Lausanne World Pulse – News Briefs

AROUND THE WORLD: MAF Integrates Field Operations under One Entity
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is integrating its field operations worldwide under one international umbrella that will function as an operations entity. The new structure, which takes effect 1 January 2008, combines the field programs of the US-based MAF with the field programs of other MAF entities in Canada, Europe, Australia and South Africa. “The MAF leadership group and board of directors determined that MAF will accomplish more ministry as one organization than each MAF group does by operating independently,” said Kevin Swanson, MAF president in the US. “Coordinating, maximizing and sharing financial resources, aircraft and personnel to match increasing needs and opportunities around the world are the goals of the integration.” Since MAF is internationally chartered and registered, such a unified front will gain freer access in difficult places, explained Swanson. “This has already happened in Sumatra and Pakistan, where such relief coordination amplified the MAF impact,” he continued. The new structure for field programs will be led by three regional directors: Dave Bochman, Bill Harding and Chris Lukkien. The three also serve jointly as acting CEO until the appointment of an international CEO. (Mission Aviation Fellowship)

AROUND THE WORLD: Tucker Announces Retirement as CEO/President of TWR
After eleven years as CEO and president of Trans World Radio (TWR), David G. Tucker will be retiring 30 April 2008. Tucker is only the third person to hold TWR’s top leadership post in the organization’s 53-year history. Thomas Lowell, who preceded Tucker as CEO and president, will assume interim CEO responsibilities. Day-to-day operational oversight will be provided by the ministry’s 10-member Global Leadership Team. Werner Kroemer, international director for Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Middle East, has been appointed team leader. “We owe a huge debt of gratitude to David for his eleven years of dedicated service to TWR,” noted Lowell. “As we look to the future, TWR will be seeking an individual who can continue to build on our organization’s strong foundation of ministry while crafting a path that will ensure sustained growth and impact around the world for many years to come.” During Tucker’s tenure, he established a new global vision for ministry, known as the Global Strategic Plan, and oversaw the growth of TWR in an additional twenty languages. TWR has programs in over two hundred languages and dialects in 2,800 outlets around the world. Every day, TWR broadcasts reach millions of people in over 160 countries. (Trans World Radio)

AROUND THE WORLD: Original GoBible Available in New International Version
The Original GoBible, a powerful audio Bible that has modernized how people study God’s Word, is now available in the New International Version (NIV). Through a strategic partnership with the Fellowship for the Performing Arts (FPA), GoBible, LLC, will carry “The Listener’s Bible” read by critically-acclaimed narrator Max McLean. Weighing about as much as the AAA battery that powers it, the small hand-held device comes preloaded with the entire audio version of the Bible and is supported by new technology which allows users to scan through various books, chapters and verses of the Old and New Testaments by using an interactive menu. Currently, all other audio versions of the Bible are recorded and indexed at the chapter level only, while GoBible’s patent pending technology allows the user to search for, begin play and bookmark any individual verse. McLean is committed to recapturing the early oral tradition of telling the Bible story with clarity and power. Steve Johnson, global publisher for IBS-STL (International Bible Society-Send The Light), said of the partnership, “So many people in our modern world are turning away from the printed page. Because of this, we think it’s critical to reach people with scripture in new, innovative ways. The combination of the GoBible and the NIV as the most trusted English translation is a marriage that will reach countless people with God’s word in a dynamic, new format.” The Original GoBible is also available in the New King James and King James versions. (Christian Newswire)

CHINA: Communist Party Includes the Word “Religion” in its Constitution
A group of Asian and African Anglican leaders who have recently returned from a visit to China have praised a decision by the country’s ruling Communist Party to include the word “religion” in its constitution. “This is a recognition of the increasing role that the Church plays in the nation’s economic and social development,” the Anglican leaders said in a statement issued after their 21-30 October 2007 visit. State media said the change had been made to meet the demands posed by the “new situation and new tasks.” For quite some time, the Communist Party (which was officially atheist) discouraged religion. In recent years, however, Chinese leaders have said that religion can play an important role in creating a “harmonious society.” The term is used by the Chinese leaders to refer to the need for economic growth to be accompanied by social cohesion. (Ecumenical News International)

HONG KONG: Christians Need to Increase Charity and Social Services in China
Charity and social services not only help alleviate social problems like poverty and HIV/AIDS, they also help Chinese people to know about Christianity, said Qiu Zhonghui, general secretary of the Amity Foundation, a Chinese Christian volunteer agency. “In China, the basic need to feed and shelter thirty million people has not been answered,” Zhonghui shared at the October meeting of the Council of World Mission/Nethersole Fund in Hong Kong. “There are 300 million people in rural areas threatened by unhygienic drinking water. We believe that in sharing in Christ, more and more people begin to know what Christians are and know about Christianity.” (Ecumenical News International)

IRAN: SAT-7 PARS Drawing Millions of Viewers
It is estimated that at least two million Farsi-speakers watch SAT-7 PARS in Iran regularly. In the nine months SAT-7 PARS has been on Iranian television, countless people have come to Christ in this predominantly Muslim nation. SAT-7 PARS provides round-the-clock programming: twenty hours of Farsi programming and four hours of Turkish programming. Many believe this Christian station is the most watched satellite channel in Iran. One listener said, “I have not read the New Testament, or the Torah, because there is none in Iran, but Jesus Christ has made a home in my heart. I beg you to tell me how I can leave [my religion] and come to the religion of Jesus Christ because besides him, no one else has my life in their hands.” Programs include: Basic Principles of Christianity, Essential Steps to Christ, The Gospel of John, Who Is Jesus among the Prophets? and the History of Christianity in Iran. (SAT-7)

KENYA: Bible Agency Representatives Discuss HIV/AIDS
Nearly ninety representatives from thirty-two Bible agencies and organizations recently gathered for a consultation, organized by the Forum of Bible Agencies International, on Bible engagement in the context of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Discussions were guided by theologians and by personal stories of those affected by or living with HIV/AIDS. At the heart of the discussions was the need to address the feelings of loss and stigma that those affected often experience. “We were challenged to consider how HIV/AIDS can transform the Church and Bible agencies so that they are a sign of God’s kingdom,” said Kofi Agamah, United Bible Societies HIV/AIDS program manager for Africa. “Above all, we must look at the underlying factors of HIV/AIDS and take account of people’s individual contexts.” In a joint statement released at the end of the consultation, the agencies acknowledged the need to work together, guided by scripture, to address the challenge of HIV/AIDS. Among the commitments they made, they agreed to “work together towards greater understanding and responsiveness to those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS” and to “encourage approaches to the Bible that enable people to discover and experience its life-transforming and liberating power.” (United Bible Societies)

KENYA: Warning of “Christians” Using the Gospel for Personal Financial Gain
Religious groups in Kenya line up by the thousands to seek legal recognition as churches. But as the number of corrupt African preachers increases, Christian leaders are warning the public of those using the gospel for personal financial gains. “Groups masquerading as churches thrive in Kenya,” said Dr. Mwaya Kitavi, Bible League’s associate director of Africa ministry. “And the need for Bible-based churches is as great as ever. Many Kenyans are unable to distinguish genuine religious organizations from ‘big business’ under the guise of evangelism.” For some, establishing a church in Kenya means cashing in on freely flowing money, and many take advantage of the unsuspecting public. Bible League remains a constant source of spreading God’s word throughout Kenya. “Bible League’s ministry in Kenya began more than twenty years ago, and continues to flourish,” added Kitavi. “By coming alongside Kenyan churches and equipping their leaders with scriptures and training, we see first-hand the love of Jesus shining through. This is what Kenya really needs—churches founded on biblical truths and the gospel of Jesus Christ.” In 2006 alone, more than eighty-five thousand Kenyans completed Bible studies through Bible League ministry. (Bible League)

MIDDLE EAST: Religious Leaders Pledge to Protect Holy Sites
A group of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders from the Middle East has pledged to make the protection of holy sites a foundation of any peace effort for the region. “Each religious community should treat the holy sites of other faiths in a manner that respects their integrity and independence and avoids any act of desecration, aggression or harm,” ten members of the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land said in a statement following meetings in Washington DC. The leaders said they support the designation of Jerusalem’s Old City as a World Heritage Site and will “work to secure open access to the Old City for all communities, and seek a common vision for a city which all of us regard as holy.” (Ecumenical News International)

SWITZERLAND: Muslim Scholars Urge for Cooperation between Christians and Muslims
More than 130 Muslim scholars have said in a letter to Christian leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI and the head of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, that world peace depends on cooperation between Christianity and Islam. “Our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake,” the 138 signatories state in the letter, which is also addressed to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I and other Orthodox church leaders, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and the leaders of world groupings of Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed Christians. In a response to the letter, the Archbishop of Canterbury said, “The call to respect, peace and goodwill should now be taken up by Christians and Muslims at all levels and in all countries.” (Ecumenical News International)

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: WARC Calls for Assembly in 2010
Leaders of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches have proposed that a global assembly be held in the United States in 2010 to seal its union with the Reformed Ecumenical Council. “I hope this will give Reformed Christians a renewed sense of commitment to overcoming divisions,” WARC general secretary the Rev. Setri Nyomi told Ecumenical News International on 27 October 2007. “This will be a time when we can celebrate the sense of communion in the Reformed family…while also remaining committed to the ecumenical movement.” (Ecumenical News International)

UNITED STATES: Christian Leaders Gather for Historic Meeting with UN Head
Key Christian leaders came together in Arlington, Virginia, recently for a historic gathering attended by the secretary general of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-moon. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, international director of World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), was among a host of evangelical leaders who joined the Global Leaders Forum with Ki-moon. The event was convened by Micah Challenge USA and the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) to educate and inform evangelical opinion makers about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and emphasize the significance of the MDGs and their potential of making a lasting impact on poverty. It was also the first time Ki-moon has met church leaders on the MDGs since they were agreed by country leaders in 2000. “It is my hope that this event will help deepen the growing movement of Evangelical Christians around the world in responding to the injustices of extreme poverty,” said Tunnicliffe. “Further, it is my hope the UN secretary general became more aware of our shared commitment to see extreme poverty in the world halved by the year 2015.” Ki-moon addressed hundreds of Christian leaders from the Global North and South and praised evangelical institutions such as the NAE and Micah Challenge for their efforts in helping meet the MDGs. “We need the National Association of Evangelicals, the Micah Challenge and others in the faith community to help be a voice to the voiceless people. Your engagement can push governments to push through on their commitments,” he said. Micah Challenge is an initiative of the WEA, an umbrella organization representing three million churches worldwide, and the Micah Network, an incorporated network of more than three hundred Christian relief and development organizations. (World Evangelical Alliance)