wfn.org | ALC News Service Noticias Nov 30 2003

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

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

ALC HEADLINES:
NICARAGUA: Cuba prepares for Christmas
URUGUAY: Postal stamp marking 200 years of Biblical Societies launch
PERU: Media interest in the Gospel is not a passing thing, said Quintero
BOLIVIA: Methodist World Prize awarded to domestic worker
EL SALVADOR: Lutherans demand electoral campaign with proposals

NICARAGUA
Cuba prepares for Christmas

By Josi Aurelio Paz
HAVANA, November 26, 2003 (alc). Despite the major needs and shortages, 
Cuba is preparing for Christmas with the typical festival spirit that marks 
this Island nation and its people.

The last few months of the year are marked by a type of effervescence that, 
despite the limited income of most families, leads people to look for 
things to give as gifts or to share with their friends and neighbors.

The first decorated trees have begun to appear early, in the most humble 
homes. These yuletide offerings are frequently adorned with decorations 
made from recycled material thanks to the creativity of a people that has 
learned to invent and struggle for daily survival.

The major shops are already filled with every imaginable electric and 
traditional decoration despite the fact that officially establishments do 
not decorate beyond what is absolutely necessary given that Cuba is a lay 
society according to its Constitution.

Christmas was recently reinstated as an official holiday in December 2001.

In Many homes, Cubans on foot, a popular term for those who do not have 
cars but use busses and other means of transport, bought piglets mid-way 
through the year and have been steadily fattening them up to guarantee 
their Christmas Eve feast.

People also try and paint their homes in order to ensure a clean new year, 
free of material and personal problems. At midnight on January 1, Cubans 
toss buckets of water from their rooftops as a traditional expression that 
better time are coming.

Those who have patios or gardens grow lettuce and yucca, a tuber of African 
origin that must accompany the roast pork and the congri, a dish that was 
also inherited from the Black people brought to Cuba as slaves in the XVIII 
Century. The dish combines white rice with black beans.

Meanwhile, the Church is also preparing, focusing on the more essential 
meaning of the date.

Churches are buzzing with choir and pageant practices where different 
actors are busy assembling their costumes.

For the third consecutive year the Ecumenical Choir Pax de Deus is 
practicing in what will be the main cultural event of the season: a 
Christmas concert that will take place in the famous Amadeo Roldan theatre 
in the capital. Cuban Television will transmit the concern in its Bravo! 
Space.

This year the National Symphonic Orchestra will join the more than 100 
voices. Meanwhile, in many provinces in the interior, Churches will have 
similar events in theatres and multi-purpose halls, when in past eras 
believers were banned from using public spaces that belong to the 
government for these festivities.

Christmas in Cuba has always been unifying and does not only bring together 
Christians but all people of goodwill who exude the spirit of goodness and 
kindness surrounding the Christ child in the manger.

While some people drive swiftly by people begging in the streets, the 
simple people, the vast majority, has the heart to share their table, not 
just what is leftover but what they have managed to gather, demonstrating 
that it much better to give than to receive.

URUGUAY
Postal stamp marking 200 years of Biblical Societies launch

MONTEVIDEO, November 26, 2003 (alc). A commemorative stamp marking 200 
years of United Bible Societies was launched this week in the Ernesto de 
Los Campos room in the municipal palace in this capital.

Around 600 people attended the presentation, carried out by the Uruguayan 
Bible Society. The event was considered historic for the Biblical work in 
Uruguayan and the Evangelical Church in this small South American nation.

The event began with the words of Marcel Legarra, president of the 
Uruguayan Bible Society and from the representative of the Uruguayan 
Correo, the maximum postal authority in the country.

The Mayor of Montevideo Mariano Arana, a member of Frente Amplio, a leftist 
party that has been governing Montevideo for more than 10 years recalled 
that in his childhood I was formed in a building very close by in a clear 
reference to his attendance at the Methodist Evangelical Church when he was 
a child.

I am extremely pleased to celebrate these 200 years of the Bible Society, 
promoter of this Sacred Book that gives a message of hope and joy, said 
the Mayor.

The final speaker, Pastor Jose Beltrami, secretary general of the Bible 
Society of Uruguay, thanked the different authorities for attending.

The message of the Word of God speaks of a diversity that should enrich 
and not impoverish us, he said, referring to Church unity. Pastors and 
members of nearly all the denominations represented in the country attended 
the event.

The event, according to the Iglesia en March online magazine, ended with 
the presentation of the musical Make me an instrument, inspired by the 
life of Mary Jones, a poor young Welsh woman whose interest in obtaining a 
Bible motivated a group of Christians to form the British and Foreign Bible 
Society, seed of all United Bible Societies around the world.

Next December 1, the Uruguayan Bible Society will sell a special edition of 
the stamp for all those who want to obtain it through an offering.

The money will be used to fund two programs that this institution hopes to 
put into practice next year. Street Children and Give Them Food to Eat, 
to help children and the elderly who are at risk, living and sleeping on 
the streets of Montevideo.

PERU
Media interest in the Gospel is not a passing thing, said Quintero

By Hugo Livano
LIMA, November 26, 2003 (alc). The growing Latin American public and media 
interest in the Gospel is not merely a passing thing and we must be 
prepared, said Manuel Quintero, director of Communications for the Latin 
American Council of Churches (CLAI).

In a meeting with the directors of print and broadcast media and 
Evangelical Church leaders, Quintero said that although there is still a 
persistent feeling in the media that the Gospel is not of interest, in 
recent times some events that have taken place in the non Catholic 
religious arena have received a great deal of media attention.

This, he said, reflects the growth of the Evangelical movement in many 
countries in the hemisphere and the subsequent increase of communication 
media linked to Evangelical Churches, which in some countries compete with 
Catholic media. However the press, Evangelical television and radio still 
does not constitute an alternative to the secular media, he said.

This also means that Evangelicals are overcoming their minority complex and 
increasingly assuming their social, economic and political 
responsibilities, according to Quintero. The Church is maturing, a process 
that has not always been easy, he said.

One influential factor has been the fact that the Evangelical spirit is 
more open to modernization processes and to seek to improve social 
conditions. There is also a sense on the part of some political sectors 
that Evangelicals are the necessary critical mass to achieve these changes.

It is important to point out that Evangelical growth is reaching the Latin 
American cultural arena, with different athletes and artists turning to 
Christ and this may extend to the intellectual field, he said.

Quintero emphasized that while the Evangelical effort to create its own 
media, in which Brazil has stood out, has been intense, in the mass media, 
coverage of the Gospel is still inefficient and inadequate.

The mass media, he said, still has deep prejudice regarding the Gospel. It 
does not consider it to be a permanent issue of interest and its coverage 
of Evangelical events is asymmetrical compared to its Catholic coverage.

He said that CLAI is planning events to closely examine the challenges 
raised by mass communication for Churches and Evangelical movements.

BOLIVIA
Methodist World Prize awarded to domestic worker

LA PAZ, November 27, 2003 (alc). A humble Bolivian and continental domestic 
workers leader Casimira Rodriguez Romero received the 2003 Methodist World 
Peace Prize in a solemn and emotional ceremony November 20 in the Methodist 
Evangelical La Reforma Church in La Paz.

Representing 39 million Methodists around the world, the World Methodist 
Council (WMC) granted the award to Casimira Rodrmguez in recognition of 
her courage, creativity and constancy in the struggle for the labor and 
legal rights of domestic workers in Bolivia.

The event was attended by George Freeman, WMC  Secretary general, Walter 
Klaiber, president of WMC in Europe and bishop of the Methodist Church of 
Germany, Gustavo D. Alvim, WMC president for Latin America; Fabiola 
Grandsn, president of the WMC Youth Committee, Carlos Intipampa, bishop of 
the Evangelical Methodist Church in Bolivia (IEMB), pastors, Casimiras 
relatives and other invited guests.

The Rev. Carlos Intipampa nominated Casimira Rodrmguez, a Quechua woman and 
a member of the IEMB for the World Methodist Prize. The award is given each 
year to a person, group or entity that has made a significant contribution 
to peace, justice and reconciliation.

Casimira was born in Mizque, close to the city of Cochabamba. The only 
child of a very poor family, she began to work as a domestic worker when 
she was 13. Submitted to physical, mental and sexual abuse she worked for 
two years without pay, something that is common in many parts of Latin 
America. There were times when she felt insignificant, she said.

When she met Christ her life began to fill with hope and faith because she 
understood that the Lord was on the side of the poor, sick and against 
injustice. She began a member of the Emmanuel Methodist Church of Cochabamba.

On Sundays, her day off, she began to attend classes including sewing 
classes. Later this group became the Organization of Domestic Workers and 
Casimira stood out as a leader.

Twice she has been elected secretary general of the National Federation of 
Domestic Workers. Today she is secretary general of the Confederation of 
Domestic Workers in Latin America and the Caribbean with branches in 14 
countries.

Casimira is a faithful Christian whose faith has guided her in moments of 
enormous adversity. Her life, dedicated to a search for peace and justice 
is an inspiration, said Freeman.

The Methodist World Council that groups together 76 Churches in 132 
countries instituted the World Methodist Prize in 1970. Since then it has 
been awarded to different people such as Boris Trajkovsky, president of 
Macedonia, Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, Kofi Annan, 
secretary general of the United Nations and organizations such as the San 
Egidio community, that impelled peace in Mozambique and the Argentine 
Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

EL SALVADOR
Lutherans demand electoral campaign with proposals

SAN SALVADOR, November 27, 2003 (alc). The Salvadoran Lutheran Synod (SLS) 
called on political parties to offer specific programs in their electoral 
campaigns in the recently officially launched race for the presidency. 
Salvadoran elections are slated to take place in March.

During the past few months we have observed or put up with a wave of 
publicity in an unauthorized political campaign that clearly disrespects 
the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which also did nothing to avoid or at least 
sanction this illegal situation, noted the SLS.

However, it added, as a Church we pray that the coming months will allow us 
to discuss true platforms presented by the political parties. While it is 
true that publicity has an impact it is also true that the people demand 
more than songs, t-shirts or signs on telephone polls.

The synod congratulated the bodies and universities that are promoting a 
forum to debate themes and proposals among the candidates and in particular 
the daily La Prensa Grafica for having organized an event in which 
different participants committed themselves to carrying out a campaign 
marked by respect.

  Fanaticism is mistaken and negative and an electoral campaign with a 
climate of violence such as that wracking the country, it can be dangerous 
as we have already begun to see, warned the Lutheran Church.

It reminded people that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal is called to carry 
out its constitutional mandate to guarantee peaceful, democratic elections.

It added that the communication media has a moral and social mandate to 
strengthen democratic spaces and provide truthful information for the 
people so that they can freely elect the candidate of their choice rather 
than being induced to vote

In upcoming elections Salvadorans will elect a successor to President 
Francisco Flores, of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). The new 
president will take office in June 2004.

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