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ALC HEADLINES:
BRAZIL: Statue of Luther to commemorate 180 years of Lutheran presence in 
Brazil
PUERTO RICO: Environmentalists and others lobby government to specify 
environmental crimes
NICARAGUA: Evangelicals lose fear of participating in politics
PERU: Churches must understand the current changes, said Brazilian pastor

BRAZIL
Statue of Luther to commemorate 180 years of Lutheran presence in Brazil

NOVA FRIBURGO, May 11, 2004 (alc). A bronze bust of reformer Martin Luther 
was inaugurated to commemorate 180 years since the founding of the 
Evangelical Community of the Lutheran Confession of Nova Friburg, the 
oldest Lutheran community in Brazil.

The aim of the bust, placed in front of the Peter and Paul Temple is not to 
revere the reformer as a saint, said synod pastor Rolf Sch|nemann of the 
Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in 
Brazil (IECLB). The aim is to honor a person who was called by God to 
witness the Evangelical truth with courage, said Sch|nemann

The bronze sculpture was done by Otavio Teixeira Mendes Neto and was 
financed by Luterprev, a private entity which also donated Luthers works 
to a public library in the city.

May 3, 1824, when the first German and Swiss migrants arrived in the 
region, is considered the date that the oldest acting Lutheran community in 
Brazil was founded.

In a service celebrated in the Country Club, IECLB Pastor President Walter 
Altmann challenged the Lutheran faithful to have a greater presence in the 
life of the country.

Perhaps we must recognize, as the IECLB, many times we do not allow our 
light to shine more intensely outside of our home, said Altmann.

We are commissioned to be communities of service and missionary and 
solidarity presence where we life. Our country and our society need this 
light, he added.

The local pastor, Armindo Muller, recalled that the immigrants who gave 
rise to the Lutheran Church in Brazil faced tragedy in the beginning.

Pastor Friedrich Owald Sauerbronn, who traveled with immigrants aboard the 
"Argus" and "Caroline", lost his wife during the trip when she gave birth 
to their son  Peter Leopold. The baby died two weeks after their arrival in 
Rmo de Janeiro. The first Lutheran service in Nova Friburgo was the burial 
of the pastors son.

Sauerbronn was pastor in the Lutheran Community in Nova Friburgo for 40 
years. He was replaced by Swiss theologian Johann Casper Meyer, who along 
with being pastor was a professor of Latin and Mathematics, a merchant in 
Petropolis and Carmo, alderman, president of the Municipal Chamber, justice 
of the peace and mayor.

The Lutheran community of Nova Friburgo received caravans from Rio de 
Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, states that make up the southeastern 
diocese of the IECLB. On May 4, the Municipal Chamber of Nova Friburgo paid 
homage to the 180 years of Lutheran presence in this city.

PUERTO RICO
Environmentalists and others lobby government to specify environmental crimes

SAN JUAN, May 12, 2004 (alc). Environmentalists and members of scientific, 
religious and legal communities lobbied the governor of Puerto Rico to 
specify what constitutes an environmental crime, included in the new 
Criminal Code approved by Senate a year ago.

Specifying environmental crimes will fill a legislative gap in the 
criminal arena and is in line with the Constitutional mandate to conserve 
and protect natural resources, said Jessica Rodrmguez Martmn, director of 
the Environmental Program for the InterAmerican Universitys Law Faculty.

The president of the Puerto Rican Council of Churches, the Rev. Hector Soto 
Velez, added that crimes against the environment are an expression of 
human sin, we are opposed to all environmental crimes. Therefore, we 
support that aggressions against the environment be specified as a crime.

Rodrmguez Martmn said that the majority of developed nations have adopted 
the environmental crime, in this aspect Puerto Rico maintains a marked and 
unjustifiable judicial delay.

The commission that drafted the new Criminal Code used international 
criminal law as a foundation for its work, in particular from Germany and 
Spain. Therefore, we call on the government to approve the clauses about 
environmental crimes as they were drafted, said environmentalists.

In a press conference, environmentalists publicized a statement distributed 
by the Home Builders Association, dated one day before the government said 
it was necessary to review the clauses on environmental crimes.

In response to the objections from the builders, Abel Vale, of Citizens of 
Karso said that to say that the approval of environmental crimes will 
affect the nations economy, is demagogic and false. European countries 
where they have been adopted enjoy an enviable economic health.

According to environmental scientist Luis Jorge Rivera Herrera no sector 
or individual should feel threatened due to the inclusion of these crimes 
in the Penal Code, unless they intend to break the law.

The governor has the constitutional obligation and the moral duty to 
defend the country from environmental crimes, from those who do not measure 
the consequences of their actions and aim to continue operating with 
impunity, said environmentalist Wanda Colon Cortes, of the Caribbean 
Justice and Peace Project.

In the press conference, attended by numerous environmental defense bodies, 
examples of environmental crime were presented.

In the Monte Verde urbanization in Manatm they denounced that the Planning 
Board, presided by Norma Burgos, authorized the construction of housing 
despite the fact that it is aware that there are caves and drains below the 
soil, risking the life, safety and property of the residents.

In Rio Grande, one builder deforested a hillside in front of the highway in 
Plamar. As a result, mud-laden water flooded dozens of property, and the 
families lost all their belongings and had to be relocated.

NICARAGUA
Evangelicals lose fear of participating in politics

By Trinidad Vasquez
MANAGUA, May 12, 2004 (alc). Evangelical pastors and leaders have lost 
their fear of participating in politics and are launching campaigns to run 
as mayors and aldermen in upcoming municipal elections in Nicaragua.

Several are running for the Nicaraguan Christian Way Party, even though 
this group is criticized by some Evangelicals for its supposed alliance 
with the Partido Liberal. The PCCN turned over a complete list of 
candidates to the Supreme Electoral Court in the first week of June.

Frank Sarria, the partys secretary of organization, said they will 
participate in municipal elections because that is what the grassroots have 
called for and that they have the backing of hundreds of pastors and 
leaders from different denominations and Christian ministries as they have 
lost their fear of participating in politics.

Sarria confirmed that the leader of the Assemblies of God, Elizabeth de 
Rojas is running for the mayor of Managua. He said he has the support of 
the Evangelical Nicaraguan Alliance.

In Leon, 90 kilometers from the capital and considered the second most 
important city in Nicaragua, Dionisio Martinez is running as mayor and 
Pastor Hilario Daniel Sobalvarro is running as vice mayor for the 
Pentecostal Church.

Baptist Pastor Jose Rivera is running is running in Chinandega, another 
important city in western Nicaragua close to Leon

Sarria noted that more Churches are opening their doors to Guillermo 
Osorno, president of the PCCN and legislator. This is opposite to what took 
place in 1996 when the National Justice party and some Churches blocked 
him, because they considered it a sin to be involved in politics, he said.

Sarria noted that the Presbytery of the Assemblies of God Church reformed 
one of the articles of its statutes; allowing its pastors and leaders to 
run as candidates. Another pastor recalled that the Assemblies of God, in 
the 1990s, criticized the pastors for becoming involved in politics and 
today, Pastor Roberto Rojas, is supporting his wife as a candidate for the 
mayorship of Managua.

PERU
Churches must understand the current changes, said Brazilian pastor

By Fernando Oshige
LIMA, May 13, 2004 (alc). We are living a time of profound change in the 
field of technology, science and philosophy and the Churches must 
understand this process that is taking place in the world if we want to 
carry out efficient evangelism and discipleship, said Presbyterian Pastor 
Oswaldo Prado.

Today we see the advance of globalization, the growing urbanization 
process, new communication technologies, such as Internet, changes in the 
labor world and even in the way we live our spirituality, said Prado in a 
conference May 12 during the 2004 Peru for Christ Movement Congress.

In order to advance in planting Churches and spreading the Gospel we must 
understand these changes that are affecting our society, said Prado, 
coordinator of the Brazil 2010 movement who had dedicated the past 20 
years to training leaders to establish new Churches.

The Peru for Christ Congress took place May 11-13 in the Andean Biblical 
Seminary of the Assemblies of God of Peru, with the participation of 
national and international leaders such as Jun Vencer, former secretary 
general of the World Evangelism Alliances, Tomas Morena, of Amanecer 
Venezuela, and Humberto Lay, of the International Fraternity of Christian 
Pastors of Peru.

Prado noted that Brazil, with 170 million residents, has 150,000 
evangelical Churches. The goal of Brazil 2010 is to reach 250,000 in the 
next few years. The vision is to have a Church in each city, province, 
neighborhood or tribe he said.

However, the numeric growth of Churches is not enough unless it is 
accompanied by a greater presence and impact in society. In Brazil, there 
are more than 30 million Evangelical believers (17-18% of the population). 
However, have people experienced a significant change, he asked.

He added that Churches must be the salt and light of the world and become 
involved in every sphere of society. The task of Christians is to 
transform the world, he said commenting on a quote from Charles Finney, 
promoter of the Evangelical revival in the XIX Century in the United States.

During his speech, the Brazilian leader insisted on the need for Churches 
to be aware of the concrete reality where carry out their discipleship work 
and to ask how God sees the city of today.

The Church, he said, has been concerned with preparing citizens for 
heaven and frequently lives a spirituality that is distant from the needs 
of the people. This is not how God sees the world, affirmed Prado.

The injustice prevails in our countries, poverty is rising, child 
prostitution levels are high, the family is in crisis and the Church cannot 
be far from this reality, he said.

God has another perspective for the city and the Church must be an agent of 
transformation, said the Presbyterian pastor. The poor and the marginalized 
are those that Jesus sought to reach, to give them dignity. The Churches 
must preach the Gospel, accompany the people of God in the world, but it 
must also service and promote holiness in the city, he concluded.

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