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A Pakistani Christian man who had converted to Islam in order to marry a Muslim girl was jailed in May in Pakistan and charged with blasphemy after he tried to return to Christianity. Kingri Masih of Sherabad faces the death penalty for defiling the name of Mohammad, the prophet of Islam. It is the first blasphemy case reported against a Christian since Pakistan Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf announced a restriction on the “misuse” of the blasphemy law on April 21. Under the new legal procedures, officials are required to carry out an initial investigation of any accusation of blasphemy before allowing police to register the case. For the past 16 years, police have had wide-ranging authority to register such cases simply on the basis of a complaint. In 1986, President Zia ul-Haq made Pakistani blasphemy laws much harsher, blurring the definition of blasphemy and making the death penalty mandatory. – Compass Direct
Documents alleging the detention of a Mongolian citizen of ethnic Kazakh descent on religious grounds have been termed a hoax by translation experts who examined them May 12 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The handwritten documents, all having what appeared to be an official seal, claimed that Marat Kojash had been arrested and sentenced to 13 years in a prison camp in November 1999 for spreading Christian propaganda in the remote Bayan-Olgey province of western Mongolia. Kojash, supposedly a medical doctor from the village of U-xusin, reportedly accepted Christ through radio broadcasts in the Kazakh language. He had been corresponding regularly with local Christians in Kazakhstan and apparently sharing Scriptures, literature, audio tapes and videos with others in his village interested in Christianity. The documents alleging his arrest were sent to the same Christians in Kazakhstan, and his arrest was reported by Compass Direct, a Christian news agency, in April. The Mongolian government has categorically denied the validity of the alleged case, claiming that it does not know anything about Kojash. Despite some local laws restricting religious freedom in Mongolia, there has been no known instance of police or court action on religious grounds. Meanwhile, Kojash’s true identity and whereabouts remain unconfirmed. – CD
Nazareth Village is a replica of the first-century town that Jesus would have known. Inspired by Nakhle Bishara, director of the Nazareth Hospital and an Orthodox Christian, the village will be developed over 10 years at an estimated cost of $60 million US. The board overseeing the project is composed of local and international members, including Christians, Muslims and Jews. The majority of the executive committee members are local Arab Christians. Leroy Troyer, a Mennonite architect from Indiana, is chair of a fundraising committee, and D. Michael Hostetler, another American Mennonite, is executive director for the project. Plans for the project include three compounds: a visitors’ centre to introduce people to the historical town, a “parable walk” through stone-terraced fields where local people in first-century garb will tell the stories Jesus told, and a village with authentic stone houses and a synagogue. To date, some hillside terraces have been built; olive and fig trees, donated by the government, have been planted; and a winepress, a watchtower and stone quarries have been unearthed by archaeologists. The project has received cooperation from the Israeli government, the city of Nazareth and the archaeological community. Teams of volunteers from the local area and North America have worked on the site. The official opening is in June 2000. – Canadian Mennonite
In a full-page ad in the Feb. 17 issue of Mennonite Weekly Review, nearly 700 members of the General Conference Mennonite Church, Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada called for the church to sanction covenanted, monogamous relationships between people of the same sex. The ad, called “A Welcoming Open Letter on ‘Homosexuality’ ”, stated: “We consider such unions loving expressions of the natural gifts of sexuality bestowed upon persons by the Creator . . . and that persons living in such unions should be included fully in the life of the church.” Signatories included pastors, college faculty and staff members and laypersons from across the US and Canada. Mennonite Weekly Review is an inter-Mennonite newspaper based in Newton, Kan. – The Mennonite
Over 125 million children do not attend primary school. Millions more get only a few years of education, and nearly 1 billion adults are illiterate. This is despite a commitment made by world leaders 10 years ago to provide basic education for all the world’s children by the year 2000. Now, they are renewing that commitment. At the World Education Forum in April, participants from 181 countries agreed that education must be a priority for tackling poverty. They also adopted a Framework for Action that seeks to ensure that no government committed to providing universal education will be held back by a lack of resources. Currently, only 1% of Canada’s overseas development assistance is spent on primary education. The Canadian Council for International Cooperation has asked the Canadian International Development Agency to increase this amount substantially. It would cost $8 billion a year over the next 10 years to make primary education available to all. That represents four days of global military spending or less than half of what North Americans spend on toys each year. – MCC Ottawa Notebook
One billion people currently do not have access to clean water. In 25 years, that number will triple, say experts from the World Water Forum. Water resources are under threat from unsustainable use, land use changes, climate change and pollution. Many countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East do not have enough water to maintain 1990 food production levels. At the second World Forum on Water, experts and politicians from 160 countries formulated a global Framework for Action. The Framework identifies five key areas: protecting and restoring water resources, maintaining food supplies, improving sanitation, meeting the challenge of urbanization, and improving flood management. A third World Water Forum is scheduled to be held in Japan in 2003 and a fourth in Canada in 2006. – MCC Ottawa Notebook
Jordan has suffered a harsh drought for the last couple of years, leaving its already depressed economy in even worse shape. The water shortage has decimated food production and left sheep farmers facing financial ruin. In partnership with Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Mennonite Central Committee expects to build 10 small concrete reservoirs in the next 12 months. After that, MCC hopes to continue funding three catchment projects a year through its revolving loans program. The concrete catchments are efficient because there is no seepage. Before MCC built one catchment in 1999, 14 families used water from a temporary reservoir to irrigate their fields. Now 28 families use water from a 400-cubic-metre catchment that cost $6,800 to build. The community paid 10% up front, received an MCC grant for 50% and will pay off the remaining costs in coming years. Water pours into the catchment through a pipe, drawing water from an underground spring about 200 metres away. MCC had hoped to build more catchments last year, but needed to divert funds from that project to buy forage for farmers, helping 64 families get their livestock through the summer.
Abu Atif and the concrete water catchment for him and other villagers at Wadi Araba. Before this eight families had fields here. Now 28 families are benefitting from the water in the catchment to irrigate their fields.
MCC Photo: Carol Thiessen |
Now, CFGB has contributed $45,000 to allow the catchment project to continue, using the same formula as MCC used. The catchments allow families to grow food year round, which they then can sell during the dry season. The beneficiaries are primarily Bedouin nomads, who raise sheep and goats and others who began settling around springs and planting fields beginning in 1976. Initially, MCC helped villagers develop plastic-lined catchments, but they needed replacing every year or two and were expansive to maintain. – MCC
The 20th century has produced the most refugees in history. Wars, civil strife, natural disasters and economic hardships are the primary causes of displacement. The United Nation estimates that 22.5 million people are now classified as refugees or “people of concern”. Less than 1% will be permanently resettled. In 1979, almost 25% of all new immigrants to Canada were refugees. By the late 1990s, that number was reduced to 10%. In 1999, about 22,500 refugees landed in Canada. Of these, 12,500 requested refugee status after arriving in Canada. In contrast to sponsored refugees, who were processed overseas, refugee claimants don’t have financial and social supports. Mennonite Central Committee has produced a new 30-minute video that encourages Canadians to be more hospitable to refugees. I Am Not A Stranger uses dramatization and interviews as a way to build an appreciation for refugees and what they have gone through. A discussion guide is included. The video is available from local MCC offices in Canada and sells for $39.95. – MCC Canada
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Last modified June 17, 2000.
© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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