Pastor, three other Nazarenes die in cold wave in northern Bangladesh

Bangladesh--(NCM release) A severe cold wave in northern Bangladesh, India, and the plains area of Nepal (Terai) is having a deadly effect on communities unprepared for the frigid conditions. In Bangladesh, the temperature has dropped to 6 degrees Celsius (42 degrees Fahrenheit). This is the lowest temperature these areas have experienced in recent memory. Normal temperatures for this time of year range between 25-33 degrees Celsius (80-90 degrees Fahrenheit).

District Superintendent Sukamal Biswas reports: "Last night one of our pastors in the Naogaon District [northern Bangladesh] froze to death. What can we do to help our people?"

Biswas continues: "Thick fog covers the country. Most people are so poor they have no idea how to help themselves. Many pregnant women, young mothers, and small children are suffering from the cold wave, and many are malnourished or close to malnourishment. This prevents their bodies from having enough energy to fight these cold waves. Meanwhile, three Nazarenes and dozens of their neighbors have lost their lives. Two more cold waves are expected this month."

Thousands of Nazarenes live in the northern part of Bangladesh. Many continue to suffer as their huts have no insulation and no heat, and the cooking stoves are in the ground outside. Their clothes are made of light cotton, and the poor have no sweaters or blankets to keep them warm. The youngest and oldest are reportedly suffering the most. Many children have no clothes at all. Most sleep on the ground or on a mat if they are fortunate enough to have one.

Prayer is requested for Nazarenes in Bangladesh and their communities. Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) is asking for help in purchasing blankets to share with those who are so cold. This is an immediate need. NCM in Bangladesh requests funds be sent rather than supplies and blankets in light of the immediacy of the need. Six U.S. dollars will purchase a quality blanket in Bangladesh.

World Mission Director Louie E. Bustle states: "The Lord commands us to clothe the naked - not just because it is something to do, but because holiness compels us to see people as Christ sees them and to care for them as He would."

Donations can be made through NCM. Persons and churches wishing to make a donation can mark their checks "Bangladesh Cold Wave Relief ACM1633 " and mail them to the General Treasurer, 6401 The Paseo, Kansas City, MO 64131. In Canada, checks should be made payable and sent to the Church of the Nazarene Canada, 20 Regan Road, Unit 9, Brampton, Ontario L7A 1C3. Immediate donations may also be made online at www.ncm.org.

All donations remitted through the General Treasurer's Office will receive 10 percent Mission Special credit if the local church is identified.
--NCM

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Dr. Ray Howard Moore, 1918-2007

Bethany, Oklahoma--Renowned Nazarene educator and minister of music Ray Howard Moore passed away January 7. He was 88.

Moore was born on February 17, 1918, in Bronson, Michigan, to Jessie and Mattie Moore. A 1941 college graduate of Olivet Nazarene College, Moore earned his master of arts degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1956. He was honored with a doctorate in music from Olivet in 1980.

Moore faithfully served as a minister of music and educator in the Church of the Nazarene for more than 60 years. He served churches in Detroit, Kansas City, and Bethany, Oklahoma. He was also a professor at Olivet Nazarene University, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Southern Nazarene University, and European Nazarene Bible College.

For 20 years, Moore was music director of the radio broadcast, "Showers of Blessings" and "La Hora Nazarena," which were broadcast around the world from Nazarene Headquarters in Kansas City. He also led Ambassador Ministry Teams to Central and South America as well as Europe. He started radio stations in Kankakee, Illinois (WKOC) and Kansas City, and built communication equipment for missionaries around the world. Moore (W5RSL) was an avid ham radio operator, beginning at the age of nine.

Moore's life of distinguished service was marked by numerous awards and recognitions, including the Heritage Award from Southern Nazarene University, the "O" Award from Olivet Nazarene University, and the Cathedral Choir Heritage Award from Bethany First Church of the Nazarene.

He is preceded in death by his first wife Edith, granddaughter Amanda Moore, stepson Mark Rawlings, and nine brothers and sisters. He is survived by wife Nelda, daughter Kathy (Ron) Johns of Tulsa, son Phil (Donna) Moore of Bethany, son Harlan (Barbi) Moore of Oklahoma City, special nephew Dick (Ann) Moore of Mission Viejo, California, stepson Mike (Micki) Rawlings of Dallas, and stepdaughter-in-law Kelly Rawlings of Wichita. Surviving grandchildren include Lindsay Moore (Ken Marshall), step-grandchildren Ron (Brenda) Johns, Jr., and Michelle, Jessica, Shelby, and Gunnar Rawlings. Surviving siblings are sister Pauline Alexander of Covington, Ohio, and brother Gary (Marge) Moore of Kansas City.

Memorials may be given to the Ray H. Moore Music Scholarship, Olivet Nazarene University, One University Avenue, Bourbonnais, Illinois, 60914-9937.

A memorial service was held at Bethany First Church of the Nazarene on Wednesday, January 10; interment on Thursday, January 11 at Green Lawn Cemetery in Kansas City.
--Mercer-Adams Funeral Home, NCN News submissions

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Michigan congregation raising funds to aid small Lakota church

Mt. Pleasant, Michigan--(The Morning Sun) The prairie grass is not covered by snow on the Pine Ridge Reservation this winter, but the temperature is expected to plunge below zero.

"We are looking to send out wood stoves," said Doyle Perry, pastor of Mt. Pleasant's Faith Indian Church of the Nazarene. "The people are very cold."

Perry's church is working to establish a relationship with a tiny church near Wounded Knee, South Dakota, the Lakota Memorial Church of the Nazarene. Perry said plans are underway for an emergency trip to Wounded Knee to try to help struggling members of the Lakota church.

"We want to build bridges from our reservation to theirs," Perry said. "The need for propane is very great because of the high cost," wrote Cecelia Spotted Bear, pastor of the Lakota church, "and wood for heat, for those who use wood stoves."

Perry said he was traveling across the reservation last year on a hunting trip when he spotted "an old, beat-up cross" on the rugged landscape of the 2 million-acre reservation. Soon, he found the church, several miles from the main road.

And he found a community in great poverty, with great needs. "The income level is so low," Perry said. "I just could not believe it."

The Lakota church published a list of Christmas needs. They were simple: warm socks, gloves and stocking caps; pocket knives, pens and pencils, dish towels, bedding; everyday, basic things such as brushes, combs, hair ties, and deodorant.

Heating fuel is a major need, Spotted Bear said. She said her church has an account with the local propane company for emergencies.

"As people let me know, we check up on them," she wrote, "and if it really is a need, then we tell the propane company."

Perry said his church is asking for donations of stoves, chain saws, tools and other cold-weather gear for the South Dakota natives. The Faith Indian Church of the Nazarene also held a fund-raising spaghetti lunch and supper on Thursday, January 11.

"The churches in our community always have been there for our people," said Fred Cantu, chief of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. He encouraged tribal members to donate to help the Lakotas.

"What we'd like to do is share some of the blessings we have received with other communities, other tribes," tribal spokesman Joe Sowmick said.

Perry said after the emergency trip, set for January 17, he hopes to make another journey to South Dakota in May with more for the Wounded Knee church.

"When you see people in such need," Perry said, "how can you turn away?"

Donations may be sent to the Faith Indian Church of the Nazarene, 6304 E. Broadway Road, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858. Donations for propane also may be sent directly to the Lakota Memorial Church of the Nazarene, Box 197, Wounded Knee, SD 57794; write "propane" in the memo space on the check.
--The Morning Sun, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan newspaper

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ENC alums escort historic Bible to Massachusetts gubernatorial inauguration

Quincy, Massachusetts--Two Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) graduates, Kelly Cobble (Class of 1985) and David LaMere (Class of 1998), played an integral role in the January 10 historic inauguration of Deval Patrick as Massachusetts's first African-American governor. Cobble and LaMere escorted the Mendi Bible, also known as the Amistad Bible, to the governor's office for a private viewing before taking their place on the platform with Patrick as he was sworn into office in Boston. The new governor pledged his oath of office on the historically symbolic Mendi Bible, so named because it was presented to John Quincy Adams as a token of gratitude by members of the Mendi tribe, freed captives of the of the slave ship Amistad, for whose freedom Adams successfully argued in 1841.

Cobble, who holds a bachelor of arts in English from ENC, is the curator of the Adams National Historic Site in Quincy. The park has two main sites: the birthplaces of second U.S. President John Adams and sixth U.S. President John Quincy Adams, and the Peacefield estate, including the "Old House," home to four generations of the Adams family, and the Stone Library, which contains more than 14,000 historic volumes, including the Mendi Bible.

LaMere received both his bachelor of arts in history and master's in education from ENC, and now serves as a law enforcement ranger with the National Park Service. He began his career with the National Park Service at the Adams Site, and, after law enforcement academy, moved to the Cape Cod National Seashore. LaMere is now based out of Boston National Park where he also serves as a firearms and defensive tactics instructor.

Inscribed within the Mendi Bible are these words:

We are about to go home to Africa. We go to Sierra Leone first, and there we reach Mendi very quick. Good missionary men will go with us. When we get to Mendi we will tell the people of your great kindness. We shall take the Bible with us. It has been a precious book to us in prison, and we love to read it now we are free. Mr. Adams, we want to make you a present of a beautiful Bible. Will you please accept it, and when you look at it or read it, remember your poor and grateful clients! For the Mendi People Cinque Kinna Kale Boston, Nov. 6. 1841

In response, Adams wrote, "It was from that book that I learnt to espouse your cause when you were in trouble, and to give thanks to God for your deliverance."
--ENC

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NCN News Briefs for January 12, 2007

• The first Church of the Nazarene in Sierra Leone was officially organized on December 3, 2006. Missionaries Paul and Sharon Martin reported 29 people were the first official members of this western Africa church that began two years ago under a mango tree. (--NMI Prayer Mobilization Line)

• Correction: Last week it was incorrectly reported in the NCN News Briefs section that U.S. Marine and Tennessee Nazarene Billy Koprince was killed in Afghanistan. In fact, Koprince was killed near Al Habbaniyah in Iraq's Anbar Province. We regret the error. More information has been added to this tragic story. Please see the full report at ncnnews.com: read more
  
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