NewsBytes - December 2009OM International CONTENTS
1. FREEDOM FOR TWO IMPRISONED WOMENMaryam Rostampour (27) and Marzieh A. Esmaeilabad (30), two Iranian Christian converts from Islam, were released without bail from Evin Prison in Tehran on November 18. Originally arrested on March 5 by Iranian security forces, Maryam and Marzieh were charged with anti-government activities but it became clear that apostasy (conversion from Islam to Christianity) was the real reason for the arrest. Commanded to recant their faith in exchange for their freedom, the women refused. Evin Prison is notorious for its brutal conduct toward women. Maryam and Marzieh were kept in solitary confinement, enduring extended interrogations while suffering from poor health. Iran apparently issued no statement explaining the release. However, the decision follows international pressure and prayers from Christians throughout the world. [ASSIST NEWS SERVICE] 2. USA’S URBANA CALLS STUDENTS TO MISSIONSUp to 19,000 young people are expected to attend Urbana 2009, a conference for students interested in global missions, sponsored for the 22nd year by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. The event takes place every three years and is scheduled for this Dec. 27-31 in St. Louis, Illinois, USA. Students will spend time seeking God's will for their lives as they worship, pray, study Scripture, attend workshops, talk with missionaries and development workers, and collect information from over 300 missions, seminary, and graduate school exhibits. [MISC. SOURCES] 3. YEMEN WORKERS STILL MISSINGLast June, nine foreigners were abducted in Yemen, three of whom were found murdered. There continues to be no news of the remaining six: a German couple, Johannes and Sabine, their three children, Lydia (4), Anna (3) and Simon (1), and a married British man, Tony. All were connected to a hospital in the northern city of Saada. The needed work of this hospital is severely reduced, affecting a wide area, which the local population deeply regrets. Violent clashes between the government forces and the Houthi armed group in Saada province have flared up again, a major hindrance to efforts to locate the missing foreigners. The fact that there has been no credible claim of responsibility is unusual within Yemeni culture, and heightens concern and anxiety. [MIDDLE EAST CONCERN] 4. SOMALIA’S EMBATTLED BELIEVERSThe country is thought to have no more than a thousand Christians in a resident population of 8 million, and the Islamist Shabab militia, which controls most of southern Somalia, is dedicated to hunting them down. Islamic militants shot and killed a Somali Christian woman when she declined to wear a veil. Christian men attend mosques so as not to arouse suspicion. Bibles are kept hidden. There are no public meetings, let alone a church. At least 13 members of underground churches have been killed in the past few months—probably hundreds since 2005. The country promotes a version of sharia law whereby every citizen of Somalia is born a Muslim and anyone who converts to another religion is guilty of apostasy, which is punishable by death. [INTERCESSORS NETWORK, 11/09] 5. IRAN’S CHRISTIAN BOOK FAMINEIt is illegal for the church in Iran to print or sell Persian Christian books. One would-be publisher was told by a government officer that anyone producing Christian literature deserves to be executed. Some try to photocopy material, others use the internet, but most books have to be smuggled into the country. The demand for Scriptures far exceeds the supply. An added problem is the shortage of literature in the Persian language. The Arab world has 10,000 titles to choose from, but Iran has less than 400. Children have under 20 Christian books. [IRAN 30, ELAM MINISTRIES] 6. NEW EXTREMIST HINDU GROUPS EMERGE IN INDIAAfter more than a decade of severe persecution, India's Christian minority is growing increasingly concerned over the mushrooming of newer and more deadly Hindu extremist groups. The Pride of India, National Revival Forum, Army of god Rama, Army for Hindu Religion, and Eternal Organisation [translated names] have launched numerous violent attacks on both Christian and Muslim minorities. The new groups are formed mostly by former members of Hindu RSS-connected outfits who found the RSS (mobilised to eliminate minorities) “too mild” in its activities. Hundreds of incidents this year range from stopping worship services to causing false arrests, beating and even murdering Christians. [COMPASS DIRECT, 11/09] 7. SUDAN: CHRISTIANS CRUCIFIEDMarauding soldiers from the Lord's Resistance Army, a terrorist rebel group from Uganda that frequently crosses the border with Sudan, crucified seven Christian believers near the town of Nzara in south Sudan. Villagers who found the bodies also reported the guerrillas stormed two churches, desecrating the buildings and kidnapping several young people. In response, a local bishop called for three days of prayer for Christians of all denominations in the region, culminating in a silent protest by more than 20,000 people who walked two miles barefoot in sackcloth and ashes. Meanwhile, churches have appealed to international leaders, warning that the government of Sudan is failing to implement the country’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), and this could reignite the 22-year civil war. [JOEL NEWS 705/CHURCH TIMES] 8. ABOARD THE EVANGELISTA IN PERUA pill cannot cure the ailment of many who live along Peru’s Ucayali River, because the problem goes beyond physical needs. That’s why 100 volunteers in September offered medicine with the message of the gospel on their barge-like ministry boat, the Evangelista, to 16 or more ethnic groups that haven’t yet heard of Jesus’ love. The boat is owned by the Evangelical Missionary Church of Pucallpa, Peru, which has had a river ministry for over 30 years. HCJB Global contributes funds and along with several other agencies has used the Evangelista for projects. The once-a-year “Mission Aboard” trip objectives include exploring new strategies for bringing the gospel to unreached people, exposing individuals to village life and the hardships many face there, and connecting with mission agencies and individuals already working in the jungle region of Peru. [HCJB GLOBAL NEWS] 9. CUBA STEPS UP PRESSURE ON THE CHURCHHarassment of Christians in Cuba has increased significantly over the past year according to reports, including arrests of leaders and closures, confiscation or destruction of church buildings. Pastors and leaders of the fast-growing, charismatic Apostolic Movement have been particularly targeted—60 in May and June alone. 2 men are still in prison, one pastor sentenced to 6 years in July. Another man was informed he is to be evicted from his home. Cuba, under Raul Castro, has yet to ratify the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights that it signed with much fanfare in 2008. [CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY WORLDWIDE] 10. 1.5 MILLION MARCH FOR JESUS IN BRAZILHundreds of churches joined together in November for a 2.5 mile march of witness in San Paulo, Brazil, then stayed to listen to Christian bands and messages from celebrities and preachers. This was the country’s 17th annual march, held each year on the same day the Catholic Church celebrates the Corpus Christi holiday, which is not observed by evangelical Protestants but is a national holiday in Brazil. Last year, more than 48,000 churches and over 850,000 homes tuned into one of the largest evangelistic outreaches in history through television, called My Hope Brazil. Evangelical Protestants have grown from 9% in 1990 to 15%, according to the 2000 census. [CHRISTIAN POST] 11. NORTH KOREA FAMINEIn the 1990’s, millions of North Koreans died because of a severe famine. Now there’s another famine, reports an Open Doors worker, although there are no media teams inside the country to report what’s going on. “Parents die or leave their children because they can no longer bear to see their sons and daughters starve. Many groups of orphans roam the country. If they are caught by the police, they are sent to an orphanage where most die because of maltreatment and malnutrition.” Local Christians say that in Hwangae province it’s normal again to see dead children on the street. Open Doors’ annual World Watch List has ranked North Korea as the No. 1 persecutor of Christians for seven years in a row. [EVANGELICAL NEWS] 12. COMFORT FOR PHILIPPINE TYPHOON VICTIMSThe Bible Society hopes to provide some 50,000 special Scripture booklets and another 50,000 Bibles to typhoon survivors in the Philippines. The society was in the midst of a campaign to bring one million Bibles to the people when typhoons struck in September and October. Now it fears many Scriptures already handed out were lost in the storms, which killed more than 600 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. Some of the charity’s own staff were among the 3.1 million people affected. Noted Philippine General Secretary Nora Lucero, “Bibles have been washed away from homes and many churches left underwater. Now more than ever people need God’s Word to give them hope and sustain them in the coming months.” [CHRISTIAN TODAY] 13. BAPTIST MISSION RETURNS TO CHINANearly 60 years after its last mission worker was expelled from China, BMS World Mission is to restart work there. Last year a medical school originally founded by BMS (Baptist Missionary Society) worker Dr James Russell Watson asked the agency to send personnel to teach English to current students, while another organisation made the same request. Now, following a BMS delegation visit to China, the agency is looking to recruit and send short-, medium- and long-term workers. [BAPTIST TIMES] 14. BURMESE REFUGEES TO BE EXPELLED FROM THAILAND?More than 70 Burmese children who fled to Thailand after being attacked by a Buddhist militia in June are being pressured to return to their country. Most of the children are Christians, according to International Christian Concern (ICC). Thailand's border police stormed the Shekinah (Glory to God) orphanage in Mae Hong Son Province near the Burma border, put the names of all the residents on a register and asked them to prepare for deportation. Said a worried caretaker, "If the children go back, they will be killed. This should never happen." She added that she had informed the UN High Commissioner for Refugees about the possible move by the Thai government. In Burma, the country's military junta has tried to stamp out the Karen minority, most of whom identify as Christians. [ASSIST NEWS SERVICE] 15. JAPAN’S CONGRESS ON EVANGELISMSapporo, Japan was the venue for a once-in-a-decade Congress on Evangelism, attended in September by some 1,900 pastors, missionaries, and church members from many different denominations. This was the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant mission to Japan, and this conference presented a stimulus to the largely-Buddhist country’s small church. With under 1% of the 127 million population Christians, Japan is the largest "least-reached" people group in the world. [EVANGELICALS NOW] 16. MORE AMERICANS ADOPTING NEW AGE BELIEFSUSA Today reports that Eastern and New Age beliefs are creeping into Christian circles with increasing popularity. According to a new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 65 percent of American adults, including Protestants and Catholics, have adopted some element of Eastern faith or New Age practices. 1 in 6 believes in the ‘evil eye,’ that certain people can cast evil or bad luck with a look. Among Catholics, Pew found that 1 in 5 believes in earthly reincarnation despite the orthodox teaching of the Church. Says Scott Thumma, a professor at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research in Hartford, Conn.,"Today, the individual rarely finds all their spiritual needs met in one congregation or one religion." 17. IN FACTThe LEAST-EVANGELISED groups of people with the HIGHEST POPULATIONS in the world still get the LEAST NUMBER of missionaries. [LAUSANNE WORLD PULSE] RESOURCES
NEWS BYTES is compiled monthly by Debbie Meroff of OM International, based in London, England. Material may be freely copied and forwarded. Items do not necessarily reflect OM’s position and questions should be directed to the original news source. For a free e-mail subscription send a ‘subscribe’ message to: newsbytes-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Credit: OM International
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