Today’s Headlines:

JUDGE ACQUITS PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN OF ‘BLASPHEMY’ AFTER 8 YEARS

REPORT: SOUTHERN BAPTISTS REACHING NEW PEOPLE GROUPS

GROWING PRESSURE FORCES MANY PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS TO FLEE

TEARFUND LAUNCHES APPEAL TO HELP CHURCHES FIGHT HIV/AIDS

SCOTTISH MUSLIMS SUPPORT CHRISTIAN PARTY AGAINST GAY RIGHTS

An actor handpicked by Chairman Mao’s wife to star in several Chinese movies in the 1970s is the featured guest on the weekly program, “World Radio,” produced by HCJB World Radio-Australia. The actor later became a Christian, and now he and his wife lead a thriving church in Beijing.

Podcast or listen online by checking the following link: http://www.hcjb.org/worldwide/australia/world_radio_programme.html

Today’s Top Stories:

JUDGE ACQUITS PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN OF ‘BLASPHEMY’ AFTER 8 YEARS

Ranjha Masih, a Christian who has been in prison in Faisalabad, Pakistan, since 1998, after being accused of blasphemy against Islam was acquitted at an appeal hearing before the Lahore High Court on Friday, Nov. 10, according to a report from the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS). Masih was arrested on May 8, 1998, when, during a demonstration at the funeral of a Catholic bishop, a signboard displaying a verse from the Koran was hit by a stone and fell. Masih was accused of causing the sign to fall. After five years in prison he was convicted, sentenced to life imprisonment and fined for blasphemy. He waited another three years in prison before his appeal was finally heard. CLAAS reported that Masih had been feeling depressed, suffering from poor health and being pressured to convert to Islam. (Jubilee Campaign)

REPORT: SOUTHERN BAPTISTS REACHING NEW PEOPLE GROUPS

A 2006 report from the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB) states that the organization and its partners baptized more than 475,000 new believers in 2005, started nearly 23,500 churches and began planting churches among 104 people groups for the first time. In addition, the report says IMB missionaries planted churches among 19 people groups where no Baptist churches previously existed — including 13 peoples with no evangelical churches. The numbers come from the board’s 2006 Annual Statistical Report, compiled from figures reported by more than 2,000 separate entities, including hundreds of mission teams assigned to reach ethnic people groups, cities and other population segments. Among the most significant results for 2005, Southern Baptist missionaries and their partners ministered to a total of 1,170 people groups worldwide, three-quarters of which are classified by mission researchers to be “unreached” — less than 2 percent of the population professing faith in Christ. (Mission Network News)

GROWING PRESSURE FORCES MANY PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS TO FLEE

In Bethlehem, Israel, flyers curse Arab Christians and Pope Benedict and accuse a Palestinian Christian of selling mobile phones carrying offensive sketches of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, reported AgapePress. The frightened phone dealer has gone into hiding and is now thinking of moving abroad. It is part of a modern exodus of the tiny Palestinian Christian minority that could lead, some predict, to the faith becoming virtually extinct in its birthplace. Palestinian uprisings and the separation barrier started by Israel in 2002 have accelerated the flight by turning once-bustling pilgrimage sites such as Bethlehem into relative ghost towns. The growing strength of radical Islamic movements has added new concerns. During the protests after the pope’s remarks about Islam in September, some of the worst violence was in Palestinian areas with churches firebombed and hit by gunfire. (Religion Today)

TEARFUND LAUNCHES APPEAL TO HELP CHURCHES FIGHT HIV/AIDS

Tearfund has launched its “Work a Miracle” appeal this autumn as part of a major strategy to enable churches to fight the AIDS pandemic. A new film produced for Tearfund features a woman named Esther from Malawi who gave birth to a daughter on Christmas Day 10 years ago. Esther is living with HIV. She knows there is a risk that she may have transmitted HIV to her child. Tearfund’s plan to help stop the spread of HIV includes helping women like Esther get access to medicines and information that will prevent their babies being born with HIV. Through its partner agencies, Tearfund also cares for children whose parents have already died from AIDS-related illnesses, and supports children as they raise siblings. Tearfund recognizes that the task is daunting. “Money can’t buy miracles, we know that,” said Veena O’Sullivan, Tearfund’s HIV/AIDS adviser. “But it can buy clinics. It can buy education, orphan care and training for the volunteers to provide counseling and testing. And a few measures can go a long way to try and prevent a mother passing HIV to her child.” (Tearfund)

SCOTTISH MUSLIMS SUPPORT CHRISTIAN PARTY AGAINST GAY RIGHTS

A conservative Christian political party in Scotland has won significant support from Scotland’s Muslim community for its campaign against new rights for homosexuals. The Christian People’s Alliance (CPA) has gathered 1,000 Muslim signatures on a petition opposing new laws allowing gay couples to adopt. A member of Glasgow’s Central Mosque, Abdul Dean, who supports the party, claims it best represents his view on morality. “A lot of Muslims have asked me why I am [taking this stand]. My answer is simple: the CPA is the only political party that is based on values rather than ideology.” Dean said he had promises of support from many of the estimated 30,000 Muslims in Glasgow. The CPA is also campaigning against plans to allow homosexual sex to be taught in primary schools. (Religion Today)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Feel free to forward this to any interested friends. Our lists are distributed for information purposes and to encourage prayer. HCJB World Radio does not necessarily endorse or support the activities on which it reports.