NIGER DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY, SEEKS HELP AS DROUGHT SPREADS

ERITREAN POLICE ARREST CHRISTIAN COUPLE, 250 GUESTS AT WEDDING

NEW INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN TV NEWS CO-OP LOOKS PROMISING

QUEBEC BECOMES FIRST CANADIAN PROVINCE TO BAN ISLAMIC LAW

ARABIC SATELLITE TV NETWORK NAMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

TEAM LED BY IRISH-BORN EVANGELIST COMPLETES WALK ACROSS U.S.

Today’s News Stories:

NIGER DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY, SEEKS HELP AS DROUGHT SPREADS The government of Niger, the world’s second-poorest country, has declared a state of emergency and sent out an international appeal for help to feed more than 3.5 million of its citizens. Children under 5 years old make up 800,000 of those in need. Recent nutrition surveys conducted by World Vision and other agencies show alarmingly high child malnutrition rates as a result of months of drought and a locust infestation. An estimated 13.4 percent of the children are “acutely malnourished,” and 2.5 percent are “severely malnourished.” World Vision has already distributed 900 tons of food, but more than 220,000 metric tons are needed since the drought and locust swarms destroyed most of the last year’s harvest and 40 percent of the livestock. Meeting spiritual needs along with physical needs is a delicate issue in this Muslim-dominated area. “Bringing food in the name of Christ is very important to show the love of God by sharing food and assistance with people here,” said Karen Homer of World Vision. “They’re very appreciative of that. They know World Vision is a Christian organization.” (Mission Network News)

* In cooperation with local partners, HCJB World Radio helped plant a local station in Niamey, Niger, in 2004.

ERITREAN POLICE ARREST CHRISTIAN COUPLE, 250 GUESTS AT WEDDING Police raided a large wedding ceremony in Asmara, capital of the East African country of Eritrea, on Saturday, May 28, arresting at least 250 of the guests, including Benyam Gezae and his bride along with their wedding party. Police authorities reportedly contacted the families of all the imprisoned Christians, and after detaining the wedding party throughout the night at the Expo police station, released most of the prisoners found to be members of legally sanctioned churches. However, 70 individuals belonging to the outlawed Protestant churches remain under arrest. Authorities have pressured these evangelical Christians to abandon their beliefs and return to one of the “legal” churches. “The word on the street in Asmara is that these arrests were in direct retaliation for the protest vigil held three days earlier in front of the Eritrean Embassy in Washington, D.C.,” said an unnamed source. The vigil comes on the third anniversary of a government crackdown launched in May 2002 against Eritrea’s evangelical Christians and other religious minorities. (Compass)

NEW INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN TV NEWS CO-OP LOOKS PROMISING Christian World News, a CBN News production, has pioneered an international television news co-op giving Christian broadcasters the ability to use the Internet to send and receive broadcast quality video via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) without the high cost of satellite feeds which can also be hard to obtain. The first major test for this historic development took place on Sunday, May 15, with the Global Day of Prayer. Christian World News hosted an Internet video pool for broadcasters and prayer gatherings around the world. Same-day video reports were posted from Fiji, Manila, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, India, Liberia, United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina and Dallas, Texas. The reports were then edited and used at various prayer sites and by Christian broadcasters worldwide. Stan Jeter, senior producer of Christian World News and chairman of the National Religious Broadcasters TV News Task Force, called this a milestone in Christian communications. “I believe we’ve witnessed a huge breakthrough that’s brought us much closer to having our own global news network — a kind of Christian CNN,” he said. “With Christian broadcasters pooling news footage, local operations worldwide will now be able to develop their own news programs. This already has happened in Russia, Romania and the Middle East. My hope is that news will soon become an indispensable element of Christian television around the world.” (Inside NRB)

QUEBEC BECOMES FIRST CANADIAN PROVINCE TO BAN ISLAMIC LAW The legislative assembly in the Canadian province of Quebec unanimously rejected the use of sharia (Islamic law) tribunals on Thursday, May 26. Quebec is the first Canadian province to explicitly ban the use of sharia as legislators say they are working to preserve equality, rights and liberty for all irrespective of race or religion. The Canadian Council of Muslim Women has cheered the decision and hailed it as “courageous.” However, the president of the Muslim Council of Montreal likened the decision to Hitler’s treatment of the Jews, and hinted that it might consider filing a complaint to the United Nations. (Assist News Service/World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission)

ARABIC SATELLITE TV NETWORK NAMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR With 28 years of ministry experience, Debbie Brink has been tapped to lead the North American office of SAT-7 in Easton, Maryland. SAT-7 announced in a May 31 press release that it will move its acting executive director into the full-time position effective immediately. Brink formerly served as SAT-7’s vice president and chief developing officer. Under her leadership, SAT-7 entered into a successful direct mail and new donor acquisition campaign in addition to growing the major donor and foundation areas. SAT-7, an evangelical satellite television network, has made an impact in the Muslim world since it began broadcasting Christian programming two hours a week to the Middle East and North Africa in 1996. Today the network broadcasts 24 hours a day. InterMedia, an audience research firm, estimates that SAT-7 has 6 million “occasional viewers” and more than 2 million people who watch at least once a week. SAT-7 recently began broadcasting to parts of Australia and continues to expand its ministry in other areas of the world, especially those that are officially hostile to the gospel but where Muslims and other non-Christians are hungry for the truth of God’s Word. (Assist News Service/Religion Today/Agape Press)

* HCJB World Radio reaches across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe with Christian Arabic programming aired via shortwave, satellite and local stations. The Radio Al Mahabba (Radio Love) Arabic satellite network airs programs direct-to-home 24 hours a day. This region has the world’s highest concentration of personal satellite dishes.

TEAM LED BY IRISH-BORN EVANGELIST COMPLETES WALK ACROSS U.S. Irish-born evangelist John Edwards, 50, has completed his walk across America. His “Crosswalk USA 2005” started in Santa Monica, Calif., on April 5 and ended in New York on May 13. The team of eight walked and cycled about 120 miles a day. They carried an 11-foot wooden cross with a wheel on the end and preached the gospel. Before the trip Edwards reported, “The aim of the walk is to bring hope to the addicted and their families and also to preach the gospel to the lost and whoever we happen to come across along the way.” Edwards said that his small team of walkers didn’t have much money, but they were “loaded with faith. We came with a simple message and with faith that God was with us.” Team members did more than just walk, Edwards said after completing the trip. “We were able to minister to hundreds of people en route, praying for many to receive Christ and encouraging many more,” he said. The experience taught him that there are still many people who need to hear the gospel. Edwards’ next walk is set for September in Ireland. (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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