IRANIAN CHRISTIAN PREPARES TO STAND TRIAL ON ‘APOSTASY’ CHARGES

ABUSE CAUSES JAILED ERITREAN PASTOR TO SUFFER MENTAL BREAKDOWN

EVANGELICAL LEADERS APPROVE DOCUMENT CALLING CHRISTIANS TO ACTION

RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS LEND MORE THAN JUST A HAND IN RWANDA

Today’s News Stories:

IRANIAN CHRISTIAN PREPARES TO STAND TRIAL ON ‘APOSTASY’ CHARGES

Iranian Christian Hamid Pourmand left Tehran’s Evin Prison by armored car Monday, May 16, en route to his home city of Bandar-i Bushehr to stand trial for his life before a sharia (Islamic) court. Some of Pourmand’s relatives were allowed to see him briefly before his departure from Tehran, but the prisoner was not permitted to speak with them. Gazing at them silently, he mouthed the words, “Please pray for me.” A colonel in the Iranian army who converted from Islam to Christianity 25 years ago, Pourmand faces execution by hanging under Iranian law if convicted of apostasy and proselytizing. The European Union registered a formal protest with Iranian authorities last November over Pourmand’s arrest, describing his incarceration and trial as an “infringement of the freedom of religion or belief.” (Compass)

ABUSE CAUSES JAILED ERITREAN PASTOR TO SUFFER MENTAL BREAKDOWN

Pastor Oqbamichel Haimanot of the Kale Hiwot (Word of Life) Church in the East African country of Eritrea, arrested four months ago at a wedding, has suffered a mental breakdown due to harsh physical and emotional mistreatment suffered while confined at the military training center in Sawa. The evangelical minister, arrested Jan. 9 along with 64 church members, is one of 16 pastors and nearly 900 Eritrean Christians jailed for meeting to pray and worship without government approval. None of the prisoners have been charged in court or brought to trial. Eritrean Christians have expressed particular concern for “vulnerable prisoners.” They include Orthodox Church leader Dr. Tekleab Mengisteab who has been unable to obtain the medications for his diabetic condition and Demoze Afwerki who heads Gideons International in Eritrea. When Haimonot’s wife traveled to Sawa near the Sudan border to try to visit her husband last week, the military camp authorities refused to allow her to see him. The pastor and five other believers from the Barentu arrest have refused to sign documents stating that they renounce their Christian faith. (Compass)

EVANGELICAL LEADERS APPROVE DOCUMENT CALLING CHRISTIANS TO ACTION

Nearly 90 evangelical leaders have given their approval to a document that calls conservative Christians to go beyond the usual issues of abortion and homosexual rights and involve themselves in such matters as poverty, justice and human rights. The document, titled “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility,” was crafted by almost two dozen leading scholars with funding from the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). The NAE represents 30 million people in 45,000 churches and 52 denominations in the U.S. “Evangelical Christians in America face a historic opportunity,” says Don Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association. The document states, “Never before has God given American evangelicals such an awesome opportunity to shape public policy in ways that could contribute to the well-being of the entire world. Disengagement is not an option.” (Religion Today/Agape Press)

RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS LEND MORE THAN JUST A HAND IN RWANDA

Religious organizations are increasingly using micro-loans for as little as $100 to open up opportunities to share the gospel. World Relief specializes in small-business lending in post-conflict regions using the Christian micro-enterprise development industry. Its Rwandan affiliate opened in 1996 and has grown into the largest micro-finance institution in the country with more than 18,000 active clients and branches in 10 of the country’s 12 provinces. Nearly one in five small business borrowers receive loans from religiously oriented lending programs. Borrowing groups of around 30 members, who are generally too poor to put up collateral, guarantee one another’s loans. With the group’s approval, individual members can take out loans for entrepreneurial ventures or other large financial needs such as school fees and home improvements. The loans are not free — the lender charges 2.5 percent per month (30 percent annually), a rate far lower than the terms offered by community loan sharks. (WorldWide Religious News/Christian Science Monitor)