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Today’s Headlines:
AZERBAIJAN POLICE RAID SERVICE, INTERROGATE CHURCH LEADERS
NATIVE MISSIONARIES IN PAKISTAN REPORT PERSECUTION, GROWTH
CHURCHES IN KOSOVO GROW RAPIDLY WHILE REACHING OUT TO MUSLIMS
MINISTRIES UNITE TO HOST MEN’S EVANGELISM EVENTS IN HAITI
SURVEY: U.S. DONORS GIVE PRIORITY TO DOMESTIC POVERTY RELIEF
AZERBAIJAN POLICE RAID SERVICE, INTERROGATE CHURCH LEADERS Police in Gyanja, Azerbaijan, raided a worship service being held by a registered Seventh-day Adventist congregation on Saturday, Nov. 20, arrested and interrogated two church leaders, and fined and threatened one with deportation. Fifteen police officers raided the service at about 11 a.m. and then reportedly brought in a film crew from the Azerbaijan News Service (ANS) television to record the event. Adventist leader Rustam Akhmedov, one of those fined in the raid, says he was especially upset that the crew interviewed children despite the protests of parents. Firdusi Kerimov of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations denied suggestions that the raid represented harassment of the Adventist community. “Everything was done in accordance with the law,” he insisted. (WorldWide Religious News/Forum 18 News Service)
* HCJB World Radio is bringing words of hope and encouragement to people across Afghanistan via radio. Together with partners, Christian broadcasts go out via AM in three of the country’s major languages, Turkmen, Uzbek and Southern Uzbek.
NATIVE MISSIONARIES IN PAKISTAN REPORT PERSECUTION, GROWTH A native gospel worker with an indigenous ministry in Pakistan’s Potohar region was kidnapped in October and held for three days, suffering repeated beatings and deprivation of food as his captors tried to force him to renounce his faith. Ministry leaders in the region reported that local police refused to listen to his complaints or to seek out and punish his kidnappers. Several native missionaries working in other isolated Islamic villages in rural areas of Pakistan were also threatened and beaten in September by those who opposed their work. Reports indicate that certain radical Muslims and rogue police officers have actively and sometimes violently opposed Christians. Despite these episodes, churches in Pakistan continue to grow as more and more people turn to Christ. Native missionaries are taking full advantage of the relative freedom they currently enjoy, distributing Bibles and Bible portions by the hundreds to spiritually hungry individuals. In one hitherto unreached region, gospel workers recently gave more than 900 Bibles or portions to those who requested them. In much of the country, churches are becoming crowded and more people choose to follow Christ. (Christian Aid Mission)
CHURCHES IN KOSOVO GROW RAPIDLY WHILE REACHING OUT TO MUSLIMS The United States invaded Kosovo five years ago to bring freedom to Serbia. Today Protestant churches there are growing, but Christians who are sharing Christ with the nation’s Muslim majority face a challenge. Brothers Artur and Driton Krasniqi, who pastor the 100-member Fellowship of the Lord’s People in Pristina said the changes in Kosovo are paramount. “In the history of Kosovo there has never been such freedom as today,” Artur told Charisma magazine. Driton, who like his brother is not yet 30 years of age, added: “Under Serbian rule [until 1999] there were seven Albanian Protestant churches in Kosovo, all suffering from ongoing persecution. Today there are some 25 churches and church plants, and there is freedom, even though it is not perfect. There were 150 to 200 believers. Now there are at least 10 times more.” Church growth has been significant in Kosovo, but is still below expectations, Driton said. “In the face of war, the religious interest peaked, but now money — or rather, the lack of money — is topmost on people’s minds,” he said. (Religion Today/AgapePress)
MINISTRIES UNITE TO HOST MEN’S EVANGELISM EVENTS IN HAITI Global missions and relief organization New Directions International (NDI) is partnering with Promise Keepers (PK), the international men’s ministry, to produce a series of prayer events and men’s meetings in Haiti Dec. 9-12. More than 25,000 are expected to attend the “Haiti at the Cross” spiritual enrichment conference, being held in conjunction with the nation’s bicentennial celebrations. The conference will take place in the National Stadium in the capital city of Port-Au-Prince along with other events in surrounding areas. NDI Chief Executive Officer J.L. Williams will be a key speaker, along with PK President Tom Fortson. “God is doing a great work in Haiti,” said Williams. “To change a nation you have to change the men. We want Promise Keepers to help change the men of Haiti-especially those with influence and in the business community.” (New Directions International/Promise Keepers)
* Staff members from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., are working with OMS International to establish a satellite radio network based at 4VEH outside the city of Cap-Haitien that will deliver programs to FM stations nationwide. Downlinks have been installed in Tortue Island, Pignon and Beaumont, and at least two more are planned. HCJB World Radio also helped partner World Gospel Mission with a small station in Port-au-Prince.
SURVEY: U.S. DONORS GIVE PRIORITY TO DOMESTIC POVERTY RELIEF Compassion International has released the details of a study conducted by Barna Research showing that U.S. donors support domestic poverty relief over international relief by an eight-to-one margin. Compassion President Wess Stafford says Americans believe that governments in Third World countries should step in to alleviate the problems. “I still think Americans don’t fully get it,” he said. “They don’t fully understand the scope of the problems that these developing nations are facing. People in poverty are lacking resources, basic resources that we take for granted that we’re so blessed with.” Compassion, a child developmental agency, is working to make a difference in a world where nearly 30,000 die children every day due to malnutrition, Stafford says. “Whenever anything goes wrong in a developing nation, it goes really wrong. There’s no safety net — nothing from the government that can step in and help people out in very difficult times.” (Mission Network News)
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