*Nejnovější zprávy v originální anglické verzi jsou vždy ZDE (klikněte).

*Nejnovější zprávy v originální anglické verzi jsou vždy ZDE (klikněte).

*HCJB World Radio vysílá evangelium společně s lokálními partnery na FM stanicích ve čtyřech městech v Kolumbii. Misie také pokračuje ve vysílání programů ve španělštině v celé zemi a na celém území Latinské Ameriky na krátkých vlnách.

The International Christian Academy in Baouke, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), will remain closed for at least a year due to civil unrest in the country, said Paul Jackson of Evangelical Baptist Missions, one of the partners that operates the school for children of missionaries. "Right now the campus is being occupied by the French army, and that's a good thing as they are protecting the campus at this point," he said. More than 200 staff and students were evacuated from the school about a week after a failed coup attempt on Sept. 19. "The plans are for the school to reopen, hopefully in the fall of 2003, although there are not guarantees about that," Jackson said. Meanwhile, missionaries who were forced to evacuate face financial difficulties. He urged believers to pray for peace. "Ivory Coast had been one of the most stable countries in West Africa for many years, but in the last several years this has begun to break down," Jackson said.

Peace talks in Lome, Togo, involving negotiating teams representing the Ivory Coast government and rebel leaders broke down earlier today when the rebels pulled most of their team out of the discussions, Reuters reported. The rebels decided to withdraw after the body of rebel leader Louis Dacoury-Tabley's brother was found in Abidjan. They accused the government in the killing, along with those of other opposition figures and civilians. The government of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo has promised an inquiry into the death. West African negotiators are hopeful that peace talks could resume in the next couple days. Talks have been aiming to end a seven-week-old rebellion in Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer and one of Sub-Saharan Africa's largest economies. The rebels say they are fighting to protect the rights of predominantly Muslim northern Ivorians who complain of discrimination and harassment by the Christian and animist southern tribes that traditionally have dominated the government. Rebels continue to control the northern half of the country, including Baouke and Korhogo. (Mission Network News/Reuters)

* HCJB World Radio's regional office for Sub-Saharan Africa is in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Fréquence Vie (Frequency Life), a partner FM station in Abidjan operated by SIM and local churches, continues to air programs of hope and encouragement. The station broadcasts 17 hours daily in French and some local languages. Regional Director Lee Sonius and his family returned to Abidjan in early October following home ministry assignment in the U.S. on home ministry assignment. Missionaries Larry and Linda Burk are in Abidjan after being evacuated from near rebel-held Korhogo where they were helping to install an antenna for a Christian radio station. Daniel and Françoise Dossmann remain in France, waiting for the situation to settle down in Côte d'Ivoire before resuming their ministry.

GOVERNMENT MINISTER THREATENS INDIA'S TRIBAL CHRISTIANS

A recent spate of ethnic cleansing against Muslims in western India's Gujarat state has reached genocidal proportions, and a similar assault may soon be unleashed against India's most threatened Christian community, the Dang tribe, unless the central government intervenes. Karsan Patel, a senior minister in the state government, recently warned Dang children studying at a parochial school "to decide whether they want to live as Hindus or die as Christians." Systematic persecution that began in the Dang tribal belt four years ago has intensified recently as militant Hindus campaign to confiscate Dang territory for the god Rama and build a temple in the village of Subir. Local sources say the controversy is a "powder keg waiting to explode," similar to the Ram temple-Babri mosque conflict in Ayodhya where militant Hindus used the strategy of confiscating a Muslim mosque and converting it into a Hindu temple. (Compass)

INTER-RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE CLAIMS SCORES OF LIVES IN NIGERIA

Twenty Christian students have been confirmed dead and 50 others injured following a bloody clash with Muslim schoolmates at the Federal College of Education in the northern Nigerian city of Zaria. Police detained eight people in connection with the Oct. 31 violence that erupted following student elections. Muslim militants reportedly infiltrated the campus to assist the 15,000 Muslim students in attacks against Christians. In a separate incident, 40 Christians died in Fajul, Plateau state, when a force of 2,000 Muslim militants invaded the village in the early morning hours of Oct. 24. Assailants burned down homes, raped several women and ambushed and killed 17 policemen sent to rescue the villagers. Earlier, 17 Christians died in a similar attack on the village of Kassa. Christian leaders in the area said that heavily armed mercenaries from Chad and Niger aided local Muslim militants in the attacks on Fajul and Kassa. (Compass)

* HCJB World Radio, together with partners In Touch Ministries, SIM and the Evangelical Church of West Africa, began airing weekly half-hour programs in the Igbo language in 2000. The programs air via shortwave to Nigeria's 15 million Igbo speakers.

AZERBAIJAN OFFICIALS THREATEN TO DESTROY LOCAL BAPTIST CHURCH

An Interior Ministry colonel in Azerbaijan has threatened an unregistered Baptist church in Baku with demolition if the church refuses to register with the authorities, Keston News Service has learnt. "If you don't register we'll close the church and knock it down," pastor Ivan Orlov, leader of the Baku church, quoted Col. Aliev as having said when he came to the church last month. He also threatened to have church members sacked from their work. Azerbaijani law does not require religious groups to register in order to be allowed to function. A statement from the church expresses concern about pressure on believers and the demolition threat, and calls for support in prayer and appeals to the authorities. (Keston News Service)

NEARLY 5,000 TURN TO CHRIST IN PHILIPPINES DURING EVANGELISTIC THRUST

An indigenous Philippine mission agency is seeing evangelistic progress in the midst of terrorist attacks and other hardships. The leader of a mission on Mindanao Island said that its gospel workers reached 1,374 houses from July to September, resulting in 4,766 persons professing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the missionaries was appointed community chaplain and regularly conducts Bible classes for government officials and public school teachers. "Many got saved," the mission leader said. Missionaries also are conducting Bible lessons in 81 public school classes. All of this is carried on in the midst of terrorist attacks from communists and Muslim separatists. (Christian Aid Mission)

TWR LAUNCHES PROGRAM TO CHINA TO COUNTER SCIENTIFIC ATHEISM

Trans World Radio (TWR) has launched a broadcast to China that offers a Christian response to "scientific atheism." TWR began airing a series of broadcasts to China in the Mandarin language called "Truth in the Test Tube." The program, which started Oct. 26, gives scientific evidence that supports Scripture. It includes interviews with Christians who are respected professionals in the hard sciences. The hope is that once listeners are satisfied that what is being said is indeed true, they accept God's forgiveness through Christ. A Christian journalist formerly stationed in China observed, "I think reaching out to students from China is the most strategically important missionary endeavor anywhere in the world. If we reach these people, we can change China's future." (Mission Network News/TWR)

A new missions partnership could accelerate by 100 years the translation of the Bible for the estimated 1 billion people who still do not have God's Word in their own language. Leaders of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB) and Wycliffe International announced the agreement in Dallas Nov. 1. Under the new plan, IMB will appoint missionaries to fill needs for translators, share more information about church planting and translation projects and coordinate strategies for taking the gospel to unreached people groups. About 3,000 language groups have no access to a Bible translation in their own language. At the present pace, translations for all of them will not be completed until 2150. Through this partnership, the task could be completed by as soon as 2050, said Wycliffe Executive Director John Watters. IMB Senior Vice President Avery Willis added, "Everybody deserves to have the Word of God in the language they love, the language they cry in and get mad in and rejoice in. If we are going to communicate the gospel to these last people groups, the Bible has to be translated into their languages. That's overwhelming. We recognize it is impossible for us, but it is not impossible for the Lord. That's why partnership is critical." Wycliffe's 5,000 missionaries have helped translate the New Testament into more than 500 languages, and more than 1,400 projects are underway. (IMB/Wycliffe)

11 MEXICAN EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS JAILED FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP

Pastor Jesús Hernández, a native of San Juan Chamula in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas, was jailed recently along with 10 other evangelical Christians after celebrating a public worship service in the town. The Tzotzil tribal center, seven miles west of San Cristóbal de las Casas, has been a hotbed of persecution since evangelical Christianity came to the area in the 1950s. Reformed Church missionary Al Schreuder, however, said that persecution of evangelicals has decreased since 2000. "It's been a long time since we've seen anything like this," he said. But the final outcome encouraged Schreuder as the tribal president intervened to keep his assistants from beating up the evangelicals. However, he reportedly told the group, "We don't want your religion here. We want you to leave and not come back." (Compass)

KAZAKHSTAN POLICE RAID HOME BIBLE STUDY, INTERROGATE PARTICIPANTS

A recently received report from Kazakhstan indicates that police and officers of the National Security Committee raided a home Bible study, Sept. 8, being hosted by Baptist church leader Kormangazy Abdumuratov. After taking details, searching and videotaping the apartment and those present, the Baptists were taken to police headquarters where they were interrogated. After up to two hours of questioning, everyone was released except Abdumuratov. The police told him to write a statement declaring that he would stop holding religious meetings in his home. He refused and was threatened with imprisonment as he had been caught three times for taking part in unregistered religious meetings. After six hours he was finally released. Subsequent TV coverage called the Baptists a "dangerous cult" and accused Abdumuratov of being a "traitor to the Kazakhs . . . bought off by foreigners." (Keston News Service)

CUBAN CHURCH LEADERS WARN OF ACUTE BIBLE SHORTAGE

Importing Bibles into Cuba through official routes has become "next to impossible," say church leaders in the country. The government regularly seizes shipments. Also, the number of foreign Christians bringing Bibles into the country has dropped significantly since January 1998 when Pope John Paul II visited the island nation. Due to the highly publicized visit, some people assume that Cuba now has "complete religious freedom." The drop in the supply of Bibles comes at a time when the church in Cuba is seeing unprecedented growth. A Nazarene congregation recently saw 31 people come to Christians in one week in October. The growth left the congregation with a serious problem: only five Bibles were available to share among the new converts. "We know that God sees our needs and will provide for us, but please pray with us that there will be enough spiritual food for our people," said a Cuban pastor. (Compass)

MINISTRY SETS VISION TO CUT AVOIDABLE BLINDNESS IN HALF BY 2020

Recent statistics show that in struggling countries, one person goes blind every five seconds, and a child goes blind every minute. Christian Blind Mission International's Jeff Watson says that's why the ministry is part of an international coalition. "We're trying to stop all avoidable blindness by the year 2020," he says. He estimates that blindness could have been avoided in 45 million people worldwide. "What we want to do is get it down to 25 million by the year 2020 rather than let it get up to 75 or 80 million [if the present trends continue]." Watson says as with all ministries, actions speak louder than words. "When we minister to people with Christ's love, they see that we are very sincere about our faith and really want to help them, and they started asking questions about our faith." (Mission Network News)

* HCJB WORLD RADIO RUSHES AID TO RESIDENTS OF TOWN NEAR VOLCANO

Residents in a remote town near the Reventador volcano east of Quito received encouragement this weekend when HCJB World Radio responded to their appeal for help after an eruption on Nov. 3 covered the region with ash. On Saturday a caravan of three vehicles traveled 21/2 hours across treacherous roads to bring much-needed food to 120 families in Oyacachi affected by the volcano that coated the area with up to 2 inches of gritty white ash.

"We responded after getting a call from the community's Antisana Foundation a few days after the volcano erupted," said Community Development Director Sheila Leech who was visiting the ministry's international headquarters in Colorado Springs. "Other villages in the area received help from oil companies, but Oyacachi, an evangelical Christian community, got nothing."

The ash damaged crops and caused respiratory problems in cattle in the agricultural area. "Because the people in this town were so well organized, things were very orderly when the food was handed out, and everyone who needed food got it," Leech said. "Then the community pulled together what little food they had to feed the volunteers!"

Community development staff will return to Oyacachi on Monday, Nov. 18, to hold a weeklong mobile medical clinic, providing physical and spiritual care. "Normally when we hold a clinic, we ask the community to provide food for the workers. In this case we said we'd bring our own food, but the people insisted that they would help feed the team!"

Meanwhile, Quito's international airport reopened on Sunday after being closed for a week due to ashfalls from the 11,683-foot Reventador volcano, 60 miles east of Quito. However, some major airlines such as American and Continental are still refusing to land at the airport. Elementary and secondary schools in Quito and area were again canceled on Monday after authorities detected the strong smell of sulfur in the air, especially in the western part of the city. The foul-smelling cloud quickly dissipated, and classes resumed today.

Geologist Patricia Mothes of the Geophysical Institute in Quito said in an interview Monday with Ralph Kurtenbach, news director of Radio Station HCJB, that it's not unusual for gases to be detected by people even after traveling long distances. "The human nose is capable of picking up very low concentrations of sulfur gas that smells like rotten eggs. It's very noticeable to an individual." She added that since the gas is heavier than air, it tends do sink to the lower parts of the city. Authorities say that while the volcano is much quieter now, small eruptions are expected to continue for months. (HCJB World Radio/Reuters)

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which falls on Nov. 6-Dec. 5 this year, is causing problems for Christians in some Islamic areas of the world. Short-term missionary workers in Uganda, for example, have been threatened with their lives, says Karen Hawkins of Bible Pathway Ministries. "Men with spears approached the stage, and they had to be held off at gunpoint," she says. "The Muslims are very upset because Christians would dare speak out in such a holy time." Hawkins says his ministry is providing encouragement to imperiled Arab Christians through God's Word. "For those who can't have a Bible, if they have access to the Internet, we are online." (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio, together with the Evangelical Churches of Kampala and FEBA Radio, broadcasts the gospel locally in Uganda on two FM transmitters. HCJB World Radio also worked with Jesus Focus Ministries to put a 500-watt FM station on the air in Masaka. Programs air in English and Luganda.

REBELS KIDNAP LEADING CATHOLIC BISHOP, PRIEST IN COLOMBIA

One of Latin America's leading bishops was kidnapped on Monday as he went to hold a religious service in central Colombia in the latest attack on religious figures in this war-battered nation. No group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Colombian bishop Jorge Enrique Jiménez, but Gen. Carlos Alberto Ospina, commander of the Colombian army, blamed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The abduction occurred in an area where the guerrillas are active. Jiménez is president of the Latin American Bishops Conference, an organization that determines church policy in the region. Jiménez was abducted along with Catholic priest Desiderio Orejuela as the men headed to the town of Pacho, 35 miles north of Bogota, for a religious ceremony. The Colombian bishops issued a statement warning the kidnappers that they have committed an offense against the church which warrants a "serious punishment that breaks the communion with the Catholic church." About 3,500 people have been killed every year in Colombia's 38-year civil war which pits the FARC and smaller rebel groups against government forces and an illegal right-wing paramilitary force. (Associated Press)

* Together with local partners, HCJB World Radio broadcasts the gospel on FM stations in four Colombian cities. The ministry also continues to air Spanish programs across the country and all of Latin America via shortwave.

STRANDED IRANIAN FAMILY PREPARES TO IMMIGRATE TO CANADA

An Iranian Christian family stranded for more than three years in central Turkey learned today that they are scheduled to leave for permanent residency in Canada in less than two weeks. In a telephone call from Nevsehir, Turkey, Mahmoud Erfani said the International Organization for Migration office in Istanbul informed him this morning that he, his wife and three daughters will fly to Toronto Nov. 25. "We are overflowing with joy, and everyone is crying," said one of Erfani's daughters. "It's a big miracle for us." After the family fled to Turkey from Iran in July 1999, they were refused formal refugee status three times. Then last April they were also denied immigration to Canada, leaving them liable to deportation by Turkish authorities back to Iran after their temporary residence permits expired. But Canadian authorities later reversed the decision after Erfani produced evidence of his family's harassment by an Iranian Muslim living in Nevsehir. Both former Muslims, Erfani and his wife became Christians at the time of their marriage. Under Iran's strict Islamic regime, Muslims who convert to Christianity can be executed for apostasy. An Anglican church in Toronto has pledged full sponsorship for the Erfani family who are members of the Evangelical Church of Iran. (Compass)

100,000 U.S. CHURCHES UPHOLD PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS ON DAY OF PRAYER

On Sunday, Nov. 10, more than 100,000 churches across America and millions of Christians worldwide prayed for suffering believers as a part of the annual International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. "This year more Christians were mobilized to pray than ever before," said Open Doors U.S. President Terry Madison. "We had a 20-percent increase in requests for materials (related to the Day of Prayer). This demonstrated that Christians and churches in the West are deeply concerned about the status of the persecuted church." Christians living in countries such as Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria and the Philippines have suffered an intense backlash from their communities. In Pakistan, for example, 39 Christians have been killed and 75 wounded in the last year in five anti-Christian assaults that targeted against the country's Christian minority community. In northern Nigeria thousands of Christians have died in violent riots related to the implementation of sharia (Islamic law). "These reports remind us that persecution is a daily reality for more than 200 million Christians worldwide," Madison says. "Their suffering doesn't take place only on the Day of Prayer. Every morning our brothers and sisters decide to follow Jesus, regardless of the cost. Every morning, they need to be in our prayers." (Assist News Service)

COMPUTER TRAINING MINISTRY OPENS DOORS FOR GOSPEL IN TAJIKISTAN

Despite restrictions on evangelism in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan, Bible Mission International's Mark Reimschisel says the ministry has seen a major breakthrough in reaching the nation for Christ. "We just came back from Tajikistan where we installed the first computer network training center in the country," he says. "We had a very exciting time of taking 25 people who had never seen computers before, and were able to leave after a week of training with a team of seven people who could do troubleshooting, teaching and setting up and networking computers." Reimschisel says the ministry works in partnership with the local church. "We are working with an official invitation through the ministry of religious affairs in Tajikistan, and they have given us clearance to come and work with 35 schools where we can provide computer training. What makes this significant is the fact that the church has a cutting-edge technology tool that they will now be able to use to reach people with the gospel." (Mission Network News)

CHURCH PLANT ON AUSTRALIAN COAST TARGETS SURFERS

Wes Jessop is planting a Baptist church on the southern end of Australia's Gold Coast in an attempt to reach the surfing community for Christ. This coastal stretch is without a Baptist work as existing churches in the area have moved west to acquire larger facilities. Jessop speaks enthusiastically of what God is doing to make the Beachside Christian Church plant a reality. "We set out to be a church for people who don't fit in church -- an alternate sort of church that targets the beach culture," he said. Already more than 70 people from the area are meeting in five home groups "having a good time and participating in ministry to each other." One group built a giant cross out of sand and gave away soft drinks to passersby who had many questions. Another group put on a barbecue. "Pray for the work amongst the surfers," Jessop says. "Pray against the attempts of the evil one to minimize the effect of the Christian witness and for ongoing strength, creativity and spiritual maturity for all those involved in this ministry." (The Queensland Baptist)

HCJB World Radio’s partners from Romania, Poland and Croatia gathered in Romania in mid-October for the fifth weeklong radio training conference led by Moody Broadcasting Network. The seven-station Radio Voice of the Gospel (RVG) network in Romania hosted the event, covering topics such as techniques for selling commercial time, voice coaching, audio production, local station programming and personnel/management issues.

“We are grateful to Moody for this great contribution to Christian radio in Romania,” says Steve Hunter, HCJB World Radio’s representative on the RVG network, operated by the Evangelical Alliance of Romania. “On several occasions Moody has done onsite training in Romania, initially just with our Romanian personnel, but more recently, including those from nearby other countries.” Moody sent a team of seven to Romania, including Jon Gauger and John Maddex, as nearly 100 Christian broadcasters took part in the conference. Highlighting the week was an annual awards competition that showcased presentations in categories such as audio production, evangelism, spots and sales.

Moody played a key role in helping HCJB World Radio launch the RVG network with a single station in 1993. “Moody has partnered with us from the beginning, helping to train broadcasters in various aspects of the art,” Hunter says. Six stations are now on the air with FM outlets in Bucharest, Cluj, Oradea, Sibiu, Suceava and Timisoara. A seventh station in Brasov has a license to broadcast and is expected to go the air by the end of the year. The Evangelical Alliance of Romania was initiated by HCJB World Radio and the Romanian Missionary Society in 1990, shortly after the fall of the Iron Curtain.(HCJB World Radio)

354 VIETNAMESE CHURCHES CLOSED, DOZENS OF PASTORS ARRESTED

Documents acquired in October by religious and human rights workers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, confirm that by the end of September, 354 of 412 churches in Dak Lak province alone were forcibly closed. By mid-October about 50 Christian pastors and elders in this province had been arrested or had “disappeared.” The remaining 58 churches in the province are also expected to be shut down. On Nov. 7 Freedom House released news of the ongoing persecution of Hmong Christians in Vietnam’s northwestern provinces, Vietnam’s normally cautious Roman Catholic Conference of Bishops also released a letter decrying the persecution of Catholic Montagnards. Since late summer, leaders of the predominantly Ede minority churches were summoned by local authorities, told their churches were illegal and ordered to disband. Many were threatened with dire consequences if they did not comply. Church leaders were also prohibited from further religious activity outside of their own homes and families. All church activities -- worship, teaching, prayer for the sick, observing holy days, administering sacraments, performing baptisms, weddings and funerals -- were forbidden. Leaders were forced to sign statements of compliance. Many Christians have fled into the forest or to Cambodia. (Compass)

WITNESS TO ATTACK ON AGENCY IN PAKISTAN DESCRIBES ASSAILANTS

One of the two survivors of an attack on the Institute of Justice and Peace in Karachi, Pakistan last month has recovered to the point where he is able to describe the assailants. The Pakistan Christian Post reported that Robin Sharif, communications director for the agency, was approached by a man on Sept. 25 who asked to speak with the director. When he went to see the director, three more men rushed in and held him at gunpoint. Then they grabbed tape from his desk and knocked him out with chloroform. The attackers then tied up the rest of the staff and killed seven of his co-workers. Sharif had been unconscious and unable to speak with authorities until recently. However, he has since recovered enough to help police with sketches of three of the assailants. His testimony also appears sufficient to clear the other survivor, Robin Peranditta, of any responsibility in the attack. (Voice of the Martyrs)

NEW TAX ON VISITORS ENTERING HAITI MAY HAMPER MISSION EFFORTS

The economic situation in Haiti continues to worsen, increasing people’s desperate struggle to survive. The Haitian government, looking for more ways to generate income, has implemented a large fee for all visitors entering the country. STEM International’s Jim Levin says the tax could have an impact on the ministry’s outreach as ministry teams from foreign countries may cancel their trip or decide to visit another country instead because of the additional fees. He is afraid that the tax could discourage groups from returning such as the short-term medical team that ministered to 900 people last week. Levin urges believers to pray. “Pray that the Haitian government would find ways of helping their economy, helping the average Haitian without shooting themselves in the foot by discouraging some of the very people who want to come in there and help the people.”(Mission Network News)

WELL-ORGANIZED BAPTIST CREWS HELP VICTIMS OF TORNADOES IN U.S.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief units in five states -- Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio and Mississippi -- responded locally to severe storms and dozens of tornadoes that ripped through the eastern U.S. Nov. 10-11. Mickey Caison, national coordinator for the relief group, noted the scope of the unusual fall tornadoes with as many as 70 reported in seven states. “Typically a tornado is localized. It doesn’t affect a large area like a hurricane or a flood or an ice storm,” Caison said. Crews are being deployed throughout the affected area by serving via mobile kitchens, chainsaws, roofing, communications and crisis intervention. More than 25,000 trained volunteers are involved in the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief network nationwide. The units generally are owned and operated by state conventions and local associations, and coordinated nationally by the North American Mission Board. (Religion Today)

REPRESSIVE RELIGION LAW IN BELARUS GOES INTO EFFECT SATURDAY

Starting on Saturday, Nov. 16, all “unregistered religious activity” will be illegal in Belarus as a repressive new religion law goes into effect. Also banned will be religious communities with less than 20 members; religious activity in private homes (apart from occasional, small-scale meetings); foreigners conducting religious work in unregistered communities; and uncensored religious literature. The new law will require all religious organizations to be re-registered within two years. In a last-ditch effort to protest the law, two persons (among them a Catholic, Igor Zakrevsky, from Borisov) staged a demonstration on Independence Square in Minsk Nov. 8. They were detained by police.(Keston News Service)

Civil unrest is forcing evangelical missionaries out of the Central African Republic. Tom Cairns, international ministries director of the Evangelical Free Church Mission, says that after weeks of fighting, there is a lull in the violence. “It appears that this is just that -- a lull before further fighting might occur,” he says. “As a result, missionaries from almost all the evangelical groups and agencies in Bangui have made the decision that they need to leave now. All of them are leaving within the next two days.” Missionaries working among the nomadic Fulani peoples plan to return when the situation stabilizes. “We definitely will plan to return and go back to the Fulani ministry,” Cairns says. “That’s very critical, but we just don’t have any distinct plans right now as to when that might be because we have to wait and see what’s going to evolve in the next few weeks.”

[HCJB World Radio worked with a local partner in Bangui, Central African Republic, to put a Christian FM station on the air in May 2001.] (Mission Network News)

MUSLIM MOB FORCES CHURCH TO CLOSE IN JAVA, INDONESIA

A mob of more than 100 Muslims stormed into a church in Bandung, Java, Wednesday, Nov. 6, terrorizing the Christians who were meeting, forcing them to leave the premises and ordering them to close the church permanently. The mob, led by the chairman of the Mosque Security Council, pelted the building with stones before entering and desecrating the church. Police who were present did nothing to prevent the mob from entering the church. Rev. Oloan Nainggolan complained to local authorities about their failure to take action. He denied claims by the Mosque Security Council that the church had no building permit, explaining that the church was built in 1990 with the relevant permissions and the agreement of representatives from local groups. The council also reportedly objected to six other churches in Bandung, and Christians are concerned that they could also become the target of mob action. (Barnabas Fund)

VIOLENCE CONTINUES IN INDONESIA DESPITE END OF LASKAR JIHAD

Members of the Laskar Jihad, an Islamic extremist group, are gradually leaving Central Sulawesi and the Moluccas following the announcement of the disbanding of the organization in October. The situation is improved, but there are still reports of violence against Christians. On Nov. 2 two people were killed by a sniper in a suburb of Ambon City, and the next day two others were killed while riding motorbike taxis in a Muslim area of the city. A sniper also severely wounded a resident of Pelauw on Haruku Island Nov. 8. A number of unexploded bombs have been found -- three at schools in Christian areas of Ambon, and another at a church construction site where a bomb had exploded last month. Meanwhile, evidence is increasing regarding the involvement of members of the Jamaah Islamiyah extremist Islamic group in the Bali bomb attack that killed nearly 300 people. Following the arrest of its leader, Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, in connection with the attack, Indonesian authorities are accusing him of being involved in a series of bombings of 18 Christian churches across Indonesia in late 2000. (Barnabas Fund)

RAPE CASE REFLECTS GROWING PERSECUTION IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

A Christian woman whose father became a Muslim was raped after being forced to marry a Muslim is further evidence of the growing persecution that Christians face in predominantly Muslim areas of Nigeria. Rakiya, 20, from Bilkawa in Kano state, has been a Christian for 10 years, but her father converted to Islam five years ago. Rakiya was recently forced to marry a Muslim. Then four men dragged her to her new husband’s room where she was raped. A fact-finding team from Christian Solidarity Worldwide discovered that such stories are not unusual in Nigeria’s northern states, many of which have adopted sharia (Islamic). In an earlier case, a female convert from Niger state was bound hand and foot in a sharia court, thrown into the trunk of a vehicle and driven by her family to their home village where she was bound to a tree and publicly raped by a prospective Muslim suitor. The team found widespread suppression and violations of religious freedoms in the states of Niger and Plateau.

[HCJB World Radio, together with partners In Touch Ministries, SIM and the Evangelical Church of West Africa, began airing weekly half-hour programs in the Igbo language in 2000. The programs air via shortwave to Nigeria’s 15 million Igbo speakers.] (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

RADIO BROADCASTS HELP OPEN ONCE-CLOSED ALBANIA TO GOSPEL

Twenty years ago Albania was one of the most closed communist countries in Eastern Europe. Religion was outlawed. However, when the country opened in the 1990s, a core group of Christians was discovered, partly because of Christian radio programs beamed from Monte Carlo. “In the last 10 years the number of churches has grown considerably,” says Lee DeYoung from Words of Hope. “There is freedom of religion. We’re excited that we were able to enter into formal agreements with two new FM Christian radio stations to broadcast our programs five days a week.” The programs are being aired in Tirana and Korce. (Mission Network News)

1,400 TURN TO CHRIST IN 5 CRUSADES AMONG PERUVIAN TRIBE

A ministry in Peru has been able to plant new churches and bring aid to the impoverished Kanaris tribespeople. Marino Huatangare, founder and director of New Life Evangelistic Ministry, says that 72 worshiping groups of believers have been planted among the Kanaris. In the last six months the mission conducted five major evangelistic crusades where the gospel was preached to 5,500 people. Missionaries witnessed 1,400 professions of faith and discipled and baptized 88 new believers. The ministry also distributed shoes and clothing along with 30 Bibles and 50 New Testaments among the Kanaris. (Christian Aid Mission)