1998 MURDER INSPIRES MORE RECENT KILLINGS

POLICE CONTINUE HUNT FOR RELIGIOUS LITERATURE IN UZBEKISTAN

INCARCARATED PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN’S HEALTH DETERIORATING

MISSIONARIES PROVIDE AID TO DROUGHT-RAVAGED MOZAMBIQUE

INTERNATIONAL AID PREPARING FOR A LONG HURRICANE SEASON

Today’s Top Stories:

1998 MURDER INSPIRES MORE RECENT KILLINGS A 25-year-old man, Kokala Govardhan, has confessed to the killing of Pastor K. Daniel and Pastor Isaac Raju in Hyderbad, southern India. Both murders occurred in May; police arrested Govardhan in late June. Govardhan told reporters that Dara Singh, who orchestrated the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines in January 1998, was his inspiration. Christian groups have now called for Dara Singh’s life sentence to be changed to the death penalty as a warning to extremists. Staines’ widow, however, has maintained her stand of total forgiveness. “If we don’t forgive men of the wrong that they do, then how can we be forgiven?” she said in a recent BBC interview. (Compass)

POLICE CONTINUE HUNT FOR RELIGIOUS LITERATURE IN UZBEKISTAN Police and secret police continue to hunt down religious literature in Uzbekistan. The latest seizures include 15 Bibles from the home of Protestant pastor Viktor Klimov in Gulistan on June 17. Five Protestants in Kungrad were officially warned on June 1, after bringing religious literature into the country. An official of the government’s Religious Affairs Committee has defended such seizures, telling Forum 18 that “the police did have the right to seize Klimov’s Bibles temporarily, but they then had to send the books to us for analysis, and we of course will conclude that these books (in other words, the Bibles) are not banned in Uzbekistan,” Begzot Kadyrov stated. Such censorship of and restrictions on religious literature violate Uzbekistan’s international commitments to freedom of expression and freedom of religion. (Forum 18)

INCARCARATED PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN’S HEALTH DETERIORATING The health of a Pakistani Christian arrested in late June, and charged under Pakistan’s blasphemy law, appears to be deteriorating. According to a news release from the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), police arrested Yousaf Masih, 60, east of Peshawar, NWFP, Province of Pakistan, on June 28. He was charged with blasphemy and desecration of the Koran. A recent news release from APMA described Masih’s current condition as, “A man with broken teeth, untidy hair, sleepless eyes, restlessness, with scratches all over his body, wearing a broken chain with broken cross around his neck was brought to a separate room in the … jail … to meet his (wife and) family … and (an) APMA delegation. As soon as he saw his family, he burst in to tears and cried, ‘Save me, they will kill me.'” According to the news release, on a recent visit Masih tearfully greeted the members of his family and APMA reported that the atmosphere of the room was “gloomy” and Masih’s condition “pathetic.” After APMA officials prayed with Masih, he said, “I believe Jesus Lord will save me. He is the Lord of living, mightier than the rulers of this world.” According to APMA, Masih reiterated that he did not desecrate the Koran. He told APMA, “I am falsely blamed.” (ASSIST News Service)

MISSIONARIES PROVIDE AID TO DROUGHT-RAVAGED MOZAMBIQUE Missionaries in Mozambique are working in desperate areas as the country is facing famine, seeing no rain since January. This is the second time in recent years, the first being a devastating drought in 2002, one of the worst in history. Native missionaries are working to provide relief aid to those they are reaching even as their own families face hunger. Christian Aid Mision’s Africa director says of these sacrificial missionaries, “They work in areas that are remote and miserable even under normal conditions.” “Normal” for Mozambique has meant poverty for years because of a history of wars and natural disasters. The recent drought is reported to have affected over one million people in the southern and central parts of the country and the lack of adequate means for transporting food makes the situation worse. Roads are insufficient and trucking companies are almost non-existent. While Christian Aid has long supported several indigenous mission groups in the country, native gospel workers were quick to help in the past and are ready to do so again. (Christian Aid Mission)

INTERNATIONAL AID PREPARING FOR A LONG HURRICANE SEASON While Hurricane Dennis wasn’t as bad as predicted, U.S. residents in the Florida panhandle still felt its devastation. International Aid (I-A) is gearing up to meet the immediate and long-term needs throughout the hurricane region in the coming months. International Aid’s Dean Agee says their disaster team is working together with several churches and relief organizations in Florida and Alabama to send and distribute materials for roof repairs and disaster hygiene kits to meet those immediate relief needs. Since Hurricane Ivan hit the same area last year, Agee says, “It must just be incredibly devastating to have experienced two hurricanes like this within ten months.” Damage assessments are being made to determine more specific needs, but for I-A, Agee says, “While disasters can be overwhelming we have to remember that God has called us to be faithful with what we have. We are part of His solution and part of His answer; we’re not the entire answer. And so, at International Aid we really focus on what is it we can do and then we try to be the most faithful and efficient stewards to the mission that we’ve been called to. And so, no matter how many hurricanes (we have) or events like tsunamis, we try to remember the faithfulness and we work and do what we can and try to make a difference in the lives of those we can touch.” (Mission Network News) * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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