WIFE OF IMPRISONED UYGHUR CHRISTIAN APPEALS FOR INTERNATIONAL HELP

China ― The family of a Uyghur Christian is frustrated with the blatant injustice of his trial, China Aid Association reports. The Kashi District Intermediate People's Court in Xinjiang openly used forged documents to accuse Alimujiang Yimiti of "revealing state secrets or intelligence to overseas organizations" and claimed it didn't have to prove the documents were valid. The verdict in the case is still pending.
Yimiti's wife, Guli Nuer, their two children, and Yimiti's mother were not allowed to be present at the trial. However, Yimiti was able to smile and wave to them from a police vehicle, despite his handcuffed hands, outside the gate of the courthouse. It was the first time his family had seen him since he was arbitrarily detained at Kashi Municipal Detention Center on January 12, 2008 - 18 months ago.
Only Li Dunyong and Liang Xiaojun, the two attorneys representing Alimujiang, were allowed to attend the trial.
Alimujiang testified that he was innocent of the charge, that the charges resulted from his evangelistic activity, and that he will appeal a guilty verdict. He also expressed his gratitude for the prayers and support of others.
Yimiti's wife, Guli, also expressed appreciationl to many Christians from all over China, including Han Chinese, who have called to express their prayers and support. She and Alimujiang have two sons -- one who is three years old and another who is school-aged.
The older son "feels repressed, angry and terrified," sources have told China Aid, and "Guli Nuer also felt disappointed, not expecting that such a wrongful case in which right and wrong would otherwise be clearly distinguished could become so difficult, and that right and wrong are so confused."
Alimujiang's mother is also frustrated, having spent months petitioning authorities in the Kashi District on behalf of her son. Friends say she aged visibly during the disappointment of the recent trial.
The international community is monitoring the situation. China Aid's Bob Fu is concerned about reports from some overseas organizations that the accusations actually stem from Alimujiang's advocacy against the mistreatment of the Uyghur nationality in Xinjiang. "Bob Fu said that this claim is not based on facts and is irresponsible political hype," CAA reports.
"Alimujiang's case demonstrates that the conduct of the Kashi local government has reflected the policies of the Wang Lequan government by persecuting the innocent, while providing opportunities for Islamic extremists," Fu said. "Alimujiang is a law-abiding Christian of Uyghur nationality and a peacemaker between the Han and Uyghur Chinese citizens. Since the July 5 riot in Xinjiang, it has become evident to the world that Xinjiang government authorities need peacemakers to help bring healing and hope to the region. We call on the Xinjiang authorities to recognize their wrongful actions against Alimujiang Yimiti and immediately release him without any charges."
Contact your Chinese embassy to express your concern for Alimujiang Yimiti and Wusiman Yiming.

UPROAR IN POLAND OVER MADONNA'S CONCERT ON THE FEAST OF ASSUMPTION

WARSAW - The protests to American pop-singer Madonna's upcoming concert in Poland are gathering momentum as over 17,000 letters have been sent to government ministers and event organizers and more public figures are making statements condemning both the singer's suggestive performances and the scheduling of the show to coincide with the August 15th celebration of the Feast of the Assumption, the day Roman Catholics honor the Virgin Mary's assumption to Heaven.
At the special website well over 17 thousand people have sent letters to Polish and American organizers of the show, as well as to Poland's Minister of Interior Affairs and Administration. You can add your voice by clicking on the "zaprotestuj" button underneath the Polish and English texts and filling out the form. Letters will be sent in your name.
Poland's Commissioner for Civil Rights Janusz Kochanowski joined the critique of the planned concert.
In a letter to Warsaw city officials, he wrote that "there are borders, which should not be crossed." He also called for "respect towards religious feelings of others."
"Her artistic name, as well as behavior on and off the stage is perceived as provocative by many people. To organize a concert in Warsaw on the Feast of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, stirs up serious opposition and distaste," Kochanowski wrote, adding that the Constitutional right to free speech is no excuse in this case. He also asked for explanations from Warsaw city officials who agreed to stage the concert on that day.
An American organization, the Society for Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) has also joined the protest.
In a press release, the group states, "Many see the choice of this special day as a provocation. It only adds to the controversy surrounding the 50-year-old singer who has long mixed blasphemy with sexual themes. Even if the event were to be on another day, Madonna's message is clearly offensive to Poles."
TFP is sponsoring an email protest campaign directed to Poland's Minister of the Interior asking him to prevent the concert and noting that "the event does not promote the common good and that since its promoters have shown that they intend to offend the religious sentiment of Polish Catholics, it is a violation of Article 196 of the Polish Criminal Code."
Unforeseen problems are in fact turning up with the staging of the concert.
Polish media report that Warsaw's fire department is refusing to issue a fire service permit for the event, which is to take place at the old Bemowo airfield on the outskirts of Warsaw, because of the lack of fire fighter inspection of the area.
"Warsaw city officials sympathetic to the show, met with the city's fire department, trying to talk them into issuing the fire service permit after all," the reports said.
Protesters have also pointed to the collapse of the stage roof at the Madonna concert venue in Marseille, France, which killed two people, a 23-year-old Briton and a 53-year-old Frenchmen, and injured thirty more, as a possible sign that the concerts may not only be morally reprehensible but physically dangerous.
Police in Marseille have launched a manslaughter investigation into the collapse of the stage roof, according to the UK Guardian , after examining the 60 tonnes of collapsed girders and cables at the French city's Vélodrome stadium.

OKLAHOMA MEDICAL MISSIONARIES HELPING THE POOR IN GUATEMALA

JOYABAJ, GUATEMALA — The mountain scenery of southwestern Guatemala is a colorful mix of the old and the new.
Fields of corn hang onto the sides of mountains. Vegetation ranges from pine trees to bamboo to cactus plants.
Banners advertising cell phone plans are placed next to farms that have been cultivated for more than a 100 years.
Wednesday, the medical missionaries from Oklahoma took their clinic to Joyabaj. It’s a half-hour closer to our home base than was Las Lomas, where more than 100 villagers were treated on Monday and Tuesday.
Before we could start for Joyabaj, though, we needed to deal with another pressing issue.
We stopped first in Santa Cruz, the capital of Quiche. We’ve made the stop four times in three days, all for the same reason. We keep running low on ibuprofen.
"It’s hit or miss,” said Carla Seitz, a nurse at The Children’s Place in Bethany who distributes medicine during the clinics. "Last year it was all coughs and colds, this year we’ve seen barely any.”
This trip, aching feet and heads have been more common complaints. The money for the medicine is provided by Volunteers in Mission.
Las Lomas was sort of a suburb of Joyabaj. Joyabaj is much larger, but no wealthier.
Trash litters what would otherwise be a perfect mountain landscape.
Ducks drink from puddles of water in the courtyards of houses.
Trucks spew thick black smoke as they inch down the hills toward the main part of town.

Las Lomas residents typically spoke a Mayan dialect, but in Joyabaj most of the patients know Spanish. So I use what Spanish-speaking skills I have to give them instructions about when to take their medicine.
A little girl, Maria Isabel, walked behind the pharmacy table and gave everyone a hug.
She held the hug for as long as she could, giggling through her teeth as she was given a toy and her mother the medicine.
Several young boys gathered around as Carla’s husband, Scott Seitz, took photos of them.
Children are initially shy in this region, especially in the more remote locations, but take a picture and they’ll instantly become your friends. Bring toys and they’ll crowd around for hours.
Maria Isabel’s grandmother made us a lunch of beef with a savory brown sauce and corn tortillas. Maria Isabel smiled as she showed me her room.
Her grandmother, also named Maria, made sure I washed my hands before the meal.
It was one of the best meals I have had while in Guatemala.

BONO , TONY BLAIR TO LEND THIR VOICES AT CHURCH CONFERENCE ON LEADERSHIP

Although Bono and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair might be considered unconventional choices as featured speakers Friday at a church conference, organizers say they are a perfect fit.
"Leadership doesn't only come from our little world," said Jim Mellado, president of the Willow Creek Association. "We have to look outside ourselves from wherever we can to learn, grow and develop."
In that spirit of growth, the group's annual leadership summit will stream live to 123 churches across the country and 14 in Canada, said Beth Dahlenburg, a marketing director for the association, which organizes the yearly convention at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington.
Organizers estimate 7,000 attended the opening Thursday of the two-day event. The group expects the same turnout Friday, when videos will be broadcast of U2 lead singer Bono and of Blair, who was British prime minister for a decade.
Bono fashioned a reputation as an activist in recent years with work to reduce AIDS-related deaths and improve the quality of life in Africa. Blair has continued to stay on the worldwide stage with diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.
Three years ago, Bono appeared in a videocast at the same Willow Creek summit and challenged members of the association to get involved in the problems of Africa.
On Friday, the rock star will give a "progress report" on how the association is doing, said spokeswoman Amy Hauser.
The taped interview with Blair will focus on making tough, unpopular decisions.
Inviting such high-profile people such as Bono and Blair is part of the summit's attempt to seek out the best leadership advice, organizers said.
"We have been failed by the lack of credible leadership in our financial institutions, in our companies at times, even in church and the government," Mellado said. "We have got to have these transformation-minded leaders equipped, inspired, so they can change and influence all the spheres that they touch."
The association will rebroadcast later to 45 U.S. churches and eventually will send DVDs to 150 countries, Dahlenburg said. The association is composed of 12,000 churches worldwide.
Some speakers Thursday included Gary Hamel, a business management expert who urged church leaders to accept changes to rigid hierarchies and practices.
Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, took part in a video discussion on hiring and firing.
Willow Creek Association estimates 100,000 people will eventually take part in the summit in some way. Many will be reached via a multilayered communication strategy that includes the Internet and social media.
Joe Dascenzo, a volunteer who was helping update Twitter feeds, said he discovered that the leadership summit occupied the top four themes on Twitter at one point in the day.
Dascenzo said one blogger unaffiliated with the organization was transmitting notes from the sessions as they happened.
"It's like stream of consciousness right from the stage," he said. "That's just how it is, everyone's just kind of contributing to the conversation."
Dahlenburg said audiocasts will be posted on the association Web site in the next couple of months, and online training will be offered to those who want to explore particular leadership sessions.
Using social networking technology was a must, Mellado said.
"We want to get the message out in the thousand ways we can get that message out," he said. "If Facebook is where people are, we're going to be there, if [it's] Twitter, we're going to be there."

BRANDED AS ' WITCH ' , JHARKAND WOMAN BEATEN UP AND PARADED

MEDININAGAR (JHARKHAND): Branded as a 'witch', a 57-year-old dalit woman was beaten up, forced to wear a skirt made of broomsticks and paraded through the roads in a village in Palamau district, police said on Saturday.
"We have information that the woman, Wasia Defi, was subjected to beating and humiliation by some residents of Ledki village," about 30 km from here yesterday after they branded her as a witch, Palamau Superintendent of Police, Mohit Bundus, told reporters.
Accusing Devi of practicing 'witchcraft', the villagers not only humiliated the woman but also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on her, Bundus said.
Unable to watch his mother's plight, her son Gajendra Chauhan paid Rs 17,000 to the villagers and pleaded them to free her.
Bundus said a police team had already reached the village to probe the incident and book the culprits.

' TANTRIK ' BANDS BABY WITH HOT IRON ROD FOR TREATING ' FEVER '

RAJKOT: An eleven-month-old boy suffering from fever and hydrocele was branded with hot iron by a 'tantrik', police said.
Vishal, son of Vastabhai Devipujak, was admitted to a children's ward of civil hospital in a critical condition after the 'tantrik' branded him with hot iron bar to cure him, they said.
The incident came to light when a doctor attending the boy saw the iron mark on his body and called the police.
The child's condition was stated to be normal after medical treatment, they said.
Devipujak who took his son to the 'tantrik' for treatment refused to lodge complaint against him.