In Brief: May 24, 1999

  1. The Lindale, Texas–based Mercy Ships will add a fourth vessel to its fleet thanks to a $6 million donation from Ann Gloag, executive director of Stagecoach Holdings of London, through her Balcraig Foundation. The Dronning Ingrid (photo in print copy) will be converted from a train and car ferry to a four-ward hospital and relief-and-development ship during the next two years. The ship will have a crew of 400 and provide free medical care and relief aid to developing countries in Africa.
  2. More than 325 people have died in Indonesia this year in ethnic and religious clashes, including 140 killed during Holy Week. In the heaviest casualties in April, Christians and Muslims armed with spears and machetes fought in villages near Tual, the main town in the Kai islands in the eastern part of the country.
  3. Interreligious tensions escalated in India in March with the burning of 157 Christian homes in the village of Ranalai in the southern part of the state of Orissa. Thirteen people were hurt in conflicts between Hindus and Christians.
  4. Aleksandr Kulakov, 65, pastor of the 100-member Grozny Baptist Church in the Chechen capital, reportedly was beheaded in March. Kulakov, who had been missing for several weeks, had assumed leadership after the abduction of pastor Alexey Sitnikov, who disappeared in October. Amid widespread lawlessness in the rebel Russian republic Chechnya, vigilante executions or abductions are not unusual.

Copyright © 1999 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also in this issue

Gambling Away the Golden Years: Casinos are seducing an alarming number of seniors. Where is the church?

Cover Story

Gambling Away the Golden Years

Exotic Dancers Find Escape Route

The Church's Mr. Manners

Born-again Stories

Does Kosovo Pass the Just-War Test?

Dental Miracle Reports Draw Criticism

Tattoos No Longer Taboo?

Two Held in O'Hair Case

Nation's Last Leprosarium Closes

Food Banks Face Shortfalls

Celebration of Traditions

In Brief: May 24, 1999

Expatriate Congregations Thrive

Multinational Focus Spurs Church Growth

Global Death Rates May Skyrocket

Missionaries or Mercenaries?

Ancient Church Discovered in Gaza

Materialism, Heresy Plague Churches

Exit Strategy

Letters

Firebombs Threaten Messianic Jews

Biotech: Pro-lifers Resist Embryo Research

Disney Ditches Dogma

Firebombs Bolster Prayers Among Messianic Believers

Editorial

Church Discipline on Trial

Editorial

Compassion Doesn’t Choose Sides

No Luck With the Churches

Surprised by Death

How Abortion Became a Necessary Evil

Re-Imagining Women

Is Lying Always Wrong?

Men Need Church, Too

Classic & Contemporary Excerpts from May 24, 1999

Where No Ministry Has Gone Before

The Art of Being Christian

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