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Today’s Headlines:

WILDFIRES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TAKE TOLL ON CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES HINDU MOB ATTACKS EVANGELIST IN INDIA FOR ‘CONVERTING DALITS’ FLOODING IN NORTHERN INDIA HINDERS MISSIONARY EFFORTS EXPLOSION OUTSIDE RED CROSS IN BAGHDAD ALSO DAMAGES CHURCH PERSECUTED CHURCH LEADERS ENCOURAGE 700 ATTENDEES AT CONFERENCE BRAZILIAN CHURCHES FIND SUCCESS REACHING NEW NEIGHBORHOODS

Today’s News Stories:

WILDFIRES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TAKE TOLL ON CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES Raging wildfires in Southern California are taking a toll on a number of Christian ministries in the region, especially those based in or near wooded areas. The Wylie Woods Conference Center, a Lutheran facility, was destroyed by the wildfires earlier this week. Big Bear, the synod’s other conference center in the San Bernardino Mountains, served as an evacuation site for those fleeing from Wylie Woods. But late Tuesday, Big Bear was ordered evacuated. Although the synod’s Pacific Southwest district office in Irvine is not in danger, ashes from fires burning miles away are sometimes in the air, said executive assistant Joy Jones. “Ashes are falling, and the sky is dark,” she said. “We’re all coughing.”

On Wednesday the flames were heading toward Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Lake Arrowhead and nearby Camp Arrowhead, a Lutheran campground, said District President Larry Stoterau. “Right now it’s sort of a helpless feeling. Until the fires are over and we can assess the needs, there’s not much we can do except offer lots of prayers.” District staff have been calling churches and schools in fire-threatened areas, trying to find out how they are faring, but have been met with mostly answering machines and

busy signals. Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Poway was untouched, but four of its member families are believed to have lost their homes in the fires. Another four families, members of First Lutheran Church in El Cajon, also may have lost their homes. A family at First Lutheran Church in Fontana lost their home.

Two Baptist churches in San Diego county within the raging wildfires’ striking distance stopped Sunday-morning services so members could evacuate and help fire victims. First Baptist Church of Tierrasanta was saved as the fire skirted around it, and First Baptist Church of Mira Mesa saw flames as close as half a mile away. “God intervened,” said Wayne Wester, pastor of the Mira Mesa church. Two dozen families of the Mira Mesa congregation, mostly those living in the Scripps Ranch area, were evacuated and are awaiting word on the fate of their homes. The Tierrasanta church held a short prayer service Sunday morning after TV crews in their parking lot were told to get out because the flames had jumped the freeway and were skirting around the facility.

On Saturday flames destroyed the transmitters of Christian station KSGN, FM 89.7, in Riverside, putting the station off the air. Using borrowed equipment, the listener-supported station resumed broadcasting on Tuesday at reduced power. Programs can also be heard via the Internet.

The fires also affected the headquarters of Mission Aviation Fellowship in Redlands which is just a few miles from the fires, said spokesperson Ghislaine Benny. “Our training and evacuation schedule has been delayed,” she said. “We’re partially grounded. We’re able to fly with special permission. Also, seven of our families in Redlands who have had to evacuate.” Benny said that if her church is any indication, the fires are forcing Californians to think more about spiritual things. “Last Sunday we had 60 people receive the Lord. It is a rare Sunday where we don’t have anyone coming forward. But 60 is a large number. Typically that’s seems to be what happens. Humans fall into problems and then they turn to God, and then when everything goes well, they tend to ignore Him.”

The Associated Press reported today that 38-year-old fire engineer Steve Rucker became the first firefighter to perish in the Southern California wildfires. He is among 20 people who have died in the week of wildfires that have destroyed more than 2,600 homes and blackened some 660,000 acres. (HCJB World Radio/Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod News/Baptist Press/Mission Network News/AP)

HINDU MOB ATTACKS EVANGELIST IN INDIA FOR ‘CONVERTING DALITS’ T.J. Mathew, an evangelist in Siddapuram, Karnataka, in southern India, was again attacked by anti-Christian Hindu fanatics earlier this month. He was returning on his bicycle from a believer’s house when some fanatical young people attacked him and beat him severely to the point of unconsciousness. Local believers tried to take him to the nearby hospital, but his attackers prevented this. Then with the help of police, they took him to Siddapura Hospital, but the hospital refused to admit him for treatment. Then they traveled 60 miles to Mysore where he a hospital finally provided treatment. Mathew was expected to return to Siddapura on Tuesday, Oct. 28, to report the incident to the police. The attackers complained to the police, stating that Mathew is converting Dalits (people outside of India’s caste system) to Christianity. Despite the persecution, Mathew plans to hold a baptism service Nov. 8 for 10 believers who had converted from Hinduism. An e-mail report from Voice of the Martyrs urges Christians to pray that the “situation will become normal soon and that brother Mathew will regain his full strength.” Anti-Christian activities in the majority of Indian states are “on the increase.” (Voice of the Martyrs)

FLOODING IN NORTHERN INDIA HINDERS MISSIONARY EFFORTS No sooner had the drought in northern India ended when heavy rains led to flooding in the states of Assam and Bihar in recent weeks, says Mission India’s David DeGroot says. “In Assam, 14 of the students in one of our classes died of diseases after one of the floods, and 40 more were extremely sick. One of our church planters also perished in the Assam flooding in the last couple of months.” DeGroot says Christians have an incredible opportunity to minister to the millions who have been affected. “In rural areas in India, there’s kind of a hopeless feeling that permeates so many of the people, especially the outcaste tribal people. Christians have come in with the message of hope. They work very effectively in disaster areas.” (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio-Australia’s new shortwave site Kununurra airs 6.5 hours of daily English programming across South Asia, including India. Two half-hour programs in Urdu, airing Monday through Saturday, went on the air in July, and plans are being made to launch Hindi programs. A radio training center for South Asia has been established in New Delhi. 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.

EXPLOSION OUTSIDE RED CROSS IN BAGHDAD ALSO DAMAGES CHURCH A powerful explosion outside the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 27, also blew out most of the windows of the Baghdad Seventh-day Adventist Church just 660 feet away. “Our office staff were already at work in the building when the bomb went off at around 8:30 a.m.,” said Basim Fargo, secretary treasurer of the church in Iraq in a telephone conversation a few hours after the blast. Blinds on some of the windows shielded staff from serious injuries as the glass shattered. Doors and windows on the side facing the Red Cross headquarters, as well as the front entrance of the church, sustained the heaviest damage. Some internal doorframes were also dislodged from the walls by the force of the blast. “Until today, our church [completed in 1962] had remained unscathed by the Iran-Iraq war and the two Gulf wars,” said Fargo. Christians in Iraq face constant obstacles as the nation works to rebuild after more than a decade of war and sanctions. Simply going to church can be an ordeal — passing security checkpoints, enduring laborious searches, and putting up with road closures, increasing commutes by up to two hours. (Adventist News Network)

PERSECUTED CHURCH LEADERS ENCOURAGE 700 ATTENDEES AT CONFERENCE “Together we can do the job,” was the message sounded by 72 leaders of indigenous missions who came from 31 countries to speak at Christian Aid Mission’s Gateways International Conference on Indigenous Missions in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Oct. 16-18. All reported progress in church planting and evangelization in even the most difficult fields. They sought to inform and unify Christians around the remaining task of world evangelization. The theme of the first-ever such event, marking 50 years of Christian Aid’s ministry was, “Hear their hearts, see their world.” The 700 people attending the meeting had ample opportunity to do just that. Gabrial Barau of Missionary Crusaders Ministry in Nigeria, for example, told how his ministry established more than 30 churches among unreached people groups in eastern Nigeria despite pressure from Muslims in the country. In another example, Setan Lee shared how he escaped certain death from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia by calling on the “God of the universe” seconds before he was to be executed. After finding Christ in a refugee camp, he was able to come to America. He returned to his native Cambodia in 1990 and began preaching the gospel of reconciliation in Christ. Now nearly half of his 68 gospel workers are former Khmer Rouge fighters. (Missions Insider)

BRAZILIAN CHURCHES FIND SUCCESS REACHING NEW NEIGHBORHOODS Stephen Lonetti, president of White Fields Inc., said he was impressed by the passion of the Brazilian churches for missions after a recent trip to South America. “When they see a new suburb develop, they immediately go in and buy up three lots,” Lonetti says. “Then they begin to evangelize the area and start home groups. When the home groups become large enough, then a church is built on a lot along with the pastor’s home. As the church grows, they expand and use the third lot for parking.” Lonetti says Brazil is becoming a sending nation for missions. White Fields helps local churches where needed to send missionaries to other countries. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio broadcasts the gospel in Portuguese to Brazil via shortwave from Quito, Ecuador, and maintains a world office and radio studios in Curitiba. Portuguese programs, which have been on the air continuously since 1947, generate more listener letters than any language service at Radio Station HCJB in Ecuador. The ministry’s Portuguese programs also air on local radio stations across Brazil.

FREE WORLD WALL MAP: Full-color, 22-inch by 34-inch world wall map. To order, e-mail your name and mailing address to .

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