Today’s Headlines:

CHURCH LEADERS IN LEBANON SCRAMBLING TO SET UP AID NETWORK

CHURCH MEMBERS FORCED TO BOW TO HINDU GODS OR BE SHUNNED

EVANGELIST TO MUSLIMS SAYS GOSPEL IS BEST HOPE TO STOP ISLAM

SOMALI CHRISTIAN REFUGEE REUNITED WITH ONE OF HIS SONS

* ECUADORIAN STAMP HONORS HCJB WORLD RADIO’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY

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Today’s Top Stories:

CHURCH LEADERS IN LEBANON SCRAMBLING TO SET UP AID NETWORK

Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) leaders in Lebanon are racing to establish an aid network for the war-torn country before winter weather sets in. Medical and construction teams and aid from U.S. churches are urgently needed as this the post-war cleanup continues. The EFCA of Lebanon has assisted nearly 4,000 people with food, fuel medical supplies and transportation. In the meantime, the U.N. food aid agency ended its relief program on Oct. 31, saying there was now enough food available after the war. Churches can mobilize aid teams by contacting the EFCA International Mission for more information. (Mission Network News)

CHURCH MEMBERS FORCED TO BOW TO HINDU GODS OR BE SHUNNED

Members of the Lambini tribe in the remote Kurumaradikere village in India’s Karnataka state prohibited Pastor Revanna Naik and his congregation from worshiping on Sunday, Oct. 29, forcing them instead to bow to Hindu gods. Three out of 11 Christian families at the church refused to bow before the idols or partake of the offering that indicates allegiance to the Hindu deities. The local council chief ordered the village to ostracize those families. “This stigma of ostracization will crush the very spirit of the Lambini, who are very clan-oriented people,” said Dr. Sajan George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians. “This is the worst form of punishment that could be meted out to these Christians who stood firm in their Christian faith.” The pastor, who lives 24 miles from the village and visits for services, has gone into hiding following threats. The congregation’s troubles began when members declined to participate in an annual Hindu celebration, Saturday, Oct. 21, that is important to the Lambani. Poor and illiterate, the congregation was terrified at the raucous outrage and insults of the large number of villagers. (Compass Direct)

* Radio programs in 17 languages air to India from HCJB World Radio-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra. The programs are produced at the ministry’s studios in New Delhi, India.

EVANGELIST TO MUSLIMS SAYS GOSPEL IS BEST HOPE TO STOP ISLAM

A former Muslim woman who has dedicated her life to winning Muslims to Christ, W.L. Cati recently traveled to an area of northeastern India dominated by the country’s Muslim minority. Cati, president and founder of the Florida-based White Horse Ministry, is planning to speak two to three times a day. She says the gospel message is the best hope for stopping radical Islam. “That’s the bottom line. Our salvation is their salvation,” said Cati, a former Muslim. “We need to stop playing ‘patty cake’ with them and start giving them the truth and praying that they find Jesus — because if they don’t, we’re all going to be wearing the veil soon.” The group Cati is traveling with plans to distribute 7,000 copies of the “JESUS” video in three of the languages that are spoken in India. “[The area is] full of Muslims. I’m really expecting signs, wonders, and miracles, whatever it takes to bring them into the kingdom,” she said. “So I’m going there, laying my life down for their salvation.” (Religion Today)

SOMALI CHRISTIAN REFUGEE REUNITED WITH ONE OF HIS SONS

A Somali Christian refugee in Kenya has been reunited with one of his children. Abdi Aziz has suffered severe persecution including a beating that left him comatose and the kidnapping of his three children — all because he is considered an “apostate” by Muslims. Aziz recently reported that one of his sons had been delivered safely to him after escaping from Somalia, and he expressed his thanks to all those who have been praying for him and his family. Aziz has received numerous threatening telephone calls indicating his other two kidnapped children remain held in a compound in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, unable to leave. (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

* ECUADORIAN STAMP HONORS HCJB WORLD RADIO’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY

A postage stamp commemorating 75 years of broadcasting on Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador, was unveiled in a presentation at the station on Thursday, Oct. 26. About 80 people attended, including Carmen Elena Salazar, executive president of the Postal Services of Ecuador, and HCJB World Radio President David Johnson.

“I cannot forget the occasions when Radio HCJB was my companion,” said Salazar who presented examples of the first-day cover — an official envelope bearing the anniversary stamp canceled with a special commemorative seal from the post office.

Salazar told of enjoying the station’s classical music as well as hearing the early-morning personal greetings from people living in Ecuador’s Amazon region.

“It was their only way to communicate,” Salazar said, explaining a longstanding programming service to Ecuadorians. “They sent messages via the radio to their relatives living in the rest of the country.”

Counting it a privilege to be a part of Ecuador’s entry into the technological age, Johnson thanked God for Ecuador’s varied landscapes of beaches, mountains and rain forests.

He also said the nation’s people have welcomed HCJB World Radio. Born in Ecuador of missionary parents, Johnson said Ecuadorians have warmly embraced the broadcasting ministry through the years “not just out of courtesy but with a deep desire, a deep affection that was much more than was deserved.”

Pictured on the stamp are five members of the ministry’s founding families who participated in Radio Station HCJB’s first broadcast in English and Spanish on Christmas Day, 1931. Superimposed on the photo’s lower portion is emblazoned “75 a ±os” (75 years) while a close-up photo of an HCJB microphone lies diagonally across the stamp’s lower left-hand corner.

Ecuador previously issued commemorative stamps on the 70th and 50th anniversaries of Radio Station HCJB, the flagship station of HCJB World Radio.

Speaking of Ecuador’s golden era of postage stamps, Eduardo Espinosa, manager of philately (stamp collecting) and postal history, said the country’s stamps were once considered among the world’s best. That era began in 1950. He sees philately reviving again as the Postal Services of Ecuador promotes it through seminars in schools and elsewhere. His department’s slogan is, “Philately Is Art, Science and Culture.”

As part of the HCJB commemorative stamp, the cancellation seal (28 mm by 38 mm) includes the mission’s 75th anniversary logo. The stamp is valued at US$1, and first-day covers are available from Correos del Ecuador for $3.50. For more information visit http://www.correosdelecuador.com.ec/espanol/index.php <http://www.correosdelecuador.com.ec/espanol/index.php> . (HCJB World Radio)

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