Today’s Headlines:

NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TESTING RAISES PRESSURE ON CHRISTIANS

STUDY: ONLY 60 PERCENT OF NEW ORLEANS CHURCHES ‘FUNCTIONING’

VIETNAMESE MAN DIES IN PRISON AFTER SEVERE TORTURE

MINORITY CHRISTIANS FORCE OFFENSIVE ALBUM OUT OF INDIA

Today’s Top Stories:

NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TESTING RAISES PRESSURE ON CHRISTIANS

While the world condemns North Korea for their recent underground nuclear testing and disobedience of international law, Jerry Dykstra, media relations coordinator with Open Doors, says the government also continues to ruthlessly suppress Evangelical Christians. “Christians are equated to the West,” he says, “and they’re being further marginalized in North Korea because of what’s happened.” North Korea replaced Saudi Arabia as the country where Christians are most severely persecuted according to the “World Watch List” published by Open Doors in August. “I think we can probably expect more intense persecution because North Korea is going to be even more isolated,” Dykstra added. Dykstra believes prayer can cross borders and make a difference. “We have a prayer campaign that’s been going on for over a year now. We have people praying almost around the clock, but there’s still room for more people to be involved. That commits people to ten minutes of prayer every week for North Korea.” (Mission Network News)

STUDY: ONLY 60 PERCENT OF NEW ORLEANS CHURCHES ‘FUNCTIONING’

An ongoing study has shown that only 60 percent of the churches in the greater New Orleans area are open and functioning one year after hurricane Katrina. Bill Day, with the Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health, presented the preliminary results of a study analyzing how Katrina impacted the viability of churches. Day found that only 905 of the 1,508 total churches are functioning one year after the storm. However, Day’s research is attempting to dig deeper to understand why some churches survive and others end up closing their doors. “I really wanted to know why churches grow.” Day said. “New Orleans is not the only place that will ever suffer terrible devastation.” Day hopes to identify the variables that led to the survival or demise of these churches. Factors like the intensity of the devastation, denominational affiliation, the repopulation rate around the church and the vibrancy of the church before the storm all seem to play a role. Day believes some churches will survive and thrive against all odds. “What’s going on with the churches pretty well tells you what’s going on with the community,” Day said. (Baptist Press)

VIETNAMESE MAN DIES IN PRISON AFTER SEVERE TORTURE

A Vietnamese Montagnard man has died in prison following severe torture, according to the Montagnard Foundation, which advocates for these indigenous people of Vietnam’s Central Highlands. The man, known as Thup, was arrested on March 24, 2004 on charges of “public order offences.” Unnamed Vietnamese officials told the man’s family that he died in Trai Ba Sao prison in Ha Nam on August 30. The Montagnard Foundation reported, “It was well known (Thup) was severely tortured in prison. His wife and relatives asked officials if they collect his body for burial but were refused this request. On Sept. 1, 2006 his village however, buried his clothes instead and mourned for him according to our customs.” Many within the Montagnards are members of Evangelical Christian groups who oppose the government. An unexpected amnesty release of Vietnamese prisoners is slated to coincide with crucial voting in the U.S. Congress and a visit to Hanoi by President Bush that could benefit trade with Vietnam. (Assist News Service)

MINORITY CHRISTIANS FORCE OFFENSIVE ALBUM OUT OF INDIA

The small Christian community in India was successful in their efforts to remove a new album by U.S. heavy metal band Slayer from store shelves. The album, called “Christ Illusion,” had a cover depicting Christ with amputated arms and a missing eye along with songs such as “Skeleton Christ” and “Jihad,” which the Christian groups said hurt the sensibilities of Christians and Muslims alike. The protests prompted Slayer’s India-based label to pull the album from all music stores and depots. “Last week we recalled all the albums and destroyed them as we did not want any community to be hurt,” said T. Suresh, the company general manager. Christians in India make up only about two percent of India’s more than one-billion people. They also succeeded in forcing Sony Pictures to add a fictional disclaimer to “The Da Vinci Code.” (WorldWide Religious News/Reuters)