Fire-eating evangelist knows how to draw crowds_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

Fire-eating evangelist knows how to draw crowds

By Leann Callaway

Special to the Standard

NASHVILLE, Tenn.–When people say Brad Goad is “on fire for the Lord,” they aren't kidding.

Goad is an evangelist who uses the arts of juggling, mime, comedy and fire-eating to attract audiences so he can present the gospel.

“It is entertainment with a message,” he explained. “There are people who might not listen to a preacher or even musicians, but they will come to see this crazy fire-eating juggler. The juggling, fire-eating, mime and comedy routines are all fun, but seeing how God puts it all together to glorify himself is incredible.”

Brad Goad: Don't try this at home.

During his college years at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, he was encouraged by the Baptist Student Union director to use his juggling talents as a creative way to share the gospel.

“I won a talent show at Hardin-Simmons, and the BSU director saw me perform,” Goad explained. “Immediately, he asked if I would perform at a fellowship for the BSU, which forced me to do more than just a fun comedy routine. He was also instrumental in getting me other gigs during my college years in area churches, youth groups and other BSU groups in West Texas.”

During this time, he decided to add another element to his routines.

“I was doing some shows with a friend who did illusions and comedy,” he said. “One day, my friend was working on some routines dealing with fire and found a book that showed a picture of a fire-eater. So we decided to teach ourselves how to eat fire in our dorm room. By the way, that's not recommended.

“It honestly took about a year of practice to get good enough and calm enough to perform it in a variety of settings.”

After graduation, Goad worked three years with the North American Mission Board and served as the director of creative arts ministry for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

“It was so much fun using all these gifts that began as hobbies and seeing how God continued to open doors of opportunity to minister to people,” he said. “Since there were people all over the world gathered in one place, it was a great opportunity to share Christ.

“People may not realize that in the host city of the Olympics, there are preliminary competitions and events for several months prior to the actual Olympics–so there were multiple opportunities to use this creative ministry and develop routines. One mime routine I did was called 'The Altar,' which was about giving your whole heart to God and how he gives you a brand-new life through Jesus Christ.”

In 1993, Goad moved to Nashville, Tenn. to begin working with LifeWay Christian Resources. Within a few years, he was in charge of the adult discipleship training and enrichment sections for their curriculum.

“Through this, I was able to help people maximize their gifts in a specific area of ministry,” he explained. “This was the area where Beth Moore Living Proof Live events were birthed. We also broke new ground–combining events with discipleship training for Beth's course 'Jesus the One and Only' in Israel and 'Beloved Disciple' in Greece and Turkey. It was an incredibly exciting ministry.”

But in 2002, Goad felt God leading him back to full-time service through creative evangelism.

Now he shares his innovative ministry with all ages at church outreach events, Upward Basketball banquets and other events across the country.

“I especially enjoy performing for college groups,” he said. “That age group has always been special to me because my own spiritual growth during that time was so significant. It was during those years that God prepared me for what I am doing now, in ways that I couldn't even appreciate back then.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




Evangelist Graham falls, undergoes hip replacement surgery in Florida_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

Evangelist Graham falls, undergoes
hip replacement surgery in Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.–(ABP) Evangelist Billy Graham underwent partial hip replacement surgery last week in Jacksonville, Fla.

While he was in Jacksonville for a routine checkup at the Mayo Clinic, he reportedly fell in his hotal room on the hospital grounds.

When he could not get out of bed the next morning, Graham was checked into St. Luke's Hospital.

There, doctors determined he had broken his left hip.

During the operation, a surgical team removed the ball of Graham's fractured femnur and replaced it with a metal prosthesis. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Spokesman Larry Ross said the evangelist still plans to announce his 2004 schedule of crusades later this month.

“He will have sufficient time for healing and therapy to maintain his ministry as planned,” Ross said.

“He has said he has no plans to retire until God retires him.”

Graham has been a Mayo patient for more than 50 years.

For the past 10 years, he has made the trip from his North Carolina home to Jacksonville twice a year to receive treatment for Parkinson's disease.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




Iraqi pastor looks ahead to bright future, not back to prison_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

Iraqi pastor looks ahead to
bright future, not back to prison

By Sara Horn

LifeWay Christian Resources

BAGHDAD, Iraq (BP)–It would be hard to imagine a time Maher Abdul Mageed hasn't smiled. The Iraqi pastor lights up a room, whether it's in his church or at the hospital where he helps translate for Iraqi patients.

But there were plenty of times he had reason not to smile. The low point came as he was interrogated in Saddam Hussein's military intelligence prison–the most feared prison in all Iraq. He knew the same men who were questioning him had severely tortured other prisoners, and he wondered whether he ever would see home again.

Mageed professed faith in Jesus Christ in 1994 after first hearing the gospel from his brother, who had left Iraq for another country. Within a year, Mageed felt called by God into vocational ministry, although there was no training in evangelism he could obtain in Iraq. Under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, it was extremely difficult to preach the gospel in Iraq; doing so could result in a three-year trip to prison.

In spite of past persecution, Iraqi pastor Maher Abdul Mageed brings his optimistic outlook to the hospital rooms he visits and to the church where he preaches each week.

A father and husband, Mageed decided to start a media ministry. He reasoned that audiotapes, books, CDs and videos offered the easiest way to preach the gospel without being accused of specifically proselytizing for his faith. Using double-deck cassette players, he worked until midnight each night taping various Christian programs. His wife then helped copy the tapes while she cooked. He was eager to share his tapes and CDs with fellow members of the church he attended, the sole Arabic evangelical church in the area where he lived.

Word began to spread throughout the church and surrounding neighborhoods about Mageed's ministry, a development that concerned several local local church council members who also belonged to the Baath Party.

“They asked me to stop my media ministry and said it was becoming a problem,” he recounted. “I asked them why. They were fearful that Saddam would close the church.”

Over the next few months, Mageed tried his best to meet the council's requests, without giving in to shutting down his ministry altogether. Still, the moment came when he was asked to do just that.

The leader of the church council confronted him on everything he had been doing–from passing out tapes to printing and distributing a flyer outlining the plan of salvation.

“I told him, 'I'm not doing anything wrong,'” Mageed said. “He told me, 'You don't like to obey my orders.' I just said, 'I don't like to not obey my Jesus.'”

The next evening, Mageed was sitting in his living room chair, watching TV and eating peanuts in his pajamas and robe when someone knocked at the door.

Two men, security agents for Saddam Hussein, quickly informed him he must not open his mouth or make any sudden movements. A man who had frequently borrowed tapes from the ministry stood there as well. He quickly pointed to Mageed and nodded to the men, leaving as quickly as he came.

The pastor thought quickly and made up an excuse, which gained him permission to run upstairs to his wife. He told her what was happening and instructed her to hide the mountain of audio cassettes and videotapes they had brought home from the church.

In all, 10 evangelical pastors were arrested that day. Mageed spent five days in a 4-by-4-meter room with five Muslims who had been accused of political crimes. When he was brought in for interrogation, a cold chill ran through his body as he was told what the charges were.

“They had been listening to the CDs I passed out,” Mageed said. “One of the recordings talked about a leader's integrity, and the fact that the best leaders in the world are Christians.

“To them, that meant I was opposing Saddam being the leader of the world. That was the lowest moment for me, because I knew they had torture devices. I started praying.”

Five days later, Mageed was released unharmed, although many of the other pastors were imprisoned until right before the war began.

Today, Mageed and his family enjoy new freedom to worship and share their faith. They have started a church, and about 90 percent of those who attend are new believers.

“Jesus filled us with more purpose,” said Eman, Mageed's wife. “He filled us with a great ambition to tell the people about grace and God's good news.”

More than 10,000 Iraqis already have been touched by Mageed's media ministry. He believes the future will only get better.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




Pastor sees prayer as a black-and-white matter_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

Pastor sees prayer as a black-and-white matter

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

KIRBYVILLE–Prayer is as simple as black and white for Charles Burchett, pastor of First Baptist Church of Kirbyville.

Several years ago, the self-described battler embarked on a fight without knowing where it would take him. He noticed an unusual number of traffic accidents were occurring in the small East Texas town. Coupled with the accidents was a disproportionate number of deaths.

He gathered his fellow pastors, and they began to pray about the situation every Friday. Within 10 months, the number of accidents decreased greatly. But Burchett continued praying.

He became impressed that the vehicle deaths were related to racial tension in the area. He started praying about what to do about it and encouraged his congregation to do the same.

Prayer became the foundation of the congregation, Burchett noted. Members remodeled some of their facilities to have a prayer room. The congregation holds Wednesday evening prayer services about community issues. Prayer is interspersed throughout the church's services and meetings.

Focused prayer is one of the 11 characteristics of a healthy church adopted by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

The prayer time grew to a full-fledged spiritual battle against racism, according to Burchett. But rather than praying for God to punish racists, the congregation asked God to heap blessings upon racists.

Burchett, an Anglo who serves as prayer chairman for Sabine Neches Baptist Area, invited African-American pastors to speak at his church, and he went to several predominantly African-American events.

“In war against the spirit of darkness, you have to do so in the opposite spirit or you're actually fighting for them,” said Buchett, a BGCT regional prayer coordinator.

When James Byrd, an African-American, was killed in 1998 by three white men who dragged him behind their truck near Jasper, located 19 miles north of Kirbyville, Burchett enlisted a group of pastors from Jasper and Newton to speak out against the racially motivated crime.

A week later, the pastor was called to speak at the Texas Republican Party Prayer Breakfast in Fort Worth, where he repented for the way Anglos have treated African-Americans.

After that, he was invited to speak at a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's counter assembly to the Ku Klux Klan's gathering in Jasper. There he repented on his hands and knees for how the “white church” treated African-Americans.

Many in the audience wept loudly.

Burchett's actions drew sharp criticism from many in East Texas. Rumors swirled about him, he said, but the pastor continued his outspoken behavior, believing he was following God's direction.

“Jesus has won the victory for us, but we have to work through the process,” he said. “It is work. It is a battle. The hard part is sometimes the enemy has a human face.”

In 2003, 21 Anglo pastors, including Burchett, and their wives invited a group of African-American pastors and their wives to dinner at First Baptist Church. The Anglos served the African-Americans a “lavish dinner” and waited on them.

The Anglos ate in the kitchen, alley or not at all, much like African-Americans were pushed away from dinner tables in the past.

Many of the African-American pastors and their wives broke into tears, he said.

The meal was followed by a united worship service. Burchett led the Anglos to repent on their knees for their race's treatment of African-Americans.

At Thanksgiving this year, African-Americans and Anglos had a large organized meal together for the first time in Kirbyville's recent history. More than half the pastors at the First Baptist Church dinner were African-American.

Burchett said he believes his actions under the direction of God are creating an “atmosphere of righteousness” that will affect the unrighteous. African-Americans feel more comfortable at his church now than any time during his 25-year tenure leading the congregation, he said.

Anglos are becoming more open to African-Americans, and many are reconsidering their preconceived notions, Burchett said. Black resentment and anger over past treatment at the hands of whites also appears on the downslide. But the pastor continues his work.

“Hearing the Lord and doing what he says has opened doors, but it's all based on prayer,” Burchett said.




Texas Baptist Forum_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Christian worldview

When I hear someone speak of a need to return to a “Christian worldview,” I shudder. The concept sounds good but is interpreted in too many ways to be helpful to the Christian community.

E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Usually, it is a term loaded with political overtones, promoted by those who have little or no Baptist orientation and belief. It tends toward being a dark cloud seeded with crystals of thought from formerly state-sanctioned church movements. The problem is that although it looks good, the rain of spiritual reform never reaches the ground.

Many of those who perpetuate this concept come from denominations that were birthed as state churches, and their desire is to create some kind of “theocracy” that unfortunately is really government by their own theology. If enacted, such a government would make the outside of man subject to some standard of conformity but do nothing for the heart of man.

It would change Micah's admonition to do justly and love mercy into loving justice and denying mercy. It also would negate Micah's third admonition to walk humbly with God, as such overlords would be doing his service rather than truly serving him.

Didn't Christ come to change hearts and not to whitewash tombs? Didn't he say, “My kingdom is not of this world”?

I believe a Baptist “Christian worldview” would contain two precepts for self-accountability: Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself.

John King

Waco

Uncooperative convention

The Southern Baptist Convention needs to change its name. “Baptist” no longer describes who they are.

The SBC ruled out of order the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer in 1988, compromised the Baptist emphasis on religious liberty advocated in the separation of church and state, and forced a creed upon anyone who wishes to serve in the SBC. These are just a few of the examples that prove the SBC is not Baptist at all, but anti-Baptist.

Now, a committee has decided the SBC should no longer associate with other Baptists around the world through the Baptist World Alliance.

Instead, they want to associate with like-minded “conservative evangelical Christians.” They have finally admitted, then, that the SBC is not of the same mind as all of the other Baptists in the world.

Since they admit they are no longer Baptists, they should change their name to more accurately reflect who they are. How about the Southern Convention of Uncooperative Narrow Conservatives?

Wesley Shotwell

Azle

Spiritual blasphemy

Some people claim the Judeo-Christian God and the Islamic Allah are the same. While this affirmation has become politically correct, especially since 9/11, it is spurious and amounts spiritually to blasphemy.

Islam is defined as “the religious faith of Muslims including belief in Allah as the sole deity and in Mohammed as his prophet.” The logical conclusion: God of the Bible and Allah cannot possibly be the same, since Mohammed is nowhere mentioned in holy Scripture as a prophet of God, Allah or anything else.

Also by definition, God and Allah cannot be the same, since the recognition of Allah as “sole deity” rules out the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jesus (the last prophet) and me. To believe that God and Allah are the same is to believe that the Holy Bible and the Koran, the only document in which Mohammed and Allah appear, are both inspired of God, instead of just the holy Scripture. Unthinkable!

Allah is an abstract idol like the Baal or the tangible golden calf, with neither the “prophets of Baal” nor Aaron, the calf's builder, nor Mohammed more than an errant, empty voice, signifying nothing.

But God's Jesus, the Savior, redeemed the world (no conditions). It's called reconciliation.

Jim Clark

Lexington, Ky.

Tremendous success

The new format for the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, tested in Lubbock in November, was a tremendous success, at least if measured by the crowds attending new breakout sessions on a variety of subjects ranging from using demographics to reach lost people in our communities to bringing to our churches college-level classes through the Texas Baptist Laity Institute. These were two of the sessions that I chose. In both there was standing-room only.

Having the missions celebration on Monday night helped to bring a larger attendance to that important part of every BGCT annual gathering of messengers.

Congratulations to outgoing President Bob Campbell, Executive Director Charles Wade and to all of the staff and volunteer committees involved in attempting something new at the annual meeting in order to serve better the churches and their messengers, and doing so with such great results. Well done.

Bill Brian

Amarillo

Good choice

Our congratulations to everyone on the selection of Ken Camp as the managing editor of the Baptist Standard (Dec. 22).

In many years of working with him, Ken has shown the ability to get to the heart of an issue/story and present the essence in an understandable way.

He has earned the respect of people all over Texas and the Southern Baptist Convention.

We are all blessed by having Ken on the Baptist Standard staff at this critical time.

Sam & Polly Pearis

Universal City

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




Church’s ‘Moon Rock’ concert benefits foreign missions_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

Church's 'Moon Rock'
concert benefits foreign missions

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

IRVING–A group of First Baptist Church young adults raised more than $1,000 for international missions. All they needed was a little Moon rock.

More than 300 people, including many Dallas Baptist University students, bought tickets for the church's “Moon Rock Benefit”–a rock-and-roll concert to raise funds for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, which funds Southern Baptist Convention international missions.

The effort provided an avenue for young people with little money to feel like they are making a large impact on missions, according to Andrew Autry, who brought the benefit idea to Pastor John Durham. By paying what they could for a ticket, young people could take part in a larger effort.

“A lot of people who came to see a rock concert left feeling proud of what they did,” Autry reported.

The evening featured four bands–Madly, Crimson, Flying Machine and Spaceman Spiff–who regularly provide a Christian presence at secular venues in Dallas-Fort Worth. Each band played the benefit for free.

First Baptist Church in Irving is one of 206 key churches, flagship mission-minded churches resourced by the Baptist General Convention of Texas Missional Church Center.

Durham reminded the audience the money was going to fund foreign missions through the IMB. Video clips of overseas ministry played between bands.

The words and video helped the young people connect with an effort they may not understand fully, Autry said. He believes churches often do not adequately explain what the offering funds and non-Christians cannot even understand the terminology.

When an explanation is given, youth are eager to give what they can, Autry said. “I don't think the offering was the biggest reason when they came in, but I hope when they left they took something else.”




Joy multiplied with nursing home shopping network_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

The Woman's Missionary Union at First Baptist Church in Wimberly multiplied Christmas joy for nursing home residents by setting up a free “store” where residents picked out gifts again this year.

Joy multiplied with nursing home shopping network

By George Henson

Staff Writer

WIMBERLEY–The elderly woman's eyes lit up as she saw the baby doll on top of a pile of plush animals. She scooted across the room as quickly as her paddling feet could pull her wheelchair, never taking her eyes from her prize.

Finally, wheelchair next to the table, she reached for the doll. But her fingers barely reached the bottom of the box–not enough to grasp it.

She settled back briefly into her wheelchair, her eyes firmly locked on the baby perched above. Then she propelled herself out of the chair, grabbed the blond-haired, blue-eyed doll and fell back into the chair.

Turning the doll to face her, she brushed the hair back from its eyes, and the smile on her face shone even more brilliantly than the light still blazing in her eyes.

Days later, a little girl received the doll for Christmas unwrapped. Her grandmother said it was much too beautiful to cover up.

Such joy multiplied as the 112 residents of Deer Creek of Wimberley nursing home did their Christmas shopping free of charge, thanks to donations from First Baptist Church, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and the local Lion's Club.

Residents of the nursing home selected four gifts, enabling them to give something to friends and family and participate fully in the holiday.

2003 was the eighth year the Woman's Missionary Union at First Baptist Church in Wimberley participated in the ministry. It marked the second year for the Episcopal church to participate and the first year for the Lions.

The WMU members wrapped the gifts, complete with gift tags. They also stocked a refreshment table with punch and cookies.

Shoppers could keep their selections for themselves.

“They might take something for themselves, and that's fine, because even though we hope it's not the case, it might be the only gift they receive,” said Mary Kate Riddle, WMU president at the Wimberley church.

Some of the gift selections were new, and others were gently used, according to Tess Wilson, organizer of the event for the last three years. When making her plea for contributions, “I just ask them to think what condition they would like to receive a gift in,” she said.

Church members start bringing gifts for the bazaar in October, putting them in a box at the church, Smith said.

She empties the box quickly so people can see it is empty and be encouraged to refill it. She stores the gifts at her home until the big day and sorts them into categories such as jewelry, books, purses and billfolds, socks and more general items, making “shopping” easier for the residents.

Dorothy Arthur, who has participated since the ministry began, said the bazaar is an important part of her holiday season.

“I like to see these people find things for themselves and others. They just seem to enjoy it so much,” she said.

Betty Flournoy, who took care of the refreshment table this year after years as a wrapper, said the fact that many recipients of the ministry are long-time residents of the community and friends makes it even more special.

The bazaar is a definite blessing to the residents, said Kimberley Flores, assistant activities director at Deer Creek.

“They don't get to get out to do this, so to bring this to them so they can participate in the traditions of Christmas and do their own shopping–their faces are all just lit up. This is wonderful.”




On the Move_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

On the Move

Cody Bloyd to Fellowship at Field Store in Waller as youth minister.

bluebull Dusty Daniel has resigned as youth minister at First Church in Stanton.

bluebull Jamie Long to Fellowship Church in Lubbock as minister to children.

bluebull Ryan Reed to First Church in O'Donnell as youth minister from Greenwood Church in Midland, where he was youth minister intern.

bluebull Bradley Roark to Fellowship Church in Lubbock as pastor of youth and programming from Living Truth Community Church in Columbia, Mo., where he was pastor.

bluebull Kebirn Rush to First Church in Johnson City as pastor from Danieldale Church in Lancaster.

bluebull Ed Sena to Lubbock Area Association as director of church starts and church services.

bluebull Jeff Simms to Southern Church in Philippi, W. Va., as pastor from First Church in Hull.

bluebull Bruce Troy to Gaston Oaks Church in Dallas as pastor from First Church in El Paso, where he was associate pastor and minister of education/evangelism.




Russian seminary leader seeks churches to adopt students_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

Russian seminary leader seeks churches to adopt students

By Marv Knox

Editor

ABILENE–A Russian Baptist leader has come to Texas, looking to complete the formula for effective ministry in his homeland.

Alexander Kozynko's equation has plenty of numbers:

He's president of the 10-year-old Moscow Theological Seminary of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.

bluebull Creation of the school fulfilled an 88-year dream for Russian Baptists. “The first prayer for this school was said in 1905, at the first Baptist World Alliance meeting in London,” he reported.

bluebull The seminary offers three academic programs, the two-year master of divinity and three-year bachelor of theology degrees, plus a certificate for youth leadership.

bluebull The first seminary class consisted of 17 students. Now, the enrollment has grown to 57 students, and 29 of them will graduate next spring.

bluebull The need for trained ministers is enormous. Russia spans 11 time zones. The country is home to 147 million people, but only 1,400 Baptist churches. That's a ratio of only one Baptist congregation for every 105,000 people.

“Our goal is to train many more students for the ministry–not only for the Russian Baptist churches,” Kozynko said. “We train many ministers from Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia and some from Kazakhstan.

“For Eastern Europe, our seminary is pretty important. Some of the smaller (Baptist) unions don't have a seminary. They have Bible institutes. Some of their students can be trained at this seminary.”

bluebull The seminary's location limited enrollment for most of its first decade. Housed in the Russian Baptist headquarters building, the seminary couldn't accept more than 25 students. Consequently, only 72 students graduated in nine years.

bluebull Now, a newly renovated building provides room for about 200 students, enabling the seminary to increase enrollment and produce many more pastors and teachers who will spread the gospel across Russia and Eastern Europe.

bluebull Unfortunately, one number still is missing. It's $3,000–the annual cost of tuition, books, and room and board for each student.

That figure is beyond the grasp of many Russian and Eastern European ministers and the churches that want to help them get an education, Kozynko reported.

“We require the students to pay tuition,” he said. “But the churches who are recommending them, they really are not able to provide scholarships. … We still look forward to increasing the number of students if we can get enough churches to provide financial and prayer support.”

That's why Kozynko has been visiting the United States–seeking churches that will commit to “adopt a student for three or five years and also support them as they begin ministry,” he explained.

“I am really glad to extend our contacts to several places in the United States–Indiana, Illinois and Texas,” he said, adding with a chuckle, “I have been told the real Baptists are in Texas.”

Kozynko's proposition–adopt a Moscow Seminary student and help launch a lifetime ministry–provides churches with a chance to impact Russia and Eastern Europe with the gospel, said Ronnie Prevost, professor of church ministry at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology and a member of the Moscow Seminary board of trustees.

“It's going to prove to be the mother seminary of Baptist work for the foreseeable and long-range future of Russia,” Prevost said of the school.

The impact of that reality is more far-ranging than Baptists familiar with U.S. schools might imagine, he added. “Not only is the seminary producing ministers–pastors and youth ministers–for the churches, but graduates are going out and starting Bible schools, Bible colleges and seminaries in their home regions.”

For example, Kozynko told about a graduate who went back home to Minsk, Belarus, to become a pastor, but he also started a Belarusian Baptist seminary.

“They are expected to start schools that will be doing the training of ministers,” Prevost said.

“It's almost an accelerated paradigm of what we've seen as Baptists in the United States. … The ideal for any country is for the ministers to be trained within the context of their culture. They know their people best.”

When the young ministers land in their fields of service, they find unimaginable need but also incredible openness, Kozynko said.

“In this way, we can affect society in a positive way,” he said. “Drug use and alcohol are destroying our society. … They are empty in their souls.

“But the Slavic people–Russians as well as Ukraines and others–are open to the good news. … Many people are after the truth in their lives.”

For more information about Moscow Seminary and the scholarship program, see the school's website at www. mbs.ru/fornlang.ver/en/index.html.




Samaritans want to share vision of peace with other people in Middle East_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

Samaritans want to share vision
of peace with other people in Middle East

By Michelle Gabriel

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–The Samaritan Israelites–a people despised in the biblical era as unclean and decimated by centuries of violent conflict but who have adopted a policy of total disarmament–want to share their peaceful vision with other countries in the Middle East by building an international peace center.

In early November, Samaritan Benyamim Tsedaka, chancellor to the Samaritans' high priest Shalom Ben Amran, made his annual diplomatic visit to the United States, meeting with government officials, lobbyists and charitable organizations and sharing updates about the Samaritans.

Benyamim Tsedaka (RNS Photo)

His goal was to garner support for a Samaritan-run international peace center he would like to build on the sacred Mount Gerizim, near Nablus, where many of the remaining 672 Samaritans live.

The Samaritans, who live mainly in Israel and Palestine, have special, close relationships with their neighboring communities. Tsedaka said these friendships are unique in the fiercely divided Middle East.

The Samaritans' friendly relationships with two of the warring nations in the world and their modern-day policy of non-violence after millennia of conflict make them ideal candidates to build a peace center in the Middle East, he said.

He hopes the center can be built by 2009 at a cost of $25 million.

“Jerusalem, according to the Bible, will be a place of peace at the end of the day,” he said. “But it is a place of war over everything, and much bloodshed and much confrontation between the Arabs and the Jews. This is not a city of peace.”

The holy mountain where half the Samaritan people reside, Mount Gerizim, is the one place where leaders of both Israelis and Palestinians can come in peace, he said. In the Penteteuch–the first five books of the Bible–venerated by Samaritans and Jews alike, it is the “mountain of blessings,” where Moses spoke to the Israelites. The name holds true today, Tsedaka said.

On Mount Gerizim, people from both Israel and Palestine are “sitting down with one another,” Tsedaka said. “This is what gave me the idea to write the proposition” for the center. “Why do they have to go to Geneva if they have a little Switzerland in their place where they can meet and make peace talks?”

Another motivation for the center is the history of his people, he said. The Samaritans are the descendants of the tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel, but their origins and separation–and the animosity–from what emerged as Judaism are murky, according to biblical scholars.

Although the Samaritans once numbered more than 1 million, they had dwindled to a scant 146 in 1917 because of wars, persecution and forced conversion to other faiths.

Because of their sparse numbers, little is known of the Samaritans outside of the Middle East besides the New Testament story of the “good Samaritan” told by Jesus.

Today, the Samaritans are a curious blend of ancient traditions and modern amenities, according to Tsekada.

Ben Amram, the current high priest, is believed to be the 130th lineal descendant of Moses' brother, Aaron. They have preserved the tunes to the oldest songs mentioned in the Torah and can sing the ancient melodies of their forefathers. They have preserved a unique language and script and perpetuate their cultural heritage by an enduring tradition of educating children about their Samaritan ancestors.

But they also drive cars and wear modern clothes. Since Samaritans are a people, not a nation, their members reside in either Israel, Palestine or Jordan. They work in their respective countries–something Tsedaka hopes will change if the peace center is built.

“The bottom line is the future of my people,” Tsedaka said. “They will work (at the center), they won't have to go to other places to work.

Ralph Benko, Tsedaka's spokesman on his U.S. tour, said the Samaritans are a people unique among devoutly religious groups, such as Mennonites or Hasidic Jews.

“The Samaritans are a very cosmopolitan people,” he said. “They have assimilated all the best of the modern world without losing the essence of their faith and traditions.”

But Benko said their small numbers, pacifist views and good relationships with the bitterest enemies in the Middle East could hurt the chances for their proposal to build the peace center.

“Some people think the aspirations of the Samaritans are romantic and impractical because they are such a small people,” Benko said. “When I hear that, I ask if they have ever heard a parable of the mustard seed. I offer you the Samaritans as the mustard seed with the power of faith. God willing, they will be the seed for peace.”




Religious community challenged to stand against international sex trade_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

Religious community challenged
to stand against international sex trade

By Karen Long

Religion News Service

CLEVELAND–Sister Clare Nolan recently stood before a packed audience at the City Club of Cleveland and asked her listeners to think about some numbers: Somewhere between 700,000 and 2 million women and girls are taken beyond their national borders and forced into prostitution each year.

Further, 1 million children are channeled into the sex industry annually, starting as young as 6.

In Asia, pimps buy girls for about $300; virgins cost $3,000 to $5,000. Asian girls delivered to the United States retail for about $20,000.

Each year, crime syndicates transport about 50,000 foreign women and girls into the United States to sell into prostitution, roughly an entire baseball stadium crammed with human chattel.

Then Nolan challenged the Cleveland audience to do something about it.

Nolan, an expert on human trafficking at the United Nations, defined prostitution as unvarnished gender violence. In Thailand, a popular destination for Western sex tourists, she has met women who contemplate suicide daily and who live in permanent gynecological pain.

Such girls and women are akin to prisoners of war, Nolan said. They are duped, coerced, beaten, raped, drugged, intimidated and kept in isolation.

Unlike the illegal trade in drugs, women can be sold again and again.

Nolan dismissed voluntary prostitution as a popular myth.

“If there is anything that excludes women from the human family, it is prostitution,” she said. “Such women become symbols, the classic fallen woman; or jokes, the world's oldest profession; or fantasies like 'Pretty Woman.' But they are always denied their individuality and personhood.”

U.S. men who travel abroad are struck by the prevalence of prostitution, said Joe Cistone, executive director of International Partners in Mission, a small, faith-based foundation that brought Nolan to Cleveland. It makes grants to fight human trafficking.

“What breaks my heart is to be propositioned by children, 6 and 7 years old,” Cistone said. “There are boys, girls, women. If you go to Bosnia on business, some just assume they should send a 16-year-old up to your room.”

Crime syndicates are ruthless, said Cistone, who ran a refugee center in Rome 10 years ago.

In Eastern Europe, he said, it is typical for criminals to videotape their gang rape of a young girl, show her the tape and threaten to send it to her parents unless she submits to sex slavery.

Such exploited women are found in war-torn, impoverished and unstable regions and imported into wealthy nations such as Italy, Israel, Japan, the United States, Holland and Germany. International Partners in Mission helps pay for Roman Catholic sisters, wearing religious habits, to go into European streets and rescue immigrant women who have been forced into prostitution.

Joan Brown Campbell, former general secretary of the National Council of Churches, who gave the invocation before Nolan spoke, said she saw similar exploitation in the Philippines.

“Nothing made me weep more or made me more sad than the trafficking in not only young girls but young boys too,” she said.

“It is very hard to see and very hard to get over.”

Nolan, a Roman Catholic nun, agreed that notions of male entitlement fuel prostitution.

“In my church,” she said, “we have recognized a lot about sexual exploitation of children by clergy. The clergy are one of the most privileged of male groups in a patriarchy.

“We have seen it here in the U.S., notably in Boston, and also recently in church structures throughout Africa.

“This is not simply an unfortunate aggregate of individuals with problems. This is a system clearly out of balance.”




Survey explores connection between students & God_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

Survey explores connection between students & God

LOS ANGELES (RNS)–The proportion of college students who attend worship services drops from more than half to less than a third between freshman year and junior year, according to a study at the University of California at Los Angeles.

The Spirituality in Higher Education survey found 52 percent of students frequently attend services before entering college, but that segment dropped to 29 percent by the third year of college. Seven in 10 students said they had attended at least one service in the past year.

The findings are part of a survey of 3,680 students at 46 colleges and universities.

Despite a drop in worship attendance, researchers say college students are intensely interested in spiritual matters but often find limited outlets to express their spirituality.

Just over half (53 percent) of students said time in the classroom had no impact on their spiritual development, even though college juniors said their desire to integrate spirituality and develop a meaningful philosophy of life had grown since they arrived on campus.

“The survey shows that students have deeply felt values and interests in spirituality and religion, but their academic work and campus programs seem to be divorced from it,” said Alexander Astin, director of UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute.

The survey found that more than three-quarters of students pray or discuss religious issues with friends. About one in five students expressed skepticism on spiritual matters, from belief in God to the creation of the universe to feeling “a sense of sacredness.”