RELIGION TODAY

[nChrist]

Iran: 'Apostasy' Bill Likely to Become Law
Special to Compass Direct News


September 24, 2008

LOS ANGELES (Compass Direct News) -- Without international pressure there is little to stop the Iranian government from ratifying a bill that will make "apostasy," or leaving Islam, a capital crime, say human rights groups and experts.

On Sept. 9 the Iranian parliament approved a new penal code by a vote of 196-7 calling for a mandatory death sentence for apostates, or those who leave Islam. The Christian and Baha'i communities of Iran are most likely to be affected by this decision.

"Unless there is a coordinated and very strong effort from the international community to place pressure on Iran for this, I don't think there will be anything stopping the Iranian government from passing this legislation," Joseph Grieboski, founder of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, told Compass.

The bill still has to make its way through Iran's policy-making process before it becomes law. Parliament is reviewing it article by article, after which it will be sent to Iran's most influential body, the Guardian Council, which will rule on it.

The council is made up of six conservative theologians appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader and six jurists nominated by the judiciary and approved by parliament. This body has the power to veto any bill it deems inconsistent with the constitution and Islamic law.

In the case of the new penal code, however, which appears to be a return to a strict adherence of sharia (Islamic law), sources said they do not expect the Guardian Council to reject the penal code.

The timing of the debate on the penal code is not coincidental, said Grieboski. While the international community is focused on Iran's nuclear activities, he said, the Iranian government appears to be taunting the West with deliberate human rights violations.

"Because of the nuclear issues, ones like these get put on the backburner, which means that the regime can move with great liberty to install legislation like this with impunity, because the nuclear issue gives them cover," said Grieboski.

Iran has been criticized for its treatment of Baha'is, Zoroastrians and Christians, who have all suffered under the current regime.

"The Baha'is and the Christians are the ones being used as pawns by the regime in its dance with the West," said Grieboski. "Iran is a human rights black hole in the middle of the world."

A source told Compass that when he discussed the apostasy article in the penal code with some of the reformists in Iran's parliament, they responded by saying they were not aware of the apostasy bill. The source argued that the Iranian government was trying to bury the apostasy article in the 113-page penal code.

"I am not sure there is an adequate means of underscoring how serious this law is in terms of violation of international law and a violation of the fundamental freedom of religion or belief," said Kit Bigelow of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States.

She urged people to write their representatives in their respective governments.

International pressure is crucial if the apostasy bill is to be countered, agreed a Christian source. He recalled how in 2005 Christian convert Hamid Pourmand was acquitted of apostasy as a direct result of international pressure.

"I don't know who you are, but apparently the rest of the world does," the presiding judge had told Pourmand, according to media sources. "You must be an important person, because many people from government have called me, saying to cancel your case."

The news of parliament approving the bill comes on the heels of two Christians being officially charged with apostasy this summer. Mahmood Matin Azad, 52, and Arash Basirat, 44, have been in prison since May 15 and now await their court date.

Although their future and that of other non-Muslims looks grim, some believe this bill is the act of a government desperately trying to hang onto power.

"I have to say the Iranian regime is tightening severely its control over as many aspects of the lives of Iranian people as they possibly can," said Grieboski. "And that, I think, is the sign of a weakening regime."

The original penal code was passed into law in 1991 and last amended in 1996.
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[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - Sept. 23, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * Moderate Algeria, Jordan New Spots of Islamic Fundamentalism
    * World Vision Assisting Churches in Ike Recovery
    * Vietnam: Hanoi Church Vigils May Face Legal Action
    * Pittsburgh-Area Pastor Fights to Let Homeless Live in Church

 

Moderate Algeria, Jordan New Spots of Islamic Fundamentalism

The 10th Annual State Department Report on International Religious Freedom, released last week, highlighted two once-moderate Islamic nations for their growing religious tolerance, the Christian Post reported. Algeria has sentenced several Christian converts from Islam, and is now enforcing a 2006 law that requires non-Muslim churches to obtain a permit to be legal. A series of churches were shut down as a result. In Jordan, government harrassment of individuals for their faith is reportedly on the rise, and one judge annulled the marriage of a man who converted from Islam to Christianity, also declaring the man "to have no religious identity." The report pins the changes on grassroot efforts by Islamic fundamentalists. The report also highlighted North Korea and Eritrea as "the worst violators of religious freedom," and noted India's recent crisis on Christians by Hindu militants.

World Vision Assisting Churches in Ike Recovery

ASSIST News Service reports that as thousands of evacuees remain on the move and more families return to see the damage on their homes, World Vision, the Christian relief agency, is equipping and facilitating church response to assist victims of Hurricane Ike. The organization has set up a hotline as a clearinghouse to connect churches in need with churches which want to help others. This week, World Vision's assessment team delivered nine pallets of emergency supplies to churches in hard hit Port Arthur and Houston's 5th Ward, an economically stressed community. "We're seeing churches unite and rise up from their own struggles to help other churches in need," said Phyllis Freeman, World Vision's director of disaster field operation, speaking in a news release.

Vietnam: Church Vigils May Face Legal Action

The Associate Press reports that two tracts of land seized decades ago by Communist officials are the center of increasing turmoil in Hanoi, as current government leaders are threatening legal action against illegal prayer vigils asking for the return of those tracts. State-controlled media suggested that Hanoi Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet was disloyal to the state and instigating unrest over the weekend. According to the AP, prayer is only allowed at church under Vietnamese law. The city began clearing the land for the site of a new park and library over the weekend, sparking increased crowds. The city mayor has asked the Vietnamese president and prime minister to intervene.

Pittsburgh-Area Pastor Fights to Let Homeless Live in Church

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Rev. Jack L. Wisor wants to "help those in need" by housing the homeless within his Brookville, Pa., church. Local officials, however, say he's violating zoning requirements. Brookville borough solicitor Stephen French said First Apostles Doctrine Church might have good intentions, but may not use the church as a homeless shelter because it is located in a commercial district. A district judge has upheld the borough's position, but at least one more court hearing is scheduled. "We should be permitted to have missionaries, guests or anyone to stay in the parsonage under our rights of religious belief" said the Rev. Wisor, a minister for nine years. "Our concern is, what gives them the right to come in and tell you who you can and cannot keep in your home?"

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[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - Sept. 24, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * State Dept. Blasts China on Religious Freedom
    * Orissa Gov't May Be Disbanded; More Attacks
    * Son of Kidnapped, Murdered Christian Killed in Iraq
    * U.S. Evangelicals Urge Focus on Global Poverty

 

State Dept. Blasts China on Religious Freedom

Religion news service reports that the U.S. State Department, in its annual report on international religious freedom issued last Friday, admonished several Asian nations, including China, for severely repressing religion. Listing "countries of particular concern" that engage in or tolerate "particularly severe violations of religious freedom," the report highlights: Myanmar (formerly Burma), China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan. Compiled by diplomats and human rights activists every year since 1999, the 800-page report covers 198 countries and territories and is mandated by federal law. China's repression of religious freedom intensified in the last year, the report said, as churches were closed, foreigners detained, Falon Gong practitioners arrested and possibly killed, Muslims prohibited from taking the ubgone86 to Saudi Arabia, and Buddhist monks were forced to undergo "patriotic education" campaigns, according to the report.

Orissa Gov't May Disband; More Attacks

Mission News Network reports that the India Christian Council is backing the Union Government's warning to Karnataka and Orissa state leaders concerning the unstymied violence, in which the government threatened to intervene if local officials prove incapable of action. Meanwhile, Founder and President of Gospel for Asia KP Yohannan said that tribal Christians in rural areas continue to be the most vulnerable to attacks, and many are still in hiding. According to Yohannan, 80 percent of Orissa suffers this state of affairs. ""These radical fundamentalists are not allowing Christians to go in and bring relief -- food, and other basic necessities to these people," he said. Ministry is also hampered, he said, as there is "a huge amount of rebuilding that remains in terms of churches and homes and people's belongings. Even their own personal Bibles and belongings have been completely destroyed."

Son of Kidnapped, Murdered Christian Killed in Iraq

Compass Direct News reports that an unknown group of armed men killed a Syrian Catholic in violence-plagued Mosul, Iraq two weeks after his father was kidnapped and murdered. The gunmen killed Rayan Nafei Jamooa near his home on Sept. 10. Few details have emerged in the murder case, but sources said he and his father were targeted purely for their faith. Nassar Jamooa, the victim's father, was kidnapped two weeks before his son's murder; the elder man's body was found four days later in the city's western industrial area. A shrinking minority in Iraq, Christians are frequently kidnapped for a mix of financial and religious reasons, but Nassar Jamooa's kidnappers did not ask for any ransom. He and his son were targeted strictly for their faith, said a clergyman. "Nobody asked about money, they just kidnapped and killed him," said Father Bashar Warda, dean of St. Peter's Seminary in Ankawa, a small town near Erbil. "The reason [for Nassar Jamooa's kidnapping] would definitely be a religious one."

U.S. Evangelicals Urge Focus on Global Poverty

Responding to a call from their Third World counterparts, U.S. evangelical leaders are urging church members to pay greater attention to global poverty, saying increased advocacy is necessary in light of the current U.S. financial crisis, Religion News Service reports. "Those of us in evangelical churches are kind of late to the table on some of these issues because we've been focusing on more personal morality ... and we've forgotten to address the issues of public morality," said megachurch pastor Joel Hunter of Longwood, Fla., a member of the board of the World Evangelical Alliance. "As these issues are being brought up more and more in conferences and events where a lot of pastors are gathered, there is a, I think, major change in the thinking of pastors," said Lynne Hybels, co-founder of Willow Creek Association -- a network of more than 12,000 evangelical churches in 45 countries, as reported in the Christian Post.

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[nChrist]

India: Murder, Rape, Arson Continue - Part 1 of 3
Special to Compass Direct

September 25, 2008

NEW DELHI (Compass Direct News) -- The unprecedented wave of anti-Christian attacks that began a month ago continued in the past week with more incidents of murder, rape and arson, mostly in the eastern state of Orissa and southern state of Karnataka. Two Christians were also found murdered in the northern state of Uttarakhand.

"The atmosphere in the Kandhamal district of Orissa is still volatile," an attorney visiting Kandhamal with a team to provide legal aid to victims told Compass. "Yesterday afternoon, we were going to the Raikia area, but as we were about to reach there, we were informed that a mob had attacked a police station and the police had to open fire. We had to flee Kandhamal right away."

According to The Indian Express, around 2,000 people, including women, surrounded the Raikia police station yesterday to demand the release of two fellow villagers from Masakadia village who had been arrested on charges of arson and rioting.

Security personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), a federal agency, opened fire to prevent the mob from entering the police station. The security personnel resorted to fire after failing to control the mob with persuasion and the use of batons, added the daily. One person died and two were critically injured from the gunfire.

The attorney also said Hindu extremists had destroyed all communication links in Kandhamal, including mobile phone networks, and blocked some roads with trees and stones.

Rape, Murder, Arson in Orissa

Attacks on Christians continued in the Kandhamal district. While a young woman was reportedly gang-raped by unidentified rioters on Sunday night (Sept. 21), a man went missing and was allegedly killed on Friday (Sept. 19).

Father Ajay Singh of the Catholic Archdiocese of Bhubaneswar, Orissa's capital, told Compass that a local Oriya-language newspaper, Dharitri, reported that a 20-year-old woman was raped by about 15 men in an area under Tikabali police jurisdiction in Kandhamal late on Sept. 21.

The victim, who was living in a relief camp and believed to be Christian, had gone back to her house to see her grandmother. A group of men stormed the house and took her to a nearby jungle and raped her, Singh said, adding that the police had confirmed the incident.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that Iswar Digal, who had taken refuge at Ghumusar Udayagiri relief camp and was believed to be Christian, went missing after he went to meet his ailing father in Gatingia village on Friday (Sept. 19). Digal's wife, Runima Digal, filed a police complaint stating that Hindu extremists killed her husband after he had gone to the village along with her to visit his father.

She said the extremists had warned them not to return to the village if they did not convert from Christianity to Hinduism. Police, however, have registered only a case of kidnapping, added PTI.

The news agency also reported that at least 10 houses, believed to be that of Christians, were burned in Gochhapada area on Saturday (Sept. 20). An Orissa state official told The Times of India, "It is difficult to guard all the remote areas. But we are trying our best."

The violence in Kandhamal began following the assassination of a leader of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP), Laxmanananda Saraswati, and four of his associates on Aug. 23. Although Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder, the VHP put the blame on local Christians, saying they killed him because he was resisting conversion of Hindus to Christianity.

According to the All India Christian Council (AICC), at least 14 districts witnessed violence with Kandhamal as the epicenter, and at least 50,000 people from 300 villages have been affected by the violence, with hundreds still hiding in forests. Some 4,000 houses and 115 churches have been burned or destroyed, and the AICC reported 45 Christians were confirmed dead with five others still missing.
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[nChrist]

India: Murder, Rape, Arson Continue
Special to Compass Direct

Killing in Uttarakhand

Amid persistent tensions in various parts of the country following the violence in Orissa, two Catholics, including a woman, were found murdered on Monday (Sept. 22) in the Dehra Dun district of the northern state of Uttarakhand (formerly known as Uttaranchal).

A 56-year-old Catholic preacher, Sadhu Astey, and his disciple, identified only as Mercy, 32, were found strangled to death at their prayer center, called Samarpanalaya, in Chotta Rampur village near Herbertpur area in Vikasnagar Block, reported The Tribune.

Police said local residents grew suspicious when there was no movement at the center the past two days and informed officers. The center was found ransacked.

"We are investigating these murders to know whether it was done by dacoits [bandits] with an intention to loot, or there is something else," Police Inspector Harish Verma told media. Dr. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians said he suspected Hindu extremists were behind the killing.

The Tribune said it was the fourth attack on Christians in the Dehra Dun district in the past few months.

"Sangh Parivar [family of Hindu nationalist groups led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS] activists had attacked Christian missionaries on Aug. 15 when they were distributing their leaflets," the daily reported. "They were brought to the police station and beaten up. Interestingly, instead of taking action against the attackers, the police detained five of the Christian leaders for nine hours."

Christians were also attacked in the area on June 4 and June 22, it added.

Uttarakhand is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Attacks in Karnataka, Kerala

Suspected Hindu extremists attacked at least three more churches in the southern state of Karnataka, where violence against Christians rose to new heights after tensions began in Orissa.

On Sunday (Sept. 21), two churches were vandalized in the state capital, Bangalore, and another church was attacked in the Kodagu district, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Bangalore.

In Bangalore, extremists desecrated the St. James Church in Mariammanapalya near Hebbal area and the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus in Rajarajeshwarinagar area, reported The Times of India. Police told the daily that they had detained seven people and suspended a constable for negligence in protecting the churches.

In Kodagu district, members of the Brethren's Church in Nellihudikeri area found portions of the front glass facade of the church broken on Sunday morning, reported the daily. The vandalism occurred despite two constables guarding the church.

Karnataka police arrested the state convener of VHP youth wing Bajrang Dal, Mahendra Kumar, on Friday night (Sept. 19) in connection with the spate of attacks on churches and prayer halls in several parts of the state. Bajrang Dal extremists vandalized numerous churches and Christian institutions in various parts of Karnataka earlier this month.

On Monday (Sept. 22), anguished Catholic Archbishop of Bangalore the Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras told Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa that he was ready to "shed blood and give his life for Christ," reported the Economic Times.
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[nChrist]

India: Murder, Rape, Arson Continue
Special to Compass Direct

Yeddyurappa had called on the archbishop and senior state officials after an emergency cabinet meeting. Archbishop Moras "greeted the visitors with a grim face without the customary geniality," the daily reported, "and blurted out his anguish: 'I am deeply hurt and saddened. This is not a happy occasion to meet the head of the state.'"

The Karnataka chief minister assured the Christian minority community that security at churches and Christian institutions had been increased. He also claimed that the attacks on churches were part of a conspiracy to malign the BJP in Karnataka.

Yeddyurappa said police had arrested three persons including the son of a local Congress Party leader in connection with a violent incident in the Sagar area of Shimoga district, reported the Rediff News on Monday (Sept. 22). "Ravi, another person arrested in connection with the attack, is said to have instigated these youth to desecrate churches by promising to pay 1.5 million Indian rupees ," it reported.

Yeddyurappa had earlier blamed the anti-Christian violence in parts of the state on a booklet reportedly circulated by a Christian organization that allegedly hurt Hindu sentiments.

But a fact-finding team of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), which visited the violence-hit areas of Udupi, Mangalore and Bangalore in Karnataka last week, has indicted the BJP government for "being in league with the Hindu extremist groups. It has failed to check attacks on Christians and churches," reported the Hindustan Times.

The NCM will submit the report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

According to The Times of India, two churches were attacked in neighboring Kerala state on Sunday (Sept. 21) near the international airport in Nedumbassery, close to Kochi city.

Some churches were attacked in Kerala last week also.

Ban on Extremism -- or on Conversion

In the wake of the ongoing wave of anti-Christian attacks in various parts of India, the NCM is mulling recommending a ban on the Bajrang Dal.

The Hindustan Times said the NCM was working towards a unanimous decision seeking tough measures against the Bajrang Dal, as its involvement in "frequent attacks on the minorities and their places of worship across the country has been established beyond doubt."

The former prime minister of India and chief of the Karnataka-based Janata Dal (Secular) party, H.D. Deve Gowda, also demanded a ban on the Bajrang Dal during a sit-in protest in Delhi yesterday. Several other political parties have also urged the federal government to ban the Bajrang Dal.

But a senior BJP leader, Venkaiah Naidu, termed conversion as the root cause of violence and social disturbances, saying a strong federal law to prevent religious conversion across the country would be brought if BJP regained power in the general elections expected to be held early next year, reported PTI on Sunday (Sept. 21).

The BJP leader also asked the Orissa state government to strictly implement the existing anti-conversion law in the state.

The VHP's central governing body is likely to deliberate on ways to further intensify its campaign against religious conversions in Orissa's Kandhamal district at its two-day "brain- storming session" in Delhi beginning tomorrow, The Statesman daily reported.

The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) will hold a rally tomorrow at Lafayette Square in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. -- the day Prime Minister Singh will meet with U.S. President George W. Bush -- demanding an end to violence against Christians in India.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has sent a letter to President Bush urging him to raise pressing concerns about religious freedom in India during his meeting with Prime Minister Singh.
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[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - Sept. 25, 2008

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * India Peace Rally to Coincide with PM's U.S. Visit
    * Closed Door Trial for Chinese Pastor Scheduled for Tomorrow
    * Volunteers, Donations Scarce after Ike
    * UK Christians Roll out Red Carpet for Back to Church Sunday
       

 

India Peace Rally to Coincide with PM's U.S. Visit

Christian Post reports that an advocacy group for persecuted religious minorities will time their protest against the violence facing Christians in India with the Indian Prime Minister's visit to the White House today. Jubilee Campaign and International Christian Concern will share updates on the persecution against Christians and ask participants to pray for justice in the state. The violence broke out mid-August after a radical Hindu leader was killed by Maoist guerillas. Radical Hindus, however, have charged Christians with the crime. Conservative estimates say that at least 20 people have been killed in the rampages mostly conducted by Hindu militants, and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes in Orissa and Karnataka states. The Christian Post reports that the outbreak of anti-Christian violence in India is thought to be the worst in the country's 60 years of independence.

Closed Door Trial for Chinese Pastor Scheduled for Tomorrow

Christian News Wire reports that Pastor Zhang Zhongxin's appeal will be heard at a closed-door trial tomorrow in Shandong province, where his defense hopes to have his two-year reeducation-through-labor sentence overturned. So far Zhang's attorneys and relatives have not been allowed to meet with him, as authorities claim Zhang is endangering state security. Zhang will not be released until 2010 if the ruling is upheld. When Zhang was sentenced in July, Authorities accused him of cult participation for his role in organizing Sunday school training courses, preaching the Gospel in Tibet and other places for missionaries, and pioneering sermons. In  2005, he established the "Rainbow Missions Fellowship in Jining of Shandong" and "Timothy Bible training school", training pastors in ministry work.

Volunteers, Donations Scarce after Ike

Mission News Network reports that the devastation facing the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Ike has not received nearly as much support as the area received after Hurricane Katrina struck, slowing the recovery process. Mark Lewis of Touch Global, a relief ministry of the Evangelical Free Church of America, says they're trying to meet the immense physical needs. "There have been tens of thousands of houses that have been flooded. There's still about a million people that are without power now." Some may be without power for weeks. "There will be thousands of people heading back to Galveston Island in the next few days trying to work on their homes, and that's going to be a very long process of trying to get houses cleaned out. We just have not seen anywhere near the type of response for volunteers."

UK Christians Roll out Red Carpet for Back to Church Sunday

"Churches across the United Kingdom are pulling out all the stops to welcome lapsed Christians back to church this Sunday," the Christian Post reports, as the Back to Church Sunday initiative continues to spread since its inception in 2004. The Rt. Rev Tony Port, bishop of Sherwood, is visiting the coal mines to invite others to church. "The coal mines are an important part of our heritage and many of our communities were established around the local pit," he said. "Our message this year is that everyone is a VIP and important to God -- we are trying to extend our invitations as widely as possible." The Rev. Paul Moore, vicar of St. Wilfrid, helped his members literally roll out a red carpet to invite people inside. "It's so easy for people who don't normally come to imagine that they'll be unwelcome intruders if they walk into a church service. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. We will aim to make them feel really at home."

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[nChrist]

'Pulpit Initiative' Challenges IRS Rules
Adelle M. Banks


September 26, 2008

WASHINGTON (RNS) -- Pastor Gus Booth remembers when he used to simply encourage his congregation of 150 in Warroad, Minn., to vote each Election Day. Now, he thinks it's important to tell them which candidate should get their vote.

On Sunday (Sept. 28 ), as part of the "Pulpit Initiative" organized by an Arizona-based conservative Christian legal group, Booth is set to join dozens of clergy nationwide in challenging Internal Revenue Service rules that prohibit churches from politicking by supporting or opposing candidates.

"If we can tell you what to do in the bedroom, we can certainly tell you what to do in the voting booth," said the Minnesota minister, an evangelical leader of a nondenominational church, who expects to endorse Republican John McCain during his "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" sermon.

"The voting booth is not some sort of sacred cow that you can't talk about. You're supposed to bring the gospel into every area of life."

The Alliance Defense Fund announced the initiative last May as a way to challenge IRS rules that date to 1954. ADF spokesman Greg Scott said the organization contacted "pastors, priests and rabbis from every major denomination," and knows of 33 clergy in 23 states who intend to take part on Sunday.

At least one clergyman who was contacted joined in filing a complaint against the initiative with the IRS.

"We're basically aiming to get these rules declared unconstitutional so that pastors have the right to speak freely from the pulpit without fear of punishment," said Dale Schowengerdt, legal counsel for the ADF.

He said his group is not telling pastors what to say, or whether to endorse specific candidates, but stands ready to support them if complaints are filed against them.

IRS spokesman Eric Smith said the agency is aware of media coverage about the initiative and "will monitor the situation and take action as appropriate."

Rob Boston, senior policy analyst at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said: "If we uncover instances of churches stepping over the line, we'll be sending complaints to the IRS."

The IRS already has received two complaints from critics who believe the ADF efforts violate federal law -- one from three tax lawyers who are former IRS officials, and another spearheaded by Ohio clergy.

Marcus S. Owens, a Washington tax lawyer who previously directed the IRS' Exempt Organizations Division for a decade, urged the IRS to investigate whether the ADF has violated the agency's ethical rules by encouraging pastors to violate IRS regulations.

"They have real force and effect," he said of the ethics rules that are capable of ending some lawyers' careers.

Owens is representing the Rev. Eric Williams, a United Church of Christ minister in Columbus, Ohio, and dozens of other clergy who also sent a complaint to the IRS, alleging that the ADF is "coordinating a mass violation of the law" and should be halted from soliciting churches to participate.

"People can disagree on all the issues that face the voters but ...

we can agree on the role the faith community plays in empowering, but not directing the voter how to vote," said Williams, who was among clergy contacted by the ADF.

Groups ranging from the Baptist Joint Committee to the American Humanist Association have criticized ADF's plans. The Interfaith Alliance has begun collecting signatures of clergy who pledge not to endorse candidates. Catholic Archbishop John C. Favalora of Miami wrote in a diocesan column that "the role of the church is not to be like the `party boss' who goes around telling people how to vote."

A recent poll by the First Amendment Center found that 40 percent of respondents said religious leaders should be permitted to endorse candidates from the pulpit without endangering their tax status, compared to 54 percent who disagreed.

In addition, LifeWay Research released a poll Wednesday (Sept. 24) finding that 13 percent of respondents agreed that it is appropriate for pastors to publicly endorse candidates for public office during a church service; 54 percent approve of a pastor's personal endorsement of candidates outside of their church.

Booth, who became a McCain supporter after former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee dropped out of the race, has a sort of "been there, done that"

view of the initiative, since he already told his congregants last May not to vote for Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton. Americans United has sought an IRS inquiry into that sermon but, on the advice of his ADF lawyers, Booth would not comment on whether he had heard from the tax agency.
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[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - Sept. 25, 2008

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * India Peace Rally to Coincide with PM's U.S. Visit
    * Closed Door Trial for Chinese Pastor Scheduled for Tomorrow
    * Volunteers, Donations Scarce after Ike
    * UK Christians Roll out Red Carpet for Back to Church Sunday
       

 

India Peace Rally to Coincide with PM's U.S. Visit

Christian Post reports that an advocacy group for persecuted religious minorities will time their protest against the violence facing Christians in India with the Indian Prime Minister's visit to the White House today. Jubilee Campaign and International Christian Concern will share updates on the persecution against Christians and ask participants to pray for justice in the state. The violence broke out mid-August after a radical Hindu leader was killed by Maoist guerillas. Radical Hindus, however, have charged Christians with the crime. Conservative estimates say that at least 20 people have been killed in the rampages mostly conducted by Hindu militants, and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes in Orissa and Karnataka states. The Christian Post reports that the outbreak of anti-Christian violence in India is thought to be the worst in the country's 60 years of independence.

Closed Door Trial for Chinese Pastor Scheduled for Tomorrow

Christian News Wire reports that Pastor Zhang Zhongxin's appeal will be heard at a closed-door trial tomorrow in Shandong province, where his defense hopes to have his two-year reeducation-through-labor sentence overturned. So far Zhang's attorneys and relatives have not been allowed to meet with him, as authorities claim Zhang is endangering state security. Zhang will not be released until 2010 if the ruling is upheld. When Zhang was sentenced in July, Authorities accused him of cult participation for his role in organizing Sunday school training courses, preaching the Gospel in Tibet and other places for missionaries, and pioneering sermons. In  2005, he established the "Rainbow Missions Fellowship in Jining of Shandong" and "Timothy Bible training school", training pastors in ministry work.

Volunteers, Donations Scarce after Ike

Mission News Network reports that the devastation facing the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Ike has not received nearly as much support as the area received after Hurricane Katrina struck, slowing the recovery process. Mark Lewis of Touch Global, a relief ministry of the Evangelical Free Church of America, says they're trying to meet the immense physical needs. "There have been tens of thousands of houses that have been flooded. There's still about a million people that are without power now." Some may be without power for weeks. "There will be thousands of people heading back to Galveston Island in the next few days trying to work on their homes, and that's going to be a very long process of trying to get houses cleaned out. We just have not seen anywhere near the type of response for volunteers."

UK Christians Roll out Red Carpet for Back to Church Sunday

"Churches across the United Kingdom are pulling out all the stops to welcome lapsed Christians back to church this Sunday," the Christian Post reports, as the Back to Church Sunday initiative continues to spread since its inception in 2004. The Rt. Rev Tony Port, bishop of Sherwood, is visiting the coal mines to invite others to church. "The coal mines are an important part of our heritage and many of our communities were established around the local pit," he said. "Our message this year is that everyone is a VIP and important to God -- we are trying to extend our invitations as widely as possible." The Rev. Paul Moore, vicar of St. Wilfrid, helped his members literally roll out a red carpet to invite people inside. "It's so easy for people who don't normally come to imagine that they'll be unwelcome intruders if they walk into a church service. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. We will aim to make them feel really at home."

_________________________________

[nChrist]

Christians Languish in Eritrean Prisons
Simba Tian


September 29, 2008

LOS ANGELES (Compass Direct News) -- An evangelist imprisoned since 2006 for his Christian activities is receiving especially harsh treatment because of his ministry to inmates.

Sources said Teame Weldegebriel is on the brink of despair as he languishes at the Mai Sirwa Maximum Security Confinement prison.

"It seems that hell has broken loose on me," Weldegebriel told Compass sources. "Please tell the brethren to continue praying for me. I am not sure I will see them again."

Prison authorities consider Weldegebriel dangerous because of his boldness in sharing his faith. The Rhema Church evangelist has been proclaiming Christ to other prisoners, and many have converted to Christianity.

"This has made him to be in bad books with the prison wardens," one source said.

Weldegebriel's family is worried about his health after trying repeatedly, without success, to get permission to visit him.

Inmates at the prison often go hungry and are said to be feeding on leaves.

In Eritrea, a nation with a government of Marxist roots where about half of the people are Muslim, two or more people gathered in Jesus' name can be imprisoned for not practicing their faith in one of the government-sanctioned Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran or Muslim bodies.

More than 2,000 Christians in Eritrea are imprisoned for their faith, including a Christian from a Full Gospel Church who was arrested in 2001. His wife last saw him in June 2007. She and her two minor children were rounded up from a prayer meeting in mid-July and placed in a metal shipping container until their release last month, she said.

"I was arrested with my children while having a prayer meeting with 20 other Christians," said the woman, who requested anonymity for security reasons. "They locked us up at a military concentration camp, inside metal ship containers. I remember the horrible ordeal I went through with the children. After three weeks I was released with my two children, while the other Christian soldiers remained locked in the prison cells."

The government views leaders of large unregistered bodies like the Full Gospel Church and Rhema Church as threats, according to Christian sources in the country. Eritrean officials fear the church leaders will expose the abuses and conditions in the prisons. Hence it is extremely difficult for relatives to see those in prison, and inmates are not allowed to send or receive letters.

"The government has been transferring them from one prison cell after another," said one Christian source in Asmara.

In May 2002 the government criminalized all independent churches not operating under the umbrella of the Orthodox, Lutheran, Catholic, and Muslim religious structures.

Arrested for Talking

In the seaport city of Massawa, police in June arrested a man and a woman, both Christians, who were talking to Muslims about Christ. Members of Kale Hiwot Church, the two were discussing their Christian faith when four plainclothes policemen arrested them.

"It took about 30 minutes talking about Jesus before they were both arrested by the police -- they had witnessed about Jesus and the faith for a long time to some Muslims," another source told Compass. "I watched the two Christians whisked away by the police. They were taken to join more than 100 Christians imprisoned in Waire prison about 25 kilometers [16 miles] from Massawa."

A previously imprisoned evangelist with the Full Gospel Church in Asmara who requested anonymity told Compass that God is at work in Eritrea, with many people converting to Christ and receiving divine healing.

"For sure Christians are getting imprisoned, but God's word cannot be imprisoned," he said. "I am ready for any eventuality, including being imprisoned again. On several occasions, prison wardens warned me to stop preaching, though they still loved me. Indeed Jesus loved me. They saw God in me."

The U.S. Department of State notes in its 2008 International Religious Freedom Report that Eritrea has not implemented its 1997 constitution, which provides for religious freedom. The state department has designated Eritrea as a Country of Particular Concern, a list of the worst violators of religious freedom, since 2004.

Many of the more than 2,000 Christians under arrest in police stations, military camps and jails across Eritrea because of their religious beliefs have been incarcerated for years. No one has been charged officially or given access to judicial processes.

Reliable statistics are not available, but the state department estimates that 50 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim, 30 percent is Orthodox Christian, and 13 percent is Roman Catholic. Protestants and Seventh-day Adventists along with Jehovah's Witnesses, Buddhists, Hindus, and Baha'is make up less than 5 percent of the population.
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[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - Sept. 29, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * World Vision Warns of Southern Africa Food Crisis
    * Indonesian Pastor Forced to Stop Worship Services in Home
    * Somali Church Leader Assault in Ethiopia
    * India: Violence against Christians in Second Month

 


World Vision Warns of Southern Africa Food Crisis

The Christian Post reports that the international community must focus on more than one need at a time in Southern Africa. "As we mark World AIDS Day, the international community must focus its attention on the looming food crisis in southern Africa, whilst also addressing its long-term causes -- including the AIDS pandemic currently devastating countries such as Malawi and Zambia," said World Vision policy adviser Stephen Doughty. On wednesday the relief organization began an emergency appeal to assist the 12 to 14 million hungry who face compounded problems thanks to the AIDS pandemic, especially in Malawi and Zimbabwe. World Vision Emergency Officer Nick Wasunna in Zimbabwe said, "I saw queues of people at food distribution centers," he said, in a report on the agency's website. "After talking to them you discover they are all affected in some way by HIV." Many children must stay home to care for sick parents.

Indonesian Pastor Forced to Stop Worship Services in Home

Compass Direct News reports that residents in North Jakarta have ordered the pastor of a small congregation to cease holding services in his home, despite a letter of permission issued by the Religious Affairs department. On Sept. 12 village officials in South Rawa Badak, Koja district called a meeting with  pastor Syaiful Hamzah and his wife Tiolida Sihotang, police officers, and representatives from the village mosque. At the meeting, officials urged Hamzah and his wife to sign a document agreeing to cease all worship services in their home, effectively rejecting permission granted by Religious Affairs officials. A sympathetic Muslim cleric, Wasi Sholeh, informed Hamzah that "certain people" had made violent threats against him, and that he could not guarantee Hamzah's safety if he refused to sign the agreement. The couple eventually signed the document under duress.

Somali Church Leader Assault in Ethiopia

ASSIST News Service reports that Islamic extremists beat a 35-year-old Somali church leader (name withheld for security) on September 20 in the neighborhood Saris in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org, says the leader, who lives in another neighborhood in Addis Ababa, went to Saris to pick up documents about the persecution of the Somali churches. The documents author, David Abdulwahab Mohamed Ali, was martyred in Somalia in April 2008 by Islamic militants. According to the leader, he was ambushed by five Muslim men who kicked and punched him repeatedly until he fainted and fell on the ground. Even after he fainted, the men continued their assault for at least another fifteen minutes, according to the police report. The leader was taken to a clinic and is recovering. The documents are also now safe.

India: Violence against Christians in Second Month

Mission News Network reports that anti-Christian violence in India continues unabated into its second month, even as President Bush met with India's Prime Minister this week. MNN reported Friday that mobs vandalized a church and dozens of houses in Orissa state in spite of a forced curfew. Concerns are mounting that politicians are subtly encouraging the attacks. Lee DeYoung with Words of Hope said, "It seems that any gains that are made in that country are met with fierce opposition, and that opposition is organized and even is allied in some ways with political parties. So this is going to be a continuing test for the church in India."  With national ministries facing disruption, DeYoung says they are sharing the Gospel through Hindi radio programs from outside of the country.

_______________________________

[nChrist]

Vietnam: Authorities Bulldoze Building in Land Dispute - Part 1
Compass Direct News

September 30, 2008

HANOI (Compass Direct News) -- Authorities in Hanoi have responded to months of Catholic prayer vigils and demonstrations over disputed land by destroying the one-time residence of the papal nuncio in central Hanoi.

In suddenly bulldozing the land that once served as the Vatican embassy and residence near St. Joseph's Cathedral last Friday (Sept. 19), the government broke its promise to Catholic leaders in February to negotiate a settlement concerning the property.

The destruction of the building held sacred by Catholics is the latest blow to Christians' long struggle to get the government to return confiscated church properties. Catholic, Protestant and other religious leaders deemed the government response to peaceful Catholic pressure a serious setback for religious freedom.

Authorities cite Vietnamese law stipulating that lands subject to "land management and socialist land reform policies in place before 1991" cannot be considered.

On Monday (Sept. 22) the Vietnam News Agency reported that the Catholic Church ceded the Nha Chung Vatican Embassy property to the state in 1961 and that it would be turned into a library and park.

"Bookworms will soon be able to enjoy the facilities offered by a brand-new library, located at 42 Nha Chung Street, in Hoan Kiem District," the state reported. "In addition to all of the services usually offered by a library, situated on the premises of an existing three-story, French-designed building surrounded by greenery and including a childrens' playground, the renovation, which began last Friday, aims to better meet Hanoians' demands for relaxation."

Sources said Vietnam's frequent pronouncements of new openness to religion, and the formation of a joint Catholic/government working committee regarding relationships with the Vatican and other outstanding matters, may have led Catholics to test the waters. Late last year Catholics began to hold prayer vigils outside the fence of the long-vacant Vatican Embassy seized by the government in the mid-1950s.

The historic building property on Nha Chung Street is adjacent to the Hanoi archbishop and cardinal's residence and only a half block away from St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hanoi's Old Quarter.

The daily morning and evening prayer vigils began to draw large crowds, especially on Saturdays and Sundays, when thousands came to Masses at the cathedral. Authorities in a country where demonstrations are not allowed became seriously worried when warnings to stop went unheeded.

In discussion with Catholic leaders in late February, the government agreed to negotiate a settlement in good faith on the condition that Catholic leaders would call a halt to the prayer vigils. Archbishop of Hanoi Ngo Quang Kiet told Compass in April that after agreeing to a joint working committee, the government showed no sincerity in building relationships or in settling grievances.

In late August an aide to the archbishop told Compass in Hanoi that the twice daily prayer vigils had resumed. At that time about 100 people participated each time, but the number and intensity was growing. Catholic leaders made no secret of their appeal to prayer and assembled people as their only tools in their struggle with the government for redress on confiscated properties.

In recent weeks the Redemptorists at Thai Ha, also in Hanoi, also began prayer vigils to recover some of their large property. Over the years their part of an original plot of 60,000 square meters had been reduced by government confiscation to less than 2,000 square meters.

According to observers, the Catholics conducted themselves during their vigils with decorum and order as they reverently marched, prayed and sang. The government's response however, quickly escalated from accusing the Catholics of interfering with traffic to accusing them of all night public disturbances -- and then accusing Catholic leaders of inciting riots and breaking religion laws.
____________________________________

[nChrist]

Vietnam: Authorities Bulldoze Building in Land Dispute - Part 2
Compass Direct News

Catholic Leaders Warned

Authorities this week delivered a written warning to Archbishop Kiet warning him of "extreme action" if he did not stop the daily prayer vigils. They also issued a warning to four priests at a Hanoi church locked in the land dispute. The archbishop and priests are accused of "stirring the population" and encouraging illegal religious activity.

State and Hanoi city media releases and radio and TV coverage during September painted the Catholics in the worst possible light; sources said the media fabricated stories and paid people to speak against the Catholics. With no opportunity to make their side of the story known through Vietnam's state-controlled media, Catholics are reporting events through VietCatholic News, Zenit and other overseas news sites.

Catholic calls for media to retract specific, demonstrably false stories and appeals to press laws have gone entirely unheeded. Rather, sources said, improbable accusations and vicious slander against Catholics sharply escalated.

Vietnam Cardinal Jean Baptiste Pham Minh Man, archbishop of Saigon, wrote a letter to all priests, religious and faithful on Monday (Sept. 22) denouncing the state's media lies. Unrest is spreading throughout Vietnam's Catholic community, believed to number more than 7 million, as the letter by the cardinal and others by bishops are read in the churches.

Thugs Bussed In

Demonstrations escalated this week with estimates of 7,000 to 10,000 people, including students gathered at Thai Ha on Wednesday night (Sept. 24). It was said to be the largest public demonstration since the Communist unification of Vietnam 33 years ago.

Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 24), hundreds of police and plainclothes officers tried to control an upset crowd of Catholics as a statue of the Virgin Mary was removed from the Vatican Embassy area under police protection and taken to an unknown location. The next day, sources said, authorities recruited gangs that included uniformed Communist youth league members and others and bussed them to the site, where they attacked Catholic protestors outside the archbishop's residence.

Similar gangs destroyed property, including sacred items at Thai Ha, the same day.

The state media also announced that the 17,000-square meter Thai Ha Redemptorist property in Hanoi is also to be turned into a public park.

The reversion to old-style, default Communist repression involving violence cloaked in lies is also worrying to Vietnam's Protestants, some of whom have joined Catholics in the prayer vigils.

Protestant leaders contacted by Compass were united in their disappointment in and condemnation of the government's belligerent response to peaceful prayer vigils.

"Sadly, the government has again shown its true attitude toward religions," said one Protestant leader. "We have doubted the sincerity of recent improvements, and now they have clearly shown everyone what is still in their hearts."

Some Vietnam observers fear the government's belligerence may be evidence of hard-liners' ascendance in an ongoing struggle with more moderate reformers. The timing of this property destruction, some Vietnamese church leaders said, is calculated to take advantage of uncertainty in the United States, especially as elections draw near.
___________________________________

[nChrist]

EU Pressures Iran to Drop Apostasy Bill
Michael Ireland


October 1, 2008

BRUSSELS (ANS) -- Christian converts from Muslim backgrounds and followers of the Bahá'í faith may be spared the death penalty after the European Union (EU) issued a declaration to Iran unveiling their concerns over the deterioration of religious freedom there.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the declaration, which was released by the Presidency of the EU on September 26, 2008 urges the Iranian Government to reconsider their plan to debate a draft bill on apostasy.

CSW says the proposed legislation stipulates that the death penalty should be used as a legal punishment for Iranians who convert from Islam to any other religion.

A specific challenge to the Iranian parliament is detailed in their declaration: "The European Union urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to reconsider its decision to examine the law in question, release all those who have been imprisoned because of their religious affiliation and allow all its citizens to exercise their freedom of religion or belief in full."

The EU declaration also expresses distress over the arrests of other members of religious minority communities: "The European Union is deeply disturbed by the arrests since April of Iranian converts to Christianity and members of the Bahá'í community. It calls for their immediate and unconditional release and the cessation of all forms of violence and discrimination against them."

CSW explains that the draft apostasy bill being debated in Iran was initially approved at a first stage vote by the Iranian parliament on Tuesday, September 9, with 196 votes for, seven against, and two abstentions. The bill, named the Islamic Penal Code, is currently due to be sent back to the Legislative Commission for amendments before being brought before the Iranian parliament for a further vote.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide's Advocacy Director, Tina Lambert, said: "We warmly welcome this strong reaction from the EU to Iran's proposed apostasy bill. If the legislation is passed by the Iranian parliament there will be dire consequences for thousands of Christians and Bahá'ís living in Iran. "The international community must continue to urge the Iranian Government to release all those detained on the basis of their religious affiliation and respect their obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. CSW joins the EU in requesting the Iranian parliament to drop this bill without delay."

The "Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the situation of people belonging to religious minorities in Iran" says the European Union "is very concerned at the deterioration in the exercise of freedom of religion or belief, and especially the freedom of worship, in Iran, where the pressure on people belonging to religious minorities has worsened in recent months.

"The European Union is deeply disturbed by the arrests since April of Iranian converts to Christianity and members of the Baha'i community. It calls for their immediate and unconditional release and the cessation of all forms of violence and discrimination against them."

It adds: "There have been many reports that people belonging to the Christian, Baha'i, Sufi and Sunni minorities in Iran are regularly suffering forms of persecution such as confiscation of property, desecration of their places of worship, imprisonment and numerous acts of violence, including some life-threatening.

"The European Union is concerned at the Iranian parliament's decision to consider a draft law making apostasy one of the crimes punishable by death. If adopted, that law would be a serious infringement of the freedom of religion or belief, which includes the right to change religion and the right to have no religion. It would violate Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was freely ratified by Iran, and would threaten the lives of a number of Iranians who have been arrested and held without trial for several months on account of their religious beliefs.

"The European Union urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to reconsider its decision to examine the law in question, release all those who have been imprisoned because of their religious affiliation and allow all its citizens to exercise their freedom of religion or belief in full."
___________________________

[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - Sept. 29, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * World Vision Warns of Southern Africa Food Crisis
    * Indonesian Pastor Forced to Stop Worship Services in Home
    * Somali Church Leader Assault in Ethiopia
    * India: Violence against Christians in Second Month

 


World Vision Warns of Southern Africa Food Crisis

The Christian Post reports that the international community must focus on more than one need at a time in Southern Africa. "As we mark World AIDS Day, the international community must focus its attention on the looming food crisis in southern Africa, whilst also addressing its long-term causes -- including the AIDS pandemic currently devastating countries such as Malawi and Zambia," said World Vision policy adviser Stephen Doughty. On wednesday the relief organization began an emergency appeal to assist the 12 to 14 million hungry who face compounded problems thanks to the AIDS pandemic, especially in Malawi and Zimbabwe. World Vision Emergency Officer Nick Wasunna in Zimbabwe said, "I saw queues of people at food distribution centers," he said, in a report on the agency's website. "After talking to them you discover they are all affected in some way by HIV." Many children must stay home to care for sick parents.

Indonesian Pastor Forced to Stop Worship Services in Home

Compass Direct News reports that residents in North Jakarta have ordered the pastor of a small congregation to cease holding services in his home, despite a letter of permission issued by the Religious Affairs department. On Sept. 12 village officials in South Rawa Badak, Koja district called a meeting with  pastor Syaiful Hamzah and his wife Tiolida Sihotang, police officers, and representatives from the village mosque. At the meeting, officials urged Hamzah and his wife to sign a document agreeing to cease all worship services in their home, effectively rejecting permission granted by Religious Affairs officials. A sympathetic Muslim cleric, Wasi Sholeh, informed Hamzah that "certain people" had made violent threats against him, and that he could not guarantee Hamzah's safety if he refused to sign the agreement. The couple eventually signed the document under duress.

Somali Church Leader Assault in Ethiopia

ASSIST News Service reports that Islamic extremists beat a 35-year-old Somali church leader (name withheld for security) on September 20 in the neighborhood Saris in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org, says the leader, who lives in another neighborhood in Addis Ababa, went to Saris to pick up documents about the persecution of the Somali churches. The documents author, David Abdulwahab Mohamed Ali, was martyred in Somalia in April 2008 by Islamic militants. According to the leader, he was ambushed by five Muslim men who kicked and punched him repeatedly until he fainted and fell on the ground. Even after he fainted, the men continued their assault for at least another fifteen minutes, according to the police report. The leader was taken to a clinic and is recovering. The documents are also now safe.

India: Violence against Christians in Second Month

Mission News Network reports that anti-Christian violence in India continues unabated into its second month, even as President Bush met with India's Prime Minister this week. MNN reported Friday that mobs vandalized a church and dozens of houses in Orissa state in spite of a forced curfew. Concerns are mounting that politicians are subtly encouraging the attacks. Lee DeYoung with Words of Hope said, "It seems that any gains that are made in that country are met with fierce opposition, and that opposition is organized and even is allied in some ways with political parties. So this is going to be a continuing test for the church in India."  With national ministries facing disruption, DeYoung says they are sharing the Gospel through Hindi radio programs from outside of the country.

______________________________