Story number 1 for 1 Nov 1999

We begin today in the breakaway republic of Chechnya, which has been the target of international attention recently. Terry Madison of Open Doors says they are concerned for the Christians who have been caught in the country during the bombings. “There’s at least 40 believers who were left behind that we were unable to help get out before this more recent fighting started. But, that is the body of Christ there. And, it has been, for 45 years, our purpose to strengthen Christians where they are. Not that they will flee or leave, but they will stay where they are planted and be the authentic representative of Christ.” Madison says in spite of the dark times, evangelism is bringing hope and light. “People search and reach out for a God whose name they may not know, and when they find Christians who have a balance and a purpose and a focus in life, it’s very attractive. And so, in some of these satellite states where former Soviet pressures have been released and now there’s different kind of Islamic pressures, the Christians are standing tall.”