10 MEN CHARGED FOR RAPING A CATHOLIC NUN IN ORISSA;INDIA

BHUBNESHWAR, India — Police in eastern India have charged 10 men with gang raping a Catholic nun during weeks of anti-Christian violence last year, an official said Thursday.
The violence between Hindus and Christians in Orissa state followed the killing of a Hindu religious leader in August. Police blamed Maoist rebels, but conservative Hindu groups blamed Christian residents and set fire to a Christian orphanage.
The state government said 32 people died in the clashes that followed. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India said at least 40 Christians were killed.
The nun, her face hidden behind a scarf, had told reporters in October that she was raped on Aug. 25 when a mob attacked a prayer hall where she worked in the state's Kandhamal district.
She said a group of about 50 men tore off her clothes and raped her. Later, she said, she was paraded naked, together with a priest, past several policeman who she says did not help her.
On Thursday, investigating officer Dilip Mohanty said that 10 men, including two the nun had identified from a lineup on Jan. 5, were charged with gang rape — a specific charge under Indian law. If convicted, the men face up to 10 years in prison.
Twenty others have also been brought up on charges related to their alleged rioting during the attack on the prayer house where the nun worked, police official Jitendra Koel said.
Mohanty said the investigation into the attack would continue and police was looking for other attackers and members of the mob.
Relations are usually peaceful between Christians, who make up 2.5 percent of India's 1.1 billion people, and Hindus, who account for more than 80 percent.
However, Orissa has a history of anti-Christian violence, with hard-line Hindu groups claiming Christian missionary groups are forcing or bribing people to convert, charges denied by Christian leaders.

A CHRISTIAN CANDIDATE FEARS FOR HIS LIFE PRIOR ELECTION: PRAY AND MAKE DIFFERENCE......

Istifo says already lined up replacement in case he is killed before voting, as two Sunni candidates were assassinated.

HAMDANIYAH, Iraq - Sami Habib Istifo, a Christian candidate in Iraq's provincial elections, has already lined up a replacement in case he is killed before voting day tomorrow, as two Sunni candidates were murdered in Mosul and Baghdad.
The 49-year-old member of one of the war-torn country's many minority groups is standing in the town of Hamdaniyah, in the northern province of Nineveh.
"I do not rule out the possibility that I may be killed before the election, so a person has been chosen to take my place," said Istifo, a wry smile on his lips.
Istifo has kept a very low profile in campaigning for the election, addressing only three public meetings and too afraid to venture across to the nearby city of Mosul to pick up his election posters.
As a result, only the posters of Sunni Arab and Kurdish candidates have been plastered on walls across the town.
Instead he is relying on the support of "influential" Chaldeans, Assyrians and Syriacs to secure him a seat on the Nineveh provincial council.
He is one of three Christian candidates for the seat and, according to his campaign manager Jamal Daoud, "stands a good chance of winning."
Istifo said he had been reluctant to throw his hat into the electoral ring.
"My friends insisted I stand and eventually they persuaded me," said the small-framed Istifo, adjusting his tie that disappeared into a V-necked pullover.
"I would have preferred not to stand but I had no other choice. One doesn't say no to one's friends," said Istifo, a professor at a technical university in Mosul.
Countrywide, more than 200 Christians have been killed since the US invasion in 2003. Reports suggest that over one million Iraqis (mainly Sunnis and Shiites) were killed during the same period of time.
Christians make up around three percent of Iraq's 29 million overwhelmingly Muslim population.
Around 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq in 2003, but the number has since shrunk as many members of the various communities have fled the country after the US-led invasion, according to Christian leaders.
Meanwhile, two Sunni candidates were assassinated in Mosul and Baghdad.
The first murder occurred in Baghdad, where armed men opened fire on Omar Faruq al-Ani, a candidate for the Iraqi Concord Front, the main Sunni group in the country's parliament, police and army officials said.
The second victim, Hazim Salim Ahmed, a Sunni standing for the Iraqi National Unity list, was shot dead outside his home in the northern city of Mosul.

KINDNESS OF A CHRISTIAN FOOTBALL COACH HAS BEEN REWARDED

Grapevine Faith Christian football coach Kris Hogan did something unusual in November by asking his team's fans to cheer for an opposing team. The coach's kindness resulted in something else unusual: an invitation from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to attend the Super Bowl.
Hogan was scheduled to leave today for Tampa, Fla., where he will meet with Goodell and attend Sunday's game. He will also spend time later today at the Super Bowl's "radio row," where radio stations want to talk to him about Grapevine Faith's Nov. 7 game against Gainesville State School, a juvenile correctional facility.
Before the game, Hogan e-mailed parents of his players and asked some of them to sit in the stands on Gainesville State's side of the field and cheer for Grapevine Faith's opponent. He also asked the parents to create a spirit line for the opposing players, who normally have no fans to cheer for them, to run through before the game. Hogan even had copies of the Gainesville State roster distributed to fans so they could cheer for the players by name.
The story attracted national attention, which Hogan said surprised him.
"We never intended for this to go outside our fences," he said Tuesday. "It kind of saddens me that it got so much attention. We should all be used to people taking advantage of an opportunity to help another human life."

PASTOR T.M SIMON ' PASTOR OF PASTOR'S ' & ' TEACHER OF TEACHER'S ' HAS PASSED AWAY

Pastor T.M. SIMON went home to meet his saviour Jesus Christ to recieve his eternal reward on January 24, 2009 at 7:55 am. Pastor T.M SIMON was born at Ranny , Pathanamthitta district of kerala on November 12, 1936 o Late Rev & Mrs.T.K MATHEW. one of the seven founders of the Indian Pentecostal Church of God.

Pastor T.M SIMON started his career in 1958 as personal secretary to the Rear Admiral at the Naval Flag office Ministry of Defence, Goverment of India in Bombay. Obeying the higher calling to serve Jesus Christ in 1964, Pastor Simon resigned his job to serve in the northern parts of India.

In 1983 he founded New Testament Church Mission an continued to be the senior pastor and president of the organization until his death.Pastor Simon was passionate in teaching the Word Of The God to all those who loved to learn; he was always refered as a Well Trusted Authorityof Bible and Theology. A Great Theologian , he founded three bible colleges and taught more than ten thousand students of the Bible. He was often reckoned as the Pastor of Pastors and Teacher of Teachers. He was an approachable encouraging servant of God.

He is survived by his dear wife of 41 years Mrs. Kunjamma Simon; three sons: Pastor Mathew Simon, David Simon an Abraham Simon; daughters -in-law: Shyni, Kimberly, and Daisy; grand children: Priscilla, Jonathan, Elijah, Hannah, Joshua.

INDONESIA BANNED MUSLIMS FROM DOING YOGA

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Muslims in Indonesia are banned from practicing yoga that contains Hindu rituals like chanting, the country's top Islamic body said Monday, echoing concerns by some religious groups elsewhere about its effect on their faith.
Though not legally binding, most devout Muslims will likely adhere to the ruling because ignoring a fatwa, or religious decree, is considered a sin.
The decision in the world's most populous Muslim state follows similar edicts in Malaysia and Egypt as the ancient Indian exercise gained popularity worldwide in recent years.
Cleric Ma'ruf Amin said the Ulema Council issued its ruling over the weekend after investigators visited gyms and private yoga classes across the sprawling nation. Amir said those performing yoga purely for health or sport reasons will not be affected.
But yoga practitioners immediately criticized the decision.
"They shouldn't be worrying about this," said Jamilah Konny Fransiska, a yoga teacher on the northern island of Batam, adding that all of her students perform yoga solely to strengthen their bodies and minds.
"There is little or no spiritual element to it," she said. "The clerics should be focusing only on purely religious matters, not this."
Yoga — a blend of physical and mental exercises aimed at integrating mind, body and spirit — has become so popular in the United States that many public schools have started offering it as part of their physical education programs.
But there, too, yoga has come under fire, with some Christian fundamentalists arguing its Hindu roots conflict with their own teachings.
A few secular parents are also opposed, saying its spiritual elements could violate rules demanding separation of church and state.
Though there is no Jewish law against yoga, which is widely practiced in Israel, some movements that insinuate idol worship are frowned upon, but not banned, by rabbis. This is to avoid misunderstandings that followers are praying to entities other than God, the sun for instance.
Indonesia is a secular country of 235 million people, 90 percent of them Muslim. Most practice a moderate form of the faith, though an increasingly vocal extremist fringe has gained ground in recent years. They have in some cases succeeded in influencing government policy, because many leaders depend on the support of Islamic parties.
The Ulema Council decided to investigate the need for a yoga ban after religious authorities in neighboring Malaysia issued their own fatwa late last year.
Many people there protested, insisting they had been performing yoga for years without losing their faith. Eventually, even Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had to step in, assuring Malaysians they could continue with the exercises as long as they didn't chant.
Amir, the cleric, said the same rule applied to Muslims here.
"We only prohibit activities that can corrupt Islamic values," he said.
The Ulema Council's annual meeting on fatwas over the weekend also debated whether to issue an edict banning smoking in Indonesia, one of the world's largest tobacco markets.
But cleric Amin Suma said Sunday those talks ended in a deadlock.