wfn.org | ALC News Service Noticias Jan 24 2004

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

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

ALC HEADLINES:
COLOMBIA: Evangelicals mobilize in the face of government plan to arrest 
Ricardo Esquivia
ARGENTINA: Authorities recognize Evangelical Luis Palau
MEXICO: Religious intolerance continues to affect Chiapas
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: God proposes the integral transformation of mankind: 
said Rene Padilla
CUBA: Patriarch Bartholomew I calls on people to not destroy creation

COLOMBIA
Evangelicals mobilize in the face of government plan to arrest Ricardo
Esquivia

BOGOTA, January 19, 2004 (alc).  Evangelical leaders and leaders from 
organizations that seek peace with justice in Colombia asked that the 
faithful lobby authorities to stop them from implementing a plan to arrest 
peace activist Ricardo Esquivia, accused of being a member of Revolutionary 
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

We have now received information from a variety of sources that government 
authorities are building a case based on fabricated and false evidence to 
arrest Esquivia and accuse him of being a member of the guerrilla, thus 
keeping him from carrying out his work. As part of this plan, their 
intention appears to be to use paid informants. This is similar to the 
course of action used against many other leaders of social movements, labor 
leaders and members of NGO's, who are now under arrest, according to an 
urgent call signed by Peter Stucky, president of the Mennonite Church of 
Colombia and Jenny Neme, co-director of the Justapaz organization.

Esquivia has been director of Justapaz and is currently national 
coordinator of the Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace, an 
organization created by Evangelical Churches to act for peace and to defend 
human rights. He has also been vice president of the Evangelical Council of 
Colombia (CEDECOL).

The current administration of President Alvaro Uribe Vilez has been 
implementing a policy of all out war against the guerrilla and has promised 
to win. In keeping with this policy, so-called security measures have been 
increased, as has the overall military apparatus. This includes a 
curtailment of Constitutional protection for human rights and due process, 
according to the urgent call.

Evangelical Churches work to defend human rights through diverse 
initiatives such a Justapaz, the Commission for the Restoration, Life and 
Peace and Cedecol. They seek to help the victims of violence, denounce 
abuse and promote a new society marked by justice and peace.

As a result, last year more than 40 pastors and Church leaders were 
murdered, leaving behind widows and orphans, according to the urgent call.

The call in favor of Ricardo Esquivia, member of the Mennonite Church, 
urged believers  to send letters to president Uribe, to Colombian 
legislators, to attorney general Luis Camilo Osorio, the high peace 
commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, to Interior Minister Sabas Pretel de la 
Vega and to Carlos Alberto Ospina, commander in chief of the armed forces.

According to Evangelical leaders, action against Esquivia, such as what is 
being prepared, contradicts the commitment that the Colombian government 
has signed to respect human rights and violates the right to religious 
freedom.

ARGENTINA
Authorities recognize Evangelical Luis Palau

BUENOS AIRES, January 21, 2004 (alc). In an act held in the Municipal 
Palace, the president of the Honorable Deliberating Council Mauricio 
Irigoin recognized well known Evangelical preacher Luis Palau as an 
Illustrious Visitor of the city of Mar de Plata.

Palau was born in Argentina but has been living in the United States for 
many years. He traveled to Argentina to participate in the Good Music, 
Good News festival that took place on the beaches of Bristol and Perla de 
Mar del Plata.

Participants were able to enjoy Jose Luis Rodrmguez, El Puma and other 
national and international signers include the Mexican singer Yuri, author 
and composer Rene Gonzalez, soloist Patty Cabrera and the Argentine music 
group Rescate.

The Mayor of General Pueyrredon, architect Daniel Katz, met with Palau in 
the Municipal palace. The meeting was also attended by leaders from 
Christians Churches in Mar del Plata.

Katz emphasized that members of Palaus team are doing a great deal with 
their presence and activities aimed at recovering the essential values of 
our society and collaborating with people, through Churches in our city.

He also emphasized the solidarity gesture of donating 40,000 kilos of food 
to be distributed among the neediest.

MEXICO
Religious intolerance continues to affect Chiapas

SAN CRISTSBAL DE LAS CASAS, January 22, 2004 (alc). Despite the fact that 
bylaws regulating the Law on Religious Associations and Public Worship were 
published last November 6, religious intolerance remains at a peak in this 
southern state of Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala.

It is now affecting Evangelicals from the community of Chempil, 
municipality of Huixtan, said Luis Antonio L. Herrera, manager of the 
Evangelical Ministerial Alliance of Upper Chiapas and president of the 
Radio Union of Chiapas.

Recently, Evangelicals from Chempil added a room onto one of their homes to 
hold meetings. They had the support of the Church they belong to, the 
Christian Shadai Group.

Community authorities were not in agreement and ordered that they destroy 
the extension even though it was inside the home of one of the faithful. 
They gave them two months to remove it or said they would remove it 
themselves.

The Evangelicals held firm in their decision and at the end of October were 
told that the period was up. On November 5, the municipal president of 
Huixtan arrived to deal with other issues. Evangelicals attempted to take 
advantage of the opportunity to address the problem but community 
authorities refused to take it up with the municipal president.

They agreed to address the problem on November 14. When Alonso Lspez 
Vazquez, Pedro Martmnez, Miguel Martmnez, Mario Martmnez, Reynaldo Martmnez 
and Luciano Vargas, from San Cristsbal de Las Casas, arrived, community 
authorities detained them arguing that they were not cooperating with the 
community.

According to Herrera, this argument is totally false as the only thing that 
Evangelicals do not cooperate with are religious festivals.

The issue went before government authorities and the Evangelicals were 
released 20 hours after being detained, in the midst of intimidations and 
threats.

In an assembly, where there were more than 100 people against six, they 
were forced to sign an agreement to destroy the house of prayer, to pay for 
the expenses of the detention and to file no complaints.

Later a state government commission was named to address the problem. 
Community authorities are trying to turn it into an agrarian issue in order 
to strip Alonso Lopez Vazquez of his land (owner of the land where the 
extension was built) and expel him from the community. .

The Evangelicals have gone to the Indigenous Justice Branch, which is 
investigating the facts.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
God proposes the integral transformation of mankind: said Rene Padilla

By Tomas Gsmez
SANTO DOMINGO, January 23, 2004 (alc). Gods purpose is human 
transformation in all its dimensions, Ecuadorian theologian Rene Padilla 
told Christian pastors and leaders from this nation.

God has proposed re-establishing all things in Christ. Given that mankinds 
fall affected all dimensions of life, the recovery must also involve all of 
life: God, neighbor and creation, said Padilla at a conference held in the 
National Library of Santo Domingo.

According to Padilla, the concept of mission was initially an individualist 
version of the Gospel that was defined in geographic terms. In order to do 
mission one necessarily had to cross borders. Today, this perspective has 
changed he said, as mission now involves helping people cross the border 
between not believing and believing. We are called to put Jesus style into 
practice in our evangelism.

The speaker criticized the evangelism that was carried out in America 
during the colonization. This model was carried out with the sword in one 
hand and the Bible in the other, he said. Violence and bloodshed were the 
characteristics of this conquest.

Later he said that Protestant missionary agencies developed a different 
missionary style that involved people who felt the call of God. However, in 
this phase the mission was geared toward saving souls and planting Churches.

Now, he said our aim should not only be to save souls and to sow Churches, 
our objective should be to ensure that Gods purpose is fulfilled and that 
our Churches be a community expression of what God wants for all of
humanity.

Padilla addressed what he considered a dichotomy between the pastorate and 
the laity. He recalled that one of the pillars of the Protestant Reform was 
the priesthood of all believers. Both Luther and Calvin emphasized the 
freedom of believers to approach God without intermediaries. Everyone in 
the Body of Christ are priests in the service of God. One of the most 
significant tasks of pastors is to encourage lay people to use their gifts, 
he said.

He emphasized that the community that meets in the name of Christ does not 
exist for itself and lamented the fact that we often fail to take advantage 
of the opportunity the Church has to have an impact in its community 
through the exercise of its gifts and ministries.

Every human need is a missionary field, he said. The priority fields are 
hunger, unemployment, drugs, prostitution and marital problems.

  A Church that carries out integral mission is a Church that responds to 
the needs of its community and is aware that it must be the model that God 
wants in the world.

We must not conform to a Church that only preaches the Word, that only 
talks about Gods love, that places much emphasis on adoration and does not 
put into practice compassion for others or offers the sacrifice of doing 
good works, he said.

Padilla remained in Santo Domingo for 10 days, invited by the El Camino 
Network, a group of Churches that practice integral mission in the 
Dominican Republic. He also shared a moment of Biblical reflection with 
personnel from World Vision.

CUBA
Patriarch Bartholomew I calls on people to not destroy creation

By Josi Aurelio Paz
HAVANA, January 23, 2004 (alc). Patriarch Bartholomew I, leader of the 
world's Greek Orthodox Christians, told Cubans Thursday that humanity must 
be a responsible steward of the environment and not destroy creation.

In the presence of Cuban President Fidel Castro, scientists and religious 
leaders, the Patriarch affirmed humanity is obligated today and in the 
future, to cultivate and protect the natural world that surrounds it, so 
that it remains healthy, productive, fruitful and beautiful for future 
generations.

Bartholomew I had traveled to Havana to consecrate the first Greek Orthodox 
Cathedral in Havana and said that environmental care cannot exclude 
science, because that would mean denying the condition of steward given to 
Gods creatures in order to populate the earth.

For this reason, he said, we are constantly promoting campaigns so that all 
people and governments become sensitive to the need to organize the order 
of the natural life where we live, respecting its capacity to regenerate 
and preserve itself

Gods perfect plan for the earth, life and the waters, has been affected 
by a constant, chaotic movement after the emission of pollutants, he said.

With our actions we try to dissuade those who are involved in this 
contamination, so that they seek ways to alleviate this evil, but this does 
not exonerate each of us from our own personal responsibility, he added.

Bartholomew I was referring to a series of summits his patriarchy has 
organized, on the foundation of the theological school of the Holy Trinity, 
which cooperates with diverse international organizations among which he 
mentioned the European Union.

It is possible to develop initiatives in favor of the environment in the 
largest communities in each region, come to local agreements on this 
material and ensure that they are fulfilled, he said.

If we forget this responsibility, we favor those who deny environmental 
preservation, he added.

Humanity must act appropriately in order to recover and restore what was 
lost, before the responsibility given by the Creator to exercise a good 
stewardship of his riches, said Bartholomew I.

I am delighted about the awareness about this issue that I found in the 
Cuban people and its leaders regarding environment care and we hope that 
this interest continues so that this beautiful island is preserved and 
appreciated by all and so that, based on its example, the world can 
interact in an appropriate manner, he concluded.

He also visited the Turkish Embassy in Cuba and met with the diplomatic 
corps in Havana. He also held a meeting with the head of the Cuban Council 
of Churches (CCC) Reinerio Arce Valentmn and leaders from Cuban Churches.

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