Wendy Ryan

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI, Canada (BP)--When Baptist leaders gather from the far corners of the world at the General Council meeting of the Baptist World Alliance, it is always a time of rich fellowship, action and challenge for the growth and strength of Baptist worldwide witness.

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI, Canada (BP)--In this coastal birthplace of Canada, leaders of the Baptist World Alliance approved actions on religious liberty, the forgiveness of the national debts, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, welcomed five new members and elected new staff at the annual general council meetings, July 2-7.

BERLIN (BP)--Christians should work prayerfully and biblically toward the truth that all human beings are created by God, and Christians belong to a community "characterized by a radical equality in Jesus Christ, which supercedes nationality, culture and all other divisions," according to a "Berlin Declaration" issued by international Baptist leaders who met in the German capital for a seminar on "Baptist Identity and National Culture."

WASHINGTON (BP)--The pastor of Libera's most prominent Baptist church has issued a call for his countrymen to denounce the violence that has gripped the country since the 1980 assassination of President William Tolbert.

WASHINGTON (BP)--Contrary to a report casting a cloud over its United Nations status as a non-governmental organization (NGO), the Baptist World Alliance remains optimistic that it will be reaccredited as an NGO, a position it has held with the UN since 1975.

WASHINGTON (BP)--Sudan's 18-year civil war not only has resulted in a death toll of more than 2 million, persecution and the kidnapping and rape of countless youth, but also the spread of HIV-AIDS, Clement Janda, past president of the Sudan Council of Churches and current head of the All African Conference of Churches, said April 26 in Washington.

WASHINGTON (BP)--"After visiting Israel and the West Bank it is easier to understand that there is no easy resolution to the Middle East conflict," Billy Kim, president of the Baptist World Alliance, said in a statement issued by the Washington-based organization.

WASHINGTON (BP)--Christians in the country of Bhutan are facing a much-escalated level of opposition and persecution, according to a report to the Baptist World Alliance from D. Kitbok Ryntathiang, director of the Christian Academy, Shillong, in northeast India.

WASHINGTON (BP)--Like the rescue of U.S. pilot Scott O'Grady when his weak signal was picked up after he was downed over Bosnia in 1995, Anne Graham Lotz told more than 500 Baptists they need to listen to the many distress signals people send, however weak, and put them in touch with the Savior who can rescue them.

WASHINGTON (BP)--The Baptist World Alliance is getting ready to move from its present building in McLean, Va., in suburban Washington to Falls Church, Va., five miles away.