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SIL International President Emeritus Kenneth Lee Pike died at the age of 88 on Sunday, December 31, in Dallas, Tex., after a brief illness. Pike was an internationally recognized linguist, educator, Christian statesman, and long-term member of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Pike’s contributions to the field of linguistics combined with his dedication to the minority peoples of the world brought him nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the Templeton Prize.
AD2000 conference canceled
The AD2000 and Beyond Movement canceled its farewell conference in Jerusalem after about half of the expected 1,300 delegates were unable to obtain visas due to a strike by visa workers in Israel. “The AD2000 and Beyond Movement has had so much input and inspiration from the nations of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and many more,” International Director Luis Bush said. “Yet they were the very nations now being stopped from being present at the conference. We did not dare to continue!” In the wake of the decision, African Christian leaders announced that they plan to hold their own event in Jerusalem in March following the cancellation of “Celebrate Messiah 2000,” that was due to be held in Jerusalem, Israel, from December 28-January 2. “It will be called the African Millennial Conference (and) will be held during the first week of March in Jerusalem,” said Bush. “It is one of the seeds that has fallen out of Celebrate Messiah 2000, and this has been an African initiative.”
Bedouin outreach
Many experts say that literacy is key to escaping poverty, so a Christian Bedouin has launched a school using the Bible to teach illiterate Bedouins to read and write. The Southern Baptist International Mission Board has made the more than 19 million Muslim Bedouins an outreach priority, offering village leaders Bible cassettes and Jesus Films in their native language. The Bedouins have no written Bible in their language.
Internet evangelism efforts applauded
Two Christian Web sites were honored at the recent 2000 Internet Evangelism Conference in Orlando. Receiving the Chairman’s Award was Drew Dickens of Need Him for www.needhim.org. Since 1995 Need Him volunteers have spoken to nearly 300,000 people who have called 1-888-Need-Him to learn more about how to begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In 1999 Need Him partnered with Gospelcom.net. Over the past 12 months the site has received more than 4 million hits and 7,000 people have indicated a decision for Christ.
The Robert Coleman Award was given to Allan Beeber of LINC-Net, a ministry of Campus Crusade, for The Evangelism Toolbox, www. evangelismtoolbox.com. Coleman also called Christian leaders together for the first meeting on Internet Evangelism in April 1997, out of which the Internet Evangelism Coalition was formed. Over 700 people a day are accessing the site, yielding well over 100,000 hits per month. A CD-ROM version of The Evangelism Toolbox was distributed to 10,000 itinerant evangelists attending Amsterdam 2000 in August. Several hundred Internet evangelism practitioners and beginners attended the 2000 IEC Conference.
Patriarch to Indian Orthodox: Just say no to evangelicals
Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomeos I told southern India’s orthodox Christians that evangelical groups “pro-zelytising” them to join non-Orthodox churches is “unacceptable,” Ecumenical News International reports. A main Orthodox theologian in India described the action as “poaching.”
Just say no to official church, Indian Christians say
Christian activists are campaigning against Hindu calls for them to create a “patriotic” church not influenced by foreigners. Such a church would be similar to China’s, which supports that nation’s communist government.
Colombian newspaper lauds FARC-held territory
Bogota’s respected newspaper El Espectador describes the Switzerland-sized chunk of Colombia’s national territory the government ceded to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The paper calls it “a true expression of magical realism,” alluding to Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ writings on a supernatural fictional world. Colombian President Andrés Pastrana gave the FARC lands to entice them to peace talks, which have since collapsed. Weapon-laden guerrillas hang out in the town plaza of the demilitarized zone’s main town, San Vicente de Caguan. FARC’s own “courts” mete out justice. Signs at the entrance to the town read “Welcome to San Vicente: Laboratory of Peace.” Pastrana granted the FARC this zone in November, 1998, and in November, 2000, he extended the life of the zone until January 31. What happens after that date is anyone’s guess.
Embargo kills Iraqi children
Iraq’s health ministry says that 9,245 people, mostly children and the elderly, died in September of disease or malnutrition because of international sanctions imposed on that country-sanctions aiming to pressure leader Saddam Hussein into leaving power. The number of Iraqis who died in September, 1989, was 727, the health ministry reports. In August, 2000, 10,267 Iraqis died, including 7,436 under age 5. Many human rights and evangelical groups have condemned the sanctions as doing nothing to thwart Hussein while forcing Iraq’s people to suffer. De facto euthanasia in Belgium
Although physician-assisted suicide is legal only in the Netherlands, more than 10 percent of deaths in Belgium result from doctors withholding treatment from ill patients or from doctor-administered drugs to hasten death, often “without the explicit request of the patient,” the BBC reports. Karakalpakstan church restricted
Protestant believers may once again worship in Karakal-pakstan, an autonomous republic in western Uzbekistan, but not in the closed church building and only on weekdays. This action follows government officials’ yanking without explanation of the registration for Mir Presbyterian Church, Karakalpakstan’s only registered church, reports Keston News Service. Church members deny wrongdoing. Mir’s pastor told Keston that its members can meet in homes. South Asian women suffering
The Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Center reports that women comprise two-thirds of southern Asia’s illiterates. Discrimination against women in the region is among the world’s worst. The center says that women there are denied basic rights such as health-care access, which leads to 200,000 deaths in childbirth. Sons, not daughters, are entitled to inherit their parents’ property. Though a nation’s constitution may grant women equal rights, this is not the practice, the center reports.
Drought besets Iran
Only 5.5 inches of rain fell on Iran in 2000-around half of the normal rainfall-in the country’s worst drought in 36 years. The lack of rainfall has prompted UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and other groups to warn that the human toll could be catastrophic. Many provinces in Iran rely on tank trucks to bring in water. Around 80 percent of wells are dry because the water table has dropped. Salt water has leeched into drinking water.
Governments bless “morning-after” pill for youth
Any girl in Britain over 16 may take without prescription the drug Levonelle to prevent pregnancy, the British government decided in December. France’s Parliament approved laws to let schools hand out the pills to children. Baptist Press reports the so-called “morning-after” pill is seen in Great Britain as a means to stem the nation’s teen pregnancy rate-Western Europe’s highest. Prolife advocates view its use as abortion.
“Making the morning-after pill available to all girls over 16 in this way sends the wrong message about the need for responsible sexual activity,” says a spokesman for the British Conservative Party, which opposes the government’s action. The British Medical Association, however, welcomes the decision and calls for Levonelle to be available free. It also proposes that pharmacists be allowed to assess whether girls under 16 are competent to receive it. In France, the National Assembly voted to let pharmacists provide the pill without prescription to girls and let them get abortions without parental approval, and voted to increase the time of pregnancy during which abortions can be legally performed from 10 weeks to 12.
Restoring Soviet anthem no cause for singing
Russia’s Orthodox Church has embraced restoring the anthem of the former Soviet Union, but opponents predict it will divide the country. President Vladimir Putin, who proposed bringing back the song, also proposed returning a red Soviet flag for the military. He says that the music inspired glorious Soviet feats in space and sports and the defeat of the Nazis in World War II, and that most Russians like the song. Liberal opponents say that since the tune is used by the country’s Communist Party, it is unsuitable for all Russians. The song’s original lyrics praise leaders Lenin and Stalin. “No new lyrics will be able to erase the words attached to it that forever glorify Lenin and Stalin,” opponents write in an open letter.
Uruguay honors Christ
Uruguay’s Chamber of Representatives passed a motion recognizing Jesus Christ “for the values taught for the construction of a just, and tolerant society … respectful of human rights,” the news agency Zenit reports. “Religious liberty is liberty of spirits and means respect for the thought of all the citizens of the country,” says an elected deputy during the debate. Another lawmaker said he supports the declaration because Jesus was the first socialist “who opened the way to the development of socialist principles.” Uruguay, Zenit reports, is among Latin America’s most secular countries, calling Christmas “Family Day,” Holy Week “Tourism Week” and Epiphany “Children’s Day.” More than 56 percent of Uruguayans call themselves Catholic but only 7 percent practice the faith. Protestants make up 2 percent of the population. Some 38 percent adhere to no religion.
Crises prompt South Americans to flee
As Argentina’s recession deepens, economic refugees flood its passport offices. Appointment books at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota are booked with visa applicants for more than two years. In the past two years, 4 percent of Ecuador’s population has fled to other countries. Officials say this is the continent’s largest exodus in about 10 years, the Washington Post reports. The refugees are fleeing political and financial crises in their homelands, but many on the continent worry the flight means a brain drain and broken families. But unlike other emigration, both rich and poor are fleeing for a spectrum of reasons, such as fears of government instability, unemployment, and rising inflation. “Globalization and the economic transition (have) hit this region hard,” says a Buenos Aires-based social economist. An Ecuadorean official says of the wave of citizens leaving, “The types of emigrants and reasons they are leaving may vary from country to country, but you can say it all stems from a loss of hope.”
Stop child torture, human rights organization pleads
Amnesty International is asking the world’s governments and armed opposition groups to stop child torture and calling on nations to punish those who use torture. Torture, viewed as necessary by police in some countries, commonly occurs when police take children into custody. Means include beatings with guns, whips and sticks, cigarette burnings, electric shock, sleep deprivation, and rape or other sexual abuse. Street children are often victims, notably in Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Nepal, and Uganda.
Gay age of consent lowered
Great Britain has lowered the age of consent for homosexual sex in England, Wales, and Scotland to 16 and to 17 in Northern Ireland, despite protests from religious leaders and family advocates, the Telegraph newspaper reports. The age of consent is now the same as for heterosexual sex. Protestant, Catholic, and Muslims joined in opposition to the law.
Holland’s “assisted suicide” law
In the Netherlands, the first country to approve physician-assisted suicide, children as young as 16 may request the procedure without parental consent. Children as young as 12 may opt for a doctor to help them die with the consent of one parent, reports Religion Today.
BBC News reports that more than half of the country’s doctors have helped a patient die and that at least 90 percent of the Dutch support the practice. The country also has legalized prostitution, marijuana use, and same-sex marriage. One prolife advocate told Reuters, “If doctors are not hesitating to kill people, then they will not hesitate to withdraw medical treatment from people they do not like.” Another told the Associated Press, “It’s cheaper to kill people than to take care of them.”
Latin children’s dark world
Some 800 girls work in El Salvador’s brothels. More than a third-7,500-of Colombia’s guerrilla groups’ militants are children. Around 70 percent of child deaths in Brazil result from street violence. “Children are the segment of the population most ignored by governments,” says a sociologist in Panama. “Their rights are respected only in theory.”
More Brazilian Babies Surviving
Brazil, considered Latin America’s most stark example of the divide between rich and poor, has reduced infant mortality by almost 30 percent since 1990, says the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Although Brazil has Latin America’s biggest economy, half of Brazilians live in poverty. The government has gotten tough on child labor, broadened immunization programs, and brought primary education to rural areas, but still Brazil lags poorer, more embattled countries in Latin America in providing social services, Reuters reports. In Brazil, 36 of every 1,000 babies die during birth, a mortality rate worse than in Ecuador, Suriname, Paraguay, and Colombia.