WIDESPREAD FAMINE JEOPARDIZES LIVES OF 2 MILLION KENYANS

HINDU EXTREMISTS ABDUCT, BEAT 6 SEMINARY STUDENTS IN INDIA

AMERICAN MISSIONARY SHOT TO DEATH IN BRAZIL, 2 SUSPECTS ARRESTED

TERRORISTS THREATEN FURTHER ATTACKS IN RUSSIAN COMMUNITY

SIM HELPS DEVELOP BIBLE COMMENTARY WRITTEN, EDITED BY AFRICANS

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY ADVOCATES APPLAUD SWEDISH COURT’S DECISION

Today’s News Stories:

WIDESPREAD FAMINE JEOPARDIZES LIVES OF 2 MILLION KENYANS More than 2 million Kenyans are in danger of starvation after extended rain shortages last year caused a huge decrease in crop production. From March through August, rainfall was extremely low in major agricultural areas, causing drought in 26 of Kenya’s 74 districts. Production of maize, the country’s main crop, dropped drastically. It was hoped that rains in later months would alleviate some of the drought conditions. However, December rains were also poor. Now Kenyans are facing a major food shortage that is expected to continue through this year. Soaring grain prices and limited food imports from neighboring countries worsen the problem. Along with starvation, drought brings increased risk of disease and illegal activity as desperate people resort to any means to feed themselves and their families. Hundreds of native missionaries serving in Kenya are also feeling the impact of the famine. In addition to providing for themselves, they are burdened to show the love of Christ by supplying food for the neediest families in their communities. “Continue praying for us,” wrote the leader of one ministry. “There is great famine in our country. People go hungry for many days. We want to buy food for the hungry people in our areas, but the prices have gone so high. Please pray for us.” (Christian Aid Mission)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with local partners to install eight radio outlets in seven cities of Kenya.

HINDU EXTREMISTS ABDUCT, BEAT 6 SEMINARY STUDENTS IN INDIA Members of the right-wing Hindu party, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), abducted and beat six students attending the Gospel for Asia Biblical Seminary in Thiravalla in southern India’s Kerala state the morning of Sunday, Feb. 13, for conducting evangelistic activities. The victims were taken to a nearby hospital where they are recovering from their injuries. The six students were involved in their regular weekly outreach — distributing Christian literature, preaching and praying for the sick — when they were surrounded by a small group of men that quickly grew into a crowd. The attackers began slapping the students, dragged them into three-wheeled taxicabs and drove them to a secluded house that serves as the local RSS headquarters. A crowd of men, some trained in martial arts, were waiting for the students and continued the beating, repeatedly kicking, punching and slapping them — three to the point of unconsciousness. The attackers then released the students, putting them in taxis which transported them to the bus station. After returning to the seminary by bus, the six men were immediately admitted to the hospital with severe headaches and internal injuries. Police are investigating the incident. (Gospel for Asia)

AMERICAN MISSIONARY SHOT TO DEATH IN BRAZIL, 2 SUSPECTS ARRESTED An American missionary was shot to death in the Amazon state of Para on Saturday, Feb. 12, less than a week after she accused loggers and ranchers of threatening to kill rural workers, authorities said. Dorothy Stang, 74, was accompanying a group of peasants to a meeting with other local workers when they were attacked near the jungle town of Anapu, about 1,300 miles north of S £o Paulo. She was shot three times in the face, said federal police officer Fernando Raiol. Two suspects had already been taken into custody, police said. Stang, of Dayton, Ohio, had lived in Brazil since the early 1960s and worked in the Amazon region for more than 20 years. She was an outspoken critic of efforts by loggers and large landowners to expropriate lands and clear large areas of the Amazon rainforest. Last year, Stang, who was a naturalized Brazilian, was accused by the loggers of inciting violence in the region and supplying weapons and ammunition to the local people, a claim strongly denied by her family. The early-morning attack came less than a week after she met with Human Rights Secretary Nilmario Miranda to report that four local farmers had received death threats. “This is extremely serious,” Miranda told reporters on Saturday. “We cannot allow this murder to go unpunished.” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ordered federal police to conduct a thorough investigation into Stang’s murder. (WorldWide Religious News/Associated Press)

* HCJB World Radio broadcasts the gospel in Portuguese to Brazil via shortwave from Quito, Ecuador, and maintains a world office and radio studios in Curitiba. Portuguese programs, which have been on the air continuously since 1947, generate more listener letters than any language service at Radio Station HCJB in Ecuador. The ministry’s Portuguese programs also air on local radio stations across Brazil.

TERRORISTS THREATEN FURTHER ATTACKS IN RUSSIAN COMMUNITY The community of Beslan, Russia, continues to recover from the school siege that killed more than 330 people last September, but disturbing news from Chechen rebels has raised fears once again in the minds of residents there. Shamil Basayev, the Chechen terrorist who ordered the Beslan school siege, recently used a British News interview to warn of more terror. Sergey Rakhuba of Russian Ministries was in Beslan when the newscast was released and reported, “He [Basayev] showed up on the TV there, threatening that a lot more Beslan-type attacks are planned in that area. It’s definitely scared lots of people, especially in Northern Caucasus.” More disturbing news came from a nearby village. A three-day standoff between a group of terrorists and Russian police ended in a shoot-out that killed all the terrorists and several Russian forces. Through a 24-hour counseling center in Beslan, Russian Ministries is providing emotional, spiritual and financial help to those who have been affected by the terrorist attacks. (Mission Network News)

SIM HELPS DEVELOP BIBLE COMMENTARY WRITTEN, EDITED BY AFRICANS The African church will soon have its own Bible commentary that is being written and edited entirely by African church leaders. The Africa Bible Commentary will be a “great resource for the church in Africa,” says Steve Strauss of SIM which is helping to sponsor the project. “What makes this so exciting is that [the commentary is] being not only written by Africans, but for Africans, [and addresses] African issues. There are so many issues that the church in Africa is grappling with that the church in North America just doesn’t have on its radar screen.” The commentary will explain Scripture and include articles on polygamy, intertribal issues and the AIDS crisis. (Mission Network News)

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY ADVOCATES APPLAUD SWEDISH COURT’S DECISION Christian Legal Society and Advocates International have applauded a Swedish court’s decision reversing Pastor Ake Green’s “hate speech” conviction for preaching what he considered to be the biblical view of homosexual conduct. The Swedish Court of Appeal held that principles of freedom of expression protected those speaking on controversial topics from criminal prosecution. After preaching a sermon about the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual conduct and other sexually immoral conduct, Green was accused of inciting hatred and showing contempt in violation of Sweden’s hate speech laws. “We are grateful for Pastor Green’s resolve and for the Swedish court’s sensible decision,” said Samuel B. Casey, executive director and chief executive officer of the Christian Legal Society. The society, founded in 1961, is a national membership organization of Christian attorneys, judges, law professors, law students and laypeople across the U.S. (Assist News Service) * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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