Lausanne World Pulse – World Pulse Archives – World Pulse Archives

GLOBAL: The world’s population of 6.1 billion is projected to reach 9.3 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations Population Fund. All the growth will be in poor countries. Industrialized countries’ population will remain stable. Two billion now lack adequate food. By 2050, 4.2 billion will lack basic necessities. The report said 15.5 million more people would die from HIV/AIDS over the next five years in the 45 most affected countries than would otherwise be the case. . . . While Americans worry about catching anthrax through the mail, people all over the world get it from infected cattle, sheep and goats. The World Organization for Animal Health estimates 2,000 cases last year. Anthrax is always there and the people learn to live with it. The most recent outbreaks occurred in central Asia, India and Indonesia. . . . Of the world’s 500 million disabled people-deaf, blind, or otherwise mentally or physically handicapped-80 percent live in poor countries. . . . Reporters Without Borders (Paris) said that 489 journalists were arrested around the world last year compared with 329 the year before. Iran, Myanmar, China, Eritrea and Nepal hold the most in prison. Thirty-one journalists were killed last year, including eight in Afghanistan, compared with 30 the year before.

AFGHANISTAN: The UN estimates that some 2,000 schools have been destroyed during more than 20 years of war. The male literacy rate is about 40 percent. For women it’s between 4 and 10 percent. Despite winter weather, tens of thousands of boys and girls are headed back to home schools and high schools. . . . Unstable, unpredictable conditions make relief work difficult, but emergency supplies have reached 3,500 families in two camps. Some 8,000 people have received clothing.

BRAZIL: Some two million of São Paulo’s 16 million people live in shantytowns, called favelas, and their number is increasing. Favelas are like mini-cities with 30,000 to 60,000 people. They grow because São Paulo offers no low-income housing. Squatters buy their small wood or brick houses for $15-17,000, even though favelas lack paved streets, sewers and street lights. One advantage: shorter commutes.

CHAD: A peace agreement has settled a three-year civil war, but the government is entangled in political and economic problems. With a per capita income of $200 a year, Chad is one of the world’s poorest countries. Oil income was supposed to help, but production is snarled over environmental and human rights concerns. Power has never changed hands peacefully in Chad. While church growth continues, Islamic influence has been rising. Muslims control the government, trade and armed forces. Muslim missionaries are multiplying. Christians make up about 30 percent of Chad’s 7.6 million people. Some 300 missionaries from 37 agencies serve in Chad.

CHINA: The leader of the South China Church, convicted of “hooliganism and rape,” was sentenced to death. Gong Shengliang, 46, was the first to receive the death sentence under China’s 1999 anti-cult law. He founded the church in 1991. Last April the government put the 50,000-member church on a list of more than a dozen suspect Christian sects, or cults. The 1999 law was part of China’s efforts to eradicate the Falun Gong movement. Shengliang’s sentence is being appealed.

CONGO: The 700th language version of the Jesus film, Beembe, will serve more than 250,000 Congolese. The translation was accomplished despite civil war. At times translators hid and buried their scripts.

CUBA: Because existing churches are crowded, pastors in Havana are starting house churches which are made up mostly of younger people. In some cases, people under 25 make up to 80 percent of the congregations. House churches serve people who can’t afford taxis and can’t rely on poor public transportation.

INDONESIA: Threats of a “bloody Christmas” did not come off on Sulawesi island. Credit was given to increased police and military activity. Also, Christian and Muslim leaders promised to work to end the hostilities. Bombs exploded at four churches over New Year’s, breaking windows but no lives were lost. On Christmas eve, 2000, 24 bombs exploded in churches and killed 18 people.

THE NETHERLANDS: The ninth European Mission Congress-“Just Jesus, No More, no Less”-was held December 28-January 2 in Zuidlaren in the north of the Netherlands. The 6,500 delegates represented every nation in Europe, plus other countries as well. After five days of meetings, prayers, praise, worship and seminars, about 700 responded to the invitation to move forward in cross-cultural ministry.

NIGERIA: An outbreak of cholera, attributed to pollution in the public water system, has taken more than 700 lives in two northern states, Kano and Jigawa. Health officials said the epidemic was worse than expected. . . . Some 20 people died in an attack on a Christian village in Plateau State, apparently in reprisal for last fall’s Christian-Muslim violence in Jos. Over 3,000 people have been killed in religious battles in the last two years.

RUSSIA: The country’s human rights commissioner said that 10 years after the fall of communism Russians still feel “absolutely helpless” if pursued by the police, prosecutors or courts. Police still manipulate courts and beat people, Oleg Mironov said. . . . Last year’s grain harvest, weighing in at a robust 83 million metric tons, brought production back to the levels before the Soviet collective-farm system collapsed. John Deere, the American machinery maker, says sales in Russia increased tenfold last year. . . . The West Russia International Fellowship of Evangelical Students movement, registered five years ago, has groups in 12 cities served by a staff of 10 Russians and 10 foreigners.

SAUDI ARABIA: The government destroyed a 230-year-old Ottoman fortress overlooking Mecca’s Grand Mosque, to make way for a $533 million development of apartments and a luxury hotel. Turkey condemned the demolition of Ajyad Fortress, which the Saudis say they will rebuild.

SUDAN: Two rival groups of rebels-the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and the Sudan People’s Democratic Front-have merged, dashing hopes that the country’s long civil war might be close to ending.

THAILAND: A poll showed that 80.8 percent of Bangkok’s residents have visited fortune tellers, spending $22.8 million on an average of two visits a year. . . . At the eighth annual Christian and Missionary Alliance Mahapawn Day in Bangkok, attended by more than 400 people, 20 believers committed to missionary careers. . . . Evangelistic meetings in a Bangkok hotel resulted in a number of Karen refugees from Myanmar turning to Christ.

TURKEY: Forty-six hunger strikers have died as part of a year-long protest against prison conditions. They are campaigning against shifting prisoners from large wards to small cells for one to three inmates.

UGANDA: American relief worker Mike Stachofsky was shot to death by home invaders near Mbale. He worked in Uganda since 1996, drilling wells, installing water pumps and building a health-care facility.

UNITED KINGDOM: The archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, plans to retire later this year, three years ahead of schedule. He is the titular head of the world’s 73 million Anglicans in 160 nations and is the spiritual leader of the Church of England, which has suffered from declining churches, failed investments, social upheaval, and disputes over ordaining women and homosexuality. According to church statistics, fewer than 1 million of the 24 million baptized Anglicans in Britain regularly go to Sunday services.

VENEZUELA: While businessmen battled the government, President Chavez introduced a land reform program. The poor make up 80 percent of Venezuela’s 24 million. The land reform law is planned to rectify a situation in which 1 percent of the people owns more than 60 percent of the arable land. . . . The government has asked Catholic and Protestant leaders to participate in forums to tackle growing social and economic problems. The leaders have to decide if they want to work with the government and with each other.

February 8, 2002