Today’s Headlines:

35 ARRESTED AT BIBLE CLASS, INCLUDING KOREAN-AMERICAN PASTOR

‘LOST JEWISH TRIBE’ IN INDIA RETURNS TO ISRAEL AFTER 27 CENTURIES

SUDAN’S DARFUR REGION VOTED ‘MOST DANGEROUS FOR CHILDREN’

MINNEAPOLIS A CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

ONGOING POLITICAL UNREST SLOWS MISSIONARY EFFORTS IN NEPAL

Defending the Christian faith is the focus of a series of programs from HCJB World Radio-Australia this week and next, featuring guests from Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (http://www.rzim.org). This week’s guest apologists are L.T. Jeyachandran from India and Stuart McAllister from Scotland.

Podcast or listen online by checking the following link:

http://www.hcjb.org/worldwide/australia/world_radio_programme.html

Today’s Top Stories:

35 ARRESTED AT BIBLE CLASS, INCLUDING KOREAN-AMERICAN PASTOR

Thirty-five Christians, including an American-Korean pastor, were arrested in the Chinese city of Uramqi in the Xijiang autonomous region during a Bible training seminar. On Thursday, Oct. 26, local police raided a local house church training session in the Qilin Mountain Villa suburb of Uramqi, arresting 35 attendees including the American-Korean pastor who was leading the session and his interpreter. During the raid, the police confiscated bibles and “other Christian material”. The detainees are being kept in an unknown location. One 66-year-old woman being detained, Xia Lingshi, reportedly “suffers from coronary heart disease and high blood pressure, thus should not be detained in any harsh environment.” (China Aid Association/Asia News)

‘LOST JEWISH TRIBE’ IN INDIA RETURNS TO ISRAEL AFTER 27 CENTURIES

More than 200 members of a “lost” Jewish tribe are immigrating to Israel next month from northeastern India. “This is a project of national and historical and even theological significance,” said Michael Freund, chairman and founder of Shavei Israel, an organization that helps communities around the world return to their Jewish roots and to Israel. The group, believed to be the Bnei Menashe (children of Manasseh), are considered descendants of one of the 10 “lost tribes” of Israel. “Their ancestors were exiled from the land 27 centuries ago,” says Freund, “and despite wandering for so long and so far, they managed to preserve their sense of Jewish identity and now, just as the prophets foretold, we are witnessing their return. It is a miracle.” Nearly 1,000 Bnei Menashe have already immigrated to Israel, but at least 7,000 are still waiting for the opportunity to return to Israel. (Religion Today)

SUDAN’S DARFUR REGION VOTED ‘MOST DANGEROUS FOR CHILDREN’

Despite a peace agreement signed between the government and one of the rebel groups in May, the crisis in the western Sudan’s Darfur region has grown more violent and complex. A recent Reuters poll showed aid workers and journalists overwhelmingly believe Darfur to be the “world’s most dangerous place for children.” Unfortunately, if the situation worsens, aid agencies like World Vision, which has been distributing food rations to around 300,000 people in more than 20 refugee camps, may be forced to withdraw. “Medical and human needs in Darfur are already beyond desperate, especially among women and children,” said Henry Duba, World Vision’s emergency health specialist in Darfur. “Any further worsening of security would mean a decline in the capacity of aid organizations to respond and a consequent deterioration in the humanitarian situation.” Some 3.6 million in Darfur are affected by the conflict, yet vast areas are almost completely inaccessible to aid agencies due to violence and insecurity. In North Darfur 350,000 people have been stranded for months without food aid. More than 200,000 people have died in the three-year conflict. (World Vision)

MINNEAPOLIS A CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

A coalition of concerned Christians in the media and churches of the upper Midwest are establishing Minneapolis as a center of activity regarding the plight of persecuted Christians worldwide. Coinciding with the “Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church” Sunday, Nov. 12, the city is hosting an event called “A Clarion Call Initiative” in support of those suffering for their faith in more than 200 countries around the world. Minnesota ranks third behind California and Florida for per-capita number of foreign nationals living in the state. In addition, Minneapolis/St. Paul ranks as a top-10 gateway city for U.S. immigration, home to 574,000 immigrants speaking 200 different languages and the largest concentrations of Hmong, Somali and Oromo people and the second-largest populations of Tibetan and Liberian nationals. The metro area also has among the fastest growing populations of Asians, Hispanics and people from Sub-Saharan Africa. (Assist News Service)

ONGOING POLITICAL UNREST SLOWS MISSIONARY EFFORTS IN NEPAL

Missionary efforts in Nepal have been slowed by the post-monarchy struggles between Nepal’s government and Maoist rebels. Peace talks were abruptly adjourned last week after neither side could come to an agreement on how to move the process forward. The main differences center around the role of the monarchy, an interim constitution that would allow rebels to join the government and what to do with rebel weapons. Recent rebel attacks have hit the capital city of Katmandu, creating fears the government will not maintain control. Rody Rodeheaver with IN Network said, “Our church planters find it very difficult these days to go out because they are being spotlighted by the guerillas. Many of them have not had the freedom that they’ve had in the past to go out. So we’re really praying that God will bring a resolution to this whole problem.” (Mission Network News)

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