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

·HCJB World Radio, spolu s partnery z organizací In Touch Ministries, SIM a Evangelickou církví západní Afriky, začali v roce 2000 s týdenním vysíláním půlhodinových programů v jazyku Igbo. Programy jsou vysílány na krátkých vlnách pro 15 milionů lidí hovořících jazykem Igbo v Nigérii.

·HCJB World Radio vysílá po celé severní Africe, středním východě a v Evropě křesťanské programy v arabštině na krátkých vlnách, pomocí satelitů nebo místních stanic. Rádio Al Mahabba (Radio Love) a arabská satelitní síť provozovaná společně s organizací Arab World Ministries vysílá programy 24 hodin denně. Tento region má nejvyšší koncentraci osobních satelitních přijímačů na světě.

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

*HCJB World Radio spolu s Radou protestantských a evangelijních sborů v Beninu pomáhalo v roce 1998 zprovoznit křesťanskou rozhlasovou stanici v Cotonou. Stanice vysílá evangelium francouzsky, anglicky a v sedmi místních jazycích. Spolupracující misijní organizace SIM nahrává programy v osmi jazycích v rozhlasovém studiu v Parakou. Ty jsou pak vysílány místními vysílači po celém Beninu.

International Bible Society (IBS) released its recently translated Chichewa New Testament, "Chipangano Chatsopano Mu Chichewa Cha Lero," at a release and dedication event in Lilongwe, Malawi, on November 23. The New Testament has the potential to reach 10 million Chichewa speakers. A team of translators led by IBS-Malawi National Coordinator Lester Chikoya began work on the New Testament in 1997. The team completed the translation, rendered in contemporary language from the original biblical texts, earlier this year. As a result of test audience meetings the team conducted, IBS-Malawi expects its New Testament to be well received by evangelicals. (IBS)

AZERBAIJAN: BAPTIST BOOK IMPORT "VICTORY"

Six months after applying for permission to import 3,000 copies of a translation into Azeri of the Book of Proverbs, the Baptist church in the capital Baku has managed to retrieve the copies from customs. "We got the books an hour ago - we're jumping for joy," Pastor Ilya Zenchenko, head of the Baptist Union in Azerbaijan, told Keston News Service last week from Baku. "It is a kind of victory. We have been able to achieve our constitutional rights." The State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations -- which is in charge of the compulsory prior censorship of all religious literature published in Azerbaijan or imported into the country -- overturned its earlier three refusals and granted permission on 21 November, allowing the church to receive the books. (Keston News Service)

JOHN DAWSON TO BE NEXT PRESIDENT OF YWAM

Internationally known author and speaker John Dawson is to be the next president of Youth With a Mission (YWAM), one of the largest missionary organizations in the world. The New Zealander will take over the role from another Kiwi, Frank Naea, next September. Dawson, 51, has served with YWAM for more than 30 years. He founded the YWAM ministry in Los Angeles and later was appointed the mission's international director for urban missions. He serves on the board of Aglow International and is chairman of March for Jesus North America. Founded in 1960 by Loren Cunningham, who remains a part of the Global Leadership Team, YWAM currently has some 12,000 full-time workers serving in more than 130 countries. (Charisma News Service)

CAPE TOWN CHRISTIAN MEDIA PROFESSIONALS UNITE

Christians working in the media in Cape Town recently launched a fellowship organization in what signals a new beginning in cooperation and ministry among the media in the "Mother City" of South Africa. Provisionally named the Media Workers Fellowship, the group aims to act as a spiritual support group for those working in the media. Their objectives include praying for the media and media workers, evangelism among the media, training and mentoring of young people planning media careers, and the pursuit of relationships with international media workers and organizations. The meeting was addressed by Diane Vermooten, Director of Media Village in Kalk Bay, on "Tearing the Curtain." She challenged the group to pull down the artificial divide that the church has placed between the sacred and the secular. (Good Hope)

U.S. CALLED A COUNTRY IN NEED OF MISSIONARIES

The United States -- a country founded on God -- is now a country in need of missionaries. That's the word from American Missionary Fellowship's Lee Iseley. "All around the world Christianity is the fastest growing religion. The only country where Christianity is not growing is America. And so, we're discovering that America is the new mission field. And, I think it's not just apathy, but it's a sense of not understanding the seriousness of reaching our land with the message of Jesus Christ. We're seeing that God is bring the world to America." Iseley says American Missionary Fellowship is retooling their evangelistic efforts. "We have committed ourselves to reaching the children and the young adults for Christ, because the statistics tell us that 85 percent of people who come to Christ, come to Christ before they're 25 years of age." Iseley is recruiting young Bible school graduates to help in this effort. (Mission Network News)

'PASTOR TO THE SLUMS' STORIES TO REACH SOUTH PACIFIC, BEYOND

When HCJB World Radio-Australia launches its new South Pacific shortwave service next month, the Rev. Dr. Gordon Moyes' "Pastor to the Slums" stories will be featured daily. The Rev. Dr. Moyes is superintendent of Wesley Mission, Sydney -- the largest church-based charity in Australia. "We have a great respect for the ministry of Dr. Moyes and the radio programs he has produced over the years," said Dennis Adams, director of ministries with HCJB World Radio-Australia. "We are planning to broadcast all of Dr. Moyes' 16-minute Pastor to the Slums series. It's great radio." A potential audience of more than 30 million people in the South Pacific will soon be able to hear the gospel from the shortwave service scheduled to begin 22 December 2002. New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Samoa are within the coverage area from the transmitter site at .Kununurra in the Kimberly region of northwest Australia. As the new shortwave service grows to include Asia, it potentially can reach 60 percent of the world's population -- about 1.5 billion in the next stage and 3.5 billion at a later stage. (HCJB World Radio)

© Copyright 2002 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA - btc@hcjb.org

Evangelical ministries in Kenya are responding to the recent terrorist attacks in that nation. Tom Dudenhofer of Audio Scripture Ministries in Holland, Mich., says he expects conditions to get even worse. "There is an element of being unsure about the ability of things to remain stable when it comes to the safety of missionaries, the protection of property and things like that. I don't believe it's specifically directed to the terrorist situation. I think it has more to do with the disintegration of law and order." Dudenhofer says the instability has had a direct affect on the ministry in Kenya. "Our facilities there were robbed. Our security guards were drugged. The robbers made entrance with a ladder over a fence and then cut a hole in a roof. They made off with all of the electronic equipment from our recording studios and stole a car." (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with radio partners to install radio ministries in four cities of Kenya: Nairobi, Athi River, Mombasa and Tinderet. Staff members from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., also recently visited Kisumu to survey the situation for a potential radio partner.

NIGERIA'S CHRISTIANS VOW TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AGAINST ATTACKS

Nigeria's Christian leaders say they will defend themselves if the authorities fail to protect them against Muslim militants who are accused of killing more than 200 believers in late November. The British Broadcasting Corporation quoted Catholic Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan as saying that Christians were "tired of turning the other cheek," after days of bloodshed that also included the destruction of several churches. Christian Solidarity Worldwide, with close ties to persecuted churches, said that Christians were singled out by mobs of Muslim youths who protested against the Miss World contest that has since been moved to London. It is believed that Christians are the main targets as they are seen as defending Western values. Analysts say the attacks are also meant to pressure President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is said to be a born-again Christian, and is seeking re-election next year. Nigeria has seen a steep increase in inter-religious violence since several northern states adopted sharia (Islamic law) in 1999. More than 6,000 people are believed to have died as a direct result of sharia-related clashes, many of them Christians. (Assist News Service)

* 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.

LEADING MEMBER OF CHINA'S UNDERGROUND CHURCH DETAINED AGAIN

A leading member of an underground church and his wife have been detained as part of a crackdown on dissidents before the start of the Communist Party Congress, reported the New York-based Human Rights in China (HRC). The Associated Press said that police recently took Hua Huiqi and Ju Mei from their Beijing home and took them to the northern province of Shanxi. Huiqi is one of the earliest and most important members of Beijing's underground church and has been beaten and arrested on many occasions because of his religious activities. Police did not present a warrant, and they gave no reason for taking the couple. "Once again under the pretext of conducting the 16th Party Congress in a peaceful and stable atmosphere, the Chinese government is abusing human rights," HRC President Liu Qing said. In the weeks leading up to the congress, the government banned books, blocked Internet sites and clamped down on other activists. China allows only government-monitored churches and has harassed and imprisoned Christians who worship outside the official system. (Religion Today)

NEW ASSOCIATION TO COMBAT EMPTY CHURCHES IN EASTERN EUROPE

Influential Christian intellectuals have founded the Budapest-based Central and Eastern European Association for Mission Studies to combat the growing number of empty churches in the region, officials confirmed Saturday, Nov. 30. If the trend continues, for example, there will be "no Anglican churches" in the region by the year 2030, warned Birger Nygaard, general secretary of the association. Other mainline denominations could face a similar fate, but membership in Pentecostal churches is rising, he said. Traditional churches in countries behind the former Iron Curtain are believed to be especially vulnerable to losing membership as several generations grew up in a communist society which discouraged Christian missions and an active religious life. Dr. Anne-Marie Kool, the Dutch cofounder of the association, said that "after a short renewal, after the collapse of communism, membership of the main denominations decreased." Membership in the Hungarian Reformed Church, the country's largest Protestant denomination, decreased to 1.6 million from 2 million. The smaller Lutheran Church saw a similar dip, falling to 300,000, a loss of 100,000 members. (Assist News Service)

DISCIPLESHIP CONSULTATION SET FOR SRI LANKA NEXT JULY

The second Asia-Pacific Consultation on Discipleship is set for Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 9-12, 2003. The theme is "Telling the Truth: Discipling Nations Through the Power of Truth." Participants will be able to hear and interact with more than 15 leading Christian speakers from around the world. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Ajith Fernando, Youth for Christ's national director for Sri Lanka. (Worldwide Photos)

MINISTRY USES UNUSUAL TOOL TO HELP BELIEVERS SHARE THEIR FAITH

A ministry called EvangeCube is helping North American Christians to use an unusual tool to share their faith more effectively. The ministry teaches believers to use a folding cube with pictures to help share the gospel message, says EvangeCube's Nathan Sheets. "We focus on questions such as, What is the gospel? What is evangelism? What is prayer and evangelism? Then we go through the logistics of how to work through the EvangeCube. The most important part about training seminar is actually the third hour which is taking Christians out and doing evangelism." Sheets believes these seminars will have international implications. "In the next 10 years we pray that God will use us to go into 100 countries and each country go into 1,000 churches to train 100 Christians in personal one-on-one evangelism," he says. (Mission Network News) © Copyright 2002 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA - btc@hcjb.org

In the West African country of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), continuing rebel violence has set back another outreach opportunity in the country. Michael Cassidy of African Enterprise says his ministry was hoping to hold a citywide mission this week in Abidjan, but the unrest made it impossible. "Both the local churches and the various embassies all advised us that this wasn't the time to go ahead," he said. "People were too preoccupied with the crisis. The churches couldn't think about something like the citywide mission because they were coping with refugees. Therefore, with very great regrets, we were asked to put the mission on hold."

Meanwhile, Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo opened talks Tuesday with a regional rival in the country's growing conflict. Gbagbo's meeting with President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso "would be about the crisis and the consequences it is having," Gbagbo spokesman Toussaint Alain said. Ivory Coast has made repeated veiled accusations against its neighbors, especially Burkina Faso, for allegedly backing rebels behind a two-month-old rebellion that now has split the nation. As Gbagbo headed to neighboring Mali for the talks on the war, the U.N. refugee agency appealed Tuesday on behalf of its victims, asking other West African nations to keep their borders open to civilians trying to escape the fighting. Rebels who launched the uprising control the north, and a newly emerged band of insurgents now hold the west. A 1,000-strong French force is in the country to safeguard foreign nationals and monitor an Oct. 17 cease-fire that crumbled last week. Peace talks between the northern rebels and the government have been deadlocked for weeks over rebel demands that Gbagbo resign. (Mission Network News/AP)

* HCJB World Radio is a partner with FM station Fréquence Vie (Frequency Life) in Abidjan, operated by SIM and local churches. The station continues to air programs of hope and encouragement, broadcasting 17 hours daily in French and some local languages.

NEW COALITION AIMS TO REACH 30 MILLION UNCHURCHED GERMANS

A "Coalition for Evangelism" has been set up in Germany made up of representatives from various denominations and parachurch agencies under the umbrella of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. The aim of the coalition is to reach 30 million unchurched Germans with the gospel. Rev. Ulrich Parzany, general secretary of the German YMCA and main speaker of the European ProChrist outreach, was elected chairman of the coalition. He is working with the German Evangelical Alliance and the Association of Missionary Ministries. Parzany said the continued secularization of Germany calls for a broad united response by Christians. The coalition is in the planning stages of a "Strategy 2006." That's the year Germany will host the World Cup of soccer. Outreach and follow-up programs will be coordinated, including courses from ProChrist, Willow Creek and Alpha. The national Lausanne Committee will move the office from Stuttgart to Kassel early next year and assume responsibility for the coalition. The Lausanne movement began in 1974 after an international congress on mission and evangelism in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is a network of Christians acting as catalysts for worldwide missions and evangelism. (Evangelical News Agency IDEA)

MOB THREATENS TO KILL INDIAN MISSIONARY, DESTROY HOME

On Nov. 17 a group of 200 people attacked the house and threatened the life of a local missionary leader in India's Maharashtra state. They cut telephone wires, disrupted a prayer meeting and began to verbally abuse and threaten the missionary's wife and three young children. When they learned that the missionary was not there, the attackers started to trash the household amid screams of the children, and destroyed the church sign board. The mob held the family captive in the house until evening, waiting in vain for the missionary's return. They repeatedly warned his wife that they had come to "burn" them. Later they left, warning the family to leave the town immediately. The upper-caste house owner also asked them to vacate. The attack came just days after a district assistant also was also beaten up. The missionary and his wife are from the "untouchable" Dalit background. After the attack, friends helped the missionary family move to a faraway town. The missionary is praying for funds to pay for his moving expenses and to purchase a house so he can carry on the work of the ministry without being forced to leave by a landlord of another religion.

PLAN TO CLOSE INDONESIAN REFUGEE CAMPS IMPERILS CHRISTIANS

Thousands of Indonesian Christians who were forced to flee their homes by Islamic terrorists in the last three years may face even a bleaker future if the government follows through with plans to shut down existing displaced persons camps. "Thousands of refugees in Manado and Bitung are facing an uncertain future," reported a key observer. "The Indonesian government is in the process of closing a number of the refugee camps, placing thousands of refugees in crisis again. Their plan is to send most of them back to their home islands. That is a worthy goal, but many of the islands are still dangerous. There are places like Ternate where all the churches have been destroyed and every Christian fled during the fighting. . . . Ternate is under Islamic law. It would be impossible for returning Christians to practice their religion." Indonesian officials failed in two previous attempts to close the refugee camps as Christians were afraid to return to their homes, the contact said. "The government's plan affects thousands in these refugee camp. This forces thousands to move to new locations. Some are too sick to make the trip, and many are upset and confused." (Christian Aid Mission)

INDONESIAN CHURCHES FEAR WAR AGAINST TERRORISM COULD ERODE RIGHTS

Some Christians in Indonesia fear that the government will use the security clampdowns in effect since the Oct. 12 bombing in Bali as an excuse to curtail the human rights of minority groups in the country, including those of churches. Problems facing Christians in Indonesia, who make up less than 10 percent of the country's 210 million people, were highlighted in a recent gathering of Asian churches and members of the Evangelical Mission of Southwest Germany. Participants heard that churches could also face harassment in a "new war against terrorism" following the bomb attack on Bali that killed nearly 200 people, many of them Australian tourists. Tony Waworuntu of the Christian Conference of Asia, an ecumenical grouping with 121 member churches in 18 Asian countries, voiced his concern at a press conference in Stuttgart before a meeting focusing on Indonesian "women against violence." (Episcopal News Service)

* HCJB WORLD RADIO AIDS VICTIMS OF VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN ECUADOR HCJB World Radio brought physical and spiritual encouragement to residents of the remote Ecuadorian town of Oyacachi near the Reventador volcano the week of Nov. 18 as a mobile medical clinic visited the area. The volcano, 60 miles east of Quito, erupted on Nov. 3, covering the town with about 2 inches of gritty ash and causing health problems for residents and livestock.

A six-member team traveled about three hours across treacherous roads to reach Oyacachi and spend four days helping out, said HCJB World Radio physician Dr. Oswaldo Rodríguez. "I noticed ash still piled up in the streets and on the dirt roads, and we noted the smell of sulfur in the air," he said.

When asked what medical problems were treated in this village, Rodríguez noted that there was an increased incidence of respiratory difficulties, eye problems, irritated throats and mild rashes. The team also heard reports of damage that had been done to the livestock of this farming region and finding clean pasture was an obstacle for the agriculturists.

Dr. Ulrich Walther, who has been in Ecuador for only three months, was part of the team. "It was a new experience for me, and I found the food very good and the living quarters we were given clean and sufficient," he said. "The people were so friendly, with the older Quichua people looking to the young ones to translate into Spanish for them so we could converse."

Approximately 500 people live in the village, and about 300 came to the mobile medical clinic for treatment. In appreciation, the community presented each member of the team with a wooden craft.

The 11,683-foot Reventador volcano erupted on Sunday, Nov. 3, with ash reaching as far away as Quito. The volcano has erupted 24 times since 1541. The most recent eruption, in January 1976, produced ash and lava. Similar eruptions occurred in 1972 and 1973. Reventador is the third volcano to erupt in Ecuador since 1999. Quito was covered in ash three years ago when the nearby Guagua Pichincha volcano erupted. Tungurahua, another volcano 105 miles south of Quito, reawakened in 1999 after eight decades of inactivity and has gone through a number of eruptive cycles. (HCJB World Radio)

© Copyright 2002 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA - btc@hcjb.org

Sporadic fighting between government and rebel forces continues in the northern part of the Central African Republic since an October coup attempt. With little progress toward peace, the U.S. embassy recommended that Americans leave the capital city of Bangui. Last month Mission Aviation Fellowship evacuated more than 14 missionaries from the country. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio worked with Grace Brethren Mission and local believers in Bangui, Central African Republic, to put a Christian FM station on the air in May 2001.

CHRISTIAN CUBAN PRISONER CONTINUES 3-MONTH LONG HUNGER STRIKE

A blind Christian lawyer who has been held in a Cuban prison for nine months has now completed three months of an ongoing liquid-only fast. Juan Carlos González Leiva has been held on charges of "acts of disrespect towards Fidel Castro, public disorder, resisting authority and disobedience" since March 5. His weight has dropped to 85 lb., and as part of his protest against the regime, he also dresses only in black, shaves his head and refuses to bathe. In a letter smuggled out of Holguin Prison by his wife, Maritza, he said: "I wish to inform the international community, all churches and human rights defenders, that Cuban state security forces are torturing me physically and psychologically. González, president of both the Cuban Human Rights Foundation and the Brotherhood of the Independent Blind People of Cuba." He was arrested along with several other human rights activists on March 5 in Ciego de Avila. His trial, scheduled for mid-September, never took place. Prison officials said they have no idea when his trial will take place as his case documents have been sent to Havana to be "analyzed." (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

100,000 CHRISTIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS BELIEVED TO BE IN NORTH KOREA

Hwang Jang-yop was once a spokesman for late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and his son and successor, Kim Jong Il. He has lived under the protection of South Korean intelligence since becoming the most senior defector from the country in 1997. AFP quotes Hwang as saying, "The suffering and pain of the North Korean people under the current dictatorial regime are much more severe and tragic than what we experienced during the 36-year colonial rule by the Japanese or what we went through during the Korean War." In November, Human Rights Watch released a report called, "The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People's Republic of China." He said an estimated 100,000 Christians are political prisoners in North Korea, an area that was once a "land of revival," with its capital, Pyongyang, once known as the "Jerusalem of the East." (World Evangelical Alliance)

OUTREACH GROWS IN COLOMBIA DESPITE ONGOING FIGHTING

"The work of the Lord is growing beautifully in the midst of a ferocious and diabolical war that affects our country," reports a Colombian missionary leader. "Things seem to become worse with each passing day as we are surrounded by tense and unstable political situations. Guerrillas, kidnappings, vengeance, death and extortion are daily occurrences that we face in our missionary fields. "We walk in the midst of great fear caused by Satan's furious ocean of evil, but we persevere in prayer as we beg God for the liberation of our nation and His protection as we continue working in these dangerous and difficult regions. I am not able to move about with the same freedom as before." Despite the restrictions, the leader recently baptized seven new believers in one place, and gospel workers are planting a new church in another location. "This is a very dangerous town from which the mayor and police had to flee," the leader said. "It is a lawless region, but the Lord has raised up a young man from one of our churches who has begun house-to-house evangelism. He has started Sunday worship meetings, and 16 adults and 25 children are already coming to learn and worship." (Christian Aid Mission)

CHRISTIAN ARABIC SATELLITE TV NETWORK LAUNCHES WEBSITE

After months of planning, building and testing, SAT-7, a Christian Arabic satellite television network that broadcasts across the Middle East and North Africa, has launched a website at www.sat7.orgThe site includes information such as instructions on how to receive SAT-7's satellite signal and program and broadcast schedules. The site also has a place for feedback, giving viewers the opportunity to express their opinion and ask questions about the programs and Christianity. Although only about 1 percent of people in the Middle East have access to the Internet, the site is expected to increase interaction with Arabic-speaking viewers across the region and beyond. (SAT-7)

* HCJB World Radio reaches across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe with Christian Arabic programming aired via shortwave, satellite and local stations. The Radio Al Mahabba (Radio Love) Arabic satellite network, operated with partner Arab World Ministries, airs programs 24 hours a day. This region has the world's highest concentration of personal satellite dishes.

FEEDING THE POOR OPENS EVANGELISTIC OPPORTUNITIES IN U.S.

A ministry called Dare 2 Share is using food to help open doors to share the gospel in the U.S. Students trained through "Last Chance" seminars receive the tools they need to share their faith, says Dare 2 Share's Greg Stier. "Basically, we turn these kids loose in pre-designated areas to go door to door, collecting canned good for the rescue mission In addition, they use this as an entrée into a gospel presentation," he says. In Denver recently, 4,800 students collected 10 tons of canned goods, witnessed to 7,000 people and saw more than 400 come to Christ. Plans are being made to expand the ministry as resources become available. (Mission Network News)

© Copyright 2002 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA - btc@hcjb.org

Indian police have obstructed the mass conversions of an expected 10,000 Dalits -- people outside of India's caste system -- by beating up believers and blocking roads. A mass conversion event had been planned for today in Chennai (formerly called Madras), but authorities in Tamil Nadu state took harsh measures to stop it. Police harassed and threatened Dalit pastor Victor Dharmaraj, the owner of the land planned for the event, and later returned to remove 1,000 chairs and ejected the volunteer workers. Eight of the volunteers were arrested, taken in for questioning and beaten up All the roads leading to Chennai were blocked, and 60 truckloads of Dalits were stopped from coming in. "This is very horrible," said Joseph D'Souza, president of the All India Christian Council. "It is a clear violation of our constitution as well as the fundamental rights and religious freedom of the Dalits." The Dalits planned to publicly convert from the Hindu faith to Buddhism and Christianity in a bid to free themselves from the caste system.

The BBC reported that up to 500 Dalits managed to reach the area where the event was due to be held and made symbolic conversions to both faiths. Conversion events also took place outside of Chennai. Tamil Nadu and Orissa are the two states in India that have the power to ban conversions alleged to be "by force or by fraud." Christians, Buddhists and Muslims are small minorities in Tamil Nadu, but the recent conversions of entire low-caste Hindu communities to other religions has alarmed militant Hindu groups such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Many Christians say that laws prohibiting "forced conversions" compromise the right to religious freedom. They are also concerned that additional states will adopt similar laws. Some Hindu leaders accuse evangelical Christians of bribing the poor to become Christians, and they see the law as a way of protecting them. Christian leaders insist the conversions are voluntary. (Christian Solidarity Worldwide/BBC)

* In partnership with FEBA Radio, HCJB World Radio airs weekly Christian programs to eastern India via shortwave in three languages: Bhojpuri, Chattisgarhi and Mundari. HCJB World Radio also broadcasts 11/2 hours of English programming daily to India via shortwave from South America. The ministry is investigating potential opportunities to help launch local Christian stations in key cities across India.

MAOIST REBELS THREATEN MISSIONARIES IN NEPAL

A Christian leader in Nepal reports that he and his missionary staff are being threatened by Maoist rebels. Maoists approached one missionary and demanded a donation. "Once they know who you are, they force you to take sides," the mission leader said. He said there were no Maoists in his village a year or two ago, but now they have set up their own government. (Christian Aid Mission)

VOICE OF THE MARTYRS LAUNCHES LEGAL DEFENSE FUND

Voice of the Martyrs has started a Legal Defense Fund to help insure that courageous believers receive the best legal assistance possible under the circumstances. For example, a year ago 17 members of the South China Church (an unregistered denomination in China), including founder Gong Shengliang, were put on trial for various false charges, including rape, assault and being members of an "illegal cult." For the families of the 17 who were arrested, the cost of their legal defense forced them, and in many cases their close relatives, into financial bankruptcy. Their houses were demolished by Chinese authorities, church offerings were confiscated and any useful assets were taken away by the local authorities. Situations such as this are not uncommon in nations where Christians are persecuted for their faith. In many cases, Christians languish in prison because their families cannot afford decent legal representation. Situations such as this led to the formation of the Legal Defense Fund. (Religion Today)

ANTI-TERRORIST CRACKDOWN IN FAR EAST MAY AFFECT RURAL MINISTRIES

Security officials say anti-terrorism crackdowns in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines may force Muslim extremists to seek safer havens and develop logistical bases in Thailand and Myanmar. The report is raising concerns among believers who are already facing persecution, said Steve Salowitz of FARMS International. "In one of the nations bordering Thailand, the people have actually drawn the attention of the government because of the economic boost that our program has given them," he said. "If that's happening, then it could have an impact on our rural programs. It seems as though these insurgents tend to gravitate towards rural areas because they have more freedom to do what they want." Salowitz added that the ministry's programs in remote areas of Thailand could be affected if the reports are true. (Mission Network News)

CHILDREN'S VERSION OF 'JESUS' FILM TRANSLATED INTO 29 LANGUAGES

The "Jesus" film has been adapted for ministry to children. Within that context, the possibilities for worldwide outreach are endless, says ministry representative Flip Amon. "A lot of the audiences internationally at the showing of the 'Jesus' film were, in fact, children. Sometimes a two-hour version was a bit much for them to sit through, and others were looking for something with maybe a little bit more explanation. Since the original film follows the Gospel of Luke, there's no explanation included." Amon says this presented a new need. "We have just started with the children's version. It is in 29 languages with more than 100 in process." (Mission Network News)

BENIN TRIBE GETS FIRST COMPLETE BIBLE TRANSLATION

More than 1,000 people gathered in the West African country of Benin Oct. 26 for the dedication and launching of the Bible in the Ditamari language. Irene Sossauer, a Swiss missionary who has served with SIM since 1963, and her team of Ditamari pastors prepared the translation, in collaboration with the Summer Institute of Linguistics and the United Bible Society. Ditamari believers in western Benin received the Word of God in their own language with much joy, purchasing 600 copies on the first day they were available. SIM (Serving in Mission) is an international, interdenominational mission agency, sending workers to more than 40 countries. SIM members are involved in a full range of mission activities including church planting (evangelism and discipleship), relief work and development of Christian leaders. (SIM)

* HCJB World Radio worked with the Council of Protestant and Evangelical Churches of Benin to help put a Christian station on the air in Cotonou in 1998. The station broadcasts the gospel in French, English and seven tribal languages. Partner ministry SIM also records programs in eight languages at studios in Parakou. Programs air on local stations across Benin.

© Copyright 2002 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA - btc@hcjb.org