News Archives

A Voice of the Martyrs source reports that a Cuban pastor and his family were forced out of their home in the Cuban city of Las Tunas on Tuesday. Pastor Jorge Ferrer Jr.’s church has been very active in evangelism, and has established many daughter churches in recent years. Local believers think that because of his Christian ministry, his home was confiscated. In recent months, the situation for Christians in Cuba has seemed to improve, however, believers are far from free from persecution in Cuba.

Next, Christians from around the world gathered to share the Gospel in Sydney during the Olympic Games. Gospel Literature Services’ Dr. David Crandall says they had a half million booklets in 15 languages ready thanks to a cooperative effort. “Our logistics on this end of it was handled by the missionaries here and everything was prepared well for us and we have just had a very, very exciting time of witnessing and talking to folks on the street about the Lord.” Crandall says several dozen came to the Lord, adding that now, the real work begins. “We have produced a book called “The Ultimate Question” and that is going to be sent to every believer who has accepted Christ as personal Savior or those folks that seem to be very, very interested, we will send the book out. Then we’ll be in contact with missionaries around the world that live hear these folks and ask them, within two weeks, to make contact with them.”

The rugged landscape and brutal climate of Siberia acts as a natural barrier for Siberians. Travel is difficult because of its few airports, nearly impassible roads, and swampy terrain. The country is considered by many to be the wasteland of Russia, but some believers think otherwise. SEND International’s Frank Severen explains what their next project will involve. “The Russian Baptist Church has asked SEND to help them launch into an unreached people group which are Buddhist in Central Siberia called the Buryat people. Here’s a people group of about a half million that do not have a Gospel witness at all.” Isolated towns get few visitors and even fewer missionaries, however, judging from the success of the few evangelistic efforts in other parts of Siberia, Severen says they can only be enthusiastic. “These are great days of opportunity and the Gospel continues to go out with great power and effectiveness. We’re praying that the Lord will raise up missionaries to help reach that people group along with the Russian Baptist Church.”

Elsewhere, the new school year has dropped an unbelievable opportunity into the laps of New Hope International. NHI’s Hank Paulson. “Our Romanian team leader was called to the government official in charge of education in one of the regions; the result of that was a carte blanche for the whole region in Romania, plus a government official saying, “We need to work with Bucharest and get accreditation and approval to get into the schools throughout the country.” ” Paulson says this was the result of much prayer. “The overwhelming thing to us has been that we haven’t even initiated anything. It’s just been in response to the public schools requesting a program to help their kids, with a message of abstinence, meaningful relations connected with Christian values.”

And, the final stages are nearing completion for Evangelical Baptist Missions’ Bethesda Outreach-a special village for South Africa’s AIDS-driven orphan population. EBM’s David Seefried says their homes offer a safety net for the children to grow up in, protected, healthy, educated and evangelized. Seefried says things are moving right along. “We have a purchase offer on a piece of property-it’s about 200 acres and has already seven homes on it that we can used before we do any building of the new cottages. We have about 50 days to raise the money; we need about 80-thousand more dollars.” Seefried adds that their plan is more than community-based outreach, it means: “…refuge to these children in homes of mercy, where they will find the nourishment and the love and care and the Christian training that is so desperately needed. Through our compassion, we can help raise a generation of African children who will impact the next generation.”