Today’s Headlines:

BAPTIST MISSIONARIES IN PHILIPPINES RESPOND TO DEADLY LANDSLIDE

YOUTHS BEAT PASTOR IN INDIA, ACCUSING HIM OF ‘FORCIBLE CONVERSIONS’

GROWING FAMINE IN EAST AFRICA HAMPERS MINISTRIES’ EFFECTIVENESS

BIBLE LEAGUE DEDICATES NEWLY REVISED YORUBA BIBLE IN NIGERIA

100,000 TO ATTEND ASIA’S LARGEST CHRISTIAN CONVENTION IN INDIA

Today’s Top Stories:

BAPTIST MISSIONARIES IN PHILIPPINES RESPOND TO DEADLY LANDSLIDE

Missionaries with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB) in the Philippines are calling for prayer as they prepare to respond to the landslide Friday, Feb. 17, that buried the small village of Guinsaugon on Leyte Island. More than 100 bodies have been pulled from the mountain of mud that swallowed 375 homes. Filipino officials fear the death toll could climb as high as 1,500. “We are saddened to know that more than 1,000 Filipinos have been buried alive,” said Carl Miller, an IMB missionary to the Philippines. “Sadder still is the fact that most of these Filipinos have died without knowing Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and will spend eternity separated from God.” Though no IMB personnel were in Guinsaugon when the landslide hit, a team has been sent to the village to assess the damage and learn how they can best help. The missionaries ask people to pray for an end to the heavy rains that initially caused the landslide and continue to slow rescue efforts. IMB personnel also have requested prayer for wisdom and safety of the rescue crews as well as the IMB team headed to Guinsaugon. (Evangelical News/Baptist Press)

YOUTHS BEAT PASTOR IN INDIA, ACCUSING HIM OF ‘FORCIBLE CONVERSIONS’

Accusing a pastor in the northern state of Punjab of “forcible conversion,” an East Indian woman from Canada and three unidentified youths Wednesday, Feb. 8, beat the Christian leader so severely that he required hospital treatment. After discussing a land dispute in Khamachon village in the Nawanshahr district, Surjeet Kaur slapped Balhar Singh, pastor of Doaba Punjabi Christian Sabha. She accused him and the area’s Christian community of holding “forcible conversions.” Then she ordered three youths who were with her to beat him. Village leaders called police who immediately took Singh to a hospital where he was treated for a deep cut on his face near the cheek bone. The local police station, however, did not register a formal complaint against Kaur and the youths until the village leaders met with a senior police official. (Compass)

GROWING FAMINE IN EAST AFRICA HAMPERS MINISTRIES’ EFFECTIVENESS

Continued famine in East African countries such as Kenya and Tanzania is hindering Christian outreach in the region. In Kenya, 3.5 million people are at risk from the food crisis, up from 2.5 million. Bruce Okkema of the En Gedi Resource Center in Kenya says the outreach has partnered with Special Ministries, an organization that works primarily with orphans, by working to feed approximately 14,000 people in the area as they await the return of the rainy season in March. The resource center also trains Kenyans to improve their communities. “The ministry component is somewhat passive in the sense of what we would normally think of as active evangelism,” he said. “But the ministry is coming through help and love, sharing the love of Christ with the community.” Drought is also causing food shortages in Tanzania, including Grace Ministries’ Bible Tatanda Bible School. Reports indicate that students have no food and will not be able to come to school as the shortages have led to inflated food prices. (Mission Network News)

BIBLE LEAGUE DEDICATES NEWLY REVISED YORUBA BIBLE IN NIGERIA

Bible League staff members have completed a revision to the 106-year-old Yoruba Bible which was officially dedicated during a ceremony in Ibadan, Nigeria, Saturday, Feb. 18, just two years after beginning the project. “We glorify Jesus because He granted our team such favor,” said Rev. Joseph Owens, Bible League’s vice president of ministry in Africa. Three Bible League staff members in Nigeria worked between 60 and 80 hours a week to complete the project. They were helped by a committee of Yoruba scholars who updated the spelling and language. More than 23 million Yoruba speakers live in Nigeria, making it the second largest ethnic group in Africa. An estimated 10 million Nigerian Christians have no Bible. The first shipments of the revised Yoruba Bible are expected to arrive in Nigeria in next month. (Bible League)

100,000 TO ATTEND ASIA’S LARGEST CHRISTIAN CONVENTION IN INDIA

The 111th Maramon Convention, billed as Asia’s largest annual Christian convention, began Sunday, Feb. 19, on the riverbank at Maramon, India. The weeklong event, expected to be attended by more than 100,000 people throughout the week, was organized by the Mar Thoma Evangelical Association, the missionary wing of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar. Evangelists David Hawkins of England, Bill Newman of Australia and Martin Alphons and Sam Kamalesan of the U.S. will deliver discourses at different sessions. Delivering the keynote address, Hawkins called for a change in man’s mindset to take on the challenges of modern world, emphasizing the need to be “poor in spirit” with the first step being the “negation of egotism.” (Religion Today/The Hindu)