Today’s Headlines:

INDIA’S SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CASE ON DALIT CHRISTIANS’ RIGHTS

EVANGELICAL CHURCHES ISSUE STATEMENT PROMOTING PEACE IN COLOMBIA

CHRISTIAN SCHOOL CURRICULUM HELPS REBUILD HAITI

Today’s Top Stories:

INDIA’S SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CASE ON DALIT CHRISTIANS’ RIGHTS

India’s Supreme Court will again hear a case, Wednesday, April 5, regarding the end of discrimination against Dalit Christians who are now ineligible for “affirmative action benefits.” However, the commission appointed by the government to investigate this issue has stated that it will not release its report until the end of April. At the upcoming hearing, former law ministers Shanti Bhusan and Ram Jethmalani will argue that because India’s constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, the adoption of the Christian faith by Dalits cannot be used as a basis for withholding the affirmative action benefits enjoyed by Dalits of Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh background. The Supreme Court case, brought by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, sought to remove decades of discrimination against Dalits who embrace Christianity. Dalits, sometimes referred to as “untouchables,” are not considered as part of India’s caste system. If the court rules in favor of Dalit Christians, the government will be compelled to change the current legislation. (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

EVANGELICAL CHURCHES ISSUE STATEMENT PROMOTING PEACE IN COLOMBIA

Leading Protestant Christians in Colombia have issued a statement committing the church to the just resolution of a conflict that has claimed countless lives. In the last four years alone, more than 130 evangelical pastors have been assassinated in Colombia by different armed groups. At the annual meeting of the Colombian Evangelical Council of Churches (CEDECOL) in Santa Marta in late March, the group formally adopted the statement which commits the church to engage in the search for a just resolution to the conflict and to upholding principles of human dignity in their country. The statement calls on all parties to the conflict, including the government, to “heed society’s cry for an end to the armed struggle” and for those armed groups involved in peace dialogues to “continue their efforts in an honest and genuine desire to build a lasting peace in Colombia.” Ricardo Esquivia, national director of CEDECOL’s Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace said the document “marks the beginning of the evangelical church’s new position in its commitment to peace in Colombia.” The document states, “Peace is not achieved simply by laying down weapons, but by building conditions, a culture and a spirituality of peace.” (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

CHRISTIAN SCHOOL CURRICULUM HELPS REBUILD HAITI

After decades of poverty, social upheaval and political corruption in Haiti, Steve Geurink of Worldwide Christian Schools (WCS) says his organization can be a part of the solution. “What we see in Haiti is that there are many, many denominations and ministries that are coming in and seeing the need for education, but none of them were networking together,” he said. WCS partnered with a group called Christian Curriculum Consortium (CRECH) to develop a new curriculum that “pulled worldview and discipleship together.” This pioneering effort is expected to unite Christian schools under one curriculum that will have far-reaching effects on teacher training and cooperative efforts among various church and mission organizations. “It’s promoting a world and life view that looks at everything from the gospel message and then also the fact that you have to take care of the world around you,” Guerink explains. The curriculum is made up of six books, one for each grade from first grade through sixth. So far two of the books have been printed, two more are gong to press, and CRECH is raising funds to print the remaining books. (Mission Network News)