[ag-news] AG NEWS #1789: March 12, 2010

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AG-NEWS: Friday, March 12, 2010 
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**Christians killed in Nigeria

At least 500 Christians ? including women and children ? were
killed near the city of Jos, Nigeria, by Hausa-Fulani, an
ethnic group, this past weekend. Attack were "brutal" with many
killed by machete or burned. U.S. AG World Missions leaders
request prayer for Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria
and the nation.


**Iran continues persecution of Christians -- AG pastor
tortured

Wilson Issavi, 65, pastor of The Evangelical Church of
Kermanshah (Assemblies of God) in Isfahan, Iran, arrested by
Iranian State Security. Issavi's wife, Medline Nazanin, says
her imprisoned husband is currently in poor condition and shows
obvious signs of torture. Execution threatened. U.S. Commission
on International Religious Freedom reports "Christians,
particularly Evangelical and other Protestants, in Iran
continue to be subject to harassment, arrests, close
surveillance and imprisonment."


**Abortion deception: Pregnancy care centers continue to battle
lies and save lives

Many in the abortion industry rely on misinformation and
incomplete information to direct women to choose to abort their
baby. Many pregnancy centers across the nation offer free
ultrasounds in order to reveal the truth ? a recognizable baby ?
far more than a "blob of tissue." Organizations are taking further
steps against abortion by sharing Christ's love and compassion
with these women.


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AG Marriage Encounter opens brand new locale

Greg and D'awn (Elder) Ledgerwood, Sidney, Montana, are hosting
an AG Marriage Encounter weekend in Dickinson, North Dakota,
March 19-21. Mark and Becky Rhoades, national admin couple for
AGME, confirm that space is limited. "Initial plans for the new
locale were made when Greg and D'awn drove the 1,187 miles from
Sidney to Springfield, Missouri, to experience a fall weekend.
The final details were just now worked out," says Mark Rhoades.

To register go to http://www.agme.org or call 800.366.2104
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**CHRISTIANS KILLED IN NIGERIA

Hatred, spanning multiple decades of time, between religious groups
in Nigeria continues to resurrect itself. This past weekend, at
least 500 Christians ? including women and children ? were killed
near the city of Jos, Nigeria, by Hausa-Fulani, an ethnic group.

Religion and ethnicity play a dual role in this long-standing
conflict, as those Christian villagers killed were also a part of an
ethic group that have an ongoing feud with the Hausa-Fulani. In
December 2008, a Nigeria Assemblies of God district superintendent
was cut to pieces and burned by the Hausa-Fulani during one of these
attacks that often results in hundreds, if not thousands, dead.

"These are brutal, vicious attacks," states Randy Hurst, AG World
Missions Communications director. "Frequently, homes and churches
are burned to the ground, sometimes with people still inside, and
those fleeing for their lives are killed with machetes, mutilated
and/or burned, no matter the age or gender."

Currently the Nigeria Assemblies of God has just over 2.7 million
adherents, 11,710 ministers and 10,547 preaching points in the
country. Hurst says that currently all U.S. AG missionaries in
Nigeria are safe and no AG churches have been reported destroyed
during this conflict ? as they have been in past attacks. However,
it remains to be seen if any AG members were killed in this incident.

"The continent of Africa is plagued with physical suffering and
violence," says Mike McClaflin, AG regional director for Africa. "We
never have a total reprieve from our concern for our fellow
believers throughout Africa and, at present, Nigeria is seeing a
flare-up of renewed violence. These are times to uphold our
Christian brothers and sisters in prayer. But we also rejoice that
in times of crisis we have so many strong national AG churches and
believers who are ready to reach out to the suffering, minister to
their needs and share the gospel."

"Please join us in lifting the people of Nigeria up in prayer,"
requests John Bueno, executive director of AG World Missions. "If we
as a body of believers unite in prayer, we can see God do something
beyond our imaginings to unite Nigeria in peace."

--AG News


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**IRAN CONTINUES PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS -- AG PASTOR TORTURED

Wilson Issavi, 65, pastor of The Evangelical Church of Kermanshah
(Assemblies of God) in Isfahan, Iran, was arrested on February 2,
2010, by Iranian State Security shortly after he concluded a house
meeting. According to Farsi Christian News Network, Issavi's wife,
Medline Nazanin, says her imprisoned husband is currently in poor
condition and shows obvious signs of torture.

The Iranian government has accused Issavi of "converting Muslims" ?
a crime punishable by death under Islamic law ? and is holding him
in an unmarked prison. Iranian intelligence officials told Nazanin
her husband may be executed for his alleged actions.

"There's no casual Christianity in Iran," states Omar Belier, AG
World Missions regional director for Eurasia. "Faith in Christ can
result in some form of persecution, with imprisonment and even death
being possible. These brothers and sisters in Christ desperately
need our prayers not only for protection, but for the Holy Spirit to
continue to move in that land and transform lives."

Isfahan, located about 200 miles south of Tehran, currently appears
to be targeted by the Iranian government. Several Christian and
other religious leaders have been arrested since Issavi was taken
captive ? some whose whereabouts are still unknown.

Issavi's church, which has been active for 50 years, focused on
ministering to the local Assyrian community. However, it was shut
down by the government in early January. Since that time, Issavi had
been conducting services in homes around Isfahan.

According to the 2009 International Religious Freedom report issued
by the U.S. Department of State, there are an estimated 10,000 to
20,000 Assyrian Christians living in Iran ? and an estimated 300,000
Christians overall. However, that estimate appears to be shrinking
on a daily basis as persecution increases.

In the testimony of Leonard Leo, chair of the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that was given before the
Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on February 25, 2010, USCIRF
continues to recommend Iran be named a "country of particular
concern" (CPC) for engaging in systematic, ongoing and egregious
violations of religious freedoms. Iran has earned this dubious
distinction every year since the creation of the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

According to Leo, "Since 2005, the Iranian government has
intensified its campaign against non-Muslim religious minorities. A
consistent stream of virulent and inflammatory statements by
political and religious leaders and an increase in harassment and
imprisonment of, and physical attacks against, these groups indicate
a renewal of the kind of oppression seen in the years immediately
following the Iranian Revolution in the late 1970s.

"Christians, particularly Evangelical and other Protestants, in Iran
continue to be subject to harassment, arrests, close surveillance
and imprisonment," Leo testified, "many [Christians] are reported to
have fled the country."

On a note of another concern, Leo reported that "official policies
promoting anti-Semitism are on the rise in Iran." Stating that the
Iranian president and other top political and clerical leaders have
publicly denied the existence of the Holocaust, Leo says that the
government even sponsored a Holocaust denial conference.

Following the testimony, Leo and the USCIRF urged the U.S.
government to take further action against Iranian government
officials who have engaged in particularly "severe religious freedom
violations." To read the full report, visit:
http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2997
&Itemid=1

--AG News


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**ABORTION DECEPTION: PREGNANCY CARE CENTERS CONTINUE TO BATTLE LIES
AND SAVE LIVES

When Sydna Masse had an abortion in 1981 at the age of 19, the
abortionist told her the procedure merely involved discarding a
tumorlike mass of flesh ? an unfeeling byproduct of conception.

"At seven weeks, my child had fingers and toes and everything he
needed to be recognizable as a human being," says Masse, who now
heads a Christian organization in Englewood, Florida, for
postabortive women. "But I didn't know that. I truly felt it was a
blob of tissue."

In today's world, where expectant parents can purchase 3-D
ultrasound images and neonatal technology helps severely premature
infants develop into healthy toddlers, life opponents are backing
away from the old argument that the unborn have nothing in common
with the rest of humanity. Instead, they vigorously contend for
"women's rights" ? rights they claim trump those of the unborn.

"Today, anyone who sees an ultrasound knows that it is a child,"
says Cindi Boston, chief executive officer of the Pregnancy Care
Center in Springfield, Missouri, and board chairman of Alliance for
Life, a coalition of Missouri pregnancy centers. "Those who lobby
for abortion have changed their tactics. Now it's about women's
rights, women's health care, a woman's right to choose. They don't
want to debate whether it is a baby because the ultrasound shows it
is a baby. They want to talk about the woman and her wants and
desires."

Boston says one thing that hasn't changed over the years is the
abortion industry's reliance on misinformation to stay in business.

"Since abortion legalization, they continue to give distorted facts,
falsified data and mislead our entire country," says Boston, who
attends Central Assembly of God in Springfield. "Women who obtain
legalized abortion often do so because they have not been given
complete information."

Following a lawsuit by the New York-based Center for Reproductive
Rights, an Oklahoma district court last year overturned a law that
would require women seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound and
hear a doctor describe the unborn child's appearance. The state has
appealed the decision to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Another law facing legal challenges in Oklahoma calls on abortion
clinics to use anonymous questionnaires to aid the Health Department
in compiling demographic data on women who have abortions. Findings
could help facilitate the development of targeted programs to reduce
abortions. The law also would require abortionists to inform women
of the medical complications that can arise as the result of an
abortion.

Opponents of the laws claim such mandates place an unnecessary
burden on women during a difficult time. However, life advocates
question how women can be expected to make informed decisions in the
absence of facts.

Masse, who counsels women who have had abortions, says most are
shell-shocked by the physical and emotional toll of what they were
told would be an easy procedure.

"No one ever said to me, 'This is what you're going to go through,
these are the risks,'" says Masse, president and founder of Ramah
International and author of the book "Her Choice to Heal: Finding
Spiritual and Emotional Peace After Abortion." "No one told me I
might end up with psychological trauma. I didn't ask a lot of
questions. But I believe in my heart if I had seen an ultrasound
screen, I would not have had an abortion."

Sixteen states have laws related to abortion ultrasounds, some
requiring they be performed and others requiring abortion facilities
to tell women where they can get a free ultrasound. Similar
proposals were debated last year by lawmakers in a dozen states:
Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New
York, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming.

Boston says groups that profit from abortions lobby hard to defeat
such laws because they know viewing an ultrasound is a powerful
deterrent for women considering abortion.

"The truth women see in an ultrasound brings a beautiful view of the
window to the womb," Boston says. "It allows them to examine truth
before they make a decision. There's a natural maternal instinct
that God plants in the hearts of women. As much as they may want to
deny it, the God-given maternal instinct is still there."

Many pregnancy centers across the country, including the one Boston
heads, offer free ultrasounds.

"By reaching one woman at a time, we're making a difference and
moving people toward the idea that life is sacred," Boston says.

According to a Pew Forum poll released in October, support for
abortion in the United States is slipping. In the survey, 47 percent
of respondents said abortion should be legal in all or almost all
cases ? a drop of seven percentage points from 2008. During the same
period, the number of people who said abortion should be illegal in
all or almost all cases rose from 41 to 45 percent.

"What we see now is that abortion supporters and opponents are
basically evenly divided," says Gregory A. Smith, a senior Pew
researcher. "We haven't really seen that in the past. We also see
the change across multiple groups ? college-educated and those with
less education, those who attend religious services and those who do
not. All have shifted."

A Gallup Values and Beliefs survey last May revealed a similar
trend. In that poll, 51 percent called themselves "pro-life," while
only 42 percent identified with the label "pro-choice."

"This is the first time in nine years of Gallup Values surveys that
significantly more men and women are pro-life than pro-choice," the
report said.

As public support for abortion wanes, life opponents promote
abortion methods that are touted as easier and less invasive. Since
the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the drug
mifepristone in 2000, the so-called abortion pill has been
prescribed widely. Also known as RU-486, its use now accounts for
more than 20 percent of abortions in the United States.

However, the notion that there is a quick and painless alternative
to surgical abortion is simply another lie, according to Sheila
Harper, founder of SaveOne, an abortion recovery ministry based in
Nashville, Tennessee.

"The reality is, all it does is keep the doctors' hands clean,"
Harper says. "We're hearing horrendous stories from girls going
through incredible pain and having these babies at home. It's the
most traumatic, awful way imaginable to have an abortion. They're
seeing their babies coming out, and they're having to flush them
down the toilet."

Harper, who had an abortion at the age of 19, says the only way to
confront the deception of abortion in all its forms is by sharing
Christ's love and compassion.

"I absolutely believe Jesus loves those of us who have had
abortions," Harper says. "Jesus would be telling the truth in love,
and that is what we're doing. Abortion is a horrible sin that
carries horrible consequences, but it does not put you outside of
God's grace. God's grace covers even this sin. That's the message of
Christ."

Since founding SaveOne in 2000, Harper has helped establish chapters
of the ministry in 130 churches in nine countries.

"Churches sometimes avoid this issue because they feel they can't
bring politics into the church," says Harper, whose husband, Jack
Harper, pastors CrossRoads Church, an AG congregation in Antioch,
Tennessee. "But this is not political. It's something we have a
mandate to stand against. The church has the only solution. Anything
outside of Christ is just a bandage."

--Christina Quick, Pentecostal Evangel



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