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Nine men, including three Buddhist monks, have been arrested following a mob attack on the World Vision office in Kebethigollawa, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, on Monday, Feb. 9. The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka reported that a mob of more than a dozen men stormed the building, throwing gasoline bombs at the facility. Arrests for religiously motivated crimes against Christians have been rare in Sri Lanka. However, the country's president and prime minister both have called for action to prevent a continuation of the violence seen in recent months. (Voice of the Martyrs)

SUSPICIOUS EXPLOSIONS ROCK BAPTIST CHURCH IN RUSSIA

Two powerful explosions ripped through the interior of a Baptist prayer house in Tula (75 miles south of Moscow) in the early-morning hours of Tuesday, Jan. 13. Pastors Viktor Orlov and Aleksandr Lakhtikov believe it was a planned attack. Two church members received serious burns in the incident. Pastor Lakhtikov said shortly before the first explosion at approximately 3.15 a.m. the watchman heard an object drop to the ground in a basement room and break open, but Tula City Police Chief Nikolai Rodinkov stated that the premises were "filled with gas. We presume that there was a gas leak after which the explosion took place." Lakhtikov said that Officials from Tula's City Gas Authority came on the scene the morning of the explosions and established that there was no evidence of domestic gas within a 150-foot radius of the church. Following explosions caused by domestic gas, traces of the gas usually remain in the air for up to four days. The timing of the incident -- just before a major conference of Baptist leaders from across Russia -- is also suspicious. Two days of leadership talks were due to begin at the church on the morning of the explosions followed by an evangelization conference to be attended by about 400 church members. (Forum 18 News Service)

AUSTRALIA'S GOVERNOR GENERAL SETS NATIONAL DAY OF THANKSGIVING

On Wednesday, Feb. 11, Australian Governor General Michael Jeffery officially launched the country's inaugural National Day of Thanksgiving. More than 100 Christian leaders representing every state and almost every Christian denomination in Australia will gather at the grounds of Government House to hear Jeffery give a speech at the first National Day of Thanksgiving on Saturday, May 29. Each year the event will coincide with the same weekend as the Day of Pentecost. For years the annual holiday was the vision of Australian Prayer Network. The National Day of Thanksgiving may have been birthed by Pedro Fernandez de Quirós, one of Australia's early explorers (born in Portugal) who in 1606 called this land, "Terra Australis del Espirtu Santo" (Southland of the Holy Spirit). This proclamation was declared by de Quirós on the Day of Pentecost on May 14, 1606. After the muskets were fired, the men shouted with joy, "Long live the faith of Christ." (Australian Prayer Network)

* HCJB World Radio-Australia began operating a shortwave station called "Voice of the Great Southland" in January 2003, reaching across the Asia/Pacific region with programs in English, Urdu and Hindi. Additional languages, transmitters and antennas will be added as resources become available. Studios at the office in Melbourne are used to record programs in English as well as Oromo, a language spoken in Ethiopia.

GOSPEL IS 'ONLY SOLUTION' TO ONGOING CHECHEN-RUSSIAN VIOLENCE

The violence between Chechen rebels and the Russian government is escalating with presidential elections just a month away. In the most recent incident, Chechen terrorists are suspected of exploding a bomb in a Moscow subway, killing 39 people and injuring more than 100. While Russian President Vladimir Putin says the only solution is to destroy those responsible, Russian Ministries spokesman Sergey Rakhuba says the only thing that's going to change the situation is God's Word. "We have three training centers around Chechnya from which we provide training, humanitarian aid and support to those people who reach out to the Muslims and refugee camps," he says. Chechnya has been a hotbed for violence in recent years, forcing many people to flee their homes. However, the unrest is providing Russian Ministries and other groups with opportunities for outreach. "About 150 people are in training [for three days this week] to learn how to reach out to these people -- how to help them in their emotional struggles, how to reach out with the gospel," Rakhuba says. Most Chechens are tired of the violence and want peace. "That's why we're sharing the gospel message of hope," he says; "It's exciting to see people responding to this. They want to be trained so they can go back to their people and take the gospel to their families." (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.

MISSION PROJECT AIMS TO HOUSE 400,000 AFRICAN AIDS ORPHANS

A Christian businessman from South African is returning to his homeland with an ambitious project to provide homes for 400,000 children orphaned by AIDS. Rob Smith hopes to purchase 4,000 farms in the next decade. They will be converted to villages for children devastated by the outbreak that has left an estimated 13 million youths in Africa under the age of 15 with one parent and 3.6 million with no parents. Initially, Smith and his wife planned to adopt 100 children and care for them on a farm. Smith, who left South Africa nearly 30 years ago because of his disgust for apartheid, ruled out that idea because the scope wasn't big enough. "He wanted to help as many kids as he could," said Marc Fulmer, a friend of Smiths who is involved in the project. A year ago Smith shared his dream with Fulmer. In September Fulmer and his wife moved to South Africa to take charge of building the villages. Fulmer will oversee the construction of 60,000 buildings during the life of the project. Each village will consist of prefab homes big enough for six to seven children. Fulmer admits that he is overwhelmed by the size of the project at times. "Once I wrapped my mind around this, I saw that I'm totally not qualified for this job," he said. "It's too huge. I need to rely on my faith that God is going to supply what we need and that He is going to lead me." (Religion Today/Charisma News Service)

'TO HAVE AND TO HOLD . . . FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE'

A British Christian radio station is calling on the nation's married couples to work through their problems and avoid divorce. In a week of special programming to mark National Marriage Week in the U.K. Feb. 8-15, London-based Premier Christian Radio is addressing common problems faced by married couples and providing expert advice on how to work through them. Peter Kerridge, the station's managing director, says he hopes National Marriage Week will inspire many people to iron out the problems in their marriage before it's too late. "The divorce rates in this country are at a shocking level," he says. "Britain seems to have adopted a new mentality with regards to marriage -- if it's broken, don't try to fix it. Sometimes divorce really is the only option, but more often it seems people are choosing it as an easy way out when things get tough. At Premier we're desperate to see that attitude turned around." (Assist News Service)

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