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Today’s News Headlines:

* 1,000 LIBERIAN REFUGEES FIND SHELTER AT RADIO STATION ELWA AZERBAIJAN AUTHORITIES RAID HOUSE CHURCH, FINE 2 AZERI MEN GROUNDBREAKING MINISTRY TO USE SATELLITE TV TO TRAIN PASTORS AID AGENCY WORKS WITH IRAQ’S CHURCHES TO DISTRIBUTE FOOD MINISTRY OPERATES 50 SUICIDE HOTLINE CENTERS ACROSS JAPAN KENYA OUTREACH BRINGS PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL HOPE TO POOR CHILDREN

Today’s News Stories:

* 1,000 LIBERIAN REFUGEES FIND SHELTER AT RADIO STATION ELWA More than 1,000 Liberian refugees are now seeking shelter at Radio Station ELWA’s facilities in Monrovia as fighting continues to intensify in the capital city. This number has doubled since the weekend when rebel fighters reached Monrovia. Despite the growing crisis, ELWA General Manager James Kesselly says the situation remains calm at the station which is within hearing range of some of the larger shell explosions.

“There are now more than 1,000 displaced people on the ELWA campus, staying in the gym, the youth camp, and some of the office and school buildings that were not being fully utilized,” says Kesselly. “ELWA is still on the air, although on a slightly reduced schedule in order to conserve fuel — 21/2 hours every morning and three hours each evening. They only have enough diesel fuel [to operate the generators] to carry them for about another week on this schedule.

“The ELWA hospital also continues to serve sick patients in the area with 24-hour emergency room service, and the clinic remains open, though few patients are coming in these turbulent days,” Kesselly adds. “Transportation is also difficult — very few taxis on the road — but people are traveling the roads on the east side of Monrovia where ELWA is located. He urges believers everywhere to pray that many Liberians would respond to the gospel during these turbulent days.”

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.

Boakai Yamah, chairman of the SIM-related church, Evangelical Church Union of Liberia (ECUL) said Tuesday morning that many pastors and church leaders have been forced to leave their homes. “Some are sheltering at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex — the large local soccer stadium which is only about a mile from ELWA — along with perhaps 30,000 or more other displaced people,” he says. “Pray that God would use our ECUL pastors to comfort and encourage hurting and fearful people and that their faith would remain strong. Also pray as we assist our partners in ministering to the many needs, especially for food and medical care among the displaced people around Monrovia.”

In recent developments, rebels took control of a key bridge in Monrovia today in fighting that shattered a day-old cease-fire pledge, sending thousands of families fleeing in a city desperately short of food, water and shelter, reported Associated Press. Separately, West African foreign ministers meeting in Dakar, Senegal, promised to deploy two Nigerian battalions to Liberia within days — vanguard of what ministers said should be a 3,250-strong international force to bring peace to the devastated nation. Explosions boomed in Monrovia this morning, one day after rebel leaders announced a unilateral cease-fire.

“This morning we’re still under attack,” Defense Minister Daniel Chea said after a night of shelling and gunfire. “It’s still raining round after round of mortars.” Three U.S. ships with 2,000 Marines and 2,500 sailors aboard were moving toward the Mediterranean Sea and awaiting orders. Liberian President Charles Taylor, a former warlord indicted for war crimes in Sierra Leone, has pledged to accept Nigeria’s offer of asylum — but only after peacekeepers arrive to ensure an orderly transition.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is seeking U.S. intervention to calm the volatile and violent situation in Liberia, reported AFP. Powell told The Washington Times in an interview published today that history obliges the U.S. to help the troubled country. “We do have a historic link to Liberia, and we do have some obligation as the most important and powerful nation on the face of the earth not to look away when a problem like this comes to us. We looked away once in Rwanda, with tragic consequences,” Powell said, referring to a 1994 genocide there. (HCJB World Radio/SIM)

AZERBAIJAN AUTHORITIES RAID HOUSE CHURCH, FINE 2 AZERI MEN Police and local officials raided a worship service at an unregistered Baptist church in Gyanja, Azerbaijan, Sunday, July 13. Authorities confiscated all religious literature that they could find in the apartment where the congregation was meeting, including Bibles, hymnbooks and copies of the Baptist Russian-language journal, Vestnik Istiny (Herald of Truth). They also singled out the two ethnic Azeris — church leader Zaur Ismailov and Magomet Musayev — and fined them the equivalent of US$13 and US$33 respectively. About a dozen other people were present in the Baptist church when officials interrupted the sermon, declaring the service as “illegal,” but none of the others were fined. Pavel Byakov, pastor of a church in Sumgait, said the two men have done nothing wrong, “so they told the authorities they will not pay.” Firdovsi Karimov, head of the local department of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, upheld the fines, insisting the service was illegal because the church isn’t registered. The Gyanja Baptist Church belongs to the International Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians/Baptists. Congregations reject registration on principle in all the former Soviet republics where they operate, believing such registration leads to state interference and unacceptable restrictions on their activities. (Forum 18 News Service)

GROUNDBREAKING MINISTRY TO USE SATELLITE TV TO TRAIN PASTORS Pastors in the former Soviet Union will be receiving training in the privacy of their own homes through a special outreach via satellite in August, says Jonathon Shibley of Global Advance. The ministry’s Frontline Shepherd conference will be aired on satellite television beginning next month. “We believe this is going to be one of the first-ever telecasts produced especially for pastors in the Russian-speaking world, where every Saturday night pastors and church leaders will be able to tune in and receive an hour of training and encouragement before they go into their churches the following Sunday morning.” Shibley hopes this telecast will encourage more Russians to help fulfill the Great Commission. “The Russian-speaking world could be one of the greatest missionary forces that exists,” he says. “And we want them to take ownership in the Great Commission as well. God gave [this mandate] to the global body of Christ, and the Russian-speaking world is a significant part of that force.” (Mission Network News)

AID AGENCY WORKS WITH IRAQ’S CHURCHES TO DISTRIBUTE FOOD While U.S. military forces face continued hit-and-run attacks in Iraq, $1.5 billion in government aid is being pumped into the country. World Concern’s Kelly Miller says the needs of post-war Iraq are too great to face alone. “There are hundreds of thousands of people in the country who are underfed. The distribution system is not in place. . . . So the ability to provide critical needs to many of the people of Iraq simply is not happening at this point.” With the ministry’s help, however, local churches are responding, Miller says. “It’s very encouraging to know that there is a very vibrant Christian church in Iraq — one that is integrated into the communities there. So the food distribution that we’ve been providing through our local partner is through the church. That’s a huge statement for the Christian church to be able to provide the vitally needed aid.” (Mission Network News)

MINISTRY OPERATES 50 SUICIDE HOTLINE CENTERS ACROSS JAPAN A church-based suicide hotline begun in Japan in 1971 now has 50 call-in centers around the country, operating nearly 24 hours a day and employing more than 7,000 volunteer counselors. Japan has long held the world’s highest suicide rate, and numbers have jumped 50 percent in the last five years, reaching 30,000 deaths annually. About 70 percent of suicides are committed by men, mostly professionals whose careers have been ravaged by the continuing economic crisis. (Pulse)

KENYA OUTREACH BRINGS PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL HOPE TO POOR CHILDREN On a continent ravaged by poverty and diseases such as AIDS, one ministry in Kenya is reaching the most vulnerable victims — children — with the gospel. Ebenezer Life Center ministers to the whole needs of orphans and street children. At the Ebenezer Orphan Home, 162 children receive food, clothing, schooling and hygiene training. Another 77 orphans are cared for in private homes since the orphanage is not large enough to house them. All school-aged children in the home attend Ebenezer Christian School. In 2002 this school was recognized by the government as a “center of educational excellence.” The students’ performances in the school continue to improve as staffers strive for high standards in education. Another aspect of ELC’s ministry is its Rehabilitation and Rescue Center for Street Children. This project began in 1996 with 80 street boys from Ahero in western Kenya. So far about 40 boys have been totally rehabilitated from lives of poverty and vice. Twelve are taking vocational training. Nearly all have accepted Christ as Savior. A number of boys are ministered to at a halfway home. There they live semi-independently, doing regular chores and being trained in skills such as mechanics, carpentry and motor vehicle wiring. (Missions Insider)

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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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