India: 14 killed as anti Christian violence spreads
Tensions remained high on Wednesday, September 15, in several parts of India where reports of Qur'an burning in the United States sparked deadly attacks against Christian institutions. In the village of Tangmarg, in India's Kashmir region, at least 14 people were killed and scores injured over the weekend when thousands of angry Muslims took to the streets and torched a Christian school. ‘The students are not hurt, but the building has totally burnt down,’ said Bishop Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy of the Church of North India. He said officials were informed of a possible attack and that Christians requested protection, but that ‘no action was taken’. The demonstrations were fuelled by reports that although a Florida pastor called off his plans to burnthe Qur'an, Iran's state-run TV, which is widely available in India, showed footage of a different man destroying a Qur'an in Tennessee. (See also Prayer Alert 3710) Pray: that any further actions that would bring the Church into disrepute and cause outrage would be stopped at source. (2Pet.2:1-2) More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/13830-14-killed-as-anti-christian-violence-spreads-in-india
Iran: State TV reports arrest of nine Christians
In its news night programme on Friday 10th September Iranian State television announced that nine people had been arrested on the charge of carrying out evangelism just outside Hamedan. In this report State television mentioned that two of these people were being supported by organizations that are based outside the country, in particular the United States and Great Britain, but they did not mention the nationalities of these people. In this report it has been said that 'the other seven people who were arrested are Iranian and were cooperating with these Christian-Zionist organizations'. This report labels the arrested people as 'Christian Zionists' and 'evangelicals' but it did not say anything about their relationship with Israel or Zionists. In the Iranian government culture 'Christian-Zionists' is a title that they use to call Evangelical Christians who are benefiting from having access to a number of networks and TV satellite programmes for evangelism. Pray: for believers in Iran that God will help them to overcome the pressure of the authorities. (Rev.17:14)
British church attendance turns a corner
For years now, the words ‘church attendance’ have rarely been read apart from the rather gloomy utterance of ‘in decline’. But it seems there may be more to smile about than any of us realised as the latest figures out from Christian Research show that attendance in the Catholic Church and Church of England have stabilised, while the Baptist Union has seen sizable growth. The statistical evidence coming from Christian Research in recent years has all pointed to long-term decline. The last five years have seen a halt in the decline, however, with average weekly attendance in Catholic churches remaining steady at around 900,000 since 2004, welcome news just days before the Pope's visit to Britain. The same trend can be seen in the Church of England, where average weekly attendance has hovered at around 1.2 million year on year since 2001, whereas the Baptists have also seen an increase. Praise: the Lord for this trend and growth in His Church in our nation. (Ps.135:1-2) More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/british.church.attendance.turns.a.corner/26699.htm
British church attendance turns a corner
For years now, the words ‘church attendance’ have rarely been read apart from the rather gloomy utterance of ‘in decline’. But it seems there may be more to smile about than any of us realised as the latest figures out from Christian Research show that attendance in the Catholic Church and Church of England have stabilised, while the Baptist Union has seen sizable growth. The statistical evidence coming from Christian Research in recent years has all pointed to long-term decline. The last five years have seen a halt in the decline, however, with average weekly attendance in Catholic churches remaining steady at around 900,000 since 2004, welcome news just days before the Pope's visit to Britain. The same trend can be seen in the Church of England, where average weekly attendance has hovered at around 1.2 million year on year since 2001, whereas the Baptists have also seen an increase. Praise: the Lord for this trend and growth in His Church in our nation. (Ps.135:1-2) More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/british.church.attendance.turns.a.corner/26699.htm
