Today’s Headlines:

CHRISTIAN BANDS POPULAR IN BELARUS DESPITE TIGHT RELIGIOUS LAWS

CUTTING-EDGE WEBSITES TO TARGET TECH-SAVVY YOUTH IN EAST ASIA

CHRISTIAN FAMILY STANDS STRONG IN THE FACE OF PERSECUTION

Today’s Top Stories:

Human rights group International Christian Concern (ICC) was informed that the three Indonesian Christian men facing the death penalty have been executed by firing squad. The men were executed just after midnight Friday, Sept. 22 (Indonesia time).

Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marinus Riwu, 48, and Dominggus da Silva, 48, were found guilty of leading a Christian militia that launched a series of attacks in May 2000, including a machete and gun assault on an Islamic school where dozens of men were seeking shelter. Human rights workers say the men’s 2001 trail was a sham, and that while it was possible the men took part in some of the violence, they almost certainly were not the masterminds. Others note that only a handful of Muslims were punished in connection with the violence, all punished to 15 years in jail or less.

ICC Policy Analyst Jeremy Sewall said, “I am deeply saddened at this news, and ask all concerned Christians to pray for the families of these men. This is a tragedy. This is not justice.” The execution had been stayed last month by the Attorney General for the Central Sulawesi district, Mohammad Yahya Sibe, but he was unexpectedly replaced. His replacement pushed the men’s appeal forward and went ahead with the execution.

ICC urges believers to “pray that the Christians in Poso will not seek revenge for these executions and that instead they would trust God to administer justice in his own time.” (Christian Newswire/Associated Press)

CHRISTIAN BANDS POPULAR IN BELARUS DESPITE TIGHT RELIGIOUS LAWS

Despite religious restrictions written into the laws of the Eastern European nation of Belarus, popular music there has a decidedly religious theme. In this case, laws that the state has placed on the media actually help spread the Christian message. Since January 2005 all FM radio stations in Belarus may devote no more than 20 per cent of their airtime to foreign music. Several other popular Belarusian rock bands are banned from public performance due to their declared opposition to President Aleksandr Lukashenko. In this arena, several high-quality Belarusian Christian bands have achieved broad public support. For example, almost every week since June a group called Salvation has held first place on the state television program, “Silver Marathon,” where viewers vote via text message for their favorite current pop song. Salvation’s popular song contains openly Christian lyrics. When asked if tight state religious restrictions could be prompting religious themes in Belarusian music, the lead singer from another band called New Jerusalem, Aleksandr Patlis said, “If they try to stop God one way, we’ll try another.” (Forum 18 News Service)

CUTTING-EDGE WEBSITES TO TARGET TECH-SAVVY YOUTH IN EAST ASIA

The International Bible Society (IBS) is developing a series of cutting-edge websites designed to present God’s word to the tech-savvy youth in East Asia. A potential audience of a half-million youth from the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia where Islam and Buddhism severely restrict the freedom to investigate Christianity will be presented with the gospel message and the person of Jesus Christ in an accessible, dynamic and interactive forum. Research has shown that religious beliefs adopted when young will most often carry on into adulthood. IBS is seeking the $16,000 needed to develop and operate the website for the first year. (Mission Network News)

CHRISTIAN FAMILY STANDS STRONG IN THE FACE OF PERSECUTION

Members of a Christian family in central India have refused to back down from their faith despite some big consequences. The man, known only as Immanuvel, converted to Christ when a pastor visited their home and shared the gospel with him, his wife and four children. After hearing of their conversion, villagers began verbal harassment and stirring up trouble. The opposition grew when Immanuvel’s daughter, Amija, enrolled in a Gospel for Asia Bible college. The village chief threatened, “Take her out of the Bible college and bring her home, or forget about her forever.” Immanuvel bravely answered that he would forsake neither his daughter nor his Jesus. The enraged chief excommunicated the family from the village and imposed a fine of 5,000 rupees (US$109) for anyone caught speaking to the family. The family expressed a willingness to face any consequence for the sake of Jesus and even began traveling to other villages to spread the gospel rather than bowing to their neighbors’ urging to deny the name of Christ. (Assist News Service)