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BOLIVIA: Clashes have broken out between coca leaf farmers and police. The latest fight erupted after the expulsion of a farmers’ representative from the Chamber of Deputies. Farmers generally hate the government’s policy of eradicating coca without providing for alternative cash crops…. A Christian coffeehouse, Café Alferero (“potter”), offers churches a chance to reach Sucre’s students with friendship and the gospel…. A new church for Bolivian professionals and interna-tionals meets regularly in Cochabamba.

BULGARIA: Books of the Bulgarian Bible (the Gospels of Matthew and Mark) are available in Braille for the first time. They are the result a 35-year effort by Ivan Tanev, now 65, who is completely blind, has one arm, and on one hand has no fingers, just a thumb-all the result of a military accident.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: More younger African church leaders are following God’s call to serve in Africa. Enrollment at the Bangui Evangelical Graduate School of Theology has doubled in the past two years.

CHINA: Internet service providers have been ordered to screen private e-mail for political messages. Under the latest efforts to tighten controls on the only major medium not already under state control, foreign software makers must guarantee that their products do not contain hidden programs that would allow spying or hacking into Chinese computers….Although churches continue to grow, many Christians cannot attend regular Sunday services because of factory work requirements. The government counts 16,000 registered churches and 32,000 registered meeting points. House churches send mission teams to places without churches. For example, Sichuan has only 250,000 registered Protestants out of a population of 88 million…. Colleges and universities plan to expand bilingual education, meaning that some 11 million students will use English textbooks.

GABON: The ebola death toll has reached 34. The deadly viral disease has claimed 23 victims in Gabon and 11 in the Republic of Congo. Since the virus was first identified in 1976, more than 1,000 have died, including 224 in Uganda last year.

INDIA: Christians have raised concerns about school textbook revisions being introduced in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Militant Hindus are being blamed for the effort to inculcate religious fanaticism.

LIBERIA: After a long lull, fighting has broken out in the north among several rebel and pro-government militias. The fallout from the 1990s conflict has brought disaster to thousands of homeless and sent refugees streaming to Monrovia.

MALAWI: The city of Mzuzu (pop. 160,000) has been devastated by AIDS and rivalries among seven tribes, but Christians pulled off an evangelistic mission that drew 8,000, with 2,000 making professions of faith.

MEXICO: Aided by air drops of solar-powered radios tuned to Christian stations, missionaries are seeing conversions among the isolated, highly gospel-resistant Huichol Indians. Although the number of conversions is relatively small compared to responses among other groups, Huichol leaders now see the gospel as a major threat…. After 50 years of ministry, there are some 30,000 believers meeting in churches in Chiapas, a Bible school in San Cristobal and a number of house churches. The new Chamula Old Testament has been dedicated. The governor is the son of one of the earliest believers in the area and the first evangelical to be governor of any state in Mexico’s history…. After having been driven out nine months earlier, families of Pentecostals and Seventh-day Adventists have been allowed to return to their village homes in Chiapas.

NIGERIA: Hundreds of children were reported missing and held captive after an armory blast in Lagos killed more than 600. The Red Cross feared that many missing children are alive but are not being returned to their families in a region where child trafficking is rampant…. Africa Christian Textbooks meets the demand for quality seminary textbooks and is expanding to keep pace with the growing number of students preparing for Christian ministry.

PAKISTAN: Christians and other minorities hope to benefit from the abolition of separate electorates. Under the old system, begun in 1985, four seats in the National Assembly were reserved for Christians, four for Hindus, one for other non-Muslims, one for Ahmadiyya sect Muslims and 227 for other Muslims. Seats reserved for non-Muslims represented the entire country, while the 227 Muslim seats were for local constituencies. Christians were thus prevented from voting for local candidates. Pakistan’s 3 million Christians could vote only for Christian candidates for four parliamentary seats. Candidates for the other 233 seats could ignore Christians. First elections under the new system are set for October…. Returning missionaries say the country is quiet, giving them “abounding opportunities” for ministry.

PHILIPPINES: Two hundred church leaders celebrated the attainment of their 25-year goal of 50,000 churches by the year 2000. Called DAWN (Disciple a Whole Nation) Philippines, the effort included exhaustive research, repeated national congresses, wide publicity and emerging new leaders in local churches, denominations and church-planting agencies. The group set new church planting, church growth and discipleship goals for the next 5 and 10 years, including sending 1,000 trained cross-cultural missionaries.

SRI LANKA: The Tamil Tigers may be ready for a peace deal with the government after 18 years of civil war. The Tigers’ change of mood is attributed to their declining support from outside the country. The government instituted a cease-fire and allowed goods into Tiger-controlled areas….Thousands of children have been orphaned on both sides. The worst affected live in rebel areas (often forced to flee combat) without medical attention and education.

March 8, 2002