wfn.org | [ALC] Noticias May 8, 2005 Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru

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

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

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CONTENT

COLOMBIA: Chamber of Representatives decorate Evangelical pastor
PERU: Public lobbies Congress to name Ombudsman
ECUADOR: A Compassion Ecuador event emphasizes social activity of
Evangelical Church
NICARAGUA: In Pastoral Letter Evangelicals demand solution to political crisis

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COLOMBIA
Chamber of Representatives decorate Evangelical pastor

By William Delgado

CÚCUTA, May 6 (alc).	Pastor Jose Satirio Dos Santos received the "Simon
Bolivar Order of Democracy" from the Chamber of Representatives during the
inaugural ceremony to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Christian
Center in this city.

The award was given by Ricardo Arias, representative of the chamber who
said that it is given to "those people and institutions that achieve a
renowned role worthy of merit in the institutional life of our country."

"We are not just talking about a useful man, as his life has been very
beneficial to significantly bless not only the city but the country," said
the legislator.

During the celebration, attended by several national and international
delegations, a musical theatre show was offered that recreated the history
of the Church since its founding 1975 by Satirio Dos Santos, a pastor of
Brazilian origin who founded 42 Churches in the region and several
institutions such as the Ebenezer Academic School, the Biblical Seminary of
Cucuta and others.

The anniversary program for the Church in Cucuta will last until Monday May
9 and will include the "School of Latin American Leadership, Generation of
Conquest" to be attended by 1,500 local leaders from different cities in
Colombia and countries like Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Panama, the
United States and Mexico.

Speakers invited for the anniversary include Jose Wellington, president of
the National Assemblies of God Convention of Brazil, which represents some
15 million members, Mizraim Esquilim (Puerto Rico), doctor, master of
Biblical seminaries, writer and international speaker, Humberto Fajardo
(Colombia), national director of the Assemblies of God of Colombia.

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PERU
Public lobbies Congress to name Ombudsman

LIMA, May 6 (alc).  A group of leaders from civil organizations, officials
from the Catholic Church and Evangelical leaders sent a letter to Congress
President Antero Flores Araoz demanding that parliament fulfil its
responsibility and name an Ombudsman.

The position has been vacant for the past four years. Ombudsman Jorge
Santistevan de Noriega resigned November 28, 2000 to the position he was
appointed to by Congress in April 1996. Adjunct Ombudsman Walter Alban
Peralta has been responsible for the office ever since.

Several efforts to name an Ombudsman have failed due to political problems,
in particular given that the appointment requires approval from two-thirds
of the 120 member Congress.

The letter, sent to the speaker of the house expresses a "growing concern
regarding the delayed election of an Ombudsman." It added that "more than
four years have gone by and for reasons we do not understand, a basic
institution of democracy such as the Ombudsman does not have an elected head."

The statement was signed,  among others by the deans Manuel Burga, National
San Marcos University, Felipe Ortiz de Zevallos
(Pacífico University), Ilse Wistotzki (University of Lima) and the vice
dean of the Catholic University Marcial Rubio Correa.  It was also signed
by theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez,  former president of the Bishops'
conference Luis Bambarén and the head of the working group to combat
poverty  the Rev. Gastón Garatea as well as the president of the National
Evangelical Council Rafael Goto Silva and the leader of the National Union
of Evangelical Christian Churches of Peru Humberto Lay.

The letter indicates that over the course of these four years, the
Ombudsman has broadened and increased its work in line with the
population's needs. Its presence is increasingly significant in 36 cities
in Peru, which is reflected in the confidence that citizens have and in
local opinion polls.

However, it argues that Congress, in failing to elect an Ombudsman in a
reasonable time has not contributed anything to strengthening it. In this
sense, the current situation is an unjust treatment of the institution and
could affect the already weak institutionalism of the nation, the letter said.

Those signing indicated that their concern has grown in the face of diverse
factors that threaten governance in Peru, which tend to multiply as the
country heads into a presidential and congressional election period.
General elections are slated to take place in 2006.

"In the country, rights and liberties are at stake on a daily basis and in
this context there is an urgent need for vigorous institutions committed to
the people and their problems. The Ombudsman has a great deal to offer and
if today it needs our defense it corresponds to us as citizens to publicly
exercise it and to the Congress to address this demand, fulfilling its
responsibility before the people and the Constitution," stated the letter.

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ECUADOR
A Compassion Ecuador event emphasizes social activity of Evangelical Church

By Carlos Pinto and Miguel Toscano

GUAYAQUIL, May 2 (alc). While it is true that there are other factors of
importance, the direct correlation between increasing poverty and the
growth of the Evangelical Church stands out, said renowned social scientist
Adrián Bonilla.

The Evangelical Christian Church has grown in the past three decades,
affirmed Bonilla, director of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences
(FLACSO) in the V Encounter of the Evangelical sector for children,
organized by Compassion Ecuador which brought together 400 people in the
Unipark Hotel in this city.

Social phenomenon, like globalization, have provoked a social logic, where
the Evangelical Church assumes a timely position, responding to the visible
socio-economic gap, generating and implementing social development
programs, in favor of the community and the faithful.

In this way, said Bonilla, the Evangelical Church responds from a political
and spiritual community dimension.

According to the director of FLACSO, in the 1980s and 1990s, the expansion
of the Evangelical Church went hand in hand with the expansion of poverty
and desperation in Ecuador and other Latin American countries.

At the same time, researcher Mares Sandoval Vizcaino, who has a master's
degree in Anthropology from FLACSO, indicated that in recent decades the
Evangelical Church has achieved significant acceptance in Latin American
countries and specifically in Ecuador.

The organizational capacity, the growth of social services dedicated to
covering needs in grassroots sectors in the area of education, health,
attention to women and children, among others stand out, said Sandoval.

On the other hand, said Sandoval, it works as a thermometer because its
social programs are immersed in reality. At the same time, Sandoval
emphasized the value of faith, as a facilitator of conversion experiences
that provoke behavioral changes, improving the quality of life of those who
convert to the Evangelical faith.

According to the research carried out by Anthropologist Sandoval, marriages
and families have seen beneficial changes in the relationship between
partners and with their children, in particular those who have received
help with the area of domestic violence, and alcohol and drug addiction.

Finally, Pastor Cesar Parra, manager of the Compassion Ecuador program said
"we have progressed in our paradigms of a social ministry, ministries of
social development and integral mission to what we now call social
transformation programs."

The investigations and presentations from the mentioned social sciences
invite us to re-evaluate the faith factor, not a mechanism of intellectual
oppression but as a tangent factor that leads to social and spiritual
development.

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NICARAGUA
In Pastoral Letter Evangelicals demand solution to political crisis

By Trinidad Vásquez

MANAGUA, May 3 (alc). Representatives from four institutions that bring
together more than 120 denominations, Christian ministries, universities,
Churches representing 800,000 Evangelicals published a Pastoral Letter
April 29 expressing their profound concern about the critical situation in
the country due to recent events related to transport, and rising oil prices.

These organizations include the Pro Denominational Alliance Council of
Evangelical Churches (CEPAD) represented by Pastor Raul Davila, who said
that they sent letters to President Enrique Bolaños, expressing concern
about the crisis racking the country since January this year.

It was also signed by the Evangelical Alliance of Nicaragua, represented by
Mauricio Fonseca Sequeira, the National Council of Evangelical Pastors of
Nicaragua, whose president is Pastor Mario Espinoza and the Inter-Church
center for Theological and Social studies, represented by Pastor Adolfo
Sequeira.

The document calls on State powers, the mayors, those who represent
students, the transport sector, political parties and said that it supports
the social demands of the people but does not condone any type of violence
to resolve the conflict.

"We believe that dialogue is on the only way to reach understanding among
all the involved sectors," stated that pastoral and demands an integral
solution to the energy crisis.

It also proposes a true national dialogue with the participation of social,
economic, political and religious sectors.

Pastor Fonseca explained that this is not the first time the Evangelical
Unity Block has come together and now, in the face of the crisis in the
country, will continue to be united, offering a prophetic voice and
supporting the just causes of the people.
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