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Today’s Headlines:

FRANKLIN GRAHAM MEETS WITH SUDANESE PRESIDENT, DISCUSSES PEACE INDONESIAN COURT REJECTS PASTOR’S APPEAL ON WEAPONS CHARGES CHRISTMAS JUST A ‘MYTH’ FOR CHILDREN IN RUSSIAN PRISON CAMPS LACK OF VOLUNTEERS, FUNDS HINDERS OUTREACH IN IRAQ ELDERLY COUPLE’S LETTER-WRITING MINISTRY TOUCHES U.S. INMATES

Today’s News Stories:

FRANKLIN GRAHAM MEETS WITH SUDANESE PRESIDENT, DISCUSSES PEACE Franklin Graham, president of international relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, met with Sudanese President Umar Al-Bashir at his palace in Khartoum Monday, Dec. 8. The two discussed the ongoing peace talks between the government of Khartoum and the Southern People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). This was Graham’s third trip to Sudan this year, but the first time at the invitation of Al-Bashir. He also met with the vice president and a minister of foreign affairs as well as the Sudan Council of Churches and the Sudan Inter-Religious Council. Graham then visited with an SPLM delegation that was in Khartoum for a round of historic government talks and meetings. On Monday evening he was honored at a banquet hosted by Sudan’s Secretary General of International Friendship. Observers are optimistic that the historic peace talks could lead to an accord, ending one of the world’s longest and bloodiest civil wars that has left more than 2 million people dead in 20 years.

Lee DeYoung of the international radio ministry Words of Hope said violence in the non-Muslim southern part of Sudan has decreased in recent weeks. “As these peace negotiations have gotten very serious, a lot of people are cautiously hopeful that they will ultimately lead to a real treaty,” he said. DeYoung said the Khartoum government may soon be increasing free airtime devoted to evangelical groups. Words of Hope is helping to train broadcasters to take advantage of opportunities for Christian radio as doors open up. (DeMossNewsPond.com/Mission Network News)

INDONESIAN COURT REJECTS PASTOR’S APPEAL ON WEAPONS CHARGES The Indonesian Supreme Court has rejected the appeal against convicted pastor Rev. Rinaldy Damanik, leader of the Protestant Christian community in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. A letter from the country’s Supreme Court signed on Wednesday, Dec. 3, stated that on Oct. 29 it had ruled to deny his appeal. Damanik’s only recourse is to obtain a reinvestigation of his case — something that would require introducing evidence not previously considered at his trial. Damanik has not yet decided if he will seek a reinvestigation. Local believers say Damanik was framed on trumped-up charges of illegal weapons possession that date back to August 2002. They accuse officials of pursuing him because of his outspoken criticism of the authorities’ mishandling of Muslim-Christian violence in Central Sulawesi. While in detention in late 2002, someone tainted Damanik’s food with rat poison, further pointing to a possible vendetta against him. Despite numerous irregularities in the case against him, the court in Central Sulawesi convicted Damanik and sentenced him to three years in prison. The rejection of Damanik’s appeal comes at a time when the Christian community in Central Sulawesi faces renewed violence by Islamic militants. More than 10,000 people have been killed in fighting between Christians and Muslims in the region since 1999. (Jubilee Campaign)

CHRISTMAS JUST A ‘MYTH’ FOR CHILDREN IN RUSSIAN PRISON CAMPS Twenty prison camps holding 30,000 prisoners dot the landscape of Bashkortostan, Russia. The infamous Salavatova prison camp, 120 miles from Ufa, is home to 300 young boys, some as young as 10 years old. A gray concrete wall with double barbwire trimming encircles the compound. The boys are shaven, their clothes resemble rags, and they wear running shoes that barely hold together. Most of the boys have experienced traumatic conditions at home and have been forced onto the streets, eventually winding up in prison. The camp sometimes runs out of food due to insufficient government subsidies. Hannu Haukka, chief executive officer of International Russian Radio-TV, recently visited the prison camp. “For these children, and thousands of others already in Russian prison camps and interim places of detention, Christmas is a myth,” he said. “They have never seen a Christmas meal or a Christmas present. They have never heard a Christmas carol or the Christmas story. It was evident that these children would never know the Lord Jesus who came to make life meaningful for them.” Haukka says the TV ministry plans to provide a Christmas gift for 300 boys in the Salavatova prison. Each boy will receive a special Christmas celebration with a meal, a month’s worth of food, and a set of winter clothes for each boy. (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.

LACK OF VOLUNTEERS, FUNDS HINDERS OUTREACH IN IRAQ While violence continues against American soldiers in Iraq, opportunities to minister continue to open up. The only thing lacking is funds and volunteers, says Mike Creswell of Southern Baptist International Mission Board. “We’ve been asking and praying for years for God to open the doors into Iraq so we can do something. And now that it’s happened, we just have a handful of workers. We’re scraping for money to be able to really take advantage of the opportunity there.” Creswell says the ministry could use at least 150 volunteers in Iraq. “There are so many opportunities around the world where people are responding. We really need to send more people.” (Mission Network News)

ELDERLY COUPLE’S LETTER-WRITING MINISTRY TOUCHES U.S. INMATES An elderly Pentecostal couple from Virginia is touching the lives of inmates nationwide by handwriting hundreds of letters, encouraging prisoners turn to God during their incarceration. Through the Love of Jesus Prison Ministry, Janet and Bud Thompson monthly send notes to prisoners in 38 states, The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reported. The Thompsons, who live in a retirement community in Fredericksburg, said the spiritual response makes their efforts worthwhile. “Souls have been saved in this ministry. Hurts have been alleviated,” says 68-year-old Bud. “Suicides have been prevented.” Janet, 72, had been writing to strangers for years. But when a friend in 1982 asked if she would consider adding prisoners to her list of pen pals, she quickly agreed. Soon Janet was spending much of her time corresponding with convicted drug dealers, rapists and murderers. When she married Bud in 1988, he felt compelled to join her. “Too many prisoners are depressed, and I know what depression is,” Bud said. Prisoners become so attached to the Thompsons that they often continue writing to them even after they’re released. Some call the couple — who have no children of their own — “Mom and Dad.” “A lot of people are scared of inmates,” said Janet, who also holds Sunday services and Bible studies at their apartment complex. “But we believe that God is going to watch over us.” (Charisma News Service)

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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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