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The parish priest of the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in Pristina, the capital city of Kosovo, says he is "lucky to be alive" after an Albanian mob burned down his church the evening of Thursday, March 18, and then set fire to his parish house early this morning. "I was lucky they didn't look in the cellar, otherwise God knows if this morning I would still be alive," said Fr. Popadic. The church has long been under threat, especially since members of the international peacekeeping force were removed from the area last May. More than 31 people have been killed, and about 17 churches and other Serbian Orthodox sites have been destroyed in anti-Serb violence in Kosovo in the last year. Some Albanian politicians have, along with the Visoki Decani Orthodox Monastery, tried to stop the violence which international ombudsman Marek Anton Antoni Nowicki described as the "intent to cleanse this land from the presence of all Serbs in total rejection of the idea of a multi-ethnic cohabitation in Kosovo." An Orthodox Church in neighboring Bosnia was also set on fire late Thursday. (Forum 18 News Service)

MINISTRIES IN IRAQ EXERCISE CAUTION FOLLOWING FATAL BOMBING

Christian humanitarian efforts are continuing in Iraq despite a rash of car bombings and the recent killing of four Southern Baptist relief workers. However, support teams from the Southern Baptist International Mission Board have canceled a March 20 trip to Iraq and postponed future trips. Plans to return the victims' bodies to the U.S. are incomplete. Memorial services for David McDonnall are set for 2 p.m. Saturday, March 20, at First Baptist Church in Lamar, Colo., while services for Karen Watson will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 24, at Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, Calif. McDonnall's wife, Carrie, who was also wounded in the attack, is being treated in a hospital in Germany where her condition has been upgraded to stable from critical. With today's one-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, some ministries have been bracing for a potential escalation of attacks. However, World Vision's Andrea Swinburn-Jones discounted the possibility. I've noticed that the Western media is focusing on the one-year anniversary, but I've spoken with people in the Arab community, and it seems to be a very Western fixation." Despite the insecurity, World Vision has rehabilitated schools as well as water and sanitation systems. Swinburn-Jones says the presence of Christian relief workers continues to open up ministry opportunities. "People see our actions that speak very loudly," she says. "They see the great work that we've done, and they can see that it's our heart that counts." (Mission Network News/Baptist Press)

RENEGADE PRIEST DETAINED FOR ALLEGED 'REIGN OF TERROR' IN GEORGIA

Defrocked Orthodox priest Basil Mkalavishvili and seven key associates who are accused of leading a four-year "reign of terror" against Georgia's religious minorities were seized when police stormed his church in the capital city of Tbilisi Friday, March 12. The men have begun a three-month pretrial detention. Baptist leader Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili said that local television stations have been replaying the video of Mkalavishvili's attack on a Baptist warehouse in 2002 in which thousands of the Bible Society's books (including Bibles) were burned. "The film shows Mkalavishvili directing the mob to burn the books and issuing instructions." Human rights activist Levan Ramishvili said the arrests could be the first step toward ending persecution against religious minorities in Georgia. Mkalavishvili's eventual conviction would be an "important symbol to restrain others from committing similar religiously motivated violence," he said. More than 100 riot police stormed Mkalavishvili's church where he and his supporters had barricaded themselves. They destroyed the church door with trucks before deploying tear gas in the clash with Mkalavishvili's supporters, leaving dozens injured. Bishop Ambrose of Methoni in Greece, who oversees Mkalavishvili, complained of the police's "violent incursion" and insisted that there is no evidence that Mkalavishvili was involved in physical violence against religious minorities. (Forum 18 News Service)

* HCJB World Radio worked with Hosanna and local partners to produce the dramatized New Testament in Georgian through a project called Faith Comes by Hearing.

POLICE ATTEMPT TO STOP WORSHIP CELEBRATION IN VIETNAM

On the afternoon of Thursday, March 4, evangelical Christians from several house churches in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, met together at the Quoc Thanh Theater for a joint worship celebration. By 5 p.m. more than 1,000 worshipers had reportedly assembled, but security police had gathered outside, preventing 500 others from entering. Police then ordered the power to be cut in the building and prevented the owner of the theater from starting the backup generator. Despite the darkness and oppressive heat as air conditioners stopped, the worship continued using light from cell phones and camera flashes. House church leaders identified many of the security police officers as those who regularly harass believers as they gather in house churches. (Voice of the Martyrs/Compass Direct)

EUROPEAN YOUTH OUTREACH EXPECTED TO BREAK ATTENDANCE RECORDS

The European youth outreach JesusHouse is off to a record-breaking start. During the first two days of the event that concludes on Saturday, 135,000 youngsters watched evangelistic TV programs transmitted via satellite from Berlin to 700 venues in eight countries. The event is expected to eclipse the overall total of 220,000 set in 2000. About 30 percent of the participants have no affiliation with a local church. The average age is 17. During the first two nights of the event, more than 2,700 people expressed their desire to put their faith in Christ, said JesusHouse-spokesman Pit Prawitt. Counselors are following up with the new believers. One of the local venues is a former bookstore in Marburg where a dozen young Christians have set up a JesusHouse. Programs feature modern Christian music, drama and evangelistic messages. This year the central venue is the "Palace of Tears" in Berlin, a former border crossing point between East and West Germany where many farewell tears were shed. Bible messages are delivered by evangelist Christina Riecke and actor Thorsten Hebel. The JesusHouse outreach -- part of the evangelistic ProChrist project -- coincides with the German premiere of Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ." (IDEA)

WATER PROJECTS OPEN DOORS TO PLANT CHURCHES IN TOGO

As much of Togo's population is without access to clean safe drinking water, Living Water International is doing something to help, says spokesman Jerry Wyles who just returned from the West African country where he participated in a pastors' conference. He says 12 denominations are working together for a project called Vision 2010. "It's a strategy to take the gospel to every home and plant a church in every village where there's not already one in the whole country of Togo by the year 2010. What they want to do is add a clean water component to that to provide clean water along with the gospel." Many of Togo's 6 million people practice voodoo and animistic rituals. "We need lots of prayer," Wyles says. "But what is encouraging is the spiritual depth and commitment of these pastors and national leaders to take the gospel to every home and planting churches in every village." More than 90 percent of Togo's rural population and 60 percent of people in the capital city of Lomé are without access to clean, safe drinking water. (Mission Network News)

* International Media Ministries, HCJB World Radio's partner in Lomé, Togo, broadcasts 17 hours of daily programming on an FM station in 10 local languages. The SIM studio in Parakou, Benin, also records Christian Kotokoli programs that air on local stations in Togo.

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