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Today’s News Headlines:

INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS WARY DESPITE SENTENCING OF 2 ISLAMIC RADICALS TURKISH PRIME MINISTER PROMISES EQUAL RIGHTS FOR CHRISTIANS GERMAN PROTESTANT CHURCHES DENOUNCE RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION ZIMBABWE MUSLIMS TONE DOWN DEMANDS TO SECULARIZE SCHOOLS LOUDSPEAKERS BANNED FROM UNREGISTERED MOSQUES IN TAJIKISTAN INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR PERSECUTED CHURCH SET FOR NOV. 9

Today’s News Stories:

INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS WARY DESPITE SENTENCING OF 2 ISLAMIC RADICALS Terrorism was dealt a blow with the recent sentencing of two Islamic radicals in Indonesia, but Christians remain concerned. AMG International’s Paul Jenks says Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s government appears ready to crack down on violence, but that’s little consolation. “They’re trying to at least give some kind of justice there, yet there are elements in her own government as well as in the society that would very much like to see the court of law be thrown out and perhaps even Islamic law be brought in to replace secular law.” Jenks urges believers to pray that Indonesia’s government would stand firm in the face of these threats. “Under the president’s leadership, the churches have been able to exist. If we had an extreme form of government like in the Middle East, these churches would be immediately rooted out and destroyed.” AMG provides evangelism and church-planting training in Indonesia. The ministry sends out 25 new pastors and church planters each year. “Pray for them as many are returning to their homes where they once were practicing Muslims,” Jenks adds. “These believers are heroes at work for the gospel.” (Mission Network News)

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER PROMISES EQUAL RIGHTS FOR CHRISTIANS Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan has promised to grant equal religious rights to the Christian minority in his country. During a visit to Germany Wednesday, Sept. 3, Erdogan met with representatives from churches and human rights organizations in Berlin. One of the participants of the meeting was Rev. Christian Duncker who formerly led the German-speaking Protestant church in Istanbul. He said Erdogan promised to “make every effort to grant Christians the same religious rights as Muslims.” The most urgent need is to secure equal judicial status in order to be able to buy, build or renovate churches, Duncker said. So far they were not even allowed to open a bank account. He added that Turkish Christians need theological training facilities. There has been a growing shortage of clergy as the last seminaries were closed in 1971. Duncker said that Christianity in Turkey is “in danger of extinction.” Turkey has 66 million citizens, among them 110,000 mostly Orthodox Christians. Members of the small and young evangelical churches often face discrimination. (IDEA)

* Staff members from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., installed a 2-kw transmitter with local partner Radio Shema in Ankara, Turkey, earlier this year. This was a joint project with Words of Hope.

GERMAN PROTESTANT CHURCHES DENOUNCE RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION For the first time, the Germany’s mainline Protestant Churches have published a brochure on the persecution of Christians. Protestant leader Manfred Kock stressed the importance of religious freedom at a press conference in Hanover, Sept. 4. “Religious liberty is a prerequisite for individual human rights,” he said. “Regretfully, many Christians had to live in conditions where religious liberties are constantly violated.” Persecution is not limited to Muslim countries, but also countries such as India, Russia and China, he said. Kock, representing 26.6 million church members, pointed to the former Soviet Union where Orthodox churches often claimed predominance or even a monopoly over other religions. “It is unacceptable that one church should hold a whole country under a lease,” he said. Hermann Groehe, the Christian Democrat’s spokesman for human rights, expressed concerns about the discrimination and persecution of Christians in Islamic countries such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and the growing Hindu nationalism in India. Although the situation in China has improved since the Cultural Revolution, in some regions independent Catholics and Protestants are still subject to “considerable pressure,” Groehe said. Some priests, evangelists and house church leaders are held in “re-education camps,” he said. Liberals in the German parliament welcomed the church’s efforts to propagate religious freedom. Marita Sehn, spokesperson for church affairs, said suffering and torture could never be tolerated, and she called on the German government to “persistently speak out for persecuted Christians.” (IDEA)

ZIMBABWE MUSLIMS TONE DOWN DEMAND TO SECULARIZE SCHOOLS A Muslim group which issued demands to the government of Zimbabwe to scale back the Christian emphasis in schools — with the threat of legal action — has backed down, reported Barnabas Fund. In a letter received by the Education Ministry on Aug. 5, the Islamic Convent of the Strict Observance (ICSO) complained that Zimbabwe’s school calendar only made provision for Christian holidays and that prayers during assembly to the “Christian God” and Christian religious instruction prejudiced a Muslim’s right to freedom of religious expression. The letter gave the government 60 days to rectify the situation or else face a Supreme Court challenge. However, on Aug. 13 the ICSO withdrew their demands, acknowledging that they had not canvassed the prevailing opinion of Muslims in Zimbabwe. The ICSO demand appealed to liberal ideals as it called for the secularization of schools, but the group also advocates the strict observance of Islamic religious teachings, promoting its own Islamic agenda in Zimbabwe’s schools. The Muslim community represents just 1 percent of the country’s population. The demands of the ICSO come at a time when Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been strongly asserting his influence in Zimbabwe. (Assist News Service)

LOUDSPEAKERS BANNED FROM UNREGISTERED MOSQUES IN TAJIKISTAN Unregistered mosques in the Tajikistan capital of Dushanbe may no longer broadcast the call to prayer through loudspeakers, local Muslims said. However, officials denied that any decree had been issued. Shamsuddin Nuriddinov of the religious affairs department of the city administration said the authorities had only “requested” the leaders of unregistered mosques not to use loudspeakers for the call to prayer. Nuriddinov added that unregistered Muslim places of worship cannot be regarded as mosques and are operating illegally. (Forum 18 News Service)

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR PERSECUTED CHURCH SET FOR NOV. 9 The 2003 International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church will be observed on Sunday, Nov. 9. Once again, event is expected to unify hundreds of thousands of believers worldwide in prayer for Christians suffering persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ. Christians in Crisis, one of the ministries sponsoring the event, is seeking 500,000 intercessors to pray daily for the suffering church. To sign up and receive weekly persecution reports, send an e-mail message to . (Prayer for the Persecuted Church)

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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