6B
RELIGIONACIt CiMcUittt $««
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Thousands gather for
National Voodoo Day
GREATER SALEM CHURCHf
HOLY CONVOC
•JANUARY 25-^, 2006
7?/A ASSrJCIAnJ) FRfSS
OUIDAII, Benin — Tliou-
sandB gathered TYiesday on a
beach to celebrate Benin’s
once-banned Voodoo, slau^-
tering animals and welcom
ing revelers fix)m Brazil and
the United States whose
slave ancestors took the reli
gion to the Americas cen
turies ago.
At a ceremony in Ouidah,
25 miles west of the commer
cial capital, Cotonou, Voodoo
high priestess Nagbo Hoimon
Gbefia sacrificed a goat, a
rooster and a chicken as
divine ofierings.
“I’m very moved,” said
Faith McDouglas, a 37-year-
old nurse from Omaha, in the
U S. state of Nebraska “I’ve
understood many things
regarding my origins,
because I’m a descendant of
slaves.”
Voodoo originated in West
Afiica and holds tliat all life is
driven by spiritual forces of
natural phenomena like
water, fire, earth and air that
should be honored throu^
rituals that include animal
saaifices. 'Hiere £ire no zom
bies or pin-skewered dolls
here, but followers believe
they can communicate with
divinities and spirits by
putting themselves into a
trance.
Countless Afncans were
shipped into slavery fiom the
West Afiican coast, taking
with them Voodoo, whose
cults still survive in the
Caribbean, Latin American
and the American South.
The annual celebration “is
an occasion for us in Ouidah
to remember the hundreds of
thousands of blacks deported
to the Americas as slaves,”
said Albert Doesou, a member
of the Daagbo Hounon family,
which traces its lineage to a
15th-century Voodoo chief
“It is always a pleasure for
us to see them make the pil
grimage to the land of their
ancestors,” Doesou said
Pamella Jonqueira,
Brazilian living in
Portugal, said
she’d come to
Ouidah to make
a documentary
about Voodoo.
“I’ve been
fo
able to ^ean
some really
beautiful.'
images, but
most impor-
tantly, I feel v//1
the need to
Voodoo, and every year, hun
dreds revelers, believers and
curious tourists fiom as far
away as Haiti and the United
States attend the festival
along with thousands fix)m
Benin itself
After Tuesday’s animal sac
rifice, Gbeffa, the Voodoo
priestess, prayed for presi
dential elections due
March 5 to be
peaceful, say-
V ' ing they
» . should
be held
S'
_
Preparing for the Next Dimension throug^h Prayer, Power,*& Proclamation
^i^op Ralph Dennis Bishop C.E. Anderson Bishop Alan Porter Bishop Kevin Long |
I EingdoRiWMsUpC«al«r SMrxcMii M«fnorl«l COGIC CathedrU gfldf* Ministries Temple Chmrch laterBcttoni
IWsen, MD CberMte, NC TmpU Bills, MO ^jlP^PII^Clwrlotts, NC |
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initiate\
myself in ^
Voodoo.”
In Benin,
the religion'--. "Jt/
was repressed ^
and then banned during
incumbent President Math-
ieu Kerekou’s first 18-year
stint in power, which ended in
1991 Kerekou’s Marxist
regime believed the rites
went against the socialist
work ethnic.
But the religion, practiced
by an estimated 60 percent of
Benin’s 7 million people, was
impossible to suppress and
the government inaugurated
National Voodoo Day in 1996,
giving the religion an ofiBdal
place here alongside Chris
tianity and Islam.
Benin is considered the
West Afiican capital of
phere
of toler
ance and
brother
hood.”
.. K e r e k o u
,V v’lost the coirntrys
‘ first democratic elec
tions in 1991 but won
,ofl&ce again in 1996 and
^ 2001. The constitution bars
him fium seeking another
term in office.
Benin is not alone in Afiica
.in having a histOTy of sup
pressing local religions. In
Zimbabwe Monday, a senior
Hi^ Court judge urged Zim
babwe’s government to ease
colonial era restrictions on
the practice of witchcraft,
state-run radio reported.
Many Zimbabweans retain
strong beliefs in the healing
power of spirit mediums—
known as n’angas, or witch
doctors—along with the role
of ancestral rites in the
nation’s cultural life. Judge
Maphioa Cheda said at the
opening of a new judicial
year.
Helping the
and Muslim
homeless brings Jewish
girls closer together
77/7. AWXYA/ED PRt:SS
UNION CHY, N.J.-What
started out as a modest effort
to raise money for a homeless
shelter has blossomed into a
triumph of understanding
and goodwill that managed to
overcome centuries of conflict
between two of the woiid’s
most antagonistic groups.
A group of 10 Muslim and
10 Jewish girls has been
meeting since May to help set
up a shelter for homeless
families. But the teenagers
got much more than they bar
gained for a genuine under
standing of each other’s cul
ture and religion, and the
realization of things they
Please see HELPING/5B
The Prophet’s Column, Inc.
9626 Feldbank Drive
Charlotte, NC 28216-2131
January, 2006 Newsletter - Part II
J.M. Little, Teacher
“But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which
should afterwards be revealed.” (Gal. 3:23) A sinner under Holy Spirit Conviction is
shut up unto himself and under the law and with his hard heart of unbelief. He cannot
trust Christ because he does not know Christ. He cannot believe on Christ because he
does not know Christ! I would you preachers and teachers knew that great truth! A few
of you do. But the great majority does not! You tell the awakened sinner: “It is up to you
now. God has done the electing and it is up to you to do the believing." A man here
in North Carolina told me that years ago when I was under Holy Spirit Conviction. When
you tell a sinner to just trust Christ, accept Christ, or that it is up to you, that is making
the sinner supreme! How can the sinner trust Christ when he does not know Christ? He
cannot! You ask the question: “Then Bro. Little, how is the sinner saved?” Hold your
seats now! I am going to tell you how I was saved and how every sinner is saved. “But
when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by
His grace, TO REVEAL HIS SON IN ME....“ (Gal.1:25,16) An awakened sinner, like
the one who called me last night, is shut up with a hard heart of unbelief. No sinner can
believe someone he doesn't know. An awakened sinner cannot trust Christ because he
does not know Christ. The only way a sinner can trust Christ is for Christ to be revealed
to his heart. When this revelation comes, the Holy Spirit gives the awakened sinner faith
to lay hold of Christ as his Lord and Saviour. Until this revelation takes place, the sinner
is utterly helpless to believe on Christ. You are shut up in unbelief until this revelation
comes. It is the blessed Holy Spirit who reveals Christ to the sinner's heart. Apart from
the REVELATION by the Holy Spirit, the sinner cannot believe Christ because he does
not know Christ!
To advertise your
church, call
704.376.0496
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Jftrsit Mt. Bon ?iapti0t Cljurcl)
1515 Remount Rd.
(Tel.)332-8335 (Fax)372-7548
28208
Sunday Morning WOTship Services... 8:30 - 9:30 -11 :(Xlain
Sunday School 9:45 - 10:45am
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Senior Citizens (Mon.) 10:30-4:0(^m
Dr. C.V. Owens
Office Hours: Mon. - Fri. 9:00am - 4:00pm
You are cordially invited to worship with us!
Weeping Willow AME Zion Church
“Moving From Salvation To Decipledilp"
2220 Mikn Rd«ChBitooe. Nulti CanVxu 28215
Moraing Wonliv: 8:10 A8I
llKWAM
Sunday Schaol; 9:3a.VM
Wed. Praise & Prayer; PM
(7W)532-9125
•THE CHVKCII THAT CAKES '
*w,.y,nk
Greater Gethsemane A.M.E. Zion Church
Itie Outh wrtfi the CotitnunHy at Heat'
531 Cantus Street • Charlotte, NC 28216
(703)375-3900 - Fax 372-0614
Worship Services: SAM Er 11AM
Sunday School: 9:30AM
Bible Study: Wed. 10:30AM a 7PM
Daycare a Afterschool Available
E-mail: gamez531&bellsouth.net
The Reverend CaMn L Miller ■ Pastor
Reverend Karen Roberts Miller ■ Spouse
Greater Myers Chapel
PENTECOSTAL FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIES
- You^re Invited to Worship With Us -
Intercessory Prayer. 8;30am
Victory in the Word 9:15ani
Worship 10:3()ani
Sunday Evening Total Praise 7:0)pm
Hour of Power/T’utorial avail.Wed....7:00pni
Visit our WebSite: www.greatermyerschapel.org
600 Jordan Place, Charlotte, NC 28205
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For Van Ministry
704-377-1799
(^rcciibillc iTkiiional S.iTl.C. Htoii Cljitrcl)
“.A reaching Ministry Making Spiritual I>isciples''
Sunday Wcxship Service lOA.M. Sunday School 9A.M.
Bible Study: Tuesday 7 P.M. & Wednesday 12 Notxi
(Tiild Devekipmetit Center
6116 Mcxiticth Dr. CharloOe. NC 28213
(Ph) 761-596-4742 (Fax) 704-597-8314
“.A Word of Hope” Television Ministry
Wednesdays @ 8 p.m. Channcll 21 (Public Access TV)
Rev. Dr. Sheldon R. Shipman, Senior Pastor
Macedonia Baptist Church
of CHARLOTTE, INC.
"A Mtnirry of Love and ExceUence~
Dr. John H. Walker, Pastor dr |
Minister, Rosie Walker
i tK ^
A/ew' Sunday Khim Wonhtp Expertence
“Family First Worship”
"As For Me and My House
We Sltali Worship The Lord"
SVNnAY
• PhyiKAi Food tserving breddast.)
• .Spiritual Food - Christian Education School.
• Main Course • “Familv First Worship”...
WEDNESDAY
"Hour .if IVmer ' Midday Vt’orship.. .12 Noon
W.O W - Vt'ord On 'JC'ednesday Bible S(ud>' . 6:30 p.m.
TV’and RADIO BROADCAST .MINISTRY:
C.MPAC 21 • IH*• • Rejoice Radio 13“’Oam • Wed. I0:45a
, .9 am.
..10 a.m.
T04-392-S496 *1300 Hattcras Avc..* www.macedoniaofcharlottc.org
St. Michael & All Angels
Episcopal Church
Senvice
Sat., December 24th, 11:00 P.M. into Christmas Day
“7(JAtc/i Senidcc
Sat., December 31, 11:00 P.M. into New Years Day
No Sunday 10:30 service December 25. 2005, or January 1, 2(506
4228 Hovis Rd., Charlotte, NC 28208 • 704-399-3151
- Rev. Wendell Phillips, Pastor ~
SIMPSON-GILLESPIE
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
i I Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors’
ML.-Join Us For Service •
^ Sunday School, 9:30am • Sunday Vi'orship. 11am
Wednesday: Bible Study, "pm
1st & 3rd Saturday: -Coniempocary Worship.” 6pm.. "Jeans .Allotted"
Ret'. Walter Pegues. Pastor
3545 Beatties Fd Rd, Char., NC 28216 •''04-399-271'’ • Van Ministry
-Vie Can Do .Ml Things Through Christ 'Sho Strengthens Us"
'w tacKtntu'.tiBV
i iis last
commandnient is
our first
WWW stukembeotg aSS^nUient.
Missionary Baptist Church
Wordkip 8ervieev.....^.-..-H...Si00«iB • llKMan • 6s80pa
SvnidftvII ir II- II ir I III I iiftH^ntfi
Day Warahip Study..lS:00
Reb, Clifford Matthewe^ PoMior • 375-9690
1600 Noma Ava. • Churiotta, NC 28206 • FAX: 375-8307
PARKWOOD INSTITUTIONAL
Christian Methodisl^Episcopai Church
802 Tom Hunter Road • Charlotte, NC 28213
704-921-4915 (Ph) • 704-9214917 (Fax)
Wedsite: www.parkwoodcme.com
Sunday Wor^p 8:00 & 11:00 AM
Sunday School 9:30 AM
Bible Study
Wednesday 12 Noon Thursday 6:30 PM
TRANSPORTATION AVAILABLE
Roderick D. Lewis, Sr.
Pastor
Mayfield Memorial Baptist Church
“A Church Putting Love Into Action "
700 SUGAR CREEK ROAD. WEST
CHARLOTTE. NORTH CAROLINA 28213
Sunday Church School 9:30a.m.
Worship Service 11:00a.m. and 6:00p.m.
Baptist Training Union 5:00p.m.
\ V
Praver Meeting & Bible Study Wedneilays 7:30pm
Office (704)596-7935 • Fax (704)596-1204
Residence (704)597-1249
St. Paul Baptist Church
Our Purpose: “To convince the unconvinced
to be convinced and make disciples*’
Sunday Worship at 7:30 A.M. and 10:30 A.M.
Sunday Morning Breakfast 8:45 A.M.
Sunday School at 9:25 A.M. - 10:25 A.M.
Radio Broadcast Sunday 11:(X) A.M. (1370 A.M. Dial)
Bible Study Wed. 12 Noon - 6:45 P.M. - 8K)0 P.M.
Youth Church 2nd & 3rd Sunday 10:30 A.M.
1401 North Allen Street, Charlotte. NC 28205
Office: 704-334-5309
(jicgoiy K, Moss Sr.
Pastor