Haiti to relocate 400,000 homeless outside capital

Haiti is planning to house 400,000 earthquake survivors in new tented villages outside the capital, Port-au-Prince, officials have announced.

Aime said 100,000 people would initially be sent to 10 settlements near the suburb of Croix Des Bouquets.

An estimated 1.5 million people were left homeless by the 7.0-magnitude quake, which killed as many as 200,000.

At least 75,000 bodies have so far been buried in mass graves, the government has said. Many more remain uncollected in the streets.

At least 122 people have been saved by international search-and-rescue teams, according to the US government, but hopes are now fading that anyone will be found alive underneath the rubble.

"You have to be realistic and after nine days, reality says it is more difficult to find people alive. But it's not impossible," said Chilean Army Major Rodrigo Vasquez at the site of the collapsed Montana Hotel.

Improvised shelters

At least 500,000 people are currently living outdoors in 447 improvised camps in Port-au-Prince, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

"Tents will not work in May when the long rainy season begins and later when hurricane season starts, but at this point there is not much choice," said IOM Chief of Mission Vincent Houver.

(News could be found in: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8472958.stm)

Arrests over Malaysia church fire

Malaysian police say they have arrested eight people over the firebombing of a church earlier this month.

No-one was injured in the incident, but it was the first in a series of attacks that have highlighted religious and political divisions.

The attacks followed a 31 December court ruling allowing non-Muslims to use the word "Allah" for God, which the government is appealing against.
Some politicians have insisted on exclusive rights for Malay Muslims.

Word divisions

Bakri Zinin, the federal police chief of criminal investigations, said that the eight suspects had been detained overnight in connection to the 8 January attack on Kuala Lumpur's Metro Tabernacle Church.

Tensions flared after Malaysia's High Court ruled that a Roman Catholic newspaper, the Herald, was permitted to use the word Allah to describe God in its Malay language editions.

Some Muslim groups have argued that Christians using a word so closely associated with Islam could be a ploy to win converts.

Other Muslim groups, such as the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) have said there is no bar to Christians and Jews using the word Allah.

Malays, who are required to be Muslim in Malaysia, make up a majority of the country's population alongside substantial Chinese and Indian minorities.
The Malaysian constitution gives primacy to Islam but allows the free practise of other faiths.

Under the slogan "One Malaysia", the government has made racial harmony a central policy. Its commitment to that policy is now being severely tested.
The "Allah" ban is unusual in the Muslim world. The Arabic word is commonly used by Christians to describe God in such countries as Egypt, Syria and even nearby Indonesia, which is the world's world's largest Muslim nation.

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/8469384.stm. Published: 2010/01/20 05:43:24 GMT. © BBC MMX

Prayers Of Enduring Significance

Man Provides Faith and hope to Haiti

One man started a church, a school and a clinic in the impoverished country 12 years ago. (By Jill DiLibero)

While many people have stepped up to the plate with their philanthropic efforts since the devastating quake in Haiti, one man has already been aiding the impoverished country for years.

When Brad Johnson went on a visit to Haiti 12 years ago with his wife, he saw real life stories of poverty he had never encountered. After watching a child starved to death, he knew he had to do something.

"When we went back to the states, we realized how blessed we were, how much we had," Johnson told NBC Nightly News. "We knew we had to do something with that blessing."
Johnson moved his family to Haiti to start the Mission of Hope, a non-profit organization that provides faith and hope to people who live in poverty, by operating a school, church and clinic.

Now more than ever, Johnson is looking to raise awareness for the natural disaster that struck the country. The Mission of Hope is currently trying to assist as many people as possible, and plans to be there for the long haul.

Church Concerns

Church Activities For This Week

Should We Drop 'Allah'?

by Rev. James Wong

A number of government officials visited our church this week to find out the security situation and to ensure our safety. There were many questions asked including my view on the ‘Allah’ issue. I told them the burning of the churches is not a great loss to the church because we are taught to love our enemies but it is a great loss to the image of Malaysia. I received the following letter ...

Dear Dean,
Happy 2010 New Year. I wonder what is Dean's view from the theological point of view in respect of the "Allah" issue. Putting aside emotional factor, legal position et cetera, would it not be vice versa that we Malaysian Christians do look into the history and meaning of "Allah". We have been using Indonesian bahasa translated bibles all this while in total without questioning it. I believe it is a sensitive issue and yet it could clarify lots of things and we can be in better position. What say you in time as such ? God bless you.
Regards,
Bro. in Christ.

Here are my thoughts …

I read the Quran 5:72-73 (the version in my palm phone) , the verses were in response to Christians claiming Allah has a son through Mary and their belief in the Trinity. The verses are as follows for your quick reference:

"Certainly they (the Christians) disbelieve who say: Surely Allah, He is the Messiah, son of Marium; and the Messiah said: O children of Israel! Serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Surely whoever associates others with Allah, then Allah has forbidden to him the garden, and his abode is the fire; and there shall be no helpers for the unjust. Certainly they (the Christians) disbelieve who say: Surely Allah is the third (person) of the three; and there is no god but the one God, and if they desist not from what they say, a painful chastisement shall befall those among them who disbelieve."

The Muslims denounced that Allah has a son or the third person of the Trinity. So, the word 'Allah' was used by the Christians even before the religion of Islam became an organized religion.

From the historical perspective, it is most unreasonable to demand that the word ‘Allah’ cannot be used by Christians. Yet I believe it is alright to drop the use of the word for the following reasons:

1. The word 'Allah' itself cannot fully express the God that we believe in. It is an 'insufficient' word to express his character and his nature. It is just a word that helps us to refer to the Creator God. No name or term is sufficient to describe HIM in totality.

2. For the sake of peace and social order we can drop the word. This does not mean we renounce our faith. The Old Testament uses many words for God. In the Hebrew language, the word 'YHWH' was used for the name of God (Ex 3:15) but it has no vowel in it. It was a name too sacred to be uttered. However, for convenience vowels were added to read "YaHWeh" to refer to LORD and being translated into Jehovah in English. (NIV translated the word Yahweh to ‘LORD’). However, in the 19th century onward, biblical scholars returned to the use of the word Yahweh. Jesus called God 'Father.' So, our Christian history shows us that at different times we translated the name of God and use it differently. Theologically, there is no ground that we must use the word 'Allah' to address the God we believe in.

3. For the sake of peace and harmony we have to look at the options although dropping the word 'Allah' is very unreasonable in the modern setting. If Jesus can ask God to forgive those who nailed him to the cross, it is a small price to pay to drop the word because a community feels ‘threatened and confused’.

4. Dropping the word 'Allah' can cause problem in our BM Bible translation but it doesn’t mean there is no alternative. The Bible uses words like 'God' and 'Lord'. God is translated 'Allah' and Lord is translated 'Tuhan'. We will have to find another word to refer to God. God and Lord cannot be translated using the same word. Perhaps, we can use capital 'TUHAN' for the Almighty God, and small letters 'Tuhan' for Lord. No big deal.

5. Going to the court shows that we respect the law of the country. To get redress is proper and I am not against it. Religious issue is not a 'logic' issue, it is an emotional issue. Therefore, laws could not fully address it. The burning of churches is an evidence to this fact.

6. 'Allah' is just one word they are talking about. There are other words … If you forgo 'Allah' ... what's next? We do not know the future. The government has shown that they are not against Christians but against the usage of the word ‘Allah’. They contributed RM500,000 to rebuild the Tabernacle church. So far, we have seen police and people from the special branch coming to our church to assure us of their protection.

7. When one community claims that they feel threatened, confused and wants the monopoly of the word... we have to consider the alternatives. It is now a political issue that turns religious. That is one of the easiest way to gain political mileage. Looking at the situation ... where reason will not reign, it is no harm to drop that word and put more effort in our mission work locally. It is not worthwhile to retain a word and lose the harvest field. But there are Christians who think differently and very passionate about that word.

8. God will remain as God unperturbed by man's perception of him or by the name he will be called or demanded to be called.

The Seven Blessings In the House of God

Psalm 92:1-15


Right Approach To The House of God
“It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, 2 to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, 3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.” ~Ps 92:1-3 (NIV)

1. Fresh Anointing
“You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured upon me.” ~Ps 92:10 (NIV)


2. A New Vision
“My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.” ~Ps 92:11 (NIV)


3. Hear God’s Voice
“My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.” ~Ps 92:11 (NIV)


4. No More Dry Season In Life
“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;” ~Ps 92:12 (NIV)


5. Health, Riches and Honor
“planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.”
~Ps 92:13 (NIV)

6. Stay Productive
“They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,”
~Ps 92:14 (NIV)

7. To Declare and Shine For Jesus

“proclaiming, "The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him." ~Ps 92:15 (NIV)

Discover your spiritual gifts by serving

by Rick Warren

Since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be. Romans 12:5 (Msg)

The best way to discover your spiritual gifts and abilities is to experiment with different areas of service.

For instance, when I was younger, I could have taken a hundred tests to determine my gifts and abilities; yet, they would have never told me I was gifted at teaching. It was only after I began accepting opportunities to speak that I saw the results, received confirmation from others, and realized, "God has gifted me to do this!"

Many people get the discovery process backwards. They think, "Once I discover my spiritual gifts, then I'll know my ministry." It actually works the exact opposite way. Until you're actually involved in serving, you're not going to know what you're good at. The thing to do is just start serving and experimenting with different ministries; only then will you discover your gifts.

You have dozens of hidden abilities and gifts you don't know about because you've never tried them out. So I encourage you to try doing some things you've never done before. No matter how old you are, I urge you to never stop experimenting.

Over the years, I have met many people who discovered hidden talents when they were in their seventies and eighties. In fact, I know a woman in her nineties who runs and wins 10K races; she didn't discover that she enjoyed running until she was seventy-eight!

Don't try to figure out your gifts before volunteering to serve somewhere. Just start serving. Try teaching or leading or organizing or playing an instrument or working with teenagers. You will never know what you're good at until you try. When it doesn't work out, call it an "experiment," not a failure, because it will help you eventually learn what you're good at.

Haitians await rescuers as quake toll may top 100,000

New Year Eve Pot Bless Dinner & New Year Countdown And Church Bell Ringing At The Church Bell Tower

Church Concerns

Church Activities For This Week

Planning for the New Year

by. Rev. James Wong

It has been said, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Trusting in the leading of God does not negate the need for planning.

This was what Jesus said concerning the necessity of counting the cost; "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish' (Luke 14:28-30 NIV).

Then Jesus gave another example in which a king should evaluate his military strength before going into battle. He said, "… suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:31).

Words like “first sit down and estimate the cost” and “first sit down and consider” are clearly a planning process. Proverbs says, “We should make our plans—counting on God to direct us” (Prov. 16:9 LB). How to go about planning for the year 2010? Think about life as a journey and relate planning to a journey.

1. In every journey there must be a Clear Purpose. Begin with your purpose. What is God calling you to do or to be in this new year? Where does he want you to go from here?

2. In every journey there must be a Clear Destination. In this phrase of planning you look down the road to the future and define your destination. This is called goal setting. Where do you want to reach and how far can you go on the journey this year?

3. In every journey you must have a clear map which is your Action Plan. The Action Plans will describe exactly how you will reach your destination (goals).

4. In every journey there must be a Departure Date. After all the plans have been made and action plans have been in place, you must launch out on the journey by faith into the undiscovered world. In this journey you will not be alone for God will be with us, leading us all the way. So start planning today for ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.’

Advancing the Gospel through Leadership and Discipleship

Colossians 1:24—29

Introduction

1. New Year Resolutions
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 3:12—14

2. Leadership and Discipleship
28We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. ~Colossians 1:28

3. Advancing the Gospel in 2010
18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." ~Matthew 28: 18-20

Conclusion