International is Seeking to Defend the Defenseless
India ranks high on the list of countries where commercial sexual exploitation of underage girls occurs.Read more…
One Year Later: Tsunami Devastation and Changed Lives
Youth with a Mission (YWAM) teams have been working in war zones, crisis and natural disasters for the past twenty-six years. However, nothing has impacted us more than the 2004 tsunami.Read more…
Tales from the Gulf Coast: American Bible Society Delivers Nearly One Million Bibles and Scripture Portions to Katrina Victims
The American Bible SocietyÌ¢âÂã¢s response to the need for Bibles for Hurricane Katrina evacuees was swift and coordinated with churches and like-minded organizations throughout the United States Gulf Coast area.Read more…
Portable Dentistry and Proclamation of the Gospel in One Ministry
These are encouraging times for mission organizations and workers committed to serving the health needs of suffering people. Never before have there been more opportunities to reach non-believers with pain relief and the caring gospel of Jesus Christ.Read more…
Finishing the Task Partners Committed to Reaching UUPGs
World renowned mission agencies have challenged local churches to work with them in Finishing the Task (FTT). This vision, to launch indigenously-led church planting movements to targeted groups around the world, was presented 14-17 November at the Billy Graham Training Center, in Asheville, NC, USA.Read more…
BURMA
A new report from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPPB) reveals widespread torture occurring in Burmese jails. The report, based on interviews with thirty-five former political prisoners, includes details of poor prison conditions, deliberate medical negligence, severe beatings andRead more…
The Biblical Response to Disaster Requires Surrender
Christians can look to the example of Nehemiah to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by disasters, but they must first Ì¢âÂÒsurrender all.Ì¢âÂåRead more…
Motives for Mission
The mission of the Church may be defined as Ì¢âÂÒwhat God has sent the Church into the world to do.Ì¢âÂå This includes both evangelistic and social responsibilities. Many speak of our mission, but what about our motivations for mission?Read more…
On the Frontlines of Disaster: Operation Blessing a First Responder to the Hurting
The residents of the upper and lower ninth ward in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, never expected to hear the cracking sounds of the levee that gave way to the rushing floodwaters brought on by Hurricane Katrina.Read more…
Christian Partnership Amidst and After the Tsunami Devastation
Where were you when the tsunami of 2005 devastated huge portions of Southeast Asia?Read more…
FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE…
Natural Disasters and the Gospel Peoples of the World On the Frontlines of Disaster
Around the World
With the enormity of impact and seemingly increased frequency of natural disasters, many people may develop what some experts call a “global desensitization” to the overwhelming amount of information they are receiving from media sources. However, according to Rita GuerraRead more…
Africa
Teen Missions International is holding ten boot camps in sub-Saharan Africa designed to train teenagers from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda and Tanzania for ministry. Teens involved partake in projects such as building, orphanage work, agriculture, evangelism and otherRead more…
Changes in Leadership and Venue of the German Lausanne Committee
The Board of the German Lausanne Movement elected Birgit Winterhoff 14 November 2005 as the new chair of the German Lausanne Committee, also known as the Ì¢âÂÒCoalition for Evangelization.Ì¢âÂåRead more…