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Today’s Headlines:

* CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES DESTROY CHRISTIAN STATION’S TRANSMITTERS GOSPEL MISSIONARY UNION ANNOUNCES NEW NAME, FOCUS MUSLIM CAPTORS CONTINUE TO HOLD EGYPTIAN CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY HEARINGS RESUME FOR AUSTRALIAN PASTORS ACCUSED OF INCITING HATRED SOUTHERN BAPTISTS NAME AWARD AFTER MARTYRED MISSIONARY ORDER IN CHAOS PRESENTS MINISTRY OPPORTUNITY IN ZIMBABWE

Today’s News Stories:

* CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES DESTROY CHRISTIAN STATION’S TRANSMITTERS Not even the concrete block transmitter building for Christian radio station KSGN in Riverside, Calif., could escape the ravages of Southern California’s massive wildfires. On Saturday, Oct. 25, the transmitters for KSGN, FM 89.7, were destroyed in what is known as the “Old Fire” in the San Bernardino Mountains, putting the station off the air around 12:30 p.m. Transmitter buildings in the same area for two other secular radio stations were also destroyed.

“Using temporary borrowed equipment, we are again on the air but at reduced power, and our Internet stream is back up,” said Manager Dawn Hibbard. “Repair of the building and replacing the equipment is expected to take several weeks. Please pray for the safety of the crew working on the mountain.”

Jon Foreman, KSGN’s assistant engineer, said the transmitter building caught fire Saturday morning after hot embers landed on the building’s wooden roof. “The roof burned and collapsed,” he said. “Everything inside the building was destroyed. The fire was so hot that even an aluminum ladder was vaporized!” The flames destroyed both the main and back-up transmitters and related broadcasting equipment. However, the metal antenna tower and generator are “still in good shape.”

The transmitter building and its contents were covered by insurance, but the listener-supported station is appealing for donations to help pay for immediate expenses caused by the fire. Foreman said it is too early to make a damage estimate.

HCJB World Radio has maintained a close relationship with the station, founded in 1958, for many years. “KSGN works in tandem with HCJB World Radio, airing Ron Cline’s daily feature, ‘Beyond The Call,'” Hibbard says. The station also worked with the ministry to provide fix-tuned radios to listeners in Africa. “Our delight is to extend God’s kingdom by sharing the good news and strengthening the body of Christ here in southern California and around the globe together with HCJB World Radio.”

The Associated Press reported today that at least 17 deaths were blamed on the fires, 15 in Southern California and two in Mexico. Separate blazes were scattered along an arc from the suburbs northwest of Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico, about 60 miles south of the border. At least 1,137 homes have been destroyed in California. More than 512,000 acres of brush, forest and homes — or about 800 square miles, roughly three-quarters the total area of Rhode Island — have burned in California. (HCJB World Radio/AP)

GOSPEL MISSIONARY UNION ANNOUNCES NEW NAME, FOCUS Gospel Missionary Union (GMU) is now Avant Ministries. The 112-year-old missionary-sending agency announced Wednesday, Oct. 22, the renaming of the organization as part of a multi-year revitalization campaign. “GMU is a tradition-rich missionary-sending organization that is currently in the midst of positive transition,” said Dr. Paul Nyquist, president of the newly named Avant Ministries. “We are focusing our work on a strategic process of reducing the time it takes to develop new churches for unreached peoples. We sought a memorable name to reflect our forward-thinking approach to church planting, while allowing us freedom to operate in sensitive world settings.” The new name was approved unanimously by the board of directors in September. It is supported by a position statement that captures the mission’s new priority: short-cycle solutions for a lost world. “We are committed to being a leader in what we have coined ‘short-cycle church planting,’ seeking to continuously shorten the time needed to develop a mature church,” Nyquist said. “With the increasing volatility in the world, mission agencies can no longer assume a long-haul approach to church planting. The door to countries can open and close quickly.” Avant Ministries was the first agency to send evangelical missionaries to Mali and Ecuador. Its goals is to establish self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating churches. Avant means “culturally advanced.” (Avant Ministries)

MUSLIM CAPTORS CONTINUE TO HOLD EGYPTIAN CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY A 19-year-old Egyptian Coptic Christian woman kidnapped a month ago by Muslims who claim she’s converted to Islam is being refused direct access to her Christian family. Nagy Edwar Nagy said his sister disappeared on Sept. 27 sometime after boarding a bus to her aunt’s home in El-Maryouteya El-Haram. Ingy Nagy Edwar reportedly is being held against her will by a Muslim couple in the Haram district of Giza near Cairo. State security police officials temporarily detained her father and other male relatives a few days after her disappearance, showing them an alleged declaration of conversion to Islam signed by the girl. That same day, the Giza State Security Directorate held a hearing on the girl’s case, producing Ingy herself, dressed in an Islamic veil. “She was not in a normal mood,” Nagy stated. At a second hearing on Oct. 18, the girl did not appear, apparently because she was “very sick.” Ingy’s family is concerned that she may have been given mood-altering drugs. During a telephone conversation with her father she threatened to commit suicide. A third hearing on Ingy’s case is set for Saturday, Nov. 1, when her father will press to regain custody of his daughter. Under Egyptian civil law, a daughter under the age of 21 cannot change her religion or marry without the legal permission of her father. (Compass)

HEARINGS RESUME FOR AUSTRALIAN PASTORS ACCUSED OF INCITING HATRED Hearings resumed Monday, Oct. 27, in a controversial court case against Australian pastors Danny Nalliah and Daniel Scot who could face high fined and up to six months in prison for allegedly inciting hatred towards Muslims. The case is being held at the Civil and Administrative Tribunal in Australia’s Victoria state amid concern that lawyers may not have enough time to prepare their defense. “Defense attorneys requested a two-week delay in order to prepare to defend against additional charges, but last week the judge in the case denied their request, and the hearing was scheduled to continue on Monday,” reported Voice of the Martyrs. The Islamic Council initiated the court case, saying that the two pastors from the Christian ministry, Catch the Fire, “vilified Muslims” at a seminar on jihad on March 9, 2002. The council contends this violated Victoria’s Racial and Religious Toleration Act. Both pastors lectured on the differences between Christianity and Islam and quoted information about Islam directly from the Koran and other recognized Islamic sources. They will not be allowed to argue during their defense whether or not their statements were true, but only on whether or not they “incited hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule” of Muslims. (Assist News Service)

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS NAME AWARD AFTER MARTYRED MISSIONARY Martha Myers, one of three Southern Baptist missionaries murdered in Yemen in December 2002, has been honored by a new award established in her name by the Southern Baptist Conference’s Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU). The Dr. Martha Myers Distinction Award will be given annually to an alumnus of the ministry’s Girls in Action program for some who “exhibits a missions lifestyle; has dramatically influenced the lives of others through missions, ministry and/or civic duty; and is a good role model for girls.” WMU Executive Director Wanda Lee announced the creation of the award during the ministry’s annual meeting and missions celebration in Phoenix in June. The first award will be presented at next June’s annual meeting. (Baptist Press)

ORDER IN CHAOS PRESENTS MINISTRY OPPORTUNITY IN ZIMBABWE World Vision’s food program in Zimbabwe recently receive a nod of approval from government agencies. The ministry, together with its community partners in Zimbabwe, was “highly commended” by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Southern Africa Famine Emergency Response for its exemplary food distribution model. Some 600,000 Zimbabweans are receiving food aid through the program. During the distribution, families are placed in groups of 10, according to family size. The food is then given to the group members who later share the allocation based on each family’s ration. This group distribution model is quicker than handouts to individuals which often results in panic and chaos as villagers scramble for rations. It’s also more cost effective and less labor intensive. Last month World Vision held a special workshop to share its distribution methods. The workshop was attended by more than 55 participants from countries across the globe where food aid programs are implemented. The workshop also opened up opportunities to share the gospel. (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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