A ministry of HCJB World Radio

Today’s News Headlines:

ELDERS OF UNREGISTERED MONGOLIAN CHURCH FACE CRIMINAL CHARGES INDIA’S CHURCHES GROWING FASTER THAN THOSE IN SOUTH KOREA ISLAMIC MILITANTS SUPPORT CIVIL WAR IN C ”TE D’IVOIRE BELIEVERS URGED TO PRAY DURING WORLD AIDS DAY ON DEC. 1 CALIFORNIA PASTOR AIMS TO HELP REDUCE KILLINGS IN OAKLAND * HCJB WORLD RADIO’S TECHNICAL FACILITIES IN ECUADOR BACK TO NORMAL

Today’s News Stories:

ELDERS OF UNREGISTERED MONGOLIAN CHURCH FACE CRIMINAL CHARGES Elders of the Church of All Nations in the Bayangol district of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, are facing criminal charges and possible confiscation of all tithes and offerings. A criminal investigation has been launched against the church and two of the elders for nonpayment of taxes. If convicted, they could face eight years in prison. The church applied for registration with the government in both 1999 and 2000. In 2001 the church faced an investigation for not paying taxes but, since it wasn’t registered, there was no way to submit the taxes. Mongolia is a predominantly Buddhist country, and the communist government is heavily influenced by Buddhism. As a result, Christian churches have often faced opposition from officials. (Voice of the Martyrs)

INDIA’S CHURCHES GROWING FASTER THAN THOSE IN SOUTH KOREA The churches of India are growing even faster than the churches of South Korea, P.G. Vargis, founder and leader of Indian Evangelical Team (IET), told Christian Aid on Monday. India has 10 churches with more than 10,000 members and 30 with more than 3,000 members. As an example of the readiness of India’s people to accept Christ, he said that Ezra Sargunam, bishop of the Evangelical Church of India, baptized 2,231 people on a single day in 1999. IET missionaries baptized 11,700 people in 2001. An average of one church is planted every day through IET missionaries. The organization now has 2,088 missionaries, up from just 60 in 1977. Vargis said that in 2000 God gave him a vision to plant 7,777 churches by 2010. If each church started another, that goal would be reached next year. (Christian Aid Mission)

ISLAMIC MILITANTS SUPPORT CIVIL WAR IN C ”TE D’IVOIRE Since rebel forces failed in a coup attempt on Sept. 19, the West African nation of C ´te d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) has been embroiled in civil war with rebels fighting to overthrow the government while taking control of the mainly Muslim north. Increasingly, it appears that the rebel forces are receiving funding from outside of the country; either from another nation or from a militant Islamic network. There are some indications that Libya and the al-Qaida network are involved. In September, rebels captured a boarding school for missionary children in Bouake. All 200 students were later released unharmed. In October those living in mainly Christian villages in rebel-controlled areas fled, fearing for their lives. While Muslims make up just 26 percent of the citizens of Ivory Coast, the influx of immigrants means that more than 50 percent of those living in the country are Muslim. Ivory Coast has a secular government with freedom of religion and a growing Christian population. There are, however, ethnic and religious divisions within the country that were intensified when the courts ruled that the opposition leader, Alassane Ouattara, was not Ivorian and, therefore, could not run in the 2000 presidential election. The rebels are calling for the resignation of the president and new elections. Peace talks were set to resume in Lome, Togo, on Monday but the rebels failed to show. Talks resumed on Wednesday, but there was little sign that the West African mediators hosting the talks had made progress in bringing the foes closer to a compromise. “There is still a big problem of confidence between the sides,” one official said. Talks were expected to continue today. There is an uneasy cease-fire in the country monitored by French troops. There are fears that if the Islamic rebels take control of the country, this would have serious implications on not only Ivory Coast, but also other African nations with strong Christian populations. (Voice of the Martyrs/Reuters)

BELIEVERS URGED TO PRAY DURING WORLD AIDS DAY ON DEC. 1 World Relief, the National Association of Evangelicals and the World Evangelical Alliance are calling Christians everywhere to pray for HIV/AIDS victims on World AIDS Day Sunday, Dec. 1. “Since this day will not fall on a Sunday again for the next 11 years, this is a great opportunity for the church to be involved,” said World Relief President Clive Calver. World AIDS Day was first designated by the World Health Organization in 1988. Sub-Saharan Africa is hardest hit by the disease, infecting nearly 30 million people in the region. In Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Angola and Botswana more than 18 percent of the adult population is HIV positive. In some areas as many as one in three people are infected. HIV/AIDS also exacerbates the food crisis by causing agricultural productivity to decline as patients become too ill to farm their land. There is also a lack of resources, supplies and essential drugs for patients. “Since there is no AIDS vaccine, we believe that the church is instrumental in stopping the spread of the disease,” said Calver. “Through education, awareness programs and prayer, churches can prevent more infections and care for families already affected by the disease.” (World Relief)

CALIFORNIA PASTOR AIMS TO HELP REDUCE KILLINGS IN OAKLAND A pastor is leading an effort to reduce the killings in Oakland, Calif. Bob Jackson is the leader of Black Men First, a group of 200 African American professionals who have started walking the streets, trying to connect with some of the local drug dealers. “I blame a lack of education and family structure,” Jackson told The Los Angles Times. “There are no men at home or in the city schools. These youths have no role models but rap video stars and drug dealers.” Will G. Blass Jr., a business consultant and former church sports coach, has joined the project. “We’ve got no choice but to go in and fight for these kids,” he said. “If you feel it from your heart and are honest in your approach, the kids will feel it, too.” Jackson has founded the Men of Valor Academy where 50 young men are housed and fed while they finish their education. “These boys have never been mentored or taught by anybody,” he said. “Most come from single-parent homes where their mothers talk about how they’re growing up to be just like their no-good fathers . . . they’re programmed to be bad.” (Religion Today)

* HCJB WORLD RADIO’S TECHNICAL FACILITIES IN ECUADOR BACK TO NORMAL Nearly all of HCJB World Radio’s technical facilities in Ecuador are again operating normally after staff members removed up to 2 inches of ash that fell on equipment following the eruption of the Reventador volcano on Sunday, Nov. 3.

“After a thorough cleaning, all three hydroelectric plants (two in Papallacta and one at Lake Loreto) were successfully brought back online by mid-Wednesday afternoon,” said Station General Manager John Beck in Quito. “All of the spectacular arcing and fireballs caused only superficial damage that was easily repaired.” Engineers also quickly fixed two HC-100s (100,000-watt shortwave transmitters) that had suffered only minor damage. “All the transmitters were back to full operational status for last night’s releases,” he adds. “And we were once again able to draw our own power from Papallacta.”

Beck credits plenty of prayer and hard work for the quick repair work. “Let’s thank the Lord for the grace and mercy He has shown to our ministry. Also a big thank you to Engineering Director Charles Jacobson and his team here in Ecuador.” The only remaining glitch is a problem with the Loreto plant feeding into the national grid. “But we now believe there is a problem on the other side of the sub-station,” Beck said. “Hopefully the rains received overnight will continue to wash all of the lines and poles clean.”

Quito officials announced that classes in Quito will be canceled until next Monday because of the health risks posed by ash spewed by the Reventador volcano, 60 miles east of Quito, that started erupting Sunday morning. Quito Mayor Paco Moncayo said the suspension would continue because of poor conditions in the city. The volcano spewed lava and a huge cloud that blanketed the capital with more than 1 million tons of ash. The volcano experienced another small eruption at 6:30 a.m. (Eastern time) today. It is unclear if the ash will reach Quito again.

“Classes will be suspended until Monday to ensure the safety of the students,” Moncayo noted, adding that schools will be cleaned of ash this week. Experts said the level of ash in the city’s air “significantly exceeds safe levels.” The capital’s electricity services will also be affected by the cleanup efforts. The Quito Electric Company has scheduled a number of blackouts in throughout the city to facilitate the cleaning of power lines which are weighed down by the accumulated ash, which when combined with rain water, can conduct electricity. Meanwhile, state oil company Petroecuador announced that it will not reduce the pumping of oil through the Trans-Ecuadorian Oil Pipeline even though part of the pipeline runs near the foot of the volcano.

No one was killed or injured when the remote volcano erupted on Sunday. However, one person died and more than 50 persons in the city were injured from falls when clearing ash off their roofs. Among those was Dr. Sonia Chan, an Ecuadorian missionary with HCJB World Radio, who suffered back and head injuries and some fractured bones when she fell through a skylight while cleaning up the ash at her home. She is expected to make a full recovery. (HCJB World Radio/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 * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Editor’s Note. Feel free to forward this to any interested friends. Our lists are distributed for information purposes and to encourage prayer. HCJB World Radio does not necessarily endorse or support the activities on which it reports.

Subscription Management. This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list <>. The instructions below will allow you to turn your subscription off while you are traveling, then turn it back on when you return. It also allows you to switch your subscription from one e-mail address to another. Digest and Index subscriptions are available for most of our lists.

Post Archives. Searchable archives are available to subscribers for most of our lists. Access to the archives for this list, if available, requires you to enter both your subscribed email address and a unique confirmation id (which may be obtained by sending email from your subscribed address to <>) at https://mail.pmbx.net:9100/Lists/HCJBDaily.