RELIGION TODAY

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Eritrea: 20 Underground Christians Arrested
Dan Wooding


October 30, 2008

(ANS) -- The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) -- http://www.persecution.org/ -- says that it has learned that Eritrean officials imprisoned about 20 Christians belonging to the underground Faith Missions Church on Sunday, October 12, 2008, in Deki-Zeru, a town 30km away from Asmara, the capital.

"The Christians were holding a Sunday morning worship service when Eritrean security forces raided the church," said an ICC spokesperson. "The Christians, including some elderly, are still in prison.

"This is not the first time that the Eritrean officials arrested members of the Faith Mission Church. On eve of Christmas in 2007, Eritrean security forces arrested 35 members of the Church in the port city of Massawa. All the 35 Christians were later released on February 16, 2008."

According to ICC, Faith Mission Church has been carrying out evangelistic and development activities in Eritrea for over five decades. The church was forced to go underground after Eritrean officials issued a decree in 2002 in which they required all churches to register. The officials then allowed only three Christian denominations to be registered. The three registered Churches are: the Eritrean Orthodox Church, The Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Evangelical Church of Eritrea.

Officials of Eritrea have been persecuting members of both the registered and the unregistered churches. So far, more than 2000 Christians have been imprisoned in metal shipping containers, military barracks and prison cells.

ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church.

"Please pray for all imprisoned Christians in Eritrea," concluded the ICC spokesperson. "Please also call Eritrean officials in your countries and politely ask them to release the imprisoned Christians."

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Iranian Court Finds Way to Acquit Christians of ?Apostasy?
Special to Compass Direct News


October 31, 2008

LOS ANGELES (Compass Direct News) -- An Iranian judge has ordered the release of two pastors charged with "apostasy," or leaving Islam, but the defendants said the ruling was based on the court's false claim that they confessed to having never converted to Christianity.

Mahmoud Matin Azad, 52, said he and Arash Basirat, 44, never denied their Christian faith and believe the court statement resulted from the judge seeking a face-saving solution to avoid convicting them of apostasy, which soon could automatically carry the death penalty.

Azad and Basirat were arrested May 15 and acquitted on Sept. 25 by Branch 5 of the Fars Criminal Court in Shiraz, 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of Tehran.

A court document obtained by human rights organization Amnesty International stated, "Both had denied that they had converted to Christianity and said that they remain Muslim, and accordingly the court found no further evidence to the contrary."

Azad vehemently denied the official court statement, saying the notion of him being a Muslim never even came up during the trial.

"The first question that they asked me was, 'What are you doing?' I said, 'I am a pastor pastoring a house church in Iran," he told Compass. "All my [court] papers are about Christianity -- about my activity, about our church and everything."

Members of Azad's house church confirmed that the government's court statement of his rejection of Christianity was false.

"His faith wasn't a secret -- he was a believer for a long, long time," said a source who preferred to remain anonymous.

During one court hearing, Azad said, a prosecutor asked him, "Did you change your religion?" Azad responded, "I didn't have religion for 43 years. Now I have religion, I have faith in God and I am following God."

If the court misstated that the two men said they were Muslims, it likely came from political pressure from above, said Joseph Grieboski, founder of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy.

"If the court did in fact lie about what he said, I would think it's part of the larger political game that [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad and his factions are trying to play to garner political support for him," Grieboski said.

Ahmadinejad, who is facing re-election, has approval ratings hovering above the single digits and has faced international criticism for the apostasy law.

"What he does not need is bad press and bad political positioning," Grieboski said. "I would be shocked if [the acquittal] were not somehow involved in the presidential campaign."

International condemnation of the law and of the proposed mandatory death penalty for those who leave Islam come as Iran faces new rounds of U.N. economic sanctions for uranium enrichment.

Upon his release, Azad said that no reason was given for the court freeing him and Basirat. Disputing the court's allegation that they claimed to be Muslims, Azad said that he told his attorney, "Two things I will never say. First, I will not lie; second, I will not deny Jesus my Lord and my Savior."

The two men are grateful for their release, he said, but they worry that their acquittal might merely be a tactic by the Iranian government to wait for them to re-engage in Christian activity and arrest them again. Their release could also put anyone with whom they associate in danger, Azad said.

There is another worry that the government could operate outside the law in order to punish them, as some believe has happened in the past. The last case of an apostasy conviction in Iran was that of Christian convert Mehdi Dibaj in 1994. Following his release, however, Dibaj and four other Protestant pastors, including converts and those working with converts, were brutally murdered.

A similar motivation could have prompted the judge to release the two pastors. Leaving their deaths up to outside forces would abrogate him from personally handing down the death penalty, Grieboski said.

"Even in Iran no judge wants to be the one to hand down the death penalty for apostasy," he said. "The judge's motivation [in this hearing] could have been for his own face-saving reasons, for the possibility of arresting more people, or even for the possibility that the two defendants will be executed using social means rather than government means. Any of these are perfectly legitimate possibilities when we start talking about the Iranian regime."

The court case against Azad and Basirat came amid a difficult time for local non-Muslims as the Iranian government attempted to criminalize apostasy from Islam.

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 individual section of the penal code containing the apostasy bill must be passed for it to go into law.

As recently as late August, the court was reluctant to release the two men on bail. At one point Azad's attorney anticipated the bail to be between $40,000 and $50,000, but the judge set the bail at $100,000.

The original charge against Azad and Basirat of "propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran" was dropped, but replaced with the more serious charge of apostasy.

Those close to the two pastors were relieved at the acquittal since they expected their detention to be lengthy.

"We had anticipated [Azad's incarceration] would be a while, and then we got this notice that they were released," said a family friend of Azad. "We were shocked by that."

Azad described his four-month incarceration in positive terms. He said that while in prison he was treated with respect by the authorities because he explained that he was not interested in political matters and was a pastor.

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Pakistan: Quake Survivors Face Frigid Weather
World Vision


November 3, 2008

ISLAMABAD (World Vision) -- After a 6.4 quake struck southwestern Pakistan early Wednesday morning, relief groups launched meetings with international and national aid agencies and government bodies to prepare a repsonse. The remote areas of Balochistan, the region most affected, are saturated with Taliban and al Qaeda, making foreign assistance more difficult.

World Vision's team in Pakistan has been meeting with international and national aid agencies and government bodies to prepare for a coordinated response.

"We're concerned that the number of casualities coul grow, as reports suggest people are still under the debris. Survivors will also be affected by freezing temperatures," said Graham Strong, World Vision Pakistan's Country Director.

At emergency consortium, the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, of which World Vision Pakistan is a member, is conducting a rapid assessment. The emergency consortium was developed following the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, which killed tens of thousands and injured even more.

World Vision staff are on standby to travel to the earthquake-affected zone, about 1.5 hours flight from the capital, Islamabad.

"World Vision does not have current programs in the affected province of Balochistan, but we will contribute to a relief repsonse if the scale of the impact warrants our involvement," Strong continued.

World Vision has helped more than 116,000 people rebuilt their lives in the past three years through its earthquake relief and rehabilitation project in Pakistan.

The official death toll from today's earthquake so far number above 200, with at least 15,000 displaced. Between 2,000 and 3,000 houses have been reported damaged and 500 have collapsed. In the city of Ziarat, houses are either partially or severely damaged. Four other main areas have been affected: Harnai, Qilla Abdullah, Vaam and Kelli Zargoom. The government of Pakistan has requested 2,000 tents and 5,000 blankets so far to assist survivors.

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Iraq Pledges $900,000 to Help Displaced Christians
Jeremy Reynalds


November 4, 2008

BAGHDAD (ANS) -- Iraq's president on Sunday pledged nearly $900,000 to help Christian families who have fled the northern Iraqi city of Mosul because of killings and threats.

CNN reported that according to a statement from President Jalal Talabani's office, the money will help safeguard "the rights and freedoms of Christians" in Iraq. A committee of Christian leaders and representatives from Talabani's office will supervise the distribution of the money, the statement said.

More than half of Mosul's Christian population -- an estimated 13,000 people, or 2,300 families -- fled the city last month, though the departures dwindled toward the month's end, Nineveh province's Deputy Gov. Khasro Goran told CNN.

CNN said authorities believe the attacks, which left at least 14 Iraqi Christians dead, may have been prompted by Christian demonstrations in early October.

Hundreds of Christians had taken to the streets in Mosul and surrounding villages and towns, demanding adequate representation on provincial councils, whose members will be chosen in local elections in January.

CNN reported that the violence which followed those demonstrations prompted the government to dispatch more security forces to patrol the city. Violence has decreased as a result, Iraqi officials said.

CNN said that last month, U.S. Department of Defense spokesman Geoff Morrell said the anti-Christian attacks and threats are partly "due to elements of al Qaeda that still enjoy some ability to operate up there."

Mosul is one of the last Iraqi cities where al Qaeda in Iraq has a significant presence and routinely carries out attacks.

"This is an attempt, it appears, to try to inflame tensions and fault lines that exist between religious and sectarian groups," CNN reported Morrell said.

The United Nations refugee agency is helping many of the displaced families, most of whom have fled to nearby villages in Nineveh province. About 400 others have crossed into Syria, but many have said they no longer feel safe there, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Syria already hosts more than 1 million Iraqi refugees.

CNN reported UNHCR said in a statement that many of the Iraqi Christians interviewed by the agency told stories of intimidation and death threats in Mosul.

"One woman said she and her mother left Mosul early last week, two days after someone called one of her colleagues at work and said that all Christians should leave the city immediately or be killed," according to the UNHCR statement.

CNN reported the statement continued, "She said she was unnerved, but decided to leave only after hearing reports that 11 people had been killed at a checkpoint by militiamen dressed as police officers. She and her mother escaped with a couple of bags and all the money that they had in the house; they did not dare go to the bank to remove their savings."

CNN said a nurse told UNHCR that the threats against Christians in Mosul began several months ago "with phone calls, letters and messages left on doors."

The agency stated, "She said she stayed in Mosul until October 10, when she received a new threat. She immediately left with her mother."

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From Cross to Crescent in Paris
Don Graham


November 5, 2008

PARIS (BP) -- It's a sight that would shatter most Americans' romanticized image of Paris.

Just a 15-minute metro ride from the trendy shops and quaint cafés of the Champs-Elysees, a virtual sea of North and West African Muslims spills out the gates of a neighborhood mosque. Like waves breaking on a beach, their bodies bend in unison as hundreds of men prostrate themselves before Allah. Their prayers are guided by an imam's Arabic incantations.

The crowd's prayer rugs cover a city block's worth of sidewalk. Tourists point and take pictures. Some French pedestrians are visibly uncomfortable as they negotiate their way around the assembly.

But the scene isn't an aberration. Instead, it's evidence of a trend that's changing the way Southern Baptists view the international mission field: Islam is expanding across Europe.

From Cross to Crescent

Fueled by immigration and high birthrates, the number of Muslims on the continent has tripled in the past 30 years, making Islam Europe's fastest growing religion. While European Muslims build mosques and win converts, European Christians (excluding evangelicals) are witnessing what's been called a near free-fall decline in church attendance.

Tourists make up the overwhelming majority of those crowding Notre Dame in Paris, snapping photos during Mass as if the cathedral was more museum than place of worship. Even more alarming are statistics that only 5 percent of the French own a Bible and 80 percent have never even touched one. The shift is so dramatic that many demographers now believe more people in Europe practice Islam than Christianity.

No one knows exactly how many Muslims call Europe home since most European nations don't track ethnicity or religious affiliation in census data. Guesses put the number around 20 million.

France accounts for the highest concentration of Muslims in the European Union -- 5 to 6 million, or about 8 percent of the population. Many entered the country as immigrants in guest-worker programs following World War II, but untold numbers have flooded France and other European nations illegally.

Striving for Acceptance

While the French government has made strides to help Muslim immigrants integrate into French society, things haven't always gone smoothly.

In 2004, a law banning Muslim girls from wearing head scarves in French public schools ignited an uproar among immigrants. A year later, riots broke out in Muslim-majority areas of Paris after the deaths of two North African teenagers. The summer of 2007 saw peaceful but public protests by West African immigrants in a dispute with the French government over papers that would allow them to remain in France legally.

Such tension drives some immigrants away from their Muslim heritage while others gravitate toward it.

Osman* is among the men worshipping outside the Paris mosque. Handsome and energetic, the 20-something works as a technician for the city's water department. Born in Paris, Osman's parents are Christians who came to France nearly 30 years ago from Togo, West Africa. But after years of struggling to assimilate into French society, Osman finally found acceptance among other West African immigrants by converting to Islam.

Yet as Christianity's presence in Europe wanes, there is hope.

Slow But Steady Progress

Evangelical churches have seen slow but steady growth. In France, evangelicals numbered just 60,000 in 1940 but have climbed to nearly 500,000 today. Now about 3,000 evangelical churches worship in France -- more than a third planted in the past 20 years. Immigrants are helping to swell the ranks of these churches, sometimes composing as much as 50 percent of the congregation.

Tony Lynn, a Southern Baptist missionary serving in Paris, said that most evangelical churches inside the city average 35 to 65 people on Sunday. Lynn and his wife Jamie -- both from Michigan -- have spent the past five years in Paris working to plant churches among the city's 100-plus unreached people groups.

Lynn said one of the biggest obstacles to the Gospel is a hallowed tradition of secular humanism that the French call "laicite." Rooted in the French Revolution by philosophers like Rousseau and Voltaire, it has evolved into a cultural mindset that tolerates any religion so long as it remains hidden behind the veil of an individual's private life.

This pluralistic dynamic negates the importance of religion while simultaneously making spirituality an open topic for debate. That, Lynn said, creates a carte blanche opportunity to talk about Christ.

"Conversation and intelligent dialogues are a type of art in Paris," he said. "Once a rapport is established, people will discuss most anything."

But laicite's influence also has created a kind of identity crisis among younger generations of Muslim immigrants because they are raised in Muslim homes yet are exposed to a secular humanist environment, said Gracie Couloir,* a Southern Baptist missionary from Virginia who has served in France for the past 17 years.

Volunteers Key

Lynn believes new, innovative approaches are needed to combat these kinds of cross-cultural disconnects and effectively share Christ among both immigrants and French nationals. He said Southern Baptist volunteers are key to making that happen.

Helping meet the need are churches like Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga., which sent a volunteer team to Paris to share Christ's love with Muslim women through a ministry known as the Esther Project.

"We did manicures, facials and makeup on women in a predominantly Muslim area," Claire Hill, a member of Warren's volunteer team, said. "The women seemed to thoroughly enjoy the girly things we did as well as our company. Although we didn't know them ... they were women just like us and there was much we had in common."

Couloir said, "All we have to do as Southern Baptists is give them the Gospel in a way that they can understand it, and we can change the Muslim world.

"I think we really do have fields that are ready for the harvest here. We just don't have the harvesters."

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Orissa Braces for More Violence after Second Murder
Vishal Arora


November 6, 2008

NEW DELHI (Compass Direct News) -- Terrified Christians already ravaged by more than two months of violence in Orissa state's Kandhamal district braced for more carnage as suspected Maoists today gunned down a local worker of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Dhanu Pradhan was an RSS activist said to be on the Maoists' hit list. Police said he was shot by three suspected Maoists in Kumharigaon village under Brahmanigaon jurisdiction in Kandhamal at 1 p.m., reported The Indian Express. Modern India's worst-ever spate of violence began in the forest district of Kandhamal on Aug. 24, a day after a leader of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP), Laxmanananda Saraswati, was killed.

Although a Maoist group admitted killing Saraswati and four of his aides, the VHP blamed local Christians for the assassinations. The wave of violent attacks carried on unabated for more than two months, destroying at least 4,500 houses and churches in the district.

More than 500 people, mostly Christian, might have been killed in the past few months' violence in Kandhamal district, according to a report by a Communist Party fact-finding team. The report also suggested that the state government downplayed and covered up evidence of unreported deaths.

"The official figure for deaths has been reported to be 31, however, a senior government official on the condition of anonymity informed that he himself consigned two hundred dead bodies -- found from the jungle -- to flames after getting them collected in a tractor," said the report by the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML).

The unnamed official estimated that, based on the intensity and pace of killings, the number of those killed was more than 500, according to the report. The fact-finding team visited Kandhamal district on Oct. 15-16 and published its report in the Oct. 27 issue of the party's official publication, Liberation.

The report, signed by CPI-ML member J.P. Minz, also said that Hindu extremists might have used state government machinery to "minimize the evidence and possibly destroy dead bodies."

Dr. John Dayal, a member of the National Integration Council of the Government of India, told Compass the report was startling but not surprising.

"I have been tabulating the data from independent church groups," he said. "Even the Bishop's House in Bhubaneswar has maintained that tens of thousands of refugees are hiding in forests, many of them with injuries of various degrees of grievousness."

Dayal said that people must have been killed in the forests. "Even in villages, bodies have been discovered in neighboring fields," he added.

The fact-finding team reported that the numerous attacks, acts of vandalism and killings took place "in full view of police, and the police remained mute spectators." At least 200 Christian villages and 127 church and prayer halls were either destroyed or burned, it added.

Victims in numerous relief camps told the fact-finding team that the VHP and its youth wing, Bajrang Dal, were responsible for the tensions and violence.

"They used to organize meetings of the Kandha tribals and incite them to attack the Christian hamlets and also provided funds for doing this," the report said.

Dayal said the Supreme Court of India should act on the report's findings.

'Great Terror'

The CPI-ML reported that Christians continued to experience "great terror," and that Hindu nationalist groups were demanding the withdrawal of security personnel sent by the federal government to contain the violence.

"Riot victims are frightened to go back to their villages because they have been threatened that if they return they will be cut into pieces," said the report. "The rioters are also proclaiming that only Hindu converts will be allowed to return. On the other hand, those in charge of the relief camps are pressuring the riot victims to return to their villages, saying that the life has returned to normalcy and peace has returned."

The Indian Express yesterday reported that about 250 riot victims who had taken shelter in the Meliaputti and Mandasa areas of Srikakulam district in neighboring Andhra Pradesh state were refusing to go back to their villages "out of fear."

"As many as 109 persons of 35 families of Sarlaguda, Raikia, Nuagaon, Baliguda, Bataguda, Barkhama, G. Udaygiri, Tikabali and Suraballi areas have been residing at Sourakaligam village of Meliaputti area, Andhra Pradesh, since the Kandhamal violence," said the newspaper, adding that 140 others had taken shelter in Kumudhisingi village of the Mandasa area.

There are 12,641 violence-affected people in seven relief camps in Kandhamal, according to the district authorities.

Violence in Another District

The violence in Kandhamal has led to tensions in several other districts of Orissa. Yesterday a mob of around 400 people surrounded and beat five Christian men in the Bindha area of Bhadrak district's Tihidi Block, according to the Christian Legal Association.

The incident took place when five men and two women, all staff of the Discipleship Centre, were returning from a few villages where that Christian organization has projects. A cyclist suddenly appeared before them and had an accident, incurring minor injuries. Soon a mob of about 300 people gathered and began beating the men, accusing them of converting Hindus, as if such activity were illegal in India.

The mob dragged the Christians to a Hindu nationalist rally where slogans against them were chanted. Police arrived and took the Christians to a police station, charging them under laws against forcible or fraudulent conversion. The seven Christians remained in jail at press time.

Police also filed a counter-complaint against the attackers, but no one was arrested at press time.

Nun's Rape Case

In the case of a Catholic nun raped on Aug. 25 during the initial violence, the Kandhamal district court today issued a notice summoning her to appear for identification of the culprits, reported the Press Trust of India news agency.

The victim, who said she was raped in K. Nuagaon in Baliguda, had refused to cooperate with police, demanding that a federal agency investigate her case. On Oct. 24, she appeared before media and blamed police for not coming to her rescue. She said she was raped while police did nothing, and that later she saw a policeman talking congenially to one of the rapists.

Previously she had filed a complaint at the Baliguda police station, but officers did not make any arrests until a national newspaper, The Hindu, highlighted the case on Sept. 30. When the nun initially went to the police station to file her complaint, an officer had warned her of possible negative consequences of doing so.

One-Man Investigation

While Christians are demanding that a federal agency take over investigation of the violence in Orissa, the state government has appointed a one-man panel, the Justice S.C. Mohapatra judicial commission, to carry out the probe.

The commission placed an advertisement in a local newspaper, Sambad, on Nov. 3 seeking affidavits of victims by Nov. 15. It also said that people could appear before the commission on Nov. 28 in its office in Bhubaneswar, the state capital.

The commission will analyze the sequence of events and circumstances leading to the killing of Saraswati on Aug. 23 and the subsequent violence. It will also probe the role, conduct and responsibility of individuals, organizations, groups and agencies in precipitating and committing the crimes and investigate whether the measures that followed were adequate.

Mohapatra is a retired judge of the Orissa High Court.

Orissa is ruled by a coalition of a local party, the Biju Janata Dal, and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which has close ties with the VHP.

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Billy Graham: America's Evangelist
Katherine Britton


November 7, 2008

The Rev. Billy Graham no longer gives the altar call to stadiums filled with thousands, watching as hundreds come forward in repentance as cameras flash. The booming voice that echoed Gospel power has quieted in recent years, as Graham has turned over the trademark crusades to his son, Franklin, and grandson, Will.

But as the pioneering evangelist turns 90 today, his career still colors America's perception of what it means to be an evangelical.

Tens of thousands of people sent in birthday cards and stories of Graham's impact in their lives to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) over the past month. The organization, which Graham founded in 1950, will collect the stories and share them with Graham at a private birthday celebration.

"I will never forget the opportunity that I had to lead a young couple to Christ and mentor them into active members of a local church at your Ottawa Crusade," one person wrote. "God has used you mightily, and may His blessing continue to fall on you."

Others remember Graham's televised broadcasts as a regular part of life.

"When I was a child in the 1960s my brother, our friends and I would play ball in our backyard every evening after dinner," another man said. "Every so often, Mom would appear at the back door of the house and holler real loud, 'John, Marvin, you come home. Billy Graham's on!' Our friends would laugh and mimic mom in a whiney voice, 'Go home, John. Billy Graham's on!' Then they would all laugh as we left. My brother and I didn't mind at all. We would go home immediately. I have to tell you that those television crusades set the standard of living our lives a lot higher than they would have been."

The son of a North Carolina dairy farmer, William F. Graham made his own decision for Christ in 1934 at a revival meeting. He graduated with a degree from Wheaton College and married Ruth Bell, who became his greatest support and the family stalwart as he traveled, in 1943. Just six years later at a Los Angeles crusade, the young preacher found himself launched into a lifelong calling, as the three weeks of scheduled revival meetings stretched eight packed weeks and drew national attention.

Though he never had a church of his own, Graham arguably has preached to more souls than any other pastor ever. He reached more than 215 million people live through his meetings and countless others over TV and radio programs. Even after his final crusade in New York in 2005, he has remained an evangelist with rockstar-like fame and Pope-like respect.

Daughter Ruth Graham remembers that her father weathered the constant attention with a humble desire to just get out the Gospel.

"I said, 'Daddy, how'd it go?' And he said, 'When I'm preaching, I feel like I'm at home.' He just loves to preach because he loves people," Ruth said in a 2006 interview with Crosswalk.com. "There's not a public faith or a private faith, and he is very consistent."

Few other men have held such influence across such a wide spectrum of American culture. Graham has graced the cover of TIME and other national magazines multiple times, starting in 1954, and earned a spot in the TIME 100 most influential people list. He has counseled every president after Harry Truman, and was counted a close confidante by the Reagans, Bill Clinton, and the Bush family. More than one of his 28 books has enjoyed extended time on the bestseller lists, and Graham hopes to pen one more book before he leaves this earth. Perhaps most incredibly of all, Graham's personal code of conduct has precluded any hint of public or sexual scandal, allowing his testimony to carry farther than most.

Meanwhile, the organization he founded has grown to include a host of domestic and international ministries. Graham still sits on the BGEA board as his health permits, though the leadership duties have been turned over to Franklin Graham, who now leads the large-scale festivals that Graham inaugurated.

The Dare to Be a Daniel project focuses on youth evangelism training, while the Rapid Response Team hurries crisis-trained chaplains to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. A whole media division has sprung up around programs such as "Hour of Decision" to include My Hope World Evangelism through Television and Decision magazine. The popular Christianity Today magazine was also founded by Billy Graham, though the magazine is not officially part of BGEA.

Billy and Ruth Graham's five children have all inherited their parents' sense of ministry, albeit in different ways. Their work ranges from authorship to diplomatic work with China, from speaking about their father to heading up the children's aid organization Samaritan's Purse.

Ruth, named after her late mother, remembers that her father kept in constant touch with she and her siblings through letters, and would call her mother every evening at five. Even from afar, he kept his family in focus as a ministry along with his revivals.

"We would listen to 'Hour of Decision' every Sunday afternoon and that would originate from wherever he was," Ruth said. "So we felt like we were there. We could hear daddy's voice. And at home, he was always full of stories of what had happened when he was gone, the people he'd met and the lives that were changed."

Graham's legacy extends over continents and into thousands of souls. And therein lies his greatest legacy of all -- he stands as a testimony of a willing heart can do in the hands of a powerful God.

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Catholic Bishops Debate 'Faithful Citizenship'
Daniel Burke


November 7, 2008

WASHINGTON (RNS) -- Last November, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops overwhelmingly approved a set of guidelines for Catholics to consider before they went to the voting booth.

Only four bishops voted against the 36-page document, called "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship."

Then came the 2008 election.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Joe Biden both openly challenged church teaching on abortion, which says the procedure is evil in all circumstances. A new wave of scholars and activists argued that the church's effort to criminalize abortion is hopeless and urged Catholics to consider other issues before voting.

And on Tuesday, Democrat Barack Obama won 54 percent of the Catholic vote, according to exit polls, making Biden, his running mate and a supporter of abortion rights, the nation's first Catholic vice president.

Now, as nearly 200 Catholic bishops prepare to gather in Baltimore next week for their annual meeting (Nov. 10-13), some say "Faithful Citizenship" must be scrapped, or at least overhauled.

"We need a new approach to conscience formation in the public square," said Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, one of a handful of prelates who take a get-tough approach to Catholics who support abortion rights.

"`Faithful Citizenship' didn't and doesn't work because it's been applied by different people in very different ways."

Indeed, Catholic scholars like Nicholas Cafardi, whom the bishops appointed to a board investigating clergy sexual abuse, used "Faithful Citizenship" to buttress his argument that anti-abortion Catholics could back Obama in good conscience.

But it was Biden and Pelosi using "Meet the Press" to openly "misrepresent Catholic teaching" that put abortion and politics on next week's agenda, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"As the teachers of the faith," the USCCB wrote in a September statement, "we also point out the connectedness between the evil of abortion and political support for abortion. We plan to discuss the practical implications of these serious matters."

Biden's elevation to the nation's No. 2 job on Tuesday adds an element of urgency to the bishops' discussion, said Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark, N.J.

"It's a very big deal," Myers said. However, the archbishop said, his fellow prelates do not agree about how to handle the situation.

"We need to come closer to being of one mind on this matter," Myers said.

In all, about 50 of the approximately 220 active Catholic prelates strongly suggested that Catholics should not vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights this year. One, Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., said voters' "eternal salvation is tied up with that important choice."

Russell Shaw, former director of communications for the USSCB, said the bishops could basically be divided into three camps: the "hardliners," who want to deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, and possibly those who vote for them; the "compromisers" who want to reach an agreement with politicians; and a large majority in the middle who "don't like messy unpleasant situations like this and are just hoping it will go away."

The bishops should have agreed on a policy when Catholic Sen. John Kerry, who also supports abortion rights, made a serious run at the presidency four years ago, said Shaw, author of the recent book "Nothing to Hide: Secrecy, Communication and Communion in the Catholic Church."

Instead, the bishops decided to let each prelate determine his own policy.

"The failure to face up to serious questions has come home to roost," Shaw said.

Deal Hudson, a conservative Catholic activist and author, is among those pushing for the prelates to amend "Faithful Citizenship."

"Catholic supporters of Obama have cherry-picked it for loopholes" said Hudson. "The bishops should have anticipated the kinds of abuse a complex document like that would undergo."

Myers said the problem lies not with "Faithful Citizenship" but with its interpreters.

"It's kind of like Vatican II," the archbishop said, referring to the seminal conclave of the 1960s that lead to wide reforms in the church. "Very clearly there are some, like Senator Biden, who are saying the church for centuries did not have a clear position on abortion and have gone all over the ballpark in making up their own positions."

Now the bishops will have Biden, a lifelong Catholic, living in the Vice President's Residence -- directly across the street from the Vatican embassy in Washington.

"I don't think it will be all that bad," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a political scientist with the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. "The Catholic Church has dealt with Catholic politicians of varying stripes for over a thousand years."

[nChrist]

China: Pastor Released after International Outcry
Michael Ireland


November 11, 2008

BEIJING (ANS) -- Pastor "Bike" Zhang Mingxuan, his wife and his wife's sister were declared "free" by government officials on October 27, 2008 at 1 p.m. in Nanyang, Henan province as a direct result of international outcry on their behalf.

China Aid Association (CAA) says it is believed that the three were being held to prevent them from attending the third anniversary of the Chinese House Church Alliance which was held in Beijing on October 20.

CAA said Pastor Bike, President of the Chinese House Church Alliance, was one of approximately 300 delegates invited to attend the celebration. Because of police harassment, only about 100 of the delegates made it to Beijing for the event.

In a media release, CAA explains that Pastor Bike was first detained on October 16, after his sons, Zhang Jian and Zhang Chuang, were beaten by police and his wife was evicted from their apartment. The Public Security Bureau (PSB) sent out two separate groups to arrest the family. One group of PSB officers picked up Pastor Bike at the Kunming Airport. Another group arrested his wife and his wife's sister in Beijing and took them to Nanyang city, Henan province. Pastor Bike was detained in the PSB office of Shilin city, Yunnan province with about 15 PSB officers watching and questioning him in turn.

CAA reports that on October 23, Pastor Bike was transported by police car to Nanyang city by two PSB officers from the PSB of Nanyang city. He and his wife along his wife's sister were detained at Wenquan Hotel in Nanyang city until October 27 when they were all declared "free."

According to CAA, Pastor Bike's sons, Zhang Jian and Zhang Chuang, moved with their families to Nanyang city, Henan province under police pressure soon after the October 16 attack. They are still recovering from their injuries. However, Pastor Bike's younger son, Zhang Chuang, has been ordered by his landlord to report back to Beijing and move out of the apartment that he is legally renting. The landlord has been under pressure from PSB officers to formally evict Zhang Chuang to force him permanently out of Beijing. Zhang Jian, Pastor Bike's oldest son, was evicted from his apartment immediately following the October 16 police attack.

In the media release CAA states: "The harassment of the Zhang family is believed to be directly supported by the 'Citizen Informant Initiative' of the Beijing State Security Bureau issued July 25, 2008 which requires Beijing citizens to report those 'engaging in activities that endanger state security by utilizing religions.' It is believed that officials want not only to force the Zhang family from Beijing, but also to suppress the Chinese House Church Alliance house churches."

The CAA media release adds: "After his release, Pastor Bike went directly to Beijing to meet with Chinese House Church Alliance house church members and to settle his apartment contract. At the anniversary celebration of the House Church Alliance on October 20 in Beijing, the approximately 100 Chinese House Church Alliance delegates who made it to Beijing issued a public statement, declaring they will continue live out their faith and care for the poor and orphans despite persecution."

The release states that after China Aid reported about the attack against Pastor "Bike" Zhang Mingxuan's family and the arrest of Pastor Bike that followed, American churches, government officials and individuals expressed deep concern.

As a direct result of the international outcry to the Chinese government, Pastor Bike was released. ChinaAid thanks all who voiced concern for this family, and will continue to post updates on this situation.

[nChrist]

Iran: Son of Martyred Pastor Free on Bail
Tom Clements


November 12, 2008

LOS ANGELES (Compass Direct News) -- Concerns about the health and safety of the son of martyred Iranian pastor Hossein Soodmand are swirling around Ramtin Soodmand as he awaits trial for "promoting anti-government propaganda."

Soodmand was released on bail Oct. 22 after more than two months in a Mashhad prison, having originally been charged with "proselytizing."

Before turning himself in to police in Mashhad on Aug. 21, Soodmand received a call from Fershteh Dibaj, the daughter of another Christian martyr, Mehdi Dibaj, telling him that intelligence officers wanted to meet with him. Puzzled, Soodmand asked, "Why do they want me to come there? I am living in Tehran," according to a family member. (Compass earlier reported incorrectly that Soodmand was ordered to go from Mashhad to Tehran.)

Expecting Soodmand to be in Mashhad for no more than two days, family members told Compass that they were shocked when he remained in prison.

A family member also expressed frustration that the court repeatedly changed the bail amount before finally settling on $22,000. Soodmand's in-laws put the deed to their home up to ensure bail.

Soodmand has been officially charged with "promoting anti-government propaganda." But with a new penal code under consideration in Iranian Parliament this month that would mandate capital punishment for "apostates," or those who leave Islam, friends and family worry that he may face the death penalty. A family member told Compass that the court had originally accused Soodmand of religious activity and proselytizing.

His father, the last Iranian Christian convert from Islam executed by the Iranian government, was accused of working as "an American spy." Since then at least six Protestant pastors have been assassinated by unknown killers.

Friends and relatives of Soodmand questioned his treatment while in prison. One source told Compass that he asked about Soodmand's health on three separate phone conversations. "The government cut off the phone three times," the source said.

A source closely following the case said that when he asked Soodmand about his treatment in prison, he responded, "No place on [my] body is hurting." That source believed Soodmand was saying that he had recovered from being tortured.

Another source interested in the case told Compass, "It's odd that Mitra [Soodmand's wife] and Ramtin were only allowed to talk by phone. She never saw his face the whole time he was in prison."

A family friend said he believes that no physical harm was done to Soodmand, telling Compass, "Ramtin was abused emotionally by being interrogated many times but was never beaten. He was taken to a room where he was told his father had spoken his last words before being executed."

While there are many questions about Soodmand's treatment, those close to the family agree that Soodmand has suffered during this ordeal.

"He [my] asks for prayer because he was badly shaken," a source told Compass.

Soodmand's father was executed by the state in 1990, and there is speculation that Ramtin Soodmand may have been singled out because of the relationship.

"I am not sure, but ... once something like this happens for you in your family, you are 'marked,'" said a source closely following the case.

Under the past three decades of Iran's Islamist regime, hundreds of citizens who have left Islam and become Christians have been arrested for weeks or months, held in unknown locations and subjected to mental and physical torture.

The arrests of Iranian Christians in the last few months have deeply affected churches in Iran. "There is less trust among the believers," a friend of Soodmand's said to Compass. "They are suspicious of outsiders or newcomers because they could be 'moles.'"

The friend also reported that the activities of house churches he works with have been sharply curtailed because many members believe they are under surveillance.

A family member is concerned for the Christians living in Mashhad.

"We got news from Iran that the intelligence service in Mashhad arrested 15 Christian people," he told Compass last week.

[nChrist]

Christians? Trial for ?Insulting Turkishness? Stalls Again
Damaris Kremida


November 13, 2008

ISTANBUL (Compass Direct News) -- Two years into a trial for "insulting Turkishness" that has been light on evidence and heavy on mud-slinging at Turkey's Protestant community, a court proceeding last week brought no progress.

Another witness for the prosecution failed to appear in the trial of Turkish Christians Turan Topal and Hakan Tastan, charged with "insulting Turkishness" and spreading Christianity through illegal methods. Moreover, a Justice Ministry answer to the court about the viability of charges under Turkey's controversial Article 301 had yet to arrive at the court last week.

In the last hearing in June, Silivri Criminal Court Judge Mehmet Ali Ozcan ordered a review of the two Christian converts' alleged violations of the controversial article of the Turkish penal code on "insulting Turkishness." But the court is still waiting for the Justice Ministry to decide whether they can be tried under Article 301 of the penal code.

The judge set the next hearing for Feb. 24, 2009 while the court awaits a response on whether the Christians can be charged under the controversial article.

Topal and Tastan are still charged with reviling Islam (Article 216) and compiling information files on private citizens (Article 135).

In what critics called "cosmetic" revisions of Article 301, the Turkish government amended it in May to require Justice Ministry permission to file such cases. Put into effect on May 8, the changes also redefined the vague offense of "insulting Turkishness" to read "insulting the Turkish nation."

While the court awaited a decision on Article 301, in the hearing on Nov. 4 it did free the defendants from forced attendance at future hearings. This, according to defense lawyer Haydar Polat, was the only progress made by the court; he added that a witness or evidence would have been better. For lack of these, he said, the prosecution has needlessly dragged out the case.

"In both cases [against them], the only acceptable progress is the testimony of a witness," said Polat. "Then again, the fact that the defendants are free from having to attend every trial is in a sense progress too."

Lame Witnesses

The initial charges prepared by the Silivri state prosecutor against Tastan and Topal were based on "a warning telephone call to the gendarme," claiming that some Christian missionaries were trying to form illegal groups in local schools and making insults against Turkishness, the military and Islam.

Despite a court summons sent to the Silivri and Istanbul gendarme headquarters requesting six named gendarme soldiers to testify as prosecution witnesses in the case, none have stepped forward to testify.

"They will be called in the next hearing as well," Polat told Compass.

At the June 24 hearing, two teenage witnesses for the prosecution declared they did not know the defendants and had never seen them before facing them in the courtroom. Several witnesses have failed to show up on various trial dates, and last week another witness called by prosecution, Fatih Kose, did not appear.

"There is no lack of witnesses, but as far as we are concerned, these characters' accounts are irrelevant to the truth and full of contradictions," said Polat. "I mean there is no believable and persuasive argument, nor a coherent witness."

Last week a police officer from the precinct where Topal and Tastan were allegedly seen doing missionary activities was summoned to court to testify. He told the court that he indeed worked in the precinct but knew nothing about the activities of the two Christians.

Eleven months ago, the appointed prosecutor himself had demanded that the court acquit the two Christians, declaring there was "not a single concrete, credible piece of evidence" to support the accusations against them. This prosecutor was removed from the case, and two months later the judge hearing the case withdrew over prosecution complaints that he was not impartial.

Two key figures pressing the Article 301 charges and promoting sensational media coverage of the Silivri trial proceedings are now jailed themselves, unable to attend the hearings.

Both ultranationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz and spokesperson Sevgi Erenerol of the Turkish Orthodox Church -- a Turkish nationalist denomination with no significant following -- are accused of playing leading roles in Ergenekon, an ultranationalist cabal of retired generals, politicians, journalists and mafia members under investigation for conspiracy.

Since mid-January, 47 people have been jailed and face trial for involvement in the alleged crime network, said to have orchestrated numerous killings and violence as part of a nationalist plot to overthrow the Turkish government by 2009.

Asked about the chances of closing the case that has made no progress for two years due to lack of evidence against the defendants, Polat said he was hopeful his clients would find justice in the Turkish legal labyrinth.

"As lawyers, we believe that both of our clients will be acquitted," he said. "Come February we expect that the Justice Ministry will not approve the opening of a public case on the basis of 'insulting Turkishness.'"

Slandering Christians

The trial of Topal and Tastan has included its share of mud-slinging at Turkish Protestants, estimated at 3,000 to 3,500 people in a country of 70 million, deepening the nation's prejudices against them.

This legal battle has been less about guilt or innocence and more about tainting the community's image, according to a member of the legal committee of the Alliance of Protestant Churches in Turkey.

The Christian Turk from the legal committee told Compass that in 2006, when the charges against Topal and Tastan first came to light, there were news reports for days claiming that Christians tricked children in elementary schools, paid people to come to church and gave women away for sex, among other absurd assertions.

"The goal was to create disinformation, and they succeeded at portraying Christians in a negative light," he said.

The source said that this was the primary goal of ultranationalist lawyer Kerincsiz's team, which he believes is behind the cases brought against Topal and Tastan as well as the delay in the outcome.

"On the first day of the hearings, when the case opened, I told those around me that nothing would come of this case," he said.

The legal committee member said media created a psychological war against Turkish Christians. Other members of the Protestant community believe another goal was to deter any evangelism or outreach by Turkish Christians.

"It was to discourage the whole Christian community and quash them and discourage evangelism," said another source.

The member of the legal committee said he believes that eventually Topal and Tastan will be acquitted. But even if they win the court case, the damage from the publicity war on the church will not be as easy to repair.

"I think everything will stay the same, because the case won't be reported in the news," he said. "The issue was not about whether these two were guilty or not. When this first broke out it was in the news for days. When it is over it will barely make it to a newspaper corner, and we won't be able to give a message for the public because we don't wield media power. We comfortably carry our quiet voice, and we will until then."

[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - Oct. 20, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

    * Iraq: Violence Continues to Force Christian Exodus
    * Parishioner of Beleaguered Pakistani Pastor Arrested
    * Still Reeling, Texas Churches Need Help
    * Legislator's Lawsuit against God Dismissed



Iraq: Violence Continues to Force Christian Exodus

Mission News Network reports that the exodus from the city of Mosul continues after a church was bombed Oct. 14, the latest incident in violent attacks against the city's Christians. Iraqi Christians are sending desperate text messages to SAT-7, a satellite television service for the Christians of the Middle East and North Africa. "The Christians who are there have been fleeing. One person wrote, 'We left with only our souls.' It's really terrible. According to the reports that we've received, what's happened is that some of the extremists that were in other parts of the country have moved north and come to Mosul where there has been a vibrant Christian community," said David Harder of SAT-7. The station then disseminates the messages on screen. Many of the messages ask for prayer for the terrorists, "that they would have a 'Pauline experience'--that instead of being persecutors, they would become lovers of Jesus through what's happened."

Parishioner of Beleaguered Pakistani Pastor Arrested

Compass Direct News reports that police last week arrested and beat a young parishioner who was visiting a Pakistani pastor's home outside Lahore to receive prayer. Police on Oct. 9 arrested Javed Masih, a 22-year-old delivery driver and prominent member of pastor Christopher Manzer's congregation, as he was leaving Manzer's house. The pastor had already fled after receiving a telephone call warning him of imminent police arrival. Police attacked Manzer five times this year, and the pastor has recently received death threats. Masih was released five days later on a bribe of 15,000 rupees (US$185). The pastor and staff at Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan believe the man instigating the attacks is Mohammad Nawaz, who opened a court case against Manzer et al, accusing them of kidnapping and abortion-related death of his wife, Sana Bibi. Manzer counseled Bibi after she decided to return to her family and Christianity, but has denied all of the accusations.

Still Reeling, Texas Churches Need Help

Baptist Press reports that dozens of Southern Baptist churches whose buildings were destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Ike in Texas will benefit from the "Adopt-A-Church" and "Church2Church" ministries by Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist General Convention of Texas to connect Ike-impacted churches with those who want to assist. The BP reports that 20 BGCT member church buildings were destroyed by Hurricane Ike, and more than 100 damaged. Eleven SBC church buildings sustained extreme damage, 12 recorded moderate or light damage, and 33 reported only "minor" damage. Terry Wright, pastor of First Baptist Church of Vidor, Texas, who coordinates the joint response to these churches, said many had no flood insurance and may never open again. "Some churches can't meet so there are no weekly offerings. There's no money for payroll or to pay the mortgages they're carrying," said Wright. "They are in dire straits."

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit against God

Religion News Service reports that a judge has dismissed a Nebraska legislator's lawsuit against God, saying the Almighty could not be served notice of the litigation. "Given that this court finds that there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant, this action will be dismissed with prejudice," wrote Douglas County District Court Judge Marlon Polk of Omaha, Neb., on Tuesday (Oct. 14). State Sen. Ernie Chambers filed suit in 2007 to seek a permanent injunction against God, the Associated Press reported. He accused God of causing "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants." The law school graduate who never took the bar exam questioned the judge's ruling, the AP reported. "Since God knows everything, God has notice of this lawsuit," Chambers said. Chambers has 30 days to determine if he will appeal.

[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - Oct. 21, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

    * Afghanistan: Taliban Kill Christian Aid Worker
    * Malaysia: Minorities Warned Not to Question Islam
    * Orissa: Soldier Defending Christians Mutilated, Killed
    * World Vision Asks for Facebook Votes





Afghanistan: Taliban Kill Christian Aid Worker

Taliban militants shot and killed a Christian aid worker in a drive-by shooting in Kabul as the woman walked to work, the Associated Press reports. A spokesman said the group killed the Gayle Williams, 34-year-old dual British-South African national, for proselytizing. Britain's secretary of state condemned the murder as "callous and cowardly." Williams was in Afghanistan with the Christian relief organization Serving Emergency Relief and Vocational Enterprises (SERVE) to work with handicapped Afghans. A spokesman for the organization, however, said that they do not proselytize, as such action is forbidden in the Islamic nation. According to the AP, the attack is indicative of growing instability in Afghanistan, as attacks against Westerners increase and police checkpoints in Kabul grow in number.

Malaysia: Minorities Warned Not to Question Islam

The Associated Press reports that Malaysian officials warned minorities against voicing complaints about privileges enjoy by ethnic Malay people and questioning Islam. The sultans of nine states joined to issue the statement, saying such questioning "can lead to disunity and racial strife that can undermine the peace and harmony." An estimated 60 percent of Malaysia's population is Muslim, with non-Muslim Chinese and Indians making a significant minority. "It (the warning) is quite unprecedented and I think it is coming in response to what the country is facing -- what the rulers perceive as the fracturing of racial harmony," said Tricia Yeoh of Center for Policy Research think-tank. This combination of racial-religious tensions has become more apparent in the last year.

Orissa: Soldier Defending Christians Mutilated, Killed

Compass Direct News reports that a paramilitary soldier assigned to protect Christians from Hindu violence in Kandhamal district, Orissa was mutilated and killed by a mob in Sisapanga village on Oct. 13. The body of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldier was recovered from a nearby forest. He was believed to have been hacked to death by tribal people in the wake of the worst anti-Christian violence in the history of modern India. While one of the attackers managed to escape unhurt, the other was killed in the attack. The death marks the first time that central security personnel have been targeted in Orissa in the riots that have raged since Hindu extremists insisted on blaming Christians for the Aug. 23 murder of Hindu leader Laxmanananda Saraswati, even though Maoists admitted killing him and four associates.

World Vision Asks for Facebook Votes

Following the launch of its campaign to eliminate malaria, humanitarian organization World Vision may win help from an unlikely place - Facebook. Western Union's "Our World Gives" Facebook campaign allows users to vote once a day October 14 through November 25 for their favorite charity in the running, with a contest prize of $50,000 for the winning organization. World Vision is currently in the lead and hopes to put money towards bed nets to be distributed in Twachiyanda, Zambia. According to World Vision, progressing with diagnosis and treatment in the area has been hampered because of lack of prevention, which nets would help provide. Malaria kills more than 2,000 children each year. "Every one of us must do our part to help combat malaria whether we are leaders of a nation, heads of major corporations, or concerned Americans living in big cities or small rural communities," said Rich Stearns, World Vision President.

[nChrist]

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

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

    * Few Christians Return to Mosul Despite Support
    * Atheist Bus Campaign Gets off to a Flying Start
    * United Methodists Begin Effort to Plant 400 Churches
    * Bishop Urges Use of Pop Songs in Church





Few Christians Return to Mosul Despite Support

The Associated Press reports that most Christians who fled Mosul don't seem to believe government promises of financial support and physical protection. Of the nearly 10,000 who fled, very few have returned, officials said. Lt. Gen. Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq, the Iraqi military commander for Ninevah province, said the government was fulfilling its responsibility to "give protection to every family that returns home," as well as providing 1 million Iraqi dinars (US $865) for each returning family. It is believed that Sunni insurgents are behind more than a dozen murders and neighborhood-wide threats that drove out the entrenched Christian community. "We urge other families to come back," Tawfiq said. "We will ensure their protection." The third-largest city in Iraq now lacks almost half of its population.

Atheist Bus Campaign Gets off to a Flying Start

The UK Guardian reports that initial fundraising for an atheist advertising campaign on the buses of London raised nearly nine times the amount needed in less than 24 hours. The bendy buses will display posters saying "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life" on 30 buses for four weeks. Prominent atheist and biologist Richard Dawkins will donate another £5,500 to the £47,900 already raised. According to the AP, British Churches have actually encouraged the campaign, with the Methodist church thanking Dawkins for "continued interest" in God and encouraging people to think about the issue. A spokesman for the Church of England said it supports the promotion of any religious position through appropriate channels. A spokesman added: "Christian belief is not about worrying or not enjoying life. Quite the opposite: our faith liberates us to put this life into a proper perspective.

United Methodists Begin Effort to Plant 400 Churches

Christian Post reports that the United Methodist Church has launched an initiative to plant 400 new churches over the next four years. The first donation from a former pastor's Wife, Mary Watson, of $400,000 will go towards international church planting. "I am excited by the thought of 400 new churches and what God can do with 400 new churches," said Watson, who along with her husband, the Rev. Ralph Watson, have been involved in mission fields around the world, especially in Russia, Estonia and Brazil. The 400 Fund will be used to support clergy training, develop Christian education resources and provide worship facilities for new churches in Asia, West Africa, Eastern Europe and Central America.

Bishop Urges Use of Pop Songs in Church

UK Telegraph reports that one bishop is encouraging churches to expand their horizons and use pop hits -- in their services. In a new book, the Rt. Rev. Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon, speaks of the influence of many pop music writers to convey spiritual yearning and even truth to the younger generation, asking churches to go a step beyond guitar praise-and-worship styles. "For many people the language of the Bible has become inaccessible and yet pop song writers can make a connection with people because their language is fresh," he said. ""The Bible is an amazing collection of books that we've allowed to become banal. For many people it is a closed book and asking them to read it is a lost cause, which is a tragedy." The Archbishop of Canterbury has endorsed Baines' book.

[nChrist]

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

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

    * Iraq: Mosul Persecution Worsening
    * Mexican Kidnappers Demand $1M for Pastor
    * Somali Christian Shot at Muslim Wedding
    * Survey: Most Americans Believe God Uniquely Blesses U.S.





Iraq: Mosul Persecution Worsening

Mission News Network reports that the situation facing Christians in the Iraqi city of Mosul is not improving. "I'm a afraid it's actually getting worse," said President of Open Doors USA Carl Moeller. "The Christian community continues to be terrorized by extremists and basically are being forced out of homes at gunpoint, children and elderly people being murdered. This is a real crisis. Not just a Christian crisis, but a real humanitarian crisis for the country of Iraq." Coalition forces in the area are not authorized to aid Christians, however, as the situation is viewed as an internal matter. "t's really an international crisis where the Christian community is in danger of being extinguished completely in Mosul... The city itself is being religiously cleansed of Christians." Moeller believes al Qaeda is behind the attacks.

Mexican Kidnappers Demand $1M for Pastor

Baptist Press reports that kidnappers are demanding $1 million for the safe return of Manuel Jesus Tec, a Southern Baptist pastor in San Diego who was kidnapped in Tijuana, Mexico, around 5 a.m. Oct. 21. Tec, who lives in Tijuana, was driving across the border with his wife and one of his sons when gunmen stopped his car and forcibly abducted him. His wife and son were unhurt. The pastor's older son, Johnny Tec, who also is a pastor, said his father's kidnappers have called the family three times, demanding a $1 million ransom or else Tec's life would be on the line, according to Richard F. Vera, multi-ethnic evangelism specialist for the California Southern Baptist Convention and a colleague of Manuel Tec. Tec is pastor of a new church plant in San Diego, Iglesia Familiar Amor y Vida. Tec's family believe the kidnapping is a case of mistaken identity that will be resolved favorably.

Somali Christian Shot at Muslim Wedding

According to International Christian Concern, a 22-year-old Somali Christian was killed by guards last month at a wedding ceremony in Somalia, Mission News Network reports. Ahmadey Osman Nur was attending a Muslim wedding that was being performed in Arabic, the language of Islam, and had asked for the wedding to be translated into the Somali vernacular, as even most Somali Muslims do not understand Arabic. Aware of Nur's conversation, the officiating sheik then accused him of apostasy and took offense at the request. The sheik also reportedly asked a guard to "silence" Nur, who was then told to leave the ceremony. The guard shot and killed Nur as he left. The 22-year-old is the sixth Somali Christian to be killed in nine months, due to the influence of Islamic extremism.

Survey: Most Americans Believe God Uniquely Blesses U.S.

The Christian Post reports that 61 percent of Americans agree that America is a nation specially blessed by God, and 59 percent agree that the United States should be an example of a Christian nation for the world, according to a survey conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Inc. for the PBS news program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and the United Nations Foundation. These ideas were most familiar to Americans who attend weekly religious services. People who strongly believe in America's special blessing and duty to set an example were morely likely to view American involvement in world affairs as a moral obligation. Nonetheless, Americans are equally split about whether the U.S. has a positive or negative impact on the world.