Lausanne World Pulse – News Briefs

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada has established the Centre for Research and Canadian Evangelicalism in order to enhance the effectiveness of ministry carried out by evangelicals in Canada and shed light on the character and role of Evangelicalism in Canada. The Centre will engage in research and research partnerships, and will publish the results in an online publication called Church & Faith Trends. The Centre will also act as a clearinghouse and portal for external research on Canadian evangelicalism. (Evangelical Fellowship of Canada) Read Article >>

CHINA

For decades, the Chinese government has been denying the true extent of Chinese Christianity. In 2004, the government-backed Amity News Service put the number of Protestants at eighteen million. However, China Aid Association reported on 8 January 2007 that Yie Xiaowen, director of the Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs, said in two internal meetings held in Beijing University and Chinese Academy of Social Science that the number of Christians in China has reached 130 million (ten percent of the population). The vast majority of China’s Christians are Protestants who worship mostly in unregistered house churches. Even though repression and persecution persist and Christian leaders are still being arrested, the Chinese Church is dynamic. (ASSIST News Service) Read Article >>

INDIA

A Christian council in India has appealed to the governor of the state of Andhra Pradesh to halt legislation that would ban non-Hindu religious activity around the Hindu temple town of Tirupati. “This order is in total violation of both the letter and spirit of the Indian constitution,” the Global Council of Indian Christians said in its appeal to the governor, Rameshwar Thakur. The council said the legislation to ban all religious activity except that connected to Hinduism around the shrine of Tirumala is “likely to be misused to harass the adherents of other faiths who happen to be the residents of the temple town.” (Ecumenical News International) Read Article >>

MALAYSIA

Representatives of Dusun-speaking churches attended the recent dedication of the revised Dusun Bible. Dusun is one of the main indigenous languages in the province of Sabah, northern Borneo. The first edition of the Bible in this language was launched in 1990. In response to feedback from Dusun pastors, the Bible Society of Malaysia implemented some revisions. The outcome of this revision work was dedicated at the Borneo Evangelical Church in Likas, Kota Kinabalu, in July at a service held in conjunction with the Borneo Evangelical Church Conference on Evangelism and Mission. Many local Christians will have an opportunity to obtain their own copy of the revised Dusun Bible when leaders visit Dusun-speaking churches in smaller towns around Kota Kinabalu. (United Bible Societies) Read Article >>

RWANDA

Three years ago, Antoine Rutayisire, African Enterprise Rwandan team leader, received a copy of The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. After reading it, he decided the Rwandan people should have the privilege of reading it in Kinyarwanda, their native language. He started translating and one year later Antoine was invited to be Warren’s interpreter. When Warren expressed the idea of getting the book translated into Kinyarwanda, Antoine told him it was almost finished. The Kinyarwanda version has been launched. The intention was not only to turn the churches of Rwanda into “purpose driven churches” but to turn the whole nation into a “purpose driven nation.” In fact, Rwandan president Paul Kagame invited Rutayisire “to help turn Rwanda into a purpose driven nation.” (African Enterprise) Read Article >>

UNITED KINGDOM

Hundreds of UK churches are expected to hold Micah Sunday 07 events this fall. Micah Sunday is an annual event which aims to galvanize the international Church family to act on behalf of the world’s poorest people. The theme of Micah Sunday 07 in the UK is HIV and AIDS. Sermon themes, creative prayer, worship ideas and practical ways to engage with issues will be provided by Micah Challenge UK. These will help UK churches to raise awareness of the injustice of poverty, HIV and AIDS. According to Andy Clasper, executive director of Micah Challenge UK, “Micah Sunday 07 will be a chance for us to look again at God’s heart for the poor and to remind ourselves that when the Church family stands up and speaks out in support of the poor, it makes a difference. It will be a time to take practical steps that make a difference in alleviating poverty, and tackling HIV and AIDS.” (Micah Challenge UK) Read Article >>

UNITED STATES

Representing more than thirty countries around the world, some 102,000 people gathered 3-5 August 2007 in Anaheim, California, USA, for the annual Southern California Harvest Crusade with Greg Laurie—an event that has been a fixture in Orange County since 1990. Over the course of the weekend, 9,521 people made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Another 32,959 people watched the Harvest Crusade virtually over the Internet at www.harvest.org, with seventy-one of those viewers indicating professions of faith in Christ. For the first time this year, a Harvest Crusade blog gave readers up-to-the-minute information about the crusades and gave opportunity to post feedback. The Internet broadcasts are archived and available for viewing. In addition, the Harvest Crusade may be viewed via podcast at www.harvest.org/podcast. (ASSIST News Service) Read Article >>

UNITED STATES

Christians continue to be martyred abroad, but few American believers are aware of how pervasive religious persecution is around the world. “Christians in this nation don’t realize how fortunate they are to live in the US,” observes Jim Jacobson, president of Christian Freedom International. The Taliban’s kidnapping of the South Korean aid workers in Afghanistan illustrates how that conflict is essentially religious. In Turkey, attacks continue on Christians and churches. In an area along the Black Sea coast where an Italian Catholic priest was previously murdered, a Protestant church was vandalized and its pastor threatened. Attacks on Christians are up in India. In one city, a Catholic convent school was attacked; in another town Hindu fanatics murdered a Christian convert; in another case Christian missionaries were beaten. In Kazakhstan, Christians were tossed out of their home because they held an unauthorized prayer meeting. A Baptist minister was arrested in Azerbaijan while conducting services. Malaysia’s top court prevented a Muslim woman from legally converting to Christianity. Egypt similarly discourages conversions away from Islam; while mobs recently attacked Coptic Christians thought to be planning to build a church. Pakistan is preparing to execute a Christian falsely accused of blaspheming Islam and the prophet Mohammed. China continues to close down Protestant home churches and promote the official “patriotic” Catholic Church over the underground, legitimate church. Vietnam recently arrested and tortured Montagnard Christians. In Indonesia, Christians have been arrested for blasphemy; Muslim extremists forced the Carmelite Prayer Centre in West Java to cancel a planned international conference. Christians were killed and wounded in a bomb attack in Ethiopia. Far worse is the plight of Christians in Iraq, says Jacobson. Christians are routinely murdered and kidnapped; Christian churches are regularly destroyed; hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled Iraq. American Christians “belong to an international fellowship of believers,” explains Jacobson, and “have an obligation to care for their brethren around the world….It is ironic that in an age when many people once thought religion was on the wane, persecution has become a bigger issue than ever.” (Christian Newswire) Read Article >>