7 November 2006 Daily Update from HCJB World Radio

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7 November 2006 Daily Update from HCJB World Radio

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ November 8, 2006 ⋅ Post a comment

Today’s Headlines:

DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH SET FOR SUNDAY

ERITREAN SINGER RELEASED AFTER 2 YEARS IN PRISON FOR HER FAITH

RETIRED PASTOR SETS HIMSELF ON FIRE TO PROTEST ISLAM’S SPREAD

VIOLENCE IN OAXACA, MEXICO, FORCES MISSIONARY EVACUATION

EVANGELICALS DONATED NEARLY $20 MILLION TO ISRAEL DURING WAR

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Today’s Top Stories:

DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH SET FOR SUNDAY

After starting in 1996 with only a few participating churches, this year at least 500,000 churches worldwide will be observing the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on Sunday, Nov. 12. Christians in Crisis (CIC) is encouraging churches to observe this day on any Sunday during the month and focus prayers for the plight of suffering Christians worldwide. CIC offers these staggering statistics to reinforce the situation of persecuted Christians around the world.

“The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church presents a tremendous opportunity for millions of people to make a difference in the lives of those being persecuted for their faith in countries like North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Iraq and many more,” said Open Doors USA President Carl Moeller. An estimated 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with another 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation.

In the last 2,000 years 43 million Christians have become martyrs. More than 50 percent of these were in the last 100 years. A Christian is martyred every three minutes. In nearly 50 countries around the world it is illegal to profess Christ as Savior and/or possess a Bible. Seventy percent of all believers live outside the Western world — many of them in nations with poor human rights records. (Christians in Crisis/Open Doors)

ERITREAN SINGER RELEASED AFTER 2 YEARS IN PRISON FOR HER FAITH

Helen Berhane, a popular Christian singer from the East African country of Eritrea, was reportedly released from prison in late October. She is recovering at home with her family in Asmara. Berhane had been jailed since May 2004 after releasing a popular gospel music album which was very popular among young Eritrean Christians. While imprisoned, Berhane was held for extended time periods in metal shipping containers and in underground cells at the Mai-Serwa military camp. She repeatedly refused to sign papers recanting her faith or promising not to participate in church activities. Last month Berhane was admitted to a hospital with signs of physical mistreatment. About 2,000 Christians remain incarcerated for their beliefs in Eritrea without the benefit of a trial. (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

RETIRED PASTOR SETS HIMSELF ON FIRE TO PROTEST ISLAM’S SPREAD

Retired Protestant Pastor Ronald Weisselberg, 73, climbed into a construction site adjacent to the Augustinerkloser church in Erfurt, Germany, and proceeded to douse himself with gasoline and set himself on fire on Tuesday, Oct. 31. He died in the burn unit in the hospital in nearby Halle. The provost of the church revealed Weisselberg left a detailed letter indicating his belief that the church should be more aware of the threat posed by the spread of Islam. Before covering himself in gasoline, the former pastor said “Jesus and Oskar,” in an apparent reference to Oskar Bruesewitz who burned himself alive in 1976 in a protest against the communist government of East Germany, under which Weisselberg had lived for many years. Axel Noack, the bishop of Saxony, while shocked at Weisselberg’s protest, admitted that the issue of Islam had been sidelined within the church and especially in eastern Germany where it is usually only spoken of in private. (Assist News Service)

VIOLENCE IN OAXACA, MEXICO, FORCES MISSIONARY EVACUATION

Evangelical Covenant Church missionaries were forced to evacuate the city of Oaxaca in southern Mexico Friday, Nov. 3, following the escalation of conflict between Mexican federal police and protestors demanding the removal of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz. He is accused of rigging the 2004 election in his favor. At least eight people have died in the violence, most of them protestors who were shot by the police or armed gangs. At least one short-term Covenant missionary left Oaxaca by airplane at noon Nov. 3 on the last flight to leave before the airport was officially closed. Missionaries Cindy Hoover and Jo Ellen Reeves were driving north toward Puebla around 1 p.m. after violence erupted in their neighborhood. Hoover later wrote in an e-mail to her friends, “As we were leaving there were several fires going on in the outskirts of our neighborhood, unknown young men with masks roaming in our neighborhood with clubs, rocks and Molotov cocktails, and riot police marching down the walkway on the edge of our neighborhood. Helicopters were circling low over our houses. It was obvious we needed to leave quickly. We really didn’t expect this type of rapid escalation.” (Evangelical News)

EVANGELICALS DONATED NEARLY $20 MILLION TO ISRAEL DURING WAR

Evangelical Christians donated nearly $20 million to provide humanitarian relief to Israel during this summer’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Though the efforts were largely overshadowed by the massive generosity of the American Jewish community, the pro-Israel Christian community rallied a significant amount of support with less fanfare according to Haaretz, a large Jerusalem-based newspaper. Because of the lack of a single umbrella group that monitors donations, actual amounts remain difficult to ascertain. However, a survey of major Christian groups showed that the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) collected $17 million from July 10 to Sept. 10. This is a 100-percent increase from the same period last year. Other groups such as the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem and Bridges for Peace each raised about $500,000 for their emergency campaigns in the north. (Religion Today)

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