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Power and Authority in the Mennonite Church, Consultation II will be held Oct. 15-17 at Waterloo (Ont.) North Mennonite Church. In May, 1997, a group of Mennonites launched a discussion on power and authority. The dialogue proved to be intense, controversial and soul-searching. In response to a number of suggestions from last year's participants, the organizing committee has lengthened the time of the event, plus they have added an arts evening, featuring Mennonite artists. Some of the workshop topics that will be discussed are: Power and authority in the congregation, Men and women in church authority, Power and money, and Power in the family. Registration deadline is Sept. 15. More information can be obtained by phoning Cheryl Nafziger-Leis at 519-669-4991.
Michael Lichtenberger, former controller at Bethel College, a Mennonite school in Newton, Kan. was sentenced to 52 months in prison March 18 for stealing $1,312,221 US from the college. He spent more than $200,000 a year, giving his wife $3,500 in monthly living expenses (as required in a prenuptial agreement), a $44,000 BMW, an $11,000 wedding ring and a mink coat. Lichtenberger was ordered to repay the the money. His wife, Janie Shearion, was ordered to hand over the BMW so it could be sold. Lichtenberger also faces federal money-laundering charges that could carry an additional six-year prison sentence. Lichtenberger said he took responsibility for his crimes and regretted the decisions he had made. He had earlier pled guilty to seven counts of theft and forgery. From 1990 to 1997, Lichtenberger issued 98 cheques to himself, some for more than $25,000, in what was described as a complex, sophisticated and successful scheme. The college is interested in accountability for Lichtenberger as well as restitution, said Doug Penner, Bethel president. He hopes the college and Lichtenberger will be able to engage in an offender-victim process. -- MENNONITE WEEKLY REVIEW
A Roman Catholic Bishop, John Joseph, 66, allegedly committed suicide May 6 in Sahiwal, Pakistan to protest a recent court verdict sentencing Christian defendant Ayub Masih to death for blasphemy. The bishop had been an outspoken champion of dozens of Pakistani Christians victimized on false blasphemy charges since the death penalty was made mandatory in 1990 for slandering the prophet Mohammed. Joseph had coordinated legal defence efforts for Masih and other Christians jailed under the statute. His death resulted in 10,000 Christians marching March 8 in Faisalabad to protest the blasphemy laws. The demonstration turned to violence, and Muslim clerics used loudspeakers to denounce local Christians. Three mourners were wounded by police trying to control the crowd and a Christian named Ranjha Masih was arrested for blasphemy for throwing a stone that hit an Islamic sign over a shop. On Sunday, the day of the funeral, the city was under heavy police control. Yet Muslim mobs set ablaze homes and shops, leaving 15 Christians injured. The next day, Islamic groups ordered a general strike in Faisalabad; more Muslim mob attacks were reported. Riot police fired teargas to disperse violent demonstrators, and removed barricades blocking roads and held off mobs trying to attack churches. By mid-week, normalcy had returned. Meanwhile, Christians demonstrated in Karachi, Hyderabad, Rawalpindi and Multan; 26 Christians were arrested by police in Multan, and violence broke out in Karachi when Christian youths pelted shops and cars with stones. On May 15, Christians held a nationwide strike and protest. In Lahore, 595 Christian demonstrators were arrested, and over 200 were injured by police charges and teargas. In Rawalpindi, 73 Christians were arrested. A Muslim demonstration in support of the blasphemy laws was scheduled for May 23. Calls for tolerance came from the prime minister, but other officials said the blasphemy laws would not be repealed. Extremist Muslim groups have threatened to bring down the government if it dares to repeal or amend the blasphemy laws. An estimated 2 million Christians and 135 million Muslims live in Pakistan. -- COMPASS DIRECT
Mennonite Central Committee is sending Wanda Kraybill to Baghdad, Iraq in June to assist over-worked Middle East Council of Churches staff in distributing relief items. She is the first MCC worker ever sent to Iraq. She will spend three to six months in the relief effort and will also befriend families of children receiving MCC leukemia medicines. For the past four years, Kraybill, 26, was an MCC English teacher in Egypt. She was chosen for the Iraq post because of her knowledge of Arabic language and culture. Feeling a growing desire to respond to what was happening in Iraq as her Egypt work was coming to a close, she wanted to contact MCC about service opportunities in Iraq. Before she could do so, Ed Epp, MCC's Middle East director, asked her to consider the assignment. Kraybill says she was overwhelmed with how the events came together, describing it as grace. Kraybill left for Iraq May 23, even though it is illegal for US citizens to enter Iraq. She is confident her assignment will go as planned, crediting the inner strength she feels to the prayers and support she has received. MCC's first shipment of donated leukemia medicines arrived in Iraq in April. MCC plans to supply a two-year course of drugs for 50 children suffering from leukemia. Last year, through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, MCC sent 600 metric tons of navy beans to Iraq, which were distributed through hospitals. This year, more shipments of wheat flour and beans are planned. -- MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
Youth advocate Don Posterski is ending his research of Canadian youth culture after more than 15 years. He gave his last formal address on "Youth in Canada" in May at the Canadian Youth Leader Institute at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton. Posterski, who co-authored Teen Trends with Reginald Bibby, is adjunct professor of culture and Christianity at McMaster Divinity College and vice-president of national programs at World Vision Canada. He will continue his efforts on equipping the whole church in Canada for culturally relevant ministry. His most recent book is Future Faith Churches: Reconnecting with the Power of the Gospels for the 21st Century. -- MCMASTER DIVINITY COLLEGE
Chris Robertson bicycled 6520 kilometres from Point Pelee, Ont. to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. from March, 1997 to Jan. 8, 1998. Calling his trek, "To the Top Canada Expedition", Robertson gave speeches in 47 cities, read the entire Bible and faced death four times. Cashing in $36,928 in RRSPs, he made the quest to awaken patriotism in Canadians, but found the journey drew him closer to God. He asked his listeners to answer the question: "What will you do before the year 2000 to make Canada a better country than when you found it?" When the road he was travelling ended in Inuvik, N.W.T., he had to wait for the Mackenzie River to freeze so he could take the ice trail down the centre of the river to reach Tuktoyaktuk. Arriving Jan. 8, he read Zechariah 14:6: "When that time comes, there will no longer be cold or frost, nor any darkness. There will always be daylight, even at darkness."
One of Vietnam's largest house-church movements, in 1996, made 20,203 converts, bringing the group's total number of believers to 45,000 in 330 congregations. The total number of evangelical Christians in Vietnam is about 700,000, which includes house churches and the Tin Lanh Churches established during the colonial missionary era. -- CANS
A terrorist group, "The Army of God", claimed responsibility for a Jan. 29 abortion clinic bombing in Birmingham, Ala., which killed a security guard and injured a nurse. Letters received by authorities resemble letters sent last year after bombings of an Atlanta, Ga. abortion clinic and a homosexual nightclub. The security guard is the first person to die in an abortion clinic bombing in the US. -- EVANGELICAL PRESS NEWS SERVICE
Vietnam has a population of about 78 million people; there are about 60,000 known cases of HIV. By the year 2000, that number is projected to rise to 300,000. -- EPNS
Austria's parliament passed a law Dec. 10, making it more difficult for a church to gain "state-recognized" status. The law allows the state to reduce the current number of state-recognized religions from 12 to four and to limit recognition based on longevity and membership of a religious group. -- EPNS
Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, concluded a three-day preaching crusade Feb. 1 in Adelaide, Australia. A total of 73,600 people turned out over the three nights to hear him. This is his second preaching trip to Australia. In 1996 he spoke at rallies in Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville. -- EPNS
Michelangelo's chalk drawing of "Christ and the Woman of Samaria" was sold at auction for a record $7.5 million US. The drawing shows the scene from the Bible where Jesus stops at a well and asks a Samaritan woman for a drink. The 17-by-13.5 inch drawing was one of the last privately owned works by the Renaissance artist. The previous record price for a Michelangelo drawing was $6.3 million in 1993 for "The Rest on the Flight Into Egypt". -- EPNS
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