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Sixty members of Rema Charismatic Church in Asmara, Eritrea, in northeastern Africa have been arrested for holding a New Year's Eve celebration in the home of one of their church leaders. On the night of Friday, Dec. 31, police took into custody the hosts of the gathering, Habteab Oqbamichel and his wife Letensae, along with another 23 men and 35 women. They are reportedly being held in confinement at the Mai-Serwa military camp. Independent Protestant churches have experienced heavy police surveillance since the U.S. State Department named Eritrea as a "country of particular concern" for its religious freedom violations. BBC correspondent Jonah Fisher, who was expelled from Asmara in September, reported that the government seems to be "afraid that people who consider their highest allegiance to be to God at some point may not be patriotic and follow the state's instructions." (Compass)

COMPASSION SETS UP TSUNAMI DISASTER RELIEF FUND FOR VICTIMS IN

INDIA Compassion International has set up a disaster relief fund to help those affected by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami in the Asia Pacific region. Donations received through the Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund will help the ministry partner with other evangelical relief agencies to help disaster victims. The hardest hit area for Compassion was in India where at least three projects were affected. Communication Director Melissa Eiles said many Compassion-related families felt the impact of the disaster. "The [waves] came in incredibly quickly," she said. "More than 400 fishermen were swept away, and 25 of them were fathers of Compassion-assisted children. Those families are not only grieving the loss of their fathers, but their livelihood, and their homes have been destroyed. It's been very tough for this area of India." Staff members with Compassion India are traveling to the home of each child in affected areas to see if every family member is accounted for. Compassion's projects in Thailand and Indonesia were not affected by the disaster. (AgapePress)

* "The Voice of the Great Southland," the shortwave station operated by HCJB World Radio-Australia since January 2003, airs more than 108 hours of weekly Christian programming in 11 languages, including the following languages spoken in India: Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Nepali, Malayalam, Chattisgarhi, Hmar, Meeitei. Programs in these languages are produced at HCJB World Radio's studio in New Delhi.

PERUVIAN JUDGES UPHOLD PRISON TERM FOR EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN

A civilian court in Lima, Peru, has upheld the conviction of an evangelical Christian whose sentence on terrorism charges almost 12 years ago was overturned in 2003. On Monday, Dec. 27, a three-judge panel found former textile worker Walter Cubas, 41, guilty of "illicit terrorist association" and sentenced him to 16 years in prison. Prosecutors claimed that Cubas was a Shining Path sympathizer and alleged that he had painted the following words on a wall, "Yankees, go home from the Middle East." All other charges from the original case against him were dropped, including allegations that Cubas took part in a riot and that he was in possession of homemade explosives and a stolen pistol. Police claimed that Cubas killed an army soldier in 1992 and stole the pistol. Defense attorney Wuille Ruíz said he believes the judges ruled against Cubas because they did not want to be perceived as being "soft" on terrorists. "I continue to believe that Walter is innocent," Ruíz said. Despite his 16-year sentence, Cubas is eligible to apply for early release this month. (Compass)

MUSLIM YOUTH KILLED IN CLASHES REGARDING LOCAL CHURCH IN EGYPT

A Muslim youth was killed in recent clashes between Christians and Muslims in southern Egypt, prompted by a dispute regarding the building of a church in a predominantly Muslim town, police said Thursday, Dec. 30. Attorney General Maher Abdel Wahed has ordered the release of 10 of 21 Christians being held after at least 60 policemen were injured in clashes last month, judicial sources said. The deadly violence began after young Muslims in Minya province, 156 miles south of Cairo, suspected that Christian villagers wanted to demolish a home in the area and build a church in its place. The Muslims claimed the Christians were backtracking on a pledge last year not to proceed with the project and continue to use a church more than a mile away. They argued that the Christians did not need a church in the town because there were only 500 of them compared to 20,000 Muslims. Police said they made several arrests after the two sides attacked each other with rocks and sticks. Gunfire was also heard. (Middle East Online/WorldWide Religious News)

UKRAINIAN CHRISTIANS HOPE NEW PRESIDENT WILL INCREASE FREEDOMS

The rerun of Ukraine's presidential election Sunday, Dec. 26, appears to have gone smoothly, although the results, giving pro-West candidate Viktor Yushchenko the victory, may be contested in the country's Supreme Court. Greater Europe Mission's Rich Bonham says it's hard to say whether the election will result in increased religious freedom in Ukraine. "We know that Yushchenko has definitely had more leanings toward the West and possibly joining the European Union, and in general that means more freedom of religion within the country. That's what the hope is." During this time of uncertainty, Bonham said is he praying that "people would really be open to the gospel message." (Mission Network News)

RADIO, TV PLAY KEY ROLE IN BRINGING THOUSANDS OF IRANIANS TO CHRIST

The same country that introduced suicide bombing to the world is now turning to Christ, said Shah Afshar, Foursquare's regional coordinator for the Middle East, in an e-mail interview. After the country's Islamic revolution of the late 1970s, all foreign missionaries were expelled from Iran. "With the revolution came a mass exodus of almost 6 million Iranians to various countries around the world," Afshar explained. "It was there that for the first time many of these exiles were exposed to the gospel, and eventually a great number of them became followers of Jesus -- 50,000 by some estimates. It's because of these exiled believers and other faithful ones who never left Iran that (this) phenomenon is unfolding." Much of the evangelism of Muslims since the revolution in Iran itself has been done through shortwave radio and satellite television programs produced by Iranians who came to know Christ while outside their own country, Afshar said. "It was average everyday believers who evangelized these exiles -- not those trained in any formal programs." (Assist News Service)

* HCJB World Radio, in cooperation with FEBA Radio, broadcasts weekly Christian programs to Iran via shortwave in the Luri language. There are less than 100 known believers among the 4 million Luri speakers in Iran and Iraq.

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