Today’s News Headlines:

SIX MISSIONARIES KILLED IN SOLOMON ISLANDS IMPRISONED CHINESE CHURCH FOUNDER NEAR DEATH LIBERIAN CHAOS HAMPERS HUMANITARIAN AID EFFORTS CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES UNITE IN ALBANIAN EVANGELISM EFFORT U.S. PRISON INMATES BRING MINISTRY BEHIND BARS TEENS FIND CHRIST IN POLISH SUMMER CAMP

Today’s News Stories:

SIX MISSIONARIES KILLED IN SOLOMON ISLANDS Six Anglican missionaries who were taken hostage four months ago in the Solomon Islands by warlord Harold Keke have been killed, a senior member of their Anglican order said Monday. “Yesterday our worst fears were confirmed,” Richard Carter, chaplain to the Melanesian Brotherhood, said in a message to supporters. The six members of the brotherhood set off from Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, last April to look for another member of the order, Brother Nathaniel Sado (now thought to have also been murdered). Keke is thought to have seized the six men to use as human shields in case the peacekeepers attacked his forces. It is believed they were later killed by one of the warlord’s lieutenants. “These were six innocent brothers who went out in faith and love in search of their brother,” Carter said. “It seems too much to bear that they should have been murdered in cold blood.” The Melanesian Brotherhood is an order of evangelists founded by a Solomon Islander in 1925 that minister mostly in Melanesia and Australia. A full investigation of Keke’s crimes, including the murder of 50 people last year, is underway. (Religion News Service)

IMPRISONED CHINESE CHURCH FOUNDER NEAR DEATH The imprisoned founder of the unregistered South China Church who was reportedly near death after repeated torture is still alive. Recently beaten into a coma by prison officials, suffering internal injuries, Gong Shengliang is serving a life sentence on bogus rape and assault charges. According to the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEARLC), two relatives, including a sister of Shengliang, recently visited him. “One sister was refused permission to visit because some of her speech during her last visit was religious,” a source told WEARLC. “Pastor Gong was separated from his visitors by glass. He was very fragile, pale, weak and thin, with cheekbones protruding. He was unable to speak one single word, but it is not known if this was because he was not permitted to speak or because he was not physically able to speak.” (Charisma News Service)

LIBERIAN CHAOS HAMPERS HUMANITARIAN AID EFFORTS Days after Liberian President Charles Taylor ceded power, humanitarian efforts in the Liberian capital of Monrovia are still being impeded by fuel shortages and security problems, Christian aid organizations said. New attacks by rebel groups have raised fears that insurgents may attempt to take power following Taylor’s exile, but Liberia’s main rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, signed a peace accord promising to pull back completely from the capital. “Even as peacekeepers are being deployed, days and weeks of battle between rebel and government forces over control of Monrovia has left tens of thousands of people destitute,” said Rev. Franklin Ishida, director of international communication for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Earlier this month, ELCA members contributed $50,000 of the church’s international relief fund to support relief efforts in Liberia. Baptist World Aid has also renewed its appeal for aid in Liberia after sending $10,000 for food aid and ministry to people who sought shelter at the Baptist Seminary in Monrovia. The struggle to distribute food and medical supplies to thousands of displaced Monrovians has been complicated by widespread looting and destruction. Several hospitals have been nearly destroyed. Inflation has made food scarce and fuel prohibitively expensive. (Religion News Service)

CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES UNITE IN ALBANIAN EVANGELISM EFFORT The General Secretary of the Albanian Evangelical Alliance, Eugen Begu, recently reported, “We are in the midst of an exciting time of evangelism. The Evangelical Alliance, Luis Palau Ministries and local churches in fifteen towns of Albania are cooperating and are working in unity to reach the people in the area with the gospel. Over a period of ten days, we have one hundred evangelistic events planned for specific social groups such as youths, politicians, business people, Gypsies, prison inmates, disabled, police officers, soldiers etc. Around ninety politicians attended one evangelistic dinner, including a prior head of the Albanian Parliament. Several of them indicated their desire to follow Jesus Christ from now on.” (MissionNet)

U.S. PRISON INMATES BRING MINISTRY BEHIND BARS A small group of Christian inmates in a United States prison helped to bring Promise Keepers’ (PK) conference behind bars for the first time. “Redeem the Time” was the theme of the men’s ministry’s event at the Marion Correctional Institution (MCI) in Ohio. An estimated 10,000 men in 70 prisons across the United States, Canada, England and Ireland tuned in to the free webcast to hear the message of God’s forgiveness, PK officials said. The four-hour conference was broadcast live on Sky Angel. “Today, I live for God’s glory,” said Larry Reed, a Marion inmate who is serving 18 years to life for killing a friend. “It wasn’t always this way. I was given hope when someone in prison shared the gospel with me. One man can make a difference; you can make a difference.” Reed and a handful of prisoners began praying years ago for a revival inside Marion. More than 1,000 men – half of Marion’s population – attended the men’s conference, PK officials said. Warden Christine Money said the praying prisoners have changed the prison’s spiritual environment. “The impact at MCI can be seen through a very low rate of rule violations, inmate grievances and any other serious incidents,” Money said. (Charisma News Service)

TEENS FIND CHRIST IN POLISH SUMMER CAMP Back to the Bible’s sister ministry, ‘Voice of the Gospel’, recently held two weeks of summer camp in Poland. Over 140 young people attended, coming from diverse backgrounds. Many are dealing with drug and alcohol problems, lack of parental guidance, rejection and peer pressure. Counselors talked through these issues with the teens and shared the gospel with the result that many of these young people came to Christ. (Mission Network News)

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