MUSLIM MOBS BURN 200+ CHRISTIAN HOMES NEAR CITY IN PAKISTAN

MAF’S ‘9-1-1’ SYSTEM HELPS CONNECT ECUADOR’S REMOTE TRIBAL GROUPS

CHRISTIAN RADIO BROADCASTS IN HAITI RESULT IN CHANGED LIVES

BAPTISTS URGED TO ‘DRAMATICALLY INCREASE’ WITNESSING EFFORTS

EVANGELIST BILLY GRAHAM OPEN TO HOLDING FUTURE CRUSADES

Today’s Top Stories:

MUSLIM MOBS BURN 200+ CHRISTIAN HOMES NEAR CITY IN PAKISTAN Sources in Pakistan report that radical Muslim mobs attacked Christian homes in three areas near Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 28. The attacks came after a Christian man was accused earlier that day of burning pages from the Koran. The man was Yousaf Masih who had worked for almost 20 years as a sweeper for the Pakistani military. On Tuesday he was asked to clean the office of a major’s home. During the cleaning, he came across a bag of papers which the major told him to take outside and burn. Masih is illiterate and would not have known what was written on the papers. But other workers saw the papers and said Masih was burning pages from the Koran. After hearing the workers’ accusations, Masih rushed back to his home east of Peshawar. On Wednesday afternoon police arrested Yousaf, accusing him of insulting Islam, the prophet Mohammed and the Koran — a crime punishable with death under Pakistan’s harsh anti-blasphemy laws. Following the arrest, a group of angry Muslims came to Yousaf’s home and began to beat his three sons and his brother Yaqoob. Radical Muslims returned to the area late that night, looting and burning an estimated 200 Christian homes in the region. Police have reportedly arrested 16 people involved in the attacks and surrounded all three areas in an effort to restore order as Christians brace for more potential attacks. (Voice of the Martyrs)

MAF’S ‘9-1-1’ SYSTEM HELPS CONNECT ECUADOR’S REMOTE TRIBAL GROUPS Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is installing an emergency communications system in Ecuador to better meet the needs of the country’s isolated tribal groups. “We’re working on putting in a series of 60 two-way radios in these villages which will allow them to communicate with our base,” explains MAF’s Kevin Swanson. “If they have any kind of an urgent need they’ve got a way of contacting us now. This has literally become their 9-1-1 system.” Aside from medical emergencies, Swanson says the radio system is also useful for alerting villages to traveling missionary or evangelism teams. More importantly, it fosters a sense of community. “When the radio is turned on, and there’s contact with other villages and with the MAF base, people actually gather around the radio so they can hear what’s going on. It’s really giving them a sense of connectedness to the outside world.” (Mission Network News)

CHRISTIAN RADIO BROADCASTS IN HAITI RESULT IN CHANGED LIVES Christian radio is making a significant impact on Haiti, says Warren Hardig of Men for Missions, the laymen’s voice of OMS International. A partner church recently relayed the story of a notorious witchdoctor who came to Christ because of the broadcasts. “He asked the people from the church to go destroy everything that connected him with witchcraft and the voodoo practices that he had. It’s just a part of the story, but it’s the power of the radio, and the power of the gospel. We want to focus everyone we can on worshiping Jesus Christ.” Meanwhile, Men for Missions is launching a campaign called New Day in Haiti. “Our new goal is to distribute another 200,000 [solar-powered, fix-tuned] radios in Haiti,” Hardig said. “We still want to build new downlink stations. We’re basically carrying on with the goals of Operation Saturation. We are trying to reach all of Haiti with the gospel through Radio 4VEH.” (Mission Network News)

BAPTISTS URGED TO ‘DRAMATICALLY INCREASE’ WITNESSING EFFORTS Churches throughout the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) are being challenged to dramatically increase their witnessing efforts in the coming year. During the denomination’s annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., SBC President Bobby Welch unveiled the “Everyone Can Campaign.” That initiative calls for Southern Baptists to witness, to win to Christ, and to baptize one million people in the coming year. In reaction, Welch says, Southern Baptists must expect an increase in spiritual warfare. Witnessing, he says, is hard work — and hard spiritual work as well. “You can get away with just about anything until you try to bust Hell wide open and win souls and keep them from going to Hell and get them on the road to Heaven,” he says. “You can get away with murder, almost, out there — the devil won’t bother you much. In fact, sometimes I think he helps you. But when you get to this [winning souls to Christ], it’s tough sledding.” Last year more than 10,000 SBC churches reported having no baptisms. (AgapePress)

EVANGELIST BILLY GRAHAM OPEN TO HOLDING FUTURE CRUSADES Billy Graham’s recent New York crusade was regarded as his last stadium appearance, but family and friends of the world’s most famous preacher are not so sure. Graham’s New York crusade drew more than 242,000 and resulted in more than 9,400 commitments to Christ. “I was asked in an interview if this is our last crusade, and it probably is-in New York,” Graham told the crowd of 90,000 gathered for the final meeting last Sunday. “But I also said, ‘Never say never.'” Graham added that he has a strong invitation to preach in England this fall, which he will discuss this week with a delegation that came to New York. Graham’s eldest son, Franklin Graham, who heads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), noted that “right now his health is very good. He’s the best he’s been in three years. When he gets strong he starts having all kinds of ideas, and that means more work for me!” When asked about the legacy he hopes to leave, Graham told Charisma, “I want to be remembered as a person who was faithful to God, faithful to my family, faithful to the Scriptures and faithful to my calling. I want the world to remember Billy Graham as a man that dedicated his life to the Lord and never looked back.” (Religion Today/Charisma News Service)

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