RELIGION TODAY

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Human Rights Organization Calls on UN for Change in Burma
Jeremy Reynalds


February 19, 2009

SURREY, ENGLAND -- Following a fact-finding visit to the Thai-Burmese border, a British-based human rights organization is urging the UN Secretary-General to ramp up efforts to facilitate meaningful dialogue between Burma's military regime, the democracy movement and ethnic nationalities.

During the visit, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said in a news release that the organization obtained yet more evidence of continuing human rights violations in Burma. As a result, it is now calling on the international community to increase pressure on the military regime.

During the three-week visit, CSW visited refugees and Internally Displaced People in Karen State, and heard first-hand testimony from victims of forced labor and forced relocation. One man told CSW how his leg had been blown off. He said the incident occurred when he stepped on a landmine laid outside his home by troops from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), an armed militia working with the Burma Army.

CSW said the DKBA had also burned down his home. He then walked for two days through the jungle, on crutches, to an IDP camp on the Thai-Burmese border. He told CSW, "I really want all the people of Burma to have peace and freedom. If there is no peace and freedom, I cannot go home."

CSW's East Asia Team Leader, Benedict Rogers, who led the delegation, said in the news release, "During this visit we heard yet more evidence of the regime's brutal suppression of its people and callous disregard for human dignity and human life. Over the past two decades, CSW has visited the Thai-Burmese border many times, and each time the stories we have heard have been painfully consistent. The regime is guilty of every possible human rights violation, amounting to crimes against humanity, and it is time to bring the generals to account."

Rogers added, "Every effort must be made this year to call a halt to the policies of oppression, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, and bring the junta into a meaningful dialogue with the democracy movement and the ethnic nationalities. No credibility should be given to the regime's planned elections in 2010, which will simply be rigged in the same way the referendum on a new constitution was blatantly rigged last year. Instead, pressure should be intensified on the regime to pave the way for a fully inclusive, free and fair democratic process."

CSW is a human rights organization which advocates on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs, and promotes universal religious liberty.

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Religion Today Summaries - Feb. 18, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

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

In today's edition:

    * Pakistan to Impose Shariah Law in Terrorist-Prone Areas
    * Vietnam Churches Growing, In Need of Bibles
    * Christian Bookshop in Turkey Vandalized
    * Bangladeshi Christians Seek Justice in Church Bomb Blast

Pakistan to Impose Shariah Law in Terrorist-Prone Areas

Time magazine reports that the government of Pakistan has announced the imposition of Islamic shariah law in the Swat Valley, an area held by Islamic militants. The militants have agreed to hold a "tentative ceasefire" in the region, Time reports, and many believe the move is just to appease these extremists. The imposition of Shariah law is a serious violation of the rights of all peoples in the region, regardless of their religious identity," Joseph K. Grieboski, president Washington-based Institute on Religion & Public Policy, told the Christian Post. "Since the 'democratic' imposition of Shariah law in the Northwest Frontier Province, there has been a marked increase in extremist activity and acts of terror." He continued, "This imposition will not strengthen the hand of the Pakistani government; it will undermine and destroy it..."

Vietnam Churches Growing, In Need of Bibles

Mission News Network reports that despite government intervention and intimidation, Christianity is flourishing in Vietnam. "A large church that actually had about 1,000 members was burned to the ground recently by the government. But in spite of the persecution, the church continues to grow," said Patrick Klein, president of Vision Beyond Borders. "It seems like the Central Highlands and the north are very much persecuted. In the south, they've backed off because there's a strong foreign presence. But the Central Highland and the north are very much persecuted, especially the tribal Christians." Klein reports that Bibles are in critical demand in Vietnam, where the shortage is as well-known as in places such as China.

Christian Bookshop in Turkey Vandalized

Compass Direct News reports that, following threats from Muslim nationalists, a Turkish Bible Society bookshop in the southern city of Adana was vandalized for the second time in a week on Thursday (Feb. 12). Security camera footage shows two youths attacking the storefront of the Soz Kitapevi bookshop, kicking and smashing glass in both the window and the door. The door frame was also damaged. During the first attack on Feb. 7, the glass of the front door was smashed and the security camera mangled. The bookshop has received threats from both Muslim hardliners and nationalists. Last November, a man entered the shop and began making accusations that the Soz Kitapevi bookshop was in league with the CIA, saying, "You work with them killing people in Muslim countries, harming Muslim countries."

Bangladeshi Christians Seek Justice in Church Bomb Blast

The 55-year-old mother of one of 10 people killed in a church bomb attack here is hoping the new government in Bangladesh will bring justice after an investigation waned under an Islamic-allied government, Compass Direct News reports. Anna Halder, whose son Suman Halder was 23 at the time of the 2001 bomb attack, told Compass she wants to see justice within her lifetime. With the election of a new government last Dec. 29, the chief priest of Baniarchar Catholic Church, Father Jacob Gobbi, said he has urged officials to revive the investigation that previously faltered. "It is unfortunate that nobody is arrested so far, and there is no improvement of investigation in eight years -- there is negligence on this case," Fr. Gobbi said. "We want a proper investigation so that the perpetrators get punished, which will help heal the scars of the Christians."

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Religion Today Summaries - Feb. 19, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

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

In today's edition:

    * Taliban Influence Increasing in Pakistan
    * Church Leaders: Christians Can Help Rebuild Iraq
    * Pope to Pelosi: Catholic Legislators Must Protect Life
    * ACLJ Ready to do Battle against 'Fairness Doctrine'

Taliban Influence Increasing in Pakistan

A resident of Pakistan has told ASSIST News Service that the Taliban already controls two-thirds of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of the country, and the provincial capital, Peshawar, continues to get "squeezed" from all sides. "If it falls, the rest of the province will too, and what's to stop them from spreading to other parts of Pakistan? This is a worse-case scenario, but it's already starting," the contact told ANS. He went on to say that today (Monday Feb 16), the Provincial Assembly of the NWFP bowed to pressure from the Taliban and stamped their approval on a peace deal between the Taliban of the Swat valley and the NWFP government, which was reached the day before. "This new law, which applies to only one portion of the province, agrees to implement Sharia Law, a parallel system of justice, a key demand of the Taliban for the past two years," he said. "Sharia law promises swift justice, something that the people from this valley have been wanting for a long time. Unfortunately, instead of responding to this need and fixing the current system of justice, the government has largely ignored this problem over the years. The Taliban have exploited this weakness."

Church Leaders: Christians Can Help Rebuild Iraq

The Christian Post reports that Iraqi church leaders at a meeting in Lebanon last week said Iraqi Christians should not be encouraged to migrate, but remain in their homeland with an aim toward rebuilding it. "The solution to current conditions lies not in emptying Iraq of its human resources," said the church leaders. The February 10-11 meeting was organized by the World Council of Churches. The dozen representative called on Christians in Iraq "to stay in their homeland and participate actively in its rebuilding and development" despite severe persecution in recent years that has included kidnappings, death threats, and murders. The meeting also emphasized the importance of dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Iraq. The Christian population in Iraq is now about half of what it was before the U.S. led conflict in 2003.

Pope to Pelosi: Catholic Legislators Must Protect Life

According to Catholic News Service, Pope Benedict XVI met privately with U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, and told her that all Catholics, especially those who are lawmakers, must work to protect human life at every stage. "His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death," the Vatican said in a statement about the Feb. 18 meeting. Pelosi, a Catholic Deomcrat from California, told interviewer Tom Brokaw last August, "We don't know" when life begins. "I don't think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins." In a statement released by her staff following the 15-minute meeting, Pelosi said, "In our conversation, I had the opportunity to praise the church's leadership in fighting poverty, hunger and global warming, as well as the Holy Father's dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel." She also added that while efforts do need to be taken to reduce the number of abortions in the United States, she believes abortions must remain safe and legal.

ACLJ Ready to do Battle against 'Fairness Doctrine'

A report from OneNewsNow states that The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) is preparing to legally combat the FCC's "Fairness Doctrine" should it be revived. The rule was active from 1949 through 1987, and required radio and television stations to offer differing views on various subjects. Since 1987, several one-sided talk formats have emerged, especially in Christian/conservative circles. ACLJ chief counsel Jay Sekulow claims the old ways amounted to censorship. "I use the example that we didn't go on the air until 1988 -- after the Fairness Doctrine was removed. So the reality is that without getting some type of fair play in there keeping it as it is, which is basically open airwaves, it's censorship. You could call it a lot of things, but it's really censorship... Mandatory government speech... is always dangerous." The ACLJ argues that talk of reviving the antiquated Fairness Doctrine is politically driven, "nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt by some liberal members of Congress to silence the conservatives who oppose them."

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Chinese New Testament Makes Its Debut
Polly House


February 20, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- A Bible publisher's answered prayer is about to become a dream come true for potentially millions of Chinese Christians: a modern translation of the New Testament in their own language.

Holman Bible Publishers has received a printing of 20,000 Chinese Standard Bible New Testaments, described as the first direct Chinese translation by scholars from the original Greek. Copies are now being sold in the United States, Canada and Brazil. Holman Bible Publishers is affiliated with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

"Our goal is that Chinese Christians would read this translation and love it," said Phill Burgess, executive director of LifeWay's Holman Bible Outreach International. "The translation that Chinese Christians have been using up to now, the Chinese Union Version, was translated into Chinese from an English copy in the 1920s. The language in that translation is archaic. This one is easier to understand since it relates to the modern Chinese language."

In 2004, the Asia Bible Society approached LifeWay seeking a New Testament translated from the original Greek, and LifeWay signed on for the project.

"This request was an answer to prayer," Burgess said. "Having the opportunity to get the New Testament into the hands of Chinese-speaking people is a precious honor for us."

Publishing the Bibles in China (translating, editing and design) would be a difficult, time-consuming and expensive process, said Tim Jordan, an executive editor with LifeWay's B&H Publishing Group, which houses Holman Bible Publishers.

"In the future, LifeWay hopes to get legal approval from the Chinese government to publish Bibles in China," Jordan said. "Until then our primary focus will stay in the U.S., Canada and Brazil." The Bibles, however, are printed in Shenzhen, China, and transported back to LifeWay's distribution center in Lebanon, Tenn.

Having a current readable Bible in Chinese is important, if based on nothing but the numbers. Worldwide, an estimated 1.17 billion people are native speakers of Chinese. While spoken Chinese varies from region to region, the written language is common to most readers.

"This new translation is an investment," Jordan said. "We'll watch and see what the demand for the new Bible is."

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Religion Today Summaries - Feb. 20, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

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

In today's edition:

    * Survey: Few Evangelical Leaders Had Contact with Muslims
    * Hard-Line Hindus Still Forcing Conversions in Orissa
    * Willow Creek's Chicago Pastor Quits over 'Sexual Impurity'
    * India: Eleven Missionaries Arrested, Beaten

Survey: Few Evangelical Leaders Had Contact with Muslims

The Christian Post reports that evangelical leaders in America keep company mostly with those of their own religious convictions, according to survey by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). Only 33 percent of leaders on the NAE board said they had a serious conversation with a Muslim in the past year. In contrast, 73 percent said they had no "close contact with an Islamic institution," and 67 percent had no significant interaction with Muslims as individuals. "The large majority of Evangelical leaders who have not experienced Islam first-hand are either ignorant of Islam or are getting their information from secondary sources," said Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals . "I assume that the reverse is also true; that a majority of Muslims are neither connected to nor informed about the faith of Evangelical Christians."

Hard-Line Hindus Still Forcing Conversions in Orissa

Compass Direct News reports that hard-line Hindus in Kandhamal district have forced nearly half of 40 Christian families in one village to convert under threat of death, area Christians said. Bareka village resident Goliath Digal, 58, told Compass that since last year, the Hindu extremists have taken 18 Roman Catholic families to a Hindu temple and performed Hindu rituals on them, forcing them to sign statements that they had converted of their own will. "During the riots, all our belongings had been taken away and we were left with nothing," Digal said. "Now they are threatening to murder us if we do not become Hindus." In G. Udayagiri refugee camp, 55-year-old Vipin Nayak of Piangia Budaripura village said that all 400 Christian families from the hamlet have remained in the camp except for five families who were allowed to return after being forced to become Hindus.

Willow Creek's Chicago Pastor Quits over 'Sexual Impurity'

The Chicago Tribune reports that the pastor of the Willow Creek Chicago campus, a branch of the diverse 20,000 member Willow Creek Community Church, has resigned after admitting to "sexual impurity." Steve Wu, 43, joined the Willow Creek network in 2006, and grew the Chicago campus to more than 1,200 attendees. Church elders read a brief statement from Wu on Jan. 25, which stated, "He admitted to sexual impurity and has taken full responsibility for his sin. He has expressed a desire to participate in a restoration process... We would ask you to pray diligently for Steve in these difficult days." Todd Katter will serve as interim pastor for the Chicago campus.

India: Eleven Missionaries Arrested, Beaten

ASSIST News Service reports that eleven Gospel for Asia missionaries were arrested and several Christians were beaten February 17 in Chhattisgarh, India. The incident took place while the missionaries were leading a three-day meeting for believers in Chhattisgarh's Korba district. On the second day of the meeting, an anti-Christian extremist group, along with local politicians and police, attacked the crowd. They severely beat the missionaries who were leading the convention, as well as several Christians in attendance. They also destroyed the sound system and the tent where the meeting was being conducted. The missionaries were arrested at the conclusion of the attack. Chhattisgarh has an anti-conversion law, which outlines several steps that must be taken in order to change one's religion. The law is vague and offers wide leeway in arresting and punishing those charged with violating it.

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Lutherans Move to Allow Gay Clergy -- Sort Of
Daniel Burke


February 23, 2009

A blue-ribbon panel recommended on Thursday (Feb. 19) that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America lift its ban on partnered gay and lesbian clergy, but only after the church agrees in principle on gay relationships and respecting the consciences of those who dissent.

A majority of the 15-member Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality believes that "it is possible to devise guidelines and policies that would allow ... some flexibility" in its ordination standards.

The 4.8 million-member ELCA currently allows gay or lesbian clergy who pledge to be celibate; partnered or sexually active homosexual clergy are technically not allowed in ELCA pulpits, though some buck the rules without punishment.

The task force also released a 30-page statement outlining the church's thinking on homosexuality, but, citing a lack of consensus, did not offer a recommendation on whether to adopt rites for blessing same-sex couples.

If adopted by the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly in August, the proposals would remove the blanket ban on non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy, empowering local congregations and governing bodies to make their own decisions on whether to allow them.

"As on most matters, we trust people locally to make good decisions," said the Rev. Stan Olson, an advisor to the task force and head of the ELCA's unit on vocations.

While permitting non-celibate gay clergy would be a watershed decision for the ELCA, numerous obstacles could waylay the four-step process when it is considered by more than 1,000 delegates Aug. 17-23 in Minneapolis.

Emily Eastwood, executive director of the pro-gay group Lutherans Concerned/North America, called the recommendations a "net gain."

But, Eastwood said, "we are distraught by the complexity of this system and the bureaucracy needed to maintain it if it passes."

Delegates to the 2007 Churchwide Assembly asked the task force to offer policy recommendations on allowing partnered gay and lesbian ministers to serve in the ELCA, the nation's largest Lutheran denomination. Like other mainline Protestants, the ELCA has struggled for years to find a consensus on the issue. A previous recommendation from the same task force to loosen restrictions on gay clergy was rejected by the Churchwide Assembly in 2005.

"This is a deeply divided church over this issue," said the Rev. Peter Strommen, chair of the task force.

The recommendations include four resolutions to be introduced at the Minneapolis convention. Church leaders emphasized, however, that the ELCA's 37-member Church Council could amend the recommendations and the four-part approval process when it meets in March in Chicago. For example, it is unclear whether the resolutions will require approval by two-thirds of the assembly for passage or a simple majority.

In order to lift restrictions on gay clergy, the assembly must approve each of the following resolutions before the next could be considered:

-- That the ECLA is committed to allowing congregations and synods to recognize and support "lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships."

-- That the ELCA is committed to finding a way for people in such relationships to serve as clergy in the church.

-- That the ELCA agrees to "respect the bound consciences" of churchmembers who disagree on the issue.

-- The ELCA must agree to remove the blanket ban on partnered gay clergy.

Task Force leaders said the church must deal with underlying issues -- how it feels about gay relationships and the lack of consensus in the church -- before it can amend its rules.

"We think you can't really deal adequately with the change in policy unless you clarify your thinking on the principles," said Strommen, a former bishop who now pastors a church in Prior Lake, Minn.

Lutheran CORE, a conservative group, pledged to fight the recommendations.

"These recommendations mark a significant departure from the church's commitment to Scripture as the source and norm of its faith and life," said the Rev. Paull Spring of State College, Pa., a CORE leader and former ELCA bishop.

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'We Are Like Forgotten People,' Burma Minority Says
Sarah Page


February 24, 2009

DUBLIN (Compass Direct News) -- A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released in January details serious and ongoing abuses against the Chin people, a minority group in Burma's northwest who claim to be 90 percent Christian.

HRW's research echoes a 2004 report by the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) that described targeted abuse of Christians in Chin state, with the Burmese army subjecting pastors and church members to forced labor, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and sometimes death.

While religious oppression is extreme in Chin state, restrictions also apply elsewhere in Burma, also known as Myanmar. Most recently, officials in January forced the closure of more than 100 churches in Rangoon and ordered owners of apartment buildings and conference facilities not to rent their properties to religious groups.

Based on interviews with Chin refugees in India and Malaysia between 2003 and 2008, HRW's report describes how an increasing number of army battalions stationed in Chin state since 1988 have inflicted forced labor and arbitrary fines on the Chin people, as well as bullied them away from Christianity toward Buddhism.

"When we meet the army, we are shaking," a Chin refugee pastor told HRW. "Whatever they want is law."

The HRW report, entitled "We Are Like Forgotten People," notes that soldiers frequently forced Christians to donate finances and labor to pagoda construction projects in areas where there were few or no Buddhist residents.

They also occasionally forced Christians to worship in Buddhist pagodas. One Chin pastor described how Burmese soldiers brought him to a pagoda and prodded him with their guns, commanding him to pray as a Buddhist.

"They said that this is a Buddhist country and that I should not practice Christianity," he told HRW.

The military forced village headmen to present "volunteers" for military training or army construction projects and secured "donations" such as food or finance for army battalions. Soldiers severely beat or detained headmen if a village failed to meet quotas, seizing livestock or property in retribution.

Pastors often faced similar treatment, particularly if church members were accused -- often without proof -- of involvement with the Chin National Front insurgency group. HRW listed arrest, detention and torture as methods used against those accused of being part of the Chin National Front, based across the border in northeast India. Torture included beatings with sticks or guns and electric shocks via metal clips attached to high-voltage batteries. Such measures were also used to crush dissent against army policies such as failure to pay extortionate and arbitrary fees.

The military government promoted Buddhism over all other religions in Chin state through threats and inducements, destroying churches and other religious symbols, and restricting the printing and importing of Bibles and other Christian literature, HRW reported.

A judge in 1999 sentenced one man from Falam township to three years in prison for bringing Chin language Bibles into Burma, contravening Burma's 1965 Censor Law. Authorities also burned 16,000 copies of Chin and other ethnic language Bibles brought into neighboring Sagaing Division, another Chin majority area, in 2000.

'Campaign of Ethnocide'

CHRO's 2004 report, "Religious Persecution: A Campaign of Ethnocide Against Chin Christians in Burma," explained that Christianity had become inseparable from Chin culture following the arrival of American Baptist missionaries in 1899.

The report, based on information gathered in Chin state, gave numerous examples of the destruction of churches and crosses, the burning of Bibles and restrictions on other religious publications and activities between 1993 and 2004 -- including the extrajudicial killings of four Chin Christians in 1993.

Burmese authorities routinely denied permission for the construction of new churches and required permits for large church gatherings, although lengthy bureaucratic processes meant that most of these gatherings were eventually postponed or cancelled.

A September 2008 U.S. Department of State report confirmed that Chin state authorities have not granted permission to build a new church since 2003.

As recently as last November, a government official ordered residents of Tayawaddy village in neighboring Sagaing Division to destroy the foundations of a new church building erected by members of a Chin Christian student fellowship. A report in the Chinland Guardian claimed villagers were subsequently ordered not to rent their homes to Chin students or the homes would be destroyed.

Enticement to Convert

CHRO's report gave clear evidence of government support for coerced conversions. For example, the government offered free secular education to several children from impoverished families, only to place them as novice monks in Buddhist monasteries in Rangoon.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has also sent Buddhist monks to villages and towns throughout Chin state under the Hill Regions Buddhist Mission program, one of several Buddhist missionary initiatives highlighted on the ministry's website. Chin residents who spoke to CHRO likened these monks to "military intelligence" operatives who worked in partnership with Burmese soldiers to control the Chin people.

According to one Chin resident, "Anyone who doesn't abide by the monks' orders is reported to the State Peace and Development Council [Burmese government officials] and punished by the army."

Another Chin man from Matupi township attended a government-sponsored "social welfare" training session only to discover that it was a propaganda session led by a Buddhist monk.

"In the training we were taught the 17 facts of how to attack and disfigure Christians," he explained.

The 17-point method encouraged converts to criticize Christian ways of life as corrupting culture in Burma, to point out weaknesses in Christianity, and to attack Christians by both violent and non-violent means.

"We were promised that 1,200 kyats per month would be provided to those families who became Buddhist," the training participant added. That amount of money is significant in the Burmese economy.

The instructor also ensured participants that they would be exempt from "portering" and other forms of forced labor and compulsory "donations" if they converted, and that the government would provide education for their children.

"I became a Buddhist because of such privileges rather than because I think Buddhism is better than Christianity," the Chin participant told CHRO.

Religious Policy Elsewhere

According to CHRO, both the Burmese army and the monks are pursuing an unofficial government policy summed up in three words; "Amyo, Batha, Thathana," which translates as "One race, one language, one religion" -- or Burman, Burmese and Buddhist.

This policy was exemplified by the forced closure in January of more than 100 churches in the capital, Rangoon.

Officials on Jan. 5 invited pastors from more than 100 Rangoon churches to a meeting where they were ordered to sign documents pledging to cease operation of their churches or face imprisonment. About 50 pastors attended, according to Burmese news agency Mizzima.

A CHRO spokesman told Compass yesterday that a significant number of these churches were ethnic rather than majority Burman churches.

In mid-January, officials ordered several other major Rangoon churches to close, including Wather Hope Church, Emmanuel Church and an Assemblies of God Church. (See Compass Direct News, "Burma Clamps Down on Christians," Jan. 21.)

Officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs in January summoned the owners of buildings where churches met and ordered them not to rent their properties to religious groups, according to another local online news source, the Democratic Voice of Burma.

In the late 1990s, Burma stopped issuing permits for land purchase or the construction of new churches in Rangoon and elsewhere, leading many Burmese Christians to conduct services in rented apartments or office buildings.

The church closure orders may simply be an extension of Burma's existing religious policies, which elevate Buddhism in an effort to solidify national identity. The country's population is 82 percent Buddhist, 9 percent Christian and 4 percent Muslim, with traditional ethnic, Chinese and Hindu religions accounting for the rest.

In a 2007 report describing religious persecution throughout Burma, including Chin state, Christian Solidarity Worldwide cited the "Program to Destroy the Christian Religion in Burma," a 17-point document that had circulated widely in Rangoon. Allegedly authorized by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the program's first point declared that, "There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practiced."

The Ministry of Religious Affairs subsequently pressured religious organizations to publicly condemn CSW's report and deny all claims of religious discrimination in Burma.

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Religion Today Summaries - Feb. 23, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

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

In today's edition:

    * Donations Pour in to Australian Wildfire Survivors
    * Bangladeshi Pastor Threatened for Rape Accusations
    * Pro-Life Pastor Sentenced to Jail for Violating Buffer Zone Law
    * Tutu: Obama Should Apologize for Iraq

Donations Pour in to Australian Wildfire Survivors

The Associated Press reports that as many as 7,500 people are homeless in Australia, where the culprit wildfires are still smoldering. Relief workers are trying to house people until the scorched area is safe for people to return, and working to help people provide for themselves. "My biggest point now is getting fathers back to work," Marisa Pegoraro said Thursday from her chair inside a relief center she has frequented since she and her family narrowly escaped being burned alive in the inferno. "They have to feel like they're looking after their families." Australians have already sent more than 100 million Australian dollars ($64 million US) to the Red Cross. The Salvation Army says it has already received more than enough material donations, though many are still sending help. The fires killed 208 people.

Bangladeshi Pastor Threatened for Rape Accusations

Compass Direct News reports that Christian and human rights advocates said doctors likely fabricated a medical report that falsely concluded there were no signs of rape in the wife of a Bangladeshi pastor. The Rev. Shankar Hazra of Chaksing Baptist church in Gopalganj district, 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Dhaka, said influential area Muslims have used threats to try to force him and his wife to withdraw charges of robbery and rape; he declined to name them out of fear of reprisals. "If I do not withdraw the case, they said they will make a 'Ganges [river] of blood' here," Rev. Hazra said. Resident medical officer Dr. Ali Akbar of Sadar Hospital in Gopalganj told Compass that a report given to police on Thursday (Feb. 12) stated that a medical examination indicated the wife of Rev. Hazra was not raped. Villagers told Hazra that the examining doctor was paid to twist the report.

Pro-Life Pastor Sentenced to Jail for Violating Buffer Zone Law

One News Now reports that a pro-life counselor and pastor will spend 30 days in prison for peacefully approaching women outside a California abortion clinic to share abortion alternatives. A judge sentenced Walter Hoye, a pastor in Berkeley, for violating a local ordinance that bans protestors from coming within eight feet of anyone entering the clinic. According to Dana Cody of the Life Legal Defense Foundation, Hoye was also fined $1,130 and placed on probation for three years. "That meant Walter had to accept the terms of the probation, which was stay away from the clinic -- and Walter refused to accept that term because he doesn't think his free-speech rights should be impinged for three years," Cody said. Hoye's supporters argue that the ordinance is an unconstitutional violation of free speech.

Tutu: Obama Should Apologize for Iraq

Agence-France Presse reports that Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu is encouraging President Barack Obama to apologize for the "unmitigated disaster" of the U.S.-led Iraq war. The archbishop emeritus Thursday said that Obama "could easily squander the goodwill that his election generated [around the world] if he disappoints." Tutu also urged Obama to support the International Criminal Court (ICC), which the Bush administration opposed. "For many of us, an upright US was a great inspiration in our fight against the iniquity of apartheid," he wrote." I pray that President Obama will come down hard on African dictators, especially because they cannot credibly charge him with being neo-colonialist." Tutu's work to end apartheid in South Africa earned him the Nobel in 1984.

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Religion Today Summaries - Feb. 24, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

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

In today's edition:

    * FBI, Police Rescue Child Prostitutes around U.S.
    * Nigeria: 11 Dead as Religious Violence Flares Again
    * Baptist Pastor Convicted on Weapons Charges in Azerbaijan
    * Egyptian Law Granting Twins to Muslim to be Reviewed

FBI, Police Rescue Child Prostitutes around U.S.

Associated Press reports that federal and local law enforcement have recovered 48 teenage girls from alleged prostitution rings across the nation after a three-night sweep. Some of the girls are only 13 years old. "We may not be able to return their innocence but we can remove them from this cycle of abuse and violence," said FBI Director Robert Mueller. Operation Cross Country, which paired FBI and local officers, also arrested at least 571 suspects on various prostitution-related charges. "The goal is to recover kids. We consider them the child victims of prostitution," said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Daniel Roberts. "Unfortunately, the vast majority of these kids are what they term 'throwaway kids,' with no family support, no friends... Many are runaways," Roberts said

Nigeria: 11 Dead as Religious Violence Flares Again

Agence-France Presse reports that 11 people are dead after Muslim and Christian groups clashed in northern Nigeria this weekend. The violence left 38 wounded, and burned six churches and about a dozen houses. Trouble began Feb. 13, when a group of Christians blockaded the way to a mosque. Tensions escalated during a dispute between congregations of a mosque and a nearby church on Feb. 20, and two mosques were burned that night in the state capital Bauchi. Muslim youths retaliated the next day by torching buildings and attacking Christians. The Red Cross says hundreds have been displaced and are now sheltering in military barracks, churches and two camps. Bauchi lies in between Nigeria's largely Muslim north and mostly Christian south, creating a religious fault line. Tensions have remained high since more than 300 people died in religious violence in Jos, Nigeria, last November.

Baptist Pastor Convicted on Weapons Charges in Azerbaijan

ASSIST News Service reports that a Baptist pastor in Azerbaijan has been found guilty of possessing an illegal weapon and given "a two-year corrective labor sentence." Hamid Shabanov, who pastors a house church of approximately 60 members in the town of Aliabad, was arrested on June 20, 2008, after police claimed to have found an illegal weapon in his home after a raid. Shabanov's friends and family maintain that the weapon was deliberately planted by police. The two-year corrective labor sentence is equivalent to eight months in prison, thus Shabanov, who has already spent more than seven months in detention or under house arrest, will not be locked up. "I will continue to fight against this sentence and to clear my name," Shabanov said after his conviction on February 11. Shabanov is the second Baptist pastor in Aliabad to be convicted of a bogus crime.

Egyptian Law Granting Twins to Muslim to Be Reviewed

Compass Direct News reports that Egyptian Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud last week granted the mother of 14-year-old twins Andrew and Mario Medhat Ramses the right to appeal a custody decision awarding her sons to their Muslim father. Medhat Ramses Labib gained custody of the boys last September, contrary an Egyptian law which states children should remain with their mother until age 15. With support from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Gaballah will appeal the Family Court's decision awarding custody to the father before the Court of Cassation. The Court of Cassation will pronounce a decision on the legal rule that Christian children, when one of their parents converts to Islam, should be automatically moved to the Muslim parent's custody," EIPR Director Hossam Bahgat said. "So it is very important in terms of changing the legal rule, but according to the law it will not have a direct impact on Andrew and Mario themselves."

[nChrist]

NY Archbishop Offers a Study in Contrasts
Daniel Burke and Christ Herlinger


February 25, 2009

NEW YORK (RNS) -- The Rev. Steven Avella, a Roman Catholic priest in Milwaukee, said his counterparts in the Archdiocese of New York should soon expect a phone call from their new boss -- Archbishop Timothy Dolan.

"He'll start phoning guys right away," said Avella, 57, a historian at Marquette University who served under Dolan during the archbishop's seven years atop the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. "He'll find out when their ordination anniversaries are, look after the older guys, go visit them. He's a guy who's close to his co-workers, who makes them feel they're worth something."

When Pope Benedict appointed Dolan, 59, as the new Archbishop of New York on Monday (Feb. 23), he placed a friendly face in the nation's most prestigious Catholic pulpit, elevating a Midwesterner known for his pastoral touch to the upper echelons of the church hierarchy.

With 2.5 million Catholics stretching from Manhattan to the Catskill Mountains, the Archdiocese of New York is the second largest in the U.S., and its leader becomes, as the late Pope John Paul II once said, "archbishop of the capital of the world."

Dolan will officially be installed April 15 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, according to the archdiocese.

"He will soon engender a lot of good will just by being who he is," said Avella, recalling Friday fish fries and friendly embraces with the gregarious hands-on archbishop. "He's a pastoral man who knows the teachings of the church, knows the rules, but his use of power is persuasive rather than coercive."

In some ways, Dolan is a study in contrasts from his predecessor, Cardinal Edward Egan. Egan, who submitted his resignation upon turning 75 in April 2007, was known as an aloof administrator, more skilled at balancing budgets than boosting morale among his priests, a keen concern for a church in which ordinations are swiftly falling.

At a news conference on Monday in Manhattan, Dolan pledged "my love, my life, my heart" to "brother bishops, priests, religious women and men, seminarians, (and) committed Catholics of this wonderful Church."

"I need so much your prayers and support," Dolan said. "I am so honored, humbled, and happy to serve as your pastor."

The Very Rev. David O'Connell, president of Catholic University in Washington, where Dolan earned a doctorate in church history, praised the archbishop's "personal warmth, hearty laugh, and great sense of humor."

"If the appointment of the archbishop of New York could ever be scripted, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan would truly be cast in the role," O'Connell said.

But not all Catholics had such high praise for Dolan. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) says he did not do enough to remove abusive priests from ministry during his seven years in Milwaukee. Dolan entered office after it was revealed that his predecessor, Archbishop Rembert Weakland, paid $450,000 to a seminarian who accused him of sexual abuse.

As Dolan leaves Milwaukee, "the clergy sex abuse cover up crisis is not behind the Milwaukee church, but looms in front of it," SNAP said in a statement.

Prior to his stint in Milwaukee, Dolan was an auxiliary bishop for one year in his native St. Louis, where he dreamed of the priesthood from a young age. As a seminarian, Dolan attended Rome's prestigious Pontifical North American College, where he later served as rector from 1994 to 2001.

As rector, Dolan met and befriended both up-and-comers and the cream of the American Catholic hierarchy, said the Rev. John P. Wauck, professor of social communications at Rome's Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

"He's a solid, orthodox, John Paul II bishop, extremely affable and engaging," said Wauck. "Everybody seems to love him."

[nChrist]

Christians Wary as Recession, Unrest Hit China
Xu Mei


February 26, 2009

BEIJING (Compass Direct News) -- With China's central government last December issuing a number of secret documents calling on provincial officials to strive to prevent massive unrest in a rapidly collapsing economy, observers are watching for signs of whether authorities will view Christian groups as a threat or a stabilizing influence.

While the Sichuan earthquake last May proved that Christians were willing and able to assist in times of national crisis, raids on house church groups have continued in recent weeks.

The secret reports have come in quick succession. A central government body, the Committee for Social Stability (CSS), issued an internal report on Jan. 2 listing a total of 127,467 serious protests or other incidents across China in 2008, many involving attacks on government buildings or clashes with police and militia.

"Recently every kind of contradiction in society has reached the level of white heat," the CSS warned in an earlier document issued on Dec. 16.

The document said some officials had "ignored the welfare of the masses ... piling up pressure until the situation exploded," and concluded that, "The relevant Party and State organs must ... give daily priority to the task of getting rid of all the maladies which produce social instability and the present crisis."

On Dec. 10, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the National People's Congress issued an internal document calling on senior provincial officials to make every effort to alleviate social and political problems exacerbated by the current recession.

On Dec. 12, the Ministry of Public Security authorized provincial officials to tighten control of all communications in the sensitive period prior to Chinese New Year, which this year fell on Jan. 25. Fearing turmoil as millions of newly-unemployed factory workers headed home for New Year celebrations, the government cancelled all leave for Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers, placed them on high alert and mobilized an additional 150,000 police and armed militia for the holiday period.

On Dec. 15, the public security ministry issued a further document calling for tightened security at government ministries, military bases, armament stores, state borders, airports and railway stations.

In its Dec. 16 report, the CSS warned that provincial authorities must try to resolve grievances by non-violent means before protestors begin attacking factories and government offices or stealing, looting and burning property.

The scale of demonstrations and riots has already reached frightening proportions. In the Jan. 2 internal assessment leaked in Hong Kong, the CSS said the 127,467 serious incidents across China last year involved participation of around 1 percent of the population. Of these cases, 476 consisted of attacks on government and Party buildings, while 615 involved violent clashes with police and militia, leaving 1,120 police and Party officials and 724 civilians killed or injured.

Church Monitored as 'Subversive'

Concerned by the growth of unregistered house church groups in an uncertain political and social climate, the Chinese government has ramped up efforts both to identify Christians and to portray Christianity as a subversive foreign force.

Local governments in China last year reported on continued measures to prevent "illegal" religious gatherings and curb other criminalized religious activities, according to reports from the U.S. Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC) on Dec. 20 and Feb. 2. (See www.compassdirect.org, "Tortured Christian Lawyer Arrested as Officials Deny Abuses," Feb. 11.)

In recent months authorities have quietly gathered data on church growth using surveys at universities and workplaces, and called meetings at various institutions in the capital to discuss the supposed dangers of foreign religious influence. (See www.compassdirect.org, "Officials Grapple with Spread of Christianity," Feb. 4.)

Raids on unregistered church groups have continued in recent weeks, with police perhaps prompted to ensure tighter controls on church activity. On Feb. 11, police arrested two South Korean pastors and more than 60 Chinese house church leaders from four provinces who had gathered for a seminar in Wolong district, Nanyang city, the China Aid Association (CAA) reported. The police also confiscated personal money, cell phones and books, and forced each person to register and pay a fine before releasing some of the elderly leaders.

Authorities held six of the detained leaders for several days but by Sunday (Feb. 22) had released all of them, Compass sources confirmed.

In Shanghai, police and members of the State Administration of Religious Affairs on Feb. 10 ordered Pastor Cui Quan to cancel an annual meeting for house church leaders, and then ordered the owner of the hall used by Cui's 1,200-member congregation to cease renting it to Cui within 30 days, according to CAA.

Senior staff at Beijing's Dianli Hospital on Feb. 6 ordered elderly house church pastor Hua Zaichen to leave the premises despite being severely ill, CAA reported. Government officials had refused to allow Hua's wife, Shuang Shuying, an early release from prison to visit her dying husband unless she agreed to inform on other Christians, according to Hua's son. After refusing their offer, Shuang was finally able to visit Hua on her release date, Feb. 8; Hua died the following day.

Both Shuang and her husband have suffered years of persecution for their involvement in the house church movement.

On Feb. 4, police seized Christian lawyer and human rights defender Gao Zhisheng from his home in Shaanxi province, CAA reported. At press time his whereabouts were unknown.

While other incidents have gone unreported, house church leaders in northern China told Compass in January that despite tighter restrictions in the current economic and political climate, they were optimistic about the ability of the church to survive and flourish.

Party Disenchantment Spreads

In December, China celebrated the 30th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping's "open door" economic reform policy, which had led to a high annual growth rate of some 10 percent. While Party leaders publicly congratulated themselves, an internal party document warned that 75 percent of the financial benefits had gone to only 10 percent of the population, mainly high and middle-ranking Party members and some entrepreneurs.

With the growth rate now seriously dented, relations between Party members and the general public were "about to explode," the document warned.

The document also referred to an "ideological vacuum in Party and state," a "moral vacuum in upholding regulations," and a "vacuum in spiritual civilization," in stark contrast to the moral and spiritual values held by religious groups.

According to the Research Institute of the State Council, urban unemployment among young people had already risen to 10.5 percent by last June. If foreign investors continued to withdraw funds, the institute warned, this figure could rise to 16 percent or higher, sparking more outrage against the government.

Tens of thousands of factories closed down in the first six months of 2008, well before the full impact of the global recession hit China. By November, 10 million migrant workers were unemployed; most recent estimates put the figure at 20 million, and officials admit this figure will reach at least 35 million by the end of 2009.

Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu, responsible for agricultural affairs, warned in a recent report that 30 percent of all villagers have set up peasant organizations to challenge local government officials and crime bosses. Some groups also have plans to launch armed insurgencies and their own peasant governments.

Several million university graduates will also face unemployment this year, potentially lending their voices and leadership skills to mass protest movements.

An increasing number of intellectuals have already signed Charter 08, a petition issued in December calling for multi-party elections, human rights, press freedom and the rule of law.

On Jan. 7, a prominent Chinese lawyer, Yan Yiming, filed an application with the Finance Ministry demanding that it open its 2008 and 2009 budget books to the public. On Jan. 13, more than 20 Chinese intellectuals signed an open letter calling for a boycott of state television news programs because of "systematic bias and brainwashing," while a Beijing newspaper ran an article arguing that freedom of speech was written into the constitution, The Washington Post reported in late January.

In response, Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu warned China's leaders via state media that, "The present situation of maintaining national security and social stability is grave."

Many analysts agree that the Chinese Communist Party may be facing its greatest challenge to date.

[nChrist]

Hope Flickers in Nairobi's Slums
Erich Bridges


February 27, 2009

NAIROBI, Kenya (BP) --Think you're going through tough times? Try living in a Nairobi slum.

Running water and electricity are rare; open sewage trenches are common. Many people use "flying toilets" -- waste-filled plastic bags tossed into alleys or the murky Nairobi River.

Kenyan migrants and African immigrants arrive daily looking for work and a better life. They typically find something far different.

In Kasabuni, jobless men jostle with packs of shoeless children running down rutted, trash-strewn dirt roads that weave between shops and one-room dwellings. Scorch marks streak the walls where rioters burned shacks and kiosks during "the skirmishes" -- the post-election violence that tormented Kenya in early 2008.

If you can find work in Kasabuni, it's likely a "casual" job (day labor). But it probably won't pay enough to feed your family. So you borrow to buy food, or you go hungry. Many families subsist on one meal a day. If you're a teenage girl with penniless parents, you might try prostitution to pay the fees to attend high school -- risking AIDS and early death. If you're a young man, you might turn to crime. Despairing fathers and mothers sink into alcohol and drugs.

"There's a lot of frustration," says Jecktone Owiso, 32, a Kenyan Baptist pastor who ministers in Kasabuni. "People are beating each other here the whole night. There's a lot of wailing here, a lot of crying everywhere."

Hopeless? Not quite.

Telling Bible Stories

In a back lane off one of Kasabuni's dirt roads, Christian believers crowd into the one-room home of Dominic and Beatrice, a local couple. A curtain separates beds from the sitting area where adults and children pray, share testimonies, tell Bible stories and talk about their meaning.

The Bible stories are the heart of the worship time. This is a "T4T" (Training for Trainers) group, one of four such groups Owiso has helped launch since he came to Kasabuni. Soon, he hopes, they will multiply as believers learn the stories and start their own groups -- which in turn will start others.

It's an evangelism/discipleship method almost anyone can use -- from seminary-trained pastors to illiterate villagers. Owiso learned it from Southern Baptist missionaries Jerry Stephens and David Cox, who model "T4T" for pastors and church members in Nairobi.

"Since Jerry and David introduced me to this, it has led us to great growth," Owiso reports. "The people love the stories. They are easy to understand. Then the people say, 'This is what Jesus is trying to say.'"

And they realize they can tell the stories, too.

Owiso leads a church in Kasabuni where the "T4T" groups come together. They meet in a ramshackle building with a tin roof and wooden benches lining a dirt floor. Worshippers sing, clap their hands and listen to the pastor preach. Owiso speaks in a loud voice to be heard above the radio blaring from a bar across the dusty street. He challenges his flock to reject the temptation to give in to the hopelessness of life in Kasabuni.

"Do not say, 'I am just a youth,'" he appeals, pointing to kids and teens sitting on the benches. "You are responsible for this place. Everyone here is a leader. Everyone here is able to fulfill God's purpose for [his or her] life. Tear down whatever is bad around you -- selfishness, bad words, unkindness. Tear it down and uproot it in your heart, in your house, in your neighborhood, in our city, in our nation, in the world!"

Owiso knows words alone won't transform Kasabuni. He takes food to needy families. He risked his life repeatedly to deliver aid and hope to a nearby refugee camp during the political violence. He loves the children of this place. They follow him around -- and lead him to their parents.

"I play with the children," he says, a wide smile brightening his face. "I sit down in the dirt with them. I tell them they are special. My prayer is that these people who have received Jesus will begin a transformation, so there is less wife-beating, less drunkenness, less prostitution, less drugs and alcohol -- so people may know Jesus."

A well-educated, high-energy young pastor, Owiso doesn't have to work in Kasabuni. He ministers in the slum because he followed God's call there.

He's not the only one.

Richard and Joan Ayimba lead a Baptist church and a kindergarten in Baba Dogo, another slum area. Homeless widows wander the streets. Some hungry girls become prostitutes as young as age 7 or 8. Children come to the little Christian school lacking five shillings (about 50 cents) to pay for a morning bowl of porridge. Joan feeds them anyway.

The Ayimbas also have multiplied their ministry using "T4T." They turned down a car and a house from a more prosperous church to live in one room in the slum. Why?

"My heart was not there," Richard answers. "God revealed to me this place in a vision. I saw the people coming in tatters. This is where we believe God has called us."

[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - Feb. 25, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

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

In today's edition:

    * China: State Church Colludes with Government to Seize House Church
    * Survey: More Teens Volunteer Than Work Part Time
    * Faith-Based Services Victims of Gov't Cutbacks
    * Somalia: Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Released

China: State Church Colludes with Government to Seize House Church

ASSIST News Service reports that China's government-sanctioned church helped Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials illegally seize a house church leader's property in January. Cheng Fenying, 54, and her son Xi Chengwei, 25, previously held services for more than 200 people in their home, before government officials threatened attendees. In a letter to China Aid on Feb. 17, Cheng Fengying said the official church, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), had colluded with the government multiple times in the past. TSPM officials helped the PSB raid her home in July 2006, and illegally cancel her ownership title on the house in July 2007. "During the 2008 Olympic Games, I was detained in a black prison (prison cells privately established by government officials) where I was injured in my arms. In Jan. 2009, the TSPM took away my housing property by making use of the court," she wrote. "I hereby implore my brothers and sisters around the world to ... implore the Lord to protect my family so that we can still hold gatherings.

Survey: More Teens Volunteer Than Work Part Time

The Associated Press reports that increasing number of teens are volunteering in their communities as a result of a down economy, according to a new poll. Though many adults still view today's teens as "selfish" (59 percent) and "lazy" (56 percent), more than half of teens do volunteer work for a charitable cause. A total of 56 percent of teens do volunteer work - that's 17 percent more than half a part-time job. The World Vision survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, also found that seven out of 10 parents find their teens more aware of those in need now. "I think that kids are realizing more and more how important it is," said Sara Johnson, a teacher who advises the student service club at Illiana Christian school, in Lansing, Ill. Johnson, 29, said she saw a similar surge in involvement after Hurricane Katrina.

Faith-Based Services Victims of Gov't Cutbacks

The Christian Post reports that faith-based charities who receive government funding are flagging, as government cutbacks have shrunk their resources even as need skyrockets. "Our folks out in the field are feeling a little overwhelmed because they can't see the end, and all they see are more and more people coming and fewer resources coming their way," said Larry Snyder, chief executive of Catholic Charities USA. "And yet we don't have the luxury to say, 'You know what? We're going to close our doors for a while.'" Sixty-five percent of the organization's funding comes from government contracts. Other faith-based organizations, from food-assistance to medical care programs to foreclosure counseling, are reporting drops in their funding from both government and private donors. Meanwhile, requests for services have seen double-digit increases since last year.

Somalia: Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Released

Compass Direct News reports that two nuns working in northeast Kenya who were kidnapped last November have been freed. Caterina Giraudo, 67, and Maria Teresa Oliviero, 61, both of Italy, arrived back in Kenya on Thursday (Feb. 19), but they are still traumatized. The sisters are receiving both medical care and spiritual counseling. Father Bongiovanni Franco, who worked with the sisters in Mandera, told Compass by telephone that the sisters are fatigued. "Their movement from one place to another, and living in house confinement most of their stay in Mogadishu, seems to have affected their health -- it was like a prison cell," Fr. Franco said. The women Nov. 10 were abducted at gunpoint by suspected Islamic militants from Elwak, near Mandera, and taken across the nearby border into Somalia.

[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - Feb. 26, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

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

In today's edition:

    * Anglican Bishops Launch Lent Appeal for Zimbabwe
    * Survey: 7 in 10 Ministries Report Little, No Loss in Donations
    * Myanmar Government Tightens Access to Country
    * Supreme Court to Consider Mohave Desert Cross Case

Anglican Bishops Launch Lent Appeal for Zimbabwe

The Christian Post reports that the world's top Anglican leaders asked Anglicans to spend Ash Wednesday in prayer and fasting for the country of Zimbabwe. Archbishops Rowan Williams and John Sentamu echoed sentiments expressed at a global gathering of bishops last month in Alexandria, Egypt, warning that Zimbabwe and its people are dying "a slow death...[which is] only intermittently newsworthy." Meanwhile, World Vision announced a new initiative to provide Zimbabwe's children with clean drinking water and tools to protect themselves against the spread of cholera, which has already killed more 3,8000 in Zimbabwe. A $200,000 grant from Proctor & Gamble will provide an estimated 250,000 people with water purifying kits and cholera prevention and response training. "With an average of one new cholera case in Zimbabwe per minute, a rapid response is critical," said Keith Kall, executive director of corporate development for World Vision.

Survey: 7 in 10 Ministries Report Little, No Loss in Donations

ASSIST News Services reports that, despite the economic downturn, most evangelical parachurch ministries exceeded, met or came very close to their 2008 fourth-quarter contributions goals. According to a recent survey of its members by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), 72 percent of responding organizations reported they exceeded, met or came within 10 percent of their goals. Twenty-eight percent reported they were more than 10 percent below their goals. Many groups feared that donation-supported ministries would fare far worse. Instead, "[m]any of the parachurch ministries we surveyed reported small donations of $10 to $100 were relatively unaffected, and in some cases, donations in this category increased," said Dan Busby, acting president of ECFA. "In fact, some of our members had the strongest fourth quarter they've had in years and ended the year debt-free."

Myanmar Government Tightens Access to Country

Mission News Network reports that the closure of 50 churches in Yangon, Myanmar, corresponds with further tightening at the country's borders. Thousands are still displaced and in need after Cyclone Nargis hit the country in May 2008, but much foreign aid has been delayed or stopped by Myanmar's military junta. Patrick Klein, founder and President of Vision Beyond Borders (VBB), says officials are closely monitoring what gets into the country. Two VBB teams recently made it through with "medicine, vegetables, seeds, and clothes. We're also getting Bibles in and trying to reach the people, especially in the delta [m]." Klein added, "We've been working kind of low level with some local contacts and trying to keep out a foreign presence so it doesn't draw attention to them." The organization has focused on building orphanages for children who lost family in Cyclone Nargis.

Supreme Court to Consider Mohave Desert Cross Case

Religion News Service reports that the Supreme Court decided Monday (Feb. 23) to consider a case about a controversial eight-foot cross that was erected as a war memorial on federal property in California. The legal battle surrounding the memorial in the Mohave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, Calif., has pitted veterans groups against advocates for church-state separation. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the cross and a 2004 congressional statute designed to maintain its placement is unconstitutional. The challenge began after the National Park Service denied a request to erect a Buddhist shrine in the preserve, a visitor to the preserve sued in 2001 because the property was not "open to groups and individuals to erect other free-standing, permanent displays."

[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - Feb. 27, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

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

In today's edition:

    * Supreme Court Lets City Refuse Religious Monument
    * Graham Organization to Trim Staff by 10 Percent
    * Malaysia to Allow Christians to Use 'Allah'
    * ESV Bible Available for Free on Amazon's Kindle

Supreme Court Lets City Refuse Religious Monument

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday (Feb. 25) that a city park in Utah does not have to include a monument of a small religious sect, even though it already features a Ten Commandments monument. Religion News Service reports that Summum, a Salt Lake City-based group, had argued that officials in Pleasant Grove City, Utah, violated its free speech rights when they did not permit a proposed monument of the group's beliefs. The "placement of a permanent monument in a public park is best viewed as a form of government speech," wrote Justice Samuel Alito in the unanimous opinion, "and is therefore not subject to scrutiny under the Free Speech Clause" of the First Amendment. Summum's attorney plans to continue the fight, saying the ruling violates the Establishment Clause.

Graham Organization to Trim Staff by 10 Percent

Baptist Press reports that the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is reducing its staff by 10 percent, laying off 55 employees, according to a report in the Charlotte Observer. A BGEA spokesman, Ken Barun, confirmed the Observer's Feb. 24 report, telling the newspaper that donor gifts have been "relatively flat" while sales of books and other products has declined as has interest income from the organization's endowment. The organization's budget is being pared by 15 percent, back to $84 million, through the layoffs and other reductions in expenses. The country's economic downturn, however, isn't the only catalyst for the cutbacks, Barun said, recounting that BGEA President Franklin Graham had requested in mid-2007 a review of costs toward making the organization more efficient yet still capable of its varied ministry initiatives.

Malaysia to Allow Christians to Use 'Allah'

The Associated Press reports that a Christian newspaper will be able to use the word "Allah" to refer to God after all, as Malaysian officials relented from an earlier ban. The publication must continue to print "For Christianity" on its cover to avoid "confusing" Muslims who might think Allah refers to their God, the government said. Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Roman Catholic  Herald, said the paper will continue to push its legal case against the ban, as it prevents use of imported literature without a cover warning. "If this (order) is enforced, it will be difficult to possess materials ... from Indonesia, and thus practicing our religion will not be easy. This goes against ... the constitution," he told The Associated Press.

ESV Bible Available for Free on Amazon's Kindle

Crossway Books & Bibles has announced yet another high-tech option for its popular ESV Bible, offering free access for all Kindle and Kindle 2 users. Amazon's Kindle 2 was released Tuesday. "With more than 250 books available for the Kindle, Crossway is excited to make the ESV Bible available for free. Access to the ESV Study Bible for the Kindle will also be available for purchase soon," said Geoff Dennis, Vice President of Sales & Marketing. The ESV is already available for iPhone. The popular ESV Study Bible is already in its third printing since its release last fall, when it was "by far the fastest selling new product in the history of our store," said Mark Traphagen, Web Sales Manager for Westminster Bookstore.