In Brief... The Apocalyptic Specter of AIDS Marches On
After repeated denials, China has officially admitted a serious problem with AIDS.
Officially, the government reported 23,905 HIV/AIDS cases at the end of March 2001. However, its Health Ministry admits that this number could be more than 600,000. United Nations projections show that China will have 10 million or more HIV/AIDS cases by 2010 unless it takes decisive action.
Henan province in central China is one of the hardest hit areas, with perhaps hundreds of thousands of infected people. How could the infection become so widespread? People sold their blood to make money. "Villagers have told how blood was taken from several people at the same time and pooled in one container, where the blood plasma was removed. The remaining blood was then pumped back into the donors' bloodstreams. Such unsanitary methods, plus the re-use of needles and unsterilised [British spelling] equipment, gave the disease an easy pathway to spread rapidly through the local population," said a BBC report.
An Article from:
World News and Prophecy: September - October 2001
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Jim Tuck
Jim has been in the ministry over 40 years serving fifteen congregations. He and his wife, Joan, started their service to God's church in Pennsylvania in 1974. Both are graduates of Ambassador University. Over the years they served other churches in Alabama, Idaho, Oregon, Arizona, California, and currently serve the Phoenix congregations in Arizona, as well as the Hawaii Islands. He has had the opportunity to speak in a number of congregations in international areas of the world. They have traveled to Zambia and Malawi to conduct leadership seminars In addition, they enjoy working with the youth of the church and have served in youth camps for many years.
Melvin Rhodes
Melvin Rhodes is a member of the United Church of God congregation in Lansing, Michigan.
