Government Orders Tehran Church to Stop Some Services

Farsi Christian News Network reports that a church in Tehran has cut the number of its services to avoid being completely shut down by authorities. On Friday, the Central Assemblies of God Church cut its Friday services and announced that only its two Sunday services will continue, despite the church's position as the largest public gathering of Iranian Christians. Security from the Ministry of Information has reportedly put extreme pressure on the church, saying they would personally close the church if they refused to comply by the end of October. Rev. Soorik, the bishop and overseer of the Assemblies of God Churches in Iran, said he reportedly made the decision to protect the security and well-being of the church's members and visitors.

Sudanese Bishop Offers Desperate Prayers

World Magazine reports that increased attacks on civilians in South Sudan have residents pleading for international help. Sudanese Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala says his congregations have faced more frequent attacks by the vicious Lord's Resistance Army, whose rampages across the border of Uganda have killed women and children. "People kept coming to me with such suffering in their eyes, begging me to do something about the situation--to get back their children and grandchildren who have disappeared," Hiiboro told the Catholic aid agency Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). In August, a band of LRA soldiers assaulted a congregation, kidnapping 17 people. Three of them returned safely, but one body was found mutilated and tied to a tree. Thirteen remain missing. "What happened in August was a huge shock to us. It was hard to take in the fact that we were exposed to such a risk," Hiiboro said.