Today’s Headlines:

TURKISH EXTREMISTS ACCUSE PROTESTANT CHURCH OF ‘TREASON’

110,000 SIGN JOINT PETITION DENOUNCING ERITREAN RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

PROPOSED ANTI-CONVERSION LAW THREATENS CHRISTIANS IN SRI LANKA

FORMER KHMER ROUGE KILLERS RECEPTIVE TO CHRISTIANITY IN CAMBODIA

GROUPS RAMP UP RELIEF EFFORTS AFTER LATEST TSUNAMI HITS INDONESIA

Today’s Top Stories:

TURKISH EXTREMISTS ACCUSE PROTESTANT CHURCH OF ‘TREASON’

Turkish ultra-nationalists increased pressure on Agape Protestant Church in the northern city of Samsun. In a widely broadcast TV interview, prominent nationalist Izzet Altunbas said the establishment of the church revealed “extensive damage,” caused as Turkey complied with standards required for entrance into the European Union. He called the church part of an “assimilation” drive focused on Turkish ethnicity and Islam. “This is treason against our Muslim and Turkish identity.” Agape Protestant Church Pastor Orhan Picaklar, 35, was shocked to hear Altunbas read large sections from the church’s charter documents that were submitted to the Turkish Directorate of Associations, showing deep government connections conspiring against the church. The church has been meeting since September 2003, and Picaklar has received threatening and profane e-mails and telephone calls since the church was officially registered in November 2005. “The Lord has told us to be ready for all this kind of opposition,” Picaklar said, “so we will continue on.” (Compass Direct)

110,000 SIGN JOINT PETITION DENOUNCING ERITREAN RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Open Doors and Release International have submitted a joint petition signed by more than 110,000 people calling for the East African country of Eritrea to free Christians imprisoned for their faith. On Tuesday, July 18, representatives of each group joined together to hand the petition over to officials at the Eritrean embassy in London. Around 1800 Christians have been jailed in Eritrea as a result of their religious affiliations. Reports of hard labor, torture and solitary confinement have followed the government’s May 2002 closure of all churches other than Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran denominations. Other Christian activity, even within private homes, is illegal with many Christians facing imprisonment and persecution. Even approved church denominations have been subject to state interference despite Eritrea’s official claims that the “no groups or persons are persecuted in Eritrea for their beliefs or religion.” (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

PROPOSED ANTI-CONVERSION LAW THREATENS CHRISTIANS IN SRI LANKA

Christians in Sri Lanka are feeling threatened by a proposed anti-conversion law up for vote in the Parliament as well as the promise of further restrictions. The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka has filed complaints against the proposed legislation and fear, if passed, the law would simply legitimize already rampant harassment of minority Christians and violation of the right to religion and worship. For example, on Saturday July 1, a Harvest International house church in Hapugastenne was attacked by a mob and two young church workers were seriously injured, one requiring surgery. As members of the mob dispersed, they leveled demands that the church close or the pastor and his family would be killed. (Voice of the Martyrs)

FORMER KHMER ROUGE KILLERS RECEPTIVE TO CHRISTIANITY IN CAMBODIA

Christian missionaries have made big inroads in the ultra-Maoist stronghold of Pailin, Cambodia, that held out for almost 20 years after a Vietnamese invasion ended Pol Pot’s rule in 1979. In the region made famous by the Khmer Rouge and its leader, Pol Pot, who killed an estimated 1.7 million people, former soldiers and killers are finding relief from their guilt in the forgiveness of Jesus. Five churches now dot the landscape of the town with an estimated 3,000 Christians in the town of atheists surrounded by a predominantly Buddhist country. The congregation of the Good Samaritan Church — the first church in town — includes five former senior Khmer Rouge officials. Local pastors continue to visit ex-Khmer Rouge leaders in prison to share the hope that Jesus brings. (WorldWide Religious News)

* HCJB World Radio, in cooperation with Campus Crusade for Christ, worked with a local partner to plant Cambodia’s first Christian radio station in 1998. New Life Radio in the capital city of Phnom Penh broadcasts the gospel in Cambodian and English.

GROUPS RAMP UP RELIEF EFFORTS AFTER LATEST TSUNAMI HITS INDONESIA

A 7.7-magnitude quake and the resulting 10- to 20-foot tsunami on the southwestern coast of Java, Indonesia, killed at least 300 people and left about 30,000 homeless. “There are still many missing and there is damage to homes,” said Grace Wiebe, Asia relief coordinator for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC). “[Thousands] have fled their homes and are away from the shore.” After more than 10 years of development work in the area, CRWRC and its partners were in place to bring immediate help to victims such as medical aid, food and tarps. Wiebe says Christian help in the Muslim-dominated area is strategic. “It’s a very big witness to have a Christian non-governmental organization providing relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction to people of another faith. It’s a very strong statement and they know it.” (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with local partners to establish more than 14 local Christian radio stations across Indonesia since 2004. Broadcasts from HCJB World Radio-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra also encourage listeners nationwide. In addition, HCJB World Radio has helped with relief efforts since the Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake/tsunami and subsequent quakes that devastated parts of Indonesia.