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Today’s Headlines:

RESURGENCE OF SHINING PATH TERRORISTS THREATENS PEACE IN PERU MOLDOVA BAPTISTS ACCUSE PRIEST OF CONFISCATING LITERATURE SINGAPORE CHURCHES PLEDGE TO SEND 100 MISSION TEAMS ACROSS ASIA NEW BIBLE SCHOOL OPENS IN CHINA DESPITE INCREASING PERSECUTION FOOD SHORTAGE, DOWN ECONOMY FAILS TO DETER MYANMAR MISSIONARIES 20,000 NEW TESTAMENTS TO BE PRINTED, DISTRIBUTED IN VIETNAM

Today’s News Stories:

RESURGENCE OF SHINING PATH TERRORISTS THREATENS PEACE IN PERU A Peruvian mission leader told Christian Aid this week that Shining Path terrorists are seeking to make a comeback in his country, and are attacking peaceful tribes is one of their ploys to grab power. The leader, whose name cannot be disclosed for security reasons, said small bands of Shining Path terrorists invade peaceful Ashaninka villages and capture children as young as 10 years old to train as future terrorists. Then they force the adults to farm plots of land, hunt game, and fish the rivers to provide food for the terrorists. The terrorists dwell in camps high in the mountainous cloud forests, making the area nearly inaccessible, even by helicopter. On rare clear days, the terrorists can see the helicopters coming and evacuate the camps long before the commandos arrive. If government forces try to reach the camps by ground, they often get lost or arrive long after the terrorists have left. The mission leader suggested that increased government support for indigenous peoples in the jungles is key to stopping the terrorists. However, he said the main weapon to be deployed is prayer. “United prayer, regardless of denomination, turned the tide once before, and it will do so again,” he said. The ministry has extensive work among the Ashaninkas who also are seeking to gain the confidence of a newly discovered tribe and win them to the Lord. (Missions Insider)

* HCJB World Radio, together with local partners, has helped plant Christian radio stations in seven Peruvian cities. Affiliate stations in three cities also carry Spanish programming distributed by ALAS, the ministry’s Latin American satellite radio network. Radio programs in both Spanish and Quechua also air across Peru via shortwave from Quito, Ecuador.

MOLDOVA BAPTISTS ACCUSE PRIEST OF CONFISCATING LITERATURE Baptists in the separatist republic of Transdniester in eastern Moldova have complained of increasing restrictions on the distribution of their literature. Baptist pastor Vasili Timoshchuk alleges that Orthodox priest Rev. Igor Konstantyushko confiscated the books from a Baptist street library in Krasnoe on Aug. 30 and called the police to detain the library organizer, Aleksandr Kulysh. Timoshchuk says that Transdniestran authorities have a history of impeding distribution of literature by Baptists and other religious minorities they dislike. Rev. Dionisy Abramov, secretary of the Tiraspol Orthodox diocese, rejected Baptist claims that their priest was involved, but voiced the opinion that the activity of other religious organizations “often break the law.” Abramov complained that unregistered religious organizations (such as the Krasnoe Baptist community is unregistered) “conduct propaganda.” The Baptists belong to congregations of the International Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians/Baptists which rejects registration on principle in all the former Soviet republics where it operates. (Forum 18 News Service)

SINGAPORE CHURCHES PLEDGE TO SEND 100 MISSION TEAMS ACROSS ASIA In April 2003 churches and missions in Singapore pledged to send 100 mission teams into cross-cultural service throughout Asia within one year. This pledge was made during “Mission Summit 1,” hosted by a church-initiated movement called “Love Singapore.” Although the SARS epidemic interrupted mission activities for several months, this did not discourage the wave of missions which came to be known as “FEVER 100.” Singapore’s enthusiastic evangelical churches, excellent infrastructure and freedom of religion have made it a strategic and stable base for sending missionaries. Despite its m ©lange of religions (including Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism), Singapore has sent missionaries worldwide for more than 20 years. Today 7.8 percent of Singaporeans are considered evangelical, and as of 2001 approximately 457 national Singaporeans were serving in cross-cultural ministries. Singapore is home to 16 seminaries, Bible schools and missions training schools. Among these, Youth With a Mission has agreed to train the FEVER 100 teams for short-term mission service. (SIM)

* HCJB World Radio opened an office in Singapore this year as the hub for Asia/Pacific, the world’s most populous region with nearly 3.5 billion people.

NEW BIBLE SCHOOL OPENS IN CHINA DESPITE INCREASING PERSECUTION Increasing persecution against Christians in China isn’t stopping a ministry from opening a new seminary in the country. China Partner spokesman Erik Burklin recently returned from China where the first phase of a Bible school in Jiangxi province is complete, including government approval. “What is so exciting to me is that my grandparents were in that same province serving as missionaries with China Inland Mission,” Burklin said. Bible schools aren’t a new thing in China with 18 government-registered seminaries across the country. “Local pastors remind us that the [religious] freedom is relative,” he says. “It’s not the kind of freedom you enjoy in America. As long as you’re registered and are open about your activities, the government isn’t against you. The government just likes control . . . including religion.” Burklins says thousands of Chinese are turning to Christ each week, and more Bible schools are needed. “The need of the hour in China is for additional theological training and biblical training for future pastors and Christian leaders.” Mission leaders predict that Christians will soon comprise 15 percent of China’s population. “I really believe there is a groundswell of evangelical Christianity that’s growing very quickly within China,” Burklin says. “And that can only have a positive influence and hopefully lead to more reform.” (Mission Network News)

FOOD SHORTAGE, DOWN ECONOMY FAILS TO DETER MYANMAR MISSIONARIES Missionaries in Myanmar (formerly Burma) are effectively serving the Lord even though many of them don’t have enough food to eat. A report received by Christian Aid last week indicates that more than 100 companies have shut down, leaving many people without jobs. Prices have doubled while the local currency has devalued 50 percent. As a result, many missionaries are evangelizing on empty stomachs. A mission leader said he recently received a call from one of his missionaries saying that his family had no food to eat. Then another missionary called and said the same thing. In each of these instances the mission leader sent additional support. Then he learned that one family in a local church had fasted three days because they had no food to eat. So he sent them some rice. “Whenever I hear that kind of thing, it breaks my heart,” the leader said. Even so, the missionaries are working hard and bearing fruit, he said. In one village the local missionary won the local community leader from a non-Christian background to the Lord. “The believers are praying to God,” he said. “I am personally confident that God is in control.” (Missions Insider)

20,000 NEW TESTAMENTS TO BE PRINTED, DISTRIBUTED IN VIETNAM About 20,000 New Testaments will be printed in Vietnam and distributed to churches across the country, says Richard Loh of the World Bible Translation Center. “This indeed is a significant milestone for the center and for the church in Vietnam, because this is a communist country that has very restrictive policies on Bible printing and distribution,” he said. “For us to be granted this approval is definitely a step forward for Christians.” Loh said it will take “two or three months” before the printing is complete. “This new translation of the Bible uses modern, contemporary Vietnamese language,” he added. “So it will be very suitable for new believers . . . and those who are hearing the gospel for the first time.” He says God’s Word is urgently needed in Vietnam where Buddhism and animism are prevalent. (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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