Today’s Headlines:

RADICAL MUSLIMS ATTACK INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS WORSHIPING OUTDOORS

CHRISTIANS AT REMOTE UZBEK HOUSE CHURCH FACE GROWING PERSECUTION

CHURCHES CONTINUE TO MULTIPLY IN KYRGYZSTAN DESPITE OPPOSITION

THOUSANDS OF CHURCHES TO TAKE PART IN INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

MAP INTERNATIONAL TRAINS AFRICAN PASTORS TO DEAL WITH AIDS

Today’s Top Stories:

RADICAL MUSLIMS ATTACK INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS WORSHIPING OUTDOORS

A group of Muslims extremists attacked members of a Christian congregation as they worshiped on the street Jatimulya in Indonesia’s West Java province Sunday, Oct. 16. No one was seriously hurt in the incident. Barnabas Fund reported that the Christians were forced to begin meeting outdoors after their church building was forced to close — part of an ongoing pattern of forcible church closures in West Java. An e-mail report from the organization states, “The Christians came from three churches which had been ordered to close by the mayor of Jatimulya five weeks ago. The closures were then enforced by a radical Muslim group called the Alliance Against Apostasy. The constitution of Indonesia guarantees freedom of religion, but with the church buildings closed and forbidden to meet for worship in private homes, the Christians have had to gather in the streets each Sunday, in order to worship together.” Police who were on duty stood by and watched as the mob attacked the Christians. (Assist News Service)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with local partners to establish more than 12 local Christian radio stations across Indonesia since 2004. Broadcasts from HCJB World Radio-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra also encourage listeners nationwide. In addition, HCJB World Radio has helped with relief efforts since the Dec. 26 earthquake/tsunami and subsequent quakes that have devastated parts of Indonesia.

CHRISTIANS AT REMOTE UZBEK HOUSE CHURCH FACE GROWING PERSECUTION

Christians in a remote village of Uzbekistan are being beaten, publicly humiliated and hounded out of their homes and jobs for converting to Christianity. A local strongman is orchestrating harsh opposition to the small congregation in Janbashkala village (near Turtkul) in southwestern Uzbekistan. Tokhtabay Sadikov has pressured local police and civic officials, the prosecutor’s office, the secret police and Muslim clerics to impose strict measures against every villager known to have “abandoned the Muslim faith of their parents.” Meanwhile, the water supply to Christian homes in the village has been cut off, and the church of nearly 100 has dwindled to 20. (Compass)

* HCJB World Radio airs weekly Uzbek programs from an AM station outside the country. A total of 15 million people speak this language.

CHURCHES CONTINUE TO MULTIPLY IN KYRGYZSTAN DESPITE OPPOSITION

While the future of religious freedom is in question in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan, the church is growing, says R.K. Ulrich of The Bridge International. The ministry is involved with churches attended by some 11,000 believers in Kyrgyzstan. As these churches grow, the leadership identifies a team from each congregation and sends them out to evangelize and plant a new church elsewhere. Their heart for the lost and their healthy view of persecution is keeping their faith strong and vibrant, Ulrich says, adding that in an area where 75 percent of the population professes Islam, it’s difficult to proclaim the gospel freely. (Mission Network News)

THOUSANDS OF CHURCHES TO TAKE PART IN INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

Christians in more than 100 countries will join in concerted prayer during the 10th annual International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church Sunday, Nov. 13, with events extending through Sunday, Nov. 20. An estimated 200 million people in more than 60 countries face discrimination, persecution and even death for their Christian faith. “Prayer has always been the strongest weapon used by the followers of Christ in all situations,” states a press release from the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA). “This year Christians will join in prayer to strengthen those who are persecuted for their faith and to comfort those who are overcoming the great losses wrought by the Southeast Asian tsunami, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the 7.6-magnitude earthquake in South Asia.” The goals of the event are to increase awareness of the persecuted church worldwide, lead in prayer on behalf of the persecuted church, and promote ongoing action on behalf of the persecuted church. “In the context of his own life, Jesus demonstrated the tremendous importance of prayer,” said Johan Candelin, the event’s global coordinator and director of WEA’s Commission for Religious Freedom. “We therefore want to transform our longings into prayer and ask God to transform the world through the prayers of his people.” (Assist News Service)

MAP INTERNATIONAL TRAINS AFRICAN PASTORS TO DEAL WITH AIDS

The first sermon many African pastors will preach after leaving seminary will not be in the pulpit, but at the graveside of someone who died of AIDS. As a result, MAP International is helping equip African church leaders to tackle the problem on a continent where more than 12 million children have been orphaned by the disease, said President Michael Nyenhuis. MAP International, founded in 1954 as Medical Assistance Programs, has started a seminary program for African pastors in training. “We started equipping African churches back in the early 1990s because we found that so many of them felt completely ill equipped to address this issue. They felt it was a public health issue and, as pastors, they wondered what they could do,” he said. “We have developed, with the help of a bunch of seminaries around the continent, an academic curriculum on HIV and AIDS which we are piloting in eight seminaries in seven different African countries. Most of the seminaries have made this a core part of their curriculum.” (Assist News Service)