A ministry of HCJB World Radio

Today’s News Headlines:

GROWING FAMINE IN ETHIOPIA, ERITREA COULD IMPERIL MILLIONS REBEL VIOLENCE IN NEPAL HINDERS EVANGELISTIC EFFORTS AZERBAIJANI OFFICIAL THREATENS TO SHUT DOWN JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES CHRISTIAN GROUPS IN BALI TO HOLD JOINT SERVICE IN RESPONSE TO BOMBING ANGEL TREE PROJECT TARGETS 500,000 CHILDREN OF PRISONERS ACROSS U.S. BELIEVERS URGED TO USE HALLOWEEN AS EVANGELISTIC OPPORTUNITY

Today’s News Stories:

GROWING FAMINE IN ETHIOPIA, ERITREA COULD IMPERIL MILLIONS Millions in Ethiopia and Eritrea are on the brink of malnutrition and starvation as sustained drought has all but eliminated crops and killed livestock. If relief assistance is not delivered soon, Ethiopia faces conditions similar to the famine of 1984-85, reports Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The agency also reported that nearly half of Eritrea’s population will need food assistance as conditions worsen. “The situation here is deteriorating fast,” said CRS spokesman Anne Bousquet in Ethiopia. “This year there are areas of the country that have never before experienced severe drought, and in many areas people have not had enough time to fully recover from previous periods of drought.” An estimated 10 million to 14 million Ethiopian farmers have been affected by the lack of rainfall. CRS is preparing its emergency operations and has requested more than 300,000 metric tons of food for distribution starting in November 2002 in partnership with international and Ethiopian relief organizations. However, Bousquet said that nearly 2 million metric tons of food may be required in the next year as communities will have little to no food reserves if this year’s crops fail completely. In Eritrea the drought’s effects have not yet begun to take their toll. But the agency emphasized that emergency relief operations must be in place to deal with a potential disaster that threatens nearly half of the country’s 3.3 million people. (Assist News Service)

* Staff members at HCJB World Radio-Australia’s studios record Oromo language programs that are aired to 28 million speakers in Ethiopia and Kenya via shortwave from partner FEBA Radio.

REBEL VIOLENCE IN NEPAL HINDERS EVANGELISTIC EFFORTS Maoist violence is causing problems for evangelism in Nepal as rebels threaten to overthrow the constitutional monarchy in the world’s only Hindu kingdom. International Needs Network’s Nicanor Tamang says that complicates outreach efforts. “It has been very difficult for us to openly go out … especially out in the villages and towns … to preach to the people in other areas,” he says. “Traveling has become a very hazardous thing within the country. And that has also caused a lot of problems for us as far as evangelism is concerned.” Tamang says evangelists are viewed as spies, so trust takes time to develop. “We need to pray for stability in the government of Nepal. We need to pray for the royal family, the military, the police, the whole administration and the political parties there. Once we have the stability, I believe it will be easy for us to move from place to place, sharing the gospel.” (Mission Network News)

AZERBAIJANI OFFICIAL THREATENS TO SHUT DOWN JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES Rafik Aliev, head of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations in Azerbaijan, says his office will attempt to cancel the registration of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Baku. He accused the group of holding “illegal meetings” and involving children in “unhealthy religious services” which he claims are a violation of the country’s law on religion, justifying the initiation of court action. This contradicts Aliev’s earlier statements when he pledged that the Jehovah’s Witnesses had “nothing to worry about” and that legal action would not be taken to liquidate the community. Aliev has closed down the Love Baptist Church and 22 of the country’s 26 madrassahs which are strict Islamic schools. (Keston News Service)

* HCJB World Radio, in partnership with Hosanna and local partners in Baku, Azerbaijan, has recorded the dramatized Azeri New Testament as part of the Faith Comes by Hearing project. The recordings, completed in 1998, have been made into a series of radio programs.

CHRISTIAN GROUPS IN BALI TO HOLD JOINT SERVICE IN RESPONSE TO BOMBING Just 11/2 months after a terrorist attack on Bali nightclub Oct. 12 that killed more than 200 people and injured hundreds more — most of them foreigners — Protestants, Catholics and Pentecostals in the area will hold a joint international worship service. The theme of the service, planned for Nov. 29, will be “Fear Not! Love Conquers Fear.” “We plan to do the meeting in the form of a seminar, sharing and praying,” said Bishop K. Suyaga Ayub. “As God’s church that holds prophetic duties, we have to be able to strengthen His people, not only Balinese but all the people in the world, so they will soon recover from the bad feelings after the bombing incidents. We deeply hope that Christians in Bali, church leaders in Indonesia and also church partners from overseas will take part in the international worship for world peace.” Volunteers in Protestant and Catholic churches in Bali continue to work together to help survivors of the bombing and victims’ families. Some countries have announced travel bans to Indonesia, while tourism in Bali has dropped sharply since the bombing. (Bless Indonesia Today)

ANGEL TREE PROJECT TARGETS 500,000 CHILDREN OF PRISONERS ACROSS U.S. Across the U.S., churches and volunteers are joining together to help reach prisoners’ children with a gift and the gospel this Christmas as part of Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree project. “Right now more than 490,000 children are signed up with an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 kids still to go,” says Prison Fellowship Chairman Chuck Colson. “That means we will need at least 300,000 volunteers in more than 16,000 churches. This is a monumental task, but so important when you consider the desperate circumstances many of these children face. They are the most at-risk of at-risk youth in America today — far more likely to end up in prison than other kids. But we can change all that if we can introduce them to the love and power of Jesus Christ through local churches right in their communities.” (Assist News Service)

BELIEVERS URGED TO USE HALLOWEEN AS EVANGELISTIC OPPORTUNITY With Halloween only a few days away, the American Tract Society (ATS) is reminding people that the day can be used to teach children about evangelical opportunities. ATS is working with a number of local Christian bookstores to provide “Halloween Rescue Kits.” The kits include candy, stickers and a tract that shares the gospel message. ATS spokesman Mark Brown says the children can hand them out as they go door-to-door or pass them out from their own homes to trick-or-treaters. (Mission Network News)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * James A. Ferrier HCJB World Radio U.S. Ministries Web: http://www.hcjb.org http://www.beyondthecall.org * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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