Today’s Headlines:

INDONESIAN RADIO STATION SEEKS LOCAL APPROVAL

12 FOREIGN ORGANIZATIONS SHUT DOWN BY UZBEK AUTHORITIES

URBANA OFFERS ‘OPEN FOR BUSINESS’ TRACK IN ST. LOUIS

CHRISTIAN GENDER EQUALITY CONFERENCE SLATED FOR INDIA

5,000 MARCH IN ZIONIST RALLY IN JERUSALEM, SUPPORT ISRAEL

Today’s Top Stories:

INDONESIAN RADIO STATION SEEKS LOCAL APPROVAL

A Back to the Bible International radio station near the tsunami zone in Indonesia could face closure as it goes before the local government for approval. Mark Blowers with Back to the Bible says, “It’s critical that they get this approval from the local council, or they cannot continue broadcasting. The interesting thing is that because it’s such a heavily Muslim area, these council members are almost all Muslim and so the chance of this being approved from a human perspective is almost nil.” Regardless, Blowers is asking for prayer for this effective radio station, which received more than 10,000 letters in the last year since it began. The local council’s decision, expected in the next couple of weeks, will dictate the station’s future. Blowers says a decision in favor of the station would be an amazing answer to prayer. He notes, “If we got this local approval there is basically nothing that could happen within the law of Indonesia to shut down our station in the short term.” (Mission Network News)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with local partners to establish more than 14 local Christian radio stations across Indonesia since 2004. Broadcasts from HCJB World Radio-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra also encourage listeners nationwide. In addition, HCJB World Radio has helped with relief efforts since the Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake/tsunami and subsequent quakes that devastated parts of Indonesia.

12 FOREIGN ORGANIZATIONS SHUT DOWN BY UZBEK AUTHORITIES

Over the last year, authorities in Uzbekistan have shut down around 12 foreign charities and humanitarian organizations they suspected of being religiously affiliated. Alleged missionary activity by staff members was often cited as the reason for the various closures. One source told Forum 18 News that “several hundred” foreign Protestants working for such organizations have been forced to leave the country. Government spokespersons have not clarified if religiously-affiliated charities are now barred from the country. Uzbek law does not prohibit such activity. James Hall, the head of Central Asian Free Exchange (CAFE) which was one of the Christian humanitarian groups closed down this year by the government, insists his charity conducted genuine humanitarian aid projects with no regard for recipients’ faith. “I always told the Foreign Ministry we were Christians,” he said from the United States on 5 October. “I told them there was no Christianity in the projects – we didn’t present Christianity in any of our work. I was honest and I felt they understood.” (Forum 18 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.

URBANA OFFERS ‘OPEN FOR BUSINESS’ TRACK

People interested in using their business skills to advance God’s Kingdom are encouraged to attend the Open for Business track at Urbana 06, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Missions Convention to be held in St. Louis, December 27-31, 2006. The Open for Business track is designed to encourage businesspeople to use their gifts and training, integrated with biblical principles, to help communities around the world flourish economically, socially and spiritually. Participants will attend 40 unique, business-related seminars and be encouraged to enter a $40,000 business plan competition for the best business ideas that pursue an integrated triple bottom line approach: financial, social and spiritual impact. Urbana wants to encourage the proliferation of these types of businesses around the world. This track is open to third-year undergraduate students and up, and will be limited to 1,500 participants. (Assist News Service)

CHRISTIAN GENDER EQUALITY CONFERENCE SLATED FOR INDIA

The Minneapolis-based group known as Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) will travel to Bangalore, India for a symposium dealing with topics of gender inequality across society and in the church on February 15-18, 2007. The conference is entitled “Side by Side: Gender from a Christian Perspective: Men and Women Dependent on Each Other.” In partnership with CBE in facilitating the symposium, are Pilgrim Partners, South Asian Institute of Advanced Christian Studies, and Union of Evangelical Students of India. This is the first time a global partnership of Christians will meet to discuss the impact of gender inequality and a worldwide response. CBE, founded in 1987, is a non-profit organization of evangelical men and women from nearly 100 denominations who believe that the Bible, properly interpreted, teaches the fundamental equality of men and women of all ethnicities, economic classes, and ages. (Evangelical News)

5,000 MARCH IN ZIONIST RALLY IN JERUSALEM, SUPPORT ISRAEL

More than 5,000 Evangelical Christians marched through Jerusalem on Tuesday, October 10 to voice their support for Zionism and the state of Israel. The event, organized by a group known as the International Christian Embassy of Israel, included believers from areas as diverse and distant as Congo and New Zealand. The largest numbers of Christian Zionists, most of whom are evangelical Protestants, are based in the United States. They believe the return of Jews to the Holy Land and establishment of Israel are proof of God’s promises to biblical patriarchs. The Zionist movement has drawn criticism from the Vatican. “The Christian Zionist program provides a world view where the gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism,” a declaration read. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert delivered a recorded message to the group saying, “This is the city God has chosen to be the capital of the Jewish people and it will remain the capital of the Jewish people.” The comment drew strong applause and Hebrew chants of “The nation of Israel lives!” from the crowd. (WorldWide Religious News)