news in brief
Cameroon: attacks
On 23 February, Boko Haram insurgents carried out attacks outside the borders of Nigeria and began attacking two villages in northern Cameroon, leaving one person dead and many homes destroyed by fire.
Militias set fire to more than 100 huts, and a Catholic church and school. The fires claimed the life of one person. According to a survivor, militants arrived in the villages ‘and simply did as they pleased’. There was no resistance from security forces.
news in brief
Belarus: library fined
Lepel town police arrested members of a church library ministry for singing and offering Christian books and magazines to passers-by at the entrance to the town market, it was reported in December.
The local court repeatedly fined one of them to the total equivalent of double his monthly wage. ‘I’ve been conducting the street library ministry for 16 years, offering Bibles, children’s literature and magazines for people to read and return,’ said a church member. ‘Over the last ten years we never had any conflicts.’
news in brief
Cameroon: famine?
Many Nigerian Christian refugees who fled to Cameroon to try and escape Boko Haram as well as internally displaced Cameroonians are now facing hunger, it was reported in August.
Many refugees fled to Cameroon, which is around 70% Christian, to escape from Boko Haram, only to find that the group expanded its operations and began attacking communities in northern Cameroon. Some displaced Christians have faced further violence from Muslim cattle herders for attempting to grow crops in the bush. Schools and hospitals in the area are also non-functioning.
US: LGBT and the elderly
The Christian Institute
Date posted: 1 May 2017
Elderly
residents
of
care
homes
in
California could soon have to share rooms
with members of the opposite sex, after a
pro-LGBT Bill was proposed in March.
The controversial SB 219 Bill would allow
a transsexual person to occupy a room and use
washing facilities based on the gender of their
choosing. SB 219 was
introduced
in
the
California State Senate in February and it was
amended by a pro-LGBT senator in March.
USA: orientation research
Christian Concern
Date posted: 1 Nov 2016
A report, released in the autumn, presented
a careful summary and up-to-date explanation of research, from the biological, psychological and social sciences, related to
sexual orientation and gender identity.
Its intention was to address health issues
faced by LGBT populations within the US.
Some key findings in the report were:
news in brief
CAR: reconciling?
A week-long attempt to reconcile warring elements in the Central African Republic began in early May, in Bangui, the capital.
The 600 delegates have agreed to release between 6,000 and 10,000 child soldiers and to stop underage recruitment. The vice-president of the Evangelical Alliance in Central Africa said that the church had spared no effort to prevent the warring parties from creating a complete sectarian conflict.
Jamaica: silent protest
Christian Concern / The Gleaner
Date posted: 1 Jun 2015
In early April, a small group of Jamaicans
held a silent protest as others welcomed
President Barack Obama to the island, concerned at what they perceive as an advancing
of immoral ideologies by the US president.
All the members wore black t-shirts, with
varying messages. Some had the names of
US citizens who were either fired from their
jobs or otherwise
reprimanded
for
statements made against members of the lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender community.