Zprávy HCJB 1.10.2007 - 6.10.2007

 Barma: křesťané se skrývají, pastoři zatýkáni.
   „Jsme zcela uvězněni v našich domovech,“ řekl programový ředitel Hlasu Mučedníků (VOM) v Rangúnu v Myanmaru (dř. Barma). „Byl jsem upozorněn, že musím dodržovat bezpečnostní opatření, protože vládní úřady po mně stále jdou. Bylo mi doporučeno, abych se držel doma a měl všechna okna i dveře zavřeny. Přátelé mně varovali, ‘Jestli uvidí jen otevřené okno, dojde jim, že je někdo doma a přijdou si pro tebe.’ Sbory se nemohou scházet. Scházíme se tedy tiše v malých skupinách maximálně po pěti lidech a modlíme se za naši zem a náš lid.“ Podle tiskových zpráv zahynulo pět až deset lidí, ale viděli jsme stovky těl a mnohem víc lidí plní nemocnice,“ řekl zdroj VOM. „Lidé křičí (na policisty a vojáky) – ‘Zastřel mě, zastřel mě, stejně nemám proč žít!‘“ Bratr Ronnie, pastor Sboru Osmé Míle a postava známá křesťanům i vládě, byl uvězněn. Jeho misie má 20 modliteben v Rangúnu a další stovku na venkově. Ve stejném vězení je i Myo-Chit, vedoucí Assemblies of God v Myanmaru. Zdroj: Voice of the Martyrs
 
 Rozhlasová stanice Words of Hope v Nigeru slaví 1. výročí.
   Rozhlasová stanice věnovaná Slovům Naděje si minulý týden připomněla jeden rok od zahájení vysílání v západoafrické zemi Niger. Vysílání zahrnuje pět evangelizačních pořadů týdně a tento počet se brzy zvýší na šest. Pro omezenou gramotnost v zemi je toto vysílání důležité, protože oslovuje i negramotné a ty, kteří si nemohou pořídit Bibli.

Niger je z 90 procent muslimský a přesto Lee DeYoung ze Words of Hope říká, že situace je tu pro evangelizační setbu příznivá, protože „tu neexistuje šaríja (islámské právo), stát je sekulární a na evangelizační vysílání na místních stanicích je živá odezva. Není žádná opozice, které bychom se obávali.“ Pořady je možno tvořit ve spolupráci s místními sbory v Nigeru a ty jsou pak vysílány řadou místních stanic patřících místním komunitám nebo oblastními stanicemi.

Posluchačská obec se zvětšuje, protože vysílání je slyšitelné po celé zemi, jak ve francouzštině, tak v jazyce Hasa. „Setkali jsme se s tím, že někteří posluchači se nechtějí představit, ale o evangelium se zajímají. Někteří označují vysílání za nádherné poučení, na které se každý večer těší,“ řekl DeYoung. Zdroj: Mission Network News

*Ve spolupráci s místními partnery pomohl HCJB Global Voice vybudovat v roce 2004 místní stanici Radio Espoir v Nigeru.
 
 Vietnam oficiálně uznal baptisty a menonity.
   Na Baptisté a menonité obdrželi na obřadu v úterý 2. října v Hanoji certifikát opravňující je k náboženské činnosti. Současně zde náměstek Komise pro církevní záležitosti Nguyen Thanh Xuan pochválil vládní náboženskou politiku. Podle Xuana od přijetí Výnosu o náboženstvích a církvích před dvěma lety otevřelo své dveře 500 náboženských společností a tisíce jich prošly obnovou. Bylo ordinováno přes tisíc kněží různých vyznání a bylo vydáno přes tisíc náboženských knih v milionovém počtu výtisků, z toho půl milionu výtisků Bible. Pastor Gerry Keener z North American Eastern Mennonite Missions, který na obřadu zastupoval Menonitskou světovou konferenci řekl, že v posledních několika letech se náboženství ve Vietnamu nesetkalo s překážkami. Pastor Nguyen Thong, prozatímní prezident Baptistické církve ve Vietnamu řekl, že od chvíle, kdy byla v roce 1989 založena, získala baptistická církev 18400 členů s 500 kazateli a má 135 sborů ve 23 městech a provinciích po celé zemi. Zdroj: WorldWide Religious News, AsiaNews
 
 Čínský advokát unesen, další dva křesťané v domácím vězení.
   Významný křesťanský pekingský obránce lidských práv pan Li Heping byl 29. září unesen a mučen asi 6 hodin. Tři dny po útoku Li telefonicky oznámil, že skupina neznámých lidí mu přetáhla přes hlavu kuklu a donutila ho nasednout do osobního auta, které jej asi za hodinu přivezlo do místa, které mu připadalo jako suterén. Tam bylo asi deset lidí, které nikdy neviděl a kteří mu nařídili, aby se svlékl do naha. Když odmítl, začali ho surově bít, strhali z něj oděv, a nechali ho ve spodním prádle. Tahali ho za vlasy, tloukli ho pěstí, bili ho lahvemi s vodou a fackovali, také ho honili s elektrickými obušky. Tvrdili, že jsou členy pekingského úřadu státní bezpečnosti. V jedné chvíli na něj jeden z nich křičel „Ty a celá tvá rodina vypadnete z Pekingu. Prodej dům a auto a táhni z Pekingu!“ Bití a útoky pokračovaly šest hodin, načež ho znovu s černou kuklou na hlavě odvezli pryč a vyhodili v lese. Li pak po dlouhé chůzi narazil na dálnici a dojel zpátky do města.

Mezitím vyšlo najevo, že dva pekingští církevní pracovníci jsou od 1. října drženi v domácím vězení. Pastoři Hua Huiqi a Liu Fenggang, kteří byli nedávno propuštěni z vězení po odpykání šestiměsíčního, resp. tříletého vězení, jsou zadržováni ve svých domech obklopených desítkami policistů. Časně ráno 3. října vnikli do domu pastora Hua Huiqui a jeho ženy rozbitým oknem v ložnici úředníci veřejné bezpečnosti a odpojili jim přívod elektřiny. Pastoru Huovi řekli, že jeho 77 letá matka paní Šuang Šujing si odsedí dva roky v káznici jako rukojmí v souvislosti s Huovým vystupováním na obranu lidských práv. Nedávno ji ve vězení těžce zbili, neposkytli ji lékařskou pomoc a nyní umírá ve své cele. Zdroj: China Aid Association, Christian Newswire
 
 Křesťané na ostrovech Samoa pochodují na protest proti podpoře scientologů.
   Stovky křesťanů z letničních sborů a misií na ostrovech Západní Samoa pochodovali na protest proti vládní podpoře scientologickému náboženství. Pochodovali před vládní budovou v Apia, kde scientologové postavili své stanové městečko jako hlavní místo své nadcházející dvoutýdenní kampaně nácviku pomoci při pohromách a svých seminářů. Protestující vyzývali vládu, aby přehodnotila svůj kladný postoj k působení scientologů v zemi, protože by se mohli pokusit přesvědčovat mnoho křesťanských věřících, aby se k nim připojili. Dříve v tomto týdnu předseda místní rady církví reverend Oka Fau’olo odmítl názor, že rada církví tuto misi dobré vůle scientologických kazatelů podporuje a naopak varoval, že země musí být k učení scientologů velmi opatrná. Zdroj: Worldwide Religious News, Radio New Zealand
 
 Všechny zprávy v angličtině.
   BIBLE TRANSLATION IMPACTS GENERATIONS OF BRAZILIAN TRIBE

Source: The Bible League
More than 20 years ago the Bible League sponsored the publication and printing of the newly-translated Kaiwá New Testament for a people group in Brazil. “During the succession of two decades, having God’s Word in their heart language has helped transform the lives of thousands of Kaiwá -- making a significant impact on multiple generations of this gentle people,” said John Wagenveld, Bible League’s director of Latin America ministries. For example, the elder “Grandma Araci” assisted Wycliffe Bible Translators during a 25-year language analysis for the Kaiwá translation. She was not a Christian in the beginning, but as the translation progressed throughout the years, she came to know Jesus Christ as her Savior. Her faith established a legacy of believers for generations to come. “One of Grandma Araci’s grandsons came up to me and said he was hoping to attend a Bible school next year,” reported a Wycliffe representative. “Other Kaiwá came to me with stories. One woman said to me, ‘I’m Araci’s daughter, I’m a Christian, too.’ Another of her grandsons said that when the local missionary is away, he does the preaching. Most of Araci’s children and all of her grandchildren have accepted Jesus.” Kaiwá is spoken by about 20,000 people.

* HCJB Global Voice broadcasts the gospel in Portuguese to Brazil via shortwave from Quito, Ecuador, and maintains a world office and radio studios in Curitiba. Portuguese programs, which have been on the air continuously since 1947, generate more listener letters than any language service at Radio Station HCJB in Ecuador. The ministry’s Portuguese programs also air on local radio stations across Brazil.

TRANS WORLD RADIO EVANGELIST KILLED IN INDIA FOR PREACHING

Sources: Compass Direct News, BosNewsLife
An evangelist working for Trans World Radio in India was shot and killed on Wednesday, Sept. 19, reportedly because of his involvement in converting Hindus to Christianity, police said Friday, Sept. 28. Ajay Topno, 38, was found dead with bullet wounds in a jungle near Sahoda in India’s Jharkhand state. A police official said Topno infuriated villagers after converting at least three tribal families in Sahoda. “After reconverting the Christian families, the villagers arranged for Topno’s killing through a local criminal who shot him dead,” explained Inspector Rajesh Mandal of the local Lapung police station. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), a major advocacy group, reported earlier that “Friends of Ajay fear that radical [Hindu] organizations could have abducted him from his native tribal village.” Topno left his house on Sunday, Sept. 16, telling his wife that he was going to Sahoda, but he never returned. The case has underscored concerns about an apparent trend of attacks against Christians in the mainly Hindu nation. About 1 million of Jharkhand’s 27 million people are Christians.

SALVATION ARMY TERRITORIAL COMMANDER MURDERED IN PAKISTAN

Source: Salvation Army
Col. Bo Brekke, territorial commander for the Salvation Army in Pakistan, was shot and killed on Thursday, Sept. 27. The incident occurred in the territorial headquarters compound in Lahore, Pakistan, shortly after the Brekke had presided over the retirement and farewell meeting for two staff members. Nothing suggests that the murder was a terrorist attack, and a man has been arrested on related charges. The incident occurred at about 6:30 p.m. while Brekke was working alone in his office. His wife, Col. Birgitte Brekke, was in London at the time attending meetings at the denomination’s international headquarters. A Norwegian by birth, Brekke, 50, was commissioned as a Salvation Army officer in May 1980. The Brekkes served in numerous positions throughout Scandinavia, Scotland and Russia and had also spent considerable time in South Asia, serving in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They began their present appointments as territorial leaders in Pakistan in September 2006.

CHRISTIANS IN HIDING, PASTORS ARRESTED DURING MYANMAR UNREST

Source: Voice of the Martyrs
“We are in total lockdown,” said the program officer for the Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) in Rangoon, Myanmar (Burma). “I have been warned to take precautions because government authorities are coming for me at any time. I was told to stay indoors and keep everything closed. Friends warned me, ‘If they see even a window open they will assume somebody is inside and will come to take you.’ Churches cannot meet. We are quietly meeting in small groups of no more than five to pray for our country and our people.” Press reports indicate that five or 10 people have been killed, but “our people have seen hundreds of bodies and many more filling the hospitals,” the VOM contact said. “People are shouting [at the security forces], ‘Shoot me, shoot me, I’ve nothing to live for anyway!’” Brother Ronnie, pastor of the Eight-Mile Gospel Church and a well-known figure by Christians and the government, has been jailed. His ministry includes 20 meeting places in Rangoon and more than 100 nationwide. Myo-Chit, head of the Assemblies of God in Myanmar, is in the same prison.

TWR BROADCASTER NORAH CHAMBERS FREED DIES IN BELFAST AT 101

Source: Assist News Service
Norah Chambers Freed, 101, of Trans World Radio, died in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Saturday, Sept. 22. In her 76-year career she served as a nurse, midwife, translator, author and radio broadcaster. In 1928 she sailed to Morocco as a missionary nurse where she served for 14 years at Tulloch Memorial Hospital. As a midwife, Norah sometimes traveled by bicycle up to 45 miles to minister to North African women. In March 1960 she married Ralph Freed, TWR’s general director. When the organization began broadcasting from Monte Carlo, Monaco, seven months later, the Freeds moved there. Norah then became a broadcaster, producing TWR’s international program, “Woman to Woman,” from 1964 to 1995. She produced 1,682 programs in 31 years, personally answering every listener letter that she received. She retired in her hometown of Belfast in 2003.

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 
 Všechny zprávy v angličtině.
   WORDS OF HOPE RADIO STATION IN NIGER MARKS 1ST ANNIVERSARY

Source: Mission Network News
A radio station dedicated by Words of Hope last September is marking one year of broadcasting in the West African nation of Niger. Programming launched with five weekly gospel broadcasts, and that number soon expanded to six. With limited literacy in the country, radio allows the gospel to reach non-readers and those who cannot obtain a Bible.

Niger is 90-percent Muslim, and yet Words of Hope’s Lee DeYoung says the ground is fertile for the seeds of the gospel because “there is no sharia [Islamic law], there’s a secular government, and there’s real openness to gospel broadcasts explicitly being heard on local radio stations. No opposition has sprung up that we’re aware of.” The programming is made possible through a partnership with an indigenous church in Niger and airs on several local, community and regional stations.

The audience is growing since the program can be heard across the country in both French and Hausa. “We met with some of the listeners who still are not identifying themselves as converts, but they are certainly interested in the gospel. Some of them describe these broadcasts as wonderful examples of enlightenment which they look forward to hearing each night,” DeYoung said.

* In cooperation with local partners, HCJB Global Voice helped plant a local station, Radio Espoir, in Niamey, Niger, in 2004.

9 NIGERIAN CHRISTIANS KILLED, HOMES AND BUSINESSES DESTROYED

Source: Christian Solidarity Worldwide
On the weekend of Sept. 29-30 at least nine Christians were killed, churches were set on fire and businesses and homes destroyed in the Tundun Wada area of Nigeria’s Kano state. The violence was committed by Muslim youths following unspecified allegations that Christians had blasphemed the prophet Mohammed. According to sources on the ground, no Christian church, house or business has been left undamaged. Furthermore, an unknown number of people were injured and displaced during the violence. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has received reports indicating that, in an attempt to disguise the true extent of the violence and injuries, the authorities have evacuated Christians and other non-Muslims to neighboring Bauchi state. Kano is a notoriously volatile state where regular bouts of anti-Christian violence have usually resulted in massacres. Speaking on behalf of the Christian community following the violence, CAN National Secretary Samuel Salifu said: “We are pleading for the government to step in. I am directly telling President Umaru Yar’Adua because this may be a very good litmus test for his administration.”

* HCJB Global Voice, 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. HCJB Global Voice also has helped partners start local radio ministries in five Nigerian cities: Aba, Osun, Jos, Kaduna and Umuahia.

PRAYER, RADIO MINISTRY CONTINUING DURING MYANMAR UNREST

Sources: BosNewsLife, Mission Network News, Baptist World Alliance
Christians in Myanmar (Burma) have launched a national prayer campaign as reports of up to 200 deaths emerge from a military crackdown to suppress anti-junta demonstrations. “We pray for peace and the future of the country,” said Anglican Archbishop Samuel San Si Htay, leader of the Anglican church in Myanmar. Far East Broadcasting Co. (FEBC) is asking prayer for the ministry and staff as they labor to bring the gospel to listeners during the unrest. As radio is a main form of entertainment in the nation, the discipleship and evangelistic programs broadcast by FEBC have a far-reaching ministry. Stories pour in of the impact radio programs have had on Buddhist monks and priests and how their lives have been impacted by the gospel. Christians are also singled out for abuse and attacks because Christianity is seen as a threat to the ideology and power base of the military government, said Christian Freedom International (CFI). Although 80 percent of Myanmar’s population of roughly 42 million is Buddhist, many people among tribal minorities have converted to Christianity, experts say.

UPDATE: HUNDREDS OF PAKISTANI GIRLS’ SCHOOLS FORCED TO CLOSE

Source: WorldWide Religious News
More than 100 girls’ schools were closed down in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, Oct. 1, following the murder of a female teacher by suspected pro-Taliban militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan in the country’s Mohmand agency, according to media reports. The teacher was shot dead Saturday, Sept. 29, in what appeared to be the fulfillment of threats of reprisals by Islamic extremists if teachers did not start wearing burkas (head-to-toe veils), the Dawn news channel reported. Female teachers responded by closing down all the girls’ schools in the region. Sympathizers of Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan have recently targeted a number of women’s educational institutions in the tribal areas and in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). Buildings of two adjacent girls’ schools were damaged by a powerful blast in the Swat district of NWFP the night of Saturday, Sept. 29. A missionary institution for women in the same area was closed for a week earlier in the month after being threatened by Islamic extremist organization accusing the administration of propagating Christianity and obscenity. Education officials in Swat made wearing of the burka obligatory for all female students last week after several schools received threatening letters from the same organization.

STUDY: UNITED METHODIST MEN LACK FRIENDS, CHURCH SUPPORT

Sources: Religion Today, Christian Post
The Christian Post reports that the majority of men in the United Methodist Church attend worship service almost every week, but most feel they lack support from friends and from the pulpit, a new report revealed. With churches struggling to keep men in the pews and women more likely than men to attend church, the Commission on United Methodist Men conducted the study. The top finding on why the church doesn’t reach many men is a lack of interest in religion, survey respondents said. They also listed “societal emphasis on individualism/materialism” and “distrust of organized religion” as common reasons churches struggle to reach men.

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 
 Všechny zprávy v angličtině.
   VIETNAM OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZES BAPTISTS AND MENNONITES

Source: WorldWide Religious News, AsiaNews
Baptists and Mennonites in Hanoi, Vietnam on Tuesday, Oct. 2, received a certificate authorizing them to practice their religion in a ceremony in which the Deputy Chief of the Committee for Religious Affairs, Nguyen Thanh Xuan, praised the government’s religious policy. According to Xuan, since the government adopted the Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions two years ago, 500 religious establishments have opened their doors and thousands have undergone renovations. More than a thousand clergymen of different faiths have been ordained, and more than a thousand religious books with millions of copies have been published, including more than 500,000 copies of the Bible. Pastor Gerry Keener from the North American Eastern Mennonite Missions, who represented the Mennonite World Conference at the ceremony, said that in Vietnam religions have not met any obstacle in their development for the past few years. Pastor Nguyen Thong, provisional president of the Baptist Church in Vietnam, said that since his Church was established in 1989 it has attracted more than 18,400 followers with 500 ministers, practicing in 135 congregations in 23 cities and provinces throughout the country.

AZERBAIJAN BAPTIST PASTOR LOSES APPEAL ‘IN TWO MINUTES’

Source: Forum 18 News
On Wednesday, Oct. 3, a court in Azerbaijan rejected the appeal of Baptist Pastor Zaur Balaev against a two-year prison sentence. “We're stunned at the result the court handed down,” the head of the Baptist Union Ilya Zenchenko said from the steps of the court building. “We don't know what to do. It is a tragedy for his wife and children.” Officials have refused to explain why Balaev has been targeted to punish him for his religious activity with his congregation. Zenchenko of the Baptist Union said that “It was all over in two minutes.” He added that “Zaur's son is very distressed, complaining that there is no hope and no law in Azerbaijan. He is young but his emotional reaction is understandable.” Balaev was initially arrested on May 20 after police raided what they claimed was an “illegal” religious service. Police claims that he attacked them led to further charges that resulted in the two-year prison sentence. Balaev appealed against the sentence on August 15. Baptists from another congregation in Balaev's home village, who unlike Balaev's congregation reject state registration on principle, are also being threatened with imprisonment by the authorities.

* HCJB Global Voice, in partnership with Hosanna and local partners in Baku, Azerbaijan, has recorded the dramatized Azeri New Testament as part of the Faith Comes by Hearing project. The recordings, completed in 1998, have been made into a series of radio programs.

MADAGASCAR CHURCH COMPETES WITH POVERTY FOR SOULS

Source: Council for World Missions
The church in Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Africa, is battling to compete with dire economic need in its outreach to men and women residing in the coastal resort town of Foulpointe. Foulpointe Presbyterian Church is considering how to address the problem that men need to work on Sundays to survive, and therefore can't make it to services. Rev. Vincent Carrington of Taunton Congregational Church observed this during a visit to the nation during most of September as part of a community of women and men in mission (CWMM) team. Peak souvenir sales occur on weekends, when the hotels are fullest, so salesmen are unable to attend church, Carrington said. The pews are mainly filled with women. Foulpointe church is also addressing the trend for young women to go out with older, European men to pay their university fees, he reported. Sometimes their families encourage them to prostitute themselves. While teaching against the practice, the church welcomes and helps girls who consequently become pregnant. They started an education center to train young women in skills such as how to look after a home, to encourage alternatives to relying on men for an income.

* HCJB Global Voice has helped establish three Christian FM radio stations in Madagascar together with local partners. The most recent station went on the air in Ihosy in October 2003, broadcasting to the under-reached Bara tribe with additional programming in Malagassy, French and English. Partner stations also have been planted in the cities of Diego-Suarez and Antananarivo.

UPDATE: NIGERIAN DEATH TOLL HIGHER THAN INITIAL REPORT OF 9

Sources: Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Assist News Service
New reports of a higher death toll in the weekend's religious violence in the Tundun Wada area of Kano State, northern Nigeria are beginning to emerge as tensions decrease. Initial reports by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) stated official numbers suggesting around nine Christians were killed. Several churches were burnt and businesses and homes belonging to non-Muslims were destroyed. Even Christian policemen are reported to have lost their homes and property. New information indicates the violence began on the morning of Friday, Sept. 28, when a group of Muslim students invaded and assaulted two Christian students at the Government Secondary School in Tudun Wada Na Kande. Once the school Principal arrived at the scene, the Christians were accused of drawing a picture of Mohammed on a mosque wall and of planning an assault on Muslim students. Following the violence, Tundun Wada’s chief of police ordered the area to be sealed off and local authorities transported Christians out of the area and removed all corpses in a possible attempt to obscure the true death toll. Even those seeking to assist victims of the violence were denied access to the area and one policeman was overheard complaining of being “fed up of packing corpses.”

COLORADO HIGH SCHOOLERS PROTEST THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Sources: Religion Today, USAToday, Boulder Daily Camera
USAToday reports that about 50 high school students in Boulder, Colo., filed out in a First Amendment protest over the words “under God” in the daily Pledge of Allegiance. According to the (Boulder) Daily Camera, the students have three objections: It takes away from school time; it's ignored or disrespected by mocking teens; and the phrase, “one nation, under God,” violates the separation of church and state. In place of the Pledge, the group recited a revision written by the president of the Student Worker club, which organized the walkout: “I pledge allegiance to the flag and my constitutional rights with which it comes. And to the diversity, in which our nation stands, one nation, part of one planet, with liberty, freedom, choice and justice for all.” “Boulder High has a highly diverse population, not all of whom believe in God, or one God,”said Emma Martens, a senior and president of the club, which has about a dozen members. “We didn't think it was fair for the whole school to have to listen to it. It's almost religious oppression.”

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 
 Všechny zprávy v angličtině.
   80,000 JEWS AND CHRISTIANS MARCH IN JERUSALEM PARADE

Sources: WorldWide Religious News, Jerusalem Post
A wave of blue and white, accompanied by colorful flags from across the globe, swept through Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 23, as tens of thousands of Jews and Christians walked side by side in the annual Feast of Tabernacles Jerusalem March. The run-up to the parade was marred by a Chief Rabbinate order banning Jews from the event, for fear of “missionary work,” but that did not stop some 80,000 - 7,000 of them Christians - from enjoying the festivities. The march, which capped off a series of Succot events in the capital, attracted Jerusalemites who came to see the participating nations’ colorful outfits and evangelical Christians who could not stop declaring their love and support for the people in Zion, as they do every year. “Many nations and countries oppose Israel. We wanted to tell Israel and its people that we stand next to them and that they will never be alone,” Heyn Middelhoven, 30, from the Netherlands, who was marching with a group from the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, told The Jerusalem Post. Some 1,500 Brazilian pilgrims also participated in the event.

* HCJB Global Voice has worked with local partners in recent years to provide technical equipment for partner radio stations in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel.

SUDAN SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 5 AT CHURCH YOUTH MEETING

Source: Compass Direct News
A suicide bomber in military fatigues killed five young people at a church meeting last week in Sudan’s Upper Nile State, according to eyewitnesses. The man detonated a grenade on his belt after approaching a group of 34 young people holding an outdoor church meeting in Khorfulus, 25 miles southwest of Malakal Thursday evening, Sept. 27. Khorfulus authorities have taken the position that the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) soldier was drunk and accidentally set off the grenade, a church leader said. But according to a Christian support organization, one general said that he believed the goal of the attack was to intimidate churches. The Rev. Joseph Maker Gordon, acting secretary general of the Presbyterian Church in Sudan, was on a week-long visit at the time of the bombing. “We were praying in another church [nearby] when we heard the explosion at 10 p.m.,” Gordon said. The pastor immediately went to the scene of the attack to find that four young people and the bomber had been killed. Eyewitnesses told Rev. Gordon that the man had approached a group of Christian youth who were singing worship songs outside of a Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) church building.

CHINESE LAWYER KIDNAPPED, OTHER CHRISTIANS UNDER HOUSE ARREST

Sources: China Aid Association, Christian Newswire
Prominent Beijing Christian human rights lawyer Mr. Li Heping was kidnapped and tortured for nearly six hours on September 29, 2007. Li reported via phone just 3 days after the attack that a group of strangers covered his head with a cloth bag and forced him into a sedan, which then drove for about an hour to what Li suspects was a basement. There were about ten people there, whom he had never met who demanded he undress completely. When he refused, they began to beat Li brutally and forcibly stripped him down to his underwear. They grabbed Li by the hair, kicked him, hit him with water bottles, and slapped him in the face as well as chasing and hitting him with electric batons. They claimed to be members of the Beijing State Security Bureau. At one point one of them yelled at him, “All your family should get the hell out of Beijing. Sell your house and car and get out of Beijing!” The beatings and insults proceeded on and off for six hours until they again transported him with a black head-cover on and threw him into a wooded area. Li had to walk for a long time to get to the highway and hitch a ride back to the city.

Meanwhile, two Beijing house church activists have been held under house arrest since October 1. Pastor Hua Huiqi and Liu Fenggang, who were recently released from 6-month and 3-year imprisonments respectively, are captives in their houses surrounded by two dozen police. Early on Wednesday, Oct. 3, Public Security Bureau Officers broke the windows on Hua and his wife’s bedroom and then cut off the electrical supply. Pastor Hua was told his 77- year-old mom, Ms. Shuang Shuying, has been serving a two year sentence as a hostage of Hua’s rights defense activism. She was beaten severely recently without medical care and is now dying in her prison cell.

ERITREAN SENIOR PASTOR ARRESTED FOR THE SECOND TIME

Sources: Voice of the Martyrs, Evangelical News
Pastor Oqbamichael Tekle-Haimanot, a well-known and senior leader of the Kale-Hiwot Church in Eritrea, was arrested and imprisoned on October 1, according to Voice of the Martyrs Canada sources. This is the second imprisonment for Pastor Oqbamichael in the last two years. In January 2005, he was arrested at a Christian wedding in the western town of Barentu. He was released after nearly ten months of imprisonment that included solitary confinement and hard labor in the Sawa Military Camp. The arrest of Pastor Oqbamichael follows the recent imprisonment of Evangelist Mussie Ezaz, who is also a minister in the Kale-Hiwot Church.

U2 SINGER BONO GIVEN AWARD FOR AFRICAN HUMANITARIAN WORK

Source: Assist News Service
U2 singer Bono was awarded with the Liberty Medal for his humanitarian work in Africa on Thursday, Sept.27. According to the BBC, the star was presented with the accolade in the US city of Philadelphia by last year’s winner, George Bush, the father of the current US president. He will donate the $100,000 cash prize to the Debt Aids Trade Africa charity he founded in 2002. Speaking at the ceremony, the musician said, “When you are trapped by poverty, you are not free. When trade laws prevent you from selling the food you grew, you are not free. When you are a monk in Burma this very week, barred from entering a temple because of your gospel of peace... well, then none of us are truly free.” The BBC reported that Bono also called on Americans to continue helping the world. “America has so many great answers to offer,” he said. “We can’t fix all the world’s problems, but the ones we can, we must.” The Liberty Medal, established in 1988, is awarded by the US National Constitution Center to those who have “demonstrated leadership and vision in the pursuit of liberty.”

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 
 Všechny zprávy v angličtině.
   RESEARCH: PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC RESPONSIBLE FOR HIGHER EMPLOYMENT

Sources: WorldWide Religious News, The Times
Those lucky enough to be living in countries with high employment might want to credit their governments for the economic prosperity they enjoy. But new research indicates the credit, at least in some cases, belongs elsewhere - with religion. A new study shows that Protestant countries have higher employment rates than non-Protestant countries. Researchers at Bath university found that the UK, the US and Nordic countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Norway were among those with employment rates as much as six per cent higher than countries where other religions are practiced by the largest proportion of the population. According to their study of 80 countries, published in the American Journal of Economics and Sociology, female employment rates are also about 11 percent higher in Protestant countries. Dr. Horst Feldmann, of Bath University, said, “In its early days, Protestantism promoted the virtue of hard and diligent work amongst its adherents, who judged one another by conformity to this standard.” Later Feldmann added, “The Protestant virtue of hard and diligent work has become part of a national culture of the relevant countries.”

ERITREAN CHRISTIAN SHARES HIS PERSONAL PERSECUTION STORY

Sources: Assist News Service, BBC News
An evangelical Christian from the African nation of Eritrea known as Paulus recently shared his story of fleeing the tiny Red Sea state following religious persecution there. Paulus is currently housed in the Shimelba refugee camp in northern Ethiopia. In the Ebenezer Evangelical Church within the camp, Paulus is free to worship in a way that is unthinkable back in his homeland, says Tanya Datta, from BBC News. Datta first encountered Paulus lying contorted on the ground. Balanced on his belly, his hands clutched his feet behind his back, bending his legs back almost double. He was demonstrating a torture technique known colloquially as “the helicopter.” “It is one he knows well,” says Datta. “It was in this excruciating position, he claims, that soldiers left him tied up for 136 hours, in an attempt to force him to recant his faith,” Datta explains in the BBC World Service's Assignment program which was broadcast on Thursday, September 27.

“They kept asking me to sign a document,” Paulus recalls, “and agree to not participate in church activities or express my faith in any form. I was told I would be untied and released the minute I agreed to their requests.”

During the past five years, a brutal campaign has been waged in Eritrea against Christian minorities, focusing mainly on the evangelical and Pentecostal movements, Datta reported.

9 CHINESE PASTORS SECRETLY SENTENCED TO LABOR CAMPS

Sources: China Aid Association, Christian Newswire
Nine Chinese house church leaders who have been missing for nearly two months were apparently secretly sent to labor camps in China’s Hubei province. Families of the missing Christians were just recently informed by the authorities that the pastors have been sentenced to “re-education through labor” for sentences ranging between 12 to 18 months. The 9 sentenced leaders are from Anhui, Hubei, Henan and Shanxi provinces. Among them, four male church leaders were sentenced to 18 months in labor camp while 5 women were sentenced to 12 months. Among them, 42- year-old Ms. Li Mei has been serving her one-year sentence in a hospital with both hands chained to her bed. Repeated beatings and torture she received during her detention now require a hysterectomy surgery. According to the official sentencing paper issued on August 6, the nine leaders were detained on July 15 when they were found having Sunday worship service together. They were accused of “engaging in organizing and making use of an evil cult organization to undermine the enforcement of State laws.” The evidence of their crimes including singing Christian hymns to the villagers and showing the Jesus film in a nursing home and praying for the disabled elderly men for healing from God.

SURVEY: FEWER CHINESE CHRISTIANS THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT

Source: Assist News Service
As the son of German missionaries forced to leave China in 1950 and a returnee to China in 1981, Dr. Werner Burklin, founder of China Partner was often asked, “How many Christians are in China?” Burklin heard guesstimates that ranged from 20 million to as high as 200 million Christians, but none of these figures were the result of actual surveys. “There was a lot of speculation swirling around,” Burklin says. To get the facts, China Partner sent teams to every province, municipality and autonomous region in China - 31 in all. The only region they did not survey was Tibet. Over a 13-month period, his team interviewed 5,430 people ranging in age from 16-92 from a wide variety of occupations. The surveys took place in parks, markets, subways, buses, on the streets, and in numerous other locales. Based on their polling, Burklin believes there are 39 million Protestant Christians in China, with a three percent margin of error. He estimates roughly half are in the underground church, and the other half are in government-approved churches. “I'm not saying this is scientifically perfect,” he says, “but it does give a reliable and general understanding of what the facts are.”

SAMOAN CHRISTIANS MARCH AGAINST SCIENTOLOGY SUPPORT

Sources: Worldwide Religious News, Radio New Zealand
Hundreds of Christian believers in Western Samoa from Pentecostal churches and ministries have marched in protest against the government’s support of the Scientology religion. They marched to the front of the government building in Apia where Scientology tents have been put up as the main venue for its disaster training and seminars over the next two weeks. The protesters have called on the government to reconsider its stance to allow the Scientology members into the country as they would try to persuade many Christian believers to join the scientologists. Early this week, the chairman of the main council of churches, the Reverend Oka Fau’olo, denied the council was supporting the goodwill visit by Scientology ministers. The chairman has warned the country to be very cautious of the organization’s teachings.

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 

   Zpět  Další zprávy: www.prayer.cz