Today’s Headlines:

BELARUS CHURCH LEADER AGAIN FINED FOR ‘UNAUTHORIZED WORSHIP’

VENEZUELA DEBATES EXPULSION OF NEW TRIBES MISSION

WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE TAKES STEPS TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATIONS

AUDIO SCRIPTURES OPEN MINISTRY AMONG BLIND HAITIANS

COURSE FINDS COMMON GROUND BETWEEN SCIENCE, CHRISTIANITY

Today’s Top Stories:

BELARUS CHURCH LEADER AGAIN FINED FOR ‘UNAUTHORIZED WORSHIP’

Vasily Yurevich, the administrator of Minsk-based New Life Church in Belarus, has been fined a third time for leading “unauthorized worship.” The latest fine is for 3,825,000 Belarusian rubles (US$1,780) which is more than 10 times the average monthly wage in Belarus. The official text of the local court decision, released Friday, Oct. 7, points to disputed police testimony identifying Yurevich as the organizer of a Sunday service “by his outward appearance.” He was handed similar fines on Sept. 28 and in December 2004. New Life Pastor Vyacheslav Goncharenko, who also has been fined for unsanctioned worship, said that the church would continue holding services. The church also has been denied state permission to turn a vacant cowshed into a church building on the grounds that it is technically a cowshed. A number of other Protestant churches have also reported recent moves by state officials to limit their religious activity on the basis of technical violations. (Forum 18 News Service)

VENEZUELA DEBATES EXPULSION OF NEW TRIBES MISSION

Venezuelan President Hugo Ch ¡vez has been asked to reconsider his ouster of New Tribes Mission (NTM), and Bill Brownfield, the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, has offered to mediate discussions between NTM and Venezuela.

In Venezuela’s congress, National Assembly lawmaker Vestalia de Araujo has given support to NTM and has called for further investigation into NTM’s ministry. He, along with the Evangelical council of Venezuela, has asked the government to open an investigation that follows due process.

Media reports have listed various accusations against the group, ranging from ties to evangelist Pat Robertson to CIA covert operations to greedy missionaries. But New Tribe’s Nita Zelenak says the accusations they’re hearing are actually a rehash of 30 years ago.

“There were a number of things that New Tribes was accused of doing,” she said. “The government went in and investigated, and we were exonerated of all the accusations. They were proved to be false.”

While NTM continues to face a campaign of misinformation, Zelenak says the ministry is hoping for a chance to talk to Ch ¡vez and explain the ministry’s real work in Venezuela that has focused on indigenous peoples for the past 59 years.

“We go in, learn their language, learn their culture, teach literacy, teach the Bible, translate the Bible, that type of thing,” she explained. “We also do community development, but we’re in no way involved with any government agency.”

Sources: Mission Network News, New Tribes Mission

* HCJB World Radio worked with local partners to establish a Christian station in La Morita, Venezuela, in 2000. Partner stations in two additional Venezuelan cities are also affiliated with ALAS, the ministry’s Latin American satellite radio network with 89 outlets in 17 countries.

WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE TAKES STEPS TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATIONS

The establishment of three additional offices, the creation of an international leadership team, the strengthened financial commitment of donors, and the incorporation of six new members are some of the new developments within the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA). International Director Geoff Tunnicliffe gave this report to members of the European Evangelical Alliance during its annual meeting in Tavira, Portugal, Oct. 19-23. “We are continuing to network, resource and serve our members and the broader global evangelical community so they can be informed and empowered by the World Evangelical Alliance,” said Tunnicliffe who was appointed to his position in May. “We are increasing external and internal communications, clarifying the role of our alliances, commissions, affiliates and associates, and engaging in strategic global conversations and initiatives,” he said. These initiatives include dialogues with the U.N. regarding global poverty and conversations with both ecumenical and governmental groups on religious liberty and human rights. (Assist News Service/World Evangelical Alliance)

AUDIO SCRIPTURES OPEN MINISTRY AMONG BLIND HAITIANS

A blind pastor in Kreyol, Haiti, has learned how to use the “Tape Talk 2,” a wind-up player he received from the health center along with a set of New Testaments. This is an outreach of Audio Scripture Ministries (ASM) to those considered to be in society’s exiles — a new avenue previously unexplored. ASM Executive Director Tom Dudenhofer says the pastor was a student at the Haitian Society for the Blind, an agency that has been working for more than 50 years to provide practical support to blind and visually impaired people. Much of what the ministry does revolves around helping the blind learn how to fend and care for themselves. “This is especially thrilling because here is a blind pastor who wants to learn how he can better minister to other blind people in an area where he won’t be getting rich ever, from this particular kind of work,” said Dudenhofer. Plans are being made to send more players in support of this evangelistic project. (Mission Network News)

* Staff members from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., are working with OMS International to establish a satellite radio network based at 4VEH outside the city of Cap-Haitien that will deliver programs to FM stations nationwide. Downlinks have been installed in Tortue Island, Pignon and Beaumont, and at least two more are planned. HCJB World Radio also helped partner World Gospel Mission with a small station in Port-au-Prince.

COURSE FINDS COMMON GROUND BETWEEN SCIENCE, CHRISTIANITY

The “intelligent design debate” often sees Christians and scientists as implacable enemies, but a group of students studying in a Macquarie Christian Studies Institute (MSCI) classroom in Australia search for common ground. Dr. Frank Stootman is the lecturer of the unit called “Science and Christian Belief: An Open Dialogue.” The course is open to university students and the general public in Sydney and Melbourne. Stootman, a physicist, is an associate professor at the University of Western Sydney. “Historically, science did not deny the existence of God. Many of the early scientists were Christians and took it seriously,” he said. “The Christian worldview has been very important in the development of science as we know it.” He added that “biblical Christianity argues that the knowledge of God has a rational basis in the same way as science does about the physical world. Whilst this may lead to tense debate, there is common ground that deserves to be explored by both sides.” The MCSI classroom exposes students to a range of philosophical issues which arise from modern physics and science. It then goes on to explore how these have changed our view of the world and how belief in God continues to be relevant. (Macquarie Christian Studies Institute)