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

The Christmastime distribution of 54,000 New Testaments in the Turkish cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir resulted in mixed reactions among residents while attracting the attention of the local media, reported Turkish World Outreach. One newspaper reported that, "Models are giving out New Testaments in Istanbul." Another stated, "New Testaments are being given out on the streets!" Police went from being the main opponents to helping hand out New Testaments and keeping copies for themselves, reported the correspondent at the ministry's Alo Dua Prayer Center in Istanbul. While some media reports criticized the distribution, "People are realizing that New Testament distribution and being a Christian is possible -- and normal -- in this nation," the correspondent said. "The streets were full of talk about the New Testaments, and people were reading them." On Sunday Jan 9, about 70 Turkish nationalists were shouting Islamic chants outside the prayer center. "The Alo Dua signs were pulled down, and a window was broken," the correspondent said. "Some reporters have been waiting outside the prayer center for several days. . . . A television station filmed one of our prayer meetings without our permission, and it was shown on national TV news three consecutive nights." (Assist News Service)

CAMBODIA CLOSES BORDERS TO MONTAGNARDS FLEEING VIETNAM

Hundreds of Montagnards have fled Vietnam for Cambodia in recent years in an effort to escape ongoing persecution by the Vietnamese government, but that option is no longer available for them. Cambodia has closed its northeastern border with Vietnam to halt the flow of asylum seekers. That decision "comes amidst alarming new reports of mass arrests, torture and increasing persecution of Montagnard Christians," reported Human Rights Watch. Montagnards are indigenous people from Vietnam's central highlands. Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division said, "The Vietnamese government's mistreatment of these people continues unabated. Instead of closing its borders to asylum seekers, the Cambodian government should be working with the U.N. refugee agency to provide sanctuary to people escaping torture and arbitrary arrest." A Montagnard Foundation video containing interviews with Montagnard captives reportedly confirms reports of torture and persecution. The foundation said its officials are calling on the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to protect the Montagnard refugees in Cambodia and ensure that they are not forcibly deported to Vietnam. (Assist News Service)

* HCJB World Radio, in cooperation with Campus Crusade for Christ, worked with a local partner to plant Cambodia's first Christian radio station in 1998. New Life Radio in the capital city of Phnom Penh broadcasts the gospel in Cambodian and English.

MILITANT MUSLIMS KILL ANOTHER CHRISTIAN IN NIGERIA'S PLATEAU STATE

More violence broke out in the central Nigerian state of Plateau on Wednesday, Dec. 29, when Muslim militants attacked a village, killing Christian community leader Davou Bulle and critically injuring his wife and son. Assailants shot Bulle in the chest as he and his family were returning from their farm. The attack came just weeks after the federal government lifted a six-month state of emergency imposed on the state. Police arrested eight suspects in the attack, all Muslims. Three years of religious violence in Plateau have left more than 10,000 people dead, the majority of them Christians. (Voice of the Martyrs/Compass)

AZERBAIJANI CHILD WITH CHRISTIAN NAME FINALLY GETS BIRTH CERTIFICATE

After months of waiting, authorities in Azerbaijan have agreed to issue a birth certificate to 19-month-old Luka Eyvazov. They had refused to register him because his parents had given him a Christian name (Luke). Authorities also apologized to Luka's parents "for making us wait and suffer for so long." Without a birth certificate, Luka would not be able to go to school, get treatment in a hospital or travel abroad. Officials would not comment on whether they would register the birth of any other child with a Christian name. (Voice of the Martyrs/Forum 18 News Service)

NIGERIAN CHRISTIANS SLAM GOVERNMENT REPORT ON RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE

Christian leaders in northern Nigeria say a report released in December by the government of Kano state "grossly underreports" the number of Christians killed by Muslim militants last year. The report states that 84 people died in religious clashes in Kano in 2004. Methodist Bishop Foster Ekeleme, chairman of the Kano chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, places the death toll at closer to 3,000. "But let us not continue to argue about numbers," Ekeleme said. "Why should even one Christian be killed?" Religious violence in Kano was provoked by earlier clashes in the town of Yelwa, Plateau state. Those incidents claimed an estimated 350 lives. Meanwhile, intelligence forces have uncovered plans by Muslim militants in Kano to attack Christians and burn down churches in an effort to destabilize the government and force the observance of Islamic law. (Compass)

* HCJB World Radio, together with partners In Touch Ministries, SIM and the Evangelical Church of West Africa, began airing weekly half-hour programs to Nigeria in the Igbo language in 2000. In 2003 weekly broadcasts were added in two additional languages, Yoruba and Hausa. HCJB World Radio also has helped with radio ministries in six cities with more in the planning stages.

SLAVIC GOSPEL ASSOCIATION HELPS HEAL WOUNDS IN BESLAN, RUSSIA

The Orthodox Christmas, celebrated on Friday, Jan. 7, was especially hard this year in Beslan, Russia, the scene of a deadly terrorist school siege last September that left more than 350 people dead, many of them children. Joel Griffith of Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) says the ministry brought encouragement to local residents through an outreach program called Immanuel's Child. "We've seen over and over again just how not only effective these ministries are, just for the children themselves, but the children often come and talk to their parents about what happened. Sometimes the parents will even come with the children, and they are so moved by the love shown to their children that the church has a real open door to be able to minister." Griffith said he was surprised at the receptivity of the people. "The senior pastor there informed us that they were able to hold outreaches in North Ossetia where Beslan is and five other churches in a region that's largely Muslim. He told us that there was were a total of 2,261 children and 853 parents throughout these regions that were able to be a part of these ministries." (Mission Network News)

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