Charisma Magazine

Suspected Islamic militants armed with guns and grenades stormed the offices of a Christian relief and development organization in northwest Pakistan today, killing six aid workers and wounding seven others.

The gunmen besieged the offices of international humanitarian organization World Vision near Oghi, about 50 miles north of Islamabad in Mansehra district of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Police and World Vision's regional spokesman said the Pakistani staff members, including two women, were killed after up to 15 gunmen arrived in pick-up trucks and began firing.

Some Christians are cautiously optimistic that religious freedom will not wane under Ukraine's new president, Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russia leader defeated in 2004 as a result of the Orange Revolution democracy protests.

"We are convinced that ... Yanukovych will protect freedom of religion and contribute to the development of [the] evangelical Protestant churches of Ukraine," Vladimir Shushkevich, a charismatic Christian and member of Ukraine's parliament, told Ukraine media. "We are full of hope and belief that efficient and effective reforms of the new president will return Ukraine the chance to be a worthy member of the European community and the Christian world."

Photo: Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych

A last-minute settlement last week cleared the way for a 77-foot cross to be constructed along Interstate 10 in south Texas.

The 70-ton metal cross will be part of a $7 million Sculpture Prayer Garden to be built on 23 acres near Kerrville, Texas, about 100 miles southwest of Austin.

The garden will be filled with works by charismatic artist Max Greiner, known for his 18-foot The Coming King sculpture, which illustrates Jesus on a white horse as described in Revelation 19. The bronze statue sits outside Trinity Broadcasting Network's headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif.

An Assyrian pastor the Iranian government accused of "converting Muslims" is being tortured in prison and threatened with execution, sources close to the case said.

State Security agents on Feb. 2 arrested the Rev. Wilson Issavi, 65, shortly after he finished a house meeting at a friend's home in Isfahan,  located 208 miles south of Tehran. His church, The Evangelical Church of Kermanshah in Isfahan, is a 50-year-old church body affiliated with the Assemblies of God that caters to the local Assyrian population.

An uneasy calm prevailed in Plateau state, Nigeria, Monday following the killing of hundreds of Christians early Sunday morning in three farming villages near Jos by ethnic Fulani Muslims.

The mostly ethnic Berom victims included many women and children killed with machetes by rampaging Fulani herdsmen. About 75 houses were also burned.