The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-11/02/2015 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Racial reconciliation 'wedded to the Gospel' by Annie Corser Date: November 02, 2015 - Monday LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) -- All ethnic groups must preach racial reconciliation for there to be change among evangelicals, said speakers during the Expositors Summit Preconference at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Oct. 26. "Racial reconciliation is not an addendum of the Gospel; racial reconciliation is wedded to the Gospel," said Curtis Woods, associate executive director of convention relations for the Kentucky Baptist Convention. "How I see God, how I see others, and how I see myself is only made clear through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Woods, a Ph.D. student at Southern Seminary, presented an example of a multiethnic church through video testimonies before confronting "the colorblindness theory," saying it does not represent the beauty and creativity of God. "We are not colorblind, beloved. No, we see color through the lens of the Gospel, and now we see the color as the beauty of creativity," Woods said. "God is unique in himself and diverse, He creates different people groups so that we can see this beautiful mosaic. … This beautiful mosaic of people coming together redeemed at one name, in the person and work of Jesus Christ." The one-day event, co-sponsored by the Kentucky Baptist Convention, featured messages from Woods; Jarvis Williams, associate professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern; Juan Sanchez, preaching pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church, a multiethnic congregation in Austin, Texas; and Dan Hyun, lead and founding pastor of The Village Church in Baltimore. Williams opened the preconference discussing biblical steps toward removing the stain of racism from evangelical churches. He is the author of several scholarly works on how the Gospel impacts a Christian's view of race. "One thing that makes racism as a modern social construct so evil and potentially deadly is that racists consider individuals as superior or inferior because they appear to share imagined physical, mental and moral attributes with the group to which they are deemed to belong. And it is assumed by the racists that no individual within that group can change," Williams said. To create change, Williams said individuals must be committed to "living multiethnic lifestyles and not be content with living monoethnic lifestyles." Hyun, an Asian American pastor in Baltimore, said a lifestyle of racial reconciliation demands dying to self and submitting to others. "I think [the Bible is] saying that if you follow Jesus, if you believe who He is, it means that other people, their rights, their happiness, their welfare, is just as important as yours if not more," Hyun said. "God is showing me that dying to myself means stop looking at things primarily through my lens, but the prism of other people's eyes. Ultimately … dying to myself means that it is not all about me, either." Hyun reminded church leaders that the preacher has the responsibility to set the tone for what the body sees as appropriate to talk about. "What you talk about in your pulpit becomes a safe conversation for other people in your church," Hyun said. "So if you don't talk about issues of justice, other people won't think you can talk about issues of justice." Being found in Jesus means one is able to die to his own rights because he stands for them, Hyun said. "Ultimately the Gospel is that you don't have to fight for your rights anymore because you know Christ has done that for you. He has stood in your place. He's taken upon your guilt, your shame on the cross, it's all paid for," Hyun said. "Because you know who you are in Christ and you're secure, now you can be free to fight for the rights of someone else, an advocate on their behalf." In his message to church leaders, Sanchez, who was born in Puerto Rico, stated sin issues will persist in our churches because congregations are filled with sinners. He challenged preachers to understand their influence. "Preaching shapes congregations. Preaching will shape the church," Sanchez said. "If we are faithfully preaching the Word of God, it is going to shape the congregation in a good and biblical and wholesome way. "The Word of God should then be reverberating through the conversation. As one of my friends says, 'The preaching goes out and then the Word should be gossiped throughout the rest of the week.'" The Gospel of Jesus Christ unites all people in him, Sanchez said. Therefore, evangelism is "not just a message to get people out of hell," but it is how Christians can reveal God's eternal plan to exalt Christ. "Know this: Just as the Gospel revealed must be proclaimed, the Gospel proclaimed must be displayed," Sanchez said. The preconference preceded the annual Expositors Summit hosted by Southern Seminary, Oct. 27-29. Audio and video for the event, including a panel discussion on racial reconciliation, will be available at sbts.edu/resources/. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Money will follow vision in SBC by Ronnie Floyd Date: November 02, 2015 - Monday EDITOR'S NOTE: Ronnie Floyd is president of the Southern Baptist Convention and senior pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas. SPRINGDALE, Ark. (BP) -- When vision is clear, concise and compelling, people engage it. When the clear, concise and compelling vision is shared consistently and effectively, people begin to embrace it. When people engage and embrace the vision, they will support it financially. Our vision 170 years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention began with a clear, concise and compelling vision. In our founding charter the focus was singular: "for the purpose of eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the Baptist denomination of Christians, for the propagation of the Gospel…." This is why we came into being in 1845. Reaching the world for Christ is the way we communicate this vision today. When you visit our convention's website at sbc.net you will find this phrase at the very top. According to our 2014 Annual Church Profile, we have 51,094 churches and congregations that unite around our vision as Southern Baptists. Personally, as a pastor and as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, I am absolutely thrilled we are communicating our vision like this. It is who we are and what we are about. We are 51,094 churches and congregations that come together to reach the world for Christ. We need to come together around our vision Our churches, associations, state conventions and entities need to come together around our clear, concise and compelling vision: reaching the world for Christ. When we communicate our vision consistently and effectively, we will lead others to not only engage in our vision, but also embrace it. Peter Greer and Chris Horst spent two years studying organizations including businesses, educational institutions, parachurch ministries and churches. The result of their work is Mission Drift, which analyzes stories of organizations who have undergone mission drift and those who have remained mission true. When we drift away from our missional vision of reaching the world for Christ, we also drift away from God's power. Whenever we drift away from the power of God, we will inevitably drift away from our vision. Our churches, associations, state conventions and entities can communicate one thousand different things. However, there is only one common vision that has served as the Gospel thread to keep us together for 170 years: reaching the world for Christ. This is what we need to communicate consistently and effectively to one another and to this world: We are a network of 51,094 churches and congregations that come together to reach the world for Christ. Money will follow this vision I am convinced money will follow the vision of reaching the world for Christ. People will give more money to our churches when we accomplish and forward this vision regionally, statewide, nationally and internationally. Churches will give more money to our associations when this vision is being accomplished in our communities. Churches will forward more money through the Cooperative Program when they are convinced that state conventions and entities are supporting and assisting our churches in this grand, singular vision of reaching the world for Christ. Churches do not exist for the Southern Baptist Convention. Our associations, state conventions and entities exist for our churches by supporting and assisting our churches in reaching the world for Christ. Our vision is not and cannot be about saving our convention. Together, we cooperate to accomplish the singular vision of reaching the world for Christ. Money will follow the vision. This is not about… This is not about my church or yours. This is not about an association, state convention, or entity. This is not about the Southern Baptist Convention. Together, we cooperate in working toward forwarding, advancing and completing this vision of reaching the world for Christ. Therefore, each church, association, state convention and entity as well as all of us must do all we can where we are with what we have to reach the world for Christ. If we truly believe If we truly believe in the Gospel, we understand that people without Jesus are lost spiritually and in need of personal salvation in Christ alone. Therefore, we cannot have any greater vision than reaching the world for Christ. When we believe this convictionally, this conviction will get ahold of us. And when it gets ahold of us, money will follow this vision. More money will come from people to churches, from churches through the Cooperative Program, and from state conventions through our Southern Baptist Convention, and from our Southern Baptist Convention to the world. We can do this, if we will. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Colo. Baptists' theme: 'revitalized church' by Colorado Baptist General Convention Staff Date: November 02, 2015 - Monday FORT COLLINS, Colo. (BP) -- The 60th annual meeting of the Colorado Baptist General Convention focused on the theme "The Revitalized Church" from Revelation 2:4-5. Ralph Helm, Longs Peak Baptist Association's church catalyst, welcomed 155 registered messengers from 71 churches and 100-150 guests, who united in prayer and worship in Fort Collins at the Hilton Hotel & Conference Center. The convention was formed in 1955 by 40 churches during a meeting at First Southern Baptist Church in Colorado Springs. At this year's meeting, Mike Atherton, the convention's outgoing president and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in Lone Tree, highlighted three aspects of "The Revitalized Church" during the three sessions of the Oct. 12-13 convention: -- Revitalized administratively: Atherton encouraged pastors and leaders to "pursue Christ in all things" as the priority of their churches. -- Revitalized numerically: "When was the last time someone said they were leaving the church because there weren't enough baptisms?" Atherton asked. He spoke about healthy, sustained growth numerically and encouraged leaders and members to consider their role and responsibility in helping grow the Kingdom of Christ in their churches. "Never hold the Word of Christ hostage from people who need it," he stated. -- Revitalized spiritually: Atherton spoke about the spiritual health of the church, noting, "Churches are not unhealthy today because Christ has failed at His job." Citing Matthew 10:25, he said it is each Christian's responsibility "to become more like Jesus day by day by day by day. I want to be more like Jesus tomorrow than I was yesterday...." Atherton challenged pastors to pray this over their children and their churches. Alan Reed, church planter and lead pastor of The Pursuit Church in Fort Collins, spoke about being involved and relevant to people in the community. Make connections with schools, businesses and people, he counseled. Reed and his wife Ashley moved to Fort Collins in 2009 believing God had called them to start a church that has a heart for its community and impacts the lives of people around the world. The church is on the Web at www.mypursuitchurch.com. Also speaking during the annual meeting were Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, and James Merritt, lead pastor of the Atlanta-area Cross Pointe Church. Rainer spoke about "revitalization hope" in a message listing four points from Zechariah 4: 1) God is still active, 2) God removes obstacles, 3) God expects His people to work with Him in building His house and 4) God gets all the glory. Merritt, in a message from Acts 15, spoke about the church being spiritually revitalized. "Make sure your Christian faith is fuel for the fire and not water on the fire," Merritt exhorted, asking, "Are you fuel for the fire or a fire extinguisher?" He said examples of a fire extinguisher are pushing tradition over truth, rules over relationships, the external over the internal. The Pharisees, Merritt noted, were focused on the external not the internal, pushing preferences over people. "Our job is not to subtract from grace. Our job is to divide grace up and multiply it," Merritt said. "There will always be the gravitational pull to make your church comfortable for church people. … It's time to get rid of our preferences." Budget, officer elections Messengers approved a 2016 convention budget of $3,434,183, a decrease of $25,139 or 0.7 percent from 2015. The convention's Cooperative Program allocation after shared expenses will be 49.5 percent for Colorado ministries and 50.5 percent for SBC ministries, with a goal of a straight 50/50 allocation in the next few years with no shared expenses. Colorado Baptists anticipate $1,983,083 in Cooperative Program receipts in 2016. Mike Routt, pastor of Circle Drive Baptist Church in Colorado Springs, was elected as the convention's president, with Ray Shirley, pastor of Monument Baptist Church in Grand Junction, reelected as first vice president and Jeff Rogers, associate pastor of Applewood Baptist Church in Wheat Ridge, elected as second vice president. Ginger LeBlanc, ministry assistant at Colorado Baptist General Convention and member of Arapahoe Road Baptist Church in Centennial, was reelected as recording secretary. All officers were the lone nominees. In a resolution centered on prayer, messengers stated: "Whereas we, as Colorado Baptists, have been challenged to see the need for prayer and spiritual awakening in our churches and, whereas we recognize the urgency in making a difference in the communities outside the walls of our churches, be it therefore resolved that we will unite in prayer for revival and spiritual awakening in our churches so that Christ will pour out of us and into the lost and dying world that surrounds us." Other resolutions expressed appreciation to the churches of Longs Peak Baptist Association for hosting the convention's 60th annual meeting and to Atherton for his service and leadership as Colorado Baptists' president and chairman of the board for two years. The 2016 annual meeting of the Colorado Baptist General Convention will be Oct. 10-11 at the Marriott Resort in Vail. -------------------------------------------------------------------- New generation of students discipled in Nairobi by Nicole Lee Date: November 02, 2015 - Monday NAIROBI (BP) -- One hundred and twenty baptisms and four church plants in the rural region of West Pokot, Kenya, are being pointed to as evidence of the International Mission Board's effort to raise up young men and women to take the Gospel to the unreached people groups of Africa. Chad Pumpelly leads the student team at the University of Nairobi and is building this mindset into the foundation of the work. "In Kenya we have 42 different languages; so that means we have 42 nations that we need to go to and take the Gospel to. So I cast that vision for them -- that as they go, wherever they go, they need to be involved in taking the Gospel to those people groups," Pumpelly said. The vision casting is having its desired effect. In fact, one student, George "Odidi" Odhiambo from West Pokot, has been an active part of what has happened there this past year. "Two generations ago those people were praising and worshipping mountains and now we go and they jump and praise and worship the one true God, and so for [Odidi] to see how that changes -- he's caught the vision that this is an important work to be about," Pumpelly said. Odidi used to live as many in his village -- drinking alcohol from the time he woke in the morning to bedtime at night, ignorant of Jesus and the hope He offers. And then after coming to the university, a "man of god" (Pumpelly) knocked on his dormitory door and told him about Jesus. Life changed that day for Odidi. "[If I had not come to Nairobi] I couldn't have had this chance of knowing Christ, and it motivates me to come back to my people, and I know maybe if I cannot do it, nobody else will come," Odidi said. "I want to make my people know exactly what it is to live in Christ." Odidi was Pumpelly's first convert on the campus three years ago. Soon after, 12 others decided to follow Christ and began participating in basic discipleship. Within the year, Pumpelly realized God was leading him to take them deeper. "We decided that we were going to start raising those guys to reach other people, and so that Bible study network has grown," he said. Today there are eight Bible studies on campus for more than 50 believers who are being trained to become leaders. Other IMB missionaries partner with Pumpelly in this ministry, and the team also utilizes American student volunteers. IMB missionary Chris Suel, Pumpelly's co-laborer in the student ministry, said, "Our ministry vision is to disciple students who are equipped to disciple others with the overall vision of planting churches amongst unreached people groups in Kenya and beyond Kenya." Part of that training is involving the students in short-term trips to remote places in Africa where the Gospel has not gone, like West Pokot -- a ministry that highlights not only what God is doing through the students but what He is doing among them as well. "Pokot mission, which is a great missionary work in itself, is just sort of a byproduct of what's happening on campus," Pumpelly said. "It's great to see that people are getting deep into the Word, their lives are being transformed." He and Suel believe the key to reaching Africa's unreached peoples is through this generation, which will be tomorrow's leaders and the up-and-coming influencers of society. Not only will these be the doctors, lawyers and politicians who can spread the Gospel in the modern world, but they will also take the Gospel back to their homes, which are often among an unreached people group. "If we can get this network of different people groups being affected by the Gospel as they go back to their homes, their home villages, their hometowns, they're going to be able to influence a plethora of different people groups," Pumpelly said. "You can't really do that in any other way." Pray -- Pray for Pumpelly, Suel and the student ministry team in Kenya as they help raise up a new generation of believers. -- Pray for the unreached people groups of Africa to be reached with the Gospel. -- Pray many American students will come with IMB's Hands On program and form lasting relationships with Kenyan students. Learn more about how your church can get involved by going to subsaharanafricanpeoples.imb.org/connect/view/engaging-churches. Pumpelly relies on the Hands On program, which brings semester missionaries from the U.S. to partner with Kenyan university students to share Christ on campus. "They evangelize a network of friends, just as I did, and get them into Bible studies. It's a great partnership between Kenyan students and American students," Pumpelly said. To find out more go to imbstudents.org/programs/handson/ProjectDetail_HandsOn.aspx?proj=111421#.VjeV4berTq5. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Syrian refugees receiving care from Baptists by Lily Jameson Date: November 02, 2015 - Monday SYRIA (BP) - Rima* was finally shopping again. Her family needed food and supplies, and the young girl was "running and grabbing, just like a little kid" in the supermarket, remembered Abraham Shepherd. Shepherd, area director for Baptist Global Response, told the Syrian refugee's story in a meeting room, thousands of miles from the store where he bought Rima's family food. The family felt joy at the opportunity to shop for themselves, instead of simply taking distributions, Shepherd said. The parents could choose their supplies, enjoying the independence they used to have in their own country. Violence ruined that life for them and for millions of others. The war inside Syria has raged for five years now, and more than a year ago, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) began contributing to the refugee crisis significantly during its quest for a caliphate. According to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, roughly 4 million Syrian people have fled the country to seek safety in other countries and more than 7.5 million have been internally displaced. Eventually, Rima's family became part of the statistics and fled to Greece as refugees. The adjustment was difficult. "It's very hard when you live all your life self-sustained and have your own dignity, your own shelter, your own clothing [and then you have] to be now a person who has a need … forced to beg and ask strangers to help them out," Shepherd said. When Shepherd took the family to the supermarket that day, Rima spotted a cheap bottle of nail polish. Her mother told her the family should focus on practical items, but Rima desperately wanted pretty nails. Shepherd decided to buy her the bottle. "This is the medicine," he said. "The medicine to the soul -- the emotional and psychological well-being." These refugees, he said, need food and clothing, but they also need emotional care. They've been uprooted from their lives -- sometimes violently -- and they need to process trauma. They need to tell their stories. Sometimes, they need small, frivolous items to help them feel human again. Through the years, Baptist Global Response has conducted Syrian refugee relief projects that meet physical needs as well as those emotional needs. BGR executive director Jeff Palmer noted Southern Baptists have poured nearly $3 million dollars through BGR into relief efforts for Syrian refugees. These resources have helped fund projects in several countries and have been used for things like distributions of food, blankets, clothing and more. Shepherd said he also used BGR funds to buy Rima's family items from the supermarket. Francis Horton, another BGR area director, said projects in Istanbul, Turkey, indirectly help refugees pay their rent. BGR funds purchase gift cards to grocery stores so displaced people can buy food and hygiene items, which frees up their savings to pay for whatever meager lodgings they can find. BGR also helps create makeshift classrooms for refugee children. "These are children who have been out of school for, you know, four -- four and a half [to] five -- years, even before they came out of Syria," he said. "For many of them, the school was bombed or there was so much fighting, they couldn't go to school. … We are involved in two projects in Turkey that help to fill that gap and get the children back into an educational environment through classes in English, math, science and other subjects." While these efforts satisfy hunger, keep refugees warm and boost lagging education, others meet psychosocial needs. For example, Shepherd said he uses volunteers to entertain Syrian children in Greece while their families wait for permission to move to another country. BGR invites donors to partner with the organization as it carries out these projects and cares for Syrians who have lost their homes. People can give toward Syrian aid through www.gobgr.org or purchase items like food or blankets through the 2015 Christmas Gift Catalog. They can also work directly with refugees through BGR's volunteer opportunities, which are posted on its website. BGR also encourages people to pray for these displaced people and for the organization's efforts to clothe and feed them. The only way BGR can aid families like Rima's is through partnership with its donors. *Name changed -------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan court orders blasphemy law reforms by Diana Chandler Date: November 02, 2015 - Monday ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (BP) -- The effectiveness of a Supreme Court of Pakistan ruling that blasphemy laws be reformed to discourage false allegations hinges on the government's response to the order, a leader of the International Christian Concern watchdog group told Baptist Press. The three-judge Pakistani bench called for reforms when it upheld the death penalty imposed upon Malik Mohammad Mumtaz Qadri for assassinating in 2011 Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer based on hearsay that Taseer had committed blasphemy. "In the absence of adequate safeguards against the abuse of the blasphemy law, people falsely accused of the offense suffer irrevocably," the judgment written Oct. 27 reads, but confirms that the reforms must still protect blasphemy laws. The ruling "ought to be understood as a call for introducing adequate safeguards against malicious application or use of [the blasphemy law] by motivated persons," the judges wrote. "If our religion of Islam comes down heavily upon commission of blasphemy then Islam is also very tough against those who level false allegations of a crime." William Stark, International Christian Concern (ICC) regional manager for South Asia, said the judgment has only opened a door to reforms that "Pakistan as a society must take the steps to walk through." The government must enact legislation to "combat mob violence and extra-judicial killings," "create harsh penalties for individuals who file false accusations of blasphemy," and protect mentally ill defendants who may not have had a "deliberate intention to blaspheme," Stark told BP. Pakistan remains a dangerous country for Christians. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its 2015 annual report that the Pakistani government "failed to protect citizens, minority and majority alike, from sectarian and religiously-motivated violence, and Pakistani authorities have not consistently brought perpetrators to justice or taken action against societal actors who incite violence." For instance, on Oct. 14, a Pakistani court acquitted two Muslim men accused of kidnapping two Christian sisters from their village of Jaranwala, Faisalabad, and repeatedly raping them throughout the night, Morning Star News reported. The girls had identified the assailants as Muhammad Shahbaz and Muhammad Azeem, who lived in the same village. Wilson Chowdhry, head of the British Pakistani Christian Association, told Morning Star News the 2014 case against the men was allegedly lost due to a key witness who changed his testimony in the face of threats and a bribe. The family "didn't get justice," the girls' father told Morning Star News. "The lawyer didn't fight the case very well and with commitment. … We face serious life threats from the culprits now, as they are being released from jail. I will appeal to the High Court, because I want justice for my daughters." In another case concerning the persecution of Christians in Pakistan, Christian mother Aasiya Noreen, commonly known as Asia Bibi, is awaiting a trial date before the Pakistan Supreme Court in the appeal of her death sentence for blasphemy. Arrested in June 2009 after Muslim coworkers in a berry field beat her when she refused to convert to Islam following a quarrel, Bibi received her death sentence in November 2010. The Lahore High Court on Oct. 16, 2014 upheld the death sentence for the mother of two children and stepmother to three others. The High Court's ruling to reform blasphemy laws is an important move in protecting citizens from violent religious extremism, Peter Jacob, executive director for the Center for Social Justice, told ICC. "Through this judgment, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa has ostensibly turned the tide on [the] oppressive environment against the discourse around rights and democratic values in this country," Jacob said. "Yet, minorities and [liberals] in Pakistan, who have often been the targets of the laws misuse, might have to wait for complete success until the Parliament overcomes [its] lethargy and indecision." Jacob cited a 2014 hallmark decision by Chief Justice Tassaduq Jillani, now retired, that was widely viewed as having potential to protect citizens from violent extremism. But many of the mandates Jillani issued after an attack that killed 81 Christians at a church in Peshawar have either not been implemented or have been outsourced to other agencies, ICC said. Specifically, the Pakistan federal government has made no moves to institute a task force to develop a strategy of religious tolerance, and has not appointed a special police force to protect places of worship for minorities, Stark told BP. "When I was in Pakistan," Stark said, "many of the church leaders I met with said that police officials told them that they needed to provide their own private form of security in order to meet this recommendation instead of a special police force being created." No criminal cases have been brought against those who desecrate places of worship of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan as Jillani ordered, Stark said. "I haven't heard of any of these types of cases being brought," Stark told BP, "despite multiple incidents of religious minorities' places of worship being desecrated." The Pakistani federal government outsourced some of Jillani's mandates to provincial governments in a move called a "National Action Plan." The provincial governments are charged with implementing "appropriate curricula at school and college levels to promote a culture of religious and social tolerance," and taking steps "to ensure that hate speeches in social media are discouraged and the delinquents brought to justice under the law," but Stark said none of these changes has been made. The federal government has at least one of Jillani's mandates, Stark said. Specifically, the government has created a National Council for Minorities' Rights, although Stark said the council's authority and responsibilities have not been determined. Also in line with Jillani's ruling, the Supreme Court has created a separate file to be placed before a three-member Bench to ensure that the judgment is followed, Stark said. The ICC, formed in 1995, describes itself as a group to help the worldwide persecuted Christian church through assistance, awareness and advocacy. -------------------------------------------------------------------- China population policies still coercive, critics say by Tom Strode Date: November 02, 2015 - Monday o one should be applauding the Chinese government for its new policy." -- Rep. Chris Smith] WASHINGTON (BP) -- China's lifting of its "one-child policy" does not eliminate the heinousness of its population control program, pro-life critics say. All married couples in the world's most populous country will be able to have two children, China's Communist Party announced Oct. 29 at the close of its Central Committee meeting, Xinhua News Agency reported. The "one-child policy," as it has been known, has generally restricted Chinese couples to a single offspring since its imposition in the late 1970s, although exceptions have been permitted in recent years. The magnitude of the program -- which included forced abortion and contraception, as well as reports of infanticide -- was illustrated two years ago. At that time, Beijing reported the following statistics since 1971, when it began population limits: 336 million abortions performed; 196 million sterilizations conducted; and 403 million intrauterine devices inserted. Increasing the child limit for couples in China does not eradicate the coercion basic to the regime's population control, critic Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, said. "The problem with the one-child policy is not the number of children 'allowed,'" Littlejohn said in a written statement. "Rather, it is the fact [the Communist Party] is telling women how many children they can have and then enforcing that limit through forced abortion and forced sterilization. "Women will still have to obtain a government-issued birth permit, for the first and second child, or they may be subject to forced abortion," she said. "Regardless of the number of children allowed, women who get pregnant without permission will still be dragged out of their homes, strapped down to tables, and forced to abort babies that they want." Leaders of a joint legislative and executive branch commission on China also found little reason to rejoice in China's announcement. "[N]o one should be applauding the Chinese government for its new policy," Rep. Chris Smith, R.-N.J., said in a written release. "It is not a major change. The government is still limiting the size of Chinese families and the coercive structure of fines, permits, pregnancy monitoring, and birth targets remains. Families who want a third child will still face the pressure to abort their child or pay exorbitant fines. "The new policy doesn't change the underlying brutality of China's population control policies nor does it offer justice to the victims of the horrific crimes of forced abortion or sterilizations." Sen. Marco Rubio, R.-Fla., joined Smith in criticizing the new policy. Smith is chairman of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, while Rubio serves as co-chairman. Rubio described the change as a "modest improvement" but added, "A two-child policy is as indefensible and inhumane as a one-child policy, and it would be a mistake to assume this change in any way reflects a newfound respect for human rights by Beijing." All three -- Rubio, Smith and Littlejohn -- called for the United States to work to bring an end to forced population control in China. Meanwhile, All Girls Allowed, a Boston-based organization working to end China's coercive program, took a different approach. It urged Bejing to adopt an all-children allowed policy, but it also commended "the Chinese leadership for taking this courageous step to publicly abolish a policy that has caused so much physical, emotional, and spiritual damage to the families in the nation." China's Communist Party, in announcing the change, said it is designed to help with balancing the population and meeting the challenge of an aging citizenry. China's legislators are expected to ratify the revision in March, Xinhua reported. Until then, local authorities are expected to enforce the "one-child policy," the National Health and Family Planning Commission said Nov. 1, according to Xinhua, the government's official news service. China is reaping the harvest of its population control program. China's fertility rate of 1.66 per woman is far short of the 2.1 level needed to sustain population levels, according to the United Nations, Bloomberg News Service reported last year. China's labor population -- which consists of people between 16 and 59 years old -- dropped in both 2012 and 2013, according to the report. A Chinese government researcher had said in October 2014 that the regime planned to relax its population-control program within two years. Exceptions to the "one-child policy" program increasingly have been permitted in recent years. The limit in urban areas is one child, but two children are allowed to families in rural areas, if the first is a girl. Parents in cities may have second babies if at least one parent is an only child. Couples who violate the policy face the possibility not only of large fines, job loss and imprisonment but of forced abortions or sterilizations. While Beijing says the program has prevented 400 million live births and raised many families from poverty, the restriction has produced widespread reports of even late-term abortions forced upon mothers by authorities in some localities. The coercive abortions are performed normally on female babies, because of the Chinese preference for sons. Sex-selection abortions and infanticide have resulted in dramatic differences in the female and male birth rates in the country.