A ministry of HCJB World Radio

EDITOR’S NOTE: The HCJB World Radio Daily News Update will resume on Jan. 2, 2003. We wish you a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Today’s News Headlines:

CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST ELDERS OF GROWING MONGOLIAN CHURCH PERSECUTION CONTINUES IN CHINA WHILE TALKS CENTER ON HUMAN RIGHTS INSURGENTS IN BHUTAN MAY WORSEN SITUATION FOR MISSION OUTREACH CITY OFFICIALS IN WISCONSIN RISK LAWSUIT TO DISPLAY NATIVITY SCENE UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS ADS POINT HARRIED SCOTTISH SHOPPERS TO JESUS * VISIONARY LEADER FROM HCJB WORLD RADIO-SWEDEN DIES OF CANCER

Today’s News Stories:

CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST ELDERS OF GROWING MONGOLIAN CHURCH All charges have been dropped against the elders of the Church of All Nations in the Bayangol district of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The elders were facing criminal charges and confiscation of all tithes and offerings because the church was not registered, despite efforts to register it since 1999. Church members thank all those who prayed and ask for continued prayers as the church seeks registration. The Buddhist government of Mongolia has been working to prevent the growth of Christianity in the country. Despite these efforts, the Church of All Nations has moved into a larger hall and is continuing to grow. (Voice of the Martyrs)

PERSECUTION CONTINUES IN CHINA WHILE TALKS CENTER ON HUMAN RIGHTS Lorne Craner, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Affairs, completed two days of high-level talks in Beijing with Chinese officials on Tuesday and remains in China this week to continue talks in other parts of the country. Most of the talks centered around human rights and democracy issues. But China watchers were hoping that the fair treatment of house church Christians was also high on the agenda. Craner said that Chinese officials had agreed to meet the leaders of the U.S. Commission of Religious Freedom next spring. China is ranked 12th on Open Doors’ “World Watch List” of countries where Christians are the most severely persecuted. “The government of China continues to make life difficult for people of faith,” says Terry Madison, president of Open Doors U.S.A. “Christians face intimidation, arrest, beatings, fines and imprisonment for the ‘crime’ of worshiping God outside the control of the [official] Three-Self Church structure. For China to truly become part of the world community, it needs to take the issue of freedom of religion for its citizens more seriously than it has in the past.” Recent reliable reports from many parts of China speak of arbitrary arrests and imprisonment and even torture of Christians who attend unregistered churches. (Assist News Service)

INSURGENTS IN BHUTAN MAY WORSEN SITUATION FOR MISSION OUTREACH In the Himalayan nation of Bhutan, camps of insurgent groups are building up in the northeastern part of the country, threatening the peace and pressuring the government to act. East West Ministries’ John Maisel says the response may worsen an already difficult situation for mission work. “Bhutan is an official Buddhist country. If you live in Bhutan, you’re shut down and you’re imprisoned if you try to do anything, especially if you try to proselytize — win a Buddhist to Christ — or if you’re aggressive in a faith other than Buddhism. It has enormous consequences.” Maisel urges believers to pray about the situation in Bhutan. “A lot of people don’t hear about Bhutan, but it’s one of the most difficult countries in the world to work in . . . just because of the mentality of its being a Buddhist kingdom.” (Mission Network News)

CITY OFFICIALS IN WISCONSIN RISK LAWSUIT TO DISPLAY NATIVITY SCENE Officials in a Wisconsin community have decided not to jettison a scene depicting Jesus’ birth despite the threat of a lawsuit from a group that advocates separation of church and state, reported Charisma News. The nine aldermen of Wisconsin Rapids recently voted unanimously to accept a nativity scene for inclusion in the city’s Christmas time display. Wisconsin Rapids resident Rose Ann Crowns led a group in offering the nativity scene to the city because the community’s Christmas display contained only secular symbols such as Christmas trees, tin soldiers and Santa Claus. However, the Freedom from Religion Foundation immediately threatened a lawsuit if the city accepted it. “It is encouraging to see a city that is not afraid of the empty threats of radical organizations,” said Matt Staver of Liberty Counsel. “What the Freedom from Religion Foundation did in this case is simply despicable. They adopted a position they knew to be false in order to kowtow the city into submission to their out-of-step idea of what the role of religion should be in America.” (Religion Today)

UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS ADS POINT HARRIED SCOTTISH SHOPPERS TO JESUS The Scottish Episcopal Church has launched an ad campaign in train stations across the country to remind people of the true meaning of Christmas. Posters show one of the three kings looking down in horror at a price tag left on his gift of gold to the baby Jesus. The slogan reads, “Losing the plot? Give yourself a break at church this Christmas.” Church leaders said the campaign was not an attempt to stifle the holiday spirit but rather a lighthearted bid to remind people of the real reason for the season. “We’re not trying to take the commercialization out of Christmas,” said Rev. Bruce Cameron. “Shopping for presents and parties can be great fun. What we’re trying to do is to restore the balance and put the Christmas message back into our celebrations.” The Scottish Episcopal Church joined with the Churches Advertising Network to put together the campaign. Train stations were chosen because they catch people on shopping excursions or on the way to parties. “We are saying that the real gifts of Christmas are love and peace,” Cameron said. “But they are the gifts that I’d like to give to the children of Baghdad and Jerusalem this Christmas.” (Episcopal News Service)

* VISIONARY LEADER FROM HCJB WORLD RADIO-SWEDEN DIES OF CANCER Lars Rune Jonsson, who was instrumental in developing HCJB World Radio’s Nordic Language Service and founding the ministry’s World Office in Sweden, died on Nov. 1 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 64.

Jonsson became involved with the ministry in 1966 after now-retired HCJB World Radio missionary Sonja Persson asked if he would represent the mission. “Right away he took on the challenge of missionary radio in the Nordic countries,” she says. “The first studio to provide help in the production of Swedish programs for Radio Station HCJB in Quito was installed in his basement.” This was also the beginning of the Swedish World Office that later moved to Mariestad.

“Under his leadership, with the committee that had inroads to Sweden’s mainline denominations, the office also provided funds for the ministry’s water projects,” Persson explains. Jonsson also worked to direct funds from the Swedish International Development Agency to HCJB World Radio in Ecuador via the Swedish Alliance Mission to build the new Vozandes Hospital in the jungle town of Shell which opened in 1985.

Through Jonsson’s many contacts with missions departments at various denominations in Sweden, a number of co-workers were sent to Ecuador to serve in radio programming and other areas. He often visited Quito from the 1960s to the 1980s. “He was a great team builder who — in the midst of his own many private enterprises shared by his wife, Kerstin — always gave his all to the cause of HCJB World Radio, and in doing so encouraged others to do the same,” Persson says.

Together the Jonssons ran a convalescence home in Sweden until selling it a few years ago. Kerstin, a specialized nurse, cared for her husband during the last year of life. “To the end he was intent on living as normal a life as possible and was active until the day he went to be with the Lord.” He died peacefully in his sleep.

The funeral service took place Friday, Nov. 15, at the Mission Covenant Church in the Jonssons’ hometown of Hestra. The church was packed with friends, relatives and well wishers, including members of HCJB World Radio’s Swedish council and former missionary Krister Gunnarsson who spoke at the memorial service. In addition to his wife, Jonsson is survived by three children and five grandchildren. (HCJB World Radio)

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