Zprávy HCJB 5.8.2007 - 11.8.2007

 Pastor zabit při teroristickém útoku na autobusovém nádraží na Filipínách
   Křesťané na Filipínách truchlí nad smrtí protestantského pastora, který byl zabit při jedné ze dvou explozí, které otřásly autobusovým nádražím na jihu Korondal City v pátek 3. srpna. Při útoku bylo zraněno dalších 10 osob. Policejní mluvčí Robert Kuinisala oznámil, že jediným mrtvým byl 31letý filipínský pastor Křesťanské Misijní Aliance Willie Caritan. Zahynul okamžitě při první explozi asi v půl šesté odpoledne u stanoviště Yellow Bus. Několik sekund nato explodovala v jednom autobusu v terminálu druhá bomba, ta však nikoho nezranila. Caritan spolu se svou manželkou Chrry čekali na autobus do General Santos City, když vybuchla první bomba umístěná v zavazadlovém prostoru terminálu. Cherry se nic nestalo, protože byla právě v čekárně. Podle prvních zpráv útok nebyl zaměřen na tohoto kněze. Policie z útoku podezírá vyděračskou skupinu napojenou na Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), militantní islámskou organizaci v jihvýchodní Asii. JI také přijala odpovědnost za výbuchy v minulosti, které na indonézském ostrově Bali zabily stovky civilistů včetně 80 Australanů. Zdroj: BosNewsLife
 
 Bývalý muslim podal žalobu na Egypt kvůli právu stát se křesťanem.
   Muslimský konvertita ke křesťanství minulý týden podal žalobu na Egypt pro odmítání úředně uznat jeho změnu vyznání. Žádost vyvolala negativní reakci muslimských duchovních a výhrůžky smrtí jeho advokátovi. 24letý novinář a politický aktivista Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy zahájil svou při s egyptským ministerstvem vnitra ve čtvrtek 2. srpna pro odmítání jeho žádosti o přepsání údaje v kolonce Vyznání v jeho občanském průkazu z Islám na Křesťanství. „Myslím, že mám přirozené právo zvolit si náboženství, kterému věřím a ne být rozdvojenou bytostí, což se týká i mé manželky a očekávaného dítěte,“ řekl Hegazy, který konvertoval ke křesťanství v 16 letech. I když egyptské zákony nezakazují konverzi od islámu ke křesťanství, neposkytují žádný právní postup, jak tuto změnu úředně uskutečnit. Navíc konvertité ke křesťanství obvykle svou novou náboženskou identitu skrývají, aby se vyhnuli mučení a nucení k odvolání ze strany rodin a tajné policie. „Moje manželka je v jiném stavu a chci, aby se můj syn narodil do mého náboženství,“ řekl Hegazy. „Chci, aby skutečnost, že je křesťanem, byla v rodném listu.“ Zdroj: Compass Direct News, WorldWide Religious News, AFP, Reuters
 
 Iráčané žádají více Biblí od místních misií.
   Místní misie v Iráku dostávají „mnoho žádostí o Bibli,“ přestože situace v této středovýchodní zemi je nejistá. V roce 2006 misie rozdělily 20 000 Nových Zákonů a zaznamenaly zájem mnoha Iráčanů o křesťanství. Organizace také zahájily řadu biblických kurzů v severním Iráku a misijní pracovníci šíří evangelium mezi iráckými uprchlíky v Jordánsku. Letos například v důsledku distribuce Biblí přijal Krista jako svého Spasitele jeden major bývalého Saddámova režimu. Pak společně se svojí manželkou přivedli ke Kristu celou rodinu. Nebezpečí však dále přetrvává, což ilustruje exploze automobilové bomby 50 metrů od nově založeného kostela v Ninive, kde navíc v roce 2006 postupně zahynuli tři pastoři. Bomba zabila řadu chodců a kostel mírně poškodila. Lidé uvnitř zůstali nezraněni. Zdroj: Christian Aid Mission
 
 Dva roky po zemětřesení se misie na ostrově Nias zaměřuje na výuku
   Dva roky po zemětřesení o síle 8.7 stupně Richterovy stupnice na ostrově Nias v Indonézii zde stále probíhá obnovování normálního života. Na ostrově žije 400 000 lidí, ale je tu málo vyšších škol. Keith Norris z World Hope International uvádí, že jejich organizace se věnuje výstavbě středních škol zaměřených na zemědělství a příbuzná povolání.

„Ukončili jsme školní rok ve vypůjčené budově, ale současně pro toto odborné učiliště stavíme vlastní zařízení,“ řekl Norris. „Doufáme, že ho dostavíme do příštího května..“ Jelikož jde o křesťanskou školu, bude se vyučovat také obchodní etika, aby byl zajištěn rozvoj osobnosti studentů. Učitelé klíčových oborů budou z Jávy – nejrozvinutějšího ostrova Indonézie.

Odborná škola je zaměřena na obory týkající se zpracování potravin, aby se lidé naučili zpracovat vlastní úrodu místo dovážení drahých produktů z jiných oblastí Indonézie. Jiné humanitární skupiny toto úsilí napodobují. Nedávná zpráva Dětského Fondu OSN (UNICEF) hlásí, že pro Nias bylo různými fondy vyčleněno 20 milionů dolarů na rekonstrukce školních budov a na výukové kurzy pro 1400 učitelů.

„Účelem této školy je naučit mladé lidi, jak zpracovávat potraviny a dalším věcem, aby mohli začít své vlastní podnikání,“ vysvětluje Norris. „Nacházíme se v oblasti, kde je hodně muslimů a mnoho případů jejich změny v křesťany začalo kontaktem s evangeliem při návštěvě křesťanské školy.“ Zdroj: Mission Network News

*V březnu 2005 HCJB Global Hands poslalo pomocný tým z Ecuadoru na ostrovy Nias v Indonézii, aby pomohl obětem tsunami z prosince 2004. Když pak 28. března 2005 došlo k zpustošení ostrovů zemětřesením, tým na ostrově zůstal další týden a pomáhal skutkem i duchovním povzbuzením lidem v nejhůře postižených oblastech ostrovů.
 
 Na základě pochybného obvinění dostal azerbajdžanský pastor dva roky vězení.
   Zaur Beljajev, baptistický pastor působící v Aliabádu ve středoasijské republice Azerbajdžan byl středu 8. srpna odsouzen na dva roky do vězení. Údajně se dopustil násilí proti představiteli státu a byl také obviněn z „ilegálních schůzek pod rouškou náboženské činnosti, a to bez registrace.“ Úřady tvrdily, že lákal mládež ke scházení hraním hlasité hudby. Azerbajdžanští úřadníci své obvinění proti Beljajevovi měnili – nejdřív tvrdili, že na policisty, kteří přišli prohlédnout nedělní bohoslužebné shromáždění poštval psa. Když přes 50 lidí podepsalo prohlášení dosvědčující Beljajevovu nevinu, ze spisu pes zmizel a místo toho se objevilo obvinění, že Beljajev napadl pět policistů a poškodil dveře policejního vozu. Nicméně svědek žaloby připustil, že toto údajné napadení neviděl. Řekl, že o něm jen slyšel od lidí na trhu a v čajovně, a že jej policie ke svědectví nutila. „Připravujeme se k podání odvolání,“ řekl Ilja Zeščenko ze Svazu baptistů. Vyjádření soudce Seifali Seifullaeva se pro jeho nepřítomnost nepodařilo získat. Zdroj: Forum 18 News Service
 
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   PASTOR KILLED IN TERRORIST ATTACK ON BUS TERMINAL IN PHILIPPINES

Source: BosNewsLife
Christians in the Philippines are mourning the death of a Protestant pastor who was killed in one of two explosions that ripped through a bus terminal in southern Koronadal City on Friday, Aug. 3. Up to 10 others were also wounded in the attack. Police spokesman Robert Kuinisala identified the lone fatality as Christian & Missionary Alliance Pastor Willie Caritan, 31, of the Philippines. He was killed instantly when the first device exploded at about 5:30 p.m. at Yellow Bus Line’s terminal in the city. Seconds later a second bomb exploded in another bus parked inside the terminal. No one was injured in the second blast as people had already evacuated the terminal. Caritan and his wife, Cherry, were waiting for a bus bound for General Santos City when the first explosion hit the terminal’s baggage area. Cherry was uninjured as she was in the restroom when the blast occurred. Initial reports suggested that the attack was not specifically aimed at the preacher. Police suspect an extortion group linked to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a militant Islamic organization in Southeast Asia, carried out the attacks. JI also claimed responsibility for blasts known to have killed hundreds of civilians in Bali, Indonesia, including 88 Australians.

BAPTIST GROUPS RUSH AID TO VICTIMS OF SEVERE FLOODING IN ASIA

Source: Baptist World Aid
With up to 20 million people affected by flooding in South Asia, Baptist World Aid (BWAid), the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), has launched an appeal for funds to bring relief. The floods have devastated parts of Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and already BWAid has sent initial $5,000 grants to the Bengal Baptist Union and the Bengal Orissa Bihar Baptist Churches Association in India. Experts say this year’s flooding could surpass the record-breaking floods of 1988 and 1998. “It’s the poor who suffer so much in these situations,” said BWAid Director Paul Montacute. “The poor live on low-lying ground that is easily swept away as waters descend from the mountains.” Many people have taken shelter on higher ground and are relying on food drops. Now there’s concern about the spread of diseases such as malaria and encephalitis. In Bangladesh, Baptist Aid, a ministry of the Bangladesh Baptist Church Fellowship, is helping with relief operations as six teams are providing flood victims with dried food, but funds are running low. Nripen Baidya, the Bangladesh program director for Baptist Aid, said the ministry “would be happy to meet some (more) of the needs of these suffering people. We are in prayer. We also need the prayer support from our friends all over the world.”

SURVIVOR OF BRIDGE COLLAPSE FINDS JESUS’ PEACE AMID THE TURMOIL

Source: Religion Today
Louis Welman, a Minnesota resident, was a commuter driving across the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 1, when it collapsed without warning, tossing cars into the Mississippi River, crushing and pinning others. Welman not only survived the ordeal of falling more than 60 feet in her car, but when she called on Jesus she experienced peace in the midst of the turmoil. “It was rather scary, I felt like we had an earthquake,” she recalled. “I looked in my mirror and saw [the pavement] split -- the road went straight up in the air about 30 feet. A person in a car at the top started to fall backwards, and then my car began going down. I said, ‘Wow, there’s a big hole here and I don’t know where I’m going to go.’ Then I yelled, ‘Jesus!’ The next thing I knew, there was a big loud thump and my airbag hit me in the face. I looked around and I was at the bottom, 60 feet lower. I was wondering what happened, and realized that I was still alive. All I can say is praise God because He spared me -- to walk away from that. I can’t even believe it happened, but I actually walked away!”

PAKISTANI PRISON HALTS BIBLE CLASSES, DENIES ENTRANCE TO PASTOR

Source: Compass Direct News
Pakistani officials have halted all Bible classes for Christian prisoners in a Punjab jail, isolating the inmate who taught the classes and barring a local pastor from his weekly visits, reported a nongovernmental organization that works in the prison. Protestant Pastor Munir Phool has been refused entry to Kasur City’s district jail for his weekly Sunday visits since June 25 when Catholic prisoner Dil Awaiz was put in a high-security cell and tortured, reported Sharing Life Ministries Pakistan. A police official denied that Phool was still banned from visiting the jail on Sundays and said he couldn’t remember the details of the incident that had ended the Bible classes. Phool, who recently spoke with Awaiz, said the prisoner and former Bible teacher had been targeted by a former jail deputy superintendent who abused Christian inmates.

* HCJB Global Hands sent two medical teams from Ecuador to Pakistan following the Oct. 8, 2005, earthquake that left tens of thousands dead and thousands more injured and homeless. Staff members helped SIM International with relief efforts.

KAZAKHSTAN OFFICIALS BOOST PRESSURE ON UNREGISTERED CHURCHES

Source: BosNewsLife
Baptist Christians in Kazakhstan are concerned about increased persecution following two recent incidents in the Central Asia nation. Last weekend authorities reportedly barred a mother and her young child from entering their home because of their involvement in an unregistered Baptist church. Since June 22 “court executors” sealed the church building in the town of Shymkent to prevent congregants from meeting, reported the Forum 18 News Service. The move followed the church’s refusal to abide by a court order halting its activity because it refuses to undergo state registration.

In a separate incident, Baptist Pastor Viktor Kandyba, his wife and their 12 children have been threatened with the seizure of “half their home” after he refused to pay a fine for leading an “unregistered worship” in Semey July 18. “No one appeared or summoned us, but this could come at any time,” he said. Cars and pigs have already been seized from other Baptists for nonpayment of fines in this impoverished country, human rights watchers said.

Yeraly Tugzhanov, Kazakhstan’s senior religious affairs official, denied that the fines and seizure of property represent persecution. “No one is being persecuted for their faith,” he said. There has been international concern about human rights violations since Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev was elected to new seven-year term in December 2005. He received more than 90 percent of the votes, but international observers and the opposition protested the ballot, saying it had been rigged.

* HCJB Global Voice is bringing words of hope and encouragement to people across Central Asia via radio. Together with partners, Christian broadcasts go out in languages such as Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek, Southern Uzbek and Urdu.

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 
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   GLOBAL MEDICAL ALLIANCE LINKS MISSIONARIES, LOCAL PARTNERS

Sources: Mission Network News, Baptist Press
The Southern Baptist medical mission work has entered a new era. Global Medical Alliance (GMA), an outreach of the Southern Baptist’s International Mission Board (IMB), held its first annual Medical Missions Mobilization Summit at IMB’s International Learning Center in Rockville, Va., July 16-22, linking healthcare professionals with medical missionaries overseas.

The event connected more than 90 IMB medical missionaries with about 200 Southern Baptist doctors, dentists, nurses and other medical professionals who were interested in using healthcare as an outreach without relying on traditional expensive medical institutions. Missionaries shared numerous stories and new opportunities to use their skills to bring medical and spiritual help to people in hard-to-reach places.

A missionary to East Asia told how she uses medical volunteers, health screenings, eye clinics and other health services to gain government permission to get into the rural villages and homes of an unreached people group with a population of 17 million. The health outreach, coupled with training of local believers to take over the work, resulted in the planting of about 500 churches in three years.

The strategy follows a five-step approach: A-Access to unreached areas; B-Behind closed doors; C-Care for the needy; D-Disciples; and E-Empower the church. The next GMA conference will be in Rockville July 17-20, 2008.

* HCJB Global Hands has Christian doctors and other medical professionals serving the poor in countries such as Ecuador where the ministry operates two hospitals and works in community development. Staff members are also involved in ministries such as the Partners in Hope AIDS clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi. In recent years the mission has begun sending emergency relief teams following disasters in countries such as Pakistan, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Ecuador and Lebanon.

EX-MUSLIM SUES EGYPT FOR THE RIGHT TO CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY

Sources: Compass Direct News, WorldWide Religious News, AFP, Reuters
A Muslim convert to Christianity filed suit against Egypt last week for refusing to legally recognize his change of religion, sparking a reactionary lawsuit by Muslim clerics and death threats against his lawyer. Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy, 24, a journalist and political activist, brought a case against Egypt’s interior ministry on Thursday, Aug. 2, for rejecting his application to replace Islam with Christianity on his personal identification papers. “I think it’s my natural right to embrace the religion I believe and not to have to have a double personality for me as well as for my wife and my expected baby,” said Hegazy, who converted to Christianity when he was 16. Though Egyptian law does not forbid conversion from Islam to Christianity, it provides no legal means to make the change. Converts to Christianity usually hide their identity to avoid torture and forced recantation at the hands of family members and security police. “My wife is pregnant, and I want my son to be born within my own religion,” he said. “[I want] the fact that he is Christian to be written on official papers.”

FORMER MISSIONARY TO KENYA MISSING IN BRIDGE COLLAPSE

Sources: Associated Press, ArgusLeader.com
One of the people confirmed missing in last Wednesday’s bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minn., is Peter Hausmann, a former missionary who met his wife, Helen, in Kenya. Hausmann, 47, called home while sitting in traffic. Then the line went dead. Sheriff’s officials in Hennepin county confirmed that his car was recovered from under the debris of the crumpled bridge Monday morning, but divers did not find any evidence of a body. Officials say those who fell into the river may have been washed downstream or are trapped in the rubble. Family members said Hausmann should have been celebrating because he had just learned that the Kenyan government had ordered a new investigation into the shooting death of his friend, Rev. John Kaiser, in 2000. Kaiser was a 67-year-old Catholic priest from Minnesota who had been in Kenya for 35 years. Hausmann, a native of Bonesteel, S.D., also served as a missionary in Kenya. His brother, Rev. Leo Hausmann, is a priest at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Wall, S.D.

STATE IN INDIA TO IMPLEMENT DORMANT ‘ANTI-CONVERSION’ BILL Sources: Religion Today, Compass News Direct
The government of western India’s Gujarat state has decided to implement the dormant “anti-conversion” law passed by the state assembly in 2003 after the governor’s refusal to approve the anti-conversion amendment bill of 2006. The state government, ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), officially declared on Wednesday, Aug. 1, that it would reactivate the 2003 anti-conversion law that could not be implemented at the time due to legal complications, reported The Indian Express. The BJP’s declaration came a day after Gov. Nawal Kishore Sharma returned the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2006, saying the proposed measure “violated the right to religious freedom.” John Dayal, A member of Indian government’s National Integration Council and secretary general of the All India Christian Council, told Compass Direct News the various anti-conversion bills and laws encourage “bigotry and hate campaigns.”

100,000+ GATHER FOR 3-DAY HARVEST CRUSADE IN CALIFORNIA

Source: Assist News Service
Representing more than 30 countries, some 102,000 people gathered at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Aug. 3-5, for the annual Southern California Harvest Crusade with Greg Laurie -- an event that has been a fixture in Orange County since 1990. An additional 32,959 people watched the event via the Internet. Laurie preached in the baseball stadium despite a recent bout with bronchitis and an inner ear infection that caused vertigo. Some 9,521 attendees made professions of faith during the crusade. After the final meeting, Laurie said on his blog, “Whew! What a weekend. I can’t remember a time when I have had more physical challenges in any crusade I have ever done than this weekend for Harvest 07 here in Southern California.” Each night of the event featured a talk from Laurie with topics including, “How to Find Eternal Life,” “Do You Want to Change Your Life?” and “A New Beginning.” The overarching message was that Christ’s love and forgiveness is available to all who come to Him and believe in Him. “You don’t have to be the religious type to come to God tonight,” Laurie told the crowd gathered for the Saturday-night service. “You have to be the sinner type.”

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 
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   PRAYER COUNTDOWN BEGINS ONE YEAR BEFORE OLYMPICS IN BEIJING

Sources: Assist News Service, Christian Newswire
Up to 10,000 people were expected in Tiananmen Square in Beijing today for a festival marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Games will be held Aug 8-24, 2008. A theme song called “We Are Ready” will be sung by the crowd, including Chinese leaders and International Olympic Committee senior officials, along with many other special events.

Open Doors USA is marking the one-year countdown by launching its “One Minute/One Year/One Country” prayer campaign. Christians are asked to pray for at least one minute each day, if possible at 8 p.m. Beijing time. The goal is to unite believers in the West to pray for persecuted Chinese Christians. Christians across China fear tough restrictions on their freedom to worship due to a government crackdown ahead of the Olympics.

China Aid Association President Bob Fu also issued a proposal to Chinese Christians and supporters worldwide to pray for the success of the event. Meanwhile, the Chinese House Church Alliance Beijing and churches from Midland, Texas, the hometown of the U.S. President George W. Bush, held special intercessory prayer meetings for Chinese believers.

“Knowing there will be the unavoidable persecution . . . the Chinese house church believers felt led to render intercessory prayers for more global love and peace,” said Fu. “Launching continual mass media prayer networks for the Olympics is a cornerstone of reinforcing a united and true patriotic spirit.”

13+ HMONG CHRISTIANS KILLED, IMPRISONED IN CRACKDOWN IN LAOS

Source: Compass Direct News
Soldiers, police and others have killed at least 13 Christians in Laos in the past month in a swarming crackdown on Hmong villagers falsely accused of stirring rebel dissent, local sources said. In the sweep, encouraged by communist village leaders and others who have falsely accused the Christians of joining the separatist forces of Gen. Vang Pao, authorities have arrested and imprisoned about 200 members of a 1,900-strong church in Ban Sai Jarern, a village in northwestern Laos’ Bokeo province. Among those killed was Neng Mua, a Christian who slipped back to his native village of Fay after hiding in the mountains from the police round-up. On Saturday, July 7, he went to a local villager’s house to beg for food, but his one-time friend instead shot him dead as a suspected member of the “liberation army,” a Christian source said. Police have searched intensively for Christians in rice fields and mountains and are shooting them on sight, said the source, who requested anonymity. “Many Christians were killed and badly injured,” he added. “Women and children were arrested and sent to prison.”

UPDATE: EGYPTIAN CONVERT IN HIDING AFTER LAWYER BACKS OUT

Source: Compass Direct News
An Egyptian convert to Christianity who filed suit for his conversion to be officially recognized is in hiding after his attorney announced on Tuesday, Aug. 7, that he would withdraw from the case. Though the lawyer has received death threats from Egypt’s security police, he said he had made his decision in the interest of “national unity.” Mamdouh Nakhla, director of the Al Kalema Center for Human Rights, said that he would no longer represent convert Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy because he did not want to offend Muslims or “provoke public opinion.” At a press conference at his downtown office, Nakhla said some of the responsibility for his decision lies with his client. He said that Hegazy had failed to provide important documents showing that authorities had refused to issue him an identification card. As the lawyer was giving his statement, however, a member of Nakhla’s organization shouted, “He is being threatened, he is doing this under pressure.”

IRAQIS REQUEST MORE BIBLES FROM INDIGENOUS MINISTRY

Source: Christian Aid Mission
An indigenous ministry in Iraq has received “many more requests for Bibles” despite the volatile situation in this Middle East country. In 2006 the ministry distributed 20,000 copies of the New Testament and found that many Iraqis are expressing an interest in Christianity. The organization has also started several Bible studies in northern Iraq, and ministry workers are sharing the gospel with Iraqi refugees in Jordan. This year, as a result of the organization’s Bible distribution efforts, a former major during Saddam Hussein’s regime, accepted Christ as Savior. Then he and his wife led their entire family to the Lord. The continuing danger was evident recently when a car bomb exploded 100 feet outside of a newly planted church in Nineveh, an area where three pastors were killed in 2006. The bomb killed several pedestrians but only caused minor damage to the church. Those inside the building were unharmed.

SURVEY: SPIRITUAL GROWTH TAKES LOW PRIORITY FOR U.S. CHRISTIANS

Source: The Barna Group
A national survey of American Christian parents commissioned by Good News Holdings and conducted by the Barna Group found that four out of every 10 Christian parents of children between the ages of 3 and 18 said they do not face any spiritual challenges in their life. Among those who identified the presence of any spiritual challenges, one out of every seven parents (14 percent) said raising moral children or youngsters with a strong faith was their biggest challenge. Only one other response -- the need to personally invest more time in religious activities such as reading the Bible or praying -- was mentioned by at least 10 percent of parents. George Barna, who directed the survey, said the findings indicate that personal spiritual development is a secondary consideration for millions of Americans. “Many of the same people who claim that their faith is very important to them and that they are absolutely committed to Christianity also say that they face no spiritual challenges in life. Many other adults are only vaguely aware of such challenges, and do not put much energy into addressing them,” he explained. “Americans focus on what they consider to be the most important matters; faith maturity is not one of them. The dominant spiritual change that we have seen -- Americans becoming less engaged in matters of faith -- helps to explain the surging secularization of our culture.”

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   MINISTRY FOCUSES ON TRAINING IN NIAS ISLAND 2 YEARS AFTER QUAKE

Source: Mission Network News
Two years after an 8.7-strength earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Nias Island, the community is still rebuilding. But there are few high schools on the island with a population of more than 400,000. World Hope International’s Keith Norris says the organization is building a high school dedicated to agriculture and related vocations.

“We finished one school year in a borrowed middle school, but we’re building our own campus now for this vocational school,” Norris said. “We’re hoping to finish the construction by the end of [next] May.” As a Christian school, the teaching includes business ethics to aid in the students’ development. Key teachers have been recruited from Java -- the most advanced island of Indonesia.

The vocational school focuses on the food processing industry, showing the people how to process the raw food they grow rather than buying more expensive goods shipped from other parts of Indonesia. This effort is mirrored by other groups. A recent report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicates that US$20 million in funds has been earmarked for school building reconstruction and training courses for 1,400 teachers in Nias.

“The purpose of this school is to teach the young people how to process food, how to make more things, and then they start their own business,” Norris explained. “it’s located in an area where there are a lot of Muslims, and in many cases Muslims who come to Christ have had some kind of exposure to the gospel by attending a Christian school.”

* In March 2005 HCJB Global Hands sent an emergency relief team from Ecuador to Nias Island, Indonesia, to help victims of the December 2004 tsunami. When an earthquake rocked the island on March 28, 2005, the team stayed an extra week, bringing physical and spiritual encouragement to people in some of the worst-hit areas.

SAUDI RELIGIOUS POLICE ARREST MAN FOR HELPING ILL NEIGHBOR

Source: Religion Today
According to CNSNews.com members of Saudi Arabia’s religious police arrested a Nigerian man who converted to Islam for being alone with a woman he was not married to or related to. It happened after the man helped the sick woman by taking her to the hospital. The incident comes at a time when the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice is under unprecedented scrutiny regarding abuses committed while enforcing the nation’s strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam. Ibrahim Mohammed Lawal, a Nigerian student of Islam in Riyadh, learned that his 63-year-old neighbor was in need of medical attention and took her to the hospital. While checking on her condition several days later, he was arrested by members of the plainclothes vice squad (the muttaween). Lawal, who had been in custody for “50 days and counting,” said all he wanted to do was to return to his home country.

UPDATE: EFFORTS CONTINUE TO FREE SOUTH KOREAN CHRISTIANS

Source: BosNewsLife
Efforts continued this week to free the remaining 21 South Korean Christians held as hostages in Afghanistan after two of them were killed by Taliban militants. The Voice of America network quoted a top Taliban spokesman as saying his group would consider “a one-for-one swap for pro-Taliban female prisoners held by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.” However, speaking in Washington, D.C., Monday, Aug. 6, Afghan President Hamid Karzai ruled out any deals to help free the hostages. Afghan officials said they were working with South Korea to help set up “face-to-face negotiations with the Taliban.” Taliban forces kidnapped the 23 South Korean church volunteers from a bus in Ghazni province on Thursday, July 19. The Taliban murdered Pastor Bae Hyung-kyu of the Sammul Presbyterian Church on his birthday, Saturday, July 25, and another male member of the team, Shim Sung-min, on Monday, July 30. Of the remaining 21 hostages, 18 are women, church sources said. Provincial Gov. Merajuddin Pattan told reporters that talk of a possible military intervention is premature. “We still haven’t made the decision to have a military action there,” he said. “The Koreans are requesting that we should wait until their face-to-face negotiations bear fruit.”

FAST-GROWING CUBAN CHURCH RECEIVES GIFT OF 200,000 BIBLES

Source: Mission Network News
Darryl Wright, WorldServe’s vice president of Latin American Ministries, says his team is reaping a harvest of revival amongst the evangelical church in Cuba. “It began to accelerate into a house church movement,” he said. “There were about 1,100 churches and house churches in 1990, and today they’re drawing close to 17,000 churches and house churches.” WorldServe and the American Bible Society recently teamed up to deliver a gift of 200,000 Bibles to the Cuban church. It’s the largest shipment of Bibles in the history of Cuba where many Cuban believers cannot afford a Bible or Bibles are unavailable.

* HCJB Global Voice continues to air Spanish programs to Cuba via shortwave from South America. Hundreds of listeners have enrolled in the ministry’s Bible Institute of the Air, a Spanish correspondence program incorporating radio broadcasts. In addition, numerous pastoral training workshops, held in conjunction with Leadership Resources International, have been held in Cuba since the mid-1990s.

LARGEST LUTHERAN DENOMINATION IN U.S. RE-ELECTS MARK HANSON

Source: Religion Today
The Christian Post reported that Rev. Mark Hanson was overwhelmingly re-elected Tuesday, Aug. 7, as presiding bishop of the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination. After falling two votes short of being re-elected on the first ballot, Hanson won the second ballot with 888 out of 1,022 votes cast at the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Chicago. Hanson will serve a second six-year term. ELCA is the second largest member church of the Lutheran World Federation which claims 66.7 million members in 78 countries. ELCA’s membership, however, has continued to drop, including a 1.6-percent decline between 2005 and 2006 to 4.8 million. Just 30 percent of its members attend worship weekly. Hanson noted in a sermon on Monday, Aug. 6, that he feared shrinking membership and differences regarding homosexuality would lead the ELCA to become a “settled church” with “low expectations,” reported the ELCA News Service.

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   AZERBAIJANI PASTOR GETS 2-YEAR JAIL TERM ON DUBIOUS CHARGES

Source: Forum 18 News Service
Zaur Balaev, a Baptist pastor from Aliabad in the Central Asian nation of Azerbaijan, was sentenced to two years in jail on Wednesday, Aug. 8. He was convicted of using violence against a state representative and accused of holding "illegal meetings under the guise of religious activity without concrete authority and without state registration." Authorities said he attracted young people to worship services by playing loud music. Azerbaijan's authorities have changed their accusations against Balaev, initially claiming that he set a dog on police during a raid on a Sunday-worship service. After more than 50 people signed a written statement testifying to Balaev's innocence, the dog disappeared from the authorities' claims and Balaev was instead accused of attacking five policeman and damaging a police car door. However, prosecution witnesses admitted that they had not seen the alleged assault. They stated that they had only heard about it from people at the market or teahouse or because police pressured them into testifying. "We're preparing to submit an appeal," said Ilya Zenchenko of the Baptist Union. Judge Seifali Seifullaev was not available for comment.

CAMEROON PASTOR HAS PLANS TO "WIN THE LOST AT ALL COST"

Source: ASSIST News Service
Andre Talla, a Christian leader in his country of Cameroon, has a plan to "Win the Lost at all Cost" in his home country. "I want to see all the African French countries evangelized, churches planted, leaders strengthened and believers discipled," he says. "I came to the U.S. to get more training, and to learn about community development." Talla's newly honed strategy to reach his nation includes training small teams for evangelism and church planting. One member of each team will be trained to develop a micro-business to support the ministry team. Each worker will be equipped with a hand-crank tape player, recordings in the heart language of the people, and a bicycle for transportation between villages. "As a vital part of fulfillment of the great commission in Cameroon, our burden is to see the Lord of the harvest, call, equip, and sent out an anointed individual or teams into the fields that are ripe for harvest in each of the nation's 250 counties.... With this method, we believe we will be winning the lost at all cost."

UPDATE: EGYPTIAN POLICE DETAIN 2 CHRISTIAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES

Source: Compass Direct News
Egyptian police detained the head of a Christian rights group yesterday after he held a high-publicity, online chat session with a Muslim who converted to Christianity, the group's international leader said. The convert, Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy, has filed suit to legally change his identification card from Muslim to Christian. Hegazy's lawyer withdrew from the case this week amid death threats and public outrage in Egypt. The Egyptian head of the Christian rights group who chatted online with the convert, Adel Fawzy Faltas, 61, was arrested in his Cairo home at 2:40 p.m. Police also confiscated Faltas' two laptops and a desktop computer, and they arrested Christian rights advocate Peter Ezzat. State Security Investigation (SSI) officials held Faltas and Ezzat in New Cairo's fifth district on Thursday before transferring them to SSI headquarters. "I am now the advocate for these men," said lawyer Ramses Raouf el-Nagar from New Cairo on Thursday. El-Nagar has also agreed to take on Hegazy's case.

FIRST IRAQI, TUNISIAN CHRISTIAN TV SERIES WELCOMED BY VIEWERS

Source: Arab Vision
The production of the first-ever Iraqi Christian television series got off the ground last weekend with more than 80 interviews conducted with Iraqi believers. This coincided with the first batch of viewer reports from Tunisia in response to another unique series featuring local Tunisian Christians sharing their faith on TV. The Iraqi television interviews were conducted with Iraqi Christians from different backgrounds who have immigrated to Europe recently. "They are all very enthusiastic," reported the project manager during the recordings. The viewers of the first Tunisian Christian TV series are already responding too. The series was produced earlier this year in partnership with Focus Media, and for the first time featured Christian presenters from Tunisia. Arab Vision believes that these unique TV programs -- produced by local Christians and in the local dialects -- will make a big impact for the gospel in the Arab World. "Our commitment is to our Arab brothers and sisters in these countries," said the international director. Both projects have been top priority for Arab Vision in its 10th anniversary year of operations.

UNCONVENTIONAL MISSION TRIP CROSSES EUROPE

Source: Baptist Press
While chatting about sports and crazy roommates in a Parisian youth hostel, two travelers shared the love of Christ with a new friend. The travelers were Mat Alexander and Matt Davis, team members of the University of Mobile's Youth Hostel Missions trip. As part of a five-member university team, their goal was to experience and impact a post-Christian European culture, an environment where Christianity is no longer the dominant worldview. For one month earlier this summer, they traveled as traditional tourists through major European cities while meeting and building relationships with fellow travelers. With fellow university students Bethany Arndt and Laura Lovelady, and University of Mobile director of spiritual life Neal Ledbetter, they traveled through Holland, France, Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Austria May 14 thru June 13. The group's motto is "12 cities, 30 days, 5 friends, 1 purpose." Their purpose was to build relationships through conversation as a means to share the Gospel. The five -- who often referred to themselves as a family -- ate and journeyed together while sleeping at youth hostels, supervised lodgings that serve as a temporary home to young people traveling the continent. "If nothing else," Davis said, "some people now have someone praying for them when they wouldn't have before."

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