Today’s Headlines:

IMAM IN NORTHERN NIGERIA ILLEGALLY HOLDS 16-YEAR-OLD CHRISTIAN GIRL

SALVATION ARMY PREPARES FOR LANDFALL OF HURRICANE RITA IN TEXAS

POLLSTER: U.S. CHURCH ATTENDANCE COULD DROP BY HALF IN 20 YEARS

FRENCH YOUNG PEOPLE SHOW INCREASED OPENNESS TO GOSPEL MESSAGE

Today’s Top Stories:

IMAM IN NORTHERN NIGERIA ILLEGALLY HOLDS 16-YEAR-OLD CHRISTIAN GIRL

An imam in northern Nigeria’s Yelwa state is illegally holding a Christian 16-year-old girl, causing great concern to her family. Rejoice Gwammikat Daniel Chirdap disappeared during a visit to her father’s house in Kagadama, Yelwa, on Monday, Sept. 12. After failing to find her, Rejoice’s family reported her disappearance to the Yelwa Divisional Police Office two days later. On Thursday, Sept. 15, the family received a letter from the Bauchi State Sharia Commission informing them that it had given custody of Rejoice to Imam Yakubu of Kagadama. There was no explanation as to how Rejoice came to be in the commission’s hands, especially since she is a minor, and no one sought parental consent. Family members say Yakubu took Rejoice to the Local Government Area of Asere which is on the border between Bauchi and Kano states. He is also reportedly attempting to “claim ignorance” of her whereabouts. Yelwa has been the scene of running tensions between Christians and Muslims in recent years. Rejoice’s dilemma is the latest in several cases of Christian disappearances, and there are fears that the incident could spark a larger conflict. (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

SALVATION ARMY PREPARES FOR LANDFALL OF HURRICANE RITA IN TEXAS

Salvation Army Maj. George Hood says the ministry’s relief workers are already in place when Hurricane Rita strikes the Texas coast. Hood says Salvation Army teams in Houston, San Antonio and Austin are still helping evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. He notes that the Galveston hurricane of 1900, the most deadly natural disaster in U.S. history with at least 6,000 dead, was the first disaster to which the Salvation Army ever responded. To help victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Hood says the Salvation Army will need continuing financial and prayer support. The National Hurricane Center described Rita as a “potentially catastrophic” hurricane, reaching the category 5 level with winds near 170 mph and gusts even higher. It is expected to make landfall along the Texas coast early Saturday morning as at least a category 3 storm with sustained winds of up to 130 mph. (AgapePress/Associated Press)

POLLSTER: U.S. CHURCH ATTENDANCE COULD DROP BY HALF IN 20 YEARS

In his new book, Revolution, Christian pollster George Barna says churches in the U.S. will undergo major changes in the next 20 years. For example, he predicts that just 30-35 percent of Christians will attend a local church in 20 years, down from the present level of 70 percent. Alternative fellowship forms such as “house churches, simple churches and post-modern churches,” now home for 5 percent of American Christians, will grow to 30-35 percent while another 30-35 percent will “live out their faith in the fields of media, arts and culture.” About 5 percent of Christians will take part in nontraditional forms of church with a “family-based spiritual life.” He added that a minority group presently not even noticed by many will become the mainstream of North American Christianity. “This is a revolution and will change not only the recruiting strategies of seminaries and Bible schools, but also radically question church-building projects,” said Barna. “If only half as many people will be visiting traditional congregational services in 20 years, a smaller building will suffice.” Barna’s book releases later this month. (Friday Fax/George Barna)

FRENCH YOUNG PEOPLE SHOW INCREASED OPENNESS TO GOSPEL MESSAGE

Mission work in France is slow, and people in that atheistic society are resistant to the gospel. But the church is growing, and Greater Europe Mission’s Lel Fickett has been ministering to French women for more than 20 years. She says their outreach has had great side effects: “Our main goal has been to evangelize unbelievers, but we have realized over the years that, the Christian Women’s Club has really helped Christian women to develop their gifts and talents and become leaders and then to take those gifts back into the local churches.” GEM is seeing a lot of fruit, and Fickett says exciting things are happening: “There is an openness among younger people that I have not seen in the past. And it may be because they’re just realizing the spiritual need in their lives and possibly they’re further removed from a negative experience that they might have had with institutionalized religion. They seem to be very open to the gospel, and that’s encouraging.” (Mission Network News)