Today’s Headlines:

CHRISTIAN USE OF PUBLIC DRINKING GLASS SPAWNS ATTACK IN PAKISTAN

JONI EAREKSON TADA VOICES SUPPORT OF STEM-CELL FUNDING VETO

RELIEF WORKER IN SUDAN KILLED IN ATTACK, 4 OTHERS SURVIVE

HIRED GUNMAN KILLS CHRISTIAN MOTHER OF 4 IN COLOMBIA

CHRISTIAN VILLAGES IN LEBANON USED AS SHIELDS FOR HEZBOLLAH ATTACKS

Today’s Top Stories:

CHRISTIAN USE OF PUBLIC DRINKING GLASS SPAWNS ATTACK IN PAKISTAN

A Christian stone mason in Pakistan was violently beaten just outside the city of Lahore after drinking from a public water glass. On Tuesday, June 6, Nasir Ashraf was working on a school construction site when he got thirsty, drew water and drank from a glass chained to a public water tank next to a mosque. While returning to the construction site, a Muslim man asked, “Why did you drink water from this glass since you are a Christian?” He accused the mason of polluting the glass and proceeded to destroy it. The Muslim man then summoned a crowd by shouting, “This Christian polluted our glass,” and encouraging them to beat him up. The crowd began beating Nasir, eventually pushing him off a ledge. The fall dislocated his shoulder, broke his collarbone in two places and knocked him unconscious. (Voice of the Martyrs)

* HCJB World Radio sent two medical teams from Ecuador to Pakistan following the Oct. 8, 2005, earthquake that left tens of thousands dead and thousands more injured and homeless. Staff members helped SIM International with relief efforts.

JONI EAREKSON TADA VOICES SUPPORT OF STEM-CELL FUNDING VETO

Christian speaker and author Joni Eareckson Tada joined others gathered at the White House Wednesday, July 19, in support of President George W. Bush’s veto of a bill expanding federal funding of stem-cell research. The funding would aid the use of human embryos from in vitro fertilization to harvest stem cells for research. “I stand with countless Americans with disabilities who believe that our cause is not advanced when human life is sacrificed in hopes of finding a cure,” Tada said. A quadriplegic for nearly four decades, Tada pointed out how “medically fragile” people like her are vulnerable when human life is viewed as a “commodity.” She supports the president’s stand for the sanctity of life and hopes restrictions on tax dollars “may well encourage funding in the overlooked and less commercially viable field of adult stem-cell therapy.” (Christian Retailing)

RELIEF WORKER IN SUDAN KILLED IN ATTACK, 4 OTHERS SURVIVE

A relief worker in western Sudan’s volatile Darfur province died after a surprise attack on July 27. Tearfund worker Rashid Mohamed Mohamed Adam, a relief team driver, was one of five Tearfund members in two vehicles caught in civil unrest. The team was collecting seedlings for a tree-planting program near a camp for displaced people when the attack occurred. Three members escaped while another suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries. Tearfund International Regions Director Ian Wallace said, “We are very shocked, and we are doing all we can to support Rashid’s family and the rest of the Tearfund team who are extremely shaken.” Wallace said the organization is investigating the causes of the attack that took place in what was thought to be one of the safest areas of Darfur to work. Tearfund, one of the U.K.’s leading relief and development agencies, partners with Christian churches to battle global poverty. (Assist News Service)

HIRED GUNMAN KILLS CHRISTIAN MOTHER OF 4 IN COLOMBIA

Leftist rebels hired a gunman to kill a Christian mother of four on Friday, July 7, in central Colombia’s Meta province. The woman, referred to as “Jennifer” by Open Doors, had previously been forced to prepare meals and transport drugs for the insurgents. However, she quit cooperating upon turning to faith in Christ and began winning rebel souls to Jesus. Rebel leaders, angered when their forces kept defecting after they were converted, added Jennifer’s name to a list of regional Christian leaders to be executed. The hired gunman shot her in the chest and shoulder and then 15 more times as she lay at his feet. Jennifer is survived by her four children, ages 14, 9, 3 and 5 months, and her husband who have already left Colombia. Jennifer’s church remains in constant danger of more religious persecution. (Open Doors)

CHRISTIAN VILLAGES IN LEBANON USED AS SHIELDS FOR HEZBOLLAH ATTACKS

Christian Solidarity International reports that Hezbollah forces are using Christian villages and homes in southern Lebanon to shield military attacks against Israel. “Hezbollah is repeating the same pattern that it practiced against Israel in 1996,” said former South Lebanese Army commander Col. Charbel Barkat. “Hezbollah is hiding among civilian populations and launching attacks behind human shields.” An unnamed Christian villager from the predominantly Christian village of Ain Ebel reported that Hezbollah guerrillas launched rockets from his rooftop despite his pleas not to. He immediately gathered his family and left just minutes before Israeli forces destroyed his home. Once the majority, the Christian population in Lebanon since the civil war has declined to less than 40 percent due to pressures by Islamic militias supported by Iran and Syria. (Christian Newswire)