A bus crash on Tuesday, Feb. 6, claimed the lives of three U.S. citizens on a mission trip in Honduras. Ten other people were injured when the truck they were riding in flipped on a remote mountain road, authorities said. Perry Goad, 45, and Richard Mason Jr., 58, both belonged to Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cartersville, Ga. Martha Fuller, 66, was from Newnan, Ga., and a member of Newnan First United Methodist Church. The volunteers were part of a 28-person, weeklong trip organized by Honduras Outreach, Inc., a Georgia-based nondenominational charity. They were riding in an open-air military truck near the Honduran village of Mal Pais when the truck overturned. U.S. Army forces airlifted the injured to a hospital. Honduras Outreach has been sending North American volunteers to the Agalta Valley in Honduras for the past 18 years. The volunteers -- up to 1,000 a year -- often spent time constructing roads, routing electricity and implementing running water in the remote villages there. (Assist News Service/Associated Baptist Press)

* Staff members from the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind., have worked with local partners to establish radio ministries in three cities of Honduras, Roatan, San Pedro Sula and Siguatepeque.

CHINESE HOUSE CHURCH ACTIVIST FREED, RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS GROW

Chinese authorities have released well-known Beijing house church activist Liu Fenggang, 48, after he served three years in prison in Zhejiang province. His supporters confirmed that he was released and returned to his Beijing home on Monday, Feb. 5. Liu was arrested on Oct. 13, 2003, and sentenced to three years on Aug. 6, 2004, for “providing national intelligence to overseas organizations” by reporting a house church destruction case to overseas Christian organizations.

During his imprisonment Liu was hospitalized “five times for serious heart disease and diabetes,” reported the China Aid Association (CAA). In 1995 Liu reportedly spent two years in a labor camp because of his work among house churches. Liu stressed he would “continue to stand up for this just cause for which I am called [by God] to speak up for the persecuted.”

During a recent visit to China by CAA human rights adviser Deborah Fikes, encouraging reports emerged about growing religious freedom in the country. She visited a government-backed church in Beijing where she discovered that “Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ” were able to worship “in such a friendly atmosphere and to purchase Bibles after the service in the church bookstore.”

Despite reports of ongoing raids at unregistered house churches, Fikes was able to openly attend one such gathering. “There is definitely progress in regards to the issue of religious freedom in China,” she said. (BosNewsLife/China Aid Association)

CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES IN VENEZUELA TAKE ‘WAIT-AND-SEE’ APPROACH

As the Venezuelan Congress granted sweeping new powers to recently re-elected President Hugo Chávez and created a thinly disguised dictatorship, Jim Munger of Trans World Radio says mission organizations are taking a “wait-and-see” approach to continuing work. Many are voluntarily pulling people out of tribal areas and away from project zones and placing them in neighboring lower-profile areas. Despite a grim pattern, Munger remains optimistic. “In Cuba, which Chávez has openly stated he is using as a pattern, in the last 15 years we’ve seen a huge explosion of churches and Christian work [despite having] very few missionaries from the outside,” Munger said. “God is sovereign and He can work even though we can’t send missionaries in.” TWR continues to broadcast into Venezuela from Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, via a 100,000-watt AM station. TWR’s office in Venezuela is nationally autonomous. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB Global Voice worked with local partners to establish a Christian station in La Morita, Venezuela, in 2000. Partner stations in two additional Venezuelan cities are also affiliated with ALAS, the ministry’s Latin American satellite radio network with 89 outlets in 17 countries.

UPDATE: CHRISTIANS CAUGHT IN CROSSFIRE OF FIGHTING IN GAZA STRIP

Fighting in Israel’s Gaza Strip is taking its toll on Christians caught in the crossfire as Fatah police seek out and fight Hamas terrorist rebels. On Sunday, Jan. 28, a 20-year-old man who served as the AWANA club bus driver for Gaza Baptist Church was shot through the heart and killed. The following morning a bullet struck the home of another church member, barely missing his head. The building where the congregation meets was forcibly seized by police to use as high ground to cover the police station next door. Despite the dangers, the church’s prayer team continues to travel house to house to strengthen and encourage believers, and members continue to minister to hundreds of impoverished Palestinian families in neighboring refugee cities. Despite the turmoil, two young people in the church are preparing for full-time ministry. (Assist News Service)

NEW ASSOCIATION TO BOOST $18-BILLION RELIGIOUS TRAVEL INDUSTRY

In response to an increasing demand for faith-based vacations, the World Religious Travel Association (WRTA) has been launched to advise, build and connect the estimated $18-billion industry. “WRTA’s overall mission is simple and clear,” said WRTA Executive Director Kevin Wright. “We will advise and assist the travel industry in working with the religious market and establish faith-based vacations as a key travel option for the religious consumer.” The World Tourism Organization reported that faith-based travel is one of the fastest growing segments of the industry with surveys indicating that “one-quarter of travelers said they were currently interested in taking a spiritual vacation (e.g., religious retreat, pilgrimage) and that the appeal of a spiritual vacation spans [all ages].” The World Travel Market in London released research that identified faith-based travel as one of the top critical issues and trends in travel and tourism in the 21st century. The newly formed WRTA will assist with this worldwide growth by working both with the travelers and tour operators. The association also plans to launch the first-ever awards program for religious travel and other market services. (Assist News Service)

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB World Radio - Colorado Springs, CO USA