ISLAMIC RADICALS KIDNAP CHRISTIAN CONVERT IN KASHMIR, INDIA

17 DIE IN RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE FOLLOWING RAPE OF NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN

WORLD VISION RESPONDS WITH AID TO FLOODED VILLAGES IN ROMANIA

CHAMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES IN COLOMBIA HONORS EVANGELICAL PASTOR

200 MILLION CHRISTIANS TO TAKE PART IN FIRST GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER

Today’s News Stories:

ISLAMIC RADICALS KIDNAP CHRISTIAN CONVERT IN KASHMIR, INDIA Islamic hard-liners announced on Monday, May 9, that they had kidnapped a Christian woman in Kashmir, India, after she went missing late last week. She had converted to Christianity from Islam and was actively involved in Christian ministries such as translation work and producing children’s Bible stories. She is one of only a few Kashmiri women who have come to know Christ and is now influential in spreading the gospel in this severely restricted region. The kidnapping came soon after Muslim mullahs demanded last week that staff members with Asia Harvest move from their offices and leave their homes. The ministry reported that it is not unusual for Christians in the area to face threats from radical Muslims. (Mission Network News)

17 DIE IN RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE FOLLOWING RAPE OF NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN Fourteen Christians were among 17 people killed in the central state of Benue, Nigeria, after Muslim militants attacked the villages of Chilakera and Imbufu on Sunday, April 10. A local government official, Tsenongo Abancha, said that tensions between the two religious communities was fueled by the rape of a Christian student at the hands of two Muslim men. “This girl was not only raped by these Muslims, but was also poisoned to death on March 17,” Abancha said. Police have reportedly arrested nine people in connection with the incident, including relatives of the dead Christian girl. In an unrelated incident in the capital city of Lagos the afternoon of Thursday, April 28, a street fight broke out when Muslims accosted a Christian woman on a street near a mosque. The fight left four people hospitalized and caused considerable property damage. (Compass)

WORLD VISION RESPONDS WITH AID TO FLOODED VILLAGES IN ROMANIA World Vision is responding to heavy flooding that recently hit northwestern Romania, leaving 3,700 people homeless. Staff workers are concentrating on emergency relief efforts in the worst-hit villages of Foeni and Uuiva. Thought to be the area’s most severe flooding in 35 years, the waters destroyed numerous bridges and dykes, causing many roads to be unusable. Telephones and electricity were cut off, and fresh drinking water is in short supply. While this isn’t a “major disaster,” villagers who lost their homes and farms saw a lifetime of work wash away. Teams are making plans to reconstruct houses and schools, opening evangelistic opportunities among those who have lost everything. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio broadcasts the gospel locally in seven Romanian cities via partner ministry Radio Voice of the Gospel. An eighth station in Constanta is expected to go on the air in June. The network is a cooperative effort with the Evangelical Alliance of Romania and the Romanian Missionary Society.

CHAMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES IN COLOMBIA HONORS EVANGELICAL PASTOR Jos © Satirio Dos Santos, a Brazilian pastor who founded 42 churches and several institutions such as the Ebenezer Academic School, the Biblical Seminary of Cucuta and others, received the “Sim ³n Bol ­var Order of Democracy” award from the Chamber of Representatives. It was presented during the inaugural ceremony to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Christian Center, a church in Cucuta, Colombia. The award was presented by Ricardo Arias, a representative of the chamber. He said it is given to “those people and institutions that achieve a renowned role worthy of merit in the institutional life of our country. We are not just talking about a useful man . . . his life has been very beneficial to significantly bless not only the city but the country.” The celebration was attended by several national and international delegations with a musical theater show that recreated the history of the church since its founding in 1975 by Satirio Dos Santos. The anniversary program, which concluded on Monday, May 9, included the “School of Latin American Leadership, Generation of Conquest,” attended by 1,500 local leaders from across Latin America and the U.S. (Latin American and Caribbean Communication Agency)

200 MILLION CHRISTIANS TO TAKE PART IN FIRST GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER America’s National Prayer Committee, along with the International Prayer Council and Transformation Africa, are organizing the world’s first global prayer event planned for Sunday, May 15. About 200 million Christians in more than 160 countries are expected to be united in prayer to seek God’s blessings upon the world’s nations during the event. U.S. activities will be telecast via the Sky Angel nationwide direct-to-home, Christian-family satellite television service. In anticipation of the event, U.S. participants began 10 days of earnest prayer on the National Day of Prayer Thursday, May 5. (Assist News Service)

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