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The B.C. MB Conference women's conference will be held at Fraserview MB Church in Richmond, B.C., not at Willingdon Church in Burnaby, B.C. as earlier reported in the Herald. The conference, to be held April 24, will feature guest speaker Dee Brestin.--B.C. MB CONFERENCE WOMEN'S COMMITTEE
The Supreme Court of Canada reserved judgement in November on a British Columbia divorce case that could define how long Canadians have to keep the wedding vow to love and honour "in sickness and in health". The couple in question married in 1989 and separated in 1992. The woman is unable to work due to physical and emotional problems. Now she is suing for financial support, even though the lower courts ruled that her difficulties have nothing to do with the breakup of her marriage. During the Supreme Court hearing, judges openly pondered if financial obligations could discourage people from marrying, and whether it is right to allow one partner to ignore a person with health problems once the marriage fails. In another case, the Supreme Court ruled that a Manitoba stepfather must pay child support to his ex-wife's 10-year-old daughter. The man married the girl's mother when the girl was one year old and changed the girl's surname to his own, though he never legally adopted her. When the couple split in 1992, he continued to visit her, but tried to cut off ties to the stepdaughter when the mother sued for divorce. The Supreme Court ruled the man had acted as a stand-in parent and ordered him to pay $200 a month in interim child support until a Manitoba court sets a permanent amount. In a third case in November, the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench ordered a Calgary man to pay $742 a month in maintenance for a child (now three years old) that he fathered during an affair with a married co-worker. Maintenance, arrears and legal costs are expected to cost the married man $225,000 over the next 15 years.--FAITH TODAY
Sexual abstinence among US teens should be encouraged by doctors to fight a teen pregnancy rate that is the highest in the developed world, the American Academy of Pediatrics said Feb. 1. According to surveys, 56% of girls and 73% of boys in the US have engaged in sexual intercourse before age 18. The teen birth rate for girls between 15 and 19 declined slightly between 1992 and 1996, but the 1996 rate of 54.7 births per 1,000 girls was still above the 1980 rate.-- EVANGELICAL PRESS NEWS SERVICE
The B.C. College of Teachers has appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada in a case involving Trinity Western University. The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled Dec. 30 that the BCCT had stepped outside its jurisdiction when it rejected TWU's five-year teacher education program because of TWU's policies on homosexuality. The court upheld an earlier ruling that the College approve TWU's program. For now, TWU has put its program on hold while the matter goes before the highest court in Canada, and Trinity education students must take their fifth year at Simon Fraser University. The case could drag out another year or two. In June 1996, BCCT refused to accredit TWU's proposed teacher education program on the grounds that teachers coming out of the Christian university might discriminate against homosexuals.--BC CHRISTIAN NEWS
The Surrey (B.C.) school board is appealing the B.C. Supreme Court's Dec. 16 decision that it reconsider approving three books about same-sex parents for use in kindergarten and grade one classrooms. A homosexual teacher wanted to use Asha's Mums, Belinda's Bouquet and One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads, in his class but was refused permission by the school board when many parents objected to the books on religious grounds. Justice Mary Saunders ruled that religious considerations have no place in a secular school system.--BC CHRISTIAN NEWS
An Australian missionary and his two sons burned to death in India Jan. 23 when the car in which they were sleeping was set on fire, reportedly by members of the Hindu extremist group Bajrang Dal. Graham Staines, 58, and his sons, Philip, 10, and Timothy, 8, were parked in an old station wagon outside a makeshift church in the village of Manoharpur, about 600 miles southeast of New Dehli. They were in Manoharpur for an annual five-day Bible camp. Reports said the mob of more than 50 danced and shouted while the car burned, and waited over an hour to make sure the three were dead. Villagers tried to rescue the three, but were beaten by the mob. Staines, secretary of the Evangelical Missionary Society, had worked with leprosy patients in India for 34 years through Leprosy Mission and World Vision India. Police arrested 49 people in connection with the killings, and are looking for the main suspect, Dara Singh, who has close ties with the Bajrang Dal. The secretary of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad political party denied any involvement of the VHP or Bajrang Dal in the incident, insisting that both organizations are opposed to violence. However, violence against Christians has increased in recent months since the VHP won a national election. A Christian conference and mass gospel outreach that was conducted in India Jan. 23-26 included a special memorial tribute for Staines and his two sons. The four-day crusade was kicked off with a torch-lighting ceremony at the top of St. Thomas Mount, the place where the Apostle Thomas was believed to have been martyred in 52 A.D. The international Christian conference featured testimonies revealing graphic descriptions of some of the persecution Christians have suffered, and each day the conference closed with prayer for the persecuted church in India.--EPNS
While church members of Calvary Prayer Center in Udugampola, Sri Lanka were praying in the early hours of Jan. 1, a Hindu mob attacked them with stones. Portions of the building were damaged, and six children were injured, according to a report from World Evangelical Fellowship. Police dispersed the mob after two hours, but the congregation continues to live in fear. On Nov. 6, pastor Vasu Sritharan, 34, was found in bed with his throat cut. He had been engaged in an evangelical ministry among the Hindu Tamils. It is believed he was murdered by Hindu extremists for speaking out against Tamil Tiger guerrillas involved in racketeering and drug running in northern Sri Lanka.--EPNS
More than $1.4 million was raised at the 14 Mennonite Central Committee relief sales in Canada in 1998, about $100,000 more than in 1997. In B.C., the Central Fraser Valley sale in Abbotsford raised $380,100; the Black Creek sale $10,500; the Kelowna sale $15,500; and the Prince George sale $45,700. The Alberta sale in Coaldale raised $137,500. In Saskatchewan, the Saskatoon sale yielded $91,000; and the Hague sale brought in $84,000 for Canadian Foodgrains Bank. In Manitoba, the Morris sale raised $108,000; the Winnipeg sale $60,600; and the Brandon sale $49,500. In Ontario, the New Hamburg sale brought in $274,000; the heifer sale in Guelph $125,000; the Leamington community sale $8,000 for MCC; and the Black Creek sale in Toronto $42,500.--MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE CANADA
The Terry Winter Show will continue to be aired for the next few months due to the overwhelming response by viewers. Featuring interviews with leading international Christians, the program is seen weekly by over one million people in Canada and the northern US on 28 stations in Canada. Terry Winter, 56, died Dec. 10 of a brain hemorrhage. He had taped interviews with Tony Campolo and Michael Green for airing from January to March. His widow Joan and the ministry team are now running the ministry.--TERRY WINTER CHRISTIAN COMMUNICATIONS
Heartland Forest Niagara is a $155 million Christian can live this way. It will be hard, but I can do it."--EPNS
A British poster that shows Jesus Christ as Latin American Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara is drawing controversy. The poster, designed to promote church attendance at Easter, shows Guevara wearing a crown of thorns instead of a beret. The text reads: "Meek, mild. As if. Discover the real Jesus. Church. April 4." Tom Ambrose, secretary of the Churches Advertising Network, said the goal of the campaign was to show Jesus not as a wimp, but as a strong revolutionary figure.--EPNS
Fourteen members of a Denver-based apocalyptic cult were arrested after Israeli police raided two homes in suburban Jerusalem Jan. 3. Authorities said they feared the group planned to provoke a shootout at the end of the year. Cult members believed that their deaths would usher in the Second Coming of Christ. Cult leader Monte Kim Miller, 44, was not among those arrested, and is not believed to be in Israel. The 14 arrested will likely be deported.--EPNS
Although the Church of Latter Day Saints in Utah has tried to distance itself from the 2002 Winter Olympic Games scandal, it cannot escape the feeling of embarrassment. Members of the church, known as Mormons, pride themselves on values such as hard work, thrift, diligence and honesty, but are reeling from allegations of the scandal involving the Salt Lake Olympic Bid Committee, many of whom are Mormon. LDS Church-owned businesses contributed $211,000 US to the bid. Before the scandal came to light, the church asked its members to volunteer for the games. Mormons are considered a cult by most Christian denominations, but had seen the Games as an opportunity to gain legitimacy. More than half of Salt Lake City's residents are Mormon, as are 90% of the state's legislators. Two of the three key Olympic organizers who resigned are practising Mormons.--SIGHTINGS (PUBLIC RELIGION PROJECT)
The Chinese government arrested 40 house church leaders Oct. 26 in Henan province in an apparent response to a letter of protest. Chinese house church leaders issued the seven-point appeal Aug. 22 calling for better treatment of Christians by the communist Chinese government and for government recognition of the underground church. Many of those arrested were released after paying a fine of $2,000, but 11 remain in custody. On Nov. 5, government forces raided a Christian meeting of about 100 people, some of whom remain in police custody. A letter released by the New York-based Human Rights in China group said that police beat at least 13 Christian leaders.--EPNS, Voice of the Martyrs.
Approximately 70 churches have been burned during the last 12 months in Nasarawa state in Nigeria. Conflicts between the Christian Bassa and the Muslim Igbirra ethnic groups continue to escalate, reports the Evangelical Church of West Africa. Since November 1997, thousands of deaths have occurred; 5,000 Christians have been displaced or killed. Contributing factors to the conflict include appointment of Muslim political leaders over predominately Christian areas; the use of public funds to build mosques on government property; the prevention of Christian instruction while allowing Islamic teaching in schools; and a Muslim-dominated media.--Compass Direct.
A man who stole a keyboard from a Zimbabwe church wound up founding a new congregation. After trying to sell the keyboard to a church member, who recognized it, the thief was arrested. The man became a Christian after one of the church's pastors visited him in jail. After his release, he asked the church to hold a service in his hometown. Several friends and family members became Christians at the service, giving rise to a new congregation, which now has 100 members. The former thief is being considered for a leadership position in the church.--EPNS
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