*Tato a další zprávy jsou v originální anglické verzi zde.

In two recent incidents, Gospel for Asia (GFA) missionaries in India were attacked and beaten. Last Friday, November 19, a mob stormed GFA missionary Budhudas’ home in North India and dragged him outside. While a mob mercilessly beat and kicked him, others ransacked his home and burned more than 200 New Testaments, other ministry-related literature and his son’s schoolbooks. They also stole money from the family. A local police official’s son tried to stop the mob, but was beaten as well. His father rushed to the area and stopped the beatings. Under pressure from the mob, the police officer asked Budhudas to leave the village immediately. Joined by his wife and children, Budhudas fled the area for shelter. In an earlier incident, a traveling evangelistic team lead by GFA missionary Sandeep was attacked while working in a village of Orissa, India and severely beaten. (Gospel for Asia)

BIBLE SOCIETIES DISTRIBUTE 10,000 BIBLES IN CHINESE PROVINCES

Rev. Daniel Willis, CEO of Bible Society NSW (New South Wales), and Rev. Roger Chilton, chairman of Bible Society in Australia, recently returned from a two-week visit to four Chinese provinces, Sichuan, Liaoning, Xian and Henan. “Traveling with a team of Australians, we handed out 10,000 Bibles to church leaders and members of their congregations. All the Bibles had been printed by the Amity Printing Company – a joint venture partnership with the United Bible Societies (UBS),” explained Willis. “We were amazed at the response we received. In some villages, we were welcomed with street parades, singing and dancing. The hospitality of these very poor people was extraordinary.” During the two-week visit, progress also was made with the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the Beijing Religious Affairs Bureau and the Beijing Christian Council in providing Christian material for the 2008 Olympics. (Bible Society NSW)

AUSTRALIAN RADIO NETWORK NEARS 200 RELAY STATIONS

For the first time, people in four communities of Queensland and Western Australia, and more people in the South Australian city of Whyalla, can now tune in to Vision Christian Radio thanks to new transmitters in each location. With the launch of these five new communities, there are now 194 Vision relay stations on air nationwide, including 52 in Western Australia, 15 in South Australia, 13 in Victoria, three in Northern Territory, 31 in New South Wales and 80 in Queensland. (UCB Australia)

PASTORS AND BUSINESS LEADERS TRAINED IN KAZAKHSTAN

Nearly 1,800 pastors and church leaders received the training they need to become better equipped to reach many with the gospel at a recent conference in Kazakhstan. Christians came from all over the country, but also from 10 other surrounding nations, including China and Mongolia. Jonathan Shibley with Global Advance just returned from Kazakhstan. Shibley says this was more than just a pastors conference. "In addition to equipping pastors, we had what we believe is the first ever Christian business leader's conference where business men and women came from several nations to be equipped and encourage and challenged to use their business as a platform for the Great Commission." Shibley says this answers a crying need for evangelism abroad. "And, that's the need to raise up indigenous Christian men and women who can be vital for spreading the gospel through commerce and also be those in the future who can be the ones who fund the local church efforts there and the sending out of missionaries." (Mission Network News)

MERCY SHIPS SETS RECORD FOR LONGEST ONBOARD SURGERY

A record has been set by volunteer surgeons working with Mercy Ships, but the record is unlikely to find its way into the Guinness Book of Records. As the Mercy Ship Anastasis began its latest outreach in the tiny West African nation of Benin this month, a two-day surgery resulted in a man in his thirties gaining the record for the longest ever surgery onboard. Four surgeons worked on the man's disfigured face for 19 hours, from 9 a.m. one day until 4 a.m. the following morning. The man was one of more than 200 selected by medical personnel for facial, general and plastic surgery. Another 200 were chosen for eye surgery during the four-month visit to Benin. As well as providing onboard medical care, volunteers will be involved in a range of healthcare, educational and developmental projects in the country before the ship sails to Liberia next March. (Mercy Ships)

© Copyright 2004 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA - btc@hcjb.org

The Speaker of the Parliament of Mongolia publicly praised Christian radio station WIND FM when giving his address to the nation during the country's recent Independence Day celebrations. The speaker thanked WIND FM for consistently striving to uplift the people of Mongolia with its programming and other off-air activities. The high-ranking government official also expressed his support for the campaign that WIND FM is promoting this year - "the Nine Virtues of the Mongolian" -- based on the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. On the same day, the station covered the National Prayer Day in which more than 1,000 believers gathered to pray for the nation. WIND FM, affiliated with Far East Broadcasting Co., began broadcasting in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar in 2001. (Religious Media Agency)

CHURCH LEADERS IN INDIA FEAR RESURGENCE OF HINDU NATIONALISM

India's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in an effort to regain federal power in India, is reverting to its anti-minority political platform of Hindu nationalism. If implemented, Christians and Muslims could face a backlash of Hindu extremism. In a speech last week to BJP leaders, L.K. Advani, who was once subpoenaed by a court for his involvement in the demolition of a mosque, called the party a "chosen instrument of the divine." He also termed the conversion of tribal peoples to Christianity and Buddhism as "fraudulent." Hindu orators have unleashed a series of sermons against Christian thought and mission work in rural villages. Church leaders fear that this renewed hate campaign -- with the blessing of Advani's BJP -- will lead to more conflict. (Compass)

3 ORTHODOX PRIESTS ARRESTED AS PERSECUTION CONTINUES IN ERITREA

Reports indicated that three Orthodox priests in the East African country of Eritrea have been detained since the third week of November. Dr. Futsum Gebrenegus, Eritrea's only psychiatrist, Dr. Tekeleab, a general practitioner, and Rev. Gebremebhin are all Orthodox priests involved in the renewal movement within the Orthodox Church. Eritrean security forces have raided dozens of homes and have arrested hundreds of Christians, including young children, simply for having a Bible or attending a Christian meeting since the government banned Orthodox, Evangelical Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches. An estimated 400 Christians remain in prison, many having served more than two years. (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

ACCURACY IN MEDIA FOUNDER REED IRVINE DIES AT AGE 82

Reed Irvine, a conservative icon, died in Rockville, Md., Tuesday, Nov. 16, after nearly four decades of activist work in Washington, D.C. He was 82. Cliff Kincaid, who works for the Accuracy in Media think tank, said Irvine left a legacy that changed the media landscape. He called Irvine a defender of truth who was ahead of his time and "took out stock in the major media companies so he could go to the annual meetings and ask the top brass embarrassing questions about their journalists and their coverage." One of Irvine's greatest accomplishments was the founding of Accuracy in Media, Kincaid said. "He pursued the truth." (AgapePress/New York Times)

UKRAINIAN CHRISTIANS TRUST GOD IN FACE OF POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY

While political uncertainty has reigned in Ukraine since the country's Supreme Court put off the inauguration of a new president until after it has a chance to rule on election corruption charges, Joel Griffith of Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) says local Christians are trusting God regardless of the results. "Their position is basically that God is sovereign," he said. "God is in control, and whoever is elected to the presidency, believers will be focused on their main goal -- preaching the gospel." Griffith says it's important for believers everywhere to keep praying about the political situation in Ukraine. "Things can sometimes change overnight, and that's why it's so urgent to support the churches right now in their ministry in getting the gospel out and taking the opportunity that God has given us in this window to be able to do as much as we can to help these churches." SGA operates a regional ministry center near Kiev. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with local churches to establish radio ministries in Kiev and four other cities in Ukraine. Stations in three Ukrainian cities are also affiliated with New Life Radio, a Russian satellite radio network started with HCJB World Radio's help in 2000. In addition, daily programs air to Ukraine via shortwave.

MIDDLE EAST CHURCHES KEEP GROWING IN SPITE OF REGIONAL TENSIONS

As tensions persist in the Middle East following the death of Yasser Arafat, Conservative Baptist International (CBI) continues to train Christian leaders in countries across the region. With theological education centers in Lebanon and Jordan, Christian leaders from many Middle East countries come to learn how to be effective in their ministries and grow their churches. CBI's Hans Finzel said that while tension is present in the Middle East, there's also a general sense of calm and a new possibility of progress toward peace in the region. "The few areas that are hotspots are all we hear about in the media," he said. "One thing that's interesting in the Middle East is that there are Christians on both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict. That's a unique challenge . . . God is growing His church on both sides of that conflict." (Mission Network News)

© Copyright 2004 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA - btc@hcjb.org