World Scene: November 19, 1990

KUWAIT

Church Meets And Ministers

In spite of Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait, members of the National Evangelical Church in Kuwait City are holding worship services and offering aid to the needy, according to reports from refugees who have fled the country. Earlier reports indicated the church had been turned into an Iraqi military compound. But a recent Baptist Press story said lay leaders of the church are conducting services, which have been attended by some Iraqi soldiers. The church began distributing food in September, despite high costs.

National Church pastor Jerry Zanstra and his family were in the United States when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Before the invasion, about 10,000 people attended services, which were held in several languages. News Network International also reported that a small group of Egyptian Christians from the church chose to remain in Kuwait to minister within the stranded expatriate community and to Kuwaitis.

ZIMBABWE

Council Opposes President

The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) has spoken out in favor of a multiparty political system, in opposition to President Robert Mugabe’s calls for a one-party state. The ZCC issued a statement at its annual general meeting, stating that “it has been proved beyond doubt in Africa especially that a one-party state leads to the oppression of the dissenting citizen, depriving him of his freedom of speech, thought and association, and thus the suppression of democracy.” The council went on to say in its statement that a one-party state “will bring disunity because those who will not agree with the party’s ideology and policies will be marginalized and alienated.”

Mugabe had said earlier that a multiparty system is inspired by the West and inappropriate to Zimbabwe, which needs no more than one party if it is to be united. Mugabe came to power in the 1980 elections, which brought majority rule to the country in a settlement that guaranteed a multiparty system for 10 years. Mugabe’s party has won victories in two general elections and holds almost all parliamentary seats.

INDONESIA

Missionary Visas Denied

Visa extensions for missionaries to Indonesia recently have been denied, signaling new difficulties ahead for mission organizations operating there. According to Peter Nanfelt, director for overseas ministries of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, this is the first time extensions have been openly denied. Authorities previously had delayed but eventually granted extensions, he said.

Nanfelt terms the current situation “the worst crisis since 1978,” when the Indonesian government announced all missionary activity and presence would be eliminated. It did not carry out its plan at that time; recently, however, regulations have narrowed the reasons for which visas are granted to religious workers. Missionaries are now involved primarily in theological education. A few workers who hold permanent visas are permitted a broader range of activity.

LIBERATION THEOLOGY

Crisis Of Confidence

The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the communist system in Eastern Europe have thrown supporters of liberation theology into a quandary, says Paul Albrecht, a veteran ecumenical social activist. Albrecht, former director of the social-action arm of the World Council of Churches, told Religious News Service that “those with a vision of a totally egalitarian society are a little shocked” by recent developments. With the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, he said, it has become plain that it is virtually impossible to bring in a Marxist-based system without totalitarianism.

“I know young people who have given their lives in human struggle in South America and now they feel totally at a loss about how to proceed.… They now don’t have any confidence in any answer,” said Albrecht, who arranged a meeting of prominent ecumenists last fall in Vancouver to discuss new strategies for social justice.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Briefly Noted

Named: As executive director-designate of the Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association (IFMA), John Orme. Orme was formerly professor and chairman of the department of theology of the graduate school at Central American Theological Seminary in Guatemala, and more recently associate pastor of Highland Park Baptist Church in Southfield, Michigan. On September 30, 1991, he will replace Edwin Frizen, who will retire after 27 years as IFMA executive director.

Appealed: By the government of Guam, a federal court decision striking down the territory’s strict antiabortion law. The case, with others involving state restriction of abortion, could help set the stage for the Supreme Court’s reconsideration of its landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

Opened: During the past year, 120 mosques in the North Caucasus region of the USSR, while another 50 await registration. A Qur’anic school has also been opened in the regional capital to train Islamic leaders. In addition, some 1,500 believers were allowed to make a pilgrimage to Mecca this year. Fewer than 50 in total had made the trip in past decades.

Released: Chinese house-church leader Sung Tien-eng. Sung, in her sixties, is the daughter of a well-known Chinese evangelist and is herself a speaker and trainer of church leaders. She was held 43 days after her arrest on charges of “vagrancy” (CT, Oct. 8, 1990, p. 52).

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