Zprávy HCJB 9.3.2004

 KŘESŤANÉ V IRÁKU DOUFAJÍ VE ZLEPŠENÍ PRÁV DÍKY PROZATÍMNÍ ÚSTAVĚ
    Po měsících napětí konečně podepsali 8. března prozatímní vůdci Iráku novou dočasnou ústavu, kterou pozorovatelé lidských práv považují za nadějnou ve smyslu záruky křesťanských a některých dalších práv menšin v nestabilní irácké společnosti. Na podporu křesťanských církví cituje ústava islám jako „jeden ze zdrojů“ zákona, a ne „jediný zdroj“, jak to chtěli muslimští zastánci tvrdé linie. Kritici poukazují na to, že dosud je islám uznán jako oficiální národní náboženství. Nová ústava také uznává základní práva všech částí irácké společnosti, a to výzvou k demokracii a pluralitě v nové federální republice Iráku. „Štěstím se mi chce plakat. Teď už půjde všechno hladce. Útoky nás nezastaví,“ řekla Rajaa Habib al-Khuzai z šiítské rady pár minut potom, co ona a ostatní podepsali tento dokument, který představuje milník v jejich historii. (Assist News Service)
 
 IRÁCKÁ KŘESŤANSKÁ KOMUNITA ROSTE POČTEM I ODVAHOU.
   (Assist News Service/Baptist Press) - Ve svobodných poměrech v novém Iráku v sobě evangelikálové objevují novou odvahu. Vůbec první baptistický sbor zde byl založen v lednu a hned přišlo 700 lidí. Národní Evangelijní Baptistický Sbor v Bagdádu bude „úhelným kamenem budoucí baptistické činnosti v Iráku,“ ukládají si církevní představitelé. „Předpokládali jsem a původně plánovali přítomnost kolem 550 lidí a věřili jsme, že tento počet našemu Pánu dosvědčí, že jsme pro Něj dobře pracovali. Tolik lidí jsme ale nečekali,“ vysvětluje Mutafar Yacoub – předseda Baptistické unie Iráku. Iráčtí křesťané pozorují kolem sebe oživení a nebývalý zájem o Kristovo evangelium. „Před válkou byl náš sbor velmi malý – a scházeli jsme se potají,“ potvrzuje pastor v Bagdádu, kdysi vězněný pro podzemní náboženskou činnost. „Nyní náš nový kostel pro 450 lidí není ještě hotov a již je pro rostoucí sbor malý.“ Problémem, který přineslo osvobození Iráku je nedostatek křesťanských duchovních, křesťanských tiskovin a budov pro rostoucí počet lidí přejících si otevřeně vyznávat svou víru. V Iráku je údajně asi 1 milion křesťanů.

*Tato a další zprávy jsou (pouze v aktuální den) v originální anglické verzi zde.

 
 VŠECHNY ZPRÁVY V ANGLIČTINĚ
   CHRISTIANS HOPE FOR MORE RIGHTS UNDER IRAQ’S INTERIM CONSTITUTION

After months of tension, Iraq’s interim leaders finally signed a new temporary constitution March 8, which human rights watchdogs hope will guarantee Christians and other minorities at least some rights in Iraq’s volatile society. In a boost for Christian churches, the constitution cites Islam as “a source” of law rather than “the source” as Muslim hardliners wanted. Critics point out the document still recognizes Islam as the nation’ s official religion. The new constitution also acknowledges the basic rights of all segments of Iraqi society by calling for democracy and pluralism in the new federal republic of Iraq. “I want to cry because of happiness. Everything will go smoothly from now on. The attacks will not affect us,” said Shiite council woman Rajaa Habib al-Khuzai minutes after she and others inked the milestone document. (Assist News Service)

IRAQ’S CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY GROWS IN NUMBER, BOLDNESS

Expecting more freedom under the new constitution in Iraq, evangelicals are emerging with new boldness. The first Baptist church ever established in Iraq was dedicated in January with more than 700 people in attendance. The National Evangelical Baptist Church in Baghdad will be “the cornerstone upon which future Baptist work in Iraq will be built,” church leaders are saying. “We anticipated and originally planned for around 550 persons, figuring that this would show our Lord that we were serious about being a bold witness for Christ though we really didn’t expect that many people to attend,” explained Muthafar Yacoub, moderator of the Baptist Union of Iraq. Iraqi Christians have reported a revival in Iraq, and an unprecedented interest in the Gospel of Christ. “Before the war, our church was very small -- less than 50 people -- and we had to meet in secrecy,” confirmed another pastor in Baghdad who was once imprisoned for leading an underground church. “Now our new church building seating 450 is almost completed, and it’s already too small for our growing congregation.” The challenge that has followed Iraq’s liberation is a lack of church leaders, Christian materials and facilities to accommodate the growing number of people wanting to practice their faith openly. There are reportedly up to one million Christians in Iraq. (Assist News Service/Baptist Press)

VIETNAMESE EVANGELISTS SEVERELY BEATEN IN POLICE CUSTODY

Law enforcement authorities in Vietnam are subjecting house church leaders to relentless harassment, according to sources in Ho Chi Minh City. The latest incident began on the afternoon of March 2 at the home of Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang, vice president and general secretary of the Mennonite Church. Quang and evangelist Pham Ngoc Thach discovered two undercover security police spying on them from a stakeout about 200 feet from the Quang residence. Quang and Thach took down the license number of the police motorbike and reported it to the head of their city ward. Some time later, several dozen officers from Special Unit 113, the district police, undercover police and local defense forces arrived at the scene. Armed with guns and electric cattle prods, they surrounded the Quang home and ordered the 12 Christian workers gathered there to remain inside the house. According to witnesses, police then tried to incite neighbors to attack the Christians. They seized a church elder and took him to the ward police station. That night, Thach, Nguyen Van Phuong and Nguyen Thanh Nhan, went to inquire about the elder and authorities took the trio into custody. Christians later learned that police beat Thach until he passed out, then several officers took turns kicking him in the chest, stomach and groin. They also beat Nhan into unconsciousness. The young evangelists were later charged with “resisting an officer.” According to reports, the three young men are still being held at the police station. (Compass Direct)

INDIA’S HINDU EXTREMISTS TAPPING INTO CORPORATE DONATIONS

The Dalit Freedom Network has announced an international investigation into the funding of violent activities against Christians in India. On Feb. 26, the House of Lords reviewed an investigative report from the United Kingdom (U.K.) that states that a U.K.-based charity, Sewa International, has channeled millions of pounds raised by the British public to organizations associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in India. RSS is an organization that advocates Hindu supremacy and repression of minorities and has been repeatedly linked by Indian and international human rights organizations to initiating large scale violence against minority groups in India. This report details the trail of funds raised by charitable organizations in the UK for relief work following the Gujurat earthquake and the Orissa Cyclone and then funneled to pay for fascist-minded Hindu extremism in India. The American equivalent organization, the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), works for the same purpose of promoting Hindu extremism in India. IDRF has positioned itself among many of the largest U.S. corporations to be considered part of their employee matching contribution funds. These companies end up giving large sums of money to IDRF. Most of them don’t realize that the IDRF money actually funds groups like the RSS that foster hatred, bigotry and Hindu supremacy in India. It is now clear that the RSS has received significant sums of money in the name of development and relief from both the U.K. and the U.S. and used those monies to build an army of Hindu extremists. (Mission Network News)

* “The Voice of the Great Southland,” the shortwave station operated by HCJB World Radio-Australia, airs more than 44 hours of weekly English programming across India. Two half-hour programs in Urdu, airing Monday through Saturday, went on the air in July 2003, and a daily 15-minute program in Hindi began in January. A studio with programming and a follow-up center has been established in New Delhi. In partnership with FEBA Radio, HCJB World Radio also airs weekly Christian programs to eastern India via shortwave in three languages: Bhojpuri, Chattisgarhi and Mundari.

MOTHER’S AIDS MINISTRY OFFERS ‘HAVEN OF HOPE’

People ran Betty Rushford out of town when her son got AIDS, but she believes God called her to take Christ’s love to victims of the disease. For the last 14 years the founder of Channels of Love, a ministry in Chattanooga, Tenn., Rushford has helped AIDS sufferers look death in the face and emerge victorious. “Every week people were dying,” recalls Rushford, noting that the disease became fatal much more quickly in the late-1980s and early 1990s when AIDS drugs were not as effective. Rushford’s youngest son died in 1998. At that time she turned the ministry over to The Salvation Army and spent several years recovering. But she says God began to speak to her again in 2002 about helping those suffering. On a missions trip to Kenya that July, Rushford saw the disastrous effect of AIDS on the African country. Her first outreach took her back to Kenya, to the Siaya Future Life Christian Ministries. Rushford and a team of six others led a two-day seminar last year, teaching church leaders how to minister to victims and their families and help stop the spread of AIDS in their own churches and communities. Rushford now calls her ministry “A Haven of Hope.” She is planning trips to Haiti and several other countries, as well as a follow-up visit to Kenya. (Religion Today/Charisma News Service)

SPECIAL NEW TESTAMENT ADDRESSES HIV/AIDS IN SOUTH AFRICA

International Bible Society (IBS) released its “Reach4Life” New Testament at a recent gathering of 100 pastors, ministry leaders, business people and community officials in Johannesburg, South Africa. IBS developed Reach4Life as a resource for organizations to provide HIV/AIDS education in schools across South Africa. With an estimated 5.3 million South Africans HIV-positive at the end of 2002, abstinence-based education appears to provide the best hope for stemming the tide of the pandemic. In Uganda, an abstinence-based program contributed significantly to a drop in the country’ s HIV-prevalence rate, dropping to 4.4 percent in 2003 from 30 percent in 1992. The special New Testament includes information about HIV -- myths, facts, avenues of infection, and the impact of the disease on a person’s life. It also presents instructions for developing and practicing a moral lifestyle. “Youth in South Africa who are not yet infected with HIV hold the most potential to interrupt the HIV pandemic,” said Peter Torry, IBS executive director of international development. “We believe this New Testament will help equip junior high and high school kids to follow moral standards that naturally lead to healthy and productive lives.” The initial pressrun is 45,000 copies, but there is a potential need for 12 million copies in South Africa alone. (International Bible Society)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with local partners to plant local radio ministries in six South African cities: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pinetown, Roodepoort and Badplaas. HCJB World Radio is also regularly sending out short-term teams to help build the Living Hope Community Center (a ministry of Fish Hoek Baptist Church) near Cape Town, South Africa. The center includes an AIDS clinic.

© Copyright 2004 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA - btc@hcjb.org

 

   Zpět  Další zprávy: www.prayer.cz