NewsBytes - April 2009

OM International

QUAKE SHAKES ITALY
SRI LANKA STANDOFF
LIBYA ACCUSED OF DETAINING, TORTURING CHRISTIANS
EGYPT: MUSLIM RIOTERS ATTACK CHRISTIAN SHOPS
CHRISTIANITY IN MONGOLIA
MOROCCO EXPELS 5 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES
CHRISTIANS UNITING IN N. KOREA AMID WORSENING CONDITIONS
AGENCIES RESPOND TO AUSTRALIAN FIRE VICTIMS
EUROPE’S LARGEST MUSLIM SCHOOL
RURAL USA: SHORTAGE OF PASTORS
ATHEIST ADS ON BUSES
TERROR MEASURES BLOCK MISSIONARIES TO UK
THE LOST YOUTH OF JAPAN
WORLD TV MINISTRY BRINGS MILLIONS TO CHRIST
REACHING SOULS VIA CELL PHONE, INTERNET
WORLDWIDE INTERNET EVANGELISM DAY
IN FACT: Infant death rates
RESOURCES:
* Free Bible downloads, 140 languages * New film about Martyrs in Turkey * Global Economic Outreach * MATS Intl. Transport Aid

1. QUAKE SHAKES ITALY

On April 6 the worst earthquake to hit Italy in 30 years reduced most of the city of L'Aquila, 70 miles northeast of Rome, to rubble. The earthquake's death toll has reached 294 as some of the 1500 injured succumbed to their injuries. A mass funeral for over 200 victims was held on Good Friday, and around 25,000 survivors spent Easter Sunday in tent cities. Easter Sunday Mass was held in makeshift chapels across the predominately Roman Catholic region of central Italy, but attendance was low. The TouchGlobal Crisis Response team with the Evangelical Free Church Mission is working with the ReachGlobal team in Rome City to manage needs through local churches and partners. So far, the primary need is financial. Home reconstruction particularly will need additional funding. Italy’s prime minister has assured displaced people that they will be able to leave open-air camps in about 2 months. [MISSION NETWORK NEWS, 14 April ‘09]

2. SRI LANKA STANDOFF

About 140,000 civilian men, women and children have for weeks been held as human shields by the besieged Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers (LTTE), who were pushed back by government forces to a small stretch of coast on the northeast part of the island. Tens of thousands more Tamils are being confined by the government for a year or more in camps, suffering unhealthy conditions. Over 70,000 have died in the decades of civil war; hundreds of thousands more have lost their homes and possessions. Many Tamil churches and Christians have also been victims of racial and religious persecution. Passage of a long-threatened anti-conversion bill would increase the pressure. [MISC. REPORTS]

3. LIBYA ACCUSED OF DETAINING, TORTURING CHRISTIANS

Libya’s feared intelligence service has “detained and tortured” 4 individuals for converting from Islam, as part of a wider crackdown on people embracing Christianity, says human rights group International Christian Concern (ICC). The believers, whose names were not identified, were reportedly imprisoned for the past 7 weeks in Tripoli, Libya’s capital. The ICC says security agents have barred families from visiting them and they “are putting severe physical and psychological pressure on the Christians in order to force them to reveal the names of other converts.” The alleged treatment has occurred despite efforts by Libya to improve ties with the international community. [BosNewsLife, 12 March ‘09]

4. EGYPT: MUSLIM RIOTERS ATTACK CHRISTIAN SHOPS

Hundreds of Muslims attacked Christian shops and a police station in the Egyptian city of Alexandria on Apr. 5, following rumours that a Muslim man was stabbed and killed by his Christian landlords. The trouble started when many Muslims gathered at a mosque for funeral prayers for the dead man. They then started to chant “They’ll die, they’ll die.” Three Christian brothers were accused of murdering the Muslim man, as he had been previously injured in an earlier fight with the accused. All three brothers have been detained. [ASSIST, 8 April ‘09]

5. CHRISTIANITY IN MONGOLIA

Tibetan Buddhism held the landlocked land of Mongolia in an iron grip until the 20th Century. In 1922 a revolution backed by the Soviet army sought to crush Buddhism. When Communism fell in 1990 there were only one or two Christian believers. The first missionaries found people open to the Gospel, and now between 30,000 and 50,000 claim to follow Christ—over one percent of its under 3 million population. The Mongolian Evangelical Alliance has a vision to see 10% of the population discipled by 2020. There are a number of Bible colleges and Theological Education by Extension is well established, helping to raise up leaders in rural areas. Poverty is widespread and there is still a need for pioneer church planting. [ECHOES, March ‘09]

6. MOROCCO EXPELS 5 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES

Expulsion of 5 Christian missionaries on March 29 has underscored concerns over the plight of Morocco’s Christian community. The Interior Ministry stated that the 4 Spaniards and 1 German woman were “illegally” trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. They were detained while meeting Moroccan Muslims in the capital city of Casablanca, and reportedly expelled without being officially arrested or charged. In a local media statement, the ministry said the Christians were sent to Spain by boat. Numerous pieces of “evangelical propaganda material” were also seized, including video cassettes in Arabic that advocated conversion to Christianity. The Associated Press quoted an unidentified official as saying that Morocco “has nothing against the Christian faith” but that authorities felt the missionaries “had gone too far.” [BosNewsLife, 29 March ‘09]

7. CHRISTIANS UNITING IN N. KOREA AMID WORSENING CONDITIONS

A letter from a Christian in North Korea to Open Doors USA stated the current living conditions in this country are “very bad:” “The price of rice continues to increase. Recently 5 women from our neighbourhood were publicly executed; the youngest only age 28. Their crime? Trying to survive by looking for food. After their execution, we were no longer allowed to trade at the market.” North Korea is one of the poorest countries in the world with about 9 million citizens needing urgent food assistance, according to the World Food Program. The country has depended on food aid since the 1990s when a devastating famine resulted in the deaths of as many as 2 million people. Despite widespread hunger, the government recently refused to accept future U.S. food aid and expelled all 5 relief groups that distribute American aid in the country. The estimated 400,000 Christians in North Korea face a constant threat of imprisonment, torture or public execution if authorities discover their Christian faith. Yet church leaders have started a prayer campaign for their country’s evangelisation. Amid worsening conditions believers are united and ask churches in the West to keep them in special prayer. [CHRISTIAN POST, 30 March ‘09]

8. AGENCIES RESPOND TO AUSTRALIAN FIRE VICTIMS

In February 2009, devastating arson-induced fires destroyed an estimated 750 homes and wiped out entire villages north of Melbourne in what has been described as the worst natural disaster in Australia's history. YWAM Melbourne staff cared for refugees who lost their homes, establishing prayer booths alongside local churches, and making their skills available to overstretched government officials. The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (RRT) also deployed crisis-trained chaplains to Melbourne at the invitation of local churches in response to the wildfires. "The heartbreak caused by these fires is unimaginable," said Jack Munday, director of the RRT, on-site in Australia. "We will be with the churches in and around Melbourne, offering training on how to appropriately offer emotional and spiritual care during such a tragic time." [ASSIST, 20 Feb.’09]

9. EUROPE’S LARGEST MUSLIM SCHOOL

Muslims are investing 2 million US dollars in a Turkish school in Korce, Albania, as part of a movement to Islamise Albania. Korce is about half Muslim, half Orthodox. It will be the largest Muslim school in Europe, offering a high standard of education up to university degree level, and is likely to have a big impact. [ALBANIAN EVANGELICAL MISSION/EVANGELICALS NOW 3/09]

10. RURAL USA: SHORTAGE OF PASTORS

Time magazine reports that America’s rural churches are fading even faster than rural areas themselves as it becomes increasingly difficult to attract and keep a pastor. Fewer than half of rural churches have a full-time seminary trained pastor. That figure can drop to as low as 1 in 5 in some areas of the Midwest. Pastors fresh from seminary are turning in ever-greater numbers to the suburbs, where they can more easily find a salary that will help clear their debts. [RELIGION TODAY, 4 Feb.’09]

11. ATHEIST ADS ON BUSES

London’s now infamous atheist bus ads have spread into the heavily Catholic nation of Spain and will reportedly move to Italy. Buses carrying the “There probably is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life” slogan appeared in Spain last January. In Italy the ad will read: “The bad news is that God does not exist. The good news is that we do not need him.” [RELIGION TODAY, 26 Jan.’09]

12. TERROR MEASURES BLOCK MISSIONARIES TO UK

Foreign missionaries are being denied entry to the UK because of tightened immigration laws, the Church of England Newspaper reports. The laws introduced last November to tackle increased terrorism threats have been seriously mishandled, the Evangelical Alliance (EA) believes. Charisma magazine in the US recently highlighted a number of cases where American Christian leaders have been refused entry. Daniel Webster, the EA’s Parliamentary Officer is producing an analysis report to save missionaries from being deported. He says that different categories of visitors and migrants needing different types of visas have made the situation so complex many churches find it hard to comply. The EA is now working on a guide to help member churches understand the new rules. [Church of England Newspaper, 20 March ‘09]

13. THE LOST YOUTH OF JAPAN

Suicide has reached epidemic proportions in Japan. Over 35,000 people a year are taking their lives in this country of 127 million—almost 1 every 5 minutes.They do it individually and in small groups—there are websites dedicated to group suicides. Usually they are committed in isolated places; however, many throw themselves in front of trains. “Human body accidents,” as the Japanese call them, cause a daily disruption of Tokyo services. The majority of suicides are young people. Between 10% and 15% of university students suffer from depression and other mental illnesses, and work-related stress is a prime motive of people in their 30’s. English teaching in colleges and universities, using the Bible as a textbook, has been successful in sowing seeds of hope but there is a shortage of workers. [ECHOES, March ‘09]

14. WORLD TV MINISTRY BRINGS MILLIONS TO CHRIST

Since its inception in 2002, the My Hope World Evangelism through Television Ministry, an evangelistic outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), has been implemented in 44 countries and has seen more than 9.5 million people make commitments to Jesus Christ. "God has really blessed the My Hope ministry like nothing we've ever seen before," said Erik Ogren, senior public relations specialist of the BGEA. The February 2009 Billy Graham Television Special offered an on-the-ground look at efforts in Brazil, including a trip up the Amazon River, and a home meeting in a gang-controlled area of Río de Janeiro. [ASSIST, 25 Feb.’09]

15. REACHING SOULS VIA CELL PHONE, INTERNET

Internet evangelist Bill Keller is now using innovative, pioneering technology to save souls via cell phone. Keller, who hosts a popular TV and radio programme aired on secular stations, contracted Red Planet Media, Inc. of Florida, USA, to provide his liveprayer.com site with frontline technology to reach cell phone users around the world with the gospel. “When we launched Liveprayer, the only people doing livestreaming video on the internet were the pornographers,” Keller reflects. “We countered by tapping into vanguard technology to bring people around the globe the truth of the Bible, and the hope of Christ via live streaming video.” Keller will make video a daily devotional available free of charge. “The only cost to the user is whatever their cell phone company charges them to access the internet and for text messages,” he said. Those who access Keller’s new cell phone site can also send a prayer request via their cell phone, and receive a personalized response back to their phone via text messaging. [CHRISTIAN NEWSWIRE, 12 March ‘09]

16. WORLDWIDE INTERNET EVANGELISM DAY

Many churches will highlight the potential of the Internet on 26 April by holding an 'Internet Evangelism Day,' focusing on how the Web is a God-given tool for outreach, and how Christians can use it effectively. Presentations may be as short as a 2-minute announcement, or a longer program using the free downloads from IE Day's site: PowerPoint, video clips, music, drama scripts and handouts. This website is also a year-round online resource guide with many ideas for web outreach and strategy, including a self-assessment tool to help churches develop their websites to reach outsiders in the Community. See www.InternetEvangelismDay.com/church-site-design.php

17. IN FACT:

Countries with the highest infant death rates: Angola (192.5 out of 1000 babies under age 1), Afghanistan and Mozambique. Countries with highest number of legal abortions: Russia (2,766,360), USA, and India.

18. RESOURCES

Free downloads of the Bible in 140 languages, many in searchable Ebook, MP3, Real Audio, Adobe Reader formats. Printed copies available. Also videos, other Christian material. Blind or visually-impaired may qualify for free Bibles in one of 67 languages from Audio Bibles for the Blind.org. http://www.ethnicharvest.org/bibles/
“MALATYA,” a new feature-length documentary film, tells the story of three men who were brutally martyred in Turkey in 2007, and the fruit that has grown up from their sacrifice. [Voice of the Martyrs] See www.VOMbooks.com
Global Economic Outreach (GEO) partners with missionaries around the world to help them find practical assistance, info, or someone to coordinate support activities. GEO recruits people with the needed skills, by email, and builds a team, whether it is skilled craftsmen, hobbyists, artisans, professionals or students. Volunteers may travel to the field to help in their area of expertise for a few days or weeks. http://www.teamgeo.org/
From bicycles to semi tractors, MATS International serves both foreign and domestic ministries. Has programmes specifically designed for furlough needs and will also help pastors. churches, para-church ministries, and Christian Colleges, including staff personnel, with new and used vehicles of most any brand name for purchase or lease. http://www.mats.org/

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NEWS BYTES is compiled monthly by Debbie Meroff of OM International, based in London, England. Material may be freely copied and forwarded. Items do not necessarily reflect OM’s position and questions should be directed to the original news source.
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