Today’s Headlines:

BETHLEHEM COLLEGE STUDENTS PRODUCE ARABIC TV PROGRAM

MORE CHRISTIANS FORCED TO BOW TO HINDU GODS IN INDIA

GLOBAL SUMMIT TO ADDRESS CHURCHES’ RESPONSE TO AIDS PANDEMIC

SURVEY: KENYA BECOMES HOTBED OF EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY

EPISCOPAL CHURCH INSTALLS FIRST FEMALE PRESIDING BISHOP

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Today’s Top Stories:

BETHLEHEM COLLEGE STUDENTS PRODUCE ARABIC TV PROGRAM

The mass media department of Bethlehem Bible College in the birthplace of Jesus is now producing TV programs for Arabic satellite television station SAT-7. In a recent message to supporters, Dr. Bishara Awad, president of the college, said the hour-long program is aired twice weekly to an audience of hundreds. The program has sections for young children, youth and adults as well as a feature called “Site and Event” that highlights the Christian history of the Holy Land. In this segment a tour guide visits an archaeological site and speaks about the site’s historical background. On alternate weeks a pastor is the guide at a historical place and explains the theological aspects of the site. The aim is to strengthen the cultural identity of the Christian minority in Palestine and to build the rest of the society’s knowledge about Israel’s cultural treasures and history. (Assist News Service)

MORE CHRISTIANS FORCED TO BOW TO HINDU GODS IN INDIA

On Monday, Nov. 6, Hindu extremists in the remote village of Bevainahalli in southern India’s Karnataka state forced Christians to bow to Hindu gods and applied the vermilion mark of Hindu allegiance to their foreheads. In the second such similar incident in a little more than a week, Hindu priests accompanied a group of 20 to 25 Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its youth wing, the Bajrang Dal, began going door to door ordering Christians out of their houses and slapping those who questioned their reasons. When they were gathered together near the village temple, a Hindu priest began speaking against Christianity and telling the Christians to “reconvert.” The believers were then forced into the temple and made to bow before Hindu gods and goddesses. Later they applied the vermilion mark to the Christians’ foreheads and forced them to eat a Hindu offering. Police Inspector K.L. Krishna, who looked on as the events unfolded, said, “I ensured the safety of the Christians and personally made certain no violence took place.”(Compass Direct)

GLOBAL SUMMIT TO ADDRESS CHURCHES’ RESPONSE TO AIDS PANDEMIC

Pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren and his wife, Kay, will host the second annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. The conference, coinciding with World AIDS Day on Friday, Dec. 1, will be attended by at least two U.S. Senators and U.S. Ambassador Mark Dybul, the Global AIDS coordinator. Presenters include Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse, Wess Stafford of Compassion International, Rich Stearns of World Vision and Sammy Mah of World Relief. “This conference is not about ministry leaders getting together to wring our hands and fret about the horrors of the AIDS pandemic,” said Kay Warren. “This is about pulling together the best and brightest minds of those people on the frontlines.” The conference will also explore six ways any church, regardless of size, can minister to people living with HIV/AIDS using the acrostic CHURCH: Care for and support the sick; Handle testing and counseling; Unleash volunteers; Remove the stigma; Champion healthy behavior; and Help with nutrition and medications. More than 25 million people worldwide have died of AIDS, leaving more than 16 million orphans in Africa alone. (Christian Newswire)

SURVEY: KENYA BECOMES HOTBED OF EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY

Evangelical Christianity has exploded across the African continent, spreading rapidly since 1970 from about 100 million adherents to more than 400 million today. In Kenya, evangelicals now make up a 56 percent majority of the country’s 32 million people. A 10-country survey by U.S.-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found Kenya to have the largest percentage of evangelicals in Africa followed by South Africa and Nigeria at 34 and 26 percent respectively. In addition, Kenyans appear to be more devout in their faith with 87 percent of Pentecostal evangelicals in the country saying they have personally experienced or witnessed the divine healing of illness or injury. Since 2000 the number of churches in Kenya has nearly doubled to 38,000 from 20,000, according to the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya. Experts say this figure may be low due to the growth in small, unregistered churches. The Pew survey found that 98 percent of Kenyan evangelicals believe homosexuality is “never justified” and that 80 percent say Scripture must be interpreted literally. (Worldwide Religious News)

EPISCOPAL CHURCH INSTALLS FIRST FEMALE PRESIDING BISHOP

The first female presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA was installed on Saturday, Nov. 4. Katharine Jefferts-Schori was formerly the bishop for the state of Nevada and retains controversial liberal views on homosexuality in the church, a debate that has plagued the Episcopal denomination in recent years. Jefferts-Schori supports both the ordination of homosexual clergy and “blessing” ceremonies for same-sex couples. She told the Associated Press that she does not believe the Bible condemns “committed” homosexual relationships and says God has made some people “gay.” Jefferts-Schori also disagrees with the idea that salvation comes only through trusting in Jesus Christ, saying instead that salvation comes as the healing of all creation through holy living. “If we insist we know the one way to God,” she said, “we’ve put God in a very small box.” (Religion Today)

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