A ministry of HCJB World Radio

Today’s Headlines:

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S CAPTURE MAY BOOST MISSIONS, AID GROUPS IN IRAQ 15-YEAR-OLD CHRISTIAN BOY IN PAKISTAN ESCAPES MUSLIM ABDUCTORS PASTOR FINED FOR LEADING UNREGISTERED CHURCH IN BELARUS BOLIVIA’S NEW PRESIDENT RECEIVES EVANGELICAL AMBASSADOR CHRISTIANS FACE NEW DISCRIMINATION IN PAPUA, INDONESIA HERMANO PABLO RECORDS FIRST RADIO PROGRAMS ON LOCATION IN PERU

Today’s News Stories:

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S CAPTURE MAY BOOST MISSIONS, AID GROUPS IN IRAQ Headlining today’s news, the capture of former President Saddam Hussein on Saturday, Dec. 13, may be helpful to many evangelical missions and relief organizations working in Iraq. “I think it will free up many of the Iraqi people who have been frightened of reprisals,” says “Doc,” a medical missionary serving in Iraq with the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism. “There have been some who have not been cooperating for fear that Saddam will come back and use all these things against them.” Doc says. The U.S. embargo on Iraq put the country behind the rest of the world in the medical community. “But by helping in education and supplies, what we do is we touch lives directly there,” he says. “They get better medicine and better trained physicians who can take care of the population. What we look forward to is forming long-term relationships so we can talk about Jesus Christ with these people.” Hussein’s capture may also bring relief to humanitarian groups working in Iraq, although aid workers are on heightened alert following recent attacks on the Red Cross and U.N. “We see the potential of a backlash and an increase of terrorist activities against coalition forces,” says World Vision’s Dean Owen. “We’re restricting our staff’s movements for the next two or three days just to help ensure their safety and protection.” Owen is hopeful that Hussein’s capture will “pave the way for future ministry” and lead to increased religious freedom nationwide. (Mission Network News)

15-YEAR-OLD CHRISTIAN BOY IN PAKISTAN ESCAPES MUSLIM ABDUCTORS A Christian Pakistani boy who was kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam has escaped abduction from militant Muslims. Last month Zeeshan Gill, 15, was abducted while on his way home after school, Jubilee Campaign reported. He was taken to a Muslim religious school where was harassed, beaten and threatened with death if he ran away or converted back to Christianity. His captors reportedly forced him to fast daily and began training him in the use of weapons in order to send him to Kashmir for “jihad.” His mother tracked him down and went to court for her son’s release. On Nov. 24 Gill, his mother and a younger brother were able to flee to the home of his aunt. The family contacted the Center for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) which is handling his case. Elsewhere, a Pakistani believer was arrested Nov. 28 for violating blasphemy laws after a complaint was received from Nasser Ahmed. The Pakistan Christian Post reported that Ahmed accused Anwar Masih of defiling the name of the prophet Mohammed. Ahmed then incited a Muslim mob in Shadhra to attack Masih’s house and a family member. (Charisma News Service)

PASTOR FINED FOR LEADING UNREGISTERED CHURCH IN BELARUS Church members in the town of Kobrin in southwestern Belarus have pledged to continue meeting for worship even though the pastor, Nikolai Rodkovich, was fined Thursday, Dec. 11, for leading the unregistered Pentecostal church. “We don’t want to register our church,” said his wife, Tamara. “But we have no intention of halting our services. We’re ready for anything.” Under the country’s harsh new religion law that came into force in November 2002, unregistered religious activity was declared illegal. Vasili Marchenko, the official in charge of religious affairs in Brest region, declined to discuss why religious communities could not function without registration. Tamara said the local policeman came to the church’s Sunday service on Nov. 23 and instructed her husband to appear at the local administration. “He had to go twice,” she reported. “The first time they talked to him, trying to persuade him to register the church, but he refused. The second time they fined him.” He has 10 days to pay the $23 fine, or the money will be deducted from his pay. The Kobrin church, established in 1952, has some 300 members. It is one of about 50 Pentecostal congregations in Belarus that refuse to register as a matter of principle. (Forum 18 News Service)

BOLIVIA’S NEW PRESIDENT RECEIVES EVANGELICAL AMBASSADOR Three weeks after assuming office, Bolivian President Carlos Mesa met with evangelical leaders in La Paz — the first official meeting in more than a decade between Bolivian Protestants and their head of state. “We expressed evangelical support for the democratic process in Bolivia,” said Johan Candelin, goodwill ambassador of the World Evangelical Alliance, who met with Mesa on Nov. 7. “The situation is so fragile and difficult that any support for the democratic process is badly needed.” Congress elevated Mesa, 53, to the presidency on Oct. 17 after his predecessor, Gonzalo S ¡nchez de Lozada, was forced to resign and leave the country following weeks of unruly protests which left more than 60 people dead. The meeting provided an opportunity for evangelicals to raise an issue close to their hearts: religious liberty. “The basic understanding during the talks with President Mesa was that religious freedom is an important issue and that evangelicals should have the same religious freedom as all other citizens,” Candelin said. Bruno Ossio, president of the Evangelical Alliance of Bolivia, added, “It has permitted us to harmonize and adapt our national strategy for the defense of religious liberty within our biblical principles.” (Compass)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with local radio partners to plant local AM and FM stations in the Bolivian cities of Santa Cruz, Tarija and Tupiza. Four stations with eight transmitters in four cities (La Paz, Caranavi, Santa Cruz and Sucre) are also affiliated with the ALAS, the ministry’s Latin American satellite radio network that makes Spanish programs available to local stations 24 hours a day.

CHRISTIANS FACE NEW DISCRIMINATION IN PAPUA, INDONESIA On Nov. 13 Indonesia’s House of Representatives endorsed the move to divide the territory now known as Papua into three separate provinces despite strong opposition. Sources in Indonesia say the move has the potential of crowding Papua’s indigenous people — most of them Christians — into the smallest and poorest of the three provinces. A prayer alert issued by the World Evangelical Alliance said the ratio of Christians to Muslims in Papua has declined rapidly in the past few years with a concentration of Muslims in western Papua. With tensions soaring in the province, the Indonesian government has proposed a ban on foreign tourism in the area. This could cause serious difficulties for Christian churches that have partners overseas. The Papua Council planned to meet Dec. 15 to discuss the fate of the province. (Compass)

HERMANO PABLO RECORDS FIRST RADIO PROGRAMS ON LOCATION IN PERU When Paul Finkenbinder (known in the Spanish-speaking world as Hermano Pablo) began producing “Un Mensaje a la Conciencia” (A Message to the Conscience) in 1964, he never imagined the worldwide impact his program would have. Now 82, Hermano Paul continues to preach and teach throughout Latin America. For the past 39 years his four-minute Spanish evangelistic program “A Message to the Conscience” has proclaimed the gospel via radio, television and newspapers. The program now airs more than 3,400 times daily in 30 countries, including every nation in Latin America as well as Spain and Spanish-speaking stations in countries such as Sweden, Norway, France and Australia. Many of his programs are illustrated with stories from Spanish history, literature, proverbs or folklore. This specific focus has proved to be strategic in opening doors for the program to be broadcast as a public service. Recording on location came about as an effort to make the program even more attractive to secular and commercial stations. In November Hermano Pablo Ministries recorded programs on location for the first time using the Plaza de Armas of Lima, Peru, as a setting. Based on historical events in that place, producer Charles Rey recorded programs on the Peruvian National Anthem and Declaration of Independence with the Presidential Palace in the background, and on Peruvian independence hero Jos © Olaya with the backdrop of the corridor where he faced a firing squad. “A Message to the Conscience” is being used to reach Spanish speakers who may never visit a church. (Assist News Service)

* HCJB World Radio has aired Hermano Pablo’s radio program, “Un Mensaje a la Conciencia,” via shortwave nearly since it began in 1964. The program is also carried on HCJB World Radio’s ALAS Spanish satellite network, making it available to more than 100 radio outlets across Latin America.

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

Editor’s Note. Feel free to forward this to any interested friends. Our lists are distributed for information purposes and to encourage prayer. HCJB World Radio does not necessarily endorse or support the activities on which it reports. _______________________________________________ HCJBDaily mailing list

with subscribe in the subject line.

— Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).