Lausanne World Pulse – News Briefs

June 2008

AROUND THE WORLD: World Food Crisis Leads to Scaling Back Assistance
World Vision (WV), which provides nearly 450,000 metric tons of food to some thirty countries, says soaring food costs and unmet donor-nation aid commitments may result in a twenty-three percent decrease in the number of people it can feed this year. The crisis will also prevent the launch of new food aid projects. WV is calling on donor governments to help with the World Food Program’s 755 million USD shortfall. It also hopes the upcoming G8 conference will address the crisis. WV director of advocacy and government relations Robert Kachritz asserts both short and long-term solutions are needed, involving long-range agricultural development, improved credit access for farmers, and enactment of fair trade policies. (World Vision)

AROUND THE WORLD: Food for the Hungry Responds to Global Food Crisis
As rapid increases in staple food prices continue, many of the world’s poor are being forced to sell tools, goats, and other livestock in order to survive. Food for the Hungry (FH), which provides emergency relief and development programs to more than twenty-six countries, is responding to the crisis in areas with the greatest need. FH is using their successful voucher system to help families obtain food locally and is providing dried food packets containing rice, soy protein, and vitamins. FH is also intensifying food production in rural areas with the goal of increasing production by twenty percent. (Food for the Hungry)

BRAZIL: Replica Train Stations Trace History of Scripture in Brazil
Three replica train stations have been erected at the Museum of the Bible in Barueri, São Paulo, as part of an exhibition to trace the history of the Holy Scriptures in Brazil. In recent years, the Bible Society of Brazil, which is responsible for the museum, has distributed six million Bibles, New Testaments, and portions of the scriptures throughout Brazil. The three train stations that make up the “Paths of the Bible in Brazil” exhibition are intended to draw attention to the beginnings of Bible work in Brazil, the distribution of the Holy Scriptures, and their influence. The platforms of the stations show the historical sequence of the presence of the Bible in Brazil from 1808 to the present. (Ecumenical News International)

ETHIOPIA: Medical Aid Sent to Ethiopian Jews
Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI) reports bringing medical relief to the “poorest Jewish communities on earth.” From 24 March–8 April 2008, a team of ninety volunteers served in Addis Ababa and Gondar, Ethiopia. The group, led by JVMI executive director Jonathan Bernis, included thirty-three healthcare professionals, who provided aid to the Beta Avraham and Beta Israel communities and their neighbors. JVMI visually documented the effort and is compiling its footage. (Jewish Voice Ministries International)

GHANA: President Urges for a Reintroduction of Religious and Moral Education
President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana has instructed authorities of basic schools in the country to revisit the teaching of Religious and Moral Education (RME), which hitherto had been removed from the syllabus. The president expressed displeasure about the negative moral impact of globalization on the youth through the mass media. He therefore urged the school children to balance their academic learning with that of their moral duty. While Christians and Muslims embraced the directive of the president to reintroduce the RME into the basic school’s curriculum, a traditional African religious group, the Africanian Mission, did not see the idea as good news. For them, the teaching of RME would promote foreign culture at the expense of African values. (ASSIST News Service)

HAITI: Food Shortage Impacts Church of the Nazarene
The current food crisis in the Republic of Haiti stems from rapidly rising food prices fueled by the worldwide oil crisis. The price of rice and beans, staples in Haiti, has risen dramatically in the past few months. Rice has more than doubled in price in the last 120 days, affecting every one of the more than 100,000 Nazarenes in the country. Six percent of the membership of the Church of the Nazarene live in Haiti. For the past year, Haiti Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) coordinator Walliere Pierre has helped the Church in Haiti raise money to be used in times of disaster. Haiti field strategy coordinator Bill Dawson has been working with Pierre and NCM to develop a plan to respond to the food shortage. The food crisis has also impacted the Nazarene seminary. The seminary is one of six in the country authorized by the government to offer the bachelor of theology degree. Even before the latest food price increases, approximately fifty percent of the seminary’s annual budget was used to feed the students. Now the seminary is struggling to give three meals a day to the students in residence. Mission employees and pastors have been hit hard by these food prices as well. (Church of the Nazarene)

IRELAND: Largest Evangelistic Event in Nearly Five Decades
Nearly thirty-three thousand people attended Franklin Graham’s first Festival of Northern Ireland, the area’s largest evangelistic event since Billy Graham visited in 1961. More than 385 churches united for the Celebration of Hope at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. “Not long ago, people thought Belfast was a hopeless city because of the troubles,” said Lord Mayor of Belfast, Jim Rodgers. “Now is the time for the Celebration of Hope, and this visit by Franklin Graham is an opportunity to change lives.” The Belfast Celebration of Hope marked the first Franklin Graham Festival to be streamed live on the Internet on www.billygraham.org. (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)

ISRAEL: Caspari Center Celebrates Twenty-five Years
The Caspari Center, which seeks to train and educate leaders for the Body of Christ in Israel, recently celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary. Caspari offers leadership training and Shabbat School teachers’ seminars, maintains a library, sponsors tours and study trips, and authors books relevant to believers’ daily needs and the history of the Jewish people. It is believed there are nearly seven thousand believers worshipping in one hundred congregations in Israel. (Caspari Center)

KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakhstan Weighs Stricter Religion Law
Kazakhstan’s lower chamber of parliament has passed new laws creating greater restrictions on foreign missionaries and evangelical churches. Among other concerns, the new law: imposes quotas of missionaries allowed in Kazakhstan, strictly limits the distribution of religious material, and prohibits the acceptance of anonymous or foreign donations by religious organizations in the country. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev must approve the legislation for it to become law. As this is further evidence of ministry doors closing in the former Soviet Union, Slavic Gospel Association president Dr. Robert Provost urges Christians for fervent ongoing prayer. (ASSIST News)

POLAND: Evangelistic Campaign in Poland a Huge Success
Response to the evangelistic campaign ProChrist in Poland overwhelmed organizers, as approximately twenty thousand visitors made decisions for Christ. The campaign, held in April 2008, was a joint venture of Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist churches working with the regional Ecumenical Council and the Catholic Fokolar Movement. ProChrist began in 1993, when Billy Graham preached in Essen, Germany. Fifty-two churches in and around the city of Katowice will provide spiritual follow-up. (ASSIST News)

RUSSIA: Competing for the Next Generation
For nearly ten years, the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church (MP ROC) has sought to promote its “Foundations of Russian Orthodox Culture” as a compulsory school subject, to try to win children and young people. This divides children by religion and has led to the persecution of “sectarians” (including Protestants), even in schools. The MP ROC also wants to stop children’s ministries in Protestant churches, including Sunday School. A Methodist church in Smolensk was liquidated by a court order after a complaint by a Russian Orthodox Bishop. The church was found guilty of giving religious education without an educational license—in a Sunday school of just four children. (World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission)

TURKEY: Musical Ministry Tours Turkey
TACO, a creative arts ministry started by OM International, recently toured four cities in Turkey, spreading the gospel with music and audience interaction. The group reported fifty-two requests for biblical literature and thirty-one requests for further conversation about Jesus. “From now on I want to be informed of all your events. I want to meet with someone to talk more about Jesus Christ,” said one attendee. (OM International)

TURKEY: New Testaments Distributed, Companies Established, Christians Trained 
Over 500,000 New Testaments have been distributed throughout Turkey, Aslan International (AI) reports. Four New Testament book companies have also been established, and Turkish believers are being trained and sent out to evangelize. In 1987, the first coordinated effort to distribute Turkish New Testaments began. Despite many threats, arrests, and harassments, AI continues its ministry in the country. According to its website, “Praying for the sick, transforming lives, planting churches, training nationals is all a part of Aslan’s vision. Ministry means risk, desperation, new frontiers, and a passion for souls.” (Aslan International)

UNITED KINGDOM: Christians Attempt One Million Hours of Kindness
British Christians are being challenged to donate one million hours of kindness as part of Hope 08, a nationwide grassroots mission. The effort, called “HOPE Where You Live,” is the third of Hope 08’s five initiatives. Believers from all denominations and traditions will engage in practical actions that meet specific needs in their local communities. Hours from the entire year will count toward the one million-hour target; however, May will be the high point of activity, particularly Monday, 26 May, a bank holiday in the UK. Churches can record donated hours on the Hope 08 website. (Hope 08)

UNITED STATES: International Teams USA Elects New President and CEO
On 7 April 2008, International Teams (ITeams) USA elected Rev. Scott R. Olson as its new president and CEO. Dr. Donald Byker, who headed the search and is vice chair of the ITeams USA board, stated, “As we did our diligence and interviews it became clear…that our process was being led by the Lord.” Recently, Olson served as director of operations for Global Partners, an international mission agency, during which he traveled to over forty countries and worked alongside missionaries and international leaders. (International Teams USA)

UNITED STATES: Boyd Installed as President of MAF
John Boyd, a native of Scotland reared in South Africa, was recently installed as the new president of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). Boyd and his wife, Tanya, joined MAF in 1993 following a highly successful business career. The couple served as a missionary pilot family in Zaire, Haiti, and Lesotho, supporting the ministry of missionaries, local churches, and medical ministries, as well as that of relief and development organizations. Boyd was appointed CEO of MAF-South Africa in 1998. Four years later, the Boyd family relocated to the United States where Boyd served as vice-president of ministry advancement. In September 2007, the MAF board of directors appointed him as president and CEO of MAF-U.S. (Mission Aviation Fellowship)