A week after riots forced the evacuation of Christian Reformed missionaries from northern Nigeria, the team is home and back to work. At the peak of the riots, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee missionaries Larry and Rose van Zee of Pella, Iowa, Dave and Jan Dykgraaf, of Grand Rapids, Mich., along with staff member Jeremiah Yongo and 12 Nigerian Christian families fled their homes amid the threats. After meeting with Muslim officials, the believers returned to their ministry sites in Niger state on Tuesday, March 7. Local authorities promised to take action against the rioters and invited the believers to come back. Officials also promised to arrest those involved in burning a Christian Reformed Church last week and to compensate the members for the loss of church property. (Mission Network News)

* 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.

GROUP OF 15 HINDU EXTREMISTS ASSAULT PASTOR IN INDIA

Christian Solidarity Worldwide recently met with a pastor in Hyderabad in southeastern India’s Andhra Pradesh state who was brutally assaulted by Hindu extremists on Tuesday, Feb. 28, resulting in his hospitalization. The attack on Pastor Lavete Jacob occurred when a group of about 15 Hindu extremists entered the family home in which a birthday celebration was taking place, locked the doors and began to beat him with sticks. He sustained a head injury and broken ribs during the assault which lasted 20 minutes. Jacob’s wife and daughters and the girl celebrating her birthday were beaten while trying to defend him. The attackers tore down Christian posters, stole Bibles and told their victims they should leave the vicinity. A complaint was lodged with the police who arrested five men. All were subsequently released on bail. (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

ANTI-CONVERSION PUSH IN INDIA CALLED ‘EVIDENCE OF GOSPEL’S SUCCESS’

In a campaign against the conversion of Hindus to Christianity, militant Hindu leaders mounted a major gathering in February in northwestern India’s Gujarat state, the scene of many violent attacks on Christians and Muslims in recent years. A worker there called that campaign “evidence of success” for the spread of the gospel in India. The three-day “Shabari Kumbh Mela” attracted more than 400,000 Hindus to the event in an area that is home to 60,000 tribal Christians. Billed as a “worship gathering,” the event raised major concerns among Indian Christians who saw it as an attempt to intimidate tribal believers into “reconverting” to Hinduism. The official event ended peacefully, but “now is when the real persecution begins,” said a Christian observer. “If we would do our job and take the gospel to these places and give people a viable option, we would see the masses of people turn,” he said. “This is harvest time in India. We need to be bold.” (Evangelical News/Baptist Press)

* 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.

LAWYER PETITIONS FOR IRANIAN CHRISTIAN’S EARLY RELEASE

The lawyer representing Iranian Christian prisoner Hamid Pourmand has petitioned for his early release from Tehran’s Evin Prison this month during Iran’s annual prisoners’ amnesty. Hundreds of Iranian prisoners are released each year between Feb. 11 and March 21, the anniversaries of the 1989 Iranian revolution and the Iranian New Year respectively. “We don’t know how the authorities will respond to this appeal,” an Iranian Christian in contact with Pourmand’s lawyer said. Prison officials have reportedly stopped pressuring Pourmand to recant his Christian faith and return to Islam in the past four months. “But on the other hand,” the Iranian said, “they have said nothing to Pourmand indicating that he might be considered for early release.” Pourmand was arrested on Sept. 8, 2004, during a security police raid on an Assemblies of God church conference and was found guilty of deceiving the Iranian military by concealing his conversion from Islam to Christianity. Iranian law prohibits any non-Muslim from exercising authority over a Muslim. (Compass)

‘STORY OF JESUS FOR CHILDREN’ FILM TO BROADCAST ACROSS BULGARIA

Campus Crusade for Christ and the Jesus Film Project are gearing up for an evangelistic event in Bulgaria that will allow thousands to see and hear the gospel nationwide. “Starting on March 24 we’ll be showing projections of ‘The Story of Jesus for Children’ in the 10 largest cities in Bulgaria,” said Campus Crusade Country Director Scott Gill. “Prior to that there will be an advertising campaign that will include hundreds of television commercials on the national channels, as well as using radio, posters, billboards and a special postcard [that will be sent] in every home in Bulgaria.” On Easter Sunday, April 16, the film will be aired on the country’s most-watched television station. The film retells the gospel account of Jesus through the eyes of children. “It’s never been done on this scale before,” Gill said. “We’ve done citywide campaigns, but this is the first time anybody’s ever tried to do a whole nation at once.” (Mission Network News)

DEATH PENALTY FEARED FOR CHINESE RELIGIOUS LEADER

There is mounting international concern about the fate of Chinese religious leader Xu Shuangfu who is awaiting a verdict amid growing fears that a death sentence will be passed. Also known as Xu Wenku, he heads Three Grades of Servants, a controversial religious group with about 500,000 members in China. He and more than 15 other group members were tried from Feb. 28 to March 3 by the Shuangyashan Intermediate Court in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province. Government sources reportedly said that Xu and at least three co-defendants will be sentenced to death if found guilty of murdering leaders of the Eastern Lightning cult and defrauding group members of money. Evidence emerged at the trial that severe torture and sexual abuse had been used against the defendants to extract confessions. A number of local leaders from Xu’s group already have been sentenced to death, although the decisions have not been approved by the People’s Supreme Court. Uncertainty remains as to whether the death sentences have been carried out. (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

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