Lausanne World Pulse – World Pulse Archives – World Pulse Archives
CAMEROON: Since arriving from Nigeria three years ago, Prophet John Stephen has attracted thousands of followers. Calling himself a bishop, he presides over Christ Army International in Yaounde. He owes his popularity to apparent healing powers. His services are full of singing, drumming and dancing in sharp contrast to Came-roon’s staid mainstream churches…. Jungle dwelling Pygmies, long resistant to the gospel, have responded and their pastors are being trained.
CAMBODIA: Within three months after their training, workers planted 64 house churches around Phnom Penh.
CHINA: Inner Mongolia’s 24 million are virtually untouched by the gospel. Some 172,000 believers worship at 1,000 registered churches and meeting points. After years of resistance there seems to be a new openness, especially among the young. Shamanism and Buddhism are the chief obstacles.
EGYPT: The Christian Patmos Center has suffered two attacks from military elements for no apparent reason. The center serves mentally and physically handicapped children and orphans.
ETHIOPIA: Crowds at the 45th annual Wolaitta Church Conference grew from 2,000 to 50,000 on the last day. Most were between 15 and 25 years of age. For four days people sat in one place, going without lunch, listening to speakers and choirs for 10 hours at a time. A very poor country, Ethiopia still suffers the consequences of communist rule, 1974-91.
FRANCE: There’s been a sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents since Israeli-Palestinian fighting intensified. Reported acts of violence against Jews rose from one in 1998 to 116 in 2000; other incidents (threats to arson) rose from 74 in 1998 to 603 in 2000. France is home to five million Muslims and 600,000 Jews.
INDIA: Sikhs seek salvation in villages in Punjab, despite opposition. Idol worshipers have thrown gods from their houses…. Tripura, one of seven states comprising Northeast India and less than one percent Christian, is the scene of fighting between original tribespeople and outsiders. Nevertheless, men and women are turning to Christ as never before.
KOSOVO: Kosovo’s assembly confirmed Ibrahim Rugova, an ethnic Albanian pacifist, as its first president. Bajram Rexhepi, former KLA field surgeon, is the new prime minister. Their positions were confirmed after four months of political wheeling and dealing among the main ethnic Albanian parties. They face a huge task rebuilding Kosovo’s social, educational and health services. Kosovo remains a province of Yugoslavia. (See related story, p. 5.)
LIBERIA: ELWA hospital in Monrovia has launched a new AIDS project that includes patient counseling, home visits and family education. The hospital also has completed a new outpatient clinic.
MALAYSIA: The government tries to reduce the number of foreign workers by cracking down on illegal immigrants, mostly Indonesians. Malaysia has long relied on Chinese and Indians. Now Indonesians form the bulk of the 800,000 legal foreign workers and the million illegals. However, the economy largely depends on their services.
MEXICO: The once promising economic boom for Mexicans in cities along the US border shows signs of weakening. Wages have begun to fall and jobs are disappearing. Problems created by the boom persist: sprawling slums without water, sewers and paved roads.
NIGERIA: The new campus of the West Africa Theological Seminary opened in Lagos. Students come from 10 African nations.
NORTH KOREA: Underground churches consist of old people who had been believers prior to 1950 and of young people who have been converted while in China. Three government-approved churches operate in Pyongyang, one Catholic and two Protestant, but apparently their congregations are not genuine.
PERU: The illegal drug industry revives as the production of coca (source of cocaine) and poppies (source of heroin) increases. Causes for the turnaround include diminished military and government interference and influx of drug lords from neighboring Colombia.
RUSSIA: The Roman Catholic Church’s decision to upgrade its four existing ecclesiastical structures into dioceses has roused both the government and the Russian Orthodox Church. Potentially serious conflicts loom. The step is viewed as anti-Orthodox and therefore anti-Russian. Some blamed it on Washington. . . . The Salvation Army’s Moscow branch is breathing easier because its impending shutdown has been forestalled by a Constitutional Court ruling. The Municipal Court had issued the order because of a dispute over the branch’s attempts to register prior to a December 31, 2000, deadline. In effect, the higher court told the Moscow court, “Not yet.”
SOUTH KOREA: South Koreans’ extravagant meals-at home and at restaurants-are under government attack as part of a national campaign to reduce four million tons of food waste last year. That was 100,000 tons more than the total basic food available to all of North Korea. The UN says food aid to North Korea could expire by July. . . . Defectors from North Korea feel lost in the South. The 50-year separation has produced two cultures and two languages. A survey of defectors showed that one-third could not find jobs. The government provides training skills and social services. This year’s number of defectors is expected to pass last year’s total of 583.
UGANDA: Junior high school aged youths met in Kampala to discuss urgent social problems with Christian counselors: the cost of early sex, how to cope with death (many have one parent or none), career guidance, AIDS and use of condoms. No one had married parents. Since condoms are free to children as young as 11, they feel they have to use them to show they have grown up.
UNITED KINGDOM: Hard drug use is higher in Britain than in other European countries. Addicts are getting younger and younger. Deaths from overdoses are rising. A police official says Britain has the most rampant heroin problem in the West. Most drug spending is financed by mugging, burglary, robbery, shoplifting and car theft. A group of 1,000 drug users committed 75,000 crimes in three months. . . . Free Bibles are being given to people held at an immigration detention center near Gatwick airport. More than 5,000 would-be immigrants pass through the center each year.
UNITED STATES: Immigrants accounted for 7.7 percent of Chicago’s population gain of 112,290 from 1990 to 2000, the city’s first increase since 1950. However, the sharp rise in the city’s Hispanic population did not come as much from immigration as it did from the birth of 172,000 Hispanic babies.
April 5, 2002