The creationist advocacy group Answers in Genesis (AiG) has announced the grand prize of a $50,000 scholarship to Liberty University for the winner of its "Research Paper Challenge 2007." Now in its second year, the contest is open to students aged 14-21 with a focus on AiG’s newest information packet called "Evolution Exposed." The contest is designed to help raise up a new generation of scripturally grounded defenders of the Christian faith. "Today’s public schools are saturated with evolutionary thinking and immorality," said AiG President Ken Ham, a popular speaker and radio host. "By showing youth the gaping holes in evolutionism and pointing to the Bible, we can help rescue this generation from doubt and purposelessness." The winner of the contest will receive a scholarship to Virginia’s 10,000-student Liberty College. The winner will be announced after the deadline on April 16, 2007. (Evangelical Press Association)

RADICALS IN INDIA HARASS PASTOR WHO REFUSES TO BOW TO HINDU GODS

A 50-year-old pastor in southwestern India’s Karnataka state was attacked by militant Hindus in his home at about 10 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21. The Hindu radicals forced their way into the pastor’s house, accusing the man of not bowing before the Hindu gods. The attackers loaded all the pastor’s possessions on a tractor and sent him to a police station nearly 20 miles from his church and residence in Kodambi. The officers who took him into custody refused to unload his possessions and released him soon afterwards. Two days later, local Christian leaders Dakshina Kannada and David Chacko planned to visit the police station regarding the matter. However, police conspired with the Hindu militants and attacked the two men before they departed Chacko’s home. The two were dragged to the police station and arrested before being set free later. Another local evangelist was also chased from town, and the attackers are searching for other pastors to target. (Voice of the Martyrs)

* Radio programs in 17 languages 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.

7 CHRISTIANS DETAINED FOR ‘CONCEALING IDENTITY, FORCED CONVERSION’

A court in northern India’s Jammu and Kashmir state granted bail to two pastors and five Bible students who were detained by police Thursday, Aug. 31, on charges of "concealing identity" and "forced conversion." The seven Christians are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 16. Pastor P.R. Anthony and the five students are from the nearby Christian Education Institute. The second pastor was visiting from a neighboring state. The "concealing identity" charge stems from the institute’s failure to register students as "non-locals" as law demands in this state, known for terrorist activity. Another complaint of "forced conversions" was filed by an undisclosed source in this region where for the last several weeks Hindu extremist groups have been staging rallies and accusing Christians of "converting Hindus using force and fraudulent means." Anthony has been working in the area for the last 15 years. (Compass Direct)

BELIEVERS IN UZBEKISTAN ENCOUNTER INCREASED PERSECUTION

Reports received by the Barnabas Fund indicate a dramatic increase in persecution of Christians in the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan related to the Sept. 1 anniversary of the nation’s independence. Recently well-known church leader and evangelist Sergey Hripunov was given only 24 hours to leave the country with his wife and two young children. This is the second deportation of a church leader in the last month. In addition, a group of Christians were arrested in the town of Termez by security police in late August. A number of these Christians were beaten, including women and children. The Barnabas Fund report lists several other recent incidents of persecution including the dramatic increase in fines for sharing your faith -- now up to between 200 to 600 times the minimum monthly salary. Pastors may also be fined if parishioners are caught sharing their faith a second time. (Assist News Service)

* HCJB World Radio airs 2.5 hours of Uzbek programs per week from an AM station outside the country. More than 15 million people speak this language.

NETWORK FORMS TO BOOST ECONOMIC GROWTH OF PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

In response to the economic hardships facing many of the estimated 200 million Christians in 60 countries around the world who are persecuted for their faith, 16 leaders from 11 international organizations have formed the Persecuted Christian Economic Development Network. The group, established at a recent gathering in Atlanta, Ga., will focus on how the global church can assist fellow believers economically challenged from religious persecution. Many of these Christians face the responsibilities of providing adequate food, clothing and housing for themselves and their families in countries where social ostracism and unemployment often come along with the risks of physical violence associated with persecution. One of the founding members said, "Unless we successfully address this issue, it’s likely that our efforts in evangelism and church planting in the toughest parts of the world will have little lasting impact." (Christian Newswire)

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About 600 Mexican church planters recently gathered in Mexico City, Mexico, for a congress to discuss what God has done through their ministries. The gathering included leaders trained through the ministry’s church-planting program in the last 11 years and included representatives from 40 indigenous people groups. Since 1995 these Christians have planted more than 3,000 churches across Mexico. The workshop sessions were intended to both celebrate successes and inform and encourage the church leaders to continue evangelizing, discipling and planting churches in communities nationwide. "As the leaders left the congress they were so full of excitement," said Bible League National Director Arturo Robles. "Seeing that was a real encouragement to me. We expect to see hundreds of new churches planted in the next year as a result of God working through this event." (Bible League)

BIBLE SOCIETY NOTES INCREASING DEMAND FOR SCRIPTURES IN CHINA, INDIA

The German Bible Society in Stuttgart, Germany, has published a report noting the rising demand for Bibles in China and India, the world’s two most populous countries. The official Bible printing house in China has turned out more than 46 million copies of the Bible and New Testament since 1987. However, official figures from China indicate distributions reaching 2.5 million copies per year, not including Bibles smuggled into China. A newer and bigger printing press is being installed in Nanjing to boost Bible annual production to 10 million. China, a country with 1.3 billion inhabitants, is home to an estimated 80 million Christians. Three-quarters of these worship in unregistered church communities. Out of India’s 1.1 billion people, only 2.4 percent are Christians. Large numbers of believers are indigenous Adivasi people and Dalits (untouchables) who are often too poor to afford a Bible or even a gospel tract. The Indian Bible Society is striving to provide more audio Bibles for these Christians. (Assist News Service)

CHAPLAIN OUSTS 6 EVANGELICAL GROUPS FROM GEORGETOWN CAMPUS

The Protestant chaplain at Georgetown University wrote a letter to six evangelical groups, including InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, stating they may no longer be involved with Georgetown students in any way, effective immediately. Christianity Today reported that the letter begins, "Blessings and may God’s peace be upon you!" before Chaplain Constance Wheeler explains that "It’s God’s will" the ministries no longer operate on campus. The letter also instructs the ministries to modify all websites to reflect the terminated relationship. Spokesman Erik Smulson said the ouster was a "desire in the Protestant chaplaincy to build the ministry from within Georgetown and its Protestant student leaders rather than rely on outside groups or fellowships." Yet the same spokesman was more direct with The Washington Post saying the chaplaincy "wants more control over its on-campus ministries." (Christianity Today)

100 KIEV SCHOOLS TO BEGIN TEACHING CHRISTIAN ETHICS TO 1^ST-GRADERS

Officials in Kiev, Ukraine, announced plans for some public schools in the Ukrainian capital city to begin teaching Christian ethics in an experimental program aimed at reinforcing the country’s 1,000-year Christian heritage. The class for 6-year-olds, titled "Christian Ethics in Ukrainian Culture: The Path of Good," will begin in 100 of Kiev’s 527 schools with an initial audience of 6,000 students. "The goal is to foster moral behavior, spiritual values and a love for the homeland," said Father Bohdan Ogulchansky, an Orthodox priest and author of the textbook. Kiev’s minority Jewish community has voiced concern about the classes even though parents can opt to pull their children out of the class. Next year city officials hope to expand the program to include all 21,000 first-graders in the capital. Kiev Deputy Mayor Vitaliy Zhuravsky, who once gave every Ukrainian lawmaker a Bible, is one of the project’s proponents. "There is a path of good and a path of evil, and wherever God acts, the devil also appears," he said. "Whoever opposes introducing Christian ethics -- for me, that’s devilry." (WorldWide Religious News)

* HCJB World Radio worked with local churches to establish Radio Emmanuel, a 500-watt FM station, in Kiev in June. Two additional outlets in Kiev and one in Dneperpetrovsk are also affiliated with New Life Radio, a Russian satellite radio network operated by Christian Radio for Russia with HCJB World Radio as the principal partner. In addition, weekly Ukrainian programs air to the country via shortwave.

UPDATE: CHRISTIAN MOTHER TRICKS EX-HUSBAND, KIDNAPPER INTO ARREST

Pakistani Christian Maria Samar John tricked her ex-husband during a telephone call to meet her in a Lahore park last week where police arrested him for abducting their two young children. Her former husband, Abdul Ghaffar, kidnapped his then 5-year-old son, Joshua, and 3-year-old daughter, Miriam, during a supervised visit within the Lahore Family Court building on Sept. 13, 2004, because he didn’t want the children to grow up as Christians. John had previously obtained a divorce from Ghaffar after she was kidnapped and forced to marry the Muslim who then beat her for not saying Muslim prayers. Police in Lahore continue to search for the two children who one source places with their paternal grandfather in another city. "So hopefully we will be recovering the children [soon]," the source said. Wassim Muntizar, John’s legal assistant, added that "she’s still scared until she gets the children back. It’s only been two years, but it’s like 200 years for Maria and us." (Compass Direct)

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As reports emerge from south Lebanon about the “horrifying” conditions after the ceasefire agreement, the Jordanian relief agency Manara Ministries has stepped in with “a swift plan to meet needs in different villages and towns across Lebanon.” An e-mail from Manara reiterates reports of destruction, especially Christian homes and villages, that acted as places of refuge during the war and whose resources are exhausted from thousands of additional inhabitants and neighboring villagers. Manara said the worst destruction isn’t physical, but rather the loss of hope for a peaceful and stable Lebanon. Many young professionals are seeking to relocate to the West. Because of the huge needs, Manara is focusing primarily on four areas -- helping Christian schools, providing medical funds and supplies, purchasing Bibles and Christian literature, and assisting families with food and other physical items. “We need to keep moving fast,” the e-mail concluded, “because no one knows how long we have before the war starts again or when the opportunity is lost.” (Assist News Service)

CHRISTIAN COUPLE BEGINS ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK FOR CHURCHES

A husband-and-wife engineering team has pioneered a social networking tool for churches called MyChurch.org. Called “God’s Myspace” by Cnet.com, the free service to churches and individuals can share photos, add and arrange their friends, keep a personal calendar and write comments and emails to each other. Churches can moderate a group weblog, send out bulletins to the congregation, share sermon podcasts and network with other churches. The entire idea is to extend the church community online between Sundays. Additional features and more bandwidth can be added with monthly subscriptions. More than 100 churches were involved in testing the site that has now opened to the public. The couple designed the service with an emphasis on clean layouts, authentic community and smooth usability while steering away from the advertising that has plagued Myspace.com. (Christian Newswire)

CANADIAN ARRESTED FOR PREACHING, PRAYING ON CALGARY STREETS

Canadian citizen Artur Pawlowski, 33, is in court today answering charges of disturbing the peace, trespassing and other charges related to his preaching and praying aloud on a Calgary sidewalk last month. With the support of area churches, Pawlowski takes church to the needy by preaching to drug dealers, homeless and street kids who congregate at a local park. Drug dealers have previously threatened him because their clients stop using when they come to Christ. Due to these threats, Pawlowski began video taping the street events. These videos show street vendors and fortunetellers at a festival near the park becoming agitated as Pawlowski began preaching. He remained calm as police confronted him. He and his brother, David, left when asked not to speak with the vendors again. A few days later, the two returned to pray at an area far from the vendors. However, vendors again called the police. Videos show Pawlowski standing on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets, calmly asking police why they are harassing him. Six police officers made the arrest, and Pawlowski spent one night in jail. (Mission Network News)

MOSCOW MINISTRY FORUM TO ADDRESS GROWING HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN RUSSIA

Because Russian President Vladimir Putin appears unwilling to confront his country’s growing HIV/AIDS crisis, an innovative gathering of key Christian, social and governmental organizations to be held Nov. 15-17 in Moscow is hoping to explore ways these groups can share resources and experiences to face the crisis head on. The U.K.-based Tearfund and Russian Ministries based in Wheaton, Ill., are hosting “HIV & AIDS Forum of Good Practice and Networking” at the Moscow Christian Center. The event is already attracting participants from the U.S., Europe and the former Soviet Union. The forum is also designed to motivate national churches to develop HIV/AIDS ministries focused on prevention and care of those affected. Popular Christian bands such as “Druzhky” are already holding concert events where area churches and ministries share the gospel and teach HIV prevention. Russian Ministries already hosted a three-day conference in Ukraine where “people are stepping into leadership in this area in their communities and churches, mobilizing them to stand against this crisis through the teaching of Christian values and proclaiming the gospel.” (Assist News Service)

* 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.

CHRISTIAN BROADCASTER PROTESTS SCOTTISH UNIVERSITY’S ‘INTOLERANCE’

A Christian radio broadcaster in Scotland is taking a stand against Edinburgh University in what he is calling “extreme intolerance for Christianity.” The university is preparing to ban Bibles from residence halls in response to student association protests that Bibles are a means of discrimination against non-Christians. The university had a longstanding practice of placing Gideon Bibles in each new student’s rooms. Last year prayer was banned from graduation. Radio broadcaster Ian Dunlop, chairman of Scotland’s first full-time Christian radio station, Revival FM, says banning Bibles, rather than preventing discrimination against students of other faiths, “flies in the face of everything that we stand for here in the U.K. as a nation standing for freedom and tolerance.” Dunlop compared the offence to “the days of the pilgrim fathers” when the founders of the U.S. “found themselves being persecuted and having to leave for the New World because of the lack of tolerance of faith in the U.K. at that time.” Scotland’s Stirling University recently abandoned plans to remove 6,000 Bibles from campus due to a Christian student’s protests. (Agape Press)

* HCJB World Radio’s U.K. staff in Bradford produces programs that air locally in the country such as “The Full Breakfast,” a popular Sunday-morning program.

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A draft of amendments to Russian's religion law is concerning many Christians. The draft, submitted for examination to Russia's religious organizations last month, includes federal licensing of preachers and registration of ministry activity, and imposes restrictions on where people can preach. Sergy Rakhuba, vice president of Russian Ministries, believes the government is doing this only to "apply a more strict control to all religious groups and all Christian ministries." Rakhuba is concerned about what would happen to lay preachers who "make up about 80 percent of the Russian churches" if licensing is required. In addition, a recent adoption of a public school curriculum teaching the Orthodox religion implies that the government is endorsing only one religion. Rakhuba says foreign ministries could be forced to change their ways. "They probably should go as tentmakers and apply for some professional jobs, at the same time using their ministry experience, education and talents (to) help nationals to spread the gospel," he said. (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.

CHINESE OFFICIALS BULLDOZE ANOTHER CHURCH IN FUJIAN PROVINCE

Chinese officials have destroyed yet another church building, this time in China's Fujian province, while promising to demolish another in a neighboring village. On the morning of Friday, Sept. 1, approximately 500 police and other officials arrived with bulldozers and destroyed a recently completed unregistered Catholic church. Local Christians who attempted to stop the destruction were beaten by police. Before leaving, police threatened to destroy another church being constructed in the village of Ao Oian. Police say the demolition is justified based on "security reasons." On July 29 officials also destroyed a large house church in the coastal city of Hangzhou. (Voice of the Martyrs)

SMUGGLED RECORDS SHOW 1,918 RELIGIOUS PRISONERS IN ERITREA

New statistics recently smuggled out of the East African nation of Eritrea indicate that at least 1,918 Eritrean citizens are in prison, some being subjected to torture and or forced labor, because of their religious beliefs. Christians make up 95 percent of these religious prisoners. The Wongel Mermera investigation center in Asmara is holding a total of 35 pastors, priests and church elders with the remaining 1,758 evangelical Protestants and Orthodox believers imprisoned in 14 other towns and cities. Compiled reports indicate as many as one quarter of those jailed have been held for two years or more. None of the religious prisoners has gone before a court to be charged or tried. Records from the London-based Release Eritrea organization show that 29 of these prisoners were arrested in August in the cities of Asmara, Keren and Massawa. Reports are circulating in Asmara that the government plans to shut down the Anglican Elementary School. Despite ongoing arrests and surveillance, local evangelicals said they were "continuing to meet for worship, prayer and Bible studies" in their homes. (Compass Direct)

6 MEMBERS OF CHRISTIAN FAMILY IN INDIA THOUGHT TO BE MASSACRED

The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), an advocacy group in India, reported that "six persons belonging to a Dalit Christian family" were killed on a riverbank near Shivbigha in northeastern India's Jharkhand state Monday, Aug. 28. A militant named Lalan Paswan and accomplices "stormed the house of Ram Dinesh" capturing all seven family members, including four children. Police Superintendent Udayen Kumar Singh said the body search was ongoing. He said, however, "the profuse blood stains at six different places on the riverbank led to the conclusion that the criminals might have killed these people and threw their bodies in the river." The one apparent survivor, Ram Dinesh, is undergoing treatment at a local state hospital. The massacre occurred shortly after five Dalits were "lynched to death" in another Indian state for skinning a cow, something sacred to Hindus. In that case, GCIC President Sajan George said "police and local authorities looked on while extremists massacred and burned the victims." Many Christians and human rights investigators believe the attacks show the frustration of Hindu militants because Christianity is spreading rapidly among the Dalits, often referred to as "untouchables." (Christians in Crisis/BosNewsLife)

* Radio programs in 17 languages 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.

PASTORS, BROADCASTERS URGED TO PROMOTE SCRIPTURES IN SCHOOLS WEEK

Broadcasters, pastors, youth workers and Christians across the U.S. are being urged to promote participation in the ninth annual Scriptures in Schools Week Sept. 24-30. The event is to inspire America's Christian students and teachers to bring their Bibles to public school classrooms. National Coordinator Bob Pawson repeats his mantra, "Tote 'em and quote 'em and use your Bibles in class." Pawson, a New Jersey public school teacher, also promotes what he calls "academic evangelism . . . sharing biblical information in a scholarly manner. It's a creative, non-confrontational way of witnessing to your classmates by using Bibles as educational tools -- in class." The Alliance Defense Fund has 900 lawyers on alert to assist "any students whose rights are violated for bringing their Bibles to school." A student's rights to bring and use a Bible and use biblical references to complete assignments is protected by the U.S. constitution and case law. However, there have been no legal problems in the previous years that Scriptures in Schools Week has been held. (Christian Newswire)

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