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Today’s News Headlines:

RACIST VIGILANTES AGAIN BLOCKADE CHURCH IN GEORGIAN CAPITAL MILITANT MUSLIMS IN INDONESIA SUSPECTED IN CHURCH ATTACKS, MURDER ETHNIC VIOLENCE IN NORTHEASTERN INDIA HINDERS CHRISTIAN OUTREACH NEW ANTI-SUBVERSION LAW WORRIES HONG KONG CHRISTIANS TRANSLATION PROJECTS SUFFER AS WYCLIFFE FACES $1.5-MILLION SHORTFALL 350,000 ATTEND OPERA MARKING 1,000 YEARS OF CHRISTIANITY IN HUNGARY

Today’s News Stories:

RACIST VIGILANTES AGAIN BLOCKADE CHURCH IN GEORGIAN CAPITAL Racist language was again used in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi Sunday, July 13, when self-appointed vigilantes blockaded a home to stop a Russian-language church from meeting for the sixth straight Sunday. Pastor Nikolai Kalutsky, a Georgian citizen, quoted the protesters as uttering racist remarks: “You Russians clear off back to Russia and do whatever you like there!” and “Sectarians, clear off out of Georgia!” However, Georgian Ombudsman Nana Devdariani rejected claims that the mob was deliberately targeting non-Orthodox worship. “Services in the house were noisy — they sing loud hymns,” she said. “This is a residential area. That’s why the neighbors are complaining. There is no blockade.” The Pentecostal church has not been able to meet together as one for more than a year because of continued obstruction. Small groups of church members have met quietly in homes, but Kalutsky says many of them are “scared” after receiving threats from local residents. “They warned them that if there are any further meetings they would find out where they are being held.” (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.

MILITANT MUSLIMS IN INDONESIA SUSPECTED IN CHURCH ATTACKS, MURDER Violence against Christians in Indonesia has continued in recent weeks with attacks on churches in North Bekasi and the murder of a pastor in North Sumatra. The situation in North Bekasi has been tense for some time with Muslim militants threatening to destroy any unregistered churches. On Sunday, June 8, a mob of radical Muslims from outside the area destroyed a church in the village of Pondok Ungu Permai. Assailants surrounded the church during the morning worship. With loud cries of “Allahu Akbar” (God is great), they set fire to the building while the service was still in progress. “They sprinkled the church with oil first and then burned it to the ground,” said church member Jones Hutapea. So far seven suspects have been arrested. In a separate attack in mid-June, an angry mob used a bulldozer to destroy a Pentecostal church in North Bekasi. In North Sumatra a pastor was also murdered in a vicious attack after a man called the pastor and invited him to come to his home. Two hours later his wife found his dead body lying in her front yard. He had been strangled. Sources said Wau and local Muslims had clashed over church activities in the village and that Muslim clerics had warned Wau not to hold church services. Local police have arrested eight suspects. (Compass Direct)

ETHNIC VIOLENCE IN NORTHEASTERN INDIA HINDERS CHRISTIAN OUTREACH After months of killings in northeastern India, the Hmar and Dimasa tribes have agreed to end their ethnic confrontation. However, thousands remain homeless after fleeing the fighting while violence persists. Rochunga Pudaite, president of Bibles for the World, says this is having a direct impact on the ministry. “Most of our schools are not open in the area anymore because the teachers and pastors have become refugees,” he says. “The schools have been set on fire, and again, the militants are chasing them, and they continue to attack them.” Pudaite isn’t fazed by the death threats generated by his telling of this story. He says the struggling church must be supported. “People have been warning me not to come back to India for awhile until this thing is settled. But I don’t think that’s the way to approach this issue. We have to go with prayer, and we have to go with our confidence that God, whom we worship, is able to deliver us from all kinds of problems and difficulties.” (Mission Network News)

NEW ANTI-SUBVERSION LAW WORRIES HONG KONG CHRISTIANS On Tuesday, July 1, people poured onto the streets of Hong Kong in angry but peaceful demonstrations against new laws banning treason, subversion and sedition. The imposition of harsh anti-subversion laws has serious implications for Hong Kong’s large Christian community. Many foreign mission organizations still operate freely in Hong Kong, while churches in the autonomous region continue their quiet support of Chinese believers on the mainland. All this could change if the new laws are strictly enforced. Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Zen has taken the lead in Christian circles against the new legislation. Born in Shanghai, Zen taught at a Catholic seminary on the mainland for seven years before battles with the authorities regarding religious freedom led to his eviction. “It’s just that the system is evil,” Zen said after studying the draft legislation. “I realized I couldn’t just keep quiet. I was in a position to understand this legislation as I knew the

situation in China.” (Religion Today)

TRANSLATION PROJECTS SUFFER AS WYCLIFFE FACES $1.5-MILLION SHORTFALL Bible translation projects are in danger of being canceled or postponed due to a lack of funds. Officials with Wycliffe Bible Translators say gifts to fund projects have declined significantly. As a result, training programs and translation projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America are in danger of being canceled or postponed. Wycliffe is facing a $1.5-million shortfall. (Mission Network News)

350,000 ATTEND OPERA MARKING 1,000 YEARS OF CHRISTIANITY IN HUNGARY Hungarians are showing unprecedented interest in the life of a king who introduced Christianity to the country more than 1,000 years ago. Thousands of Hungarians traveled to neighboring Romania the weekend of July 5 where up to 350,000 people attended an open-air performance of the rock opera, “Stephen the King” in Sumuleu, Transylvania. Written by Levente Szorenyi and Janos Brody, the rock opera premiered in Budapest in 1983 when the country was still a Soviet satellite state and occupied by Russian forces. Szorenyi told reporters that “although King Stephen had not started Hungary’s change in regime, it had been an incredibly brave venture for many.” St. Istvan (King Stephen) accepted Christian values around the year 1000. (Assist News Service)

* HCJB World Radio’s partner station in Oradea, Romania, airs three hours of Hungarian programming to Hungary each week. The ministry also recently signed a partnership agreement with Yes Radio in Budapest to broadcast Christian programs via the Internet. The partner ministry also has applied for a local FM license.

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* * * * * * * * * * * * * James A. Ferrier Web: http://www.hcjb.org http://www.beyondthecall.org * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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