Today’s Headlines:

MISSIONARY CREDITS PRAYER FOR SAFETY DURING KIDNAPPING

JOURNALIST CLAIMS BRITS SUSPICIOUS OF EVANGELICALS AND BUSH

HINDU PARTY CALLS FOR ARREST, DEPORTATION OF MISSIONARIES

VIETNAM REGISTERS 18 CHURCHES AS U.S. WEIGHS TRADE DECISIONS

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Today’s Top Stories:

MISSIONARY CREDITS PRAYER FOR SAFETY DURING KIDNAPPING

Southern Baptist missionary Mendy Nantz, 33, was in her car outside the Africa Inland Mission (AIM) center in Nairobi, Kenya, when she was greeted by the barrel of a gun. She was being kidnapped. As she was shoved into the passenger seat of her red car, she began to pray. “I had guns on me all the time. I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t scream for fear they would shoot, but I could pray,” she said. Looking back several months after her quick, safe return, Nantz sees how a string of events revealed the power of prayer. A last-second honk before the gunman arrived caused a neighbor to look outside, see the kidnapping and alert friends. A dozen blue balloons Nantz had in the car were discarded by the gunmen and spotted by an incoming AIM pilot who then directed a search plane. Nantz attributes her safety to her personal prayers and the fact that a prayer chain was mobilized within 10 minutes of her kidnapping. “I don’t know what these gunmen saw or felt at that very moment,” she said, “but I do know they had evil intentions and were stopped by the power of intercessory prayer.” (Baptist Press/Evangelical News)

JOURNALIST CLAIMS BRITS SUSPICIOUS OF EVANGELICALS AND BUSH

A journalist from Great Britain claims the attitude of the British people toward the war in Iraq is an outgrowth of their distaste for evangelical Christians. Columnist Melanie Phillips, who has written about British culture and politics for nearly 30 years, said the “British tend to view with great suspicion anyone who actually is a religious believer. They think it’s a sign of either imbecility or, quite frankly, insanity.” Although she knows most Americans would be shocked at this attitude, she says it is readily apparent when Brits are asked what they think of President George W. Bush. “They know that President Bush is a firm Christian who has a very strong faith,” she says. “They know that he prays, and they think this is a sign of irrationality.” She says many people in the U.K. don’t believe there is a jihad against the West, even after the July 7 attacks on London’s mass transit system by Islamic terrorists. She claims most Brits blame Bush for “creating” the threat by invading Iraq and by supporting Israel. (Religion Today)

HINDU PARTY CALLS FOR ARREST, DEPORTATION OF MISSIONARIES

Hindu nationalists in charge of India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh have accused U.S. and Canadian missionaries of organizing conversions to Christianity among local outcastes through fraud. The leaders then urged the government to “arrest and deport the missionaries instead of remaining indifferent to the problem.” S.V. Seshagiri Rao, vice-president of the Bharatia Janata Party (BJP), made this allegation last week during a press conference in the capital. “Teams of Christian missionaries have fanned out in various tribal areas of Nalgonda district and are forcibly converting tribals to Christianity,” he said. Another politician who addressed the press conference with Rao said the missionaries “promised those who converted free medical treatment, homes, education and 100 rupees per day.” The leaders then claimed that about 6,000 people had converted around the state. “The 68 foreigners in the area divided into several teams that are visiting villages with the help of locals for their conversion work,” Rao continued. “The matter was reported to the Nalgonda police but no action was initiated.” Experts warn this final phrase signals danger because fanatical Hindus will then “feel duty-bound to intervene personally given the indifference of the armed forces.” (WorldWide Religious News)

VIETNAM REGISTERS 18 CHURCHES AS U.S. WEIGHS TRADE DECISIONS

As the U.S. debates whether to include Vietnam on the list of worst violators of religious freedom and congress votes on trade with the Asian nation, Vietnamese authorities advised the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi that 18 churches were recently registered. However, the same authorities failed to notify the churches which first discovered the news from U.S. officials who contacted them. The Vietnamese church leaders said that such dysfunctional communications lead them to doubt the government’s intention to change repressive policies toward the Hmong and other ethnic minorities in northwestern Vietnam’s mountainous provinces. Observers believe the country has stepped up efforts to convince the U.S. of improvements in religious freedom as these key decisions are made. Religious leaders in Vietnam point out that churches that have registered were required to list members by name and have since been under scrutiny with officials “observing” services and forcing unlisted visitors to leave. Authorities also chose to register 18 small, non-threatening churches while 534 churches that applied, some much larger and more vibrant, remain denied. Several churches have said they will refuse to register if these are the “benefits” of doing so. (Compass Direct)

The forced shutdown of Alkarma TV, America’s first 24/7 Arabic Christian TV channel, was recently averted by donations from its Arabic-speaking viewers. The station, run by an Egyptian-born couple out of their southern California home, was given a 10-day notice ordering them to move out following a complaint. Without the $200,000 needed to relocate and set up a nearby warehouse, the couple feared they would be forced to cease operations. After much prayer, the couple shared with viewers the problem and the costs involved. Donations from viewers flowed in. “People immediately began calling and encouraging us and saying things like, ‘We are with you; we’d like to help you and support you to continue.'” The city has now given the couple a two-month extension, allowing them to continue broadcasting from home until the warehouse studio is completed. The husband added, “I felt as if God was saying, ‘It’s time to move out of the house. I want a place where the ministry can grow more.'” (Assist News Service)

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