FIRE DESTROYS CHRISTIAN MEDICAL TREATMENT CENTER IN INDONESIA

PERSECUTED CHINESE CATHOLIC BISHOP DIES IN DETENTION AT AGE 81

COURT IN INDIA TO REVIEW CASE CONVICTING 5 CHRISTIANS OF MURDER

CANADA INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO LEGALIZE HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE

762+ CHURCHES PLANTED IN SOUTH AFRICA USING INNOVATIVE METHOD

ALCOHOLISM AMONG IRISH YOUTH RAISES CONCERNS OF CHURCH LEADERS

Today’s News Stories:

FIRE DESTROYS CHRISTIAN MEDICAL TREATMENT CENTER IN INDONESIA Voice of the Martyrs’ medical treatment center and storage facility in Indonesia was destroyed by fire the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 25. The ministry’s director in Indonesia said the cause of the fire is “uncertain at this time.” However, forensic police are investigating evidence to see if arson is a possibility. Among the many items lost in the fire were medical supplies, beds and wheelchairs, first-aid kits, vitamins, school uniforms, pencils, pens, cooking stoves, dishes and Christian literature. The director’s home and office, which is adjacent, was not damaged, and there was no loss of life or injury. Believers who had been injured in clashes with Muslim insurgents in various areas of Indonesia had received treatment and healing through the services offered at the center. (Voice of the Martyrs)

PERSECUTED CHINESE CATHOLIC BISHOP DIES IN DETENTION AT AGE 81 John Gao Kexian, a well-known Catholic bishop who was persecuted by China’s communist authorities for much of his life, died while in detention Monday, Jan. 24, church and news sources reported. He was 81. An unofficial bishop of Yantai, Kexian died in a hospital in Bingzhou, Shandong province. He had been in prison the previous five years. His body was reportedly cremated and buried the day after his death in the presence of police officers. No relatives or church members were allowed to attend the burial, reports said. It is unclear what caused his death, but AsiaNews noted that he had been in poor health for some time. As a seminary student, Kexian spent many years in a forced labor camp in Longzhen, Heilongjiang province, before being ordained in 1983 and becoming a bishop in 1992. (BosNewsLife)

COURT IN INDIA TO REVIEW CASE CONVICTING 5 CHRISTIANS OF MURDER The High Court of India’s western state of Gujarat is expected to hear an appeal in early this month regarding the murder conviction of five tribal Christians who were sentenced to life imprisonment last year for killing a Hindu fundamentalist. Found guilty by a sessions court on June 19, 2004, the five (Ramesh Chandubhai Varli, Harjee Chandubhai Varli, Ishwar Chandubhai Varli, Chandubhai Dharmabhai Varli and Dakalya Kalubhai Varli) appealed to the High Court on Aug. 17, 2004, for revision of the conviction. The case stems from a 2001 clash between Hindu and Christian villagers in the Valsad district. During the melee, a Bajrang Dal activist was struck on the head and died of his injuries three days later. Local Christians claim that repeated attacks by Hindu fundamentalists against tribal Christians triggered the clash. Rev. Johnson Barnabas of the Friends Missionary Prayer Band said the five tribal Christians are facing an uphill battle to prove their innocence. “The family members are still living in a fear of further persecution as tension can erupt again if the Hindu villagers come to know that Christians have appealed the conviction,” he said. (Compass)

CANADA INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO LEGALIZE HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE Canada’s government has introduced legislation that would legalize homosexual marriage nationwide despite objections of the Roman Catholic Church and other conservative clergy. Prime Minister Paul Martin, whose Liberal government drafted the legislation, insists that clergy and places of worship would not be forced to perform same-sex unions that violate their religion. A minister in Canada’s United Church says the under the legislation, “marriage will be enhanced, not diminished, religious freedom will be protected, not threatened, and Canadian society will be strengthened, not weakened.” But the archbishop of Quebec, who heads Canada’s Roman Catholic church, warns that the bill “threatens to unleash nothing less than cultural upheaval whose negative consequences are still impossible to predict.” It is expected to be weeks, or months, before the legislation comes up for a final vote. (AgapePress)

762+ CHURCHES PLANTED IN SOUTH AFRICA USING INNOVATIVE METHOD An innovative model for planting churches in Africa is gaining momentum, resulting in hundreds of churches in less than five years. The movement was started by Steven Loots, a member of the Afrikaans community in South Africa. Realizing the high cost of training and sending an American or European missionary using traditional methods, he developed the “hub church” model that involves local black pastors who are already trained. Using this method, churches in the U.S. and Africa pay to build a hub church center and cover the salary of the center’s leader. He then trains local men and women who accompany him to local villages to hold weekly meetings with interested people. Natural leaders are then identified to pastor the new congregations and take weekly classes from the church hub leader for three years. Since Loots began Harvesters International Ministries in 1999 and first implemented the hub church model in 2000, more than 762 churches have been planted in South Africa. Loots launched a similar program in Mozambique last summer with the goal of planting 4,000 churches in seven years. (Assist News Service)

* HCJB World Radio has worked with local partners to plant local radio ministries in six South African cities: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pinetown, Roodepoort and Badplaas. HCJB World Radio is also helps with projects such as the Living Hope Community Center (a ministry of partner Fish Hoek Baptist Church) near Cape Town.

ALCOHOLISM AMONG IRISH YOUTH RAISES CONCERNS OF CHURCH LEADERS Young people’s lives are being ruined by the misuse of alcohol with consumption per capita in Ireland being the highest in the European Union. In a report titled, “Alcohol in the life of Young People,” released last month by Church of Ireland. The church’s social justice and theology panel identified worrying trends in the drinking habits of young people. “This report is not just preaching to youth,” said Rev. Gordon Wynee, chairman of the social justice and theology panel. “Alcohol is an issue for the whole of society. It looks at how we can educate young people about the effects of overindulgence in alcohol. It also looks at how people in other countries are tackling the same issues. We hope it shows how a fuller and more exciting life is lived when drunkenness is avoided.” Archbishop Robin Eames added that the misuse of alcohol “contributes daily to road fatalities and injuries, anti-social behavior on our streets, the breakdown of family relationships and the health and enjoyment of life.” There report pointed to a 370-percent increase in the levels of intoxication in public places by underage drinkers in Ireland since 1996; 35 percent of sexually active teenagers cite alcohol as a factor in their engaging in sex; and 60 percent of boys and 54 percent of girls between the ages of 15 and 17 years of age admitted to having been “really drunk.” (ACNS Digest)

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