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Today’s News Headlines:

PILOTS EVACUATE 14 MISSIONARIES FROM CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC CHRISTIAN CUBAN PRISONER CONTINUES 3-MONTH LONG HUNGER STRIKE 100,000 CHRISTIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS BELIEVED TO BE IN NORTH KOREA OUTREACH GROWS IN COLOMBIA DESPITE ONGOING FIGHTING CHRISTIAN ARABIC SATELLITE TV NETWORK LAUNCHES WEBSITE FEEDING THE POOR OPENS EVANGELISTIC OPPORTUNITIES IN U.S.

Today’s News Stories:

PILOTS EVACUATE 14 MISSIONARIES FROM CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Sporadic fighting between government and rebel forces continues in the northern part of the Central African Republic since an October coup attempt. With little progress toward peace, the U.S. embassy recommended that Americans leave the capital city of Bangui. Last month Mission Aviation Fellowship evacuated more than 14 missionaries from the country. (Mission Network News)

CHRISTIAN CUBAN PRISONER CONTINUES 3-MONTH LONG HUNGER STRIKE A blind Christian lawyer who has been held in a Cuban prison for nine months has now completed three months of an ongoing liquid-only fast. Juan Carlos Gonz ¡lez Leiva has been held on charges of “acts of disrespect towards Fidel Castro, public disorder, resisting authority and disobedience” since March 5. His weight has dropped to 85 lb., and as part of his protest against the regime, he also dresses only in black, shaves his head and refuses to bathe. In a letter smuggled out of Holguin Prison by his wife, Maritza, he said: “I wish to inform the international community, all churches and human rights defenders, that Cuban state security forces are torturing me physically and psychologically. Gonz ¡lez, president of both the Cuban Human Rights Foundation and the Brotherhood of the Independent Blind People of Cuba.” He was arrested along with several other human rights activists on March 5 in Ciego de Avila. His trial, scheduled for mid-September, never took place. Prison officials said they have no idea when his trial will take place as his case documents have been sent to Havana to be “analyzed.” (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

100,000 CHRISTIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS BELIEVED TO BE IN NORTH KOREA Hwang Jang-yop was once a spokesman for late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and his son and successor, Kim Jong Il. He has lived under the protection of South Korean intelligence since becoming the most senior defector from the country in 1997. AFP quotes Hwang as saying, “The suffering and pain of the North Korean people under the current dictatorial regime are much more severe and tragic than what we experienced during the 36-year colonial rule by the Japanese or what we went through during the Korean War.” In November, Human Rights Watch released a report called, “The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People’s Republic of China.” He said an estimated 100,000 Christians are political prisoners in North Korea, an area that was once a “land of revival,” with its capital, Pyongyang, once known as the “Jerusalem of the East.” (World Evangelical Alliance)

OUTREACH GROWS IN COLOMBIA DESPITE ONGOING FIGHTING “The work of the Lord is growing beautifully in the midst of a ferocious and diabolical war that affects our country,” reports a Colombian missionary leader. “Things seem to become worse with each passing day as we are surrounded by tense and unstable political situations. Guerrillas, kidnappings, vengeance, death and extortion are daily occurrences that we face in our missionary fields. “We walk in the midst of great fear caused by Satan’s furious ocean of evil, but we persevere in prayer as we beg God for the liberation of our nation and His protection as we continue working in these dangerous and difficult regions. I am not able to move about with the same freedom as before.” Despite the restrictions, the leader recently baptized seven new believers in one place, and gospel workers are planting a new church in another location. “This is a very dangerous town from which the mayor and police had to flee,” the leader said. “It is a lawless region, but the Lord has raised up a young man from one of our churches who has begun house-to-house evangelism. He has started Sunday worship meetings, and 16 adults and 25 children are already coming to learn and worship.” (Christian Aid Mission)

CHRISTIAN ARABIC SATELLITE TV NETWORK LAUNCHES WEBSITE After months of planning, building and testing, SAT-7, a Christian Arabic satellite television network that broadcasts across the Middle East and North Africa, has launched a website at http://www.sat7.org. The site includes information such as instructions on how to receive SAT-7’s satellite signal and program and broadcast schedules. The site also has a place for feedback, giving viewers the opportunity to express their opinion and ask questions about the programs and Christianity. Although only about 1 percent of people in the Middle East have access to the Internet, the site is expected to increase interaction with Arabic-speaking viewers across the region and beyond. (SAT-7)

FEEDING THE POOR OPENS EVANGELISTIC OPPORTUNITIES IN U.S. A ministry called Dare 2 Share is using food to help open doors to share the gospel in the U.S. Students trained through “Last Chance” seminars receive the tools they need to share their faith, says Dare 2 Share’s Greg Stier. “Basically, we turn these kids loose in pre-designated areas to go door to door, collecting canned good for the rescue mission In addition, they use this as an entr ©e into a gospel presentation,” he says. In Denver recently, 4,800 students collected 10 tons of canned goods, witnessed to 7,000 people and saw more than 400 come to Christ. Plans are being made to expand the ministry as resources become available. (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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