JAPAN (MNN) – Humanitarian groups are distributing food, water, medicine, and clothing to victims of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. HCJB Global is helping Japanese Christians with their spiritual needs. The missionary radio group is sending Christian radio programming into Japan via shortwave. Kazuo Ozaki says Japanese “are trying to find a way out, at the [...]

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) _ Church leaders in Zimbabwe are appealing for an end to escalating political violence and inflammatory rhetoric as the African nation slides deeper into a political crisis. In a pastoral statement, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches urged political leaders to “reflect deeply” and work to resolve outstanding issues before holding elections. President [...]

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) _ Christians in Libya’s capital, which remains under Moammar Gadhafi’s control, are anxiously watching events unfold. Many of them are guest workers from other countries. Bishop Giovanni Martinelli, the Roman Catholic bishop of Tripoli, says many Catholics have already fled Libya, and those who remain live in fear. Martinelli says before the [...]

UNDATED (FR) – The National Association of Evangelicals has approved a resolution calling on President Obama and Congress to address the national debt in a way that protects and lifts up the poor.  NAE president Leith Anderson says, “We welcome the renewed attention on the national debt which now tops $14 trillion dollars.” The resolution [...]

UNDATED (ChristianPost) -Seventy five percent of religious persecution in the world is against Christians. A report by the British branch of “Aid to the Church in Need” examined 33 countries. The group found that most of the persecution was occurring in 22 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Those countries include China, Iran, [...]

CALIFORNIA(FR) – Joni Eareckson Tada is traveling again after being grounded during her battle against cancer that started last summer. This month she spoke to over 1000 students at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania. Joni says, “I want to thank the many people who have prayed for me during my battle against breast cancer. I’m [...]

CHIBA, Japan (AP) _ An American missionary says his Tokyo-area congregation has been delivering food and water to an area many have evacuated near Japan’s crippled nuclear reactors. The Rev. Dan Iverson says a pastor in Iwaki, 25 miles from the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, has decided to stay and minister to others who are unable [...]

CAIRO (AP) _ Egyptian voters have overwhelmingly approved changes in their constitution, clearing the way for parliamentary and presidential elections in September according to results announced Sunday. Opponents fear the swift timetable could boost the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood and members of the former ruling party, since they’re the best organized political forces. Among those most [...]

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ The majority leader of the Minnesota Senate says she won’t support a requirement that visiting chaplains be required to open sessions only with nondenominational prayers. A Jewish lawmaker made the request after a prayer by a Baptist pastor repeatedly mentioned Jesus Christ and Christianity in one of the invocations. Democratic [...]

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) _ New Hampshire Bishop John McCormack says churches throughout the state are taking up a collection to support Catholic agencies involved in the recovery and rebuilding effort in Japan. The collection will be the weekend of March 26-27. It will benefit the work of Catholic Relief Services, which is starting a new [...]