SECOND PASTOR IN 3 WEEKS FOUND MURDERED IN SOUTHERN INDIA

3 CHRISTIAN STUDENTS FILE SUIT AGAINST NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY

TURKEY RELAXES RESTRICTIONS ON CHURCHES IN BID TO JOIN EU

FOREIGNERS, LOCAL MISSIONARIES SPREAD GOSPEL IN KUWAIT AMID DANGERS

IOWA COLLEGE ONE OF MANY TO PARTICIPATE IN 24-7 PRAYER CAMPAIGNS

Today’s News Stories:

SECOND PASTOR IN 3 WEEKS FOUND MURDERED IN SOUTHERN INDIA The body of Pastor Isaac Raju was found by police in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, June 2, nine days after he was reported missing on May 24. Sam Paul, the national secretary of the All India Christian Council, said the body was found wrapped in a jute bag that was dumped behind bushes outside the state capital of Hyderabad. The body of K. Daniel, a preacher from Kummarvadi, was found on May 21 in the same area. Both men pastored churches on the outskirts of the state capital. Following Raju’s disappearance, police launched a manhunt. An Associated Press report said police questioned at least 150 members of Hindu nationalist groups after an anonymous letter was sent to a local newspaper claiming the murders were carried out by an organization called the Anti-Christian Forum. The state government has formed a special investigation team to find those responsible for the murders. (Compass)

3 CHRISTIAN STUDENTS FILE SUIT AGAINST NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY Three students expelled from a Nigerian university for sharing the gospel with their Muslim classmates last November have filed suit against the institution, claiming the expulsion was a “gross violation of their fundamental rights as Christians.”Abraham Adamu Misal, Habakkuk Solomon and Hannatu Haruna Alkali filed suit before the Federal High Court of Justice in Jos against Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi. They were studying electrical engineering, chemical engineering and biology education respectively. The students’ lawyer, Emmanuel Danboyi, accused the university’s disciplinary committee which investigated the case of being biased because it had 10 Muslims and only one Christian on the committee. Danboyi asked the court to declare the recommendation of the disciplinary committee “null, void and of no effect.” The Christian students are also asking the court to set aside their expulsion from the university. The court began its hearing of the suit on Monday, June 6, with Alkali testifying. The hearing continues on July 6. (Compass)

* HCJB World Radio, together with partners In Touch Ministries, SIM and the Evangelical Church of West Africa, began airing weekly half-hour programs to Nigeria in the Igbo language in 2000. In 2003 weekly broadcasts were added in two additional languages, Yoruba and Hausa. HCJB World Radio also has helped with radio ministries in six cities with more in the planning stages.

TURKEY RELAXES RESTRICTIONS ON CHURCHES IN BID TO JOIN EU In the drive to obtain membership in the European Union, the Turkish government has included legal reforms concerning the opening of new churches and other non-Muslim places of worship in the country. Just 55 Protestant churches have been publicly identified as places of worship in Turkey’s major cities. However, none of these facilities have been able to acquire formal, legal status as church buildings. Obstacles preventing Turkish Christians from worshiping in buildings include zoning regulations, the size of the church property, and a requirement that public meetings such as church services must have written permission from the other owners of the building. “The issue of the legalization of Protestant churches is under constant and close scrutiny,” a source at the European embassy in Ankara said last week. “It will continue to be one of the topics on the agenda of the European Union.” Critics say the relaxing of the restrictions is merely “cosmetic.” Meanwhile, Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate coordinated a symposium March 15-17 in conjunction with a local university to present academic research on missionary activities in the country. The conference included reports on Christian missionary activities within Turkey as well as among Turks in Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, France and Germany. Conference organizers said they viewed missionary activity in part as a “security issue” with several professors from the local police academy giving presentations. (Compass)

* HCJB World Radio worked with Words of Hope and local partners to help establish Radio Shema, an FM station in Ankara, Turkey, in 2003.

FOREIGNERS, LOCAL MISSIONARIES SPREAD GOSPEL IN KUWAIT AMID DANGERS While the Kuwaiti government is one of the more tolerant in the Middle East, the country has only a few hundred known native believers. The more than 100,000 professing Christians in this oil-rich land are mostly foreign workers. Proselytism of Muslims is forbidden. Many workers are from Pakistan, a Muslim-majority country where sectarian violence, some of it directed at Christians, has increased in recent weeks. Despite the dangers presented by Muslim extremists, native missionaries spread the gospel among their countrymen in Pakistan and abroad. Recently a native gospel worker made a visit to a Pakistani Christian community in Kuwait to encourage and disciple Christians. He said several people gave testimonies of how the Lord was using them to reach both Pakistanis and Kuwaitis. A Christian told the leader, “I am going out tomorrow to give a New Testament to a police officer who has been asking me for a copy. Before, I was afraid, but now I believe the Lord is calling me to take the Word of God to the people of Kuwait.” The challenges facing these brave Pakistanis will not end when they return to their home country. Muslim families may disown them or even threaten their lives. Angry neighbors may target them with violence as in the early-April slayings of a Protestant pastor and his driver in northwestern Pakistan. (Religion Today/Christian Aid Mission)

IOWA COLLEGE ONE OF MANY TO PARTICIPATE IN 24-7 PRAYER CAMPAIGNS Seventy-five InterVarsity students at Central College in Pella, Iowa, logged more than 2,400 consecutive hours of prayer in the spring semester. “It demands sacrifice and perseverance, both of which can all too often be lacking in students,” said campus staff member Jon Hietbrink. Not only have the students involved deepened their devotional lives, they have also drawn closer together through the experience and have influenced those around them. “We coordinated our 24-7 prayer movement with a major outreach event on campus,” Hietbrink said. Iowa is just one of dozens of college campuses across the U.S. that have participated in the 24-7 campaigns, inspired by Peter Greig’s popular book, Red Moon Rising. (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 * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Editor’s Note. Feel free to forward this to any interested friends. Our lists are distributed for information purposes and to encourage prayer. HCJB World Radio does not necessarily endorse or support the activities on which it reports. _______________________________________________ HCJBDaily mailing list

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