MISSIONARIES BEATEN FOR SHARING CHRIST IN INDIA

BIBLE SOCIETIES DISTRIBUTE 10,000 BIBLES IN CHINESE PROVINCES

AUSTRALIAN RADIO NETWORK NEARS 200 RELAY STATIONS

PASTORS AND BUSINESS LEADERS TRAINED IN KAZAKHSTAN

MERCY SHIPS SETS RECORD FOR LONGEST ONBOARD SURGERY

Today’s News Stories:

MISSIONARIES BEATEN FOR SHARING CHRIST IN INDIA In two recent incidents, Gospel for Asia (GFA) missionaries in India were attacked and beaten. Last Friday, November 19, a mob stormed GFA missionary Budhudas’ home in North India and dragged him outside. While a mob mercilessly beat and kicked him, others ransacked his home and burned more than 200 New Testaments, other ministry-related literature and his son’s schoolbooks. They also stole money from the family. A local police official’s son tried to stop the mob, but was beaten as well. His father rushed to the area and stopped the beatings. Under pressure from the mob, the police officer asked Budhudas to leave the village immediately. Joined by his wife and children, Budhudas fled the area for shelter. In an earlier incident, a traveling evangelistic team lead by GFA missionary Sandeep was attacked while working in a village of Orissa, India and severely beaten. (Gospel for Asia)

BIBLE SOCIETIES DISTRIBUTE 10,000 BIBLES IN CHINESE PROVINCES Rev. Daniel Willis, CEO of Bible Society NSW (New South Wales), and Rev. Roger Chilton, chairman of Bible Society in Australia, recently returned from a two-week visit to four Chinese provinces, Sichuan, Liaoning, Xian and Henan. “Traveling with a team of Australians, we handed out 10,000 Bibles to church leaders and members of their congregations. All the Bibles had been printed by the Amity Printing Company – a joint venture partnership with the United Bible Societies (UBS),” explained Willis. “We were amazed at the response we received. In some villages, we were welcomed with street parades, singing and dancing. The hospitality of these very poor people was extraordinary.” During the two-week visit, progress also was made with the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the Beijing Religious Affairs Bureau and the Beijing Christian Council in providing Christian material for the 2008 Olympics. (Bible Society NSW)

AUSTRALIAN RADIO NETWORK NEARS 200 RELAY STATIONS For the first time, people in four communities of Queensland and Western Australia, and more people in the South Australian city of Whyalla, can now tune in to Vision Christian Radio thanks to new transmitters in each location. With the launch of these five new communities, there are now 194 Vision relay stations on air nationwide, including 52 in Western Australia, 15 in South Australia, 13 in Victoria, three in Northern Territory, 31 in New South Wales and 80 in Queensland. (UCB Australia)

PASTORS AND BUSINESS LEADERS TRAINED IN KAZAKHSTAN Nearly 1,800 pastors and church leaders received the training they need to become better equipped to reach many with the gospel at a recent conference in Kazakhstan. Christians came from all over the country, but also from 10 other surrounding nations, including China and Mongolia. Jonathan Shibley with Global Advance just returned from Kazakhstan. Shibley says this was more than just a pastors conference. “In addition to equipping pastors, we had what we believe is the first ever Christian business leader’s conference where business men and women came from several nations to be equipped and encourage and challenged to use their business as a platform for the Great Commission.” Shibley says this answers a crying need for evangelism abroad. “And, that’s the need to raise up indigenous Christian men and women who can be vital for spreading the gospel through commerce and also be those in the future who can be the ones who fund the local church efforts there and the sending out of missionaries.” (Mission Network News)

MERCY SHIPS SETS RECORD FOR LONGEST ONBOARD SURGERY A record has been set by volunteer surgeons working with Mercy Ships, but the record is unlikely to find its way into the Guinness Book of Records. As the Mercy Ship Anastasis began its latest outreach in the tiny West African nation of Benin this month, a two-day surgery resulted in a man in his thirties gaining the record for the longest ever surgery onboard. Four surgeons worked on the man’s disfigured face for 19 hours, from 9 a.m. one day until 4 a.m. the following morning. The man was one of more than 200 selected by medical personnel for facial, general and plastic surgery. Another 200 were chosen for eye surgery during the four-month visit to Benin. As well as providing onboard medical care, volunteers will be involved in a range of healthcare, educational and developmental projects in the country before the ship sails to Liberia next March. (Mercy Ships)

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

Editor’s Note. Feel free to forward this to any interested friends. Our lists are distributed for information purposes and to encourage prayer. HCJB World Radio does not necessarily endorse or support the activities on which it reports.

* Shalom! Rowland Croucher * * http://jmm.org.au/ * (13900 articles, 3000 clean jokes/stories, 1m. hits/ November 2004)

*