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Today’s News Headlines:

MALAYSIA BANS BIBLE TRANSLATION, 11 CHRISTIAN BOOKS AXE-WIELDING MOB FORCES GEORGIAN RADIO STATION OFF THE AIR JORDANIAN COURT RENEWS THREATS TO ARREST WIDOW, TAKE HER CHILDREN CHRISTIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST IN CUBA GETS 25-YEAR SENTENCE KOSOVARS SAY LIBERATION OF IRAQ COULD OPEN DOORS FOR EVANGELISM 1,200 KENYAN PASTORS COMMIT TO PLANT CHURCHES IN NORTH AFRICA

News Stories:

MALAYSIA BANS BIBLE TRANSLATION, 11 CHRISTIAN BOOKS In early April the Malaysian Home Ministry banned 35 books that it considered “detrimental to public peace.” Twelve of these were Christian books, 11 of them in the national language, Bahasa Malaysia. The 12th is a translation of the Bible in Iban — the language of the Iban people of Sarawak — that was completed more than five years ago and has been freely available. Violators can face a jail sentence of up to three years and/or a maximum fine of 20,000 Malaysian ringgits (US$5,263). This means that Iban Christians of Sarawak could face such consequences simply for possessing an Iban Bible. A press statement issued by the opposition Democratic Action Party April 11 said the ban “infringes on the rights of Ibans to practice their religion,” and calls on the government to “immediately lift the ban.” Ibans comprise 30 percent of the population of Sarawak, and the majority of Ibans are Christian. (Barnabas Fund)

AXE-WIELDING MOB FORCES GEORGIAN RADIO STATION OFF THE AIR A group of axe-wielding men attacked an independent radio station in the Republic of Georgia Friday, March 28, apparently because it carried a weekly Catholic radio program. The attackers destroyed the antenna at radio station Dzveli Kalaki, causing an estimated $4,000 in damage and temporarily putting it off the air. Broadcasts are expected to resume this week after the antenna is replaced. Station Director Irakli Machitadze said the attackers broke down the door of the radio station late on March 28, then broke their way onto the roof and destroyed the antenna. He is optimistic that the attackers will be brought to justice. “There was wide publicity over the attack, and officials promised that the case would be dealt with properly,” he said from Kutaisi. The station’s weekly Catholic program — which has aroused the anger of the local Orthodox bishop and his self-appointed vigilantes — is believed to have led to the attack. Despite the attack, Machitadze vowed that the Catholic programs will continue. “It is a question of principle.” No one has been sentenced in Georgia for a series of attacks on religious minorities in the past few years even the instigators are “well known,” he said. (Forum 18 News Service)

* HCJB World Radio works with a local partner ministry to produce Christian programs in the Georgian language and broadcast them to the region each week. HCJB World Radio also worked with Hosanna and local partners to produce the dramatized New Testament in Georgian through a project called Faith Comes by Hearing.

JORDANIAN COURT RENEWS THREATS TO ARREST WIDOW, TAKE HER CHILDREN Tragedy is close to striking yet again for Siham Qandah, a Christian widow in Jordan. Almost a decade after her husband died, the Jordanian Supreme Court says it will enforce an earlier order to arrest the woman unless she gives up custody of her two children, Rawan, 15, and Fadi, 13. Her brother would then rear them as Muslims. Qandah is concerned that if she gives up the children, her relatives may force her daughter to marry a Muslim, making her a Muslim in the eyes of her extended family. Qandah’s story began in 1994 with the death of her husband. When she tried to claim her widow’s pension, she was informed that he had converted to Islam in 1991. As a result, the children were to be considered Muslims, and pension benefits could only be paid to a Muslim guardian. Qandah then asked her brother to become the children’s legal guardian. He agreed, and for three years he functioned in this role, although only occasionally giving money to the family. In 1998 he began legal proceedings to take custody of the children. Two separate courts have since ruled in his favor, including the Supreme Court in 2002. The office of a Jordanian prince has offered to help Qandah challenge her brother’s custody of her children. The assistance is being offered as a result of alleged fraudulent handling of the benefit money that he was entrusted with on the children’s behalf. (Assist/Voice of the Martyrs)

CHRISTIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST IN CUBA GETS 25-YEAR SENTENCE Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, 41, a leading Cuban human rights activist, was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday, April 10. He was one of more than 80 human rights activists and political dissidents who underwent brief summary trials last week following a rash of arrests in late March. It was the largest such crackdown by the Cuban government in more than a decade. Many analysts and the dissidents in Cuba believe the crackdown is a result of the Cuban government’s fear of the growth of a grassroots democracy movement on the island. Biscet, a devout Christian, was released from prison on Oct. 31, 2002, after serving a three-year sentence for hanging the Cuban flag upside-down to protest the lack of freedoms in his country. Biscet was rearrested on Dec. 6 and charged with “disorderly conduct.” During his month of freedom, he was involved in a project called “Friends of Human Rights” which advocates peaceful protests regarding human rights abuses in Cuba. While in prison, Biscet’s Bible was confiscated a number of times, and he was consistently denied the right to pastoral visits. He was also denied family visits, access to the prison library, and medical treatment, leading to the loss of all his molars due to chronic problems with his gums. (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

KOSOVARS SAY LIBERATION OF IRAQ COULD OPEN DOORS FOR EVANGELISM Kosovars in Serbia are remembering the four-year anniversary of their liberation, and many are thanking the U.S. Marie Waldschmidt, who works in the region with Greater Europe Mission, says Kosovars are empathetic to the Iraqi people. “The Kosovars experienced the bombing as being a liberation, and they’re thankful that they have peace right now. They believe the Iraqi people will better understand a few years from now. Many of them don’t understand now, but they’ll be very thankful later. I would say more than 90 percent of the population here is very supportive of the Americans.” That support has opened many doors to share the gospel as reconstruction efforts continue. “We’re able to help them practically with relief and communicate God’s love to them. There’s a presence and an openness and an opportunity like there has never been in this nation for at least 100 years.” (Mission Network News)

1,200 KENYAN PASTORS COMMIT TO PLANT CHURCHES IN NORTH AFRICA Global Advance recently completed two Frontline Shepherds conferences in northern Kenya. Global Advance’s David Shibley says pastors in that region gathered together and made a significant pledge. “They made such a strong commitment to planting churches in the Islamic world. At conferences in Isiolo and Kukuyu almost 1,200 pastors came together and determined that they would go into the northern nations of Africa.” Shibley says this could be a turning point for evangelism in these countries that have long been closed to the gospel. “The only way into some of the unreached peoples of North Africa are if fellow Africans will go to them with the gospel. Many times it is almost and impossibility for North Americans to go in, particularly in a heightened climate of hostility.” (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.

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