Zprávy HCJB 1.10.2008 - 4.10.2008

	Open Doors i křesťané v Iráku vidí budoucnost růžověji
	Irák je stále zemí s mnoha problémy, zvlášť pro křesťany. Ale dějí se i pozitivní věci. Někteří křesťané žijící v Iráku se již zase chtějí připravovat na budoucnost ve své zemi. Open Doors pokračuje v Iráku ve své činnosti a různými způsoby místní křesťany povzbuzuje: Rozdává křesťanskou literaturu, nabízí rekvalifikační kurzy včetně práce s PC, kurzy nearabských jazyků, pomáhá při pořádání biblických kurzů. Jedno z center Open Doors společně s nevládními organizacemi v Iráku nedávno v rámci jedné křesťanské menšiny pořádalo duchovní a kulturní akci, která byla pro účastníky velmi přínosná. Zdroj: Open Doors
	Pochod v Dillí na protest proti útokům na křesťany, také EU je odsoudila
	Pochod na protest proti útokům tvrdých hinduistů na křesťanskou menšinu proběhl ve čtvrtek 2. října v Dillí. Pochodu se zúčastnilo přes 10 000 demonstrantů a také političtí představitelé. Pochod byl uspořádán, když bylo potvrzeno, že jen za poslední dva dny nových protikřesťanských násilností ve východoindickém státu Orissa zahynuli další tři lidé. I podle Amnesty International vedly poslední násilnosti ke smrti tří lidí, dalších patnáct osob včetně několika policistů bylo zraněno. Stovky lidí jsou bez přístřeší. Podle církevních kruhů bylo v Orisse od srpna, kdy násilnosti začaly, zabito nejméně 45 lidí, ale skutečný počet obětí není znám. Protikřesťanské násilnosti probíhají od vražd 23. srpna, kdy byl v Orisse zabit hinduistický náboženský vůdce Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati a čtyři jeho následovníci. Všichni byli spojeni s hlavní opoziční hinduistickou nacionalistickou stranou Bharatiya Janata Party. Policie podezřívala maoisty, ale hiduističtí militanti jejich smrt dávali za vinu křesťanům. Amnesty International vyzývá indickou vládu k „rychlému a nestrannému vyšetření útoků na křesťany .. , ke zveřejnění jeho výsledků a k postavení viníků před soud.“ Silná slova z Evropské Unie rozčílila indického premiéra Manmohan Singh. EU indickou vládu obvinila ze selhání, když nepředešla „masakru“ křesťanů ve státech Orissa a Karnataka. Při summitu Indie – EU byl tento předmět ostře diskutován Singhem, francouzským prezidentem Nicolasem Sarkozy, který je současně předsedou Rady Evropy a José Manuelem Barosso, prezidentem Evropské Komise. Zdroj: BosNewsLife, India Times
	Všechny zprávy v angličtině
	RADIO BROADCASTS FOSTERED UNITY ON EVE OF ECUADOR’S CONSTITUTION VOTE Source: Mission Network News While Ecuador now has its 20th constitution in the nation’s history, HCJB Global Voice emphasized the need to seek God’s will in matters of governance. Doug Weber of Radio Station HCJB said instead taking a side, his staff provided airtime to pastors to pray for the Sept. 28 referendum that determined whether or not Ecuador would adopt the charter. About 64 percent of Ecuadorians voted in favor of the new constitution. Weber believes the programming on Radio Station HCJB built church unity. He said the station’s apolitical approach to the election spoke volumes to the government. “There was a lot of media outlets in the country that were taking a very distinct position one way or another, and we have always tried to maintain a neutral position, even in our news broadcasts and our daily programming,” Weber said. He believes this puts HCJB Global on a more solid footing for ministry in the future, and he’s hoping this will allow HCJB Global to accomplish its future goals. “One of the big things we want to begin doing is mobilizing and helping mobilize Latin Americans to move into missions in other parts of the world. We’re trying to figure out our strategy. We don’t want to duplicate what other people are doing, but we want to complement what other mission and church groups are doing.” Please see the full story at: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/11735. HCJB GLOBAL MISSIONARY RETIREE DUNCAN BELL DIES SUDDENLY IN ECUADOR Source: HCJB Global Duncan Bell, an HCJB Global missionary engineer for 18 years before retiring in 2006, died of an apparent heart attack at Hospital Vozandes-Quito in Ecuador the morning of Friday, Sept. 26. He was 77. Born in Hamilton, Scotland, on Aug. 4, 1931, he married Wilma Chapman in Washington state on March 30, 1974. Their children are Duncan, 30, of West Covina, Calif., and Shona, 28, who is married to David Boyes, Jackson Hole, Wyo. “For most of my life I believed that Christianity was old-fashioned and that in this modern era that we had outgrown the need for superstition and religion,” Duncan wrote in his application to HCJB Global. “I believed in a god because I assumed that it all had to have come from somewhere, but the god that I believed in was one of my own imagination and certainly not the God of the Bible. I had no need for the person of Jesus Christ. “Twelve years later [at the age of 43], I started attending church to please my wife, and after two years I was converted, having seen for the first time my fallen life, my despair and my need for a Savior, Jesus Christ. “My almost immediate action was to serve directly then in the work of the church. Wisely, the pastor recommended that I wait on God and get involved in Bible studies. I rejoice to see the path the Lord has led us in the past 10 years.” The Bells’ first exposure to missions and Hispanics took place when they got involved in an outreach with a missionary in Tijuana, Mexico. “The local missionary challenged us by asking what we were doing among the Hispanics in Los Angeles. We enrolled in conversational Spanish and completed the available three semesters.” Then they began attending Spanish-language church called Iglesia Bautista Bethany. When the Bells joined HCJB Global in 1988, Duncan already had 28 years of experience as an engineer in Scotland and in the U.S. His last job before joining the mission was at Hughes Aircraft where he had worked for eight years. Upon arriving in Quito, Duncan served on the development team in the engineering department, working alongside engineers such as Charlie Jacobson, now manager of engineering and development at the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind. “I appreciate people like Duncan who, after serving in a career in industry, came to Ecuador to use their electronic skills in missions to make an impact for Christ,” Jacobson said. After the Bells retired from HCJB Global in 2006, Duncan went on to serve with ASOMA, a Christian television ministry in Quito started by HCJB Global two decades earlier. He also taught at the Berean-affiliated Buen Pastor school in Pifo. He enjoyed bird watching, and he constructed at least two homes—one in California and one in Ecuador. He held passports from the U.K. and U.S. as well as residency status in Ecuador, and he never entirely lost his Scottish accent. His wit was quick and he enjoyed a laugh with friends. A service to remember Duncan was held the morning of Sunday, Sept. 28, in Yaruquí, a small town near Radio Station HCJB’s international transmitter site in Pifo. Yaruquí is also where Duncan and Wilma made their home and had many friends and church family. Memorial gifts may be sent to Wilma at 1732 S. Pass and Covina Rd., West Covina, CA 91792. The gifts will assist an Ecuadorian friend, Mercedes Zurita. Mercedes, 33, who was raised in an orphanage and is wheelchair bound. Living at Yaruquí, she has written a book telling others of her experience with Christ. NRB PRESIDENT WARNS OF INTERFERENCE FROM UNLICENSED WIRELESS DEVICES Source: Assist News Service National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) President Frank Wright has warned congressional leadership that the Federal Communications Commission may be “opening a Pandora’s box” if it approves marketing of inadequately tested and unlicensed wireless devices. Wright’s letter to Republican Minority Leader Robert Boehner expressed his concern over the current status regarding the use of so-called white space—that part of the television spectrum that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed for use by new wireless communications devices. Wright predicted a likelihood of “serious interference to both existing television broadcasts and virtually all licensed microphone users” if new emerging handheld devices do not have adequate safeguards to protect against interference with existing signals. “In addition to television signal interference,” Wright said, “such devices could also destroy the effectiveness of wireless microphones used during church services.” Similar objections have also been raised by theatrical producers on Broadway and by the Grand Old Opry. FCC-ordered testing of the devices is under way. CHURCH LEADER SEEKING DIALOGUE WITH ECUADOR’S PRESIDENT Sources: El Universo, Xinhua The secretary of Ecuador’s Conference of Catholics, Nicolás Dousdebés, says his church is open to dialogue with the Ecuadorian government after widespread approval of a new constitution in referendum held Sunday, Sept. 28. Dousdebés emphasized that the conversation must be “open and completely free of insults.” As yet, he has no reply to his letter to Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa whom he invited to find common ground with on the nation’s new constitution. Ecuador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal said Monday with 92 percent of the votes counted, the new constitution received 64 percent “yes” votes. At the polls on Sunday, Guayaquil’s archbishop, Monsignor Antonio Arregui, told reporters, “If the ‘yes’ vote wins, this constitution does not open the door to abortion, does not alter the definition of a family, and isn’t going to harm private education. This would be a magnificent plan according to the Catholic Church.” In 2006 he had expressed concerns to Correa about the wording of the proposed constitution and that “he said that the door to abortion wouldn’t be opened and that the status of private education would be respected.” * HCJB Global Hands helps provide clean drinking water and sanitation to rural Ecuadorian communities which do not have access to safe drinking water. Community wells with hand pumps and community potable water systems with a spigot or connection for each home are built to meet this need. Health/hygiene teaching, water system maintenance training and follow-up improve the health benefits and assure sustainability. In each project, the benefiting community provides the manual labor and the majority of the resources needed. Pastoral and church lay leadership training is provided in conjunction with these projects. Water projects in 2007 benefited nearly 9,000 Ecuadorians. FINANCIAL CRISIS ON WALL STREET PROMPTS TRADERS TO SEEK GOD Sources: Baptist Press, New York Times With ongoing congressional debate about a $700-billion government rescue proposal for Wall Street, church efforts are focused on helping families reduce their debts. The Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee worked with LifeWay’s Holman Bible Outreach International to develop a copy of the New Testament that includes 30 daily devotions written by Crown Financial Ministries to be used by churches. The curriculum, called “It’s a New Day,” leads individuals through the biblical principles of money management. Even before the Bush administration proposed using federal funds to prop up ailing markets, some financial workers on Wall Street were “turning to an old source of solace: religion,” according to Christine Kearney of The New York Times. Religious leaders said mid-September attendance was up at lunchtime church meetings in New York’s financial district. In his lunchtime sermon, Rev. Mark Bozzuti- Jones of Trinity Church Wall Street called the crisis a reminder that “we cannot put our faith in money,” according to Kearney’s Sept. 22 article. The Wall Street Synagogue also opened its doors nightly to accommodate Wall Street people. OPEN DOORS, IRAQI CHRISTIANS LOOK TO BRIGHTER FUTURE Source: Open Doors Iraq remains a country with many problems, especially for Christians. But positive events are happening. Some Christians in Iraq have a desire to prepare for their future and the future of the country. Open Doors continues to work in Iraq, encouraging Christians in various ways: distributing Christian literature, offering vocational courses including computer training, teaching non-Arabic languages and facilitating the set-up of Bible-based courses. One of Open Doors’ centers in Iraq recently organized—in cooperation with a non-government organization—a spiritual and cultural evening centering on one of the Iraqi Christian minorities which was interactive and intellectually challenging for the participants. ANTHONY BRADLEY APPOINTED AS FRANCIS SCHAEFFER SCHOLAR Source: World Journalism Institute Dr. Anthony B. Bradley has been appointed to the Francis Schaeffer Chair of Apologetics at the World Journalism Institute (WJI) for the academic year of 2008-2009. Bradley will retain all his full time teaching responsibilities at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, and will teach for WJI in its 2009 journalism course at The King’s College in New York City. Bradley serves as a research fellow for the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Grand Rapids, Mich. His doctoral work focused on the intersection of black liberation theology with economics. His interests include the Scottish Reformation, the emerging church, welfare, education and modern international forms of social injustice, slavery and oppression. The World Journalism Institute, located in New York City, was founded in 1998 and holds courses and conferences throughout the year to recruit, equip, place and encourage Christian journalists in U.S. newsrooms. NEW DELHI MARCH, RIGHTS GROUP, EU CONDEMN ANTI-CHRISTIAN ATTACKS Sources: BosNewsLife, India Times More than 10,000 demonstrators, including political leaders, marched in New Delhi on Thursday, Oct. 2, to protest ongoing attacks by hard-line Hindu nationalists against the country’s minority Christian community. The march came after rights investigators confirmed that three more people died in the last two days in new anti-Christian violence in eastern India’s Orissa state. Amnesty International said the fresh attacks left “three people dead, more than 15 people injured, including some policemen, and hundreds homeless.” Church groups suggest that up to 45 people have been killed in Orissa since violence broke out in August, although the exact death toll remains unclear. The anti-Christian violence began following the Aug. 23 killing in Orissa of Hindu religious leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his followers, who are linked to the main opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Police suspected Maoist rebels, but Hindu militants blamed Christians. Amnesty International is urging India’s government to “conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into the attacks [against Christians] . . . publish the results and bring those responsible to justice.” Stronger words from the European Union (EU) on Monday angered Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whom the European Union denounced for his government’s failure to prevent what it called a “massacre” of Christians in Orissa and Karnataka. During the India-EU summit, the issue was taken up strongly with Singh by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is also the head of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission. * Radio programs in 12 languages air to India from HCJB Global-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra. Most of the programs are produced at the ministry’s studios in New Delhi, India. CHINESE HOUSE CHURCH RAIDED, HYMNALS AND CROSS CONFISCATED Source: Christian Newswire The City Glory Gospel Church of Yantai, in China’s Shandong province was raided on Saturday, Sept. 20, by approximately 20 plainclothes officers who forced members of the house church to register their names and leave the meeting site. Authorities also confiscated the property of the Christians, including the collection box, a large cross, Bibles and hymnals. Visiting from Taiwan, Pastor Liu and his wife were speaking on prayer and parent-child relationships to about 60 people when the service was interrupted by officials who said they’d been tipped off. Pastor Liu, his wife and one church member were interrogated for two hours before police demanded they have no further contact with the church. Officials later returned the Bibles, but a week later the church was served with legal notices from the District Bureau of Religion for “setting up a gathering site without approval.” KYRGYZSTAN PARLIAMENT TO CONSIDER RESTRICTIVE NEW RELIGION LAW Sources: Assist News Service, Forum 18 News Service Concerns are reviving among many religious communities in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan as a proposed revised Religion Law is set to reach the full Zhogorku Kenesh, the country’s single-chamber parliament, this month. “The draft is due to be considered sometime in October, probably in the second half of the month,” Kanybek Osmanaliev, chair of the State Agency for Religious Affairs, told Forum 18 News Service. He rejected claims that the new law is designed to make it more difficult for religious communities to gain legal status and for people to share their religious belief with others. However, leading parliamentary deputies have insisted that this is the intention of the new law. Kamal Burkhanov, who leads the Majilis Working Group which is finalizing the text of the law, refused to make the wording public. “We cannot provide you with a copy of the text—it is our law after all, and it should be none of your [Forum 18’s] concern,” he said. Kazakh human rights defenders such as Ninel Fokina, head of the Almaty Helsinki Committee, strongly criticize the lack of openness and delay in releasing the text. © Copyright 2008 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA

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