North Korea: Willing to be martyrs for national freedom
While speaking at a North Korea Freedom Week forum on Capitol Hill, the first North Korean defector to be ordained as a Methodist minister asserted that Korean Christians not only want to topple the regime of dictator Kim Jong-un but want the unification of North and South Korea to occur through the Gospel. Kang Chul-ho, who established the first North Korean defector church congregation in South Korea (and is also the vice president of the North Korean Christian Association) spoke at a forum entitled ‘Ending the Kim Regime's Reign of Terror in North Korea: What Must Be Done,’ and explained that the socialist regime fears the power of the North Korean defectors more than it actually fears the military strength of South Korea. Kang says that Kim Jong-un fears those who risk death in search of freedom and dignity because he knows they will eventually come back to liberate their homeland.
Australia: Planned closure of indigenous communities
Christianity has influenced Aboriginal spirituality in many ways and many Aboriginal people are Christians. Prior to invasion Aboriginal people owned all of Australia but courts today successfully turned down their land claims. This week there's been an outcry across Australia over the conservative government’s plan to cut services to more than 150 remote indigenous communities in Western Australia. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the government could not ‘endlessly subsidise lifestyle choices.’ Between 500 - 1000 attended a Perth rally and thousands more protested in Sydney, Canberra, Darwin, Adelaide, Alice Springs, and 1,000 in four New Zealand cities against funding withdrawal from remote communities. Kimberley Land Council says the proposal contravenes the UN declaration on the rights of the indigenous person. For material on Aboriginal culture go to http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/#axzz3ZLxtuWNR
Vatican City: Pope Francis comments on global climate change
For about a year, Pope Francis has been meeting with scientists and policy experts to get their advice on addressing the environmental degradation caused by climate change. This process will culminate in June or July, when he will deliver a highly anticipated papal encyclical on the environment. An encyclical is the highest teaching issued by a pope. It is essentially a church policy paper, meant to offer guidance on specific issues for the bishops, priests and faithful who make up the family of about 1.2 billion Roman Catholics worldwide. The pope finished writing his ‘eco-encyclical’ in late April. It will be the first time a Catholic leader has dedicated an entire encyclical to environmental issues. The Vatican’s speaker on climate change said Pope Francis will frame the issue of climate change in moral terms regarding the accelerating burning of fossil fuels that power our economic engine and disrupt the earth’s delicate ecological balance on an almost unfathomable scale. See also article 4 in Prayer-Alert British Isles section.
Germany: ‘March for Life’
Seventy years ago the Nazi regime was falling to the invading allied armies, and Nazi SS officers attempted to prevent foreign soldiers from seeing the horrifying conditions in concentration camps. They gave orders for the emaciated Jews, Russians, Poles, Gypsies and other slave workers to leave the camps on ‘Death Marches’ towards the areas where the German army still had control. Many died from the cold and exhaustion or were simply shot for not being able to walk or refusing to obey orders. In 2015, in many German cities, a ‘March of Life’ has been or is being organised by Christian groups, in cooperation with Jewish communities and survivors of the Holocaust, to ask for forgiveness, promote reconciliation and bring new life to their cities and communities that had experienced the curse of death.
