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Today’s News Headlines:

LASKAR JIHAD ISLAMIC GROUP DISBANDING IN INDONESIA MYANMAR MINISTRIES PERSIST DESPITE POCKETS OF PERSECUTION ISLAM MAKES GAINS IN RWANDA SINCE 1994 GENOCIDE AFRICAN CHURCH LEADERS MEET TO STUDY CHURCH-PLANTING STRATEGIES SOLDIERS TAKING BASIC TRAINING IN U.K. SHOW GROWING INTEREST IN BIBLE * HCJB WORLD RADIO TO GIVE NATIONWIDE COVERAGE OF ECUADOR ELECTIONS

Today’s News Stories:

LASKAR JIHAD ISLAMIC GROUP DISBANDING IN INDONESIA The Laskar Jihad, an extremist Islamic group responsible for much of the violence in Central Sulawesi and the Moluccas in Indonesia, has announced that it is disbanding. In a surprise announcement, a lawyer representing Laskar Jihad said the organization was closing its headquarters and offices and would be withdrawing its warriors from the region. Up to 1,000 Laskar Jihad fighters have already left Ambon on a ferry bound for Jakarta. Christians in the region are welcoming the decision, especially if it results in an end to the attacks that have continued despite peace agreements signed at the beginning of 2002. The Laskar Jihad’s lawyer, Wirawan Adnan, insisted that the decision was an internal one taken prior to the car bomb attack in Bali Oct. 12 that killed at least 183 people and injured more than 300. Sheikh Rubi ibn Hadi, a Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia, recently called for an end to the “holy war” in eastern Indonesia’s Moluccan Islands. Anti-Christian violence in the region since 2000 has left more than 15,000 Christians dead.

Evidence is emerging that the attack on Bali is linked to the al-Qaida terrorist group. Secret U.S. documents reportedly indicate that al-Faruq, arrested by Indonesian police in June and handed to U.S. authorities, was a senior al-Qaida representative in Southeast Asia with responsibility for planning and coordinating attacks against American targets in the area. He also has been linked to attempts to assassinate Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Although al-Faruq’s origins and movements are shrouded in mystery, there is evidence that he was involved in training and leading Islamic extremist groups during anti-Christian violence in the Moluccas.

Meanwhile, a mob destroyed a church in the predominantly Muslim city of Makassar in South Sulawesi after it was reported that the church had been built without the necessary permits. The building of churches requires a permit from the city authorities who consult with the local population. Churches cannot be built in predominantly Muslim areas. Some participants in the destruction claimed that the church would be demolished unless it vacated the premises. Although the local police chief criticized people for taking the law into their own hands, no action was taken by authorities to prevent the destruction. Official investigations into the existence of a building permit are ongoing. (Barnabas Fund/Religion Today)

MYANMAR MINISTRIES PERSIST DESPITE POCKETS OF PERSECUTION Indigenous Christian ministries in Myanmar (formerly called Burma) continue to proclaim the gospel despite pockets of severe persecution. Officials have authority to close church meeting places and select Christian workers and new believers to serve in forced labor without pay. Myanmar’s government promotes Buddhism as a national religion, offering interest-free loans and supplemental rice to Buddhists while excluding Christians. Officials also offer large sums of money to Christians to become Buddhists, and public schools indoctrinate pupils in Buddhism. Christian children, along with all others, are expected to bow before Buddha. Churches also experience harassment from the police who have the authority to close down meeting places that don’t have proper registration or own their own land and buildings. Christians meeting in houses or apartments are especially vulnerable. Despite the hardships, indigenous churches and mission agencies in Myanmar first planted by American missionary Adoniram Judson more than 150 years ago continue their forerunner’s diligence. There is a climate of openness to the gospel among most people, including many younger Buddhists. (Christian Aid Mission)

ISLAM MAKES GAINS IN RWANDA SINCE 1994 GENOCIDE A surge in Islam in predominantly Christian Rwanda (65 percent Roman Catholic and 9 percent Protestant) is being attributed to disillusionment with Christianity following the 1994 genocide that claimed 800,000 lives. Fourteen percent now follow Islam, up from 7 percent before 1994. New mosques are being built across the country in an effort to build unity among Tutsis and Hutus. (World Pulse)

AFRICAN CHURCH LEADERS MEET TO STUDY CHURCH-PLANTING STRATEGIES More than 100 leaders from six African countries — South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Nigeria — gathered in Cape Town Oct. 8-10 for a strategy session on expanding churches in the region. The event was the fourth annual National Consultation on Saturation Church Planting hosted by the Church Planting Alliance of South Africa. “While not large in number [with 110 delegates attending], the group represented the different denominational and missions structures in the country, especially those committed to seeing more cooperation and focus on strategic integration of the evangelism task in and from South Africa,” said spokesman Johan Combrinck. “The consultation also served as a forum for various transformation streams to converge into a broader flow of potential blessing for the nation.” Delegates agreed that South Africa needs a “more coordinated and strategically integrated national evangelism initiative, focused on the discipling of nations,” Combrinck said. Rev. John Thomas, pastor of Fishoek Baptist Church and an HCJB World Radio partner in Cape Town, added that the AIDS epidemic is opening up doors to share the gospel in the region. “AIDS has given the church in South Africa its greatest chance for impacting the nation and the world.” (Assist News Service)

SOLDIERS TAKING BASIC TRAINING IN U.K. SHOW GROWING INTEREST IN BIBLE Staff at an Army Infantry Training Center in North Yorkshire, England, are reporting a rush of cadets wanting to hear about God and coming to faith in Christ. Soldiers arriving for basic training are given a New Testament from Scripture Gift Mission produced together with the Naval Military and Air Force Bible Society. Chaplains say they are taking the special camouflage editions with them on exercises. More than 100 cadets are reported to have trusted Christ in recent weeks. (Scripture Gift Mission)

* HCJB WORLD RADIO TO GIVE NATIONWIDE COVERAGE OF ECUADOR ELECTIONS The Spanish and Quichua news teams at HCJB World Radio in Ecuador will provide nationwide coverage of the country’s national and provincial elections on Sunday, Oct. 20. Election reports which will air on the ministry’s local stations in Quito and Guayaquil and on nine FM stations via the Vozandes Satellite Network as well as worldwide on shortwave. Coverage goes from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time. “Thank you for praying for our team as we provide coverage of elections,” says National Radio Director Allen Graham. “As we uncover the results of our earthly leaders for this country, may we point our listeners to our eternal leader, the King of kings.”

In addition to voting for a new president, Ecuadorians will choose 100 lawmakers, 67 provincial officials, 667 town councilors, two mayors and five representatives to the regional Andean parliament. Ten candidates are vying for the presidency, including two former presidents, Rodrigo Borja and Osvaldo Hurtado. If none of the candidates receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a run-off election involving the top two vote-getters will be held on Nov. 24. The next president will be charged with rescuing a nation mired in economic woes, struggling with foreign debt and rising government salaries it can’t afford to pay. Ecuador, which two years ago adopted the U.S. dollar as its currency, is an oil-rich nation, but roughly 70 percent of the population lives in poverty. The new president will also have to address rising unemployment. Ecuador’s Indians, who comprise between a quarter and half of the nation’s 12 million people, hope their recent efforts to better organize will pay off with increased influence via the ballot box. The Indian community, disproportionately poor, is a significant voting bloc that traditional political parties have not yet been able to attract. (HCJB World Radio/Miami Herald/EFE)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * James A. Ferrier HCJB World Radio U.S. Ministries Communications Director E-mail: Phone: 1-719-590-9800 Fax: 1-719-590-9801 Web: http://www.hcjb.org http://www.beyondthecall.org * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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