Oklahoma City-Based Feed the Children Names New President
“The Oklahoma City-based charity Feed the Children has named chief operating officer and interim president Travis Arnold as its new president and CEO,” U.S. News reports. “The charity announced Wednesday that Travis Arnold has been promoted after serving as interim president since November. The Oklahoman reports that Arnold has worked for Feed the Children for 16 years and also had served as interim president during previous leadership changes.”
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to Host World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians
“To bring awareness to the plight of Christians persecuted for their faith around the world, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association will hold the historic World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians next month,” according to The Gospel Herald. “In 2016, 90,000 Christians throughout the world were killed for their faith, according to statistics compiled by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. The BGEA says about 125 persecuted Christians are expected to attend the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians, and many will share their stories during breakout sessions. There will also be times of prayer for believers around the world who remain under oppression.”
The Biggest Megachurch on Earth and South Korea’s ‘Crisis of Evangelism’
The South Korean capital of Seoul has 17 megachurches including the wolrld’s largest megachurch with a congregation of nearly 800,000 people, and yet “Protestant evangelical leaders in South Korea are facing a new challenge. Their public image has taken a hit in recent years due to a series of scandals, and the era of boundless growth for their congregations appears to have come to an end,” reports Public Radio International. In 2014, the largest megachurch’s leader was convicted of embezzling $12 million in church funds, and “other Protestant leaders have been caught up in sensational scandals too. As such there is a crisis in South Korean evangelism, with many people deciding to leave the more established Protestant churches to join smaller ones.”
Focus on the Family Revives Brio, a Christian Magazine for Teenage Girls
“This month Focus on the Family has relaunched Brio, a glossy teen magazine shut down in 2009,” according to the New York Times. “Its goal is to address the topics found in mainstream teen magazines from ‘a biblical worldview’. The magazine had roughly 260,000 subscribers at the end of its 19-year print run in 2009, making it one of Focus on the Family’s top-selling publications.”
Banker Claire Rogers Is the New World Vision CEO
New World Vision CEO Claire Rogers recently traveled to Sri Lanka, only her second field trip with World Vision, and discussed her vision for the company, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Having experience in digital transformation, “Rogers says she wants to leave her legacy by changing how World Vision connects to donors, allowing donors to ‘get up close to the work’. Letters from sponsor children can work, but Rogers says personalised videos and virtual reality to enable donors to see what it’s like in their world may be better still.”
Lutheran World Relief Launches Relief & Recovery Effort in Response to Flooding and Mudslides in Peru
“Lutheran World Relief is providing relief supplies and support for longer-term recovery to families impacted by the El Niño-fed rainfall in Peru that has caused deadly and destructive flooding and mudslides along the coastline since January,” according to PR Newswire. “LWR is assisting communities in the province of Trujillo, located north of the capital city of Lima, with the help of a $500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and with fundraising support from International Relief Teams, TCHO Chocolate and Lutherans in the United States. LWR is distributing emergency relief supplies, including tents, inflatable mattresses, mosquito nets, mosquito repellent, hygiene and sanitation kits, water purification tablets, and tools for cleaning debris.”
Eastpoint Christian to Become Maine’s First Megachurch
“Maine is about to have its first megachurch. Eastpoint Christian Church expects to welcome two thousand parishioners a week,” reports WCSH-6 Portland. “Founded by Pastor Scott Taube (Taw’ bee) in 2004, the church has grown each year. It is about to move into a new facility which used to be Bob’s Discount Furniture in South Portland. It is 92,000 square feet or slightly larger than two football fields.”
