Recently appointed Minister of Tourism, Stas Misezhnikov, plans to shift the direction of the marketing of Israel by concentrating on Israel’s unique tourism offering–the Holy Sites.

In Tehran many Iranians haven’t accepted the results of the presidential elections held last Friday.

Church of God World Missions has launched a dedicated Web site which gives details on the upcoming 100 year celebration of the first missionary effort in the Church of God.

Crystal Cathedral founder Robert H. Schuller is turning over the leadership of the 10,000-member megachurch to his oldest daughter. Schuller, 82, announced that Sheila Schuller Coleman, 58, will assume leadership of the entire ministry, effective immediately, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Coleman, a former schoolteacher, has been serving as director of family ministries at the Crystal Cathedral. According to her Ask Sheila blog, she also oversees the church’s schools as well as its children’s and youth ministries.

Coleman told the Orange County Register she never expected to lead the church. “Our church didn’t even start ordaining women until 1973,” she said. “I’m proud of my dad for doing this, and I hope I can serve as a role model for younger women who want to get things accomplished in this church.”

In a letter posted on the ministry’s Web site, Schuller said God spoke to him in the wee hours of the morning. “Give the message-cast my original vision for this ministry,” he said God told him. “Don’t worry. I have called your daughter Sheila, too. She is equipped and she will be your legs.”

Schuller said he will spend two more years “casting God’s vision” for the ministry and his daughter will “put legs to the vision.”

“Sheila has her doctorate in administration and leadership. She knows and loves this ministry and me unconditionally,” Schuller wrote.

Coleman will appear on Schuller’s weekly The Hour of Power television broadcast, but it hasn’t been determined how much she will preach, church spokesman Mike Nason told the AP.

In 2006, Schuller tapped his son, Robert A. Schuller, 54, to take over the church, but the younger Schuller left abruptly last year after a disagreement with his father. Juan Carlos Ortiz, who served as interim pastor, will remain as a teaching pastor.

The younger Schuller signed a deal last month to broadcast his own show on AmericanLife TV, which he acquired in cooperation with GodTube founder Chris Wyatt. The cable network targets baby boomers and will emphasize “family values.” Schuller’s program is to debut in September.

(Source: Charisma onine)

Pentecostals on the tsunami-ravaged coast of Indonesia are experiencing a wave of conversions and healings.

Christ’s Birthday offering, an annual appeal at Christmas, asks donors to send an offering in the amount of the year (e.g., $20.09) that Church of God World Missions uses for emergency situations.

Missionaries Pete and Rosetta Fields share about the ministry happening in Romania and how they are encouraging the believers there.

NEPAL – UPDATE – The leader of the Hindu extremist group, Nepal Defense Fund (NDF), has threatened to bomb the homes of all Christians if they do not stop spreading the gospel within one month, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. In a letter received by local newspapers in Nepal, R.P. Mainali, the supreme commander of the NDF, demanded that Nepal be declared a Hindu state and Christians should not be allowed to worship freely. He said Hindu groups would not allow foreign missionaries and if the government did not comply, “they would fight the government.”