The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has claimed the life of a Malaysian-born missionary living in Hong Kong, reported The Challenge Weekly. Nan Pin Chee, a New Zealand citizen, was the principal of WEC International's Ministry Training School in Hong Kong. He and his wife, Eleanor, were sent out from New Zealand by WEC in 1981. Chee died on May 16, two months after contracting the disease. His wife and their son Matthew, 15, were also admitted to the hospital with the virus but were later discharged. Their 19-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, a student in Scotland, has returned to Hong Kong for the funeral. During the 1970s Chee studied at Auckland University and attended New Zealand Baptist College. SARS has infected nearly 8,000 people worldwide, 1,714 of those in Hong Kong. The disease has claimed the lives of at least 642 people, 251 in Hong Kong. (Assist News Service)

MUSLIM MOB ATTACKS PRAYER MEETING IN PAKISTAN, INJURING 2 BELIEVERS

A prayer meeting at New Apostolic Church of Pakistan in the district of Narowal was attacked on Friday, May 9, resulting in serious injuries to at least two believers. A group of Muslims reportedly stopped and harassed a group of Christian girls on their way to the church that evening. Once the prayer meeting had begun, they entered the church, carrying weapons and yelling. When Mughal Masih stepped outside to speak with the men, he was taken to a field and beaten in the head and chest with guns. He was then stabbed and left bleeding. The rest of the group dragged the guest pastor, Ashraf Masih, out of the church, stripped him, and beat him. Mughal was admitted to hospital but has received minimal care because of his inability to pay. Due to threats, the incident was not registered with the police. (Voice of the Martyrs)

3 NEPALESE CHRISTIANS REMAIN JAILED DESPITE REPEATED PLEAS

Despite at least one hearing by Nepal's Pyuthan District Court and an attempted appeal to the king himself, three local believers arrested for carrying Bibles and Christian literature remain in jail. The three men were imprisoned in February when authorities found the literature in their bags. While carrying Bibles and Christian literature is no against the law in Nepal, authorities presumed it was being used to convert others to Christianity and charged them with proselytizing -- a criminal offense in the country. Leaders from the Nepal Gospel Outreach Center have made continuous appeals on behalf of the three men. When they tried to submit a letter to the king, they were turned away by his secretary, but he promised to make telephone calls to the judges involved and give authorization to set the three Christians free. Yet freedom has not come for the men, and any court decision continues to be delayed. It could take up to six months for a final verdict to be reached. Attempts to visit the believers in prison have also been thwarted. (Missions Insider)

MINISTRY BRINGS HOPE TO NEEDY AFGHANS AS TRIBAL WARFARE SPREADS

As tribal warfare increases in western Afghanistan, it's adding to the hardship of people already struggling with poverty and years of devastating drought. Graham Strong, operations director for World Vision in Afghanistan, said the ministry is reaching out to needy people in Badghis province. "We're focusing on food security and livelihood, and also looking at water and sanitation, and then health programs as well as education. We've been able to construct numerous schools, and also we've connected numerous food distributions in the area that World Vision has targeted." World Vision team s concentrate on meeting people's physical needs while avoiding overt evangelism. "We have developed a style where we have, as a team, decided that we were going to demonstrate our faith through actions," Strong says. "We're concerned about if we were to [share our faith verbally] we would not only put ourselves at risk, but we would also put our national staff at risk." (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio is bringing words of hope and encouragement to people across Afghanistan via radio. Together with partners, Christian broadcasts go out via AM in four of the country's major languages, Dari, Hazaragi, Turkmen and Uzbek.

FIRE-WALKING CEREMONY IN INDIA TURNS INTO EVANGELISTIC OPPORTUNITY

Evangelist Joel Marandi of the Brethren in Christ Church in the northern Indian village of Purnea says a pagan fire-walking ceremony became an opportunity to share the gospel. "The Safa Hor are a group within the Santal people living in Mohini village in the Araria district," he explained. "They worship the Hindu god Rama and celebrate a fire-walking ceremony each year. They dig a pit in which they set a fire, and then walk across the burning coals without burning their feet. I had been evangelizing in this village for two years without visible result. I realized that this fire-walking ritual was demonic, and the reason why I was not making progress. This year I called some Christian colleagues to help. Together we walked around the place where the ceremony was to be held, praying that God would break the power of all demonic idols in the village. Only a few villagers showed up for the ceremony. One tried to walk on the fire, but burned his legs. I then told the people about Jesus, the true God. Following the clear demonstration of his power over their own ceremony, 25 villagers decided to follow Jesus!" (Friday Fax)

* 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 HCJB World Radio-Australia's new shortwave site in Kununurra, Australia.

STUDY: RELIGION HELPS BUILD RELATIONSHIPS IN FAMILIES WITH TEENS

Teens who are members of religiously involved families are likely to have stronger family relationships than teens in families that are not religiously active, a new report shows. The findings come from a report by the National Study of Youth and Religion, a four-year research project based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "All three dimensions of family and parental religious involvement analyzed here -- family religious activity, parental religious service attendance and parental prayer -- tend to be associated significantly with positive family relationship characteristics," states the executive summary of the report. Looking specifically at youth ages 12 to 14, the report found that those in families heavily involved in religious activities are more likely to have strong relationships with their parents and participate in family activities, and teens are less likely to run away from home. Eleven percent of youth fit into this category, where religious activity such as attending church, praying or reading Scriptures together takes place five or more days a week. In comparison, 36 percent of youth are part of families that do not engage in religious activities. The findings are based on data gathered from the 1997 "National Longitudinal Survey of Youth," involving nearly 9,000 students. (Religion Today)

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