Government officials in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, ordered eight house churches in the Rancaekek Kencana housing complex to cease meeting in private homes starting Sunday, Jan. 15. Each church received the order by letter last Friday following a meeting on Thursday, Jan. 12, attended by local government officials, police, the commander of the local military and the leader of a local Muslim forum. Several of the churches met for worship last Sunday despite the order, saying they had no alternative venue. The churches first applied for permits in 1993 but were rejected. Under a ministerial decree issued in 1969, all religious groups must apply for permits. Since neighbors must give their approval before a permit is granted, the decree is a significant obstacle for churches meeting in the predominantly Muslim communities. (Compass)

HINDU EXTREMISTS IN INDIA ATTACK CHRISTIANS AT BUS STOP, HOUSE

Hindu extremists attacked Christians in two incidents in Andhra Pradesh state on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 12-13. Seven Christians, including two pastors, sustained injuries. In the Nizamabad district on Thursday a mob of about 100 extremists attacked a group of Christians led by the pastor of a Pentecostal church as they distributed Christian pamphlets near a bus stop. Police intervened before they could burn the pastor alive. On Friday in the same district, members of Hindu extremist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh dragged five people from a 5-year-old girl’s birthday party and beat them. Among the victims was Pastor Nagani Swami David who was kicked unconscious and left at a Hindu temple. (Compass)

* Radio programs in 12 languages (English, Urdu, Hindi, Nepali, Chattisgarhi, Bangla, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telegu, Marwari, Marathi and Santhali) air to India from HCJB World Radio-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra. The programs are produced at the ministry’s studios in New Delhi, India.

GROWING ANTI-AMERICAN SENTIMENT IN PAKISTAN CONCERNS CHRISTIANS

Tensions have boiled over due to a U.S.-led missile strike Friday, Jan. 13, that went awry in Pakistan where officials say the CIA mission in question apparently missed its target, killing 13 civilians and possibly several top al-Qaeda operatives.

In a demonstration earlier today, about 8,000 Islamic hardliners protested the attack that targeted al-Qaeda leaders in a Pakistani village, chanting their support for holy war and burning an effigy of President George W. Bush. Protesters marched from two mosques to the center of the northwestern city of Peshawar, chanting “Death to America” and “Jihad is our way.”

Reports say the strike undermined the goodwill cultivated by U.S. relief in the wake of October’s earthquake. With anti-American sentiment rising, Christians could see trouble. Voice of the Martyrs’ Todd Nettleton says radical Muslims identify Christianity as a Western religion.

“Christians become sort of an acceptable target to reflect that anger against the West because they identify Christianity as being a Western religion. So if you can’t attack Westerners, and you can’t attack America, who can you attack? Well, the church down the street -- that’ll have to do.” Nettleton says churches have responded with caution since the attacks. (Mission Network News/Associated Press)

* HCJB World Radio sent two medical teams from Ecuador to Pakistan following the Oct. 8, 2005, earthquake that left tens of thousands dead and thousands more injured and homeless. Staff members helped SIM International with relief efforts.

SURVEY: CONGREGANTS LESS COMMITTED TO GOD THAN PASTORS BELIEVE

Two new national surveys conducted by the Barna Group indicate that there is a gap between the perception of pastors and the reality of people’s devotion to God. While interviewing 627 Protestant pastors, the Barna study discovered that pastors believe a large majority of their congregants deem their faith in God to be the highest priority in their life. On average, pastors contend that 70 percent of the adults in their church consider their personal faith in God to transcend all other priorities. In contrast, 1,002 adults were asked the same question about their top priority in life, but only 15 percent placed their faith in God at the top of their priority list. (Religion Today)

* WAODANI BAPTIZED WHERE MISSIONARIES WERE SLAIN 50 YEARS AGO

Christian believers of the once-feared Waodani Indians were baptized in Ecuador’s Curaray River exactly 50 years after their forebears speared to death five missionaries attempting to reach the tribe with the gospel.

Ten young people were immersed by Waodani church leaders on Sunday, Jan. 8. The baptisms were accompanied by choruses of “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” sung by 200 onlookers. Alternating between Spanish and Waodani, the crowd earlier sang in English and languages indigenous to Ecuador -- Quichua, Shuar and Cofán.

A Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) plane circled overhead briefly during the two-hour service at Tońampari in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest. The baptisms took place on the opposite shore near the beach where Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint and Roger Youderian were killed on Jan. 8, 1956, by the Waodani (then known by the Quichua term “Auca,” meaning “savage”). The Indians later recounted that they believed the outsiders to be cannibals.

One baptismal candidate had received Christ through Tementa whose father, Nenquiwui “George,” had misinformed the tribe about the missionaries’ intentions, leading to their martyrdom. Tementa was later instrumental in helping translators produce the Waodani New Testament.

Two aging Waodani from the raiding party in 1956, Dyuwi and Kimo, attended the baptisms, as did family members of the missionary martyrs. Christian communion followed the baptisms with morsels of ripe plantain and fruit drink used as the elements.

Ken Fleming, 79, traveled from Iowa for the Sunday service and the 2˝-day Waodani conference earlier. Upon meeting Kimo, the two embraced and got acquainted through a translator. In 1956 Fleming was teaching the Zulus of South Africa when he learned of his brother’s death. Amid the loss, his missionary work continued.

“Kimo, we now know, is the man who definitely speared my brother,” Fleming said later. “It’s just been an absolute delight for me to see the glow of Christ in his face. He and his wife, Dawa, are leaders in the church and have gone on well for the Lord.”

Summarizing Waodani culture before the introduction of the gospel, Kimo said, “We had killings day after day, week after week, and year after year. Now things are different.” His comments were translated to Spanish, then to English.

Warmth and friendship also characterized conversations between the Waodani and missionary Bert Elliot, 81, whose brother was killed. He traveled from Trujillo, Peru, with his wife, Colleen, 78, a foster son and another missionary. “I think that forgiveness for others comes with the knowledge of our own forgiveness before God,” Elliot said. Since 1949 the Elliots have served with a mission agency called Christian Missions in Many Lands (CMML).

Of the transformation that began in the Waodani with the five missionaries’ deaths, former Wycliffe anthropologist Jim Yost used a metaphor. “Satan takes a big rock and slams it into a pool of quiet water, hoping for destruction,” said Yost, known as Wadika among the Waodani. Having lived with them on and off since 1973, he said he’s enjoyed the privilege of experiencing firsthand the resulting ripples that reflect God’s light, joy, beauty and love.

“These are some of the most beautiful people on earth,” Yost told his audience. “I love them.”

Other martyrs’ family members were also there, including a couple from Montana with ties to both Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, and the grandson of Nate Saint.

Saint’s sister, Rachel Saint, worked among the Waodani until her death of cancer in 1994. She is buried in Tońampari -- home to the elderly Dayuma who as a teenager fled the violence. Dayuma later translated Waodani phrases that the five missionaries used in the attempted friendly contact, and afterwards served as a valuable liaison for the peaceful entry of Rachel and Elisabeth into the Waodani area.

Retired Wycliffe missionaries Bub Borman and Don Johnson recalled their part in a hasty burial of their friends days after the killings. They were thrilled to see what God has done among the Waodani. An Argentine Bible institute director traveled from Ukraine for the event, called “Conference of Thanksgiving,” which culminated with the baptisms. CMML missionary Lloyd Rogers said the Waodani initiated the event, and his staff helped implement the plans.

A church leader, Kawi, reminded the crowd at the riverside of a sixth martyr killed by the Waodani. Accounts during the conference told how Tońa (the village later was later named for him) intended to reach out in Christian love to rival Waodani living downriver in the mid-1960s. He too was killed, but the descendants of that downriver group were among the crowd. “We’ll continue to see results of that fruit of what Tońa did and what the five [missionary martyrs] did,” Kawi said.

Waodani came by canoe and on foot from half a dozen villages, some walking for three days. Conference speakers spoke pointedly to the third generation since Christianity entered the tribe, challenging teens about their lukewarm response to Jesus Christ.

Preaching from the Gospel of Matthew, Dyuwi’s son, Pegonka, said that “possessing a Bible or being baptized alone” does not constitute salvation. At the baptisms days later, Rogers echoed this, calling baptism an “important step” following one’s decision to receive Christ as Savior.

Another conference speaker said youth must learn to read the Scriptures in Waodani, not just in Spanish. The first New Testament in Waodani, translated by Rosie Jung and Catherine Peeke of Wycliffe, was dedicated in 1992. Some Old Testament stories also have been translated.

Concerns also surfaced for the salvation of the Taromenane and the Tagaeri -- small hostile groups of Waodani who still have not heard the gospel. (HCJB World Radio)

© Copyright 2006 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA