Ì¢âÂÒYou gave us your heart.Ì¢âÂå These five words are foundational in my ministry. At times it is easy to be frustrated with missions and in particular with HIV/AIDS ministries.Read more…
PAKISTAN
Reeling from the 8 October 7.6 magnitude earthquake which left tens of thousands dead and millions homeless, Pakistan may now be facing more catastrophes–widespread disease and illness, a lack of resources and aid and harmful weather conditions. Injured survivors areRead more…
QATAR
For the first time since the arrival of Islam in the seventh century, a Christian church, headed by Scottish archdeacon Ven Ian Young, will be built in conservative Muslim Qatar. Work on the Anglican Church of the Epiphany will beginRead more…
RUSSIA
With United Nations reports stating that Russia has one of the highest HIV/AIDS growth rates in the world, the Russian Orthodox Church has launched a new program to combat the epidemic. The program aims to offer both physical and spiritualRead more…
SOUTH AMERICA
Christian Sarmiento, who has served as director of the Church of the Nazarene Mexico/Central America (MAC) Region since 1999, has been appointed the new South America Regional Director. After being led to the Lord in 1974 by his future wife,Read more…
UNITED STATES
With fewer than one percent of the world’s 2.2 million children with AIDS receiving treatment, physicians in the Pediatric AIDS Corps are hoping to treat those in need and train medical workers who can provide care long-term. Bristol-Myers Squibb andRead more…
UNITED STATES
After more than twenty-five years, the Gullah people now have a completed New Testament. For decades, translators with JAARS have been working with the Gullah people, descendants of West African slaves brought to America from the late 1600s to theRead more…
UNITED STATES
The Alaska Baptist Convention (ABC) recently marked sixty years of ministry in the northwestern state. The meeting’s theme, “Light Up Alaska,” encompassed the mission’s emphasis on missions, prayer and church development. The ABC has four associations which include seventy-four churchesRead more…
ZAMBIA
Seven major faith groups have signed a communique stating their plans to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Zambia. The document was signed at the First Zambian Open Day for Care and Compassion for People Living with HIV/AIDS, organized byRead more…
ZIMBABWE
Christian leaders in Zimbabwe have launched a new HIV/AIDS policy for churches in this southern African country of 12.7 million people, where the pandemic kills an average of 2,000 people every week. “This decision to launch an AIDS policy indicatesRead more…
Drugs Don’t Cure Leprosy
Drugs do not cure leprosy. I can almost hear it now. Doctors, researchers and other leprosy experts who read this title are asking, Ì¢âÂÒWhatÌ¢âÂã¢s wrong with this fellow? DoesnÌ¢âÂã¢t he know anything about leprosy? HeÌ¢âÂã¢s supposed to be the president of American Leprosy Missions (ALM) and he doesnÌ¢âÂã¢t even know about the miraculous cure.Ì¢âÂåRead more…
NIGERIA
With only 40,000 of the 3.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria receiving anti-retroviral drug treatment, members of UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) are calling for large amounts of the drugs to become available in order to treat the growingRead more…
How the Unified Church Can Respond to Global Corruption: A Call which Will Impact Millions
Life for a person living below the poverty line is short. This is the terrible conclusion one can reach by looking at indicators concerning human development.1Read more…
Growing Interest in Medical Missions
Among students in the health professions, the Annual Global Missions Health Conference (GMHC) in Louisville, KY, USA, is quickly becoming known as the Ì¢âÂÒUrbanaÌ¢âÂå of healthcare missions.Read more…
Christian AIDS Services/Association Offers Hope and Help to Many in Germany
CAH (Christian AIDS Services/Association) is an independently-registered association and member of the Deaconry Work of Hessen and Nassau in Germany.Read more…
Gathered to Scatter: Raising Up the Next Generation of Leaders
This past summer and fall, I had the privilege of meeting with ministry leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and Australia/Oceania who are all committed to the cause of world evangelization.Read more…
European Evangelicals End Annual Assembly
European Evangelical leaders on Saturday were challenged to live out their “true identities” as “Christian nobodies” by becoming God’s catalysts for change.Read more…
The Rise (and Fall?) of HIV
An estimated thirty-eight million adults and children are infected with HIV/AIDS today; twenty million have died from the disease so far. By 2050, some 297 million people the equivalent of the entire United States population will have perished. Any plan to reach the unreached must grapple with AIDS.Read more…
The North American Church’s Role in HIV/AIDS Care
The issue of HIV/AIDS in the world today is so large that it may appear beyond hope. According to the UNAIDS/WHO 2004 AIDS Epidemic Update, there are more than 13,400 new infections and 8,400 deaths each day from HIV/AIDS.Read more…
Global AIDS and World Evangelization
During the 2004 Lausanne Conference in Pattaya, Thailand, the study group meeting to discuss holistic mission turned their attention to the AIDS pandemic as the most urgent of world concerns needing the attention of the Church.Read more…
Into Their World…The Kazakh of Kazakhstan
As the second largest Muslim group in Central Asia, the Kazak people have had a tumultuous history, experiencing wars, migration and domination for centuries. One of the most influential ethnic groups in Central Asia at one time, the Kazak now dwell mainly in Kazakhstan, but can also be found in Mongolia, Ukraine and Russia.Read more…
Trans World Radio and Kerus Global Education Unite to Mobilize African Youth to Stem the Tide of HIV/AIDS
Every day 14,000 Africans become infected with HIV/AIDS. In an effort to counter the spread of this unrelenting enemy on the continent, international Christian broadcaster Trans World Radio (TWR) and Kerus Global Education have partnered to produce character-based radio programming geared toward helping African teenagers make responsible lifestyle choices.Read more…
North American Consultation on the Role of the Church in the HIV/AIDS Pandemic
Abstinence is working in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Findings which have appeared controversial, contradictory or politicized to both mainstream media and secular aid agencies continue to show that the Ì¢âÂÒAbstinence, Be faithful or use a CondomÌ¢âÂå (ABC) promotion in places such as Uganda, Rwanda and other African nations is slowing the numbers of people being infected and living with HIV/AIDS.Read more…
The Changing Pattern of Marriage
Marriages, whether in church or a Registry Office, were not counted in the United Kingdom before 1837. In the nineteenth century, the majority of weddings took place in Anglican churches.Read more…
Evangelicals Responding to the Challenge of AIDS on World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day is 1 December and the Global AIDS Prayer Partnership is launching two new initiatives to help mobilize an evangelical response to the AIDS pandemic.Read more…
A Billion Souls: The Rise of Global Christianity
For more than two thousand years, the Church has worked to fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord. By 1900, 45.69% of the world was evangelized; by 2000, more than 73.09% of the world has heard the gospel. Yet there are still more than 1.8 billion people who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.Read more…
Fire of Hope: The Effects of HIV/AIDS Ministry
HIV/AIDS is a modern-day plague marching nearly unimpeded across the face of the African continent. It threatens peace and stability as it wipes out entire generations, leaving millions of orphans in its wake. The statistics are daunting.Read more…
HIV/AIDS Home-Based Care in Nairobi
Over one and half million people live in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. That is half the cityÌ¢âÂã¢s population. More than 300,000 people are crowded together in Karagoche, NairobiÌ¢âÂã¢s worst slum. Families live in extreme poverty and struggle to make a living.Read more…
International Orality Network 2005 Annual Working Conference: Making Disciples of Oral Learners
A provocative call to radically rethink our communication of the gospel was the central theme of the 2005 International Orality Network (ION) Annual Working Conference held recently in Anaheim, CA, USA.Read more…
He Intends Victory a Paradigm for the Acceptance of the Church in HIV/AIDS
Ì¢âÂÒI really think itÌ¢âÂã¢s best if you donÌ¢âÂã¢t come back to church here anymore!Ì¢âÂå Can you imagine what itÌ¢âÂã¢s like to hear those words from your pastor?Read more…
HIV/AIDS and the Church: We Cannot Look the Other Way
Only a few days ago, we lost another little child. One of his friends had been praying for him, just as he had prayed for two other friends, Kamau and Kimani. Now, this friend was gone too.Read more…
On North Korea, a Country Spotlighted During the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church
North Korea, which tops Open DoorÌ¢âÂã¢s World Watch List of countries where persecution of Christians is the worst, was one of the countries spotlighted during the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church 13 November.Read more…
AIDS in China: The Amity Foundation
The first AIDS case in China was reported in 1985. The following years witnessed rapid growth of the HIV-positive population. Geographically, HIV-positive cases have now been reported in each and every one of the thirty-one provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of mainland China.Read more…
IN THIS ISSUE…HIV/AIDS and the Gospel and Other Issues of Global Interest
HIV/AIDS and the Gospel Peoples of the WorldHIV/AIDS Home-Based Care in Nairobi
Sixth Asia Lausanne Conference on Evangelism
he Executive Committee of Asia Lausanne invites everyone to the Sixth Asia Lausanne Conference on Evangelism (ALCOE VI). ALCOE VI will be held 22-26 May 2006 at the Legend Villas, Mandaluyong City, MetroManila, Philippines.Read more…
AROUND THE WORLD
The five-year “Unite for Children. Unite Against AIDS” campaign was recently launched by leaders of UNICEF, UNAIDS and other global HIV/AIDS organizations. The campaign is a worldwide effort to raise awareness, commitment and resources to halt the destruction of AIDS.Read more…
CANADA
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank, owned by thirteen Canadian church agencies, is responding to the food crisis which is impacting nearly twelve million people in southern Africa. More than 6,500 metric tons of food will be distributed. With areas of southernRead more…
CUBA
Cuba’s Minister of Religion has accused Eliseo Rodriguez Matos, a pastor in Colon, of taking part in dangerous and subversive actions–using a printing press to print copies of the Gospel of John. Mato’s printing press was recently confiscated and heRead more…
EGYPT
Armed guards have been placed around St. George (St. Girgis) Coptic Orthodox Church in Muharram Bik, Alexandria on the Egyptian Mediterranean Coast due to recent attacks from Muslim mobs. Massive Muslim riots, web threats and the stabbing of a CopticRead more…
INDIA
A non-profit, Christian-owned pharmaceutical factory in India has launched production of cheaper AIDS treatment drugs that can prolong the lives of the growing number of people infected with HIV/AIDS. The Comprehensive Medical Services India, the pharmaceutical unit of the Inter-ChurchRead more…
LATIN AMERICA
Two new overseers have been appointed to head up the Church of God in Uruguay and Peru. Rev. Alcides Morales, a pastor for eleven years at a local church in Uruguay, is the new National Overseer for the Church ofRead more…
CANADA
Activists from church and faith-based organizations are preparing for a world conference on HIV/AIDS. Organizers plan to call on government and religious leaders to keep their promises for action to halt the spread of the disease. “Faith-based organizations will beRead more…