Today’s Headlines:

OFFICIALS INVESTIGATE ‘DISAPPEARANCES’ AT ORPHANAGE IN INDIA

CHURCH’S RECORD $540,000+ OFFERING TO BUILD HOSPITAL IN MALAWI

BRITISH ARCHBISHOP TURNS TO ‘YOUTUBE’ TO BUILD YOUTH EXPOSURE

200+ MUSLIMS ATTACK WORKERS REBUILDING CHURCH IN NIGERIA

‘SOUPER BOWL’ FUND-RAISER AIMS TO RAISE $8 MILLION THIS YEAR

Check out this week’s edition of “World Radio,” a program produced by HCJB Global-Australia. Last week’s guest was former nightclub singer Zorina London, telling about her journey to Taiwan and her involvement in the Overseas Radio and Television Ministry (ORTV). This week’s show features ORTV founder Doris Brougham as she discusses some of the highlights of her amazing career, including playing trumpet with HCJB Global cofounder Clarence Jones! She also played at the funeral of Chiang Kai-shek who led the national government of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1975. ORTV has had a tremendous impact on Taiwan and produces one of the country’s most popular magazines (teaching English).

To listen visit http://www.hcjb.org/worldwide/australia/world_radio_programme.html <http://www.hcjb.org/worldwide/australia/world_radio_programme.html> .

Today’s Top Stories:

OFFICIALS INVESTIGATE ‘DISAPPEARANCES’ AT ORPHANAGE IN INDIA

Officials in India’s Rajasthan state are continuing their harassment of Emmanuel Mission International’s (EMI) orphanage by forming a committee to investigate the alleged “disappearance” of children. Ironically, state officials began turning away children who were coming to the EMI orphanage last year, stating they needed government permission to stay. “Since they were all from poor backgrounds, they did not dare to approach the authorities and consequently went back to their villages,” said EMI attorney Mohammad Akram. “In fact, some of them who had nowhere to go have now become rag-pickers.” The number of residents has fallen to 435, down from more than 1,700. The state has asked for explanations and documentation for the decline, even asking which airline EMI used to fly children out of the country. EMI claims much of the paperwork the state has requested was stolen or tampered with when state officials controlled the orphanage last year. The conflict dates back to February 2006 when officials first froze bank accounts of five EMI-run institutions in India and arrested several leaders. (Compass Direct News)

CHURCH’S RECORD $540,000+ OFFERING TO BUILD HOSPITAL IN MALAWI

A pediatric hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi, is the recipient of a large “Christmas Eve Miracle Offering” from a church in Whittier, Calif. The 2,400-member Whittier Area Community Church gave more than $540,000, surpassing all expectations. The building project was estimated to cost $160,000. “We were sure that amount was going to take a miracle!” said Senior Pastor Bill Ankerberg. Before Christmas the church handed out donation envelopes, asking members to write where the funds came from on the back. Church leaders learned about adults who hosted dinners, sold cars and stock, donated savings and gave up winter vacations. One couple even donated the value of their fertility treatments for a month with the hope that even if they couldn’t have a baby, perhaps they could save the life of an African baby. The Christmas Eve collection of $549,881 was the largest offering ever taken at the church. “There is no question that God was at work here,” said Ankerberg. “Now after all of the prayers and all of the worrying about reaching the goal, I feel that God just wanted us to ask, and He would do the rest. It is a blessing to be a part of God’s work.” (Assist News Service/Whittier Area Community Church)

* In partnership with African Bible College, HCJB Global Voice helped plant a Christian radio station in Lilongwe, Malawi, in 1995. The station airs programs in Chichewa and English. Staff members from the HCJB Global Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., also installed FM transmitters at stations in two Malawian cities, Blantyre and Mzuzu, in 2000. Recently HCJB Global Hands has joined with the Partners in Hope Medical Clinic, assigning three missionaries to the outreach.

BRITISH ARCHBISHOP TURNS TO ‘YOUTUBE’ TO BUILD YOUTH EXPOSURE

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England are turning to the popular website YouTube to broadcast sermons in an attempt to make the church more relevant to today’s “Internet generation.” A video encouraging other churches to advertise their contemporary worship styles and suggesting more ideas will also be put on YouTube later this month as part of an initiative called Fresh Expressions which was set up by Archbishop Rowan Williams. “The potential of YouTube is enormous,” a spokesman said. “It provides limitless access to what any minister has to say. You have to preach where people are listening.” While attendance at the Church of England has declined in the last six years while the average age of attendees has risen, YouTube has expanded to almost 20 million visitors a month with up to 100 million video clips viewed daily. (WorldWide Religious News)

200+ MUSLIMS ATTACK WORKERS REBUILDING CHURCH IN NIGERIA

Muslims attacked Christians in Nigeria’s Nasarawa state when they tried to rebuild a Reformed Church building that was burned down two years ago. More than 200 Islamists attacked the workers, bringing the project to a halt. The Nasarawa state government subsequently banned reconstruction of the facility. “I personally witnessed the attack on the workers at the reconstruction site of the church,” said Rev. Jerry Modibo, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Nasarawa state chapter. “The Muslims were chanting, ‘Death to Christians, death to infidels. This town is for Muslims, we don’t want Christians here.'” Meanwhile, state property and funds are allowing mosques to be built throughout the region. “That is the kind of injustice confronting us in this state,” said Modibo. (Religion Today/Compass Direct News)

‘SOUPER BOWL’ FUND-RAISER AIMS TO RAISE $8 MILLION THIS YEAR

As the National Football League (NFL) playoffs continue with the New Orleans Saints facing the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts lining up to face the New England Patriots to determine the match-up in this year’s Super Bowl, another, more serious cause is gearing up as well. Teaming up to fight hunger and poverty, the annual “Souper Bowl of Caring” campaign will take advantage of Super Bowl Sunday Feb. 4 to raise money for the poor and ill-nourished. The program sends out youth volunteers armed with soup pots to collect canned goods and dollars. The fund-raiser has raised $33 million for charities such as food banks and soup kitchens since its inception in 1990. Organizers hope to involve 17,000 congregations from a variety of faith groups in an effort to raise $8 million. “This God-given idea that began with one church youth group is transforming Super Bowl Sunday into the largest youth-led day of giving and serving in our country,” said Rev. Brad Smith, a Presbyterian minister who founded the Souper Bowl of Caring and serves as its executive director. Participating groups are asked only to report their totals so that a national figure can be calculated. All the money raised is given to local charities by the groups who raise it. (PCUSA News)

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