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Today’s News Headlines:

BUDDHIST MONK SUSPECTED OF ORGANIZING ATTACKS ON SRI LANKA CHURCH RAID REVEALS EVIDENCE OF PLANNED ATTACKS ON INDONESIAN CHURCHES MISSIONARY PLANE CARRYING CARGO IN PHILIPPINES OVERTURNS INTO RIVER BUSH MAKES APPOINTMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PANEL VOODOO INFLUENCE IN BENIN FAILS TO STOP MISSIONARY TRAINING SCHOOLS MINISTRY IN INDIA AIMS TO SHOW FILM TO 25 MILLION PEOPLE ANNUALLY

Today’s News Stories:

BUDDHIST MONK SUSPECTED OF ORGANIZING ATTACKS ON SRI LANKA CHURCH For the past three months the Assembly of God Church in Kesbewa, Sri Lanka, has been subjected to threats and attacks, including broken windows and bottles of burning oil thrown into the church building. In response, the church has made sure that someone is at the building at all times to guard it. However, on the night of Thursday, Aug. 14, pastor Kumara and two other church members were keeping watch when two motorcycles stopped and four men in black dismounted. Kumara heard one of them say, “Paththu karannna” (light it). Fearing that the church building was about to be set on fire, he shouted and ran toward the men along with a church member named Narada. As the men ran away, one of them threw a homemade bomb that exploded, badly injuring Narada. The pastor escaped with only minor wounds. A police investigation has begun, and an inquiry is set for Friday, Aug. 22. Kumara says the main suspect accused of orchestrating the attacks is the chief Buddhist monk in Kamburupitiya who wields considerable power in the community. In September 2002 he visited the church and threatened the pastor and members with death. Authorities have summoned the monk in connection with previous incidents at the church, but he has refused to speak with them. They ordered him to appear at the inquiry. (Voice of the Martyrs)

RAID REVEALS EVIDENCE OF PLANNED ATTACKS ON INDONESIAN CHURCHES Church service schedules have been found in a raid on terror suspects in Indonesia just days after the alleged mastermind of the Bali bombings, Imam Samudra, shouted during his trial, “We are ready to win the crusade against Christians! We will win!” For most Islamic militants, the terms “Western” and “Christian” are virtually synonymous and viewed as a common enemy, and Christians face possible persecution. From July 4-11 police arrested seven suspected members of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asia terror group that has links to al-Qaeda. In their raids they discovered three books containing the schedules of various church services and enough explosives for a blast 10 times the size of the Bali bombs that killed 202 people on Oct. 12, 2003. Commenting on the Bali attack, Samudra said, “If my actions touched the unbelievers . . . then that is justified in the Koran and the sayings of the prophet Mohammed.” Southern Baptist International Mission Board representative Charles Cole says persecution is becoming a “way of life” for believers in Indonesia. “The only question is not ‘Will it happen?’ but ‘When and where will it take place?’ This creates a tension on everyone and provides an atmosphere that does cause limitations on where you go and what you do.” Cole says ministry continues through the vibrant national church. (Barnabas Fund/Mission Network News)

MISSIONARY PLANE CARRYING CARGO IN PHILIPPINES OVERTURNS INTO RIVER No one was injured when a plane from New Tribes Mission (NTM) carrying cargo ran off the runway and turned over in a river while landing on a tribal airstrip in Palawan, Philippines, the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 19. Missionary pilot Gary Elliot was flying 300 pounds of cargo into the tribe where NTM missionaries Norm and Jacque Rice work. Members of a visiting work team of 16 people from Rancho Community Church, Calif., were waiting for a ride out of the jungle when the plane crashed. Heavy rain the night before apparently caused water to leak into the airspeed indicator, causing it to show a slower reading than the actual speed during landing. NTM staff members expressed gratefulness for prompt assistance from the Philippine Air Force which sent a helicopter to shuttle the work team out of the area. Staff members are working to dismantle and transport the plane for repairs. (New Tribes Mission)

BUSH MAKES APPOINTMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PANEL U.S. President George W. Bush has reappointed a Southern Baptist and named a Roman Catholic bishop and a Muslim academic to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The nine-member commission is a worldwide watchdog for religious liberty. It counsels Congress, the president and the secretary of state on how to sponsor and uphold religious freedom and tolerance. “If the U.S. does not insist that religious liberty be part of the agenda, no one else will,” said Southern Baptist Richard Land. The panel comprises a nonvoting ambassador-at-large and nine voting members, three of whom are appointed by the president and the rest by congressional party leaders. Land is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and is the first commissioner to be reappointed since the establishment of the independent federal agency in 1998. Bush also named Archbishop Charles Chaput, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, and professor Khaled Abou El Fadl of Los Angeles. (Religion News Service)

VOODOO INFLUENCE IN BENIN FAILS TO STOP MISSIONARY TRAINING SCHOOLS A ministry that operates six schools of missions in the West African country of Benin reports that staff and students are facing increased persecution from witchdoctors and magicians. Benin, the birthplace of voodoo, continues to be a hotbed of diabolical activity. Missionaries serving with the organization say that politicians from Benin and neighboring West African countries travel to this area to seek witchdoctors’ power in leading their nations. People also come to Benin from around the world — including Europe and the U.S — to buy satanic power. Meanwhile, workers at the school face continual spiritual attacks and rejection from the community. “Our missionaries and their children are always targets,” said a leader with the ministry. “The enemy seeks to destroy us because of the strategic evangelization programs that are bringing people out of darkness to Christ.” Despite these difficulties, the ministry has trained more than 100 students who are serving as missionaries in difficult areas, spreading the gospel among 16 ethnic groups. More than 400 people have submitted applications to attend the six schools this fall. (Missions Insider)

* HCJB World Radio worked with the Council of Protestant and Evangelical Churches of Benin to help put a Christian station on the air in Cotonou in 1998. The station broadcasts the gospel in French, English and seven tribal languages. Partner ministry SIM also records programs in eight languages at studios in Parakou. Programs air on local stations across Benin.

MINISTRY IN INDIA AIMS TO SHOW FILM TO 25 MILLION PEOPLE ANNUALLY Since the Dayspring ministry was launched 22 years ago, 850 film teams have gone throughout India. Last year alone, the ministry launched more than 100 new teams despite the increase in persecution against believers. The ministry aims to mobilize another 100 teams this year and have 540 full-time teams in place by the end of 2004. This will enable the ministry to show the all-Indian acted story of Jesus to an estimated 25 million people each year. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio’s new shortwave site Kununurra, Australia, airs 6.5 hours of daily English programming across India and South Asia. Two half-hour programs in Urdu, airing Monday through Saturday, were added in July, and plans are being made to start Hindi programs. In partnership with FEBA Radio, HCJB World Radio also airs weekly Christian programs to eastern India via shortwave in three languages: Bhojpuri, Chattisgarhi and Mundari.

FREE WORLD WALL MAP: Full-color, 22-inch by 34-inch world wall map. To order, e-mail your name and mailing address to or visit http://www.hcjb.org.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * 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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