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Today’s Headlines:

ARMED ASSAILANTS KILL EVANGELICAL PASTOR IN CHIAPAS, MEXICO INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS FEAR NEW ATTACKS DURING MUSLIM HOLY MONTH HEARING GIVES JAILED NEPALESE MISSIONARY HOPE FOR SOON RELEASE VISIONARY PASTOR OF CALIFORNIA MEGA-CHURCH DIES AT AGE 49 ONE IN 5 SERMONS ADDRESSES NON-CHRISTIANS, SAYS YMCA LEADER * GRADUATION, SEMINARS, NEW BOOK HIGHLIGHT EDUCATION MINISTRIES

Today’s News Stories:

ARMED ASSAILANTS KILL EVANGELICAL PASTOR IN CHIAPAS, MEXICO An evangelical Christian pastor on his way to a prayer service was assassinated last Friday near the town of San Juan Chamula in Mexico’s troubled southern state of Chiapas. Mariano D ­az M ©ndez, 38, a minister of the indigenous Tzotzil Evangelical Church, was traveling near the village of Botatul ¡n around 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, when heavily armed assailants stopped his automobile. Witnesses said it appeared that D ­az got out of the car and attempted to evade his attackers before they shot him to death. D ­az is the second evangelical pastor to die within two weeks. Sources in Chiapas say that pastor Jairo Sol ­s L ³pez was killed in the municipality of Mapastepec on Oct. 17. Since the advent of evangelical Christianity in the Chiapas highlands in the 1960s, caciques (powerful community chieftains) have used violent tactics to discourage its spread in indigenous regions. Scores of evangelicals have died, and hundreds more have suffered injury. Veteran human rights attorney Esdras Alonso expressed fears that the caciques are stepping up attacks against evangelical Christians. (Compass)

INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS FEAR NEW ATTACKS DURING MUSLIM HOLY MONTH The recent slaughter of Christians in Sulawesi, Indonesia, by Muslim terrorists raises fears that a religious bloodletting may be coming. Jemaah Islamiyah, a terrorist group with ties to al-Qaeda, is said to be regrouping to launch new attacks against believers, reported Voice of the Martyrs’ Todd Nettleton. “Apparently there’s some tradition among Muslims in Indonesia to use the holy month of Ramadan [that started Sunday, Oct. 26] as a time to attack Christians,” he said. “Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world, and there is a large segment of radical Muslims within Indonesian society.” Nettleton expects the Muslim persecution of Christians to continue and urges believers to pray. “As Christians live out their faith and their trust in Jesus Christ amidst these attacks, amidst these difficult times, I think Muslims and others who are watching say, ‘What is different about this person? How are they able to function in this situation?’ That also opens doors for sharing the gospel.” (Mission Network News)

HEARING GIVES JAILED NEPALESE MISSIONARY HOPE FOR SOON RELEASE Manja Tamang, a native missionary with Gospel for Asia (GFA) in Nepal who has served several years of a 20-year sentence for a crime he says he never committed, has new hope that he will be released next month. On Friday, Oct. 24 Tamang had an all-day hearing before the Supreme Court of Nepal during which much evidence was presented to establish his innocence. A GFA leader in Nepal calls this an “answer to prayer.” The final ruling on the case will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 9. GFA urges believers everywhere to continue praying about this case. (Gospel for Asia/Mission Network News)

VISIONARY PASTOR OF CALIFORNIA MEGA-CHURCH DIES AT AGE 49 Dr. Scott Bauer, senior pastor of The Church on the Way with a congregation of 12,000 in Van Nuys, Calif., died on Friday, Oct. 24, two days after suffering an aneurysm at the close the church’s midweek prayer meeting. He was 49. Bauer was a champion of multicultural and community endeavors, a bridge-builder whose leadership was instrumental in bringing together on a regular basis key Southern California Christian and Jewish clergy for prayer and fellowship. A prominent leader in the Foursquare denomination, Bauer became senior pastor of The Church on the Way in 1999 after serving as an associate pastor since 1982. Dr. Jack Hayford, the church’s founding pastor, has agreed to lead the church during this transition period. Bauer was a multitalented man of vision and passion. Among his many accomplishments, he was board chairman of The King’s College and Seminary; supervisor of the denomination’s North Valleys district; host of the daily radio broadcast, “Life on the Way”; key developer of Los Angeles Community Builders, Inc., helping to rebuild deteriorating communities and combat juvenile delinquency; and one of the founders of La Iglesia en el Camino, now the largest Spanish language congregation in the U.S. He planned to launch a television program on KDOC in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 2. He also planned to start a Friday-evening “alternative service” for young people between the ages of 18 and 24 in January. He leaves behind his wife, Becky (Hayford’s daughter), and three children, Brian, Kyle and Lindsey, as well as his parents. (Assist News Service)

ONE IN 5 SERMONS ADDRESSES NON-CHRISTIANS, SAYS YMCA LEADER Only one in five sermons is aimed at non-Christians, says Rev. Ulrich Parzany, general secretary of the German YMCA. He is also the main speaker of the European outreach project, ProChrist. In his report to the annual meeting of the YMCA, Parzany said his organization is striving to reach more young people with the gospel than ever before. He pointed out that the number of citizens without church affiliation is higher in the former West Germany (18 million) than in the former communist state of East Germany (12 million). The German YMCA has 260,000 members, making it the biggest Christian youth organization of the country. The 72 delegates meeting in Dassel Oct. 24 unanimously elected the 51-year old Karl-Heinz Stengel as president. He succeeds Hermann Soergel who died April 2, 2002. Stengel said his primary aim is to “contribute to the extension of God’s kingdom in the younger generation.” (IDEA)

* GRADUATION, SEMINARS, NEW BOOK HIGHLIGHT EDUCATION MINISTRIES October was a busy month for HCJB World Radio’s Education Division in Latin America, highlighted by a graduation, training seminars and the publication of a new book written by missionary Carlos Pinto that was co-published with Compassion International in Ecuador.

On Saturday, Oct. 4, HCJB World Radio’s Christian Center of Communications (CCC), a three-year program of higher education, held its 17th graduation ceremony in Quito with eight young Latin Americans receiving diplomas. This was the second class to graduate with diplomas both from the CCC and Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn. CCC Director Elsi Pe ±aranda, assisted by Latin America Regional Director Jim Estes, presented each graduate with their diplomas which are recognized by the Ecuadorian government.

Northwestern President Dr. Alan Cureton, in his first visit to the Quito campus, presented the commencement address and handed Northwestern’s newest graduates their diplomas. They received associate degrees in broadcasting/electronic media and Bible.

“It was God’s plan for you to attend this institution, to graduate, to use you as His tool to reach the lost, to tell others of Christ’s love and atonement,” Cureton told the Quito Class of 2003. “As you serve God in your vocation, know that He wants you to honor Him in how you conduct yourselves and in how you do your job. God wants our cultures to honor Him through honesty, integrity, character, faithfulness, loyalty, truth, honor and love.” As the branch campus continues to develop in the coming years, faculty and student exchanges between the St. Paul and Quito campuses will become part of the program offerings, he said.

Also representing Northwestern at the event were Dr. Timothy Tomlinson, dean of alternative education and HCJB World Radio’s newest board member; Dr. Paul Virts, senior vice president for media; Douglas Schroeder, vice president for business and finance/chief financial officer; and Dr. Harold Miller, provost/vice president for academic affairs.

The CCC has been an accredited branch campus of Northwestern since 2001. It offers a three-year college program that trains Latin American students in Christian communication, radio, TV and journalism. The 30 students enrolled come from Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Chile and Germany.

Also visiting from HCJB World Radio in Colorado Springs, Colo. were Dick Jacquin, HCJB World Radio’s vice president of support ministries, and Heide Jones, manager of stations relations. She was in Quito to meet with staff and lead a work team of WMBI (Moody) listeners from Chicago.

Jacquin said it was a joy to meet the enthusiastic young graduates who were about to step out into the world of their chosen vocation. “With their education in a Christ-centered communications program, the potential to grow the kingdom of God via the mass media is unlimited,” he said. “These young people are aglow with the passion to make this happen.” Jacquin added that it was “equally exciting to focus on our partnership with Northwestern and look to the future.”

Sept. 29-Oct. 3 the Education Division held its second annual theological conference at the Larson Center in Quito. More than 80 people attended the event that focused on Bible theology. Dr. Juan Stam, originally from the U.S. but nationalized to Costa Rica where he served as missionary for many years, presented workshops on “contextual hermeneutics.” Stam, a professor at Evangelical University of the Americas, has authored a number of books and Bible commentaries.

Oct. 3-28 staff members from Apoyo, a training ministry of HCJB World Radio and Leadership Resources International, presented workshops during a three-week training session in Pucallpa, Peru. This was part of a three-year program called TNT (Training National Trainers). Jim and Kathy Jo Estes joined the group during the second week of the workshop. Jim taught courses on church administration and leadership while Kathy Jo led workshops on domestic violence — its definitions and ways to counteract it — for wives of church leaders. The workshop comprised a cross-section of evangelical churches, focusing on training church leaders as well as teaching them to train others.

On Tuesday, Oct. 21, Carlos Pinto, education director for the Latin America region, presented his newest book at an unveiling ceremony in the Larson Center. Titled Nuestra Familia: Sus Distintos Momentos (Our Family: Its Different Stages), the book addresses the issue of the mission of the church and the family and its development as a unit through different stages. It is intended as an educational guide for pastors, cell groups and parents.

The 190-page volume, co-published with Compassion International in Ecuador, focuses on the challenges facing Latin American parents and families. It is also a biblical guide with questions for thought and discussion complete with pertinent Scriptures. In Ecuador the book will be used to work with 200 churches that are associated with Compassion. Compassion Peru and Compassion Bolivia also have agreed to use this book for leadership training with children’s workers. “The book is part of a larger program with the aim of strengthening Ecuadorian and Latin American families,” Pinto said. (HCJB World Radio/Northwestern College)

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* * * * * * * * * * * * * James A. Ferrier HCJB World Radio U.S. Ministries Communications Director E-mail: Phone: 1-719-590-9800 Fax: 1-719-590-9801 Web: http://www.hcjb.org http://www.beyondthecall.org * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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