Is the European Union fumbling as Egypt and the Middle East erupt in violence and unrest? The European Coalition for Israel (ECI) believes so.

ECI issued the following statement:

“The European Union has found no clear line of policy as Egypt and the rest of the Middle East seem to be sliding deeper into chaos and unrest. The same EU leaders who for years have hailed the Egyptian leader Mubarak as a strong ally and friend have switched allegiance overnight and are now pressing for an immediate toppling of the president without having any clear idea of what may follow if Islamic fundamentalists take over the country.

The hypocrisy and naivety of the EU and the Western world is nothing new. The Iranian revolution had support from Europe. Also the developments in Turkey, where Islamic forces have taken over the government, have been supported by EU pressure for more democracy. Only a few years ago EU support for the Fatah-ruled Palestinian territories was steadfast and any accusation of corruption or mismanagement of funds was clearly rejected by the European Commission. Everything changed overnight when Hamas came to power. Then the EU suddenly blamed it all on ’the corruption of the previous government’. EU policy in the Middle East has sadly proved to be a complete failure.

(The commissioner responsible at the time, Chris Patton, who fervently opposed any transparency in the EU funding of the Palestinian territories, is today an active campaigner against Israel and one of the initiators of the letter written to the EU mentioned in the last issue.)

Today the same EU leaders who criticize Mubarak for non-democratic rule are apparently happy to support the Muslim Brotherhood which openly promotes a world caliphate.”

Egypt’s president Hosni Mubarak is shifting into transition. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians are still calling for his ouster.

Carl Moeller with Open Doors says it may be a nod to the protesters, but “this is just one additional step in a process, and it really doesn’t change the dynamics of what’s really happening in Egypt, although it would be seen as a huge victory for the protesters.”

Moeller goes on to say that the dynamics of the change are already set. Vice President Omar Suleiman was thought to be the next in line to take over, but since Suleiman and Mubarak are viewed as two sides of the same coin, the only thing that will keep Egypt from imploding will be a paradigm shift. “There will either be a diminished Mubarak/Suleiman regime in the next few months leading up to elections, or immediate elections held in the next few weeks.”

A good thing? Maybe. Democracy as North America experiences it is a different frame of reference. Right now, there is a risk of “democracy” under a very conservative Muslim mindset. Moeller says, “Given recent polling data, if an election were to be held tomorrow, it’s quite likely that Islamic extremists would have a significant–if not dominant–role to play in the new government.”

Moeller explains that should that occur, there will likely be greater hardship for Christians. “The Pew Research Study conducted a survey that indicated that 84 percent of Egyptian citizens said they would favor public execution of those who leave Islam for another religion. 76 percent favor stoning for those caught in adultery.”

The reaction to what is termed “apostasy” could outline what will be a desperate future for evangelism and believers. Pray for peace and for boldness. “We need to remember the church. We need to remember that the Christians in Egypt face the ‘frying pan and the fire.’ Those Christians face an uncertain future. Their hope is in Jesus Christ and in His sovereignty, but the reality for our brothers and sisters in Egypt is that they face an increasingly uncertain future.”

Indonesian police stood guard outside churches on Wednesday after a wave of anti-Christian violence swept across the Muslim country.

Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs explains, “This mob was raised up by a guilty verdict in a case of blasphemy against a Christian man in an Indonesian court.”

The case took place in Central Java, where a Christian man was accused of distributing materials and leaflets that allegedly blasphemed Islam.

As judges decided the case, instigators outside began to inflame anti-Christian fanaticism. Nettleton explains that the extremists were dissatisfied with the sentencing. Not long after the verdict, around 1,000 protesters expressed their ire. “The man was found guilty. He was sentenced to five years in prison. The mob was angry because they wanted him to get the death sentence. In fact, they wanted the judge to immediately turn him to the mob so that they could execute him.”

The sentence was thought too lenient, and the mob rampaged the courthouse, two police stations, and two churches. There were reports that the protests quickly spread. “A couple of members of an Islamic sect (another minority group) were executed by radical Muslims in Indonesia. The reports are that the video shows police standing by and watching while this execution took place.”

Grisly video of the murders showed hardliners running amok. That’s really what’s causing the disconcerted response. “For Christians, and for other religious minorities in Indonesia, when they hear that police stood by while people were killed, it doesn’t give them a sense of confidence that the police will step forward and really provide protection that Indonesia’s constitution calls for.”

Additionally, even as the government tries to restore order, the details on the scope and damage of the riots are sketchy because the situation hasn’t been totally put down. Nettleton says, “There are reports that stones were thrown and windows were broken; there are reports that they were burned. Hopefully, more information is coming that will clarify that.”

VOM was not directly affected, but there is a team investigating. “We will have somebody who will go to the area and try to get some additional details, try to see what the church there needs, how we can provide assistance for them and help for them. But we’re so early in this situation, that I don’t know exactly what steps will be taken as we move forward.”

Pray. Nettleton notes the tension there, and it could have an impact on ministry. “It would be natural for there to be a sense of fear, or a sense of foreboding that ‘if I follow Christ, bad things are going to happen to me’. I think we need to pray against that spirit.”

Intimidation is a big factor, too. Believers need boldness in their faith, but what they’ve witnessed makes them nervous. “Pray directly for Muslims in Indonesia to come to know Christ in a personal way. I think Christ has the ability to take hearts that are filled with hatred and anger, and make them hearts that are peaceful, and hearts that are filled with love.”

Relief efforts have poured into Haiti during the past year, but much work remains. Indeed, thousands of children are still starving in the small Caribbean nation.

The 22,000-member NorthRidge Church is aiming to fill some hungry bellies with its Million Meals campaign this weekend. NorthRidge Church has partnered with Feed My Starving Children, a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding starving children.

“We don’t want to be just known as that large church, but as that generous church,” says NorthRidge Senior Pastor Brad Powell. “We want to be a church that follows the example God gave us—to be driven by compassion to give our best, to give generously.”

Powell challenged his congregation in early January to come up with 5,000 volunteers to pack the million meals. In less than three weeks, church members had filled all of the vacancies. More than 5,000 volunteers from the Plymouth-based church will work Friday through Sunday to pack food specifically designed to save the lives of severely malnourished children.

“Why do we do this?” Powell asks rhetorically. “It’s really a part of our DNA at NorthRidge. One of our values states that the church most visibly evidences the love of Christ by ministering with compassion and care to the poor, sick, hurting, lonely, rejected and forgotten people of the world.”

Feed My Starving Children ships meals to nearly 70 countries around the world. Each meal costs only 19 cents to produce. Powell noted that $70 can feed a child for an entire year. But NorthRidge church isn’t stopping its community outreach with meals for starving Haitian children.

“At the regional level, we’ll work with soup kitchens, City Mission and Orphan Care, among others,” Powell says. “Internationally, we have been to Haiti and India and are continuing to make investments in needy areas around the world.”

Lindsay Lohan isn’t going to jail just now, but a California judge gave the troubled actress a stern warning after she entered a plea in the latest shoplifting charges against her.

The 24-year-old Lohan has pled not guilty to a grand theft charge for allegedly stealing a $2,500 necklace from a Venice jewelry store.

“Miss Lohan, let me just tell you a couple things, so we have no misunderstandings,” said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz. “You need to follow the laws just like everybody else. Look around this room. Everybody needs to follow the law. You’re no different than anyone else, so please don’t push your luck.”

Subsequently, prison minister Marty Angelo sent Lohan another offer-to-help letter.

“This is my third letter I have sent to you, Lindsay,” Angelo wrote. “I am saddened to see you having to go through another formal charge when none of this would have happened to you had you taken me up on my offer back in 2007 and again in 2010.”

Angelo was referring to his attempt to help Lohan after her father, Michael contacted him in 2007 asking Angelo to reach out to his daughter by sending her and her mother, Dina a copy of his book, “Once Life Matters: A New Beginning.” Michael Lohan informed Angelo he read his life-changing book while incarcerated and at Teen Challenge in NYC.

Angelo not only sent a copy of his book to Lindsay and Dina Lohan but also wrote Lindsay two letters offering to serve her pending jail time if she would enroll and complete a 12-month faith-based residential treatment program.

“These new charges you are facing did not have to come to pass had you taken up my offers,” Angelo continued. “You are taking ‘a road of least resistance’ that most substance abusers take thinking they can ‘fix themselves’ by only going to a 30-day secular rehab. Those programs have a very low success rate which you are proving. You need at least 12-months of faith-based treatment to finally beat your troubles.”

The Lohan family could not immediately be reached for comment.

What’s your thoughts on Angelo’s efforts to reach out to Lohan?

Responding to a petition by the state Catholic Bishops Conference, the High Court of Madhya Pradesh yesterday directed the state government to ensure the safety of Christians during a massive Hindu nationalist rally scheduled tomorrow through Saturday (Feb. 10-12) in Mandla.

Organizers of the Maa Narmada Samajik Kumbh (Mother Narmada Social Kumbh, with “kumbh” literally meaning, “pot”) on the banks of the Narmada River hope to draw 2 million pilgrims to the event. Christian leaders said that the Kumbh is the latest in a series of anti-Christian propaganda events that Hindu nationalist organizations have held in recent years.

“We are worried about our safety and security, as our attempt to get adequate protection from the state government received a very cool response,” said Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur.

A similar event in Dangs district, Gujarat state in 2006 was filled with hate speech against Christians and attempted mass “reconversions,” and area media in Mandla district have already begun carrying false stories of “forced conversion” and other malicious accusations against Christians.

A local tribal party known as the Gond Mahasabha (Great Assembly of the Gonds) has vehemently opposed the Kumbh. The Gonds, whose origins predate Hindu presence in the area, have stated that they are not Hindus and are against the proposed ghar wapasi or “homecoming” ceremony – a “reconversion” drive by the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS umbrella group of hard-line Hindu extremist groups asserts that all people born in India are Hindus, and that therefore anyone who believes otherwise must be “reconverted” back to Hinduism.

The Gonds have delivered an ultimatum to the RSS threatening violence should even one case of “reconversion” occur at the Kumbh. They have called for a protest tomorrow (Feb. 10), and clashes are expected.
 
The former chief minister and general secretary of the Congress Party, Digvijay Singh, has also protested the event, accusing the RSS of “brainwashing the people.”

Dr. John Dayal, secretary general of the All India Christian Council (AICC), told Compass that the Sangh Parivar (the RSS and its affiliates) “has left no one in any doubt” that the main reason for the Kumbh “is to purge the region of ‘Christian missionaries’ they accuse of carrying on large-scale conversions of tribals, mostly Gonds, in this part of the country.”

Dayal and Vijayesh Lal, secretary of the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, made a recent fact-finding trip to Mandla and compiled a report. In a press statement, Dayal said that they supported the freedom to hold large-scale religious events.

“But, we fear that, even if there is no violence or a forcible conversion of Christians to Hinduism during the Kumbh, the Hindutva [Hindu nationalist] campaign has poisoned the atmosphere in Madhya Pradesh,” Dayal stated. “This will negatively impact relationships between Christian and other tribals in the hamlets, villages, and townships of the region.”

The activity of hard-line Hindu nationalists in Madhya Pradesh could damage freedom of religion in the region, he added. “It may also negatively impact the continuing social work of Christians, including schools and medical centers in under-developed districts.”

Sources in the region have indicated to Compass that a hate campaign against Christians is already underway, fanned by local-language media reports hostile to Christian workers.

“The propaganda against Christians is getting serious by the day,” Pastor Rakesh Dass of Mandla told Compass. “Just a few days back, there was a report in a local newspaper that a Christian priest was coercing three tribal children to convert to Christianity. Remarks from the district collector were taken, and a case was made of forcible conversion, whereas the reality was completely different.”

Hindu nationalists publicized the accusations, Pastor Dass said.

“We refuted the news and submitted a memorandum to the district collector, but the very next day the local papers carried news against Christian missionaries and alleged that Christians are opposing the organizing of the Kumbh in the area.”

While some clippings of local-language newspapers targeting Christian churches are highly malicious, organizers are also forcing Christians to help finance the event, Christian leaders said.

“Christian pastors have been forced to give donations to the cause of the Kumbh,” said Anoop George, an independent pastor in Mandla. “Christian families are being forced to give rice and pulses as their contribution to the Kumbh, and they are being threatened with dire consequences if they continue to preach the message of Jesus Christ in and around Mandla.”

Pastor George told Compass that a lot of anti-minority – especially anti-Christian – materials were appearing in the area.

“Posters denouncing the church and missionaries are being put up around Mandla, and pamphlets are being distributed against the so-called anti-national activities of the Christians,” he said.

Another pastor on condition of anonymity told Compass, “The Superintendent of Police had sent us a letter on his official letterhead asking the Christian institutions to remain closed from Jan. 23 till mid February to accommodate the pilgrims. Later, when we took the matter up with him, he denied any such letter being sent from him.”

Tribal students in government hostels have been mobilized to go to villages to educate people about the “nefarious designs of the missionaries,” the pastor sadly added.

Dayal and Lal reported how Hindu nationalists were using the administration to target Christian institutions.

“The police issued a notice to Sister Olga Lucas of the Deenbandhudham Convent in Mandla that they were investigating complaints and wanted the convent to give a list of the nuns serving in the convent with details, further details of their bank accounts, the details of other inmates, numbers of landline and mobile telephones in the convent and the names of those who owned these instruments,” their report noted. “Going to ridiculous lengths, the police also asked for full details of patients undergoing treatment in the hospital and clinics and the details of the administrative structure of the congregation of the nuns, together with names, addresses and phone numbers of the office bearers and superiors. Similar notices were also issued to other Catholic priests and Protestant pastors.”

The report also noted that that the government of Madhya Pradesh was “going all out” to ensure the success of the Kumbh, reportedly allotting 1.4 billion rupees (US$30.7 million) for infrastructure and other arrangements.

“Police from the division but also other parts of the state are being deployed, as prominent Hindu religious leaders as well as activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and other Hindu organizations, besides prominent Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] leaders, are expected to attend,” the report notes. “We were given to understand that chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, including Mr. Narendra Modi of Gujarat, Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan of Madhya Pradesh and Mr. Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh, were also expected to attend.”

When plans for the Kumbh in Mandla district were announced in May 2010, an area house church was attacked. (See www.compassdirect.org, “Hindu Nationalists in India Plan ‘Religious Cleansing’ in Madhya Pradesh District,” May 20, 2010.)

The Kumbh venue is spread over a 14 square-kilometer (nearly nine square-mile) area

Previous Kumbh
The Ma Narmada Samajik Kumbh is a follow-up of the Shabri Kumbh held Feb. 11-13, 2006 in tribal-dominated Dangs district of Gujarat state.

Besides hate speeches before, during and after the event, the Kumbh also led to the beating of Christians, with many abandoning the area, and much loss of Christian property, including graveyards. Christian graves were reportedly dug up and crosses desecrated.

The Supreme Court of India subsequently banned a CD produced by the event organizing committee entitled “Shri Shabri Kumbh 2006: Spirituality along with the Wave of Patriotism,” ruling that it incited “Hindus against the Christian community and suggests that Christians be attacked and beheaded.”

Swami Aseemanand of Dangs was the main force behind the Shabri Kumbh in 2006. He is now in police custody, under investigation for his part in terrorist targeting of religious minorities, including alleged involvement in the bombing of Muslim shrines and mosques, as well as the bombing of the India-Pakistan “peace train” in 2007.

Church leaders also believe that Aseemanand was also the mastermind of the attacks on churches in Dangs district in 1998.

Traditionally a Kumbh is a mass Hindu pilgrimage celebrated every three years. The Ardh Kumbh is a bigger event celebrated every six years, while the full Kumbh – known as the Purna Kumbh – is celebrated every 12 years. A Maha (great) Kumbh is held every 144 years at Allahabad. The last Mahakumbh was held at Allahabad in 2001 and was attended by 60 million people, making it the largest gathering of people anywhere in the world in recorded history.  

“What distinguishes the Narmada Samajik Kumbh from the others is that it is part of a very recent series of religious festivals invented by the Sangh Parivar as part of an ideological campaign to animate tribal populations in western and central India,” the report by Dayal and Lal states.

According to RSS leader Mukund Rao, the “social Kumbh” began in 2006 with the Shabri Kumbh in Dangs, Gujarat – described as an attempt to counter the influence of foreign Christian workers in the area. It resulted in propaganda against Christians and heightened tensions.

Dr. Peter F. Althouse, associate professor of Religion at Southeastern University, has been appointed to serve on a research grant committee of the Illinois-based Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR).

The association is an international group of 700-plus scholars who seek to advance theory and research in the sociology of religion. Althouse will serve on the organization’s Fichter Research Grant Committee, which will award a total of $24,000 this year to scholars who are involved in promising research in women and religion, gender issues, and feminist perspectives on religion, or religion and poverty.

“I am happy to serve both Southeastern University and the Association for the Sociology of Religion,” says Althouse. “This is an opportunity for Southeastern to received greater exposure among the scholarly community.”

A Canada native, Althouse has been a Southeastern University faculty member since 2007. He emphasizes research-based teaching, a teaching ethic that has benefitted both his undergraduate and graduate students.

Althouse is currently involved in a number of research projects on both Pentecostalism in Canada and Prayer in the Charismatic Renewal Movement. He has authored or co-authored four books: The Ideological Development of ‘Power’ in Early American Pentecostalism; Winds from the North: Canadian Contributions to Early Pentecostalism; Perspectives in Pentecostal Eschatologies; and Spirit of the Last Days: Pentecostal Eschatology in Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann.

Even as the King James Bible celebrates its 400th year, three well-known Bible brands are gearing up to get a more modern version into the hands of believers—digitally.

YouVersion’s Bible App, Biblica and Zondervan are teaming up to offer 1 million free downloads of the New International Version (NIV) Bible beginning Feb. 12.

“The NIV continues in the tradition of the King James Version by bringing God’s unchanging Word into the language of the people. Our goal at Zondervan is to see ‘more people engaging the Bible more,’ and YouVersion’s Bible App helps accomplish this purpose,” says Chip Brown, senior vice president and publisher at Zondervan. “It is an outstanding resource available on nearly every mobile device on the market, and that makes accessing God’s Word as easy as making a phone call.”

Starting Saturday, Feb. 12 at 8:00 p.m. EST, the popular NIV will be available for download through the Bible App for 400 hours. Once downloaded, you can access the NIV anytime, anywhere whether you are connected to the Internet or not. The free downloads will end at noon EST on March 1.

Users logged 4.3 billion minutes reading the Bible in 2010 with the Bible App and are currently on track to log 1 billion minutes in the first 50 days of 2011. As of the beginning of January 2011, the Bible App had been installed on slightly more than 13 million unique devices. On Jan. 19, the YouVersion Bible App was listed by Apple as one of the all-time top apps for both iPad and iPhone.

Commissioned 2 Love has been ordered to cease operations on the campus of Florida A&M University. Florida A&M officials revoked the Christian student group’s active status based on a finding that the club violated what the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) calls a “constitutionally problematic” rule that prohibits student groups from meeting, holding events, and hosting functions unless a university-appointed advisor is present at all times.

In a January e-mail to Commissioned 2 Love, the university advised the club that it had been deactivated for violating the university’s advisor policy and ordered that “no meetings, events, activities, or gatherings of any type take place prior to Fall 2011 semester certification period.” As a result, Commissioned 2 Love has ceased to exist in any meaningful way on campus. ADF officials sent the university a letter Tuesday urging them to reinstate a Christian student group they de-recognized in January.

“Christian student clubs shouldn’t be kicked off campus because of a public university policy that imposes such a severe restriction on the right of students to speak or even meet on campus,” says ADF Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “There is simply no constitutionally valid justification for a policy that bans student meetings and speech unless a government employee is present the entire time the meeting or speech occurs.”

According to the ADF letter, this requirement is unconstitutional because it gives university employees complete and unbridled discretion over whether a student group’s meeting or speech will occur.

The letter also points out that the university’s policies violate the Constitution because they “compel student organizations to associate with government employees who they may not want to associate with, and who in fact may be adverse to the group’s mission and expression. Even worse, the students are not given the authority to select their own advisors, but rather the Associate Vice President for Student Life appoints advisors for student organizations…. FAMU’s policies are particularly egregious violations of the right to association, since they require the government employee with whom student organizations must associate to…‘[p]rovide counseling, leadership and direction regarding…the mission of the club or organization.’”

“This means that the university can appoint an atheist to oversee a Christian group, a meat-eater to advise a vegetarian group, or a Republican to provide direction to the College Democrats,” Tedesco explains. “The policy is both unconstitutional and absurd.”

In its letter, ADF urges Florida A&M to immediately reinstate the club as a recognized student organization and to amend or eliminate their unconstitutional policies.

Sudan has faced years of civil war. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in north/south violence. But that has all come to an end as South Sudan has overwhelmingly voted to secede from Northern Sudan.

The referendum was part of a 2005 peace accord that ended the north/south civil war. The comprehensive peace accord which was brokered by the U.S. will also remove Sudan from their terrorist list and could renew diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Sudan Unit Leader with Africa Inland Mission, Phil Byler, speaking from Sudan, says, “99 percent of the people voted to separate. Over 80 percent of the registered voters voted. And North Sudan government says they will accept the results.”

Byler adds, “That is just an incredible answer to prayer. Many people compare it to the coming down of the Berlin Wall.”

While the vote affirms the secession, it hasn’t actually happened yet. “There’s going to be an interim period between now and the 9th of July, this year, 2011. During this period, they have not officially separated; they’re just planning to separate July the 9th,” Byler says.

In the meantime they will establish an interim government and schedule full elections. Byler excitedly says, “This is a very highly tribal nation, and for them to come together and to pull off this incredible unity of voting for this referendum this way is just unbelievable.”

However, the news isn’t all good news. The bad news is that the Muslim north could become more fundamentalist. Byler says, “They will establish Sharia law in a much stronger way in the north. And I expect the Christians will be quite marginalized and probably suffer significant persecution.”
Is it a concern of his? Byler says, “Well, yes and no. The church often grows through persecution rather than go under with it. Who knows how the Lord will use it.”

In the meantime Byler is asking Christians to pray for a dependent church in South Sudan. “We as a mission believe that now is the time for them to take the ownership and move forward with their own programs and let us help strengthen and support those.”

Byler is also asking Christians to pray that the representative government will include all of the South Sudanese tribes. If not, Byler says, “There’s been one large tribe that has been predominately in power. If that is maintained, there will be long-standing tribal divisions, and that could throw us into a civil war.”