|
The Doomsday Clock now stands at five minutes to midnight, according to a January announcement by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS), an organization of scientists (including 18 Nobel laureates) which introduced the clock in 1947 to convey the peril posed by nuclear weapons. BAS moved the clock two minutes closer to the figurative end of civilization because of two major sources of catastrophe: 27,000 nuclear weapons in a world of violent conflict (2000 of them ready to launch within minutes) and the destruction of human habitats from climate change.
—release
Meat for trees: Subsistence farmers are planting hundreds of thousands of trees in the African country of Burundi and being compensated with canned meat, through a project supported by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). Replanting forests destroyed in the 1990s through civil war and over-clearing is vital to the local water supply. The “food-for-work” aspect of the project is very popular with farmers and government officials because of the country’s food shortages.
—MCC
85: That’s how many Canadians are serving in long-term volunteer roles at Mennonite Disaster Service’s 11 project sites between January and March this year. In addition to this record number of long-term workers, many groups and individuals are travelling south for short terms with MDS in the ongoing work of serving hurricane survivors of the Gulf Coast.
—MDS
Controversy over counselling: The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., flagship seminary of the Southern Baptist convention, has rejected the “pastoral counselling” model in favour of “biblical counselling.” Proponents of biblical counselling claim that sin and its effects are ignored in today’s therapeutic culture, and that efforts to integrate psychology with theology have failed. Opponents say it’s a false dichotomy and that the biblical counselling model, which originated with Jay Adams, abandons information God makes available through behavioural sciences.
—Christian Century
And controvery over Carter: Former president Jimmy Carter’s latest book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, has created a flurry of strong reactions. On one side is the resignation in protest by 14 members of a 200-member advisory group to the Atlanta-based Carter Center, accusing Carter of errors and of turning to “malicious advocacy.” On the other are voices like Jerry Levin, former Middle East bureau chief for CNN who now serves with Christian Peacemaker Teams, who shares Carter’s passion about “the terrible – and to an extent made-in-America – humanitarian and political crisis” in the Middle East, and says negative reactions show “the closer one approaches the flame of truth, the more likely one is to get singed or even burned.”
—Christian Century, Mennonite Weekly Review
North Korea has been named the worst country for Christian persecution for the fifth straight year, according to a comprehensive survey recently released by Open Doors, a ministry that supports persecuted believers around the world. “There is certainly no other nation in the world where Christians are being persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner,” Open Doors president Carl Moeller said. Following North Korea, the report lists Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia, and Maldives.
—Evangelical Press News
Smoking, obesity, and pedophilia are the three conditions currently seen as “socially sanctioned targets of ostracism,” according to Pat Corrigan, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University who has done extensive work on stigmas. His comments were made in reference to the question of whether Barack Obama’s cigarette addiction will negatively affect his chances to represent Democrats in the 2008 U.S. presidential race.
—Globe and Mail
The citrus freeze of January is affecting thousands of individuals as well as churches in California. The West Coast Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) are coordinating their efforts to assist in the affected communities with food distribution and other kinds of help. Donations can be directed to either agency.
—MCC, MDS
New crackdown in Eritrea: Police and military authorities jailed 68 more Christians in 3 round-up operations in the East African nation of Eritrea in January. These included both Protestant evangelicals and Orthodox renewal movement church members. The actions mark a widening pressure against Christians, whose freedom to worship has been outlawed for nearly 5 years.
—Compass Direct
Move beyond the “CNN syndrome,” where people think they know and understand the world because they watch the world. This was one of the encouragements Phill Butler, a former journalist with ABC News and founder of Intercristo and Interdev, who now heads visionSynergy, gave representatives from 11 mission agencies in his sessions at the Jan. 15–20 Council of International Anabaptist Ministries (CIM) conference near Pittsburgh. Participants reviewed the benefits, as well as risks, of partnerships in mission, and talked about programming in various regions.
—Anna Groff, The Mennonite
Compassion, care, and community are the words Mennonites usually use when responding to human need. But “New Lenses? A Mennonite Look at Human Rights,” a consultation sponsored by the newly formed Mennonite Human Rights Group (consisting of representatives from the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Canadian Mennonite University, MCC Manitoba, MCC Canada, and individuals), held in Winnipeg Jan. 13, suggested churches and agencies adopt human rights as a framework for their response.
—MCC, CMU
Photo: John Klassen |
The Dwelling Place, Kitchener, Ont., has a new home and a re-affirmed vision to live incarnationally among its multicultural, multi-economic neighbours. During a Jan. 21 “journey service,” the congregation trekked to its new home in the Victoria Hills Community Centre (pictured) from the public school where they had worshipped for 6 years. The service included singing, prayer, acts of remembrance, letters of encouragement from area churches, and a scavenger hunt for children to explore their new surroundings. The following week, the church held a retreat in its new location. A listening exercise revealed how God was answering their prayer, “Lord, how would you use us to your glory as part of The Dwelling Place?” The two events prompted members to declare God’s faithfulness and express renewed energy and hope.
—from report by Rich Janzen
Ministry team heads to India: On Jan. 14, Clearbrook (B.C.) MB Church commissioned a team for a month of ministry in India as part of Disciple Making International (DMI). They will sing and minister in churches and schools, visit churches and a hospital, and participate in construction projects. The team includes Art and Hilda Hamm, Hugo and Helen Neufeld and their family, and John and Eldonna Epp (not shown on commissioning photo).
MCC photo: Melissa Engle |
Education brings hope: Three children play happily at a preschool begun by a Mennonite Brethren pastor in a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia’s capital, that is marked by violence and poverty (see “From model to minister”). Many residents struggle to support their children, says David Bonilla, the preschool’s founder.
—MCC News
| 
