Freed Chilean miners attend celebratory mass

Thirteen of the 33 Chilean miners who had been trapped underground for 69 days returned with family, friends and local officials to the scene of their entrapment for a private thanksgiving mass.

Other miners had planned on attending as well but were still recovering physically and mentally from their ordeal. About 20 planned to attend another Mass held at a later date.

At the mass the vice-president of the Chilean Bishops’ Conference thanked the miners and their families for their example of strength, solidarity, unity and drive to live.

"The men have been very moved, particularly today,” said Bishop Gonzalo Duarte, who spoke at the mass.

“They almost couldn’t take the emotion,” he added, according to the U.K.-based Daily Mail.

The story of the Chilean miners and their over two months spent trapped underground before eventually being rescued has inspired countless people around the globe. During their time underground, the miners were sent food, water, supplies, and even items to pass the time – including MP3 players containing the New Testament and “The Story of Jesus.”

Many consider their dramatic rescue in the "Phoenix" escape capsules to have an element of the miraculous to it.

"It was 75 percent engineering and 25 percent a miracle," topographer Macarena Valdes commented, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Only one miner, Victor Zamora, remains in the care of doctors and he is expected to remain under medical observation until at least Tuesday after undergoing serious dental surgery.

(Image is a poster made of all the miners who were trapped).

Tony Blair to debate Christopher Hitchens on religion

Two topics of discussion that are generally ruled out of discussion in polite company are politics and religion because they potentially stir such strong feelings, but former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will play the defender of faith next month at a debate in Toronto.

Opposing him will be journalist and author Christopher Hitchens, a famed atheist who recently developed cancer of the esophagus.

The debate will take place at the sixth semi-annual Munk Debate at Roy Thomson Hal on November 26, and organizers says the topic is not whether God exists, but whether religion is a force for peace or conflict in the world.

Blair will argue for the benefits of religion. Hitchens is the author of a number of books, including ‘God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.’

When Blair was in office he was famously warned off making too much of his developing faith by spin doctor Alistair Campbell, but in the months after his resignation from politics, Blair converted to Catholicism.

Blair is the creator of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which according to its website “aims to promote respect and understanding about the world's major religions and show how faith is a powerful force for good in the modern world.”

The Third Lausanne Congress Opens

The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization opened in Cape Town yesterday. In a media release, the Lausanne Conference organizers stated that:

“It (the Lasuanne Conference) draws together 4,000 invited participants from 197 nations, and extends through GlobaLink sites to 90 countries. The Congress theme is 'God in Christ, reconciling the world to himself' (2 Corinthians 5:19) and how to bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching in every region of the world and every sphere of society.

The Lausanne Movement, founded by Billy Graham, is uniquely placed to gather evangelicals for a common purpose. The Congress will reaffirm the primary truths of biblical Christianity, and engage with critical issues set to face the Church over the next decade. These issues have been identified through consultations around the world. Doug Birdsall, Chairman of The Lausanne Movement, said: ‘We have worked to engage evangelical leaders on all continents. This is the first Congress of its kind in the digital age, and we’re praying it will herald a new moment for the Church.’

In this information age, traffic on the eight-language Congress website is expected to be high, and radio networks will relay programmes across Africa and Latin America, on the themes of the Congress.

The 1974 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization produced The Lausanne Covenant, widely regarded as one of the most significant documents in recent church history. Reflecting on this, Archbishop Henry Orombi, Chair of the Africa Host Committee, declared: ‘Under God, the legacy of The Third Congress is up to us!’ The Cape Town Commitment: a statement of belief and a call to action, will be published out of the Congress. Dr Chris Wright, Director of Langham Partnership International, is the chief architect of the new statement, working in partnership with senior theologians from all continents.

Each of the six days of the Congress will begin with a study in Ephesians, led by pastor-theologians from around the world. ‘We will be studying Ephesians as a global community,’ said Blair Carson, Congress Director. ‘We want it to be a grounding for a whole new movement of communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ.’

John Stott and Billy Graham have sent personal greetings, assuring the Congress of their daily prayer. Both are now becoming frailer, but have lost none of their passion for Christ and his gospel. Billy Graham, reflecting on the huge scale of changes in the world, wrote from his home in North Carolina, ‘One of your tasks during Cape Town 2010 will be to analyze those changes, and to assess their impact on the mission to which God has called us in this generation.’

John Stott expressed his particular pleasure that the Congress is being hosted in Africa: ‘I pray that you will be able to share richly in the blessing God has poured out on the Church in that continent, as well as sharing in the pain and suffering of his people there.'"

You can find out more about the Congress on their website at www.lausanne.org

A relationship of convenience? Hollywood’s fascinating flirtation with Christianity.

Hollywood studio executives are reeling from recent big budget flops and are desperately looking for ways to boost box office numbers. Hence the reason they are turning to what they term “faith-based audiences” – vast and tightly connected communities that are easily socially networked.

The latest example is the movie Secretariat, the true life story of an American thoroughbred race horse that won the Triple Crown in 1973. Although the world of horse racing may not initially seem like an ideal bet for church-going communities, the movie opens and closes with a quote from the Book of Job, and at a key moment the gospel hymn "Oh Happy Day" serenades the audience. It is, the makers say, the ultimate feel-good movie - about the miracle of life itself.

More specifically this Disney production is being aggressively marketed to Christian audiences, to the extent that the director, Randall Wallace, who is himself a Christian, even promoted the film on a website called HollywoodJesus.com, where he discussed how the story of the horse's triumph against the odds "affirms and celebrates the idea of faith and hope."

Other films that embrace Christian themes, like forgiveness and redemption, are in the works. They include next year's Soul Surfer, starring Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt, which tells the story of American surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost an arm in a shark attack but eventually returned to her sport.

Hollywood's pursuit of Christian audiences is nothing if not thorough. There are websites for pastors to download trailers and film clips for use in sermons, along with suggested Biblical quotations to link them to. Screenings are held for religious leaders months before official release dates, and promotional materials are produced for Bible study groups. Movie marketing moguls recognize the extreme power of the local church communities who have built-in tightly knit and loyal social networks.

Hollywood’s eyes were fully opened to the extreme potential of the Christian audience by the success of The Blind Side, which was the surprise US hit of last year. It is believed this success came largely on the back of faith communities who responded to the movie in droves. Clips of the movie were provided to 22,000 "mega-churches" across the US before it was released, along with suggested Bible passages for pastors to discuss in their sermons.

For Hollywood executives, the figures that resulted from the campaign were enough to have them yelling ‘hallelujah!’. Each church had an average congregation of 400, meaning the clips reached an estimated audience of 8.8 million. Many of those went straight from their pews to the cinema resulting in the film grossing $309 million and propelling its star, Sandra Bullock, to an Oscar for Best Actress.

It appears this relationship between Hollywood and the church is equally convenient for pastors, many of whom are increasingly reliant on multi-media to proclaim their message. The use of film to build sermon series around is popular because it is an opportunity to share the Gospel message using professional and well-made stories that people easily relate to.

China blocks house church reps from attending the Lausanne Congress

The Gospel Herald reports that representatives of China’s house churches have been blocked from leaving their country by authorities to attend Lausanne III, the global evangelical leadership conference which is due to start in Cape Town on the 16th.

Five volunteers from Beijing house churches had already completed boarding procedures at Beijing International Airport when they were stopped by guards. Four of them had their passports confiscated while one was detained. Authorities said that the confiscated passports would only be returned on the 25th, which is after the conference is finished.

Futhermore, a local Beijing church called Shouwang Church said on their website that several of their members who were due to attend Lausanne have faced stiff pressure from local authorities to forego attending.

The American based group China Aid Association (CAA) also reported that in Shanghai a local church representative was blocked from leaving while another was granted permission to board the plane.

The CAA urged Lausanne Congress leaders to speak out on behalf of these Chinese Christians.

In an interview with Radio Free Asia, a CAA spokesman said: “According to our understanding of the situation, all of these 200 representatives have been approached for talk or threatened in the last two months.” He hopes to see representatives from mainland China to be able to attend this year’s Lausanne Congress of World Evangelism (LCWE).

“The conference begins on the 16th; visas are just being issued now, so it is estimated that they are the first group of guests; it is unknown whether the remaining others will be able to go. Ever since September, the series of attacks towards the house churches in China have continued to escalate, and these attacks also encompass the attacks toward government-sanctioned three-self churches, which reveals whether or not there are signs of openness in the aspects of religious freedom,” he said.

Global community celebrates as first Chilean miners rescued

People the world over, from South America to Africa to Australisia have been watching the dramatic rescue of the 33 Chilean miners who spent the last 69 days trapped underground in the collapsed San Jose gold and copper mine. The rescue scenes, which may take up to 36 hours to complete, have been greeted with widespread joy as the global community blogs and tweets about it.

After the collapse of the mine on August 5, a desperate search began for survivors. By August 22 grieving had already started for these lost miners when a dramatic note, scrawled in red pen and disclosing their survival was discovered. This began an almost two month long rescue attempt that culminated in today’s efforts. Nothing has been left to chance as experts from the world over have combined their expertise providing hundreds of contingency plans. The Chilean president promising the miners would receive extensive care for the next 6 months at least.

The 69 days of survival underground is unprecedented, but the world has been stunned by the incredible solidarity the miners have displayed during their ordeal. This strength of spirit and unity has lasted right to the end with the miners good-naturedly arguing about who should be rescued first.

Janette Marin, sister-in-law of miner Dario Segovia, said the order of rescue didn't matter.

"This won't be a success unless they all get out," she said, echoing the solidarity that the miners and people across Chile have expressed.

The miners have also had their religious needs attended to while they have been trapped, with the local Catholic priest lending prayer support, hearing confessions, and even organizing Holy Communion for them.

At the scene of the rescue attempt, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said "This won't be over until all 33 are out. Hopefully the spirit of these miners will remain forever with us. ... This country is capable of great things."

"We made a promise to never surrender, and we kept it," Pinera added. Pinera also took the opportunity to acknowledge the role that God, faith and hope had played throughout the ordeal.

People all over Chile have been attending nightly prayer vigils for the miners.

U.S. President Barack Obama praised rescuers, who include many Americans. "While that rescue is far from over and difficult work remains, we pray that by God's grace, the miners will be able to emerge safely and return to their families soon," he said.

Is this the 'dawn of the stem cell age'?

Less than three months after first receiving permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with stem-cell treatment, Geron – a privately funded firm – announced that they have begun treating their first patient.

The is the first-ever clinical trial of human embryonic stem cell-based therapy on a human patient and it involves injecting a stem-cell treatment into patients with severe spinal cord injury with the hope that it will help damaged nerve cells regrow and eventually allow patients to regain movement.

"Initiating the … clinical trial is a milestone for the field of human embryonic stem cell-based therapies," commented Dr. Thomas B. Okarma, Geron's president and CEO.

The study has been described as the "dawn" of a new age of medicine, because if it is successful it could be the "catalyst" to open up stem cell treatments for all kinds of conditions from nerve damage, to Alzheimer's disease to diabetes. Thus, the results of the procedure will be eagerly awaited around the world by doctors and scientists working in regenerative medicines.

Embryonic stem cells are master cells found in human embryos, which give rise to more than 200 specialised types of tissue in the adult body, and can be grown into any kind of tissue to replace cells damaged by injury or disease.

However, the use of embryonic stem cells is highly controversial since they must be harvested from human embryos that are destroyed in the process. This raises moral concerns from groups who believe that embryos have the same rights as humans and see the treatment as unethical.

Geron stated that only one patient had been admitted to their program and refused to give any details regarding identity, name and sex other than to confirm the patient had suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury.

(Image is of an embryonic stem cell in an extracellular matrix).