wfn.org | ALC Noticias 8 Aug 2004 Cuba, Brazil, Ghana, Dominican Repulic

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

ALC NEWS SERVICE  8 Aug 2004
E-mail: director@alcnoticias.org

CONTENT

GHANA: Elmina, A shameful page of history for the Church
CUBA: Teenager sends letter to George W. Bush
GHANA: Young people present message to general World Alliance of Reformed 
Churches
assembly
DOMINICAN REPUBIC: Latin American Theological Fraternity to hold 
continental consultation
BRAZIL: Catholics turn to telephone to transmit Evangelical messages

-----
GHANA
Elmina: A shameful page of history for the Church

By Fernando Oshige

ACCRA, August 4 (alc) - Elmina, a fortress-prison where millions of Black 
slaves were held before being shipped to Europe and the Americas between 
1540 and 1850, continues to remind people of one of the most terrible, 
shameful episodes in human history, in particular for the Church.

To enter Elmina, the first fort built by the Portuguese in 1482, on the 
Ghana coast, 200 kilometers from the capital of Accra is to confront a 
history of horror, similar to the annihilation of Indians in America and 
perhaps even worse than the Jewish holocaust during World War II.

On August 3, the 24th Assembly of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches 
(WARC) adjourned its regular sessions and the more than 800 participants 
made a pilgrimage to Elmina and Cape Coast joining more than 400,000 people
who come every year, in particular Afro-North Americans, in search of their 
roots and an ignominious part of human history.

Participants from more than 100 countries, delegates from 217 
Congregational, Reformed, Presbyterian and United Churches were stunned 
when guides spoke of the terrible humiliation suffered by men and women, in 
particular given the participation of the Churches, in the slave trade.

Over the course of those three centuries, Africa lost 60,000,000 people to 
the slave trade. Violently ripped from their homes, separated from their 
families, millions of men and women were held in the dungeons of Elmina,
Cape Coast and other reclusion centers built or obtained by the colonial 
powers of the era, first Portugal, then Holland and finally England, while 
they awaited slave ships.

Of the 60 million who were captured, only 15 million reached their 
destination. Many died in the cells and others at high sea, wracked by 
illness and brutal treatment. Millions of Africans were treated like mere
merchandise.

Around 1,000 slaves were held in Elmina for around three months prior to 
being sold to America or Europe. Each cell held around 50 slaves where they 
ate and attended all their needs.  The guide noted that those who were held
here for several weeks ended up walking on their own excrement.

Those who dared to resist were submitted to cruel torture. They were 
chained and abandoned, exposed to the harsh sun with no possibility of 
obtaining food or water. They literally died of hunger and thirst. The sick 
were
thrown to sea and the women, frequently raped by soldiers. The most 
beautiful were taken to the governor's house.

For the WARC group, one of the most shocking things was to visit the first 
Catholic Church built in Africa, constructed in the Elmina Fort, and to 
read verse 14 of Psalm 132 on one of the walls of the Reformed Church. 
Somehow, the religious of the time justified the slave trade and the 
suffering that soldiers of the different colonial powers inflicted on 
millions of people.

Given their silence and their justification of the slave trade, Christian 
Churches have much to repent, as in Elmina and Cape Coast they prayed and 
celebrated communion in the midst of the human misery that surrounded them.

According to US Presbyterian Pastor Mark Lomax "while children, men and 
women were transferred in slave ships to Europe, North America, Central 
America and South America, Christians from the reformed tradition were 
submerged in passionate moral debates, formulating the Westminster
Confession and making an effort to survive in climates hostile to 
Protestantism."

No body of Reformed believers, according to Lomax, made any declaration 
against the slave trade until the XIX Century.

During a visit to Senegal in 1992, Pope John Paul II asked God's 
forgiveness for this "unknown holocaust" in which "Baptized people 
participated who did not live according to their faith."

At the end of the visit, the inscription on a plaque was burned into the 
hearts of the pilgrims: "In Everlasting Memory of the anguish of our 
ancestors. May those who died rest in peace. May those who return find 
their roots. May humanity never again perpetrate such injustice against 
humanity. We, the living, vow to uphold this."

-----
CUBA
Teenager sends letter to George W. Bush

By Josi Aurelio Paz

HAVANA, Aug. 5 (ALC). As part of an exercise in spirituality at a Cuban 
summer camp, young people were asked to write a letter to someone real or 
imaginary and one Cuban adolescent wrote a letter to US President George
Bush that begins "Dear Enemy, I love you!"

In her letter, the 16-year-old girl expresses obedience to Jesus' command, 
to love even those who do us harm.

A student from the school of Art and a grand-daughter of Baptist fathers, 
Susana Rodrmguez Naranjo begins her letter by recounting the "special" 
conditions that George W. Bush grew up in. Without mentioning the name of 
the president, she summarizes the characteristics of the political leader
that the letter is addressed to.

The final paragraphs of the letter were perhaps the most poignant when she 
wrote, "when your hair is grey and when you look in the mirror your face is 
covered in wrinkles, look back and you will realize that you were also
marginalized by your desire for power, that led you to do things that put 
an end to cities, populations, entire religious and that the world you look 
upon at this time will be marked, forever, by all the things you inflicted."

"However,  you will also remember that a girl once wrote you a letter to 
open your eyes and when you are old and tired of doing wrong, I will be a 
woman struggling for the peace, justice, equality and union of people in the
name of God, a name you used to do wrong and one day that same God will 
bring you to justice,"	added Susana. She concluded by saying, "Until that 
day, I will not tire of telling you that I love you!"

Her grandfather, Baptist Pastor Juan Francisco Naranjo, who has passed 
away, also wrote a letter during the so-called Missile Crisis, in October 
1962, to North American mothers in the face of an imminent US invasion of
Cuba.

"Why won't they let us live in peace. The Cuban people are not an enemy of 
the North American people and we do not believe that North America is an 
enemy of our country. For this reason we appeal to you, why can't we be 
respected."

"Thousands of our young people will fall on the battle field and thousands 
of yours will not return home .Perhaps we will be destroyed, but even when 
we are overcome, what will be gained by this? What will the United States
gain by an action of this nature," asked Naranjo.

"Please, North American mothers, raise your voice in protest for the good 
of our children and your children (.) what glory could there be for the 
North American nation to destroy a small island like ours," concludes the 
letter
from Pastor Naranjo.

------------
GHANA
Young people present message to general World Alliance of Reformed Churches 
assembly

By Fernando Oshige

ACCRA, Aug 6 (alc). In a message to the 24th general World Alliance of 
Reformed Churches (WARC) assembly young people insisted that the 
international body prioritize the battle against economic injustice and the 
prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Representing the Reformed youth forum, 23-year-old Astrid Hardtke, of the 
Evangelical Church of the River Plate (IERP), said that young people dream 
of living in a fair world, in peace and harmony with nature. A world where
you can live in fullness, and we want to commit WARC in this effort, said 
Hardtke.

The youth forum, held in this city last July 27-29, also asked Reformed 
Churches for greater participation in preventing AIDS and in pastoral 
accompaniment. There are millions of young people with AIDS who have been
abandoned, without any hope of receiving medical attention and medicine and 
many are ignored by Churches, said the young people in a brief 
dramatization about this problem.

The 24th general WARC assembly is taking place in Ghana from July 30 to 
August 12, with the participation of more than 800 delegates, observers, 
guests and journalists from around 100 countries.

Churches look upon many young people with HIV/AIDS with mistrust and they 
often leave frustrated and filled with guilt because Churches said that 
AIDS is the result of sin.

At the same time, the forum demanded the Church leaders facilitate the 
participation of young people in the life of the Church, in particular in 
decision-making bodies. We want to participate in an inclusive Church and 
to grow as a community, said Hardtke.

At an international level they reiterated the importance of having a 
significant representation of young people in the WARC executive committee 
and in regional bodies and that the Youth Secretary and the Youth Affairs 
Committee be maintained, with the necessary funds.

"Young people are not only the future, but we are also the present and we 
want to participate in all the areas of action in the Alliance," they said 
in their message.

-------------
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Latin American Theological Fraternity to hold continental consultation

By Tomas Gsmez Bueno.

SANTO DOMINGO, Aug. 6 (ALC). Under the theme "Integral Testimony in a 
globalized World," the Latin American Theological Fraternity will hold its 
continental consultation from August 9 - 13 just outside of this city.

The consultation will bring together renowned Protestant theologians from 
different parts of the continent to address a variety of themes. Esteban 
Voth will speak about "Jesus Christ and his liberty," Omar Cortes will offer
a biblical meditation about "Jesus Christ and Evangelism," Lilia Solano 
will speak about "Jesus Christ and service" and Rene Padilla and Tito 
Paredes will offer a historical recounting of the FTL, among other 
presentations.

The specific aim of the consultation is to seek ways to accompany the life 
of local Churches and to re-evaluate the concept of integral mission. The 
liturgy will be carried out by Leonardo Alvarez. The FTL Chapter in the
Dominican Republic is led by Theologian Roberto Bueno, who manages a World 
Vision development project, an organization that is supporting the 
consultation.

The FTL is defined as an association made up of Christians committed to the 
life and mission of the Evangelical people in Latin America. Its objective 
is to encourage personal and community theological reflection based on the
Gospel and its meaning for Latin American people and society.

With this purpose it seeks to encourage thought and Evangelical actions 
according to the Word of God and the questions raised by historic reality.

Its aim is to create a forum for dialogue among the thinkers who confess 
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and are willing to reflect in the light of 
the Bible in order to communicate the Gospel in the midst of Latin American
cultures.

The FTL focuses on areas such as:  Bible and theology, ethics, Church 
history, faith and culture, Christian and theological education, pastoral 
ministry, integral mission, youth, family, gender, politics, religious 
pluralism, among others.

-------------
BRAZIL
Catholics turn to telephone to transmit Evangelical messages

By Micael Vier B.

PORTO ALEGRE, August 6 (alc) - As of October 6, 17 Catholic dioceses in the 
Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul will transmit the so called 
Tele-Gospel and the Tele Saint of the Day by telephone.

Both services are already available in the archdiocese of Porto Alegre, 
capital of the state and transmit messages of peace, tenderness, love and 
hope to those who dial the corresponding numbers.

The two services form part of the Words of Life Project, which was 
established a month ago in Porto Alegre, as a pilot plan. The two message 
services are receiving an average 300 calls a day. They will be officially
launched after some technical adjustments have been made.

The archdiocesan coordinator of Communications and director of the Words 
for Life Project, Gerson Schmidt, told ALC that the number of calls is 
increasing, which shows that the services has been well received by the 
faithful, confirming the expectations of the archdiocese.

"Many people have phoned to say that the Tele-gospel and the Tele-Saint of 
the Day offered light to their path and has helped them with 
their  problems," underlined the Project director, concluding that this is a
"swift and cheap way to take the Good News to the world."

The texts taped for the Tele-gospel will be renewed every three years, as 
takes place in Catholic Church liturgical texts. The Tele-saint of the day 
will be the same each year, although new canonizations will be taken into
account. The calls cost the same as a local call and the messages last for 
an average minute and a half, accompanied by a musical background.

According to Schmidt, the archdiocese of Porto Alegre does not have the 
resources to identify incoming calls. However, for the future they are 
looking at establishing a service to provide attention for the faithful. He 
said that the highest number of calls come between 9:00 and 10:00 in the
morning.

-------------
Latin American and Caribbean Communication Agency (ALC)
P.O. Box 14-225 Lima 14 Perz
Tel. (511) 462-0189 - Telefax (511) 463-2496
Correo-e: director@alcnoticias.org
http://www.alcnoticias.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tu direccisn de suscripcisn a este boletmn es wfn@igc.org
Para darte de baja, envma un mensaje a
english_weekly_alc-baja@listas.alcnoticias.org
Para obtener ayuda, visita 
http://listas.alcnoticias.org/lista/english_weekly_alc