wfn.org | ALC News Service Noticias 26 Oct 2003

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

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

ALC HEADLINES:
BRAZIL: Heitor Meurer new president of Lutheran communicators
ECUADOR: CLAI launches initiatives to overcome violence
PARAGUAY: ILO publication on domestic child labor
CUBA: Physically challenged woman receives special wheel chair from Joni 
and Friends
ECUADOR: President Gutierrez attends Evangelical worship service and 
prayers with Yiye Avila

BRAZIL
Heitor Meurer new president of Lutheran communicators

PORTO ALEGRE, October 21, 2003 (alc). Pastor Heitor Meurer, Communications 
Secretary for the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil 
(IECLB) was elected president of Lutherans United in Communication (LUC) 
and coordinator of the Brazil region for the next three years during the 
assembly held October 13-14.

Participants at the LUC assembly agreed to set up a web site that would 
link to other information services in order to disseminate news about the 
Lutheran world and encourage the exchange of information.

LUC is a Lutheran communication forum created in 1987 with support from the 
Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

The assembly, that addressed the issue Ethics of communication for the 
salvation of the world, modified the LUC perspective, with support from 
the Churches, said Pastor Meurer in an interview with ALC.

During the meeting they agreed to modify the LUC statutes, changing the 
pyramid-based structure for a more horizontal process that will strengthen 
networking. LUC, said Meurer wants to make is presence felt among 
Lutheran Churches in Latin America and the Caribbean.

By the next Bishop and Pastor Presidents Conference of Lutheran Churches 
in South America and the Caribbean, to be held in Brazil next April, 
Lutheran communicators will have responded to a questionnaire addressing 
nine themes related to the communication process in the Churches.

LUC is interested in discovering where communication fits in the life of 
the Churches, the goals and objectives of this work, the challenges it 
faces and how to address networking. With this information, LUC will 
establish priorities and a work plan for the next three years.

Regional coordinators were also elected: Atmlio Silva, from El Salvador, 
for the Mesoamerican region, Rosa Elena Cortis, of Colombia, for the 
Bolivariana region; Roberto Stein, of the Evangelical Lutheran United 
Church (IELU), of Argentina, for the Southern Cone region and Heitor 
Meurer, for the Brazil region.

ECUADOR
CLAI launches initiatives to overcome violence

QUITO, October 21, 2003 (alc). Reports from different international 
organizations have described Latin America as one of the most violent 
regions in the world raising a major challenge for the Churches, which is 
why we have launched some initiatives to overcome this situation, said 
Israel Batista, secretary general for the Latin American Council of 
Churches (CLAI).

According to Batista, 30 of every 100,000 Latin Americans are murdered and 
between 30 and 40 percent of women are the victims of domestic violence. 
Social violence is particularly strong in the Central American region, he 
said.

For this reason we are launching some initiatives, both in the area of 
conflict mediation and to address juvenile delinquency, said Batista. He 
recalled that in its last general assembly CLAI agreed to actively 
participate in the Decade to Overcome Violence.

In an article to be published in the upcoming issue of CLAIs Nuevo Siglo, 
Batista emphasized that the first initiative will be a conflict mediation 
and resolution workshop, to be held in Maracaibo, Venezuela in the second 
week of December.

Under the title Tools and Elements for Communication Conflict Resolution 
and Analysis, leaders from Churches and organizations will train to 
address community conflicts or situations of violence within their Churches 
or communities.

This training is highly important as it not only takes into account the 
current state of social conflict in Venezuela but also the possibility that 
the referendum will only further polarize the communities, said Manuel 
Quintero, director of communications for CLAI and coordinator of the Decade 
Against Violence Program.

The second initiative is a meeting that will involve hundreds of young 
people from different Central American nations to address the issue of 
youth gangs, a growing cause for concern in this region.

The event will be held in Honduras from January 28-31 next year with young 
people and representatives from Churches in Nicaragua, Guatemala, El 
Salvador and the host country.

These gangs are responsible for street fights, public disturbances, drug 
trafficking and consumption and theft. They also commit major crimes such 
as assault; rape, murder and some are reportedly involved in the 
occult.  In Honduras along, according to official and recent figures from 
the Community Projects Division, part of the polices Gang Prevention Unit, 
there are 31,164 members in 475 gangs.

  This total includes 23,907 men and 7,257 women, aged 13-20, although the 
majority are 16-21.

We want to facilitate a meeting space, a place to exchange experiences and 
to design possible actions that Churches and Christian groups can implement 
to confront youth violence in their communities, said Pastor Batista.

PARAGUAY
ILO publication on domestic child labor

ASUNCION, October 22, 2003 (alc). A new effort is underway in the country 
to lobby the Paraguayan press takes a new approach to domestic child labor, 
leaving aside sensationalism.

The effort, spearheaded by the Coordinating Committee to Eradicate Child 
Labor (COETI) and the Movement for Peace, Disarmament and Freedom (MPDL), 
held interviews with journalists and representatives from NGOs in order to 
correct the distortions and raise awareness about the problem of domestic 
child labor.

Among other things the two groups developed a manual entitled Domestic 
Child Labor in Paraguay: Guidelines for social communicators, published by 
the International Labor Organizations International Program to Eradicate 
Child Labor (IPEC).

The investigation reached the conclusion that Paraguayan journalism has not 
yet fully realized that children are subjects with rights and should also 
be considered citizens.

Moreover, despite the fact that domestic child labor involves more than 
38,000 Paraguay children the issue is still not on the agenda of 
communication media.

The survey also investigated the concerns of civil society organizations 
regarding the sensationalist, negative approach that tends to emphasize 
violence, when dealing with issues related to children and adolescents.

The ILO publication presents information about domestic child labor, the 
main international and national laws regarding child labor and the ethical 
codes of several journalistic organizations in the world regarding the 
issue of childhood and childrens rights. Moreover, it presents 
recommendations and basic guidelines so that Paraguayan journalists can 
improve their coverage.

COETI and MPDL will distribute the manual Communication program to prevent 
and eliminate domestic child labor and improve the working conditions of 
working adolescents in Paraguay, among the main journalists in the country 
during workshops that will be held at the different dailies.

CUBA
Physically challenged woman receives special wheel chair from Joni and
Friends

By Josi Aurelio Paz
HAVANA, October 23, 2003 (alc). A 23-year-old woman who suffers from a 
congenital problem that has confined her to a wheelchair received a 
special, life-changing gift when the Joni and Friends Ministry delivered a 
special wheelchair worth some US$5,000.

Given her physical difficulties an ordinary wheelchair did not resolve her 
problems. This week, however, she received a special delivery sent by Joni 
Earekson Tada herself.

Earekson Tada, supported by a group of friends has spearheaded a 
humanitarian ministry after an accident in 1979 confided her to a 
wheelchair for life. Since then she has brought thousands of wheelchairs to 
people around the world, giving a gift of independence and allowing them to 
reintegrate into society.

During their fourth trip to Cuba, the Joni and Friends team brought around 
300 different wheelchairs for physically challenged people in eastern Cuba 
in the city of Santiago de Cuba. The wheelchairs were then taken to the 
city of Bayamo in the province of Gramma.

A team, lead by Sandi Setlif, director of the Wheels for the World program 
in Dallas, Texas, was responsible for distributing the chairs in 
conjunction with local authorities from the Cuban Association of Physically 
Challenged people and representatives from the Cuban Council of Churchs 
Pastoral Committee for Physically Challenged people, a promoter and host of 
this initiative in Cuba.

During the event, organizers carried out cultural and fun activities with 
the beneficiaries, who also received a Bible.

Joni and Friends is a US non-profit organization that receives donations 
from people and organizations that include wheelchairs and other tools like 
walkers and walking sticks.

Their work is particularly focused on countries in the Third World, where 
poverty levels are high. During their four visits to Cuba, despite the US 
Embargo, they have received permission from the Treasury Department to 
carry out their work.

Last year Joni accompanied the team on her first visit to the country, 
preaching in three of the most important Churches on this island nation.

Recently, the Cuban government concluded a census to obtain real statistics 
about the number of people with some type of physical and mental disability 
in order to establish a local government strategy. In many cases this has 
involved the construction or reparation of housing.

The community of Babiney, in the municipality of Bayamo is one of the nine 
leading areas in the world with the highest number of deaf-blind people due 
to genetic disorders stemming from a high number of consanguineous 
relationships.

ECUADOR
President Gutierrez attends Evangelical worship service and prayers with 
Yiye Avila

GUAYAQUIL, October 23, 2003 (alc). Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez 
unexpectedly attended a worship service that brought together more than 
40,000 Evangelicals in the Modelo Stadium in Guyaquil to hear Porto Rican 
preacher Yiye Avila.

Aviva is one of Latin Americas most popular preachers and this week held 
an Evangelical tour in Ecuador. He preached one night in Machala, capital 
of the El Oro province on the Peruvian border and two nights in Guayaquil, 
Ecuadors main port.

The 46-year-old Gutierrez, who was sworn in on January 15, was accompanied 
by legislator Renan Borbua and provincial Governor Alberto Merchan. During 
the service he received a Bible from Yiye Avila.

The president lifted the Bible up high and later read from 2 Chronicles 
1:10 where King Solomon prays: Give me wisdom and knowledge that I may 
lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?

Gutierrez then called out to the crowd Who is alive? Christ they 
shouted back, adding and In His name Glory! breaking into applause.

However, some people attending the service did not approve of Gutierrez 
participation and heckled the president, reported the daily Expreso.

Avila interrupted the whistlers demanding more respect for the president. 
You elected him president. Rather than criticizing him you should pray so 
that he is able to follow the right path as leader, said the preacher.

He prayed for the president and asked God to give him victory and to help 
him govern with wisdom. Gutierrez then returned to Quito without speaking 
to press.

  Evangelical leaders attending the service said We our committed to 
continue praying for our leaders and in particular our president so that 
God may grant him wisdom, surround him with the correct people and give him 
courage to make wise decisions that benefit our country.

But in particular so that he be saved and his family life continue to be 
restored, they added.

Less than a year into his term, President Gutierrez faces political 
difficulties for breaking with the powerful indigenous movement that 
supported his candidacy.

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