Lausanne World Pulse – News Briefs
In light of current objections from Christians to the movie version of Dan Brown’s bestseller The Da Vinci Code, recent protests from the Muslim community about the Mohammad caricatures and from Jewish groups about anti-Semitism inspired by The Passion of Christ, more than twenty-five leading clerics from different faiths signed a statement calling for joint efforts by religious leaders in working to prevent the use of religiously offensive materials in the arts and media. In its statement issued, the Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders, headquartered in Jerusalem, outlined nine points for collaboration among religious leaders and bodies, including the creation of an advisory council. The statement noted, “Such a council would consist of…religious leaders from all traditions who would be willing to engage artistic creators in ways that are constructive. It would be a conversation partner, raising issues of factual accuracy and sensitivity that could alert artists to potential problems of reception among the public of believers, and exploring ways of addressing such concerns. Such dialogue might prevent future crises, including violent crises, from arising.” (Religion News Service)
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AROUND THE WORLD
A multi-lingual online database of training courses that will allow evangelical colleges, missionary training organizations, Bible colleges and non-formal training programs to input information about their courses online has been developed. The Evangelical Training Database is available online at www.trainforChrist.org and is searchable worldwide in all major languages. The database is a partnership between the Missionary Training Service, Trainers of Pastors International Coalition, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and member bodies of the International Commission for Evangelical Theological Education. (The Missionary Training Service)
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BURKINA FASO
From inside a thatch-and-mud house in a remote village, Nango Ouattara spoke legends into a microphone. Weeks later, her stories captivated hundreds of listeners on The Samogho Program, a weekly radio broadcast that combines traditional lore and music with biblical stories. The thirty-minute program, a fruit of Donna and Loren Entz’s three-decade ministry, celebrated its first year of airtime in June. The Entzes serve with Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, Mennonite Mission Network and Mennonite Church Canada Witness. Radio program producer Ali Traoré prayerfully chooses recorded stories that complement the week’s Old Testament story; Christian singers add music to further develop the message. Before The Samogho Program is ready to air, Traoré develops a conclusion that brings together the message told through traditional and biblical stories and music. (Mennonite Mission Network)
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CHINA
Few people are aware that China is a Bible-producing country, yet over the past two decades, forty million complete volumes of scripture have been produced by the Amity Printing Company alone, not counting Bibles produced for the Catholic market in China. During the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the new Amity Printing Press facilities, the existing press was hailed as one of Nanjing’s most advanced printing companies with some of the finest Bible printers in the world. (Amity News Service)
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GERMANY
Lutheran leaders in Germany say they hope the global assembly of the Lutheran World Federation scheduled to meet in their country in 2010 will boost links with other Protestant denominations. The federation’s German National Committee has proposed that governing bodies of other global Church groupings should meet in parallel with the Lutheran assembly taking place in the southern city of Stuttgart. The Lutheran leaders said they hoped for “adequate space for a thematic dialogue with church families that stem from the [Protestant] Reformation.” They referred specifically to the Anglican Communion, the World Methodist Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. (Ecumenical News International)
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CHINA
Members of Puqian Church in Fuzhou, China, have partnered with the Fuzhou Red Cross and the Fuzhou Daily for “Love in Action,” a campaign designed to care for the poor and needy in a way that reflects Jesus Christ’s ministry on earth. Through “Love in Action” countless pieces of clothing and bed quilts have been donated to disaster victims. According to Mei Kangjung, editor of Tian Feng, “The Church is not an exclusive community outside of society, but part of it, and in all its actions, whether individual or communal, the Church has to give testimony to Christ. Initiatives like ‘Love in Action’ will help to immerse the Church in society.” (Amity News Service)
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INDIA
More than 3.6 million people in India have committed their lives to Christ as a result of the six-day Christmas 2005 “My Hope India” project, sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). During the six-day project, nearly 800,000 home groups representing sixty thousand churches in India invited non-Christian friends, family and neighbors into their homes to watch television Crusades that had been translated into fourteen different heart languages. After the programs local believers expanded on the gospel message with those who had come to watch the broadcasts. The BGEA is still receiving word that lives were changed as a result of the “My Hope India” project. (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)
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EL SALVADOR
From 31 March to 1 April a series of evangelism training sessions was held in El Salvador for the purpose of equipping leaders with new regional evangelism resources to help renew the emphasis on evangelism in the local church. Among those present were leaders from El Salvador and Honduras. Also present were district superintendents, Nazarene Youth International (NYI) presidents and evangelism coordinators from El Salvador. Among other things, participants discussed how to develop evangelistic programs within the church and how to incorporate new strategies and other tools for planting cell groups with the structure of church-type missions. (Nazarene Communications Network)
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INDIA
A rccord 10,250 people recently graduated from Hopegivers International leadership training courses in India. Despite threats of violence from radical anti-Christians in Rajasthan, over 8,100 missionaries went forward to receive diplomas in two of the three scheduled 2006 graduations. One of the three graduations, scheduled for Kota, Rajasthan, was postponed due to terrorist threats; the 2,150 graduates scheduled for this ceremony will receive their diplomas as soon as possible. Graduates will now be deployed to rural villages in India to meet humanitarian needs. (Hopegivers International)
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FRANCE
The decision by the two biggest Protestant denominations in France’s eastern Alsace-Lorraine region to form a union of churches will strengthen Christian witness, says a World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) top official. “In the face of gross injustices in the world, the need for people to hear the gospel clearly and the calling on the Church to mediate fullness of life, churches have a responsibility to rise above divisions and give a clear witness,” said WARC general secretary Rev. Setri Nyomi. (Ecumenical News International)
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KOREA
Ten thousand Methodists from around the world will assemble in the South Korean capital of Seoul 20-24 July 2006 for the 19th World Methodist Council (WMC) to pray for the peaceful resolution of global conflicts. The theme of this year’s gathering is “Reconciling God in Christ.” According to Korea Methodist Council chairperson Shin Kyung-Ha, “There will be more than six thousand foreign guests and it will be the biggest international event in 120 years of Korean Church history.” About twenty United Methodist Church leaders from the United States are working to have a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jung-Il prior to the event. (Ecumenical News International)
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HONDURAS
In efforts to “make Jesus famous to the next generation of Hondurans,” 274 El Salvadoran youth (ages nine and up) and their leaders traveled to Honduras to minister in eighty-four Assemblies of God churches. The missions trip was known as Transformation Honduras 2006, and took place 8-15 April—the week before Easter. Don and Terri Triplett, missionaries to Nicaragua and El Salvador and leaders of King’s Castle Ministries, recruited the young people for the mission. The purpose of King’s Castle Ministries is to raise up an army of young, Spirit-filled warriors who will “invade Latin America with the simple message that Jesus saves and is coming soon.” The teams held 373 services throughout the week with a total attendance of 48,289 people. (Assemblies of God News)
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SOUTH AFRICA
The Trainers of Pastors International Coalition (TOPIC) is coordinating a leadership development research project in South Africa to accurately assess the needs of Church leadership and the available formal and informal leadership training in South Africa today. The project will help training organizations better understand their potential students and provide leaders with a broad exposure of existing training opportunities. TOPIC is a network of training organizations committed to seeing every church with equipped pastoral leadership by 2010. (OC Africa)
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INDONESIA
Aid agencies around the world have mobilized to rush assistance to Indonesia’s island of Java where at least 4,900 people are reported to have been killed and another 200,000 left homeless by a powerful earthquake near the city of Yogyakarta. In Geneva, the global Action by Churches Together International alliance announced that the heads of the emergency units of its members in Indonesia had arrived in Yogyakarta following the 6.3-magnitude quake that struck on 27 May. “There was complete panic,” said Volker Dally, a staff member of the German-headquartered United Evangelical Mission who had arrived in Yogyakarta a few days before the quake struck. (Ecumenical News International)
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ISRAEL
For what is believed to be the first time, a Christian congregation in Israel is building its own church. Grace and Truth, a Reformed and Baptist church, is located in a Jewish area near Tel Aviv. The more than 450 congregants (of whom 150 are under the age of eighteen and 150 are new believers) are reaching out to Jews and Arabs. The building plan was hotly contested by Orthodox Jews; the property is now guarded twenty-four hours a day from those who would seek to vandalize the unfinished structure. Expenses for legal fees, security, insurance and changing demands of authorities have thus far made the completion of the building impossible. (Assist News Service)
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SUDAN
After nearly twenty years of civil war, Christians in the Sudan Interior Church (a church planted by Serving in Missions years ago) are seeking to bring restoration to the land. They are partnering with missionaries from Nigeria and Ethiopia to develop the country and disciple the Church. The missionaries will teach literacy, train teachers, start schools and disciple believers in the next three years. The vision is to raise the spiritual and educational level of those affected by years of war and to help them rebuild their nation and Church. (Serving in Missions)
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NEPAL
Christianity is growing rapidly in Nepal, despite a ban on conversions. When Chuda Bastakoti became a Christian twelve years ago, the people in his remote village would taunt him, shouting “Christian” as an insult. “But that has changed now,” Bastakoti said. “People do not look at me any longer with disdain when I go home.” Bastakoti works as a high school teacher in Katmandu. (Ecumenical News International)
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THAILAND
One of the most effective ways to share the gospel in South Asian countries where Christians are heavily persecuted is to demonstrate Christian love and to show a new way of living, participants at the annual World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission meeting concluded. The May 2006 conference in Bangkok, Thailand featured a round table discussion on religious liberty in Asia, with attendants from India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia. Reports from these countries revealed that the Church is growing despite a strong resistance to the gospel, and that an effective way of evangelizing is living out the truth. A representative from Bangladesh, for example, indicated that many joined the Christian churches saying, “We see you live a totally new life and it really appeals to us.” (World Evangelical Alliance)
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NORTH KOREA
To help North Koreans who are deprived of their religious freedom, the Korean Church has founded the Commission to Help North Korean Refugees (CNKR) in 1999 and has submitted a petition with ten million signatures for recognizing North Korean defectors as refugees. South Koreans Christians have also set up an organization called Save N. Korea; one of the efforts of this group is to set apart an international day of prayer for the twenty-five million North Koreans who need salvation. This year Sunday, 25 June 2006 has been set aside as the day of prayer. Please pray for those in North Korea, that the light of Christ will shine there.
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PAPUA NEW GUINEA
History was made in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in March as Nina Gunter, the first woman elected general superintendent for the Church of the Nazarene, ordained the first women in the Papua New Guinea Church. The three women, Pastor Clara Siune, Pastor Jenny Aisak and Chaplain Elis Kaui, were ordained 18 March at the Western Highlands District Assembly. This is a major historical event for the Church in PNG as the culture of the island nation is male-dominated. Commenting on the importance of the ordination, Kaui said, “Being one of the first three ladies to be ordained in PNG means a great spiritual breakthrough in the history of the Church of the Nazarene in PNG. This society is a male-dominated one, so being a woman in the ministry and being ordained is a great, great encouragement to the Church and to all women in PNG in the Church of the Nazarene.” (Nazarene Communications Network)
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UNITED STATES
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) has announced the results of a study called “Operation Access” that will have a profound impact on the spread of the gospel in hard to access areas. MAF’s Ghislaine Benny spearheaded the effort. It focuses on 364 sectors in sixty-four countries areas where people are unreached because of transportation, communication and other barriers. Benny says the results will help ministries around the world. The half-million dollar project is already being used by MAF. “The results are in the hands of all of our program managers, the MAF leadership and all of our operation folks—they are using that information as a basis for prioritizing where MAF will open a program.” (Mission Network News)
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SWITZERLAND
The World Council of Churches (WCC) says it is launching a three-year joint study project with the Vatican aimed at developing a shared code of conduct on religious conversion where charges of proselytising can trigger tensions in societies. According to Rev. Hans Ucko, head of the WCC’s interreligious relations office, “The issue of religious conversion remains a controversial dimension in many interconfessional and interreligious relations. We hope that at the end of this study project, we will be able to propose a code of conduct that will affirm that commitment to our faith never translates into denigration of the other.” (Ecumenical News International)
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UNITED STATES
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) unanimously voted in Ken Behr as the new president. Behr began his post 1 May, succeeding Paul Nelson, who served as president for twelve years. In its 27-year history there have only been four full-time presidents of the ECFA. Behr had been serving as chief operating officer at North Way Christian Community, a 3,500-member non-denominational congregation outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. (ECFA)
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UNITED STATES
More than seventy college campuses in the United States are now conducting days or weeks of 24-hour prayer for revival and spiritual transformation, said Jeremy Story, president of Campus Renewal Ministries. Story volunteered his time to program a database backend for a computerized calendar listing, which allows any campus to list its 24/7 prayer rooms and to be part of an unbroken canopy of 24-hour campus prayer. Recently one hundred major university campuses in China joined the network as well. “God is taking this worldwide,” Story said. (Youth Interceding for America)
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UNITED STATES
More than seven hundred Christians of diverse cultural backgrounds convened 27-29 April at the Rehoboth Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, for the sixth Ethnic Workers’ Summit, sponsored by the Ethnic America Network (EAN) and a local committee. The summit helped to equip and motivate North American Christians as they seek to reach out to those of different ethnicities in their neighborhoods. According to statistics from the US Census Bureau, by the end of the twenty-first century there will be no ethnic majority in America. (Atlanta Ethnic Workers’ Summit)
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