August 2002

Dear Members of the Board and Experts:

I can imagine you now in a beautiful resort with your family for a wonderful summer vacation. I wish you a great time!

This letter will not repeat what you have already read on our website, www.IRLA.org. Our webpage is an easily accessible and important tool to stay in touch with the latest information. Please visit it!

Let me give you a short report of my activities since February, 2002.

1. January 26-February 16: Liberty Tour Every year, my colleagues and I are invited by religious communities to speak about religious freedom at different churches around the North American Division. These tours are promoted by Liberty Magazine. In most cases, I delivered a sermon in the morning and gave a lecture in the afternoon.
   January 26 Southern University; attendance: 3,000
   February 2 Hendersonville Church; attendance: 300
   February 9 Sacramento, California; attendance: 2000
   February 16 Los Angeles, California; attendance: 2,000
   
   
2. February 26: Lecture at Texas Tech University’s School of Law in Lubbock, Texas I was invited by Dr. James Vaughn to speak to his 60 students, and I also met with professors afterwards. The theme was Religious Freedom: the World
   
   
3. March 1: Washington, D.C. Panel on National Security Attorney Lee Boothby organized a panel on the theme of national security and religious liberty which was held at George Washington University. About 20 experts attended, including Dr. Derek Davis; Ambassador Robert Seiple; Michael Young, Chairman of the U.S. Commission; and Dr. Jeremy Gunn. It was a great opportunity!
   
   
4. March 6-21: Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines On my way to Manila for the organization of the 5th World Congress on Religious Liberty, I visited Jakarta and South Vietnam, which were very important visits. In Jakarta, I gave lectures and led a training seminar with the IRLA Secretary General for the Southern Asia-Pacific Region, Dr. Hiskia Missah. I kept in mind what one of the Protestant leaders had said earlier, “If you want to help us, help us to reinforce the democratic institutions.” The democratic government needs to gain authority and power to safeguard freedom and to protect minorities. In southern Vietnam, I spoke in four churches. The control of the government on religion is tight, but the population welcomes visitors. It was a very interesting visit. In Manila, we met Cardinal Sin who encouraged us with his good words. Don Robinson was with me and took care of all the hotel and practical matters of the Congress. I worked on the program, and worked with the guests and participants. Jonathan Gallagher went to Manila a few weeks before the Congress to work with the media. That first Saturday before the Congress began, I gave a lecture at the Adventist University before 2,000 students and professors.
   
   
5. April 5, 6: Church of All Nations at Andrews University I attended a meeting with Dr. Gary Ross, Director of the International Center on Government and Religion, and provided a lecture to the Church of All Nations. The pastor, Ambassador Walter Douglas, has developed a Ministry of Human Rights in this church.
   
   
6. April 11: Second Meeting of the Washington Coalition for International Religious Liberty Approximately 40 participants were present at this meeting. Among the participants were representatives from the Department of State, the U.S. Commission; OSCE and ONG, with Ambassador Robert Seiple chairing the meeting. The next meeting has been planned for December 12 at the IRLA headquarters in Silver Spring.
   
   
7. April 23: Visit of the Ambassador of Norway and his Wife
   
   
8. April 26-28: Lecture on Proselytism during the symposium Mission or Proselytism at the Saleve Institute in Collonges, France.
   
   
9. April 29-May 1: Lecture at the University in Kiev, Ukraine My visit to the Ukraine was very well organized by our IRLA Secretary General of the Ukrainian Chapter and Victor Krushenitsky. We began with a training seminar April 29 and 30, which was followed by my giving a lecture to the University professors, and holding a press conference with the IRLA President of the chapter. About 30 reporters attended. We then held a second lecture for the School of Law students. After that, we had a one-hour meeting with the Minister of Religious Affairs, and a visit with an Orthodox leader. Tuesday, I lectured at the University in the morning, and lectured at the Christian University in the afternoon. I then met with the Ukrainian IRLA Chapter to plan the 2004 International Congress in Kiev.
   

    

    

    

10. May 20-23: Geneva Meetings with Religious Leaders of Christian World Communions and Catholics
    
    
11. May 28: Washington Visit of Azerbaijan’s Chairman of Religious Affairs Dr. Rafig Aliyev visited our headquarters May 31. We later had a meeting with a group of IRLA experts with a television interview following that.
    
    
12. June 10-13: Manila: IRLA’s 5th World Congress on Religious Freedom We had an excellent Congress with more than 300 participants, 28 guest speakers, 17 NGO speakers, and 8 members of the Philippine government, Senate and House of Representatives present. The United Nations Special Rapporteur, Professor Abdelfattah Amor, was the keynote speaker for our first day, and Ambassador Robert Seiple gave our thematic address the second day. Among experts present were: Professor Alberto de la Hera, Professor Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes, Jeremy Gunn, Roland Minnerath, Cole Durham, Mitchell Tyner, Bert Beach...and representatives from Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism...We were honored to have the Philippines’ Senate President, the Speaker of the House, the Secretary of Education, the Mayor of Manila, and the charming Imee Marcos...and we were invited by the President of the Philippines to visit with her at her Palace. We spent about one hour there. Please visit our website to get more information.

     

    All our team went to Manila. Dr. Gallagher and Viola Hughes were in charge of media coverage; Attorney James Standish collected and reformulated the questions to the speakers; Bert Beach co-chaired the Resolution Committee with Professor Roland Minnerath, and was in charge of Protocol with Ray Dabrowski. Marilyn Riley worked hard to keep our administrative functions “on,” and Don Robinson was the efficient manager who worked hard with Zelda Parmenter to take care of all the practical matters about running a Congress. The local team was under the responsibility of Hiskia Missah and his kind secretary Nilda Villanueva. We received outstanding help from the IRLA Philippines Chapter President, Ambassador Bienvenido Tejano, and Congressman Harlin Abayon. Our President, Denton Lotz, very aptly chaired the opening and closing sessions. Again, it was a wonderful Congress!
    

     

13. Visiting Delegation from the Government of Kerala (India)
    
    
14. New IRLA National Chapter in Azerbaijan Victor Krushenitsky has organized several IRLA national chapters in countries of the former Soviet Union. It was under his guidance that the new Azerbaijan Chapter was born. Represented in this new chapter of Azerbaijan are leaders of many different religions, including Baptists, Adventists, Catholics, Jews, Lutherans, and Pentecostals, along with several human rights associations.
    
    
15. July 30, 2002: IRLA Board of Experts Member Honored in Budapest Dr. Gianfranco Rossi, longtime IRLA Board member, then member of the Board of Experts, received the Albert Schweitzer Award for “outstanding achievement” concerning his work in favor of religious freedom. The award was presented by the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur Professor Abdelfattah Amor.
    
    
16. Upcoming Events

2002 Events
September 1-8 Romanian Training Seminar
October 10 IRLA Legal Meeting and Board of Directors
October 21-24 Christian World Communions Meeting
November 15-17 Washington, D.C. Meeting of Experts on Security and Religious Freedom
November 28-Dec 3 Tenth Anniversary of the IRLA Russian Chapter

2003 Events
April 2-4 Washington Symposium
August 26-28 Chile’s International Congress
September 2-4 Andrews University Symposium
November 13-16 Meeting of Experts in Europe

Stay in touch, visit our webpage, and may God bless you.

Sincerely,

John Graz
Secretary-General