QUOTES FROM THE MEDIA
WHAT WILL ANOTHER FIVE YEARS OF XI BRING FOR CHINA’S CHRISTIANS? Xi Jinping [was] waved through as secretary general of China’s Communist Party [CCP] … for another five years… Commentators are saying that Xi has the tightest grip on the reins of power of anyone since the days of the notorious Chairman Mao, a man responsible for the deaths of tens of millions. While Xi’s rule is far from the barbarous reign of Mao, the two men have much in common, in particular, a strong aversion to religion. And, in the last few years especially, China’s roughly 100 million Christians have felt their already-limited freedoms slowly being erased… Open Doors’ persecution analyst for Asia, Thomas Muller, said, ‘The CCP is increasingly paranoid in its control of China and its citizens. ‘You need to see everything they do through the lenses of security and control… You can see it in the way that religious communities are restricted, harassed or even shut down… ‘The space in which Christianity can legitimately exist is slowly shrinking.’ However, he adds, this does not necessarily mean that the growth of Christianity in China will necessarily be stemmed. ‘Chinese citizens are increasingly looking for meaning, especially with economic stagnation and a lack of jobs. And this is something that even the Communist Party has acknowledged.’ Christian Today
SALVATIONIST
HUNDREDS MORE HOMELESS FAMILIES REHOUSED OUTSIDE LOCAL AREA
POOR COUNTRIES NEED TO BE RESCUED FROM CHOKE HOLD OF DEBT, SAY CHARITIES
Hundreds more homeless households across England are being uprooted and rehoused miles from their jobs and schools amid mounting concern about the legality of the practice and the number of lives it is disrupting. Figures obtained by The Guardian under freedom of information reveal more than 6,000 households were shunted more than 20 miles from their local neighbourhood in out-ofarea placements by 53 councils in the last four years… The housing charity Shelter said the lack of affordable housing was making it difficult for councils to find suitable homes for homeless families. But it warned that out-ofarea placements left councils open to legal challenge.
Christian Aid is among a consortium of agencies who are calling on the government to support programmes for debt relief and restructuring to reduce the ‘choke hold’ that sovereign debt has on countries in the global south… The worldwide economic downturn is making debtrepayment more expensive, and this has a knock-on effect on the money that indebted countries have available for services such as health and education… At the Lambeth Conference in August, six Anglican Primates added their voices to a call to the UK government to cancel sovereign debt owed by Zambia and other low-income countries.
The Guardian
Church Times
UKRAINE BIBLE TRANSLATORS RESILIENT DURING WAR Despite the havoc of the war in Ukraine, Bible translators in the country are continuing their work for dozens of minority language groups in the region. International Bible translation organisation Wycliffe Associates is helping translators with emergency supplies, including food, clean water, shelter and even evacuations. The charity said Bible translators are among those in Ukraine who have been under siege since Russia invaded in February… ‘This is a time of extreme crisis for our brothers and sisters in Christ,’ said Stephen Martin, vice president of field development for Wycliffe Associates… ‘Many continue to face violence. Yet they do not ask for weapons or ammunition – only the sword of God’s word.’ Wycliffe Associates is raising funds to provide emergency relief for their Bible translation partners in Ukraine who have suffered catastrophic personal losses due to the war. Premier
salvationist.org.uk/magazine Issue No 1883
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Salvationist 5 November 2022
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