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NEWS &
EVENTS - world |
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AoG ELECTS FIRST WOMAN LEADER
The Assemblies of God elected its first woman to the
Executive Presbytery during its biennial meeting on
Wednesday. “It’s a wonderful moment for the church to
recognize God lays his hand on women and say they bring
something to the table,” the Rev. Beth Grant, who was
elected on the second electoral ballot, told The Ledger.
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GILANI PLEDGES TO REVIEW PAK BLASPHEMY LAWS
A Protestant body in Pakistan welcomed Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani’s pledge to review blasphemy laws
that has been used since decades to subdue Christians in
the predominantly Muslim nation. “It is a surprising and
cheerful news. No political party or leader has made
such a statement from years,” Suhail Akhtar of National
Council of Churches in Pakistan, told Christian Today.
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WORLD HAS ONE BILLION HUNGRY PEOPLE
The number of people going hungry every day has hit a
historic high of 1 billion, or more precisely 1.02
billion, according to the U.N. World Food Program.
Millions of people who were on the brink of hunger have
now been thrown into this category by the global
economic crisis that resulted in lower incomes and job
losses.
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 DISTURBING STATISTICS ON WORLD’S YOUTH REVEALED
New research released ahead of the United Nation’s
International Youth Day revealed startling statistics
about the world’s youth including their views on
personal salvation, virginity and attempts to commit
suicide. OneHope, a children-oriented Christian
ministry, found that 91 percent of youths in Costa Rica
say they do not believe they will go to heaven despite
claiming to have accepted Jesus Christ.
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CHRISTIAN MUSIC CONCERT ATTRACTS 65000 YOUTHS
Around 65,000 youth and young adults flooded the Gateway
Arch Grounds in St. Louis on Sunday to hear the sounds
of Christian rock, hip-hop, and rap artists, as well as
messages delivered by evangelist Franklin Graham. “This
has been a fantastic day. We’ve seen a lot of kids give
their life to Christ. There’s been a sea out here of
people,” reported Graham as counsellors on the ground
met with the several hundred people who expressed their
decisions for Christ.
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PAKISTANI CHRISTIANS SHUT SCHOOLS TO MOURN THE
VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE
Islamabad: Pakistani Christians closed
their schools and colleges across the country for three
days from Monday, August 3, 2009 to mourn and protest
the killings of eight of their religious brethren,
Christian leaders said. Hundreds of Muslims, apparently
spurred by a banned Islamist group, stormed a Christian
neighbourhood in the eastern city of Gojra on Saturday,
August 1, 2009, burning dozens of houses after reports
surfaced that some Christians had desecrated a Quran.
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 MEGA CHURCH BRINGS WORSHIP SERVICE THROUGH I-PHONE
Florida (USA): It is righty called,
‘Northland, A Church Distributed.’ A mega church in
central Florida is all about helping people worship
where they are. Their latest iPhone Web app is helping
thousands do exactly that. Northland is one of the first
churches to stream worship services live over the iPhone.
Already 2,000 people are worshipping with North-land
online every week.
“For us, the distinctive is, wherever we are, whether
were gathered in ones or tens, hundreds or thousands,
that we are gathering to worship our God together.
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TRINITY CHURCH MARKS 150TH ANNIVERSARY BY
 STEPPING
BACK IN TIME
The calendar might say 2009, but the Model Ts,
horse-drawn carriage, top hats and sweeping ankle-length
skirts on display in front of Trinity United Methodist
Church spoke of much earlier days. Parishioners at the
city’s oldest church, which predates Colorado statehood
by 17 years, gathered on Sunday, August 2, 20009 for a
celebration of Trinity’s 150th anniversary featuring
period costumes and a special sermon.
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EIGHT CHRISTIANS MASSACRED IN PAKISTAN
On August 1, Islamists set ablaze about 47 Christian
houses in village Korian District Toba Tek Singh on
Thursday, July 30, 2009 after accusing local Christians
of blasphemy. Asia Evangelical Alliance has condemned
the shocking attack against the Christian community in
Gojra, in the province of Faisalabad in eastern Punjab
which left eight people, including two children, dead.
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MARYAM AND MARZIEH FACE TRIAL IN IRAN
Maryam Rustampoor (27) and Marzieh Amirizadeh (30) were
first arrested and imprisoned on March 5 on charges of
“taking part in illegal gatherings” and “acting against
state security.” One unconfirmed report I read said they
had taken up a church offering without being authorized
to do so.They have been in Evin Prison ever since.
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MINISTRY: NO FREEDOM FOR OTHER N.KOREAN PRISONERS
Thursday, 6 August 2009: As the nation
rejoices over the release of two U.S. journalists, a
ministry working with persecuted Christians reminds the
world that tens of thousands – if not hundreds of
thousands – of innocent people remain trapped in North
Korean prisons without hope of a special pardon.
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STUDY: RELIGIOSITY OF HUMANITIES STUDENTS MOST LIKELY
TO WANE
Tuesday, 4 August 2009: Results from a
recent study on the impact of a college student’s major
on their religiosity have led researchers to conclude
that postmodernism, rather than science, is the greatest
antagonist of religiosity. Researchers at the University
of Michigan-Ann Arbor drew the conclusion after finding
that majoring in Humanities or Social Sciences has a
significant negative effect on religious attendance and
self-assessed importance of religion in one’s life.
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 CHRISTIANS APPEAL FOR INTERNATIONAL HELP
Beijing (China): The family of a Uyghur
Christian is frustrated with the blatant injustice of
his trial. The Kashi District Intermediate People’s
Court in Xinjiang openly used forged documents to accuse
Alimujiang Yimiti of “revealing state secrets or
intelligence to overseas organizations” and claimed it
didn’t have to prove the documents were valid. The
verdict in the case is still pending.
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 MEDICAL MISSIONARIES HELPING THE POOR IN GUATEMALA
Joyabaj (Guatemala): The mountain scenery
of southwestern Guatemala is a colourful mix of the old
and the new. Fields of corn hang onto the sides of
mountains. Vegetation ranges from pine trees to bamboo
to cactus plants. Banners advertising cell phone plans
are placed next to farms that have been cultivated for
more than a 100 years.
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 BONO, TONY BLAIR TO SPEAK AT CHURCH CONFERENCE ON
LEADERSHIP
Although Bono and former British Prime Minister Tony
Blair might be considered unconventional choices as
featured speakers Friday at a church conference,
organizers say they are a perfect fit. “Leadership
doesn’t only come from our little world,” said Jim Mellado, president of the Willow Creek Association. “We
have to look outside ourselves from wherever we can to
learn, grow and develop.”
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CHRISTIANS RALLY TO DEFEND RIGHT TO PRAY IN JESUS’
NAME
A former military chaplain who battled the U.S. Navy
over the right to pray in Jesus’ name is waging a
similar fight in Lodi, Calif., where the City Council in
May temporarily banned sectarian prayers before
meetings. “Jesus is not an illegal word, the Bible is
not a banned book, and evangelistic speech is not a
crime,” Klingenschmitt wrote in an online petition that
collected more than 5,000 signatures, half of them from
Californians.
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EVANGELIST SAYS REVIVAL HAS HIT SOUTH AFRICA
Thursday, 06 August 2009: Adrienne S.
Gaines Evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne says a revival
has broken out in his native South Africa that has seen
more than 138,000 people make decisions for Christ in
the last 46 days. “In 30 years now of ministry,
I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” said
Howard-Browne, founder of Revival Ministries
International and pastor of The River Church in Tampa,
Fla. “It’s not about a meeting and it’s not about me;
it’s about the power of God. It’s about Jesus. I’m just
here with a message and people are grabbing a hold of
it.”
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JIMMY CARTER CONFRONTS ‘RELIGIOUS PREJUDICE’ AGAINST
WOMEN
Former president Jimmy Carter and The Elders group of
global leaders are calling for a change to “the harmful
and discriminatory practices against women and girls and
give their full support to the equality of all”.
“Religion and tradition are a great force for peace and
progress around the world,” said The Elders, a group of
global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela, in
statement to mark the launch of their latest initiative.
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 TED’S LONG ROAD TO RESTORATION AND HEALING
Pastor Ted Haggard, who was excommunicated from New Life
Fellowship in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the church
that he founded and pastored for 22 years, is slowly
recovering from his personal and family crisis. In 2006,
Time Magazine had included Ted Haggard in their list of
the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America. The
Wall Street Journal called him one “of the nation’s most
politically influential” clergy, and Harper’s Magazine
stated that, “No pastor in America holds more sway over
the political direction of evangelicalism than does
Pastor Ted.” In addition to regular national media
appearances, he was interviewed by both Tom Brokaw and
Barbara Walters.
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PAKISTAN PARLIAMENT OBSERVES TWO MINUTE SILENCE FOR
MARTYRED CHRISTIANS
Islamabad: Pakistan Parliament observed
two minutes of silence for the Christians who were
martyred recently in Gojra on Monday, August 3, 2009.
The Government condemned killings of Christians in Gojra
on August 1 after Pakistan Federal Minister for
Minorities, Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti presented a resolution
urging parliament to condemn violence against
Christians. Pakistan Parliament unanimously passed Mr.
Shahbaz Bhatti’s resolution to condemn Christians’
killings in Gojra.
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This page is
updated on Sep 08, 2009 |
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