Today’s Headlines:

29 CHINESE CHRISTIANS ARRESTED FOR HOLDING ILLEGAL CHURCH SERVICE

NIGERIAN PASTOR MAY AGAIN FACE ARREST FOR HARBORING CONVERT

BELARUS GIVES TAX BREAK TO RELIGIOUS GROUPS BEFORE ELECTIONS

NEW BELIEVERS IN KYRGYZSTAN REFLECT PEACE TO MUSLIM NEIGHBORS

Today’s Top Stories:

29 CHINESE CHRISTIANS ARRESTED FOR HOLDING ILLEGAL CHURCH SERVICE

Chinese authorities arrested 29 Christians Monday, Dec. 12, for holding an “illegal religious gathering.” The China Aid Association, citing eyewitness reports, reported that 40 law enforcement officers with eight police vehicles raided a house church leadership meeting at Xiapigang village in China’s Henan province. Some 100 major church leaders from Henan and Anhui were gathered at a believer’s house, discussing how the house churches could help a large group of peasants in the area who had contracted AIDS by blood that had been contaminated with the AIDS virus by people who sold it to local blood centers. When the 29 leaders were arrested their private property was confiscated without receipts, including three motorized bicycles, one cell phone, all of their luggage and winter blankets. One pastor who was at the raided meeting said police officers showed a search warrant and said that the meeting was an “illegal religious gathering.” Pastor Shen Yiping, founder of internationally known house church group called China Gospel Fellowship, as well as the host of the meeting, Yang Huamin, were among those arrested. (WorldWide Religious News/WND)

NIGERIAN PASTOR MAY AGAIN FACE ARREST FOR HARBORING CONVERT

Nigerian Pastor Zacheous Habu Bu Ngwenche faces possible police detention if he fails to produce a convert from Islam abducted from his house by Muslim militants in September. The 31-year-old pastor of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Akwanga in central Nigeria’s Nasarawa state, was arrested twice in September for harboring a Muslim who converted to Christianity. After the second arrest, he spent seven days in a cell in Lafia, the state capital. Muslim militants pressured police into arresting him the second time even after officials had confirmed that Bature Suleimanu Idi had not been coerced into converting to Christianity. “I have now been told to produce the Muslim convert, even when the police know that it is the Muslims that abducted Idi,” Ngwenche said. Police have told Ngwenche that if he does not produce Idi before the end of the year, he runs the risk of going back into detention. Though not a clear majority, Muslims have large populations in Nasarawa state. Some officials in the state have campaigned for sharia (Islamic law) to be imposed, as it is in 12 northern states, but so far without success. (Compass)

BELARUS GIVES TAX BREAK TO RELIGIOUS GROUPS AHEAD OF ELECTIONS

In the run-up to the presidential elections in Belarus (expected next July), state authorities appear to be seeking the support of religious organizations by exempting their land and property from tax. In a surprise concession, a decree signed by President Aleksandr Lukashenko on Thursday, Dec. 1, exempts religious organizations from land and property tax. Under the decree, tax-exempt land is that occupied by houses of worship, “including diocesan offices, monastic complexes and theological schools.” However, some churches face liquidation by court order after they were denied compulsory re-registration. Vasily Yurevich, administrator of New Life Church, said the tax break would be of little help to his community since its property is due to be confiscated by the state authorities. Although the country’s top religious affairs official has rejected recent U.S. allegations that Belarus restricts religious freedom, some churches continue to be fined or warned for worshiping in private homes. A new amendment to the Criminal Code allows the state to imprison participants in unregistered or liquidated religious organizations for up to two years. (Forum 18 News Service/mosnews.com)

NEW BELIEVERS IN KYRGYZSTAN REFLECT PEACE TO MUSLIM NEIGHBORS

In a small village at the foot of the Kyrgyz Mountains, hearts are changing because of an International Bible Society distribution of My First Bible in Kyrgyz, Russian and English. One family that responded to the gospel was rejected by their neighbors in the beginning. The Muslim cleric of the town tried to stir up hatred against the new believers and even demanded that all contact with them cease. Even so, the testimony of the family became such that their neighbors couldn’t resist the pull of peace coming from the home. Most families in the culture struggle with discord and alcoholism, but the neighbors noticed the lack of disharmony emanating from the home. Their curiosity drew them in and they saw something different. When neighbors ignored the cleric’s order and visited the house, they could sense a new atmosphere because the peace of Jesus prevails there. (Mission Network News)