NCN NEWS WEEKLY SUMMARY

January 30, 2002
United States & Canada Edition
USA/CAN 0204
Senior Editor: David J. Felter

News This Week
Nazarenes Face Erupting Volcano In Congo
Imprisoned Nazarenes Released
Son Of Elmer Towns Killed
Mount Vernon Nazarene College Hosts Ethics Program
Point Loma Nazarene University Awarded Grant
Morsch Memorial Chapel
What Is TOBIAS?
General Superintendent's Jurisdictional Assignments
Personal Notes
Nazarene Sports News
Satellite Broadcast Schedule

Nazarenes caught by volcanic eruption
A volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) erupted January 17, sending torrents of lava toward the capital city of Goma, 12 miles to the south. Of the 4,000 Nazarene families living in the area, at least 500 are believed to be homeless as a result of the eruption of Mt. Nyiragongo. At least four Nazarene churches and two primary schools have been destroyed.

According to the United Nations, up to 600,000 people have been affected. Estimates of those displaced range as high as 450,000. The initial flows killed at least 45, and 50 others were killed in Goma when lava flows ignited gasoline and diesel fuel stored in elevated tanks. CNN reported that about 40 percent of Goma has been destroyed, including about one-fourth of the city's airstrip, and as many as 14 villages also were incinerated. The disaster adds further misery to that already caused by the DRC's long-running civil war.

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries has advanced $10,000 for initial relief supplies of food, water, blankets, tarpaulins, and medicine, but more is needed. Long-term assistance, such as seeds, farming tools, and building supplies, also is critical. Those wishing to donate to the relief effort should make checks payable to "General Treasurer," mark them "Congo Volcano ACM1635," and mail them to General Treasurer, 6401 The Paseo, Kansas City, MO 64131. In Canada, checks should be made payable and sent to Church of the Nazarene Canada, 20 Regan Rd., Unit 9, Brampton, Ontario L7A 1C3. All donations sent through the general treasurer's office will receive 10% Mission Special credit if the local church is identified.

Imprisoned Nazarenes released
As a result of the continued prayers of concerned Nazarenes, four pastors and two laymen who had been arrested and imprisoned for evangelistic work in a Creative Access Area, have been released. Communication problems made it difficult to verify their welfare until just recently. They were all released shortly before the new year

Son of Elmer Towns Killed
NCN News has learned that the son of Dr. Elmer and Ruth Towns was killed in an auto accident late Saturday evening while driving back to Lynchburg, Va. from Washington, DC. He was a Professor at Liberty University. His father, Dr. Elmer Towns co-authored the book, Developing A Giving Church with Dr. Stan Toler, pastor of the Oklahoma Trinity Church of the Nazarene. Additionally Dr. and Mrs. Towns co-authored Christmas Traditions with Stan and Linda Toler, which is published by Beacon Hill Press. The Senior Towns has spoken in nearly every Nazarene District Sunday School Convention as well as district clergy retreats.

Funeral services were held January 29, 2002 at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA.

Blackwell brings ethics program to MVNC
Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell visited the campus of Mount Vernon Nazarene College (MVNC) January 22 to discuss "Uncommon Sense," his model business and government leadership ethics guide. Leaders from colleges and universities that are members of the Ohio Collegiate Alliance for Character joined MVNC leaders for the event. Arranging the visit were Eric Forseth, vice president of enrollment and student services at MVNC, and Carl Ruby, vice president for student services at Cedarville University. Cedarville and MVNC are two of the six Ohio colleges and universities selected as test sites for "Uncommon Sense."

Students participating in the initiative are asked to commit to uphold 20 values identified in the guide as critical to ethical character development. Among those values are integrity, compassion, justice, accountability, fidelity, respect, servant-leadership, forgiveness, transformation, stewardship, and a commitment to seek wisdom. Said Blackwell, "Character is the cornerstone of American citizenship. And good citizenship is the foundation of community. It is also the foundation of both good business and good government. Noble visions, worthy missions and guiding values all require and are validated by character ethics. Thus a strong character foundation is and always will be the key predictor of true personal health, interpersonal vitality and organizational success."
--Carrie A. Crouch, MVNC communications office

PLNU wins $110,000 science grant
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $110,000 in grant funding to Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU). The grant, earmarked for the Chemistry Department, will fund ongoing research by PLNU professor Victor Heasley and his students concerning the effects of adding chlorine to drinking water. The grant is the third that Point Loma has received from the NSF.
--Anita Palmer, Point Loma Nazarene University media relations coordinator

Morsch family builds memorial chapel in Peru
Twenty-one members of the Morsch family and nine family friends celebrated Christmas 2001 in the jungles of Peru, where they traveled to build a chapel in memory of Pat Morsch, who died of cancer in 1997. Pat Morsch was the wife of J. V. Morsch, Nazarene Disaster Response national director, and mother of Gary Morsch, founder and president of the international aid organization Heart to Heart. The team met in Miami to fly to Lima on December 18, 2001, and returned to the United States on January 2, 2002.

The 30' x 80' chapel was built deep in the jungles of the western Amazon for Aguaruna Indians who have become Nazarenes through the ministry of pioneer missionaries Larry and Addie Garman. Pat Morsch's home church, Central Nazarene in Orlando, Florida, helped raise funds to buy materials for the chapel. In addition to the chapel, which was dedicated December 23, the team also conducted medical clinics among the Aguarunas and built a dormitory for students at the Instituto Biblico Nazareno in Bagua Chica.

Gary Morsch's detailed and delightful account of the Pat Morsch Memorial Expedition to Peru is available at http://www.hearttoheart.org .

Videos provide Spanish-language discipleship training
World Mission Communications South America has announced the upcoming release of TOBIAS, a Spanish-language video series that backs up the success of the JESUS film in South America. The six-video series provides discipleship training geared to the new Christian and addresses testimony, prayer, the Bible, church, worship, and sanctification. Jorge Julca, director of academic affairs at Seminario Nazareno Sudamericano in Buenos Aires, hosts the series. Now in final editing, the series is expected to be released in March.

To make the videos useful to all evangelical Spanish-speaking churches worldwide, the project purposely was not identified by the Nazarene name, but the series is firmly grounded in holiness doctrine. South America Regional Director Bruno Radi estimates that 1 million people worldwide eventually will view the videos.
--JoAnn Leslie

General Superintendent's jurisdictional assignments

BOARD OF GENERAL SUPERINTENDENTS
Officers (January 1, 2002, through December 31, 2003):
W. Talmadge Johnson, Chairman
Jim L. Bond, Vice-Chairman
Jesse C. Middendorf, Secretary

Personal Notes
Deasley and Gailey to retire from NTS
Alex Deasley, professor of New Testament, and Charles Gailey, professor of missiology, will retire from the faculty of Nazarene Theological Seminary (NTS) in Kansas City on June 30, 2002, the conclusion of the academic year. The dean of the faculty released the announcement January 21. The seminary community will honor Deasley and Gailey during special valedictory chapel services on April 19 and April 24, respectively. The services will be held at 10:00 A.M. in Chapman Memorial Chapel on the NTS campus.

Deasley, a native of Scotland, joined the NTS faculty in 1977 after teaching at British Isles Nazarene College (now Nazarene Theological College) and Canadian Nazarene College (now Canadian Nazarene University College). He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees with honors from Cambridge University in 1958 and 1962, respectively, and his Ph.D. from the University of Manchester in 1972. Between his years of formal study, Deasley pastored congregations in Paisley, Scotland; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; and Aston-on-Lyne, England. He was a member of the General NYI Council from 1956 to 1961. In the early 1990s he helped establish the master of arts degree in theological studies at NTS and has directed the program since its inception.

An internationally esteemed preacher, teacher, and biblical scholar, Deasley co-authored the commentary on Deuteronomy that appears in Beacon Bible Commentary; two of the five volumes of Wesleyan Theological Perspectives, Marriage and Divorce in the Bible and the Church (Beacon Hill Press, 2000); and The Shape of Qumran Theology (Paternoster Press, 2001). He also has been editor of the Wesleyan Theological Journal, the official journal of the Wesleyan Theological Society.

Upon his retirement, Deasley will continue his preaching and writing ministry. He and his wife, Joyce, will remain in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Charles Gailey came to the NTS faculty in 1981 from missionary service in Swaziland, where he was superintendent of schools, principal of Swaziland Nazarene Bible College, and field director. He has directed the master of arts in missiology degree program at NTS since 1988. In 2000, under his leadership, NTS and World Mission launched a cooperative pre-deployment educational program in which new missionaries spend one full semester attending classes at NTS while receiving in-depth orientation through World Mission.

Gailey earned degrees from Eastern Nazarene College in 1958 and 1960 and from Boston University in 1959, and he earned his Ph.D. from the University of South Africa in 1970. He served three different times on the faculty of Eastern Nazarene College, the last from 1974 to 1979 as professor and chair of the Sociology and Anthropology Department.

A highly respected missiologist and sociologist, Gailey holds membership and office in several professional associations including the American Society of Missiology, the Evangelical Missiological Society, and the Association of Nazarene Sociologists of Religion. He served the denomination on the Hiram Reynolds Institute, a think-tank of church leaders and scholars authorized by the 1993 General Assembly to explore futurist social trends affecting the International Church of the Nazarene.

Gailey and his wife, Doris, will retire to New Hampshire and Florida. He will continue consulting for the denomination and advocating for Nazarene missions through district and local church events.

NCN Broadcast Schedule
Satellite Program Guide
*All Times Are Eastern*
NCN Broadcasts on DISH Network Channel 9602

February 3: NCN Sunday (Denver First)...11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
February 5: NCN News...8:00 p.m. to 8:05 p.m.
Mission Today...8:05 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
February 10: NCN Sunday (Olathe, KS College)...11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
February 12: NCN News...8:00 p.m. to 8:05 p.m.
Profile with Ann Downing...8:05 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

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