Contact: Samuel B. Casey, Advocates International, 703-624-4092, 703-894-1076
WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 /Christian Newswire/ -- Advocates International (AI), part of the public interest legal team along with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (GD&C) who brought the case before the court more than a year ago, was pleased that this afternoon Chief Judge Royce Lamberth, in his 2-page Order, denied government's request for an emergency stay pending the gov Source: Advocates International
Contact: John W. Giles, 334-335-9955
OPINION, Sept. 7 /Christian Newswire/ -- John W. Giles submits the following and is available for comment:
Her name is Liberty and she is a 22-story tower of strength overshadowing the NY Harbor, which symbolizes to the world the best in freedom and democracy, but today her tears fill the rivers of her great land. Down through the course of time she has greeted millions crossing onto her soil from abroad with a hearty welcome to the lan Source: John W. Giles
Contact: Samuel B. Casey, Advocates International, 703-624-4092, 703-894-1076
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 /Christian Newswire/ -- Responding to the government's request for an emergency stay pending appeal of federal district court Chief Judge Royce Lamberth's August 23rd decision and preliminary injunction enjoining unlawful federal funding of "research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death," lawyers fo Source: Advocates International
Dannenfelser: "Real leaders multi-task. The strongly pro-life GOP leadership should be able to respond to the economic crisis and enact pro-life legislation."
Contact: Kerry Brown, Susan B. Anthony List, 703-470-1926, kbrown@sba-list.org
WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, the Susan B. Anthony List announced the launch of its "Life Speaking Out Campaign" aimed at encouraging House GOP leadership to make protecting women and the unb Source: Susan B. Anthony List
"This church coalition's advice to the President about 'ending the occupation,' without citing Palestinian transgressions, reveals their preconceived anti-Israel bias." -- Mark Tooley, IRD President
Contact: Jeff Walton, Institute on Religion & Democracy, 202-682-4131, 202-413-5639 cell
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 /Christian Newswire/ -- Declaring they "fully support your goal of ending the occupation [by Israel] that began in 1967," liberal religious leaders are urging President Obama to f Source: Institute on Religion & Democracy
The ASSIST NEWS SERVICE (ANS) provides a wide variety of national and international stories that goes to 2,600 media around the world. The news service is headed by veteran journalist Dan Wooding and has a string of experienced journalists and writers that include Michael Ireland, Mark Ellis, Jeremy Reynalds, Elizabeth Kendal, Rolland Baker, Bill Ellis, Maurice Rowlandson, Gordon Bailey, Herbert Eze, and many others.
Open Doors USA President To Terry Jones: Cancel Planned Quran Burning Sept. 11
Event Could Result in Increase of Persecution Against Christians in Muslim-Dominated Countries
For more information, contact: Jerry Dykstra, Media Relations Director Email:
JerryD@odusa.org Website:
www.OpenDoorsUSA.org
For Immediate Release
SANTA ANA, CA (ANS) -- Over the weekend, angry crowds in Kabul, Afghanistan and Jakarta, Indonesia protested and threatened retaliation if the non-denominational Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla. goes through with its plans to publicly burn the Quran on Saturday.
Reaction to the possible burning of the Muslim holy book on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 Muslim terrorist attacks on America could unleash worldwide rage – directed not only at the United States and its troops overseas but also Christians, especially those living in Muslim-dominated countries.
Open Doors USA President/CEO Carl Moeller says: “The planned burning of the Quran is a disaster on two fronts: It violates the command of Jesus to love our neighbor and it would likely cause Christians worldwide to be more vilified and persecuted.”
Moeller says a possible Muslim backlash would probably focus on Christians living in predominately Muslim countries who already are caught in the crossfire, including those who have converted from Islam to Christianity.
“The burning of Qurans will only confirm what many Muslims believe – that Christians hate Muslims. That is exactly the opposite message we as Christians want to send.
“I urge the Dove World Outreach Center and its senior pastor, Terry Jones, to cancel the event. Hate is not biblical; it is not the message of Jesus.”
This morning Jones told CNN that the church is “weighing” its intentions after learning that the “International Burn A Quran Day” would endanger American troops.
Moeller urges Christians to unite in prayer this week and pray that the planned Quran burning will be canceled and the Dove World Outreach Center will stop its message of intolerance and hate.
If you would like to arrange an interview with Dr. Moeller, please contact Open Doors USA Media Relations Director Jerry Dykstra at 616-915-4117 or email JerryD@odusa.org.
An estimated 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors USA, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (888-524-2535) or go to our Website at www.OpenDoorsUSA.org
One of Uganda’s top surgeons flies to Jersey to thank volunteers for constructing an operating theatre at a mission hospital where he worked and also for two other projects
One of Uganda’s top surgeons flies to Jersey to thank volunteers for constructing an operating theatre at a mission hospital where he worked and also for two other projects
Dr. Francis Omaswa is a survivor of Idi Amin’s eight-year reign of terror
By Dan Wooding Founder of ASSIST Ministries
ST. HELIER, JERSEY (ANS) -- Dr. Francis Omaswa, one of Uganda’s top cardiac surgeons, recently flew to the beautiful island of Jersey to thank volunteers who had come over to his country to build an operating theatre at the hospital where he worked and also helped with two other projects.
Dr. Francis Omaswa
pictured at Government House, Jersey (Photo: Dan Wooding)
The respected medical leader, a graduate of Makerere Medical School in Kampala, Uganda, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and founding President of the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa -- took time out of his busy schedule to speak at the Jersey Overseas Aid reunion that took place from August 28-29, 2010 in Jersey.
The wonderful time of reunion brought together hundreds of people who, over nearly four decades, have taken part some 100 mercy trips many of which were organized by local politician, Jean Le Maistre, for the Jersey Overseas Aid Committee.
In an interview on the Saturday at Government House in St. Helier that kicked of the weekend of celebration, Dr. Omaswa gave some background to his long career.
“I'm a cardiac thoracic surgeon trained in the UK -- in London and Liverpool -- then I worked in Kenya when Idi Amin was still in Uganda then went back to Uganda to work in a mission hospital,” he said.
“When I returned to my country after Amin had fled first of all to Libya and then to Saudi Arabia, I had my first exposure to the Jersey Overseas Aid program. It was while at the N’Gora mission hospital in 1984 that a team came to construct an operating theater in that hospital and in honor of that we called one of the hospital wards, ‘The Jersey Ward.’
“After Uganda settled down a bit more, I went to the university teaching hospital at the Makerere Medical School in Kampala and eventually became the Director General of Health Services in the Ugandan’s Ministry of Health in Uganda. From there I got another appointment to be a special advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and was the first Executive Director of the Global Health Workforce Alliance that WHO had in Geneva.”
Dr. Omaswa then revealed that he so respected the work of his friends in Jersey that he had “cancelled another important trip” so he could attend the weekend.
“Dennis Troy was the person who led the first team that I referred to earlier and then he came back again two more times to that area hospital where I was working. They later built another clinic and a convent, all of which are functioning now and they also provided water supplies to the area.
“I feel that the people of Uganda really owe the people of Jersey a lot of gratitude and I'm here representing all of those who have benefited from the Overseas Aid Program.”
I then asked him he had been threatened during the terrible years of misrule from 1971 to 1979 when “President for Life” Amin and his thugs had murdered some 500,000 Ugandans, including an estimated 300,000 Christians.
“I was there in the country when Idi Amin took power but about two three years later I left to go to England to get my training, but I know so many colleagues even at that time who were killed or who had to escape. It was a terrible time for the country,” he told me.
He then spoke about the HIV/AIDS situation in Uganda.
“I must say it that it is still bad, but let me qualify that because at one time -- around the late eighties-early nineties -- Uganda's prevalence of HIV/AIDS was in some places as high as thirty percent and, on average throughout the country, eighteen percent,” the doctor said.
“But through very dedicated leadership by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, and others including many religious leaders, Uganda was the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to demonstrate that prevalence of HIV/AIDS could be brought down to as low then as six percent from an average of eighteen percent in a short period of time. This was through a massive and vigorous campaign.
Dr. Omaswa thanking the people of Jersey as Jean Le Maistre
looks on (Photo: Dan Wooding)
“So that's where we are with HIV/AIDS now. It's flattened out now people live longer because there are antiretroviral drugs but now, we believe, this also to some extent is causing complacency and prevention is taking a back step compared with treatment and we are worried about that and we need to go back to the drawing board and see how we can strengthen prevention on top of treatment.”
After meeting so many friends in Jersey from the various visits to Uganda, Dr. Omaswa spoke at a final event on the Sunday and played a glowing tribute to the people of the island for their dedication to help, not only the people of Uganda, but also for their “wonderful work” to so many others around the world.
Afterwards, Jean Le Maistre paid tribute to Dr. Francis Omaswa. He told the ASSIST News Service, “Dr Omaswa has been a true inspiration not only to the people of Uganda but in all the countries in East Africa. His influence has also extended throughout the world because of his work with WHO. He certainly has been an inspiration to all the Jersey volunteers who have had the privilege of working with him and we feel honored that he has travelled to join us in these celebrations.”
Dan Wooding, 69, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding is also a regular contributor to The Weekend Stand on the Crawford Broadcasting Network, and a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available here
Flood Relief Work in Uttarakhand
Gospel for Asia For Immediate Release
Gospel for Asia Compassion Services teams are reaching out to flood victims throughout South Asia, including those in Uttarakhand, India. This team was in Pakistan earlier this week.
UTTARAKHAND, INDIA (ANS) -- Gospel for Asia Compassion Services teams fanned out across Uttarakhand, India, to distribute emergency rations to flood victims living in relief camps after massive flooding and landslides destroyed their homes last week.
The fast-moving floods that roared through their villages on August 22 were completely unexpected. Most people had to run for their lives just to escape the rising water and wall of mud descending on them. They weren’t able to salvage anything from their homes.
The floodwaters also uprooted thousands of trees, cut off all communication and washed out roads. The floods ruined more than 100,000 acres of rice fields.
The local government evacuated the residents to temporary shelters in local schools. Gospel for Asia Compassion Services teams met with local officials, asking if they could help the people in the camps. The officials told them the most pressing need was food, so the teams gathered their supplies and went to the various camps.
They distributed emergency relief packages containing rice, potatoes, onions, cooking oil, spices, salt and paper plates to about 3,000 people living in seven different relief camps.
The recipients were so moved by the gesture that many had tears in their eyes.
When the flood victims are able to return home, the missionaries who work in that area will tend to their needs and help them rebuild their lives.
Petraeus: Quran Burning Could Endanger US Troops
By Jeremy Reynalds Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
GAINESVILLE, FLA. (ANS) -- A Florida pastor's plan to hold a public burning of Qurans to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks has set off angry protests from Afghanistan to Indonesia, and drawn a formal response from the U.S. Embassy condemning the plan.
According to a story by David Knowles for AOL News, now the book burning has another high-profile foe. It’s Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of American forces fighting in that country.
“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort,” AOL News said Petraeus told The Wall Street Journal. “It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community.”
AOL News reported that Terry Jones, the pastor at Dove World Outreach Center, told MSNBC's Chris Matthews that his church has declared Sept. 11 as "International Burn a Quran Day” (www.doveworld.org/blog/ten-reasons-to-burn-a-koran).
He added that he hoped the burning of the Muslim religion's holy text “will be as it is intended, as a warning.”
AOL News commented that the proposed actions of Jones' church, which counts just 50 members in its congregation, should reverberate so loudly across the world is itself a telling sign of tensions between the West and the Muslim world. That’s in addition to what some see as a growing distrust of Islam in the United States.
AOL News said from the controversy surrounding the so-called "ground zero mosque" in lower Manhattan, to the suspected arson at the construction site of a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., this year's anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks comes as Americans engage in a vigorous debate over the role of Islam in the future of the nation.
AOL News said while Gen. Petraeus' fears that “Burn a Quran” day will lead to violence against U.S. forces in Afghanistan and around the world, police in Gainesville are also preparing for possible violence in Florida as a result of the church's protest.
Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Now You See Me."
Additional details on some of Reynalds' previous books are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel: .
Cuban Church Leader Released
By Jeremy Reynalds Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
SURREY, ENGLAND (ANS) -- A respected Cuban church leader who was unexpectedly arrested and tried in court last week has been cleared of all charges after his accusers gave contradictory evidence against him.
According to a news release from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Reverend Roberto Rodriguez, 67, was allowed to return to his family and is recuperating at home after being found not guilty of “threatening behavior.”
CSW said according to Rodriguez’s family, state security officials arrived at their home without warning on Aug. 30, and forced Rodriguez to go with them.
The pastor, who CSW said is in poor health, was unable to take his medication and forced to hitchhike with the two officials from Cardenas to Santa Clara. They arrived at 1 a.m. and the following day traveled to the town of Placetas, in Central Cuba, where Rodriguez stood trial on Sept.2.
CSW said prosecutors recommended that Rodriguez be given a one-year prison sentence. However, following what CSW called the contradictory evidence given by his accusers, the Rodriguez family believes the tribunal had no choice but to find him not guilty. However, the court handed down a fine to the church leader for reasons that are unclear.
Rodriguez became a government target after the organization he led publicly withdrew from a government sanctioned religious umbrella group in the second half of 2008. CSW believes that the criminal charges against him are an attempt to discredit and silence him.
CSW said charges were first brought against Rodriguez in late 2008, but no trial date materialized and he has spent the last 21 months under house arrest.
Meanwhile, CSW said, his family has suffered verbal and physical abuse from neighbors, apparently acting with the support of the government, and their house has been vandalized.
CSW commented that the behavior of Rodriguez’ neighbors is consistent with a government strategy of encouraging “acts of repudiation.” That’s where civilians are encouraged to harass and sometimes attack Cubans who have fallen afoul of the authorities, usually human rights or democracy activists.
CSW said the harassment of the Rodriguez family culminated in a physical attack against Rodriguez’s daughter-in-law, who suffered a miscarriage and was hospitalized.
CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said in a news release, “CSW welcomes the news that Reverend Rodriguez was found not guilty of the charges against him. The treatment that Reverend Rodriguez, a respected national leader and pastor for 48 years, has endured over the past two years, simply because his organization resisted attempts by the government to interfere in their internal affairs, is a disgrace.”
He added, “CSW calls on the Cuban government to ensure that restitution is made to the family for the damage caused to their house by their now discredited accusers, and that they are allowed to return to their home with the full guarantees of protection that are their right as Cuban citizens.”
CSW is a human rights organization which works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.
Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Now You See Me."
Additional details on some of Reynalds' previous books are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel: .
