Today’s Headlines:

ISLAMIC MILITANTS TERRORIZE SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS IN INDONESIA

BELIEVERS IN INDIA MEET PEACEFULLY DESPITE DEATH, ARSON THREATS

LUIS PALAU APOLOGIZES FOR REMARKS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN CHINA

MINISTRIES FOCUS ON CHRIST’S PROMISES DURING WORLD AIDS DAY

Today’s Top Stories:

ISLAMIC MILITANTS TERRORIZE SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS IN INDONESIA

As approximately 30 children gathered in a home in Curug, Indonesia, Sunday, Nov. 27, to study the Bible, a mob of Islamic militants descended upon the home and caused the children to scatter in panic. Local sources said the militants destroyed guitars, a keyboard, an organ and a fan as well as several desks and chairs. They forced the teachers and children out of the house and then “sealed” it with posters denouncing the Sunday school. One of the teachers, Anton Neta, said he had agreed several months ago, under threat, to stop meeting in the home in January. The class had been meeting there since 1992. (Voice of the Martyrs)

BELIEVERS IN INDIA MEET PEACEFULLY DESPITE DEATH, ARSON THREATS

Members of a Believers Church in northern Indian met peacefully Sunday, Nov. 20, after receiving death and arson threats from Hindu extremists. Gospel for Asia President K.P. Yohannon updated his supporters saying, “It is with great joy that I can share with you that the threat against 60 of our Believers Church members in Himachal Pradesh has been thwarted.” The threats came after members of the World Hindu Council (VHP) and its youth wing, Bajrang Dal, attacked the pastor of the church, Feroz Masih. After beating him, the attackers said that if he and his church members failed to take part in a “reconversion” ceremony on Nov. 20, they would burn them to death. “Your prayers were answered, however, and the planned reconversion ceremony was dropped, apparently due to police intervention,” Yohannon said. The police pointed out that the attacks were made by people who were misleading the public into thinking that Christians “force” people to convert to their faith. Yohannon added that one positive outcome of the incident is that “people now know that those who come to faith in Christ are doing so because of the power of the gospel, not the coercion of men.” (Assist News Service)

For the third time, India’s Supreme Court deferred a ruling Monday, Nov. 28, on whether Dalit Christians (“untouchables” outside of the caste system) can be denied job and education rights. Supreme Court justices postponed until February a ruling on the matter after government attorneys told the court they were awaiting the findings of a commission set up to study the issue. Dalits belonging to Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faiths qualify for a government plan that reserves 26 percent of jobs and educational places for them. Under current laws, Dalits who convert to Christianity or Islam lose their reservation privileges. Christian leaders said India’s 16 million Dalit Christians are extremely frustrated and demoralized by the government’s position. “We as Dalit Christians,” they said in a statement by the All India Catholic Union, “are intrigued and saddened by the contrary positions taken by the ruling coalition in its public assurances to us and its arguments before the Supreme Court.” (Compass)

LUIS PALAU APOLOGIZES FOR REMARKS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN CHINA

American evangelist Luis Palau has apologized for saying during a recent weeklong visit to China that the religious freedom situation there was better than expected, and for saying that “underground” Christians should register with church associations set up by the government. Palau’s trip coincided with a visit by President George W. Bush, and he was invited to attend a church service in Beijing with the president and first lady. In an interview with the official China Daily newspaper, Palau called for unofficial churches in China to register with the government bodies. In response, the South China Church said in a statement that 16 of the denomination’s leaders were in prison, and more than 1,000 of its pastors, evangelists and believers had been jailed since 2001. Palau said he regretted some of his comments. “It’s not my role as an evangelist to suggest that churches in China should register,” he said. “My role is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.” (Religion Today/CNSNews)

MINISTRIES FOCUS ON CHRIST’S PROMISES DURING WORLD AIDS DAY

As people around the globe mark World AIDS Day today, Christian organizations are focusing on the spiritual hope found only in Jesus Christ. The theme for the annual even the next five years is “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.”

Bruce Sonnenberg of He Intends Victory, an HIV/AIDS ministry, challenges Christians worldwide to join the battle against the disease and pray for those infected and affected by this worldwide pandemic. “With [more than 40 million people] worldwide infected and 3 million people a year newly infected, the challenge continues,” he said. “There is no cure for AIDS, but there is a cure for the hopelessness that comes with AIDS — the hope of Jesus Christ. He truly does intend victory!”

Purpose Driven Ministries recently held its first AIDS conference in the U.S. in response to a belief that “Christians are doing very little about [AIDS],” said Kay Warren, wife of Purpose-Driven Life author Rick Warren. The conference presented ways churches can have an impact on AIDS victims. “We want every person to come to know Jesus Christ,” she said. “But it’s very difficult to introduce people to Jesus Christ when you’re pushing them away. We’ve been given the task of making the invisible God, visible. How do we do that? We do it by our arms of love, by our compassion, by our acceptance.”

The grip of AIDS on Sub-Saharan Africa is not loosening. World Vision’s Steve Haas says it is alarming that the epicenter of the pandemic is shifting east to Russia, India and China. He believes this is a great opportunity to fulfill the mandates of Scripture. UNAIDS, the joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS, has warned that up to 10 million could be infected in China by 2010 without more aggressive prevention. World Vision employs a multi-pronged approach to battle AIDS involving students, businesses and churches.

More than 250 East African children are receiving life-sustaining therapy through Compassion International’s AIDS Initiative. About 1,000 Compassion-assisted children in East Africa have been confirmed as being HIV-positive, and approximately 4,300 caregivers and siblings of the children have the disease. It is believed these numbers represent just 25 percent of the actual HIV cases among the children and families Compassion serves. The ministry is involved in prevention, treatment and rehabilitative care for AIDS patients.

Christian World Outreach (CWO) is reaching out to AIDS orphans through its mobile orphanage in Zimbabwe. “We’re not trying to bring children to a center and out of their communities, but be able to keep them in their communities,” said CWO’s Greg Yoder. “We go to them and try to work with school teachers and community leaders and churches in the community to care for the children who have been orphaned by AIDS. The camps are held for a couple of reasons. One is to introduce them to Christ and to provide spiritual teaching. The other is to give them some counseling.” He said many children as well as their caregivers are coming to Christ.

Sources: Mission Network News, Assist News Service, CNN