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Although Mennonite Central Committee currently has no workers or program in Turkey, it is investigating ways to assist victims of the Aug. 17 earthquake there. It may work through the Middle East Council of Churches or through a Syrian partner. MCC is accepting donations for relief efforts in Turkey; it will use these either for its own work in Turkey or channel them to other relief agencies. – MCC
Elmwood MB Church in Winnipeg completed its music board’s project of singing through the 700 songs in the Mennonite Brethren Worship Together hymnal June 13. Initiated in September 1998, the first evening was entitled “100 or Bust.” Succeeding monthly Sunday nights had fewer songs. The words of new songs were first read, then the songs were instrumentally played or sung by a small group or soloist before being sung by the congregation. Some new songs were uncovered, including “The Lord’s Goodness,” which is now in the repertoire of the Gospel Light Singers of MB Communications. Attendance fluctuated from month to month. Those with perfect attendance were acknowledged by the church. – Bertha Klassen
Learning has been made easier for children from Albania to the West Bank, thanks to a record number of school kits sent by Mennonite Central Committee. As of July, MCC had sent 54,223 kits to children in nine countries in 1999. Along with the additional 31,325 kits MCC plans to send this year, the total is triple the average number of kits sent for the past seven years. The kits, cloth bags containing pencils, notebooks, rulers and other supplies, are distributed to orphanages, children’s shelters, schools for disabled children and refugee camps. For information about kit contents and drop-off points, phone (888) 622-6337 or visit MCC’s web site. – MCC
A Hindu-militant-turned-Christian has revealed details of a hit list of denominational targets compiled by his former organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which has been behind much of India’s anti-Christian violence in recent years. Groups mainly involved in evangelism were targeted, with Pentecostals, Brethren and Baptists at the top of the list. Other groups, such as Roman Catholics and Anglicans, were to be infiltrated rather than attacked. Each attack on a Christian is meticulously planned, and codes are often sent over the Internet. One RSS unit specializes in the interception of e-mail. An attempt was made in late April to kill the evangelist who helped convert the ex-Hindu. The new convert is in hiding because, “No one is allowed to leave the RSS and live,” he said. Founded in 1925, the RSS has approximately 750,000 members dedicated to “Hindutva,” an ideology that insists the Gangetic plain in India should contain only Hindus, and all other religious adherents should leave or be pushed out. – Compass Direct
Menno Penner, 42, a farmer/businessman from Belmopan, Belize, was taken hostage Mar. 17 by the guerrilla group American Battalion for the Poor (BAP). BAP said it kidnapped Penner because he is a Mennonite, a landowner, a businessman and a professional colonizer. BAP is demanding a $1 million US ransom for his release, and has threatened to kill him. Penner was taken hostage along with some of his workers, who were subsequently released. Penner stated in a Mar. 21 tape that his possessions were of no value to him and that his captors should be paid the ransom. Penner was recognized for his efforts in assisting El Salvadoran refugees in 1985. He and his wife Tina opened a room in their home for the newly founded outreach church in Belmopan in 1992. The Penners have four young children. This hostage-taking follows a series of incidents in which Mennonites and others have been robbed and had their homes broken into. In 1997 Denver Dueck, a Mennonite, was killed by hitchhikers on the highway near Spanish Lookout Colony, a Mennonite settlement 25 km from Belmopan. – Mennonite World Conference, Mennonitische Post
Cuban immigration officials at Havana’s airport denied Josh McDowell entry into the country May 21. McDowell, an evangelist travelling with 300 North American Christians, was told that his passport was not in order. Those travelling with McDowell, however, were permitted into the country. The Cuban Council of Churches, a government-sanctioned alliance of denominations, had invited McDowell in January to bring a group and some of his literature to visit churches. The group’s visit to Cuba May 21-28 coincided with the first-ever “Cuban Evangelical Celebration,” a national campaign of open-air preaching events held May 30 – June 20, but McDowell’s group was not planning to participate. Only Cuban nationals were allowed to give messages, and over 120,000 attended, including President Fidel Castro. Cuban officials knew ahead of time that McDowell’s group would be visiting churches and bringing Christian books and humanitarian aid, including medicines. While the medical supplies and literature cleared customs, an earlier shipment of 1.5 million books still remains in customs. McDowell plans to visit Cuba again with books and medical supplies. Between six and seven percent of the population in Cuba is evangelical Christian. – Compass Direct
After 15 years of military rule, President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Baptist, took office May 29 as Nigeria’s democratically-elected head of state. Obasanjo has pledged to reverse the corruption, discrimination and human and religious rights abuses that have occurred. Obasanjo previously ruled Nigeria 1976-1979 before a short-lived civilian government took power. He was jailed for criticizing the government during the mid-1990s reign of military dictator Sani Abacha. Obasanjo has established a panel to investigate human rights abuses that occurred between December 1983 and May 28, 1999, an era of Muslim-dominated military rule in Nigeria. He is also purging the military. Local governments are returning Christian mission schools to their churches in hopes of restoring the standard of education. Nigeria’s population is almost evenly split between Christians and Muslims. Muslims dominate in the north, while Christians dominate in the south. Some Muslims are claiming that, rather than being fair, Obasanjo is now discriminating against Muslims. – Compass Direct
The North Korean government issued an open warning to its people in May, saying: “Christian missionaries must be reported and ferreted out without fail because they are cunning wolves who serve as tools of imperialism.” A June 24 article in the Far Eastern Economic Review claims the warning was targeted at nationals who have become Christians after crossing the border into China. Once in China, they encounter teams of South Korean Christians who give them food, shelter and a Bible. Many return to North Korea. Thousands of North Koreans have fled because of famine, and many know to take refuge in churches. They can hide among China’s 2 million ethnic Koreans, and Korean Christians are defying the Chinese government’s request that all refugees be turned over to the police. North Korea has been an officially atheistic state since the mid-1950s, and its regime under Kim Jong Il remains hostile to religion. However, a severe famine since 1994, which may have killed up to 3 million of the 22 million inhabitants, has created a toehold for foreign Christian charities to provide aid. – Compass Direct
Without warning, the Turkmenistan secret police searched the home of Baptist pastor Vladimir Chernov in Ashkhabad June 9. Officials said they needed no reason or authorization to “inspect” the premises, which are also used as a church. 5,085 copies of 50 Christian publications and 106 audio tapes of sermons as well as other material, were confiscated and hauled away by truck. The church, like many Protestant churches in the republic, is repeatedly harassed for not being officially registered. Under a 1997 law, a minimum of 500 members is required for any religious group to apply for government registration. All groups except the Orthodox Church and officially sanctioned Sunni Islam are outlawed. Homeowners face heavy fines for holding unregistered religious meetings. In March, an ethnic Turkmen who converted to Christianity and joined the Evangelical Baptist church in Turkmenbashi was given a two-year labour camp sentence. – Compass Direct
Christians returning to Kosovo under the protection of NATO peacekeepers are finding what happened to their churches. In Pristina, all church buildings, whether owned or rented, were damaged and looted, but not totally destroyed; electronic equipment, fixtures and chairs are gone. Of Roman Catholics, the 37 priests and 80 nuns of the 23 parishes remained. In Stuble, a priest hid 20,000 refugees in the mountains along the border with Macedonia, giving them bread and medical care. Another priest sheltered 450 refugees from Drenica and Kline. In Bec, a priest endured repeated threats from Serb paramilitary gangs demanding the handover of Muslim refugees hiding in his parish. In Peje, a community of 100,000, Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity sheltered 50 patients who had been evicted from the hospital. On June 16 in Devic, KLA fighters looted an Orthodox monastery and humiliated the nuns. The rebels left just as French troops arrived. Numerous Serbian churches have also been destroyed. About 5% of Serbs are practising Christians. Two Serb pastors travelled to Kosovo in June and found Artur and Driton Krasniqi, brothers pastoring Pristina’s evangelical church, confined to their apartment during the air war because of the danger from Serb troops in the city. The church building was ransacked, but tins of baked beans and pasta were untouched in the pantry. – Compass Direct, Sightings (Public Religious Project)
Eugene B. Habecker, president of the American Bible Society of New York, is the highest paid chief executive among non-profit religious groups which report finances publicly. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a bi-weekly newspaper for non-profit organizations, Habecker is paid $180,000 US plus $45,463 in benefits. – Evangelical Press News Service
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Last modified September 28, 1999.
© 1999 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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