*Nejnovější zprávy v originální anglické verzi jsou vždy zde (klikněte).

*Nejnovější zprávy v originální anglické verzi jsou vždy zde (klikněte).

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

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

Continuing a nationwide crackdown against Christians, police in the Eritrean capital of Asmara have arrested 12 believers who were meeting in a home for worship. Nearly all those arrested were young people and members of the Dubre Bethel Church. The police chief demanded that each of the jailed Christians pledge in writing to deny their faith in order to be released. When the six women and six men refused, the chief ordered that their food rations be withheld. Meanwhile, church leaders have been unable to get information on 57 young believers arrested and locked into metal containers since Aug. 19 as punishment for having Bibles with them during their summer military camp at Sawa. Local authorities also have refused to give any information about the status and whereabouts of 10 Christians arrested in Massawa Aug. 24. At least 230 Christians are in prison for their faith in Eritrea where the government refuses to give recognition to any faiths except the four "official" religions: Orthodox Christian, Muslim, Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran. Some 12 independent Pentecostal and charismatic denominations representing 20,000 adherents have been targeted since May 2002 when they were ordered to close their church buildings and stop all meetings for worship -- even those being held in private homes. (Religion Today/Charisma News Service)

EXHAUSTED EVANGELIST LEAVES HUNGARY AFTER NEAR COLLAPSE

American evangelist David Wilkerson left Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, Oct. 5, pledging to reduce his schedule after canceling a public rally because of exhaustion. Organizer Attila Fabian, president of the Evangelical Pentecostal Fellowship in Hungary, said the 72-year-old evangelist returned to New York where he lives and leads the 8,000-member Times Square Church. His son, Gary, told thousands of Hungarians at a rally on Saturday that his father "just about collapsed" after preaching on Friday. "My father was so weary and exhausted as he had gotten sick in the last couple of days," he said. "Back at the hotel he could barely walk." David's health problems emerged following a frantic four-week tour that included evangelistic rallies and pastoral conferences in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belarus and Hungary. Despite the setback, more than 200 Hungarians, including drugs addicts and alcoholics, gave their lives to Christ during David's last public appearance on Friday. The Wilkersons encouraged pastors of all denominations to renew their faith in Christ and accept the challenges of Hungary's post-communist society during a three-day pastoral conference that preceded the public events. (Assist News Service)

* HCJB World Radio's partner station in Oradea, Romania, airs three hours of Hungarian programming to Hungary each week. The ministry also recently signed a partnership agreement with YesRadio in Budapest to broadcast Christian programs via the Internet. The partner ministry also has applied for a local FM license.

POLICE OFFICER REAFFIRMS BAN ON UNREGISTERED UZBEKISTAN CHURCH

Anti-terrorist police officer Alisher Kurbanov, who recently banned an unregistered Baptist church from meeting for worship in the northwestern Uzbekistan city of Navoi, has dismissed complaints about the move. "This is not a church at all, just a religious mob," he said. "Under Uzbek law a church is not allowed to operate without registration, but the Baptists refuse to register." The ban came after Kurbanov reportedly confiscated books from a mobile Baptist street library on Sept. 27 and threatened library organizer Nikolai Nikulin with criminal prosecution. Nikulin already has served a 10-day prison sentence for his work with the church. The ban on the Navoi Baptist church appears to be the latest move to forbid the activity of all unregistered Protestant churches in Uzbekistan. The Navoi congregation split from the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians/Baptists in 1961 when further state-sponsored controls were introduced by the denomination's leadership at the time. The church has refused state registration ever since. It is one of more than 3,705 unregistered Baptist congregations affiliated with the Council of Churches throughout the former Soviet Union. (Forum 18 News Service)

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS TO RESUME FOOD DELIVERIES IN IRAQ AS RISK DROPS

Southern Baptists will resume delivery of food packets to Iraq Tuesday, Oct. 7, after a five-week delay due to concerns for the safety of humanitarian workers in the country. The arrival of Southern Baptist volunteer teams had been interrupted after information was received that a remnant of Saddam Hussein loyalists in the country were intentionally targeting humanitarian workers for attacks. The Aug. 19 truck-bomb attack on the U.N. offices in Baghdad marked the first time a non-military organization had been targeted since Hussein's regime was overthrown in late March. During the past month, however, the vast majority of attacks have occurred after dark and have been directed at military targets. "The threat level has decreased," said a ministry spokesman. "We are hearing very positive things about foreigners from local people. We will resume volunteer projects focused on the distribution of food boxes. But teams will be smaller with less than 10 people." Boxes previously delivered in Iraq have helped open people to the gospel with many recipients have been asking for Bibles. A local worker reported that Shiite Muslim mosques in Baghdad held a special day of prayer in appreciation for the food boxes. (Baptist Press)

U.S. COMMISSION VOICES CONCERNS ABOUT PROPOSED AFGHAN CONSTITUTION

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a press release Wednesday expressing serious concerns about the proposed constitution for Afghanistan that could be approved as early as December. The New York Times reported that the proposed constitution would enshrine elements of sharia (Islamic law), including blasphemy, apostasy and other religious crimes. When commission representatives spoke with Afghan Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari, he told them that he accepted the Universal Declaration on Human Rights with three exceptions: freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and equality of the sexes. He said the Koran is the "only law." If this constitution is ratified by the grand council, Islamic law could be used to suppress dissenting thought or religious faiths. (Voice of the Martyrs)

RUSSIANS TURN TO MORAL EDUCATION AS POPULATION PLUMMETS

Unbridled sexual promiscuity combined with runaway abortion and rampant drug use could mean the end of Russia as we know it today, says Sergey Rakhuba of Russian Ministries. The country's population is dropping by about 1 million per year as the death rate outpaces the birth rate. Rakhuba says that's why Russian Ministries is mobilizing evangelicals to get involved in teaching biblical morality. "Young people are very much interested," he said. " So our people mobilize local churches who introduce the subject. The Ministry of Education in one region asked us if we could provide enough curriculum to be able to be used in the public schools." Rakhuba hopes this will help stem a declining population and turn the country to Christ. "If Russia's population continues declining [at the present rate] and issues such as abortion and morality in the younger generation are not addressed, Russia could be simply be wiped off the globe in 50 to 70 years." (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio reaches across Russia with a variety of radio ministries. The mission has been sending gospel broadcasts across the country via shortwave since 1941, first from Quito, Ecuador, and now from the U.K. In the early 1990s the ministry began "planting" local radio ministries in Russia and now works with partners in more than a dozen cities. In 2000 HCJB World Radio helped launch the first Christian Russian radio satellite network (operated by Christian Radio for Russia), reaching across Euro-Asia. Downlinks have been installed with more than 26 partners in Russia alone.

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

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

Two Australian pastors could receive "significant fines" if found guilty of committing "blasphemy" against Islam. The Barnabas Fund reported that pastors Danny Nalliah and Daniel Scot were taken to court by the Islamic Council of Victoria and three Australian Muslims after making critical statements about Islam on a website and at a Christian seminar in March 2002. The case is due to be heard by a court in the state of Victoria in southeastern Australia later this month. Nalliah and Scot are accused of violating the Victorian Racial and Religious Vilification Act, passed in 2001 to promote intercultural and interfaith harmony in Victoria. The result of the case could have ramifications in other parts of Australia and beyond. Christians in Victoria fear that the Islamic Council is using the case to stifle all criticism of Muslims. Similar legislation against religious "hate speech" is before the parliaments in New Zealand and the U.K., raising concerns that misuse of such laws could hamper free speech. (Charisma News Service/Barnabas Fund)

YOUTHS ARRESTED, SATANISTS BLAMED FOR DAMAGING SERBIAN CEMETERY

Serbian police have arrested two youths suspected of desecrating a Catholic cemetery in the northern Serbian town of Novi Sad. The two suspects, a boy and a girl from a local school, destroyed some 80 headstones in the cemetery early Sunday, Sept. 28. The Beta news agency quoted Novi Sad Police Chief Bosko Arsenijevic as saying the two were under the influence of a "large quantity of alcohol." While he ruled out any "political or religious motives," police officials and leaders of the estimated 300,000 ethnic Hungarians in Serbia's Vojvodina province blamed the attack on a "Satanist cult" as tombstones were shattered and crosses pulled out and stuck upside-down. Government officials suggested the latest violence showed a deeper spiritual problem in Serbia. "The violence and intolerance are signs of lack of any faith or morals, regardless of the perpetrators' religious affiliation," said the Serbian Ministry of Religion in a statement. (Assist News Service)

SATELLITE TV INCREASINGLY USED TO SHARE GOSPEL IN IRAQ

Satellite television is being used to help spread the gospel in Iraq, says a staff member with SAT-7, a Christian Arabic television network for the Middle East and North Africa. He recently returned from a trip to Iraq where he noticed people putting up satellite dishes -- something that had been illegal under the former regime. Some believers are recording programs delivered by SAT-7 and distributing them to people who have little or no other access to Christian materials. Iraqi Christians are requesting prayers for security and stability in their country and continued freedom to pick up the Christian broadcasts via satellite. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio reaches across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe with Christian Arabic programming aired via shortwave, satellite and local stations. The Radio Al Mahabba (Radio Love) Arabic satellite network airs programs direct-to-home 24 hours a day. This region has the world's highest concentration of personal satellite dishes.

CHRISTIAN FARSI TV PROGRAMS ENCOURAGE IRANIAN BELIEVERS

Christians television programs that began airing to Iran in the Farsi language a year ago have sparked numerous e-mails, letters and telephone calls from viewers, telling how they've been encouraged by the broadcasts. "I thank God for your beautiful program, which is broadcast every week for us" wrote one viewer. "It brings us happiness and joy to our hearts." Iranian Christian Broadcasting (ICB) went on the air last September, culminating a decade of prayer. ICB is on the air six hours a week to an estimated 175,000 Christians who live in or near Iran. As broadcast hours expand, so is the number of programs being produced by ICB. This month a new Christian drama with a humorous touch called "White as Snow" was launched. A new young people's program, "Youth Café Net," that began airing in July has been well received. ICB is an independent television service for the Christians of Iran. (Iranian Christian Broadcasting)

* HCJB World Radio, in cooperation with FEBA Radio, broadcasts weekly Christian programs to Iran via shortwave in the Luri language. There are less than 100 known believers among the 4 million Luri speakers.

SCOTTISH MAN APPOINTED AS SIM'S INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR

Malcolm McGregor, director of SIM's U.K./Northern Europe office, has been named the ministry's international director. He will take office on Dec. 19 when Jim Plueddemann steps down after 10 years in the position. McGregor, an architect, and his wife, Liz, a musician, are both Scottish. Their initial association with SIM came in Nigeria where they were employed in their respective professions. After meeting some SIM missionaries they became increasingly involved in discipleship ministries and eventually joined the ministry as affiliates. They served with SIM in Ethiopia for 11 years in architectural design, management, music and discipling young people. The McGregors moved to the U.K. office in 1996 as Malcolm rebuilt the leadership team and moved the office to a strategic location. He also restructured many procedures and administrative functions, initiated a new discipleship/missions training program for young people, and designed and implemented ways to engage the local church in world missions. Malcolm says his desire is to see SIM become both "a church-planting movement and a mission-planting movement that embraces its founding principles of faith and risk, sacrifice, courage and calling and endurance." Plueddemann will become a professor of missions and chair of the Intercultural Studies Department at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., in January 2004. (SIM)

INDONESIAN TRANSLATION OF NEW TESTAMENT COMPLETED

World Bible Translation Center's Roger Massey says a ministry team has completed a translation of the Indonesian New Testament and is preparing to go to press. "Our first-run printing will be 2,500 copies, and those copies will all go to Indonesian church leaders," says Massey. A second-run printing of 50,000 copies is earmarked for Jakarta. He urges believers to pray about the situation in Indonesia as Muslim extremists continue to persecute Christians in parts of the country. "Pray for a hedge of protection around those Christians who live in high-risk areas," he said. "Pray for those who live out their faith, and pray that the examples of their lives would be reason enough for people to turn to the Son of God." (Mission Network News)

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

Daily bomb blasts, government officials murdered, Americans threatened, sounds like Iraq, but it isn't -- it's Nepal. Partners with World Help say that it is not safe for Americans to visit the country at this time. "It's not safe for Americans to be there. In fact, it's not safe for our partners to be seen with Americans," said ministry spokesman Noel Yeatts. "We had a trip scheduled for November and we've had to cancel that in light of these recent events." Maoist Terrorists are reportedly responsible for the threats, and Yeatts says the rebels have even gone a step further. "Just a few weeks ago five Nepali pastors were kidnapped and held prisoner because of their connections to Christian ministries in the U.S. Miraculously, they were all released unharmed, even after the Maoists discovered they had no money." Despite the daily killings, bombings, kidnappings, robberies and nine months of an officially declared state of emergency, ministry continues. "Our faithful partners in Nepal continue to carry out their strategic evangelistic church-planting vision to reach all of Nepal with the gospel," Yeatts said. "Pray for the safety of the thousands of believers and hundreds of pastors in the more than 300 Nepalese churches provided by World Help." (Mission Network News)

POLICE OFFICERS KEEP RAIDING BAPTIST CHURCH IN UZBEKISTAN

Nearly two months after five church members in a church in Khalkabad, Uzbekistan, were imprisoned for 10 days and three fined, local authorities continue to shut down worship services. "Police officers come to virtually every meeting we hold," said church member Aleksandr Tyan, one of those imprisoned in August. "The police are also stopping our fellow believers in Fergana from coming to Khalkabad." A local police officer said the raids are continuing at the request of parents in the community whose children have converted to Christianity. (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.

MINISTRIES HELP SOLDIERS COPE WITH TRAUMA OF COMBAT IN IRAQ

With thousands of U.S. troops continuing to carry out operations in Iraq, churches and ministries are scrambling to help military personnel who have been traumatized by the stress of combat. "Some churches don't have any understanding of what veterans are all about," said Larry Haworth, an itinerant minister and national chaplain for Point Man International Ministries, a Christian support organization for veterans. Many churches have taken seriously the call to prayer by forming 24-hour prayer watches, Internet prayer chains and more. Former Point Man Director Chuck Dean of Seattle urges churches to do even more. "Prayers have been answered in mighty ways, but now the church really needs to make a concerted effort to say, 'We are here for the troops, and we don't want to just give you a potluck dinner.'" Dean said that many returning vets won't consciously realize the personal impact of war for months or even years after their discharge. U.S. Army chaplains are at the forefront of helping soldiers make the transition back to their everyday lives, helping reunite with their families and communities and re-establishing their vocations, whether military or civilian. Army Chaplain Mark Perkins, who served in Iraq for six months, said the emotional trauma was "very intense" among soldiers. "There is a fear of losing one's life," he said. "But we had what's called 'unicohesion' in the Army which is sharing the pain and suffering of caring for one another. The ministry of the chaplaincy is to bring God to soldiers and soldiers to God. We descended into their lives not to judge them, but in an attempt to lift them up with the gospel." (Charisma News Service)

PAKISTANI BELIEVERS OVERCOME CHALLENGES TO DISTRIBUTE SCRIPTURES

Despite floods and disease, along with spiritual warfare and other difficulties, an indigenous Christian ministry in Pakistan continues to share the gospel. In the last few months staff members sold 209 Bibles, 178 New Testaments and 759 other Scripture portions. This happened even though one of the missionaries was sick with typhoid and another was admitted to a local hospital. One of those who came to request Bibles was a young man from one of the poorest, most primitive areas in Pakistan. "I have never been to that area and never heard anyone reaching these people with the Word of God," the mission leader said. Scriptures were not available in his native language, so the young man picked up several Bibles as well as other Scripture portions and New Testaments in Urdu -- a language common to Muslims. The young man went away rejoicing that he was able to take God's Word back to his people. He was especially happy that he could obtain more literature once he responsibly distributed what he took. (Missions Insider)

5,000 INMATES COME TO CHRIST THROUGH PRISON OUTREACH IN MICHIGAN

Operation Starting Line, a ministry of Crossroads Bible Institute (CBI) in Michigan, is resulting in thousands of inmates making decisions for the Lord. Spokesman David Schuringa says that after recent visits to Michigan prisons, staff began gathering response data. "More than 5,000 inmates filled out response cards indicating either a first-time decision or rededication to Jesus Christ," he said. Schuringa urges believers to pray for the new converts. "Pray that they'll sign up to study God's Word. In these evangelistic campaigns, the seed of God's Word has been scattered in all the prisons of Michigan, and it's going to be in all the prisons of this country." CBI equips Christians to disciple inmates in God's Word wherever they are incarcerated. It is a personal, in-depth, long-term program designed to help prisoners grow dramatically in a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ, preparing them for successful reentry upon release. (Mission Network News)

PEN PAL PROJECT LINKS AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WITH CHINESE VIA E-MAIL

A project called "Bridge of Friendship China" launched earlier this summer is giving American Christians an opportunity to connect with people in China via e-mail. Dan Wooding, founder and president of Assist Ministries, has received scores of e-mail messages -- mainly young people in China -- who want to practice their English and at the same time make friends with someone in the West. "This is a wonderful opportunity for North American Christians from all ethnic backgrounds to become friends with people in China," he said. "The e-mail messages don't have to be long -- just short items with background on yourself, your family, where you live and your philosophy of life -- meaning a low-key sharing of your faith." Assist has been running various pen pal programs for more than eight years with people from across the former Soviet Union and Romania, and Wooding believes now is the time for China. (Assist News Service)

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

The Supreme Court of Canada has again dealt a blow to traditional marriage. The court has refused to hear an appeal from the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) in the Ontario marriage case, Halpern vs. Ontario. The appeal was submitted by the Interfaith Coalition for Marriage and Family. The EFC is the main partner in the Interfaith Coalition. "We have lost an important opportunity to express the concerns of millions of Canadians," said EFC President Bruce Clemenger. "When the challenges to the definition of marriage were started in 2000, it was expected that they would eventually be decided by the Supreme Court of Canada." Clemenger said the Supreme Court "indicated that our concerns about the definition of marriage can be addressed in the federal government's reference." He indicated that EFC will be intervening in the reference to ensure the court addresses these issues. Janet Epp Buckingham, EFC's director of law and public policy, said the group is "very concerned about religious freedom for clergy and churches that do not recognize same-sex marriages because more than 97 percent of marriages in Ontario are solemnized by clergy." Buckingham said the constitutionality of marriage could still be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. (Assist News Service)

AFGHAN BORDER OFFICIALS TEMPORARILY IMPOUND MISSION VEHICLES

Christians are experiencing problems in their quest to help Noor Eye Hospital, a ministry in rural Afghanistan. A team from Interserve International, an organization that serves people in central and eastern Asia, recently encountered problems driving Landrovers across the border into Afghanistan, said ministry spokesperson Joanna Smith. "Unfortunately, they crossed over having to leave their Landrovers at the border because they were impounded by the authorities," she said. "Team members also had some sickness, and the vehicles had two flat tires and a broken window." The vehicles have since been returned, and they're back on their way, Smith said, adding that serving in rural areas has opened up opportunities for the gospel. "Because the people from Noor Eye Hospital are so willing to come and help people, they really show the love of Christ to the people in the remote locations who really desperately need this care." (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.

SECURITY PACT IN SUDAN COULD OPEN UNPRECEDENTED DOORS FOR GOSPEL

A security pact signed by Sudan's government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army is a "significant step toward peace in that country," says World Relief President Clive Calver. The new accord could give Americans unprecedented opportunity to reach out to Christians in the war-torn, poverty-stricken country. The pact comes at a critical time for many Sudanese who are suffering from hunger and health issues caused by a combination of war and natural disasters. But Calver said the opportunities for spreading the gospel in that country have never been greater. "There's been almost no transportation -- there are no telephones or radios, so it's been a huge problem for the spreading of the gospel. And yet, southern Sudan is home to one of the fastest growing churches on earth. People are so ready for Jesus." The security pact has important implications for the relief and development community. "The message from the church in Sudan to the believers in the West is, 'We're going to get peace; now we've got a chance to share Jesus and change our country,'" Calver added. (Agape Press/Religion Today)

MISSION TEAMS BRING HOPE TO LIBERIAN REFUGEES IN SIERRA LEONE

Security remains tenuous in Liberia despite the growing presence of peacekeepers. The fighting has forced hundreds of thousands across the border into Sierra Leone. "I expect this is going to cause quite a bit of conflict, just for those people who are there simply to survive, but now, they've been displaced again," says Tom Dudenhoffer of Audio Scripture Ministries (ASM). "We really don't know the future of these people. Some will be trying to go back to Liberia . . . but many plan to stay. They have no other options." Staff members with ASM followed the fleeing people to Sierra Leone and began ministering to them in the refugee camps. "They began a distribution program using ASM's Tape-Talk2 players," Dudenhoffer says. "Pray that God would work powerfully as His Word is presented, and that in the midst of these really tough times physically, people would see the real significance of knowing Jesus Christ and be willing to trust Him." (Mission Network News)

* ELWA, a partner ministry founded by SIM in Monrovia in 1954, continues to air a message of hope and encouragement across Liberia and West Africa. The station is broadcasting on a limited schedule, depending on the availability of diesel fuel to operate the generators. ELWA was destroyed twice by civil war, first in 1990 and again in 1996. The station went back on the air in 1997 with a small FM transmitter. Then in 2000 HCJB World Radio provided a low-power shortwave transmitter, again enabling the station to cover the region. ELWA broadcasts the gospel in 10 languages and plans to add more as resources become available.

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES' LAWYER RELEASED EARLY FROM TURKMEN PRISON

Oguljan Jumanazarova, 41, a Jehovah's Witness lawyer serving a four-year sentence in the women's labor camp in the northern Turkmenistan town of Tashauz, was freed Sept. 20, nearly two years early. Jumanazarova, from the town of Seydi, was sentenced in July 2001 on fraud charges that the Jehovah's Witnesses say were imposed in retaliation for helping fellow believers with their legal problems. "Nothing more is known about the terms of her release -- only that she has been freed," said a spokesman for the group. The Jehovah's Witnesses -- like all non-Sunni Muslim and non-Russian Orthodox communities -- have been denied registration and are treated as illegal. Jumanazarova, who became a Jehovah's Witness in 1999, worked for a public attorneys' association in Seydi near Turkmenistan's northeastern border with Uzbekistan. She began to face pressure after helping fellow believers with their legal problems. In 1999 authorities tried to confine her in a psychiatric hospital which she managed to avoid by temporarily fleeing from the town. Jehovah's Witnesses say that her sentence was based on fabricated evidence. (Forum 18 News Service)

3,000 EVANGELICALS GATHER IN JERUSALEM FOR FEAST OF TABERNACLES

At a time when most tourists are avoiding Israel due to the ongoing violence between Palestinians and Israelis, more than 3,000 evangelical Christians from 80 countries have descended in Jerusalem for the 24th annual "Christian Feast of Tabernacles" Oct. 11-17. They will be joined by 3,000 local Christians and non-Christians. The event -- organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), an organization of Christian supporters of Israel -- coincides with the biblical feast of Succot when Jews commemorate the Israelites' exodus from Egypt and their sojourn in the desert. "Christians are coming from all around the world for this event to demonstrate their sincere love and concern for Israel," said ICEJ Executive Director Malcolm Hedding in a statement preceding the conference. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is scheduled to present the conference's keynote address, and many other prominent Israelis will also take part in the celebration. (Religion News Service/ICEJ)

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