HINDU EXTREMISTS IN INDIA ATTACK 8 BIBLE COLLEGE STUDENTS

UZBEKISTAN CALM FOR NOW, BUT CHRISTIANS REMAIN CONCERNED

SAUDI ARABIA DENIES ACCESS TO 5 JAILED EAST AFRICAN CHRISTIANS

POLITICAL STRIFE IN TOGO ENDANGERS NATIVE MISSIONARIES

10,000+ PERUVIANS GATHER IN STADIUM TO PRAY FOR PEACE, UNITY, FAMILIES

Today’s News Stories:

HINDU EXTREMISTS IN INDIA ATTACK 8 BIBLE COLLEGE STUDENTS A group of extremists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) attacked and beat eight students from Beersheba Bible College of the Indian Pentecostal Church of God at Maraman, Chettimukku, in southwestern India’s Kerala state Thursday, May 12. The students were making their way on foot to attend a funeral when about 15 motorcycle-mounted RSS members assaulted them with sharp weapons. All eight Beersheba students were treated for injuries at a district hospital in nearby Kozhencherry, three of them requiring hospitalization. Despite continuing RSS threats against the college, Beersheba principal Shibu Nalweli said the campus community has chosen to forgive the attackers and does not wish to press charges. However, local police have registered a criminal case against the 15 RSS members involved in the incident. (Compass)

UZBEKISTAN CALM FOR NOW, BUT CHRISTIANS REMAIN CONCERNED Relative calm has returned to the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan after a bloody weekend of rioting in which at least 745 people died when military forces opened fire on a crowds of protesters in the eastern town of Andijan. Despite the unrest, believers in the country appear to be safe, said Mark Reimschisel of Bible Mission International. “The churches, at this point, are not being affected that we know of. We have tried to make contact with our folks there. And they’re not talking by telephone. The government appears to have clamped down fairly hard on security. The borders are being closed for walk through traffic.” Evangelism is difficult in the former Soviet block nation as handing out Christian materials such as tracts is restricted. “It’s OK to have those in Russian if you’re giving them to Russians,” Reimschisel explains. “But you cannot give them to a Russian-speaking Uzbeks because they are, by definition, traditional Muslims.” Violators face fines and possible jail sentences, and they could also lose their jobs and possessions, he said. (Mission Network News/AFP)

SAUDI ARABIA DENIES ACCESS TO 5 JAILED EAST AFRICAN CHRISTIANS Five East African Christians arrested at a private Christian worship service three weeks ago are being refused access to visitors. Officers of the Mabahith internal security force told an expatriate friend who attempted to visit the three Ethiopians and two Eritreans last week at the Riyadh prison facility where they are jailed that the Christian prisoners would only be allowed visitors after one month. The muttawa (Islamic religious police) who raided the April 29 worship service and arrested the men have authority to detain suspects for only 24 hours. “However, in practice persons are held weeks or months and sometimes longer,” noted the U.S. State Department’s 2004 human rights report on Saudi Arabia. The five prisoners were elders in a small house church of Ethiopians and Eritreans which had met quietly without incident in Riyadh for more than four years. At least 35 men, women and children in the 60-member congregation were present when the arrest took place. (Compass)

POLITICAL STRIFE IN TOGO ENDANGERS NATIVE MISSIONARIES Tension between supporters of Faure Gnassingbe, president of the West African country of Togo, and supporters of opposition leaders has jeopardized local ministries, say native mission leaders. “Some have said that government leaders want to take to actions against churches in days to come,” wrote one native missionary. “Please pray for us.” The conflict began with the election of Gnassingbe earlier this month — an election many observers claim was fraudulent. Citizens took to the streets in protests, many of whom turned violent. More than 100 people, mostly protesters armed with slingshots and machetes, have been killed since the election. Thousands of local residents worried about escalating violence have fled to neighboring Ghana and Benin, but many Christian workers remain in the troubled country. “I cannot run away because the mission God has called me to — for the salvation of my countrymen,” said one native missionary in an e-mail report. “During this difficult period, my team and I are trying to preach the gospel to people in some houses. We know that could be their last occasion to hear it before death arrives — whether through being shot, starvation or sickness.” Christians in Togo may be in even more danger than other citizens because the government perceives them as “unsupportive,” said one mission leader. (Christian Aid Mission)

10,000+ PERUVIANS GATHER IN STADIUM TO PRAY FOR PEACE, UNITY, FAMILIES More than 10,000 people gathered at the National Stadium in Lima, Peru, Friday, May 6, to pray for an end to violence and poverty and to ask for increased family unity and understanding among the peoples of Peru. The event, convened for the 16th anniversary of the National Prayer Movement, was attended by various politicians (including Antero Flores Araoz, the head of Peru’s congress) as well as church leaders and international preacher Paul Finkenbinder, better known as Hermano Pablo. Flores called on religious leaders to work in a united fashion, to create a climate of harmony and to build a better world. “We thought that in the globalized world there wouldn’t be any more wars; however, these and ethnic conflicts continue in different parts of the world,” he said. “Therefore, it is important that leaders from different religious contribute to creating a climate of peace, solidarity and friendship among peoples.” While not as heavily attended as it was two years ago with 45,000 people, it was still a landmark event for Peruvian believers. Finkenbinder, 84, called for repentance and a commitment for permanent intercession for the country. “God works when people open their hearts to provoke divine action,” he said. “We are called to sustain prayer and to ask for supernatural action in the life of society.” (Latin American and Caribbean Communication Agency)

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