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Today’s Headlines:

ERITREAN AUTHORITIES ARREST 5 MORE EVANGELICALS IN CHURCH RAID GUNMEN MAY HAVE TARGETED 2 CANADIAN CHRISTIANS KILLED IN IRAQ SAUDI RELIGIOUS POLICE OUTLAW PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF NON-MUSLIM FAITH CHRISTIAN GROUPS BRING PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL AID TO HURRICANE VICTIMS NATIONAL MISSIONARIES REACH OUT TO REMOTE TRIBES IN BENIN SURVEY: INTEREST IN RELIGION CONTINUES TO DECLINE IN U.S.

Today’s News Stories:

ERITREAN AUTHORITIES ARREST 5 MORE EVANGELICALS IN CHURCH RAID Police in Asmara, a city in the northeastern African country of Eritrea, stormed the New Covenant Church the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 7, and arrested the five members who were meeting, reported Compass Direct. After a day’s detention, the one woman in the group was released. The four men, including the pastor, Yohannes, were transferred to the Adi-Abyto military camp. Hundreds of evangelical Christians have been arrested, some held for months in metal shipping containers with limited food and air. On Wednesday, Sept. 15, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced that Eritrea has been included in its list of “countries of particular concern” because of the government’s repressive action against any religious group not officially recognize. Saudi Arabia and Vietnam also made the list for the first time while Myanmar, China, Iran, North Korea and Sudan remained on the list. The list was announced as the State Department made public its 2004 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. (Voice of the Martyrs)

GUNMEN MAY HAVE TARGETED 2 CANADIAN CHRISTIANS KILLED IN IRAQ Two Canadians were chased down, beaten and shot to death in Baghdad last week because of their Christian faith, say family members in Iraq and Canada. Official accounts indicate that the two men, Andrew Shmakov and Munir Toma, died as the result of a car bombing Tuesday, Sept. 14, that killed 47 people. However, Toma’s relatives in Baghdad gave a much different account, saying that he had been shot 17 times. His wife, Baydah, and 6-year-old daughter, Rita, are reportedly hiding in Iraq, fearing for their lives. Shmakov and Toma had established a construction company as part of the rebuilding efforts in Iraq. Family members in Iraq said the gunmen attacked the victims as they left their office. The two men tried to flee in their car, but the attackers followed in four other cars, ambushed them and killed them. (Voice of the Martyrs)

SAUDI RELIGIOUS POLICE OUTLAW PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF NON-MUSLIM FAITH A senior Saudi cleric says Saudi Arabia does not stop non-Muslims from practicing their religion, but will never allow public displays of their faith. The chief of the powerful religious police told a newspaper that his group does not detain or punish non-Muslims for practicing their religion. He said that while members of the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice — the formal name for the religious police — do not harass or force non-Muslims to convert, “We will not allow them to publicly practice their religion in this country.” Although he did not mention it specifically, his comments appeared to come in response to a U.S. State Department report that accused Saudi Arabia of “particularly severe violations” of religious freedom. The religious police are charged with ensuring that women are covered in black robes outside their homes, the sexes do not mix in public, shops close five times a day for prayers, and men go to mosques for prayers. (AgapePress)

CHRISTIAN GROUPS BRING PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL AID TO HURRICANE VICTIMS Hope International is gearing up to help small business owners in the Dominican Republic where Tropical Storm Jeanne left 17 people dead. Across the Caribbean, the death toll from the storm could reach 2,000, and more than 250,000 are homeless. Hope International’s Dave Larson says his ministry has taken an unconventional approach to helping victims in the Dominican Republic. “Ninety-nine percent of what is done after natural disasters are handouts — giving people food, water, clothing, shelter. However, I’ve found the best thing in the long run is to help people get back on their feet is not a handout, but a hand up. We’re doing that through micro-finance — small business loans.” By helping in a physical way, it also has spiritual implications. “By working with churches and other Christian ministries you gain opportunities to earn the right to be heard,” Larson says. “You can share the love of Christ both tangibly and verbally through this type of ministry.”

Meanwhile, workers with the International Bible Society (IBS) are distributing copies of the Scripture booklet, “When Your Whole World Changes” to those affected by hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan in the southeastern U.S. The storms damaged thousands of homes and caused shortages of food and other basic supplies. Depression has also set in. IBS Outreach Director Sues Hyde says the revised booklet, containing 30 daily readings, was developed after Hurricane Andrew hit the Miami area in 1992. Local churches are working to distribute copies in areas affected by the latest storms. “We have run out [of the booklet] in our warehouse. It has been a popular item during this season. But more [are being printed], and we’re expecting them this week.” (Mission Network News/ABC News)

* Christian radio stations in three cities of the Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo, San Francisco de Macor ­s and Las Matas de Farf ¡n) receive Spanish programming via ALAS, HCJB World Radio’s Latin American satellite radio service. More than 69 outlets in 13 countries across Latin America are affiliated with ALAS.

NATIONAL MISSIONARIES REACH OUT TO REMOTE TRIBES IN BENIN Indigenous ministries in the West African nation of Benin are working to bring the gospel to remote tribal groups. Despite hindrances of Islam and demonic worship, their efforts have produced fruit. One example is the Tchito tribe in southern Benin. Since January missionaries have worked to establish a presence among this people group. At first they faced obstacles from animistic superstitions and Islamic opponents. The small evangelical churches faced constant challenges. Missionaries said the people have lived in such oppressive poverty and spiritual darkness that they “do not believe in happiness.” Yet the light of Christ is breaking through this darkness. Native missionaries mobilized the few Tchito believers they found to pray regularly for their fellow tribal members. The churches have begun to grow, and a training and discipleship program has been started to support struggling Christians and raise up new gospel workers. Unbelievers have begun taking notice of the effects on their communities, sensing that many “troubles and bewitchments” caused by animistic worship have stopped. Through crusades, discipleship programs and other evangelistic tools, native missionaries in Benin are reaching thousands of tribal people for Christ. (Christian Aid Mission)

* HCJB World Radio worked with the Council of Protestant and Evangelical Churches of Benin to help put a Christian station on the air in Cotonou in 1998. The station broadcasts the gospel in French, English and seven tribal languages. Partner ministry SIM also records programs in eight languages at studios in Parakou. Programs air on local stations across Benin.

SURVEY: INTEREST IN RELIGION CONTINUES TO DECLINE IN U.S. A new survey by the Institute for Jewish and Community Research concludes that religious identity in the U.S. has declined in the past decade. The San Francisco-based group’s survey, titled “The Decline of Religious Identity in the United States,” found that 16 percent of respondents declined to identify with a particular faith, up from less than 10 percent in the early 1990s. This “nonreligious” group is now the third largest in the nation, trailing Catholics at 24 percent and Baptists at 17 percent. “Although it is too soon to know if this evidence will mark the start of a long-term trend — or exactly what the decline implies — if it persists, these numbers clearly contradict the notion that all Americans are becoming more religious,” said Gary Tobin, the institute’s president. “While some Americans are becoming more religious, a significant number are moving in the other direction.” (WorldWide Religious News/UPI)

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