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Today’s Headlines:

BUDDHIST MILITANTS IN SRI LANKA ATTACK 3 EVANGELICAL CHURCHES CHINESE AUTHORITIES ARREST ANOTHER PROMINENT CHURCH LEADER CHRISTIAN RELIEF AGENCY RUSHES AID TO FLOOD VICTIMS IN CHINA IBS SENDS SCRIPTURES TO CALIFORNIA’S WILDFIRE VICTIMS, WORKERS SUPPORTERS SEND 15,000 CARDS, LETTERS TO JAILED INDONESIAN MINISTER 25,000 RUSSIANS ATTEND EVANGELISTIC FESTIVAL IN ST. PETERSBURG

Today’s News Stories:

BUDDHIST MILITANTS IN SRI LANKA ATTACK 3 EVANGELICAL CHURCHES Sri Lankan churches continue to face pressure from Buddhist militants, reported the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka. As a crowd arrived to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the Philadelphia Church Rajagiriya branch Oct. 26, a mob of Buddhist monks began disrupting the service. They accused the pastor of showing disrespect for Buddha by putting a statue of him on the floor. However, church members say it was the monks who placed the statue on the floor and demanded the pastor worship it. When he refused, he was beaten. Chairs were broken, banners destroyed and musical instruments damaged. The pastor and another member were held hostage by the mob until the police arrived and took them to the station for their safety. Speaking to the police, some of the monks demanded that the church stop all Christian activity in the area. In a separate incident Oct. 30, five Buddhists, including two monks, attacked the Assembly of God church in Homagama. At midday they entered the house where the church met, dragged out the pulpit and hymnals and burned them, and stole some musical instruments. On Thursday, Nov. 6, while members of the Calvary Worship Centre in Udugampola were praying, a hand grenade was thrown at the church by a man on a motorcycle. A vehicle was damaged as well as a wall of the building, but there were no injuries. (Voice of the Martyrs)

CHINESE AUTHORITIES ARREST ANOTHER PROMINENT CHURCH LEADER On the morning of Sunday, Nov. 9, Dr. Xu Yong-hai and his wife, Li Shan-na, were finishing their night shifts at Ping’an Hospital in Beijing where Yong-hai is a prominent psychiatrist when they were arrested by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and interrogated. Shan-na, who was released later that day, said they were questioned about the activities of Liu Feng-gang, a house church activist who has been held by the PSB since Oct. 13. Officials said her husband was accused as “a suspect of espionage the national secrets” in collaborating with Liu Feng-gang. This arrest is only the latest in a new crackdown on leaders of the house church movement in China. Yong-hai previously spent more than two years in “re-education” for his faith. He is a prominent advocate for the house church and has spoken out against corruption in the Chinese medical system. Yong-hai came to Christ in 1989 after losing faith in the communist system and seeing the spiritual void. In an interview with Associated Press in 2000 he said, “Life without faith is unbearable. After I found God in 1989, my life totally changed. I felt like a new person.” (Voice of the Martyrs)

CHRISTIAN RELIEF AGENCY RUSHES AID TO FLOOD VICTIMS IN CHINA Heavy flooding in northwestern China has left its mark on the country’s economy with hundreds of thousands residents homeless. Recent Chinese state media reports says weeks of heavy rain and floods in Shaanxi province have now affected more than 2 million people. The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) began responding to the immediate physical needs since this summer when the crisis began. Wybe Bylsma, a former CRWRC board member, contacted the committee office with the desire to get involved in the flood project in China. Part of Wybe’s objective was to involve local young people by encouraging them to volunteer — nearly an unheard-of concept in China. These students willingly participated by gathering and distributing basic items of need. The teams provided 180 families with blankets, mosquito nets and bed mats. In addition, the teams left behind 1,100 lbs. of rice, providing an opportunity to show the love and compassion of Christ to those whose lives were severely disrupted by a ravaging flood. (Mission Network News)

IBS SENDS SCRIPTURES TO CALIFORNIA’S WILDFIRE VICTIMS, WORKERS The International Bible Society (IBS) has sent thousands of Scripture booklets, Bibles and New Testaments to southern California churches and fire department chaplains following the state’s most devastating wildfires. Approximately 14,000 firefighters fought nine fires that ravaged 745,000 acres, killed 22 people (including a firefighter) and destroyed more than 3,600 homes. The 4,600 Scriptures from IBS were designed to minister comfort and hope to both victims and workers in disaster situations. Literature included “Answering the Call,” a New Testament designed for and with firefighters; “When Your Whole World Changes,” a booklet in both Spanish and English for disaster survivors; “Building the Mosaic,” a new Scripture-based journal for disaster and relief workers; and “God’s Story” Bibles and New Testaments. (International Bible Society)

SUPPORTERS SEND 15,000 CARDS, LETTERS TO JAILED INDONESIAN MINISTER Rev. Rinaldy Damanik, 44, an Indonesian minister imprisoned on charges of possessing illegal weapons, has thanked supporters around the world for sending nearly 15,000 letters and cards. He has been an outspoken critic of the apparent lack of commitment by the police and government authorities to measures aimed at ending the violence. Damanik also has been a key supporter of the reconciliation process and, as such, a hindrance to the activities of the Muslim militants largely held to be responsible for the sectarian violence in the Moluccan Islands and Sulawesi. His supporters says Damanik was framed, and his detention is a bid to silence him and to placate extremists who still have influential supporters in both the government and the military. In June 2003 he was sentenced to three years imprisonment, a verdict his legal team is planning to appeal. (Religious Media Agency)

25,000 RUSSIANS ATTEND EVANGELISTIC FESTIVAL IN ST. PETERSBURG More than 25,000 Russians attended the first night of the “2003 Russia Miracle Healing Festival” in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, Nov. 12, led by Lee Jae-Rock, senior pastor of the 80,000-member Manmin Joong-Ang Church in Seoul, South Korea. Russians of all ages crowded into the “SKK” indoor Olympic Stadium to hear the preaching, sing along with the orchestra playing praise music, and seek both spiritual and physical healing. Members of Jae-Rock’s 140-member team also put on a tae kwon do demonstration complete with colorful Korean costumes. Jae-Rock preached an hour-long gospel and healing message on the theme, “God the Creator,” based on Genesis 1:1. He also gave his personal testimony of how God healed him in 1974 from seven years of severe diseases. The event coincides with the 300th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg, the birthplace of communism. Services are also planned for tonight and Friday evening. (Assist News Service)

* HCJB World Radio reaches across Russia with a variety of radio ministries. The mission has been sending gospel broadcasts across the country via shortwave since 1941, first from Quito, Ecuador, and now from the U.K. In the early 1990s the ministry began “planting” local radio ministries in Russia and now works with partners in more than a dozen cities. In 2000 HCJB World Radio helped launch the first Christian Russian radio satellite network (operated by Christian Radio for Russia), reaching across Euro-Asia. Downlinks have been installed with more than 26 partners in Russia alone. Three downlinks have been installed in St. Petersburg, one at the offices of the Association of Christian Churches, and two at local men’s and women’s prisons.

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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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