Today’s Headlines:

CHRISTIAN NURSING STUDENT APPARENTLY KIDNAPPED IN NIGERIA

MISSION OUTREACH CONTINUES IN HAITI AMID POST-ELECTION TENSIONS

CHINESE SECURITY AGENTS KEEP CLOSE EYE ON CHRISTIAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST

CMDA INITIATIVE URGES DOCTORS TO GIVE 4% F RESOURCES TO THE POOR

Today’s Top Stories:

CHRISTIAN NURSING STUDENT APPARENTLY KIDNAPPED IN NIGERIA

A nursing school in northern Nigeria’s Sokoto state was closed down Monday, Feb. 13, following the suspected kidnapping of a Christian student by Islamic militants on Friday, Feb. 10. The extremists had accused Ladi Mohammed — a female student of the School of Nursing and Midwifery — of blasphemy against the Islamic prophet Mohammed. “For this reason the militants — who threatened to cut off her head — hunted and kidnapped her after she had fled from the school,” said John Usman, a Christian student at the institution. School authorities closed the school to avert potential religious conflict. The institution had had already expelled Ladi last week for allegedly making a “misguided and derogatory statement against Islam.” Sokoto is one of 12 northern Nigerian states that have implemented the Islamic legal system, sharia. In the six years since adopting sharia, Gov. Atahiru Bafarawa has Islamized all public policies, creating room for what analysts call a rise in Islamic fundamentalism. (Compass)

MISSION OUTREACH CONTINUES IN HAITI AMID POST-ELECTION TENSIONS

Haiti is turmoil waiting for a catalyst. In the days since national elections on Tuesday, Feb. 7, where 63 percent of the public turned out to vote, instability looms as the count continues. Violent protests and fraud accusations are adding to the volatile mix.

Former Haitian President Rene Preval claims that massive fraud prevented him from winning a first-round victory in last week’s elections. He has 48.7 percent of the vote with 90 percent counted. If he fails to win a majority, a runoff election featuring the top two vote getters will be held on March 19.

The situation complicates travel and outreach, said Bill Evans of Men for Missions, the layman’s voice of OMS International. “The work still continues,” he said. “[But] we’re very cautious about how we interact and where we go.”

Evans urges prayer during the coming days of transition. Amid the threatened instability, the team is focused on sharing the peace of Christ, including broadcasts from Christian station 4VEH. “Of course, 4VEH has always endeavored to not be a political station,” Evans said. “What they do is offer a message of peace.” (Mission Network News/Reuters)

CHINESE SECURITY AGENTS KEEP CLOSE EYE ON CHRISTIAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST

China Aid Association (CAA) learned that the freedom of a prominent Christian rights activist continues to be restricted by Chinese security agents even after his release from a two-year prison term. Xu Yonghai, a former psychiatric doctor at Beijing Pingan Hospital, has been under surveillance since his release from a prison in Hangzhou in China’s Zhejiang province on Sunday, Jan. 29. Xu told the CAA that before his release, Chinese security agents installed three video cameras in front of his apartment in order to monitor his activities. Officials also failed to return his identification cards. Xu’s wife, Li Shanna, refused to sign a form demanding she report her husband’s activities to the Chinese authorities. Xu was arrested in Beijing along with two others in November 2003 because of their role in documenting the destruction of churches and the persecution of Chinese Christians. Both Xu and his wife lost their hospital jobs after his arrest. (Evangelical News/Christian Newswire/China Aid Association)

CMDA INITIATIVE URGES DOCTORS TO GIVE 4% OF RESOURCES TO THE POOR

The Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), the largest faith-based organization of Christian doctors in the U.S., announced an initiative Monday, Feb. 13, encouraging doctors to give of their time and resources to help the poor. “We are pleased to be introducing the ‘Four-Percent Solution’ program to doctors around the country,” said Dr. Al Weir who directs the CMDA’s campus and community ministries as well as the international medical education outreach. “We’re asking doctors to consider committing to specific strategies to use God’s blessings to them in a way that blesses someone far less fortunate,” he explained. “A doctor may choose to spend two weeks a year — about 4 percent of the year — in overseas mission work that directly impacts the healthcare, housing, job skills or nutrition of the poor. Other doctors may consider . . . accepting one uninsured patient out of every 25 patients — 4 percent of the patients they see. Yet others may choose to volunteer about eight hours a month in a healthcare clinic for the poor . . . or supplement their local church giving by contributing 4 percent of their net profits to the poor through their church or another Christian ministry.” (Assist News Service)