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Violence Against Christians Continues in India

BY VIOLA HUGHES, correspondent for the International Religious Liberty Association based at the General Conference.

n the country where Mohandas K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru promoted non-violence in the mid 1900s, some cities in India have experienced religious conflict during the past ten years. On February 17, the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations in North America (FIACONA) reported that worship was disrupted at a Catholic mass in Mysore in the south Indian state of Karnataka when windows were smashed, bricks thrown at the congregation, and the parish priest room destroyed.

Witnesses claimed that even after the police arrived, Hindu activists continued hurling stones and bricks.

India is a diverse country with a population of more than 1 billion people. Approximately 81.3 percent of the population is Hindu, 12 percent Muslim, 2.3 percent Christian, 1.9 percent Sikh, and 2.5 percent other religious groups including Buddhist, Jain and Parsi.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reported last year that the Indian central government "appears unable to control growing violence by self-proclaimed Hindu nationalists targeting religious minorities. There is concern that the government is not doing all that it could to pursue the perpetrators of the attacks and to counteract the prevailing climate of hostility in some quarters in India against minority groups. Over the past years, priests and missionaries have been murdered, nuns assaulted, churches bombed, and converts intimidated."

In a statement issued yesterday, M.E. Menezes, national president of the All India Catholic Union, appealed to the government of Karnataka to "identify the culprits and take action that such incidents do not take place in the future." The FIACONA is appealing to the U.S. Department of State to raise the issue of human rights violations with India=s prime minister.

"Breaking the cycle of violence is difficult," says John Graz, director of the General Conference Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department. "I recommend that commissions on reconciliation be established where representatives from all faiths can come together to dialogue and find ways to promote principles of religious freedom," Graz proposed. "Such commissions have proved beneficial in Chiapas, Mexico and Rwanda. It is so important that people of good will from different religions can work together," Graz concluded.

For more information about the International Religious Liberty Association, visit www.irla.org.

Administrators Set Committees
Aside for Evangelistic Thrust
The Norwegian Union Conference has limited the number of in-house committee meetings and events which would otherwise distract its leadership in order to concentrate and give priority to public evangelism for a ten-week period which began January 13.

"This year the Norwegian Union Conference (NORUC) launched an initiative to increase evangelistic activity in Norway," reports Tor Tjeransen, NORUC president. Union and conference administrators along with departmental directors have joined pastors in evangelistic meetings and seminars across the country. A total of 22 different evangelistic events have been running during this period.

"Even in a highly secular society like Norway, church members and ministers have seen people respond to the gospel," says Tjeransen. The church in Norway has struggled with decreasing baptismal numbers during the past nine years. In 2000, baptismal figures reached an all-time low with only 44 newly baptized members.

"We are determined to find ways of communicating the gospel effectively to the people of Norway," concludes Tjeransen.

GC President Launches
New Communication Tool
The office of the General Conference (GC) President has initiated a monthly Internet and electronic mail presidential news briefing entitled, "The Inside Look." The first issue was released February 21, 2002.

An introductory letter by Jan Paulsen, GC President explains the purpose of this new communication tool: "My colleagues and I intend this presidential news briefing to focus on the challenges and opportunities we face together as a worldwide family. Each month, we hope to share an inside perspective from our world headquarters on some of the key issues before us as leaders today, and some of the initiatives already underway."

The newsletter will allow GC leadership to communicate the church=s plans for worldwide evangelism, programs for nurturing new members, and updates concerning the implementation of the overall strategic plan for the church in each of the 12 world divisions.

The first issue is available for view by visiting http://presidential.gc.adventist.org. To become a regular e-mail subscriber to "The Inside Look," go to the main Adventist web site at www.adventist.org and fill in the appropriate e-mail address information in the section entitled, "E-mail Lists."

Plans Set for Literature Evangelism in Israel
A historic "first" for Adventism in Israel occurred when the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Planning committee convened in Tel Aviv, Israel on Thursday, February 14. The purpose was to establish a plan for spreading the gospel through the use of the printed page in a country where literature ministry has not had a recognized presence.

The first literature worker in the Israel Field has been recruited and six additional church members have expressed an interest in becoming literature evangelists, according to John Arthur, publishing director for the Trans-European Division.

"Our church leaders have a real burden to share Christianity to the Hebrew-speaking inhabitants of Israel," says Arthur. "We are excited with the increasing interest of people in the Adventist message. During two recent book sales in Tel Aviv, one in an Adventist church and the other in a Methodist/Presbyterian church, more than US$1,000 of literature was sold."

For more than sixty years the Adventist Church in Israel never had more than 300 members. With the influx of those with Jewish background to Israel from around the world during the past five years and the leadership of Pastor Richard Elofer, membership has grown to more than 1,200.

Scientists and Theologians to Begin
Faith and Science Dialogue
Eighty Adventist scientists, theologians, and administrators will attend a six-day conference in Ogden, Utah, August 23-29, for the first in a series of dialogues on faith, science, and the biblical account of creation, reports General Conference (GC) vice president Lowell Cooper, who is overseeing the initiative. Delegates will listen to presentations and participate in discussions on a broad range of issues, with the aim of setting a discussion agenda for subsequent regional faith and science conferences.

"The Biblical account of creation and the flood, contained in Genesis chapters 1-11, is increasingly seen to be at odds with science," says Cooper. "It is vital that the Adventist Church take a leadership role in facilitating a multi-disciplinary discussion of the challenges and contributions which theology, science and philosophy bring to our understanding and witness about the origin of the earth and of life."

Experts in fields including geology, biology, paleontology, philosophy, theology, and anthropology will be among the presenters at this first conference. The GC Executive Committee approved the faith and science dialogues last September, citing the need to increase "clarity regarding the Adventist understanding and witness about the Biblical account of origins" by developing a forum for "open communication among theologians, scientists and church administrators."

Churches in Brazil Offer Religion through Cell Phones
Several religious denominations in Brazil are partnering with a major cell phone company to launch a cell phone broadcast channel called the Minute of Faith. The service, which was begun in mid-February by the ATL cell phone company in Rio de Janeiro, is known as Radio ATL. It will transmit messages from various churches, including Seventh-day Adventists, the Assembly of God, and the Roman Catholic Church.

Cell phone users who access the channel can listen to messages from the Adventist Church featuring Neumoel Stina, speaker for the Brazilian Voice of Prophecy program. The messages are varied, and the Voice of Prophecy already has 80 programs available on ATL Radio. The Adventist messages deal with family, health, forgiveness, comfort and faith in Jesus. --Adventist News Network

News Notes

Karen Holford, who works with her husband in the Family Ministries department of the South England Conference, has been elected as chair of Churches Together for Families, a national interfaith group that explores ways in which churches in Britain can work together to support families. "It's exciting to dialogue with family-focused workers from other churches," says Holford. "Many of the people I work with have never met an Adventist before, and they are very impressed with the work the Adventist Church has been doing for families. We are now recognized and respected by many different church and family organizations [in Britain], and we've been able to network and learn from each other."

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