| Message from the International Director, Geoff Tunnicliffe: |
|
Christ is Risen! He is Risen
indeed. This Easter we are once again reminded of the hope
we have in Christ. As I travel the world, I see members
of the WEA family living out this message of hope in spite
of the challenges of poverty, injustice and persecution.
It is our privilege to serve this global community. Why
not join us as we seek to speak for the voiceless and advocate
for the oppressed. Click
here to find out ways you can help. God bless as you
worship the resurrected Christ. |
|
 | Please click on www.amazinggraceresource.com
for movie trailer, church resource kit, related links, educational
downloads to accompany the launch of the movie. Join the Amazing
Grace Campaign – to carry on Wilberforce’s vision of
mercy and justice.
|
| General |
Date Change
WEA General Assembly 2008 - Thailand, October 25-30,
2008
We will keep you posted on
the details as they become available in the coming
months. |
|
Welcome
We are very pleased to welcome
Marion Kim and Nathanael Tran to the WEA team. Marion
takes over from Pauline Chang who has gone on to pursue
her post-graduate studies in Public Policy Management
at the University of California, Berkley. We deeply
appreciate the contribution that Pauline has made
to WEA’s communications strategy and we wish
her well in her studies. Nathanael takes over from
Samuel Lee as IT Manager for the WEA. He and his team
will coordinate IT services to the International Service
Center, WEA Commissions and Regional Alliances from
the IT Centre in San Francisco. Samuel will continue
his role as Executive Director of the IT Commission. |
|
The
Evangelical Training Database
New on the WEA homepage is
a searchable multi-lingual online database with information
on evangelical pastoral, theological and missionary
training courses world-wide. Anyone needing training
can search by subject, keyword, academic level, country
and region. Evangelical training providers can register
and post details of courses themselves – without
charge. |
|
Persecuted
Church Organizations Form Historical Network
At
a conference held from March 6-8 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands,
fifteen organizations including the World Evangelical
Alliance (WEA) met and formed 'The Religious Liberty Partnership
(RLP)' to find new ways of working together for the persecuted
church around the world. |
|
Micah
Challenge Halftime! Update
‘Blow
the Whistle’ officially launched on Thursday 15
March with a press launch to Christian media. On the panel
were Charles Badenoch, Chief Executive of World Vision;
Joel Edwards, Executive Director of the Evangelical Alliance;
Matthew Frost, Chief Executive of Tearfund and Rudo Kwaramba,
former head of World Vision Zimbabwe. |
|
“The
Jesus Tomb” – the naked hype
- by Paul L. Maier
Thanks for the profusion of e-mails
I’ve received over the last two days regarding the
Talpiot tombs discovery in Jerusalem, a.k.a., “the
Jesus Family Tomb” story. Some of you also suggested
that “life seemed to be following art” so
far as my A Skeleton in God’s Closet was concerned. |
|
Amazing
Grace: How Sweet the Sound
- by Lorna Dueck
Any time Christians organize to
take members of Parliament to the movies, there must be
something worth investigating. Three weeks ago, the Evangelical
Fellowship of Canada scored a coup by hosting MPs, senators
and parliamentary staffers at a preview of a movie that
lionizes a history-changing political battle. |
|
|
| Commissions |
| Religious Liberty: |
Papua,
Indonesia, The TNI and the USA
The Indonesian military (TNI)
has once again unleashed terror in the highlands of Papua.
Thousands of indigenous, predominantly Christian Papuans
have been ethnically cleansed from their villages and
driven into the inhospitable jungle where many will die. |
Eritrea:
Persecution Intensifies and Widens
In May 2002 some 20,000 Protestant
Christians found themselves in churches that had become
illegal when the Eritrean government banned all Christian
churches other than the Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic
and Mekane Yesus (Evangelical Lutheran) denominations.
Initially the Orthodox Church supported the repression.
However, during 2004, youths and then priests from the
Orthodox Church's Medhane Alem renewal movement started
to get arrested. The Patriarch protested, so the government
intensified its attacks on the Orthodox Church. |
Vietnam's
Crackdown Creates Watershed
The Vietnam government's crackdown
against human rights and democracy advocates (many of
whom are Christians acting upon their religious beliefs)
is not hidden nor is it subtle. It is bold, challenging
and hugely significant. |
Uzbekistan:
A new wave of serious persecution may be just beginning
The religious liberty situation
for Protestant Christians in Uzbekistan has deteriorated
markedly since May 2005. There are two reasons for this
and while one is well understood, the other is not. |
|
| Youth: Youth
Commission News, March 2007 |
|
|
| Partners, Alliances, and Associates |
ACMI'07: Conference
on Ministry among International Students
The North American Conference
on Ministry Among International Students, with 50+
workshops, is May 31-June 3 at St. Olaf College,
near Minneapolis, MN. A discount is available for
registrations made before April 10th. For more info:
http://2007.acmi-network.org
(Registration is limited to residents of North America)
For information about ACMI: www.acmi-network.org |
|
Micah Network: Asia
Pacific Consultation
You
are invited to the Micah
Network Asia-Pacific Consultation on “A
Christian Response to the Marginalized” being
held from 1-5 October, 2007 in Malaysia. This Consultation
will focus on the cross cutting issues of stigma,
HIV and AIDS, gender and advocacy. |
|
Canada: New
Report Published on Religious Freedom in Vietnam
The Evangelical Fellowship
of Canada’s Religious Liberty Commission (EFC
RLC) today released a 14-page report detailing recent
religious freedom developments in Vietnam. The document,
"Gaining Traction? An Update on Religious Liberty
Progress for Protestants in Vietnam," looks
closely at developments in 2006, described as an
important year in the struggle for religious liberty
in Vietnam. Deemed by some as a ‘watershed
year,’ progress was made by the Vietnamese
government in response to considerable international
pressure. The EFC RLC report provides detailed information
on developments in Vietnam to date, examining the
motivation for, and likelihood of effective follow
through on, three recent initiatives dealing with
religion, including the registration and recognition
of churches, particularly those of ethnic minorities.
"There have been some initiatives taken to
improve the state of religious freedom in Vietnam,"
notes Glenn Penner, chair of the EFC RLC. "However,
questions remain as to whether Vietnam will continue
its modest progress in religious freedom or revert
to its former repression. This report takes a closer
look at these issues, and provides key information
about on-going persecution.” The report is
available on the EFC website at: http://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/resources/resource_viewer.asp?Resource_ID=282 |
|
Carribean: Survey
among evangelical youth in Barbados on their sexual
pratices
The full
report is on EAC’s website and can be accessed
at: http://www.caribevangelical.org/pdfs/sexsurvey.pdf
If you are unable to get the report there please
go to www.caribevangelical.org,
then click on “Programmes,” then click
on “Advocacy” and it should be the second
document from the top. The media has also been interested
in the survey and I have done interviews already
with CBC TV and the Nation newspaper while the Advocate
newspaper has indicated they will call later today.
The survey was also picked up on wwww.caribbean360.com |
|
India: Dalit
Rights
The National
United Christian Forum (NUCF), organized a rally
today at the Jantar Mantar, as a public outcry against
the National Commission for SC/ST for its recent
rejection of the demand for reservation for Dalit
Christians and Muslims on grounds that untouchability
- the main criteria for reservation for the communities
- was peculiar to the Hindu religion only. |
|
Palestinian Territories:
Breakthrough
in Youth Worker Trainning and Reconciliation...
For many years Musalaha
put great effort into training Youth Leaders. In
2006 the Danish Israel Mission and Danish Youth
Council joined in helping with our youth leader
training project and the work increased tremendously.
Musalaha was able to send youth workers to Denmark
to be trained and at the same time inform people
in Denmark about the ministry of Musalaha. |
|
New
Women’s Group in Prague
In
January, a new group of twenty women met in Prague,
Czech Republic for four days. The Palestinian group,
flying out from Jordan, arrived a day before the
Israeli group, coming from Tel Aviv. |
|
|
|
| WEA Resources | | The WEA Resource site is committed to assisting Evangelical Christians around the globe to distribute quality materials in many languages. Click here to view free downloadable Evangelical books, articles, periodicals, and training resources. |
|
|  | Sign up for WEA Newsletter: 
|
|
| |
|
