Zprávy HCJB 25.11.2007 - 30.11.2007

 Egypťanka odsouzena na 3 roky za setrvávání v křesťanství
   Egyptská křesťanka byla odsouzena na tři roky do vězení za „nezákonné“ setrvávání v křesťanství. 47letá Shadia Nagui Ibrahim byla obviněna z podvodu, protože její otec se nakrátko před 45 lety stal muslimem a tím pádem je ze zákona i ona muslimkou. V jejím rodném listu je přitom napsáno, že je křesťankou, řekl její obhájce Michael Maurice ve stanovisku zveřejněném agenturou AFP. Na oddacím listu z roku 1982 uvedla, že je křesťankou, protože „nevěděla,“ že konverze jejího otce k islámu dvacet roků předtím z ní udělala muslimku. Její otec Nagui Ibrahim opustil rodinu v roce 1962, když byly jeho dceři Shadia 2 roky a konvertoval k islámu. Po třech letech se umířil se svojí manželkou a vrátil se ke křesťanství. Prý pak sehnal někoho, kdo předělal jeho úřední záznamy tak, aby byl opět křesťanem i úředně. V Egyptě děti automaticky získávají náboženství otce. Znalci potvrzují, že podle egyptských zákonů si také muslimka nesmí vzít křesťana. Shadia Nagui Ibrahim byla obviněna z „uvádění nepravdivých informací v úředním dokumentu,“ čehož se měla dopustit tím, že v oddacím listu uvedla, že je křesťankou. Zdroj: BosNewsLife
 
 V Číně v provincii Henan uvězněno 40 představitelů domácích sborů
   China Aid Association (CAA)/ Christian Newswire zjistily, že 40 vedoucích domácích sborů z China Gospel Fellowship (CGF) bylo v neděli 18. listopadu zadrženo v čínské provincii Henan. Očití svědkové uvedli, že příslušníci tajné státní bezpečnosti z kraje Xiancheng vnikli na shromáždění v domě ve vesnici Peichang asi v pět hodin odpoledne a zadrželi pastory při biblickém studiu. Jednadvacet z nich bylo během následujících šesti dnů propuštěno, ale 19 stále zůstává ve vazebním zařízení. Všichni zadržení jsou staršími CGF, největší čínské skupiny domácích sborů, také její zakladatel pastor Shen Yiping. Pastoři se sešli z různých krajů provincie Henan. Zdroj: China Aid Association, Christian Newswire
 
 Desetidenní mírový pochod nigerijské církve
   Lidé z různých míst Nigérie se v pondělí 19. listopadu spojili k desetidennímu pochodu k oslavě míru a na podporu výstavby nových škol jako symbolu smíření. Jde o první takový pochod a souvisí s prvním výročím Takumské mírové dohody, které ukončila léta nenávisti, nepřátelství a zabíjení kvůli půdě. Konflikt destabilizoval společnost, vyhnal rodiny z jejich domovů a přinesl hlad a smrt . Bulus Ali, nigerijský kontakt Výboru pro pomoc při křesťanském reformovaném světě řekl, že „od mírové dohody 28. ledna 2006 zbraně mlčí. Vyhnanci se vrátili do svých domovů a život se vrátil k normálu.“ Poutníci šli deset dní od jednoho kostela ke druhému a každý večer konali modlitební přestávky, kde se modlili za požehnání a pokoj městu. Místní pastoři i organizátoři mírového pochodu v minulosti přivedli ke společnému jednání představitele kmenů Kuteb a Kiv, zástupce zákona, vlády federace i jednotlivých místních států k řadě rozhovorů, které nakonec vedly k tomuto míru. Poutníci i jejich sbory doufají, že se jim podaří založit fond k přestavbě školy Mbiya ve městě Taraba, která byla během nepokojů vypálena. Zdroj: Christian Post

*HCJB Global Voice spolu se SIM a Evangelikální církví západní Afriky začaly do Nigérie vysílat půlhodinové pořady v jazyce Igbo jednou týdně v roce 2000. HCJB Global Voice také pomáhal partnerům zahájit vysílání rozhlasových misí v pěti nigerijských městech: Aba, Osun, Jos, Kaduna and Umuahia
 
 Čínský pastor odsouzen na 18 měsíců do vězení za sepsání otevřeného dopisu
   China Aid Association (CAA) zjistila, že v provincii Gansu byl ve čtvrtek 25. října odsouzen k 18 měsícům vězení pastor domácích sborů Liu Huiwen, a to za sepsání a šíření křesťanské literatury mezi muslimy. Lui byl zadržen 28. dubna poté, co rozšířil leták při pohřbu a zatčen byl 31. května. Obžaloba, kterou vznesl krajský prokurátor v Dongxiang potvrdila, že Liu se dopustil diskriminace a násilí vůči členům etnické menšiny tím, že jim rozdával leták s názvem „Dopis našim muslimským přátelům.“ Liův obhájce Li Dunyong namítal, že Liův otevřený dopis neobsahuje žádné prvky diskriminace ani násilí proti etnické menšině, a že to ani nebylo jeho úmyslem. Zdůrazňoval, že chování jeho mandanta nepřekročilo rámec svobody projevu, i když dopis obsahuje některé nevhodné formulace. CAA nazvala soud i rozsudek 18 měsíčního vězení za nespravedlivý a označila jej za další pokus čínských úřadů zastavit růst křesťanství. Zdroj: China Aid Association, Christian Newswire
 
 V Indii dav poškodil modlitebnu, zbil křesťany; zavražděn mladík
   V okrese Bastar ve středoindickém státu Chhattisgharh v pondělí 19. listopadu dav údajně vedený hinduistickými extrémisty zdemoloval domácí modlitebnu a zbil pastora jakož i přítomné křesťany. Druhý den byl mladý příbuzný pastora, údajně unesený extrémisty, nalezen mrtev v blízké džungli. Tento útok na Křesťanské Misijní Hnutí se udál ve vesnici Mindwa. Tělo 21letého Aayatu Kashyap, vzdáleného příbuzného pastora Suduru Kashyap bylo nalezeno 9 mil od vesnice. G.P.Singh, policejní superintendant v okresu Bastar incidenty potvrdil, ale odmítl, že by za nimi byli hinduističtí extrémisté. Potvrdil, že místní vesničané, kteří však nejsou napojeni na extrémisty křesťany napadli a vraždu označil za „nezávislý incident.“ Chhattisgarh je jedním z nejnebezpečnějších států pro křesťanskou menšinu, přičemž zde žije jen 400 000 křesťanů – to je 1.9% z 20,8 milionu jeho obyvatel. Zdroj: Compass Direct News
 
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   REPORT: 4 TIMES MORE NATURAL DISASTERS THAN JUST 20 YEARS AGO

Sources: BBC News, AFP
More than four times the number of natural disasters are occurring now than they did 20 years ago, the British charity Oxfam International concluded in a study released Sunday, Nov. 25. An average of 500 such disasters are now taking place each year compared to 120 in the 1980s, the report says. The number of floods has increased six-fold in the same period. “This year we have seen floods in South Asia and across the breadth of Africa and Mexico that have affected more than 250 million people,” noted Oxfam Director Barbara Stocking. “This is no freak year. It follows a pattern of more frequent, more erratic, more unpredictable and more extreme weather events that are affecting more people. Action is needed now to prepare for more disasters otherwise humanitarian assistance will be overwhelmed and recent advances in human development will go into reverse.” The number of people affected by extreme natural disasters, meanwhile, has surged by almost 70 percent to 254 million people a year between 1995 and 2004, up from 174 million a year between 1985 and 1994, Oxfam reported. The report blamed global warming for the growing number of weather disasters.

MAF PLAYING VITAL ROLE IN BANGLADESH CYCLONE RELIEF EFFORTS

Source: Christian Newswire
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is playing a vital role in relief efforts in Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr hit the country on Nov. 16. Bangladesh, with millions displaced, continues to be the focus of a massive relief effort. MAF has an established base there, but John Woodberry, MAF manager of disaster response, said the ministry is ratcheting up its work. “Right now we’re flying supplies and people during the assessment phase and getting help where it’s most urgently needed. But we’re also looking at providing emergency communications as communications hubs get established,” said Woodberry. “The need is very great,” he said. “Access to the coast is terrible. So we’ve been flying non-stop, to try to get people in and out so relief can go where it’s most needed.” The city of Patharghata, with a population of 40,000, was especially hard hit. “They had a shelter, but it could only hold 150 people, and this cyclone was much worse than any they had ever had before. They only got 300 into the shelter. And, if you can imagine, when the storm hit, many many people were left outside. In that village 2,000 people died,” Woodberry said. MAF is dealing with more flight requests than it can handle, and he is asking for prayer. “MAF is one of only two civilian aviation operators in the country,” he said. “Pray that we have wisdom to do the work that is most urgent.”

EGYPTIAN WOMAN SENTENCED TO 3 YEARS FOR STATING CHRISTIANITY

Source: BosNewsLife
An Egyptian Christian woman has been sentenced to three years in prison for “illegally” stating she is a Christian. Shadia Nagui Ibrahim, 47, was charged with fraud because her father’s brief conversion to Islam 45 years ago made her legally a Muslim. However her official papers claim she is a Christian, said her lawyer, Michael Maurice, in a statement released by the French news agency AFP. She wrote Christianity as her religion on her marriage certificate in 1982 because she was “unaware” that her father’s conversion to Islam two decades earlier had made her a Muslim. Her father, Nagui Ibrahim, left home in 1962 when daughter Shadia was 2 years old and converted to Islam. Three years later he reconciled with his wife and reconverted to Christianity. In the process, he reportedly got someone to forge his documents back to say he was Christian. Children in Egypt automatically take their father’s religion. Under Egyptian law it is also illegal for a Muslim woman to marry a Christian man, analysts say. Shadia Nagui Ibrahim was charged with “providing false information on official documents” for stating she was Christian on her marriage certificate.

SURVEY: CHRISTIAN PARENTS PURCHASE MEDIA DESPITE MISGIVINGS

Sources: Barna Group, Religion Today, Christian Post
A new national study by the Barna Group among Christian parents shows that even though most Christian parents are not always comfortable with the content of the media-related products, they purchase some of those items as presents for their children. Evangelical Christians in the U.S. are likely to spend more than $1 billion on media products such as CDs, DVDs, video games and magazines for children despite parental misgivings about the moral content or developmental effects. The most widely purchased media by Christian parents in the past year were DVDs of movies and TV programs. More than three out of four Christian parents (78 percent) had purchased DVDs for their teenagers and almost nine out of ten Christian parents (87 percent) had purchased DVDs for their children under 13. However, one-quarter of those adults (26 percent) did not feel comfortable with the DVD products they purchased. About six out of ten parents bought music CDs for their kids, yet one out of every three of those parents (33 percent) had concerns about the content. Also, slightly more than half of all Christian parents had purchased video games for their children yet 46 percent of parents of teens admitted to concerns about the content of those games. Those most comfortable were single parents, mothers and parents least active in practicing their faith.

500TH ANNIVERSARY OF REFORMATION TO BE MARKED WITH 500 TREES

Sources: Assist News Service, Ecumenical News International
Churches throughout the world are being asked to sponsor trees in a special “Luther Garden” in Wittenberg, Germany, to mark the 500th anniversary in 2017 of Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation, writes Stephen Brown for Ecumenical News International. “We don’t want to be a museum,” said Wittenberg Mayor Eckhard Naumann, announcing the initiative at a Nov. 16 media conference in Geneva where the Lutheran World Federation has its headquarters. “We want to be a place where there is a living process of communication.” Brown said in his story that the first tree is to be planted in 2008 on Oct. 31, which is known as Reformation Day. This marks the day in 1517 when Luther is said to have nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg’s Schlosskirche (castle church), thereby setting in train his breach with the Roman Catholic Church. Churches worldwide are to be encouraged to adopt one of the 500 trees that are planned for the Luther Garden and also to plant a tree themselves to denote a link with the birthplace of the Reformation.

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 
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   U.K. NAMES FIRST-EVER ‘GREEN CHURCH OF THE YEAR’ AWARD WINNER

Source: The Church Times
The first-ever “Green Church of the Year” award in the U.K. was awarded Tuesday, Nov. 20, to Holy Trinity church in Cleeve, Somerset. The church, which also won the “Campaigning to Cut Carbon” award, was praised for the range of initiatives it has taken. These include a walking bus to save parents from having to drive their children to school, campaigning against the expansion of the Bristol airport, and switching to a more energy-efficient supplier. Their prize includes thousands of dollars worth of carbon offsetting, free consultancy about how to further reduce the church’s carbon footprint, energy-saving light bulbs and a low-energy washing machine. The Green Church Awards were conceived by The Church Times, the leading weekly Christian newspaper in the U.K., in conjunction with the leading agencies working in the field of environmental awareness: Christian Aid, Eco-congregation, A Rocha, the Conservation Foundation, Tearfund, Shrinking the Footprint, Operation Noah, Living Lightly 24:7, Christian Ecology Link and the Marches Energy Agency.

40 HOUSE CHURCH LEADERS ARRESTED IN CHINA’S HENAN PROVINCE

Sources: China Aid Association, Christian Newswire
China Aid Association (CAA) has learned that 40 church leaders from China Gospel Fellowship (CGF) were detained on Sunday, Nov. 18, in China’s Henan province. One eyewitness said Public Security Bureau officers from Xiancheng county entered a house church in the village of Peichang at about 5 p.m. and arrested the pastors while they were holding a Bible study. Twenty-one of them were released within six days, but 19 remain in the county detention center. All of the detainees are senior leaders of CGF, one of China’s largest house church groups, including its founder, Pastor Shen Yiping. The leaders come from different counties throughout Henan province.

CUBAN AUTHORITIES DETAIN EVANGELICAL PASTOR, ACTIVISTS

Source: BosNewsLife
An evangelical pastor and several other human rights workers have been detained in Cuba shortly after security forces broke up a meeting commemorating political prisoners in the capital city of Havana, local sources said. “Cuban government repressive forces brutally beat members of families who live in a poor neighborhood in Havana and destroyed the furniture and personal belongings of a human rights defender. The activists arrested are threatened with being prosecuted,” said Juan Carlos González Leiva, a blind Christian lawyer who leads the Cuban Foundation of Human Rights and the Human Rights Rapporteur Council in Cuba. He said the problems began late Thursday, Nov. 22, when more than 30 officials of the Cuban political police and Cuban State Security “violently invaded” the San Miguel del Padrón area of Havana. They were seen “ransacking the home of 30-year-old activist Juan Bermúdez Toranzo where a vigil on behalf of . . . all Cuban political prisoners was taking place.” He added that police “brutally beat all families and neighbors present, including women and children.”

* 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.

VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT CREATING DIVISION AMONG EVANGELICALS

Sources: WorldWide Religious News, The Washington Post
A Washington Post report on Sunday, Nov. 18, indicates that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is dividing Christians within the country. At a time when evangelical Christianity is growing in Venezuela, churches such as Las Acacias, the largest evangelical church in Caracas, and others are fractured because of politics. Believers say they are caught between admiration for a president who flaunts biblical references and a growing concern that he will muzzle those who don’t preach his brand of politics. “A lot of people have left Las Acacias because the pastor identifies with the opposition,” said one church member. “Many [Chávez followers] have said, ‘We’re not coming here anymore.’” A Dec. 2 referendum to revise Venezuela’s constitution has further polarized the country, spawning violent protests. In Chávez’s fight to bring Venezuelans into the fold of his “socialist revolution,” churches have become important battlegrounds. Many pastors have avoided political talk, but admit that the issues riveting the nation don’t stop at the church doors. The question has become not whether to follow Christ, but whether to also follow Chávez.

* 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.

TWR RADIO PROGRAM EMPHASIZES HIV/AIDS PREVENTION IN AFRICA

Source: Mission Network News
While the U.N. has lowered its estimated number of worldwide AIDS infections to 33 million, down from 40 million, Christians aren’t reducing efforts to combat the deadly disease. As World AIDS Day approaches on Saturday, Dec. 1, missionary radio is increasingly placing a higher emphasis on reaching those who are infected, dying or at risk of getting HIV/AIDS. Trans World Radio (TWR) is just one organization that’s made the disease a top priority. Tom Watkins, TWR’s global coordinator for the ministry’s HIV/AIDS initiatives, says that despite the revised U.N. figures, AIDS is still a massive issue. “Some people refer to it as a ‘tsunami’ every month,” he said. “The tsunami several years ago claimed about 200,000 lives, and that’s how many people die of AIDS around the world every month.” TWR began addressing the issue in 1986. “We have a new radio drama program called ‘Magogo’s Village,’” Watkins explained. “It’s a very highly energized, dynamic, dramatic radio program targeting youth.” Watkins added that the program is effective in communicating HIV/AIDS prevention and that the gospel message is “very much central to that.”

*Tato a další zprávy jsou v originální anglické verzi zde.
 
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    NIGERIAN CHURCHES HOLDING A 10 DAY PEACE WALK

Source: Christian Post
People from across Nigeria united Monday, Nov. 19, for a 10-day walk to celebrate peace and promote the rebuilding of a school that symbolizes reconciliation. The first of its kind peace walk commemorates the first anniversary of the Takum Peace Agreement which ended years of hatred, violence and death caused by a land dispute. The conflict destabilized communities, displaced families and caused starvation and death throughout the area. Bulus Ali, Nigeria partner contact for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, said, “Since the peace agreement was enacted on Nov. 28, 2006, the guns have been silent. Displaced persons have returned to their communities. Life is returning to normal.” For 10 days the walkers will travel from church to church, stopping to preach messages of peace in each town in the evening. The local pastors and peace walk organizers brought together Kuteb and Tiv tribal leaders along with law enforcement representatives and members of state and local governments for a series of discussions that resulted in peace last year. The walkers and their congregations hope to raise funds to rebuild Mbiya School, a facility in Taraba that was burned during the unrest.

* HCJB Global Voice, together with 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.

BRITISH TEACHER IN SUDAN ARRESTED FOR TEDDY BEAR NAME

Sources: WorldWide Religious News, AFP
Sudanese police have arrested a British school teacher and accused her of insulting the Muslim prophet after allowing 6-year-old pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed, officials said on Monday, Nov. 26. Gillian Gibbons was arrested the previous day after parents complained about the incident, understood to have happened a while ago at an English-language private school. “She was arrested yesterday by the local police and she’s currently being held in a police station in Khartoum. We visited her today. She’s shaken up but she’s alright,” said a British embassy spokesman. “We’re following up with the Sudanese authorities and also with the school who are providing her with legal representation. She’s not been charged officially but there are still investigations going on,” the spokesman said. The British teacher never intended the naming of the bear to cause offence, the embassy added. Colleagues said they hoped that Gibbons, who taught at the school, would be released by Wednesday, Nov. 28.

WCC ACCUSES PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT OF KILLING CHRISTIANS

Source: BosNewsLife
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has accused the Philippine government of involvement in “extra-judicial killings” and other forms of mistreatment of Christian workers. The Swiss-based WCC, which claims to represent 560 million Christians in more than 110 countries, said among believers murdered were several church activists and pastors who allegedly supported opponents of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s administration. In a statement, WCC General Secretary Samuel Kobia cited the “brutal stabbing” of Philippines Independent Church Bishop Alberto Ramento in October last year. He was accused of “supporting a rebellion,” but fellow church members said the real reason for the killing was his involvement in human rights advocacy. Kobia, who was part of en ecumenical delegation visiting the Philippines this week, also heard the testimony of Jonathan Sta. Rosa, whose brother Isaias, a pastor of the United Methodist Church, was forcibly taken from their house on Aug. 3, 2006, and later summarily executed. In another incident, the wife of Berlin Guerrero, a detained pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, recalled how her husband was taken at gunpoint and dragged into a van. A plastic bag was pulled over his head and made him pass out twice, so the abductors beat him to wake him up.

REPORT: AT LEAST 4 CASES OF PERSECUTION IN INDIA EVERY WEEK

Source: Assist News Service
At least four cases of Christian persecution are being reported every week of this year from across India, according to statistics compiled from local sources by John Dayal, a member of the National Integration Council, and others actively monitoring the situation. Dayal, a renowned journalist who has been in senior positions with several Indian media houses, is president of the All India Catholic Union. As of Nov. 16, the number of atrocities reported against Christians this year had reached 190, already surpassing the record totals set in 2006 and 2005. The report, available at www.theindiancatholic.com, quotes Dayal as saying, “the victims include members of almost every Church denomination in the country, Catholics, Protestants and evangelicals.” They include Catholic clergy, independent Pastors and their wives, seminarians, Bible school students and lay Christians. Violence includes attempted murder, armed assault, sexual molestation, illegal confinement and grievous injury.

CITY IN COLORADO CONSIDERS BANNING RED AND GREEN LIGHTS

Sources: Evangelical News, WorldNetDaily
The City Council of Ft. Collins, Colo., is voting this week on a controversial plan to limit traditional Christmas decorations on public property. The city is even considering banning the colors red and green because they are colors associated with Christmas. Earlier this year, the city appointed a Holiday Display Task Force which includes a representative from the Northern Colorado Chapter of the ACLU. Although the ACLU’s legal information was considered, the committee did not include a representative of any other legal organization that could present a balancing viewpoint. The task force recommendations would severely limit Christmas decorations. The task force is urging that the city decorate with “white lights, winter symbols not traditionally associated with any particular holiday (snowflakes, icicles, etc.) and unadorned garlands of greenery (not decorated with ribbons or ornaments).” The task force also recommended that trees should “feature white lights and avoid decorations that would dilute the broad multi-cultural message, unless they are part of a display.”

© Copyright 2007 - HCJB Global - Colorado Springs, CO USA
 
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    ‘HIV/AIDS CUBE’ PROVIDES INNOVATIVE NEW TEACHING TOOL

Source: SIM International
A new tool for the global fight against the AIDS pandemic was announced Wednesday, Nov. 28, at the “Global Summit on AIDS and the Church” at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.

The AIDS prevention tool, dubbed the “HIV/AIDS Cube,” was announced by Dan Hitzhusen of e3 Partners (developer of the popular EvangeCube) and Bob Blees of SIM International. The innovative cube addresses both the contraction and spread of HIV/AIDS as well as how to care for those living with the disease.

SIM and e3 partnered in the project in December 2006 when leaders from the two organizations sat together at last year’s AIDS summit. In less than a year the cube went from concept to reality. An early prototype was field tested by e3 in Sudan and Rwanda, and as a result of that training, nearly 10,000 people have already learned the key points of protecting themselves and their loved ones from contracting HIV.

Zege Tsige, former dean at Harvard University, spent three weeks with e3 training health care professionals in Ethiopia, and received many positive comments such as, “We have notebooks of complicated AIDS training. This tool boils most of what we have learned down into a very simple, transferable method that we can immediately share.”

SIM and e3 have already seen greater results than were expected and have a goal of putting a cube into the hands of everyone who is doing AIDS education. “The demand [for cubes] is well beyond what we ever expected,” said Blees, “20,000 cubes have already been shipped, 10,000 of which are on their way to Africa. Another 20,000 have been manufactured and will be shipping soon.”

RICKSHAW MICROENTERPRISE BRINGS HOPE TO NORTH INDIA CITY

Sources: Council for World Missions, North India Church Review
The Durgapur diocese of the Church of North India, one of the country’s largest Protestant denominations, has challenged the one-person domination of the rickshaw-van market in the city of Sarenga in West Bengal, India. This allows for a “more hopeful economic future for the area’s van pullers.” With high unemployment in Sarenga, almost 80 percent of the predominantly tribal population works as daily laborers, and debt levels are high. The diocese of Durgapur noted that almost all rickshaw-van pullers did not own their vehicles. Instead, they rented from a single person who owned up to 10 vans in the village and rented them out at a rate of 15 rupees (the equivalent of about 38 cents) per day. A group from the diocese decided to donate rickshaw-vans to local drivers as long as they paid 5 rupees a day to the Sarenga Child Development Centre which will supervise them with assistance from the Sarenga pastorate. The fees will cover repairs and maintenance of the vehicles. Through the project, the diocese expects the van pullers’ socioeconomic status to develop gradually and put an end to exploitation.

* Radio programs in 17 languages air to India from HCJB Global Voice-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra. The programs are produced at the ministry’s studios in New Delhi, India.

CHINESE PASTOR GETS 18 MONTHS FOR WRITING PUBLIC LETTER

Sources: China Aid Association, Christian Newswire
The China Aid Association (CAA) has learned that house church Pastor Liu Huiwen was sentenced to 18 months in prison in Gansu province on Thursday, Oct. 25, for writing and distributing Christian literature among Muslims. Liu was detained on April 28 after distributing flyers at a funeral and was arrested on May 31. The bill of indictment from Dongxiang County Procuratorate charged that Liu committed the crime of publishing a discriminating work and insulting people of ethnic minorities when he distributed a flyer called, “A Letter to Our Muslim Friends.” Liu’s defense attorney, Li Dunyong, countered that Liu’s public letter does not contain any discrimination or insults against people of ethnic minorities and the audience and intent of the letter were not to insult an ethnic minority. He argued that Lui’s conduct did not exceed the boundaries set for freedom of speech, although the letter contains some inappropriate wording. CAA called the trial and 18-month sentence unfair and another attempt by Chinese authorities to stem the growth of Christianity.

DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN SENEGAL TRANSFORMS CHRISTIANS’ LAND

Sources: Religion Today, Mission Network News
A 30-acre farm outside Rufisque in the West African country of Senegal has been transformed as a result of funding from FARMS International to help install an irrigation system on the land. The money also covered initial planting costs, including seeds, fertilizer and labor. The Christians who work the land by hand grow okra, carrots, peppers and cabbage. They also erected a few outbuildings, and more tracts of land in the area are being considered for development. FARMS has a vision to build a school, offer medical outreach and an overall expansion of churches. Some of this vision is being realized through donations from a local Christian group. The project has also created agricultural jobs in the area, presenting a tangible testimony of God’s love.

* Staff members with HCJB Global Hands’ community development department help bring clean drinking water and sanitation to rural Ecuadorian communities. In 2006 they worked with local villagers to install wells in 21 communities and water systems and other related facilities in an additional seven villages, benefiting nearly 7,000 people.

EARLY CHRISTIAN ART EXHIBIT ON DISPLAY IN THE ‘BIBLE BELT’

Source: Assist News Service
An art exhibit in the heart of the “Bible belt” is highlighting works of art from the early Christian church. The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, has opened “Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art,” an exhibition of the earliest works of art illustrating the Old and New Testaments which are on view through March 30, 2008. The exhibition draws on recent research and new discoveries to tell the story of how the earliest Christians first gave visual expression to their religious beliefs. The exhibit includes loaned pieces from the Vatican, the Bargello and the Laurentian Library in Florence, the British Museum, the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “The origins of Christianity have been a very active area of research in recent years from a variety of perspectives -- historical, theological and artistic,” said Kimbell Director Timothy Potts. “But there has never been an exhibition that brings this new evidence together, allowing visitors to see in the works of art themselves how and why a distinctively Christian visual artistic culture emerged.”

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   RADIO ‘POWERFUL MEDIUM’ IN CHURCH-PLANTING EFFORTS IN INDIA

Source: Assist News Service
Gospel for Asia (GFA) missionaries in Kerala, India, recently conducted an outreach to GFA radio listeners. The workshop outreach program, dubbed the “New Initiative,” is designed to create Bible fellowship groups in areas where GFA radio programs are broadcast.

Five GFA missionaries, including the district leader for this area, led the program, which included worship, teaching, prayer and group discussions. The missionaries told the crowd of around 100 people about GFA-related churches, updated them on the radio ministry and took time to pray with them individually. By the end of the one-day event in September, a new Christian fellowship had been formed.

GFA President K.P. Yohannan explained that GFA is deeply involved with radio. “We broadcast in 103 languages, and our hope is to increase that so we will have the programs in 200 languages,” he said. “People are responding very, very strongly. Radio remains a very powerful medium.”

He also noted that television holds much promise. “Television here is like a matchbox,” he said. “For instance, in the slums of Mumbai (Bombay) where people are living literally in holes, they have antennas on the top of their hut for a television signal. So it has become one of the most powerful media available.”

* Radio programs in 17 languages air to India from HCJB Global Voice-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra. The programs are produced at the ministry’s studios in New Delhi, India.

MOB IN INDIA DESTROYS CHURCH, BEATS CHRISTIANS, MURDERS YOUTH

Source: Compass Direct News
A mob allegedly led by a Hindu extremist group demolished a house church and beat the pastor and the congregants living in the Bastar district of central India’s Chhattisgarh state Monday, Nov. 19. The following day a young relative of the pastor, allegedly kidnapped by the extremists, was found dead in a nearby jungle. The attack on the Christ Missionary Movement church took place in the village of Mandwa. The body of 21-year-old Aayatu Kashyap, a distant relative of the church’s pastor, Suduru Kashyap, was found about nine miles from the village. G.P. Singh, superintendent of police of the Bastar district, confirmed the incidents but denied that Hindu extremists were behind the attack. He claimed that local villagers unrelated to militant groups assaulted the Christians, and he called the murder an “unrelated incident.” Chhattisgarh is one of the most insecure states for India’s Christian minority community as only about 400,000 (1.9 percent) of the state’s 20.8 million people are Christians.

WEST BANK PASTOR REMAINS IN DANGER DESPITE FLEEING TO U.S.

Sources: Compass Direct News, Religion Today
A pastor from Israel’s West Bank who fled to the U.S. last week following threats of violence from a Palestinian security official said he feels he is in as much danger stateside as he was in Ramallah. “We know they do have contacts here in the states, so I’m taking it as serious as I would if I were still in Ramallah,” said the U.S.-born Isa Bajalia who has ministered in Ramallah since 1991. Bajalia, 47, said that a Fatah security official from the Tanzim militia, Nader Dahoud Abu Dahoud, demanded $30,000 and registration in his name of property the pastor had inherited. Bajalia said Dahoud had raised objections to his team of Christian visitors praying for Muslims in Ramallah. In a telephone interview, Dahoud denied making the threats and said he was seeking only repayment of money he had given Bajalia for property the pastor had failed to sign over to him. Bajalia, however, said that when the Islamic security official began harassing him in August, he made reference to the ministry project by the Christian visitors in May. “It’s not unusual for the Palestinian Authority to plant people in Christian projects so that they’ll see if you’re trying to convert Muslims to Christianity or if there’s any political agenda involved,” Bajalia said.

WYCLIFFE: ‘SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS’ MADE IN BIBLE TRANSLATION WORK

Sources: Assist News Service, Christian Newswire
Newly released statistics from Wycliffe Bible Translators, the world’s largest Bible translation organization, confirm that significant progress has been made toward making the Scriptures available to every language. However, 193 million people worldwide -- representing 2,251 languages -- still have no access to the Bible in their heart language. Wycliffe reported that an average of 74 Bible translation projects are started every year, up from 25 in the 1990s. “Wycliffe is not only using, but developing, cutting-edge technology that -- when combined with tried-and-true language development techniques -- is accelerating the pace of Bible translation,” said Wycliffe President Bob Creson.

SURVEY: ONE-THIRD ADMIT LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC

Sources: World Vision, Christian Newswire
One-third of the people in seven wealthy nations admit they know “little or nothing” about the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, and a quarter believe the problem is “greatly exaggerated,” according to a survey released by World Vision on Thursday, Nov. 29. Ironically, 80 percent of respondents believe their governments should do more to help AIDS orphans worldwide, but only 44 percent are willing to pay more in taxes to help fund prevention, treatment, research and care. “This survey reconfirms what all of us on the front lines of the AIDS battle know -- leaders must put a face on the pandemic because, for people to take action, AIDS must affect them in a personal way,” said World Vision President Richard Stearns. “While some of these survey results present daunting challenges, we can be encouraged with the finding that the more people know about AIDS the more compassionate they are toward those directly affected by it.” The survey also revealed that 90 percent of the respondents believe there is a “moral obligation” to try to prevent people from being infected with the AIDS virus.

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