News headlines for April 9th 2003

(Germany) — Headlining today’s news, while it appears the United States is winning the war in Iraq, their involvement is causing ill feelings elsewhere. Germany is just one example. Keith Copley is a missionary there with OC International[1] and tells us that anti-American sentiment is popular. “A lot of our friends have said to us, ‘well Keith, it’s not the American people, we don’t think they’re bad, but this Bush guy is really bad.’ One of my friends has nearly attacked me when I try to defend Bush and give reasons why he’s leading this coalition against Iraq. And, we’ve discovered that that’s not a subject we can talk about.” While anti-Americanism is affecting some outreach, Copley says it not hurting their work. “We have not felt any kinds of affects, except personal affects. My wife has been very involved with an evangelistic outreach in our church. She’s fully integrated in the leadership of this group. I’m in the Promise Keepers leadership team for Germany. So far our ministry hasn’t been affected.”

(Iraq) — Meanwhile, hunger is expected to be one of the major problems facing relief workers when humanitarian aid is finally able to flow freely into Iraq. That’s the word from Southern Baptist International Mission Board[2] workers. Churches in the United States are being encouraged to help share God’s love as the Iraqi people have suffered under the regime of Saddam Hussein and 12 years of United Nations sanctions. A gift of 60-dollars will help feed a family of five for about a month.

(Indonesia) — Muslim children in Indonesia are coming to Christ because of the outreach of Teen Missions International[3] . According to Teen Missions’ Darla Trout their training center graduates and interns are running 200 Good News Clubs, attracting thousands of children. “Just in January and February alone it’s been around 8,000 children and about 3,500 of them have received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. You know, the children come, but a lot of times their parents come along with them because they’re very curious and they’re hearing what their children are hearing. And so, the parents are being affected, too.” Prayer is needed for safety in this Muslim country and also for finances so that they can continue training students in evangelism. “It takes a lot of money to operate these schools because we don’t charge these students anything. We feed them. Then we house them. I mean, they’re responsible for their own personal needs. Then we have 26 full time staff. It takes funds to pay them and to keep things operational.”

(South Africa) — Next, with HIV/AIDS spreading uncontrollably in Africa, Christian radio may be able to help. Trans World Radio[4] ’s International director for Africa Steven Boakye-Yiadom (BWAchee-YAHdohm) has the task of evangelizing the continent via radio. He passionately believes the struggles of the countries would be changed by the simplicity of the Gospel. “I have always been telling my people in Africa that Africa’s problem is not political, it’s spiritual, and unless you deal with the spiritual issues on the continent, you will never really overcome our political problems. That’s where we are coming from. It has to begin with a change of the heart, and if the heart is changed, corruption in the society in Africa today will be eliminated.” Boakye-Yiadom (BWAchee YAHdohm) says they are in a race for time because the people of Africa are showing a ravenous hunger for both the hope of Christ and training. Plans are in the works to organize new programming for West Africa, as well as South Africa.

(USA) And finally, state and federal budget deficits are having an impact on prison ministry in the United States. According to Crossroad Bible Institute[5] , state budget cuts prompted the downsizing of state-employee chaplains. In South Carolina half of its chaplain staff left in 2001. Georgia let nearly all of their staff go. Some prison officials believe this could lower prisoner morale and slow spiritual growth. This is making CBI’s inmate Bible correspondence program even more important. Funding and volunteers are need to help with the increasing demand.

[1] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=OCI [2] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=IMB [3] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=TMI [4] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=TWR [5] http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=CRBI ———————————————————————

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STORIES ABOVE, EMAIL US AT OR CALL OUR RESOURCE LINE AT 800-995-4828!

Mission Network News, a service of Cornerstone University of Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. http://www.MNNonline.org

SUPPORT MISSION NETWORK NEWS at http://www.MNNonline.org/support or write Mission Network News 1159 E. Beltline NE Grand Rapids, MI 49525 USA

Visit our Short Term Missions Database at http://www.stmdb.org to find short term opportunities around the world.

— Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).