Zprávy HCJB 26.4.2009 - 30.4.2009

	Velká křesťanská oslava ve Vietnamu povolena
	Obránci náboženské svobody hlásí průlom – vietnamské úřady vydaly zatím ojedinělé rozhodnutí a povolilo neregistrovaným domácím sborům uspořádat velké veřejné shromáždění vztahující se k Velikonocům. Na stadionu Tao Dan se k bohoslužbám shromáždilo přes 15 000 lidí, hlásaly Krista a zažívaly vzácný pocit velkého křesťanského společenství, což zvlášť vyniká v případě domácích sborů navyklých na malé skupiny. Jen jednou v minulosti bylo ve Vietnamu povoleno podobné shromáždění pod širým nebem a sice o Vánocích v roce 2007. To uspořádalo Vietnamské Evangelikální Sdružení (VEF) – skupina zaštiťující domácí sbory a usilující o vliv ve všech domácích sborech, nejen mezi svými vlastními členy. Neregistrované skupiny pořádající shromáždění s evangelizací mimo církevní budovu tak činí v rozporu z přísným vietnamským zákonem o náboženství. Nyní konané shromáždění (na kterém 1200 lidí vyjádřilo touhu po Kristu) se tak neobešlo bez potíží. Neochota úřadů podporovat křesťanské slavnosti se odrazila v tom, že jako podmínku povolení požadovaly a docílily odvolání jednoho z organizátorů. Povolení bylo nejisté ještě ve čtyři hodiny odpoledne, tři hodiny před zahájením shromáždění, přestože organizátoři příslušnou žádost podali několik měsíců předem. Zdroj: Compass Direct News
	Azerbajdžánský úředník navrhl Plán prevence šíření náboženského extrémizmu
	Ministr vnitra Azerbajdžánu vydal – ne formou veřejné vyhlášky – dokument „Plán prevence šíření náboženského extrémizmu a radikálních sekt.“ Odpovědní úředníci odmítli sdělit podrobnosti obsažené v tomto plánu, ale policie ve městě Gyanja potvrdila, že zátah na „ilegální“ Svědky Jehovovy při jejich shromáždění ve čtvrtek 9. dubna byl součástí této nové politiky – Svědkové ve městě nejsou registrováni. Není jasné, zda nedávný zátah při baptististickém shromáždění, po němž policie zveřejnila jména, adresy a data narození všech účastníků, nebo zamítnutí žádosti o znovuotevření mešity v Baku, jsou rovněž podle tohoto nového plánu. Zdroj: Forum 18 News Service
	Všechny zprávy v angličtině
	HOSPITAL IN ECUADOR TRACKS INFLUENZA CASES TO COMBAT SWINE FLU OUTBREAK Source: HCJB Global In light of the recent swine flu outbreak, HCJB Global Hands’ Hospital Vozandes-Quito (HVQ) in Ecuador is tracking new flu cases and leading Ecuador in monitoring the threat of pandemic influenza. “We’ve been thinking the world is ready for a flu pandemic, but we’ve been focusing on the avian flu,” said HCJB Global missionary Dr. Richard Douce, an infectious disease specialist and resident expert on influenza in Ecuador. He and Ecuadorian Dr. Wilson Chicaiza have been actively tracking flu cases at HVQ for nine years in collaboration with the U.S. Navy tropical medicine lab in Lima, Peru. As a result of the data collected, they have isolated two types of influenza and are now watching for the latest strain in Ecuador. Douce said he is concerned about the swine flu outbreak for three reasons: it is happening outside the normal flu season; it is attacking young adults at a higher rate; it has already expanded from North America to Europe and now South America with a confirmed case reported Wednesday by Peruvian Health Minister Oscar Ugarte. HVQ is taking precautionary measures since the swine flu virus could appear in Ecuador at any time. Chicaiza, Douce and other specialists are educating staff on proper procedures for handling patients exhibiting symptoms. The swine flu virus is also a type A influenza that mutates quickly and has the potential to be a pandemic. “The goal is to contain the illness to provide time for a vaccine to be introduced,” said Chicaiza. Staff members are preparing to isolate patients with suspected cases and send patients home with masks. The hospital has also ordered supplies of the antiviral medication Tamiflu, thought to combat the latest virus. The latest strain of the swine flu virus, influenza A (H1N1), is similar to the strain in 1918 that killed 40 million people. Thankfully, vaccines, antiviral drugs and surveillance programs like the one at HVQ have radically changed world preparation and response to influenza outbreaks. As a sentinel hospital, HVQ tracks cases in Quito and helped start an influenza surveillance program in Ecuador’s largest hospital, Hospital del Beneficiencia in Guayaquil. Flu cultures are now sent from both Quito and Guayaquil to Lima for registry with the U.S. Navy laboratory. Along with the culture, a rapid test is done at the bedside. With this test, doctors can identify Influenza A or B from the patient within 10 minutes. The viral cultures that are sent from HVQ to Lima, Peru, are subsequently sent to the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization. Ecuador’s equatorial location makes it ideal for tracking new cases and strains of the influenza virus. No seasonal trends of influenza are present, in contrast to areas lying farther north or south with distinct winters and summers. “It’s like every month is flu season” Douce explained. “Influenza is a common infection here, but most people don’t realize it.” Douce and Chicaiza will continue to monitor influenza cases, a work that is essential in leading Ecuador in awareness and preparation for the potential spread of swine flu. OPERATION OF HOPE BRINGS SMILES TO FACES OF ECUADORIAN CHILDREN Source: HCJB Global The lives of 20 additional children from Ecuador were transformed in January, thanks to a visiting plastic surgeon who treated them for cleft lips and cleft palates. Each year Operation of Hope founder Dr. Joseph Clawson, a 76-year-old plastic surgeon known to his patients as “Dr. Joe,” comes to Ecuador with a team of nurses and provides life-changing surgery for children born with such defects—all at no cost to the patients. This year he took on six children from Shell and 14 from Otavalo, operating on several of the patients at HCJB Global Hands’ Hospital Vozandes-Shell. The hospital team took two babies with cleft lips for their first surgeries, two young children needing second surgeries to repair cleft palates, a 9-year-old who needed his pharynx repaired, and a 17-year-old with a cleft palate. All six had successful surgeries that will relieve much of the shame associated with such an obvious condition as well as enable them to speak more clearly and eat with greater ease. Some of these children come from needy indigenous communities where even healthy children face a number of challenges, including economic hardships, explained HCJB Global Hands nurse Barbara Becker who took the journey with the families. Children who manage to survive with impairments such as cleft lips also have great difficulty assimilating into jungle communities for both practical and social reasons. Becker explained the plight of one of the families that brought their son from Otavalo. “This family can barely put enough food on the table for three children let alone a fourth who would require more time and effort to feed,” she explained. Cleft lip and palate repair is also cosmetically and psychologically transforming. Dr. John and Mary Doerfer were also part of the medical team and described their interaction with Natividad, a 17-year-old with a speech defect due to too wide a space between the back of her soft palate and her pharynx. Before the surgery, Natividad spoke to them only with her face down. After surgery she had an obvious renewed sense of confidence and spoke with her face lifted. After the cleft lip or palate surgery, children are also restored to positions in the family and have the hope of leading a normal life. John described the reunion between parents and children after the surgery. “The greatest joy we had was to see the faces of the moms and dads when they see the heartbreaking defect on their child repaired,” he said. “When the parents look at their [children’s] faces, it’s worth everything.” Operation of Hope has served more than 1,900 children worldwide and will return to Ecuador again in January 2010. Hospital Vozandes-Shell provides transportation and all trip expenses for the families from eastern Ecuador and hopes to help even more children next year. The cost to the hospital is about $100 per child. MINISTRY REPORTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD Response to Possible Pandemic: Prayer, Care and Share the Hope of Christ Sources: BBC, Premier Christian News, Christian Emergency Network While information continues to change how people perceive the swine flu outbreak, the Christian Emergency Network (CEN) reports that any emergency prompts the question, “Where is God in this?” in most of the people affected. “Christians need to respond to the spiritual, emotional, mental as well as the usual physical needs of those affected,” said CEN founder Mary Marr in a statement. “Be aware, be ready and be there in any emergency by praying earnestly, caring compassionately, and sharing the hope of Christ effectively and appropriately.” Keiji Fukuda, a top U.N. official with the World Health Organization, advised countries to focus on mitigating the effects of the swine flu virus recently detected in Mexico, as it can no longer be contained. In Britain, Dr. Andrew Ferguson is among the physicians meeting with travelers returning from Mexico. A member of CEN, Ferguson said medical experts worldwide have been preparing for some years for another pandemic, a global epidemic of flu. British Health Secretary Alan Johnson said Britain’s health system has a stockpile of more than £500 million (US$744 million) worth of the Tamiflu antiviral drug that has proved effective on patients in Mexico, and scientists are working on developing a vaccine. Marr added that Christians should be aware of accurate information regarding this outbreak and watch news reports carefully on the scope and rapidness of its spreading. If Christians are ready, they won’t be a burden on emergency management efforts. MASSIVE CHRISTIAN CELEBRATION ALLOWED IN VIETNAM Source: Compass Direct News In what religious freedom advocates regarded as a breakthrough in Vietnam, authorities granted rare permission to unregistered house church groups to hold a large, public Easter-related service. More than 15,000 people gathered at Tao Dan Stadium to worship God, proclaim Christ and experience a rare sense of large-scale Christian unity, especially house church members accustomed to meeting in small groups. The only other such event granted to unregistered groups was an open-air meeting during Christmas of 2007, sponsored by the Vietnam Evangelical Fellowship (VEF), a house church umbrella group. Sources said VEF endeavored to include all house churches, not just its own members. Unregistered groups holding an event that includes worship and evangelism outside a church building violates Vietnam’s restrictive religion laws, and the celebration (in which 1,200 people indicated they had decided to follow Christ) did not happen without struggles. Reluctant to endorse such Christian unity events, authorities demanded and got the removal of one of the organizers as a condition to consider approval. Officials did not grant permission until 4 p.m., just three hours before the event was to begin, even though event organizers had requested permission several months in advance. HISPANIC CHRISTIAN GROUPS SPLIT ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, U.S. CENSUS Source: Christian Post Several Hispanic organizations, including some Christian groups, spoke out this week about whether illegal immigrants should participate in the 2010 U.S. Census. A debate about Hispanic participation in the census intensified after the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders (CONLAMIC) urged a boycott by illegal immigrants unless Congress approves immigration reforms. CONLAMIC leaders claim that census data will be used by “anti-immigrant forces” to the disadvantage of undocumented Latinos in the country. “Our church leaders have witnessed misuse of otherwise benign census population data by state and local public officials in their efforts to pass and enact laws that assist in the perpetration of civil rights violations and abuses against undocumented workers and families,” said CONLAMIC President Miguel Rivera. Census officials, however, say the information is confidential and respondents are not asked about their immigration status or for a social security number. Meanwhile, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the largest Hispanic Christian organizatio n in the country, has voiced its disagreement with CONLAMIC’s call and urges all Latinos to participate in the upcoming census. An estimated 12 million illegal immigrants live in the U.S. BLOGGERS LAUNCH ‘5 DAYS IN MAY’ CAMPAIGN PROMOTING SAFE DRINKING WATER Source: Christian Newswire A group of U.S.-based bloggers are asking their readers to participate in a five-day “beverage fast” this month called “5 Days in May.” People are urged to drink only tap water during the first days of May, then donate the money they save on beverages to Water Missions International (WMI) for safe drinking water in developing countries and disaster areas. “The average American drinks 420 ounces of canned soft drinks a week. My friend buys a specialty coffee drink three times a week, and I drink at least one fountain drink every day,” said Shawn Wood, founder of the campaign. “Crunch the numbers and the cost adds up pretty quickly.” Water is critical to life, health, and sustainable development. Yet worldwide more than 1 billion people lack access to this basic resource, and more than 2 billion people do not have adequate sanitation. Every 15 seconds a child under age 5 dies of a water-related illness. WMI is a Christian, nonprofit organization based in South Carolina. * HCJB Global Hands helps provide clean drinking water and sanitation to rural areas of Ecuador and beyond. Water projects completed in 2008 benefited nearly 2,000 Ecuadorians. In February an HCJB Global team helped supply a water well for Hateka, a community outside of Accra, Ghana. A healthcare team from Ecuador visited Ghana and Sierra Leone in March, helping with community development projects in those countries. OM’S GEORGE VERWER: ‘THERE’S NO RETIREMENT PLAN FOR KINGDOM PEOPLE’ Source: Assist News Service Attending a recent mission-net congress in Germany, Operation Mobilization founder George Verwer described himself as a “raving fan” of what congress delegates are trying to do. “We haven’t had something like this for quite a few years and it’s greatly needed,” he said. “So I’m just believing God that He’s going to do great things in the lives of everyone who’s hear young and old.” Wearing a global jacket and displaying his inflatable globe, Verwer led a passionate prayer time for the 3,000 delegates for the world’s top-10 least-reached nations. He said afterwards that most of his friends and heroes are dying. “So there’s no retirement program for kingdom people,” he explained. “You may lose your health you may become very limited. One man was stuck in his bed in Switzerland and led a literature ministry from his bed touching lives. So these are the kinds of people that inspire me.” Sadly, Verwer sometimes sees non-Christians more actively making their later years count for the gospel than do believers. A recent ministry highlight was re-entering India after 40 years of praying and waiting for a visa. “What grabbed me the most is the challenge of the Dalits,” he said. “Over 200 million of what we used to call untouchables that are suffering in a form of slavery and this should be one of the great global priorities both for Christians and non-Christians.” * Radio programs in 12 languages air to India from HCJB Global-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra. Most of the programs are produced at the ministry’s studios in New Delhi, India. Staff members from HCJB Global in Europe involved in the recent mission-net event in Germany. UPDATE: ‘BIBLE ACROSS AMERICA’ EFFORT CONCLUDES, FOLLOW-UP CONTINUES Source: Christian Post Though the “Bible Across America” tour officially came to an end last month, the effort to gather handwritten Bible verses from 31,173 people across the nation is still ongoing. “The road tour has ended but we are still collecting verses in Michigan,” said Bible Across America spokeswoman Tara Powers. “We have about 7,000 to go and have lots of events planned over the next several weeks,” Powers reported. “We expect to have all verses collected by June 1 in order to have the published Bible in stores late fall/early winter.” Handwritten verses have been gathered to create the first NIV Bible penned by 31,173 individuals to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the bestselling translation. The effort was launched last September by Zondervan, a Christian publishing division, of HarperCollins Publishers which in turn is a subsidiary of News Corporation. AUTHORITIES IN RURAL LAOS RAZE CHURCH BUILDING IN CRACKDOWN ON CHRISTIANS Sources: BosNewsLife, Compass Direct News Christians in a village of Borikhamxay province in Laos are without a church building after police destroyed their property as part of a crackdown on Christians in rural areas. Security forces destroyed the building in Nomsomboon on March 19, while Christian residents attended a meeting called by district officials. “A member of the provincial Religious Affairs Department, identified only as Bounlerm, has since claimed that police destroyed the facility because it was built without official approval,” Compass Direct reported. Tensions between Christians and local authorities reportedly escalated last year when officials ordered at least 40 Christian families living in Ban Mai to relocate some 12 miles to the village of Nomsomboon for “administrative reasons,” reported the advocacy group, Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom. According to local sources, the forced relocation was an effort to control the activities of Christia ns in Ban Mai who were sharing their faith with other people in the district. Authorities have reportedly evicted Christians from several other villages in the district. AZERBAIJAN OFFICIAL ISSUES ‘PLAN TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM’ Source: Forum 18 News Service Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry has issued--but apparently not published--a document titled, “A Plan to Prevent the Spread of Religious Extremism by Radical Sects.” Senior officials have refused to divulge the contents of the plan, but police in Gyanja claimed that a raid on an “illegal” Jehovah’s Witnesses meeting on Thursday, April 9, was part of the new crackdown. Police officers in Gyanja raided the home of a group member, saying the meeting was illegal because the group doesn’t have state registration in the city. It’s unclear whether a recent raid on a Baptist meeting in which officers published full names, addresses and birthdates of congregants, and the refusal to allow a mosque in the capital city of Baku to reopen, are also linked to the plan. © Copyright 2009 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA

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