News Update - 5/24/2010

The team, comprised of two Sudanese men and one 36-year-old American woman from California, was traveling in a two-vehicle convoy when they were stopped by a group of armed men 25 miles southwest of Nyala in Sudan’s Darfur region early Tuesday evening. Samaritan’s Purse is working with U.S. and Sudanese government officials to secure the safe return of its staff.

“I have visited Darfur several times and it is one of the most difficult places in the world to work. I’m asking for the prayers from people around the world for a quick resolution and the safe return of our Samaritan’s Purse staff,” said Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse.

Religion Today Summaries

Indian Missionaries Call It a “Privilege” to Suffer
The Christian Post reports that Bible college students in India are calling the recent attack on their school a “privilege.” Seven students were seriously injured when attackers brandishing sticks, iron rods and fluorescent light tubes broke into the school’s cafeteria on May 9.

“Through this situation I learned what the Bible means when it says, ‘Blessed are those who suffer for Christ,’” said Hemanti Kashyap, who was struck in the stomach with an iron rod. “This opposition was the test of my faith to march forward and to share the Gospel. They hit my stomach with an iron rod and I was injured, but I am grateful to the Lord Jesus who kept me safe to be a witness for Him.”

Another student, Sunil Pattanayap, said, “For a moment I was shocked about why this was happening to me. Then I understood that the time had come for me to glorify His name.” Three students are still recovering at a hospital with broken bones.

Religion Today Summaries

Haiti: More Than 1 Million Still Homeless
Food for the Poor reports that more than 1 million people in Haiti are still homeless following January’s crippling earthquake. Thousands of people are still living in tent cities outside of Port-au-Prince and other areas, despite the coming of the rainy season.

“I don’t have a house. I have no place to stay. I have nothing,” said Elna, 40, who now lives in a tent with dry palm leaves for a roof. “Someone had to give me a cup to drink water out of.”

During rainstorms, Elna and Isna get drenched if they can’t run beneath someone else’s overhanging tarp. “We just stand here in the rain,” Elna said. “Even if the insects come in here and bite us, we have no place else to go, so we have to sit here and take it.”

Religion Today Summaries

University Finds Students Guilty over Pro-Life Display
Eight members of the University of Calgary’s (Alberta) pro-life club, Campus Pro-Life (CPL), have been found guilty after closed-door hearings late last month over their presentation of a pro-life display on campus, says the group.

The University’s acting associate vice-provost, Meghan Houghton, told the students that she was issuing “a formal written warning” that if the students “fail to comply with directives of Campus Security staff in the future” it will “result in more severe sanctions.” Houghton conducted the hearings, at which the students were denied legal representation, and was the sole decision-maker in the guilty verdict.

“We are going to challenge this verdict,” stated Alanna Campbell, CPL President. “We did not break a single University by-law or regulation and so we will defend ourselves accordingly. We will also not cease exercising our rights to free speech just because they’re threatening us.  I’d rather be expelled as a principled person than graduate a coward.”

Last month, after having set up the GAP (Genocide Awareness Project) pro-life display on campus for the ninth time since 2006, members of the group were notified that they were being charged with a “Major Violation” under Section 4.10 of the University of Calgary’s Non-Academic Misconduct Policy. The cited reason was the students’ “failure to comply with a Campus Security officer or University official in legitimate pursuit of his/her duties” when asked to turn their signs inward or leave campus.

LifeSiteNews

India Urged to End “Culture of Impunity”
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) released a briefing on Friday highlighting the pattern of communal violence against Christians in India.

CSW urged that India’s culture of impunity be reversed to ensure that inciters and perpetrators of communal violence expect to be brought to justice. The briefing, “Communalism, Anti-Christian Violence and the Law”, focuses on the aftermath of communal violence in Orissa in 2008, and the “regular, frequent attacks” on Christians concentrated in six other states, typically in the form of well-targeted mob violence.

The briefing also calls for the repeal of anti-conversion laws in force in five states, saying they are unnecessary, contrary to international law and have a damaging effect on religious minorities. Additionally, the penalization of Dalits (members of the “untouchable” lower caste) who change their religion should also be redressed.

Religion Today Summaries