Today’s Headlines:

YWAM PRAYER GUIDE FOCUSES ON MUSLIMS DURING RAMADAN

UZBEKISTAN PROPOSES FINES, JAIL FOR SHARING RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY PARTNERS WITH BAND TO PROMOTE BIBLE READING

SCRIPTURE DISTRIBUTORS TURN TO SHORT-TERM TEAMS FOR HELP

Today’s Top Stories:

YWAM PRAYER GUIDE FOCUSES ON MUSLIMS DURING RAMADAN

Coinciding with Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, Youth with a Mission (YWAM)

is helping Christians focus prayer on the Islamic world with its 30-day “Muslim Prayer Focus” event. The 15th annual campaign will again include a 52-page prayer booklet with daily readings and prayer points for each day of Ramadan which is Sept. 24-Oct. 23 this year. Christians are urged to learn about, pray for and reach out to their Muslim neighbors both across the street and around the world. The prayer guide is designed to be both useful and educational, helping Christians in a post-9/11 world to avoid generalizations, fear and anger toward Muslims. “This 30-day prayer emphasis has been a remarkable global effort to focus Christians on prayer for the spiritual needs of Muslims,” said Operation World author Patrick Johnstone. “Is it surprising, then, during the last 15 years there has been a corresponding rise in the number of Muslims turning to Christ?” (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio reaches across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe with Christian Arabic programming aired via shortwave, satellite and local stations. The mission’s Arabic satellite network airs programs direct-to-home 24 hours a day. This region has the world’s highest concentration of personal satellite dishes.

Chinese journalist Zan Aizong, 37, who reported on the demolition of an unregistered house church in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, July 29, was released from custody Aug. 17. Zan, however, lost his job as a journalist and Zhejiang province bureau chief for China Ocean News. He was arrested on Friday, Aug. 11, for “spreading rumors and disturbing social order.” Two days before his arrest, Zan received notice from his employer that he was “no longer suitable for the job.” Chinese writer Yu Jie said the journalist had recently become a Christian and was baptized little more than a month ago in a Hangzhou house church. In a recent telephone interview Zan said, “As a journalist, I report the truth; as a Christian, I spread God’s love.” (Compass Direct)

UZBEKISTAN PROPOSES FINES, JAIL FOR SHARING RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

In a tightening web of religious oppression in the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, the state Religious Affairs Committee proposed massive fines and jail sentences for those who share their religious beliefs outside places of worship. A first offense would draw a fine between 200 and 600 times the minimum monthly salary. A second offense would be met with jail sentences of three to eight years for both the offender and the leader of their religious community. The proposal was presented at a meeting between religious leaders and the Religious Affairs Committee on Friday, Aug. 4, in the capital city of Tashkent. Religious leaders are fearful of openly opposing the proposals due to the likelihood of reprisals against their congregations by authorities. Additional religious crackdowns include the shutdown of the Arkansas-based development agency, Winrock International, for unlicensed publishing activity. (Forum 18 News Service/WorldWide Religious News)

* HCJB World Radio airs 2.5 hours of Uzbek programs per week from an AM station outside the country. More than 15 million people speak this language.

AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY PARTNERS WITH BAND TO PROMOTE BIBLE READING

The American Bible Society (ABS) and the Christian band, Salvador (Savior), have partnered together to promote Bible reading among Hispanics. The band has invited audiences at its 200 concerts this year to attend in-depth Bible readings and receive free Spanish-language Scripture booklets featuring biblical excerpts and study guides produced by ABS. The national advocacy campaign, “La Biblia Es Mi Gu ­a” (The Bible Is My Guide), will use prominent Latin American figures to reach cities such as New York, Miami and Los Angles with free Bible reading materials and web outreach. “Partnering with Salvador allows us to use their music ministry to entice young and old to turn to the Bible for guidance,” said Rev. Emilio Reyes, vice president for Hispanic/Latino Ministries at ABS. (Religion Today)

SCRIPTURE DISTRIBUTORS TURN TO SHORT-TERM TEAMS FOR HELP

Facing the challenge of getting Bibles from the presses and into the hands of those who need it is an enduing problem made more difficult by war, natural disasters and increasing expenses. Karen Hawkins of Bible Pathway Ministries says the outreach is turning to short-term mission teams to help distribute Scriptures. “Forty-one countries are now closed to us as far as mailbags, and only airmail can go in. Most ministries, like us, cannot pay four times the cost to get a Bible to someone. But, people carrying them in and having that personal touch — that’s really great.” Bible Pathway, a systematic reading schedule that allows the Bible to be read through in one year in only 15 minutes a day, is available in 11 languages on the web. Bible Pathway Ministries is offering free CDs with the readings to anyone willing to distribute them. Hawkins will provide the resources to “anybody who wants them . . . no royalties, no copyright . . . just get them into people’s hands.” (Mission Network News)