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Just a month after three Southern Baptist medical workers were shot to death at a Baptist hospital in Jibla, Yemen, the facility has reopened. Although not yet operating at full capacity, workers at the hospital are excited about the future, Lee Hixon told members of the Association of State Baptist Papers meeting in Charleston, S.C., via telephone from Yemen. He said the 45-bed hospital opened 14 beds in three wards on Feb. 1, and is averaging 40 clinic patients and a half-dozen surgeries daily. Last year the staff saw 120 to 140 patients a day and conducted about 15 surgeries daily. The hospital, which was preparing for a transition to Yemeni administration even before the Dec. 30 killings, is operating with only half of its normal staff. Many of the hospital's contract workers left in fear after a lone gunmen murdered three missionaries, Martha Myers, Kathy Gariety and Bill Koehn. After the attack, the Yemeni government pledged to keep the hospital open and appointed experienced staff to oversee it while inviting Christian organizations to send additional workers. "The agreement with the Yemeni government provides for Southern Baptist medical workers to serve alongside Yemenis and other international workers," said Elias Moussa, administrative associate for International Mission Board's work in the region. "We believe this agreement will carry the hospital to a new level of cooperation among the IMB, the Yemeni people and other Christian organizations with a heart for the people of Yemen." (Baptist Press)

BUSH RALLIES RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS TO BE 'ARMIES OF COMPASSION'

U.S. President George W. Bush shared his ideas on faith-based initiatives during a special session of the 60th annual National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in Nashville, Tenn., that ends today. A capacity crowd of 2,500 attended the event with an overflow audience viewing the speech via video feed. Bush thanked America's religious broadcasters for bringing "words of truth, comfort and encouragement into millions of homes. Today I ask our religious broadcasters, those who reach into every corner of America, to rally the armies of compassion so that we can change America one heart, one soul at a time." He then emphasized the role of faith in the national arena. "I welcome faith to help solve the nation's deepest problems," Bush said. "The days of discriminating against religious groups just because they're religious are coming to an end. I have issued an executive order banning discrimination against faith-based charities and social service grants by federal agencies." Bush also addressed the "continuing threat of terrorist networks that hate the very thought of people being able to live in freedom. They hate the thought of the fact that in this great country, we can worship the Almighty God the way we see fit. And what probably makes [the terrorist networks] even angrier is we're not going to change." More than 5,100 religious broadcasters were registered for the five-day convention. (Assist News Service)

See also: Ashcroft says God is on U.S. side in war.

PAKISTANI AUTHORITIES ARREST SUSPECT WEEKS AFTER ATTACK ON CHURCH

Three weeks after grenade-throwing assailants attacked a village church in Pakistan's remote northern Punjab region on Christmas night, Gujranwala's deputy inspector general, Malik Iqbal, announced that one of two accused suspects were taken into custody. Iqbal refused to name the suspect or his counterpart who is still at large. Three young girls were killed and another 13 worshipers were injured in Chianwali while Christian families had gathered in a small Presbyterian chapel for their annual Christmas program. Local Christians accused Muslim cleric Mohammed Afzal of instigating the attack through sermons in which he repeatedly called on "every good Muslim" to kill Christians. In the past 15 months, 42 Pakistanis have been killed and another 88 injured in attacks mounted by Islamic militants opposing Pakistan's support of the U.S.-led offensive against the Taliban regime and the al-Qaida movement. (Compass)

DEPORTATION OF INJURED AMERICAN MISSIONARY IN INDIA RAISES CONCERNS

When 68-year-old American missionary Joseph Cooper was attacked and then deported from India, it brought attention to visa regulations. At least 50 missionaries could be deported in the near future if government authorities act on a list of names compiled by the World Hindu Council. Cooper sustained major injuries on Jan. 13 when a gang believed to be members of militant Hindu Rashtriya Swaysamsevak Sangh group attacked him with knives, sticks, swords and crowbars. Seven Indian Christians participating with Cooper in a preaching service at the Koppam Harijan colony in Kerala state were also injured in the brutal attack. Indian church associations have issued statements asking evangelists to exercise sensitivity to local religious sentiments. The incident has created difficulties for a number of foreign missionaries who teach at seminaries or Bible colleges in various parts of the country. (Compass)

* In partnership with FEBA Radio, HCJB World Radio airs weekly Christian programs to eastern India via shortwave in three languages: Bhojpuri, Chattisgarhi and Mundari. A five-hour block of English programs also beams across India from a shortwave site in Kununurra, Australia. The ministry is investigating potential opportunities to help launch local Christian stations in key cities across India.

MILLIONS OF MUSLIMS DESCEND ON MECCA IN ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE

Millions of Muslim pilgrims have made their way to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to observe religious rites as the shadow of war looms in Iraq. They thronged holy sites in the city, preparing for the peak of this year's pilgrimage that fell on Monday, Feb. 10. Meanwhile, anti-U.S. sentiment is running high in the Muslim world because of the threat of war against Iraq. However, CAM International's Tony Vasquez, who mobilizes Latin American missionaries to Muslim countries, has observed a growing response to the gospel message. "I travel a lot in many of those countries, and the openness is just unbelievable. In the last 12 years we've seen more people in those places coming to know the Lord than ever before. It seems to me that it's a unique time in those places -- harvest time -- and the opportunities are now. We've got to be ready and willing to go and share the gospel with them." (Mission Network News)

CANADIAN EVANGELICALS DEFEND TRADITIONAL DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) is intervening as a member of the Interfaith Coalition on Marriage and the Family to defend the universal recognition of marriage as being between a man and a woman. The British Columbia Court of Appeal is hearing the controversial case this week. "For Christians, marriage is a religious practice and has great religious significance," said Janet Epp Buckingham, general legal counsel for the EFC. "It is deeply offensive to Christians and many of the other religions in Canada to redefine marriage. Iain Benson, representing the Interfaith Coalition at the Court of Appeal, says the issue is whether limiting marriage to being between a man and a woman violates the "equality rights" of homosexuals. The coalition, including Roman Catholics, evangelical Christians, Muslims and Sikhs, argues that across all religions and cultures in Canada and worldwide, marriage is understood as being between a man and a woman. In October 2001 the B.C. Supreme Court upheld this definition. Bruce Clemenger, director of the EFC's Center for Faith and Public Life, added, "Rather than reinventing marriage, governments and the courts should affirm marriage and provide marriage with the legal and economic support it needs." (Evangelical Fellowship of Canada)

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