Command the Raven

From Koinonia House

**IMPORTANT NEWS HEADLINES**

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Iran Criticized For Missile Test - December 16, 2009
Western powers concerned over Tehran’s apparent successful test of Sejil-2 surface-to-surface missile. “Tests only undermine Iran’s claims of peaceful intentions,” says White House spokesman. “At a time when the international community has offered Iran opportunities to begin to build trust and confidence, Iran’s missile tests only undermine Iran’s claims of peaceful intentions,” White House spokesman Mike Hammer said. Reuters and AFP

China To Expand Its Nuclear Power - December 16, 2009
China is preparing to build three times as many nuclear power plants in the coming decade as the rest of the world combined, a breakneck pace with the potential to help slow global warming. Yet inside and outside the country, the speed of the construction program has raised safety concerns. China has asked for international help in training a force of nuclear inspectors. The New York Times

20000 Christians in India Celebrate Christmas As Refugees - December 15, 2009
Up to 20,000 Indian Christians face Christmas as refugees – two years after a wave of attacks by militant Hindus in the state of Orissa. Release International warns many displaced by the worst sectarian rioting in India are still unable to return to their villages for fear of death or forcible conversion to Hinduism. Pakistan Christian TV

The Battle Over Christian Ethiopian Jews - December 13, 2009
The Falashmura “problem” was created after the vast majority of Ethiopian Jews were brought to Israel in Operation Solomon in 1991. The Falashmura, descendents of Jews who converted to Christianity in the 19th century and for the most part stayed in close touch with Jews, remained behind. In Israel, the Chief Rabbinate ruled that they are “totally Jewish,” but demanded that they undergo conversion in order to dispel any doubt. Haaretz

Christians Increasingly Accept Unbiblical Beliefs - December 10, 2009
Elements of Eastern faiths and New Age thinking have been widely adopted by 65 percent of US adults, including many who call themselves Protestants and Catholics, according to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released Wednesday. Syncretism â�� mashing up contradictory beliefs like Catholic rocker Madonna’s devotion to a Kabbalah-light version of Jewish mysticism â�� appears on the rise. And, according to the survey’s other major finding, devotion to one clear faith is fading. USA Today

Operation Christmas ShoeBox Wraps Up Love - December 04, 2009
This year, Operation Christmas Child will hand-deliver 8.2million shoeboxes - 1.95million of them routed through the Charlotte warehouse where Graham, head of the Boone-based Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse, gave his pep talk to volunteers. “Every box is important,” Graham told the crowd during a fete that included singing and testimonies from past shoebox recipients who are now living in the United States. “I want children around the world to know that there’s a God that loves them.” The Charlotte Observer