2 VISITING MISSIONARIES IN DUBAI AWAIT DEPORTATION TO U.S.

BISHOP CALLS FOR CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER’S EXCOMMUNICATION

CHRISTIAN HOSPITAL IN GREECE SET TO BEGIN $20-MILLION EXPANSION

EDUCATION MINISTRY FORMS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ASSOCIATION IN NICARAGUA

WORLD VISION WORKS TO PREVENT SPREAD OF HIV/AIDS IN UZBEKISTAN

STUDY: FAITH HAS LITTLE IMPACT ON HOW U.S. CHRISTIANS REAR CHILDREN

Today’s News Stories:

2 VISITING MISSIONARIES IN DUBAI AWAIT DEPORTATION TO U.S. Two Southern Baptist ladies from the U.S. are awaiting deportation after being held under house arrest in Dubai, a state in the United Arab Emirates next to Saudi Arabia. Vivian Gilmer, 72, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Marie Bush, 55, of Waxahachie, Texas, were imprisoned in Dubai Saturday, Feb. 19, for illegally distributing Bibles and other Christian literature, but later placed under house arrest. On Saturday, Feb. 26, they met with a public prosecutor who decided to deport them rather than press charges against them. The file is now with the state attorney for him to sign the decision, and then they will be deported. The two women were traveling with the Tommy Cox Evangelistic Association, an Arkansas-based ministry. The association’s lawyers are working to negotiate their release to the U.S. next week. The two women are staying with a local pastor until a ruling is made. Eleven other travelers with the group have already left Dubai at the advice of the U.S. Consul. Christians are permitted to practice their faith in their own homes and churches in Dubai, but Islam is the official religion, and evangelism is illegal. (Voice of the Martyrs)

BISHOP CALLS FOR CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER’S EXCOMMUNICATION The Roman Catholic Bishop of Calgary, Alberta, says that if it were up to him, he would consider excommunicating Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin for his plan to legalize same-sex marriage. Bishop Frederick Henry said that Martin’s politics clash so severely with his religion that the two cannot possibly be reconciled. “You’re either with the (Roman Catholic) Church or you’re not,” said Henry during an interview with a Toronto radio station on Tuesday, March 1. Henry has previously said that former Prime Minister Jean Chretien should be excommunicated for his role in bringing same-sex marriage to the forefront of Canadian politics. Amy Butcher, a spokeswoman for the prime minister’s office, said that Martin is “deeply into the separation of church and state. His faith is a personal matter and it is very important. But he also believes deeply in the Charter of Rights and, as prime minister, he will act to uphold all rights, including the rights of religious institutions to practice their beliefs.” Martin has vowed to press ahead with legislation to permit same-sex marriage nationally with a vote in Parliament expected later this year. Courts in seven of the 10 provinces and in one territory have already ruled that denying gays the right to marry is unconstitutional. The federal legislation would grant gays and lesbians the right to full civil marriages, but religious officials would not be required to marry same-sex couples. (WorldWide Religious News/Reuters)

CHRISTIAN HOSPITAL IN GREECE SET TO BEGIN $20-MILLION EXPANSION AMG International’s Demosthenis Kartsakas says a $20-million expansion to Greece’s St. Luke’s Hospital, considered one of the best hospitals in the Balkan region, will keep the hospital competitive and its testimony sharp in a country where faith can sometimes be a barrier. “We want to offer our patients the most modern and effective treatment and, at the same time, have the opportunity to speak to them about Christ so that we may continue the combination of modern medicine with evangelism,” he said. Teams are raising funds for the expansion which includes adding bed space, radiology, intensive care units, outpatient surgery and dialysis facilities. “We hope to start at the beginning of April, and we need 24 months to complete the work,” Kartsakas said. (Mission Network News)

EDUCATION MINISTRY FORMS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ASSOCIATION IN NICARAGUA Worldwide Christian Schools is working to create a unified education ministry in Nicaragua and other countries in Central America. “We have a school ministry that we’re very excited about,” says spokesman Steve Geurink. “We’re working through an organization called the Nehemiah Center. We’re reaching about 200 schools in Nicaragua and helping to form [an association] called the Nicaragua Association of Christian Schools.” The program centers around a series of teachings called “Agents of Transformation.” The teaching has a three-pronged approach. “It revolves around personal life, as a parent, as a spouse, as a child,” Geurink explains. “Then it goes to your institution which would be, in our case, a school or a church. And then finally, they talk about community — you have to be involved in your community affairs.” (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio works with partner ministries in two cities of Nicaragua. Radio Capilla Sin Paredes (Radio Chapel Without Walls) in Managua receives programming from ALAS, the ministry’s Latin American satellite radio network 89 outlets in 17 countries. Staff members from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., also have provided technical help to a station in La Trinidad.

WORLD VISION WORKS TO PREVENT SPREAD OF HIV/AIDS IN UZBEKISTAN World Vision has partnered with the Youth League Kamolot to conduct peer-to-peer education activities to prevent HIV/AIDS in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. The project seeks to protect youth against drug abuse and high-risk behavior. In a recent televised debate aired in the Central Asian country, Uzbek youth told about their participation in World Vision’s training on HIV/AIDS prevention issues. Sixty youth leaders and World Vision specialists took part in the debate. A project worker said, “Infections are on the rise in Uzbekistan and fighting [the disease] means working more closely with youth and encouraging them to take an active stand in the global effort to fight HIV/AIDS.” The youths added that parents also need to learn more about HIV/AIDS so they can educate their children even though the disease is often connected with illicit drug use. (World Vision)

* HCJB World Radio airs weekly Uzbek programs from an AM station outside the country. A total of 15 million people speak this language.

STUDY: FAITH HAS LITTLE IMPACT ON HOW U.S. CHRISTIANS REAR CHILDREN The faith commitment of born-again parents made surprisingly little difference in how their children were raised. That’s the conclusion by the Barna Group in its latest study which looked at the outcomes parents are most eager to achieve in their children, the qualities they believe are most important for parents to have in order to be effective, and some of the critical choices and tradeoffs they make in their child-rearing efforts. Released Monday, Feb. 28, the survey of 707 adults who are parents discovered that “having a significant faith commitment and an identifiable set of religious beliefs was mentioned by just one out of every five parents as an ingredient required for parental success.” The most important outcomes parents are devoted to helping their children experience was getting a good education, with four out of every 10 parents (39 percent) listing that as their top priority. Helping the child to feel loved was the second most frequently mentioned outcome (24 percent), followed by enabling them to have a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ (22 percent). “Only three out of 10 born-again parents included the salvation of their child in the list of critical parental emphases,” noted researcher George Barna. “For that emphasis to not be on the radar screen of most Christian parents is a significant reason why most Americans never embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior.” (Religion Today/Charisma News Service) * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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