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Misionářská rozhlasová stanice má velký vliv na evangelizaci, zakládání sborů a službu. Zvláště efektivní je v Mozambiku, říká Lee DeYoung z org. Words of Hope (Slova naděje). Programy jsou vysílány v jazycích Lomwe, Makhuwa a Makonde. „Výsledkem tohoto vysílání je vznik množství nových sborů,“ říká DeYoung. „Pro lidi je to skutečně novinka, že mohou v rádiu slyšet svůj vlastní původní jazyk. Je to velmi nezvyklé. Sousedé se scházejí ke společnému poslechu a stává se z nich později základ nového sboru.“ Words of Hope se chystá tuto činnost rozšířit i do dalších dosud evangeliem neoslovených oblastí. „V mnoha částech světa, kde znají evangelium jen velmi málo a/nebo je úředně potlačováno, je rádio často jediným, nebo alespoň jedním z mála způsobů, jak mohou lidé slyšet. Víra přichází skrze slyšení. Jak mohou slyšet, když jim to nikdo neřekne?“ (Mission Network News) |
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BANDITS SUSPECTED OF KILLING ITALIAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY IN UGANDA
A 76-year-old Italian missionary has been killed in northern Uganda less
than two weeks after an American missionary couple was murdered in the
troubled East African nation. Father Luciano Fulvi, a missionary with the
international Catholic group, Comboni, was found dead in a pool of blood
Wednesday, March 31, in his room at the Layibi mission near Gulu, 225 miles
north of the Kampala, reported the Missionary News Service Agency. The
killing may have been carried out by bandits who apparently climbed across
the walls surrounding the missionary compound where people often seek refuge
to escape attacks by members of a rebel group called the Lord's Resistance
Army. Fulvi first arrived in Uganda in 1956 and stayed until 1964 before
continuing his work in England and Scotland. He returned to Uganda in 1990
and stayed there to carry out pastoral services and teach young people.
Nearly 4,000 priests and lay people serve as missionaries with Comboni, a
group dedicated to spreading the gospel and helping the poor. On March 18
American missionary workers Warren and Donna Pett and a student were also
killed by money-seeking gunmen who raided the Esther Evangelical School of
Technology in Aringa, 310 miles northwest of Kampala. (Assist News Service)
TORTURE OF JAILED CHINESE CHURCH LEADER PROMPTS U.N. INVESTIGATION
Chen Jingmao, a 72-year-old South China Church leader from Chongqing City,
was recently beaten and crippled in his prison as a punishment for "leading
50 prison inmates to the Christian Faith," reported China Aid Association
(CAA), a religious rights watchdog group. On Feb. 6 Jingmao's legs were
broken in a beating at the hands of prison guards. He must now be "carried
by fellow believers to go to the toilet and to eat." The guards told Jingmao
they were beating him because "bringing others to Christianity had brought
shame upon the Communist Party." This is the latest in a series of incidents
of Chinese Christians' suffering abuse in jails and prison camps, prompting
the United Nations to send its special rapporteur on torture, Dutchman Theo
van Boven, to China to investigate the reports. Jingmao was arrested on July
9, 2001, and sentenced to four years in prison by the People's Court of
Yunyang County, Chongqing City, on May 14, 2002, on charges of "using an
evil cult to obstruct the law." This was an apparent reference to his
association with the South China Church. Nine other house church leaders
from the South China Church involved in Sunday school teachers' training
were sentenced along with Jingmao on similar charges and received three- to
eight-year prison terms. CAA President Bob Fu called the news of Jingmao's
torture "heartbreaking. The sentence was unjustified, and the brutal beating
illegal and inhumane, especially to a 72-year-old man." (Voice of the
Martyrs/Assist News Service)
OPERATION MOBILIZATION PURCHASES LARGER SHIP TO EXPAND MINISTRY
Operation Mobilization, an international ministry known for its innovative
ship outreach, purchased the Norrona I on Monday, March 29. This vessel will
be refitted for service and launched in 2005 as the LOGOS HOPE. Bernd
Guelker, director of OM's ship ministry, said the purchase answers the
prayers of hundreds of thousands of Christians in more than 85 nations. "On
Monday, March 29, at 5:15 p.m. after prayer at our office in Germany, a
memorandum of agreement was signed for the purchase of Norrona I for 3.6
million euros (US$4.4 million)," he said. The 12,000-ton ferry, which had
sailed between the Faroe Islands and Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the
Shetland Islands for 20 years, is in Copenhagen for renovations and
refitting. Lloyd Nicholas, director of the LOGOS HOPE project, said the
purchase "culminates two years of planning for the replacement of our
present ship, LOGOS II. With more than 1 million visitors every year to OM's
ships, the vessel has outlived her ability to meet the increasing needs and
opportunities we face every day in ports around the world. LOGOS HOPE, a
much bigger ship, will allow us to do so much more." Since launching the
LOGOS in 1970, more than 33 million people in 140 countries have visited
OM's ships. (Assist News Service)
UNREST IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SETS BACK CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
The Dominican Republic's worst economic crisis in decades has ignited street
clashes between protesters and security forces, affecting operations of the
Logos Christian School in Santo Domingo. The Association of Christian
Schools International reported that the situation is so bleak that the
school has been unable to establish a realistic budget for the coming year.
The country's economy nose-dived after the 9/11 terrorist attacks led to an
economic slump in the U.S., drying up American tourism to the Dominican
Republic. (Mission Network News)
* Christian radio stations in three cities of the Dominican Republic (Santo
Domingo, San Francisco de Macorís and Las Matas de Farfán) receive Spanish
programming from ALAS, HCJB World Radio's Latin American satellite radio
service. More than 100 outlets in 18 countries across Latin America are
affiliated with ALAS.
THOUSANDS ATTEND PRO-FAMILY CONFERENCE IN MEXICO CITY
Thousands of people gathered in Mexico City for a conference March 29-31
with the goal of orchestrating a common strategy to affirm and defend the
natural family. The World Congress of Families was attended by pro-family
leaders, scholars, pastors, politicians and families of all nationalities.
Alan Carlson, president of the Howard Center for Family, Religion and
Society which organized the event, said the conference was designed to
counteract efforts to redefine the family such as the United Nations'
attempts to change its traditional definition. The goal of the congress was
to strengthen the family, promote is biblical definition and encourage
delegates to strengthen traditional families in their home countries.
Carlson says the congress also helped begin the process of building lasting
international relationships while continuing dialogue on family issues. "We
are looking, hopefully, to build an ongoing network -- an informal but vital
network of organizations that will stay in regular communication and work
together to blunt international efforts to undermine the family," he said.
(Religion Today/Agape Press)
CHRISTIAN RADIO BROADCASTS LEAD TO NEW CHURCHES IN MOZAMBIQUE
Missionary radio is having a huge impact on evangelism, church planting and
discipleship. It's especially effective in Mozambique, says Lee DeYoung from
Words of Hope. The radio ministry is broadcasting programming in the Lomwe,
Makhuwa and Makonde languages. "There are a number of new churches that have
started as a result of the broadcasts," DeYoung says. "It seems that people
find it quite a novelty to hear their indigenous language on the radio. It's
very rare. Neighbors come to listen, and such a group becomes the nucleus of
a church." Words of Hope plans to expand its outreach into areas unreached
with the gospel. "In many of the parts of the world where the gospel is
little known and/or firmly opposed by people in authority, radio is often
the only -- or at least one of the few ways -- in which people can hear.
Faith comes by hearing. How will they hear unless someone tells them?"
(Mission Network News)
* Eight hours of daily Christian Portuguese programs airs on an FM station
in Maputo, Mozambique, as the result of a cooperative effort involving HCJB
World Radio, Trans World Radio and Radio Africa Network.
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Zprávy HCJB 1.4.2004
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