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Today’s News Headlines:

354 VIETNAMESE CHURCHES CLOSED, DOZENS OF PASTORS ARRESTED WITNESS TO ATTACK ON AGENCY IN PAKISTAN DESCRIBES ASSAILANTS NEW TAX ON VISITORS ENTERING HAITI MAY HAMPER MISSION EFFORTS WELL-ORGANIZED BAPTIST CREWS HELP VICTIMS OF TORNADOES IN U.S. REPRESSIVE RELIGION LAW IN BELARUS GOES INTO EFFECT SATURDAY * 100 BROADCASTERS MEET IN ROMANIA FOR RADIO TRAINING EVENT

Today’s News Stories:

354 VIETNAMESE CHURCHES CLOSED, DOZENS OF PASTORS ARRESTED Documents acquired in October by religious and human rights workers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, confirm that by the end of September, 354 of 412 churches in Dak Lak province alone were forcibly closed. By mid-October about 50 Christian pastors and elders in this province had been arrested or had “disappeared.” The remaining 58 churches in the province are also expected to be shut down. On Nov. 7 Freedom House released news of the ongoing persecution of Hmong Christians in Vietnam’s northwestern provinces, Vietnam’s normally cautious Roman Catholic Conference of Bishops also released a letter decrying the persecution of Catholic Montagnards. Since late summer, leaders of the predominantly Ede minority churches were summoned by local authorities, told their churches were illegal and ordered to disband. Many were threatened with dire consequences if they did not comply. Church leaders were also prohibited from further religious activity outside of their own homes and families. All church activities — worship, teaching, prayer for the sick, observing holy days, administering sacraments, performing baptisms, weddings and funerals — were forbidden. Leaders were forced to sign statements of compliance. Many Christians have fled into the forest or to Cambodia. (Compass)

WITNESS TO ATTACK ON AGENCY IN PAKISTAN DESCRIBES ASSAILANTS One of the two survivors of an attack on the Institute of Justice and Peace in Karachi, Pakistan last month has recovered to the point where he is able to describe the assailants. The Pakistan Christian Post reported that Robin Sharif, communications director for the agency, was approached by a man on Sept. 25 who asked to speak with the director. When he went to see the director, three more men rushed in and held him at gunpoint. Then they grabbed tape from his desk and knocked him out with chloroform. The attackers then tied up the rest of the staff and killed seven of his co-workers. Sharif had been unconscious and unable to speak with authorities until recently. However, he has since recovered enough to help police with sketches of three of the assailants. His testimony also appears sufficient to clear the other survivor, Robin Peranditta, of any responsibility in the attack. (Voice of the Martyrs)

NEW TAX ON VISITORS ENTERING HAITI MAY HAMPER MISSION EFFORTS The economic situation in Haiti continues to worsen, increasing people’s desperate struggle to survive. The Haitian government, looking for more ways to generate income, has implemented a large fee for all visitors entering the country. STEM International’s Jim Levin says the tax could have an impact on the ministry’s outreach as ministry teams from foreign countries may cancel their trip or decide to visit another country instead because of the additional fees. He is afraid that the tax could discourage groups from returning such as the short-term medical team that ministered to 900 people last week. Levin urges believers to pray. “Pray that the Haitian government would find ways of helping their economy, helping the average Haitian without shooting themselves in the foot by discouraging some of the very people who want to come in there and help the people.” (Mission Network News)

WELL-ORGANIZED BAPTIST CREWS HELP VICTIMS OF TORNADOES IN U.S. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief units in five states — Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio and Mississippi — responded locally to severe storms and dozens of tornadoes that ripped through the eastern U.S. Nov. 10-11. Mickey Caison, national coordinator for the relief group, noted the scope of the unusual fall tornadoes with as many as 70 reported in seven states. “Typically a tornado is localized. It doesn’t affect a large area like a hurricane or a flood or an ice storm,” Caison said. Crews are being deployed throughout the affected area by serving via mobile kitchens, chainsaws, roofing, communications and crisis intervention. More than 25,000 trained volunteers are involved in the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief network nationwide. The units generally are owned and operated by state conventions and local associations, and coordinated nationally by the North American Mission Board. (Religion Today)

REPRESSIVE RELIGION LAW IN BELARUS GOES INTO EFFECT SATURDAY Starting on Saturday, Nov. 16, all “unregistered religious activity” will be illegal in Belarus as a repressive new religion law goes into effect. Also banned will be religious communities with less than 20 members; religious activity in private homes (apart from occasional, small-scale meetings); foreigners conducting religious work in unregistered communities; and uncensored religious literature. The new law will require all religious organizations to be re-registered within two years. In a last-ditch effort to protest the law, two persons (among them a Catholic, Igor Zakrevsky, from Borisov) staged a demonstration on Independence Square in Minsk Nov. 8. They were detained by police. (Keston News Service)

* 100 BROADCASTERS MEET IN ROMANIA FOR RADIO TRAINING EVENT HCJB World Radio’s partners from Romania, Poland and Croatia gathered in Romania in mid-October for the fifth weeklong radio training conference led by Moody Broadcasting Network. The seven-station Radio Voice of the Gospel (RVG) network in Romania hosted the event, covering topics such as techniques for selling commercial time, voice coaching, audio production, local station programming and personnel/management issues.

“We are grateful to Moody for this great contribution to Christian radio in Romania,” says Steve Hunter, HCJB World Radio’s representative on the RVG network, operated by the Evangelical Alliance of Romania. “On several occasions Moody has done onsite training in Romania, initially just with our Romanian personnel, but more recently, including those from nearby other countries.” Moody sent a team of seven to Romania, including Jon Gauger and John Maddex, as nearly 100 Christian broadcasters took part in the conference. Highlighting the week was an annual awards competition that showcased presentations in categories such as audio production, evangelism, spots and sales.

Moody played a key role in helping HCJB World Radio launch the RVG network with a single station in 1993. “Moody has partnered with us from the beginning, helping to train broadcasters in various aspects of the art,” Hunter says. Six stations are now on the air with FM outlets in Bucharest, Cluj, Oradea, Sibiu, Suceava and Timisoara. A seventh station in Brasov has a license to broadcast and is expected to go the air by the end of the year. The Evangelical Alliance of Romania was initiated by HCJB World Radio and the Romanian Missionary Society in 1990, shortly after the fall of the Iron Curtain. (HCJB World Radio)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * James A. Ferrier Web: http://www.hcjb.org http://www.beyondthecall.org * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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