HINDU WOMAN PRIEST ANJU BHARGAVA IN OBAMA'S ADVISORY COUNCIL

REWARI (Haryana): Appointed by US President Barack Obama as a member of a faith-based advisory council of the White House, Anju Bhargava, a banker and a Hindu priest, hopes to remove the ignorance about Hinduism and spread the "real meaning" of the rituals associated with the religion.
42-year-old Anju Bhargava, president of the Asian Indian Women in America (AIWA), is the second Indian American appointed to the council which is part of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and includes religious, secular leaders and scholars from different backgrounds as its members.
A graduate of Stella Maris College, Madras University, Bhargava, who was born and brought up in Chennai, says, "Most people do not understand Hinduism or the ritual process. I have a computer presentation to explain the context, the meaning of the symbols and why we do the puja. It is not just a traditional recitation.
"I would say, actually, for me, doing pujas took 25 years of preparation. Most people go from ritual to philosophy. I have gone from philosophy to ritual", Bhargava, possibly the only Indian American women priest in the United States, told PTI in an e-mail.
She stressed on the need "to bridge the gap between philosophy and rituals".
"Only then will the rituals be meaningful and not just something we are doing because someone is telling us to do them and in a language we don't understand," Bhargava, whose mother Sarla Bhargava hailed from Rewari and who herself shared a "deep-rooted" connection with the district, said.
"I want people to come away with more of an understanding of the Vedantic Hindu tradition and the richness of the puja," Bhargava, who was appointed to the Council in April for a period of one year, said.
She began her career over two decades ago as a banker and has held senior level positions in corporate America, focusing on business transformation, organizational development and risk management.
Currently she is also working with Rutgers Business School as a Fellow of Department of Accounting, Business ethics and information systems.
She is the president of Asian Indian Women in America (AIWA) and has worked extensively in areas such as employment, career development, cultural acculturation, integration, health, education and general.
Bhargava was the only Indian-American to serve in the Community Builder Fellowship, former U S President Bill Clinton's White House initiative (1998-2000).
For the past 20 years, she has been the Hindu representative for Livingstone's Interfaith Clergy Association and is a member of the Collective Hindu Initiative.
The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is organising a special function to felicitate Bhargava for her achievements here on August 16.

KIDS OF RAGPICKERS CLEAR ENTRANCE EXAM WITH HIGH MARKS

PATIALA: Life was never a cakewalk for them. Torn between the desire to pursue education and an obligation to earn their livelihood, Gurjant Singh and Sarbjit Kaur tried to strike a balance between the two.
These two children of ragpickers on Thursday succeeded in taking the first step towards a better future by clearing the state-level Joint Entrance Test (JET) and securing admission in three-year diploma courses.
The two, along with their parents, reside in ragpickers colony in Patiala. Singh has secured admission in diploma in computer in Thapar Polytechnic, while Kaur has chosen information technology in Government Polytechnic for Girls, Patiala.
After completing their studies, the two, unlike other students, want to tread the path less travelled.
‘‘I’ve secured 1,384 rank without any tuition. I want to teach children of my colony, as, like me, most of them aspire to study, but their parents want them to work. Moreover, they don’t have money to pay for education,’’ said Gurjant Singh. Sarbjit said she wanted to start a project for the uplift of her colony’s girls. In class X, Singh had secured 77% and Kaur 65% without any tuition.
Due to the consistent efforts of Malwa Arts Sports Cultural and Educational Trust, parents have started sending their wards to primary school.

HUNDREDS OF YOUNG ADULTS WILL GATHER TO ' MOVE THE NATIONS ' NEXT WEEK

Last summer, approximately 150 people gathered for Move the Nations – Hawaii's first ever district-wide young adult convention. This year, Move the Nations ’09 will be held on the mainland at Monterey Bay Christian Center in Seaside, California, August 21-22, and event coordinators are expecting record number attendance.

The convention has been expanded to include three districts and will be streamed live over the Internet to young adults around the world. Churches from the Arizona Latin District, Northern Pacific Latin American District and Northern California and Nevada District have confirmed they are sending attendees and/or are watching the event live.

Danny dj and Martha Morales, Move the Nations founders and organizers, lead Lifehouse, Monterey Bay Christian Center’s young adult ministry group. Danny Morales says they are expecting 300 young adults onsite for the convention, but are anticipating a greater impact even beyond the individuals who will physically attend the conference. Move the Nations will be both advertised and broadcast over the Internet via Facebook, YouTube, Livestream Network, AGTV and the Assemblies of God national Young Adult Ministries Web site.

“Martha and I are looking forward to a demonstrable move of the Holy Spirit at this year’s convention that will not only move young adult attendees onsite, but also move young adults viewing throughout the world,” Danny Morales says. “Through the integrated medium of our live stream channel and social networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook, we hope to connect young adults in a common and thoroughly Pentecostal gathering place.”

The Moraleses have noted the power that new technologies have in spreading video and pop culture news around the world, and are hoping to use these same technologies to share the love of Christ through the Play it Forward campaign. They have set a goal of live streaming the Move the Nations event to young adults on every continent, including Antarctica.

As Danny Morales is active United States Navy, they have already “played it forward” to many deployed individuals around the world. The Moraleses hope other young adults will take up the message and “play it forward” by embedding the live stream on their own social sites and blogs.

The Move the Nations event is free and the Moraleses invite young adults ages 18-35 who are in the California area to just show up and attend August 21-22.

Christian comedian Dennis Gaxiola, formerly of the Latin Kings of Comedy, will share his comedy ministry Saturday, August 22. Also included in Saturday’s program will be a panel discussion, “The Young Adult Commission for a PostModern 2.0 World,” which will feature top young adult leaders, including Ryan Moore, Young Adult Ministries coordinator for the Assemblies of God. The discussion will be open live over the Internet, August 22 at 2:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time.

As at last year’s event, Dr. Roger Ovalle, assistant superintendent of the Northern Pacific Latin American District, will be the guest speaker. The Moraleses hope that Move the Nations inspires young adults in the local church to rise up and “do awesome things for God and their peers.”

For more information on Move the Nations ‘09, visit the event Web site or connect on Facebook. Additional information on the Play it Forward campaign is available at http://mbccag.com/mtnlive.

CHRISTIAN FOOTBALL HOST DAN WALKER WON'T WORK ON SUNDAY

ONE of the new faces of the BBC's football coverage refuses to work on a Sunday because he is a devout Christian. Dan Walker insists on observing the Lord's Day even though there are top-flight matches almost every Sunday this season.
Here 32-year-old Dan - who fronts magazine show Football Focus this Saturday at 12.15pm on BBC1 - explains why he WON'T be covering those games.
WHEN I first told the producers on a major radio station I wouldn't work on a Sunday they told me I'd never get anywhere in broadcasting.
They thought the fact that I said on my CV that I wouldn't work on a Sunday was some kind of joke.
When I explained I was a Christian, and why I felt the way I did, one of them just sat with his mouth open for about ten seconds.
It was a great job and they fully expected me to give up everything to work for them, but I wouldn't - I didn't get the job.
I take my faith quite seriously and not working on a Sunday is part of that. I don't even watch football on a Sunday. Obviously as a professional I keep abreast of the scores but I spend Sunday at church and with my family.
An old boss of mine, John Pickford, told me if I wanted to stick to those principles I wasn't just going to have to be good, I was going to have to be the best.
For anyone I've ever worked for as a sports presenter I've always said I'd do as good a job if not better than anyone they'd ever employ.
But I did always think the Football Focus job was one I'd never get because of my insistence, because it's so high-profile.
To be given it means even more for me because I've made my stand but still been handed this opportunity. I've grown up watching Football Focus, so now to be presenting the show really is a dream come true.
Sport has always been a big part of my life. When I was 12, and about 2ft taller than all the other kids, I was asked to play for quite a few teams.
The problem was all their games were on a Sunday.
I had only recently become a Christian and this was the first time I was confronted with the issue of how I should be spending my Sundays.
I firmly believe God was using that experience, even at an early age, to prepare me for situations in the future when I would need much stronger convictions.
People often say it must be really hard to be a Christian and to do the work I do - I disagree.
Special
I think my job puts me in the same situations everyone else faces.
The only difference is that people who work in the media are usually paid to have opinions so you can get involved in some heated debates.
Because of my stance I have been shouted at, insulted, stabbed in the back, laughed at and ignored. But I have also worked with and met some great characters and been given plenty of opportunities to talk to people about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many people - even Christians - have asked me why I feel so strongly about the Lord's Day.
For me it seems quite obvious. God, our creator, has given it to us for our own good. Some will argue that Jesus Christ's coming means we are no longer obligated to keep it special but I fundamentally disagree.
There are still ten commandments and it is more important than ever to guard the fourth one - remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

MUSLIM TEENAGER FLEES HOME, SAYING HER MUSLIM FATHER WILL KILL HER

An Ohio teenager who secretly converted from Islam to Christianity has fled to Florida because she claims her father threatened her with an "honor killing" for abandoning her Muslim upbringing.
The girl's father has gone to Florida where she sought refuge with a church that she found online. Although the father insists he is not a menace to his daughter, a Florida court has placed the 17-year-old girl in foster care until her claims can be investigated.
Fathima Rifqa Bary, who goes by Rifqa, left home in New Albany, Ohio, last month and hopped on a bus to Orlando to meet with husband and wife pastors Blake and Beverly Lorenz, who she met through a Facebook prayer group for the couple's non-denominational Global Revolution Church.
"When she came to our house, she told us her parents would not report her missing," Blake Lorenz told ABCNews.com.
But they did report their daughter missing and the disappearance reached local news stations and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Lorenz said Rifqa, a native of Sri Lanka, had secretly converted from Islam to Christianity four years ago, but her religion was only discovered recently. Rifqa had snuck out to an area church where, according to Lorenz, she had an "incredible encounter with Jesus."
Lorenz said Rifqa was so moved she posted about it on her Facebook page, writings that would later be seen by her friends from her family's mosque and reported to her father, Mohamed Bary.
"That's when he threatened to kill her for the first time," Lorenz said, adding that he didn't know on how many other occasions that threat had been made.
The battle finally came to a head about a month ago, he said, when her mother found a Christian book in the house while Bary was out of town. Rifqa's mother, he said, threatened to tell her father.
"She did say she was dead to her" if she didn't renounce her Christian faith, Lorenz said.
Rifqa confirmed to ABC's Orlando affiliate WFTV that she believed her father would kill her.
"They have to kill me because I'm a Christian. It's an honor [killing]. If they love me more than God, then they have to kill me," she explained.
Terrifed and fearing she would be the victim of an honor killing, she got on a bus and borrowed a cell phone to contact Beverly Lorenz who she had been communicating with after finding the Lorenzes' church on Facebook.
Keeping Rifqa Safe
The pastors' first move was to call an attorney, several of them, actually.
"No one really knew what to do," Lorenz said, pointing out that Rifqa was not only a minor, but that she had crossed state lines and she wasn't even a U.S. citizen.
Blake Lorenz said Rifqa arrived late at night after a two-day trip. The next morning, the couple called police for advice, but did not tell them Rifqa's name. They did report Rifqa's presence two weeks later, he said, when the couple realized the teen's parents had reported her missing.
Lorenz said he fears Rifqa is "definitely not safe." He pointed to other suspected honor killings in Muslim families, including two Texas sisters who were murdered by their Muslim father Jan. 1, 2008, in what some believed to be religion-fueled rage over the girls' Western ways.
Rifqa's father is now in Florida trying to bring his daughter home. A woman who answered the phone at the Bary home in Ohio said she was a relative, but declined to answer any questions.
Bary told WFTV that there was no truth to his daughter's claims.
Lorenz said he called the abuse hotline Friday. Elizabeth Arenas, a public information officer for the Florida Department of Children and Families, said Rifqa is now in foster care, she said, while Florida officials work with Ohio child services to investigate the teen's claims.
"We just want to be sure she's going to be safe," Arenas said.
Rifqa, her father, Lorenz and Florida DCF officials appeared in court Monday where a judge ordered her to remain in state custody for now. Rifqa is being represented by a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal group that takes on conservative Christian causes.

"When she saw her dad yesterday, she was scared to death," Blake Lorenz said. "She literally believes she's going to be killed."
As for Bary, he said, "I don't want to make him out to be a monster, because I'm sure he's not."
Arenas, who said Bary has been cooperative with Florida DCF officials, said the state had recommended the teen be placed in Ohio state custody. But a judge Monday granted emergency jurisdiction to the Florida DCF, meaning Rifqa will remain in the state's care at least until the next hearing, scheduled for Aug. 21.
Her parents were also given supervised visitation rights, but only at the discretion of their daughter. Arenas said she was unsure if Rifqa had met with her parents since the hearing.
"I don't want to see my father," she told WFTV.