- Israeli authorities on January 4 ordered the deportation of 14 members of the Denver-based apocalyptic group Concerned Christians on suspicion that they planned to commit suicide on the Mount of Olives or provoke police to kill them in a deadly Temple Mount shootout as a way to usher in Christ’s second coming. Several dozen American Christians have moved to Jerusalem, anticipating a cataclysmic end to the second millennium (CT, Jan. 11, 1999, p. 57).
- Police in the southern Chinese city of Guangzho—on December 15 released prominent house church leader Li De Xian, 47, after holding him in jail for 15 days on a charge of creating a public disorder by preaching illegally. Dozens of officers raided the home where Li preached to 600 people and confiscated all Bibles and furnishings.
- The whereabouts of The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) missionary Herb Gregg, abducted November 11 in Makachkala, the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, remains a mystery. Gregg, 51, had taught English to university students for three years. Four men posing as police officers took Gregg captive as he coached a youth basketball team on an orphanage playground. After several weeks of silence, the abductors contacted TEAM and made ransom demands.
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