A CHRISTIAN SCHOOL IN INDIA FACES TROUBLE FROM MILITANT HINDUS

UNREGISTERED RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY NOW BANNED IN KAZAKHSTAN

TALKING BIBLES TARGET MORE THAN 170 MILLION BENGALI SPEAKERS

Today’s Top Stories:

A CHRISTIAN SCHOOL IN INDIA FACES TROUBLE FROM MILITANT HINDUS Back to the Bible reports militant Hindus are conducting a campaign to discredit a Christian school in India. This is not the first time school administrators have had to deal with these difficulties. In a previous incident, school officials from a competing school went to the surrounding villages and accused the Christian staff of teaching the children the Bible, changing their religion and taking them back to the British RAJ. The school offers village children a quality English education and Hindu parents of many castes have sent their children to this school because of the quality of instruction – aware that Christianity is part of the curriculum. The team expects more opposition and is prepared to trust the Lord for solutions. (Mission Network News)

UNREGISTERED RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY NOW BANNED IN KAZAKHSTAN New national security amendments signed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev on July 8 have brought in tight new restrictions on religious activity that violate Kazakhstan’s international human rights commitments. All unregistered religious activity is now illegal and those leading or taking part in unregistered religious meetings can be fined. Missionary activity by local people and foreigners is illegal unless missionaries are from a registered religious organizations and have individual registration from the authorities of the local area where they operate. Literature for use by missionaries requires prior censorship from local authorities. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had urged that the ban on unregistered religious activity should be excluded from the law. “Unfortunately this was not done,” an official of the OSCE mission in Almaty told Forum 18 News Service. The OSCE is preparing a detailed critique of the “overly restrictive” new law. (Forum 18)

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has released more detail on the story of three women in Indonesia on trial. The three women were involved in a children’s holiday camp and are currently standing trial on charges of Christianization. If convicted they face jail sentences of up to five years. According to CSW, the charges against Dr. Rebecca Laonita, Ratna Mala Bangun and Ety Pangesti stem from the women’s involvement in a children’s holiday initiative called Happy Week in Haurgelis, West Java. CSW says the camp was organized for local Christian children but, with parental consent and supervision, Muslim children were also welcomed. In a report received by ASSIST News Service (ANS), CSW says the program consisted of opening and closing prayers, singing songs, practical tutoring in reading, writing and mathematics and trips to parks and swimming pools. The initiative proved so successful that it came to the attention of the local authorities. The report states: “The case of Christianization was brought against the women by the local chapter of the Indonesian Council of Muslim Clerics (MUI) who alleged that the women enticed Muslim children to participate and that they tried to convert the children to Christianity by giving them gifts.” The CSW report says: “Their trial, which commenced on June 30, and is set to continue for several more weeks, has attracted considerable national attention. The presence of over a hundred Mujahadeen militants at the court hearings and reports of extremists interfering with witnesses, have led observers to fear that a great injustice will be done.” (ASSIST News Service)

TALKING BIBLES TARGET MORE THAN 170 MILLION BENGALI SPEAKERS Talking Bibles International is targeting the Bengali language with their Talking Bible New Testament. There are more than 120 million people in Bangladesh and 50 million in India who speak Bengali. Talking Bible’s Paul Hoekstra says many people who speak this language aren’t able to read. “Once you move away from the urban centers, you find that the literacy rates drop off quite drastically, particularly when you get into village areas and into the more agricultural communities where people are working in the fields.” Hoekstra expects the project to take time. “We’re right in the beginning states. The studios have been contacted. The Bible Society is giving their permission to do the recording and we’re now searching for the voices. It’ll take about two to three months to get the New Testament recorded. And, once it’s recorded we can encode it.” Hoekstra reiterates the importance of the Talking Bible. “In a lot of parts of the world even the evangelists themselves read very poorly. So, giving them a Talking Bible helps them; it equips them with the most basic of the tools that need for their growth and discipleship.” (Mission Network News)