tv Christian World News TLN February 19, 2013 9:00pm-9:30pm PST
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>> george: today on christian world news, a huge price from the vatican. now that pope benedict xvi is stepping aside, who will take his place. >> wendy: plus north korea rattles the world, but the regime's nuclear test isn't shaking christians. we'll show you how they're sending messages of hope to that isolated nation. >> george: and how those who are spreading the gospel are taking on a new look and a new folk. ♪ >> wendy: who will lead the world's one billion roman catholics.
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hello, everyone, i'm wendy griffith. >> george: and i'm george thomas. pope benedict xvi announced this week his resignation, saying it is for the good of the church. the 85-year-old pontiff says he does not have the strength to continue. it shocked catholics worldwide. it has been 600 years since a pope has chosen to step aside. now the faithful are asking, what happens next. charlene israel reports. >> reporter: the vatican will hold a co conclave before easter to elect a new vote. they will vote to decide who will lead the world's one billion roman catholics. >> the cardinals are going to have to weigh experience and the need for a certain energy. >> reporter: dale herd spoke with religious leaders in europe about the future pope. >> reporter: all of europe is abuzz over hugh the next pope might be, and what this will mean for the direction of the church. >> what do you ask most
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about the pope with these reporters? what do they all want to know? >> how the future pope should be like. my answer to that is he should be tremendously intelligent, and a person able to draw a bridge between the foundation and the faith of the church. and modern life. >> reporter: contenders include angelo scola, and cardinal mark ouel let. several names are surfacing from asia, africa, and latin-america. including cardinal le nard doe santri. and tim dolan from new york. however, being from a world super power could hurt his chances. it's the first time in six
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centuries that the cardinals will choose a pope while the previous one is still alive. benedict's resignation shocked the world. the 85-year-old pontiff has slowed down significantly in recent years, but the vatican stressed that no specific medical condition prompted this decision. >> he certainly slowed down a bit. you could tell he had trouble negotiating steps. he started using the cane several months ago. >> reporter: in his announcement, the pope said, quote,"i have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me." pope benedict xvi has overseen a series of scandals and controversy, including the sex abuse crisis in the catholic church. his critics charge he was not progressive enough, upset he condemned gay marriage, the ordination of women, and allowing priests to marry. but supporters viewed him as a steadfast leader, and praised him for warning against the subtle influence
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of secularism. >> wendy: joining us now with thoughts on these developments, is dr. cornelius becker a professor at regent university. thank you so much for being on the program. >> it greats to be with you. >> wendy: it is so unusual for a pope to step down, almost unprecedented, cepts fo -- exempt for that one time 600 years ago. >> it is unprecedented. weren't we've had several popes that have resigned for the position, but never for the reason this pope has offered, frail health and advanced age. i think it is a time of unprecedented change for the catholic church. i don't know if the faithful knows exactly what d to do with this right now. >> wendy: pope john paul ii was very ill and stayed in. do you think there is something else? >> there may very well be. but part of the idea of the
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pope is the pope shows us how to live and how to die. it might have been the unprecedented challenges this particular pope has had to face. >> wendy: there is a lot of talk about the pope, the next one coming from south america or south africa. what effect would that have on the church? >> it would be wonderful. i suspect it will not happen. i think the conclave might argue there are challenges in north america, as well as europe, and they need a pope that can be focused. >> wendy: so you think the pope will come from europe? >> i suspect the pope will be from italy. italy. >> wendy: really. the church has been harmed with sex scandals, and is there an opportunity here to change that image? >> i do think so. i think we'll choose a pope that is extremely conservative, and i think they're going to choose
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somebody with great leadership skills, management skills, and somebody who would know how to handle this. >> wendy: who is your pick? >> the cardinal from rome. >> wendy: do you think we're likely to see any significant shift in the direction of the roman catholic church with the selection of this next pope? >> i do not think so. we have to remember in the conclave, the majority of cardinals were appointed by benedict the 16th t-as well as pope john paul ii. >> wendy: the current pop was so popular. he had just started using twitter. and he was extremely popular and extremely conservative. >> yes. >> wendy: it just begs to the question of why? 85 is old, but he wasn't sick, you know? >> it was quite interesting. his brother was interviewed, who was an older priest. and the brother indicated there were two specific issues that might have caused this. one is the sense of information that was leaked
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from his office, as well as, of course, the sex abuse scandal. >> wendy: dr. becker, from regent university, thanks for being with us. >> always a joy. >> george: the u.s. congress is calling on secretary of state john kerry to seek the immediate release of an american pastor imprisoned in iran. pastor saeed abedini is serving eight years in prison because of his christian faith. more than 80 bipartisan members have sent a letter to explore every option. the effort is needed to protect a u.s. citizen from torture and life-threatening punishment. >> wendy: in the african nation of mali, fighting continues between government troops and the islamic rebels in the north. that means thousands of malians displaced by war will remain homeless a while longer. in the meantime, cbn's "operation blessing" is there, bringing them help in their time of need.
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gary lane has the latest from the capital city of amoko. >> reporter: amina was planning to return home to gao after the french forces freed the city. now her hopes are dashed. she says when the rebels came, they vandalized her church and burned a bible. she said, they told us they had defeated jesus, but that is a lie. amin and others have found refuge in the capital city of acoko. each of them had stories of tragedy to tell. very sad stories, and they're in great need, especially for food and other supplies. workers with "operation blessing" are now on the ground in mali, providing these refugees beans and rice. they found shelter at some local churches, they still need nutritious meals. more than a quarter of a
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million malians are displaced. former muslim turned christian, abraham sissis says islamic militants would have killed him if he hadn't left timbuktu. he is thankful for cbn and caring americans. >> i am grateful for what you've done. we really appreciate it. thank you so much, "operation blessing." may god bless you. >> reporter: so as the struggle to liberate mali of armed militants continues, cbn and other christians are helping those who have fled the fighting, demonstrating the love of christ to malians, like little sarah here, who won't be returning home any time soon. gary lane, cbn news, amoko, mali. >> wendy: to learn how you can help "operation blessing," check out our website, cbnnews.org. >> george: coming up, north korea is led by an
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>> wendy: welcome back. north korea shocked and angered the world by testing a nuclear bomb this week. experts say the detonation was twice as powerful as the last test in 2009. the united nations condemned the nuclear test, and in washington, leon panetta called it a serious threat to the united states. experts worry the regime is closer to developing a warhead small enough to be mounted on a long-range missile, bringing the u.s. west coast within striking distance. the communist regime in north korea is also one of the world's worst offenders when it comes to religious freedom. >> george: and for christians in particular, practicing their faith could mean death. one human rights group is taking action with an aerial offense.
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>> reporter: just before sunset, a van load of christians from seoul heads north. we cannot show you their faces or reveal their names. >> what we're doing could get us into trouble. where are we going today? >> we're going here, some four miles from the north korean border, and close to the demilitarized zone. >> george: the d.m.z.isn't is one of the most heavily fortified and potentially dangerous places on earth. >> we'll wait up here at the top of the stairs, sir. >> george: one million armed north korean troops stand ready on their side of the d.m.z., and the south has just as many. as we get ready to head to this particular location, one factor that could ruin this whole thing is the weather. >> one slight change in the wind direction can mess up the mission.
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>> george: peter has dubbed this "operation dandelion." >> we started this project back in 1991. and just as a dandelion needs the wind to spread its seed, we need the wind to spread the message. >> george: that message is the word of god, printed in the korean language on thousands of bright orange balloons. >> it is almost impossible to get bibles into north korea, so using the balloons is one of the most effective ways to share the gospel. >> george: and a tank in the back of the van pumps helium into the balloons. the team works quickly, all the time keeping tabs on the wind's direction. >> prayers are whispered over each balloon. >> george: and then the release. a few minutes a later, the balloons their slow drift across north korean air space. >> by sending these balloons, we let our north korean brothers and sisters know we're praying for them. the scriptures on the balloons are meant to
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encourage them. >> george: the ernest prayers begin here at this undisclosed location in seoul. every week since 1991, this man, along with a handful of another believers, has prepared each balloon into the flight into north korea. >> this is my way of helping to get the gospel back to my countrymen. >> george: the process is almost done. they're just putting on the final touches. they have a hole in here that they fill helium in, put a tape around it, and off it goes into the skies of north korea. >> the helium will leak out of the balloon and eventually fall to the ground. and when someone picks it up, they'll be able to read all 16 chapters of the book of mark. >> george: peter used boats in the past with other groups to launch balloon offensoffensives to the sea. they contain a small radio, the bible, and other christian literature. in addition to the balloon
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operation, peter's group organizes a weekly radio broadcast recorded in seoul and transmitted over short wave frequencies into north korea. >> it brings it like a regular church service with worship and preaching of the world. the northern korean government routinely tries to jam our signal, but we have other methods of getting our message across. >> george: cbn news obtained security photographs and recordings of secret church meetings inside north korea. [whispering] >> george: and when a northern korean accepts jesus christ, he or she will face pe persecution, imprisonment, and possibly death because of their faith. peter gave cbn footage of a
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show that allegedly shows the execution of north korean christians. [yelling] >> george: trying to get precise figures on the number of christians today in north korea is extremely difficult. >> based on data gathered from north korean defectors and international human rights groups, we estimate there are approximately 30,000 christians being held in political prison camps, and about 10,000 underground believers who are in hiding throughout the country. >> george: back along a stretch of the north-south korean border, it is a little past midnight. using the cover of darkness, peter's team continued to deploy hundreds of balloons
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at multiple locations. today the wind conditions have been good. >> often the winds will change suddenly, and we have to wait. sometimes we come back the next day. we are persistent. people's lives are on the line. we will continue to do this and continue to pray until north korea is free and the christians can worship jesus christ without fear. >> wendy: george, that footage of the believers in north korea praying in secret and whispering is so incredibly moving. >> george: they have to put a blanket over it because they can't trust their next door neighbor. you and i go to church on sunday and worship the lord and sing with our hearts, and here believers have to whisper and sometimes just mouth songs. >> wendy: it makes you really want to pray for the persecuted church. up next, the changing face of the gospel. how the people and the focus of mission work are taking on a new look.
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>> wendy: the face of global missions is changing. it used to be western churches that launched the majority of missionaries throughout the world. now most missionaries are being sent from latin-america, asia, and even africa. the focus of mission's work has also changed to the 10,000 cultural groups that are still considered unreached by the gospel. most of these groups are located in the 1040 window, the regions of africa and asia, between 10 and 40 degrees latitude north of the equator. >> george: dr. tim hill joins us, the general director of church of god world missions. and he is also author of the book "beyond the myth." since last august, he has travelled to 12 countries, and he has seen some of the latest developments in christianity and world missions. great to have you here on the show. >> it's wonderful to be here, george. >> george: tell us -- give us a glimpse of how god is moving today around the world?
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>> god is moving. and i see the map of the 1040 window, from asia to africa. latitude, north of the equator, where many of the unreached people groups are. and god is moving into those groups, some 7,000 of them, who have never heard the name of jesus christ. and we're seeing advances to touch their hearts for god. but now we're beginning to see a shift towards what is now known as the e 4 w wdow, whicicspeaks specifically to young people and children, who are very i impression believe anable of receiving the word of jesus christ. >> george: you referred them that this is the mission field, and now it is the mission force. >> the mission force. i said on an earlier interview, the children have grown up. c2 have taken the gospel and sownwnhe seed, and it s nogrown inin a a grere harvest. and they're saying, we must take the gospel, and the
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mission field is a mission force, from latin-america throughout. >> george: 80% of those who accept christ do so before the age of 18. and amongst those, the majority of them have the experience with christ between the ages of four and 14. >> four and . >eorge: a c cticall time period. >> it is very crucial. and we must get through to them, through every means of technology we can find. >> george: there are places in the world today, you know this, whether it is buddhists, muslims, atheists, who don't know a single christian. how is that possible? how do we reach them? >> we call them the unreachable groups, of which there are 7,000. there are 17,000 diierent groups arorod the w wld thth speak a comm langue and have a common culture. to be unreached, there are 2% or less of a christian influence there. we reach them, first of all, by embracing them. we pray for them. we adopt them. secondly, we engage them through a process of
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missioiory rk, training, loving on thth. anfinally, wee enlist th sohat they,, too,, b bome a part of the missionar callsls and the evangelisitic effort in their own nation. raising up indigenous people to become national workers and leaders among their own people is the key. >> george: i remember george oddus saying that god goes where he is needed the most. we don't see that happening too much in north america and europe and so forth. what is the key to having an authentic revival take place today in north america, whether it is the united states or europe? >> it is very simple. it starts with falling back in love with jesus. jesus told the church an efasis, you said you have left your first love. he did not say you don't love me at all. he said you don't love me like you used to. god is calling us back to a first love experience. when that happens, a revival
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begin. "anything that does not change the culture and change the spiritual climate of a community, a nation, ultimately the world, is not a realistic revival." >> george: what is amazing is that today, those who are the recipients of the gospel, whether in lalan-americic africa,, asia, are now coming to our shores. >> they are. they're coming to america from south korea, from latin-america, from asia, and they're coming to preach to us the gospel of jesus christ. >> george: and we should not be afraid of it? >> absolutely. embrace it. >> george: thank you so much, dr. hill. >> wendy: amen to all of that. is revival happening near you? we would sure like to hear about it. share your testimony how god is at work our chrisisan world news f fcebook pag anwe'll beight bac
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