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

Gunmen shot and killed a pastor at a railway station in central Pakistan Monday, Jan. 5. Mukhtar Masih, pastor of the Church of God in Khurrampra, had arrived at the railway station at Khanewal around 3 a.m. to catch a train to Lahore when he was shot twice in the chest by unidentified gunmen. At last report there was no indication who the killers were, but the deputy superintendent of police in Khanewal, Mohammed Shahzad, told Associated Press that it appeared to be an act of terrorism. Money and other valuables were not taken, ruling out robbery. According to his son, Masih had previously received threats from Islamic militants attempting to close down the church. In addition to his son, he had six daughters. (Voice of the Martyrs)

IRAQ'S CHRISTIANS FEARFUL FOLLOWING YEAR-END BOMBINGS, SHOOTING

Iraq's beleaguered Christian minority ushered in the New Year amid grief and fears as bombs exploded, and at least one Christian was shot to death. In Basra, 350 miles south of Baghdad, Bashir Toma Elias was murdered at a marketplace on Christmas Eve, reported Barnabas Fund, a Christian human rights watchdog group. "Elias was doing last-minute Christmas shopping before going home to celebrate with his wife and five children. He was killed with a single shot aimed directly at his head," the organization said. In a predominantly Christian district of Baghdad, five people died in a restaurant during a New Year's Eve celebration when it was rocked by an exploding car bomb. It is unclear if the attack targeted Christians. A week earlier Christians "narrowly escaped carnage" when a bomb went off in their church in Baghdad, shattering the church's windows and causing other damage. In Mosul, 250 miles north of Baghdad, a bomb was discovered and defused at St. George's Monastery on New Year's Eve. Saleh Fakhouri, Iraq coordinator of the Jordan-based Manara Book Ministries, said the 100,000 Christians in Basra often receive threats from the concentration of Shiite Muslims in the area. "They even threaten Christian women [for not covering] their heads," he said. "A woman who are walking without a covering on her head would be punished in the middle of the street." Christians in Basra are also concerned about potential attacks from Shi'a militia groups with names such as "God's Vengeance." Group members said they won't rest until all Christians have either left Basra or converted to Islam. More than 2,000 Christian families have already fled the region. (Assist News Service)

GROWING PERSECUTION OF ERITREAN CHRISTIANS HINDERS MISSION EFFORTS

The U.S. State Department recently released its annual International Religious Freedom Report. Eritrea is among nine countries with laws curtailing religious freedom. Jerry Dykstra of Open Doors agrees that evidence is pointing to a rise in persecution, creating a challenge for ministries in the country. "Eritrea is equally divided between Muslim and Christian, making it hard to do any kind of mission work there, or to get mission supplies or Bibles in there," he says. "Many of the Christians who have been arrested were arrested for reading their Bibles." Eritrean police recently arrested and jailed an evangelical pastor, taking him and seven of his church members to prison. "Pray for those in prison," Dykstra adds. "Ask the lord to bless them in a special way each day in order for them to remain faithful to their calling. Pray for the families of those who are in prison -- that they might not give up. And pray for the congregations that are being persecuted." (Mission Network News)

TERRORISTS THREATEN CHRISTIAN TV STATION IN CYPRUS

Cyprus has tightened security around a television station that beams Christian programs across the Arab world after receiving a tip before Christmas that it could be a terrorist target, a senior police official said. The information was conveyed to Cypriot authorities by foreign intelligence services, deputy police chief Sotiris Charalambous said. A Cypriot newspaper reported that the purported threat was also against the American and Russian embassies, located next to each other. The Christian television station, SAT-7, has been operating since 1995. Its international offices are in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. (Reuters/International Christian Concern)

CHRISTIANS USE COVERT WAYS TO SEND AID, GOSPEL TO NORTH KOREA

Christians sometimes resort to using covert ways to send aid into North Korea, a country where human-rights groups say religious freedom is nonexistent. One medical missionary says Christianity is the communist nation's "biggest fear." Humanitarian relief experts say that more than 4 million people have died of hunger since 1995. Anyone caught criticizing President Kim Jong-Il could face hard labor, torture, starvation, biochemical experimentation or even execution. "Kim Jong-Il does not allow any god besides him," said German doctor Norbert Vollertsen who traveled to North Korea, taking video and still images of the starved and dying. "The Christians in North Korea are eliminated -- executed. Officials see Christianity as their main enemy because they know about the power of Christianity." However, Christians are finding ways to reach North Korea. Tim Peters, an American missionary and founder of Helping Hands Korea, says his ministry sends food into the country via skilled smugglers. Besides its normal monthly shipments, the ministry delivered 19 tons of baby food to a northeastern province last year. Last summer Vollertsen and supporting activists attempted to launch helium balloons carrying small solar-powered radios from South Korea's northern border into North Korea. Although his group had permission by the South Korean government to execute the launch, Vollertsen's attempt was thwarted after a young South Korean man attacked him and stole several of the radios. Voice of the Martyrs has used helium balloons to float materials into North Korea such as copies of the such as copies of the into. However, anyone caught picking up the balloons risks being executed. (Charisma News Service)

BIBLE COLLEGE EVANGELISM OUTING REAPS HARVEST IN INDIA

A week-long evangelistic campaign in a city of southern India in mid-December brought the gospel to thousands and saw hundreds respond, reported Christian Aid Mission. The student body and faculty of Bharat Bible College (near Hyderabad) undertook a week-long evangelistic campaign in Gannavaram, a city of 100,000 Dec. 7-14. "We saturated Gannavaram with the gospel," said Rev. Samuel Buraga, director of the school, explaining that teams of students distributed gospel tracts and Scripture portions in Gannavaram and 80 surrounding villages. The faculty then conducted nightly open-air meetings. Average attendance was about 1,000. "The Lord's mighty hand was visible throughout the ministry of the preaching of the gospel of Christ," Buraga said. "The Holy Spirit drew 200 people to trust in Christ for the first time." The school, founded in 1969, has trained and sent out more than 500 students into full-time Christian ministry. (Missions Insider)

* HCJB World Radio-Australia's new shortwave site Kununurra airs 6.5 hours of daily English programming across including India and much of South Asia. Two half-hour programs in Urdu, airing Monday through Saturday, went on the air in July, and plans are to begin test broadcasts in Hindi. A radio training center for South Asia has been established in New Delhi. In partnership with FEBA Radio, HCJB World Radio also airs weekly Christian programs to eastern India via shortwave in three languages: Bhojpuri, Chattisgarhi and Mundari.

BOMB MEANT TO KILL RIDERS ON BUS IN EASTERN INDONESIA

A bomb was planted on a bus in the eastern Indonesian city of Poso the week of Dec. 29, but a passenger spotted the device and it was removed before it would have killed and wounded many people. It was taken to a field where it exploded before the bomb squad arrived. Security officials are hunting gangs who have launched deadly attacks on Christians in recent months. Hundreds of police reinforcements have been sent. In the worst recent bloodshed, gunmen in October gunmen killed 10 people in attacks on mainly Christian villages. A senior security official blamed the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group for those killings. The group has been linked to the al-Qaeda. Nearly 1,000 Christians in Poso have been killed during attacks in recent years. (International Christian Concern)

* HCJB World Radio is working with local Indonesian partners to establish local Christian radio stations on Roti island and at Kupang in West Timor. Equipment was sent from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind.

ORTHODOX CHURCH IN CHINA STRUGGLES WITHOUT LEADERSHIP

Following the Dec. 18 funeral of the last surviving Orthodox priest in Beijing, it remains unclear when the Orthodox community in the Chinese capital will once again be able to worship freely in its own church. "There are up to 250 Orthodox believers in Beijing," said visiting Russian Orthodox priest Dionisy Pozdnyayev. "But the situation for them is so difficult. You cannot even call them an organized community. They have no priest now, no church and nowhere to pray." But he expressed some optimism over the possibility for Chinese Orthodox men to study for the priesthood in Russian theological institutions. "The authorities were positive about this idea." The Russian Orthodox Church has been trying over the past few years to help the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church to revive its activity, which was decimated during the Cultural Revolution. (Forum 18 News Service)

© Copyright 2004 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA - btc@hcjb.org