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*Ve spolupráci s FEBA Radio vysílá HCJB World Radio každý týden křesťanské vysílání pro východní Indii na krátkých vlnách ve třech jazycích: Bhojpuri, Chttisgari a Mundari. Rovněž je do stejné oblasti vysílán pětihodinový blok pořadů v angličtině. K vysílání slouží nový vysílač u australské obce Kununurra.

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Six gunmen shot and killed a Roman Catholic priest at his home in eastern Pakistan in the early hours of Saturday, July 5. George Ibrahim, 38, was gunned down at about 1 a.m. while sleeping in his home near Okara, 180 miles south of Islamabad in Punjab province. Archbishop of Lahore Lawrence Saldanha said the "main motive" for the priest's murder appeared to be the government's decision last fall to return ownership of a former church school to Ibrahim's Catholic parish after 30 years under state management. In 1972 the government nationalized Christian Urdu-language schools without compensation and imposed state management. But 20 years later the Supreme Court declared the forced nationalization unconstitutional, and private school owners began filing for restoration of the institutions -- a process which government-employed school administrators and teachers have actively resisted. "The Christian community feels deeply disturbed at this cold-blooded attack on a priest who had devoted his life to the selfless service of the poor and downtrodden," Saldanha said in a written statement. At press time no arrests or claims of responsibility had been reported. (Compass Direct)

VIETNAMESE OFFICIALS ORDER DEMOLITION OF DAMAGED CHURCH BUILDING

Police have been ordered to "completely dismantle" what is left of the Thu Thiem Evangelical Church in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, by July 12. Authorities began harassing the church in July 2000, destroying part of the building and making it difficult for the believers to meet in the facility. However, the congregation continued to meet in the open air on the remains of the floor of the building. Last month police were sent to surround the area to prevent the believers from meeting, and for the last four weeks no meetings were held. On Sunday, July 6, pastor Truong Van Nganh called the people back together, and 140 believers attended the service. Many police surrounded the group, and some plainclothes officers reportedly infiltrated the meeting. Nganh is urging Christians worldwide to intercede for the believers to stand firm for Christ and continue their Christian worship and outreach. (Voice of the Martyrs)

POPE WARNS AGAINST LOSS OF CHRISTIAN HERITAGE IN EUROPE

Appealing anew to the European Union to give formal recognition to the continent's Christian roots, Pope John Paul II has warned that the "loss of Europe's Christian memory and heritage" has serious consequences for society. The Roman Catholic pontiff said that growing secularism in Europe is causing a "kind of fear of the future" which he blamed for a falling birth rate, a decline in religious vocations and rejection of marriage. The pope's appeal was contained in a statement responding to concerns expressed by Europe's bishops at a meeting known as a synod. John Paul signed the document Saturday. Secretary general of the Synod of Bishops acknowledged at a news conference that the release of the document was timed to coincide with discussion of a new European Union constitution. The Vatican was dismayed when a first draft of the preamble said that Europe was nourished by "Hellenic and Roman civilizations" and the "philosophical currents of the Enlightenment" but not specifically by Christianity. "I would like to mention in a particular way the loss of Europe's Christian memory and heritage, accompanied by a kind of practical agnosticism and religious indifference," the pope wrote. "It is no real surprise, then, that there are efforts to create a vision of Europe which ignores its religious heritage." (Religion Today)

BIBLE LEAGUE TO OPEN OFFICE IN SRI LANKA AS PEACE SPREADS

After years of effective ministry in neighboring India, the Bible League (TBL) has opened its first office in Sri Lanka, a predominantly Buddhist nation off the Indian coast. Sri Lanka that has devastated by war for years. "Sri Lanka has experienced tremendous upheaval and is now on the brink of peace," says Dan Eastep, TBL's director for India. "The time is right to share the gospel of peace -- with effective follow-up -- in this country which is crying out for hope." Until now the country's civil war has hampered efforts by the ministry to open an office in Sri Lanka. The decision to start an office also has hinged on finding the right person to lead it. Christy Balandren of Sri Lanka has been appointed to head up the new office. Eastep says that despite continuing unrest, the ministry is moving ahead. "The tremendous conflict in Sri Lanka cannot be understated," he says. "It has been gruesome, but now the opportunity is there politically and spiritually. Everything has fallen into place. Our hope is that God's Word will be a catalyst to bring lasting peace and reconciliation. To a nation like this, the gospel can be very meaningful." (The Bible League)

ZAMBIA PROVIDES HAVEN FOR REFUGEES, LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Zambia, a country that shares a border with war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, is a natural haven for refugees and a safe place to train Christian leaders. Rody Rodeheaver of the Inter-National Needs Network says many people are trained through the ministry's Zambian Agricultural Crafts and Theological Studies Institute. "One of the things that we've attempted to do is to take our students at the ZACTS Institute and train them to go into this refugee camp, and they hold services in a number of those 'villages' that are inside that refugee camp, and are sharing the gospel and bringing hope." Rodeheaver adds that the scale of the tragedy is immense, and urges believers to act on the needs. "I think this camp has more than 1 million people. They're being overwhelmed with both the medical problems as well as just the feeding and bringing the food supplies into these people." (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio airs Bemba programs on Zambia's Radio One Network, covering the country with broadcasts that go out on shortwave, AM and FM.

BRAZILIANS TRAINED TO BE MISSIONARIES AT HOME AND ABROAD

In spite of nearly flat economic growth and a growing poverty rate, Brazilian pastors and missionaries remain determined to get essential training. OC International's Dick Duncan says the ministry is making sure the tools are available. "We provide information, training and follow-up so that they will have the kinds of tools they need. We don't tend to repeat what seminaries do; we tend to be very practical, giving them tools that might be about how to develop a small group ministry, or do spiritual warfare, or counseling, or preach better." Duncan says the challenge faced by believers creates a vibrant church. "Brazilians are among the most flexible, creative people in the world, and they make it work. They come up with resources or a new way of doing things so they do get the training they need. Clearly for the Brazilian missions movement, going out to other countries, it has been an additional challenge. but even so, Brazilians are making those sacrifices and getting missionaries over to other countries." (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio broadcasts the gospel in Portuguese to Brazil via shortwave from Quito, Ecuador, and maintains a world office and radio studios in Curitiba. Portuguese programs, which have been on the air continuously since 1947, generate more listener letters than any language service at Radio Station HCJB in Ecuador. The ministry's Portuguese programs also air on local radio stations across Brazil.

© Copyright 2003 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA - btc@hcjb.org

A Lao-American pastor and two European journalists were freed by the Laos government on Wednesday, July 9, less than two weeks after being sentenced to 15 years in jail amid international pressure. Pastor Naw Karl Mua, who lives in St. Paul, Minn., was sentenced with Belgian photojournalist Thierry Falise and French cameraman Vincent Reynaud on charges of obstructing the work of the police and possessing a weapon and an explosive device. People worldwide questioned the charges, suggesting the real reason for the arrest was their plans to report on the Hmong rebels, the remnants of a CIA army that fought communist forces during the Vietnam War. The Laotian government has denied the long-running rebellion exists and describes the guerrillas as "bandits."

The three men were arrested on June 3 after they were caught in a firefight involving Hmong rebels and villagers in which a guard was reportedly killed. Falise described the two-hour trial in which he was convicted as a "mockery of justice," the BBC reported. Sodom Phetrasy, deputy head of the Laotian Foreign Ministry's press department, said the three were released because of concerns expressed by France, Belgium and the U.S. "We would like to maintain good relations with these countries," he said. While relieved to be free, Mua, who served as an interpreter for the two journalists, is concerned about two Hmong rebels who were arrested with them and are serving 15-year sentences. Phetrasy said the government has no plans to release the two rebels. (Assist News Service)

5 MORE UNDERGROUND CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADERS ARRESTED IN CHINA

Five clergy members of China's underground Roman Catholic Church were detained Tuesday, July 1, in Baoding, Hebei, a city 70 miles west of Beijing. A report from the Cardinal Kung Foundation indicated that Kang Fuliang, Chen Guozhen, Pang Guangzhao, Joseph Yin, and Li Shujun were arrested when they were on their way to visit another underground priest, Lu Genjun. He had recently been released after serving three years in a labor camp. This comes two weeks after yet another priest, Lu Xiaozhou (Bosco), was arrested on June 16 while ministering to a dying Catholic in Wenzhou, Zhejiang. (Voice of the Martyrs)

9 VIETNAMESE BELIEVERS SENTENCED FOR CHRISTIAN ACTIVITIES

Vietnam has sentenced nine members of a banned branch of Christianity to 18 to 30 months in prison for their alleged actions against the state. The nine members of the Montegnard ethnic minority founded a branch of "Dega Protestantism," a type of evangelical Christianity followed by many Montegnards in Vietnam's central highlands, in April 2001. The Vietnamese government approves a form of Protestantism among the six religions it recognizes, but regards all other faiths as illegal. The nine recruited 70 followers in Gia Lai's Krong Pa district and were indicted for sabotaging national unity in May 2001 when two of the accused "incited local believers to flee Vietnam and speak ill of the regime," according to a report the official Vietnam News Agency issued on Wednesday, July 2. The communist Vietnamese government regards "Dega Protestantism" as a rallying creed for Montegnards seeking an independent homeland and has set out to eliminate its practice, Human Rights Watch reported earlier this year. More than 200 Montegnards have been detained in the last two years for participating in protests in 2001. Evangelical Christians have been heavily targeted in the government's crackdown on indigenous highlanders. (Religion Today)

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH MEMBERS IN UZBEKISTAN FACE SUMMONS

Members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nukus (capital of the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan in northwestern Uzbekistan) who were fined more than two months ago following a raid in February have summonsed to appear at the city court in Nukus July 20. Charges are unclear as Deputy Procurator Sultan Ibragimov refused to say why they were being brought to court again. Religious affairs official Nurula Jamalov said he had told the procuracy that Adventist leaflets confiscated during the raid "should not be distributed in Uzbekistan" but denied that he had banned the Bible, eight copies of which were seized in the raid. In that incident National Security Service officials burst into a private apartment in Nukus where 12 Adventists were meeting and began to search the premises despite having no search warrant. The officials confiscated hundreds of Kazakh-language leaflets and eight Bibles. The church members were later fined the equivalent of $23 each. Officials never returned the confiscated Bibles. (Forum 18 News Service)

* HCJB World Radio airs weekly Uzbek broadcasts to Uzbekistan via shortwave. An estimated 15 million Uzbek-speaking people are within range of the broadcasts. Uzbek is also one of four languages that HCJB World Radio airs to Afghanistan from an AM station outside the country.

ADOPTION SERVICE RESUMES MINISTRY IN CHINA AS SARS RISK DROPS

In China the Severe Acute Respiratory Virus (SARS) is no longer causing delays for Bethany Christian Services. Each year the ministry places dozens of Chinese children in the homes of Christian families in the U.S. Bethany's Bill Blackmire says the China program is back up and running. "In the past two weeks about 30 of our families have received referrals from China and will be traveling in the next several weeks to go pick up their children. On May 15 China suspended giving referrals and invitations for travel to their country due to the SARS epidemic." Blackmire says placing children in homes is ultimately a form of evangelism. "When a family adopts a child, they cloth the child, feed the child and do all those things, but they also do eternity work with that child, and expose them children to the gospel. Raising them in a Christian environment is just an excellent thing to do with these children." (Mission Network News)

500 PASTORS EXPECTED AT CHURCH-PLANTING SEMINAR IN INDIA

The combined shortage of Bibles and lack of pastoral and leadership training in India provides a fertile ground for cults and false teachings. Eric Vess of World Help says one of the ministry's projects is to help train church leaders in India. "This November we will be co-sponsoring a conference with a local partner called EPIC in Siligory in northeastern India's West Bengal state," he says. "This a strategic area where up to 500 pastors will come to be encouraged and to be inspired and to be taught in church planting and training. A lot of these pastors endure incredible persecution on a daily basis." Vess says the outreach relies on national partnerships to choose what's best for local leaders. "Sometimes the training that we provide is the only opportunity that the pastors may have the entire year to meet with other pastors, to be encouraged and to hear someone give them some ideas to increase their vision." (Mission Network News/World Help)

* 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.

© Copyright 2003 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA - btc@hcjb.org