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Today’s News Headlines:

* HUNDREDS OF LIBERIANS SEEK REFUGE AT ELWA AS FIGHTING ESCALATES FOUNDER OF WORLD’S LARGEST CHRISTIAN MINISTRY DIES AT AGE 81 ZAMBIAN POLICE FREE 280 BOYS FROM ISLAMIC SCHOOL BELARUS PROTESTANTS RALLY AGAINST GOVERNMENT DISCRIMINATION PENNSYLVANIA HIGH SCHOOL WRONGLY BARRED BIBLE CLUB, COURT RULES CONFERENCE IN GREECE TO PREPARE 800 EVANGELISTS FOR 2004 OLYMPICS

Today’s News Stories:

* HUNDREDS OF LIBERIANS SEEK REFUGE AT ELWA AS FIGHTING ESCALATES Hundreds of refugees have sought shelter at Radio Station ELWA in the Liberian capital of Monrovia as the political situation in the country continues to deteriorate. “We are again calling upon you to join us in prayer for Liberia,” wrote a ministry spokesman in an e-mail report sent Sunday afternoon. “The news from the last two days has not been good. Lurd rebels have again attacked from the North and West, starting on Friday, again reaching the Freeport area on Saturday and coming close to the city center. Mortar shells are again being dropped in heavily populated areas. Reports indicate that the rebels are also moving toward Paynesville from the Freeport area. This could bring fighting closer to ELWA.”

Despite the unrest, “things are still quiet at the ELWA campus,” he wrote. However, more than 500 persons have arrived at the facility as the fighting spreads. The ministry’s radio station and hospital continue to operate as long as diesel fuel is available to run the generators. The spokesman urged prayer for safety and a permanent resolution to the conflict.

HCJB World Radio works in partnership with ELWA, a ministry founded by SIM in Monrovia in 1954, to air the gospel across the country and West Africa. The radio station was destroyed twice by civil war, first in 1990 and again in 1996. ELWA went back on the air in 1997 with a small FM transmitter. Then in 2000 HCJB World Radio provided a low-power shortwave transmitter, again enabling the station to cover the region. ELWA broadcasts the gospel in 10 languages and plans to add more as resources become available.

In recent developments, some 4,500 more U.S. sailors and Marines have been ordered to position themselves closer to Liberia to be ready for possible duty in Liberia, the Associated Press reported. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed a deployment order on the weekend sending a three-ship amphibious ready group from its position off the Horn of Africa into the Mediterranean Sea, defense officials said. That would put the group in a position to get to the west coast of Africa faster if needed for an evacuation of Americans, peacekeeping or some other mission. Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia was hit by mortar fire today, and U.S. officials in Washington said a number of buildings in the complex had been hit by gunfire, though they believe the embassy itself is not a target.

Liberian Christians are appealing for more humanitarian aid as the situation worsens, reported Baptist World Alliance. Intense fighting among two rebel factions and government forces throughout the countryside of Liberia in the last three months has caused thousands of citizens to flee to neighboring countries as refugees. Internally displaced persons are scattered in camps across Liberia. Many supermarkets, shops, business houses, warehouses, and private homes have been destroyed and looted.

More than 2,500 people have been killed in recent fighting. Basic food commodities such as rice, water, meat and fish as well as gasoline are in short supply and expensive. Healthcare facilities have not been spared from looting even though they are overcrowded with the wounded and sick. More than 350 cases of cholera also have been reported, while major outbreaks of meningitis, typhoid and malaria have affected the refugee camps.

Liberia’s national sports stadium, school buildings and other public facilities have become home to more than 150,000 internally displaced persons who are desperate for food. Meanwhile, staff members from international aid agencies have been evacuated from the country. Baptist World Aid is raising funds to provide 120,000 lbs. of rice for the country. (HCJB World Radio)

FOUNDER OF WORLD’S LARGEST CHRISTIAN MINISTRY DIES AT AGE 81 Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, died Saturday, July 19, from complications related to pulmonary fibrosis. He was 81. Fueled by his passion to present the love and claims of Jesus Christ to “every living person on earth,” Bright spent more than five decades building and leading the Florida-based outreach. Campus Crusade is the world’s largest Christian ministry with 26,000 full-time employees and more than 225,000 trained volunteers working in 191 countries. Ministries and projects range from military outreaches to inner-city work. Bright was so motivated by the Great Commission that in 1956 he wrote the booklet, The Four Spiritual Laws, which has been printed in 200 languages and distributed to more than 2.5 billion people, making it the world’s most widely disseminated religious booklet. In 1979 Bright commissioned the “Jesus” film, a feature-length documentary on the life of Christ that has since been viewed by more than 5.1 billion people in 234 countries. The film has become the most widely viewed and translated film in history, available in more than 800 languages. Bright’s successor is his long-time associate, Steve Douglass. Bright is survived by his wife, Vonette, who help found the ministry; one son, Bradley, a staff member at Campus Crusade; and four grandchildren. A memorial service is planned for First Baptist Church in Orlando, Fla., but no date has been set. (Assist News Service)

ZAMBIAN POLICE FREE 280 BOYS FROM ISLAMIC SCHOOL Zambian police recently raided the Faiz-E-Abrar Islamic Trust School in Lusaka, freeing the 280 boys — all between the ages of 4 and 10 — who were locked up in a warren of cells. The children, clad in Islamic caps and robes, told Zambian Youth, Sport and Child Development Minister Gladys Nyirongo (who accompanied the police) that they all wanted to leave the Islamic boarding school. The boys said they had been kept at the school against their will and were subjected to abuse. They were not allowed to speak their home languages in the school — only Arabic. Those who broke this rule received corporal punishment from their instructors. Adherence to Islamic religious rituals was compulsory. Those who strayed from the Islamic teachings were “caged in small rooms and made to eat food kept in a manhole.” The children received little academic teaching, mainly studying Islamic doctrine. Lusaka Police Chief Chandela Musonda said that two foreigners were arrested, including Iqbal Patel, the institution’s chairman and director. Police investigations of “unlawful confinement and abuse” are continuing. Nyirongo said that most of the children were malnourished and lacked proper medical care. “We don’t want to have another Al-Qaeda network in Zambia,” she said. “This appears to be a very serious arrangement.” Parents were promised that if they gave their children to the school, they would receive a university education in a Middle East country if they attained a suitable level of Islamic education and fluency in Arabic. (Frontline Fellowship)

BELARUS PROTESTANTS RALLY AGAINST GOVERNMENT DISCRIMINATION Protestant leaders in the Belarus capital of Minsk held an unprecedented mass prayer rally Sunday, July 13, to protest what they call a “campaign of harassment” in the eastern European country, reported Religion News Service. The rally, attended by about 5,000 mostly charismatic Christians, was sparked by a national television broadcast last month that labeled Pentecostals as members of a sect. The program questioned the place of the non-Orthodox Christians in a country where just 5 percent of Christians are Protestants. The broadcast on Belarus’ main television news show was led by a commentator who had earlier accused Pentecostals of being “Satanic vermin” and “enemies of the people” who practice human sacrifice. The two-hour prayer service included readings from a public appeal to Belarus’ hard-line president, sometimes described as Europe’s last dictator. Demonstrators complained of how the government impedes home prayer meetings, outdoor baptisms and the acquisition of property to build new churches. Of particular concern to Protestants is a new school textbook used throughout the country. The book’s authors warn that many Christian faiths — except Orthodox and Catholic — produce fanatics who can destabilize society. While Protestant groups have earlier taken their complaints to court, Sunday’s prayer service was the first large-scale show of strength and solidarity. (Religion Today)

PENNSYLVANIA HIGH SCHOOL WRONGLY BARRED BIBLE CLUB, COURT RULES A Pennsylvania high school wrongly barred a student Bible club from meeting during an activity period before the start of classes, an appellate court ruled Tuesday, July 15. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made the decision after Melissa Donovan, a senior at Punxsutawney Area High School, said the school district would not permit FISH, her Bible study group, to meet after school started at 8 a.m. School officials were wrong to prevent the club from meeting during an in-school “activity period” from 8:15 to 8:54 a.m., during which other student groups were permitted to gather, the three-judge panel ruled. “FISH is a group that discusses current issues from a biblical perspective, and school officials denied the club equal access to meet on school premises during the activity period solely because of the club’s religious nature,” Judge Ruggero John Aldisert wrote. The court said Donovan’s constitutional rights to free speech and assembly were violated so she may be due attorney fees and damages. The district had argued that permitting the group to meet during the school day would amount to an inappropriate government endorsement of religion. Aldisert disagreed, saying the meetings were voluntary and did not involve teachers. (Religion Today)

CONFERENCE IN GREECE TO PREPARE 800 EVANGELISTS FOR 2004 OLYMPICS Evangelists are preparing for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, not to compete for medals, but for hearts and minds. AMG International’s Paul Jenks says in October the “More Than Gold Outreach” is sponsoring an event in Athens to prepare for the influx of athletes to the Games. “We’re anticipating 800 delegates will be in Athens from at least 215 countries planning outreach — not only in Greece but in their host countries around the world, using sports themes to do evangelism at the time of the Olympic Games.” Jenks says the ministry is preparing new materials that cater specifically to athletes. “There’ll be a special edition of the New Testament with a Greek cover, an Olympic theme, with testimonies that will be distributed to athletes and visitors. There’ll be newspaper evangelism that will take place in Greece as well as other countries around the world.” He asks believers to pray that AMG would be allowed to move forward on a sports complex that will house workers and leaders during the Olympics. (Mission Network News)

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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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