News Archives

Parliamentary elections are in the final stage of being counted in Sri Lanka. Suspicion and fear of fraud hang like clouds over the polls where Tamils cast their votes earlier this week. According to Back to the Bible, many people fear more violence will erupt after the results are confirmed and announced. Back to the Bible’s Sri Lankan ministry team members are asking that Christians pray for the area as they continue to bring the hope of Jesus Christ to this war-weary region.

Elsewhere, Trans World Radio began broadcasting for the first time to Haiti in the Creole language. This has been a longtime dream of TWR to air programs to this troubled nation. The daily 30-minute Creole program–a translated and adapted version of the popular Thru the Bible broadcast in English–is beamed from TWR’s Bonaire transmitting site. Plans are in place to air this program elsewhere in Haiti, in the Caribbean, and possibly Miami, where more than 300,000 ex-patriate Haitians live.

Rising fuel prices and shortages are adding to the doubled cost of living in Ghana. The increased hardship is having an impact on a ministry in the area. International Aid’s Christian Eye Ministry’s Faye Kratt says with their eye clinic in Ghana, Christian actions speak louder than words. “Their economic status does limit them, because there is a small fee for service. But, no one is turned away. We want the patients there to be able to come, in spite of the lack of money; it’s really had an impact on them [the people] in the last year because they can barely afford to feed themselves.” Kratt adds that World Sight Day, October 12th, will help open doors for them. “There’s been a new initiative, a new strategy called “Vision 2020″ to eliminate preventable and curable blindness around the world by the year 2020. All of us working together, all the programs that are working in this area, need the prayers and also the financial support of people around the world.”

Meanwhile, New Focus National’s program is taking on an unusual twist at a church in Mankato, Minnesota. Director Chris Walchuk says they’ve now changed their concentration from a traditional benevolence fund to a revolving loan fund. Walchuk says the pilot program provided more than financial benefits. “We ran one New Focus class, where we gave them money by grant, and another, we said “All this money we’re giving you, you’re signing a promissory note; we expect repayment, and people overwhelmingly preferred the loan. It restored their dignity; it gave them a goal to work toward, and they felt really great when they did, in fact, pay off that loan.” Walchuk explains there were other rewards that New Focus clients soon discover. “We let them know right up front, they’re going to hear the Word of God, they’re going to hear of a lifestyle that will make their lives better in every way. In fact, I was shocked from the beginning how hungry people were for that Word.” New Focus National is a faith-based training group that helps churches provide a system to reach out to their communities.