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“Love Toronto” is calling for a Day of Prayer and Fasting Nov. 25. “Love Toronto” is a venture by the Ontario Board of Church Extension and the Canadian MB Conference Board of Evangelism. Their vision is to plant five reproducing churches in five years. They are asking for prayer for key church planters; for those who will be contacting and interviewing potential candidates; and for open hearts of people. – Board of Evangelism
Former US President Jimmy Carter is severing his ties to the Southern Baptist denomination because of its views on a number of issues, including the role of women. At its annual meeting in June, the denomination declared that women should no longer be permitted to serve as pastors. That declaration is not binding on individual congregations, but continues an emphasis begun two years ago, when the denomination declared that wives should “submit graciously” to their husbands. Carter, 76, said, “In my opinion, this is a distortion of Scripture. I personally feel the Bible says all people are equal in the eyes of God. I personally feel that women should play an absolutely equal role in service of Christ in the church.” Carter, who has been a Sunday school teacher since he was 18, said he will continue to teach and serve as a deacon at the Baptist church in his hometown of Plains, Ga. He and his wife Rosalynn will continue to associate with Baptist groups “who share such beliefs as separation of church and state . . . a free religious press and equality of women.” – Evangelical Press News Service
Photo courtesy of The Carillon |
Arson is believed to be the cause of an early morning fire Oct. 22 that destroyed the windmill at Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Man. The windmill has been a regional landmark for nearly 30 years. A passing motorist reported the fire, but, by the time the firefighters arrived, the windmill was entirely engulfed by flames. No estimates of damage were available. The mill was built at a cost of $100,000 and is insured for $250,000. The Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, which owns and operates the museum, plans to rebuild the windmill. – The Carillon
East Aldergrove MB Church in Abbotsford, B.C. has changed its name to Ross Road Community Church. Pastor Herb Neufeld says the name was changed because East Aldergrove used to be its own community but now has become part of Abbotsford. The church also hopes to broaden its target audience. – Ross Road Community Church
Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams were in Baab i-Zawiyye, Hebron, Oct. 21 when a taxi driver was shot in the head, 80 metres from an Arab demonstration. He is the second unarmed bystander killed in this area. On Oct. 13, a man was shot while observing rock throwers about 50 metres from soldiers. CPT is an initiative among Mennonite and Brethren congregations supporting the reduction of violence around the world. CPT has been in Hebron since 1995. – Christian Peacemaker Teams
Sang Gyoo Lee, a professor of church history at Kosin University in Pusan, Korea, was the recipient of the 2000 Frank H. Epp Memorial Fund award of $2000, presented by Conrad Grebel College in Waterloo, Ont. Lee is writing a study of Menno Simons’s writings, especially those dealing with peace and nonviolence, from a Korean perspective. Lee says that the Mennonite concepts of peace and nonviolence speak to the contemporary Korean experience as North and South Korea seek healing from the war that divided them in the 1950s.” – Conrad Grebel College
Chuck Swindoll, author and radio preacher, is recovering from a mild heart attack suffered Oct. 14. Doctors at a Dallas, Tex. hospital opened a blocked artery. Swindoll was released from hospital Oct. 18, his 66th birthday, and is expected to make a full recovery. Swindoll is president of Dallas Theological Seminary and senior pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Tex. – EPNS
News of 81 diagnosed cases of the Ebola virus in the Gulu district of Uganda has local people confused and frightened, reports World Vision. Local authorities have outlawed traditional funerals and tightened border patrols to keep the deadly virus from spreading to neighbouring Kenya. Ebola, spread through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, kills 90% of those infected. The disease causes fever, weakness, muscle pain, a sore throat, rashes, internal and external bleeding, organ failure and finally death. There is no specific treatment for the disease. By Oct. 17, over 40 people in Uganda had died in the recent outbreak. The death toll could be many times higher if the disease spreads to densely populated areas of the district, home to 400,000 people. The Los Angeles Times reports that one doctor and two nurses have already died from Ebola infection. Ten new cases are diagnosed every 24 hours. Since it was first identified in 1976, Ebola has killed about 800 people in Sudan, Zaire and elsewhere in Africa. – EPNS
Mike Trout, co-host of Focus on the Family’s radio show with Dr. James Dobson, left that organization Oct. 11 after he admitted he had an extramarital affair. He was senior vice-president of broadcasting and had been with Focus on the Family since 1982. Trout said that the affair was with a woman who was not an employee of the organization and that he has ended the relationship with her. His wife Nancy says she will stay with him. In 1987, Gil Alexander-Moegerle, a co-host of the show, resigned. He later sued, claiming he was pressured to leave because Dobson feared that his divorce and remarriage would harm the organization. Shortly before Trout’s resignation, John Paulk, a former homosexual and current advisor on homosexual issues for the organization, was photographed visiting a gay bar. Paulk initially said he didn’t know it was a gay bar, but later admitted he had been drawn in there out of curiosity. – EPNS
Rising flood waters have damaged homes and roads and destroyed crops along the Mekong River in Cambodia and Vietnam and along the Ganges and Hooghly Rivers in India. Hundreds in each country have died, and hundreds more are missing. Mennonite Central Committee is giving a combined $400,000 for emergency flood relief in the region. The worst flooding along the Mekong River in three decades has affected over 500,000 families in 20 Cambodian provinces, according to the Canadian Red Cross. Many are now living on roadsides in Phnom Penh, the capital. In southern Vietnam, flood waters are spreading north from the Mekong Delta and are not expected to recede for two months in low lying areas. MCC will provide food, blankets and other material resources to flood victims in An Giang province. In India’s northern state of West Bengal, flood waters washed away roads, railways and bridges. Over 15 million people have been affected. Through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, MCC will provide 500 tonnes of rice to be purchased in India. MCC will also provide additional food rations and large plastic tarps for shelter. Flooding in this province was due to heavy rains, a release of water from dams along the Ganges and increased deforestation. – MCC
A Haitian police commissioner and three former policemen were convicted in September of manslaughter in the killing of 11 people in Carrefour-Feuilles May 28, 1999. They were sentenced to three years in prison and fined an equivalent of $1,180 US. Former Mennonite Central Committee worker Ann Versluis interviewed the commissioner after his arrest as part of her work with the National Coalition for Human Rights. While the sentence seems lenient, Versluis said she was stunned to learn that a police commissioner was arrested since human rights abuses in Haiti are rarely punished. However, these convictions and the current trial of military figures for another high-profile massacre in Rabouteau, have given hope to human right activists in Haiti. Versluis has now returned to the US and is studying at Oregon State University. – MCC
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Last modified December 3, 2000.
© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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