PER:World Christian News - Vol.2, Nr.2 1 Mission Digest 2 Christian World Digest 3 Two-Thirds World 4 Urban World 5 Socio-Cultural Trends 6 PotPourri 7 Islamic World Digest I WCN subscription information Mission Digest GOSPEL RECORDINGS -- An estimated one billion people will still be illiterate in the year 2000. As long as there are people who cannot read, Bible translation has to be made available both in the written and the audible forms. Gospel Recordings (in some parts now known as Language Recordings International) provides portions of scripture in audible form (cassettes and records). Over 4,000 languages and dialects have thus far been recorded. GR believes that there may be over 7,000 more spoken languages to be surveyed. WYCLIFFE -- In November 1988, Wycliffe Bible Translators reported that 2,011 languages now have at least some portions of scripture in written form. In 1,167 additional languages, translation work is currently in progress. Wycliffe's 5,781 members come from 32 countries and are serving in 53 nations. Of the total membership, 899 are single women, 171 are single men, and 620 are two-year short-termers. It takes an average of 15 years to complete translation of a New Testament. RETIRED MISSIONARIES -- About 2,000 missionaries are expected to retire from the IFMA and the EFMA (Interdenominational and Evangelical Foreign Mission Associations) during the next ten years. They need not feel useless. Their cross-cultural knowledge and experience may make many of them uniquely qualified to aid local churches in their outreach to non-U.S. ethnic communities. There are an estimated 6 million Asians and 20 million Hispanics resident in the USA. (Pulse; 11-25-88) KIDNAPPED -- At the end of last October, Bruce Olson, an independent missionary to Colombia was kidnapped by guerrillas. Olson went as a missionary to the Motilone Indians of Colombia in 1961. His story and the story about the beginning of Christianity among the Motilone became widely known through the book Bruchko. He was still being held at the end of March. On January 3 this year, two more missionaries (with the Gospel Missionary Union) were kidnapped in Colombia. They are believed to be held by drug traffickers who have threatened to kill a missionary for every drug offender extradited by Colombian authorities to the USA. FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN NEPAL -- The two North American staff people with Operation Mobilization who have been in prison in Nepal since October were released in the beginning of March. They had been picked up in a remote area of eastern Nepal after local police found a quantity of Christian material in their possession and were charged with disturbing the peace of the Hindu population. Although officially Nepal has religious freedom, missionary activity and changing one's religion are forbidden. As the prosecution was unable to prove evangelistic activity--and the possession and acquisition of religious literature is not prohibited--the case was dismissed. In the previous month, three Nepalese were sentenced each to one year in prison for converting to Christianity. Another thirty Nepalese are awaiting trial for similar charges. Nepal is the only Hindu nation on earth. The number of Christian Nepalese has been increasing steadily over the last few years. There are now an estimated 47,000--mostly evangelical--Nepalese Christians. MARTYRS IN MEXICO -- There have been repeated reports of harassment and death threats by Mexican rural Catholics against evangelical Christians over the last few years. The following examples were reported by the World Evangelical Fellowship (Feb 14). "Two young evangelical workers were stoned to death by angry mobs in two separate incidents on 15 January, in the heart of Mexico." A Mexico City daily newspaper reported on the assassination of preacher Abelino Hernandez, aged 35, by "'more than a hundred fanatical Catholics.'" "In another part of the state of Mexico, the body of 21-year-old Julio Morales was found on 16 January. He customarily preached in different parts of Los Reyes on weekends." Near his body, the authorities found "his briefcase, full of Christian tracts and about a hundred good-sized rocks, many bloodied." AD 2000 AND BEYOND -- About 300 mission leaders from 50 countries met in January in Singapore to discuss the assumptions and implications inherent in plans to complete the task of world evangelization by AD 2000. A 1988 published report surveyed over 700 known plans since Christ which aimed at evangelizing the world (over 200 of these are currently operating). Although the consultation was successful in that its focus on the subject matter before and during the actual event promoted the vision of completing the great commission, no "earth-shattering" resolves were made. Latin American evangelicals made their concern known over Catholic participation, and there were differences of opinions about methodology and procedures. It was acknowledged (again) that cooperation is an absolute necessity in seeking to fulfill the great commission. Other basic thrusts which were affirmed included focus on the 1.3 billion people who have currently no access to the gospel, and the need to establish a body of believers and a church- planting movement within every human community. An information office has been established in Southern California in an attempt to facilitate a follow-on process. AMERICAN BLACKS IN MISSIONS -- During the 18th and 19th centuries, blacks were active participants in Protestant foreign missions originating from North America. The first American missionary is believed to have been a black, George Liele. He began his ministry in 1782. Another first was Betsy Stockton, who went to the field in 1823. She was the first single (not widowed) female missionary. In the 20th century, however, black American missionary involvement declined. The subject is currently receiving increasing attention. Last year, a LCWE- sponsored conference brought 1,600 black Americans together in Atlanta to discuss their role in world evangelization. An article in the January edition of the Evangelical Missions Quarterly highlights some of the unique contributions blacks could make to missions and the challenges facing them and existing mission boards. The author expresses hope that the current trend of seeking to recruit blacks and other minorities into mission agencies would not merely reflect an attempt to keep up with the times. "If it is, that is painfully near to the tokenism which blacks experienced 20 years ago when we were given a few conspicuous jobs to make the employer look good." The article also presents some reasons for the decline. Among them, 1) The fact that the large number of black independent churches which emerged between the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries cut blacks off from mainline sending denominations. Those blacks interested in ministry were mostly absorbed to serve this growth. 2) Major mission recruiting drives this century focused on colleges and other places where blacks were less likely to be found. 3) As new medicine diminished the threat of Malaria, whites began to go to Africa, which had been the major field for black missionaries. Another principal reason which may prevent blacks from serving in missions may be that many maintain a mentality of perceiving themselves as a mission field and this despite the fact that about one-third of all black American households now have an annual middle-class income of $35,000 or more. CHRISTIAN WOMEN MEET -- The Association of Evangelicals of Africa and Madagascar announced a continent-wide gathering of evangelical Christian women. About 1,500 women are expected to participate in Nairobi, August 5-12, to consider the challenges that face Africa and how to respond to them as African Christian women. (WEF) SOUTHERN BAPTIST GIVING -- With 14.3 million members in 38,000 churches, the Southern Baptists constitute the largest Protestant denomination in the USA. The Foreign Mission Board of the SBC announced last year that mission spending for 1989 had to be curtailed with a "12 percent across-the-board cut in worldwide missions operating budgets." It is due to a "shortfall in the 1987 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and decreases in other types of giving." Foreign Mission Board President R. Keith Parks said, "We've never made that heavy a cut since the depression years." One other major cause for the lack of resources is a doubling in costs of missionary support over the last decade. was expressed for the future, however, as the reported income from the latest annual "Lottie Moon Christmas offering" seems to be running well ahead of last year. Over 3,000 Southern Baptist missionaries from the USA work in 114 nations (Hungary recently became the 114th). (Commission; 8-88; 2-89) IN-FIELD CARE FOR MISSIONARIES -- Increasingly, it is being realized that missionaries are the most valuable, yet most neglected, resource in winning the world to Christ. But "a new day is beginning," as areas of personal stress such as cultural adjustment, children's education, and relationships between family members and missionaries have come into better focus lately. New ministries have sprung up to help prepare missionaries, and counsel them, when they return home early. But what about ongoing personnel care for missionaries? Last year, representatives from 5 agencies addressed this subject in a consultation in Amsterdam. Sarah Lanier, a personnel development specialist who consults YWAM International and who organized the gathering, says, "It is more cost effective to keep missionaries in the field than to recruit new ones." Participants acknowledged that missionary care is now receiving more attention, but stated that one skilled counsellor in a mission agency's home office is not sufficient. Alongside recruiting personnel to "win the world," mission agencies must focus more on the ongoing care (and quality of life) of their missionaries. This needs to be done by placing personnel development specialists nearer to where missionaries are--in the field. GLOBAL VISION -- The recently published book, Seven Hundred Plans to Evangelize the World (since the first century), shows that about 250 such plans are currently active. About 30 percent of all new plans during this decade have been initiated by Third World Christians. TWO MAJOR CONGRESSES -- In the coming months, there will be two major missions congresses. LAUSANNE II will be held in Manila in July, and the World Council of Churches is hosting its World Conference on Mission and Evangelism in San Antonio, Texas, at the end of May. SOVIET UNION -- Open Doors (12-88) reported that for the first time in many years, "the number of Christian prisoners in the Soviet Union has dropped to below one hundred." Also, a large unprecedented delivery of Russian language New Testaments is now under way. OD has received permission to give the Russian Orthodox Church one million NTs. Over half of the needed finances have already been made available. According to Keston College (quoted in Spektrum, 13-89), the total number of people imprisoned for religious reasons has declined from 400--when Gorbachev came to power in 1985--to 108, in March. RUMOR -- A false rumor about an organized attempt to ban all religious broadcasting in the U.S. has generated over twenty million petitions. After years of efforts to dispel the rumor, which began in the mid '70s, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission still receives about 80,000 pieces of mail per month. IN GOD WE TRUST -- Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the person primarily responsible for having organized prayer banned from the U.S. public school system, may be getting ready for a new campaign. She has recently indicated that she is dedicating the rest of her life to have the "In God We Trust" motto removed from American coins and bills. Considering the above example of public lobbying strength by Christians and others ("RUMOR"), which was absent in 1963 when the matter of school prayer was passed, it seems unlikely that O'Hair's American Atheists will get very far. (CT; 10-7-88) CHRISTIANS AND COCAINE -- The possibility of making a lot of money by growing coca has also affected Christian farmers in Bolivia. Some churches have decided on disciplinary measures against Christians growing or otherwise processing the coca leaf. Reports from other churches indicate that pastors have been voted out for preaching against coca farming. (CT; 10-7-88) RE-EVANGELIZING EUROPE -- In September, in Stuttgart, West Germany, about 140 representatives from mostly West and East European nations gathered under the umbrella of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. Among other things, they considered the need for a movement of repentance in the "territorial" (state) churches of Europe, producing "active Christians" in place of "Christian actors." Also, Thomas Wang, LCWE's international director, challenged European churches to overcome their "europessimism" and tap a new spiritual hope. Youth With A Mission had a staff conference in early April under the theme, Re- evangelizing Europe. Nearly all of the organization's European staff of 1,300 attended the event. SOUTH KOREA -- "For some 30 years the Protestant church has experienced phenomenal growth. Megachurches up to a half-million strong have attracted the admiration--and attempted emulation--of Christians around the world." Thirty percent of Korea's population claims adherence to Christianity. The widely-reported growth has now apparently slowed down. According to the general secretary of the Korean Evangelical Fellowship, the Korean church needs to become more generous, prophetic in society, and more united. The church is reported to be very affluent, but spends much of its money on itself. And its many denominations have mostly resulted from splits. "Nearly every major denomination has had one or more splits in the last three decades." There are, however, promising signs that the Korean church--object of many church growth studies--will increasingly involve itself in church planting in unevangelized areas. (Pulse; 12-9-88) DAWN DOWN UNDER -- DAWN (Discipling A Whole Nation) Ministries seeks to stimulate church and mission leaders to plan, pray, and work toward "saturation church planting" in their particular nation. DAWN is based in Pasadena, California, and has been instrumental in encouraging church growth in a number of countries. Their strategy is applied most notably in the Philippines. Recently, DAWN leaders met with representatives from nearly all denominations in New Zealand. According to DAWN Report, although 70 percent of New Zealand's population hold church membership, only 6.4 percent attend Christian meetings regularly, and the church growth in recent years has been roughly equal to the general population growth. The participants set themselves the goal to more than double the church attendance by the year 2000. ETERNITY'S END -- A U.S. monthly evangelical magazine, Eternity, terminated in January due to declining revenues. The magazine focused on providing a Christian evaluation of issues in the news. According to the executive editor, "Christians seem to be solely concerned with things that directly relate to the church...and lack interest in reading a news magazine with a Christian perspective." The magazine, which was founded in 1950, had been purchased in April, 1988, by the publishers of Guideposts. At the end, Eternity had 23,000 subscribers. Two-thirds world CLEAN & SAFE WATER -- According to the World Health Organization, 80 percent of all sicknesses in the developing world are a result of the unavailability of clean water and a bad hygiene in general. This causes the death of about four million children under the age of five annually. Although this decade in which the UN emphasized "clean water for everyone by 1990" has accomplished much, it is obvious that efforts need to continue. WOMEN IN INDIA -- Largely due to the efforts of feminists, a law has recently been passed in Maharashtra state which prohibits amniocentesis in order to determine the sex of an unborn child. This medical procedure has led to the abortion of thousands of female fetuses. They are usually aborted because of the dowry system which, although officially illegal, continues in many stratas of society. It rewards the parents of sons and burdens the families of daughters. It is hoped that nationwide legislation on the issue could be passed. (CSM; 8-88) SLAVERY -- According to the Anti-Slavery Society, slavery has changed, but it is still common in many societies. Children, sold in the Sudan a year ago for 70 or 80 pounds, can now be bought for about 10 pounds. In Mauritania, despite government legislation in 1980, there were still up to 100,000 slaves in the country in 1981. Child slavery is also common in Southeast Asia--particularly Thailand. "If you're poor, it's a tragedy; if you're poor and pretty, it's a double tragedy. Because your child labor then will be done in somebody's bed." Worldwide, the trade in children is a $5 billion business. The other main form of contemporary slavery is debt bondage whereby someone on a low wage will borrow money (often from his employer) to supplement his income. Being completely unable to repay the debt, he then becomes the possession of the money-lender (who can sell the debt bondage to someone else). The number of bonded laborers in India is estimated to be at least 5 million (although the practice was banned there in 1976). The city of Mirzapur alone is thought to have more than 100,000 child laborers--some sold by their parents to clear debts. In Ethiopia there have been reports of forced labor by the government, "People were literally rounded up off the streets at gunpoint, loaded into lorries and taken away." (Insight; 5-16-88) AMAZON -- The Amazon river basin covers 2 million square miles--more than half the area of the continental U.S. and contains about 31 percent of the world's tropical rain forests. During the decade of the '70s, an estimated 24 million acres were deforested. The destruction of the rain forest has alarmingly accelerated. About one-tenth of the Amazon forest has already been destroyed (last year alone, an area the size of Great Britain). In addition to the deforestation, fires are set to clear the land (close to an acre per second is burned). Satellite images have shown 6,000 separate fires on a given day last year. These fires have become responsible for about 10 percent of all the pollutants in the world's atmosphere. The ramifications will not just be felt by Brazil. It is believed that this is a major contributor to the so-called "green house effect," which could have devastating impact on the world within the next fifty years. Brazil has the eighth largest economy. But because of its huge foreign debt and large population, the government is bent on developing the Amazon region. However, the opportunities that many projects such as dams and roads create for the masses of poor white rural Brazilians are threatening the existence of Indian tribes. There are an estimated 220,000 native people. Some international agencies have now suggested to stem the wholesale development of the Amazon region by offering to write off foreign debt and thus trading "nature for money." Public officials in Brazil, however, condemn the current international lobbying as interference in their domestic affairs and have called it "ecological imperialism." FOOD SUPPLY -- The escalating need for emergency food aid has lately exceeded the available supply by donor nations. The North American drought in 1988 (which reduced the USA's grain reserves by 20 percent), has caused particular concern. The U.S. contributes about 50 percent to the world's emergency food supplies. The United Nations emergency food shipments have more than doubled between 1986 and 1988. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says, "the minimum level of global stocks needed for 'worldwide food security' is about 310 million metric tons." It is feared that the stocks may now have fallen below that level. The last time that the world grain stock experienced a shortage was in 1972/73. Some observers estimate that the stock supply is now equivalent to about 50 days of world food supply. At the recent World Food Conference in Brussels, the President of the European Parliament expressed that hunger must be eliminated by encouraging local agricultural production. "Food aid has a role to play, especially in cases of emergencies, but it should not be allowed to stop developing countries becoming self-sufficient." Urban world PERSPECTIVE ON THE CITY -- "The city represents the frontier of Christian mission; as the city goes, so goes our world, intellectually, economically, morally and religiously. If we continue to fail to win the cities, we shall continue to fail to evangelize the rest of any country or people group." (Jimmy Maroney, senior consultant with the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention quoted in Lausanne II News.) BRAZIL -- Before the second world war, 80 percent of Brazil's population lived outside the city; by the year 2000, only 20 percent will be rural. Despite efforts by the government, large segments of the population continue to get poorer. Inflation reached the 1,000 percent mark in 1988. Many Brazilians continue to flock to urban centers in hope of a better life. Most end up in slums, so-called favelas. PHILIPPINES -- The Philippines has the fastest rate of population growth in Southeast Asia. The Roman Catholic Church has made its condemnation of all forms of birth control very clear. "Among the urban poor, as many as two- thirds of all mothers wish they could stop having children. But most of them don't know how." One direct result of this explosion is the number of homeless children in the country--thought to be as many as 2.5 million. Official estimates put the number of unwanted street-kids in Manila alone at 75,000. Those who can't beg or steal enough to survive turn to prostitution. "A 12-year-old...says catering to strangers' sexual desires is repulsive but tolerable--as long as you deaden your senses beforehand by sniffing plenty of glue." Garbage dump dwellers have become a familiar feature of Third World urban areas. In Manila, 25,000 people scavenge for a living on Smokey Mountain--a 50-foot-high garbage dump, covering 174 acres in suburban Tondo. It has been predicted that by the year 2000, half of Manila's 8 million will be living in similar conditions. Despite the poverty and the constant stink of rotting refuse, an income of $2 or $3 per day means that the inhabitants of the dump have at least some hope of survival. Smokey Mountain's population grows by 11 percent per annum, and when the government razed the slum city to the ground (in 1986) it was rebuilt within a week. (Chicago Tribune; 1-8-89; Newsweek; 1-16-89) INNER CITY "ANGELS" -- "Give the streets back to the people" is the ethos of the 5,000-member volunteer army of Guardian Angels. Although their mere presence has been credited with "an appreciable drop in crime statistics," particularly on American subways, authorities seldom welcome them. The first European chapter has now begun in London. Some 80 volunteers, many of whom have personally experienced trouble on the London subway, are being trained in self defense techniques. They are planning to soon begin patrolling the London subway, which carries 10 million passengers per day. The police and underground authorities oppose the guardian angels. Most commuters, however, seem to welcome them. Incidentally, authorities have just decided to earmark 15 million English pounds to upgrade security in the tube system. Socio-cultural trends ALCOHOLISM -- West Germany reports that the number one addiction problem is alcohol. According to a report in Spektrum (12-9-87), there are 3.5 million alcohol-dependent Germans. At least 1,800 people per year die of alcohol- related road accidents. The financial drain which alcoholism places on German society amounts to over $2.5 billion. ELDERLY -- "By 2020, according to a European Community study, 18.4 percent of Western Europe's population will be over 65, in contrast to 12.4 percent today." (TIME; 8-8-88) FAST, EFFECTIVE "RELIEF" -- "On October 28, 1988,...the French government ordered a pharmaceutical company to resume distribution of RU 486--the abortion pill. Under pressure from pro-life groups, the company had earlier withdrawn it; but France's Socialist government ordered the drug back on the market, asserting that it was the 'moral property of women.'" (CT; 2-3-89) This pill makes home abortion a reality. Abortion clinics will largely disappear, rendering pro-life sit-ins unnecessary. Third World countries are already beginning to utilize RU 486, and although pro-lifers may be able to ban legal use in some countries, there will be no way to prevent its distribution.(Editor's note: WCN attempts to present brief, factual information, and tries to stay away from editorializing. But how can I keep "matter-of-fact" while crying about this kind of news? This development will make destruction of innocent human life so easy!) NEOPAGANISM -- In secularized North America and Europe alike, there is ample evidence of a resurgence of paganism. (It is here understood as a worldview that rejects the notion of one creator God, but allows for polytheism.) Whole sections of bookstores are dedicated to the supernatural. Societies, newsletters, periodicals, and conferences promote esoteric knowledge. The use of pendulums, crystals, and various rituals to get guidance, even in medicine, is on the increase. Although the notion of one supreme creator God is rejected, there is increasing willingness to believe in the supernatural and magic. About 45 percent of West Germans have reported that they have experienced things that could not rationally be explained. A German woman's magazine included in their year-end edition an amulet, along with best wishes for "a good sun year." It recommended that the readers wear the amulet for good luck in 1989. West Germany is also experiencing a boom in witches. Some 10,000 are registered and are organized in over 70 convents. How to present the gospel to secular man has been thoroughly discussed, but how to evangelize the new pagan, who deifies nature, needs much more attention according to one observer of new religions. WORLD POPULATION -- A 1989 report by the United Nations revises previous population forecasts. The current projections are higher. By the year 2000, it is estimated that 6.251 billion people will be alive on earth. The projection for 2025 has increased by one-quarter billion to 8.467 billion. Higher than anticipated total fertility rates for China and India (which make up 37 percent of the current world population) are cited as the major reason. LOVE YOUR ANIMALS -- A recent tv movie about Norwegian seal hunting has caused a storm of protest in Norway and other countries. The king of Sweden was quoted as saying, "If a Norwegian prime minister cannot even take care of the seals how can she take care of people?" In Western developed nations the welfare of animals is a big concern. The USA, for example, now has some 7,000 animal protection groups with a combined membership of 10 million people and total budgets of $50 million. The strategies of these, as well as European groups, vary from ballot initiatives and letter writing to burglary and bombing. An estimated 17 million animals (85 percent of which are rodents) are used in U.S. laboratory experiments per annum. Many of these experiments have been successfully used to further studies of AIDS, cancer, alcoholism, heart disease, and depression and to develop vaccines. A letter to Newsweek (12-5-88)--in response to a large-scale, international rescue effort to save two trapped whales--expressed a Third World perspective, "Perhaps whales are considered more important than human beings to the rich who throw money around to show how humane they are." Another observer commented, "nothing triggers such emotional outcry as seeing animals suffer, not even the killing of people can compete with it." (Newsweek; 1-16-89; CNN; 2-20-89) AIDS UPDATE -- At the end of 1988, the World Health Organization announced that 125,000 actual cases of AIDS have been recorded in 142 nations. Europe reported 14,000 AIDS cases in January (650 in the Netherlands) Potpourri TERRORISM -- Terrorist activities are increasing internationally by about 20 percent annually. Over half of the killings have occurred since 1983. International and/or domestic groups are operating now in about 70 nations. Many of them have become drunk on the "oxygen of publicity." In Italy, terrorist attacks frequently were timed with the days of the week in which most newspapers were circulated. State-sponsored terrorism, which has been linked to Libya, Iran, Syria, N. Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, and Bulgaria, occurs often in the form of arms shipments to terrorist groups. ENERGY FOREST -- In a plebiscite in 1980, Sweden decided to opt for a non- nuclear-powered future by 2010. It was the first country (before Chernobyl) to make such a decision. Now, feeling increasing urgency, Sweden wants to dismantle her remaining four nuclear reactors even sooner. A number of alternate energy-providing projects are being pursued, among them the planting of a 100,000-hectare energy forest of fast-growing willows. EUROPE'S OUTLET -- Whereas Sweden is trying to dismantle her remaining nuclear powerplants, France is banking on them. By 1992 (the milestone year toward the unification of Western Europe), France hopes to add 12 more reactors to the 49 she already operates. Along with other electricity-generating enterprises, France currently produces 60,000 megawatt daily, but utilizes just over half that. The French hope to become the major electrical outlet for Europe, exporting energy more cheaply than her neighbors could produce it. RUNAWAYS/THROWAWAYS -- An estimated 100 million children and teenagers worldwide are fending for themselves, living for the most part in the streets of urban ghettos. About 50,000 unemployed teenagers are homeless in London, reported the Economist (12-26-87). Many claim they have been thrown out by their parents and/or guardians. Latin America's estimate of street children runs in the tens of millions. Moody magazine reported (January 1987) that the number of teenagers in U.S. runaway centers had increased 2,000 percent over the preceding ten years. FREE COUNTRIES -- According to research quoted in the Wall Street Journal, there has been a dramatic increase in democracy during the '80s, particularly in Third World nations. Over 38 percent of the world's population was designated as now living in "free" countries. SOVIET JOURNAL TO PUBLISH NT -- A Russian literary magazine will reportedly publish the New Testament as a series. It represents not so much an endorsement of the Christian message, but is planned as an effort to improve atheist understanding, and consequently, argumentative skill. EAST TIMOR -- East Timor is a disputed part of the Indonesian province (island) of Timor. The eastern part of the island was under Portuguese rule until Indonesia annexed it by force in 1976. Nearly 100,000 of the mostly Catholic population have died of famine, disease, and fighting since that annexation. The "nation" of East Timor (population 0.7 million) has been closed all these years to the outside world, and Indonesia has received many international complaints about human-rights abuses. Although the resistance to Indonesian rule continues, Indonesia has just recently opened East Timor to tourism. KHUMBA MELA -- This year's most important Hindu religious festival was held near Allahabad, India. It drew the largest crowds ever. About 15 million people were present when at the height of the seven-week festival the devout moved in huge processions into the waters of the Ganges to wash away their sins and thus be released from the cycle of reincarnation. OPERATION MOBILIZATION On March 13, fire was set to the head offices of OM in Germany. Although no culprits have been identified, the police apparently do not rule out a connection with OM's ministry focus among Muslims. The coordinating offices of OM's ministry ships, the Doulos and Logos II, are located on the same premises. ANNIVERSARIES Cuba celebrated the 30th anniversary of her revolution in January. Tibet saw riots against Chinese rule at the eve of the 30th anniversary of China's annexation of Tibet in March. The NATO is 40 years old on April 4. The Burmese Church celebrates the arrival of Burma missionary Adoniram Judson 175 years ago. The French celebrate the 200th anniversary of their revolution. The Second World War began 50 years ago. GYPSIES -- A World Congress for Christian Gypsies will take place in Amsterdam at the end of July. The last congress, which is usually held once every three years, took place in France in 1984. The Dutch organizers expect about 20- 30,000 Gypsies from all parts of the world. Although it is a Christian event, all Gypsies are welcome. (A European congress, in 1988, attracted 20,000.) Gypsies, a nomadic people, are believed to have originally migrated from northern India. By the 14th and 15th centuries, they were known in Europe. Although today they are spread all across the world, including India, the majority of the estimated 2-3 million Gypsies still live in Europe (the Dutch organizers of the Congress estimate the number to be 10-20 times as large). In their own language, Romany, an unwritten Indic language, they refer to themselves as Rom (meaning male, from the Indian sanskrit). Many Gypsies continue their nomadic lifestyle, at least seasonally, along definite routes and frequently in trucks and trailers. Their disposition toward a migrating lifestyle has over the centuries been reinforced by deportations, banishments, and animosity of settled communities. During the Nazi era, an estimated 400,000 Gypsies were annihilated. In some places in Europe, Gypsies have settled down, particularly in the Balkan countries and Spain, but also in Wales. Three major tribal groupings are recognized within the Gypsy community: the most numerous are the Kalderash (mostly found in the Balkans), the Gitanos (mostly located in the Iberian peninsula, North Africa and southern France), and the Manush, or Sinti (located in France and Germany). The Manush are frequently part of traveling amusement parks and circuses. Since 1952, a people group movement has been taking place among the European Gypsies. Large numbers of Manush came to Christ, and 20 years ago it spread to the Kalderash and then the Gitanos. It began when a Manush woman brought her dying son to an Assemblies of God church. The boy miraculously recovered and the family turned to Christ. The World Gypsy Evangelical Movement is located in France. Islamic world digest IRAN CELEBRATES Iran celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Islamic revolution in February. Once again, "death to America, the great satan" was uttered by millions of people participating in street rallies. Millions of other Iranians did not celebrate. While they may have welcomed the end of the Shah's rule in 1979, they could not endure Khomeini's reign in the name of God. Frightened, disillusioned with Islam, and wounded by the tragic eight-year war with Iraq, in which almost every family has lost loved ones, these Iranians have fled to other countries. During this last decade, many Iranians have begun to consider the message of Christianity. In country after country, Iranian Christians are now meeting regularly. Even in Iran itself, more than in any other time in its over 2,000 year history, Iranians have turned to Christ. HOW SUCCESSFUL HAS IRAN BEEN IN EXPORTING ITS REVOLUTION? Although Khomeini continues to capture center stage (e.g., the Rushdie affair), he has been far less successful than many had thought in inspiring other Islamic nations to adopt his brand of Islam. In part, this is due to the tight surveillance which Arab states began among their own Shiite minorities. But there are also other reasons. Many Muslims felt deeply offended at the extent to which Iran would seek to export its cause after trouble broke out during the 1987 hajj in Mecca. Khomeini's failure to export his style of fundamentalist Islam can also be ascribed to the ancient gaps between Arabs and Persians, Sunnis and Shiites. The political aspirations of Sunnis, who constitute about 90 percent of the approximately 900 million Muslims worldwide, are more modest. They differ from Shiites in that they accept lay political leadership. They "only" demand that Islamic law, Sharia, be applied. This has lately been achieved in Pakistan and Bangladesh and has caused the current civil war in the Sudan. Shiites, on the other hand, expect that their imam, or clergy, occupy political power as well. APPEAL OF ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM In many cases, the Muslim masses have been unhappy with foreign influence and the often accompanying moral decay. They have seen their rulers unsuccessfully experiment with alien forms of government and want Islam given a chance. Khomeini's Shiites--as do Sunni fundamentalists--appeal to them because they have taken up these issues. Their message evokes glorious images of the Islamic past--before Russian and European colonialism in the 19th and early 20th centuries--and the humility over their inability to defeat Israel. Open Doors reports that at present there are 800 Christians imprisoned in Iran, and at least 200 have been executed. CHRISTIAN ARABS -- The number of Christian Arabs in the Middle East is declining. In 1946, 80 percent of Bethlehem's population was Christian Arab; today that district is populated by four times as many Arab Muslims as Arab Christians. Jerusalem registered over 30,000 Christian Arabs in 1946; today there are less than half that number. The same holds true for Arab nations. Two major reasons are cited: Muslim Arabs have a much higher birthrate than Christian Arabs, and discrimination against Arab Christians by Muslims (and by Jews) causes many to emigrate. ONE-HUNDRED YEAR ANNIVERSARY -- The Pakistan based Ahmadiyya movement within Islam was founded in 1889 by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. MUSLIM RESEARCH -- Librarians, researchers, and other information scientists from around the Muslim world will meet in Istanbul in May. The congress will focus on a comprehensive strategy for information- processing within the Islamic world. Participants will discuss subjects relating to research, data classification, communication, and sharing. WORLD MUSLIM POPULATION -- Muslims constitute the majority in 40 nations. In another 25 countries, Muslims form a strong minority--between 25 and 49 percent of the population. According to the newest bulletin of the Population Reference Bureau, in Washington, the number of Muslims in the world could double in the next 30 years--to 1.9 billion. By 2020, one in four people on earth could be an adherent of Islam. About 42 babies are born for every 1,000 Muslims. This compares with about 34 in the Two-Thirds World in general and 13 in the industrialized Western countries. In Germany, the number of Muslims is now believed to be 1.9 million--200,000 of whom are estimated to be illegal immigrants (Turks: 1.5 million, Arabs: 110,000, Yugoslavian: 100,000, German: 50,000). In West Berlin alone there are 33 mosques or prayer houses and one person in ten is a Muslim. CHINA -- China has 43,000 mosques and 15 million Muslims according to the China Islamic Association (quoted in OMF 3-89)--26 million according to the Zwemer Institute. The largest Chinese Muslim minority are the Hui. They are predominantly Sunni and are also the only Muslim people for whom Chinese is the mother tongue. Altogether, they number nearly 8 million and are scattered across North China, but their greatest concentration is in Ningxia (an autonomous region). There are 430,000 Hui in Yunnan province in S.W. China and 180,000 in Beijing. Overall it seems the Gospel is not thriving in Ningxia, and the Hui there remain virtually untouched. As the Hui are racially Chinese (compared to their Turkic Muslim brothers, the Uighurs or Kazakhs, who are mainly found in Xinjiang province, and who speak totally different languages), it would appear that they be more approachable by the Han Chinese, among whom are the majority of the estimated 10-50 million Chinese Christians. 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