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Today’s Headlines:

ISLAMIC RADICALS SUSPECTED OF BEHEADING CHRISTIAN CHIEF IN INDONESIA ZIMBABWE PARLIAMENT CONSIDERS BILL RESTRICTING HUMANITARIAN WORK MUSLIM STRONGHOLDS INFILTRATED WITH GOSPEL IN PHILIPPINES MIRACLES DRAW MANY TO CHRIST IN LAOS DESPITE PERSECUTION MISSION LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO DONATE 25,000 WHEELCHAIRS WORLDWIDE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH BREAKS GROUND IN CUBA

Today’s News Stories:

ISLAMIC RADICALS SUSPECTED OF BEHEADING CHRISTIAN CHIEF IN INDONESIA The severed head of the Christian chief of a village in Central Sulawesi, eastern Indonesia, was found Friday, Nov. 5, amidst unabated, continued attacks in the country. Meanwhile, authorities have done little to apprehend the culprits, reported the Christian human rights group, Jubilee Campaign. Some Muslims were sitting and talking near a service station in Sayo, Poso City, on Friday when they saw “something black” thrown from a dark pickup. When they took a closer look, they discovered that it was a black plastic bag containing a human head. They called police, and the police identified the head as belonging to Sarminalis Ndele, 48, the chief of Pinedapa village who was a Christian. Eyewitnesses said that after coming back from his plantation at approximately 8 p.m. the previous evening, Ndele was picked up by a man with a red Yamaha motorbike. Ndele apparently trusted the man because “without any hesitation he went with him and failed to return afterwards.” Ndele’s headless body was later found near Masani village Friday afternoon. The beheading suggests that Islamic extremists are mimicking the methods used by Muslim terrorists in Iraq as a new method of striking terror in Sulawesi’s Christians, said Wilfred Wong, Jubilee’s campaign researcher. (Jubilee Campaign)

* HCJB World Radio worked with local Indonesian partners to establish local Christian stations in Sumba Island and Kupang, West Timor, with help from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind. Plans are also being made to establish a station on Roti Island later this year.

ZIMBABWE PARLIAMENT CONSIDERS BILL RESTRICTING HUMANITARIAN WORK Humanitarian work in Zimbabwe is under threat by the government as the parliament considers a bill that could restrict non-government organizations and religious workers in the country. The bill would give the government power to control all foreign aid and humanitarian work, especially if the government deems that it would challenge the government’s positions on human rights and democratic governance. The bill could “seriously affect” ministries such as Operation Mobilization (OM) which works with local churches and among the Tonga, Zimbabwe’s least-reached people group. Members of the OM team in Zimbabwe are now in South Africa, awaiting their appeal for work permits. (Mission Network News)

MUSLIM STRONGHOLDS INFILTRATED WITH GOSPEL IN PHILIPPINES Indigenous ministries in the southern islands of the Philippines are seeing God work mightily in communities that are heavily populated by Muslims. Al-Qaeda is reported to have a training camp on one of the islands while the Islamic terrorist group Abu Sayaff is working to indoctrinate area youth and establish an independent Islamic state. In the face of these terrorist efforts, young people have become an open door for the gospel. At a recent youth camp, native missionaries led five young Muslims to Christ. They were baptized and sent home where they immediately began sharing their faith in Jesus with friends and family despite danger of reprisals. Through contacts made by these brave new believers, native missionaries were able to enter Muslim territories for the first time to preach and disciple converts. They started an underground church for former Muslims and smuggled hundreds of Bibles and hymnals throughout the territories. Missionaries working among the predominantly Muslim Maranao tribe have also seen many come to Christ through compassion projects such as literacy training and medical assistance. (Christian Aid Mission)

MIRACLES DRAW MANY TO CHRIST IN LAOS DESPITE PERSECUTION Despite communist authorities’ strongest efforts, hundreds are coming to Christ in Laos, many after witnessing the Lord’s miraculous healing power. Authorities in Laos have closed church buildings and forbidden believers from reentering them. Some brave Christians continue to meet together in closed buildings, knowing they could be arrested at any time. Officials threaten believers with imprisonment and heavy fines if they tell others about Christ. Some Laotians are too fearful of government threats to listen to gospel workers. Despite these hindrances, one missionary wrote, “God has been using illness to bring people to Himself. In the past few months, we’ve had many people show interest in the things of God because they were suffering from a physical ailment. Many unsaved Laotians who couldn’t be helped by doctors or hospitals have turned to our churches for healing prayers. God has shown His power by healing many.” As God uses miracles like these to open people’s hearts, churches in Laos are growing in a way Christians have not seen for many years and even the fiercest government threats cannot stop it. (Christian Aid Mission)

MISSION LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO DONATE 25,000 WHEELCHAIRS WORLDWIDE Free Wheelchair Mission, a nonprofit organization based in an Orange County, Calif., announced that it will donate some 25,000 wheelchairs to needy recipients worldwide this holiday season through its “Gift of Transformation” campaign. The campaign will begin in India where the ministry will dedicate and distribute 1,100 wheelchairs on Friday, Dec. 3, in honor of the U.N.’s International Day for the Disabled. The week of Dec. 13-17 volunteers across the U.S. will host parties to raise disabilities awareness in their communities. Dr. Don Schoendorfer, president and founder of Free Wheelchair Mission, says the campaign has garnered an “incredible response” in the past year. He says that when the recipients receive their wheelchairs “it changes their feeling about life and shows them someone cares for them.” Schoendorfer says the sturdy chairs provide mobility even to people who live in rough, underdeveloped terrain. (AgapePress)

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH BREAKS GROUND IN CUBA The Russian Orthodox Church, the largest of the world’s eastern Orthodox communions, is expanding into Cuba, Novosti reported. The church’s Moscow leaders said plans are to break ground this month in the center of Havana. There are an estimated 8,000 Orthodox Christians in Havana. Church leaders say their branch of the Christian faith is distinctive in its commitment to preserving the theological and liturgical traditions of the church fathers and also in its deep reverence of the Virgin Mary, both of which are prized by the island’s Orthodox believers. (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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