NewsBytes - July 2009

16 Jul, 2009 | International
OM International
CONTENTS:

  1. IRAN’S CHRISTIANS
  2. YEMEN WORKERS MURDERED
  3. ANOTHER MARTYR IN MAURITANIA
  4. 7 CHURCHES IN IRAQ BOMBED
  5. HONDURAS MINISTRIES DISRUPTED
  6. PASTORS IN COLOMBIA ATTACKED
  7. MEXICO: SUCCESSFUL DISTRIBUTION
  8. ‘INTERNATIONAL AID’ ENDED AFTER 30 YEARS
  9. INDIA’S CONVERSION LAW TO BE REVIEWED
  10. HUNGARY’S ORTHODOX JEWS ATTACKED
  11. SOMALIAN CHRISTIANS SLAIN
  12. WIDESPREAD FAMINE IN KENYA
  13. HOPE NEPAL
  14. NEW ARABIC BIBLE
  15. ADVENTURES IN MISSION FOR YOUNG ADULTS
  16. YOUTH DROPPING OUT OF CHURCH
  17. BRITAIN’S FIRST ATHEIST SUMMER CAMP FOR CHILDREN
  18. WORLDWIDE PASTOR SHORTAGE
  19. IN FACT: Largest Ethnic Group on Earth
  20. RESOURCES:
    * Children in Crisis DVD * Max7 * AIDSLink DVD * Short-term Team Debrief Worksheet

1. IRAN’S CHRISTIANS

The June presidential re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with ensuing protests that the results were rigged have led to hundreds of deaths in Iran. Meanwhile persecution of Christians is getting worse. Church services are being monitored by the secret police and discrimination makes it difficult for believers to find and keep jobs. Worship in Farsi (Iran’s official language) is prohibited. The government of Iran has stepped up its policy of arresting Christians, especially Farsi-speaking converts from Islam. According to Open Doors they are not only interrogated but abused and even tortured. [OPEN DOORS, 10 July’09]

2. YEMEN WORKERS MURDERED

9 Christian workers from Germany, Britain and South Korea were kidnapped by suspected Muslim extremists on June 12. All were with Worldwide Services and connected with a hospital in northern Yemen in the province of Saada. On June 15 local shepherds found the mutilated bodies of 3 women: 33-year-old Eom Young-sun from South Korea, and Anita Gruenwald, 24, and Rita Stumpp, 26, German nurses from a Bible school doing internships in Yemen since the beginning of June. The other hostages are 5 members of a German family, including three children aged 5, 3 and 1, and a British engineer. No group has yet claimed responsibility and the fate of the remaining six remains unknown. [MISSION NETWORK NEWS, 18 June, BosNewsLife, 25 June’09]

3. ANOTHER MARTYR IN MAURITANIA

American Christopher Leggett, 39, was killed June 23 in front of the language and computer school he operated in Nouakchott, the capital city. A North African al-Qaeda spokesman aired a statement on an Arab TV station saying the group killed Leggett because he was allegedly trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. Leggett, his wife, and 4 children lived for 7 years in Mauritania, where he directed an aid agency that provided training in computer skills, sewing, and literacy. He also ran a micro-finance program, according to the Cleveland Daily Banner. His family issued a statement asking for justice but saying they forgave the murderers. "Chris had a deep love for Mauritania and its people,” they said, “a love that we share.” [COMPASS DIRECT, 30 June’09]

4. 7 CHURCHES IN IRAQ BOMBED

An escalation in bomb attacks have been carried out against churches in Iraq. On Saturday 11 July a church in western Baghdad was bombed. On Sunday 12th five further churches in Baghdad were bombed, and the next day a church in Mosul was targeted. In the deadliest attack on Sunday evening, 4 have been confirmed dead and another source mentioned as many as 14 may have been killed. There are reports of many injuries, and of damage to the church buildings. Christians in Iraq are concerned that government and security forces seem unable to prevent such violence, and fear it will dissuade Iraqi Christians who have relocated elsewhere in the Middle East from returning home in the near future. [MIDDLE EAST CONCERN, 13 July’09]

5. HONDURAS MINISTRIES DISRUPTED

Christian groups in Honduras are calling for a peaceful solution to the political crisis in Honduras following the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya in a military coup on June 28. The congress of Honduras appointed Roberto Micheletti as interim president. “The nation is under siege,” stated a Bible League press release. “There is a 9 p.m. curfew for the entire country, and public meetings have been prohibited, including religious services.” Violent clashes erupted and protesters both for and against Zelaya have taken to the streets in the country’s capital of Tegucigalpa. The crisis was exacerbated by a June 30 earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale. Several groups’ short-term mission trips to Honduras this summer have been cancelled or diverted to other countries.” [BIBLE LEAGUE, MNN, 30 June ‘09]

6. PASTORS IN COLOMBIA ATTACKED

At least 10 Protestant pastors of the northern Colombia’s Córdoba region have come under threat from rearmed paramilitary groups in the last 6 months. Attacks and threats have led to the forced displacement of church leaders and their families. In each case, men claiming to represent the paramilitary Black Eagles have contacted church leaders to demand the their collaboration. When the pastors refused they were told they would be considered legitimate military targets. One pastor reported being kidnapped and beaten. Another had a live grenade thrown at his home while he and his family were asleep. Christian Solidarity Worldwide partners in Colombia and others are calling on the government to investigate and address these incidents without delay. [CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY WORLDWIDE, 16 June’09]

7. MEXICO: SUCCESSFUL DISTRIBUTION

Global Recordings Network (GRN) reported almost 7,000 Scripture cassettes or CDs were given out in over 120 different Indian languages and dialects through its 2009 Culiacan Project in Mexico this June. The fact that there were no dangerous incidents is a special blessing since the level of violence in Culiacan had been very high during the last part of 2008, due to increased drug activity. GRN further reported that Christian resources in Spanish and native languages, along with blankets, clothing, sewing kits, and glasses also were handed out. GRN Mexico has been holding the annual month-long outreach for many years. The project seeks to reach the thousands of indigenous Indians who travel from many parts of Mexico to Culiacan to harvest crops. [gospelrecordings.net])

8. ‘INTERNATIONAL AID’ ENDED AFTER 30 YEARS

A U.S.-based ministry that provided relief during disasters, providing healing and hope to millions while working through churches to share Christ, closed its doors on July 1. Christian relief agency International Aid was forced to cease operations after losing millions of dollars over the last few years. Acting CEO Gordon Loux says a few of their 40 employees in the U.S. and 32 workers in Honduras and the Philippines will be contracted to fulfill remaining shipments of medical equipment and supplies. [MNN, 6 July ‘09]

9. INDIA’S CONVERSION LAW TO BE REVIEWED

Indian church leaders have praised a promise by the new federal government to examine state laws that criminalise conversion or conversion ceremonies unauthorised by the local authorities. ‘The anti-conversion laws curtail the freedom of the common people’ and ‘are often misused’, said Rt Revd Dhirendra Kumar Sahu, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches. Church of North India General Secretary Dr Enos Das Pradhan said changing the law would permit ‘people to practise and profess their religion in their own way’. Hindu militant groups have recently alleged that Christians entice Hindus to convert by offering them financial inducements and that health and education programmes are Trojan horses for evangelism. [CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEWSPAPER, 10 July ‘09]

10. HUNGARY’S ORTHODOX JEWS ATTACKED

Hungary's Orthodox Jewish community is urging the government to provide police protection amid growing extremism and violent attacks. With some 100,000, Hungary has the largest Jewish community in Eastern Europe, after Russia. Yet representatives have suggested it is increasingly difficult for Jews to openly express their faith amid extremist violence and death threats. Examples are given of a man nearly stabbed in a metro station by a knife-wielding man shouting "Holocaust loving Jews;" and another man beaten up by 3 youths after asking if he was Jewish. The gypsy or Roma community has also suffered abuse but authorities claim they have no money to boost security. [BosNewsLife, 9 July’09]

11. SOMALIAN CHRISTIANS SLAIN

Al-Shabaab, Somalia's hard-line insurgents, reportedly beheaded seven Somalis on July 11th for renouncing their Muslim faith to become Christians and government "spies." The beheadings were the largest mass execution since the Islamists were pushed from power two and a half years ago, but they follow many individual executions, amputations and stonings. Somalia is believed to have a 99.95% Islamic following. There are only a handful Somali Christians inside the country and they have been forced underground. Some Christians have taken refuge in neighboring countries. [CHRISTIAN NEWSWIRE, 13 July’09]

12. WIDESPREAD FAMINE IN KENYA

With more than 10 million people in Kenya facing starvation due to drought and political unrest, World Gospel Mission (WGM) is helping Christians in the U.S. get much-needed food supplies to Kenya’s hardest-hit areas. “Today about a third of Kenyans are hungry,” said Tim Rickel, vice president of development at WGM. “They need food, and WGM has the infrastructure and the people on the ground to distribute it and make sure it gets to those who need it.” Years of droughts that yielded poor harvests while political violence and skyrocketing fuel and food prices have added to the crisis in Kenya. Only 18 percent of Kenya’s land is suitable for farming, and unstable rain patterns have resulted in a shortage of food for the country’s 37 million people. [CHRISTIAN NEWSWIRE, 23 June’09]

13. HOPE NEPAL

A Christmas 2009 event called "Hope Nepal" will attempt to reach many for Christ in what was formerly the world’s only Hindu Kingdom, and recently declared a secular state. Part of the effort will be televising “The GodMan” film around the country over a period of a few days. The computer-generated photo-realistic animation film of the Book of Hope tells the life story of Jesus and can be targeted toward a particular culture. The event will resemble a similar one held in India called "Hope India," when over 400 million people viewed the film, including over 12 million children who received copies of the Book of Hope. Although Nepal is a much smaller nation than India, it has plenty of television networks. [MNN, 5/09]

14. NEW ARABIC BIBLE

In June, World Bible Translation Center (WBTC) released a new version of the Bible in updated Arabic language. Although the Bible has been available in Arabic since 1860, WBTC’s Easy-to-Read Arabic Bible is the first translation since then, and replaces the outdated vocabulary and grammar of the previous translation. The project required almost 10 years of work. Arabic is the 7th most-spoken language in the world.[MNN, 5 June ‘09]

15. ADVENTURES IN MISSION FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Adventures in Missions (AIM), a nonprofit organisation that facilitates short-term mission trips throughout the world and within the U.S., has launched the Novas Project, an 8-month missions experience for 18 to 24 year-old men and women who can actually learn how to be missionaries. The word Novas means a “new way,” and it is hoped the project will change the way participants see the world. The first part is spent in Mexico at AIM's mission base where teams will be developed and trained for global outreach. During the second part of the trip, individuals will partner with a long-term missionary to reach the poorest of the poor in various world locations. Assignments include caring for orphans and widows in Swaziland, teaching about HIV/AIDS prevention in schools in South Africa, ministering to gypsies and social outcasts in Romania, and befriending street kids in the Philippines. [CHRISTIAN NEWSWIRE, 24 June’09]

16. YOUTH DROPPING OUT OF CHURCH

Young people aren't just walking away from the church, they're sprinting. The statistics are grim: 70 percent of youth leave church by the time they are 22 (Rainer Research); 80 percent of those reared in the church will be "disengaged" by the time they are 29. The picture isn't any prettier on the outside. Only 16 percent of non-Christian young adults have a favourable view of Christianity and only 3 percent have a favourable view of evangelicals. (David Kinnaman). [BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS NEWSLETTER, Christianitytoday.com, 28 May’09]

17. BRITAIN’S FIRST ATHEIST SUMMER CAMP FOR CHILDREN

An atheist alternative to Scout and Scripture Union camps is being subsidised by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. 24 children will take part in Camp Quest in Somerset this July. Samantha Stein, who will lead the camp, said the emphasis would be on critical thinking. ‘We are not trying to bash religion, but it encourages people to believe a lot of things for which there is no evidence.’ Since launching in the USA in 1996, Camp Quest’s growth has been modest but it now operates camps at six sites there. [UK SUNDAY TIMES & THE OBSERVER, 28 June’09]

18. WORLDWIDE PASTOR SHORTAGE

An estimated 7,000 new church leaders are needed daily for the growing church worldwide, which means about 85% of churches led by people who have no formal training in theology or ministry. That’s an estimated 3.2 million untrained or undertrained pastors in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Many earn less than $40 monthly and have little or no resource material to help them in ministry or in their study of the Word of God for preaching and teaching. “Equip Pastors,” a part of Action International, was founded to help these leaders, providing downloadable resources. Partners are urged for Adopt-a-Pastor and Bible College Student sponsorships. [www.equippastors.org].

19. IN FACT:

The Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group on earth, and Mandarin is the world’s most widely spoken language, used by over 780 million men, women and children.

RESOURCES

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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.

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