Religion Today Summaries - July 28, 2006

Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff | Published: Jul 27, 2006

Religion Today Summaries - July 28, 2006

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

  • Local Texas Church Helps Bring Hope to Honduras
  • Lebanese Christians Dread Hezbollah Victory
  • Luis Palau's 'Next Generation Alliance' to Host Innovative Evangelism Conference
  • Leaders Urged to Respond to Battle Cry of Teens

Local Texas Church Helps Bring Hope to Honduras

“Every one of our people who have gone to Honduras have come back changed,” said Joe Oakley, pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Grand Prairie, Texas. ASSIST News reports that this June, eight people from Grace Fellowship went south for one week to team up with the Christian relief organization, Hope for Honduras. Hope for Honduras is headed up by Ron and Shelley Jones who have lived and worked in Honduras for many years. Their vision is to lead people to become followers of Christ in order to affect positive change in the lives of the poor people of Honduras. Ron and Shelley’s main outreach is in the village of Mogote, a slum of Tegucigalpa. One of their ongoing projects is building houses for the poor in this area. This is a project that Grace Fellowship has sent teams to support for the last three years. Each year the congregation raises the money for a house, and then sends a team to Honduras to build it. It costs about $2,600 for the materials for one house with simple furniture. Even the kids in children’s church get excited about raising money for the project, and bring their pennies to put in the “Honduras jar.”

Lebanese Christians Dread Hezbollah Victory

As the fighting continues between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, many Lebanese Christians admit that they hate the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah more than Israel, according to AgapePress. Rina Nehme, a 40-year-old Orthodox Christian woman, says that "if Hezbollah wins this war" she's convinced "there won't be a Christian country anymore." An estimated 40 percent of Lebanese are Christians, although many have fled the country during its years of conflict and occupation by Syria and Israel. Regarding Hezbollah, Nehme says, "We are against them. We're not with them, but we don't want to see Lebanon collapse."

Luis Palau's 'Next Generation Alliance' to Host Innovative Evangelism Conference

World evangelist and author Luis Palau has shared the Gospel face-to-face with over 21 million people in 70 countries, and with millions more with his world-wide radio ministry. Christian Newswire reports that from October 24th – 27th, Palau and his team will share their techniques, ideas and vision at the Innovative Evangelism Conference in his home town of Portland, Oregon. The conference is being presented by the Next Generation Alliance®, a ministry created by Palau to assist, encourage and equip a new generation of evangelists. Workshops will focus on the unique and critical needs of outreach ministries, from finances to management, event planning to marketing. Presenters include seasoned evangelists (Luis Palau, Mike Silva, Jose Zayas), authors and speakers (Pat Palau, Mark Mittelberg, Donald Miller), youth-centered ministries (Stephen Baldwin, Jay Haizlip, Greg Stier) and creators of cutting-edge outreach tools (Kevin Palau, Billy Zabka, Brock Gill).

Leaders Urged to Respond to Battle Cry of Teens

Leaders ministering to the millennial generation are being called to hear their cry and respond at TeenMania's Leadership Summit, The Christian Post reports. With tens of thousands of teens butting heads against today's popular culture, TeenMania is kicking off a series of Leadership Summits throughout the country on Aug. 1, giving a wake up call to the older generation. According to TeenMania, current trends are pointing to a decline in evangelicals to a projected 4 percent, which applies to the largest generation of teens in history. TeenMania founder Ron Luce is urging leaders to give three hours to save this generation at the Leadership Summit. The 40-city tour kicks off in Boston. Guest speakers will include, among others, Dr. Jack Hayford, Dr. Ted Haggard, Jerry Falwell, and Wellington Boone.

Religion Today Summaries - July 28, 2006