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Today’s News Headlines:

NIGERIAN BISHOP: ‘HOMOSEXUAL APPOINTMENT MAY SPARK PERSECUTION’ RELIEF NEEDED AS MONSOONS FLOOD BANGLADESH EXTREMIST MUSLIM LEADERS SACKED IN ITALY AND SAUDI ARABIA LIBERIAN CHURCH LEADERS FACE ENORMOUS TASK WHEN CIVIL WAR ENDS ARABIC NEW TESTAMENT SLATED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN MIDDLE EAST

Today’s News Stories:

NIGERIAN BISHOP: ‘HOMOSEXUAL APPOINTMENT MAY SPARK PERSECUTION’ In reaction to the appointment by the U.S. Episcopal Church of an openly homosexual bishop, the leader of a related church in Africa has warned that the move could have grave repercussions for Christians living in areas of religious tension. The Anglican bishop of Owerri in Nigeria, Cyril Okoracha, said African Christians will face “severe persecution from our Muslim neighbors, because they keep accusing us of maintaining relationships with those who deny the Scripture.” Researchers and religious persecution campaigners say Christian minorities in Islamic societies often face hostility from Muslims because of social behavior. Muslims, like conservative Christians, tend to reject homosexuality. Nigeria has been torn by Christian-Muslim violence in recent years. Okoracha called the election of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire insensitive, saying the American church had, in effect, removed itself from the worldwide Anglican Communion. A number of Anglican leaders in Africa have warned about the possible breakup of the church because of Robinson’s appointment. Kenyan Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi said the church here would “consider breaking up partnership with any such diocese that makes deacons, ordains priests or consecrates bishops who have practiced or continue to practice gay relationships.” The Nairobi-based All Africa Conference of Churches, which represents 169 churches across the continent said the election of Robinson would eventually lead to a split in the church. Anglican leaders from developing nations said a meeting of the Anglican Communion would be held soon to discuss the way forward in the wake of Robinson’s election. (CNSNews.com)

RELIEF NEEDED AS MONSOONS FLOOD BANGLADESH Possibly the worst monsoon flooding in 100 years has hit eastern Asia. World Help’s Eric Vess said flooding was bad 10 years ago when 70-million people in Bangladesh, Nepal and India were displaced, but this year could be worse. Vess said World Help is focusing on Bangladesh. “Our partners in Bangladesh have identified over 35,000 families that are in immediate need of survival packets. These consist of rice, molasses, cooking oil, salt, matches and kerosene. This will actually help a family survive through the situation.” US$100 can provide relief to an entire family. Vess said this is a great evangelistic opportunity. “This opens the door naturally to evangelism down the road. We first meet their physical needs. Later, when they say, ‘Why are you doing this? Why are you helping us?’ then the door is open for an honest sharing of the gospel.” (Mission Network News)

EXTREMIST MUSLIM LEADERS SACKED IN ITALY AND SAUDI ARABIA Muslim authorities in Rome recently sacked the Egyptian imam of Rome’s Grand Mosque, Abdel Sami’ Mahmoud Ibrahim Moussa, for praising Palestinian suicide bombers and calling for the annihilation of all enemies of Islam. His remarks sparked controversy, and caused the Italian Interior Minister, Guiseppe Pisanu, to state that Italian mosques must be freed from preachers of violence and agents of foreign interests in Italy. A separate report claims that the Saudi government has fired several hundred Islamic clerics and suspended more than one thousand others for preaching intolerance. This followed the bombing that killed more than 30 people in Riyadh, and growing pressure from Western governments on the Saudis to do more to root out the sources of Islamic terrorism. Saudi Wahhabi Islam has long been one of the main sources of Islamist extremism, hatred of non-Muslims and violence. It is unclear whether there will be a doctrinal shift in state-sponsored Wahhabism in the direction of moderation, and whether the hate tirades against the West, Christians and Jews in Saudi mosques, schools and the media will finally be stopped. (Barnabus Fund)

LIBERIAN CHURCH LEADERS FACE ENORMOUS TASK WHEN CIVIL WAR ENDS Stranded and anxious, Liberian church leaders and representatives find themselves watching the situation in their country from neighboring Ghana with a mixture of agony, impatience and frustration. “I am desperate to return,” said Moses Gobah, a Lutheran minister from Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. He is stuck in Ghana waiting for the end of the brutal civil war. “The church has such an enormous job ahead,” said Gobah, whose ministry includes working with “child soldiers” — children as young as 8 years old — who have been fighting in Liberia’s civil war. (Ecumenical News International)

* 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.

ARABIC NEW TESTAMENT SLATED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN MIDDLE EAST The World Bible Translation Center has plans to prayerfully spread at least 250,000 copies of its Arabic New Testament across the Middle East and Northern Africa over the next three years. The Center’s Roger Massey said there’s only one major obstacle standing in their way. “The translation is ready. It’s done and it’s at a printer in the Middle East. We’re just launching projects to raise funding to get the printing started. We can print a New Testament for $1.50–and that’s to print and distribute.” Massey explained they plan to launch the translation in Egypt because of the vibrancy of the church body there. “Pray that God will begin to open the ears and hearts in the Middle East to the message of Jesus translated in an easy-to-read, very modern Arabic,” he said. (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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