*Tato a další zprávy jsou (pouze v aktuální den) v originální anglické verzi zde.

The Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, was stoned on Saturday, May 10, breaking many of the windows. This was the latest of in a series of attacks against Orthodox Christians in the region, reported Forum 18 News. Father Miroslav Popadic said his church is locked down except for services, and he opens the gates by prior appointment only. When visiting villages, he said, "I make the sign of the cross, sit in my car and drive fast at my own risk!" Protection for the church by NATO-led troops was removed at the end of last year. More than 100 Orthodox churches have been destroyed or badly damaged in Kosovo since the international community took control, and there have been no arrests for these attacks since 1999. (Voice of the Martyrs)

SUDAN COURT JAILS ANGLICAN PRIEST FOR REFUSING TO DESTROY CHURCH

An Anglican priest was jailed "indefinitely" on April 7 for refusing to demolish the church he built 11 years ago outside of Khartoum, Sudan. Judge Kamal Abd-Rahaman Alli ordered Rev. Samuel Dobai Amum to tear down St. Matthew's Parish in Takamol and surrender the land to its "rightful owner." Amum said he wouldn't resist the destruction of the building, but he couldn't personally destroy a building devoted to God. In response, the judge sentenced him to prison until he destroys the building or pays 7 million dinars (US$3,931) to secure the land. St. Matthew's Parish was established for Christian refugees fleeing persecution in southern Sudan. In 1987 Amum built a chapel from straw in what was than an unclaimed plot of land. In 1992 he rebuilt the church out of mud and straw. The church averages 150-200 members. Three years later the government surveyed the area and, without notifying Amum, gave the land to Awad Abdalla Bashir, a Muslim member of the Popular Committee of the local government. Bashir then demanded a large payment for the land. Unable to pay, Amum declined and requested the courts to intervene. The court then ordered him to demolish the building. (Voice of the Martyrs)

UGANDAN REBELS INVADE CATHOLIC SCHOOL, CAPTURE DOZENS OF STUDENTS

Fifty members of a rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army broke into the Catholic Lacor Junior Seminary in northern Uganda the evening of Sunday, May 11, killing one young student and abducting 44 others. Three of the captives later escaped. The students are between the ages of 12 and 18. In response to the continuing violence, an organization called Noah's Ark Children's Ministry Uganda has set up a safe haven for children at night. Many children walk up to five miles from their village to Gulu just to get a night's sleep before walking home the next day. On May 7 the rebels raided a village half a mile from Gulu, kidnapping 26 children. They also invaded a Catholic mission and village a mile from Gulu, capturing another 30 children. That same day a record 1,203 terrified children came to the safe haven even though it only has room for 300 people. (Religious Liberty Prayer Group)

* 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.

TURKMEN OFFICIALS BREAK UP BAPTIST CHURCH MEETING, THREATEN FINES

Angered by the presence of many children, secret police, police, procuracy and city administration officials broke up the Sunday-morning service of a Baptist church Sunday, May 11, being held in a private apartment in Turkmenbashi. They threatened to confiscate the apartment and take away the members' parental rights. At least one official rejected the Baptists' complaints about the raid and threatened to impose fines on them. "This was an illegal meeting and we broke it up," said administration official Shanazar Kocheev. The Baptists said they have done nothing wrong and called on the procuracy to "defend our constitutional rights to believe in God and to confess our religion." (Forum 18 News Service)

* HCJB World Radio works in partnership with Back to the Bible to air Christian Turkmen programs. Twice-weekly broadcasts began airing from an undisclosed site outside of Turkmenistan in 2001, moving to daily programming in January 2003.

PROPOSED AFGHANISTAN CONSTITUTION WOULD LIMIT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Believers in Afghanistan are concerned that if the country's new constitution is ratified it will limit religious freedom, says Gary Lane from Voice of the Martyrs. "They've got a new constitution that the U.S. State Department helped them draft," he says. "When questioned about this religious freedom aspect of the constitution they said, 'Look, we're not here to tell the Afghans what they need to have in the constitution. We're just here to make sure all the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed and that this is a legal document.'" Lane says if the current draft of the constitution is ratified, it would be illegal to share the gospel there. "If they end up with sharia (Islamic law), we've seen that anywhere sharia has been imposed Christians have said, 'No, we're Christians and we don't live under sharia.' We've seen problems for Christians, and then we've seen Christians taking up arms in many places to defend themselves." Lane is encouraging Americans to put pressure on their congressmen and the State Department to push for religious freedom in Afghanistan. (Mission Network News)

IBS DISTRIBUTES 20,000 BIBLES TO AFGHAN REFUGEES IN PAKISTAN

While Iraq has been the focus of world events, Afghanistan has gone largely unnoticed. However, Christian organizations aren't forgetting about the 3 million Afghan refugees who are still living in Pakistan. The International Bible Society is reaching out to them with God's Word, said an IBS worker who asked not to be identified. "To date we have reached more than 20,000 families with the New Testament, but we have received several threats from the Islamic clerics asking us to stop distribution and stop counseling people about the cross and about Christianity and if you don't do that, they said they would put an end to our life." He says many Afghans are turning to Christ, and he urges believers to keep praying. "The distribution is carried out through the volunteers of local church," he says. "Pray for the safety of our volunteers. Any Islamic cleric can step in and harm any of our volunteers." (Mission Network News)

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