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Today’s News Headlines:

FILIPINO PASTOR IMPRISONED IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES HINDU VICTORY IN INDIAN STATE THREATENS CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS MISSIONARY TO INDIA FREED AFTER MORE THAN 2 YEARS IN PRISON CUBAN HOUSE CHURCHES STRAIN TO HOLD NEW BELIEVERS CHRISTIAN RADIO STATION WORKS TO SATURATE HAITI WITH GOSPEL MINISTRY TARGETS POLICE OFFICERS, FIREMEN IN LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN

Today’s News Stories:

FILIPINO PASTOR IMPRISONED IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES A Filipino pastor in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) has been arrested for allegedly distributing Christian materials. International Christian Concern reports that Rev. Fernando Alconga, a Filipino pastor from Redeemer and King Filipino Church of Ras Al Khaimah in U.A.E., was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Division of Dubai on Nov. 12. Alconga says he was asleep in his car at the Al Bustan Center in Al Qusais, Dubai, when he was approached by two men requesting Christian materials in Arabic. The previous day he had handed out a package of information called “The God Story” to an Egyptian Arab outside of the same building. After being informed that he had no materials in Arabic, the men requested that he show them his supply of materials in other languages, which he did. Then the men identified themselves as police agents and arrested Alconga for distributing Christian materials, including cassette tapes, tracts and New Testaments. After being interrogated, he was moved to the Al Qusais Prison where he is being detained without bail. (Assist News Service)

HINDU VICTORY IN INDIAN STATE THREATENS CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS There are growing fears that the recent victory by Hindu nationalists in the western Indian state of Gujarat is a threat to minority groups in the area. Mission India’s John DeVries says the ministry is bracing for mounting obstacles and higher risks for its workers. “We can probably expect anti-conversion laws to be passed by most of the states in India,” he says. “It also means there’s going to be tremendous pressure put on all minorities, including Christians and Muslims, to conform to Hindu standards. The secular concept of democracy on which India was founded is in serious jeopardy.” DeVries is concerned about the safety of believers in the area. “Pray for the Christians to be strengthened. Pray that they would be courageous and keep their minds fixed on the Lord . . . and not on the events that are happening, realizing that God is in control and that He has His own purpose in allowing this to come about.” (Mission Network News)

MISSIONARY TO INDIA FREED AFTER MORE THAN 2 YEARS IN PRISON Ian Stillman, a British missionary working with the deaf, was freed from an Indian prison the afternoon of Dec. 7. A member of the Baptist Church in Reading, U.K., Stillman was arrested on Aug. 30, 2000, in the foothills of the Himalayas while traveling to Manali by taxi. Police charged him with marijuana trafficking. Stillman, who is deaf and has an artificial leg, denies the charges. Sources said it is not yet clear if he was granted a pardon or freed on a “plea for clemency.” Stephen Jakobi, director of Fair Trials Abroad, said, “We hope to make it clear that governmental support for clemency, however well meaning, is not really an option since it would be an admission of guilt.” Stillman was arrested in an area known for its plentiful and inexpensive supply of drugs where police have been accused of planting drugs on Westerners and then demanding large bribes for their release. (Compass)

CUBAN HOUSE CHURCHES STRAIN TO HOLD NEW BELIEVERS Before 1991 the only churches legally permitted in Cuba were those built before the 1959 revolution. Since then, no new churches have been built. However, many churches have outgrown their buildings, and the only solution is to meet in private homes. These gatherings, known as “casas cultos” (worship houses) can now register with the government. However, permission is still needed to build new churches. Even if permission is given, there is no guarantee of safety. A pastor in northern Cuba says that some houses used for church meetings have been confiscated by the government on the pretext of a fault in the original paperwork. The houses are now used by the government with no compensation to the church members. Many Christians have missed out on higher education or employment because of their faith, yet the house church movement continues to grow. (Compass)

* HCJB World Radio continues to air Spanish programs to Cuba via shortwave from South America. Hundreds of listeners have enrolled in the ministry’s Christian Academy of the Air, a correspondence program incorporating Spanish broadcasts. In addition, many pastors’ workshops sponsored by Apoyo, a joint training ministry with Leadership Resources International, have been held in Cuba since the mid-1990s.

CHRISTIAN RADIO STATION WORKS TO SATURATE HAITI WITH GOSPEL Christian radio station 4VEH is making steady progress in its goal to saturate Haiti with the gospel through solar-powered radios that are fix-tuned to the station. Men for Missions’ Warren Hardig says thousands of souls are at stake. “It’s spiritual warfare — it’s a deep, heavy spiritual warfare,” he says. Haiti may be the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with per-capita income less than $400 per year. Hardig says reports continue to come in about people coming to Christ through the broadcasts, including witch doctors. That also increases the danger for mission workers who become the targets of resentful Haitians. “Pray for protection for the missionaries and for the pastors,” he says. “We have a situation right now in Haiti near our radio station in Vodry where the lives of several Christians leaders are being threatened. Some of these leaders want to leave the country because they’re fearful for not only themselves, but for their families.” (Mission Network News)

* Through HCJB World Radio’s “Turn the Radios On” campaign, the ministry works in conjunction with Christian radio stations and churches across the U.S. to distribute fix-tuned, solar-powered radios to needy people in Africa and other parts of the world. Since January 2001 more than 7,000 of the radios have been distributed, and pledges have been received for an additional 2,500 to be sent out next year.

MINISTRY TARGETS POLICE OFFICERS, FIREMEN IN LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN Mobilization International offers short-term and career mission opportunities for active or retired police officers and firefighters. They have been reaching out to police officers in Latin America and the Caribbean for the past seven years. More than 17,000 police officers have heard the gospel with more than 7,000 making decisions for Christ. Mobilization International partners with Focus on the Family to distribute resources to those they minister to. Their first outreach to firefighters in Guatemala is planned for February 2003. (Brigada 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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