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Today’s Headlines:

MINISTRY KEEPS VIGILANT AS CHECHNYA PREPARES FOR ELECTIONS UNRULY MOB ATTACKS CATHOLIC CHURCH IN INDIA’S ORISSA STATE SISTER OF LONGTIME CHRISTIAN CUBAN DETAINEE BEGINS HUNGER STRIKE POLICE ARREST 4 LAOTIAN BELIEVERS DESPITE EASING OF RESTRICTIONS FORMER KHMER ROUGE OFFICERS IN CAMBODIA ‘FERTILE FIELD’ FOR GOSPEL 4,000 CHILDREN LIGHT 1 MILLION CANDLES DURING VIGIL IN BERLIN

Today’s News Stories:

MINISTRY KEEPS VIGILANT AS CHECHNYA PREPARES FOR ELECTIONS Tensions are high in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya as preparations are made for presidential elections on Sunday, Aug. 29. Observers fear that the process will neither be fair nor free, especially since a rebel commander has threatened to assassinate the winner, said Sergey Rakhuba of Russian Ministries. “The tension in Chechnya is still at a pretty high level after the previous president was assassinated in May,” he said. Stoking the pre-election tension even further, suspicion is growing that Chechen rebels may have had a part in this week’s downing of two Russian airliners that killed 89 people. Rakhuba says the ministry has been teaching members of the indigenous church to stand on their own in case expatriate missionaries are forced to leave. “We will see what will happen this election so if one of the candidates, and whoever he is wins, and he’s not supported by the insurgents, then it’s another wave of violence, and it is a dangerous place to be and especially, to continue ministry.” (Mission Network News/Associated Press)

UNRULY MOB ATTACKS CATHOLIC CHURCH IN INDIA’S ORISSA STATE Tension gripped the town of Raikia in the eastern India state of Orissa after a mob attacked a Catholic church the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 26, said local police officer Bhabani Shankar Patnaik. At least 300 people broke into the church and smashed a number of religious statues, doors and glass panes. A truck parked outside the church was also set ablaze, and several materials, pictures and clothes from the church were brought outside by the attackers and burned, Patnaik said. The incident occurred after some Christians protested the removal of fencing that had been erected outside the church. The situation was tense but under control, police said. (WorldWide Religious News)

SISTER OF LONGTIME CHRISTIAN CUBAN DETAINEE BEGINS HUNGER STRIKE The sister of a longtime Christian political prisoner in Cuba has begun a hunger strike in an effort to pressure prison guards into ending the torture of her brother and allow him medical attention, dissident sources confirmed on Wednesday. The Cuban Democratic Directory reported that Berta Ant ºnez, sister of 39-year-old dissident Jorge Lu ­s Garc ­a P ©rez “Ant ºnez,” began the action earlier this week in Villa Clara, Cuba. Human rights groups have expressed concern about the alleged harsh treatment suffered by a number of imprisoned dissidents, including beatings and deprivation of food and medicine. Jorge Ant ºnez received an 18-year prison sentence in March 1990 on charges of spreading “enemy propaganda” after being critical of the country’s communist regime. He has been confined in solitary confinement in a “tiny, sealed cell with no light or bedding, typically overflowing with excrement and infested with rats and insects,” reported Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Authorities have repeatedly confiscated his Bible and denied him water, medical attention and clothes. More recently Ant ºnez was reportedly “savagely beaten and tortured.” Cuba has denied reports of torture and mistreatment of prisoners. (Assist News Service)

POLICE ARREST 4 LAOTIAN BELIEVERS DESPITE EASING OF RESTRICTIONS Four believers, including two church leaders from the Kasy district in Laos, were arrested Monday, Aug. 2, and remain in custody. Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported that authorities in the villages of Vieng Samay and Hua Muang have been intimidating Christians in an attempt to force them to renounce their faith in Christ. In Vieng Samay a local witchdoctor recently blamed Christians for six deaths in the village. The arrests took place even though the government of Laos appears to be easing restrictions on Christians. Recently there has been a “significant reduction” in the number of arrests and the reopening of a number of churches. (Voice of the Martyrs)

FORMER KHMER ROUGE OFFICERS IN CAMBODIA ‘FERTILE FIELD’ FOR GOSPEL An indigenous Cambodian ministry supported by Christian Aid Mission reported that more than 60 former Khmer Rouge officers were baptized at one location earlier this summer. The Khmer Rouge was once one of the most feared military organizations in Southeast Asia. The enforcers of dictator Pol Pot’s communist regime from 1975-1979, they were responsible for the deaths of 2 million Cambodians — nearly 30 percent of the country’s population at the time. Thousands were executed for “infractions” such as speaking a foreign language, wearing eyeglasses or merely looking displeasingly at Khmer Rouge officer. Today the Lord is redeeming former Khmer Rouge officers for His glory. Native missionaries in Cambodia find their hearts to be “fertile fields” for the gospel. It was a former officer who baptized the 60 new converts in June. Ministries are also taking back the land of the Khmer Rouge. One outreach is building a Christian orphanage on the site of the Khmer Rouge’s last stronghold. (Missions Insider)

* HCJB World Radio, in cooperation with Campus Crusade for Christ, worked with a local partner to plant Cambodia’s first Christian radio station in 1998. New Life Radio in the capital city of Phnom Penh broadcasts the gospel in Cambodian and English.

4,000 CHILDREN LIGHT 1 MILLION CANDLES DURING VIGIL IN BERLIN World Vision reminded Berliners of the plight of children in need with a “sea of lights” as 1 million candles were lit on the square surrounding the “victory column.” It took 4,000 children five hours to light all the candles. The lights symbolize the 1 million children worldwide who die each month of hunger, disease or violence. “Lights for Children” was a joint project of World Vision Germany, artist Misha Boulourie and composer Simon Stockhausen. Approximately 15,000 Berliners watched the vigil on Friday, Aug. 20, as the children sang songs from around the globe. World Vision estimates that more than 500 million children exist on less than US$1 per day, and 150 million children are chronically undernourished. (IDEA) * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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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