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Today’s Headlines:

MORE THAN 1,000 PEOPLE FLEE RELIGIOUS FIGHTING IN INDONESIA ZANIBAR POLICE ARREST 3 SUSPECTS AFTER ATTACKS ON CHURCHES SUDANESE REBELS DEMAND SEPARATION OF RELIGION AND STATE IN DARFUR CHURCHES IN ENGLAND CLOSING IN LARGE NUMBERS LUTHERAN CHURCH IN FINLAND LOSES 70,000+ MEMBERS IN 4 YEARS INNOVATIVE CHURCH IN CHICAGO SUBURB ATTRACTS HUNDREDS OF YOUTHS

Today’s News Stories:

MORE THAN 1,000 PEOPLE FLEE RELIGIOUS FIGHTING IN INDONESIA More than 1,000 people remained in temporary accommodations last week, afraid to return home after conflict erupted between Christians and Muslims living in the Mamasa regency in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The dispute arose over a law that divided Polewali Mamasa into two separate territories. Some Muslim residents objected, saying the split would place them in Christian-majority Mamasa. Riots broke out on Friday, Oct. 15, between Christians supporting the bill and Muslims opposing it. As fighting continued, residents fled their homes and took refuge in nearby villages. The governor of West Sulawesi said people should be encouraged to return home as the first step in resolving the conflict. (Compass)

ZANIBAR POLICE ARREST 3 SUSPECTS AFTER ATTACKS ON CHURCHES Police on the small, predominately Muslim island of Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania have stepped up investigations and arrested three suspects after two Catholic churches were destroyed and a small Protestant church was set ablaze in a spate of violence in mid-October. Roman Catholic Bishop Augustine Shao said it wasn’t clear who carried out the attacks. “We had no sour relationships with our [Muslim] brothers and sisters. You may find one person talking against another religion but it is not a common thing.” The local Guardian newspaper reported that the Zanzibar mufti, Sheikh Harith bin Khelef, condemned the attacks on churches in the Unguja South region and called on Muslims in Zanzibar to respect freedom of worship. Early this year, tensions increased on the island when an Islamist group held an illegal rally. Zanzibar is a generally peaceful, semi-autonomous territory of Tanzania governed by secular political parties. (Compass)

SUDANESE REBELS DEMAND SEPARATION OF RELIGION AND STATE IN DARFUR Sudanese rebel leaders demanded that Islam be kept out of government in the war-torn region of Darfur western Sudan, opening up another potentially dangerous rift between them and the Khartoum government. Seeking a political settlement to the 20-month-old civil conflict, rebel leaders called for a clear division between religion and the state in Sudan. “We are now prepared to start deliberations on the political issues following the appeal of the international observers and facilitators,” said Mahgoud Hussein, spokesman for the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM). “We want a clear distinction between the state and religion. Right now in Sudan you have a situation where Islam is given prominence over other religions. This shouldn’t be so. Even though I’m a Muslim, we want religion to be a personal thing with every citizen having the freedom to practice what he believes in.” The rebel demand was immediately rejected by government negotiators who insisted that mainly-Muslim northern Sudan, including Darfur, should be governed under the principles of Islamic law. Darfur’s warring parties have been meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, for more than a week in a bid to find a way out of a conflict which has claimed more than 70,000 lives and driven 1.5 million civilians from their homes. The rebels launched an insurrection last year to fight for greater autonomy and public spending for their region, alleging that Khartoum’s Arab-led regime discriminates against black populations. (WorldWide Religious News/AFP)

CHURCHES IN ENGLAND CLOSING IN LARGE NUMBERS While England currently allows religious freedom, that may be changing in the minds of those who live there. Jack Shiflett is with the Association of Baptist for World Evangelism (ABWE). He says in some cities Asians make up about 75-percent of the population. Shiflett says that’s evident in the landscape. “It’s not uncommon in East London or in other places to see former churches that are now mosques or temples.” It’s also more risky to preach the gospel. “There’s a risk of being threatened and beaten up and then turned over to the police after the fact. So, it is a serious situation already in England even though there is freedom of religion on every hand.” Shiflett says with the influx of foreign religions and unhealthy churches, evangelicalism is slowly dying. “ABWE’s ministry there is to come along side the local church and to strengthen them. And, what our primary ministry in the last 18 years has been church rescue.” That involves discipleship and evangelism training. (Mission Network News)

LUTHERAN CHURCH IN FINLAND LOSES 70,000+ MEMBERS IN 4 YEARS The proportion of the Finnish population belonging to the country’s main religion, the Evangelical-Lutheran Church, continues to decline, says Kimmo K ¤ ¤ri ¤inen, head of the Church Research Institute. During the four-year period covering 2000 to 2003, a total of 70,583 people resigned from the church. Contributing to the trend was Finland’s new religious freedom legislation that eases the process of leaving the church as well as a new law on burial that guarantees the same prices for grave plots for both members and non-members of the Lutheran Church. Weddings and child baptisms in Lutheran churches also saw gradual declines in recent years. Last year 84.1 percent of the Finnish population — a total of 4.39 million people — were members of the Finnish Evangelical-Lutheran Church. About 90 percent of young people attended Lutheran confirmation classes. Only a small minority of church members attend Sunday services regularly, and even attendance at traditional Christmas and Easter services has been declining of late. (WorldWide Religious News/Helsingin Sanomat)

INNOVATIVE CHURCH IN CHICAGO SUBURB ATTRACTS HUNDREDS OF YOUTHS An outside-the-box church ministry is touching the lives of youth in Chicago and beyond. Each Saturday night in the suburb of Mount Prospect, more than 400 teenagers and young adults cram into Heart and Soul Caf © — home to Souled Out Ministries (SOM) which mixes such things as upbeat music, powerful preaching, video and dance — all crafted for youth, by youth. There is also a family-oriented service on Sunday mornings. “Youth ministry is our calling. It’s what we are all about,” said staff member Joe Manahan. “We want to equip kids to see their schools as the mission fields that they are.” Equipping means that youth are mentored and in turn mentor others. Ten years ago God gave SOM founders Ed and Cathi Basler a vision to reach youth on an international level. Before 1994 the couple had been working through their church to reach teenagers with the gospel. During a period of prayer and fasting, God prompted the couple to make a major shift in direction. They felt led to begin a separate youth church with a heartbeat for missions. Within months they had launched SOM. (Religion Today/Charisma News Service)

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