NewsBytes - July 2010

1. FLOODS DEVASTATE KENYA
2. AFTERMATH OF CHAOS IN KYRGYZSTAN
3. MANY IRANIANS EMBRACING THE GOSPEL
4. INDIAN PASTORS BEATEN AND CARS BURNT
5. MOB KILLS WIFE AND CHILDREN IN PAKISTAN
6. AFGHAN CHRISTIANS CALL FOR HELP
7. REMEMBERING SAUDI ARABIA
8. NIGER’S NEED
9. CONGO: LIFESAVING RADI
10. DOMINICAN AND PUERTO RICAN CHRISTIANS OPEN THEIR HOMES
11. FOR BOLIVIA’S MENNONITES
12. HAITI UPDATE
13. SWEDEN: ANTI-SEMITISM ON THE INCREASE
14. FRANCE: VEILS & POLYGAMY
15. SAMARITAN’S FEET (WORLD)
16. TRANSLATORS AIM FOR BIBLE IN EVERY LANGUAGE BY 2025
17. LIFE EXPECTANCY (WORLD)
18. RESOURCES:
    * Arabian Peninsula Prayer Info * Uyghur site * Report on U.S. and Canada Evangelicals * Free Bible podcasts in 400 languages

1. FLOODS DEVASTATE KENYA

People killed; families starving; homes, roads, and church buildings destroyed as flash floods and subsequent landslides have claimed many lives and caused massive destruction of property and farmlands throughout Kenya since May. A ministry leader reports that in the Rift Valley 500 families have been displaced by floods and they are now at risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, malaria and typhoid. Hospitals are filled to capacity with patients suffering from these diseases. Many die before they can be treated with simple medication. Crops were ready for harvest, and those which had been harvested and stored in barns were swept away by floods. This situation has affected the churches very much, as members must search for food daily. [CHRISTIAN AID, 8 July ‘10]

2. AFTERMATH OF CHAOS IN KYRGYZSTAN

Ethnic hatred exploded in the south of Kyrgyzstan last month between Kyrgyz who remained loyal to former President Bakiyev, ousted in April, and Uzbeks who backed the new interim government. Over 300 Uzbeks were murdered, several thousand raped and injured, and over 400,000 more displaced as they fled for their lives. Most buildings in the city of Osh were burnt or plundered. When Uzbekistan authorities closed the border against the influx it left many wounded on the Kyrgyz side without medical care, food, water or shelter. According to CNN, 300,000 people were displaced inside of Kyrgyzstan, in addition to the 100,000 camped over the Uzbekistan border. A Christian worker reported that some Kyrgyz pastors had hidden Uzbek believers and non-believers in their homes. A number of Christian NGOs are trying to bring some desperately-needed relief while investigations of the violence continue. [MISC REPORTS, MISSION NETWORK NEWS]

3. MANY IRANIANS EMBRACING THE GOSPEL

Iranian evangelist Lazarus Yeghnazar of 222 Ministries says churches are growing so fast in his nation that they have difficulty coping with all the new converts, and Bibles are in short supply. Currently more than 3,000 Iranians come to Christ each month through 222's work, even though the Iranian government has cracked down on satellite television and smashed satellite dishes in Tehran and other cities. Almost 200,000 unique visitors come to 222's Farsi gospel internet site each month. Many are seeking discipleship because they just gave their hearts to Christ. "Believers in Iran are not praying for persecution," Yeghnazar says, "but they know it is helping fuel the growth of their churches." Only in the last few days it has been learned that well-known Iranian pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani, faces execution because of his Christian activities. [JOEL NEWS INTL., 8 June’10, BOSNEWSLIFE, 13 July’10]

4. INDIAN PASTORS BEATEN AND CARS BURNT

Hindu extremists across India are continuing to use anti-conversion laws as an excuse to attack Christians and try to limit church activities. In the latest reported attack on 23 June, two pastors were seriously injured when men attacked them with iron bars at a tea stall in Chandapura, Karnataka state, accusing them of converting people to Christianity by force. The men were admitted to hospital. The previous day, extremists burnt at least seven vehicles belonging to the Jesus with Us Pentecostal Church in Tamil Nadu. And based on a complaint by Hindu extremists against Christians of forceful conversion, Karnataka officials closed down a Christian orphanage on 16 June. Eight Indian states have introduced anti-conversion laws—though one, Tamil Nadu, has since repealed them. [COMPASS DIRECT, 30 June’10]

5. MOB KILLS WIFE AND CHILDREN IN PAKISTAN

On 21 June a Muslim mob in Jhelum, Pakistan murdered the wife and four children of a Christian, but local authorities are too afraid of the local Muslim leader to file charges, according to area Muslim and Christian sources. The leader, Maulana Khan, had told Jamshed Masih, “You must leave with your family, no non-Muslim has ever been allowed to live in this colony—we want to keep our colony safe from scum.” Shortly afterwards the family was attacked while Masih was absent, and he came home to find them dead. Since local police refused to file charges Masih has applied to the chief minister of Punjab Province for justice. [COMPASS DIRECT, 8 July’10]

6. AFGHAN CHRISTIANS CALL FOR HELP

A group of 150 Afghan Christian converts living as refugees in New Delhi, India, have issued an “urgent” plea to the international community to help Christians still living in Afghanistan, following the recent demand for their execution by a government minister. The letter is a response to the riots and demonstrations that broke out in Afghanistan last month, after a TV documentary revealed the names and faces of supposed Afghan Christian converts. Protestors called on President Hamid Karzai to arrest and execute the converts. The group in India, who say they themselves left Afghanistan because of death threats, add that they have received reports of Afghan Christians being arrested and having their homes and businesses searched in recent weeks. There have also been reports that authorities are torturing arrested Christians to force them to reveal the names of other Christian converts and the location of underground churches and fellowships. [CHRISTIAN TODAY, 21 June ‘10]

7. REMEMBERING SAUDI ARABIA

The Saudi government denies that any of its citizens are Christians. This is untrue but the small number of Saudi Christians are mostly secret believers. Saudi law is based on sharia, which prescribes the death sentence for apostates from Islam. There are thought to be more than a million expatriate Christians living in the country. No church buildings are allowed and all forms of non-Muslim public worship are forbidden. Even meeting for prayer in private can result in arrest, torture and expulsion. Asian and African Christians usually receive harsher penalties than Westerners. Pray for courage and protection of brothers and sisters living under this repressive regime. [BARNABAS FUND]

8. NIGER’S NEED

Christians, who comprise just 0.3 percent of Niger’s predominantly Muslim population of over 15 million people, are among those facing starvation after a severe drought and failed harvests. Aid workers in Islamic countries such as Niger have complained that government aid often does not reach minority Christians, so they are particularly vulnerable. Barnabas Fund is providing 700 Christian families with sacks of rice and maize or millet, but hundreds more families are surviving on flour mixed with wild leaves and boiled plants. Save the Children has also warned that up to 380,000 children under five are at risk of death by starvation. [BOSNEWSLIFE, 6 July ‘10]

9. CONGO: LIFESAVING RADIO

When HCJB Global’s partner station in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.), recently went off the air for a week due to technical problems, local residents and even police officers immediately called from the eastern D.R.C., Rwanda and even Uganda to express their distress. According to a pastor who produces programs for Radio Alpha and Omega, some listeners said they were “only surviving because of the programmes” while others volunteered to help solve the problem! A police officer in Goma told a producer that the number of prisoners had decreased because of the radio programme, and asked for it to resume as soon as possible! The damaged generator has now been replaced and the station is again broadcasting a powerful message of hope in this area ravaged by years of civil war. [HCJB GLOBAL NEWS, June’10]

10. DOMINICAN AND PUERTO RICAN CHRISTIANS OPEN THEIR HOMES

Over 69,000 people in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico placed their faith in Jesus through a ’My Hope’ Billy Graham TV project this year. Altogether more than 5,500 churches from across the evangelical spectrum were involved. Equipped with evangelism training and filled with a passion for the Gospel, Dominican and Puerto Rican believers opened their homes to friends and neighbours for gatherings which included a TV program featuring a sermon from Billy or Franklin Graham, and a personal testimony from the host. The projects, which culminated in March and April, were the largest evangelism outreaches in the history of both the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. [ASSIST NEWS SERVICE, 13 July ‘10]

11. FOR BOLIVIA’S MENNONITES

International Christian broadcaster Trans World Radio (TWR) says there are 31,000 Low German-speaking Mennonites in Bolivia, and most of them are without television or internet access. Living in farming communities that adhere to Old Colony customs, these people isolate themselves from the outside world. This May, however, Thru the Bible broadcasts via TWR partner ministry RTM-Bolivia were fully translated into Low German. Worship songs and other programmes are also being aired. The listener response from Low German Mennonites has been overwhelming. "I wish you could see my children when the children hour is on!" said one. "They all sit around the radio with mouths wide open, so excited about the stories and songs."  [ANS, 13 July’10]

12. HAITI UPDATE

Six months after the catastrophic quake that killed over 230,000 people, conditions remain difficult for millions. Food for the Hungry (FH) Haiti is one of the Christian agencies helping recovery efforts in 65 sites in Port-au-Prince, areas around the city, and an area bordering the Dominican Republic. They've created child-friendly spaces, helped with food and shelter, offered medical and other aid programmes and training for pastors. With the risks of waterborne disease rising in the refugee tent cities, FH Haiti provides essential hygiene training to 1,700 leader mothers every 2 weeks. Each leader mother is providing training to 10 others so that 17,000 additional people are trained on basic health and hygiene. Spiritually, says FH Haiti Director Walter Turnbull, "Christ has been raised up like I've never seen before. Churches are overflowing. People are coming to the Lord. In the middle of all this chaos, God's name is being glorified."  [MNN, 14 July’10]

13. SWEDEN: ANTI-SEMITISM ON THE INCREASE

Sweden prides itself on having taken in tens of thousands of the world's war refugees, and Malmo, its third largest city, should be a showcase: 7 percent of its 285,000 people were born in the Middle East, according to city statistics, and it has large numbers of from the Balkans. After the Holocaust, the city also took in many Jews who survived World War II Nazi genocide. But Malmo police say that of 115 hate crimes reported in 2009, 52 were anti-Semitic. Most of these were perpetrated by Malmo’s estimated 60,000 Muslim residents. The number of Jews is about 700 and shrinking, although there were twice as many two decades ago, according to a spokesman for the Jewish community. Jewish groups say anti-Semitic attacks increased in several European countries following the Gaza war, notably the Netherlands and France. [AP/WORLDWIDE RELIGIOUS NEWS, March'10]

14. FRANCE: VEILS & POLYGAMY

France's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a ban on burqa-like Islamic veils this July, and it is likely to pass the senate. France has Europe's largest Muslim population, an estimated 5 million of the country's 64 million people. While ordinary headscarves are common, only about 1,900 women are believed to wear face-covering veils. But other controversial traditions among European immigrants are less noticed and far more widespread, like polygamy, forced marriage and genital mutilation. Experts say polygamy in France can also be linked to fraud, where husbands hijack a generous social welfare system to line their pockets with state funds from each of their wives. Although it’s hard to track, the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights in 2006 reported a minimal estimate of 16,000 to 20,000 polygamous families in France, or some 180,000 people, including children. Polygamy was legal for decades before being banned in 1993. [AP/ WORLDWIDE RELIGIOUS NEWS, May & July’10]

15. SAMARITAN’S FEET (WORLD)

Thirty years ago a missionary visited Manny Ohonme's community in Nigeria, taught sports skills and gave the 9-year-old boy a pair of tennis shoes. Because of those shoes, Ohonme perfected his basketball skills and later received a sports scholarship at the University of North Dakota. In the U.S., Ohonme obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees and, in 2003, he and his wife Tracie began the ministry of Samaritan's Feet. Partnering with churches, companies and corporations they collect and purchase shoes, package them and ship them to one of 53 countries, either with a church missions team or directly to a church or missionary already on the ground. Volunteers wash the feet of each person receiving shoes in order to size them, sharing the love of God and hope of salvation through Jesus in the process. Many people have received Christ as Saviour through receiving shoes. "Our goal is to put 10 million pairs of shoes on 10 million people's feet in 10 years in order to further the kingdom of heaven," says Ohonme, whose autobiography, Sole Purpose, has just been published. [ASSEMBLIES OF GOD NEWS, 12 July’10]

16. TRANSLATORS AIM FOR BIBLE IN EVERY LANGUAGE BY 2025

Progress continues in Wycliffe's Bible Translators' efforts to translate at least part of the Bible in every one of the world's 6,909 spoken languages in the next 15 years, reports the USA’s Denver Post . "We're in the greatest period of acceleration in 20 centuries of Bible translation," said Paul Edwards, who heads up Wycliffe Bible Translators' $1 billion Last Languages Campaign. He said portable computers and satellites have helped speed up the process by about 125 years. "Wycliffe missionaries don't evangelise, teach theology, hold Bible study or start churches. They give (preliterate people) a written language. They teach them to read and write in their mother tongue." About 2,200 languages still have no written Bible. [RELIGION TODAY, 23 June ‘10]

17. LIFE EXPECTANCY

Lowest average lifespan of people in countries worldwide is Swaziland, at 32 years, followed by Angola (38 years), Zambia (39), Lesotho (40), Sierra Leone (40.9), Mozambique (41), Liberia (41.1), Djibouti (43.3), Malawi (43.5) and Afghanistan (44 years). HIGHEST longevity rate is Macau at 84 years, then Andorra (83), Japan (82), Singapore & San Marino (81.9), Hong Kong (81.8), Australia (81.5), Canada (81.2), France (80.9) and Switzerland (80.7). [NATIONMASTER]

18. RESOURCES:

• Fresh prayer information on the Arabian Peninsula is available on the internet at www.pray-ap.info and www.apinfo.eu as well as many stories, poems, downloadable films, music and testimonies.
• Learn how to pray for the unreached Uyghur people: www.pray4them.com
• New Report on U.S. and Canada Evangelicals, available by both powerpoint presentation and pdf article, from http://bit.ly/7Skb9V
• Faith Comes by Hearing Audio Bible ministry offers free podcasts in 400 languages: www.faithcomesbyhearing.com

NEWS BYTES is compiled monthly by Debbie Meroff of Operation Mobilisation, 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. Please do not hit "reply" to this email as subscriptions are automated. For a free e-mail subscription send a ‘subscribe’ message to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

OM’s role in the Church is to mobilise people to share the knowledge of Jesus and His love with every generation in every nation. OM pioneers and leads initiatives to redeem lives, rebuild communities and restore hope in over 110 countries.