Lausanne World Pulse – World Pulse Archives – World Pulse Archives

AFRICA: Under a World Bank scheme, African governments, international organizations and businesses have pledged $39 million to help eliminate river blindness in 19 countries by 2010. Twenty-two million people are heavily infected with the disease and 100 million are at risk. It is spread by a black fly and caused by a parasitic worm. One-third of the victims-mostly rural people-go blind. . . . Government and diamond industry leaders have agreed on a system that would certify legitimately traded diamonds and thus help to stamp out the market for diamonds mined by rebels in war zones. It is a big step toward ending the suffering of people in African countries where fighting has been perpetuated by the diamond dealings of rebels, especially in Angola, Congo and Sierra Leone. . . . Unless agricultural production improves, some 49 million African children may be malnourished by 2020, says the International Food Policy Institute.

ALGERIA: Government officials and a committee of Berbers have set up six groups to examine Berber demands for relief from what they call oppressive government policies. Among other things, they want recognition of their language, compensation for 60 deaths and an economic recovery plan for their Kabylia region. Many thousands have turned to Christ among the Kabyle, one of six Berber groups.

ARGENTINA: Fallout from the economic downturn includes not only strikes and street demonstrations, but also a steep decline in the living standards of middle-class people. Suffering from four years of recession, the once prosperous middle class is slipping into the ranks of the poor. Among them are school teachers, professionals, businessmen and laid off civil servants. College graduates are leaving the country in droves.

BULGARIA: Five hundred posters of the cover of a new Bulgarian edition of Hitler’s Mein Kampf appeared mysteriously in an outdoor Sofia book market. Some 5,000 copies have been sold, bringing worries to Bulgaria’s 7,000 Jews. The country has long been free of anti-Semitism. The vast majority of Bulgaria’s eight million people belong to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

CHINA: Illegal satellite dishes in Beijing had to come down by December 20, or else. However, in other places restrictions on foreign programming have been slightly relaxed. A Hong Kong-based broadcaster got the green light to transmit into parts of the southern province of Guandong. . . . In the predominantly Muslim western province of Xinjiang authorities are cracking down on nonregistered religious groups. Thirteen illegal centers-presumably mosques-have been shuttered and 50 people arrested. The government fears separatist movements among the Muslim Uighurs.

EL SALVADOR: Medical teams from local churches are serving remote, earthquake devastated towns bypassed by government and foreign relief agencies. Last year’s quake destroyed 280,000 homes. A drought wiped out one year’s crops. Teams of doctors, dentists and volunteers provide care and offer Bible studies.

EUROPE: If their annual growth rate of 6.5 percent continues, Muslims will be the second largest religious group (after Catholics) in Europe by 2014. Muslims have passed Protestants as the second largest religious group in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Austria. After the Orthodox Church, they are the second largest group in Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Russia and Serbia. . . . Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are fast becoming the new AIDS battleground. The UN says the epidemic is rising faster in Eastern Europe than anywhere else in the world. Experts call it a teen-age epidemic because of experimentation with sex and drugs.

HAITI: Over 10 years Christians in Fond-des-Blancs have planted 5 million trees, to restore the area’s ecology and to build the economy by harvesting and marketing trees for lumber and charcoal. Trees were planted that grow again after being harvested. Some farmers harvest trees on their own, but more are waiting for a cooperative sawmill to begin operations. Charcoal is Haiti’s major cooking fuel. Most of the lumber used for construction in Haiti is imported. . . . Random violence, kidnappings and murder have increased so much that mission agencies are preparing contingency plans for departures. Victims have included two missionaries.

INDONESIA: By mid-December Muslim-Christian turmoil in Sulawesi province appeared to have subsided. More than 2,000 police and soldiers were sent to the area. In central Sulawesi, the population is split, 20 percent Christian and 75 percent Muslim. The Christians are centered in the area around the city of Poso. Humanitarian aid is being sent to some 9,000 people who recently lost their homes. According to the US consul general, some 80,000 people have been uprooted in central Sulawesi, most of them Muslims displaced during earlier attacks by Christian militia. . . . The Southeast Asian economic slowdown has put millions on the brink of poverty. The poverty rate in Indonesia jumped to more than 23 percent in 1999 from about 17 percent in 1996. In rural areas the rate was 26 percent.

IRAN: Two-thirds of Iranians are under 30 and they are not happy after 20 years of repression under strict Islamic rule. In addition to being subject to morals police, they can’t find jobs. Many turn to drugs. They want more freedom and more education. Only 200,000 of 1.5 million applicants go to university. Last year 220,000 educated Iranians left the country.

IRAQ: Many Iraqis are out of work and out of food. Middle Eastern Christians are distributing food and also starting income-generating projects, including a sewing shop, computer school, bakery and woodworking shop. They are also providing books for Iraqi pastors.

KENYA: Somali Bantus, a tiny, persecuted minority because of their darker skins, fled Somalia after the 1992 civil war. There’s a slim chance they’ll get to the US. In the meantime, short of food, 133,000 are crowded into three desolate refugee camps near the Kenya-Somali border. . . . When rioting broke out in Mandera, a northern town near the Ethiopia-Somalia border, 16 Christian workers were trapped. A missionary pilot heard their distress signal and landed at a nearby military base. The 16 missionaries crammed into his 13-passenger plane and escaped. The rescue aircraft was available only because a previous flight had been canceled.

KOSOVO: Many men imprisoned in Serbia have returned home. There’s a new spiritual interest since the September 11 terrorist attacks.

LEBANON: Christmas programs included Muslim children memorizing Bible verses, singing carols and giving a pageant attended by their parents. New prayer campaigns resulted from last September’s terrorist attacks in the US. One missionary reported more openness than ever before, including many people coming to faith in Jesus.

MEXICO: While hundreds of thousands of people jammed the basilica honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico’s patron saint, Pope John Paul II launched a Web site allowing the faithful to e-mail their petitions to Mary. The Web site offers real-time Masses, a virtual souvenir shop and a record of the appearance Mary is said to have made to a poor peasant in the year 1531.

PHILIPPINES: Although illegal, abortions are on the rise. One in four women have had a recent abortion; 80,000 have been hospitalized after visiting secret abortion clinics. Contraceptives are banned by the Roman Catholic Church. Use fell to 47 percent last year.

POLAND: Researchers have found that of 2,500 counties, 2,228 are without any evangelical witness. This means that half of Poland’s 39 million people are beyond the reach of an evangelical church.

SOUTH AFRICA: In the midst of soaring HIV/AIDS cases and deaths, hospital staff and beds are insufficient to meet needs. AIDS drugs for the most part are not available. Most people do not get tested. Present trends indicate that children won’t live more than 35 years.

TURKEY: Big changes are coming for Turkish women, thanks to legislation amending the 1926 civil code. The new code gives men and women equal roles in family matters. It sets equal division of property and assets in divorce proceedings. It legalizes women’s rights to work outside the home without permission of their husbands. . . . The worst economic crisis in modern history has swelled the ranks of the urban poor and sparked an increase in crime. The lira has lost half of its value against the dollar. Confidence in the government has fallen sharply and tourism is off. . . . More than 150 students, including seven in prison, are taking Bible correspondence courses. Islamic departments at three universities have ordered the courses. . . . Christian bookstores are now open in Adana, Ankara, Antakya, Antalya, Bursa, Istanbul, Izmir and Mersin.

UNITED KINGDOM: Kurds, Afghans and Iranians-so-called “asylum seekers”-are taking English classes, receiving evangelical literature and watching Christian videos. Many are engaged in one-on-one conversations with Christians. Some are attending weekly Bible classes as well. Christians are studying Islam and learning how to reach various ethnic groups.

January 25, 2002