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See also:
* "Persecuted Church" News *

For an in-depth look at global news check out the new International Christian Media Commission's Newsroom site.
For additional news items, see also:
Religion News Today
Christian Daily News


NEW NAME AND LEADERSHIP CHOSEN FOR GLOBAL EVANGELIZATION NETWORK

8 November 1999, Press Release

Leaders primarily affiliated with three international evangelical movements have combined forces to create a global evangelization network. This new international network, called the Great Commission Global Roundtable (GCGR), welcomes membership from other networks and ministries committed to extending Christ's message to the world in the 21st century.

The Roundtable resulted after joint meetings of the World Evangelical Fellowship, the Lausanne Movement for World Evangelization, and the AD2000 and Beyond Movement in August in Dallas and earlier in Norway. A facilitation team chosen at the Dallas meeting picked the name, Great Commission Global Roundtable, to emphasize obedience to Christ's mandate to evangelize all peoples while listening to God and one another "around the table" of the Lord.

The Roundtable's purpose is to hear, serve and connect diverse segments of the Body of Christ in hopes of achieving closer coordination and cooperation in sharing the Gospel.

The Roundtable's coordinators for the next two years are Bertil Ekstrom (Brazil), chair; Iman Santoso (Indonesia), vice-chair; and John Robb (USA), international coordinator.

The coordinators and international task force members welcome suggestions and help in contacting networks and ministries that should be part of the Roundtable.

International Task Force members (with primary network and national origin):

CONTACT:
John Robb, international coordinator
Great Commission Global Roundtable
800 W. Chestnut, Monrovia, CA 91016
U.S.A.

e-mail: john_robb@wvi.org
tel: +1 626 301 7713
fax: +1 626 301 7789


UK EVANGELICALS TO HOLD ASSEMBLY IN 2001

A general Assembly of Evangelicals will be held in Cardiff in November 5th - 7th, 2001 at the Cardiff International Arena.

The Assembly has been called by the Evangelical Alliance UK, which represents over one million Christians in 30 denominations throughout the UK.

The Alliance are expecting 4,000 Christians at the event which is open to all delegations from churches and all involved in church leadership.

Rev Joel Edwards, general director of the Alliance said: "This Assembly will help us to refocus the agenda for the Evangelical Alliance in the third millennium as we seek to challenge the people and governments of our nations to recognise the bad choices we have made as a society and offer leadership in new directions which are morally and spiritually sound."


WORLD EXPO IN GERMANY

The next World EXPO is scheduled for the year 2000 to be held June 1 to October 31 in Hannover, Germany. The theme is "Mankind-Nature-Technology". People are looking for answers to urgent global questions concerning how to live and survive after AD2000. The entire spectrum of ideas and world views and the apparent answers of old and new religions will be present. What ideas, what solutions and answers will Christians present?

At EXPO 2000 the German Evangelical Alliance will communicate the central message of the Gospel from a biblical story --God saves, He is the reason for hope, participate and get involved. Their theme is "You are not alone". Programs will be presented for children and families. A family camp and an international youth camp with Christian program will be presented.

PAVILION OF HOPE provides a one-time opportunity to present the hope of Christianity to young people attending the World Expo in Hannover, Germany. People are needed to present interactive gospel presentations, assist people in the pavilion and staff the family camp. The Pavilion of Hope, a large glass and aluminum fish-shaped building, is the official youth pavilion at EXPO 2000. It is sponsored by the German Evangelical Alliance, Campus Crusade and the YMCA.

International help is being requested for planning, for staffing, for housing 10,000 each night, and finances.


GLOBAL STATISTICS

According to Patrick Johnstone, director of research at WEC International...
  1. In the past 25 years, the total number of Christians had grown by 60% from 1.25 billion to 1.95 billion. Percentage of world population remained stagnant at approximately 34%, while the percentage of Muslims increased from 15.9% to 19.6%.
  2. Number of Muslims more than doubled since 1970 from 564 million to 1.3 billion--main reason is high birth rate.
  3. Today 58% of Protestants worldwide live in Africa and Asia (almost 600 million)
  4. Evangelicals had an annual growth rate of 5%. From 125 million in 1970 to over 300 million.
  5. In 1960 there were only 25 baptized Christians in the Hindu Kingdom of Nepal, on the 'roof of the world'. Today there are 200,000 Christians out of a population of 20 million that is 89% Hindu, 7% Buddhist, and 3.5% Muslim. During government persecution in the 1980's, 2-3 Christians from every church were imprisoned. The Nepalese Christians are striving to reach the goal of one million Christians by the turn of the century.
  6. Tibet is closed to the gospel- occupied by Chinese forces. Only 200 Christians among a population of 5 million Tibetans.
  7. In 1990 there were only five known evangelical believers in the communist atheist country of Albania. Today there are 129 churches with 6,000 believers.

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Last modified: 10 November 1999
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