Zprávy HCJB 9.1.2006

 BĚLORUSKÝ ÚŘAD SE ZASTÁVÁ VYSOKÝCH POKUT, KTERÉ UDĚLIL DOMÁCÍMU SBORU.
   Úředník městského magistrátu v Bobrujsku u Mogileva ve východním Bělorusku brání pokuty, které magistrát dal baptistické rodině a jejím hostům v domácím sboru. „Soukromý dům není určen pro bohoslužby,“ řekl úředník Alexandr Markačev. „Jejich shromáždění je nezákonné, protože se odmítají registrovat a podřídit se zákonu.“ Sbor zásadně odmítá být státem registrovaným sborem. Markačev odmítl domněnku, že by bylo porušeno právo členů sboru svobodně vyznávat víru, protože v místě je prý mnoho registrovaných sborů, kde se věřící svobodně shromažďují. Pastor Jermalitskij nebyl ochoten o tom diskutovat. „Naši stížnost předneseme soudu a prokuratuře,“ řekl pastor. (Forum 18 News Service)
 
 VŠECHNY ZPRÁVY V ANGLIČTINĚ
   STATE GOVERNMENT IN EASTERN INDIA CONSIDERS ANTI-CONVERSION LAW

The government of eastern India’s Jharkhand state is considering an anti-conversion bill aimed at protecting the tribal culture, but Todd Nettleton from Voice of the Martyrs calls it an “area of concern. The idea of the bill is that nobody can be converted through enticement or through bribery or through paying them off which is a good thing. The sad thing is what this bill will be used for is to harass Christian ministries who are reaching people simply with the message of the gospel.” Comparable bills have been passed in five other states. “If it’s similar to the bills that we have seen in some of the individual states in India, as well as in nearby Sri Lanka, it will likely have a fine associated maybe with a first offense and could eventually, with repeated offenses, lead to jail time,” he said. Christians make up 4 percent of Jharkhand’s 27 million people. (Mission Network News)

BELARUSIAN OFFICIAL DEFENDS SERIES OF FINES ON HOUSE CHURCH

An official of the town administration of Bobruisk in the Mogilev region in eastern Belarus has defended a series of fines imposed on a Baptist family which hosts a church in its home. “A private home is not designated for religious worship,” said official Aleksandr Markachev. “Their services are illegal as they refuse to register their church and abide by the law.” The congregation refuses on principle to register with state authorities. Markachev rejected suggestions that church members’ rights to profess their faith freely are being violated, insisting that a number of registered churches exist locally where believers are free to attend. Pastor Yermalitsky was reluctant to discuss the matter. “We’re going to take our complaints to the procuracy here and the courts,” he said. (Forum 18 News Service)

REPORT RECONFIRMS SHIFT OF CHRISTIANITY BEYOND WESTERN WORLD

A report released this month by the Lausanne Researchers’ Network highlights the profound southern geographical shift of global Christianity in the past century. “USA Evangelicals/Evangelicals in a Global Context” provides new data on the southern shift in the evangelical movement from its roots in the U.K. and the U.S. The study shows that 80 percent of all Christians in 1900 came from Europe and North America; by 2005 it was less than 45 percent. This statistic correlates with the finding that of the estimated number of evangelicals worldwide -- growing to 688 million from 250 million in the last 105 years -- most are increasingly found outside of the Western world. Africans, Asians and Latin Americans are more typical representatives of evangelicalism than Americans or Europeans. People of African descent represent 31 percent of evangelicals while Asians and Latin Americans make up 15 and 13 percent respectively. The study shows that evangelicals continue to grow globally, but in the U.S. they have been declining as a raw percentage of the population. (Religion Today/Christian Post)

MINISTRY SEEKS TO BRING MEDICAL CARE TO RUGGED TANZANIAN VALLEY

Grace Ministries International (GMI) is working to bring medical care and the gospel to Tanzania’s rugged and remote Rukwa Valley. “[It’s] a very inaccessible area, especially in the rainy season,” said spokesman Sam Vinton. There’s very little medical work in the area.” GMI missionaries are developing a program with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to fly in a doctor several times a month. The ministry launched a monthly fly-in medical clinic this month into the Rukwa Valley which came about through a partnership involving MAF, the Uhai clinic of Mbeya and Grace Church of Tanzania. “This way you build confidence with the people,” Vinton explained. “They trust you. They know you’re there to help them physically, and of course, they know we’re there as missionaries . .. . so this has opened up opportunities for the gospel.” GMI has planted 72 churches and started a Bible institute and a hospital in the country. The outreach has also added agricultural programs and other medical clinics as an effort to meet some of the physical needs of the people. (Mission Network News)

* Staff members from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., have worked with local churches, the Lutheran Radio Center and Trans World Radio to put FM radio stations on the air in three Tanzanian cities. HCJB World Radio is also working with Radio Africa Network, a ministry of partner CCFm in South Africa, to build a radio network based in the capital city of Dar es Salaam. The first of these stations went on the air in 2002.

UPDATE: OPERATION NATIVITY CAMPAIGN DRAWS POSITIVE RESPONSE

A retired pastor says his campaign to promote nativity scenes during the 2005 Christmas season went far better than he ever expected. Retired pastor Dr. Charles Nestor wanted to do something different this holiday season to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. That desire led to Operation Nativity, the minister’s effort to encourage people to display depictions of the holy birth -- and he found himself amazed by the campaign’s success. “The support and the response was just really heartwarming, not only from the grassroots but in the media,” Nestor said. “As far away as Europe and Australia, if you can believe it, people responded.” One church alone was responsible for 500 nativity scene displays. (AgapePress)

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