Today’s Headlines:

MUSLIM EXTREMISTS MURDER 4 BIBLE SCHOOL STUDENTS IN INDONESIA

GUNMEN KILL STAFF MEMBER AT CHRISTIAN RADIO STATION IN KENYA

WOMAN IN INDIA ACCUSES CHRISTIANS OF ATTEMPTED ‘FORCED CONVERSION’

MOODY BROADCASTING’S NEW VP PROMOTES CONTENT-BASED PROGRAMMING

U.S. SEMINARY ENROLLMENT UP, BUT FEWER GRADUATES BECOME PASTORS

Today’s Top Stories:

MUSLIM EXTREMISTS MURDER 4 BIBLE SCHOOL STUDENTS IN INDONESIA

A team of students from a Bible school operated by Teen Missions International (TMI) in Indonesia recently paid the ultimate price for their Christian faith. “[The students] were traveling to another place to share the gospel, and on the way there they passed by a village that was militant Muslims,” said TMI’s Bob Bland. “They took off after them with a speedboat and chased them and then opened up with automatic weapons.” The attackers shot five students, killing four of them. Bland asks for prayer for TMI’s Bible school students. “They can go from country to country with just a passport,” he said. “They don’t even need a visa. These people can go into [Myanmar], they can go to Laos and Vietnam, and that’s just a terrific opportunity to spread the gospel.” The attack came despite recent comments by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that Muslim nations should oppose terrorism. (Mission Network News/Teen Missions International)

GUNMEN KILL STAFF MEMBER AT CHRISTIAN RADIO STATION IN KENYA

Gunmen attacked Pentecostal radio station Hope FM in Nairobi, Kenya, late Friday, May 12, killing one, injuring three, and setting the building on fire. Interrupting a program comparing teachings of the Bible and the Koran, the eight masked attackers are suspected of calling the radio program before the attack. Authorities are attempting to identify the men from phone records along with DNA and fingerprints left on the scene. The attack has been widely denounced by both Christian and Muslim leaders and Kenyan officials. Hope FM was able to resume broadcasting early Saturday morning. (Assist News Service/African News Dimension)

WOMAN IN INDIA ACCUSES CHRISTIANS OF ATTEMPTED ‘FORCED CONVERSION’

Sarom Maurya of India has accused her six uncles and their Assemblies of God pastor of trying to forcefully convert her to Christianity. The men claim her accusations are an attempt at revenge for an earlier dispute over a drainage ditch. Maurya’s accusations led to violent threats against the pastor, Mehboob Masih, by the local Hindu Nationalist Party. Party members claimed the pastor would meet the same fate as Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two children, which were burned alive in 1999, if he continued to hold prayer meetings. “They also said if I gathered people for prayer, they would instead hold a Hindu worship ceremony in my house,” said Masih. (Compass Direct)

U.S. SEMINARY ENROLLMENT UP, BUT FEWER GRADUATES BECOME PASTORS

Across the U.S. enrollment is up at Protestant seminaries, but a shrinking portion of the graduates will ascend the pulpit, reported The New York Times. These seminarians, particularly younger ones, are less interested in making a career of religion than in taking their religion into other careers. Those from mainline denominations are being drawn to a wide range of fields from academia to social service to hospital chaplaincy, said Rev. Daniel Aleshire, executive director of the Association of Theological Schools in the U.S. and Canada. Evangelical graduates, meanwhile, often end up serving with parachurch organizations which have defined the priorities and solidified the influence of conservative Christians. Only about half of those graduating with a master’s degree in divinity now enter parish ministry, Aleshire said. The proportion has fallen sharply in a generation, declining 10 to 15 percent in the last five years alone. At the same time, enrollment in mainline divinity schools rose 20 percent from 1990 to 2004, according to the Association of Theological Schools. Part-time study programs and interest from minority applicants and women contributed to the gains. (Assist News Service)