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South Africa: Christians protest, sex industry collapsing
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Evangelical Christians are not entirely innocent of causing the ruin of a part
of the sex industry. The South African weekly paper "Mail and Guardian" reports
that the South African sex industry "is running out of steam. Many
establishments in Cape Town have already been forced to close." Publishers of
sex magazines complain that "due to public protest, magazines cannot be put on
display, and are only available over the counter when directly requested." Dave
Mullany, editor of Scope, a porn magazine which recently went bankrupt, says
"with the fire and brimstone shouts, the fundamentalists have made it impossible
to sell our magazine".
Source: Christian News from C F T, fax (+27) 32 4815507
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New Zealand: church given away
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The Piako Christian fellowship in Te Aroha, New Zealand, recently decided to
give away their church building in the High Street, complete with its seating
for 250, children's centre, offices and fully stocked bookshop. The attendance
at the services was steadily decreasing, so after much prayer, the church
decided to make their building available to other Christians. Pastor Nick
Klinkenberg accepted the keys as they were handed over to the Apostolic Church
of New Zealand, which has a large vision for planting new churches. His
reaction: "I have prayed daily that we could plant a church in Te Aroha, but
this development is a complete surprise for us all!"
Source: Nick Klinkenberg, Apostolic News
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Croatia: evangelisation with football and guitars
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Nenad Kovacevic of "Athletes in Action" reports that some Croatian Christians
founded the music group Adonai in 1988. "We saw, particularly following the war,
that music is a very effective method of communication. We gave up our work and
held evangelistic concerts, which was a great sacrifice for our families."
Kovacevic reports that the team gave 18 concerts during their "Tour 96",
covering nine thousand kilometres in three cars and stood in front of a total of
10,000 people. About a year ago, an evangelistic football team was formed, which
has helped plant new churches in Croatia.
Source: Nenad Kovacevic, fax (+358) 40 310431
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USA: Promise Keepers record numbers
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In 1996, the attendance at the stadium conferences increased by more than 50
percent compared to the previous year, writes Paul Edwards in a yearly summary
of the work of the Christian men's movement "Promise Keepers". All together,
over 1.1 million men attended seminars in 1996. Over 90,000 volunteers helped at
the events, almost the half of which were women who willingly assisted so that
more men could take part. PK Highlights, the Promise Keepers new radio
programme, is transmitted by over 1200 radio stations and after only one year
has been voted one of the three most popular radio programmes. There are already
satellite transmissions of Promise Keeper programmes to American jails -
complete with interactivity. International interest is also increasing; 22
countries are interested in the concept. In February 1996, a conference which
Edwards calls "the largest pastors' conference in church history" took place in
Atlanta, attended by 40,000 church leaders. At the start of October 1997, the
movement will organise a one day event in Washington DC with the motto "stand in
the gap", to which hundreds of thousands of men are expected.
Source: Paul Edwards, Promise Keepers USA
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Japan: Hiroshima victim forgives bomber pilot
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Kiyoko Tanimoto is one of the survivors of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
by the Americans. "I can still remember how we were all buried alive in the
rubble of our houses. Everything burned," he writes. "Whenever I thought about
the bomber pilots, I had to cry. "I hate him, I hate him". I saw how people died
terribly and slowly." Tanimoto later met one of these bomber pilots in a
Christian meeting in America; "As I saw him, I was again filled with bitter
hatred. But as I heard how he described the event, my attitude changed. In
tears, he said "after we dropped the bomb, I shouted 'My God, what have we
done?!'" Tanimoto realised that it was wrong to hate this man. Tanimoto has
become a Christian and was even able to forgive the bomber pilot. Today, he
helps people who suffer under their hatred for other people.
Source: SOON Gospel Literature. According to John Lewis, publisher of "Worldwide
Easy English Gospel Literature", the mission agency's Internet address
(http://www.soon.org.uk) is visited daily by 500 people. Fax (+44) 1283 702334
