Zprávy HCJB 15.3.2007

	Nová dolarová mince kritizována pro bezbožnost.
	Nový americký ‚prezidentský’ dolar , jehož ražba začne 15. února, vyvolal mnoho různých reakcí, mezi nimi i kritiku pro bezbožnost. Obvyklý nápis In God We Trust (Spoléháme na Boha) bude totiž umístěn ne na líci, ani na rubu, ale jen na obvodu mince. Podle zákona o jednodolarových prezidentských mincích přijatého v roce 2005 má toto postupně ražené nové platidlo připomínat všechny bývalé americké prezidenty a má přispět k většímu užívání kovového oběživa. Zákon umožňuje „přesunout motta, symboly, rok vydání či značku mincovny, které běžně bývají na rubu či na líci, na obvod mince, aby zbylo víc místa na umělecké ztvárnění motivu,“ řekl odborník na mince Troy Thoreson. „Myslím, že vláda mazaně zvolila postup umožňující krok po kroku odstranit heslo In God We Trust z líce i z rubu mince.“ Je to poprvé od roku 1866, kdy se toto heslo neobjeví ani na jedné straně americké mince. Richard Thompson, prezident Thomas More Law Center, vyzývá Američany k bojkotu mincí. „Budí údiv, jestliže Kongres nakonec udělá to, o co se ateistické spolky neúspěšně pokoušely po celá léta – vymazat všechny zmínky o Bohu z našich peněz,“ řekl Thompson. Zdroj: Religion Today
	Všechny zprávy v angličtině.
	TWR’S PORTUGUESE BROADCASTS LAY FOUNDATION FOR NEW CHURCH Source: Trans World Radio Trans World Radio (TWR) in Europe has been airing a Portuguese translation of the popular “Thru the Bible” series in the country for more than two years via local FM stations. TWR-Portugal staff noticed that the series sparked a significant number of contacts from listeners living in an area of southern Portugal known as the Algarve. Normally, the staff would refer listeners to a local evangelical church, but this area didn’t have one. Instead, TWR-Portugal Director Ruben Pirola, along with Pastor Paulo Chaveiro, the voice of the series, and another pastor from Lisbon, began weekly trips to Boavista dos Pinheiros to organize a Bible study center for these spiritually hungry listeners. Then last fall the staff dedicated the New Life Community Center in Boavista, a known hotbed of spiritism. In addition to the 20 to 25 local believers, more than 100 Christians from two churches in Lisbon made the two-hour drive to assist in the dedication service. “We praise the Lord for the way He has used the Portuguese ‘Thru the Bible’ programs to help lay the foundation for a new church in a region where there has been no local evangelical witness until now,” added Streeter. POLICE BREAK UP PRAYER, PROTEST RALLY IN ZIMBABWE Source: Assist News Service One person was killed, a number injured and over 35 arrested in Harare on Sunday, March 11, after hundreds of armed riot police used shotguns and teargas to shut down a prayer meeting about the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe. About 200 were also “roughed up” by the police as they tried to enter the area. Church and civil society groups were among the organizers of the event, and the emphasis on prayer was partly a way of trying to avoid the ban on public demonstrations against the rule of President Robert Mugabe. Organizers of the meeting decided to go ahead with the rally despite police warnings on Saturday that it would not be permitted as different groups united under the banner of the “Save Zimbabwe” campaign. While organizers stressed the gathering was a patriotic event concerned with the future of the nation, the authorities took a predictably different view. There is growing unrest across Zimbabwe, especially in urban areas. The nation’s annual rate of inflation now exceeds 1,700 percent. Many basic foods and commodities are either not available or are too expensive for average citizens. * HCJB Global Voice signed a partnership agreement with the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe in 2001. TANZANIAN PASTOR RETURNS TO HELP LIGHTNING STRIKE VICTIMS Source: Assist News Service Tanzanian-born Rev. Jonas Mdumulla, who heads up a parish in Yorkshire, England, recently flew back to the East African country of Tanzania in the wake of a family tragedy in which his teenage niece, Monica, was struck and killed by lightning. Nearly 20 young members of a church choir were practicing for a special service when the lightning struck them twice while still inside the building. The freak storm hit the choir in the Anglican church at Nala, Mdumulla’s home village near Dodoma, the Tanzanian capital. Monica’s two brothers were also badly injured and hospitalized after losing consciousness. “They were actually in the church,” Mdumulla said. “Some were hiding under the altar; others were sheltering under the pulpit. Now the boys are frightened of returning to the church. They keep having flashbacks.” Mdumulla hopes to help the victims’ families cope with their grief, but the unexpected visit also will allow him to finalize details for the delivery of an ambulance bought with proceeds of a campaign sponsored by his local newspaper. The ambulance, which will ferry patients from the remote medical clinic at Nala and other outlying areas, will soon be shipped to Africa. * Staff members from the HCJB Global Technology 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 Global Voice 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. UZBEK PASTOR’S CONVICTION MAY SIGNAL ‘GRAVE CONSEQUENCES’ Source: Compass Direct News Following the Friday, March 9, sentencing of Dmitry Shestakov by an Uzbek criminal court, the evangelical pastor is expected to remain in the Andijan Prison until authorities select the prison settlement where he will serve his four-year sentence. He was jailed about six weeks ago. The harsh sentence has left Christians there wondering about the future implications of the case. Uzbekistan maintains an undisclosed number of penal colonies patterned on the former Soviet Union’s gulag system which subjected prisoners to hard labor in remote areas. Once a prison camp is selected, Shestakov’s wife, Marina, and three young daughters may be allowed to live within the parameters of the fenced territory where they can raise cattle and vegetables to supplement the minimal food allowance provided by the camp. Meanwhile, prison authorities have refused to give Shestakov the high blood pressure medications that have been brought to the prison by his family. The repercussions of Shestakov’s case may already be hitting the Christian community. One of the nation’s leading evangelical pastors said that Shestakov’s unexpected conviction could have “grave consequences” for Protestants in Uzbekistan. “Perhaps it already has,” the pastor added, adding that last weekend many more incidents had been initiated against Christians in locations nationwide. “Some serious things are taking place in different regions,” he said. NEW U.S. PRESIDENTIAL $1 COINS CRITICIZED AS ‘GODLESS’ Source: Religion Today The new U.S. $1 presidential coin which began production on Feb. 15 has elicited a variety of reactions with some criticizing them as “godless” because “In God We Trust” would be stamped on the edge of the coin rather than on either face. Mandated in the Presidential $1 Act of 2005, the new coins commemorate each of the previous presidents and are intended to improve circulation of the $1 coin. The legislation allows new designs to “move many of the mottos and emblems, the inscription of the year and the so-called ‘mint marks’ that currently appear on the faces of each circulating coin to the edge of the coin to allow larger and more dramatic artwork,” said coin expert Troy Thoreson. “I thought it was a slick move by the government to take it step-by-step but eventually not have ‘In God We Trust’ on the front or back of any coin.” This will be the first time since 1866 that the motto would not appear on the front or back of a U.S. $1 coin. Richard Thompson, president of the Thomas More Law Center, is urging Americans to boycott the new coins. “It’s astounding that Congress has effectively done what atheist litigants have been unsuccessfully trying to do for years -- erase all reference to God from our money,” he said. © Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA

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