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Today’s Headlines:

IRANIAN PASTOR MOVED TO MILITARY PRISON, INCREASING CONCERNS

2,000+ ATTEND ANNUAL MEDICAL MISSIONS CONFERENCE IN KENTUCKY

MUSLIM GUARDIAN APPEARS IN JORDANIAN WIDOW’S CUSTODY CASE

BOOK OF HOPE SEES DOORS FOR MINISTRY OPENING ACROSS AFRICA

VOLUNTEER DOCTORS TO CONDUCT 500 SURGERIES ON SHIP IN BENIN

FORMER OPPONENTS IN NIGERIA’S RELIGIOUS CONFLICT WORK FOR PEACE

Today’s News Stories:

IRANIAN PASTOR MOVED TO MILITARY PRISON, INCREASING CONCERNS Iranian authorities moved Christian prisoner Hamid Pourmand to a military prison last week, deepening fears throughout the evangelical community for the safety of the Protestant pastor jailed nine weeks ago. Local sources have confirmed that Pourmand was told in late October that he would be released within just a few days. But he remained under detention at an unknown location until a few days ago, when he was transferred to a military jail. No known charges have been filed against Pourmand, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity nearly 25 years ago. Married with two children, he is a colonel in the Iranian army. Pourmand, 47, has been incarcerated since Sept. 9 when he was arrested with 85 other pastors and leaders of the Assemblies of God Church during their annual general conference in Karaj, near Tehran. Most of the detainees were released by the end of the day, although Pourmand and nine other pastors were held for four days of interrogation before the others were set free. In recent months, prominent government officials have repeatedly denounced “foreign religions” which they accuse of threatening Iran’s national security. In the country’s Islamic courts, a Muslim convicted of apostasy is subject to the death penalty. Since the 1976 Islamic revolution, a number of ex-Muslims who converted to Christianity have been covertly assassinated or executed by court order under the guise of spying for foreign countries. (Religion Today/Compass)

* HCJB World Radio, in cooperation with FEBA Radio, broadcasts weekly Christian programs to Iran via shortwave in the Luri language. There are less than 100 known believers among the 4 million Luri speakers in Iran and Iraq.

2,000+ ATTEND ANNUAL MEDICAL MISSIONS CONFERENCE IN KENTUCKY More than 2,000 medical missionaries, healthcare professionals and students gathered in Louisville, Ky., Friday-Saturday, Nov. 12-13, for the annual Global Missions Health Conference. “The goal was to help people connect for networking and to inspire, motivate and equip people to be able to carry out the Great Commission,” said Dr. David Stevens of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations. He added that medical missions is one of the greatest ways to carry the gospel, especially to countries that restrict missionary activity. The annual conference continues to grow, Stevens said. “Our goal is to increase the number of medical missionaries by 25 percent in the next five years and to increase their effectiveness in ministry by cross-pollinating ideas and programs and things that are working well.” Conference organizers want the event to become a “mini-Urbana” with between 5,000 and 10,000 people attending annually to “talk about how to carry out the Great Commission, like the Great Physician did, by healing, teaching and sharing the gospel.” (Agape Press)

MUSLIM GUARDIAN APPEARS IN JORDANIAN WIDOW’S CUSTODY CASE Abdullah al-Muhtadi, the Muslim guardian fighting for custody of Jordanian Christian widow Siham Qandah’s two minor children, appeared before Jordan’s Islamic courts on Tuesday, Nov. 9. He presented a file of receipts to the Al-Abdali Sharia Court in Amman and told the judge that the documents proved that he had paid out $16,500 in lawyers’ fees during his long legal battle to take custody of the children. In dispute were four large withdrawals he made from the children’s orphan funds. The receipts will be examined in the next two weeks by Qandah’s lawyer and Judge Zghul who set the next hearing on the case for Tuesday, Nov. 23. After the hearing, Qandah tried to approach her brother, al-Muhtadi, “But he began shouting loudly, saying, ‘She is a Christian, she is trying to kill me, like she killed her husband!'” Qandah said. She could not keep from crying during the episode which her brother seemed to have staged to embarrass her in the crowded halls of the courthouse, she said. (Religion Today/Compass)

BOOK OF HOPE SEES DOORS FOR MINISTRY OPENING ACROSS AFRICA A ministry called Book of Hope is living up to its name in Africa, a continent plagued by famine, war, genocide and AIDS. Many people offer solutions to Africa’s problems, but as Bob Hoskins from Book of Hope says, it’s a heart matter. “If there’s not a cultural change there’s no hope, and we know that the only thing that can truly transform and bring that change is a changed heart and a changed life,” he explains. “That change agent is the Word of God, and that’s why the Book of Hope is such a critical tool for the salvation of Africa.” The truth of God’s Word is effecting change, and people are responding to the hope of the gospel, Hoskins adds. “Praise God, doors are [opening across] Africa. Governments are begging us to come because they know that the real solution to their problem has to come through a transformation of lives. And God’s Word will do that! We’re excited about what we’re seeing happen across Africa through the distribution of the Book of Hope.” (Mission Network News)

VOLUNTEER DOCTORS TO CONDUCT 500 SURGERIES ON SHIP IN BENIN The latest outreach by the global charity Mercy Ships is underway in the tiny West African nation of Benin. Following two medical screening days when the flagship Anastasis arrived in the capital city of Cotonou last week, volunteer surgeons onboard have started on a schedule of about 500 surgeries. Educational and community development projects will also be carried out throughout Benin before the Mercy Ship leaves Benin in February for a four-month assignment in Liberia. It’s the third visit by Mercy Ships to Benin with thousands of people receiving life-changing surgeries during visits in 1997 and 2000. Daslin Small, the ship’s executive director, says more than 400 volunteer crew members from around the world will leave a lasting mark on the nation, following the example of Jesus in bringing hope and healing to the poor. (Mercy Ships)

* 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.

FORMER OPPONENTS IN NIGERIA’S RELIGIOUS CONFLICT WORK FOR PEACE Two Nigerians who were once on opposite sides of the religious conflict are now working together for peace. One lost his two brothers and the other his arm, but now they’re working together to bring peace in a conflict that has claimed more than 10,000 lives since 1999. Imam Muhammad Nurayn Ashafa and Rev. James Movel Wuye, both from northern Nigeria’s Kaduna state, are joint directors of the Kaduna Muslim-Christian Mediation Centre. Religious fighting in 2000 and 2002 led to more than 2,500 deaths and the destruction of millions of dollars worth of property. A fragile peace exists today. Ashafa’s two brothers and his spiritual leader were among those killed in the violence, and extremists cut off Wuye’s arm. “We were two militant religious activists, but now we are working to create space — not just for peace, but also for the transformation of society,” Ashafa said. “We were both victims of the situation that we both had a part in creating.” Wuye added, “We were both programmed to hate one another, to Islamize or evangelize at all costs. But this threatens the very existence of Nigeria.” (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

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