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Today’s News Headlines:

BAPTISTS FIND WAYS TO SHINE LIGHT OF GOSPEL DURING BLACKOUT SUPPORT GROWS FOR ANTI-CONVERSION LEGISLATION IN SRI LANKA CHRISTIANS’ LACK OF AWARENESS HINDERS MINISTRY IN HOSTILE AREAS EGYPTIAN EVANGELIST USES INTERNET TO REACH MUSLIMS FOR CHRIST DVD VERSION OF FILM ABOUT CHRIST TO ENHANCE MINISTRY IN INDIA STUDY: RELIGIOUS FAMILIES IN U.S. ‘GET ALONG BETTER’

Today’s News Stories:

BAPTISTS FIND WAYS TO SHINE LIGHT OF GOSPEL DURING BLACKOUT As a blackout covered the northeastern U.S. and parts of Canada Thursday, Aug. 14, Baptists throughout the area used the incident to shine the light of Christ. The blackout that affected an estimated 50 million people in major cities such as New York, Cleveland and Toronto provided Christians in the region an unusual opportunity for ministry. Baptists in New York City handed out icy pops on the street to those walking home. Lisa Chilson-Rose, director of volunteers at the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association, said that when the power first went off, people in the office thought something in the building had gone wrong. Then they looked out the window and saw people from other businesses gathering outside to determine what had happened. “We immediately got a battery-powered radio and heard that the whole city was out,” she said. Bob Mackey, a minister in Cleveland, used his battery-powered laptop computer to send e-mails to church members, assuring them that Sunday services would be held with or without power. In Toronto, church planter Chris Adams recounted how the blackout was proving a “neat way” to remind Canadians of their need for the gospel. (Baptist Press)

SUPPORT GROWS FOR ANTI-CONVERSION LEGISLATION IN SRI LANKA Sri Lanka Buddhism and Legal Reform Minister W.J.M. Lokubandara said he supports a proposed “anti-conversion bill” that would limit the freedom of individuals to change their religion, reported the Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka. Lokubandara formally announced his intention to take the bill to parliament. The draft bill is patterned after anti-conversion legislation adopted in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu last year. Public debate regarding the proposed legislation may have fueled a recent spate of attacks against Christians in Sri Lanka. A mob led by Buddhist monks attacked the Assembly of God church in Kesbewa on Aug. 7, stoning the church and hanging anti-Christian posters in Kesbewa and nearby Piliyandala. The incident was the latest in a string of attacks against churches this summer. Four churches in the Galle district suffered attacks on Aug. 2, including the Assemblies of God in Thanamalwila and Lumugamvehera, the Methodist church in Rathgama and the Assembly of God and Calvary churches in Hikkaduwa. The attacks may have been an attempt to incite Buddhists against the Christian community, creating an environment of religious disharmony that could lead to an excuse to adopt the new anti-conversion laws. (Open Doors)

CHRISTIANS’ LACK OF AWARENESS HINDERS MINISTRY IN HOSTILE AREAS Ministry in some countries is so sensitive that the location or worker cannot be revealed. Such is the case for a missionary team from Youth With a Mission serving in North Africa. “It is challenging because we’re not able to do any kind of public evangelism, of course, because it is an Islamic country,” said a team member who asked not to be identified. “It’s really through one-on-one contacts — sharing our faith through what many people call ‘friendship evangelism’ building relationships, building trust and then sharing God’s love with them.” He added that Christians’ lack of awareness of the situation compounds the situation. “There seem to be fewer workers here compared to other areas of the world, and less resources going to these unreached areas. I think part of it is that [North American Christians] are not as aware of some of these areas . . . and that these areas are so unreached.” (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio reaches across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe with Christian Arabic programming aired via shortwave, satellite and local stations. The Radio Al Mahabba (Radio Love) Arabic satellite network airs programs direct-to-home 24 hours a day. This region has the world’s highest concentration of personal satellite dishes.

EGYPTIAN EVANGELIST USES INTERNET TO REACH MUSLIMS FOR CHRIST An Egyptian evangelist is using the information highway to present the gospel to Muslims in London. Along with his wife, former Muslim Ebrahim Elsayih, 57, spends much of his time evangelizing via the Internet. He said the late-night and early-morning hours are the best times to strike up conversations about Christ. “We do more and more of our evangelizing on the Internet and hope to have our own website up and running soon,” Elsayih said. “In Arabic, of course.” Elsayih, a former dentist, serves with the Coptic Orthodox Church in London and has been a full-time evangelist for more than 25 years — first in Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt, and since 1993 in London. (Charisma News Service)

DVD VERSION OF FILM ABOUT CHRIST TO ENHANCE MINISTRY IN INDIA Hyderabad is among the leading metropolitan areas in India where technology and entertainment are common. Dayspring International’s John Gilman recently visited the city to take advantage of the opportunity to implement the new technology. “The purpose of our visit was to put our wonderful all-India-acted life of Christ motion picture into DVD format,” he said. “It’s a historic moment for us.” Gilman said the new format will enable the ministry to expand its impact across India. “The digitalization of the movie will enhance our film team’s ability to show the film in many different venues.” In the old format, Dayspring teams shared the hope of Christ in 125,000 villages. He hopes the format change paves the way for its teams to reach 600,000 villages in the next five to 10 years. (Mission Network News)

* In partnership with FEBA Radio, HCJB World Radio airs weekly Christian programs to eastern India via shortwave in three languages: Bhojpuri, Chattisgarhi and Mundari. A five-hour block of English programs also beams across India from HCJB World Radio-Australia’s new shortwave site in Kununurra, Australia.

STUDY: RELIGIOUS FAMILIES IN U.S. ‘GET ALONG BETTER’ A new study has affirmed the biblical declaration that a house divided cannot stand. Sociologists with the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently found that religiously involved American families of youth ages 12 to 14 get along better than families that are not religiously active, reported Charisma News. Christian Smith, principal investigator of the study, said youth from families who attend church, pray or read Scriptures together are more likely to admire and enjoy their parents more, and get praise from their parents. The teens’ parents also know more about their friends and social contacts, and their families tend to share meals more often and teens are less likely to run away from home. In contrast, youth whose families do not engage in religious activities tend to have weaker relationships with their mothers and fathers, are less likely to participate in family activities, and more likely to run away from home. A four-year research project, the NSYR began in August 2001 and will continue until August 2005. Smith said the survey is the most extensive and detailed study of U.S. parent-teen relationships that has been conducted on the subject of religion and spirituality. (Religion Today)

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