Rev. Carl Moeller, president of the persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA, says an estimated 200,000 Christians are imprisoned in North Korean labor camps where many face torture and execution. Escapees will testify this week at congressional hearings and demonstrations in Washington as part of North Korea Freedom Week. The goal, he says, is to appeal for prayer and international pressure on the communist regime. For the fourth year in a row, Open Doors has ranked North Korea as the worst violator of religious rights in the world. Moeller calls it “one large concentration camp with the entire population trapped in a nightmare that doesn’t end.” He urges American Christians in particular to pray for their fellow believers in North Korea. (AgapePress/Associated Press)

MALAYSIAN CHRISTIAN CONVERT TO APPEAL MUSLIM STATUS ON ID CARD

Malaysian believer Lina Joy recently won Federal Court permission to appeal the Malaysian government’s refusal to remove her Muslim status from her identity card after her conversion to Christianity. Joy, previously known as Azlina binti Jailani, converted to Christianity in 1990 and was granted a name change reflecting her new faith. However, her religious status was still listed as Muslim, disqualifying her from marrying a Christian, attaining Christian status for her children, or having a Christian burial. Her groundbreaking appeal, along with deciding her own fate and religious freedom, brings to issue whether Islamic courts have the sole right to decide cases of Muslims who leave their religion. In Malaysia conversion from Islam is considered apostasy and is punishable by fine or imprisonment. Many Malaysian Christians are forced to keep their faith secret and maintain the outward appearances of the Muslim faith. (Compass Direct)

UPDATE: BAIL GRANTED FOR FOUNDER OF MISSION BOARD IN INDIA

M.A. Thomas, 70, founder of New Delhi-based Emmanuel Mission International (EMI), was granted anticipatory bail on Friday, April 21. Thomas, who was forced to go into hiding more than two months ago because of threats from Hindu militants, has been charged with publishing a book that allegedly belittles Hindu gods. Several EMI members were arrested and held despite the mission’s denial of the charges. Soon after the arrests, Hindu extremists offered a $26,000 reward for the head of Thomas and a matching reward for his son, EMI President Samuel Thomas. At last word the government registration of EMI and associated ministries remained canceled, and their bank accounts continue to be frozen. The senior Thomas was awarded the Padam Shri, the highest civilian award in the country, in 2001. (Compass Direct)

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY SPEEDS DISTRIBUTION OF BIBLES IN ARAB WORLD

In many Muslim countries, it’s dangerous to even carry a Bible. That’s why the World Bible Translation Center’s Gary Bishop says the ministry is excited to be distributing the Arabic New Testament on CD. It’s usable on a computer, so it doesn’t have the appearance of carrying around the printed Bible. Staff members at the center are working on a second version of the CD with both text and audio versions of the Bible, making it easier to put in other digital media devices and reproduced. Bishop says there are great opportunities for this resource to use the technology. “This will make it more widely available to anyone in an Arabic-speaking country who wants to choose to listen to God’s Word. So many of them are curious right now, and it’s a perfect time to do that.” With unrest throughout the Muslim world, Bishop says the situation is primed for God to work through His Word. “Only the love of God and only His redeeming message of redemption and restoration of man to God and forgiveness and peace, will be the thing that changes those hearts. And so, we’re excited for the opportunity to get God’s Word there, to actually change the hearts of Islamic and Arabic people,” he said. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio reaches across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe with Christian Arabic programming aired via shortwave, satellite and local stations. The mission’s Arabic satellite network airs programs direct-to-home 24 hours a day. This region has the world’s highest concentration of personal satellite dishes.

BIBLE SOCIETY DELIVERS 50,000 GOSPELS OF JOHN TO NEEDY RWANDANS

The Bible Society New South Wales (NSW) in Australia announced the delivery of 50,000 copies of the Gospel of John in the Kinya-Rwandan language that were specially printed to support the “Hope Rwanda: 100 Days of Hope” project. This project, envisioned by musicians Mark and Darlene Zschech from Sydney’s Hillsong Church while on a missions trip in Africa, proposes to “mobilize the global community into action, bringing healing and hope to the people of Rwanda.” The project is in response to the 100 days of slaughter, genocide and violence in Rwanda in 1994 that left an estimated 800,000 people dead. Rwandans refer to this period as “the time the world forgot us.” Hope Rwanda is designed as an “unprecedented show of global compassion covering the same 100 days as the actual genocide.” (Bible Society NSW)

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