wfn.org | ALC News Noticias 20 October 2003

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

ALC NEWS SERVICE
E-mail: director@alcnoticias.org

ALC HEADLINES:
ARGENTINA: Evangelicals surround city in prayer embrace
MEXICO: Mexican Evangelicals denounce violence against women
ECUADOR: CLAI leaders congratulates Pope John Paul II for the 25th 
anniversary since he became pope
BOLIVIA: Lutheran Church makes new call for unity

ARGENTINA
Evangelicals surround city in prayer embrace

ROSARIO, October 14, 2003 (alc). More than 25,000 believers from some 400 
Churches surrounded the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, in northern 
Buenos Aires with a 45-kms embrace.

The human chain was formed at the initiative of the Council of Pastors from 
this city in order to pray for the urgent needs of these times in 
Argentina: peace, work, family, young people and children.

The general event coordinator, Baptist Pastor Aldo Martmn, emphasized that 
the faithful were concentrated in 444 points in order to form a major human 
chain. The event was broadcast on three stations and the following day 
different newspapers, including Clarin of Buenos Aires and La Capital of 
Rosario, published stories about the unusual event.

This is not the first time we have prayed this way but it is the first 
time that we sought to join thousands of people together to give the city a 
physical embrace, said Pastor Martmn.

The unusual event was spearheaded by the Rosario Pastors Council, which 
includes a broad range of Evangelical denominations, which have been 
working for unity and at the service of the city for many years.

Faithful from neighboring communities also participated including: Villa 
Gobernador Galvez, Funes, Pirez, Granadero Baigorria, Capitan Bermzdez and 
San Lorenzo.

Participants joined hands for 5 minutes between 16:30 and 16:35 local time 
and Rosario was surrounded by faith and prayer.  Traffic came to a 
standstill.

The coordination center was the Monument to the Flag. An official bandstand 
was set up with authorities from the city, civil forces and government 
representatives in the province of Santa Fe. Participants sang the national 
hymn before beginning the prayers.

Hermes Binner, mayor of the City of Rosario took the stand to praise the 
event and congratulate the organizers and invite them to hold a similar 
event next year.

The activity formed part of a series of Evangelical meetings prior to the 
Festival of Hope slated to take place November 20-22 in the Rosario stadium 
with well-known preacher Franklin Graham.

Pastor Ruben Proietti, president of the Evangelical Alliance of Churches of 
the Argentine Republic (ACIERA) said that this embrace carried out by the 
Churches of Rosario, is worthy of imitation.

This is the first time that such a convocation was carried out and I think 
it fits in with other prayer activities that have been carried out and 
continue to take place across the country, he said.

Recalling the enormous Evangelical concentrations in the Obelisk Square in 
Buenos Aires, Proietti said that these activities demonstrate that we move 
with the same spirit, a key sign of what is happening in Argentina in terms 
of the social and spiritual commitment that the Evangelical Church has with 
our beloved country.

I believe that this prayer embrace for Rosario is another expression of 
the Prayer for the Nation that will take place next April in the different 
obelisks to be organized in every corner of Argentina, convened by the 
National Evangelical Christian Council, said Proietti.

MEXICO
Mexican Evangelicals denounce violence against women

CUERNAVACA, October 15, 2003 (alc).  A meeting with 32 Evangelical leaders 
from different denominations met in this city in central Mexico and agreed 
to lobby the government for the application of a just and efficient law 
that would defend women against violence.

The meeting, convened by the Latin American Council of Churches Women and 
Gender Pastoral under the slogan Health is freedom: an approach to 
reproductive health in a context of violence, published a statement Oct 4 
calling for the end to physical, psychological, sexual and economic 
violence against women, perpetuated by the machista culture in the country.

They denounced that a women is raped every two minutes in the Mexican 
capital and over the past decade more than 400 women have been kidnapped, 
raped and disappeared in Juarez, on the US border. This situation motivated 
a visit on the part of some US congressmen, concerned about the situation 
of violence on their threshold.

Evangelical women criticized the indifferent bureaucracy, those who are 
responsible for justice as well as the silence of the Church hierarchies 
and expressed its solidarity with the suffering of indigenous women.

The meeting was attended by an inter-disciplinary team, made up of a 
psychologist, a sociologist, a doctor, a theologian and other professionals 
who address several aspects linked to womens holistic health, including 
sexual health, abortion and the eradication of inter-family violence.

Pastor Judith VanOsdol, coordinator of the Women and Gender Pastoral 
emphasized the need for a greater commitment on the part of Churches in the 
battle to eradicate the problems of gender violence in Churches, 
communities and the society.

CLAIs Women and Gender Pastoral is promoting a series of national meetings 
with women from Churches in several countries in Latin America, in order to 
encourage dialogue that will lead to a culture of peace. These meetings are 
events held within the framework of the Decade to Overcome Violence, 
sponsored by CLAI and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

ECUADOR
CLAI leaders congratulates Pope John Paul II for the 25th anniversary since 
he became pope

QUITO, October 16, 2003 (alc). Dialogue and the search for unity among 
Christians has been strengthened thanks to the ecumenical testimony of Pope 
John Paul II who is celebrating 25 years of fruitful pontificate, said a 
message signed by the Rev. Israel Batista, secretary general of the Latin 
American Council of Churches.

The message was addressed to Msgr. Alain Paul Lebeaupin, Apostolic Nuncio 
in Ecuador and Msgr. Julio Teran Dutari, director of the Department of 
Ecumenism of the Episcopal Conference of Ecuador.

The road toward the unity of all Christians, unity that our Lord prayed 
for (John 17:21) finds formidable pitfalls in our sins of indifference, 
ignorance and arrogance, said the statement.

For this reason, Churches and organizations that form part of the Latin 
American Council of Churches have proposed, as their highest objective, the 
promotion of dialogue and unity of Christians, as a fundamental requirement 
for evangelism and a paradigm of hope for the peoples of the continent.

John Paul IIs initiatives, particular in the Ut Unum Sint encyclical and 
the Assis meetings have given a new and vigorous impulse to the efforts of 
Christians Chruches and other religions in search of peace and among the 
nations of the world, he added.

With his personal testimony, the Pope lived his proposal:  to firmly 
encourage the path to dialogue and mutual understanding, respecting 
differences, so that authentic peace can be achieved and people can meet 
together in a context of solidarity said Batista.

But if the Roman Catholic Popes testimony has been important in the 
ecumenical field, equally important were his reiterated and opportune 
denouncements of a system whose values did not recognize or flagrantly 
trampled on the dignity of human beings, made in the image and likeness of 
God, he said.

For this reason Pope John Paul II has been able to affirm that there will 
be no peace on earth as long as the oppression of peoples, the injustices 
and the economic imbalances continue to exist.

We give thanks to God for the life and ministry of a Pope who, in a 
crucial phase of our contemporary history, has been able to spiritually 
guide the Roman Catholic Church through a path of solidarity with the most 
afflicted sectors of the human genre, he said.

We offer special prayers on this 25th anniversary so that the Heavenly 
Father continues to richly bless Pope John Paul II and continues to give 
him the strength and wisdom necessary to carry out his valuable ministry of 
leadership and spiritual orientation, concluded the message.

BOLIVIA
Lutheran Church makes new call for unity

LA PAZ, October 16, 2003 (alc). Against a backdrop of a rapidly 
deteriorating social situation, the Bolivian Evangelical Lutheran Church 
(IELB) called on all sectors to seek unity and the end of confrontations.

This is not a time for people to try and be protagonists, it is not the 
time to point fingers. It is a time to put aside intransigent attitudes. We 
cannot continue accepting the death of innocent people, said an IELB 
statement.

As a Church institution we vehemently ask in the name of God. It is time 
to find real solutions and leave aside arguments; it is time to bring hope 
to the people; it is time to console the families who have lost their loved 
ones; it is time to heal the families and the wounded, the document stated.

We demand urgent and immediate unity in order to later carry out an 
indepth analysis about the current and future situation of the country, 
added the message signed by Humberto Ramos Salazar, president of the IELB.

The government and the union leaders refuse to budge. To date no one gives 
any signs of being capable of dialogue, a true dialogue that responds to 
the people, said the declaration.

The IELB called on senators, congress representatives, ministers, vice 
ministers, union leaders, civilians and politicians to put aside partisan 
positions and think of the country, to think of all Bolivians to bring 
peace to all their homes.

Mr. President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, it added You are recognized for 
your capacity to lead the people and in particular to hear all sectors, 
listen to the clamor and the cry of your people.

We firmly believe in divine justice and in the historic memory of the 
people who will judge and or reward those responsible for events in recent 
weeks. We have faith in the God of Life and History who accompanies, 
comforts and offers hope to the people, concluded the Lutheran declaration.

Meanwhile, news from Cochabamba, southeast of La Paz, reported other 
serious confrontations between demonstrators and the forces of order, with 
an unknown number of victims.

Leaders from the IELB reported that a young member of the Church, who was 
carrying out military service, died in one of the first confrontations 
September 20 north of La Paz. Many of our leaders and pastors, it added, 
are leaders from rural communities and union organizations and are directly 
involved in social conflicts.

Bolivian has been racked by social instability for more than a month. The 
number of lives that are lost and the number of wounded has steadily 
increased. The General Hospital of La Paz reached its maximum capacity and 
only God knows the real number of victims and future consequences, said the 
IELB.

The city of El Alto, populated by Aymara and Quechua people, has been the 
focus of confrontations since October 11. Previously it was paralyzed by 
road blocks and to date has the highest number of victims. According to 
different reports, close to 70 people have been killed and approximately 80 
percent are from the city of El Alto.

Since October 13 violence also spread to La Paz, Oruro, Cochabamba, Sucre 
and Potosi where the main highways are blocked despite the heavy military 
presence. The El Alto airport has not been operating since October 14.

Supplies in El Alto and La Paz are scarce, prices have quadrupled. Classes 
have been suspended.

Bolivia is a country rich in natural resources including natural gas. 
Bolivia sells gas to Argentina and Brazil and exports oil to Chile. 
Recently, the government has sought to sell natural gas to the United 
States and Mexico and was carrying out feasibility studies to determine 
whether the gas should be exported via Chilean or Peruvian ports.

In the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) Chile stripped Bolivia of its access 
to the Pacific Ocean. As a result, the population demanded that the 
Bolivian government not export gas via Chile. The request fell on deaf 
ears. Later, union, civil and political organizations called on the 
government to not sell gas to the United States, something the government 
also ignored.

The Bolivian Confederation of Campesinos then began to block the highways 
and a confrontation broke out September 20 in Warisata. Immediately 
organization in El Alto stepped up the pressure. This was aggravated with 
more protests and confrontations.

Today Bolivia is the midst of a social explosion. The people are calling on 
the government to strike the Hydrocarbons Law, (which without a doubt 
will benefit transnational exporters) and they are calling on President 
Sanchez de Lozada to resign.

On October 5 the IELB made a public declaration calling for reflection. On 
October 16, it called for demanding dialogue and a return to social peace 
in order to later seriously analyze the reality of the country and its
future.

We ask for your prayers. Many families have nothing to eat, said the Rev. 
Ramos. The Human Rights Organizations, the Federation of Bolivian 
Journalists, Churches and others are seeking to mediate the dialogue. There 
is an OAS representative in Bolivia. However, to date they have not been 
successful.

As a Church we pray so that peace be re-established, so that the population 
does not lose hope and so that God illuminate everyone involved so that 
they find immediate solutions, said the IELB president.

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