Today’s Headlines:

BELARUS OFFICIALS DISRUPT CHURCH FAMILY CAMPING TRIP

2 PASTORS BEATEN AT BUS STATION BY HINDU MILITANTS IN INDIA

HINDU EXTREMISTS ATTACK ORPHANAGE, INJURE DIRECTOR

NORTH KOREA ALLOWS FIRST RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE VISUAL NEW TESTAMENT COMPLETED

Today’s Top Stories:

BELARUS OFFICIALS DISRUPT CHURCH FAMILY CAMPING TRIP

Officials in northwestern Belarus recently disrupted a church family camping excursion, claiming it violated health and safety rules. The camp was not an official church event and was set up on grounds belonging to a church member. As a result, the approximately 60 parents, children and friends did not believe the gathering required any special permits. Officials declared the event on Tuesday, Aug. 8, “in violation of health and safety norms.” The following morning, about 10 soldiers loaded the participants and equipment onto a bus “like criminals,” forcing them to return approximately 48 miles to the capital city of Minsk under police escort. Participant Andrei Frolikhin said conditions on the bus showed that authorities didn’t have the group’s wellbeing in mind. “There were far too few seats for passengers and no luggage compartment on the bus provided by the authorities for the deportation,” he said. While admitting a few minor safety concerns such as the lack of a registered fire extinguisher, the group has yet to receive any official reason for the disruption. All participants attend churches belonging to the Belarusian Full Gospel Association. (Forum 18 News Service)

2 PASTORS BEATEN AT BUS STATION BY HINDU MILITANTS IN INDIA

Two pastors in northwestern India’s Rajasthan state were brutally beaten for more than an hour at a local bus station Thursday, July 13. The human rights organization International Christian Concern (ICC) recently learned that pastors Kunjuman Mathai and Suresh Bhuria were robbed and beaten with iron rods and stones by three well-known men who are linked to other anti-Christian activities in the area. The three men threatened the pastors with death if they reported the incident to police. Mathai had visible injuries on various parts of his body, including congealing blood in his eyes. He mailed a complaint to the police but is unsure if it ever arrived. Rajasthan state is regarded as one of the most dangerous for Christians. It is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which recently passed an anti-conversion law. Area Hindu groups have pledged to cleanse the state of all Christian believers. (Evangelical News)

HINDU EXTREMISTS ATTACK ORPHANAGE, INJURE DIRECTOR

More than 50 Hindu militants raided the House of Hope orphanage in central India’s Chattisgarh state the night of Saturday, Aug. 5, in an attempt to force it to close. The mob, armed with clubs and bamboo sticks, beat the 35-year-old director named Suresh, threatening to kill him if he continues to work at the orphanage. The group also questioned and threatened several of the children. Suresh is receiving treatment for his injuries. Meanwhile, efforts to lodge a formal police complaint have failed. (Voice of the Martyrs)

NORTH KOREA ALLOWS FIRST RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

The first Russian Orthodox Church in North Korea opened with an inaugural mass in the capital city of Pyongyang Sunday, Aug. 13. Vice Premier Kwak Pom Gi and other government officials attended the service. Ho Il Jin, chairman of the Korean Orthodox Church Committee, said the North Korean government will “successfully manage and operate the church,” explaining that the church will boost relations between North Korea and Russia. Speculation remains that this is the only motivation for allowing the church to operate under the oppressive communist regime of Kim Jong Il that severely restricts religious practices. The U.S. State Department has listed North Korea as one of the world’s worst violators of religious freedoms, and many North Korean defectors to China have been persecuted for their beliefs. Two state-sanctioned Protestant churches operate in Pyongyang. (WorldWide Religious News)

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE VISUAL NEW TESTAMENT COMPLETED

Deaf Missions has announced a complete New Testament now available in American Sign Language (ASL) for handheld devices such as iPods or other MPEG-4 format media players. Translators, scholars and ASL specialists have been working on the project since 1981, allowing this visual language to be available to deaf people by using technology that was only imagined when the project first started. The translation is available from Deaf Missions in a data format as well as on DVD and VHS. (Christian Newswire)