Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
In today's edition:
- Egypt Regime Orders Restoration of Destroyed Church
- Vietnam: Christian Activists to Go on Trial
- KJV More Popular Online than Ever Before
- Family Radio Gets $1 Million Offer for Stations
Egypt Regime Orders Restoration of Destroyed Church
The Christian Post reports that Egypt's interim government is trying to alleviate interfaith tensions by contributing to the restoration of a church destroyed. Islamic extremists set fire to St. Mary’s Church in Imbaba, a suburb of the capital Cairo, earlier this month. The attack was just one incident in a trend of violent interactions between Christians and Muslims in the country. Workers have been quickly moved to the church site and hope to complete three months’ worth of work in just three weeks. Malak Gerges was inside the church at the time of the attack, and he reported to Reuters how the Islamist aggressors “dragged me out and threatened and abused me.”
Vietnam: Christian Activists to Go on Trial
Three Mennonite Christians accused of “attempting to overthrow the government of Vietnam” in Ben Tre province will soon go on trial. Four other activists have been charged with the same crime. According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the three were active in campaigning for land rights, and if convicted they may face a lengthy prison sentence or a death sentence. Pastor Duong Kim Khai, Tran Thi Thuy and Nguyen Thanh Tam have been held since August 2010 without access to lawyers or their families. They are members of the unrecognized branch of the Mennonite church and attended the “Cow Shed Church” in Ho Chi Minh City. Inspired by their Christian faith, they worked assisting fellow Vietnamese citizens who lost farmland when it was forcibly sold by local government to large corporations, helping them to file complaint letters asking for adequate compensation.
KJV More Popular Online than Ever Before
Christian Newswire reports that the online readership of the bestselling King James Bible is on the rise. This month, as people around the world celebrated the 400-year anniversary of the KJV, more people than ever before are searching the web for the translation. According to Google Insights, a service that compares search volume patterns, the phrase "King James Bible" was searched 9 percent more this year than the previous seven-year average. Keyword phrases including either "King James Bible" or "King James Version" were searched more than 2 million times per month. The KJV was the first English Bible printed in the United States, with more than 1 billion copies published worldwide.
Family Radio Gets $1 Million Offer for Stations
A Bible teaching ministry is asking Harold Camping's Family Radio to demonstrate their faith in Camping's Rapture predictions with a signed contract. The Christian Post reports that A Bible Answer ministry has offered $1 million to purchase the 66 station network, but has offered not to assume ownership until October 22, 2011. Camping has revised his prediction for the end of the world for October 21. Richard Myers, the administrator of abibleanswer.org, said on the website, "After taking the money of his supporters, let Harold give up all he has to show he believes what he is preaching. He does not or else he would sell." The ministry also offered to buy the stations in February, saying they would take possession after the then-predicted Doomsday of May 21. Meyers notes that the stations would play good Christian music and read from the KJV if the offer is accepted – they just won't predict Jesus's return.
