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Photographs smuggled out of China have chillingly documented some of the physical abuse endured by members of the underground church at the hands of security police. Pictures handed to the Voice of the Martyrs (VM) show one women being jabbed in the face with an electric prod and another forced to kneel on bricks with her arms raised in the air. A third shows a woman having a shoe-cleaning rag stuffed into her mouth, and in another, a man is being forced to drink water to make his stomach swell. The harrowing photographs have been published in VM's magazine, which names both the Christians being abused and their assailants. The photographer, who told the officers that the pictures would be sent to their superiors to show their "conscientious work," has since gone into hiding, said VM. Another photograph shows one of those arrested suspended from a pole held by two police officers. After several hours hanging by his legs and wrists in a position dubbed "carrying the emperor," the man's wrists were bleeding, said the magazine. The arrests and torture took place in Hunan province, which VM says has the heaviest concentration of Christians in China. The ministry's report also tells of a female house church leader who was beaten to death while in custody, and others burned with cigarettes. (Charisma News Service)

HEAVY FINES PLACED ON BAPTIST CHURCH IN TURKMENISTAN

The owner of an apartment used by a Baptist church in the eastern city of Turkmenabad (formerly Charjou), Turkmenistan, has been given a heavy fine for allowing his home to be used for worship. Authorities raided the apartment of Yeldash Roziev on June 13 during a prayer meeting. The church mainly serves deaf-mute Baptists. All those who attended were fined on June 19 according to a statement from local Baptists. Officials declined to explain why the Baptists had been fined for meeting to worship in a private home. The Baptists were summoned to attend an administrative commission at the city administration, where Roziev was fined 500,000 manats ($94) for allowing his home to be used for a religious meeting. The commission also threatened to take away his apartment. The others were fined 250,000 manats each. The commission ordered them to sign the decree certifying the fine, but they refused to do so. "The documents were then thrust into their hands and they were threatened that if they did not sign them they would be imprisoned for 15 days," church members reported in the June 19 statement. All those fined are deaf mutes (apart from Roziev), and each receives a monthly invalidity benefit of 300,000 manats. "The administrative commission also threatened that police officers would visit them in their homes every day to check what they were doing." The Turkmenabad Baptist church was the tenth known religious community to be raided by the authorities since the latest crackdown on religious minorities began in early May. (Forum 18 News Service)

HAITI MALNUTRITION AND NEGLECT CASES TAX HOSPITAL RESOURCES

The number of malnutrition and neglect cases at Food For The Poor's pediatric hospital in Haiti has risen steadily since last year. With fewer jobs, an unstable economy and higher food prices, poor parents can't take care of their children. Food For The Poor's Robin Mahfood says the influx of such cases severely taxes the hospital's resources. "These clinics frequently find themselves facing unexpected situations, like emergency surgery and care of children like Moses." 'Moses' is an infant left for dead in the streets of Haiti. A passerby brought the injured baby to the clinic where staff reached out. Mahfood says this encompasses their mission. "The Bible tells us our heavenly Father will not abandon us in our hour of need. He knows when the smallest of sparrows falls to the ground. Surely, on that chilled, grayish morning, when Moses cried out for help, God heard that tiny sparrow fall, and rescued him." (Mission Network News)

POLISH AUTHORITIES FINE DUTCH ABORTION SHIP

Polish authorities are taking legal measures against a Dutch boat that wants to provide abortion and contraceptive counseling to local women. Customs officials have reportedly given Netherlands-based Women on Waves a $3,000 fine and sealed a cache of abortion pills aboard the ship to prevent them from being distributed in Poland, where they are banned. "The boat (the Langenort) breached procedures for entering the port and did not obey the orders of the port commander," Kazimierz Undro, the commander of Wladyslawowo port said. "I asked it to move to another part of the port where it would be sheltered from a group of people who were hostile to its arrival," he added. "The boat will not have the right to leave the port if it has not paid the fine (12,000 zlotys or 2,700 euros)." Customs spokeswoman Jolanta Twardowska told the Associated Press that port officials and a team of chemists boarded the boat on Monday and put a number of banned drugs under seal because importing, distributing or using them is illegal in Poland. (Maranatha)

* DEO Recordings, HCJB World Radio's partner ministry in Poland, operates 24-hour-a-day FM radio stations in five cities of southern Poland, making gospel broadcasts available to more than 5.7 million residents. The ministry is also awaiting approval of a broadcasting license for a sixth city with 200,000 people. A Christian satellite radio network to link the Polish stations and expand the ministry is also being planned.

CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING COURSE WELL ATTENDED IN RUSSIA

Some 80 staff members of 50 Christian periodicals in nine countries attended one or both one-week magazine publishing courses offered in Rumyantzevo, Russia, June 1-13, by the Magazine Training Institute (MTI). Participants came from as far east as the eastern coast of Russia on the Sea of Japan, as far north as the Arctic Circle, as far south as Albania on the Adriatic Sea, and as far west as Canada. More than half of the participants were from Russia, about a quarter came from Ukraine, and the rest from Belarus, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Albania, Hungary, Moldova, and Canada. Kent Wilson, NavPress publisher, and Peter Mayberry, NavPress publisher for periodicals, taught the Business of Magazine Publishing course. Doug Wicks, executive vice-president and publisher of Christian Publications, Inc., and Terry White, journalist and former magazine editor taught the Editing the Magazine course. The conference in Russia was Wilson's sixth with the Magazine Training Institute. Wicks has taught at three other MTI conferences in Russia and Ukraine. (Assist News Service)

ATS PLANS JULY RELEASE OF RELIGIOUS RIGHTS TRACT

Throughout its colorful history, the American Tract Society (ATS) has flagged America's history with faith hues on the battlefields and in the political halls with participation by and evangelism to both arenas. The 178-year-old Society is planning the July release of a new tract on religious rights and gospel tract evangelism. Timing of the new tract release is appropriate," says ATS President Dan Southern, "because Christians today need to understand their rights to share their faith, just as they did in America's early days of independence. "The new religious rights tract will answer Christians' questions regarding their rights to share their religious faith with others. With an ongoing debate about the appropriateness and legality of Christians sharing their faith in public and with humanitarian aide, the new release is timely and should be informative to Christian and secular communities," Southern said. (Assist News Service)

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