HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n

Burundian police chase demonstrators protesting against a third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza

The unrest began in late April after Burundi President

Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would run for a third term in elections originally scheduled for June 26. The announcement sparked protests by those opposed to Nkurunziza seeking a third term in office, leading to widespread demonstrations in the capital, Bujumbura. Nzosaba told the Baptist World Alliance that more

than 20 people have died, more than 100 were injured and about 600 were arrested, among whom were children and youth participating in the protests. More than 100,000 fled the country, while thousands more were internally displaced. Nzosaba stated that the country’s Supreme Court

Baptists Concerned about Unrest in Burundi

Baptists in Burundi have expressed grave concern as to the state of unrest in the East African country. “We ask you to continue to pray for us because some have left

their jobs, homes, and churches,” said Juvenal Nzosaba, general secretary of the Union of Baptist Churches in Burundi. “Many people do not have food. It is a major problem.”

declared Nkurunziza’s legitimacy to run for a third term, but opposition groups said the president’s actions jeopardized a peace deal that has kept ethnic tensions in check since the Burundian Civil War ended in 2005. Opponents asserted that Nkurunziza was not constitutionally permitted to seek a third term in office. A failed coup attempt occurred on May 13 while the president was in Kenya, at meetings to resolve the issues in his country. “The government, NGOs, and others are telling Burundians to

be calm and to look for peace so that they may enter the Election Day without obstacles,” Nzosaba said. Burundi has some 50,000 Baptist members in approximately 300 churches affiliated with two BWA member organizations.

BWA President Visits Croatia

Baptist World Alliance President John Upton visited Croatia in late May where he addressed a conference held by the Baptist Union of Croatia (BUC). The 11th

eastern city of Osijek, also marked the 100th

conference of the BUC, held from May 29-31 in the anniversary of Baptist

witness in the city. The theme, “We are salt of the earth and light of the world,” symbolically tracked UNESCO’s proclamation of 2015 as the International Year of Light. In his first address, Upton declared that salt and light speak

to the identity of the Christian. He emphasized that this identity comes from God through the work of the Holy Spirit. God, Upton declared, creates big things out of small beginnings. Speaking a second time on May 31, the BWA president, drawing on the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand in the New Testament, identified a process by which Christ responds to gifts that are offered. Christ, he said, accepts the gift, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it back, similar to what he did with the bread and fish for the five thousand. Participants in the weekend conference included Dane Vidovic, general secretary of the Union of Baptist Churches in Serbia, and

Right: BWA President John Upton addressing the 11th conference of the Baptist Union of Croatia, assisted by an interpreter

Damir Spoljaric, president of the Evangelical Pentecostal Church in Croatia.

Some 400 Baptists from Croatia, neighboring countries Serbia and Bosnia, as well as from the United States, attended. While in the Central European country, Upton also visited the

pastoral center of the Baptist church and the Baptist high school in Čakovec in northern Croatia. He also met separately with Marin Srakić, archbishop emeri-

tus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek; Josip Leko, the speaker of the Croatian Parliament; and Milan Bandić, mayor of the City of Zagreb, Croatia’s capital. The Baptist Union of Croatia has some 2,000 members in 48

churches.

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