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A Signpost Evangelism Seminar will be held at Dalhousie Community Church, 5511 Baroc Rd. NW, Calgary on Feb. 8 and 9. Cost is $25 per person; $40 per couple. The seminar is hosted by Ridgeview Community Fellowship and Saddle Ridge Community Church, two MB church plants in Calgary. For more information, phone Dana Rempel at (403) 208-9287 or email Grant Galpin at ggshado@spots.ca or Elroy Senneker at senneker@direct.ca.
A Signpost First Things Workshop will be held at Dalhousie Community Church, 5511 Baroc Rd. NW, Calgary on Feb. 7. Hosted by Ridgeview Community Fellowship and Saddle Ridge Community Church of Calgary, the seminar addresses the core issues surrounding conversion. Cost is $25 per person; $40 per couple. For more information, phone Dana Rempel at (403) 208-9287 or email Grant Galpin at ggshado@spots.ca or Elroy Senneker at senneker@direct.ca.
A Shining Through Evangelism Equipping Seminar will be held at North Langley Community Church, 21015-96th Ave, Langley, B.C., Feb. 1 and 2. The seminar, sponsored by the Canadian MB Conference Board of Evangelism, is designed to help the individual engage others in discussions about issues of faith. For more information, contact the church office at (604) 888-0442.
Saddle Ridge Community Church in Calgary has a new email address: ggshado@spots.ca. Pastor couple is Grant D. and Carol Galpin. – Saddle Ridge Community Church
“Generations at Risk” is a Mennonite Central Committee project that will help churches in Africa deal with the AIDS pandemic. MCC plans initially to provide $770,000 for the project before May 2002, with more to come over the next 10 years. The funds will assist churches in counselling those with HIV/AIDS, caring for those dying of the disease, helping those orphaned by AIDS, educating churches and individuals about HIV/AIDS and making AIDS testing available. According to a recent United Nations report on AIDS, 2.3 million people in Africa died of AIDS in 2001, and another 3.4 million contracted the disease during the year. Over 28 million people in Africa are living with HIV/AIDS. Mozambique alone has half a million AIDS orphans. – Mennonite Central Committee
The British Parliament has passed emergency legislation banning human reproductive cloning. The bill passed its third reading by an overwhelming majority in December, although some MPs objected because the bill did not also ban therapeutic cloning. The government has promised to continue to examine the issue of cloning and bring forward further legislation. Eight other European countries have outlawed human cloning, but the European Union as a whole has turned down a proposal to do so. The US House of Representatives has passed a similar law, but it has not yet been passed by the US Senate. The Canadian government expects to introduce an anti-cloning law sometime in 2002. – Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, British Broadcasting Corporation
The Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre will be holding a Graduate Student Conference, “Issues in the Future of Anabaptist–Mennonite Scholarship”, in Toronto, Nov. 21–22, 2002. The TMTC invites current graduate students and recently graduated students in the area of religion to submit abstracts of papers they would like to present on the conference’s theme or they would like to use in a panel discussion on “Integrity of Faith and Scholarship”. For more information, contact: TMTC Graduate Student Conference, 47 Queen’s Park Cres. E., Toronto, Ont. M5S 2C3; email: mennonite.centre@utoronto.ca. Submission deadline is Feb. 28. – Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre
Bill C-36, the much criticized anti-terrorism bill, was passed by the House of Commons on Nov. 28. Parliamentary debate on the bill ended after only two days. The bill will now proceed to the Senate. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is still concerned with a number of provisions in the bill, although an amendment was passed accepting the EFC contention that an organization must be intentionally helping terrorists in order to be found guilty of facilitating terrorism. The EFC has requested an appearance before the Senate Committee. – EFC, National Post, The Globe and Mail, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
A study published in the September 2001 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine found that women receiving fertility treatment were more likely to conceive if they had been prayed for than if they had not. The study involved 219 women being treated in a South Korean hospital. They were randomly divided into two groups without their knowledge. One group received regular prayer by Christian intercessors, and the other did not. The women receiving prayer were nearly twice as likely to become pregnant as those not receiving prayer, and at rates higher than the normal rate for those receiving treatment at the same hospital. The results were reported by Rogerio Lobo, chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University in New York City. – Evangelical Press News Service
A Southern Baptist missionary in Lilongwe, Malawi was released unharmed hours after armed men hijacked his car and took him prisoner. Sam Upton was driving home Nov. 28 with fellow missionary Tom Patterson when the car was surrounded by four armed men. Patterson was pushed from the car, and Upton was forced into the back seat. After hours of driving, he was forced into the trunk. He was released 45 minutes later in a remote part of Lilongwe. He then walked to a hotel and called home. After his ordeal, Upton credited his release to the many people all around the world who had been notified of his capture and were praying for his safety. – EPNS
The danger of massacre remains high for Christians in Tentena, Indonesia following a foiled attempt by over 2000 Muslim extremists to attack them. On Nov. 25, Muslim Laskar Jihad forces launched a major attack in Poso, sacking four villages with bulldozers and other heavy equipment. They then planned to attack Tentena on Dec. 1. However, on Nov. 30, five truckloads of army troops arrived at Tentena to provide protection, and then drove on to guard other villages in Poso. On Dec. 1, the Laskar Jihad attacked two other villages between Tentena and Poso. The Indonesian government has promised to send in another 4000 troops. There are over 30,000 Christians in the Tentena area. This area in central Indonesia has had three years of Muslim–Christian fighting and 2500 deaths. – Compass Direct
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is planning to ship 1000 tonnes of food aid to Afghanistan in January 2002. The shipment includes 140 tonnes of red kidney beans and 860 tonnes of lentils, beans and chickpeas. The beans will be used as a protein supplement for Afghani families in refugee camps. This shipment is the second phase of a planned 5000-tonne response intended to help feed 400,000 people for six months. The shipment will be distributed by the Iranian Red Crescent Society, a sister organization to the Red Cross. – Canadian Foodgrains Bank
A “National Day of Reconciliation” was held Dec. 4 in Washington, D.C. for members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. It was a private event; no press or members of the public were invited. However, President George W. Bush and the justices of the US Supreme Court were invited to attend the evening event. Earlier, both houses passed a resolution supporting the event, where members could “humbly seek the blessings of Providence for forgiveness, reconciliation, unity and charity for all people of the United States”. Tom DeLay, one of the organizers of the event, said it was not about the terrorist attacks on the US, but about “a nation that has pushed God out of its institutions, out of its homes and out of its communities, coming back to God and showing God that we are a nation that honours and reveres Him.” – EPNS
There are currently 30 evangelical chaplains serving the Canadian Forces. The Chaplain General is responsible for recruiting, training and managing the 144 chaplains currently serving in the regular force and about 200 chaplains serving in the reserve force. The Chaplain General is a two-year position that alternates between a Roman Catholic and a Protestant chaplain. The current Chaplain General is Tim Maindonald, an Anglican who says he is open to evangelical expressions of the faith. His installation service was held in Bethel Pentecostal Church in Nepean, Ont., marking the first time such a ceremony was not held in a mainline church. Chaplains have been part of the Canadian Forces since the Boer War (1899–1902). Before a permanent chaplaincy was established during World War II, the Canadian Forces employed chaplains for specific conflicts. – Faith Today
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Last modified January 11, 2002.
© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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