‘Boomers’ — the New Wave of Volunteer Missionaries

ORLANDO, Nov. 14 /Christian Newswire/ — On average, one “baby boomer” retires every seven seconds in the United States, and Wycliffe Associates is tailoring its programs with this in mind, Martin Huyett, vice president of volunteer services for the worldwide organization announced today.

“Wycliffe Associates, which supports Bible translators in practical ways, is building a new Volunteer Mobilization Center in Orlando to recruit, train and mobilize the service contributions of what is expected to be a continued influx of mature, skilled volunteers,” said Huyett.

Baby boomers – those born after World War II and before the Vietnam War – make up a quarter of the total population in the United States.

“In their teens and 20s, they redefined pop culture,” John Hall of Texas Baptist Communications has written. “In their 30s ands 40s, they challenged the traditional role of women. Now in their 50s and 60s, baby boomers are poised to change American culture again.”

Dr. Todd Johnson, a research fellow and director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, confirms that boomers are more interested in being active than just giving money. Many are starting NGOs ( non- governmental organizations) such as orphanages, business centers and health clinics that minister at a local level.

“Many retirees’ post-retirement plans are being built around missions,” Johnson said.

Although boomers are sometimes branded as members of a very self-centered and individualistic generation, many are experiencing a deepening desire to give back. They are coming to realize that significance is found in looking beyond oneself, studies show.

Christian organizations, such as Wycliffe Associates, believe they have a great opportunity to match mature, highly honed skills with ministry opportunities.

“It’s cheaper these days to go overseas. The entire world is more accessible,” said Wycliffe Associates’ Huyett. “Today’s 60-year-old is mature and needs far less training in living skills than his or her younger counterpart. Traditionally, mission organizations send new missionaries in their 20s and 30s through an orientation process, like a jungle camp, to learn how to survive the harsh living conditions in the field. But a person in his or her 50s and above has triumphed through their productive years and has built-in strategies for success.”

Wycliffe Associates has experienced this phenomenon among its own ranks.

One such boomer is Michael Willard, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces engineer, who has taken his skills to the mission field. Willard’s career was spent designing and building airstrips for jets, so his skills are highly valued in places like Papua New Guinea and Africa. Without air transportation, missionaries in small villages would be at risk of greater isolation from food and medical supplies.

Willard was part of a Green Berets special unit that established military airstrips in jungles and other remote places. He used these skills in Papua New Guinea, where the local people rely heavily on small airplanes for transportation. Airstrips need continuous maintenance and care as the jungle intrudes. Recently, dozens of airstrips were too dangerous to land a plane. One particular airstrip had been torn apart by a small volcano. Willard and his teams restored 10 airstrips there.

During 2005, more than 1,200 Wycliffe Associates volunteers served in 36 countries as part of the worldwide Bible translation team. Wycliffe Associates plans to send more than 1,500 volunteers to 40 different counties this year to build and renovate facilities, construct roads and airstrips, teach Vacation Bible Schools, help with language development and office work, oversee projects, use their computer skills and much more.

“Time” magazine reported that boomers volunteer at a rate of 33 percent, contrasted with 24 percent for those 65 and older. Last year, 65.4 million people did volunteer work, but 75 million volunteers will be needed in 2010, the magazine reported.

The need for volunteers is there, said Huyett. Wycliffe Associates currently has more than 2,000 unfilled volunteer positions.

Wycliffe Associates responds quickly to inquiries and then matches volunteers with appropriate assignments. Upon completion, Wycliffe Associates’ new Volunteer Mobilization Center in Orlando will be dedicated to coordinate volunteers to support and advance Bible translation.

“The benefit to adults who feel God’s call to ministry in the second half of life is an enriching experience, as they use the skills and knowledge gained in their younger years for eternal purposes,” said Huyett. “Free from the pressures of youth and middle age, the older adult can do exciting, meaningful things never dreamed of before.

“As hundreds of thousands of new volunteer missionaries rise from the ranks of retiring baby boomers, they will challenge the status quo of missions and how organizations will respond to them,” Huyett said. Wycliffe Associates is positioned to usher in a new era of evangelism, Christian service and missions by involving thousands of boomers in the acceleration of Bible translation worldwide.”

Controversial Religious Leaders to Receive Final Sentence in December; Execution Could Be Imminent

MIDLAND, Texas, Nov. 14 /Christian Newswire/ — CAA learned that November 17-19, 2006, the Heilongjiang Higher People’s Court re-tried the case of the “Three Grades Servants.” In December it is very possible that the death sentence issued by the Shuang Yashan Intermediate People’s Court in the first trial will be upheld for Xu Shengguang and 2 other church leaders.

The second trial was held in the Shuang Yashan Intermediate People’s Court room by judges from the Provincial Higher Court. Officers from National Jurisdiction Organs and the National Religious Affairs Bureau were also present. Only 15 of the 16 defendants appealed for a second trial.

The court allowed one relative of each suspected criminal to be present at the trial, although some 100 people were present in the audience. According to the eyewitnesses, Xu seemed physically and mentally well during the trial.

The Defense argued that there is no evidence to prove Xu and the other two church leaders were directly involved or took part in organizing and abetting the murder of the members of the Eastern Lightening religious group.

According to an amendment passed by the 24th Conference of the Chinese Standing Committee of the People’s National Congress, beginning January 2007, the Chinese Supreme Court can reverse a Provincial Court’s death sentence. Unfortunately the mid- December verdict date for Xu falls two or three weeks prior to the effective date of the new procedure. So if the death sentences are upheld in the second trial, Xu and the others will face execution.

According to information received by CAA, the “Three Grades Servant” sect, even though they claim to be Christians and adhere to the Bible, is considered a heresy by mainstream house churches in China, because of their extreme doctrine. The Eastern Lightening group founded by a woman named Zheng, who claims to be China’s female reincarnation of Jesus Christ, is widely acknowledged by house churches to be a cult and a criminal religious group.

“We are closely monitoring the progress of this case,” said Rev. Bob Fu, the president of CAA, “We appeal to the Heilongjiang Higher People’s Court to try this case in a just and fair manor according to the Chinese Constitution.”

Defense Lawyer Mr. Wei Rujiu’s contact phone number:+86-13901098010

Ms. Wu Aiying, minister of Ministry of Justice of PRC
Tel:+86-10-65205114
Fax:+86-10-64729863
Address: No. 10, Nan Da Jie, Chaoyangmen, Beijing City (Zip Code: 100020)

Issued by CAA on November 14, 2006

Purpose Driven Terror? Rick Warren’s Syrian Trip an Outrage

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, Nov. 14 /Christian Newswire/ — The Syrian News Agency today is featuring glowing reports of American evangelical celebrity pastor Rick Warren’s junket to Syria. After reporting yesterday on Rick Warren’s meeting on Syrian-American relations with President Bashar al-Assad, the news agency SANA reports the following about Mr. Warren’s meeting with a Syrian Mufti today.

“The Mufti called for conveying the real image of Syria, national unity and its call to spread peace, amity and justice to the American people which the US administration has distorted their image before the world.

Pastor Warren expressed admiration of Syria and the coexistence he saw between Muslims and Christians, stressing that he will convey this image to his church and country.”

Rick Warren also is quoted as saying that 80 percent of the American people oppose what the Administration is doing in Iraq. We at VCY America Radio Network are appalled and angered that Rick Warren is praising a nation that has long supported international terrorism and that desires the utter destruction of Israel. The U.S. State Department reports that Syria–along with Iran–gives the Lebanese militia Hezbollah “substantial amounts of financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organizational aid.” The State Department also has documented that Iranian arms destined for Hezbollah pass through Syria on an ongoing basis. Syria has also let Hezbollah operate in Lebanon and attack Israel, the results of which were seen in the July, 2006 violence between Hezbollah and Israel in which many lost their lives. Experts further believe that Syria is the source of the weapons and insurgents that are taking the lives of Iraqi and American soldiers on a nearly daily basis in Iraq.

The International Counter Terrorism organization as well as the U.S. State Department has extensive information regarding Syria’s history of using terrorism to accomplish political ends. It is an affront to Israelis and Americans both that Rick Warren, whose expertise is in the building of evangelical megachurches, now fancies himself a foreign policy expert and official international man of peace. The pastor has no business involving himself in any role that appears to be representative of the United States and his promise to Syria to present a brighter view of that nation to America and Saddleback members demonstrates his willingness to serve as a mindless shill for a nation that embraces terror as a legitimate way of solving problems.

Rick Warren owes an apology to Israel, to the American people and to the victims of Syrian sponsored terror whose blood continues to soak the earth’s soil.

Save Iraq’s Persecuted Christians

FRONT ROYAL, Va., Nov. 14 /Christian Newswire/ — The growing collapse of law and order in Iraq is a tragedy. All Iraqis are affected, but the country’s Christian minority is bearing the heaviest burden. Explains Jim Jacobson, president of Christian Freedom International: “what began as liberation for Iraqi Christians has turned into a wave of deadly persecution.”

Christianity in the territory now known as Iraq dates back to at least the 4th century A.D., well before the advent of Islam. The church survived various forms of persecution over the centuries, but faces what may be its greatest challenge yet.

Although Saddam Hussein was no friend of Christianity—no dictator can be—he did not target Christians for their faith. They were no more free than anyone else, but at least they were insulated from jihadist violence.

The overthrow of Hussein initially created space for evangelism, and thousands of Iraqis responded. New believers flocked to new churches.

But the explosion of crime and lawlessness, rise of domestic insurgents, and influx of foreign jihadists have made life impossible for many Christians. Gangs have targeted Christians for extortion and kidnapping. Bombings and shootings have caught Christians as well as Muslims. And Islamic extremists, notes Jacobson, “have targeted Christians for everything from violating Islamic dress codes to simply being Christians.”

By some estimates half of the pre-war population of 1.2 million Christians—a mix of Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox faiths—have fled Iraq, many going to Syria. Other Iraqi Christians have sought to emigrate to America and Europe.

Time is running out to save Iraq’s Christians.

First, Washington must insist that successfully protecting religious minorities is one of its benchmarks it will use in assessing the effectiveness of the new Iraqi government—and America’s willingness to continue offering support. “The Bush administration must insist that it did not invade Iraq simply to replace one form of repression with another,” says Jacobson.

Second, American forces in Iraq should respond to requests for assistance from local Christians. In an attempt to appease Islamists, the U.S. has held Iraqi Christians at arms length, even though they are being targeted because jihadists identify them with Washington.

Third, the U.S. should accept Christians seeking to flee oppression. So far Washington has kept America’s doors largely closed, in an attempt to not admit that persecution exists in Iraq. But politics cannot hide reality.

Washington bears a heavy burden, having unintentionally loosed the furies of sectarian war on Iraq’s Christian community. Argues Jacobson: “At minimum, the Bush administration should push for additional protection for religious minorities and accept those Iraqis forced to flee because of religious persecution.”

CFI has distributed humanitarian assistance to Christians in Iraq and is currently seeking donations for another shipment of much needed aid.