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Today’s Headlines:

UNIDENTIFIED KIDNAPPERS CAPTURE LEADER OF RELIEF GROUP IN IRAQ TYPHOON NARROWLY MISSES TRANS WORLD RADIO’S STATION IN GUAM MINISTRY ON TRACK TO COMPLETE 500,000 CATARACT SURGERIES IN 2004 RUSSIAN PASTOR SHARES HOPE, FAITH AMID GRIEF AFTER BESLAN MASSACRE WEEK OF PRAYER, FASTING SET ASIDE FOR MYANMAR’S MINORITY GROUPS * HCJB WORLD RADIO-UK WINS 2 AWARDS FOR CHRISTIAN PROGRAMS

Today’s News Stories:

UNIDENTIFIED KIDNAPPERS CAPTURE LEADER OF RELIEF GROUP IN IRAQ Concern is mounting for the life of CARE International official Margaret Hassan who was kidnapped at gunpoint in Baghdad Tuesday, Oct. 19. Her Iraqi husband, Tahseen Ali, made an emotional plea for her release on Al-Arabiya satellite television. “I would like to tell the kidnappers that we are in the holy month of Ramadan and my wife has been helping Iraq for 30 years and loved this country,” he said. Hassan, in her early 60s, heads CARE’s operations in Iraq, and the humanitarian organization has suspended operations in the country. European Union Commissioner Poul Nielson said he was “appalled” at her abduction. “She chose to dedicate her life to help the Iraqi people,” he said in a statement. “Her abduction comes as yet another blow for the humanitarian community, and for all the vulnerable Iraqis benefiting from aid programs.” No reason was given for Hassan’s abduction, and it is believed that she is unharmed. The kidnapping came as a major setback for CARE which has worked to reduce poverty without making political gestures. Hassan, a naturalized Iraqi citizen, has worked for CARE in Iraq since 1992. (BosNewsLife/The Press Association)

TYPHOON NARROWLY MISSES TRANS WORLD RADIO’S STATION IN GUAM Typhoon Nock-ten narrowly missed Trans World Radio station KTWR in Guam, reported missionary Chuck White earlier today. “It swung neatly around us, just skirting us with the outermost wind, maybe 35 mph or so. Hardly even rained! So we were all buttoned up, locked down, and it went away.” White said the ministry was better prepared for this storm after going through a major typhoon two years ago that “tore KTWR’s antenna curtains to shreds.” The station broadcasts the hope of the gospel across northeastern Asia. (Trans World Radio/Mission Network News)

MINISTRY ON TRACK TO COMPLETE 500,000 CATARACT SURGERIES IN 2004 Christian Blind Mission International (CBMI) is well on its way to fulfilling its goal of completing a cataract operation for every minute of 2004 with the support of affiliated surgeons overseas. Simple, inexpensive methods to implant artificial lenses have restored the sight of nearly 500,000 people in the developing world so far this year, says Larae Harvey, manager of marketing for CBMI USA. A number of organizations are uniting for a “Vision 2020” global campaign that aims to eliminate preventable blindness by the year 2020. This includes river blindness (onchocerciasis), one of the main causes of blindness, especially in West Africa. In the last five years almost 50 million patients with eye diseases and cataracts were examined and treated in projects supported by CBM. (News Bytes/Christian Blind Mission International)

RUSSIAN PASTOR SHARES HOPE, FAITH AMID GRIEF AFTER BESLAN MASSACRE Residents of Beslan, Russia, are struggling to heal even as a grief blankets the town. Forty-five days have passed since the terrible events when Chechen terrorists stormed a middle school, killing more than 300 people, most of them children. Slavic Gospel Association president Bob Provost says the school massacre brought tragedy and, oddly, hope. “A church never before heard of around the world, and a republic not known around the world, has become the center for prayer and support. Millions of Christians are now praying for revival in Beslan and for the Lord to raise up a movement to take the gospel to all the people of North Ossetia.” Provost says the support of the body of Christ encourages those in the midst of the struggle. “Several faithful Christian mothers and fathers who lost their own precious children began to reach those without hope, who were mourning the loss of their children. The Beslan church has become a great place of comfort and encouragement for the grieving community,” he said. (Mission Network News)

WEEK OF PRAYER, FASTING SET ASIDE FOR MYANMAR’S MINORITY GROUPS Karen Christians, the Jubilee Campaign and the Karen Action Group have designated Sunday-Saturday, Dec. 5-11, as a week of prayer and fasting for the Karen, Karenni and Shan peoples of Myanmar (Burma). The ministry also has called for weekly prayer and fasting for the three people groups until there is a “radical improvement” in the situation and the atrocities against them have stopped. The systematic atrocities by the Burmese military against the Karen, Karenni and Shan include summary executions, rape, torture, forced relocations, forced labor and the destruction of villages, crops and livestock. These acts have created a “humanitarian catastrophe, including widespread internal displacement and food shortages.” An estimated 650,000 members of the three groups are refugees, hiding from the Burmese army in the jungle with little or no food or medicine, and are usually killed on sight. Jubilee Campaign and the Karen Action Group say the Burmese military’s systematic atrocities against the Karen, Karenni and Shan peoples amount to “genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity” as defined under international law. About 40 percent of the Karen people and the majority of the Karenni are Christians. The Shan are predominantly Buddhist, but the Shan church is growing steadily. “Words cannot sufficiently describe the barbaric atrocities which the Burmese troops are inflicting on the Karen, Karenni and Shan,” says Wilfred Wong, Jubilee Campaign’s researcher and parliamentary officer. This includes burning children to death in their houses, impaling young children on sharpened poles, gang raping of women and girls, and crushing babies with rice pounders. (Jubilee Campaign)

* HCJB WORLD RADIO-UK WINS 2 AWARDS FOR CHRISTIAN PROGRAMS HCJB World Radio-UK in Bradford, England, picked up a top award in London Thursday, Sept. 30, for best original Good Friday feature. Program Director Colin Lowther, who produces Pulse Classic Gold radio’s popular Sunday-morning show, “The Full Breakfast,” won the Independent Easter Award for his feature, “A Borstal Good Friday.” The program recounted one woman’s experiences in the Borstal prison and how she was transformed by an encounter with Jesus in her prison cell one Good Friday.

A first-place award also went to HCJB World Radio-UK producer Sandra Coleman who won the “Reflections” category for “Almost Heaven,” a humorous but poignant drama played out at the “pearly gates.” To listen to the award-winning programs, visit http://www.audiopot.org, HCJB World Radio-UK’s online resource for creative Christian audio.

The Jerusalem Radio Awards are run by the Jerusalem Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. The awards were presented at the Royal Society of Arts in London in the presence of some of the country’s top religious radio producers. Lowther’s program netted a trophy, a certificate and a check for  £3,000 (US$5,393). Coleman’s program captured a  £1,000 (US$1,798) prize.

“There have been 300 entries over the years, and we always look for originality, listenability and artistry — all the radio virtues,” reported the Jerusalem Trust in a website report.

HCJB World Radio-UK has earned numerous awards for radio programs in recent years. This is the sixth time that Lowther has won the Easter award since 1997. “He also took the Christmas award in 2000, and last year received a Premier Award at the Sandford St. Martin Radio Awards presented by the Church of England.” In 1998 “The Full Breakfast” won an Andrew Cross Award for best music-based religious output, and Coleman took a New Century Radio Award in 2001 for one of her creative “Thoughts in Shorts” programs.

“The Full Breakfast” airs Sunday mornings on Pulse Classic Gold across West Yorkshire on 1278 kHz and 1530 kHz on medium wave. (HCJB World Radio)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * 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://http://www.hcjb.org http://www.beyondthecall.org * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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