Story number 1 for 12 Apr 2000

Topping today’s news, despite claims of election fraud, Georgia’s president-elect Eduard Shevardnadze is making promises to clean up his government. His brand of politics may actually help evangelism in the former Soviet state, so says The Institute for Bible Translation’s Kurt Gustafson. “Georgia needs the Western influence into its business environment in order to be able to survive. And I’m sure that he will want to promote that. And so, I think that as far as Christian work in Georgia, there should not be any obstacles to that evangelical work.” Gustafson says the Shevardnadze victory should ensure the current situation won’t change. IBT is currently working to translate the Scriptures into the Georgian language by the end of the year. The Orthodox Church has also asked IBT to supply a half million Childrens’ Bibles for the people. Gustafson says they will need over one million dollars to meet that request.