Religion Roundup from the Eyewitness News Newsroom

TEBOW-SUPER BOWL AD After weeks of furor, public sees Tebow ad

UNDATED
Viewers primed for controversy over a Christian ministry's Super Bowl ad featuring football star Tim Tebow might be asking, "Is that all there is?"

Focus on the Family revealed beforehand that the ad would feature Tebow and his mother, Pam, who gave birth to him in 1987 after rejecting a doctor's advice to have an abortion for medical reasons.

But if abortion rights groups hadn't protested, you might never have known what the ad was about.

The closest it comes to mentioning abortion is when Pam Tebow says, "I call him my miracle baby. He almost didn't make it into this world. I can remember so many times when I almost lost him."

Tim Tebow then bursts in and tackles his mom, who responds that she's tougher than he is.

The ad ends by saying viewers should go to Focus on the Family's Web site for the full Tebow story.

On the Net: www.focusonthefamily.com Sound:

UNDATED
CUT 239 >> 00:10 "grown up now"

Excerpt of ad featuring Pam Tebow

This is an excerpt of Pam Tebow talking about her son, Tim Tebow, in a 30-second ad shown during the Super Bowl.

SUPER BOWL AD-MEGACHURCH LA megachurch's Doritos ad airs during Super Bowl

MIAMI
An ad produced by members of a Los Angeles church called Mosaic has aired during the Super Bowl, becoming one of three winners of the Doritos' "Crash the Super Bowl" contest.

Mosaic's pastor, the Rev. Erwin McManus, says his congregation places "a high emphasis on creativity," and believes God wants them to "dream big and have the courage to pursue it."

The tongue-in-cheek ad opens on a funeral scene and then cuts to a young man alive in a closed casket. His body is covered in Doritos and he's watching the Super Bowl on a tiny TV while mourners sob outside. Two friends snicker that by faking his death, their friend gets a week off work plus his favorite snack.

But the man gets excited when his team makes a big play and jostles the casket, which tips over to reveal him inside. After an awkward pause, his buddy jumps up and shouts, "It's a miracle!"

NKOREA-US MISSIONARY Missionary who entered North Korea reunites with family

LOS ANGELES
A Korean-American missionary who defiantly entered North Korea to demand a change in its leadership has rejoined his family in Los Angeles after 43 days in the communist nation's custody.

Robert Park wept as he left the flight from Beijing and met with his family, according to his brother. A thin and pale Park, who flew from Pyongyang to Beijing after North Korea announced he would be freed, would not speak and looked down while Paul Park told reporters his brother is in good condition.

North Korea's official news agency quoted the 28-year-old missionary as saying he was now convinced "there's complete religious freedom for all people" in North Korea. Robert Park didn't respond to questions from reporters when he arrived in Beijing about whether he had spoken freely or under duress.

WINTER WEATHER-CHURCH COLLAPSE Fallen tree, snow cause DC church collapse

WASHINGTON
After more than two feet of snow in the nation's capital, the walls have come tumbling down at Joshua Temple Firstborn Church.

Fire department spokesman Pete Piringer says that when a tree fell on the church's roof Saturday afternoon, the weight of the tree and the snow made the roof collapse and the walls give way.

Piringer says the only thing left is the church's steeple.

He says no one was inside the one-and-a-half-story wood frame church when it collapsed, and homes on either side of the church were not damaged.

HAITI-AMERICANS DETAINED Haitian lawyer for jailed US missionaries fired

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
The Dominican lawyer for 10 U.S. Baptist missionaries charged with child kidnapping in Haiti says he has fired their local Haitian counsel.

Jorge Puello says he fired Edwin Coq (KOHK) because the Haitian attorney asked for $60,000 to bribe the missionaries' way out of jail. Coq denies that. He says the amount was his legal fee.

Puello, a lawyer in the Dominican Republic, was hired by relatives of the missionaries after they were arrested, and he retained Coq to represent them before a Haitian magistrate.

The Americans said they were on a humanitarian mission to rescue orphans after Haiti's Jan. 12 earthquake, but at least 20 of the children had living parents.

Coq said Thursday that the group's leader, Laura Silsby, deceived the other missionaries by telling them she had the proper documents to remove the children from Haiti.

GUYANA-MORMON MISSIONARIES Mormon missionaries resuming work in Guyana

GEORGETOWN, Guyana
The Mormon church is slowly rebuilding its public profile in Guyana after the government ordered dozens of its missionaries to leave last fall because of outdated documents.

Church spokesman Leslie Sobers says the church has resumed donations of medical equipment to charities in the South American nation.

Sobers declined to say how many missionaries are now in Guyana after some 40 church members left to comply with the government's Sept. 2 departure order. Police say no more than 20 missionaries remain.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has said it hopes to replace the missionaries who departed. The church has been sending missionaries to Guyana for more than 20 years.

AUSTRALIA-WILDFIRES Australia mourns lives lost in wildfires 1 year on

KINGSLAKE, Australia
Australians have marked the one-year anniversary of the country's worst-ever wildfires in big-city cathedrals and small towns still bearing burn scars.

On Feb. 7 last year, hundreds of fires raged across southeastern Australia as temperatures soared and powerful winds whipped blazes into firestorms. In a single day, 173 people were killed and more than 2,000 homes razed. The scale of the disaster dubbed Black Saturday deeply shocked Australia.

A national day of mourning was observed Sunday.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was among dignitaries who sang hymns and prayed at a nondenominational service at St. Paul's Cathedral in the southern city of Melbourne.

HINDU FESTIVAL Hindu rite features body-piercings, grueling hike

SINGAPORE
Thousands of Hindus have pierced their bodies to fulfill vows to their deity Lord Muruga as part of the annual festival of Thaipusam in Singapore.

After being pierced with metal pins on different parts of their bodies, the faithful set off on a 2 1/2-mile walk from a Hindu temple, many carrying canopies that can weigh nearly 100 pounds.

The grueling walk took some participants six hours, with friends and relatives surrounding them, singing and chanting prayers.

When asked if they feel any pain, almost all answered "No!" Some of them seemed to drift in and out of a trance. Faces were expressionless and there was little sign of blood.

One devotee said his penance would earn credits, not for himself but for his descendants.