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The Bible League is counting the cost of the tsunami as it relates to its ministries in Asia. Asia Director Ronald Vandergriend said the ministry's church planters are safe, but the news is not good for small-group Bible studies in the region. "We haven't contacted all the Bible study leaders, but we have had reports that a pastor and his congregation of 64 were washed out to sea," he said. "A small-group children's Bible study group meeting on the beach were washed out to sea. In Sri Lanka, between 25 and 30 pastors have died, and their churches have been destroyed." National churches not affected are helping with immediate physical and spiritual assistance. "A lot of people are in shock," Vandergriend said. "Sometimes they're in such shock that they don't even know to go to the food distribution point. There are people reportedly just in the last couple of days that just stand still on the beach, hoping the waves will bring their kids back." (Mission Network News)

MISSIONARY RADIO HELPS WITH TSUNAMI RELIEF EFFORTS IN INDONESIA

While billions of dollars have been pledged for food, shelter and other essential needs following the devastating tsunami that hit on Sunday, Dec. 26, missionary radio is making a valuable contribution at the request of the Indonesian government. Gregg Harris of Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) says the ministry is helping this Muslim nation in three ways. "The first is we're sending a technical and programming team in to the region to enable local radio stations to function in the emergency. The second is we're distributing wind-up radios that don't need batteries. And the third is special programming and grief counseling that we're launching already." Harris says FEBC will be airing health programs that are aimed disseminating crucial information while sharing the gospel message. "The radios will literally be a lifeline for many of these people to find out where they can get food, water and shelter and other life-saving information." (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio has set up a Disaster Relief Fund and is working in partnership with Gospel for Asia and others to minister to disaster victims. Dennis Adams, director of the Asia Pacific region, said the shortwave station operated by HCJB World Radio-Australia is sending out special programming to encourage victims. HCJB World Radio worked with local Indonesian partners to establish local Christian stations in Sumba Island and Kupang, West Timor, with help from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind. Plans are also being made to establish a station on Roti Island.

CHRISTMAS EVE ATTACKS IN INDIA HOSPITALIZE PRIEST, CHRISTIAN DRIVER

An Orthodox priest in India needed 17 stitches after being attacked at the altar of his church on Christmas Eve. Rev. Saji Abraham was preparing to conduct a service at St. Thomas Orthodox Church, Banswara, Rajasthan, when three men attacked him with metal rods. The priest fell down under the force of the blows, suffering heavy bleeding from injuries to his head. When he regained consciousness, he called church members for help on his mobile phone. He was taken to the hospital where he was last reported to be in critical condition. On the same day Robinson Joseph, a Christian driver in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, was reportedly attacked when he asked for a salary advance to celebrate Christmas. He was doused with gasoline and set on fire. He was admitted to a local hospital with burns to 26 percent of his body. The All India Christian Council (AICC) took up his case with the local police. The accused had fled the scene. Joseph D'Souza, president of the All India Christian Council, said, "I want to express my deep concern and sorrow for this type of persecution against Christians and other minorities that continues across the nation of India. Despite a new and secular government elected in 2004, we maintain our outcry against the activities of extreme Hindutva followers who insist on inciting violence. The All India Christian Council stands by those who have been attacked and will do everything within our power to bring justice in these situations." (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

COPTIC CHRISTIANS IN EGYPT CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS AMID TENSIONS

The head of the Coptic Church in Egypt celebrated Christmas Friday, Jan. 7, in accordance with the Orthodox calendar. Speaking in Cairo's towering Abbasiya Cathedral, Pope Shenouda III spoke a message of peace to about 2,000 members belonging to one of the world's oldest Christian denominations. The audience included the U.S. ambassador, leading government ministers and Gamal Mubarak, son of Egypt's president. His Christmas message touched on the need for peace in the Palestinian territories, in Iraq and in Sudan where thousands of refugees have fled the war-ravaged region of Darfur. Shenouda did not directly address issues confronting his own community, a Christian minority in Muslim majority Egypt where many Coptic Christians claim they face discrimination. Last month authorities detained 34 young Coptic Christians during several days of protests at Abbasiya Cathedral. (WorldWide Religious News/Associated Press)

SIM-RELATED CHURCHES IN LIBERIA MEET FOR ANNUAL CONVENTION

Delegates from SIM-related churches across the West African country of Liberia participated in the Evangelical Church Union of Liberia (ECUL) National Convention Nov. 25-29, 2004. The "Stand Firm and Move Forward" conference was held on the grounds of the ELWA radio and hospital ministries in Monrovia, Liberia. Seminars on HIV/AIDS and the holistic development of the church in Liberia reflected the terrible conditions prevalent in Liberia following years of war. New members were welcomed into ECUL and national initiatives were planned for the future. Devotionals and worship times were held throughout the convention, culminating in a joint worship service with ECUL delegates and the International Church of Monrovia. SIM's role in the conference included the keynote address and closing sermon by the Rev. John H. Stevens. (SIM)

* HCJB World Radio works in partnership with ELWA, a ministry founded by SIM in Monrovia in 1954, to air the gospel across the country and West Africa. The radio station was destroyed twice by civil war, first in 1990 and again in 1996. ELWA most recently went back on the air in 1997 with a small FM transmitter. Then in 2000 HCJB World Radio provided a low-power shortwave transmitter, again enabling the station to cover the entire region. ELWA broadcasts the gospel in 10 languages and plans to add more as resources become available.

POLL: YOUNG CANADIANS SHOW RENEWED INTEREST IN ATTENDING CHURCH

More Canadians, especially young people, are sitting in church pews these days, says Reginald Bibby, one of Canada's best-known pollsters on religion. And all the groups from Protestant to Roman Catholic to non-traditional are showing "important signs of new life." Attendance is up by as much as "4 or 5 percentage points" since the late 1990s, said the University of Lethbridge sociologist who recently published the book, Restless Churches. Lots of people are hurting, struggling to find meaning and worried about their kids, he said. In a survey that Bibby completed in 2003, 26 percent of Canadians said they attended religious services about once a week, up 5 percent from a similar poll in 2000. Bibby attributes the trend to higher church attendance, especially among young people, to churches' doing a "better job of ministering" to them. For example, churches are moving away from spectator-style services to participatory worship, adding daycare facilities and producing more visually driven materials for Sunday schools. In a national survey of youth aged 15 to 19, those passing through a church door on a weekly basis fell to 18 percent in 1992, but rose to 22 percent in 2000 -- a surprise for Bibby who expected the number would continue to drop. Whether the return to religion among Canadians is permanent won't be known for 10 to 15 years, he said. "It's very embryonic. At least at a minimum . . . things have halted as far as the decline (in regular attendance)." (Canadian Press/WorldWide Religious News)

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