Zprávy HCJB 5.3.2008

 Únosci žádají velké výkupné za iráckého kněze
   Únosci žádají velké výkupné za chaldejského arcibiskupa uneseného minulý týden v severním Iráku. Podle jednoho místního kněze tak šíří strach v severoirácké křesťanské komunitě. Podle kněze Machaila Nadíba únosci arcibiskupa Paulose Faraj Rahho od pátku 29. února, kdy jej v Mosulu unesli, odmítají snížit výkupné za jeho propuštění. „Chtějí peníze, ale také zlomit všechny křesťany v Mosulu,“ řekl kněz z Erbilu. Neznámí ozbrojení muži zastavili Rahhův vůz asi v půl šesté odpoledne když opouštěl svou farnost v Mosulu. Střelbou zabili řidiče Gorgis Khodera a dva strážce označené pouze Ramy a Samir, načež z vozu vytáhli arcibiskupa Rahho. Každý ze zabitých po sobě zanechal manželku a tři děti řekl Bashar Warda, ředitel semináře v Erbilu. Řekl také, že nikdo s uneseným arcibiskupem od té doby nemluvil, takže se dá těžko říct, je-li vůbec naživu. Křesťané v Iráku řekli, že celá křesťanská komunita se po únosu cítí být ohrožena. Zdroj: Compass Direct News
 
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   UNIQUE WORSHIP EVENT DESIGNED TO FOCUS SOLELY ON JESUS

Sources: Assist News Service, Christian Newswire
Thousands of high school and college students from around the U.S. will gather in the middle of the nation on Sunday, May 25 for PARADISE, a unique worship experience that will feature no publicized bands, speakers or products.

The gathering will take place in a 600-acre remote field of La Cygne, a quiet, rural town approximately 40 miles south of Kansas City, Kansas, and will center all attention on only one name -- Jesus Christ. Gathering from sunrise to sunset, students will spend the day solely focused on undistracted worship.

The venue will be no more than an empty field with a representation of the “foundation of the throne” as described in the book of Revelation. The program of the day will feature music interspersed with moments of silence, deep prayer, group Scripture reading and unity with others.

While 60 members of Christian bands will lead the music, each will be hidden from the crowd, so as not to distract from worship. In addition, no products including T-shirts, CDs or even food will be sold or advertised during the day.

“This generation of young people is surrounded by materialistic and self-centered messages that promote the existence of one –‘me,’” organizer Richard Ross noted. “PARADISE is not about fame, money or causes. It is about bringing together this generation to experience God, stand in awe of His majesty, and perhaps awaken this nation back to Him.”

KIDNAPPERS DEMANDING HUGE RANSOM FOR IRAQI PRIEST

Source: Compass Direct News
Kidnappers are demanding a huge ransom for a Chaldean Archbishop abducted last week in northern Iraq, sending fear through the country’s Christian community, a local priest said. Since the Friday, Feb. 29, kidnapping in Mosul, Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho’s captors have refused to decrease the amount of money they are demanding for his release, according to Father Najeeb Mikhail. “They want money, but in addition they want to break all the Christians in Mosul,” the priest said from Erbil. Unknown armed men stopped Rahho, 65, at about 5:30 p.m. as he was leaving his parish in Mosul. Eyewitnesses said that four cars blocked Rahho’s vehicle. Armed men shot and killed driver Faris Gorgis Khoder and two bodyguards, identified only as Ramy and Samir, before making off with Rahho. Each of the three men left behind a wife and three children, Father Bashar Warda, dean of St. Peter’s Seminary in Erbil, said. He also said that no one had been able to speak with the kidnapped archbishop since his abduction, making it difficult to know whether he remained alive. Christians in Iraq said that the entire Christian community felt targeted by the kidnapping.

UPDATE: KIDNAPPED AFGHAN AID WORKER AND DRIVER FEARED DEAD

Source: Associated Baptist Press
A kidnapped aid worker from a Baptist background and her Afghan driver are believed dead, according to the agency that supported them. Cydney Mizell, 50, and Muhammad Hadi, whose age is unknown, were taken at gunpoint Jan. 26 while working in Kandahar, Afghanistan. While their employer, the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation (ARLDF), has not been able to confirm their deaths, a spokeswoman said the organization has received “credible reports” of the news. Mizell and Hadi were abducted together in a residential neighborhood while on their way to work. No suspects have been named in the case, and a Taliban spokesman told the Associated Press he could neither confirm nor deny his group’s involvement in the kidnapping. A statement from George and Peggy Mizell, Cyd Mizell’s parents, said they were “heartbroken” to receive news of the apparent deaths. “While these reports remain unconfirmed, we are beginning to accept that the hoped-for outcome may no longer be possible,” the Feb. 28 statement said. Mizell was an English teacher at Kandahar University and taught embroidery lessons at a school for girls. She also helped women start projects to generate income for their families, according to the foundation’s website.

YOUNG CHRISTIAN WOMAN ABDUCTED FROM PAKISTANI SCHOOL

Source: Assist News Service
At least four unidentified men abducted a Christian girl while she was busy sweeping the premises of a school in Lahore, Pakistan on February 26, the Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan (SLMP) has reported. The kidnapped girl, Samina, 22, was living with her family in a house on the premises of Pakistan Soul Saving Station Girls’ School. The men forcibly bundled the screaming girl into their car and disappeared. Samina’s younger sister, Kiran, 16, a cleaner at the school, rushed to the scene to find out what was making her sister cry out for help. She saw two masked men dragging her sister into their vehicle. Kiran received kicks in her ribs as she attempted to uncover one kidnapper's face. The culprits later shut her in one of the school rooms. Mr. Asghar, the owner of the school has blamed the kidnapping on a female Muslim teacher named Farah whom he fired some time back over meeting men during school time. “Farah could be behind the kidnapping as she thought Samina's family had a role in her dismissal,” Asghar said.

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

SURVEY: 44 PERCENT OF AMERICANS HAVE CHANGED THEIR FAITH

Sources: WorldWide Religious News, Christianity Today, Assist News Service
According to the largest recent survey on American religious identification, forty-four percent of Americans have either switched their religious affiliation since childhood or dropped out of any formal religious group. The survey, released Monday, Feb. 25 by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, found that Americans’ faith identity fluctuates during their lives, with vast numbers moving away from the faith tradition of their childhood to embrace other religious traditions or no faith at all. The survey interviewed 35,000 people. Among other findings, the survey indicated that members of Protestant denominations now make up only a slight majority -- 51.3 percent -- of the adult population. “Constant movement characterizes the American religious marketplace, as every major religious group is simultaneously gaining and losing adherents,” the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey said. The survey also concluded that 16 percent of American adults are not affiliated with any faith today. About 4 percent describe themselves as atheist or agnostic.

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