Zprávy HCJB 19.7.2009 - 25.7.2009

 Do muslimských oblastí Čadu směřují nové skupiny s evangelizační iniciativou
   Evangelikální misijní sdružení (The Evangelical Alliance Mission -TEAM) již dlouho významně působí v jižní části západoafrické země Čad. Ale novou iniciativou pronikají i na sever a východ země, které jsou z 99% muslimské a křesťané zde téměř nejsou známi. Představa TEAM pro severovýchodní Čad zahrnuje vysílání křesťanských misionářů z jihu i působení v lékařství a zemědělství. Čadská vláda požádala TEAM o lékařské týmy, přičemž si je plně vědoma, že jsou vyslanci Ježíše Krista. TEAM tak působí v tradičně muslimských oblastech a vedle toho se ujímá i živořících uprchlíků, kteří přišli ze Súdánu z Darfuru. Rozvoj činnosti TEAM přichází po silničním neštěstí, kdy tři misionáři zahynuli po srážce s neřízeným autobusem. Od té doby TEAM provádí další rekonstrukce i evangelizace a také prožívá požehnání, takže se zdá, že neštěstí otevřelo evangeliu v Čadu dveře. Zdroj: Mission Network News
 
 Přes 300 pakistánských kazatelů organizuje modlitby pro svou zemi
   Dalších 50 talibánských militantů údajně zahynulo v Pákistánu při pokračujících protiteroristických akcích. V této souvislosti pákistánští křesťané žádají ostatní země o modlitby za jejich národ. „Je nám známo, že přes 300 pakistánských pastorů se dohodlo na ustavení neděle 26. července za den modliteb za jejich zemi – v tom jsou zahrnuty i modlitby za církev, která je silně pronásledována,“ řekl Todd Nettleton z Voice i Martyrs (VOM). I když mnoho křesťanů opustilo oblasti ovládané Talibanem, církev v Pákistánu mohutní. „Stále jsou pevní křesťané, kteří jsou předurčeni k získávání muslimů pro Krista,“ uvádí Nettleton. „Říkávají, že jsou muslimové, jejichž potřebou je slyšet evangelium, kteří potřebují slyšet o Ježíšově lásce a že proto oni zůstávají a budou pokračovat v kázání.“ VOM také provádí humanitární činnost a pomáhá evangelistům. Zdroj: Mission Network News
 
 Všechny zprávy v angličtině
   ECUADORIAN MUSICIAN, RADIO PRODUCER JORGE ZAMBRANO DIES AT 63

Source: HCJB Global
Longtime missionary Jorge Zambrano, a veteran of 35 years of ministry with HCJB Global, died Thursday, July 23, at his daughter’s home in Norristown, Pa., after battling cancer. He was 63.

Born in Ambato, Ecuador, on Jan. 3, 1946, Jorge was raised in a religious home, yet without the knowledge of Jesus’ love for him as an individual. At 18 he came to the U.S. seeking a new life as a guitar player. Instead, he found new life in Jesus Christ through the ministry of Hawthorne Gospel Church in New Jersey.

As his wife, Denise, of nearly 37 years put it, “Jorge embraced God’s gift by admitting his sin, believing in Jesus and committing his life to the service of his Savior.” In an interview several years ago, Jorge said he knew about Radio Station HCJB since childhood. “After I accepted Christ as my Savior in May 1965, my initial spiritual growth took place through listening to the Voice of the Andes all the way from Ecuador via shortwave.”

Noticing Jorge’s hunger for spiritual growth, fellow church members urged Jorge to attend Miami Christian College in Florida where he completed a Bachelor of Science in communication in 1972. He also completed a master’s degree in communication from Wheaton Graduate School in Illinois in 1980 and a doctorate in ministry from Master’s Divinity School in Newburgh, Ind.

As a student, Jorge served as a summer missionary with Trans World Radio in Bonaire in 1970 and Radio Station HCJB in Quito in 1971. “During my college years I looked to God for guidance, and it became very clear that God wanted me to return to my home country to share in any way possible the good news with my people,” Jorge related.

While at Miami Christian College, Jorge and Denise met, marrying on Sept. 2, 1972. Just 1˝ years later they arrived in Ecuador to serve as missionaries with HCJB Global. Jorge’s first 12 years with the mission were spent in the television department, working as an audio/video producer, director, host, artist/musician and newsman.

In the music department, Jorge was in charge of program production of Latin American Christian, Ecuadorian and Quechua Indian music. He applied his excellent skills as a musician and bilingual speaker in the radio ministry, producing programs in both English and Spanish that aired worldwide via shortwave on Radio Station HCJB.

Curt Cole, one of HCJB Global’s vice presidents of international ministries, called Jorge a “gifted musician and radio man who produced one of HCJB’s longest running radio programs, ‘Música del Ecuador’ (Music of Ecuador). For years listeners rated that program as one of the top international shortwave programs.”

HCJB Global President Wayne Pederson also pointed to Jorge’s “wonderful legacy of music with HCJB Global. His ‘Música del Ecuador’ program delighted tens of thousands of listeners around the world. On earth it seemed there was not a stringed instrument he could not play. Imagine now the music being produced in heaven for all eternity!”

Musician Michio Ozaki, an HCJB Global missionary in Texas, told of Jorge’s lasting influence. “Although I grew up in Ecuador, it wasn’t until I met Jorge that my love for Ecuadorian and Latin American music was born,” he shared. “Since then we often switched roles as he was my teacher of Ecuadorian music, and then as a producer I recorded and arranged Ecuadorian music, often using Jorge’s ability on the charango and requinto. Performing Ecuadorian music together took us to many, many places—a remote village in the jungles of Ecuador, churches large and small in Canada and Hawaii, and the Christian Music Festival in a large stadium in Tokyo.”

Jorge also taught in HCJB Global’s Christian Center of Communications and managed the station’s multi-track audio facilities. He produced albums for many Ecuadorian musicians and recorded thousands of hours of Ecuadorian music. He worked tirelessly, digitally re-mastering and preserving the best of those recordings. At one point Jorge directed FM station HCJB-2 in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and he translated Kay Arthur’s “Precepts” radio program into Spanish.

In addition serving at the mission, Jorge was a Sunday school teacher, preacher, counselor and musician in his Ecuadorian Quichua church, Fuente de Vida, in Quito. He pastored the church for many years before returning to the U.S. on home ministry assignment/medical leave in 2008.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 25, at Spruce Street Baptist Church at 3701 Gradyville Rd., Newtown Square, PA 19073 with a second service in Quito Saturday, Aug. 22. Memorial donations may be sent to Spruce Street Baptist Church, designated for Fuente de Vida.

15TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE IN RWANDA CULMINATES WITH ANDREW PALAU FESTIVAL

Source: Christian Newswire
Fifteen years after the 1994 genocide that killed an estimated 1 million people in 100 days, the people of Rwanda continue the hard work of healing and restoration, laying the groundwork for the future. Coinciding with the anniversary of the tragedy, the Kigali Festival with Andrew Palau was held Friday-Saturday, July 17-18. Attended by more than 70,000 people, the event took place at the Amahoro National Stadium grounds in Rwanda’s capital city. Another 3,000 people attended separate events for women, government, business and civic leaders as well as inmates at Kigali Central Prison. More than 5,000 people made public decisions for Jesus Christ. “It is a joy and privilege to see God’s powerful offer of life, freedom and forgiveness so readily embraced,” said Palau. “The incredible response testifies to God’s work of reconciliation in beautiful Rwanda.” The festival was a partnership with Africa New Life Ministries , Hope Rwanda and Water for Life, combining their efforts to gather more than 350 participating churches. The campaign was supported by Kigali’s mayor, vice mayor, city council and all of the city’s sector leadership.

MUSLIM AREAS OF CHAD TARGETED IN TEAM’S NEW EVANGELISTIC INITIATIVE

Source: Mission Network News
The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) has had a significant operation in southern parts of the West African country of Chad for many years. However, a new initiative involves diverting efforts from the south into the northern and eastern parts of the country which is nearly 99-percent Muslim with almost no known Christians. The TEAM vision for northeastern Chad includes involves sending Chadians missionaries from the south as well as TEAM expansion into medical and agricultural work. The Chadian government has asked TEAM to put a medical team in place, fully aware that the team will represent Jesus Christ. Aside from work in the traditionally Muslim region, there is the added issue of what TEAM’s response will be to refugees who are pouring into the area from Darfur, Sudan. The expansion comes one year after TEAM experienced a tragedy when three missionaries were killed by an out-of-control bus that ran into their vehicle. Since then there have been challenges in rebuilding and rallying, but also blessings as workers have seen the doors to the gospel opened because of the tragedy.

* HCJB Global Voice worked with local partner Voice of Hope Radio to establish an FM station in N’Djamena, Chad, in 2003. The mission also assisted the Church of the Lutheran Brethren with a studio and station in Pala.

HOUSE CHURCH LEADER SAYS BUILDING CAN ‘GET IN THE WAY OF DISCIPLESHIP’

Source: Christian Newswire
A recent study found many megachurch goers are content to be “spectators” at church, and one house church leader sees an unexpected lesson. A recent study by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford Seminary and Leadership Network found that nearly half of megachurch attendees say they never volunteer at church and 32 percent say they give little or no money to the church. But house church leader/pastor Ken Eastburn of The Well isn’t blaming megachurches for this finding. While he acknowledges the sheer size of megachurches may allow spectator Christians to more easily worship anonymously alongside active, engaged Christians, Eastburn believes the core lesson from the study is that a church of any size can become complacent about challenging its members to deeper personal relationships with Jesus Christ. “For us, our building was standing in the way of our call to building and growing the body of Christ,” said Eastburn. The Well meets in homes across Orange County, Calif., and is openly learning what it means to be a network of house churches.

AUTHOR WARREN WIERSBE RECEIVES LIFETIME AWARD FROM CBA

Source: David C. Cook
Author Warren Wiersbe was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award during CBA’s International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) in Denver, Colo., Sunday, July 12. He was honored for his “Be” Bible Commentaries, published by David C. Cook, which have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide in 35 languages. Wiersbe, the former pastor of Moody Church in Chicago and teacher on the “Back to the Bible” radio series, is internationally recognized as someone who has given his life to a deep examination of the Word of God. Wiersbe credits the worldwide popularity of his commentaries to the fact they are not tied to North American culture. “I stay away from clichés and Americanisms,” he explained. “If a study is too complicated, it becomes shallow. If it’s simple, it’s profound.”

SURVEY: KNOWLEDGE OF BIBLE IN DECLINE AMONG GREAT BRITAIN’S YOUTH

Source: Religion Today
It’s not that young people in Great Britain don’t like the Bible, BBC reports. It’s just “old fashioned.” A survey of 900 people by The National Biblical Literacy Survey showed that over half were unfamiliar with famous parables such as the Prodigal Son. Younger interviewees told researchers that the Bible was “old-fashioned,” “irrelevant” and “for Dot Cottons”--in reference to the churchgoing character in the BBC One soap. Still, many respondents said they turn to the Bible at for guidance at “key moments.” Rev. Brian Brown, a Methodist minister and visiting fellow in media and communication at St John’s College, Durham University, said the church “cannot make the assumptions we used to make about the Bible and its place in contemporary people’s lives and culture.”

KOREAN PROFESSOR USES ‘LIFE SETTINGS’ TO TEACH NEW BRAND OF THEOLOGY

Sources: Religion Today, World Alliance of Reformed Churches
A Korean professor who has taken theology students to live with nomadic herders in Mongolia and with the urban poor in Vietnam believes he may be creating a new branch of theology that he has dubbed, “traveling theology.” Gyoung Ho Jeong described his novel approach to teaching theology in a review of initiatives by Reformed Church institutions in response to economic and environmental concerns. In Mongolia, Jeong’s students learned from herders about living a lifestyle that respects the local ecology. “The herders showed us that they could gather all their garbage for six months in one small plastic bag,” Jeong marvels. “Each time they cooked rice, they would put a few grains into the ground to say thank you to ‘Grandmother Earth.’” The Korean group observed that, despite the herders’ care for the environment, their drinking water is polluted by other sources, causing high rates of kidney problem s. The students left, vowing to return with a kidney specialist. “This is a process of learning from life settings,” said Jeong. “It’s not tourism.” A second group of students traveled to Ho Chi Min City on a peace mission to bring apologies to local churches regarding Korea’s role in the Vietnam War during which Korean soldiers fought alongside American troops.

300+ PAKISTANI PASTORS ORGANIZE PRAYER EFFORT FOR THEIR COUNTRY

Source: Mission Network News
More than 50 Taliban militants are reportedly dead as Pakistan’s major anti-insurgency operation continues. In the face of these events, Pakistani Christians are asking the world to pray for their nation. “We know of more than 300 pastors in Pakistan who have joined together to mark Sunday, July 26, as a day of prayer for their country--a day of prayer particularly for the church there which is facing intense persecution,” said Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). While many Christians have left the Taliban-ceded areas, the church in Pakistan continues to grow. “There are still some solid believers who are committed to reaching Muslims for Christ,” Nettleton explained. “They have said, ‘There are still some Muslims here who still need to hear the gospel, who need to hear about Jesus’ love, so we’re going stay, and we’re going to keep ministering.’” VOM is also providing humani tarian aid and helping evangelists.

CHURCH IN MYANMAR CONTINUES TO GROW DESPITE OBSTACLES

Sources: Christian Aid Mission, Religion Today
Devastating cyclones, bitter ethnic wars and human rights abuses have all had a part in contributing to the poverty and spiritual darkness that characterizes Myanmar (Burma) today.

Mission News Network reported that more than 4,000 ethnic Karen crossed the border from Myanmar into Thailand in the past month, reflecting continued persecution in their homeland. The tribal group, which is 60-percent Christian, has faced increased violence at the hands of the military junta’s forces. “Villages are being surrounded, and rockets are lobbed in,” said Vision Beyond Borders President Patrick Klein.

Amid this opposition, the church continues to grow. Christian Aid Missions, which assists with a number of ministries in the country, employs a variety of methods to spread the gospel. “I am conducting meetings with the churches, pastors and workers, exhorting them to stand firm in the faith,” said one local missionary who asked not to be identified for security reasons.

“These are fiery times for testing their faith. The government has put high restrictions on work among the cyclone victims. They presume that what we are doing is for political purposes. Even Buddhist monks and laymen, interested in helping victims, are being persecuted. Some were caught and sentenced to very long jail terms--45 to 65 years!”

Another native missionary reported that he and his team “were able to reach 300 Buddhists. We shared about the last days and distributed tracts among them. In another area we were able to distribute rice and used clothing as well as medicine for the elderly and ailing. This particular tribe lives in a secluded area, so we were able to preach the gospel.” The team also sent a mobile medical clinic, treating 1,130 patients. “Many of them were elderly, who shed tears of joy. They were so grateful for this display of Christian love.”

A missionary who focuses on providing theological training to local believers says the situation is much improved since the 1970s when there were “no reputable Bible schools” in the country.

“We began with only four faculty members and 77 students our first year,” he said. “Despite opposition to the Bible, the Lord and Christians in general, this ministry is going forward. With help received from Christian Aid recently, we assisted 20 more Bible students from the scholarship fund. We also have a Bible correspondence course for those wanting to learn more about Jesus, or who find it difficult to leave their current ministry for an extended period.”

Another Burmese leader employs weeklong evangelistic camp meetings in remote towns and villages are held wherever the Lord opens the door. “Relationships are built by providing for some of their needs such as food, medicine and nursing care,” he said. “The Word is preached and Bibles are given out. When our evangelistic team leaves the village, we leave behind a church planter. In time, he will disciple [a tribal member] to become the church leader. This new disciple is then brought back to our training center for three months of training. When he returns to his village, he will take over as pastor. Our original worker is then rotated into another unreached area.”

* Broadcasts in the Rawang language, spoken by more than 140,000 people in Myanmar, began airing from HCJB Global-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra in 2007. Two half-hour programs in this language air daily--one slot in the morning and one in the afternoon.

CHINESE AUTHORITIES RAID BIBLE SCHOOL, TEMPORARILY DETAINING PASTOR, 11 STUDENTS

Source: BosNewslife
Security forces raided a Bible school in eastern China run by the vice president of the Chinese House Church Alliance (CHCA) and briefly detained a dozen people, the U.S.-based China Aid Association (CAA) reported this week. Pastor Shi Enhao and 11 students were detained during the Thursday, July 16, raid on the school in Suqian, Jiangsu province. “They were all released around 5 p.m. the same day,” CAA reported. “The students were sent back to their hometowns and warned not to come back for Bible study.” The school is part of a Bible education school run by the CHCA, an umbrella group of rapidly expanding house churches that are usually operated outside of government control. CAA condemned the raid, saying the Bible school had been in existence for several years “without any problems from authorities.” There has been a growing crackdown reported on Chinese house churches and affiliated institutions. Chinese officials ha ve repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying they are upholding the law and that the country’s estimated 130 million Christians are free to worship in government-backed churches.

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