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Na středním východě, kde mírový plán selhává pod změnou pozice diplomacie, se mnoho radikálních muslimů soustřeďuje na věřící, aby si na nich léčili své pocity zklamání. Terry Ascott ze SAT-7, křesťanské arabské satelitní televizní stanice, říká, že pracovníkům jeho týmu už bylo vyhrožováno. Přesto ve službě pokračují a vysílají programy, které se týkají křesťanského života v celém světě. „Chceme být solí a světlem v této situaci,“ říká. „Chceme svědčit odpuštěním – vyjádřit lásku, které jsme schopni v této nenávistné situaci. Nechceme se plést do politických záležitostí, ale chceme ukázat Krista v současné bolesti, kterou ti lidé prožívají.“ Ascott vyzývá věřící, aby se modlili za jeho pracovníky. „Naše kanceláře jsou v nebezpečných oblastech středního východu,“ říká. „Máme několik členů ochranky, ale pro kohokoliv by bylo jednoduché vhodit do našich prostor raketový granát, nebo se dostat dovnitř a někoho zabít. Věříme, že nás Bůh ochrání.“ (Mission Network News)
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HIT MAN CONFESSES TO KILLING BAPTIST MISSIONARY PASTOR IN TAJIKISTAN
A 24-year-old hit man has confessed to killing Baptist missionary pastor
Sergei Besarab at his home in Isfara, Tajikistan, Jan. 12. Assailants shot
Besarab with automatic weapons through a window in his home as he was on his
knees praying. Bible Mission International's Mark Reimschisel says the
confession is good news for Besarab's friends and family. "Local government
officials have been very helpful to the church members, encouraging them to
move forward. They said they're doing everything they can to try to find the
contractor for Sergei's death. At this point, they have not been able to
find him." Reimschisel says a new pastor is leading the church, and
Besarab's widow, Tamara, continues to travel to Isfara twice a week to meet
with the believers. Local police have refused to comment on the case, but
there are reports that Besarab's active missionary work, including the
distribution of Tajik-language evangelistic booklets, had aroused the anger
of local people. A week before his death, a local newspaper published an
article sharply criticizing Besarab. The article pointed out that he had
been imprisoned four times. A former criminal, his life was transformed
after coming to Christ through a prison ministry led by Rashid Shamsizade, a
Baptist pastor from Dushanbe. (Mission Network News/Forum 18 News Service)
* HCJB World Radio has been airing weekly Christian programs in the Tajik
language via shortwave since 1999. More than 4 million people speak this
language.
RADICALS THREATEN CHRISTIAN SATELLITE TV NETWORK IN MIDDLE EAST
In the Middle East where a peace plan staggers under a shifting diplomacy,
many radical Muslims are targeting believers as an outlet for their
frustrations. Terry Ascott, chief executive officer of SAT-7, a Christian
Arabic satellite television network, says team members have been threatened.
Yet the ministry continues to air programming that presents issues from a
Christian worldview. "We want to be salt and light in this situation," he
says. "We want to be a witness through the expressions of forgiveness -- the
expressions of love that we can make in a situation of hatred. We don't want
to get into political statements, but we do want to reflect Christ in the
contemporary pain that people face." Ascott urges believers to pray for the
ministry teams. "We have offices that are in very vulnerable areas of the
Middle East," he says. "They have a couple of security guards, but it would
be very easy for anyone to launch a rocket-propelled grenade at the offices,
or go in and kill people. We trust in God for our protection." (Mission
Network News)
MUSLIMS, CHRISTIANS URGE U.N. TO END SUFFERING OF RELIGIOUS CONVERTS
In a rare case of unity, leading Muslims and Christians have urged the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights to acknowledge the persecution of converts in a
number of Islamic countries. The Barnabas Fund, which investigates the
plight of suffering Christians, said the panel made its appeal this month in
Geneva, Switzerland, during a U.N. meeting discussing religious persecution.
In several countries, former Muslims who became Christians have been
imprisoned and even tortured. The panel, speaking at the Palais des Nations
in Geneva April 7, acknowledged that many converts in the Buddhist,
Christian, Jewish and Hindu traditions faced prejudice and discrimination.
The panel drew "particular attention to problems in Eritrea, India and Sri
Lanka," Barnabas Fund said in a statement. "However, of all the major world
faiths, it is in conservative Islamic societies that converts face the
greatest persecution in the world today." A Muslim author on the panel was
quoted as saying that "under Muslim law, the male apostate must be put to
death as long as he is an adult and in full possession of his faculties."
Sharia (strict Islamic law) also allows for the annulment of marriage, the
removal of children, and the loss of all property and inheritance rights.
(Assist News Service)
CITY COUNCIL IN MICHIGAN APPROVES DAILY MUSLIM PRAYER CALLS
Residents of the bustling city of Hamtramck, Mich., long known for pierogies
and polkas, will soon be hearing a Muslim call to prayer five times a day
following a unanimous vote by the city council Tuesday, April 20. The issue
of sending out calls to prayer via a loudspeaker sparked a heated debate
among residents. "If you guys think about it, the Muslim call to prayer is
actually a beautiful thing," an unidentified man who supported the issue
said during the city council meeting. Many residents are opposed to the call
to prayer, saying it gives state sponsorship of a religion and lifts Islam
above other religions in Hamtramck. "I would say that is a distortion," said
Councilwoman Karen Majewski. "We worked very hard to craft this ordinance in
such a way that it would cover all means of religious expression." The daily
calls are expected to go out between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. starting in May. As
for complaints about potential noise pollution created by the calls to
prayer, Majewski said there are other noise issues because Hamtramck is a
busy urban area. Hamtramck, a city of 23,000, is surrounded by Detroit and
has an old-fashioned, small-town feel. Polish grocery stores and restaurants
abound. But in recent years the city has become much more diverse. Stores
selling saris and halal meat have opened, and signs in Bengali, Arabic and
Bosnian compete with signs in Polish and English.
(ClickonDetroit.com/Associated Press/CBS)
'GAY MILITIA' DISRUPTS CHRISTIAN CONVENTION IN ALBERTA
A meeting being held in Calgary, Alberta, Saturday, April 17, as part of the
Concerned Christian Coalition's (CCC) annual convention was disrupted by a
group calling itself the Gay Militia. Carrying sticks, yelling, swearing and
chanting, the group attempted to stop a dinner in support of Stephen
Boissoin, the CCC's former executive director. Boissoin is to appear before
the Alberta Human Rights Commission as a result of a letter to the editor
published in The Red Deer Advocate last June that was critical of homosexual
activism in schools. Those in attendance prayed while the demonstrators
shouted blasphemies and accusations of bigotry. Hotel security eventually
cleared the group from the hotel. The Calgary Police Service assured the CCC
that charges will be laid against the disrupters when they are found. (Voice
of the Martyrs)
MORE HISPANIC CATHOLICS TURNING TO EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY
More Hispanic Catholics are turning to evangelical Christianity, states a
recent article in The Los Angeles Daily News. Nearly 20 percent of Hispanics
nationwide have converted to evangelical Christianity in the last 10 years
after centuries of devotion to Catholicism, the article said. "Drawn to the
no-nonsense sermons that urge drug- and alcohol-free living, many Hispanics
say evangelism is a powerful antidote to everyday troubles plaguing their
communities." Pedro Villarreal, a pastor at the evangelical Iglesia del Dios
Vivo in Los Angeles whose congregation has grown 15 percent in the last
year, noted that many Catholics are seeking peace, security and a personal
spiritual experience. "We are growing because people needed something more,"
Villarreal said. At another Hispanic church called La Iglesia en el Camino,
the sermons are so popular that Sunday services are often filled to capacity
with dozens of worshipers overflowing into the hallways. Many Latinos who
converted from Catholicism say the strict moral code demanded by evangelical
preachers is the main attraction. "Here lives are transformed. You are
rehabilitated," said Juan Zelaya, 31, a former womanizer who reconsidered
his lifestyle after hearing a sermon at El Camino. (Religion Today/Charisma
News Service) |