NEWS: UK, Israel, Persecution, Resources
UK: HARD FACTS
*100,000 children a year run away from broken homes.
*41% of all children born in the UK are to unmarried couples.
*The UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe.
*Over the last 35 years, an average of 1 abortion has been legally carried out every three minutes, 80% funded by the National Health Service.
*Each year 140,000 people attempt suicide and 4,000 children every day call the Childline.
*24 million anti-depressant prescription items are issued each year.
*Regular annual drug users: 5 million use cannabis, 3.4 million ecstasy, 2 million amphetamines and cocaine.
*British Telecom blocks 20,000 attempts per day of people trying to watch pornographic acts with children on the internet.
*Program sex scenes on British TV have increased 300% in the last 5 years.
*At peak times, 8 out of 10 admissions to Emergency Rooms are a result of drinking, costing the UK £12 billion a year.
*60 million acts of crime take place annually.
*380,000 people are living on British streets.
REPORTED IN AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER, compiled from various sources]
ISRAEL TO RECEIVE CHRISTIAN TV STATION
Daystar Television Network announced a new contract allowing them to become the first TV channel to broadcast 100 percent Christian programming into every home in Israel. Daystar, which owns and operates 50 US television stations, is excited about the opportunity. President Marcus D. Lamb commented on the pioneering project saying, "Up until now, it has either been illegal, impossible, or impractical. The message of the Gospel will now be going into every home in Israel 24 hours per day, seven days per week. This is a moment in time that we will always remember." The contract came after a year of negotiations and a six-month trial period featuring popular shows "Celebration" and "The Joni Show." Daystar's global purpose is to reach as many people with the good news of the Gospel through an extensive blend of interdenominational and multi-cultural programming. [ASSIST, 9 May '06]
200,000 IMPRISONED NORTH KOREAN CHRISTIANS
Rev. Carl Moeller, president of the persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA, says an estimated 200,000 Christians are imprisoned in North Korean labor camps where many face torture and execution. Escapees testified in April at congressional hearings and demonstrations in Washington as part of North Korea Freedom Week. The goal was to appeal for prayer and international pressure on the communist regime. For the fourth year in a row, Open Doors has ranked North Korea as the worst violator of religious rights in the world. Moeller calls it "one large concentration camp with the entire population trapped in a nightmare that doesn't end." [AGAPE, 28
April'06/Associated Press]
TOP RELIGIOUS PERSECUTORS
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has released its 2006 report naming the world's most severe persecutors of religious followers. The U.S. State Department uses the panel's recommendations to establish "counties of particular concern" (CPCs) in the area of religious freedom. Retained from last year's list of CPCs are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam. Additionally, the panel repeated recommendation that Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan be designated CPCs, despite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's refusal to include those countries in a State Department report in November. A "watch
list" of additional religious persecutors included Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria. The panel continues to analyze reports from India, Russia and Sri Lanka as well. [BAPTIST PRESS, HCJB 12 May '06]
RESOURCES:
BRIGHT IDEAS for getting kids into missions:
http://www.wycliffe.org/catalog/BrightI
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MINISTRY site to equip leaders:
http://www.reach-out.org
PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS:
Recent headlines and media resources, updated almost daily:
http://www.christianmonitor.org/
****************************************
NEWS BYTES is compiled monthly by Debbie Meroff of OM News & Information [OMNI] in London, England. Material may be freely copied and circulated. Items do not necessarily reflect OM position and questions should be directed to the original news source. Html version can be found on www.om.org. Please do not hit "reply" to this email as subscriptions are automated. For a free e-mail subscription send a message to:
newsbytes-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
*100,000 children a year run away from broken homes.
*41% of all children born in the UK are to unmarried couples.
*The UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe.
*Over the last 35 years, an average of 1 abortion has been legally carried out every three minutes, 80% funded by the National Health Service.
*Each year 140,000 people attempt suicide and 4,000 children every day call the Childline.
*24 million anti-depressant prescription items are issued each year.
*Regular annual drug users: 5 million use cannabis, 3.4 million ecstasy, 2 million amphetamines and cocaine.
*British Telecom blocks 20,000 attempts per day of people trying to watch pornographic acts with children on the internet.
*Program sex scenes on British TV have increased 300% in the last 5 years.
*At peak times, 8 out of 10 admissions to Emergency Rooms are a result of drinking, costing the UK £12 billion a year.
*60 million acts of crime take place annually.
*380,000 people are living on British streets.
REPORTED IN AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER, compiled from various sources]
ISRAEL TO RECEIVE CHRISTIAN TV STATION
Daystar Television Network announced a new contract allowing them to become the first TV channel to broadcast 100 percent Christian programming into every home in Israel. Daystar, which owns and operates 50 US television stations, is excited about the opportunity. President Marcus D. Lamb commented on the pioneering project saying, "Up until now, it has either been illegal, impossible, or impractical. The message of the Gospel will now be going into every home in Israel 24 hours per day, seven days per week. This is a moment in time that we will always remember." The contract came after a year of negotiations and a six-month trial period featuring popular shows "Celebration" and "The Joni Show." Daystar's global purpose is to reach as many people with the good news of the Gospel through an extensive blend of interdenominational and multi-cultural programming. [ASSIST, 9 May '06]
200,000 IMPRISONED NORTH KOREAN CHRISTIANS
Rev. Carl Moeller, president of the persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA, says an estimated 200,000 Christians are imprisoned in North Korean labor camps where many face torture and execution. Escapees testified in April at congressional hearings and demonstrations in Washington as part of North Korea Freedom Week. The goal was to appeal for prayer and international pressure on the communist regime. For the fourth year in a row, Open Doors has ranked North Korea as the worst violator of religious rights in the world. Moeller calls it "one large concentration camp with the entire population trapped in a nightmare that doesn't end." [AGAPE, 28
April'06/Associated Press]
TOP RELIGIOUS PERSECUTORS
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has released its 2006 report naming the world's most severe persecutors of religious followers. The U.S. State Department uses the panel's recommendations to establish "counties of particular concern" (CPCs) in the area of religious freedom. Retained from last year's list of CPCs are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam. Additionally, the panel repeated recommendation that Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan be designated CPCs, despite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's refusal to include those countries in a State Department report in November. A "watch
list" of additional religious persecutors included Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria. The panel continues to analyze reports from India, Russia and Sri Lanka as well. [BAPTIST PRESS, HCJB 12 May '06]
RESOURCES:
BRIGHT IDEAS for getting kids into missions:
http://www.wycliffe.org/catalog/BrightI
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MINISTRY site to equip leaders:
http://www.reach-out.org
PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS:
Recent headlines and media resources, updated almost daily:
http://www.christianmonitor.org/
****************************************
NEWS BYTES is compiled monthly by Debbie Meroff of OM News & Information [OMNI] in London, England. Material may be freely copied and circulated. Items do not necessarily reflect OM position and questions should be directed to the original news source. Html version can be found on www.om.org. Please do not hit "reply" to this email as subscriptions are automated. For a free e-mail subscription send a message to:
newsbytes-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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