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Freelance journalist Sue Careless was arrested Oct. 15 while taking pictures of the arrest of Linda Gibbons outside an abortion clinic in Toronto. Careless’s film was seized, along with the film from two other photographers at the scene. On Oct. 25, Rose Anne Hart, president of the Canadian Church Press, of which Careless is an associate member, wrote a letter to Ontario Attorney General James Flaherty and Premier Mike Harris to investigate the matter. An article by Careless appeared in the Feb. 5 issue of MB Herald. Her article “Hope Lost, Hope Regained” in Faith Today won the CCP award for best feature for 1998. – Canadian Church Press
Northside Community Church is the new name of the Mennonite Brethren church in Mission, B.C. Mission Christian Fellowship closed in February, and the B.C. MB Board of Church Extension restarted the church this fall. The new church meets where the former church met: 33507 Dewdney Trunk Rd., Mission, B.C. V2V 6Y3. Its phone/fax number is (604) 826-3299. The pastor couple is Ron and Marcella Redekop. – Directory Of B.C. MB Churches
The bodies of three New Tribes missionaries kidnapped in 1993 were not found by investigators searching the jungles of western Colombia’s Choco province during the week of Oct. 10. Personnel from the FBI, the Colombian military, the Colombian Attorney General’s office and the US Embassy dug over 600 holes on the banks of the Murri River in an effort to find the bodies of the three men. An informant from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had claimed the three men were murdered in 1995 and buried there on the order of Ivan Marquez, a high official of FARC, who reportedly also ordered their kidnapping. Richard Tenneoff, David Mankins and Mark Rich were kidnapped from their mission station in Panama and held in the Colombian jungles. NTM officials have reported no verified contact with the captors since a year after the missionaries’ disappearance. New Tribes officials say the informant is unreliable and it is possible the three men may still be alive. – Compass Direct
When the 161 passengers of the 1999 Mennonite Heritage Cruise learned that the former Mennonite Mädchenschule (girls’ school) in Zaporozhye, Ukraine, needed a new computer system for administration and training, they quickly donated the money. A Pentium II-266, a 15-inch monitor, an ink jet colour printer, a scanner and software were purchased in October for $1,200 US. The school was built in 1895. The passengers also brought along a large shipment of medicines for the Christian Medical Association in Zaporozhye. Pictured in the inner courtyard of the former girls’ school are (l-r) tour organizer Walter Unger, guide Natasha Zhuravel and principal Raisa Kruk. – Walter and Marina Unger
Two Mennonite Brethren church planting projects were launched this summer by US district MB conferences with support from Mission USA, the church planting and renewal ministry of the US MB Conference. Each project is supervised by a task force that includes representatives from MUSA, the district conference and the church plant. Tom and Amy Cartney began serving in July as church planters in Apple Valley, a suburb of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. He is a recent graduate of MB Biblical Seminary, Fresno, Calif. Phil Glanzer, pastor of New Hope MB Church in Minneapolis, is part of the task force. Kelly and Lorelie Cochrane are church planters in Bellingham, Wash. Both are graduates of MBBS. Previously, they were involved in lay ministry in Cariboo Bethel MB Church, Williams Lake, B.C. The Cochranes moved to the area in July. They are beginning their ministry with home fellowship groups, targeting families with young children. Steve Schroeder, pastor of Community Bible Fellowship in Bellingham, is part of the task force. – Christian Leader
A group of Timorese refugees in hiding near Jakarta are receiving assistance from Mennonite Central Committee. MCC has contributed $15,000 to an Indonesian church that is providing food, medical care and shelter while trying to arrange safe passage for the refugees to other countries. The Timorese, 54 adults and 24 students, have been working for Timor independence, and now fear for their lives. The situation in East Timor and among refugees in West Timor continues to be tense. There are reports that militia are harassing refugees in camps across the border in West Timor, where access by foreigners has been restricted. – Mennonite Central Committee
Mitsuho Michelle Ariga of Toronto has received the 1999 Canadian Japanese Mennonite Scholarship. Ariga is working on her doctorate in sociology and equity studies through the University of Toronto. The $1,000 award will help her complete her dissertation examining the overlap between trans-national adoption, citizenship theory and immigration policy. She says that there is no international mechanism regulating citizenship or immigration. Countries make their own decisions regarding the granting and revoking of citizenship. That means adopted children from other countries must meet immigration requirements. Some children adopted overseas are potentially rendered stateless, with no civil liberties until the process of naturalization has been completed, often a lengthy process. The Canadian Japanese Mennonite Scholarship was created in 1985 by Mennonite Central Committee Canada in response to the injustices suffered by Japanese Canadians during World War II. – Mennonite Central Committee Canada
A group of Mexican Mennonites have called for the “definitive closing” of the US Army School of the Americas. In a statement sent to Mennonite Central Committee’s Washington office, five Mexico City pastors and 28 church members say the school’s military teachings and practices are “a great violation” of the human rights of Latin Americans. The school, located in Ft. Benning, Ga., trains elite Latin American military officers. Many graduates of the school have committed human rights violations. This year, the US House of Representatives voted to eliminate most of the funding for the school, but the Senate did not take similar action; thus, funding was not cut. Legislation is being considered that would permanently close the school. In 1998, a group of Guatemalan Mennonites also requested the school’s closure. – Mennonite Central Committee
Paul Marshall, a senior fellow at Freedom House in Washington, D.C., has received the first-ever Evangelical Fellowship of Canada “Religious Liberty Commission Award for Service to the Cause of Religious Liberty.” Gary Walsh, president of the EFC, presented the award at EFC’s annual convention Sept. 23-24 in Calgary. Marshall, who formerly taught political theory at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto, is author of Their Blood Cries Out which documents the persecution of Christians worldwide. He is also chair of EFC’s Religious Liberty Commission. It has been alleged that more Christians have been killed for their faith in the 20th century than in the previous 19 centuries combined. – Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
A Hindu mob destroyed a church in Nepal’s holy city of Janakpur Aug. 28., a week after a Nepali man claiming to be a Christian desecrated a Hindu temple there. Local Christians say that Ram Prakash Mahatto was not a member of any known church. Doing their own investigation of the incident, they discovered that Mahatto was the culprit and handed him over to police. They also took out an ad in a local paper condemning the desecration of the Hindu temple. Four other Christians initially arrested in connection with the incident were released. Mahatto, considered to have a mental disorder, said that Jesus told him to do it. – Compass Direct
It is estimated that eight people are kidnapped every day in Colombia. About $165 million US in ransom money is collected by criminals who randomly take motorists from roadblocks. Foreigners are often targeted. An insurer estimates that kidnapping for ransom has increased from 791 cases worldwide in 1995 to 1,407 in 1997. These numbers do not include kidnappings for political or military reasons. In Colombia, government officials say that there was a 42% increase in reported kidnappings in 1998. – World Pulse
The number of evangelical churches in Cali, Colombia, has increased from 30 in 1980 to 600 in 1999. – World Pulse
FREQ FM is the name of a new Christian rock radio station in Winnipeg that began broadcasting Oct. 21. The low-wattage station received approval earlier in the week from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the body which regulates broadcasting for the country. Although there are about 10 radio stations in Canada featuring primarily religious broadcasting, FREQ FM is believed to be the country’s first devoted entirely to Christian rock. Christian recording artist Steve Bell praised the station’s innovation. FREQ FM is the brainchild of 32-year-old Jason Ryan, who runs a Christian private investigation service. FREQ FM has strict guidelines about what it plays: Artists must be professing Christians; the lyrics must promote a positive Christian message; the lifestyle of the artist or group should be Christian – and cannot be openly homosexual; and graphics on CD covers or other promotional materials should convey a positive, hopeful message. – Winnipeg Free Press
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Last modified December 6, 1999.
© 1999 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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