Section

Since August, 1971, a monetary crisis has been shaking the commercial world. It had an immediate effect on the lives and work of missionaries. In major areas of the world the U.S. dollar now buys less units of the local currency than in past years. The purchasing power of the missionary was immediately cut when this revaluation occurred.

“Everyone in Latin America sighs for `the revolution’ as if they were sighing for the Messiah,” says Orlando Sandoval, director of the University Student Center in Chile. In his country “the revolution” came quietly when Salvador Allende, a Marxist, was elected president in 1970.

(An interview by John K. Branner)

Allen Thompson didn’t receive my sheet of paper with resolutions on it at the close of GL ’71. Nor did I send it to him. But I did take his exhortation seriously when he warned against putting off what you intend to do as a result of what you have learned at GL ’71. These reflections express the burden of what grabbed me.

When I visited East Berlin I had to go through a four-way examination at “Checkpoint Charlie.” Going East I was first examined by the Americans and then by the East Germans. Upon my return I was re-examined by both sides. Like playing a serious game of chess, there was check and doublecheck.

I. ARRIVAL 1. Clear baggage/freight from customs and unpack. 2. Register with embassy, local police, department of immigration, or other local government departments as required. 3. Acquire necessary furnishings for home; care for renovations, repairs, painting, etc. 4. Get settled in home/apartment/rooms.

“The Church of Jesus Christ is entering upon the greatest time of world evangelization,” Dr. George Peters said to approximately 400 leaders gathered at Green Lake Wis., September 27 to October 1.

The over 1200 delegates and observers from 35 countries who gathered together at the International Congress Center in Amsterdam, Holland, for the European Congress on Evangelism August 28-September 4 very likely did not return home disappointed. There were, without a doubt, those who would have had strong recommendations and concrete advice regarding improvement of the Congress program and its presentation to the delegates.

The worst insult one can give any institution is to call it irrelevant. I have been asked by educational experts, “What are you doing to keep Sunday school from being irrelevant?”

As the Latin American Church emerges toward full maturity, it is experiencing some severe growing pains. Two of these, theological articulation and ministerial training, affect the foundation of the church and the edification of the church. The third, evangelistic impact, influences the extremely important matter of the extension of the church.