SOUTH KOREA MULLS RESTRICTING MISSIONARY WORK IN MIDEAST

SEOUL — South Korea is considering restricting the operations of its Christian missionaries in the Middle East after dozens were expelled for their activities, officials said Thursday.
Missionaries could run the risk of terror attacks and ordinary Korean tourists or businessmen might also be targeted, they said.
"Dozens of our citizens were expelled from Iran, Jordan, Yemen and other Islamic countries in the Middle East last month," a foreign ministry official told AFP, asking not to be identified.
He gave no exact figure. Chosun Ilbo newspaper, quoting a government source, said more than 80 were expelled in the past two months.
"The government is considering taking various and prudent steps for the safety of citizens overseas," the ministry official said without elaborating.
The Korea Herald, without giving a source, said Jordan had recently warned Seoul of possible terror attacks against South Korean missionaries.
In 2007 Afghanistan's Taliban kidnapped 23 South Korean Christian aid workers, two of whom were later killed. The remainder were set free after an undisclosed deal between the Seoul government and their captors.
In March four South Korean visitors to Yemen were killed in a suicide bombing at a historic tourist site. A statement purportedly from Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.
In June a female volunteer was murdered after being kidnapped in Yemen.
It was unclear if the Yemen victims had links to missionary groups.
South Korea was also targeted after sending non-combat troops to Iraq.
In 2004 a militant group believed linked to Al-Qaeda beheaded a South Korean hostage after unsuccessfully demanding the Seoul government pull out troops.
Under South Korean law the government can restrict citizens' overseas travel if they are subject to a criminal investigation or it is feared they could damage national interests or public safety.
It can refuse to issue or renew passports for up to three years for those who have tarnished the nation's reputation abroad.
Christian and civic groups have maintained that any restrictions would violate constitutional rights to free travel and religious freedom.
South Korea has some 13.7 million Christians (8.6 million Protestants and 5.1 million Catholics) and about 10 million Buddhists, according to the National Statistical Office.
Some Protestant groups are noted for aggressive proselytising.

JESUS'S ' HEAD ' TAKEN FROM CHURCH'S STATUE IN WAUWATOSA

In recent months, Wauwatosa has seen cemetery headstones, city stop signs and the Hoyt Park pool house damaged. But this time, vandals have struck a new target: The statue at the entrance to St. Joseph Congregation now features a headless baby Jesus.
"Somewhere someone is using (the head) for a trophy," church Business Administrator Deb Labermeier said. "The officer and I and the custodians looked everywhere on the property for it, and it's gone."
The statue of Joseph holding his infant son was given to the church by the Christian Women's Society more than 10 years ago. The marble statue is one of several on the church grounds at 12130 W. Center St.
"It's not essential to what we do, we can function without it," Labermeier said. "But our members take this personally. They take pride in the property. This is so senseless."
The church has insurance, which will pay for the majority of the estimated $5,000 cost to replace the statue. But the parish will be responsible for paying the $1,000 deductible.
Labermeier said she was "surprised and disappointed" by the decapitation, which occurred between Aug. 9 and 11, because the church has rarely had problems with crime.

PRIEST RISK LIFE FOR CHURCHLESS CHRISTIANS IN EGYPT

A Coptic priest who renovated his home to accommodate Christian ceremonies in his churchless village is not afraid of the death threat Fatwa issued against him, he declared.
The Rev. Estefanos Shehata of the village Upper Ezbet Dawoud Youself, about 124 miles south of Cairo, is fed up with the unfair treatment of Coptic Christians in Egypt.
There is no church for the 800 Copts in his area, which means funeral and marriage ceremonies are carried out in the streets, he complained in a recent letter to the Middle East Christian Association.
Two years ago he converted part of his family house into a space where these services could be performed and went to obtain a permit for its use. Authorities kept refusing to give a direct answer and finally told him to talk to the village’s Muslims because they didn’t want to be responsible for any problems.
Shehata then talked to the village’s Muslims, who he said have a good relationship with the Copts in the area, about the permit.
The Muslim in his village held a meeting with the elders of neighboring villages, and, to his surprise, they were “extremely angry” with his proposal and issued a Fatwa (religious edict) calling for his death.
“They told the Copts in the village that it takes just one bullet to get rid of me since there is no ‘blood money’ for killing a Christian,” Shehata wrote in the letter.
“I have been banned from my village for over a month now. I cannot even go [see] my mother.”
In Egypt, Christians are not allowed to construct or fix churches unless they receive a permit from governors. Nearly all requests for church building permits are denied. However, there are no such building permits necessary for the construction or fixing of mosques.
“What harm is it to you if we have a hall? What harm is it to you if we build a church? This is one question,” Shehata said in an interview with the advocacy group Free Copts. “Secondly, why do we have to conduct a funeral in the street? Why do we have to celebrate weddings, with the bride and groom standing in the street? This is definitely not right. Why are Muslims angry when Christians want to pray?"
Though Egypt’s constitution guarantees religious freedom, in practice the situation is very different.
“Enough humiliation and persecution of the Copts. I do not fear death and issuing a Fatwa to spill my blood is an honor to me,” he said.
Egypt is predominantly (90 percent) Sunni Muslim with the rest of the population (10 percent) being Christian. Although Egypt’s Christian population is small, it stands as the largest Christian community in the Middle East and is also among the oldest.

CITYSIDE CHURCH'S FUTURE IN DOUBT DUE TO THE DECLINING NUMBERS

The future of one of the last remaining protestant churches in Londonderry's Cityside is being reviewed due to declining numbers.
The congregation will meet in September to discuss the future of Strand Road Presbyterian Church.
The number of Protestant families in the area shrank in line with an overall decrease following the Troubles.
Reverend Robert Buick said the Presbytery will examine all available options over the church's future.
"Depending on the consultation with the congregation, the minister, and other church bodies, the presbytery will then recommend various options to the congregation," he said.
Any decision the congregation takes will go to the Derry & Donegal Presbytery and then to the General Assembly which sits in Belfast.

MISSION VIEJO PILOT ROBERT EARL REMEMBERED FOR HIS MISSIONARY WORK

LAKE FOREST – A pilot who devoted himself to flying to help people around the world is remembered as being inspirational and bringing out the best in others.
Robert Earl Lehnhart, 76, spent decades flying for Mission Aviation Fellowship – a worldwide organization of missionaries that brings, medicine, emergency supplies, food and community development to people in developing countries.
Lehnhart died following a boating accident in Alaska on Tuesday.
Lehnhart joined the fellowship in 1960 and first flew on missions to Brazil. He flew to Ecuador in the mid 1960s. He left the organization in the early 1970s and returned as its director in 1981. He left again in 1985 a formed AirServ – a similar missionary organization.
Several PBS and other channels showed Lehnhart's and AirServ's humanitarian role with aviation in isolated areas of the world He was a graduate of Bryan University in Dayton, TN and later got his masters from The Johns Hopkins University. Recently, Lehnhart served as adjunct professor at Concordia and other universities.
Lehnhart, 76, died on Tuesday after the boat he and other family members were riding in flipped in choppy waters off the coast of Juneau, AK, trapping him underneath, according to information from the Alaska State Troopers. Wind at the time was blowing at about 16 knots and waves were about three. The boat had taken on several large waves.
Rescuers performed CPR as they took Lehnhart to a local hospital but he was pronounced dead a short time later.
In a Christmas message to his family last year, Lehnhart detailed some of his life's experiences in an email he called "The Evolution and Final Days of a Famine Fighter."
"Then we went with MAF to Brazil to fly for missions in the Southern end of the Amazon jungle. The Chavante tribe had never been in contact with civilization and had only come out of the jungle a few years earlier. Why?" he wrote. "They had been attacked by rubber hunters and land surveyors hired by the wealthy business men from the cities. They fought back for years to protect their land but had no chance with their bows, arrows and clubs against the guns of their 'civilized' attackers."
Gene Jordan, a MAF pilot and personnel director of the group, met Lehnhart as a teen in Ecuador where he lived with his missionary parents.
"He was a serious thinker and a good pilot. He always said the airplane was only a tool to impact people. I looked up to him. He was what I wanted to be."
Lehnhart was active in Mission Viejo's Presbyterian Church of the Master. He worked with the church's Christian education program. He worked with a faith-based group in San Juan Capistrano that worked to strengthen families there.
Pastor John McKeague of Church of the Master said Lehnhart always had a clear, sharp mind and a great smile. He was the kind of guy you could start a conversation with and he'd always be interested, McKeague said.
"He brought out the best in us," McKeague said. "He was a real mover and shaker. He pushed the envelope. He looked out for those who were shuffled away though the business of life. A deep love for the Lord bubbled out of him. He was a real light among us."
Services for Lehnhart will be held at 1 p.m. on Aug. 29 at the Presbyterian Church of the Master, 26051 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo.