An Alliance Church pastor and his wife died instantly when they were ambushed in Patonoling, Tupi, last weekend, reported the Philippine press. Timothy Ariao, 46, and Delia Juebas, 39, were traveling to a church gathering when they were ambushed by gunmen with automatic weapons. Although no one has claimed responsibility, Christian workers have been kidnapped or killed by Communist insurgents in the past. (Voice of the Martyrs)

ERITREAN MILITARY JAILS 75 PROTESTANT CONSCRIPTS FOR READING BIBLES

Military authorities jailed 75 Protestant Christians at the Sawa Military Training Camp in the East African country of Eritrea Wednesday, Feb. 1, for “reading Bibles and praying during their free time.” Local sources said most of the detainees were evangelicals, including 37 women, who were doing their compulsory national military service near Eritrea’s mountainous western border with Sudan. The 75 young conscripts put under “military detention and punishment” had not attempted to conduct any Christian meeting at Sawa or committed any other transgression of military law. “In Sawa, to possess your own Bible and keep your personal devotion and loyalty to Christ is not allowed,” an Eritrean Christian explained. “This is considered an act of Christian extremism.” (Compass)

FRANKLIN GRAHAM CONTINUES FATHER’S LEGACY WITH WORLDWIDE EVENTS

From Manila, Philippines, to Mobile, Ala., Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, continues to deliver the same message of hope as his father by holding eight “festivals” in five countries. When Billy Graham announced that his final crusade would take place in New York City in the summer of 2005, it signaled the end of the well-known public events led by one man, but it was hardly a pause in the ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). “We aren’t slowing down,” said Franklin Graham, BGEA’s president and chief executive officer. “In fact, 2006 will be one of our most active years of ministry.” A media release states that Graham will kick off the year’s activities with a festival in Manila, Philippines, Feb. 2-5 and conclude the year in Okinawa, Japan, Nov. 3-5. In March he will hold a Celebration of Hope for hurricane victims in New Orleans. In addition to heading the BGEA, Graham also leads the international relief organization Samaritan’s Purse. (Assist News Service)

NEW TREND SEES MORE BABY BOOMERS ENTERING MISSIONS

Jerry Rankin, president of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, says there’s an interesting development in the sociology of the Baby Boomer generation regarding missions. “We’re seeing a reverse trend. We had a great influx of missionaries in the 20 years post-World War II who have now reached retirement. Our actual retirement rates have been greatly reduced in the last 10 to 15 years.” Rankin also says this next group of missionaries want to invest their lives in something significant. “It is just a passion that is needed in our world today, and it’s kind of an attitude of ‘whatever it takes.’ I’m seeing God raise up a new generation of those who are going to finish the task.” Southern Baptists now have mission opportunities throughout the world that Rankin encouraged these new workers to seize. (Mission Network News)

JORDANIAN KING ADDRESSES CHRISTIANS AT U.S. NATIONAL PRAYER EVENTS

King Abdullah II of Jordan made history in Washington, D.C., Thursday, Feb. 2, as he addressed a gathering of thousands of evangelical Christians at the National Prayer Luncheon. He spoke after addressing about 3,000 people at the National Prayer Breakfast earlier that morning. Although he was not the first Muslim to speak at the luncheon, his role was bigger than that of his predecessors. At the National Prayer Breakfast, Abdullah appealed to the followers of the three monotheistic faiths -- Islam, Christianity and Judaism -- to confront extremism by “exploring the values that unite us, rather than exaggerating the misunderstandings that divide us.” He condemned acts of intolerance and called extremism a “political movement under religious cover [whose] adherents want nothing more than to pit us against each other, denying all that we have in common.” Abdullah also thanked believers for praying on behalf of his ailing father, King Hussein, at the National Prayer Breakfast in 1999 before he died. (Assist News Service/Evangelical News/Christian Newswire/AgapePress)

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