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Ve Faludži, kde pokračují boje mezi americkými a iráckými silami, narůstá počet únosů cizinců. To koresponduje i s hrozbou ze strany členů teroristických skupin, které přísahají, že zabijí každého křesťana, jestliže nedojde k zastavení operace. Mluvčí Voice of the Martyrs (Hlas mučedníků) Tod Nettleton říká, že to varování, které přišlo o velikonocích, probudilo obavy křesťanských pracovníků. „Když se podíváte, jak myslí radikální muslimové na středním východě, vidíte, že považují Ameriku za křesťanský národ. Takže když mají zlost na Ameriku, mají zlost i na křesťany.“ Nettleton věří, že tato hrozba je logickým vyústěním a násilí poroste, což bude představovat obtížnější evangelizaci. „Naší prací zde je podporovat naše bratry a sestry, kteří tu jsou, modlit se za ně a podporovat je, jak je to jen možné.“ (Mission Network News) |
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IMPRISONED CHINESE HOUSE CHURCH LEADER FEARS FOR HIS LIFE
Gong Shengliang, the imprisoned founder of China's unregistered
50,000-member South China Church, told his sisters during a short visit
recently that he's afraid he won't survive much longer if he isn't
transferred to a different prison. Unable to walk, Shengliang was carried
into the visiting hall by four other inmates in the Hongshan Prison in Hubei
province. When one of the sisters asked a guard to explain his injuries, she
was told that he had fallen while washing windows. For more than a year he
has had his arms and legs in chains. Everywhere Shengliang goes, two guards
accompany him. When his sisters asked him why he had stopped writing
letters, he told them, "I don't have the strength to write. When I pick up
my pen, there are lots of troubles." When one of the sisters complained to
the prison director, Sun Wenquan, about his injuries, she was told that he
was a "model prisoner" except that he refuses to renounce his faith or stop
praying and preaching. The sisters were told, "He is so into the Bible that
he has lost touch with reality." Shengliang was sentenced to death on what
Christians say were trumped-up multiple rape charges at the end of 2001.
However, following an international outcry, his sentence was reviewed and
reduced to life in prison. He has been imprisoned since December 2002.
(Voice of the Martyrs)
MISSIONARIES BEGIN RETURNING TO HAITI AFTER VIOLENCE SUBSIDES
Missionaries are returning to Haiti as relative calm replaces the violence
that wracked the country earlier this year. OMS International evacuated its
missionaries from Haiti in February because armed Haitians directly targeted
them, says ministry spokesman Randy Spaght. "One of the duplexes that some
of our missionaries live in was actually broken into by a band of about
eight armed men," he says. "And we had previously identified violence
against us as a missionary group, as a 'trip-wire' event in which if that
were to happen our response would be to evacuate people." However, the
situation has improved, and the missionaries are heading back in waves. "The
first people in were a group of men. They threatened to damage our
property -- our radio station there -- and yet the Lord protected it,"
Spaght says. In recent days entire families have been allowed to return.
While missionaries are again working in evangelism and church planting,
Spaght says there are serious spiritual issues in Haiti. "The national
church struggles to help people make a solid break with their own background
and make a solid stand for the Lord without holding onto some of the voodoo
fetishes." (Mission Network News)
* Staff members from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart,
Ind., have been working with OMS International to establish a satellite
radio network based at 4VEH outside the city of Cap-Haitien that will
deliver programs to FM stations nationwide. Downlinks have been installed in
Tortue Island and Pignon, and at least three more are planned. HCJB World
Radio also helped partner World Gospel Mission with a small station in
Port-au-Prince.
CHRISTIAN WORKERS IN IRAQ ON ALERT FOLLOWING TERRORIST THREATS
In Fallujah where U.S. forces and Iraqi resistance continue fierce fighting,
the rise in kidnappings of foreigners corresponds with a threat made by
members of a terrorist group vowing to kill Christians if the operation
doesn't stop. Voice of the Martyrs spokesman Todd Nettleton says the
warning, which came at Easter, has raised concerns among Christian workers.
"If you look into the mind of a radical Muslim in the Middle East, they see
America as a Christian nation. So if you're angry at America, you're also
angry at Christians." Nettleton believes the threat is a logical
progression, and violence will increase, making outreach difficult. "Our job
here is to lift up our brothers and sisters who are there, to pray for them
and support them in any way we can."
Meanwhile, two Christian radio stations in the U.S. are sending CDs of
programming to Iraq to support the U.S. troops. The campus radio station at
Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Way-FM in Kalamazoo and
Grand Rapids raised funds during their recent sharathon to send 3,500 CDs to
the troops. Rich Anderson, manager of the Cornerstone station, says
chaplains will distribute the CDs which contain an evangelistic message.
"There are no atheists in fox holes," he says. "You get put in a crisis
situation like a lot of these men and women are when they're on the front
lines, and you start thinking about spiritual things. This is just one
little tool to help plant a seed." (Mission Network News)
EGYPTIAN POLICE CREDITED FOR PREVENTING RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE
Prompt police action in Egypt is being credited for preventing more
religious violence when a Muslim man allegedly murdered two Christians with
an axe after an argument broke out in the southern town of Salamoun, Sohag,
on March 5. It's not clear whether the incident, which left Sadeq Fekhry
Mehana, 52, and Sidqi Mahana, 50, dead, was religiously motivated. However,
the following day Egyptian authorities deployed some 1,000 police around the
town to prevent a possible outbreak of sectarian violence. The town is
nearly 40 percent Coptic Christian, but is also a stronghold of militant
Islamists who fought the government during the 1990s. Coptic Bishop Wissa of
the Baliana diocese said, "It is time the Egyptian government shows
seriousness and fairness by punishing the perpetrators of attacks against
Christians. The message from the government should be clear this time.
Attacks on Christians must stop." The area is renowned for sectarian unrest,
the latest major episode occurring in January 2000 when 21 Christians and a
Muslim lost their lives in clashes. (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
IMPROVED INDIA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS ENCOURAGE PERSECUTED CHURCH
An international organization dedicated to the persecuted church is
encouraged by the apparent recent thaw in relations between India and
Pakistan which have been historic rivals since Pakistan gained independence
from India. Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs says he is concerned
about the ongoing persecution of Christians in both Hindu India and Muslim
Pakistan. But he says relations between the two countries have improved
recently as more and more steps being taken toward a resolution of
longstanding difficulties. A recent cricket match between the countries was
a positive sign. "People really saw that as a great step forward -- to have
the two countries competing on an athletic field in a peaceful and a
respectful way," Nettleton says. The two nations have a common past on which
to build. "You know, at one point they were part of the same country, so
they do have a history of being joined and working together. Hopefully we
can see a return to that in the near future." However, Nettleton notes that
despite the apparent improvement in relations between India and Pakistan,
both countries continue to receive poor marks in the area of religious
persecution against Christians. (Religion Today/Agape Press)
* "The Voice of the Great Southland," the shortwave station operated by HCJB
World Radio-Australia since January 2003, airs more than 44 hours of weekly
English programming across India. Daily Urdu programs joined the lineup in
July 2003, and since then programs have been added in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil,
Nepali, Chattisgarhi, Hmar and Manipuri. Most of the programming is produced
at a studio and follow-up center established in New Delhi in 2003.
YOUTH NETWORK CALLS FOR 'WORLDWIDE NIGHT OF PRAYER'
A network of youth ministries and mission organizations has issued a call to
prayer for Saturday, May 29 -- challenging student groups around the world
to spend a night in prayer for 2.1 billion teenagers, most of whom have
never even heard the good news of God's love. Organizers of "A Whole Night
for the Whole World" are hoping that millions of young believers worldwide
will unite in prayer for global revival in their generation, said Kelly
Davis, a student mobilization consultant for the Southern Baptist
International Mission Board. "Everywhere I go, I meet young people whose
hearts are broken over the lostness of their generation," Davis said. "A
Whole Night for the Whole World is a call to reach this generation, in this
generation, by this generation." May 29 is the night before Pentecost, a
time of great symbolism for Christians around the world, Davis added.
"Before His ascension, Jesus told his followers to assemble and pray. It was
during that time of prayer that the Holy Spirit came in great power, and the
church was born." For more information visit www.wholenight.com.
(International Mission Board)
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Zprávy HCJB 15.4.2004
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