MILITANTS BOMB 2 CHURCHES IN MOSUL, WOUNDING 3 PEOPLE

THREATS MAY FORCE CHRISTIAN ORPHANAGE IN INDIA TO RELOCATE

CHRISTIANS IN EGYPT PROTEST KIDNAPPING, FORCED CONVERSION

WORLD VISION LAUNCHES MAJOR RELIEF EFFORTS IN DARFUR, SUDAN

SECOND STORM THIS YEAR DAMAGES ADVENTIST SCHOOL IN MICRONESIA

AZERBAIJANI OFFICIALS BALK AT GIVING CHILDREN CHRISTIAN NAMES

Today’s News Stories:

MILITANTS BOMB 2 CHURCHES IN MOSUL, WOUNDING 3 PEOPLE Militants bombed two churches Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, Dec. 7, wounding three people in a coordinated attack apparently aimed at stirring trouble between religious groups in this ethnically diverse northern city. Deputy provincial Gov. Khasro Gouran said one blast struck a church about 2:30 p.m. in eastern Mosul’s Wihda neighborhood, wounding three people. An hour later, gunmen stormed a church in western Mosul, ordering a handful of people outside before bombing it, Gouran said. There were no casualties. Islamic militants have regularly targeted different sectors of Iraq’s multiethnic population, including the minority Christians, in a bid to disrupt the U.S.-led reconstruction of the war-scarred country. (WorldWide Religious News/Associated Press)

THREATS MAY FORCE CHRISTIAN ORPHANAGE IN INDIA TO RELOCATE A Christian orphanage in Baran in the northeastern Indian state of Rajasthan may have to move because of threats from anti-Christians in the area, says Samuel Thomas of Hope Givers International, a ministry that operates 88 orphanages across India. The situation in Baran is so dangerous that Christian workers have faced beatings or even death with some being burned alive. “The anti-Christians were very furious that we would even start a work there [knowing] that it is an anti-Christian environment,” Thomas said. “But knowing the history of Hope Givers, that has never stopped us in the past.” Despite police protection, tensions in the area recently forced Thomas to temporarily move the children out of the orphanage. “The situation got really bad because they started beating the policemen for protecting the orphanage. Finally, the board made a decision that we needed to bring the children away from there for the time being.” But that doesn’t mean ministry has ended. When Thomas asked the pastor of a local church if he should relocate, he replied. “For me to live is Christ, but to die is gain. I will not leave this place, I will stay here.” Thomas says the ministry has a tremendous impact. “We take care of the children from the street, give them God’s love, encourage them in the Lord, and 97 percent of our children are ending up in full-time ministry.”(Mission Network News)

CHRISTIANS IN EGYPT PROTEST KIDNAPPING, FORCED CONVERSION Muslim extremists have reportedly abducted the wife of a Coptic Christian in Egypt and forced her to convert to Islam, prompting demonstrations by thousands of Christian Copts in various parts of the nation. They are criticizing the government’s failure to protect them against anti-Christian crimes. Foreign journalists have been barred from the protest areas, the U.S. Copt Association reported. More than 3,000 Coptic demonstrators gathered Dec. 5-6 in Cairo, el-Minia, el-Behara and Assiut provinces to protest what they say is the abduction and forced conversion to Islam of Wafaa Constantine Messiha, the wife of a Coptic priest based in Egypt. Demonstrators charged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak of being indifferent to Coptic pleas for protection from Muslim-led persecution, and called on the U.S. to immediately intervene. (WorldWide Religious News/WorldNetDaily)

WORLD VISION LAUNCHES MAJOR RELIEF EFFORTS IN DARFUR, SUDAN World Vision has started major relief efforts in the rebel-controlled areas of western Sudan’s Darfur province. Humanitarian aid was previously unable to reach the internally displaced people living in squalid camps there because of inaccessibility. In Darfur more than 1.8 million people have been displaced by the country’s war, and many are in urgent need of food and medical attention. The small town of Khor Abeche, about 75 miles north of Nyala, came to life as World Vision teams arrived to start food aid registration and distribute non-food items such as plastic sheeting, buckets, blankets, clothing and soap. People crowded around the World Vision team and cheered as goods were unloaded from trucks. About 25,000 refugees live in Khor Abeche which is controlled by the Sudan Liberation Army. World Vision is distributing food to more than 150,000 people each month and running primary healthcare and supplementary feeding clinics in four camps in Nyala. In addition, World Vision water and sanitation teams are making plans to build latrines in five camps north of Nyala. The organization is working in eight sites in Sudan. Through a partnership with the World Food Program, World Vision is targeting 250,000 people for food distributions in addition to other humanitarian aid efforts. (World Vision)

SECOND STORM THIS YEAR DAMAGES ADVENTIST SCHOOL IN MICRONESIA For the second time this year a storm has damaged the Seventh-day Adventist school in Yap, Micronesia. Typhoon Nanmadal devastated the Philippines and left hundreds dead, then weakened as it touched down on Micronesia as a tropical storm on Tuesday, Nov. 30. The storm caused only minor damage to crops, homes and buildings, and there were no fatalities, reported The Pacific Daily News. “This typhoon was less severe than the one that devastated the island last April,” said Keith Rodman, education director for the Guam Micronesia Mission of the Adventist Church. “This storm only tore off the roof of the kindergarten to third grade building. However, this is a big loss for the school which is already struggling.” Last April Typhoon Sudal destroyed three of the schools’ seven buildings, causing about $500,000 in damage. The storm also destroyed many of the homes of the island’s 8,000 residents. (Adventist News Network)

AZERBAIJANI OFFICIALS BALK AT GIVING CHILDREN CHRISTIAN NAMES Eighteen-month-old Luka Eyvazov does not officially exist because Azerbaijani authorities refuse to issue a birth certificate for any children with Christian names. Speaking to Forum 18 News Service, a Christian working in the legal field said, “You can call your child ‘Communist’ or ‘Tractor.’ Why not a Christian name?” When the parents attempted to register their son’s birth, they were told to select an Azerbaijani name instead of naming him Luka (Luke). Other Christians have faced similar problems registering names from the Bible, often taking months and several appeals before the birth certificate is issued. (Voice of the Martyrs)

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.