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Today’s News Headlines:

RELIGION LAW IN BELARUS PUTS HOUSE CHURCHES IN JEOPARDY KEY HMONG BROADCASTER AT FEBC DIES OF HEART ATTACK INDONESIAN BIBLE SCHOOLS KEEP OPERATING DESPITE SECURITY THREATS VIETNAM’S ETHNIC EDE CHRISTIANS FACE BLEAK CHRISTMAS NEW LAW MAY PUT RESTRICTIONS ON FOREIGN RELIGIOUS WORKERS IN RUSSIA EVEN AMONG ATHEISTS, CHRISTMAS STRIKES A CHORD

Today’s News Stories:

RELIGION LAW IN BELARUS PUTS HOUSE CHURCHES IN JEOPARDY Authorities in the former Soviet republic of Belarus have told Christians and other religious communities they can no longer hold meetings in their homes without prior permission. Keston News Service quoted the senior religious affairs official in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, Alla Ryabitseva, as saying that if “more than 10 people gather together for a religious meeting without official permission, they would be committing a crime.” She made the remarks to religious communities registered in the Frunze district of Minsk at a meeting to explain new religious legislation that human rights watchers describe as “Europe’s most restrictive law.” Dina Shavtsova, a Minsk-based lawyer involved in religious liberty cases, said that the “uncertainty surrounding the norms of the religion law allows local officials to give their own interpretation” to the legislation that came into force Nov. 16. Shavtsova said this legal development “leads to the direct limitation of the rights” of citizens, and could stop evangelical churches without buildings from renting halls. “They can now only meet in home groups, although even this possibility is now dependent on the whims of one or another bureaucrat,” the lawyer added. Several church leaders and Christians have reportedly been summoned by local officials to explain their activities. (Assist News Service)

KEY HMONG BROADCASTER AT FEBC DIES OF HEART ATTACK John Lee, a longtime Hmong radio programmer at Far East Broadcasting Co. (FEBC), died of an apparent heart attack the evening of Saturday, Dec. 7. It was Lee’s gospel programs that helped create a large Christian movement within Hmong villages across Southeast Asia, especially in Vietnam and Laos. He brought thousands to the Lord and helped them escape the bondage of animism that reigns in their culture. “The Hmong community worldwide has lost a great spiritual leader,” said FEBC President Jim Bowman. Lee, along with his wife, Pai, produced Hmong programs and corresponded with listeners for 24 years. Many of these listeners, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, referred to him as their “pastor.” Recently Lee’s role as programmer and pastor escalated due to increasing persecution among the Hmong people. A listener wrote recently, “Our government does not understand what we believe in. They have come to chase all of us out of our homes. They have even arrested many of us and put us in jail. . . . We want to let you know that your radio broadcast is the only message that all of us can rely on. Keep on sending God’s Word to us.” Lee was born in Laos and grew up listening to FEBC’s Hmong programs on shortwave. He became an FEBC broadcaster on the encouragement of his mother. FEBC has been producing Hmong programs since the mid-1950s, airing 11 hours per week in two dialects. Broadcasts reach across China, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. In addition to his wife, Lee is survived by four children. (FEBC)

INDONESIAN BIBLE SCHOOLS KEEP OPERATING DESPITE SECURITY THREATS After a number of terror attacks and more credible security threats, authorities in Indonesia are on heightened alert. Police have arrested at least three suspects with ties to al-Qaeda that sources say had plans to blow up a church at Christmas. It is not known yet if these bombings are tied to the deadly Bali blasts. Darla Trout of Teen Missions was in the country when the Bali hotel was bombed and says Americans need to be especially careful. “I was pulled out because of my being an American, and we weren’t sure about my safety while I was there. With the bombing in Bali and different things that were going on there, with the threat of al-Qaeda and the possibility of war with Iraq, I was pulled out earlier than expected.” Teen Missions operates five missionary Bible schools in the country, equipped national believers for the ministry. “At this time we have no intentions to close any of those schools or to slow down the work at all,” Trout says. The four schools operating in Indonesia have a total of 93 students. (Mission Network News)

VIETNAM’S ETHNIC EDE CHRISTIANS FACE BLEAK CHRISTMAS Christmas will be bleak for many of Vietnam’s 150,000 ethnic Ede Christians. The Vietnamese government has been pressuring Christians in the last three months as authorities have disbanded most of the group’s 441 churches. The latest crackdown began in September as public officials and security police informed church leaders that their congregations were illegal. The only religious activity tolerated is “within the family, inside the house and quietly.” Prayer meetings, Bible teaching and worship are forbidden as are weddings, funerals and baptisms. Pastors are even ordered to turn away Christians who might come to them for help. The crackdown on minority Christians in Vietnam’s central highlands comes after some demonstrated last year against the illegal loss of their lands to ethnic Vietnamese settlers. The persecution of the Ede church comes at a time when Vietnam is touting its adherence to international human rights standards, including “complete freedom of religion.” (Compass)

NEW LAW MAY PUT RESTRICTIONS ON FOREIGN RELIGIOUS WORKERS IN RUSSIA More than a month after the new law on the legal status of foreigners came into force in Russia, it remains unclear how it will affect foreigners working in the country at the invitation of religious organizations. The law, which entered force on Nov. 1, prescribes a procedure for an organization to receive permission to attract skilled labor and to receive permission for foreign citizens to work in the Russian Federation. “The law regulates relations that previously were not subject to regulation,” said Vladimir Ryakhovsky, co-director of the Moscow-based Slavic Center for Law and Justice. “But in the law, religious activity is put on the same level as working activity, and that is incorrect.” In Ryakhovsky’s view, a “special procedure must be established, defining the manner in which a religious organization should invite foreign citizens.” Fr. Igor Kovalevsky, secretary of the Russian Catholic bishops’ conference, said this has resulted in “complete confusion.” (Keston News Service)

* HCJB World Radio actively helps develop a variety of local radio ministries in Euro-Asia (Central Europe, Ukraine, Russia and other countries in the former Soviet Union). Many full-time positions are open, including helping train future Christian broadcasters, technical assistance (information technology, broadcast studio design and construction), program development and administrative roles. For more information, contact Euro-Asia Director David Manney at .

EVEN AMONG ATHEISTS, CHRISTMAS STRIKES A CHORD Nearly half of adult Americans say they know someone who doesn’t believe in God but will celebrate Christmas this year anyway, shows a recent survey of more than 1,000 people conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University. The study found that more people will set up a Christmas tree than will attend a worship service on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Americans also overwhelmingly believe Christmas has become less focused on the birth of Jesus than it used to be, the report said. “As a free thinker, I believe the holidays are a great tradition regardless of the underlying basis for them,” said Ron Barrier, a New York leader of American Atheists, a 2,500-member national organization defending the rights and interests of atheists. Atheists such as Barrier are likely to enjoy celebrating holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and even the winter solstice. James Draper Jr., president of LifeWay Christian Resources, urges believers to take advantage of people’s openness to the gospel during the Christmas season. “Give the gift of hope that is only possible through a relationship with the Savior who came to earth at Christmas.” (Religion Today)

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