wfn.org | ALC Noticias July 4 2004 Brazil, Cuba, Peru

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

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

ALC HEADLINES:
BRAZIL: Lutheran Evangelical Church celebrates 100 years of ministry
CUBA: Measures against Cuba sadden Christians
PERU: Peace and Hope called for dialogue in the face of confrontations in 
Ayacucho
PERU: Forum analyzes challenges confronting Christian communicators
BRAZIL: March for Jesus had major participation from young people

BRAZIL
Lutheran Evangelical Church celebrates 100 years of ministry

By Edelberto Behs
PORTO ALEGRE, June 30, 2004 (alc). Under the slogan Like a mustard seed, 
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB) celebrated 100 years of 
presence on Brazilian soil in different parts of the country during the 
month of June.

The main celebration took place Sunday June 27 in a service that brought 
together 8,000 people in the Gigantinho Sports gymnasium in Porto Alegre. 
Pastor Donaldo Pfluck, president of the IELB Board of Directors said that 
the celebration served to show that the Church continues to spread the 
Gospel with the same fervor that has marked it for the past 100 years.

The celebration was transmitted via internet to the entire world, through 
the Lutheran University of Brazils web site (ULBRA) with an English 
translation. An estimated 2,000 people watched the service over the internet.

During the service, they received 3 tons of non perishable food that will 
be donated to charity works in the Church and to Bread for the Poor in 
Porto Alegre, a project linked to the Catholic Church.

In the building in the Crescencio Pereira square, in the Sao Pedro do Sul 
municipality, where 14 pastors, 10 congregations and a professor founded 
the IELB on June 24, 1904, a commemorative plaque was unveiled June 19. A 
service was then held in the Municipal Sports Gymnasium.

Theology students and professors from the Concordia Seminary held a Singing 
Worship Service June 5 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary. The 
Singing Service, is a Lutheran tradition that emerged in Europe to 
promote singing and music.

Another service was held June 24 in the ULBRA chapel on the Canoas campus, 
close to Porto Alegre. On that occasion IELB Pastor President Carlos Walter 
Winterle emphasized the importance of preserving Church unity.

In Gigantinho a message was read from Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula 
da Silva, congratulating the IELB and apologizing for not attending due to 
commitments abroad.  Lula said that the Brazilian Lutheran people have a 
respectable past and events, worthy of praise.

At the solemn session on June 15, the Municipality of Porto Alegre granted 
Winterle the title of Honorary Citizen. The IELB president voiced his 
gratitude and said that together with being an honor the title meant a 
commitment to serve people

 From June 15 -30 a Historic Exposition of the IELB Centenary was presented 
in Memorial in Rio Grande do Sul, with more than 160 photographs, as well 
as objects and rare, valuable documents, that left the Churchs Historical 
Institute for the first time.

CUBA
Measures against Cuba sadden Christians

By Josi Aurelio Paz
HAVANA, July 1, 2004 (alc). Terminal two in the International Jose Marti 
Airport in this capital is a sea of people who are trying to return to the 
United States before measures decreed by the Bush administration are 
imposed against the government of this Island nation.

On Monday, 19 flights took off for Miami with a total of 2,292 passengers 
according to Reuters. Under normal circumstances, there were two flights a 
day.

Despite the fact that the US government granted an extension until July 31 
for those visiting the Island, many people preferred not to take the risk 
given the expensive fines. Check-in counters were the scene of long lines.

While Cuban Television News showed images in the International Airport in 
Miami of Cuban Americans who were not allowed to fly to their country of 
origin in the last hours and scores of people shouting We want to fly, in 
the Jose Marti airport the goodbyes were dramatic and silent.

An Evangelical pastor who obtained a visit to attend an event in the United 
States, nearly a miracle given the electoral race, said that the affective 
damage of this measure will be irreparable for the Cuban family.

This is particularly true because many people depend on what their families 
send from North America and many work all year to travel to the Island to 
mitigate the nostalgia of being an immigrant.

Meanwhile, in Cuban Churches many people prayed for an end of these 
measures that will also affect congregations that receive help from their 
American counterparts.

Hortensia, a housewife who attends the Pentecostal Christian Church said I 
dont have any close family in Miami. I live alone on the pension that the 
government gives me. When my nephew .. sent me some money and I used it to 
buy cooking oil, soap and shampoo. Now, families cant send anything and I 
dont know what I am going to do.

For Maria, a 60-year-old Episcopalian Bush has been the worst president to 
pass through the United States. We remember when he was elected, he was a 
leader without shine and the tragic events of September 11 fit like a ring 
on his finger, converting him into the super hero that is a paradigm for 
North Americans, which has allowed him to make and break at will.

While the situation affects the daily lives of the Cuban people and 
believers who feel the weight of the current measures, faith in God is an 
element that restitutes to some extent, the current sense of despair.

Many people turn to the old refrain, popular in Cuban since the American 
blockade was imposed more than 40 years ago: God squeezes but does not 
drown us.

PERU
Peace and Hope called for dialogue in the face of confrontations in Ayacucho

LIMA, July 2, 2004 (alc). Violent confrontations between police and 
demonstrates that left burned buildings, injured people and nearly 100 
arrests in their wake, took place in the Andean city of Ayacuchco this 
week, 575 kilometers southeast of Lima.

The confrontations began with police forcibly removed scores of teachers 
who had occupied the Municipality and regional education board building 
after declaring a strike.

A faction of the Sutep teachers union called Pukallacta ordered the 
strike, which was partially followed by teachers in the departments of 
Junin and Ayacucho and also sparked confrontations with teachers and 
students who were opposed. Strikers said that the new educational law seeks 
to privatize the schools, something that has been denied by authorities.

While Sutep leaders held meetings with representatives from the Ministry of 
Education, representatives from Pukallacta were not recognized. Last year 
when Sutep held a prolonged strike that was finally resolved, Pukallacta 
teachers tried to continue.

Sutep leader Jose Nalvarte said that the faction that is lead by Robert 
Huaynalaya is a radical group linked to the Shining Path which confuses 
that union with a party.

At the same time Prime Minister Carlos Ferrero said that the strike was 
promoted by the Shining Path, a rebel group that lead an armed conflict 
between 1980 and 1999 that left thousands of dead in its wake.

In the face of this situation, the Peace and Hope Association, a group that 
has been working to defend justice and human rights in the region for 
several years said that all social demands are fair when the objectives 
they seek are related to a collective interest and are backed by a 
population that is informed about the nature and purpose of those demands.

In this sense, it added we reject any sectarian interest that, not 
motivated by a real attention for the populations social demands, tries to 
commit it through violent and anti-democratic methods.

We reject the disproportionate use of public force, on the part of State 
agents as well as the extreme violence of certain sectors of demonstrators 
who  have not measured the consequences of their actions and are causing 
grave damage to citizens and their basic rights, the group stated in a 
document.

Finally, Peace and Hope called on the actors in the conflict to return to 
the bargaining table in order to come up with joint actions and agreements 
that lead to calm and solutions for the problems generated by this 
situation. It invoked the communication media and opinion leaders in the 
region to adopt a conciliatory attitude that will help overcome the crisis.

PERU
Forum analyzes challenges confronting Christian communicators

By Hugo Livano
LIMA, July 2, 2004 (alc). The challenges confronting Christian journalists 
and communicators in Peru were analyzed in a forum held here this Friday in 
the framework of the COICOM - Peru 2004 Congress. The event took place July 
1 -3.

Speakers included Pedro Ferreira, director of the Pacific Communications 
Group; Rafael Goto, journalist and pastor of the Pilgrims Church and 
Rodolfo Lesn, president of the Ethics Committee of the National Advertisers 
Association.

Ferreira spoke about how the times are challenging for the Church and for 
Christian communicators. The increasing presence of Evangelicals in society 
calls on us to communicate our opinion and the values that we defend in 
the face of the difficult situations that arise in the country. For this, 
the word must be offered with excellence, he said.

He noted that the new radio and television law will allow up to 40 percent 
of the capital in radio and television stations to be held by foreign 
hands. This is something that Evangelical radio and television stations can 
take advantage of in order to establish collaboration agreements with 
networks in other countries, he said.

Goto underlined that we are living in a media-based reality, not only 
because the media reports what is happening but because it constructs a 
determined interpretation of reality. This converts it into a power that 
has an impact on the way the audience reacts, on the way people think in 
the face of this reality.

The power of the media, he said, is conditioned on its inter-relationship 
with other sectors of society. Journalists do not directly exercise this 
power because it also depends on whether or not their way of thinking will 
be accepted and acceptable according to the owner of the media where they 
work.

We Christian communicators, added Goto, have a cultural mission that 
challenges us to seek to have an impact in society, to improve it with 
Christian values, affirming justice, equity and solidarity.

For his part, Leon emphasized that publicity is a key communication factor 
in current day society and we must promote business practices that are 
based on Christian ethics.

For the advertiser, he said, the ideology or faith of a radio station is 
irrelevant. They are interested in effectively reaching their target 
sector. For this reason, it is important the Evangelical media be of the 
highest possible quality in order to be competitive in the market and 
obtain income from advertising.

BRAZIL
March for Jesus had major participation from young people

SAO PAULO, July 2, 2004 (alc). The march for Jesus brought together 700,000 
faithful last June 26, according to police figures, in Brazils biggest 
industrial center. According to calculations from the organizations, at 
least 2 million people turned out for the March.

The March had an enormous impact. We perceive a great unity of the Body, 
said Bishop Gj of the Rebirth in Christ Church after the event concluded.

The bishop emphasized the vast number of young people who marched through 
the streets for Jesus. With all these people in the streets, the media 
could not ignore this movement called the March for Jesus, added the Bishop.

The faithful left from the Inglesa Subway station in northern Sao Pauo at 
around 10:00 am Saturday. They walked through the streets to the Heroes of 
the Brazilian Expeditionary Forces Plaza, where 29 Gospel music bands 
encouraged the crowds.

The first March for Jesus took place in London in 1987, when the faithful 
sought to leave behind the four walls of the Church and show people that 
they are alive and present in society. In 1990, the March was a continental 
event and took place throughout Europe. In 1992 it reached cities in Asia, 
Africa and Latin America.

In Brazil, the first March for Jesus took place in Sao Paulo in 1993 when 
350,000 people congregated in the central zone of Vale do Anhangabaz.	The 
2005 March is programmed to take place May 14. (430/2004).

------------------------
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