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Tens of Thousands of refugees from Iraq are lining the roads into Jordan, Syria and Turkey, fleeing from the approaching war. More than 40,000 have already crossed unofficially into Syria. Ministries in Syria report that roads are lined with refugee tents from the Iraq border to as far as Damascus and Aleppo. Thousands more are living out in the open without tents or shelter. The refugees are asking for food, fuel, blankets, heaters and medicines. Indigenous churches and other evangelical ministries are working to care for these refugees, but they are already overwhelmed and calling for help from fellow believers in America. Christian Aid, for example, is responding as gifts are received to help the refugees. Families with small children are being given water, soap, diapers, milk and emergency food supplies. Many Christian families in Jordan, Syria and Turkey are taking Christian refugees into their homes so they won't have to go into the tent camps. But their food supplies have been quickly exhausted. Refugees entering Jordan are being funneled into two major camps. One is for Iraqi nationals, the other is for nationals from other countries who may have been living in Iraq and are now fleeing for their lives. More than 5,000 are expected in the second camp. Christian ministries in Jordan have arranged to provide three meals a day for inhabitants of the second camp for up to eight weeks. (Missions Insider)

INTERROGATIONS, THREATS FOLLOW CHARITY ACTION IN KAZAKHSTAN

Nurbai Arystanov, a Protestant who lives in the town of Arys in southern Kazakhstan, was threatened and briefly detained March 5 by police who objected to the fact that he was distributing gifts from the Good Samaritan international charity. One local Protestant who asked not to be named, said the Arys deputy police chief, Kurmanal Rakhmatulayev, personally interrogated believers who were listed as having received gifts, then confiscated the gifts. He also threatened believers that he would plant hashish in the gifts. "It's all nonsense," Rakhmatulayev said, denying that he had threatened Arystanov. But, citing Arystanov's lack of a local residence permit, Rakhmatulayev warned, "I will not allow him to operate in our town." (Forum 18 News Service)

3,000 PROFESS CHRIST AT FIRST NIGHT OF WEEKLONG CAMPAIGN IN GERMANY

Europe's biggest evangelistic outreach this year was launched March 16. For one week ProChrist meetings are being aired live via satellite from Essen, Germany, to 1,304 venues in 17 countries. Approximately 200,000 participants took part on each of the first two nights, and 3,000 came forward at the end of the first meeting to profess their newfound faith in Christ. Organizers expect that more than 1.5 million people will attend the local meetings during the course of the week. There are 952 ProChrist locations in Germany, 73 in Hungary, 50 in Slovakia, 47 in France, 43 in Poland, 38 in Austria and 28 in Switzerland. Some 55 interpreters translate the programs into 16 languages. The main speaker is Rev. Ulrich Parzany, general secretary of the German YMCA. He encouraged listeners to "dig deep" into the Bible to find answers to existential questions. Venues for the event include not only churches and public halls, but also prisons, hospitals, cinemas, sports centers, car show rooms, and a McDonald's Restaurant. ProChrist is backed by bishops and celebrities like the professional golfer Bernhard Langer. (IDEA)

* HCJB World Radio is retransmitting the German messages worldwide via shortwave and other means. One of the downlinks will be in Bad Salzuflen, home of HCJB World Radio missionaries Rüdiger and Dorothea Klaue who represent the ministry across Germany. Rüdiger records the messages via the Internet and sends them to the server in Colorado Springs, Colo. From there the German Language Service in Quito downloads the recordings, edits them and transmits them on shortwave, satellite and the Internet.

MINISTRY BRINGS HOPE TO MADAGASCAR AFTER YEAR OF UNREST

Madagascar, crippled by civil unrest last year, is seeking international aid to rebuild the country. In the effort to restore infrastructure, the government may have overlooked some specialized areas. However, Christian Blind Mission's Dr. Van Joffrion says the spiritual aspect of the ministry is at the forefront. "In the hospitals where we work, there are Scriptures available," he says. "The staff prays with the patients in the wards as they make rounds. The fact that it's a Christian hospital is obvious to the patients." Joffrion says the need for physical and spiritual ministry is growing. "The program has expanded from one town to another large town in the southern part of the country. There's a retired professor who is continuing to train national doctors, and one of the trainees has now started another eye department in the capital city. We're in the process of establishing another eye center in the northeast." (Mission Network News)

CULTURALLY SENSITIVE MINISTRIES FLOURISH IN KENYA DESPITE UNREST

The U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory indicating terrorist groups could attack the East African coast. While security is tightening in response to the impending conflict in Iraq, believers in Kenya are poised to begin making an impact on the rest of the world, says Audio Scripture Ministries' Tom Dudenhoffer. "Their sorrow was mostly over the fact that they were now considered to be a target because they were friendly with the U.S. They really wanted to get on and do whatever it is that God has them to do." Dudenhoffer says new partnership ministries in Africa means that indigenous projects will remain culturally relevant. "People ought to pray that the national leaders would be given the freedom to creatively produce Scripture media that culturally communicates with their own people. In the past they've used a lot of North American ideas, and they understand that there are other ways that they can communicate God's Word -- using the culture that's all around them." (Mission Network News)

* FIRST RUSSIAN BROADCASTER AT HCJB WORLD RADIO DIES AT AGE 86

Constantine "Const" Lewshenia, the first Russian radio programmer at HCJB World Radio in Quito, Ecuador, died at a hospital in Wheaton, Ill., Saturday, March 15, following a brief illness. He was 86. His death comes after 58 years of service together with his wife, Elizabeth.

A graduate of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Ill., and St. Paul Bible Institute in St. Paul, Minn., he joined the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) in 1941 and began pastoring a Russian church in Pittsburgh. In October 1942 he left for Argentina to help establish the Slavic Bible Institute.

On his way to Argentina he was asked to visit Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador, where he became the first Russian radio missionary and inaugurated daily Russian radio broadcasts. In September 1943 Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) missionary Elizabeth Zernov took over the Russian language programming at HCJB, freeing Constantine to go to Argentina to establish the Bible institute. While he and Elizabeth "overlapped" in Ecuador, they were engaged.

Two years later, Elizabeth was replaced by Alex Leonovich and joined Constantine at the Slavic Bible Institute in Rosario, Argentina, a school where some HCJB World Radio staff members later studied. Constantine and Elizabeth were married on June 16, 1945. In 1949 they returned to Quito to resume their radio broadcasting ministry under the umbrella of SGA. In 1976 they moved to Wheaton, Ill., where they produced Russian programs at SGA's studios for another 17 years.

Constantine's voice was well known across the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and his programs were a lifeline for millions during decades of communism. Thousands of "radio churches" were formed across the region as believers secretly huddled around their radios to hear God's Word.

Constantine was honored with the Golden Mike Award of the National Religious Broadcasters for 50 years of missionary radio service in 1991. In 1994 he was honored by Moody Bible Institute as the school's alumnus of the year. In October 2000 the Lewshenias were also recognized by the Association of Russian Christian Broadcasters at a conference in Moscow for Christian radio and TV broadcasters.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by two children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. The memorial service will be at Wheaton Bible Church in Wheaton, Ill., at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 22. (HCJB World Radio)

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