SAUDI RELIGIOUS POLICE DETAIN 8 CHRISTIANS FROM INDIA IN CRACKDOWN

MOSCOW POLICE BREAK UP PENTECOSTAL PROTEST RALLY AT CITY HALL

GROWING UNREST IN HAITI FAILS TO SLOW DOWN MINISTRY

TWO CHRISTIAN BROADCAST MINISTRIES IN PUERTO RICO JOIN FORCES

FORMER ROMANIAN AMBASSADOR, RELIGIOUS LEADER DIES AT AGE 63

LATE SKY ANGEL FOUNDER HONORED WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Today’s News Stories:

SAUDI RELIGIOUS POLICE DETAIN 8 CHRISTIANS FROM INDIA IN CRACKDOWN Members of the muttawa, Saudi Arabia’s “Islamic religious police,” arrested eight Christians from India the night of Saturday, May 28. Among them was Chittirical John Thomas, 37, who was pulled from his workplace in Riyadh by local authorities, dragged to his home and beaten in front of his maid and 5-year-old son. The muttawa then confiscated his Bible and religious paraphernalia and took him to the Shemaissy Detention Center. Thomas’s wife, who is five months’ pregnant, has not heard from her husband since. Seven other Indian nationals were arrested and detained in similar fashion while they slept late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. They include Valiakalail Samuel Daniel, Koil Pillai Vijaykumar, Mutham Plackal Mathai Thomas, Pathivadathil James George, George Matthew, Biju Thomas and Saji Varghese. Vijaykumar was interrogated until 3 a.m. along with his wife. At least one of the prisoners was reportedly abused while imprisoned, forced to continuously stand and was beaten with his hands bound behind his back. The crackdown on Christians comes in the wake of talks with the U.S. Department of State regarding Saudi Arabia’s status as a Country of Particular Concern. (International Christian Concern)

MOSCOW POLICE BREAK UP PENTECOSTAL PROTEST RALLY AT CITY HALL Moscow police broke up a protest rally that the Pentecostal group Emmanuel was holding in front of the city administration building on Tuesday, May 31, reported the Interfax news agency. Members of the sect blame policemen for “causing physical injuries” to the protesters, saying most of them were elderly. City authorities gave the Pentecostal group permission to hold a rally at another site, but they moved towards the city hall in a bid to attract attention to their demands. As local media reported earlier, Moscow officials banned the building of an Emmanuel prayer house in the Russian capital, although members of the religious group said they received permission personally from the city’s mayor, Yuri Luzhkov. The rally was the third protest by the group against city authorities. Local police could not confirm whether any of the protesters had been injured. (WorldWide Religious News/MosNews)

GROWING UNREST IN HAITI FAILS TO SLOW DOWN MINISTRY The U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning to Haiti because of violent gangs and a lack of effective police force. However, Warren Hardig of Men for Missions, the laymen’s voice of OMS International, says most of the ministry’s work is in the north, and as yet, is untouched by the growing unrest. “We’ll be very cautious,” he said. “But we have no plans to cut back at this point. We plan to go ahead and do ministry the best we can. . . . We just see this as the adversary throwing some last punches in, but we’re still claiming Haiti for Christ.” Through Operation Saturation, the ministry plans to distribute thousands of small, fix-tuned, solar-powered radios across Haiti. The radios receive broadcasts from 4VEH, a Christian station established 55 years ago. A bulletin from the State Department warns Americans of the “potential for spontaneous demonstrations and violent confrontations between armed groups,” endangering innocent bystanders. Lack of law enforcement in Haiti also has increased the potential for looting; the presence of intermittent roadblocks set by armed gangs or by the police; and the possibility of random violent crime, including kidnapping, car jacking and assault. (Mission Network News/Men for Missions International)

* Staff members from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., are working with OMS International to establish a satellite radio network based at 4VEH outside of Cap-Haitien that will deliver programs to FM stations nationwide. Downlinks have been installed in Tortue Island, Pignon and Beaumont, and at least two more are planned. HCJB World Radio also helped partner World Gospel Mission with a small station in Port-au-Prince.

TWO CHRISTIAN BROADCAST MINISTRIES IN PUERTO RICO JOIN FORCES In an effort to increase effectiveness and efficiency, Grace Ministries International (GMI) has joined forces with Calvary Evangelistic Mission by combining the organizations’ radio ministries in Puerto Rico. “We just felt that this is a good way to be more efficient and work together to get out the gospel,” said GMI’s Sam Vinton. “[Calvary Evangelistic Mission] is doing that and has done that for so many years. It’s a very evangelistic outreach ministry.” The two ministries are broadcasting from the cities of Juana D ­az and San Juan. The goal is to make Christian broadcasts available to the entire island as well as neighboring islands. (Mission Network News)

FORMER ROMANIAN AMBASSADOR, RELIGIOUS LEADER DIES AT AGE 63 Ambassador Aurel-Dragos Munteanu, executive vice president and cofounder of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, died at the age of 63 on Monday, May 30, after a two-year battle with cancer. Munteanu was part of leadership for the opposition to the communist regime in Romania and “was instrumental in the downfall of Nicolai Ceausescu.” He ultimately became Romania’s post-revolution permanent representative to the United Nations. In 1990 Munteanu was appointed president of the United Nations Security Council and was responsible for drafting and passing the resolution that authorized force against a member state for only the second time in history. Munteanu later became the Romanian ambassador to the U.S. where he secured Most Favored Nation trading status for his country. Munteanu helped found the Institute on Religion and Public Policy in 1999 with Joseph Grieboski and served as its executive vice president and liaison to the United Nations. Grieboski says of Munteanu, “His wisdom, insight, faith, and heart will be greatly missed. Today liberty has lost one of its greatest and most ardent champions.” (Assist News Service)

LATE SKY ANGEL FOUNDER HONORED WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Robert Johnson Sr., founder of the direct-to-home satellite television network Sky Angel, was honored posthumously with a Lifetime Achievement Award during the baccalaureate commencement at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., Saturday, April 30. University President Richard Roberts presented the award to Robert Johnson Jr. and Sky Angel Chief Executive Officer Rob Johnson. The award was given “in grateful appreciation for Robert Johnson Sr.’s contribution to Christian television” and marks only the second time the university has presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to an individual. In presenting the award, Roberts recalled the first meeting he and his father, evangelist Oral Roberts, had with Johnson Sr. about the vision for Sky Angel. “I remember very well when your father came to my father’s office in the late 1970s or early 1980s and sat down and shared the vision with my father and me that we’re going to get a satellite in the air with a 24-hour-a-day, 100-percent Christian message, and he never wavered from that dream until it was done,” he explained. (Assist 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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