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AFRICA: According to recent UN statistics, 41 million people are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Three-quarters of them live in Africa. In some southern African countries, more than a third of adults carry the virus. One of the most serious consequences is the exploding population of orphans: 34 million African children under 15 have lost at least one parent. For many, this means begging, prostitution, crime, sickness, no school and fighting with rebel armies.

CENTRAL ASIA:

Mission agencies are partnering to produce a new Bible translation in Central Asian Russian. Many Russian-speaking Muslims were educated under the Soviets and therefore speak Russian better than their native language. As cultural Muslims, they associate Christians with the hardships of life under Soviet rule. Many of them cannot read Scripture translations in their national languages, but they won’t even open a Russian Bible because of the cross on the cover and the traditional Russian religious language inside. The new translation uses Central Asian religious terms and non-ecclesiastical language.

CHINA:

Rules limiting family size and an economic boom have created a generation of younger urban Chinese who are used to being pampered, and are more materialistic and career driven than their parents. By their late twenties, many Chinese earn the highest wages in their families and are trendy shopaholics…The government is blocking tens of thousands of Web sites, according to a recent Harvard report. Blocked sites include anything to do with Taiwan, virtually all religious sites including those for Tibetans, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Sikhs, major media sites such as CBS, ABC, The New York Times, and various major universities including MIT and Columbia University. The government also blocks many sites about health in China, including searches for “hunger china” and “AIDS china.”

EUROPE:

A Bible project in Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland encompasses a wide range of approaches to present the Bible as modern and relevant. Year of the Bible 2003 targets individuals, local congregations and the general public. Initiatives include TV and radio programs, traveling exhibitions for adults and children and special Web sites:
www.2003 dasjahrderbibel.de
www.jahr-der-bibel.ch
www.bibel-entdecker-tour.de

KENYA:

President Mwai Kibaki is moving swiftly on his electoral promises to fight corruption. New legislation is creating an anti-graft authority for investigating and prosecuting corruption cases in the public and private sectors. All public servants will be required to declare their wealth. Kenya’s past failure to pass anti-graft legislation has frozen almost $1 billion in international aid. The IMF and World Bank have told the Kibaki government it must pass laws tackling economic crimes before lending is resumed…Until last month, parents shouldered costs of primary education such as text books, water, electricity and school maintenance. In Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum, primary school fees of almost $4 a month made children’s education unaffordable for many families. If the new law works, parents should only pay for uniforms and supplies like notebooks. But insufficient classrooms and teachers will still prevent many children from starting school. In 2001, 78 percent of school-age children were enrolled in primary school compared to 95 percent in 1991.

NIGERIA:

Fears of more ethnic and religious bloodshed are rising as the nation faces a presidential election slated for April. Since the 1999 democratic election of President Obasanjo, the country has been wracked by religious violence and increasing polarization along ethnic and religious lines. For decades, northern Muslims had ruled Nigeria through a series of military dictatorships. Since Obasanjo’s election, northern governors have pushed for Islamic law (sharia) in the north. In the current campaign, Obansanjo was elected candidate for the ruling party and Major-General Muhammad Buhari was selected for the main opposition party. Obasanjo is a Christian from the southwest, and Buhari is a Muslim from the northwest. Buhari, a strong supporter of sharia, is urging all Muslims to vote for a Muslim. It has been 19 years since a civilian government has organized elections.

TURKMENISTAN:

Despite a continuing economic downward spiral, the country’s dictator, Saparmurat Niyazov, continues to dole out benefits to the masses-free gasoline, heavily subsidized housing and dirt cheap in-country airline tickets. But, an estimated quarter of adults are unemployed, public education has been cut from 10 years to nine, and universities are in such bad shape they’ve been discredited by most other countries. Frequent food shortages ply the country and visas to go abroad are nearly impossible to obtain…The population is largely Sunni Muslim, and the state is staunchly secular. Turkish missionaries are promoting political Islam in 14 magnet schools that boast computers, teachers trained in Turkey and better facilities than local schools.

VENEZUELA:

In the world’s fifth largest oil exporter, gas was once cheaper than water. A general strike and political turmoil caused some motorists to sleep overnight in their cars to fill up their gas tanks. The crisis spurred missionaries and churches to develop creative ministry strategies. Churches set up film projectors to show the Jesus film at gas stations and youth groups passed out water bottles and tracts.

VIETNAM:

In January, the government granted permission to the Evangelical Church of Vietnam-South (ECVN(S)) to open a class for training 50 male church leaders, reports Compass Direct. The ECVN(S) represents more than half of the country’s 1.2 million Protestants. Christian leaders view the move as a very small crack in the door to religious freedom. The church’s seminary campus was confiscated in 1976. Since the ECVN(S) received legal recognition in April 2001, it has requested to open a Bible school. The church hopes to hold an opening ceremony for the new seminarians on February 14, 2003. Hundreds of thousands of minority Christians historically related to the ECVN(S) are still considered “illegal.” More than 400 churches in Dak Lak province were forcibly shut down last fall.

February 21, 2003