Zprávy HCJB 23.4.2008

 Čínský muž znovu uvězněn za vydávání Bible a náboženské literatury
   Podle Baptist Press byl Ši Weihan, čínský knihkupec z Pekingu, znovu uvězněn za vydávání Bible a křesťanské literatury a to v době, kdy je o takové tiskoviny v Číně nouze. Podle China Aid Association (CAA) byl Ši, 37letý otec dvou dcer, 19. března již podruhé vzat do vazby a je zadržován aniž by jej rodinní příslušníci mohli navštěvovat. „Jeho manželka se o něm nedozvěděla vůbec nic, nesmí mu posílat ani čisté prádlo ani jídlo,“ řekl mluvčí CAA Daniel Burton při rozhovoru pro Baptist Press. „Má o něj velkou starost, protože má cukrovku a nejspíš je ve špatných podmínkách a podroben mučení, neboť to jsou způsoby běžně používané tajnou policií na osobách ve vazbě.“ Šiho druhé uvěznění bylo neočekávané. „Je to velké překvapení, protože v lednu ho propustili z vězení pro nedostatek důkazů,“ řekl Burton. Zdroj: Religion Today
 
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   CAMPAIGN URGES U.S. CHURCHES TO CANCEL SERVICES, HELP THE POOR

Sources: Assist News Service, Strang Communications
Christians in the U.S. should cancel church services and channel their energies into helping the poor. This was the message of a story posted on www.ekklesia.co.uk regarding the campaign, “Faith in Action,” a resource developed by World Vision, Zondervan and church communication resources provider Outreach, Inc.

The call came alongside a new poll from Faith in Action and Harris Interactive showing that two-thirds of U.S. residents believe their churches are doing enough to help the poor in their communities. The survey of more than 2,800 adults comes at a time when the U.S. Census Bureau statistics shows consistent increases in the numbers of Americans living in poverty.

The national poverty level increased to 13.3 percent in 2005, up from 11.7 percent in 2001. In addition, increased usage of food stamps indicates a rising level of poverty in the country.

“These results, when combined with current census and economic data, expose a discrepancy between Christians who believe they are doing enough and the reality that Christians are just scratching the surface in our communities,” said Steve Haas, vice president for church relations at World Vision.

Christians are being invited to close their churches and get involved in projects within their communities. Faith in Action has produced a campaign kit that includes a step-by-step approach to transforming a congregation and reaching the community. The campaign will culminate in Faith in Action Sunday on April 27.

HUNDREDS OF MUSLIM RIOTERS ATTACK CHRISTIANS IN KANO, NIGERIA

Source: Compass Direct News
Hundreds of Muslims took to the streets of the northern Nigerian city of Kano on Sunday, April 20, attacking Christians and their shops and setting vehicles on fire on claims that a Christian had blasphemed the Islamic prophet Mohammed. Thousands of Christians were trapped in churches until police dispersed rioters. Fearing that Muslims may attack again, many Christians have relocated to army and police barracks in the city. An unidentified Christian was said to have painted an inscription that disparaged the prophet of Islam. Muslims at a market in the Sabon Garia area of the city reportedly attacked the Christian whom police rescued and took to the area police station. A large Muslim mob then marched to the police station, threatening to set it ablaze unless officers released the Christian to be stoned to death in accordance with sharia (Islamic law), local sources said. Police were able to disperse the mob.

PROGRAM LAUNCHES WITH 5,000 BIBLES FOR SOUTH AFRICAN CHILDREN

Source: Mission Network News
Ninety percent of the children attending Worldwide Christian Schools’ (WWCS) partner schools in Africa will graduate without ever opening a Bible. In response, WWCS has launched the “My Own Bible” fundraising program, a collaborative effort that includes an international family of partners in Christian education. The goal of the campaign is to provide every child in a WWCS partner school with a Bible, beginning in Africa. “We started in South Africa, and we’re branching out to other countries in the African continent, and then the world,” explained WWCS’s Dale Dieleman. “We’re really still in the pilot or introductory phase of this because we started in 2006. More than 5,000 children have gone through the course just in South Africa, involving more than 20 schools.”

CHINESE MAN REARRESTED FOR PUBLISHING BIBLES, LITERATURE

Source: Religion Today
Shi Weihan, a Chinese bookstore owner in Beijing, has been rearrested for publishing Bibles and Christian literature during a time when there is a shortage of such materials in China, reported Baptist Press. A 37-year-old father of two daughters, Shi was taken into custody for a second time Wednesday, March 19, and has been held without family visits, reported the China Aid Association (CAA). “His wife said she received no word on her husband’s condition, and she has been prevented from bringing any food or change of clothing since his rearrest,” CAA spokesman Daniel Burton told Baptist Press. “She is very concerned about his health due to his diabetes and the deprivation and torture that’s often used by Public Security Bureau officials on those in custody.” Shi’s second arrest was unexpected. “It comes as a big surprise to us because he was released on insufficient evidence back in January,” Burton said.

* HCJB GLOBAL GERMAN RADIO PROGRAMMER PETER HUBERT DIES AT 84

Source: HCJB Global
Peter Hubert, who served as a German radio program producer at Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador, with his wife, Maria, for 25 years, died of cancer in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, on Friday, April 18. He was 84.

Peter and Maria’s missionary service in Quito culminated an incredible series of events dating back to the 1920s when they lived in Mennonite colonies in the former Soviet Union. Peter was born on Nov. 10, 1923, in Sagradowka, Ukraine.

He was only 5 years old when Joseph Stalin initiated the first of his infamous five-year plans, but he vividly remembers the time. “There was the collectivization of all property, and church services were not allowed,” Peter said in an interview in 1989. “Even having a Bible at home was dangerous.”

When the Mennonites began traveling to Moscow in 1929 in the hopes of getting permits to leave the Soviet Union, Peter’s father was reluctant to go because it was winter, he was short of cash and his father-in-law was ill. But one day when he got home from work, his wife had packed their few belongings, and they were ready to leave.

“We left early on a Sunday morning,” Peter said. “It was Nov. 10, 1929 -- my sixth birthday. Our neighbor took us to the train station. Of course we only traveled on the back roads.” Peter’s family discovered that Nov. 10 was the last day that train tickets were being sold at train stations in the area of the German settlements. The government was trying to stem the flow of German colonists to Moscow.

When they arrived in Moscow, they found themselves among some 20,000 Mennonites who were living outside the city. “No exit visas were being granted, and the authorities had long lists of Mennonite names. They were picking up whole families and sending them back home. Others were imprisoned. I would say two-thirds of the Mennonite refugees were sent back.”

However, some of the people entered the German embassy in Moscow, pleading for help. As a result, on Nov. 25 Russia signed an agreement with Germany to receive the homeless people.

Shortly before Christmas, the families of Peter and Maria -- although they didn’t yet know each other -- were put on a train to Germany where they were housed for several months until they could board a ship and emigrate to southern Brazil where there were some Mennonite colonies.

Life in Brazil was simple, but the Mennonites were grateful for their freedom, initially living in huts, but later building log houses and planting crops in the poor soil. It wasn’t until 1945 that Peter and Maria met for the first time as they were members of the same choir.

They married two years later and worked on a dairy farm in addition to being active in the church. In 1952 the farm was sold, and they decided to volunteer at a Mennonite Brethren Missions/Services (MBM/S) children’s home in Curitiba, Brazil.

This was a six-week assignment turned into six years. In February 1959 the Huberts decided to take a 15-month study leave to learn about church planting at the New Tribes Mission and Bible Institute in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

In 1960 they began working as church planters in Săo Mateus do Sul, a small city 90 miles west of Curitiba. Despite the oppression of spiritism, the Huberts established a small Mennonite Brethren Church during their three-and-a-half years in the area. The church is still in operation today.

Then in 1964 the Huberts accepted an invitation to serve as teachers at the Mennonite Brethren Bible Institute in Curitiba. They had scarcely arrived at the school when they received a letter from MBM/S, saying they needed a couple to serve in the German Language Service at Radio Station HCJB in Quito.

“At first we decided not to go,” Peter admitted. “We had five children, and we weren’t prepared to move so far away. And there was much work to do in Brazil.”

But as he was planning to write a letter turning down the assignment, he sensed the Lord saying, “I haven’t asked for your opinion. I asked if you were willing to go.”

As a result, the Huberts’ minds were changed, and they arrived in Quito in 1964, quickly becoming popular radio personalities with listeners worldwide. Their programs sparked 10,000 to 16,000 letters annually, and countless numbers made decisions for Christ.

“The biggest highlight of my 25 years at HCJB was the freedom and possibility of proclaiming the gospel worldwide,” Peter said.

After retiring in 1989, the Huberts made a final visit to Brazil before settling in Abbotsford where they remained active in church ministry, leading Bible studies and continuing to produce German radio programs that aired on AM station KARI in Blaine, Wash., for 14 years.

In addition to his wife of 60 years, Peter is survived by four children, Helmut, Godfrey, Heidi and Henry. He was predeceased by his oldest child, Edith, and a son, Harry, who died as a baby. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, April 25, at King Road Mennonite Brethren Church in Abbotsford.

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