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ANGOLA: Former rebels in central Angola are supposed to be training for new jobs in thirty-five government centers. Officially civilians, the eighty thousand men probably have access to weapons, which they might use if the government runs out of money and fails to keep its promises to them. The UN tries to feed four million displaced people. Some Angolan Christians fled to South Africa during the war and organized seven churches and an association called the Evangelical Bible Church. Trans World Radio has begun airing daily programs in two Angolan languages from its transmitter in Swaziland.

ARGENTINA: Economic problems are compounded by increasing numbers of robberies, murders and kidnappings. In Buenos Aires province, where one-third of Argentines live, crime has more than doubled since 1991. That’s the official rate. People say that most crimes go unrecorded.

AUSTRALIA: The Larrakia people in Darwin are trying to claim their rights to hundreds of acres of undeveloped land around the city. Native title rights have existed in Australia for just ten years after the High Court decided in favor of a group of Murray Islanders. Although hopes for great improvements followed the decision, it appears that the aborigines still fall behind in employment, housing, health and education. Indigenous communities suffer high rates of poverty, domestic violence, alcoholism and drug addiction.

BRAZIL: For the past five years much of Latin America has slipped economically. Brazil’s president-elect, Lula da Silva, faces a tough battle to keep his country from plunging into inflation. His Workers’ Party has aroused great expectations among the country’s 170 million people. The party is an alliance of trade unionists, community activists inspired by Catholic liberation theology, and leftist academics. Despite reforms under outgoing President Cardoso, Brazil is still plagued by corruption, violent crime, injustice and widespread poverty. Land reform is one of the most persistent problems, although 600,000 families have been settled on cooperative farms.

CHINA: The government has admitted that at least one million Chinese are HIV-positive. The figure matches United Nations estimates. The northern province of Henan has been especially hard hit. Doubts remain about China’s ability to handle the epidemic because of limited financial and technical resources.

COLOMBIA: Mission leaders report that new zoning rules have restricted areas where new churches can be built. They fear that many churches could be closed because they are located in restricted areas. Catholic churches are historical monuments and therefore not subject to the restrictions. Meanwhile, in Bogota church women bring hope to hospital patients. Their ministry began thanks to a new law that allows evangelicals equal access to the hospitals.

COTE D’IVOIRE: West Africa nervously awaits the outcome of Côte d’Ivoire’s struggle between the government and rebel forces. Observers fear the kind of devastation that virtually destroyed Liberia. Nearby countries rely on the paychecks earned in Côte d’Ivoire by their migrant workers. If these workers continue to flee, the economic and social damage would be enormous, especially in Burkina Faso and Mali.

ETHIOPIA: Because of severe drought Ethiopia has appealed for food and other help. The World Food Program estimates that nearly six million people are dangerously hungry. The drought is attributed not just to the lack of rain, but also to the 1998-2000 war with Eritrea, which drove 350,000 people from their homes and destroyed flour mills, bridges, power lines and irrigation systems. More than eighty percent of Ethiopians are farmers.

MALDIVES: Ruling since 1978, President Gayoom places the highest authority behind the distribution of Islamic teachings. He insists that no other religion is permissible. No churches are allowed. Of the 286,000 inhabitants, six hundred or so are believed to be Christians.

MEDIA: The World by Radio consortium of nine missionary broadcasters met in October to review progress and make new plans for broadcasts to people without programs in their own languages. Since the project began in 1985, 120 new language services have been added. A new effort to reach the world’s great population centers is underway…. Magalla, a Christian magazine serving Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, has completed twenty-five years of publishing monthly issues. Some 300,000 people read Magalla in all but two Arab countries. One North African country wants to tax the magazine, which would put it out of reach of many people.

NIGERIA: Freedom House in Washington, D.C. has released a report documenting violations of human rights and religious freedom in Nigeria. The report warns that if Islamic law (sharia) is allowed to spread, religious war could break out and Nigeria could become a haven for Islamic radicals. The imposition of sharia in twelve of Nigeria’s thirty-six states has sparked political and religious debate. Some Muslim politicians seem to agree with Christians that sharia is undemocratic. As long as sharia was limited to land and family disputes, people did not seem to mind. However, punishments of flogging, amputation and stoning brought things to a boiling point. In the three years since sharia was introduced some 100,000 Nigerians have been displaced and more than three thousand have died in riots. The electoral commission has suspended voter registration in parts of four states because of ethnic and religious fighting. Politically, tensions have been high since the election in 1999 of President Obasanjo, a Christian from the south, after decades of military rule mostly by Muslims from the north.

NO ACCESS LOCATIONS: Mission Aviation Fellowship’s Operation Access has completed its first research phase. Researchers sent 520 questionnaires to mission agencies in eight countries, asking them to identify where they are having the most difficulty reaching people or sustaining their work. From the more than two hundred responses they learned that places in 118 countries can be labeled “no access locations,” because of barriers that prevent or inhibit their work. More in-depth surveys are planned.

December 6, 2002