BWA NEWS highlights Cuba

Braille New Testament Donated to Cuban Library

By Manuel Delgado Thirty two volumes of the Braille edition of the New Testament

were donated to the Municipal Library of San José de las Lajas in the newly created province of Mayabeque in Cuba. The event was sponsored by the Council of Churches of Cuba´s

Office of Pastoral Care of Persons Who are Physically or Mentally Challenged, represented by its coordinator, Noel Fernández. Also present were government officials and local pastors. A team from the Council of Churches led the donation ceremony. Blind persons and others with visual impairment present at the event expressed appreciation for having God´s Word in an accessible form. Selections from the Gospels were read from the newly donated

text. Several persons who will benefit from these scriptures in Braille shared their musical talents. Traditional Cuban songs were sung, along with music written by the performers themselves or by other brothers and sisters in the faith. For a special closing, well-known Cuban extemporaneous composer, Tomasita Quiala, expressed his faith in Jesus Christ through an original composition. This transformed the main room in the library into a space of adoration to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. The donation of the New Testament in Braille in San José de las Lajas completed a cycle in which all the provincial libraries in Cuba were given their own copies. Manuel Delgado is pastor of the Emanuel Christian Community Baptist Church in San José de las Lajas, Cuba

United States

American Baptists Respond to School Shooting

Leaders of American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) asked American Baptists and others around the United States and the world to keep the community of Newtown, Connecticut, and those touched by the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in their prayers. Adam Lanza, 20, shot and killed 20 first grade students and

six adult staff members during a mass shooting at the school on December 14, 2012. Two other persons were injured. Before driving to the school, Lanza had shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home. He took his own life during the shooting. “May God bring comfort and healing to all of those involved in the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. May we all keep the families and friends of those injured and killed in our prayers,” said ABCUSA General Secretary Roy Medley. “Additionally, continue to pray for teachers, administrators and all children attending the school who lived through this event, and all those affected in some way.” Aidsand Wright-Riggins III, executive director of American Baptist Home Mission Societies, said, “We are shocked and saddened by this senseless shooting and the deaths and injuries in its aftermath. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families of this horrendous act. As I bend my knees in prayer, I also steel my spine to be a more outspoken advocate for the control of guns in this country.” The incident is the second deadliest shooting in American history after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre where 32 people were killed and 17 wounded in two separate attacks by Seung- Hui Cho, a student at the school. The Sandy Hook shooting is the second deadliest mass murder at an American elementary school after the 1927 Bath School bombings in the state of Michigan, where 38 elementary school children and six adults were killed.

After returning to Korea, a radio appeal was made for assistance to be sent to those in the Zaatari camp. “Around 10,000 listeners called to make contributions,” Kim said. “We were able to send more than 400 caravans (container houses or trailers) and 1,100 blankets.” The caravans are used to house refugees. There were plans, he said, to send an additional 1,000 caravans with an estimated cost of US$3 million. The Korean Baptist delegation also had audience with King

Abdullah II while in Jordan. “It was a great honor for us all to have an audience with him,” Kim stated.

Above: Makeshift memorial at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, 12 days after the shooting on December 14

Above left: Korean Baptists delivering aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan

Far left: Former BWA President Billy Kim, center, meets with Jordan King Abdullah II, right. South Korean ambassador to Jordan is at left

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