Presidential assassination in Haiti fails to stop VBS
A presidential assassination in Haiti has shut down airports and…
Around the World: COVID-19 prayer in Honduras, virtual Caribbean lectures and more quick takes
Around the World is our monthly rundown of news briefs, links and quotes from Churches of Christ all over the globe. Got an idea for this column? Email Erik Tryggestad at [email protected].
Featured photo (above)
Joining hands before a shot in the arm: As Victor Araya Campos waits to get his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, he uses the time to join hands and pray with others waiting for the vaccine.
Campos, a 62-year-old former TV reporter from Costa Rica, and his wife, Aura, are first-year students at the Baxter Institute.
The ministry training school in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, prepares men and women to plant and serve Churches of Christ across the Spanish-speaking world. See villalobosyasociados.net.
Spotlight
Caribbean lectures — a screening success: More than 900 computers, iPads and phones logged in for the Caribbean Lectureship, an annual gathering of Churches of Christ that began in Jamaica in 1970. This year’s lectures were virtual due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Thaddeus Bruno
Since many families used the same device to watch, “attendance” for the lectureship likely exceeded 1,000 — a greater number than usually attend the in-person gatherings.
“Give Thanks” was the theme, based on Colossians 3:15-17. Organizers “wanted to encourage a spirit of gratitude, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic with its massive toll on lives, health, jobs and business,” said Thaddeus Bruno, interim chairman for the lectureship and minister for the Church of Christ West End in Bermuda.
Eight speakers shared messages during the four-day event. The lectureship’s 50th anniversary celebration, originally scheduled for 2020, was moved to 2022. Organizers plan for an in-person gathering in Kingston, Jamaica.
Quick takes
CROATIA
CRIKVENICA — Members of Churches of Christ gathered in this coastal city in Central Europe for the 25th Spiritual Renewal Conference.
James Nored, director of the Next Generation for Christ video ministry, presented lessons to the Croatians and guests from Albania and Serbia — two nations whose people fought against each other during the Kosovo War of the 1990s.
“It was an overwhelming experience to listen to a Serbian person praying for Albanians, and Albanians praying for Serbians as well,” Croatian minister Jura Lazar said.
CUBA
HAVANA —From across the Atlantic Ocean, a Scottish church appealed for aid for a growing Church of Christ in Cuba’s capital city.
“What started as a Bible study group in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood has grown into a thriving congregation,” said Derek Brown, a member of the Castlemilk Church of Christ in Glasgow. A former member of the Cuban church now worships with Castlemilk.
The Cuban church met in a home and had to move to multiple services to accommodate its growing numbers, Brown said. The church has raised $10,000 toward the purchase of a building, and the Scottish congregation hopes to raise matching funds.
For more information, contact Brown at [email protected].
NIGERIA
URUK OTONG — Evangelist Aniefiok Akpan partnered with the World English Institute to host the inaugural WEI-IDEA Virtual Nigerian Lectureship.
Aniefiok Akpan
IDEA stands for “Internet Digital Evangelism Africa.”
The theme was “Restoring the Evangelism Prowess of the Early Christians Using the 21st Century Digital Technology.” The program focused on equipping African evangelists to use WEI’s online teaching materials for outreach within Africa.
More than 100 people attended the conference in person at Rhema Christian Academy. A dozen more logged onto Zoom to watch the lectures. Speakers from Nigeria and the United States presented, including Tom Langley, president of World English Institute. Akpan plans to continue the conference by holding an online lecture each month.
SOUTH KOREA
SEOUL — The COVID-19 pandemic “is blocking house-to-house visiting evangelism,” said Malcolm Parsley, a longtime missionary to this Asian nation.
But it can’t stop House to House, Heart to Heart, a church-supported publication that Korean Christians translate into their language and distribute among Churches of Christ.
Copies are sent “to the local churches, to the elders and to some individuals who showed interest,” Parsley said. A recent issue was dedicated to the topic of baptism and salvation.
The lyrics to “Rejoice” by Jeon Sang-gil include color-coded shape notes.
Korean Christians also produce a magazine. Christian happiness was the theme of a recent issue.
The issue features an original Korean-language worship song, “Rejoice,” written by church member Jeon Sang-gil.
Members of the Clear Creek mission team tell Haitian children stories about Jesus.
Quote of the month
“Frankly, I am frustrated and tired of praying for the same thing over and over with no real answers for Haiti. This probably is not the most Christian thing to say, but it is the state that I am in right now.” — Dr. Luckson Previl, mission director for See Him Ministries. Read the full story.
