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7 CHRISTIANS IN INDIA CHARGED WITH 'CONVERSION BY INDUCEMENT'
Pastor Subas Samal, his associate pastor (Dhanishwar Kandi) and five others
from Kilipal village in eastern India's Orissa state have been charged with
"conversion by inducement" under the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act. The
Christians are accused of using financial rewards to lure 25 Dalit villagers
to become Christians during the last 10 years. A June 3 report indicates
that the charges follow the arrests of six Hindu villagers after Samal and
eight Christian women were beaten, had their heads shaved, and were
humiliated for their faith. The lawyer for the Hindu villagers who
humiliated the Christians claims that the Christians shaved their own heads
in order to malign the Hindu community. (Voice of the Martyrs)
* "The Voice of the Great Southland," the shortwave station operated by HCJB
World Radio-Australia since January 2003, airs more than 59 hours of weekly
Christian programming across South Asia. Programs go out in nine languages:
English, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Nepali, Tamil, Chattisgarhi, Hmar and
Meeitei. Most of the programming in the Indian languages is produced at HCJB
World Radio's studio in New Delhi. Additional releases from Australia,
primarily in English, reach the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and East Asia.
CHRISTIAN FROM INDIA REMAINS IN SAUDI JAIL FOR PREACHING GOSPEL
An Indian national abducted and tortured by Saudi Arabia's religious police
for "spreading Christianity" remains jailed without trial 11 weeks after his
detention. Brian Savio O'Connor, 36, was accosted in the Mursalat district
of Riyadh on the evening of March 25 by four agents of the muttawa
(religious police). After seeing his Saudi identity card listing O'Connor as
a Christian, they dragged him to a nearby muttawa office, chained his legs
and hung him upside down for seven hours. The four intermittently beat him
on the chest and ribs and whipped the soles of his feet with electrical
wires. In response to questions, O'Connor declared that he did preach the
Bible, but denied converting Muslims to Christianity. At 2 a.m. the muttawa
took O'Connor to the Olaya police station and ordered him put under arrest
on charges of preaching Christianity, selling liquor and peddling drugs. A
cargo agent for Saudia Airlines for the past six years, O'Connor shares a
windowless cell with 16 inmates at Al-Hair Prison. The All India Catholic
Union, the Indian Bishops' Conference and officials of the Indian Embassy
have filed appeals to Saudi authorities on O'Connor's behalf, but their
inquiries have gone unanswered. (Religion Today/Compass)
MOBS ATTACK 4 INDONESIAN CHURCHES NEAR JAKARTA
Mobs armed with sticks attacked four churches on the southwestern outskirts
of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Sunday, June 6, injuring a pastor
and damaging the buildings and furnishings. The coordinated attacks took
place during morning services. The mobs burst into the buildings, damaging
pews and windows. One pastor was punched in the head, but did not suffer
serious injuries. According to media reports, the attacks came because the
churches were established without the town's permission. Because of
difficulties in gaining approval to start new churches, Indonesian believers
are frequently compelled to do so without permission, gathering in meeting
halls, shopping malls and business areas. (Voice of the Martyrs)
* HCJB World Radio worked with local Indonesian partners to establish a
local Christian station in Sumba Island. Plans are also being made to
establish stations on Roti Island and at Kupang in West Timor. Equipment was
sent from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind.
U.K. DELEGATION PLANS TRIP TO SUPPORT WRONGLY IMPRISONED PERUVIANS
The Peru Support Group will lead a U.K. parliamentary delegation to Peru
June 21-25 to help inmates, many of them Christians, who were wrongly
imprisoned during 20 years of political violence. The visit is being
co-funded by Christian Solidarity Worldwide as part of its ongoing work with
prisoners wrongly accused of terrorism offences. The delegation will
encourage the Peruvian government to act on the recommendations of Peru's
Truth and Reconciliation Commission which concluded that about 69,000 people
were killed or "disappeared" between 1980 and 2000. The commission finished
its work in August 2003. In the 1990s ex-president Alberto Fujimori put into
place emergency terrorist laws to eradicate terrorist groups such as El
Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path). He implemented a system of arbitrary
detainment and "faceless judges." Military and police authorities picked up
thousands of civilians. Some were never seen again. Others suffered severe
torture and were denied legal counsel. Often their families were threatened
in an effort to force them to "confess." The recommendations of the
commission involve bringing those responsible to justice, implementing
institutional reforms, providing reparations and exhuming the bodies from
more than 4,000 mass burial sites throughout the country. (Christian
Solidarity Worldwide)
POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN NEPAL LEADS TO SPIRITUAL OPENNESS
Maoist rebels continue to wreak havoc in the Himalayan country of Nepal this
week as the Hindu kingdom has been unable to create a stable government
since the massacre of the country's royal family three years ago. However,
an American missionary, unnamed for security reasons, says the unrest is
opening opportunities for Operation Mobilization to share the gospel as
people become increasingly disillusioned with their traditional religions.
"Buddhism and Hinduism have not brought them any satisfaction," he says.
"There are also factions among them, within their own communities, so all
that has been a failed system. I think what we're seeing is all the choices
are really narrowed down to just one thing left, and that's Jesus." (Mission
Network News)
BRITISH CHARITY LAUNCHES 'JESUS NOT A SWEAR WORD' CAMPAIGN
An innovative advertising campaign has been launched across North
Staffordshire, England, challenging people to stop swearing and misusing the
Lord's name in everyday language. The "Jesus not a swear word" campaign is
organized by the Saltbox Christian Centre, a Christian charity based in
Stoke-on-Trent that supports and encourages area churches. Saltbox Director
Lloyd Cooke said the main aim of this campaign is to "challenge people about
their use of language. We are aiming to be quite deliberately provocative.
We are also trying to promote religious tolerance. In today's society, many
people are concerned about offending other religions. Indeed, there would be
an outcry if people began to use Buddha or Mohammed as a swear word. To this
end, we are simply asking for a level playing field." The campaign was the
idea of local pastor, Philip Parsons. "We expect the advertising campaign to
be a talking point among people and to provoke people to ask questions that
would lead them to a personal experience of the reality of the Lord Jesus
Christ," Cooke said. (Religious Media Agency) |
Zprávy HCJB 10.6.2004
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