Zprávy HCJB 23.9.2007 - 29.9.2007

 K rozđíření sluţby v odlehlých oblastech Haiti uvedla MAF do provozu letadlo.
   Přes 100 podporovatelů, přátel i členů týmu Mission Aviation Fellowship (MFA) se shromáţdilo, aby oslavili nejnovějđí přírůstek své misijní mezinárodní letky – stroj Cessna T207A, určený k rozđíření misie a humanitární sluţby na Haiti. Oslava tohoto letadla z roku 1997 se konala na hlavní základně MAF v Nampa ve státě Idaho a k modlitbám a krátkým proslovům vedoucích misie se zde seđli členové výboru, personál i podporovatelé misie. „Děkujeme Bohu za četné dary, které MAF umoţnily koupit toto letadlo k rozđíření misie na Haiti,“ řekl prezident MAF Kevin Swanson. „Díky těmto darům bude MAF schopna efektivněji přemisťovat misijní pracovníky, potraviny i lékařskou pomoc a také zajiđťovat naléhavé lékařské transporty. Letadlo můţe nalétat přes 500 hodin ročně v obtíţně dostupných oblastech Haiti, převáţet pracovní skupiny, místní pastory, lékařskou a zubní pomoc, stavební materiál i náboţenskou literaturu – Bible a traktáty,“ řekl Greg Ryle, programový ředitel MAF na Haiti. Registrační znak nového letadle bude LLS podle „Louez le Signeur,“ coţ znamená „Chvalte Pána.“ Zdroj: Assist News Service, Christian Newswire

*Členové týmu HCJB Global Technology v Elkartu v Indianě spolu s OMS International pracují na zprovoznění satelitní rozhlasové sítě odvozené od stanice 4VEH u města Cap-Haitien, která bude zásobovat svým programem FM vysílače po celé zemi. Tyto podruţné vysílače jiţ byly instalovány na ostrovech Tortue, Pignon a Beamont a dalđí dva se plánují. HCJB Global Voice také pomáhá partnerům World Gospel Mission s jeho menđí stanicí v Port-au-Prince. Technici HCJB také v březnu 2007 pomáhali obnovit vybavení vysílače Radio Lumière’s LaJeune outlet.
 
 Podle zpráv je v severokorejských koncentračních táborech 1 milion lidí
   Panují obavy, že nejméně 1 milion Severokorejců, mezi nimi mnoho křesťanů, je drženo v severokorejských koncentračních táborech. Vyšetřovatelé tuto zprávu zveřejnili v pondělí 24. září. Podle Open Doors International soubor koncentračních táborů zahrnuje osm trestných táborů a třicet táborů nucených prací.

„Je možné, že počet vězněných je vyšší, než 1 milion,“ řekl ředitel Open Doors pro Severní Koreu, který se z bezpečnostních důvodů ohlašuje pod jménem Bratr Simon. „Mnohé tábory jsou tak rozsáhlé, že nemohou být zjištěny na snímcích ze satelitů. Zahrnují celé vesnice.“

Odmítl říci, jak je vyšetřování Open Doors v tomto zcela izolovaném státě vedeno a znovu se odvolal na bezpečnostní důvody. Odhalení Open Doors přišlo po předchozích zprávách o údajném vyhlazování v táborech včetně těch, které leží v severovýchodním cípu Severní Koreje u hranic r Čínou a s Ruskem.

V táboře 22 v Hayengyongu, který je podle uprchlíků největším koncentračním táborem, umírají každoročně tisíce lidí a novorozené děti vězňů dozorci zabíjejí tím způsobem, že jim dupou na záda. Objevily se i zprávy o plynových komorách a o otráveném jídle.

Bratr Simon, který je ve spojení s desítkami tisíc křesťanů v Severní Koreji je udiven, že přes zjevné nebezpečí je křesťanů určitě 200 000 „i když jejich počet se může blížit půl milionu nebo milionu,“ řekl. Panuje domněnka, že každý čtvrtý křesťan v Severní Koreji je v koncentračním táboře „kde většinou nepřežije,“ řekl Simon. „Korea nikdy nepotřebovala modlitby naléhavěji, než nyní.“ Zdroj: BosNewsLife, Open Doors
 
 Informace o pronásledované církvi
   Informace o pronásledované církvi jsou m.j. na www.opendoorsusa.org, www.persecution.org, www.persecution.com/news/index.cfm, www.compassdirect.org, www.forum18.org and www.barnabasfund.org. Tyto zdroje nemusí vždy vyjadřovat pohled HCJB Global.
 
 Poznámky z Bible astronauta z Apollo 11 vynesly při dražbě skoro 180 000 dolarů.
    Ručně psaný lístek s veršem Bible, který měl s sebou astronaut Buzz Aldrin z Apolla 11 při měsíčním Přijímání, byl ve čtvrtek 20. září prodán během dražby předmětů spojných s kosmonautikou za 179 250 dolarů. Aldrin, druhý člověk, který kráčel po Měsíci během mise v roce 1969, četl Jan 15:5 a užil malého množství vína a chleba, který mu dal jeho presbyteriánský kněz. Heritage Auction Galleries nazvaly tento okamžik „první Pámatkou Páně slavenou na jiném nebeském tělese.“ Druhý astronaut Neil Armstrong přihlížel, ale památku nevzal. Aldrin chtěl, aby jím čtený verš zazněl v přímém přenosu na Zemi, ale ateistka Madalyn Murray O’Hair vyzvala NASA, aby na tuto chvíli přenos přerušila. Pod úvodním veršem je na lístku úsek z Žalmů, které Aldrin později citoval během televizního vysílání večer před přistáním při návratu. Požádal o chvíli ztišení, aby posluchači „rozjímali nad událostmi posledních hodin a aby on sám pronesl díkůvzdání.“ Zdroj: Breaking Christian News, OneNewsNow.com, Associated Press
 
 Podle průzkumu jsou dnešní mladí Američané rezistentnější ke křesťanství.
   Podle nedávno provedené studie jsou dnešní mladí Američané skeptičtější a rezistentnější ke křesťanství, než lidé stejného věku před deseti lety. Negativní vnímání křesťanství převážilo nad pozitivním a rostoucí počet mladých Američanů se uchyluje k víře mimo křesťanství. Jen 16 procent nekřesťanů ve věku 16-29 let má „dobrý dojem“ z křesťanství – shrnuje zpráva zveřejněná v pondělí 24. září Barnovou skupinou. Před deseti lety však velká většina Američanů stojících mimo církev pociťovala kladnou úlohu křesťanů ve společnosti. Ještě slabší je pohled na evangelikály. Jen 3 procenta lidí mezi 16 a 29 lety, kteří nejsou křesťany, uvádějí , že mají kladný pohled na evangelikály. V předchozí generaci hledělo na evangelikály se sympatiemi 25 procent mladých lidí. „Na evangelikály se vždy v rámci širší kultury hledělo se skepsí,“ uvádí zpráva. „Nicméně tento postoj se mezi mladými nekřesťany prohlubuje a krystalizuje.“ Negativní pocity mezi těmito nekřesťany jsou obvykle vyjadřovány pojmy, že křesťanství je plné předsudků (87 procent), svatouškovské (85 procent), staromódní (78 procent), příliš angažované v politice (75 procent). Zdroj: Christian Post, Barna Group, Religion Today
 
 Rozmach metodistů v Albánii svědčí o jejich růstu za hranicemi USA.
   Spojená metodistická církev se stává mezinárodním společenstvím – Patrick Streiff, biskup pro střední a jižní Evropu nedávno podepsal dokumentaci o úředním uznání Spojené metodistické církve v Albánii. Toto státní uznání v Albánii je významným krokem pro Albánské spojené metodisty, kteří svou činnost datují od roku 1990, díky práci Německých spojených metodistů. Spojení metodisté jsou v Albánii, v zemi, kde bylo náboženství do roku 1990 zakázáno, zatím nepočetní. Ale přesto jde o příklad přibývání těchto metodistů v bývalých komunistických zemích jako je Rusko, Estonsko, Polsko, Bulharsko, Česká republika, Slovensko, státy na území bývalé Jugoslávie, Ukrajina a Moldavsko. Spojených metodistů v USA v posledních letech ubylo z 11 milionů na 7.9 milionu. Ale mimo USA mají metodisté nyní 3.5 milionu členů – nejvíce v Africe. Rostoucí zahraniční členstvo posunuje kdysi převážně liberální církev směrem k teologickému konzervativizmu. „S více než 30 procenty členů mimo území USA jsou nyní Spojení metodisté zjevně mezinárodním společenstvím,“ řekl Mark Tooley, ředitel Spojené metodistické akce. Zdroj: Christian Newswire
 
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   MAF DEDICATES PLANE TO EXPAND SERVICE IN REMOTE PARTS OF HAITI

Sources: Assist News Service, Christian Newswire
More than 100 supporters, friends and staff of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) gathered for the dedication of the ministry’s latest addition to its international fleet -- a Cessna T207A bound for expanded mission and humanitarian service in Haiti. The dedication ceremony for the 1997 Cessna T207A took place at the MAF headquarters in Nampa, Idaho, as board members, staff and ministry supporters assembled for prayer and remarks from ministry leaders. “We are grateful to God for the many donors who have allowed MAF to acquire this plane to expand our ministry in Haiti,” said MAF President Kevin Swanson. “Because of their gifts, MAF will be able to more efficiently and effectively transport ministry teams, deliver food and medical supplies, and conduct emergency medical evacuation. This plane will fly more than 500 hours a year in difficult-to-reach areas of Haiti, transporting work teams, national pastors, medical and dental supplies, building materials and evangelistic materials, such as Bibles and tracts,” said Greg Ryle, MAF’s program manager in Haiti. The new 207’s registration letters will be “LLS,” referring to “Louez le Seigneur,” which in English means “Praise the Lord.”

* Staff members from the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind., are working with OMS International to establish a satellite radio network based at 4VEH outside the city of Cap-Haitien that will deliver programs to FM stations nationwide. Downlinks have been installed in Tortue Island, Pignon and Beaumont, and at least two more are planned. HCJB Global Voice also helped partner World Gospel Mission with a small station in Port-au-Prince. Engineers also helped upgrade Radio Lumière’s LaJeune outlet in March 2007.

DEATH TOLL TOPS 1,000, CROPS DAMAGED IN BANGLADESH FLOODING

Source: Mission Network News
The death toll from monsoon flooding this year in Bangladesh tops 1,000 even while the floods that swept across the low-lying country for nearly a month are receding and thousands of people are still living in makeshift homes. Two-and-a-half million others have also been displaced or marooned by rising river waters. The additional loss of over two million acres of crop land means that those affected by the monsoon rains will reach upwards of 20 million people. IN Network President Rody Rodeheaver says a crisis this big can’t go unnoticed. “We are taking our medical team from our clinic, and they are working with the people in the villages around our clinic,” he explained. “Our staff have been providing food supplies.” Flood survivors are seeking fresh water at the IN network offices, and staff is trying to supply water for them. Most of the people seeking water are daily laborers who have lost their homes and have moved to the open road looking for food and shelter. Relief efforts have been hampered by inadequate supplies and washed-out roads. In 42 of the 64 districts of the country, river embankments were damaged, which bodes ill for a fall crop.

WORLD RACE DRAWS YOUTH TO MISSION-MINDED ‘PILGRIMAGE’

Source: Christian Newswire
In January 50 North American Christians left on a pioneering missions experience called the World Race. Referred to as a “pilgrimage,” the race was birthed in 2005 to encourage young people to move away from the comfort of their lives in the U.S. and take a year-long discipleship program. “This is not just another missions trip, it’s a commitment to a transformational discovery process,” said Seth Barnes, founder and executive director of Adventures in Missions which organizes the race. “The race taps an ancient human compulsion to take a spiritual pilgrimage.” Participants travel to 11 different locations, spending a month working with local churches in the area to serve the needs of the community. At each location they’re also involved in friendly competition. In Peru, for example, participants go on a scavenger hunt around Lima. However, the vast majority of time spent in each location is focused on ministry and service. With nothing but a backpack, these young travelers live simply and depend on the help of strangers, just as Jesus instructed in Matthew 10. This is only the second year of the race and already hundreds are flocking to be a part of this experience.

STUDY: LONG-LASTING MARRIAGES BECOMING LESS COMMON

Source: Christian Post
More than half of U.S. couples who married in the late 1970s never made it to their 25th wedding anniversary, revealed the latest survey by the Census Bureau. It’s the first time at least since World War II that married people had a less than even chance of still being married 25 years later, according to The New York Times. While 74.4 percent of men who married since 1970 stayed married for 10 years, only 46.2 percent were still married after 30 years. Among women, 71.6 percent remained married after 10 years and only 42.1 percent were still together after 30 years. In contrast, the majority of men (70 percent) who married between 1955 and 1959 remained married 25 years later. And 61 percent of them were still married by their 40th anniversary. Recent marriages for women were also more likely to end in divorce than marriages during the peak of the baby boom. About 79 percent of first marriages for women in the late 1950s marked their 15th anniversary compared to only 57 percent for women who married for the first time from 1985 to 1989. The Census Bureau surveyed about 44,000 households during several years in its latest report, “Marriage and Divorce: 2004.”

FIRST U.S. TELEVISION EVANGELIST REX HUMBARD DIES AT 88

Source: Asist News Service
Broadcasting pioneer Rex Humbard, who was heralded by U.S. News & World Report as one of the “Top 25 Principal Architects of the American Century,” died Friday, Sept. 21, of natural causes. He was 88.

Humbard is noted as America’s first television evangelist. In 1949 Humbard hit the airwaves broadcasting from the CBS affiliate in Indianapolis, and the world took notice. “Today Rex Humbard has come closer than any other human being in history . . . to preaching the gospel in all of the world . . . more than any other evangelist, he has taken up the challenge,” touted Time magazine in 1999.

By 1952 Humbard was broadcasting weekly to millions of faithful viewers from his 5,400-seat church, the Cathedral of Tomorrow, in Akron, Ohio. This program was carried for some three decades by 360 stations across North America and more than 2,000 stations worldwide in 91 languages.

One of Humbard’s loyal viewers was Elvis Presley who regularly gathered his backup singers, the Imperials, in his hotel room on Sunday mornings to watch “his preacher.” Upon Elvis’s death, his father, Vernon Presley, requested Humbard to officiate at the memorial service.

Early on, Humbard used radio and television to get the message of God’s love to as many as possible. At age 13 he began broadcasting on KTHS radio in Hot Springs, Ark., singing gospel songs and inviting listeners to his father’s local church.

In the early 1940s Humbard began a daily radio program carried nationwide on Mutual Network and the NBC Blue Network. Regular musical guests on his program included Mahalia Jackson, Bill Gaither, Andrae Crouch, Pat and Debby Boone, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Johnny and June Cash, the Blackwood Brothers, the Statesmen Quartet and the Cathedrals.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Maude Aimee; sons Rex Jr., Don and Charles; a daughter, Liz Darling; 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held in Akron, Ohio.

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 
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   FLOODING AFFECTS 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE IN 17 AFRICAN COUNTRIES

Sources: BBC News, Evangelical News, Faith News Network
The U.N. reported that 250 people have died and more than 600,000 people have been made homeless across 17 countries across Africa where flooding has hit a swath of countries from the east to the west of the continent. An estimated 1.5 million people are affected across central Africa.

Church of God Bishop Joseph Kagarama of Uganda reports that at least 10 of the denominations rural churches have been destroyed by the heavy rains and flooding with an estimated $3,000 each required to replace them. Kagarama is seeking assistance in purchasing one-person aid kits containing malaria medicine, food and a blanket to help with the crisis.

Bishop Robert Nkansah, overseer of the Church of God in Ghana, said his country is also experiencing widespread flooding. Government reports indicate there are 19,000 people homeless and 31 dead. Officials have appealed to churches to help in relief efforts. So far no Church of God members have been killed in the flooding, but two churches were destroyed in the heavy rains and consequential flooding. Nkansah also expressed a desire to be able to help his church’s people with medicine, food and blankets.

“We anticipate that the situation will worsen,” said Elizabeth Byrs from the U.N. Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “[The flood zone is already stretching] from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea.”

* HCJB Global represents the “Voice and Hands of Jesus” in a growing number of nations in Sub-Saharan Africa from its regional headquarters in Accra, Ghana, some in the affected areas.

3 WORLD VISION WORKERS SHOT WHILE DELIVERING AID IN DARFUR

Source: Assist News Service
A convoy of two World Vision International (WVI) vehicles with eight people on board was ambushed on Thursday, Sept. 20, in western Sudan’s Darfur region on the road between Nyala and Kass. The vehicles were clearly marked as humanitarian transport. The U.N. Office of Humanitarian Affairs reported that two WVI staff members were shot in the head and a third in the arm. The remaining staff suffered minor injuries caused by glass fragments and shrapnel. All survived their injuries. On the request of WVI, the U.N. arranged for medical evacuation. Upon arrival in Nyala, two of the victims were flown to Khartoum for medical attention while another was treated in Nyala due to the severity of his injuries. The other five World Vision staff members were treated and released. “This is a horrifying and brutal attack on aid staff who are working to save the lives of Sudanese people,” said John Holmes, U.N. undersecretary general for Humanitarian Affairs and emergency relief coordinator. This year alone 98 vehicles have been hijacked, 105 staff members have been taken hostage and later released, more than 66 humanitarian personnel have been physically or sexually assaulted, and 61 convoys have been ambushed and looted.

U.S. HISPANIC CHURCHES RECRUIT CLERGY IN LATIN AMERICA

Sources: Religion Today, Associated Press
Churches across the U.S. are “actively pursuing clergy from Honduras to Argentina” to meet the demands of an ever-growing number of Hispanic immigrant parishioners. Some Roman Catholic dioceses send recruiters to Latin America to bring priests or seminarians to the U.S. The Episcopal Church, through its Central and South American province, has a direct connection to Latin Americans who want to serve in the U.S., and Southern Baptist churches rely on word of mouth to find Latin American ministers. The reasons go beyond merely finding someone to conduct Spanish-language services. Churches also want to connect with congregants on a cultural level, and Latin American clergy can tailor services to immigrants from specific countries.

REPORT: 1 MILLION HELD IN NORTH KOREAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS

Sources: BosNewsLife, Open Doors
At least 1 million North Koreans, many of them Christians, are believed to be held in North Korea’s concentration camps, investigators revealed Monday, Sept. 24. Open Doors International reported that the concentration camps include eight punishment camps for political prisoners and 30 forced-labor camps.

“It’s possible that the number of prisoners are well over 1 million,” said the Open Doors’ North Korea director who identified himself only as Brother Simon amid security concerns. “Many camps are so huge that they can’t be spotted on satellite images. The camps are complete villages.”

He refused to say how the Open Doors investigation had been conducted in the isolated nation, citing concerns about the safety of those involved. The Open Doors revelations come after previous reports of alleged atrocities in the camps, including those in a remote northeastern corner of North Korea near the borders with Russia and China.

In Camp 22 in Haengyong, North Korea, which defectors call the nation’s largest concentration camp, thousands die each year and prison guards stamp on the necks of babies born to prisoners to kill them. Reports of gas chambers and poisoned food have also emerged.

Brother Simon, who has contacts with tens of thousands of Christians in North Korea, is convinced that despite the apparent dangers, at least 200,000 North Koreans are Christians “although that number may be even as high as half a million.” One in four Christians in North Korea are believed to be in camps “where people usually do not survive,” he said. “If there was one moment when North Korea needs prayer, it’s now.”

TWR’S AM STATION IN BENIN PREPARES FOR DECEMBER BROADCASTS

Sources: Trans World Radio, Mission Network News
Trans World Radio’s (TWR) engineering team is making progress in readying the new transmitting facility in Benin, West Africa. The transmitter and an air conditioning unit are onsite. Two additional containers with power generators and essential antenna parts are in transit and due to arrive in Africa in the coming weeks. According to TWR, the team signed the license agreement last year, and TWR-Africa has persevered through several subsequent challenges regarding the transmitter project, including delays in ordering and receiving equipment and seeking out program producers. Construction of the high-power AM station in Benin is making steady progress. Missionaries, including the Cox and Kennedy families, have been working hard to get the station operational. Paul Cox, a broadcast engineer, is overseeing the installation of the transmitter and other technical aspects. Programming is set to begin airing in December.

* HCJB Global Voice worked with the Council of Protestant and Evangelical Churches of Benin to help put a Christian FM station on the air in Cotonou in 1998. The station broadcasts the gospel in French, English and seven tribal languages. Partner ministry SIM also records programs in eight languages at the studios in Parakou. A nationwide FM network is being planned.

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 
 Všechny zprávy v angličtině.
   APOLLO 11 ASTRONAUT’S BIBLE NOTES AUCTIONED FOR NEARLY $180,000

Sources: Breaking Christian News, OneNewsNow.com, Associated Press
A handwritten card containing a Bible verse that Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin used during a lunar communion service was sold Thursday, Sept. 20, at a space-related auction for $179,250. Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, read John 15:5 during the 1969 mission while using a small amount of wine and a wafer furnished by his Presbyterian church. Heritage Auction Galleries calls the moment the “first religious sacrament performed on another heavenly body.” Fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong watched but did not participate. Aldrin had wanted to broadcast the Bible verse back to earth, but a lawsuit by atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair prompted NASA to impose radio silence during the religious observance. Below the initial verse on the card is a passage from Psalms that Aldrin quoted later during a television broadcast by the astronauts the evening before they splashed down. He asked for a moment of silence and for listeners to “contemplate for a moment the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his own individual way.”

ALMOST ALL CHRISTIANS FLEE IRAQ AS PART OF 2.2 MILLION REFUGEES

Sources: Religion Today, Baptist Press
Millions of Iraqis have fled their homes in order to seek asylum in neighboring countries, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was told at a hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 19. Religious minorities, specifically the Chaldo-Assyrian Christians, Sabean Mandaeans and Yazidis, have almost completely evacuated the country, local contacts said. The testimonies of key leaders working for resolution of the refugee crisis were heard in the second of two hearings held by the commission about religious freedom in Iraq. The focus of this hearing was the large numbers of refugees who have flooded surrounding countries during the war in Iraq and how the U.S. should assist these people groups. “They simply don’t see a way to ever go home,” Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, told the commission in describing the mindset of religious minorities who have sought refugee status. Intolerance and violent attacks toward these minorities have forced them to evacuate. Two million Iraqis have been displaced within Iraq’s borders while 2.2 million have left the country, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

BRITISH POLITICIANS VISIT REFUGEES ON INDIA-MYANMAR BORDER

Sources: Assist News Service, BBC News
A delegation of British members of parliament and human rights advocacy groups has seen firsthand the effects of state-sponsored torture and brutality on the border between India and Myanmar (Burma). John Bercow, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma, and Baroness Caroline Cox, a member of the House of Lords and chief executive officer of Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART), recently visited Chin refugees on the India-Burma border with a delegation from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and HART. The visit coincided with the escalating protests across the country involving as many as 10,000 protesters. The delegation heard firsthand accounts of horrific forms of torture, conditions in prison camps, forced labor, rape, religious persecution, forced marriage and cultural genocide. According to one witness, prisoners in Chin state face more severe torture and living conditions than in other prisons because it is a more isolated part of the country. He described how prisoners are shackled and chained, yoked like oxen and forced to plough fields and if they attempt to escape they are placed on a fire to burn, stabbed with knives, and then forced into a tub of salt water.

WYCLIFFE STAFFERS BIKE ACROSS U.S. TO PROMOTE TRANSLATION

Sources: OneNewsNow.com, Mission Network News
Two staff members with Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) set out today (Wednesday, Sept. 26), beginning a cross-country bicycle tour as part of an effort to raise awareness for the need for continued Bible translation. Vision 2025 is an initiative by WBT to have Bible translation programs in place in every language by the year 2025. To promote the effort, two staff members left Los Angeles, riding along with five other bicyclists, to Lynchburg, Va. Doug Haag said the ministry will partner with an organization called Faith Comes by Hearing which records and dramatizes audio versions of the New Testaments that are translated by WBT staff members. “Their passion is to see it in audio form in a way that’s professional quality that would have immediate impact on these oral cultures,” said Haag. “So you not only have it written down and available [and] accessible that way, but for these people groups to have it in this audio form as well.” Haag added that more than 50 percent of the world’s population would choose to hear the Bible instead of reading it because people in so many societies learn best by sharing stories.

* HCJB GLOBAL’S FORMER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT BEN CUMMINGS DIES

Source: HCJB Global
Benny Ray Cummings, who served with HCJB Global for nearly 54 years -- 18 of those as senior vice president -- died at Intergris Baptist Heart Hospital in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Saturday, Sept. 22, at the age of 77. He succumbed to complications related to five-way heart bypass surgery 16 days earlier.

Born in Winters, Texas, on Dec. 11, 1929, Ben grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. He received a bachelor’s degree in radio production from Bob Jones University in 1951 and later completed his master’s degree in communications through Wheaton College in 1977. He also took courses from Northwestern University’s NBC Summer Institute and received an honorary doctorate of letters from Toccoa Falls College in Georgia in 1983.

Ben said he first heard about the mission through co-founder Reuben Larson. “I was called to preach the gospel and was taking training in Bible when I sensed God leading into a ministry through radio,” he said in an interview several years ago. “I learned all that I could about radio and later found out about missionary radio and HCJB. I inquired if they needed people with radio training, and I later applied.”

Ben officially joined HCJB Global in January 1954 as he began a year of Spanish language study in San José, Costa Rica. It was there that he met Mary Lee Warren, and they were married on Jan. 7, 1955.

After arriving in Quito, Ecuador, in March 1955, Ben initially served as announcer both in English and Spanish. One of his most popular radio programs -- and most satisfying experiences of his missionary career -- was producing “Café con Música” (Coffee with Music) for 12 years. “It opened marvelous doors for the gospel,” he said. Ben endeared himself to the Ecuadorians who fondly referred to him as, “Benito el Gringuito,” loosely translated, Benito the friendly foreigner.

Doug Peters, who serves as assistant to the president/corporate affairs, worked with Ben the past 45 years. “He was an outstanding radio producer and announcer,” Peters explained. “He had the unique ability of making listeners feel like he was speaking directly to them. His friendship, faithfulness and humor will be greatly missed by all.”

Ben held numerous administrative positions in Quito throughout the years, directing the Ecuador field, the English and Spanish language services, traffic and operations, and television productions. He even temporarily headed the mission’s hydroelectric project in Ecuador, and he served as an associate pastor at English Fellowship Church in Quito. He served as HCJB Global’s senior vice president from 1979 to 1997.

“Ben Cummings was my friend,” said former HCJB Global President Ron Cline. “He was so much help to me in his role as senior vice president when I was asked to serve as president of the mission in 1981. He knew Latin America. He knew the mission. He knew the people. I never would have made it through those next 20 years without him. The best lesson he taught me was to know myself and never take myself too seriously.”

Ben and Mary Lee also ministered in Panama where he directed partner station HOXO in Panama City for seven years.

Former HCJB Global missionary Ken MacHarg recalled, “Ben’s heart was in broadcasting the gospel, whether by shortwave or locally as through HOXO. In fact, when we were at missionary orientation and later in our first year at Radio Station HCJB, he asked if I would be willing to move to Panama and help HOXO get moving ahead. My heart and calling was in international broadcasting, but I saw that Ben could see the whole picture.”

In 1989 the Cummings family moved to the Texas-based World Radio Network (WRN), one of HCJB Global’s cooperating ministries that Ben helped found in 1978, working to develop this expanding outreach along the U.S.-Mexico border, now with 23 outlets. WRN Chief Executive Officer Glenn Lafitte said it was an honor to work with Ben. “He served as WRN director from 1991 to 1995,” Lafitte related. “It was largely through Ben’s vision that the WRN applied for and obtained construction permits for 15 FM radio stations that blanket the border region and beyond with gospel programming to Hispanics and bilinguals 24 hours a day. I will miss his presence at board meetings where he would always challenge us to stretch our vision ever farther for the cause of Christ.”

Curt Cole, HCJB Global’s vice president of international ministries, added, “I think my fondest memory is his friendly Texan drawl that I heard while working at WRN station KVMV in McAllen during my time at Spanish language school in Texas. If he was in the office, at least once a shift, he would stick his head in the studio and try to get me to stay in ‘beautiful’ south Texas!”

Ben also helped produce “Mountain Meditations,” aired worldwide via shortwave, and “Walkin’ in the Sunshine,” a program aired on Radio Station HCJB and KVMV and later added to the schedule of HCJB Global-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra. He also helped launch WRN’s Spanish satellite network, Radio Cadena Manantial.

Ben was the narrator for two audio productions completed in 1981 on the 25th anniversary of the death of the five missionaries who were killed by the Waorani (Auca) Indians in Ecuador.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain in the early 1990s, Ben taught radio courses at the Bible institute in Donetsk, Ukraine. “This gave me a greater vision for the people of Eastern Europe,” he said. “That led to our involvement with Radio Station Center in Moscow that aired ‘Life Source,’ an English-language program that followed HCJB’s release on that local station.”

Ben continued to keep active in his retirement years, serving as the mission’s historian and representing the ministry. He played a key role writing the history for HCJB Global’s latest book, Vision to Reach the World, published in conjunction with the mission’s 75th anniversary. In recent years he also took the old musical albums from HCJB Global, digitized them and produced CDs of this music still loved by many.

Ralph Kurtenbach, communications coordinator for the Latin America Region, said Ben “never let his age get in the way of learning new technologies. He e-mailed us regularly with what websites he’d found that offered products and accessories for minidisk recorders. This was before English Language Service had even purchased our first pair of minidisk recorders! We also have him to thank for a clean sounding version of the Auca story. Having taught himself to use Cool Edit (now Adobe Audition) he carefully went through each sound file recorded in digital format, removing the pops, hums and other noise that occurred in the original sound recordings or during the ensuing years.”

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA “Ben was a great friend, godly mentor and a fun comedian,” said Senior Vice President Jim Allen. “He was a wonderful example to many of us and one we just enjoyed being around. As mission historian, he had a great respect for the past, but his heart was young enough to look to the future and willing to make necessary changes. His contributions will be greatly missed.” HCJB Global President Dave Johnson described Ben as a “larger than life figure for me, not just because of his booming voice and gregarious personality, but because of the depth of experience and spiritual maturity that he brought to every encounter. One ignored Ben’s wisdom and wit to one’s own demise. His love for God and his disdain for the status quo made him one of the most intriguing and delightful colleagues and mentors I have ever known.” “When I think of Ben I think of faithfulness, an encourager and steadfastness. I always felt he was on my team!” said Dick Jacquin, vice president of support ministries. John Adams, director of the HCJB Global Ministry Service Center in Colorado Springs, added, “Ben described a heavy rain storm as a ‘trash mover and a frog choker.’ To me that represented his zest for life and his delight in seeing things move forward for the Lord. In his passing, may each of us be granted a portion of that spirit of optimism and zeal for the glory of God.” In addition to his wife of 52 years, Ben is survived by three children, Rick, Don and Cathy. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, at Emmanuel First Baptist Church in Enid, Okla. A second memorial service is set for the HCJB Global Ministry Service Center at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9.
 
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   STUDY: YOUNG U.S. RESIDENTS MORE RESISTANT TO CHRISTIANITY

Sources: Christian Post, Barna Group, Religion Today
Young Americans today are more skeptical and resistant to Christianity than were people of the same age just a decade ago, according to a new study. Negative perceptions toward the Christian faith have outweighed the positive as a growing percentage of younger Americans associate with a faith outside Christianity. Only 16 percent of non-Christians aged 16 to 29 said they have a “good impression” of Christianity, concluded a report released Monday, Sept. 24, by the Barna Group. A decade ago the vast majority of Americans outside the Christian faith, including young people, felt favorably toward Christianity’s role in society. Young people have an even lesser positive impression of evangelicals. Only 3 percent of 16- to 29-year-olds who are not of the Christian faith express favorable views of evangelicals. In the previous generation, 25 percent of young people had positive associations toward evangelicals. “[Evangelicals] have always been viewed with skepticism in the broader culture,” the report stated. “However, those negative views are crystallizing and intensifying among young non-Christians.” Common negative perceptions among non-Christians is that present-day Christianity is judgmental (87 percent), hypocritical (85 percent), old-fashioned (78 percent) and too involved in politics (75 percent).

NIGERIAN CHURCH FORCED UNDERGROUND BY ISLAMIC DEATH THREATS

Source: Compass Direct News
Death threats and other dangers in Nigeria drove most of the members of a church of converts from Islam to other parts of northern Nigeria -- yet a fellowship remains. Of the 25 converts who formed a church in the city of Maiduguri in the northeastern state of Borno two years ago, only three remain. Still, while worshiping separately in the towns where they now reside, once a month the converts brave the threats of Islamic extremists and family members to return to Maiduguri to secretly pray and praise together. “The venue and time is agreed among themselves, and the venue is also changed every meeting so that they are not attacked,” said Rev. Titus Dama Pona, founder of Good Way Mission which planted Kanuri Christian Fellowship in September 2005. The only known underground fellowship in Nigeria, the group is said to be the first church among the Kanuri and Shuwa Arab ethnic groups in the Islamic enclave of Borno. Three out of the 25 converts are training in theological institutions with the hope of reaching their own people with the gospel, Pona said.

* HCJB Global Voice, together with partners In Touch Ministries, SIM and the Evangelical Church of West Africa, began airing weekly half-hour programs to Nigeria in the Igbo language in 2000. In 2003 weekly broadcasts were added in two additional languages, Yoruba and Hausa. HCJB Global Voice also has helped with radio ministries in six cities with more in the planning stages.

MAF NAMES JOHN BOYD TO SUCCEED KEVIN SWANSON AS PRESIDENT

Source: Christian Newswire
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), a faith-based, non-profit ministry that serves missions and isolated people around the world with aviation, communications and learning technologies, has named John Boyd as its new president and chief executive officer, succeeding Kevin Swanson. Boyd, a native of Scotland who grew up Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, has served with MAF for 15 years. His varied experience with the ministry includes the roles of pilot, chief executive officer of MAF South Africa and vice president for ministry advancement. Boyd’s fields of service have included the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Lesotho and South Africa. In 1993 Boyd interrupted his successful business career when he felt the strong call of God to enter the ministry. Boyd will continue in his present role until Jan.1, 2008, when he assumes his new position. Most of his time in the next few months will be spent in Lesotho, Mozambique and South Africa on previously planned ministry trips. “I’m filled with humbleness, yet also with joy and excitement about the future,” Boyd said. “We are on the threshold of such great ministry opportunities. My vision is that MAF will become even more strategic and significant in taking the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.”

‘BROTHER ANDREW’ ADMITS TO BAPTIZING RADICAL MUSLIMS

Source: BosNewsLife
In public comments on Wednesday, Sept. 26, Dutchman Anne van der Bijl, better known as “Brother Andrew,” said he has preached the love of Jesus Christ to militant groups such as the Taliban and Hamas as well as to Muslim clerics in Iran. He added that he was recently invited to appear on national television in Iran and has visited Pakistan and Afghanistan where a Taliban leader allegedly told him he’s welcome back at any time. The 79-year-old missionary said he has personally baptized scores of Muslim radicals whom he had led to Christ and urged other Christians to do the same. “The doors are open, their hearts are open, but are we open?” he questioned. Brother Andrew did not provide more details on the baptism services, apparently due to security concerns. He also condemned South Korea’s decision to stop missionaries from going to Afghanistan following the recent incidents surrounding the 23 Korean missionary hostages kidnapped by the militant Taliban in Afghanistan. Brother Andrew told the Associated Press, “If God calls you -- if the church sends you -- you go.” However, he cautioned that a “little more wisdom would be helpful,” referring to the recent hostage situation.

562 BAPTIZED IN ROUSING TAILGATER AT SOUTH CAROLINA CHURCH

Source: Baptist Press
The fast-growing Southern Baptist congregation, NewSpring Church in Anderson, S.C., baptized 562 believers during a celebration staged in its parking lot with more fanfare and excitement than most churchgoers typically expect. “We invited people to come tailgate before the baptisms like they would before a football game,” said Tony Morgan, NewSpring’s chief strategic officer. “People brought their RVs and set up tents. There were televisions going with people watching football games before the baptism service started,” Morgan told Baptist Press. “People brought grills and they were making food for themselves and sharing with others. It was pretty fun.” The church, which is about 20 minutes from Clemson University, set up three above-ground pools in the parking lot, and two pastors in each pool took about 90 minutes to baptize the 562 people. Morgan believes it’s appropriate to party before a baptism because the ordinance is a celebration. “Actually,” Morgan stated, “I personally see our event to be more consistent with the purpose of baptism -- people making a public statement of a faith commitment that they’ve made.”

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   METHODIST EXPANSION IN ALBANIA REFLECTS OVERSEAS GROWTH

Source: Christian Newswire
The United Methodist Church continues to become more international as Patrick Streiff, bishop for central and southern Europe, recently signed papers for the legal recognition of the United Methodist Church in Albania. Legal recognition is a significant step for the United Methodist Church of Albania which dates to the 1990s, thanks to work by German United Methodists. The denomination in Albania, a country which banned religion until 1990, is still small. But it’s just one example of a growing number of United Methodist churches in former communist countries such as Russia, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the former Yugoslavia, Ukraine and Moldova. United Methodism membership in the U.S. has declined to 7.9 million from 11 million members. But United Methodism outside of the U.S. now includes 3.5 million members -- the vast majority in Africa. The growing international membership is shifting the once liberal-dominated church in a theologically more conservative direction. “With more than 30 percent of its membership now outside of the U.S., the United Methodist Church now is a fully international communion,” said Mark Tooley, director of United Methodist Action.

6 GOSPEL FOR ASIA BIBLE COLLEGE STUDENTS BEATEN IN INDIA

Sources: Gospel for Asia, Assist News Service
Six Gospel for Asia Bible college students were assaulted Saturday, Sept. 15, by anti-Christian extremists while they passed out literature and shared the gospel in western India’s Gujarat state. The extremists accused the students of trying to convert people to Christianity. Gujarat is home to some of the most vocal anti-Christian extremist groups in India. The state also has an anti-conversion law which severely limits the ability of its citizens to leave the country’s traditional religions. During the attack, the extremists also seized and burned the gospel tracts, Bibles and other books the students were carrying. Then they took the students to the police station. One student managed to escape during the scuffle and went to get help from GFA leaders at the college. When the leaders made it back to the police station, they found that the students had been released, and no charges had been filed. The students suffered only minor bruises as a result of the attack and praised the Lord that they were released without any additional problems.

* Radio programs in 17 languages air to Asia and Southeast Asia from HCJB Global-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra. Most of the programs are produced at the ministry’s studios in New Delhi, India.

STUDENTS AT PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN SCHOOL FORCED TO WEAR BURKAS

Source: Compass Direct News
A Pakistani official in the northern district of Swat warned female teachers and students to don Islamic garb this week, citing threats from Taliban extremists active in the area, according to a story in the regional newspaper, Daily Mashriq. Extremists in Swat have conducted a campaign of Islamization in the district against all things deemed un-Islamic since early July when a government crackdown on militants at the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad triggered violent reactions nationwide. “Due to continuous threatening letters from the Taliban directing female staff and students to wear burkas . . . the executive district officer has instructed [them] to comply with the orders,” the article stated. The order to cover up under the full-body robe that leaves only the hands and eyes visible may affect Christians at the Catholic-run public high school in Sangota. The all-girls school had already closed down for a week this month after being threatened with suicide attacks for supposedly converting students to Christianity. Swat is home to about 1,000 Christians.

DIABETIC CHURCH LEADER CLINGS TO LIFE IN CHINESE PRISON

Sources: BosNewsLife, Voice of the Martyrs, China Aid Association
Pastor Zhang Rongliang, one of China’s top Christian leaders and authors, “will likely die soon” if he is not released from prison, fellow believers and human rights activists reported. The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) quoted a key contact as saying that “Pastor Zhang must be carried from place to place by two men supporting him. He does not walk well on his own.” Zhang, 56, also “openly questions whether he can finish this sentence. If he is not released, there is a good chance that he will die in prison,” VOM reported. Zhang’s wife and their two sons already expressed concern about his serious diabetes. His disease is “so serious that he was taken to the Xinmi City People’s Hospital from his detention center from Dec. 19, 2005, until Jan 23, 2006, for emergency treatment,” reported the China Aid Association. Zhang, who was arrested in 2004 in Zhengzhou, Henan, has four years remaining on his 7.5-year prison sentence for “attaining an illegal passport” and “illegal border crossing” for international travel to the U.S., Australia, Egypt and Singapore for world mission conferences.

CHINA FREES U.S. HUMANITARIAN WHO HELPED KOREAN REFUGEES

Source: Christian Post
China released a U.S. citizen who had been imprisoned for four years for the “crime” of helping starving North Korean refugees, reported the head of a North Korea freedom organization Tuesday, Sept. 25. Steve Kim, an American from New York, had been held in a Chinese jail since Sept. 23, 2003, after providing food and shelter to North Korean refugees before guiding them to freedom in South Korea, where they have automatic citizenship. Kim’s prison sentence is believed to be the longest in China for a humanitarian worker. “In most civilized countries, a person of Kim’s compassion and concern for his fellow man would have been lauded and praised and admired,” wrote Suzanne Scholte, president of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, in an e-mail.”[But] Kim’s compassionate actions in helping with the North Korea refugee crisis caused the government of China to hunt him down and jail him,” she exclaimed. Kim first encountered the suffering of North Koran refugees as an American businessman who traveled frequently to China. As a Christian, he said he could not ignore nor forget the dire needs he witnessed in China. Kim’s wife, Helen, with whom he has three children, made regular visits to his Chinese prison.

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 

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