A ministry of HCJB World Radio

Today’s News Headlines:

BAPTIST MISSIONARY AMONG THOSE KILLED IN PHILIPPINES AIRPORT BLAST MINISTRIES CONTINUE IN PHILIPPINES DESPITE INCREASING VIOLENCE 3 SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST WORKERS MISSING IN LIBERIAN BORDER TOWN CHRISTIAN RELIEF AGENCIES IN JORDAN GEAR UP FOR POTENTIAL IRAQ WAR OUTREACH GIVES HOPE TO HUNDREDS OF AIDS ORPHANS IN KENYA GALLUP POLL: MOST AMERICANS LINK FAITH TO THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES

Today’s News Stories:

BAPTIST MISSIONARY AMONG THOSE KILLED IN PHILIPPINES AIRPORT BLAST A Southern Baptist missionary was killed and another missionary and her child were injured when a bomb exploded Tuesday, March 4, at the Davao City airport in the Philippines. Bill Hyde, 59, died in surgery from severe head and leg injuries, while Barbara Stevens, 33, was slightly injured along with her 10-month-old son, Nathan. “Our hearts go out to these families and their co-workers,” said Larry Cox, a spokesman for the Southern Baptist International Mission Board in Richmond, Va. “We are moving quickly to assist the missionaries affected by this tragedy. We ask Christians everywhere to pray that God would show himself strong for these families, their coworkers and the other members of the Southern Baptist missionary family.”

At least 21 people were killed and more than 145 injured in the attack outside the airport’s arrival terminal. The blast ripped through a nearby shelter in which scores of people were huddled to escape a downpour. Hyde had gone to the airport to meet American missionaries Barbara and Mark Stevens and their family who had just arrived from Manila when the bomb went off. A former music teacher, Hyde served in church and leadership development. He and his wife, Lyn, were appointed as missionaries in October 1978. They have two grown sons, one serving as a missionary in Cambodia. Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, who has invited U.S. troops to help train the country’s soldiers in counter-terrorism, called the bombing a “brazen act of terrorism which shall not go unpunished.” However, she ruled out a combat role for U.S. troops. (International Mission Board/Associated Press)

MINISTRIES CONTINUE IN PHILIPPINES DESPITE INCREASING VIOLENCE Increasing violence by radical groups in the Philippines isn’t stopping the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee from continuing its ministry. “We’ve been working in the Philippines for many, many years,” said spokesperson Susan Van Lopik. “We have a lot of programs on the ground, working with local communities to improve the conditions for the poor. We are also involved, especially in Mindanao, in peace and reconciliation work there, bringing together Muslim and Christian leaders and in an effort to develop communities of peace.” Van Lopik urges believers to “pray for the leaders of the communities so that they see the value of being peacemakers and peace builders in their community. Also pray for the work that we are doing in terms of spreading the gospel.” (Mission Network News)

3 SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST WORKERS MISSING IN LIBERIAN BORDER TOWN The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has received confirmed reports that three of its workers are missing after being caught in renewed fighting in the Liberian town of Toe Town near the C ´te d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) border. The three workers, ADRA Liberia Director Emmanuel Sharpolu, ADRA Norway Director Kaare Lund and Musa Kita, were headed to a Norwegian-funded project when they drove into the area of unrest. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees identified the remains of their burned-out vehicle following the fighting. Efforts are being made to locate the three workers, but continued unrest in the area is making it difficult to investigate. (Adventist Development and Relief Agency)

* HCJB World Radio works in partnership with ELWA, a ministry founded by SIM in Monrovia, Liberia, in 1954, to air the gospel across the country and West Africa. The radio station was destroyed twice by civil war, first in 1990 and again in 1996. ELWA went back on the air in 1997 with a small FM transmitter supplied by HCJB World Radio. Then in 2000 HCJB World Radio provided a low-power shortwave transmitter, again enabling the station to reach the region. ELWA broadcasts the gospel in 10 languages and plans to add more as resources become available.

CHRISTIAN RELIEF AGENCIES IN JORDAN GEAR UP FOR POSSIBLE IRAQ WAR Members of the Jordan Evangelical Committee for Relief and Development (JECRAD) are gearing up for emergency relief efforts in light of the impending war with Iraq. Isam Ghattas, director of the Amman-based Manara Ministries (one of the organizations working alongside the committee in cooperation with the United Nations and the Jordanian government), says preparations are being made for potential influx of refugees. The refugees would put even more pressure on Jordan, a country with 30-percent unemployment, 75-percent inflation and a large dependence on Iraqi oil and U.S. economic aid. JECRAD was started in 1990 during the Gulf War as churches helped provide food and shelter to 5,000 refugees for 10 months. (Assist News Service)

OUTREACH GIVES HOPE TO HUNDREDS OF AIDS ORPHANS IN KENYA More than 500 people are dying every day from AIDS in Kenya, says Dix Masindano of Buckner Orphan Care International. “That’s why we are running an orphanage in the country that specifically serves AIDS orphans,” he says. “We’re also running a foster care program which is a very new kind of concept in that country. We’re placing children not necessarily with their relatives, but with anybody who is willing to take care of them.” Masindano says the most important thing is that children are turning to Christ through this program. As hearts are changed, it will help break the pattern of promiscuity which is prevalent in Kenyan culture. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with radio partners to install radio ministries in four cities of Kenya: Nairobi, Athi River, Mombasa and Tinderet. Staff members from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., also recently visited Kisumu to survey the situation for a potential radio partner.

GALLUP POLL: MOST AMERICANS LINK FAITH TO THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES Large percentages of Americans link faith to their everyday lives, a new Gallup poll reveals. However, most Americans acknowledge a gap between what they believe and how they act. The findings are part of a joint effort to examine the “Spiritual State of the Union” by Gallup and the Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society. Among the findings: 77 percent of Americans believe the overall health of the nation depends a great deal on its spiritual health; 72 percent said their lives have meaning and purpose because of their faith; 60 percent said their faith is involved in every aspect of their lives. “You really cannot understand America if you do not understand her spiritual underpinnings,” said George Gallup, who presented the survey findings at a briefing Tuesday, March 4. “This survey makes that point loudly and clearly.” The survey also found that 74 percent of Christians believe God is actively involved in their lives; 67 percent find hope from their faith in Jesus Christ during a crisis; and 58 percent believe no task is too menial if God calls them to it. (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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