OFFICIALS ORDER DEMOLITION OF ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN SERBIA

3 MUSLIM MEN ACCUSED OF KIDNAPPING CHRISTIAN GIRL IN PAKISTAN

COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT SAYS RIGHTS GROUP LINKED TO GUERRILLAS

JESUS VIDEO PROJECT TO DISTRIBUTE 20 MILLIONTH COPY OF FILM AT EASTER

CHRISTIAN ORPHANAGE PAVES WAY FOR UKRAINE’S NEW CHILDCARE LAW

EX-AIDE TO CULT LEADER JIM JONES SEEKS FORGIVENESS FOR ‘WRONGDOING’

Today’s News Stories:

OFFICIALS ORDER DEMOLITION OF ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN SERBIA Romanian Orthodox deacon Bojan Aleksandrovic is fighting an order by the local authority that he must demolish a church he built on his land in his home village of Malajnica in eastern Serbia. Officials say he cannot build without planning permission (although this is not required in rural areas) or the permission of the separate Serbian Orthodox Church (although this is not required by law). Because Aleksandrovic is not a cleric of the Serbian Church “he has no right to ask to build a church,” the council declared. Police have also questioned him about his religious activity. “All the questions were related to Orthodox church rules and jurisdiction rather than to civil law,” Aleksandrovic said. The Serbian government has long refused to recognize the Romanian Orthodox Church’s diocese in the country, which now has 39 parishes. Aleksandrovic built the small church and adjoining parish house last year on his private property and began using it for worship last fall. On Jan. 20 the Negotin council, which has jurisdiction over Malajnica, ordered Aleksandrovic to demolish the church, the belfry and the parish house within 15 days. However, he was allowed to challenge the ruling in court. (Forum 18 News Service)

3 MUSLIM MEN ACCUSED OF KIDNAPPING CHRISTIAN GIRL IN PAKISTAN On Tuesday, Feb. 8, three Pakistani Muslim men allegedly kidnapped Fozia Zafar, a 13-year-old girl from a Christian family, while she was walking to her uncle’s house. International Christian Concern (ICC) reports that local police officials initially refused to file a case on behalf of the missing girl. Action was taken only after the family contacted the Divisional Police Office authority. Two men have been arrested in connection with the girl’s disappearance. A third suspect has not yet been located, and the girl is still missing. (Assist News Service)

COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT SAYS RIGHTS GROUP LINKED TO GUERRILLAS Human rights workers in northern Colombia are increasingly concerned about alleged government efforts to portray advocates for poor and displaced Colombians as allies of FARC, the country’s oldest and largest guerrilla group. Fears were heightened Tuesday, Feb. 15, when federal agents in Barranquilla accosted the treasurer of the National Association for Displaced People, an organization that defends the rights of more than 3 million Colombians who have been forcibly displaced from their land. Organizations that work with displaced families are highly controversial because internal refugees are considered to be a burden on cities already overwhelmed by high rates of crime and unemployment. They also provoke anxiety among officials concerned about possible infiltration by guerrilla or paramilitary groups. In the past few months human rights workers have been incarcerated for weeks at a time. Rev. Milton Mej ­a, executive secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, says that efforts to link human rights groups and FARC are intended to “terrorize and discredit” the organizations. (PCUSA News)

* Together with local partners, HCJB World Radio broadcasts the gospel on FM stations in four Colombian cities. The ministry also continues to air Spanish programs across the country and all of Latin America via shortwave from Quito.

JESUS VIDEO PROJECT TO DISTRIBUTE 20 MILLIONTH COPY OF FILM AT EASTER The Jesus Video Project America, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International (CCCI) founded in 1992, will distribute its 20 millionth copy of the “Jesus” film during community-wide outreach projects Easter week, March 21-25, the ministry announced. “Jesus” is the most watched movie in history, translated into 888 languages, shown in 228 countries and viewed almost 6 billion times worldwide. “This is indeed a historic milestone for Jesus Video Project America and for Campus Crusade,” said CCCI President Steve Douglass. “The 200-million mark speaks to the continued power of the ‘Jesus’ film to touch lives, as well as to the ongoing hunger of this nation to hear, understand and respond to the good news of Jesus Christ. We thank God for His blessings, and we continue to seek to reach every home in America with [a copy of the DVD].” (Assist News Service)

CHRISTIAN ORPHANAGE PAVES WAY FOR UKRAINE’S NEW CHILDCARE LAW Father’s House Center of Social Care for Children, a Christian home for orphaned and abandoned street children, played an instrumental role in the passing of a new childcare law in Ukraine. A leader of the children’s home describes it as “a family-focused, pro-adoption law that lays a good foundation for Ukraine in general to move from orphanage-type to family-based care for homeless and abandoned children.” The law also paves the way for more domestic adoptions, encouraging Ukrainians to open their hearts and homes to needy children. The director of Father’s House was even invited to Ukraine’s parliament to give a talk on the problem of homeless children, a problem which increased dramatically with the emptying of state-run orphanages after the fall of communism. Father’s House was founded as an alternative to government-run orphanages, which were often unable to show personal care and perpetuated the problem of street children as boys and girls fled the facilities. (Religion Today/Christian Aid Mission)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with local churches to establish radio ministries in Kiev and four other cities in Ukraine. Stations in three Ukrainian cities are also affiliated with New Life Radio, a Russian satellite radio network started with HCJB World Radio’s help in 2000. In addition, daily programs air to Ukraine via shortwave.

EX-AIDE TO CULT LEADER JIM JONES SEEKS FORGIVENESS FOR ‘WRONGDOING’ A former top aide to cult leader Jim Jones has asked for forgiveness for his role in events that led to the deaths of more than 900 people in a mass murder-suicide almost 30 years ago. Tim Stoen, Jones’ former chief legal adviser and now a deputy district attorney in California’s Humboldt county, sought redemption in the form of a handwritten apology to the first reporter who publicly exposed bizarre behavior at the headquarters of the Peoples Temple in the early 1970s, The Press Democrat reported. “You were right about the Jim Jones and Peoples Temple. I was totally wrong,” Stoen wrote in his Feb. 11 letter to former San Francisco Examiner religion reporter Les Kinsolving. “I also pray you can forgive me.” Kinsolving, now a Baltimore radio talk show host, said he was stunned to receive Stoen’s apology. Jones and 908 followers died at the cult’s compound in Jonestown, Guyana, on Nov. 18, 1978. “I have asked God to forgive me for my wrongdoing in being a part of Peoples Temple. He has mercifully given me a second chance,” wrote Stoen, who publicly disassociated himself from the cult a year before Jonestown. Kinsolving said he decided to publicly release what he described as Stoen’s heartfelt letter, largely because he has forgiven Stoen. “I’m a Christian. We have no choice but to forgive,” he said. (Religion Today/Charisma News Service) * * * * * * * * * * * * * Harold Goerzen HCJB World Radio E-mail: Phone: 1-719-590-9800 Fax: 1-719-590-9801 Web: http://www.hcjb.org http://www.beyondthecall.org * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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