Today’s Headlines:

UK RADIO STATION LAUNCHES INTERNET TV CHANNEL

NEPALESE CHRISTIANS RECEIVE A HELPING HAND

U.S. COMMISSION NAMES RELIGIOUS PERSECUTORS

POLICE IN UZBEKISTAN STEP UP PRESSURE ON PROTESTANT CHRISTIANS

BIBLES UNBOUND PROGRAM GETS GOSPEL TO RESTRICTED COUNTRIES

Today’s Top Stories:

UK RADIO STATION LAUNCHES INTERNET TV CHANNEL

Premier Christian Radio in London launched an internet television channel called Premier.tv at the annual Christian Resources Exhibition in the United Kingdom. Author and speaker Jeff Lucas commented, “So often Christians tend to lag behind the rest of the world when it comes to innovation, particularly technology. Here we are for once on the cutting edge with Premier’s broadband on demand television channel.” Unlike conventional television, internet TV channels allow the viewer to select and watch programs at any time. The May launch arrives just before the BBC, ITV, Sky and BT bring out their own internet channels. Premier Chairman David Heron says, “Christians and seekers across the world can reach Premier.tv through their computers and access hours of the finest teachings and ministry from Christian leaders across the world.” To access the channel type http://www.premier.tv into your web browser. (ASSIST News Service)

NEPALESE CHRISTIANS RECEIVE “HELPING HAND”

Christian Freedom International (CFI) is launching new operations targeted at helping Nepal’s persecuted Christians. In the midst of hardships and persecution stemming from civil and religious unrest, “Nepalese Christians need a helping hand, especially now.” Says CFI President Jim Jacobson. CFI’s various programs include distribution of food, medicine and Bibles as well as micro-enterprise initiatives and legal assistance. The pastor of an unregistered Katmandu house church known only as D.K. for his safety stated, “People who convert to Christianity face persecution from local leaders and sometimes the government. There are pastors in custody right now because they tell others about Jesus. The persecution is getting worse. Many Hindu leaders don’t want Christianity to spread, but it is spreading fast.” Proselytizing is a crime in Nepal and only 0.45% of the predominantly Hindu population is Christian. (Christian Newswire)

U.S. COMMISSION NAMES RELIGIOUS PERSECUTORS

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released its 2006 report recommending the world’s most severe persecutors of religious followers. The U.S. State Department uses the panel’s recommendations to establish “counties of particular concern” (CPCs) in the area of religious freedom. Retained from last year’s list of CPCs are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam. Additionally, the panel repeated recommendation that Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan be designated CPCs, despite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s refusal to include those countries in a State Department report in November. A “watch list” of additional religious persecutors included Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria. The panel continues to analyze reports from India, Russia and Sri Lanka as well. The USCIRF’s 2006 report may be obtained online at http://www.uscirf.gov. (Baptist Press)

POLICE IN UZBEKISTAN STEP UP PRESSURE ON PROTESTANT CHRISTIANS

Authorities in Uzbekistan have stepped up pressure on Protestants in the Central Asian country in recent months. On Monday, April 24, police officers from Uzbekistan’s criminal investigation department burst into the home of a Protestant pastor in northwestern Uzbekistan, disrupting the 12 people as they were having lunch together. The pastor and another believer were charged with “breaking the laws on teaching religion.” The raid in Urgench, a city in the Khorezm region near the Turkmenistan border, targeted the house of Pastor Lunkin Sergey of the Union of Independent Churches. In a separate incident Friday, April 21, three Christians in Tashkent were arrested on while visiting and helping feed patients at a tuberculosis hospital for children. One of them was charged with violating administrative laws against teaching religion. During the past year Uzbekistan’s police and judicial authorities have stepped up pressure on Protestant Christians, and even government-registered churches are under heightened scrutiny. (Compass Direct)

BIBLES UNBOUND PROGRAM GETS GOSPEL TO RESTRICTED COUNTRIES

Only three months into the Voice of the Martyrs’ (VOM) program called “Bibles Unbound,” more than 8000 New Testaments per month are being sent to nations that restrict Christian outreach. Christians operating within nations where the program is active collect non-Christian names and addresses from their local communities, businesses, factories, universities and even government offices and submit them to VOM. Each month members of the Bibles Unbound program receive these addresses along with a New Testament in the appropriate language and send the package directly to the restricted country. VOM’s website states “This unique program gives you the ability to stand alongside our persecuted brothers and sisters and help create a witness for Jesus Christ in hostile lands right from your own home.” The Bibles Unbound website also allows members to track where they have sent bibles along with maps and testimonies resulting from the mailings. For more information visit http://www.biblesunbound.com. (VOM News)