Religion Today Summaries – November 11, 2004
Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world. In today's edition:
- Post-Election 2004 Survey Shows Christians' Major Impact
- Couple Embarks on Yearlong Cross-Country Prayer Campaign
- Egypt: Compassion Projects Reach Many with Gospel
- Harassment Continues in Vietnam on Eve of Mennonite Trial
Post-Election 2004 Survey Shows Christians' Major Impact
Jenni Parker, AgapePress
A new nationwide survey by a Christian cultural research firm suggests that the results of the 2004 presidential election might have been very different had it not been for the huge "values voter" turnout. According to the Barna Research Group, most of George W. Bush's supporters did at least two things during the first week of November: they voted to re-elect the president and they went to church. The much touted "values voters," those driven by moral or religious convictions, are being cited as a big part of the reason the 2004 race did not result in a cliffhanger similar to the teasingly gradual end of the 2000 presidential election. The Barna Group's post-election surveys show that adults who have an "active faith" -- that is, those survey respondents who had in the past week attended a church service, prayed to God, and read the Bible outside of church -- also provided President Bush with a two-to-one margin of preference in the 2004 vote. Indicators of religious conviction in the Barna survey gave President Bush a virtual clean sweep among voters who put faith and values first. Self-described "committed Christians" cast their ballots for the incumbent by a 60% to 39% margin; those voters who said they were deeply spiritual preferred him by a 58% to 41% divide; and those who asserted they were "concerned about the moral condition of the nation" registered a 55% majority for Bush.
Couple Embarks on Yearlong Cross-Country Prayer Campaign
Charisma News Service
An elderly Christian couple has embarked on a yearlong prayer journey that will take them to the steps of every state capitol in the country. Phillip Epperson, who recently turned 65, and his wife of 38 years, Vicki, began their Prayer Across America campaign (www.prayeracrossamerica.org) on Sept. 11 in Springfield, Ill., the Assemblies of God (AG) News reported. The two will conclude their odyssey Sept. 11, 2005 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. In between, they will be praying from 1-2 p.m. every Thursday afternoon, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas week -- from Augusta, Maine, to Honolulu, Hawaii and from Tallahassee, Fla., to Juneau, Alaska. Epperson said the Holy Spirit stirred him to undertake the prayer campaign before the terrorist attacks of 2001. The Eppersons will take the 17,000-mile expedition in a recreational vehicle, hoping Christians will meet them at the capitols of their states. Each week, the hour will kick off with a patriotic and Christian songs, followed by prayers of thanksgiving to God for blessings, repenting for sins, a call to return to the Lord, plus prayers for wisdom for national leaders and awakening in the church, AG News reported. Epperson is obtaining state permits to make sure officials aren't caught off guard in case crowds are large.
Egypt: Compassion Projects Reach Many with Gospel
ChristianAid
The Muslims who govern Egypt have allowed Christians to practice their beliefs unmolested for many centuries. But recent opposition by Muslim extremists, particularly in Upper (southern) Egypt, has made conditions more difficult for some of the Christians there. In the face of this, native evangelical missionaries use creative outreaches to draw people to the love of Christ by meeting physical needs. One ministry reaches out to poor teenage girls in rural areas, providing them clothing and distributing gifts such as headbands that they could not afford otherwise. They invite girls to evangelistic meetings where they hear the gospel, many for the first time. At one such recent meeting, 700 girls attended, many of whom accepted Christ. Another ministry working among the poorest parts of Cairo has been reaching disabled adults and handicapped children. Recently, the ministry conducted two week-long camps, one for adults and one for children. Through loving relationships with these adults and children, gospel workers make connections with family members that allow them to spread the gospel to people who would ordinarily be closed to it. As these ministries compassionately reach out to Egyptians, they bring the gospel where it otherwise could not go.
Harassment Continues in Vietnam on Eve of Mennonite Trial
Compass Direct
Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, ordered the wife the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang, a Mennonite pastor imprisoned since June 8, to appear at a neighborhood “review” meeting tonight. Sources in Vietnam say the purpose of the meeting is for the Quangs’ neighbors, prompted by police, to complain about church services that continue to take place at the Quang home, despite numerous warnings that such meetings are illegal. Observers believe the summons to be part of a police harassment campaign against associates of Nguyen Hong Quang, scheduled to be tried with five of his co-workers on November 12. A source in Vietnam said today that Christians are fasting and praying concerning the trial. “Many Christians in Vietnam are watching the trial closely and see it as key indicator on whether Vietnam might change its repressive religion policy. Most are not very optimistic,” the source said.
Originally published November 11, 2004.
