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Today’s News Headlines

ILLITERATE, ‘ALITERATE’ FOCUS OF BOOK OF HOPE VIDEO PROJECT KENYA CHURCH LEADERS UNHAPPY WITH CONSTITUTION DRAFT AFRICA’S CHILDREN: WHO WILL WIN HEARTS AND MINDS? EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS FLEXING THEIR MUSCLES IN BRAZIL INDIAN OVERTAKES CHINA IN SENDING STUDENTS TO U.S. ‘BOX OF LOVE’ TO BRIGHTEN THANKSGIVING FOR NEEDY FAMILIES

Today’s News Stories

ILLITERATE, ‘ALITERATE’ FOCUS OF BOOK OF HOPE VIDEO PROJECT A new animated video could revolutionize the way children come to Christ around the world. Book of Hope’s Rob Hoskins says they are currently producing the Book of Hope in this special format to reach those who can’t be reached with the printed word. “That would be the illiterate 33 percent of the children of the world. We have large numbers of children in inaccessible areas in China and the Middle East. There’s a whole segment that we call the ‘aliterate,’ which are those children and youth in the First World in the West who know how to read, but choose not to read because they’ve grown up on media.” The project is expected to be completed in March 2003. (Mission Network News)

KENYA CHURCH LEADERS UNHAPPY WITH CONSTITUTION DRAFT Church leaders in Kenya are unhappy that increased recognition is to be given to Islamic (shari’a) law in a new constitution due to be adopted in the East African country next year. They are also unhappy that the draft constitution aims to allow for abortion and same-sex marriages, which are banned under the present constitution. In this respect, they have the support of Muslim religious leaders. Under the current constitution, “Kadhi’s courts” administering shari’a law for Kenyan Muslims are a division of the national law administration hierarchy, without a proper structure of their own. Kadhi is the name given in Kenya to a religious official of a shari’a courts. Their courts currently deal only with matters of personal law, such as marriage and succession disputes, and are located only in areas with a predominantly Muslim population. Drafters of the new constitution want to integrate shari’a law fully into the constitution and establish a clear structure for its administration, including Kadhi’s courts at a district and provincial level, along with a Kadhi’s Court of Appeal. The draft proposes that the Chief Kadhi’s judge should have the status and privileges as a High Court judge. Christian leaders say the new constitution should unite Kenyans and not divide them along religious lines. (CNSNews)

AFRICA’S CHILDREN: WHO WILL WIN HEARTS AND MINDS? The race is on for the hearts and minds of children in Africa. Worldwide Christian Schools President Scott Vander Kooy says Africa is 49 percent Christian and 42 percent Muslim. He says Africa is positioned to be a significant power base for either Mohammed or Jesus Christ. To help turn the tide to Christ, Worldwide Christian Schools is raising funds for Christian schools and training across Africa. (Mission Network News)

EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS FLEXING THEIR MUSCLES IN BRAZIL In the world’s largest Roman Catholic country, evangelical Christians are growing in record numbers and starting to flex their muscles in Brazilian politics. Evangelicals, largely of Protestant faith, make up 15.5 percent of the population, census takers report. That’s up from almost nothing a few years ago. Seventy-three percent of Brazil’s 170 million people are Catholic. In October elections, evangelicals captured 10 percent of congressional seats, and an evangelical Christian nearly finished second in the closely fought presidential race. In ideology, evangelical leaders tend to be left-leaning, particularly on issues of social welfare, public health and education. Indeed, most grew up in the impoverished communities they represent. Although the Catholic Church has dominated political and public life in Brazil since Portuguese conquistadors arrived in 1500, that’s not the case in the sprawling suburbs and satellite cities that now ring Brazil’s cities. There, in communities made up largely of migrants from rural Brazil, evangelical activity is everywhere while government services and Catholic parishes both are scarce. In poor, forgotten satellite cities such as Nova Iguacu, an evangelical hotbed an hour from Rio de Janeiro’s famed beaches, evangelical churches provide rudimentary health care, daycare services and someone to watch over the elderly. (Knight Ridder)

INDIAN OVERTAKES CHINA IN SENDING STUDENTS TO U.S. India surpasses China as the leading country of origin for international students in the United States, according to a study released by the Institute of International Education. A record 66,836 Indians came to study in the United States last academic year, overtaking China (63,211), which occupied the top place for the past several years. Indians constitute 11.5 percent of the nearly 583,000 foreign students who came to the U.S. to study in the year 2001-2002. The number of Indians coming to the U.S. to study has almost doubled since 1997-1998. (Indiatimes)

‘BOX OF LOVE’ TO BRIGHTEN THANKSGIVING FOR NEEDY FAMILIES Christians are being encouraged to help families in need in the U.S. during the Thanksgiving holiday. Ted Gandy, national director of a New York-based ministry called U.S. Life Inner City, has a program called, “A Box of Love.” Through this program, boxes containing a traditional Thanksgiving meal with “all the holiday trimmings” are handed out to needy families, Gandy says. In addition to the food, the box contains a printed gospel message. “It’s also a chance, then, to share Christ and begin a relationship with that family that will continue throughout the year,” he says. This year the ministry plans to distribute 26,000 boxes. (Mission Network News)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * James A. Ferrier

Web: http://www.hcjb.org

http://www.beyondthecall.org * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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