Today’s Headlines:

HINDU EXTREMISTS ATTACK PRAYER MEETING IN INDIA, INJURING 9 BELIEVERS

ISLAMIC RADICALS IN INDONESIA ORDER CLOSURE OF 8 MORE CHURCHES

JAILED VIETNAMESE PASTOR REFUSES TO BOW TO PRESSURE, ADMIT GUILT

KAZAKH BELIEVERS INVITE FOREIGN MISSIONARIES TO HELP SPREAD GOSPEL

RADIO BROADCASTER PREACHES TO 4,000 AT CONFERENCE IN POLAND

Today’s Top Stories:

HINDU EXTREMISTS ATTACK PRAYER MEETING IN INDIA, INJURING 9 BELIEVERS

Hindu extremists violently attacked a prayer meeting in Rajasthan state the night of Sunday, Aug. 14, seriously injuring nine Christians, including one woman. The mob struck at midnight during an all-night prayer vigil being held in a private home in the village of Pathda in the Banswara district near the border with Madhya Pradesh. The Christians had gathered for a three-day prayer meeting to mark India’s Independence Day on Aug. 15. “There were about 50 people from Pathda and Piploda villages at the prayer meeting, in which prayers were offered for the nation,” said Patras Habil, a member of the Madhya Pradesh State Minorities Commission. One of the assailants struck a Christian with an axe, resulting in a wound that required nine stitches, and another tried to strangle a woman, damaging her vocal cords. Police are seeking seven people in connection with the incident-but attempts to obtain justice have already provoked a rampage by Hindu extremists. (Compass)

ISLAMIC RADICALS IN INDONESIA ORDER CLOSURE OF 8 MORE CHURCHES

A campaign by a radical Islamic group to close down Christian churches in the Indonesian province of West Java has escalated in recent days, reported the Christian human rights group Jubilee Campaign. “Members of the Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI), an organization of Muslim clerics that receives 5 billion rupees (nearly US$600,000) in support from the government of Indonesia, entered eight churches during worship services on Sunday, Aug. 14, and ordered the churches to close,” said a spokesperson for the group. Sunday’s incident brings to 35 the number of West Java churches shut down since the MUI issued a series of 11 religious rulings (fatwas) at the end of July. “Many observers see a connection between the issuing of the fatwas and the increase in church closures” the spokesman said. Sunday’s church closings were described as the boldest step yet by the MUI as a “sizable number of Islamic militants . . . barged into eight churches in Cimahi, West Java. In each case they marched to the front of the church, forced the pastor to sign a letter agreeing to the closure and made the members leave the premises.” (Assist News Service)

JAILED VIETNAMESE PASTOR REFUSES TO BOW TO PRESSURE, ADMIT GUILT

Vietnamese prison authorities last week offered to release Mennonite pastor Nguyen Hong Quang if he confessed to a crime for which he is serving a three-year sentence. The charges stem from an incident in March 2004 when Quang confronted two plainclothes policemen who had harassed some of his workers. This was used as a basis for his conviction in November 2004 of “interfering with officers doing their duty.” On Tuesday, Aug. 9, authorities whisked Quang 155 miles to another prison to offer him freedom, but he refused to sign a declaration of guilt. “We find it interesting that Vietnamese authorities are so intent on getting Pastor Quang to admit guilt,” a Vietnamese church leader said. “They have already declared him guilty. We pray earnestly that he will be released anyway and be reunited with his wife and children and his church.” Publicity regarding Quang’s case has embarrassed the Vietnamese government which has been trying to show the world a kinder face in its treatment of religious groups. (Compass)

KAZAKH BELIEVERS INVITE FOREIGN MISSIONARIES TO HELP SPREAD GOSPEL

Baptists in Kazakhstan, an emerging country in Central Asia, have invited SEND International to work with local believers in reaching out to ethnic Kazakhs. SEND is building a team of missionaries that will settle initially at the Baptist headquarters near Qaraghandy to study Kazakh and help with training German- and Russian-speaking believers in the Bible and cross-cultural missions. As the team grows, SEND missionaries will work side-by-side with Kazakh Christians to introduce the gospel to members of the ethnic group in northwestern Kazakhstan. The Baptist church, which is largely German and Russian in ethnic background, is vibrant but small. Church members are actively involved in ministries such as drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, kindergartens, ministry to the elderly, orphanages, children’s clubs, youth ministries and church planting. (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio is bringing words of hope and encouragement to people across Central Asia via radio. Together with partners, Christian broadcasts go out in languages such as Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek, Southern Uzbek and Urdu.

RADIO BROADCASTER PREACHES TO 4,000 AT CONFERENCE IN POLAND

Dr. Harold Sala of Guidelines International Ministries recently spoke at the 58the annual Dziegielow Conference in Poland held in a 700-year-old city that is within a few miles of the Czech border. “People came from across the country for the conference, most of them staying in tents-a challenging experience to say the least, with rain more than half of the time and the grounds getting soggier and the tents and campers getting wetter and colder,” said Sala. “The evening of Monday, July 11, our last night, was the ninth consecutive evening of an evangelistic conference sponsored by the Federation of Lutheran Churches of Poland. This is an evangelical group that takes seriously the fact that men and women need the Lord.” Sala said the crowd “sat and raptly listened” to the 75-minute messages followed by an hour of worship and people’s testimonies of God’s grace. “Every evening men and women came to Christ and lives were changed,” he said. “The final night was especially touching for me. At the invitation, a man immediately walked to the front and knelt in the dirt, followed by a stream of people, some with tears in their eyes. Then as the crowd left, we further explained how to know the Lord and walk with Him, leading them in prayer.” (Assist News Service)

* DEO Recordings, HCJB World Radio’s partner ministry in southern Poland, operates 24-hour-a-day FM radio stations in five cities, making gospel broadcasts available to more than 3 million residents. The ministry is also awaiting approval of a broadcasting license for Chorz ³w, a city of 1.5 million. A Christian satellite radio network to link the Polish stations and expand the ministry is planned. Programs also air via the Internet (visit http://www.ccm.pl).