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Today’s News Headlines:

OFFICIALS BULLDOZE VIETNAMESE CHURCH, BELIEVERS PROTECT PARSONAGE EXTREMISTS STEP UP ATTACKS ON ORTHODOX SITES IN KOSOVO RADIO MINISTRY BREAKS THROUGH BUDDHIST STRONGHOLD IN MYANMAR UNREST IN VENEZUELA FAILS TO SLOW OUTREACH AMONG ISOLATED TRIBES RULING ALLOWS TEN COMMANDMENTS PLAQUE TO REMAIN ON COURTHOUSE * HCJB WORLD RADIO HELPS PARTNER BEGIN SATELLITE NETWORK IN HAITI

Today’s News Stories:

OFFICIALS BULLDOZE VIETNAMESE CHURCH, BELIEVERS PROTECT PARSONAGE Vietnamese authorities have destroyed yet another local church building, but courageous believers, placing their lives on the line, prevented the destruction of their pastor’s house. In a report received on Tuesday, Christian Aid learned that local authorities in Phuoc Hau village of Ninh Thbuan province first removed the roof of the Phuoc Dong Evangelical Church in mid-June. They returned with a bulldozer on Sunday, June 22, destroying the remaining walls and structure of the 200-member church. Authorities then came back again the following day to destroy the parsonage of the pastor, Luong Vinh Quoc. But the believers, who belong to the Cham tribe, resisted the police and formed a human ring around the parsonage saying, “If you want to destroy this house you will have to kill us first.” No word has been received regarding what happened since. In earlier incidents, police confiscated a motorcycle and a sewing machine from the home of the pastor in Dac Lac village May 25 as a fine for his having Bibles and Christian literature in his house. On May 26 police in Dong Nai province near Ho Chi Minh City sentenced pastor Than Van Trung of Long Khanh village to four months in prison because they found Bibles in his church. (Missions Insider)

EXTREMISTS STEP UP ATTACKS ON ORTHODOX SITES IN KOSOVO Albanian extremists continued their attacks against Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo by throwing stones at a church in the capital city of Pristina Thursday, June 26, and destroying 15 more tombstones at an Orthodox cemetery in the village of Kosovska Vitina Sunday, June 29. The attacks are increasing as NATO-led peacekeeping forces begin leaving the area. While hundreds of similar attacks have taken place in the last three years, no perpetrators have been arrested. NATO Secretary-General George Robertson appealed to Albanians in Kosovo to show more tolerance and readiness to build a multiethnic society. (Forum 18 News Service)

RADIO MINISTRY BREAKS THROUGH BUDDHIST STRONGHOLD IN MYANMAR A national missionary from Myanmar (Burma) was surprised to discover small groups of Christians in an area of the country that is particularly hostile to Christianity. These people, including some former Buddhist monks, had come to Christ via a local radio ministry in Myanmar. The area in which they live was so closed to the gospel that, the mission leader said, “It can never be evangelized by a resident missionary or even an itinerant missionary openly. This is why I believe the Lord has been using the radios.” The missionary produces a daily radio program that reaches thousands in this predominantly Buddhist country. When the missionary found the tiny bands of new believers, they were thrilled to finally meet someone who could disciple and teach them. They had been meeting secretly with no guidance from a mature Christian. They begged the missionary to return to their town as often as possible. Additional workers are planning to help the new believers by providing fellowship and teaching, medical care for lepers and the poor, food and children’s evangelism. The missionary to distribute more radios at strategic places where a contact will be responsible to tune in to his gospel program. The ministry will begin taking promising believers from the area to another safer location for leadership training and then sending them back to their own people. “In this way,” says the mission leader, “the local authorities will never know what is going on.” (Missions Insider)

UNREST IN VENEZUELA FAILS TO SLOW OUTREACH AMONG ISOLATED TRIBES While unrest in Venezuela has disrupted most Christian ministries in the country, it has had little impact on the outreach of New Tribes Mission (NTM) which works in isolated areas. NTM’s Steve Sanford says missionaries have made a breakthrough with the Yuana tribe in a remote section of central Venezuela. The tribe had no written language, so teams initially concentrated on creating an alphabet. With that, the doors to the hope of Christ swung wide open, and nearly all 120 adults in the tribe have trusted Christ. Missionaries are working to the translate the Bible into the Yuana language and working to develop Christian leaders among the tribe. (Mission Network News)

RULING ALLOWS TEN COMMANDMENTS PLAQUE TO REMAIN ON COURTHOUSE An appellate court has ruled that a Ten Commandments plaque that has long hung on the facade of a Pennsylvania courthouse can remain there for the sake of historical preservation and does not constitute an official endorsement of religion. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, June 26, that a reasonable person acquainted with the plaque’s history would consider a ruling to leave it there as religiously neutral, not evangelical. The plaque has been attached to the Chester County Courthouse in since 1920. “We cannot ignore the inherently religious message of the Ten Commandments,” wrote Judge Edward R. Becker. “However, we do not believe that there can never be a secular purpose for posting the Ten Commandments, or that the Ten Commandments are so overwhelmingly religious in nature that they will always be seen only as an endorsement of religion.” Margaret Downey, a member of the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia, an atheist group that considers the plaque to be a violation of church-state separation, said she may appeal the case to the Supreme Court. Chester County Commissioner Andrew Dinniman, who is Jewish, said the commandments may be inspired by religion but also have a place in the history of secular law. (Religion Today)

* HCJB WORLD RADIO HELPS PARTNER BEGIN SATELLITE NETWORK IN HAITI A new voice began proclaiming the gospel message from Haiti the morning of Thursday, June 5, as the Radio 4VEH Satellite Network went on the air via a cooperative project involving OMS International and HCJB World Radio.

Through system design, materials acquisition and equipment installation, HCJB World Radio played a vital role in getting this new radio program distribution network on the air. Engineers David Russell and Matthias Barthel from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., traveled to Haiti in early June to complete this project.

Russell, who heads satellite technology at the Engineering Center, reported soon after installing the equipment, “We have been listening to Radio 4VEH programming coming from the satellite receiver. What a thrill! Thanks for your prayers.”

The new network will make Christian programming available to local FM radio stations across the country, potentially reaching 4.5 million Haitians. The first of five satellite downlinks is being installed this week at a radio station in La Tortue, an island off the north coast of Haiti.

The satellite network is a critical link in OMS International’s nationwide Project known as “Operation Saturation” with the ultimate goal of giving every Haitian household the opportunity to hear the gospel via local Christian radio.

As part of this project, an estimated 250,000 solar-powered, fix-tuned radios will be distributed nationwide. Each radio will be tuned to the frequency of a local radio station that receives programming by way of the satellite network. (HCJB World Radio)

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 Web: http://www.hcjb.org http://www.beyondthecall.org * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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