In Depth:  crosswalk.com

A missionary from the USA could be charged with genocide after entering the land of an isolated tribe and potentially breaking the law, it was reported at the end of January.

Missionary Steve Campbell and his family, who have worked among the Jamamadí people in Brazil for more than 50 years, may have entered the neighbouring tribal land of the Himarimã. These are among the last uncontacted tribes and are protected by laws that prevent contact from outside groups. Those laws are intended, in part, to guard the tribe from diseases.

Christian parents are pulling their children out from the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in exchange for a faith-based organisation, CBN News reported in December.

Since the BSA policy change in 2015 that allowed gay adults to lead boy scout troops and the 2017 decision to allow girls and transgender boys to join troops, many Christian parents have moved away from the organisation that once emphasised the importance of a nuclear family.

Chinese officials entered a church and ordered the removal of the first of the Ten Commandments, it was reported on 9 January.

About 30 government officers from a ‘patrol inspection team’ took part in the examination of the church. They inspected the church thoroughly, then stopped in front of the pulpit and pointed to one of the Ten Commandments on the wall, asking for it to be removed. After church officials protested, the Government official responded that President Xi Jinping ‘opposes this statement’.

Although persecution has been growing in China, Christianity is gaining ground, particularly among the well educated, it was reported in August.

In 1980 it was estimated that there were about ten million Christians in China, while now estimates say there are about 100 million.

Over the past three months (May to July), Gospel for Asia-supported Compassion Services teams have not only distributed rice, lentils, salt, solar-powered lanterns, tarpaulins and many other needed items to earthquake victims in Nepal, but in July they also gave blood.

On 13 July, students and staff of a Bible college in Nepal joined with a local chapter of the Nepal Red Cross Society to organise a blood drive.

A coalition of 34,000 churches in March decided to cut ties with the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) after the denomination voted to include same sex marriage in its constitution.

The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI) includes 15 denominations and 15.7 million church members. The group announced that it will no longer associate itself with the Presbyterian Church, citing PCUSA’s ‘sin against the entire church and its members’ by accepting same sex marriage.