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Today’s News Headlines:

22 HMAR VILLAGES BURNED, 36 KILLED AS VIOLENCE ERUPTS IN INDIA MINISTRY LEADER SKEPTICAL OF U.S. PLANS TO END SUDAN SANCTIONS JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES TO APPEAL FINES FOR HOLDING MEETINGS IN HOME MILLIONS OF U.S. CHRISTIANS TO TAKE PART IN NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER SURVEY: FASTING IN GERMANY GOING OUT OF FASHION U.S. CHURCHGOERS MORE LIKELY TO BE SATISFIED WITH LIFE, SAYS POLL

News Stories:

22 HMAR VILLAGES BURNED, 36 KILLED AS VIOLENCE ERUPTS IN INDIA A case of mistaken
identity has erupted into a tragic conflict in northeastern India that has
left 22 Hmar villages razed and three dozen villagers dead — burned alive
in their own homes. President of Colorado Springs-based Bibles for the World
and himself a Hmar, said the violence stemmed from a kidnapping March 3 in
Dimasa in the state of Nagaland where political turmoil has been escalating. “Apparently
one of the kidnappers wore a Hmar cloth,” he says. As a result, the Dimasa
people accused the Hmars of being involved in the kidnapping and demanded the
release of the hostages. However, the Hmars denied any involvement in the crime.
Two nights later, 48 houses in a Hmar village were set on fire. “In the darkness
of the night, the Hmars were running for their lives, helter-skelter". The
violence then continued to escalate in the following weeks. “Altogether
22 Hmar villages have been burned to the ground,” he said. “Now the homeless
Hmar Christians are escaping for their lives, many walking three or four days
without food to other districts and thousands arriving with nothing except
their nightclothes. This tragic conflict has uprooted the lives of 9,263 men,
women and children — more than 50 percent of the Hmars who live in the district.” Christian
Hmar leaders have called for tolerance and a truce. Meanwhile, Hmar Christians
are praying, sharing the gospel and helping translate the Bible into the language
of the tribal Hindu Dimasa people. (Assist News Service)

* In partnership with FEBA Radio, HCJB World Radio airs weekly Christian programs to eastern India via shortwave in three languages: Bhojpuri, Chattisgarhi and Mundari. A five-hour block of English programs also beams across India from a shortwave site in Kununurra, Australia.

MINISTRY LEADER SKEPTICAL OF U.S. PLANS TO END SUDAN SANCTIONS U.S. sanctions against Sudan will be lifted because Sudan has cooperated with the efforts aiming at an end to the conflict with non-Muslim rebels in the south. While some praise the move, Voice of the Martyrs’ Todd Nettleton is unconvinced. He says little has changed for the Christians. “When a country with such an atrocious record on human rights and a government that has literally attacked its own people, when that government can be told, ‘You know what? You guys are doing O.K., that obviously raises some serious questions about the United Nations’ ability to manage and motivate human rights.” Nettleton urges vigilance for Christian workers. “Pray for the Christian people in southern Sudan. They are worshiping, they are growing in their faith, their churches are growing. Also pray for the safety of groups and the workers who are working in south. Pray that humanitarian and spiritual aid can get to the people that need it most.” (Mission Network News)

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES TO APPEAL FINES FOR HOLDING MEETINGS IN HOME Tajikistan’s Jehovah’s Witness community will make an appeal to the country’s Supreme Court after a court in Tursun-Zade imposed fines on two of its members April 24. The two Jehovah’s Witnesses, Grigori Putenkov and Sukhrob Maksudov, were fined for leading a religious meeting in a private apartment that was raided by the police. The judge who handed down the fine, Davlatbek Zabirov, defended his decision, saying that Tajikistan’s law on religion does not allow anyone to give religious instruction without a license and that the administrative code sets out punishment for those who violate this provision. “Thus, when I pronounced the sentence, I was working strictly within the law,” Zabirov said. (Forum 18 News Service)

MILLIONS OF U.S. CHRISTIANS TO PARTICIPATE IN NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER With events in the Persian Gulf and the horrors of 9/11 still fresh in people’s minds, Christians across the U.S. will gather for the 52nd annual National Day of Prayer Thursday, May 1. “This is a tumultuous time in American history,” says Shirley Dobson, chairman of the event’s task force. “We are at war with Iraq, corporate corruption has grabbed the headlines, thousands of people are out of work, families are struggling to stay together, and we daily live under the threat of terrorism. Where can we turn to for help other than God? We are in desperate need of the Lord. But how can we arrogantly ask for His blessings and wisdom when we live contrary to God’s standard of righteous living?” This year’s theme, “Righteousness Exalts a Nation,” is based on Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a disgrace to any people.” More than 30,000 coordinators and volunteers will organize prayer observances in all 50 states, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Most events will take place in public venues. Dobson expressed the importance of Americans openly uniting in religious expression to show America’s dependence on God and to exercise their First Amendment rights. The National Day of Prayer was signed into law as an annual event by U.S. President Harry Truman in 1952. President Ronald Reagan signed an amendment to that law in 1988 that established the first Thursday of May for the event. (Assist News Service)

SURVEY: FASTING IN GERMANY GOING OUT OF FASHION Fasting is going out of fashion in Germany. In the 1990s growing numbers of people did without some favorite indulgence during lent — such as television, chocolate, alcohol or smoking. This trend has, however, has reversed in the last three years, according to opinion polls by the Allensbach Institute. In the seven weeks leading up to Easter, 15 percent of Germany’s 82 million people fasted in some form. However, only 11 percent of the 27 million Protestants fasted with 2 million citizens taking part in two major Protestant fasting campaigns. (IDEA)

U.S. CHURCHGOERS MORE LIKELY TO BE SATISFIED WITH LIFE, SAYS POLL Active Americans’ views about life satisfaction are shaped by their faith and religious practice, a Barna poll shows. Pollsters questioned people with an active faith — those who attend church, read the Bible and pray during a typical week — and found that 73 percent strongly agreed that they were “very happy” with their lives, compared to 64 percent of those who are less active. The poll was released Wednesday, April 23, by Barna Research Group of Ventura, Calif. People with an active faith also were more likely to say they were in excellent physical condition — 42 percent compared to 34 percent of those less active in their faith. The poll found that 66 percent of all adults believe religion is losing its influence in our society, but 70 percent say their “religious faith is constantly growing deeper.” Pollsters compared evangelical Christians to atheists and agnostics and found that 84 percent of evangelicals are “very happy” with their lives compared to 57 percent of agnostics and atheists. While 14 percent of evangelicals said they feel their lives get more stressful each year, 29 percent of those in the category with no faith feel their lives are increasingly stressful. (Religion Today)

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