Pray for the World: 18 July 2006

Pray for the World: 18 July 2006 July 2006 Update from HCJB World Radio
Today's Headlines:

7.7-MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE TRIGGERS ANOTHER INDONESIAN TSUNAMI

LEBANESE CHRISTIANS CAUGHT IN 'TERRIBLE VISE' AMID VIOLENCE

2 CHRISTIAN MEN TORTURED TO DEATH IN VIETNAMESE PRISONS

FEMALE HOUSE CHURCH LEADER ARRESTED ALONG WITH 17 OTHERS

* HCJB WORLD RADIO TEAM RESPONDS TO ERUPTING VOLCANO IN ECUADOR

Today's Top Stories:

7.7-MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE TRIGGERS ANOTHER INDONESIAN TSUNAMI

A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake beneath the ocean off the Indonesian
island of Jakarta triggered a six-foot high tsunami that crashed ashore
near the village of Pangandaran earlier today. Initial reports place the
death toll as high as 80 with searches for survivors continuing in the
popular resort town. The huge wave hit at 3:19 p.m. local time,
destroying hotels and throwing boats onto the beach. Thousands, warned by
the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, took refuge on high ground
and in mosques, displacing more than 2,000 people. Today's temblor
follows a 6.3-magnitude quake less than 100 miles east of Pangandaran in
Yogyakarta that killed more than 5,800. More than 130,000 people died in
Indonesia during the December 2004 Asian tsunami. (BBC/Fox News)

* HCJB World Radio has helped with relief efforts in Indonesia since the
2004 earthquake/tsunami and subsequent quakes that devastated parts of
the country, including the May 27 quake. In addition, the mission has
worked with local partners to establish more than 14 local Christian
radio stations nationwide since 2004. Indonesian broadcasts from HCJB
World
Radio-Australia's shortwave station in Kununurra also encourage listeners
nationwide.

LEBANESE CHRISTIANS CAUGHT IN 'TERRIBLE VISE' AMID VIOLENCE

The Christian community in Lebanon is facing terrible times as military
action by Israel against Hamas and Fatah factions escalates. Open Doors'
Carl Moeller says Christians there are caught in a "terrible vise"
between warring factions and Israel. Moeller says Open Doors is committed
to supporting the remnant church in the area because, "Who else can speak
to the warring factions, both internally among the Fatah and the Hamas in
Gaza, and also between the extremist Muslims and the Israelis?" Amin, a
Christian who runs children's programs at schools says there is a cycle
of hatred and extremism that can be clearly seen in schoolyard conflicts.
"Children of Gaza can't forgive each other, not even minor mistakes," he
says. "In our programs we do speak about loving and forgiving. Gradually
you see them change." Moeller feels the Christian community in Lebanon is
strategic at this point. "Without a Christian community, there's almost
no one who can speak to both sides," he says. (Mission Network News)

2 CHRISTIAN MEN TORTURED TO DEATH IN VIETNAMESE PRISONS

Two Vietnamese Montegnard Degar Christian men were killed in prison as a
result of torture, lack of water and starvation. Held since 2004, 62 year
old Siu Lul was denied food and water in Ha Nam prison and then tortured
to death on April 24. Initially his wife lacked money to transport his
body back to their home village so she agreed he could be buried locally.
Prison officials later refused to release the body until the original
prison sentence was past. In a second case, a Christian man named Siu
Dolel was killed by "kicking, boxing, and beating him with electric
batons until his right and left rib cages were broken." His wife was
notified of his death on June 25 and lacked money to go view the body.
The Montegnard Degar people have been the targets of years of government
persecution and abuse in Vietnam. (Assist News Service)

FEMALE HOUSE CHURCH LEADER ARRESTED ALONG WITH 17 OTHERS

Prominent female house church leader Wang Jinhua was arrested along with
her husband and 8-year-old son on Friday, July 14, in Jilin city. The boy
was released after church members petitioned authorities while Wang was
interrogated for three days and nights. Her husband was then released
while she was transferred to a Jinlin provincial prison. Other leaders of
her church are in hiding. Meanwhile in Henan province, Sunday, July 9,
about 20 police interrupted a house church meeting of 30 worshipers,
confiscating an offering box and a loudspeaker while arresting 15 people.
Eleven of the Christians remain in custody with several receiving formal
charges of engaging in "evil cult" activities. (China Aid Association)

* HCJB WORLD RADIO TEAM RESPONDS TO ERUPTING VOLCANO IN ECUADOR

HCJB World Radio sent a four-person team to the site of central Ecuador's
erupting Mount Tungurahua today to assess the situation and bring relief
supplies, medical help and spiritual encouragement to those affected by
the volcano that began spewing lava and toxic gases on Friday, July 14.

"We're traveling with two physicians and our photographer," said
Healthcare Director Sheila Leech. "We're taking food -- things such as
rice, tuna, sugar and cooking oil. We don't know of anyone being injured
or killed, but farm animals have been injured and crops damaged. Our
doctors will look at evacuees in the refugee centers who have been
affected by the ash. For example, irrigating their eyes as needed."

Leech added that the team will stay overnight in Penipe where some of the
evacuees are located. "We'll take a look and see if we need to return with
a mobile medical clinic immediately or at a later date."

The Associated Press reported that some 3,700 people have abandoned their
homes in half a dozen hamlets since Friday, Ecuador's Civil Defense said.
"There have been no victims, but all the vegetation has died, and we have
lost cattle," said Juan Salazar, mayor of Penipe county which includes
two villages where 300 families have been forced to flee.

In May the volcano, 105 miles south of Quito, began emitting its loudest
and most frequent explosions since it rumbled back to life in 1999 after
being inactive for nearly eight decades.

On Friday the Geophysics Institute reported that the 16,470-foot-high
volcano had changed its behavior drastically by expelling at least four
lava flows -- the first since activity resumed. Hugo Yepes, director of
the institute, said the wind was carrying ash from the explosions up to
75 miles west of the volcano. Some roads near the volcano have been
blocked, and at least one bridge was destroyed.

Leech said the explosions are facing in the opposite direction as Banos,
a town of 20,000. "There are reports of pyroclastic flows and explosions
every 45 minutes to an hour," she said. "The volcano has settled down a
bit, but volcanologists are very noncommittal about what could happen
next. The danger is not over." (HCJB World Radio)
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The opinion(s) expressed above are not necessarily rhose of this poster.

--
Faithfully,
Gene Poole

http://grace.break.at

God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com
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Remove your hat to e-mail me.



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