CHRISTIANS AT HIGHER RISK AFTER UN CONFERENCE ; PRAY AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE..

International ― Several national leaders continue to seethe after Iranian President Ahmadinejad inappropriately made anti-Semitic remarks at a United Nations conference on racism.
The dispute over Iran's and Israel's issues caused such a distraction that more pressing matters which should have been addressed in a discussion about racism were dismissed. David Harder of the Christian satellite television network for the Middle East and North Africa, SAT-7, notes the discrepancy from the conference.
"One of the things that's overarching is that by bringing up issues that Iran has with Israel, they was able to completely neglect the treatment of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa."
The topic of Muslim subjugation seems to be brought up quite often in international circles, while the persecution of the Christian minority in the Middle East and North Africa is very much ignored. "There are Christians that live in every country in the region and they suffer; they have difficult times," says Harder. "Sometimes the pressure is very overt, and sometimes it's very subtle. Unfortunately, those things weren't dealt with."
Christians in hostile areas are at even higher risk now that many of their leaders feel contempt toward the West, due to some Western delegates walking out of the UN conference.
"Whenever there is animosity towards the West in general, unfortunately the Christian believers in other countries throughout the region are often targeted because many people view Christianity as a Western religion. They don't realize that it truly is a Middle Eastern religion."
Harder notes that many people in the West seem to forget this, too, and often do not think about Christians living in the Middle East or North Africa. Although they may be a minority, their presence is still vibrant.
To help brothers and sisters in Christ in these areas, Harder encourages you to find and support a ministry that works there. SAT-7 creates television programs to encourage these believers, as well as to reach out to unbelievers. The ministry has seen a great deal of transformation in the region and continues to watch people in countries such as Iraq and Jordan come to the Lord, especially as a result of recent SAT-7 Easter programs. To help SAT-7 reach more for Christ, click here.
Above all, these persecuted Christians need prayer. Pray for their safety and protection as tensions rise toward the West. Pray that they would be free to worship as many of other religions are able.

NEW Mc CLURKIN ALBUM TOPS GOSPEL SALES CHART

The latest album by gospel music artist Donnie McClurkin landed in the No. 1 position on Billboard’s Gospel Sales chart nearly three weeks after its release.
We All Are One (Live in Detroit), McClurkin’s first album in five years, is also No. 7 on Billboard's R&B Albums Chart, No. 26 on its Top-200 Albums Chart, and No. 1 on CMTA's Top Christian/Gospel Albums chart.
Released March 31, We All Are One is an eclectic recording that McClurkin says was created to magnify the glory of God and how wonderful He is.
The gospel minister says it was also created to remind listeners that "despite differing opinions, backgrounds, ethnicities and religious affiliations – we all are one, we're one family."
“Jesus said, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand,’ yet we remain disconnected: Republicans and Democrats, Blacks, Whites, Yellows and Browns, Baptists and Methodists, Lutherans and Episcopalians… Where is the unity,” McClurkin asks.


Though McClurkin grew up learning to judge others, he says his thinking now is to “let God do the judging so that I may learn how to love and understand the ways in which we are all connected.”
“I believe that lesson of compassion and fellowship will ultimately be learned by the young ones coming behind me,” he adds.
Unity and tolerance are the themes of the 12-song We All Are One, which McClurkin says he recorded in Detroit in hopes of bringing churches together there to aid in the healing of the city.
“Even with Detroit’s tough transitions and hard situations, the church has always been the mainstay that holds everything together,” he says.
McClurkin’s latest album includes special guest contributions by Karen Clark Sheard, CeCe Winans, Yolanda Adams, and Mary Mary.
Co-producers on the album include Asaph Ward – who has worked with Dorinda Clark-Cole, Kim Burrell and Smokie Norful – as well as producers Justin Savage and Trent Phillips.

2009 CHRISTIAN RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED ; MAJOR MARKET TOPS THE LIST FROM ORLANDO

The winners of this year’s Radio Station of the Year contest have been announced and will be acknowledged during the 40th annual Gospel Music Association (GMA) Dove Awards on Thursday.
Aside from their ratings, the winners of the GMA/Christian Music Broadcaster (CMB) contest were selected by a panel of judges who reviewed them on their involvement, air check and industry leadership. The annual radio station awards are presented to those Christian radio stations that meet the highest standards of quality and have the strongest impact on their listening areas.
“[T]he team is so excited to be awarded these honors,” expressed Melissa Montana, general manager of Star 88.3, which will be recognized as the winner of the small market category.
“We know we couldn’t do it without the support of our many amazing listeners. We are looking forward to the future as we plan on making a greater impact on this community as we honor God in all we do,” she added in Star 88.3’s announcement of the award.
Montana will also be personally honored with the Rob Gregory Award, which is presented to a Christian broadcaster, radio station or associated professional who, during the past year, has shown outstanding effort in the community. She will be the first female ever to receive the Rob Gregory Award.
“I personally feel blessed,” Montana commented.
A list of all four winners of the 2009 GMA/Christian Music Broadcasters (CMB) Radio Station of the Year contest is as follows:

MarketZ88.3 (WPOZ) –

Orlando, Fla.Dean O’Neal,

Station Manager

Large Market89.7 (WMHK) –

Columbia, S.C.John Owens,

Operations Manager

Medium MarketNew Life 91.9 (WRCM) –

Charlotte, Gastonia, Rock Hill, N.C./S.C.Joe Paulo,

Director of Broadcasting

Small MarketStar 88.3 (WLAB) -

Fort Wayne, Ind.Melissa Montana,

Station Manager

BUDHISTS MOB ATTACKS CHURCHES IN SRILANKA ; PRAY AND MAKE A DIFFERNCE ....

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka– Buddhist mobs attacked several churches in Sri Lanka last week, threatening to kill a pastor in the southern province of Hambanthota and ransacking a 150-year-old Methodist church building in the capital.
On April 8, four Buddhist extremists approached the home of pastor Pradeep Kumara in Weeraketiya, Hambanthota district, calling for him to come out and threatening to kill him. The pastor said his wife, at home alone with their two children, phoned him immediately but by the time he returned, the men had left.
Half an hour later, Kumar said, the leader of the group phoned him and again threatened to kill him if he did not leave the village by the following morning. Later that night the group leader returned to the house and ordered the pastor to come out, shouting, “I didn’t bring my gun tonight because if I had it with me, I would use it!”
“My children were frightened,” Kumara said. “I tried to reason with him to go away, but he continued to bang on the door and threaten us.”
Police soon arrived on the scene and arrested the instigator but released him the following day.
Subsequently the attacker gathered Buddhist monks and other villagers together and asked them to sign a petition against the church, Kumar said. Protestors then warned the pastor’s landlord that they would destroy the house if he did not evict the pastor’s family by the end of the month.
Fearing violence, Kumara said he canceled Good Friday and Easter Sunday services and evacuated his children to a safer location.

Methodist Building Ransacked
Earlier, on Palm Sunday (April 5), another group of men broke into the 150-year-old Pepiliyana Methodist Church in Colombo after congregants concluded an Easter procession.
The gang entered through the back door and windows of the building late that night; witnesses said they saw them load goods into a white van parked outside the church early the next morning.
“They removed everything, including valuable musical instruments, a computer, Bibles, hymn books and all the church records,” said the Rev. Surangika Fernando.
The church had no known enemies and enjoyed a good relationship with other villagers, Rev. Fernando said, adding that the break-in appeared to be more than a simple robbery.
“My desk was completely cleaned out,” he said. “They took important documents with details of parishioners such as baptism and marriage records, which are of no value to thieves. They even took what was in my wastepaper basket.”
Local police agreed that robbery was an unlikely motive and that opponents from outside the area were the most likely culprits. Investigations were continuing at press time.
Finally, anti-Christian mobs in Vakarai, eastern Batticaloa district, intimidated church members gathering for several worship services during Holy Week.
“What can we do?” pastor Kanagalingam Muraleetharan told Compass. “The authorities and the police say we have the right to worship, but the reality is that people are threatened.”
The Easter incidents are the latest in a long series of attacks against churches and Christian individuals in recent years, many of them instigated by Buddhist monks who decry the growth of Christianity in the country.
Members of Sri Lanka’s Parliament may soon enact an anti-conversion bill designed to restrict religious conversions. Human rights organizations and Christian groups have criticized the vague terminology of the legislation that, if passed, may invite misapplication against religious activity.
The draft “Bill for the Prohibition of Forcible Conversions” was referred to a consultative committee of the Ministry of Religious Affairs in February for further deliberation, prior to a final reading and vote. (See www.compassdirect.org, “Parliament to Vote on Anti-Conversion Laws,” Jan. 26.)
According to the most recent government census, Protestant Christians number less than 1 percent of the total population in Sri Lanka, but they remain the primary target of religiously motivated violence and intimidation.

MOB OF HINDU EXTREMISTS VANDALIZE MAHARASHTRA CHURCH; PRAY AND MAKE A DIFFERNCE

India ― According to the International Christian Concern, believers in the eastern Indian state of Maharashtra were the targets of a violent attack by Hindu extremists.
At around 10:40 a.m. on Sunday, a mob of Hindu extremists burst into a Sunday morning service at the Douglas Memorial Church.
"As I was preaching," says Rev. Mark Madhukar Sakharpekar, "a dozen young boys shouting 'Jai Shri Ram' entered and started beating church members with sticks. They even threw a knife towards me, which fortunately missed the mark."
Urbandictionary.com says "Jai Shri Ram" means "Victory to Lord Ram," referring to the Hindu deity, Rama. The site says this phrase is commonly used by ultra-right nationalist parties, such as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
ICC says the radicals were armed with knives, sticks and swords, and threatened Pastor Sakharpekar with "dire consequences" if worship services continued.
After attacking Christians involved in the worship service, the radicals went on a rampage. Extremists destroyed church furniture, Bibles, hymnals and the mission school bus parked outside the church.
So far, seven of the extremists have been arrested under the Indian Penal Code, and a police report has been filed by the pastor. Pray for protection for worshipping believers against such attacks.