News headlines for February 24th 2003

(Iraq)–Topping the news, pressure is increasing on Iraq on the issue of weapons of mass destruction. Forces, meanwhile, are gathering strength in the Persian Gulf in the event of war. Bible Pathway Ministries[1] has work in the conflict zone. We spoke with ‘Jad’, who, despite the threat, remains optimistic. “I do not think it will setback [ministry]. I believe the door may be more open inside of Iraq. It’s people tired, hungry people in darkness, and they are searching to find the switch to turn the light on.” ‘Jad’ says response to the Bible Pathway has been encouraging from the area, adding that’s really not such a surprise. “The Iraqis, themselves, they do not accept what is going on inside of Iraq. But there’s still those people looking for the freedom, and they know this is the beginning of our ministry, after which, they have the freedom.”

(Cuba)–Meanwhile, Fidel Castro says his country is and will remain socialist. Equally firm are the global responses that have devastated Cuba’s ability to climb out of poverty. In light of the challenges, CAM International’s[2] John DeCoster finds the tenacity of Cuban believers inspiring. “There is no way that you can get a permit to buy land or build a church, but there is a permission granted for starting house churches. So, everywhere we’ve gone, all these churches have between 25 and 25 house churches. They’re not allowed to evangelize in public, they cannot pass out Christian literature in public, but apparently, other than that, they do quite well.” DeCoster says due to a lack of resources in Cuba, they’re providing libraries to several pastors to equip the church for outreach. “We select a good number of books designed for leadership, sermon preparation, all those good books. Many of them designed for workers in those churches over there.”

(International)–The Baptist World Alliance[3] is in financial crisis after losing $125,000 from their annual budget. That’s due to a Southern Baptist decision decreasing their annual support for the Alliance. BWA’s General Secretary Denton Lotz hopes the Convention reverses its decision in the future. BWA says the churches that are currently growing the fastest are located in those countries that are least able to financially support them.

(USA)–Next, in the midst of global uncertainties, there is a growing interest in all things certain. Dare 2 Share’s[4] Greg Stier says that is what’s behind their efforts to energize the young church in America. He adds, the ‘how-to’s’ will be explained in a special conference series called the ‘Last Chance’ tour. “The whole point of our conference is that Jesus is coming back soon, and sometimes, when you look at the newspapers, it’s easy to think, ‘Hey, maybe it’s going to be sooner than later’ and I think that’s a good thing. We don’t know exactly when He’s going to come back, but we do know that we should be living every single moment of every single day like He could return any single second.” Stier says the web of current events and the new focus on spiritual things is a perfect backdrop to the tour. “We basically do a full weekend conference training where we do a drama, and then, throughout the weekend, we train students to share their faith, and then the students go door-to-door throughout the city and collect canned goods for a local mission, and collect prayer requests and share the good news of the Gospel.”

(USA)–And, a unique training program for urban ministry workers gets underway soon in Philadelphia and Chicago. Compassion International[5] says many people who have the burden for urban ministry often find it difficult to find resources, guidance and support. The upcoming conference will bring practical knowledge in helping to reach inner-city kids as well as offer encouragement for many of these workers who may be facing burnout.

[1] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=BPM [2] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=CAM [3] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=BWA [4] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=D2S [5] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=CMP