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Editor’s note: This edition was delayed by technical difficulties.

Today’s News Headlines:

BANDITS HOLD UP CHRISTIAN RELIEF TEAM NEAR BAGHDAD INDONESIA DELAYS CONTROVERSIAL EDUCATION BILL MINISTRY IN PHILIPPINES FLOURISHES DESPITE CONTINUING REBEL ATTACKS SIM TRANSFERS RADIO PROGRAMS FOR SOMALIA TO ALTERNATIVE SITES EVANGELICALS WELCOMED IN CATHOLIC ‘MECCA’ OF LATIN AMERICA 2.8 MILLION AMERICANS SIGN UP TO PRAY DAILY FOR U.S. PRESIDENT

Today’s News Stories:

BANDITS HOLD UP CHRISTIAN RELIEF TEAM NEAR BAGHDAD An American team from Food for the Hungry based in Jordan was held up at gunpoint by bandits about 50 miles from Baghdad, Iraq, last week. Team member Ed Lenane said the group had been on the road for more than seven hours and had just refueled when a car pulled out with robbers bearing AK 47s, pistols and knives. “A man on the front side was signaling for our car to stop,” he said. “When I saw what was happening I thought, ‘Oh no, don’t slow down.’ However, that was just what the driver did and was promptly cut off by the intercepting vehicle.” The robbers then stole $4,000 in cash that had been earmarked to help needy Iraqis. “They also rifled through all of our luggage, stealing radio recording equipment, a video recorder, a cell phone and personal items,” Lenane said. While the event was traumatic, he is grateful that no one was killed or seriously hurt in the attack. When a Food for the Hungry team from South Korea learned about the attack at the Evangelical Church of Baghdad, they shared their hotel rooms with the Americans “They (Americans) had planned to sleep in the church, but the church was not secure, so we encouraged them to come to our hotel,” said South Korean team member Jung-Sup Chung. (Assist News Service)

INDONESIA DELAYS CONTROVERSIAL EDUCATION BILL Politicians in Indonesia have postponed endorsing a controversial new education bill. Legislators hoped to endorse the bill on Saturday, May 4, to mark celebrations of National Education Day. However, protests from teachers and religious officials around the country delayed the bill from becoming law. The National Education System Bill, drafted to replace an older version written in 1989, raised a storm of controversy. Article 13 stipulates that schools must provide religious education for all of their students. A Christian school with 10 or more Muslim students, for example, must provide worship facilities and two hours of Islamic education per week for Muslim students. The same applies to Muslim or Hindu schools with 10 or more Christian students. On March 18 almost 3,000 Christian teachers and parents held a protest march through the streets of Jakarta under the banner, “Concerned People for National Education,” prompting former President Abdurrahman Wahid to call on the government to review, or rescind, the controversial legislation. (Compass)

MINISTRY IN PHILIPPINES FLOURISHES DESPITE CONTINUING REBEL ATTACKS Despite assurances from Philippine President Gloria Arroyo that the Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrilla group is on the run, the rebel fighting continues to take its toll in the southern part of the country. Some Western-based Christian agencies say the violence is hampering local outreach. However, International Needs’ Rody Rodeheaver has a different view. “Many of the missions that send Westerners are sending people not necessarily to be pioneers and evangelists, but to be technicians, computer people and leadership trainers — that sort of thing.” Rodeheaver says it’s through this approach that his organization is celebrating its 20th anniversary in the Philippines this year. “We’ve seen the ministry start from something very small . . . to more than 200 new churches being planted. That is something I believe that has happened because people were faithful to God’s call.” (Mission Network News)

SIM TRANSFERS RADIO PROGRAMS FOR SOMALIA TO ALTERNATIVE SITES SIM workers have been reaching out to the Somali people, both inside and outside Somalia, via radio. For almost 30 years the ministry’s programs aired on FEBA Radio’s Seychelles station in the Indian Ocean. But after the station discontinued broadcasting on March 30, SIM producers decided to switch to leasing airtime on existing stations across the region, including a powerful commercial station that broadcasts on the same meter band as the transmitter in Seychelles. The new signal is “even louder and clearer” while airtime costs are “significantly reduced.” FEBA Radio continues to play a key role in coordinating transmission sites and forwarding the programs electronically from SIM to the broadcast site. (SIM)

EVANGELICALS WELCOMED IN CATHOLIC ‘MECCA’ OF LATIN AMERICA Lujan is known as the “national faith capital of Argentina” and is considered the most important Roman Catholic pilgrimage center in Latin America. However, the country’s economic crisis has hit this city of 100,000, and evangelical Christians are working energetically to bring real help — material and spiritual — that is being welcomed by local authorities. Among the many projects are soup kitchens that provide food for the neediest children. Many parents who bring their children for a meal have found Christ at the soup stalls. The ministry is also making simple machines available to local families to make bricks or noodles. The families can then sell the products, providing a small income. One church operates a highly respected kindergarten and plans to open an elementary school. The evangelical church’s genuine contribution to the welfare of the local community has placed it in good standing with authorities. Because of lack of space, the growing church holds its meetings on the street. Local authorities even blocked the street so the church could hold its Sunday worship meetings undisturbed. (Missions Insider)

* ALAS, HCJB World Radio’s Latin American satellite radio network, provides Christian Spanish programming to more than 100 outlets in 18 countries. These include radio outlets in three cities of Argentina: Buenos Aires, C ³rdoba and Jujuy.

2.8 MILLION AMERICANS SIGN UP TO PRAY DAILY FOR U.S. PRESIDENT The Presidential Prayer Team has reached its goal of enlisting 2.8 million Americans to pray daily for the U.S. president and his cabinet. The announcement came on May 1 during the National Day of Prayer. “Answering the president’s call for our nation to pray after the tragic events of 9/11, the team reached its goal of 2.8 million participants in just 600 days,” said spokesperson Sally Barton. “Millions of Americans pray daily for the president and the crucial decisions that he makes. They pray for the protection of his family, and they pray for the future of our country.” The team’s website (http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org) has been visited more than 100 million times in 20 months. (Assist News Service)

FREE WORLD WALL MAP: Full-color, 22-inch by 34-inch world wall map. To order, e-mail your name and mailing address to or visit http://www.hcjb.org.

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