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Semínka evangelia zapustila své kořeny a rostou velkou rychlostí blízko Brazzaville v rep. Kongo. Mluvčí Hope Builders International Johan Gous říká,že si pečlivě v loňském roce naplánovali evangelizaci pygmejského kmene Babongo, ale Bůh měl pro vedoucího týmu Dewalda Vandena Berga jiný plán. „Co podle našich představ mělo trvat tři roky, trvalo sedm týdnů! Jeho cesta začala před 11 týdny, ale dveře evangelia se začaly otevírat hned po sedmi týdnech.“ Gous říká, že ještě úžasnější je, jak byly vyplněny plány k vybudování učednické základny i školícího centra. „Přijel náš partner a řekl,‘Tady máte finanční prostředky na vybudování dvou školících center.‘ Místo, aby se Dewald vrátil do Babonga v září, jak se původně plánovalo, vrací se už v pondělí 3. května.“ (Mission Network News)
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CONVICTED MISSIONARY KILLER RUNS FOR ELECTION IN INDIA
Dara Singh, who was sentenced to death last September for the 1999 triple
murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons, is a
candidate for the Hindu Nationalist Party in India's parliamentary elections
that began today. Singh is running for one of 21 seats allocated to Orissa
state on the Lok Sabha (House of the People). Singh is in the Cuttack Circle
Jail in Choudwar, awaiting appeal of his death sentence which will be heard
in the Orissa High Court. Election rules in India allow prisoners to run for
seats, but not to vote.
Tina Lambert, advocacy director of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said, "To
put up for election a man convicted of murdering a Christian missionary and
his young family is at best distasteful and at worst a deliberately
provocative move." Along with Singh's conviction, the judge sentenced 12 of
his associates to life imprisonment for their involvement in the killings.
Meanwhile, voters have been undeterred by flooding, 113-degree heat,
election-related kidnappings and deadly rebel attacks that claimed 15 lives
in the first day of voting. The three-week voting process will elect 543
members of parliament who will serve for five years. The voting will be
staggered in five phases over three weeks ending May 10 to accommodate the
country's 660 million voters. Results of the election will not be known
until May 13.
About 400,000 police and troops have been deployed to protect candidates,
voters and poll workers. Military helicopters patrolled some of the more
threatened districts. Rebels from the disputed northeastern province of
Kashmir have promised to sabotage the vote, a gigantic undertaking in the
world's largest democracy. Rebels recently killed at least 15 people and
wounded 18 in attacks across the country. (Christian Solidarity
Worldwide/Associated Press)
EASTER ATTACK ON SRI LANKAN CHURCH INJURES 10 CHRISTIANS
A Buddhist mob attacked a Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) in the Kalutara
district of Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, April 11, injuring about 10 people,
including women and children. The church had been closed for three months
following an attack in late December 2003 when a mob of about 300 Buddhist
villagers stormed the church. A near-riot ensued, but police finally
convinced the mob to disperse. When church members gathered on the following
Sunday, they were attacked again by a much larger crowd. Representatives
from the Buddhist temple and CFC church were then asked to sign an agreement
for the "temporary" suspension of church services; however, no date was
given when services would resume. Pastor Sunil decided to resume services on
the Easter weekend despite the dangers. "How long can we go on like this,
keeping the church closed?" he asked. (Religion Today/Compass)
POLICE ARREST 2 RELIGIOUS SECT LEADERS, GANG MEMBERS IN KENYA
Two leaders suspected of belonging to a killer cult in Kenya called Mungiki
have been arrested as police declared Thursday, April 8, that they had
dismantled the sect. A member of a gang that terrorized former Agricultural
Finance Corporation Managing Director Gideon Toroitich was also arrested as
the crackdown on crime intensified. Nairobi Police Chief Jonathan Koskei
said that officers also seized a middle-aged woman suspected to be leading a
gang that circumcises women by force. Dressed in a bui bui to pass herself
off as a Muslim, the woman is also suspected of being part of a gang that
has been mugging people around a local bus station, Koskei said. Police
recovered more than 50 identity and voters cards thought to belong to
victims either killed or mugged by the gang. A raid on their hideout netted
swords, clubs, sticks, snuff, drug paraphernalia and literature on the
sect's beliefs. Koskei immediately declared that police were winning the war
against the outlawed sect. (Worldwide Religious News/The East African
Standard)
* HCJB World Radio has worked with radio partners to install radio
ministries in four cities of Kenya: Nairobi, Athi River, Mombasa and
Tinderet. Staff members from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in
Elkhart, Ind., also recently visited Kisumu to survey the situation for a
potential radio partner.
EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS RELEASE 4 STUDENTS DETAINED FOR CARRYING BIBLES
Four Christian university students who were arrested in the Sinai area of
Egypt in January for the possession of Bibles and Christian materials were
released on Saturday, April 3. The young men, Peter Kamel, Ishak Yessa, John
Fokha and Andrew Saeed, were detained while on a trip to the Sinai region.
The young men were arrested after district police in the resort town of
Sharm El-Sheik discovered that they were carrying their Bibles and various
Christian tapes. Police confiscated the materials even though they were
legal. Nothing else was found in their possession that would have justified
their arrest. The four were charged with "disturbing the national unity and
threatening the social peace," a broad, vague charge commonly used in Egypt.
Their detention was extended several times with no trial date set. All
charges against them have been dropped. (Barnabas Fund)
PYGMY TRIBE IN REP. OF CONGO SHOWS SURPRISING OPENNESS TO GOSPEL
The seeds of the gospel have taken root and are growing at a fast pace near
Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. Hope Builders International spokesman Johan
Gous says they had a carefully built plans to evangelize the Babongo Pygmy
tribe last year, but God had other plans for team leader Dewald Vanden Berg.
"What we thought would take three years, took seven weeks! He began his trip
11 weeks ago, but doors began to open for the gospel in just seven weeks."
Gous says what's even more thrilling is how plans to build discipleship and
training centers came together. "This partner of ours moved in and said,
'Here are the funds to go and put up the two training centers.' Instead of
going back to the Babongo in September as planned, Dewald is returning again
on Monday, May 3." (Mission Network News)
* HCJB World Radio worked with the Christian and Missionary Alliance to
install an FM station and antenna at Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo, in
2000.
'RELEASED TIME' PROGRAM CATCHES ON AT PUBLIC SCHOOLS ACROSS U.S.
A Christian outreach program that was started by a Tennessee pastor in 1990
to share the gospel with students in one public school is now being
implemented throughout the U.S. Next month more than 2,000 public school
students in the state are expected to attend an area-wide crusade as part of
the increasingly popular "released time" program. Students will hear
Christian music and a gospel message at the event, held during school hours
but off campus at a local park. Pastor Gary Beeler, founder of Crusade
Ministries, says when he began a "released time" outreach in Tennessee's
Union County 14 years ago, he had no idea that his program would become a
model implemented by hundreds of schools nationwide. He says the program has
"dramatically improved" the lives and behavior of local students. The idea
of releasing public school students for devotional religious study off
campus during school hours was first discussed in 1905. But it wasn't until
the 1990s that the term "released time" became widely used, and the program
took on the shape and characteristics of the national movement that exists
today. Beeler, a full-time pastor, travels nationwide helping to organize
similar programs. (Religion Today/Agape Press) |
Zprávy HCJB 20.4.2004
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