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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Daily Update will resume 2 December 2002.

Today’s News Headlines

AIDS EPIDEMIC AT 40 MILLION — NEARLY 75% IN SOUTHERN AFRICA BAPTIST CHURCH’S ‘ALTAR CALL’ FOR AIDS VIRUS TESTING BIBLE LEAGUE CHURCH PLANTERS STRUGGLE IN POLAND GALLLUP: CHURCH 4TH IN MOST TRUSTED INSTITUTIONS STUDY TENN. CHURCHES PLANT $100 BILLS AS ‘SEEDS OF KINDNESS’ EMBRACE THE BIBLE ANEW THIS THANKSGIVING

Today’s News Stories

AIDS EPIDEMIC AT 40 MILLION — NEARLY 75% IN SOUTHERN AFRICA The number of people living with HIV/AIDS around the world is now well more than 40 million, latest figures reveal. More people are also dying from the disease than ever before, with 3.1 million AIDS-related deaths in the past year. The latest global update from UNAIDS shows that southern Africa is at the epicenter of the AIDS disaster. The region is home to almost 30 million people with the disease. There were approximately 3.5 million new infections last year. An estimated 8.8 percent of the adult population in Sub-Saharan Africa has the virus. But the report, entitled AIDS Epidemic Update 2002 and released ahead of World AIDS Day on Sunday, says that worse is yet to come in Africa. It states: “In four southern African countries, national adult HIV prevalence has risen higher than thought possible.” These countries are Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe where one in three people has the disease. (BBC)

BAPTIST CHURCH’S ‘ALTAR CALL’ FOR AIDS VIRUS TESTING Members of a Buffalo, N.Y., church responded to an unlikely “altar call” Sunday — to be tested for the AIDS virus. Around 100 worshipers at True Bethel Baptist Church had the test at a nearby school after their pastor, Darius G. Pridgen, was tested in front of the congregation during morning worship. The mass screening drive through a church is believed to be the first of its kind in the country, the Associated Press reported. “We see this as the tearing down of the traditional church barriers that excludes dialogue about sex, HIV and AIDS,” said Ken Smith, a program coordinator at GROUP Ministries, which organized the event. Pridgen warned teens in his church about the dangers of promiscuity. “Once you catch [AIDS], you don’t just get rid of it,” he said. (Charisma News Service)

BIBLE LEAGUE CHURCH PLANTERS STRUGGLE IN POLAND Church planters in Poland continue to work at establishing churches in a nation where most believe in God but few have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible League’s Waldmar Kurz, says most Poles believe good works are the key. “They are good church attenders and they feel that their relationship with God is good. They go to church, and they think that they don’t need God, and so they are not really open to a relationship with Jesus Christ.” Many local people don’t understand church planters and some have been persecuted. The Bible League has 20 church planters, and they are beginning to see results. “Through those people who have started the ministry about a year and a half ago, about 145 people have already accepted the Lord. They have organized about 40 small Bible study groups, and so I would just encourage prayer for those church planters because sometimes it is very difficult for them.” (Mission Network News)

* DEO Recordings, HCJB World Radio’s partner ministry in Poland, operates 24-hour-a-day FM radio stations in five cities of southern Poland, making gospel broadcasts available to more than 5.7 million residents. The ministry is also awaiting approval of a broadcasting license for a sixth city with 200,000 people. A Christian satellite radio network to link the Polish stations and expand the ministry is also being planned.

GALLLUP: CHURCH 4TH IN MOST TRUSTED INSTITUTIONS STUDY The Gallup organization conducted a study of which institutions are most trusted in 47 nations, interviewing 36,000 people on all continents. The study was paid for by the World Economic Forum, which traditionally meets in Davos, Switzerland, in January. The report reveals that Germans trust the police (86 percent) and army (70 percent) most, and that the Church (39 percent) is last among the 17 major institutions. Globally, the Church ranks fourth with 57 percent. Around the world, the central national democratic institution (Parliament or Congress) ranks last. It only ranks better in the USA, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India and Indonesia. Two thirds believe that their nation is not ruled “according to the will of the people.” Trust in many key institutions “has sunk to a critical level,” according to the study. (Gallup/FridayFax)

TENN. CHURCHES PLANT $100 BILLS AS ‘SEEDS OF KINDNESS’ More than a dozen churches in Tennessee sent their congregants away Sunday with $100 bills to “plant seeds of kindness” for the upcoming holiday season. According to “The (Nashville) Tennessean,” $50,000 was distributed to be given — no strings attached — to strangers who may be in need or neighbors who are down on their luck. “The point of this is to plant seeds of kindness,” said Rubel Shelly, minister at Woodmont Hills Church of Christ, who distributed the bills to his members. The “Seeds of Kindness” effort is funded by an anonymous businessman who gave the money to Woodmont Hills, which is administering the program that involves about 15 churches of various denominations. (Charisma News Service)

EMBRACE THE BIBLE ANEW THIS THANKSGIVING During the 62nd annual National Bible Week, Nov. 24-Dec. 1, all Americans are invited to take a few minutes each day to read God’s Word. This long-standing invitation is well worth heeding. And not just the week of Thanksgiving. According to pollster George Barna, many currently unchurched American adults dabble in the Bible and other religious media. “[T]hose activities,” however, “are not foundational to them. They are interested in religious faith, but are not devoted to integrating faith into their life,” Barna says. George Gallup Jr. has put it a little more bluntly: “Americans revere the Bible — but, by and large, they don’t read it.” “Let’s change this trend, at least in our own lives,” urges Mark Mittelberg, author of Building a Contagious Church. The key, says Mittelberg, is to read God’s Word with our heart and mind. And then to start encouraging others to read it as well. (Religion Today)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * James A. Ferrier HCJB World Radio U.S. Ministries Communications Director E-mail: Phone: 1-719-590-9800 Fax: 1-719-590-9801 Web: http://www.hcjb.org http://www.beyondthecall.org * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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