News Update – 2/22/10

Demand for Bibles Outstripping Supply in China
Christian Today reports that the need for Bibles in China grew again in 2009, when an estimated half million people converted to Christianity.

“As more and more people are joining the Church they are asking for a Bible,” says Bible Society's China Partnership Coordinator Kua Wee Seng. About 4 million Bibles were distributed across China last year, but continued growth means that more are needed. According to official numbers, about 28.6 million Christians live in China, but that figure could be as high as 90 million if unregistered house churches are included.

“Every year we have to raise funds for Bible subsidy. The reason is that in the rural areas where most Christians are found, they are living in relatively poor conditions. In order for them to have a copy of the Bible we have to provide paper so that a Bible is affordable for most of the Christians in China.”

Religion Today Summaries

Christians in Laos Forced from Church at Gunpoint
Members of a church—both adults and children—in Laos’ Saravan Province were forced at gunpoint from a Sunday worship service in mid-January while officials confiscated their personal belongings and destroyed six of their 11 homes.

Later, an estimated 100 local officials, police and villagers marched the believers to an open field, where they demanded the Christians renounce their faith, Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom reported. When the Christians refused, they were forced to walk nearly four miles down the road and police were posted at the village entrance to keep them from returning.

The Christians have been sleeping on the ground in nearby woods with hardly enough food supplies, equipment or tools to survive, the Compass Direct news service reported.

In July 2008, a Christian in the village was killed by other villagers and when family members placed a cross on his grave officials accused them of “practicing the rituals of the enemy of the state” and seized livestock from them as a fine, Compass reported. A few days later, officials detained 17 of the village's 20 Christian families in a school compound, denying them food until they signed documents renouncing their faith. All the families eventually complied but some later began assembling for worship again. In spite of the persecution, more households accepted Christ in the village this past year, bringing the total of Christian households to 11.

“These tactics of starvation and destruction of personal properties as well as the use of force employed by the Lao officials in order to put pressure on the Katin believers to renounce their religious convictions should be condemned,” a statement from the human rights group said.

Baptist Press

Church of England Recognizes Breakaway U.S. Anglicans
Christian Today reports that the Church of England's General Synod has voted to welcome the breakaway Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) with open arms.

The motion, passed yesterday, does not commit the Church of England to formal relations with the breakaway province. Instead, the motion was designed to “recognize and affirm the desire of those who have formed the Anglican Church in North America to remain within the Anglican family” and recognize “the distress caused by recent divisions within the Anglican churches of the United States of America and Canada.”

The ACNA officially formed in summer 2009 after a protracted schism from The Episcopal Church in the U.S. over issues of homosexuality and scriptural orthodoxy.

Religion Today Summaries

The Algerian Church Speaks out for Religious Freedom
Abdallah Ghoulamallah, Algerian Minister for Religious Affairs, organized on February 11 a conference on the topic “Freedom of Worship: Between Divine Legislation and Positive Law”. The ministry invited the four bishops of Algeria, members of the clergy from France, and other prominent figures from different background to the event. The purpose of the event was, ostensibly, to show that Algeria is a tolerant country.

Jordanian-born Monsignor Ghaleb Moussa Abdallah Bader was ordained archbishop of Algiers in July 2008, and is familiar with the system of religious tolerance in place in the Kingdom of Jordan. In a speech full of nuances, he spoke about an ordinance which strongly limits non-Muslim worship, expressing a desire to see things get “back to normal.” Such legislation might be justified under exceptional circumstances, he said, but that was not the case in Algeria. “Why go back to a normal situation? Is it not time to review, if not repeal this regulation?”

For more than three years, the right of Christians to worship in Algeria has come under tight government control. The minister claims that Christians are not the target, but in fact, they are the ones who are affected by it. Recently, on the night of January 9, the Tafat Protestant Church in Tizi Ouzou was ransacked and then set on fire. Despite complaints by Reverend Krireche, the authorities did nothing.

In Algeria and other Muslim countries, the churches, and more broadly Christians, simply want to be left alone. They want the same right to announce the Gospel to anyone willing to listen to their message as Muslims have the right to announce the Qur‘an to anyone willing to listen to theirs. It is good that the bishop of Algiers, following the example of Pope Benedict XVI, had the courage to tell everyone, quietly but with resolve and clarity, that freedom of religion remains as fundamental a right as freedom of conscience and the equality of citizens.

Institute on Religion and Public Policy

Olympics' Opening Ceremonies Signal Start of Athlete Ministry
Mission News Network reports that the opening ceremonies in Vancouver, British Columbia welcomed hundreds of chaplains as well as athletes to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Ministries such as Athletes in Action, a sister ministry of the Jesus Film Project and a part of Campus Crusade for Christ, hope to present the Gospel to both athletes and spectators.

“We'll be part of a contingent of chaplains that will be working with the athletes. We'll be working with various community ministries for those that are coming to Vancouver to watch the games,” said Tim Pitcher of Athletes in Action. “Whenever you bring in athletes from around the globe, there are always great opportunities to get connections with people from closed countries, from open countries, and people that need to hear the Gospel. So we just really try to take advantage of that.”

Religion Today Summaries

Iran's Anniversary Pushes Some Away from Islam
Mission News Network reports that Iran's inner tension did not ease for the 31st anniversary of the founding of the Islamic Republic on February 11.

According to Christians in country, however, increased oppression has many Muslims looking for more than political freedom. “There was a revolution that took place that brought the people back to Islam and made this an Islamic republic,” said evangelist Sammy Tippit, who reaches Iranians with satellite TV. “As a result of that, the people have now seen Islam for what it is, and they are rejecting that.”

He continued, “The greatest freedom in the world is in Christ, so that's why so many people are turning to Christ.” One Iranian leader says the most effective evangelist in Iran was the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. “When he came in, it exposed what real Islam is all about.” The government of Iran even publically executed two opposition leaders as “enemies of God” last week.

Religion Today Summaries