Car bombs exploded outside at least six Christian churches in Iraq Sunday, Jan. 29, killing three people and wounding more than 17 others in a coordinated attack timed to coincide with evening prayers. “We are expecting a huge number of casualties,” said an Interior Ministry source.

In Baghdad three car bombs exploded outside two churches and the nearby Vatican embassy building in eastern Baghdad within 20 minutes. Officials also reported blasts near two additional churches in Baghdad as well as two churches in the northern city of Kirkuk. There are also unconfirmed reports of two churches being attacked in Mosul.

Omar Hussein, 25, a metalworker near the scene of a blast at the Armenian church in central Baghdad, said the attacks were “aimed at creating strife between Christians, Shi’ites, Sunnis and others, nothing more, nothing less.”

The attacks were the first to target Christian churches during the 15-month insurgency. In late 2004 more than a dozen Christians were killed and several sanctuaries were heavily damaged in church bombings. But since then, few attacks had been aimed at Christians.

Many believers have fled Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Christians account for less than 3 percent of Iraq’s population. (WorldWide Religious News/New York Times/Reuters/AFP/Assist News Service)

MINISTRY CONTINUES AMID EXODUS OF CHRISTIANS FROM MIDDLE EAST

Many Christians are leaving the Middle East because of lack of religious freedom and biblical education while violence continues to increase. The Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB) confirms a “vast exit of Christians [from the region]. Just the harassment, the persecution, (legally and socially, has somewhat weakened the established church,” said IMB President Jerry Rankin. “But we’re still seeing a harvest and people coming to faith in Jesus Christ. New believers in these areas are strong. They’re coming into the Christian faith and embracing faith in Jesus Christ with a passion and witness that is going to continue to make an impact.” While people are embracing Christianity in these areas, the exodus has made it difficult for ministry. “We’re very committed to an indigenous strategy that is contingent on training and discipling national leadership to lead the churches,” Rankin said. (Mission Network News)

CHILD DIES AS HINDU MOB ATTACKS CHRISTIAN ORPHANAGE IN INDIA

An angry mob attacked a Christian orphanage in Tindole in northern India’s Rajasthan state Thursday, Jan. 26, stoning one of the children to death in the rampage. About 100 abandoned children and orphans along with pastors Mangilal and Gopal were in the home at the time of the attack, reported Bishop M.A. Thomas, founder of Hopegivers International which operates the orphanage. The two pastors and about 30 of the children escaped and took refuge in the homes of Christian believers in the area. The remaining 70 children were still in the orphanage which was under siege by the militants at press time. Thomas said he was responding to the violence by sending a team of four more missionaries from Hopegivers’ Emmanuel Seminary in Kota. They are bringing emergency aid to help care for the wounded. The attackers demanded that the Christians revert to Hinduism. (Assist News Service)

CHRISTIAN FILM FESTIVAL IN RUSSIA TO ADDRESS SOCIAL ISSUES

HIV/AIDS, drug and alcohol abuse, children at risk and crime are all issues that concern the people of Russia today. Sergey Rakhuba, vice president of Russian Ministries, says that may explain the surprisingly positive response to an upcoming film festival that addresses these social issues. Russian Ministries is one of the sponsoring organizations for the 10-day “Moral Values Film Festival” that begins on Friday, March 31. “I was surprised to see some top officials at the press conference supporting this idea, offering resources to help in organizing this film festival,” Rakhuba said. The purpose of the event is to “present social movies -- especially movies that are made by Christian moviemakers -- to emphasize and promote biblical Christian human values in a Russian society.” Up to 35,000 young people are expected to attend the festival in St. Petersburg and Moscow. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio reaches across Russia with a variety of radio ministries. The mission began sending gospel broadcasts across the country via shortwave in 1941, first from Quito, Ecuador, and in recent years from the U.K. In the early 1990s the ministry began “planting” local radio ministries in Russia and now works with partners nationwide. In 2000 HCJB World Radio helped launch New Life Radio, the first Christian Russian satellite radio network. More than 63 downlinks have been placed in more than 42 cities across Russia and neighboring countries.

NEW CYBER TOOL GIVES TIPS ON WRITING TESTIMONIES, WITNESSING TO OTHERS

A cutting-edge cyber tool for Christians that helps them both write and share their testimony is available at www.sharingthefaith.com. The website was unveiled at the Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association’s “Strength to Stand” conference in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., Jan. 15-17, attended by more than 7,000 students. The website gives step-by-step directions on how to write out a testimony and offers tips on leading others to Christ. “I’m amazed every time I hear the statistics about how many Christians believe it is important to share the faith, but how few of them actually do it,” Dawson stated in a news release. “I believe part of the disconnect is that many Christians have never learned how to put into words precisely what it is they do believe.” (Assist News Service)

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