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Today’s News Headlines

AMERICAN MISSIONARY NURSE KILLED IN LEBANON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY DEBATE STALLED IN PERU AMAZING EVENTS BRING GYPSIES TO CHRIST IN BULGARIA CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS UNITE TO FIGHT AIDS IN NIGERIA AMERICAN TEAM EXPLORES WAYS TO HELP REBUILD AFGHANISTAN CHINESE PROFESSOR CITES AMERICA’S SPIRITUAL HERITAGE

Today’s News Stories

AMERICAN MISSIONARY NURSE KILLED IN LEBANON A gunman shot and killed an American missionary at close range Thursday morning in the Lebanese port city of Sidon. Bonnie Weatherall, 30, was shot in the head three times with a 7 mm pistol shortly after she opened a health clinic around 8 a.m. (midnight EST) where she was a volunteer nurse, police and church officials said. The killer fled and the motive for the shooting was not known, police said. However, a police source quoted by Associated Press says the crime probably stemmed from anti-Americanism. U.S. Embassy officials were sent to the port city, about 40 miles south of Beirut, to investigate the motive for the shooting. The victim’s husband Gary Weatherall, a Briton, issued a statement through the Christian and Missionary Alliance church, saying, “My wife died because of her love for the church and because she loved helping the people of Sidon and Lebanon.” Bonnie Weatherall had been a volunteer at the clinic for a little more than a year, a church official said. (Wire Services)

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY DEBATE STALLED IN PERU The Congress of Peru temporarily suspended debate on revising the constitution before considering the article on religion. Nevertheless, evangelical Protestants who are seeking equal treatment for all faiths consider the postponement a positive opportunity. “This is a good thing for us because it gives us more time to organize ourselves,” said Fernando Bellido, religious affairs advisor to Congressman Walter Alejos, a key proponent for amending the constitutional article that discriminates against non-Roman Catholics. Since 1980, the Peruvian government has maintained a Concordat with the Vatican. The treaty codifies preferential treatment for Catholic clergy and organizations. Bellido says he counts from 36 to 39 lawmakers among the 100-member congress who favor constitutional change. A simple majority is required to send the amendment to a referendum. (Compass)

AMAZING EVENTS BRING GYPSIES TO CHRIST IN BULGARIA “God used amazing ways to bring people to salvation,” reports a missionary working among Gypsies in Bulgaria. The first miracle was like the miracle at Cana reversed. While one Gypsy man was drinking whiskey, his believing wife and children prayed earnestly for him, and the man said his whiskey suddenly turned to water! He was so shocked that he repented of his sins and confessed Christ. As the result of doctors prescribing the wrong medical treatment, an eight-month-old baby was overdosed with iron. The doctors said the baby would die by the end of the day. The whole church, of which the mother was a member, interceded for the baby, and the child received new life for the glory of God. Another man got so drunk that he broke his neck and was bed-ridden for months, unable to move. The missionary and fellow believers visited him and prayed for him. He accepted the Lord and was physically restored. His wife also was delivered from lumps on her breasts. News of the apparent miracles spread throughout the village. The man who was healed opened his home for gospel meetings, and the crowd has grown into a congregation of believers. (Christian Aid)

CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS UNITE TO FIGHT AIDS IN NIGERIA The ongoing war against HIV/AIDS has received an added boost with the launching of a non-governmental organization (NGO) — Inter-Faith HIV/AIDS Council of Nigeria — by Christian and Muslim leaders. The new NGO was formed in conjunction with The Balm in Gilead, an African-American NGO in the United States. The Inter-faith HIV/AIDS Council was formed by the leadership of Nigeria’s Christian and Muslim communities to address HIV/AIDS issues in response to The Balm In Gilead’s call to the communities to come together to address the ever-growing problem of the disease in Nigeria. The new NGO, which has as its motto “In Love, Unity and Hope we fight HIV/AIDS,” stated that its mission is to empower religious organizations to play a leadership role in stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria and to support those infected and affected by the virus. (ThisDay Newspaper)

* HCJB World Radio, together with partners In Touch Ministries, SIM and the Evangelical Church of West Africa, began airing weekly half-hour programs in the Igbo language in 2000. The programs air via shortwave to Nigeria’s 15 million Igbo speakers.

AMERICAN TEAM EXPLORES WAYS TO HELP REBUILD AFGHANISTAN A year after Afghanistan was liberated from Taliban rule, a team of American volunteers is on the ground in Kabul, searching out ways to help Afghans rebuild their war-ravaged country. “We’re here in Kabul on the one-year anniversary of the liberation of the city,” said Mark Morris, chairman of International Friendship Summits, a non-profit organization based in Memphis, Tenn. “We have been able to meet with people in the ministries of health and education. They are saying to us, ‘Please give us real help, actual opportunities to work together to do good for this nation.'” Students lined the sidewalks at a girls school when the nine-member American delegation visited Nov. 18. The girls threw rose petals and applauded as the visitors arrived — returning the warm greeting Memphis students had given Afghan dignitaries who visited their city the previous month. (Baptist Press)

CHINESE PROFESSOR CITES AMERICA’S SPIRITUAL HERITAGE According to a Chinese university professor, China has for a long time tried to figure out exactly what makes America a great nation. In a recent presentation, and speaking on the condition of anonymity, he came the nearest to a formal recognition of America’s spiritual heritage as the reason for its ascendancy on the world scene. The Chinese people have been investigating the answer to this question for some time, he said. They came up with four possible answers: (1) America’s military power and weaponry, (2) its democratic political system, (3) the availability of consumer and material goods under capitalism, or (4) the type of culture that exists in the United States. The academician said that during the two Opium Wars of the 19th Century, the Chinese thought that guns and armaments made America powerful. Then during the new Chinese cultural movements of the 20th Century the Chinese believed it was America’s political system that was responsible. Later, the Chinese considered the capitalist system as the reason. Finally, he said, the Chinese realized that it was because we have religion at the heart of our culture. Their conclusion: America’s greatness is based on a culture that is built on a Christian religious heritage. The professor said that an official government estimate of the number of legally registered Christians in China is about 20 million believers. While no official statistics are available for the number of unregistered Christians, he said that some sociologists estimate there are between 25 and 30 million believers in non-registered churches, depending on who you talk to. (Assist)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * 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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