The Persecuted



















Persecution of Lao Christians continue (CDN)

(CND) 02 January 2012 - Officials this week forced Christians in a Lao village to give up their faith in order to bury a family member in the village graveyard, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF).
In Huey, Ad-Sapangthong district of Savannakhet Province, where immediate burial is essential in the hot tropical climate, the village’s eight Christian families quickly began to arrange a funeral for the deceased, a woman who died on Christmas Day who went by the single name of Wang. On Monday (Dec. 26), however, village officials ordered that her body be buried according to Buddhist funeral rites or be taken to a burial ground in Savannakhet city, HRWLRF reported.

Lacking the resources for a city burial, the 40 Christians reluctantly agreed. But the village monk then refused to carry out the ceremony because Wang was a Christian.
On Tuesday (Dec. 27), district officials summoned representatives of the Christian community in Huey to their headquarters in Ad-Sapangthong. HRWLRF reported that one of them told the Christians, “Don’t do anything with the dead body; let the body rot if you insist on clinging to the Christian faith.”With Wang’s body already decomposing, the Christians verbally agreed to cease practicing their faith in order to bury her in the village cemetery, according to HRWLRF.Once the funeral was over, five of the families told church leaders in another city that they regretted their decision and that they would continue to worship God.

On Wednesday (Dec. 28), sources close to district officials told HRWLRF that they suspected two people were directly responsible for the refusal of a Christian burial in Huey village as well as the Dec. 16 arrests of eight Christian leaders for gathering some 200 church members for a Christmas celebration in Boukham village (See www.compassdirect.org, “Lao Officials Arrest Eight Christian Leaders,” Dec. 19). They identified the two as Major Gad, a former military officer now serving as deputy district chief of Ad-Sapangthong and also as head of religious affairs in the district; and the district commissioner, identified by the single name Pornsai.

Still in Stocks
Following the release of one of the Christian leaders, Boukham village authorities have moved six of the detained Christians to an animal pen, blocked visits from family members and banned direct delivery of food, local sources told HRWLRF. 
Another detainee had been released temporarily to attend a government training session, but he is now being held with the others. The seven Christians are being held in wooden stocks.
 
When last seen, the health of one of the detained leaders, identified as Puphet, had clearly deteriorated; Puphet suffers from a kidney ailment. The legs of six of the detainees, but particularly those of Puphet, Wanta and Oun, were swollen and infected, according to HRWLRF.“This is because their legs, being fastened in wooden stocks, are raised higher than their bottoms, obstructing blood flow,” a spokesman from HRWLRF told Compass. “The stocks are also causing excruciating physical pain and bruises.”

Family members fear that authorities may employ starvation tactics in order to force the six to give up their faith, the spokesman added.

Uganda pastor attacked with acid (CDN)

(CDN) 30 December 2011 - 
KAMPALA, Uganda, December 28 (Compass Direct News) – Islamic extremists threw acid on a church leader on Christmas Eve shortly after a seven-day revival at his church, leaving him with severe burns that have blinded one eye and threaten sight in the other.
Bishop Umar Mulinde, 37, a sheikh (Islamic teacher) before his conversion to Christianity, was attacked on Saturday night (Dec. 24) outside his Gospel Life Church International building in Namasuba, about 10 kilometers (six miles) outside of Kampala. From his hospital bed in Kampala, he told Compass that he was on his way back to the site for a party with the entire congregation and hundreds of new converts to Christianity when a man who claimed to be a Christian approached him.
 “I heard him say in a loud voice, ‘Pastor, pastor,’ and as I made a turn and looked at him, he poured the liquid onto my face as others poured more liquid on my back and then fled away shouting, ‘Allahu akbar [God is greater],’” Mulinde said, still visibly traumatized two days after the assault. His face, neck and arms bore deep black scars from the acid, and his lips were swollen. A doctor told Compass that acid burns cover about 30 percent of his face and has cost him sight in one eye.
“We are doing all we can to save his other remaining eye and to contain the acid from spreading to other parts of the body,” the doctor said. Mulinde said Muslim extremists opposed to his conversion from Islam and his outspoken opposition of sharia (Islamic law) courts in Uganda attacked him. On Oct. 15, area Muslim leaders declared a fatwa against him demanding his death. Mulinde is known for debates locally and internationally in which he often challenges Muslims regarding their religion.

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(CDN) Muslim Extremists in Nigeria throw acid on Bishop
http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/uganda/article_1314828.html 

 Coptic Bishop warns of another massacre in Egypt (AINA)
(AINA) 30 December 2011 - Bishop Kyrillos, the Coptic Orthodox bishop of Nag Hammadi, received last week several threats of attacks to be carried out on churches in Nag Hammadi, either on New Year's Eve or Christmas Eve on January 6. "I do not want another Nag Hammadi Massacre to happen again," he said in an interview on the Egyptian independent TV Channel Al Tahrir. On January 6, 2010 6 Copts were killed and more than 15 injured in a drive-by shooting of worshippers as they left church after celebrating the Coptic Orthodox Christmas Eve's mass, which falls on January 6 according to the Julian Calender (AINA 1-7-2010).
The Nag Hammadi diocese will cancel all festivities for New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve, and will end the midnight service early and not after midnight as is the norm.
"I have reported to the police all the threats received and asked for protection. I told them that I am ready to ask our youth to organize committees to protect the churches," said Bishop Kyrillos. "Yesterday I sent an appeal to Field Marshall Tantawi, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the prime minister and the interior minister, asking them to secure Nag Hammadi, which has experienced repeated acts of violence."
At the end of 2009, despite warnings by local church authorities in Nag Hammadi of possible violence during the Coptic festivities in January 2010, police had not bolstered security for Christmas.
Bishop Kyrillos believes that the reason behind these new threats is his unwavering support for the Copts of his diocese, who are plagued by an escalating series of kidnappings. The Bishop councils his parishioners not to give in to the kidnappers by paying the ransoms, but instead to report the crime to the police. "I cannot and will not stay inactive while I see the terrified Coptic families paying all what they have, and sometimes what they do not have, to get their children back."
The leader of the kidnapping gang, Ahmed Saber, who lives in Samasta village in Bahgoura, threatened to carry out a massacre in Nag Hammadi after the security forces attempted to arrest him and his gang, but were not successful.
From August 11 until December 24, eleven kidnappings took place in Nag Hammadi and neighboring Farshout and Bahgoura, part of the parish of Nag Hammadi, and this has "escalated recently to the extent that not one week passes without kidnapping, sometimes even taking place at mid-day," said Bishop Kyrillos. "Some families report the kidnapping to the police, some are returned without paying ransoms and some families pay huge sums of money for their loved ones."
Only in 4 out of the 11 cases did families recover their children without paying ransom. Some ransoms went as high as 630,000 Egyptian pounds, paid for the release of a physician and a pharmacist, while 17-year old friends Girgis and Mina Dawood, kidnapped together on December 24, were released yesterday for a smaller ransom. "Contrary to my advice, their families paid a ransom of 130,000 for both lads." He said he does not believe the kidnappers would slaughter the children as they threaten, but they do it for the high ransoms they are demanding and eventually getting.
Bishop Kyrillos is very pessimistic regarding the threats of attacks on churches. The Nag Hammadi Massacre of 2010, was one in a series of attacks on churches during the Coptic festivities. A similar incident took place in April 2009 when Muslims opened fire on worshipers as they left the prayer service on Easter Eve in the village of Higaza, Qena Governorate, resulting in the death of Amir Stephanos (36), Ayub Said (22), and the injury of Mina Samir (35).
On New Year's Eve 2010, a bomb detonated outside the Two Saints Church in Alexandria, killing 23 and injuring 96 parishioners who were attending a New Year's Eve Mass.
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AINA - Egyptian Bishop warns of another massacre in Nag  Hammadi
http://www.aina.org/news/20111229173345.htm
Article by Mary Abdelmassih 

Eve of Christmas Attack on Church in South-West of Iran

26 December 2011 
By Dan Wooding - Founder of ASSIST Ministries

AHVAZ, IRAN (ANS) -- Two days before Christmas, State Security agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, attacked the Assembly of God Church in Ahvaz, and detained the pastor, the Rev. Farhad Sabok-Rooh, and his wife.

Rev. Farhad Sabok-Rooh

According to the Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN) --http://www.fcnn.com/ – the attack took place on Friday, December 23, 2011, at 11:00 local time, during the weekly service in the church located in the city of Ahvaz, the center of oil rich province of Khuzestan, situated about 559 miles south-west of Tehran, when a large number of State Security agents surrounded the building and raided the church, located in Kianpars 3th street.
“All those present, including children attending their Friday school, were arrested, mobile phones confiscated, and church building thoroughly searched by the plainclothes agents who refused to identify themselves,” said the FCCN story.
“A number of computers, all audio-visual equipment, and hundreds of copies of Christian books, were seized and removed; Church attendees were relieved of their mobile phones and were taken on two buses to an unknown destination.
“A number of armed State Security agents of the Islamic Republic stayed on who continued their search for a considerable time afterwards.”
FCNN reports that almost all detainees, after a thorough searched and considerable verbal abuse, were released a few hours later.
However, Rev. Farhad Sabok-Rooh, his wife Shahnaz, and two other Christian workers, named David and Naser, have not been released but are being held in an unidentified prison.
“The released church attendees have been told to be ready to be summoned back, and if it is deemed not to be harmful to the security of the Islamic Republic, their mobiles may be returned then,” said FCCN.
However, the whereabouts of Rev. Farhad, his wife Shahnaz, and the other two church workers is as yet unknown, and the “authorities” have thus far not given any reason for their vehement Anti-Christian activities in Ahvaz.
“During the months of January and February of this year; many house churches in Ahvaz and Dezfool were raided and during a wave of attacks against Christians,” added FCCN.
“Many have been detained while many more were called-in to the Ministry of Intelligence offices in Ahwaz. According to one source at least three have been detained and more than 20 were called in for interrogation and intimidation.”

Radical Muslims' Christmas Gift to Christians: Death and Destruction
From Nigeria to Pakistan, Security Officials Taking Measures to Protect Christians from Violence (ICC)

23 December 2011 - (ICC) Washington, D.C. (December 22, 2011) – Christian leaders from around the world are asking for prayers and government protection following threats of attacks during Christmas. In the past, radical Muslims and Hindus have stepped up their anti-Christian attacks during the Christmas season. There have already been reports of possible attacks this Christmas.
“The rumor of possible attacks on Christians during this year's Christmas celebration is gaining more momentum. The Christians are calling on the government of Nigeria to ensure the protection of lives and properties, and we call on the church worldwide to bear up the church in Nigeria on the wings of prayer,” said a Nigerian church leader in a statement to ICC.

Last year at Christmas time, 38 people were killed in bomb attacks in the Nigerian city of Jos. Members of the Islamic radical group, Boko Haram, took responsibility for the attacks. AFP reports that pamphlets are now circulating in Jos warning of attacks this Christmas. The Nigerian security is taking the threats seriously.

Pakistan is also taking steps to protect churches during Christmas celebrations. Pakistan’s police spokesman reportedly told AFP that 2,500 police will be sent to protect churches from attacks.

Christians living in Orissa, India are also on edge due to fears of attacks by Hindu radicals. Orissa was a scene of anti-Christian violence during Christmas of 2007. More than 100 Christians were killed and over 55,000 displaced in 2008 following Hindu radical violence.

“Hindu radicals are rallying on December 24th and 25th to stop Christians from celebrating Christmas. The only churches that will get protection from the attacks are registered churches. Churches which are not registered will not have the protection. Christians from unregistered churches may not celebrate this year’s Christmas at their churches,” said an Indian church leader in an interview with ICC.

Jonathan Racho, ICC Regional Manager for Africa, said, “We are extremely concerned with the impending anti-Christian violence during this Christmas. We ask Christians around the world to pray for their brothers and sisters who face death simply because of their faith in Christ. We urge government officials in the Middle East, Asia and Africa to step up protection of Christians and their properties.”

www.persecution.org 

Good News/Bad News: Local Government & House Church in Sichuan Reach Settlement; in Shandong, Persecution Continues (ChinaAid)

23 December 2011 - ChinaAid (Jiaozhou, Shandong – Dec. 22, 2011) Local officials in coastal Shandong province have cut all the power lines to a house church to prevent its members from holding a planned Christmas celebration, ChinaAid has learned.
On Wednesday, Pastor Zhan Gang discovered that all the power lines to his church building had been severed by the government-controlled Electricity Bureau at
the request of the Jiaozhou city Religious Affairs Bureau. His 300-strong house church had been preparing for its Christmas celebration, and the religious affairs officials had warned Pastor Zhan, who is also the general-secretary of the Chinese House Church Alliance, that his church should not have any Christmas gathering.
Pastor Zhan left the government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement several years ago and established an independent house church, which has been subjected to continuous government harassment.
"To cut off the electricity of a 300-member church in order to prevent the believers from celebrating Christmas absolutely violates these believers' constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion," said ChinaAid founder and president Bob Fu, who personally knows Pastor Zhan. "We urge the Shandong authorities to take immediate measures to reverse its wrong decision and to permit local believers to have a peaceful Christmas celebration."
Meanwhile, in southwest China’s Sichuan province, the Shangxi Church in Guangyuan and the local government reached a court-mediated settlement on Tuesday.  The reconciliation came against the backdrop of great international pressure as well as the continuous support of legal rights activists. According to the settlement, the Guangyuan authorities made a verbal apology to the church it had long persecuted and pledged to allow the church to meet and not to interfere in its meetings.  In return, the church dropped its lawsuit against the local government.
ChinaAid welcomes this development and the process that led to this positive outcome.  We hope that the authorities will keep their word and protect the citizens’ right to religious freedom.
ChinaAid would also like to take this opportunity to remind churches and Christians that, based on past practice, the Christmas season is a time when the mainland church will suffer intense persecution and harassment. Therefore, we need to raise this up in prayer and look to God for His protection.
China Aid Association 

Egypt Releases 27 Copts Falsely Detained in Maspero Massacre (AINA)
22 December 2011 - The Cairo Criminal Court decided this week to accept the appeal and release, pending investigations, the remaining 27 Coptic detainees arrested in connection with the events of Maspero Massacre on October 9, where 27 Copts were killed and 329 injured (AINA10-10-2011).
This decision was hailed by the church and the various Coptic rights groups. Besides welcoming the decision of the civilian court as a just verdict considering that the detainees were all innocent, it showed, according to various Coptic organizations, the injustice of the military prosecution's investigations. A view shared among all Copts is that releasing the detainees is not enough, those responsible for the killings should be brought to justice.
The Maspero case was first brought by the military prosecution, but was later referred to state security interrogation upon an order from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Early last week, upon the request of the defendants' lawyers, the general prosecution transferred the case to an independent investigations judge.
The 30 Copts originally detained and the prominent Muslim activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who is expected to be also released next week, were charged with the murder of one soldier, the theft of guns from the armed forces, and damaging private and public property. Two weeks ago three Christians minors, Abanob, Andrew and Hana, aged 16 and 17, who did not participate in the Maspero demonstration, but were arrested from the streets because their Christian tattoos, were released (AINA 11-5-2011).
The Coptic Orthodox Church, which had previously demanded the release of the detainees, expressed its satisfaction with the verdict. However, outspoken Coptic Priest Filopateer Gameel, founding member of the Maspero Youth Federation, one of the organizers of the October 9 Maspero march, said "Where is the accountability of the persons responsible for the blood that was shed in Maspero?" adding that the decision to release the detainees confirms the fairness of the Egyptian judiciary, but it also raises questions about the circumstances under which the military police arrested them, and the unlawful renewal more than once of their detention by the military prosecution.
Fr. Filopateer demanded the prosecution of those responsible for the killing of civilians and of the person who gave orders on that night for the military armored vehicles to move to crush the Christian protesters under their wheels, referring to the report of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights, which although could not identify those who shot at the demonstrators, confirmed that there were 12 dead people who were crushed by armored vehicles. He said "We will not be happy just to get the innocent out of prison, , and this will definitely not be the end of the case; the authorities must be held accountable for the killing of the demonstrators."
Copts Without Borders said in a statement that past experience with regards to Coptic cases have the same trend. They start with arbitrary detention of Copts, which aims at twisting the arm of the Copts to relinquish their rights and be diverted away from them by their concern over the detainees. "This limits the ambition of the Copts, of bringing the criminals to justice, and all their hopes are thereby confined to getting the detainees out of prison."
Copts Without Borders views the decision to release the 27 Maspero detainees as a precursor to entirely closing the Maspero case by the authorities, similar to all previous cases of violence against the Copts including the incident of the Church of the Two Saints in Alexandria, which was bombed on New Year's Day, 2011 (AINA 1-2-2011). It declared its non-acceptance of the decision to merely release the detainees, without punishment of the killers, demanding the opening of a new impartial investigation into the events including the disclosure of the names of those involved from the military who gave orders to fire live ammunition and for the armored vehicles to run over the demonstrators.
Prominent Muslim attorney Essam Kandil, one of the 35-man Maspero defense team, said that he offered his voluntary services because of the "glaring injustices in the case, especially that the victims were picked up from the streets based on being identified as Christians." He said the entire defense team will fight until all Coptic victims of the Maspero Massacre, whether those killed, injured or detained for 66 days unlawfully, have received the justice they deserve."
AINA, Article by Mary Abdelmassih

Falsely imprisoned pastor released (persecution.net)
19 Desember 2011 - (persecution.net)
India- Reverend C.M. Khanna, who was arrested and imprisoned on false charges of forced conversion in the Kashmir Valley in India in October, was granted bail by the Srinagar court and has been released from jail.When Rev. Khanna could not help a Muslim cleric, the Grand Mufti, obtain admission for a student into one of the schools run by the Church of North India (CNI), it is believed the Grand Mufti retaliated by summoning the Christian to appear before the Sharia court on false charges of forced conversion based on video evidence of a routine baptism ceremony in his church. The seven newly baptized Christians had also previously been detained and beaten (for more, click here). Rev. Khanna appeared before the Sharia court in the interests of communal harmony in the Kashmir Valley, even though he was not legally bound in any way to appear before a Muslim court in a secular country like India. The arrest of Rev. Khanna has caused great fear among believers, however, say local sources.
Please pray that Reverend Khanna's courage and faith during his ordeal will be a testimony to others. Pray that efforts to win more souls for Christ will be blessed. Pray that God will soften the hearts of those opposed to the gospel in Kashmir Valley.
For more information on India's suffering believers, please visit the India Country Report.
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The Voice of the Martyrs
Sources: Global Council of Indian Christians 

Algeria Stalls Appeal of Convicted Christian (ANS)
17 December 2011By Jeremy Reynalds - Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
 ISTANBUL (ANS) - A judge's decision this month to indefinitely postpone the appeal of a Christian sentenced under Algeria's defamation and anti-proselytizing laws shows how the judicial system keeps Christians locked up without officially punishing or acquitting them, according to sources.
According to a story by Compass Direct News (CDN), in Abdelkrim Siaghi's appeal of his five-year sentence for insulting the prophet of Islam and for giving a Muslim a CD about Christianity, a judge has been unable to find any evidence against him and has postponed hearing dates several times.
CDN said a scheduled Dec. 1 hearing was postponed indefinitely on that day, when judges were expected to pronounce a verdict, according to Siaghi's lawyer.
"The process of the (appeal) inquiry is strange since the first judge with the same file gave a maximum sentence - five years of prison and a fine of 200,000 dinars (US$2,663)," said Mustapha Krim, president of the Protestant Church of Algeria.CDN reported that experts on Algeria's treatment of Christians say that Algerian courts customarily have preferred to defer deciding in favor of Christians so as not to aggravate local Muslim sentiments. Judges have also been slow to pronounce final verdicts in order to keep from provoking international criticism over religious freedom.
CDN said in the case of Habiba Khouider, who was charged for illegally practicing worship after authorities found her in possession of her personal Christian literature, prosecutors in Tiaret have not called her for a hearing since 2008.According to CDN, Krim said it is possible the judges are avoiding a concrete decision in the case of Siaghi.
"For the judge, this is an honorable way out - he can leave the case on hold for months or even years, as in the case of Habiba Khouider in 2008, claiming that the situation is still pending," he said.
For more information about Compass Direct News go to www.compassdirect.org 

House Church leaders detained in Tibet (ChinaAid)
(ChinaAid) 14 December 2011 -  In a historic first, 11 members of a house church in Tibet were criminally detained and held for nearly a month before being released, ChinaAid has learned.
The 11 Christians, led by Brother Song Kuanxin from Zhumadian in Henan province, were taken in by Lhasa police in the days before and after China’s National Day on October 1. This is believed to be the first time that authorities in Tibet have moved against house church Christians.

Police took Song into custody on Oct. 5, and on Oct. 7, he received official notification that he was being criminally detained “on suspicion of [being part of a] cult group.”  He was held with convicted felons, and was later notified that his detention was being extended to 30 days for “committing crimes everywhere.”  While Song was in detention, police officers blasphemed and insulted his faith and repeatedly beat him.

On Nov. 11, after being forced to write a guarantee, Song was released early.  However, he was told that all the belongings that police had confiscated from his home, including two laptops, were considered tools for his criminal activities and had been destroyed.

ChinaAid strongly condemns the Lhasa authorities for suppressing house churches and for discriminatory persecution of Christians.  We call on churches worldwide, especially churches in China, to pray for and support and support these Christian.  The church in Tibet will certainly grow quickly in the face of persecution.  This is the wondrous phenomenon that has repeatedly occurred in the 2000 year history of the church worldwide.

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(ChinaAid) Historic first, Authorities detain house church Christians in Lhasa, Tibet
http://www.chinaaid.org/2011/12/in-historic-first-authorities-detain.html

Uncertain future for Pastor baptizing Muslim converts (CatholicCulture)
(CatholicCulture) 14 December 2011 - The All India Christian Council--an ecumenical organization that defends Christians’ religious freedom--is expressing concern about the implications of the arrest of Rev. C. M. Khanna, a Protestant pastor who baptized Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir, a largely Muslim state.
Conversion, writes John Dayal of the All India Christian Council, is not illegal in Jammu and Kashmir. Yet Khanna was arrested, at the behest of the local grand mufti, on charges of “promoting enmity between different groups” and “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.”
In addition, Khanna was summoned before a sharia court, where he denied and then admitted to converting 15 boys, according to Dayal, and pledged to give the names of the converts to the grand mufti.
Dayal notes that Javed Anand, general secretary of Muslims for Secular Democracy, has come to Khanna’s defense:
What’s Islamic law and a shariah court doing in a secular democratic polity? … Why should conversion of a few Muslims to Christianity be deemed a malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings? … It is far from clear whether the priest is in fact guilty of a cash-for-conversion deal. Only a thorough and impartial investigation could establish if there’s any truth in the charge. But in the brand of Islam the grand mufti and most mainstream Muslim organizations espouse, the issue of inducement is irrelevant. The theology is simple: for conversion into Islam, there’s divine reward aplenty for both the converter and the converted; but conversion out of Islam is … treason of the highest order, deserving of the harshest punishment.
Please pray for his safety.
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(CatholicCulture) India: Pastor who baptized Muslims appear before court 
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=12647 
  
Christian convert in Iran forced to flee (MohabatNews) 
(MohabatNews) 13 December 2011 - "In Iran, anyone who converts to Christianity faces various problems" says this Christian convert. "In spite of the love I had for my family, I had to leave home. Everyone rejected me. The only thing that helped me through was my faith in Christ".
Iranian Christian News Agency, Mohabat News – Abdol-Rahman Mohammad Pouri is one of a thousand Iranian youth who was born and brought up in a strict Islamic family but chose not to follow his parent's religion and converted to Christianity by following his heart and personal investigation. Although he had to leave his home due to harsh treatment by his family and friends and pressures of security authorities, he has remained strong in his faith and continues to grow in his relationship with God. Abdol-Rahman, 29 is currently seeking asylum in the neighboring country of Turkey.
He says about himself: "I heard about Jesus in 1386 (Persian Calendar), or 2006-2007 and committed my life to him in 1387 (Persian Calendar) or 2007-2008. Immediately after I trusted in Jesus, I started to share my faith in the city of Semnan. This action caused me problems as our city was fairly small. As a result and since I had some good Christian friends in Mahabad, I moved to that city and rented a house for myself. That was the starting point for my extensive evangelical activities."
He continued, "In my opinion, the violence and contradictions in Islam made it impossible for me to feel close to God. Because of this I replaced my traditional religion with Christianity."
Separation from Family and friends
His conversion caused him family and social problems. Abdol-rahman explained "When my family and friends learned of my decision, they didn't accept it and rejected me as a result. They made me leave our family home. In addition, my friends treated me like my family had and began calling me an apostate and an infidel. In Iran, anyone who converts to Christianity faces various problems. In spite of the love I had for my family, I had to leave my home. Everyone rejected me. The only thing that helped me through all these challenges was my faith in Christ."
Restrictions of the traditional society
Abdol-Rahman spoke about people who choose to become Christians in Iran's traditional society with all the security conditions. "We couldn't express our faith among other people or attend church freely. And because of the difficulties we faced about going to a church, I decided to devote my rental house to the Lord to be used as a house church."
According to this young Christian convert, speaking openly about their faith and going to the churches was so dangerous for him and his friends that they had to gather in a house church in order to worship God, receive Christian teachings and study the Bible. Their participation in a house church attracted the attention of the security authorities who threatened and raided the house church and prevented them from worshiping. In addition, some of the house church leaders were also identified by the security authorities.

He criticized the current sharia based laws of Iran saying "The Iranian regime is based on Islam and in Islamic doctrine anyone who leaves Islam is considered an apostate and deserves to be killed. The Islamic regime is afraid of any kind of gathering, especially ones that contradict the Islamic faith and regime. In short, they cannot tolerate any other way of thinking than their own."
Abdol-Rahman described his painful experiences in Iran and said, the situation of his fellow believers in Iran is intense. They face all the above-mentioned problems on a daily basis which unfortunately, sometimes end up in stress, torture, long term imprisonments and even death threats."
Increase of threats and leaving the country
He then described his leaving of Iran. "After our house church was discovered by security authorities, I fled to the city of Urmia and stayed overnight with a friend in that city. The next day I learned that security authorities had broken into my home. So, I decided to leave the country to avoid being arrested. After some days, when I arrived in Turkey I also heard that security officers had raided my father's home in Semnan. They showed my family a warrant and thoroughly searched there as well. During the raid they confiscated some personal belongings of my brother including his computer, CDs and some of his books."
As Abdol-Rahman says, after the security authorities detected his house as a target in the city of Mahabad, they raided it. Then the judicial and security authorities, following an order issued on 29 October, 2011 by the provincial court, confiscated all his belongings and the savings he had accumulated through working. The authorities even sent a letter to his work place ordering them to fire him and ban him from working. They also sent several subpoenas to his father's home, instructing him to appear at the revolutionary court of Semnan. But before all this happened he had left the country for Turkey.
Appeal to International Community
Abdol-Rahman Mohammad Pouri hopes for a day when all religions, intellectuals and dissidents are able to express their opinions and no one is imprisoned, tortured or executed for his/her beliefs. He also appealed to the International Community and Human Rights organizations to put pressure on the government of Iran to release followers of different religions and intellectuals who oppose this regime which violates Human Rights and oppresses people indiscriminately.
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(MohabatNews) Young Christian convert forced to flee due to security pressures
http://mohabatnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3531:young-christian-convert-forced-to-flee-due-to-security-pressure&catid=36:iranian-christians&Itemid=279 

Ethiopian police and Muslim students burn down church (ICC)
(InternationalChristianConcern) 09 December 2011 - (ICC) has learned that on November 29 more than 500 Muslim students, accompanied by Muslim police officials, burned down a church in the village of Qoto Baloso, Silte province, Ethiopia. The church was burned down after the police destroyed its roof four days earlier.
The Muslim students screamed, “Allahu Akbar!” and “Jihad!” as they poured gasoline and burned the Saint Arsema Orthodox Church.

The head of police in Silte Province, Inspector Mustefa Bashir, told ICC, “The police demolished the church’s roof after a court ruled that the church was built without proper authorization and therefore had to be demolished. Concerning the burning of the church by the students, we are investigating to determine those who are responsible for the attack.”

A source reported to ICC that Hassan Shomolo, a chief of Qebet district police, deployed more than 30 police officers to destroy the church. The police managed to only demolish the roof of the church because Christians in the area protested. The source reported that the police received the order for demolishing the church from Judge Daro Jamal, the Muslim president of Qebet district court. According to the source, Hassan Shomolo and Daro Jamal are known for their anti-Christian bias.

The church is built on land that the Christian community has used to conduct ceremonies for over 60 years. The Supreme Court of the South Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) had previously ruled in favor of the church when a Muslim businessman claimed ownership of the land.

“All the government officials in the area are Muslims. The Islamic religion has become the state religion in our region. The non-Muslims in the area live and worship in fear. How could we say that there is a rule of law when the police come into a church in the middle of the night and demolish it?” said a Christian who lives in the area of the attack.

ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho, said, “The actions of the Muslim police as well as the Muslim students show the growing Islamization of Ethiopia. We urge the Ethiopian government to stop gross violations of the rights of Christian minorities in areas of the country dominated by Muslims.”

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(InternationalChristianConcern) Ethiopian police and Muslim students demolish church
http://www.persecution.org/2011/12/08/ethiopian-police-and-muslim-students-demolish-church/ 

Boko Haram - the smell of death (CDN)
(CompassDirectNews) 07 December 2011 -  In Nigeria’s increasingly dangerous northeast, Muslim extremists in this town in Yobe state helped members of the Islamic terrorist sect Boko Haram destroy five church buildings last Saturday (Nov. 26), while previously in neighboring Bauchi state Islamic radicals killed four Christians, including three girls. 
Boko Haram members’ weekend rampage in the Yobe state town of Geidam destroyed all Christian-owned businesses, as area Muslims pointed them out for the sect raiders, according to local Christians. Five of the eight church buildings in town were ruined, and the violence displaced about 700 Christians, sources said.

When Compass visited the town on Tuesday (Nov. 29), only two of the eight pastors in the town remained. The other six pastors and their families had fled.

The Rev. Amos Ajeje, 48, vice chairman of the Geidam chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, told Compass that local Muslims assisted Boko Haram members in carrying out the attacks on Christians. He said the attack by Boko Haram, which seeks to impose a stricter version of sharia(Islamic law) than that already in place in northern Nigeria and expand it to the rest of the country, had driven all other Christians from town.

“There are no more Christians in this town,” Ajeje said. “All shops belonging to Christians have been looted and then destroyed by these Muslims. Many of these Christians who fled into bushes when the attack was going on have never returned.”
The Rev. Bitrus Mshelbara, pastor of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) at Geidam, confirmed that local Muslims led the Boko Haram members to the church buildings and Christian-owned businesses.

“The Muslims in this town were going ‘round town pointing out church buildings and shops owned by Christians to members of Boko Haram, and they in turn bombed these churches and shops,” he said.

Destroyed in the attack were worship buildings belonging to St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Emmanuel Anglican Church, Living Faith Church, Deeper Life Bible Church and Cherubim and Seraphim Church. These buildings were located in the Geidam areas of Kafela, Akodiri Street, and Low-Cost Housing Estate.

“Boko Haram members came in a convoy of cars last Saturday at about six o’clock in the evening,” Ajeje said. “They were well-armed. They attacked the police station. They exchanged gunshots with the police and overpowered them. After this they broke into the First Bank and removed money there, before they were joined by Muslims here to bomb churches. That is how the five churches were destroyed.”

Because of the attack, the three remaining churches in town were unable to hold worship services on Sunday (Nov. 27), he said.

“Our church members who ran away when the attack took place could not come back, so it was not possible for us to conduct worship services on Sunday,” Ajeje said. “Our fate is hanging in the balance because we do not know what will happen next.”
Pastor of an Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) congregation of about 120, Ajeje added that Boko Haram members set fire to a local government building and the town’s high court.

Ajeje’s ECWA church building was among the three remaining in Geidam.
“We thank God that no one was killed, but I must say that this has brought fear to Christians since we are a minority here,” he said. “In all we just have about 700 Christians in the town, and all are dependent on their small businesses to survive. With these businesses now destroyed, how will they survive if they remain here? I guess that must be the reason they have not returned since fleeing the town on the day of the attack.”

Mshelbara told Compass that his COCIN church building is standing only because of the pleas of a Muslim neighbor boy.

“My church was spared because of a son of my Muslim neighbor who was among the local Muslims that accompanied Boko Haram members as they burned down churches,” Mshelbara said. “He pleaded with them not to set fire on our church because burning down our church will affect their house, as their house shares walls with our church building. More so, our neighbor the Muslim was sick and was in his house at the time. Based on the pleas of the young Muslim man, our church was spared.”

At Emmanuel Anglican Church, Mshelbara said, a church program was underway at the time of the attack.
“But they were alerted, and they all escaped by jumping over the fence constructed around the church premises before Boko Haram members got there – you can see the destruction yourself,” Mshelbara said, pointing at the charred church building.
Christians at the Deeper Life Bible Church in the Low Cost Housing Estate area also escaped, he said.
“Deeper Life members were holding an evening service, too, when the attack by Boko Haram was going on,” Mshelbara said. “They too were alerted, and they all escaped from the church before it was destroyed.”
Peter Mgoni, secretary of the Geidam ECWA church, said the Muslims looted shops and churches before burning them.

“Boko Haram is an anti-Christian movement out to establish sharia in Nigeria,” he said. “This is the reason they attack churches, just as they attack government institutions. They know that they cannot establish sharia without first crippling the government, and that is the reason they attack the police, after which they now come for us Christians by destroying our churches and businesses.”

Gargari Killings
In neighboring Bauchi state, 48-year-old Samaila Darabo called the members of his household together for the evening family devotion in Gargari village on Nov. 17. He led them in the reading of the Bible and prayer, and shortly afterwards they went to bed.

At about 2 a.m., he was suddenly awakened by his barking dogs. He stepped out of his room only to be confronted with bright lights from different directions around his compound. Stunned, he blindly pushed away part of the mud-brick walls closest to his room. Climbing over the fence and bolting out, he escaped to alert other neighbors about a raid on the village.

The assailants were later identified as local Muslim extremists who came in groups to attack the village on Nov. 18. Darabo’s escape and warning are credited with saving the entire community except for some family members in three residential compounds. Darabo lost his 12-year-old daughter, Laraba Samaila, and his wife, Rifkatu Samaila. She was 48.
In another home, the Muslim extremists killed 11-year-old Gloria Zakka and 7-year-old Martha Zakka, daughters of Zakka Jumba, Darabo’s brother. After attacking these and another residential compound of the Christian community in Gargari in the Bogoro Local Government Area, the assailants withdrew.

Six other people were injured in the attack, including relatives of Darabo’s other brother, Harunna Jumba.
“I climbed a fenced wall just beside the door to my room, and in the process a part of the wall collapsed with me,” Darabo said. “The collapsing wall forced some of the attackers to move away from the spot, and this gave me the opportunity to escape.”After alerting neighbors, they quickly contacted soldiers in nearby Gobbiya village, he said.

“By then, the attackers had already left, having set fire on my house and that of my brothers,” he said. “They killed my wife, Rifkatu, and my daughter, Laraba. They also attacked some of my family members with machetes and shot them too. My brother had two of his daughters, Gloria and Martha killed. That is the grave where we buried the four of them you are seeing over there.” Receiving hospital treatment from injuries sustained in the attack were 2-month-old Matwi Mathias, Esther John, Rebecca Zakka, Yelshi Zakka, Sarauniya Samaila, and Mummy Zakka.

Aminu Gida, 38, told Compass that he was awakened by sounds of gunshots and the cries of children and women that night.
“The men who attacked us are Muslims whom we know live just across the river north of our village of Gargari,” Gida said. “They came in groups that night and started the attack from the western part of the village.”Yakubu Lawal, 58, said attacks on Gargari village began as far back as 1991 and have become more regular. This year alone, he said, the community has been attacked about four times.

“The first attack was on June 28, when at about 10 a.m. six Christian girls from the village who were returning from their farms were attacked by a group of Muslim attackers,” he said. “They took one of the girls away and raped her in turns before leaving her to die in the bush.”
The girl survived and was found days later, he said. Two young Christian men were also attacked the same day while working on their farm, and the assailants also stole two cows, Lawal said.
The second attack on the village, Lawal said, came on July 6, when seven members of the community returning from Bogoro town were ambushed by another group of Muslims.

“Three of them were killed – Yohanna Godiya, Appollos Godiya and Rhoda Gashon,” Lawal said. “The remaining four were injured in the attack – the wife of the village pastor, Mrs. Talatu Karmus, and Rahila Gashon and Ruth Gashon. The fourth victim of the attack was a 6-month-old baby.”On Oct. 8 at about 8 p.m., four members of the Christian community were returning from the neighboring village of Gobbiya when they were attacked by another group of Muslims, he said. They escaped unhurt, but before the Muslims withdrew from the village they set fire to the house of Joseph Ezekiel.

Ishaku Gambo, 58, pastor of the village COCIN congregation, told Compass the attacks have crippled worship. The church had an average attendance of about 200 at Sunday services; now only about 105 show up, he said.
“The reason is that some members have to keep watch over the village while church service is going on,” he said. Gambo urged the Nigerian government to urgently find a lasting solution to attacks on Christian communities in northern Nigeria.

Another Village Attacked
In neighboring Tudun Wada Gobbiya Kazar village, Christians have been forced to flee, with more than 60 residents now living in Gobiyya town as displaced persons, Christians said.

Tudun Wada Gobbiya Kazar village was last attacked on Oct. 1, when its Christian village head, Bitrus Ramako, was killed. A member of the local ECWA in Gobbiya, Ramako was killed at about 10 p.m., area Christians said. Muslim assailants set fire to his house after killing him and then raided the entire village, forcing the Christian villagers out, they said.
Solomon Jingina, 41, pastor of the ECWA Church in Gobbiya, told Compass the displaced Christians are living outside their village without any form of assistance. Jingina said there is an urgent need for the Nigerian government to intervene.

“These 60 members of my church are now homeless, and they cannot return to the village because of the incessant attacks on them,” he said. “I want to appeal for the Nigerian government to address this problem of attacks on Christians, as this is threatening the peaceful co-existence of the people of this country.”

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(CompassDirectNews) Muslim extremists destroy lives, Church buildings in Nigeria 
 http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/nigeria/article_123859.html

Nigerian churches are burning (StrategyPage) 
(StrategyPage) 05 December 2011 - December 1, 2011:  Islamic terror group Boko Haram claimed that its recent attacks in the northeast were a protest against government arrests of its members. The government insists that it has Boko Haram on the run, yet some armed members of the group are still operating. Boko Haram wants to drive all non-Moslems out of northern Nigeria and turn the place into a religious dictatorship. Christians, and many northern Moslems, object to this plan. They do, however, appreciate Boko Haram efforts to go after corrupt politicians.
In the Niger River Delta, the government has bought peace, by spending $10 million a month to pay young men not to attack the oil companies and government facilities. Over 23,000 men are receiving $410 a month to keep the peace. But some of them have gone back to criminal activities, and the widespread violence is expected to return. Meanwhile, the government considers the payments a bargain. In the last full year of violence (2008), gang activity cost over $23 billion in damage and lost oil revenue. But there is still a lot of popular anger in the Delta at the oil companies and corrupt government officials.
November 26, 2011: Boko Haram destroyed eight churches and killed four people after invading the northeastern town of Geidam (near the Niger border) for several hours. The Islamic terrorists also destroyed a police station and set fire to several businesses. A smaller attack was made in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.
November 25, 2011: Outside the central Nigerian city of Jos, Moslem and Christian tribes clashed again, leaving at least fifteen dead. Two churches and an Islamic school were destroyed, along with twenty other buildings. Over sixty people were arrested.
Boko Haram denied that recent arrests of politicians, accused of working with Boko Haram, had anything to do with them. Boko Haram insisted that they had no affiliations with political parties, and those men recently arrested were not, as some claimed, members of Boko Haram.
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(StrategyPage) The Churches are burning 
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/nigeria/articles/20111201.aspx

Christian attacked in land grab in Pakistan(CDN)
(CompassDirectNews) 02 December 2011 -  In an attempted land-grab in southern Punjab Province, police and cohorts of a retired military official beat two Christian women and shot at Christians who came to help them on Friday (Nov. 25), area Christians told Compass.
About eight police officials led by Sub-Inspector Muhammad Arif of Kot Sarwar Shaheed police station, along with armed associates of a retired senior military officer, Air Marshal Maqbool Shah, arrived at the fields of Nazeer Masih in the Kot Addu area and ordered the six or seven women working there to leave, said area Christian rights advocate Waseem Shakir. The women included Nazeer’s wife, Martha Bibi, and daughter-in-law, Nasreen Bibi.

The men told the workers that they had come to take possession of the 12.5 acres that Nazeer Masih owns in Mauza Sadiqabad area of Muzaffargarh district, which they claimed had now been allotted by the Revenue Department to the Pakistan Army for distribution among retired officials.

“Martha, around 40, and Nasreen, about 28, refused to leave the land, which infuriated the Muslims, and they attacked the women, hitting them with batons and punches,” Shakir said. “The Muslims also inflicted a very serious wound near Nasreen’s left eye.”
He said that on seeing the commotion, some Christians working in nearby fields ran to rescue the two women, but the land-grabbers began shooting at them. No one was injured, and the assailants left with a warning that they would return, Shakir said.

He added that Nazeer’s family has been cultivating the land since 1976 and possessed legal documentation recorded with the revenue department. 

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(CompassDirectNews) Muslims in Pakistan beat, shoot at Christians in land grab 
http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/pakistan/article_123795.html 
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The Persecuted Archives
Please go to our Archive page to view all the news from recent months.
 http://www.incontextarchives.blogspot.com/



Pakistan police beat Christian husband and wife for 3 days (Compass)
(CompassDirectNews) 30 November 2011 - A Christian couple is facing false charges of theft after police in Abbottabad severely beat the pregnant woman and her husband for three days when they refused to confess, they told Compass.

Salma Emmanuel was taken to a hospital in critical condition on Nov. 7, the life of her unborn child also threatened, she said.In Abbottabad, 50 kilometers (31 miles) northeast of Islamabad in the Hazara region of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, the 30-year-old Emmanuel and her husband, Emmanuel Rasheed, a 39-year-old TV repairman, said that they were inexplicably arrested after the Muslim woman who employed Emmanuel as a maid had allowed the Christian woman to temporarily store some of her jewelry at her employer’s house.

Emmanuel told Compass by phone that police arrested them on Nov. 5, keeping her at the Women’s Police Station for interrogation and her husband at the City Police Station – where they told Rasheed he would be released, he said, if he renounced Christ and became a Muslim. Emmanuel said that upon reaching the police station, an inspector identified only as Nazia and two other policewomen started punching and kicking her and striking her with batons, demanding that she “confess her crime.”

“I begged them for mercy, pleading that I am five months pregnant, but they continued their merciless onslaught for over three hours,” she said. ‘They continued to try to force me to admit to the crime, even threatening that they would kill my baby, but I refused to confess a false allegation.”
She said that after three days, when she was “on the verge of dying,” police called her brother-in-law to the station and told him to take her to a hospital. “I had complete faith in Jesus and trusted that He would rescue me and Emmanuel from this great problem,” she said. “It was our faith that kept us going …this was the first time either of us had ever encountered the police, let aside being charged in any case, so you can imagine what we underwent.”
Emmanuel was treated at Benazir Shaheed Hospital, where doctors began efforts to save her and the fetus.

Although the doctor on duty confirmed that her body bore marks of severe violence, Deputy Superintendent of Police Aziz Afridi denied that police had tortured her. After reports of the violence reached local media, however, the deputy inspector general of Haraza Division, Dr. Naeem Khan, ordered an investigation.

As Emmanuel was fighting for her life at the hospital, Rasheed was undergoing a similar treatment at the City Police Station. “The police beat me up mercilessly,” he said. “They kept on asking me to confess to the burglary, but I did not submit to their pressure. It was Eid al-Adha [Muslim Festival of Sacrifice, a three-day public holiday in Pakistan] on Nov. 7, and their torture continued during those days.” Rasheed said police tried to convert him to Islam while he was in custody. “A policeman offered to remove the theft charges against me if I was willing to renounce Christianity and convert to Islam,” he said. “I told him that no matter what happens, I will not renounce my faith, nor would I confess the false charges made against us.”
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(CompassDirectNews)  Police in Pakistan beat pregnant Christian, husband for 3 days

Persecution of Nepal Christian on the increase (eurasiareview)
(eurasiareview) 30 November 2011 - Security forces have defused a “powerful” bomb packed inside a sack and placed at the entrance of a Protestant church in central Kathmandu.
The bomb, which was in a cloth bag and stuffed in a white plastic sack, was discovered yesterday outside the Navajiwan Church, which belongs to the Assemblies of God grouping of churches at around 6pm by the janitor Arjun Magar.
“The sack was left just outside the gate. I became suspicious when I saw another bag inside, so I called the church elders who called the police,” he said. Police cordoned off the area in Kupondole district before making the bomb safe with a series of controlled explosions. An army bomb disposal expert later said three high-powered devices were found in the sack and would have caused extensive damage if they had gone off.
Suman Gurung, the church pastor, said people in the area had a lucky escape and that security for services and Church activities in the future would be stepped up.“We will continue to be vigilant and pray. We didn’t used to examine bags of those coming to worship but from now on we will do that,” he said.
Security has become a major concern for Christians in Kathmandu this week following a bomb attack on the United Mission to Nepal, a Christian NGO, on November 22.
Earlier yesterday, Pastor Gurung, along with several other Christian clergymen in south Kathmandu including two Catholic parish priests, met with police to discuss the security situation.
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(eurasiareview) Nepal: Bomb attempt targets protestant church 
www.eurasiareview.com/28112011-nepal-bomb-attempt-targets-protestant-church/ Article by UCA News 

Attack on Nepal Christians (CompassDirectNews)
(CDN) 29 November 2011 - Two years after an explosion shook one of the biggest Catholic churches in Nepal and killed three people, the underground group that orchestrated the attack claimed responsibility for another bomb blast this week.
A crude bomb went off Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 22) in front of a leading Christian charitable organization’s office in this capital city, sowing fresh fear and insecurity among Christians ahead of a critical constitutional deadline. On the same day in the northeastern district of Sindhupalchowk, local residents of the predominantly Buddhist village of Danchhe assaulted two brothers for leading worship services at their home, leaving one unconscious.

Police said they were investigating the explosion in front of the office of the United Mission to Nepal (UMN). While the crude bomb claimed no casualties or damage to the UMN office, it shocked area Christians. The UMN, a Christian international non-governmental organization founded in 1954 by Christian groups from almost 60 countries, has built hospitals, schools, hydropower plants and industrial development and training institutions in Nepal.

At the site police found leaflets signed by someone calling himself a senior member of the Nepal Defense Army (NDA), a militant armed group that has terrorized Christians and Muslims, demanding that they leave Nepal. The leaflets asserted that the majority population in Nepal was Hindu and that therefore it should be a Hindu state. The leaflets also accused the UMN of converting Hindus to Christianity.

Though there was no immediate reaction from the UMN, Nepal’s Christian community expressed shock.
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(CompassDirectNews) Christians in Nepal attacked as constitutional deadline nears 

Crack down on AOG Churches in Iran (MohabatNews)
(MohabatNews) 28 November 2011 - written by one of the hidden soldiers of the 12th Imam (Secret Security authorities) to motivate senior security authorities. It also appears that this shabby act was intended to spark anti-Christian feelings within Iran.
Iranian Christian News Agency, MohabatNews-- Exaggerating has become a habit of news providers for government supported and regime dependent media who introduce themselves as hidden soldiers. They have claimed that the "Markaz Church, an Assemblies of God church in Tehran, is extremely active in propagation and sending evangelical Christian groups throughout the country to attract Muslim youth to Christianity. Their websites say "The congregation of the Church of Markaz are Christian extremists who use various ways to bring members to their church and to convert Iranian Muslim youth. They try to destroy the image of the sacred regime of Iran in the world. They deceive young people who are financially in need by promising to grant them refugee status in other countries." The websites also report that these evangelists with the support of American mass media want to show a negative image of the Islamic republic to the international community.
But making such repeated claims by the staff of government sponsored media is more like a report to the security authorities and organizations rather than a piece of news. Such action seems to have an unstated purpose behind it.
Presentations of this kind of biased news about Christianity and Iranian Christians has taken place at the same time as the Supreme Leader, scholars and Islamic clerics as well as senior authorities and staff of the Revolutionary Guards and other security and intelligence forces are making serious efforts to oppose Christianity in Iran.
-Result of establishment of government of Islam
These unsubstantiated and misleading claims about the activities of churches to attract Muslim youth to Christianity are being made at time when government, religious and security authorities have become particularly sensitive on such issues. The churches don't consider it necessary to take such actions to invite Muslim youth to Christianity! Meanwhile, as a result of the increasing awareness of Iranian citizens following the establishment of the pure Islamic government and in spite of threats, torture, beatings, imprisonments and executions, Iranian youth are turning from Islam in large numbers and seeking to base their lives and religious beliefs on their own investigation.
- From closure of churches to shutting down of worship services of Farsi-speaking Christians
The assemblies of God church of Tehran (Markaz), Iran
Despite all the pressures and threats by the regime, the movement to Christianity in Iran has grown to the extent that some (generally Farsi-speaking) churches in some cities were closed and locked by the security forces. In the other churches that were not closed, these forces prevented Farsi-speaking Christians (mainly Christian converts) from entering. The Assyrian church of "Shahr-Ara" in Tehran is an example of this. Farsi-speaking Christians formed a large number of its congregation before security forces with the cooperation of the representative of the Assyrians in the Islamic parliament (Majles-e-shoraye-eslami), dismissed the pastor of the church and cancelled the Farsi worship services there. In another case and prior to this incident, there were routine Farsi church services being held in the AOG church of Markaz in Tehran, but on Friday, 30 October 2009 security authorities threatened the church leaders and cancelled the Friday evening services which were being held in two services because of the huge number of attendees.

However, these restrictions have made every believer's house into a church and have caused the regime to be afraid of the house church movement and active churches. The authorities also seem to be afraid of historical churches which have become historical monuments and belong to the history of the country. The destruction of the historical church in the city of Kerman didn't cause an outcry from any Iranian authorities, not even the voice of the spineless representatives for religious minorities in the Islamic parliament of Iran. These are all examples of the attitude of the regime towards Iranian Christians and their places of worship.
-Spying on the activities of the churches
The dear person who writes such reports about the activities of the AOG church of Tehran and raises such claims, knows very well that all church activities, programs and services in Iran and in this case the AOG church of Tehran are under careful observation by security and intelligence agents.
Though the writer of this article comes from the same church, it is well known that all the efforts and activities of the leadership of the AOG church of Tehran have always been according to the word of God which says: "13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right." (1 Peter 2:13-14).
- A church is not like a mosque in receiving government funding!
It's been claimed that the AOG church in Iran is taking advantage of the poverty of jobless youth, especially those who lack sufficient funds to get married and deceives those who are weak in their Islamic faith. The purpose of this claim is not clear. However, the churches of Iran don't receive any kind of government support. All their funding comes from their congregations and believers who want to give to God and ministries in the form of tithes and offerings. In a situation where churches are facing financial challenges to even repair the church building how could they support the youth in matters of marriage, employment and financial problems? Is it possible that such ideas come from the way mosques are managed since they receive huge amounts of money from government only to bring people to the prayer sessions? Allocation of a budget of 50 million dollars to the mosque of Jamkaran only to develop its facilities to attract more people to the mosques or huge funding of the Revolutionary Guards (Sepah-e-Pasdaran) to build mosques in Europe are some of the examples of the major investment of the Iranian regime in propagating Islam. Isn't it true that all theseattempts have failed to satisfy the spiritual needs of young people and to release them from their financial and social challenges?
- Seminary scholars complaining about the tendency of the youth to Christianity
Despite three decades of effort and millions of dollars of investments to support the propagation of Islam, the regime feels it must use force, fear and threats to oppose Christianity. It is interesting that all these attempts have been ineffective and the seminary scholars are complaining day and night about the drift of youth to Christianity. (Mohabat News discussed this matter in detail in the previous articles)
The distaste of Iranian youth for Islam is a troubling reality that religious and government authorities are aware of and acknowledge. Their speeches and the actions of security authorities to crack down on Christians are also a clear confirmation of this fact.
The unsubstantiated report on the evangelistic activities of the Assemblies of God church of Markaz in Tehran was obviously written by one of the hidden soldiers of the 12th Imam (Secret Security authorities) to motivate the security authorities. It appears that this shabby act was intended to spark anti-Christian feelings within Iran. Without any reasoning, it seems that the author of the report is trying to influence the authorities of the regime and to show his loyalty towards the regime.
Such claims have been published over and over in media supported by the regime. They also mentioned other subjects, including distribution of books and flyers, etc. but Mohabat News does not consider it necessary to mention them here in view of the length of the article
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(MohabatNews) Unsubstantiated claim of security authorities regarding evangelical activities by AOG church!

Beijing Shouwang Church Announcment on Nov 20th Outdoor Worship Service (CHINAaid)
(CHINAaid) 25 Nov 2011 - Letter from the Church in China
Dear brothers and sisters: 
Peace in the Lord! On Nov 20th, Shouwang had her thirty-third Sunday outdoor worship service. In the past week, many believers were detained at home since Saturday. On Friday night, police from Datun police station took a sister to a hotel for detention. As far as we know, at least twenty-six believers were taken away on Sunday morning for going to the planned location to join the outdoor service, either at the spot or on their way there (including three sisters from Xinshu Church). And they were sent to ten local police stations of their respective area. Till midnight, only eleven believers were released home, and the other sixteen believers were still detained in four different police stations (mainly in three police stations in Haidian district). The last five believers, who were detained at Zhongguancun Street police station and Zhongguancun police station, were not released until 10:00am on the 22nd, after forty-eight hours detention. 
It is winter now, and the weather in Beijing is getting colder; the temperature can drop to zero at night. But the cold weather is not able to prevent believers from going out to join the outdoor service; there are even more believers who never went before now joined the outdoor worship. Knowing that they might face longer detention as each police station put more force into it last week, our brothers and sisters proceeded to the outdoor service with no hesitation, and faced policemen with peace. Those who waited outside police stations showed their deep love for other members in the body, which is a good witness for the Lord. At 11:00pm on Sunday night, outside Haidian police station alone, there were more than ten believers waiting with joy, which was a great comfort to believers who were detained inside.

We thank our Lord for these good witnesses. The Lord grants believers faith and courage to follow him, and he raises up believers—we hope that he will raise up more believers—to shine for him together. God forgives our sin, shows mercy to us when we are weak, strengthens us when we are weary; he continues to be with Shouwang Church for his name’s sake, and uses his church to shine for him in this generation. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you…but the LORD rises upon you, and his glory appears over you.” (Isaiah 60:1-2) We believe that being his church, as long as we wait for him in perseverance and seek his guidance with all our heart, his glory will rise upon his church. And we will shine for him in this generation with this glory, and we won’t be ashamed because of this glory. Let us continue to pray before God fervently: may he open a way for us so that we will witness his glory.

May peace and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the mercy and love of Father God, and the console and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, be with each brother and sister of Shouwang Church and all the churches who remember Shouwang Church in prayers, from this time on and forevermore! Amen.
Beijing Shouwang Church 

Christians injured in attack in Vietnam denied medical care (CDN)
(CDN) 23 Nov 2011 - Three Christians seriously injured during a savage attack near Hanoi on Nov. 13 have been evacuated to an undisclosed hospital in Ho Chi Minh City after several hospitals in the region refused to examine and treat them.The attack on a church leaders’ worship service of an Agape Baptist Church (ABC) house church in Lai Tao village, Bot Xuyen commune, My Duc district left one woman, evangelist Nguyen Thi Lan, with her pelvis broken in two places and with badly damaged internal organs, according to doctors who recommended emergency surgery. Yet previously doctors at three area hospitals had told her and two other seriously injured Christians that they were fine and dismissed them, said Pastor Nguyen Cong Thanh, head of the ABC.

When doctors in Vietnam learn that religious motives play a role in violence, commonly they do not dare to treat or even examine the victims of persecution. ABC head Nguyen Cong Thanh had rushed north from his base in Ho Chi Minh City to help the church members. The attack took place in the home of the injured Nguyen Thi Lan (not that of pastor Nguyen Danh Chau as previously reported), a recently retired Communist Party official who converted to Christianity only last year. Within that short time she had led some 50 extended family members, friends and neighbors to the Christian faith, angering a fellow villager identified only by his given name, Khoan. Khoan and his son led a gang into her house and beat several people, leaving pastor Nguyen Danh Chau unconscious and destroying property, sources said. Khoan repeatedly threatened to kill Nguyen Thi Lan, and the gang of about a dozen threatened to kill Nguyen Danh Chau if he continued gathering Christians for worship, the sources said.

ABC head Nguyen Cong Thanh said he tried to obtain medical examinations and treatment for the worst wounded in several government clinics and hospitals in the region, but the injured were continually told they needed no care. After a nearly a week, the three most severely injured Christians still suffered acute pain, and they suspected serious internal injuries, he said. Late Friday (Nov. 18), five days after the attack, staff members at one hospital told Nguyen Cong Thanh that there would be no examinations the next day and Sunday, and to come back on Monday (Nov. 21), when examinations were possible. At that point ABC leaders decided to take the two injured women and wounded man to Ho Chi Minh City, a 1,000-mile, two-hour flight south. They reasoned that even if government hospitals would not take them, they would certainly find some doctors with a conscience in private hospitals, even though such hospitals would be expensive and would require a full-payment deposit before examination and treatment.

Nguyen Thi Lan, who had not been able to eat since the attack, was admitted to a hospital immediately after her examination, as the doctors discovered her doubly broken pelvis and severely injured female organs. Pastor Nguyen Danh Chau, who had severe bruises on his face and head, had also been kicked in his back, chest and stomach. Doctors diagnosed internal injuries to his kidneys, liver and perhaps other organs. He too was admitted for further observation and treatment. Nguyen Thi Tac, who had been hit with a steel shovel on her chest and stomach as well as her back, was also still in considerable pain, but a medical examination found no serious internal injuries and she was not admitted to the hospital. In Khoan’s rants during the attack, sources said, he charged that the land, now legally owned by Nguyen Thi Lan, had once belonged to his ancestors, implying that the ancestors would be angry that the current residents no longer worshipped them. Blurry cell-phone photos of the attack show a sullen Khoan in a tug-of-war with a woman trying to hang on to the wooden cross he had torn off the wall of the large room the Christians used for worship. The invading gang destroyed furniture and seriously damaged motorbikes, a small vegetable garden and fruit trees before leaving (see www.compassdirect.org, “House Church Leaders Attacked near Hanoi, Vietnam,” Nov. 16), sources said.The injured Christians wrote a petition to police indicating the articles of the criminal code that had been violated, but officers have done nothing about Khoan’s death threats nor helped to redress the damage done to the Christians and their property. While not opposing the attempt at securing legal redress, the affected Christians’ top leader, Nguyen Cong Thanh, encouraged the injured Christians to show forbearance.

“I pray that you will patiently endure your suffering for Jesus’ sake without bitterness,” he told them. “Know that the blood you spilled is now joined with Christ’s blood in suffering.” He said officials have failed to prosecute the perpetrators.“They remain beyond the reach of the law and dare the authorities and the Christians, saying, ‘If we are not imprisoned, we will surely murder Ms. Lan if she ever returns.’” A long-time Vietnam religious liberty advocate said there is a growing pattern of strong social persecution in Vietnam where new Christian groups flourish.

“It is also the pattern that local police and government officials are loathe to prosecute those who harm Christians or to extend protection to threatened Christian believers,” he said. “In this incident, Christians recognized some police and local officials dressed in civilian clothes among those who took part in the original attack on the house church on Nov. 13.” 


Pastor and Church members arrested (FIDES)

(FIDES) 22 Nov 2011 - Police in Kashmir have arrested Pastor C. M. Khanna of the "All Saints Church," along with other Christian faithful engaged in the same church.

The accusation against the Pastor and the faithful is "forced conversion" of 15 Muslim boys, who were baptized in the church a few weeks ago. For the case, Pastor Khanna had been called to testify by the Grand Mufti before an Islamic court (see Fides 07/11/2011). The Pastor - as reported to Fides by the "Global Council of Indian Christians" (GCIC), which defends the rights of Christians in India - admitted, before the Islamic court, his involvement in the conversion of 15 young Muslims (but without any deceit or flattery), by simply accepting their request to be baptized, which was "their own free will".

The Grand Mufti invoked the application of the sharia (Islamic law) and the intervention of the police, threatening, otherwise "serious consequences". The police in Kashmir, fearing another round of turmoil in the valley, registered the case according to the articles 153A, 259 and 186 of the Penal Code and arrested the Pastor and other believers. Meanwhile, other Christians in Kashmir, note sources of Fides, are in hiding, fearing retaliation by Islamic extremists.


"The state has surrendered to the militants, denying the constitutional guarantees to its citizens" is what is said, in an open letter to the National Commission for Minorities, in the federal government, by Sajan George, President of the GCIC, recalling that "conversion is a right which is protected in the Indian Constitution, "arguing that there is not enough evidence for the arrest. Besides, "the baptism ceremony was open to the public and the Pastor had nothing to hide".


"The rights of Christians are sacrificed on the altar of political opportunity and convenience" continued the President, while "a Muslim religious figure is trying to subject a Christian to the Sharia law in the largest democracy in the world". The GCIC said that "the only hope for justice for Christians is the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 21/11/2011)



House church leaders attacked in Hanoi, Vietnam (CDN)

(CDN) 17 Nov 2011 - A gang of men attacked leaders of a Baptist house church network near Hanoi on Sunday (Nov. 13), leaving one pastor unconscious and seriously injuring several others, including women and teenage children.

Leaders of the Agape Baptist Church were participating in a spiritual renewal meeting at the home of pastor Nguyen Danh Chau in Lai Tao village, Bot Xuyen commune, My Duc district, when the gang intruded at 9:30 a.m., sources said. Beating people and smashing property, the gang seriously injured more than a dozen participants and warned Nguyen Danh Chau that they would kill him if he continued gathering Christians, the sources in Vietnam said. With the attack underway, the sources said, some gang members ran outside and announced to the neighborhood, “Oh heavens, the Christian pastors are savagely beating up people!” This attracted a large crowd, which the gang hoped would prevent any Christians from escaping.

The seriously injured Christians included five male pastors, four female pastors and other church leaders, and several of the leaders’ teenage children. The worst wounded, Nguyen Danh Chau, lay unconscious for many hours, and as of midnight Tuesday (Nov. 15), he was still suffering severe chest, stomach and head pain. One pastor’s wife, Nguyen Thi Lan, was still unable to walk and function normally at press time after she was struck in the stomach and groin. Others remained weak from loss of blood. The Christians were punched in the mouth and face, the chest and the back. Some were savagely kicked as they lay on the floor. The denomination’s top leader, Nguyen Cong Thanh, who rushed up from the south to visit the beleaguered leaders, reported that he planned to take the injured to a nearby hospital today; he feared, however, that he would encounter resistance. When doctors in Vietnam learn that religious motives play a role in violence, commonly they do not dare to treat or even examine the victims of persecution.

Attacking on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, observed worldwide by thousands of churches affiliated with the World Evangelical Alliance, the gang smashed a dozen plastic chairs, overturned a pulpit and tore a cross from the wall and threw it into a nearby pond, leaving no doubt as to their motivation. They also stole valuable parts from four motorcycles belonging to the pastors before smashing the remainder of the vehicles. Valued at more than US$1,000 each, the motorbikes represent a huge loss for the church leaders.

Before leaving, the gang stopped long enough to destroy the family’s kitchen garden and fruit trees, sources said. The Agape Baptist Church is an unregistered house church organization of some 2,200 members who worship regularly in 38 congregations. It was established in 2007. Many of the congregations are located in or near Hanoi and nearby provinces. Agape Baptist Church head Nguyen Cong Thanh said in a statement Tuesday morning (Nov. 15) that he had met with the injured.

“All they could do was weep, and I also could not prevent my tears from flowing,” he said. “Why do they gratuitously beat servants of the Lord like this – what crime have they committed, what enemies have they made? All we want to do is gather people to worship and serve God and our fellowman. And not only that – the gang destroyed four motorcycles and stole safety helmets, shoes and rain coats from people with very modest means. God have mercy!” In the past few years, official policy toward religion in Vietnam is ostensibly more tolerant than it was previously, so it has become a pattern for police and higher authorities to employ gangs for such anti-Christian attacks, according to Christian leaders in Vietnam. The gang members are rarely identified and never prosecuted.

Vietnam’s ranking among countries with persecution of Christians slipped slightly on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2011 World Watch List. With No. 1 being the worst, Vietnam’s place on the list deteriorated from No. 21 to number No. 18 last year.



2 Christian leaders forced to leave Pakistan (Fides)

(FIDES) 16 Nov 2011 - Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - The Protestant Bishop Mgr. Pervaiz Joseph and Pastor Baber George were forced to flee abroad, because they were victims of false accusations of blasphemy and threatened with death by Islamic radicals, as well as leaders of an organization funded by the Pakistani government. This is what Pastor Mustaq Gill told Fides, President of the "Legal Evangelical Association Develpment" (LEAD), an association of Christians of all denominations, including in particular lawyers and provides legal assistance and protection to Christians in Pakistan. The LEAD, reports the President to Fides, "has organized the expatriation of the two leaders, in danger of life, and today is providing to ensure a safe haven for their families". "It is a very sad story and a symbol of the persecution that Christians suffer in the name of the blasphemy law", explains Gill to Fides, as "the Bishop is a well-known personality and very involved in interfaith dialogue and in peace at national and provincial level in Punjab".

The Bishop and the Pastor, who were both working in Lahore (in Punjab), in the last seven years met several Muslim political and religious leaders, facing a number of issues concerning the blasphemy law and the conditions of Christians. "In the past few weeks - explains Pastor Gill - during one of these exchanges of views, they were accused of using contemptuous words against the Prophet Muhammad, an offense that the two did not commit in any way".
The Bishop, refers a source of Fides, was the Christian representative of the organization "International Peace Council For Interfaith Harmony" (IPCIH), which receives funding from the Pakistani government. It was the leader of the Council himself, Haji Rana Tahir Rehmat, who along with other Islamic religious leaders of the Islamic movement "Sunni Tehreek", launched the false accusations of blasphemy, delegitimizing the Christian leaders and sending upstream years of working together. According to some, the two Christians became unpopular to the Council because they decided to start a new association to protect the rights of Christian communities in Pakistan.
Asked by Fides, the Catholic Akram Gill, Minister of State in the "Federal Ministry of Harmony", assured that "he will acquire all the necessary information on the case and take appropriate action", reaffirming the commitment of the Pakistani government for interreligious dialogue.



Support mounting for imprisoned Algerian Christian (ICC)

16 Nov 2011 - International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that the case of Siagh Krimo, an Algerian Christian who was arrested for proselytizing and is scheduled to stand trial on Thursday, is gaining significant recognition among Christians and human right activists in Algeria who are calling for his immediate acquittal.


Siagh Krimo, who is 29 years old and married with an infant daughter, was arrested on April 14 and held for three days in Oran for giving a neighbor a CD about Christianity. On May 4, Krimo was sentenced to five years in prison for blasphemy based on the neighbor’s accusation that he had insulted the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Krimo was sentenced according to Article 144 bis 2 of Algeria’s Penal Code, which criminalizes acts that “insult the prophet and any of the messengers of God, or denigrate the creed and precepts of Islam.”

“In the argument which led to the conviction of my client, there is no evidence,” Krimo’s lawyer, Muhammad Ben Belkacem, told the Algerian daily Liberté. “Even the person who complained was never presented at the hearing… [All evidence], including DVDs seized at the home of Siagh Krimo, were never presented in court... As for insulting the Prophet, he (Krimo) totally denies it!”

The Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) is mobilizing a “massive presence” that will gather at the courthouse along with journalists and activists on November 17th for the scheduled reexamination of Krimo’s case, an EPA spokesman told ICC. Krimo’s trial is not only important to Christians in the country, but also to human right activists.



Christians attacked in India (AsiaNews)

(AsiaNews) 16 Nov 2011 - Activists of the Bajrang Dal (Hindu ultra-nationalist movement) have attacked members of two different Christian communities, engaged in a prayer service, accusing them of practicing forced conversions. The episodes took place last November 12 and 13 in the district of Hassan (Karnataka). The assaulted Christians are still in prison. This brings to 40 attacks against the Christian community of the state in 2011. "Two incidents in two days - said Sajan K George, President of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) - belie every promise made to the Christian community by the chief minister of Karnataka, a member of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). Collusion between the government of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar is very real, the attacks are deliberate and meticulously planned. As long as these movements escape the harsh measures of the Indian criminal justice system, violence will continue. "


Since 2008 the Government of Karnataka has been led by the BJP, a party that supports ultra-nationalist groups and movements of Hindu extremists belonging to the wide umbrella group of the Sangh Parivar like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajarang Dal, responsible for numerous episodes of violence, anti-Christian persecution and discrimination that occur in India.

On 13 November, the pastor H.S. Nagaraj, of the Church of Immanuel Prarthanalaya in Arkalgud, had just started the Sunday service, when ten of the Bajrang Dal activists stormed the Church, interrupted prayer and tore the Bibles to pieces. Within a short time the local police also arrived, who arrested the pastor and three faithful, Shivanna, Ravi and Chandrashekar. The Christians are still in prison.

A day earlier, on 12, a similar incident happened. Six faithful of the Ministry of Bethel Church - a woman with a four year old son, the women Padmavathy and Gangamma and men Raju and Varu Chakravarthy - waiting for the bus at Belur station, after a prayer service. Suddenly, ten activists of the Bajrang Dal surrounded them, asking them what they were doing in the city and insulting them. After beating the two men, they led the entire group to Harehally police station, where police issued an arrest warrant for the six Christians. Thanks to the GCIC, the three women and child were released, but men are still in prison.

The president of the GCIC warns: "Is public worship a crime in secular India? What happened to religious freedom guaranteed by our Constitution? Is BJP allowed not to respect the constitutional guarantees of citizens of India, or the Christian minority - a community set in a Hindu majority - not to have access to the rights and privileges enshrined in art. 25 of the Constitution? ".



Christian village in Burma attacked, killing 10 (ChristianPost)

(ChristianPost) 16 Nov 2011 - At least 10 people were killed and more than two dozen injured in a grenade attack at an orphanage in a primarily Christian region in northern Burma on Sunday.

It is unclear why the orphanage was attacked, but the region has been plagued with increasing violence targeting Burma's Christian minority.
Three buildings burned as a result of the bombing, according to Mizzima, a news organization run by Burmese journalists in Delhi, India.The attack, which occurred in Myitkyinar, Kachin State, happened as a study group was taking place inside the orphanage, increasing the number of casualties, according to reports.In October, Burmese military officials beat and arrested five men, including Pastor Jan Ma Aung Li of the Catholic Association, according to Mizzima. The men were later released.Christians also have been forbidden to build new churches, had religious symbols – such as crosses – removed by the military and food and homes confiscated by officials, according to a Human RightsWatch report.



More recently, new restrictions were placed on the region's Christians, restricting their ability toworship, hold Bible studies and pray. Christians are now required to submit a written request at least 15 days in advance prior to reading the Bible or worshiping, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a religious freedom watchdog group.More than 30,000 people from Kachin State have been displaced since renewed fighting began in June between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the Burmese military, Eurasia Review reported. The KIO is made up of residents of the mostly-Christian autonomous region in Burma.The continued violence and addition of new restrictions against the nation's Christian minority continues to grab the attention of watchdog groups as well as governments around the world.

"It appears that despite changes in rhetoric, there has been no change of attitude, particularly at a local level, on the part of Burmese authorities to religious minorities," Benedict Rogers, East Asia Team Leader for CSW, previously said. "Burma is already regarded as one of the world's worst violators of religious freedom, and is one of the US State Department's Countries of Particular Concern."Burma – largely for religious intolerance and other abuses – shares a place on the State Department's list with China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan.

"The right to believe or not to believe, without fear of government interference or restriction, is essential to human dignity," the State Department said on its website in reference to Burma.The attack comes on the heels of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent assertion that the U.S. was ready to become a partner with Burma if the Asian country takes steps to reform."Many questions remain, including the government's continued detention of political prisoners and whether reform will be sustained and extended to include peace and reconciliation in the ethnic minority areas," Clinton previously said. "Should the government pursue genuine and lasting reform for the benefits of its citizens, it will find a partner in the United States."It is unclear how the Burmese government will handle the recent attacks.

The country's official newspapers did not include reports on the incident at the orphanage, Reuters reported.



Pray that we will remain strong (CBN)

(CBN) 14 Nov 2011 - Last year alone, more than 2,000 Christians in Nigeria were killed in clashes with Muslim extremists."They don't ask for us to pray that persecution would stop. They pray instead, that they would be strong in the midst of persecution," Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA, explained.

"And to empower them to be bold witnesses despite the obvious persecution in many places."Recently, more than 100 Nigerians were killed during a series of attacks by the militant Islamic group Boko Haram in Borno and Yobe states.Several churches were destroyed in the city of Damaturu and others were bombed over the summer in Maiduguri.

CBN News spoke with Nina Shea, a member of the U.S. Commission for International Freedom and co-author of the book, 'Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide.'"Boko Haram is another one of these extremist offshoots that has advocated the complete Sharia law rule in Nigeria," Moeller explained"

But the aggressiveness of Boko Haram in that country has resulted in Christian villages being raised," he added. "Over a hundred churches alone last year were burnt to the ground."In recent years, many attacks have occurred in the predominately Christian Plateau state.

About 53 percent of the Nigerian people there are Christian, while 41 percent are Muslim. Most of the Muslims live in the north where Sharia Islamic law is now in place in 12 states.

Nigeria's Christian President Goodluck Jonathan has pledged to combat terrorism and bring Boko Haram under control."When we unite with them in prayer, we really affirm the prayer of Jesus in the upper room with his disciples where he prayed that we would be one body," Moeller said."When we pray for the persecuted we affirm that," he continued. "And we are able to then demonstrate that we do care for our suffering brothers and sisters around the world."



Burmese army attacked local church (CSW)

(CSW) 09 Nov 2011 - Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has today received a report from sources inside Kachin State, Burma alleging that soldiers from the Burma Army shot at worshippers in a church in Wai Maw Township two days ago.

Soldiers from the Burma Army’s 88th Light Infantry Division attacked the Assemblies of God church in Muk Chyik village, Wai Maw Township on 6 November, injuring several people. The congregation was expelled from the church, and soldiers reportedly looted church donation boxes. The house of one church member, Mr Jumphpawk Hawng Lum, was burned down. At least fifty church members are taken to work as forced porters for the Burma Army.

The pastor of the church, the Reverend Yajawng Hkawng, was severely tortured and is now in hospital. One of the church deacons, Hpalawng Lum Hkawng, who is the youth music team leader, was injured in his leg.

CSW’s East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said, “The military in Burma has unleashed yet another wave of terror against civilians in the ethnic states, at a time when the regime is speaking about reform. The regime is perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity. These attacks in Kachin State, involving rape, forced labour, torture, the killings of civilians, and religious persecution are grave violations of international law and must be stopped. Attacking churches where civilians are gathering to pray peacefully is a serious violation of religious freedom. The international community must take immediate action to provide humanitarian assistance to those internally displaced in Kachin State, and to end the culture of impunity which has prevailed in Burma for too long.”



Boko Haram attack in Nigeria kills 150 (TheNation)

(TheNation) 08 Nov 2011 - More attacks are coming, Islamic sect Boko Haram has warned.

The warning came as the death toll in last weekend’s attacks hit 150."We will continue attacking Federal Government foundations until security forces stop their excesses on our members and vulnerable civilians," Abdul-Qaqa, a spokesman of the group, said yesterday.The United States, also yesterday, warned of possible attacks in Abuja.It says Boko Haram targets the major hotels mainly used by diplomats, politicians and the business elite visiting the capital city.Boko Haram has twice attacked Abuja through suicide bombings at the police headquarters and the United Nations (UN) House.

Boko Haram launched co-ordinated attacks in Damaturu and Potiskum in Yobe State as well as Maiduguri in Borno State at the weekend. The death toll increased to 150 yesterday.Ibrahim Bulama, an official of the Nigerian Red Cross humanitarian organisation, said the death toll was expected to rise as local clinics and hospitals tabulate the casualty figures from Friday’s attacks.As bodies piled up in the morgue in Damaturu, a rescue agency official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the body count stood at 150."I was involved in the evacuation of corpses to the morgue. I personally counted 150 bodies," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at the hospital. He said some families had already collected their loved ones for burial, reducing the number to 97 by end of the day.An AFP reporter counted 97 bodies still in the mortuary.The Red Cross earlier said the death toll stood at 63. The police said it was 53, of whom 11 were their men."From our inventory, 53 people have so far been killed in the attack," said Yobe State Police Commissioner Suleiman Lawal.An AFP reporter said no office was still standing at the police headquarters which was still smoldering, 24 hours after the attack. Three burnt cars lay in front of the building.A journalist described scenes of chaos and destruction in Damaturu.

"In fact, Damaturu is looking just like Libya … burnt cars and buildings."In a mainly Christian neighbourhood of Damaturu called Jerusalem, six churches were bombed, in addition to a police station."A police station and a mechanical workshop of the police were attacked. Six churches in the area were also bombed," said resident Edwin Silas, adding: "The whole city is traumatised."Police Commissioner Lawal said the police were after the killers. He said: "We are ready for them, we are going to comb every place in the state, until we find and deal with them. Our men are ready." He was quoted by Reuters.He gave the official death toll as 53.

The unusually specific warning from the the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria identified possible targets of Boko Haram in Abuja as Transcrop Hilton, Nicon Luxury and Sheraton hotels.The embassy said the attack may come as Nigeria celebrates the Muslim holiday and that its diplomats and staff had been instructed to avoid those hotels.Deb MacLean, an embassy spokeswoman, declined to offer further details about the threat or the source of the information yesterday.But the police assured all last night of adequate security in Abuja.Deputy Force Public Relations Officer Yemi Ajayi said there was no cause for alarm as the police have strengthened security around the capital city.Ajayi said: "I can assure you that we are fully prepared for any eventuality because the security arrangement in place is watertight. We are not leaving anything to chance and we are not taking the threat lightly.

"We have acted on the intelligence report at our disposal and we are assuring the Nigerian people that we are working round the clock to secure lives and property. We are on top of the situation."Boko Haram also yesterday killed a police inspector in Maiduguri, the sect’s spiritual home. Sect gunmen stopped the officer’s car at gunpoint as he neared a mosque to pray with his family, Police Commissioner Simeon Midenda said.Gunmen ordered the family away, then shot the Inspector to death, Mr. Midenda said.The sect members later allowed his family to drive the car away, he said.The killing prompted a frank acknowledgment from the police commissioner, whose men remain under siege from constant assassinations by the radical sect."Our men who live in the midst of the Boko Haram are not safe," Mr. Midenda said.

The UN Security Council described weekend’s attacks in Damaturu and Maiduguri as "criminal and unjustifiable" and asked members to help Nigerian authorities bring those responsible to justice.Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for "an end to all violence in the area", while offering sympathy for the victims.Pope Benedict XVI also appealed for an end to all violence, saying it only increases problems, sowing hatred and division even among the faithful. He told tourists in St. Peter’s Square that he is following with apprehension the news from Nigeria.

An Associated Press count shows the Boko Haram has killed at least 361 people this year alone.A mass exodus has hit Damaturu, the Yobe state capital following weekend’s bomb attacks. Many people mainly women and children were seeing leaving the state capital yesterday.Also, unclaimed bodies at the Gen. Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital in Damaturu have started decomposing.Our correspondent who visited the mogue noticed that some of the bodies that were brought to the hospital were not embalmed. It was also observed that the mortuary lacks the capacity to contend the situation. The entire section of the mortuary it was gathered has only one employee.

Police Commissioner Lawal told our correspondent on the telephone that the police are on top of the situation in the state capital and other parts of the state.He said the re-enforcement of security in the state is to ensure that innocent lives are protected.He called for calm by obeying the curfew in the state so as to avoid running into trouble with security operatives.In spite their churches being burnt, Christians in Damaturu yesterday defied the security panic and held their Sunday service in open air at the premises of their burnt churches.Eid-el-Kabir prayers observed by Islamic faithful who came out notwithstanding the precarious situation.

Our correspondent observed that some Christians conducted their Sunday service either under trees at the premises of their churches or in open air. But a lot of people stayed at home due to the security situation.A member of the Living Faith Church Damaturu who does not want his name mentioned told our correspondent on the telephone that their "service though was held outside the church premises but went on hitch free"."We had a very hitch free service. Though it was held outside but we give God the glory everything was okay," he said.The Deputy Governor Abubakar Aliyu, commissioners, permanent secretaries and other government top functionaries observed the Eid-Kabir prayers.

Chief Imam, Uztaz Goni Ideni called for peaceful co-existence of all people in the country irrespective of tribe and religion.



Police sponsored thugs attack church in central Vietnam (CDN)

(CDN) 07 Nov 2011 - Thugs said to be doing the bidding of local authorities attacked a pastor and his family with iron bars and wooden clubs in central Vietnam on Oct. 23, seriously injuring the heads and arms of the church leader’s father and other relatives, sources said.


Twice on the same Sunday that local authorities disrupted a house church service in Phu Quy village near Tam Ky, Quang Nam Province, a gang of about 20 men attacked the father, brother and other family members of pastor Thien An, who was locked in a secure room as his family believed the gang sought to kill him, sources said. Police had visited his home the week prior to “investigate” the house church, whose application for registration authorities have twice denied, according to the pastor. Church members echoed the sentiment of one Christian that “even a child” could figure out the connection between the gang and the public security police who disrupted their service that morning.

Pastor Thien told the officers he would meet with them after the service, but they barged into the meeting and pulled the plug on the sound system, according to a letter distributed on the Internet from Pastor Thien addressed to “all in the world with a conscience.” When church members protested, one officer yelled and threatened to hit the pastor’s father, according to his report. After some time, the “angry police officers, full of threats, left our house of prayer,” according to the pastor.
The report said that at 1 p.m. the same day, some 20 gang members, many of them large and sporting tattoos, came to the house church when only the pastor and his extended family were home. Believing the gang had come to murder the pastor, his family urged him to retreat into a secure, locked interior room.

As the gang members struck his father, brother and others trying to defend the pastor and his family, which included a 1-week-old infant boy, the family prayed hard even as they vigorously resisted. Finally the gang left on their motorcycles threatening to return to “bring this house of God to the ground, and kill all of you,” the pastor reported. During the attack, Pastor Thien called four levels of police and security officials, but, strangely, no one answered. After the gang left, he called the chief of the provincial police department and secured a promise to investigate. Alerted by cell phone, church members rushed to the house to support the pastor and his family and prayed with them. Assuming things had settled down, they left in the early evening. But at 8:30 p.m., as the family was locked into their home, they were alarmed at the sound of shouting and breaking glass.

Pastor Thien was anxious to defend his family, but they restrained him from going out to confront the gang, saying he was their main target. As the gang wielding iron bars and wooden clubs viciously attacked Pastor Thien’s father and several others outside the secure room in which the pastor and his family were locked, gang members stationed outside prevented anyone from coming to help. The gang managed to smash the glass of the door to the secure room, but Pastor Thien’s father, younger brother and an uncle miraculously managed to fend off the attackers, who finally retreated with their weapons, according to the report. Calls to various police offices during this attack also went unanswered, the pastor added.

Photos taken after this attack and posted on YouTube show head wounds on the defenders, blood on the floor and smashed windows. They also record the loud, anguished prayers for justice. Pastor Thien’s younger brother collapsed when the gang retreated and announced he was about to die, but the pastor prayed for him, and some five minutes later he was revived. The house church, part of the Vietnam Baptist Church (VBC), is the larger of two legally registered denominations related to the U.S. Southern Baptist Church. Though the denomination is fully and nationally registered, local officials apparently consider the well-established congregation in Phu Quy village to be illegal.

The pastor, who reported that local authorities had refused two attempts to register his church, stated that police have summoned some of his members, especially young women, and strongly pressured them to stop worshipping there; some succumbed to serious threats and signed documents pledging to do so.

Police also recently summoned the pastor and warned that if he continued convening worship, they would not take responsibility if someone attacked it, he reported. The Quang Nam provincial leader of the VBC contacted by Compass did not visit the affected church until the following Sunday (Oct. 30). He confirmed the incident had taken place and said the church met without incident that day.
Pastor Thien’s superior said he would try again to help the church to register with local authorities.
Several days after the attack, top officials of the VBC in Ho Chi Minh City reported that they had not received Pastor Thien’s appeal and seemed oddly reluctant to publicly support their beleaguered congregation in Tam Ky. Reliable sources told Compass that the leaders’ reluctance stemmed from fear of confronting authorities and putting at risk what they consider a good relationship with the government.

The pastor’s appeal and the subsequent YouTube clips, however, were widely distributed by other church leaders in Vietnam who were incensed and sickened by the blatant attack on fellow Christian worshippers.

“Even if there were irregularities on the church side in the registration process, it could in no way justify such a brutal attack in which government authorities are complicit,” one house church leader in Vietnam told Compass. “But this is still our country’s version of rule-of-law.”



Mob attacks Christian monastery in Vietnam (ICN)


(ICN) 07 Nov 2011 - Hundreds of police, militiamen, and stone-throwing men broke into Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery yesterday afternoon, shattering the gates and smashing everything in their path.


“The incident happened at 2.45pm on 3 November, when hundreds of police, militiamen, professionally trained dogs and hired thugs, along with state-run television crews, attacked our people and ransacked our monastery,” wrote Fr Joseph Nguyen Van Phuong in his statement released today.

Fr John Luu Ngoc Quynh, Bro.Vincent Vu Van Bang, and Bro. Nguyen Van Tang were among several who were physically and verbally assaulted when they tried to stop the thugs from smashing the monastery's gate. The attack seemed to be premeditated since the church was deserted, as usual, during the noon hours.

After getting inside the monastery, the thugs attacked Fr. Pham Xuan Loc who tried to try to stand in their way. Church bells were rung to summon help. The attackers withdrew when thousands of Catholics and nearby parish priests rushed to the site of the violence.

This is the third time local government forces have attacked and ransacked Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery.

On Sunday, 21 September, 2008 the monastery's chapel was ransacked with statues destroyed, and books torn to pieces. In addition, "the gang yelled out slogans threatening to kill priests, religious, faithful and even our archbishop,” wrote Fr Matthew Vu Khoi Phung, Superior of Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery in a protest letter sent to People's Committee of Hanoi City and police agencies of Hanoi and Dong Da district, referring to then Archbishop of Hanoi Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet.

In response to his complaint, on 11 November, a second attack came by an even larger crowd of thugs. A stern message was sent to the vulnerable religious order and parish who were long considered as one of the biggest "thorn in the flesh" of the government.

For years, Redemptorist priests and their faithful have requested the return of their land illegally seized by the state.

On 6 January 2008, parishioners protested over a State plan to sell their land to private estate developers. After a series of attacks, arrests and trials of parishioners, the government hastily converted the land into a public park.

Another piece of land in dispute, which is the main focus now, is Lake Ba Giang. Initially, authorities planned to sell piece by piece to private estate developers. The plan has been faced with relentless protest and criticism by the religious community. Now, the government has announced a plan to turn it into a wasted water treatment plant, which threatens the environment where tens of thousands of parishioners live and worship.

The government seems to be resorting to openly persecuting Christians now. This latest attack was preceded by a month-long campaign on the State media. They have also installed electronic megaphones at strategic positions around the church in order to disrupt Masses and other services at the monastery.

Hundreds of police, militiamen, and stone-throwing men broke into Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery yesterday afternoon, shattering the gates and smashing everything in their path.

“The incident happened at 2.45pm on 3 November, when hundreds of police, militiamen, professionally trained dogs and hired thugs, along with state-run television crews, attacked our people and ransacked our monastery,” wrote Fr Joseph Nguyen Van Phuong in his statement released today.

Fr John Luu Ngoc Quynh, Bro.Vincent Vu Van Bang, and Bro. Nguyen Van Tang were among several who were physically and verbally assaulted when they tried to stop the thugs from smashing the monastery's gate. The attack seemed to be premeditated since the church was deserted, as usual, during the noon hours.

After getting inside the monastery, the thugs attacked Fr. Pham Xuan Loc who tried to try to stand in their way. Church bells were rung to summon help. The attackers withdrew when thousands of Catholics and nearby parish priests rushed to the site of the violence.

This is the third time local government forces have attacked and ransacked Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery.

On Sunday, 21 September, 2008 the monastery's chapel was ransacked with statues destroyed, and books torn to pieces. In addition, "the gang yelled out slogans threatening to kill priests, religious, faithful and even our archbishop,” wrote Fr Matthew Vu Khoi Phung, Superior of Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery in a protest letter sent to People's Committee of Hanoi City and police agencies of Hanoi and Dong Da district, referring to then Archbishop of Hanoi Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet.

In response to his complaint, on 11 November, a second attack came by an even larger crowd of thugs. A stern message was sent to the vulnerable religious order and parish who were long considered as one of the biggest "thorn in the flesh" of the government.

For years, Redemptorist priests and their faithful have requested the return of their land illegally seized by the state.

On 6 January 2008, parishioners protested over a State plan to sell their land to private estate developers. After a series of attacks, arrests and trials of parishioners, the government hastily converted the land into a public park.

Another piece of land in dispute, which is the main focus now, is Lake Ba Giang. Initially, authorities planned to sell piece by piece to private estate developers. The plan has been faced with relentless protest and criticism by the religious community. Now, the government has announced a plan to turn it into a wasted water treatment plant, which threatens the environment where tens of thousands of parishioners live and worship.

The government seems to be resorting to openly persecuting Christians now. This latest attack was preceded by a month-long campaign on the State media. They have also installed electronic megaphones at strategic positions around the church in order to disrupt Masses and other services at the monastery.

Hundreds of police, militiamen, and stone-throwing men broke into Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery yesterday afternoon, shattering the gates and smashing everything in their path.

“The incident happened at 2.45pm on 3 November, when hundreds of police, militiamen, professionally trained dogs and hired thugs, along with state-run television crews, attacked our people and ransacked our monastery,” wrote Fr Joseph Nguyen Van Phuong in his statement released today.

Fr John Luu Ngoc Quynh, Bro.Vincent Vu Van Bang, and Bro. Nguyen Van Tang were among several who were physically and verbally assaulted when they tried to stop the thugs from smashing the monastery's gate. The attack seemed to be premeditated since the church was deserted, as usual, during the noon hours.

After getting inside the monastery, the thugs attacked Fr. Pham Xuan Loc who tried to try to stand in their way. Church bells were rung to summon help. The attackers withdrew when thousands of Catholics and nearby parish priests rushed to the site of the violence.

This is the third time local government forces have attacked and ransacked Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery.

On Sunday, 21 September, 2008 the monastery's chapel was ransacked with statues destroyed, and books torn to pieces. In addition, "the gang yelled out slogans threatening to kill priests, religious, faithful and even our archbishop,” wrote Fr Matthew Vu Khoi Phung, Superior of Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery in a protest letter sent to People's Committee of Hanoi City and police agencies of Hanoi and Dong Da district, referring to then Archbishop of Hanoi Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet.

In response to his complaint, on 11 November, a second attack came by an even larger crowd of thugs. A stern message was sent to the vulnerable religious order and parish who were long considered as one of the biggest "thorn in the flesh" of the government.

For years, Redemptorist priests and their faithful have requested the return of their land illegally seized by the state.

On 6 January 2008, parishioners protested over a State plan to sell their land to private estate developers. After a series of attacks, arrests and trials of parishioners, the government hastily converted the land into a public park.

Another piece of land in dispute, which is the main focus now, is Lake Ba Giang. Initially, authorities planned to sell piece by piece to private estate developers. The plan has been faced with relentless protest and criticism by the religious community. Now, the government has announced a plan to turn it into a wasted water treatment plant, which threatens the environment where tens of thousands of parishioners live and worship.

The government seems to be resorting to openly persecuting Christians now. This latest attack was preceded by a month-long campaign on the State media. They have also installed electronic megaphones at strategic positions around the church in order to disrupt Masses and other services at the monastery.




Somali Muslims cut and beat Christian in Kenya (CDN)

(CDN) 05 Nov 2011 - A Somali Christian in Kenya is nursing injuries after young Muslim men from his country beat him with iron rods and wooden clubs last week, leaving him unconscious at a church entryway.

Hassan, a 25-year-old refugee from Somalia whose surname is withheld for security reasons, had hardly been raised as a Muslim, having received Christ at age 7. But the Somali neighbors in Kenya who attacked him left him for dead on Oct. 27, bleeding and naked, on the assumption that as a Somali he was born into Islam and was therefore an apostate deserving of death, the young man told Compass. He and his mother, a convert from Islam who fled war in Somalia 10 years ago after the death of her husband, are part of an underground house church.

In a town in Kenya undisclosed for security reasons, Hassan was returning home from running errands at 8:30 p.m. when the six young Muslim men stopped him. They hit him with a metal bar on his forehead and face, he said, and he lost two teeth on the spot. Others hit him on the back. Some stomped on his stomach while he was on the ground as others hit him on his legs, he said through bandages on his nose and above his mouth. His hands were bandaged where they wounded him with a knife.The attackers stripped him of his clothes as he bled and dragged him away, dumping him at the entrance of an area Presbyterian Church of East Africa. Some passersby found him and called his mother, whose name is withheld for security reasons. “When I reached the scene of the attack, my son was lying in a pool of blood,” she told Compass. “I wailed and did not know what happened to me. I only gained consciousness after sometime, when so many people, including the police, had arrived at the scene. The attackers had covered my son all over with dirt.”

He was rushed to a hospital, where he received a blood transfusion. When Compass met with him and his mother on Oct. 31, he still had several bandages on his face, his head cloaked in a wrap of grey fabric.“Since the time my son was attacked, we have been spending sleepless nights due to the pain that he has been going through,” his mother said. “He risks losing a third tooth, which is adding more pain for him. He also complains of abdominal pains; possibly he might have hurt some of his internal organs. But we are helpless; we have no money for specialized medication for him.”Police have arrested two of the assailants. The other four Muslims are still on the run, and Hassan and his mother said they fear justice will not be done due to area hatred for converts from Islam. “I know the community does not like us because of our Christian faith, but we have done nothing bad,” Hassan said.

His mother, who has six sons younger than Hassan and two daughters, noted that the area police commissioner is a Muslim in a Muslim-majority area. The arrest of two assailants is a hopeful sign that at the same time creates fear that area Muslims will make retaliatory strikes, she said.“We need to relocate,” she said. “The other sons are traumatized, especially now that two of the attackers are in police custody.”
Neighborhood Muslims gradually surmised that the widow was a convert to Christianity; when Muslim women passed by her home every Friday inviting her to go to the mosque with them, she would always tell them she wasn’t feeling well, she said.

“What happened to my son is the climax of the threats that I have been receiving from my Muslim neighbors,” she said. “They have now discovered that we are Christians. They have heard my small children sing Christian songs. In fact, there are rumors going round that I am the pastor of the group, but my strength is from God and my seven sons.”She and Hassan speculated that the Somali Muslim neighbors attacked him because “the oldest son is the strength of the mother.”
Her faith, she said, remains strong. “Even though he has been beaten, I trust God to protect us,” she said. “I will not return to Islam; I will stand with Christ.”

For his part, Hassan said that even when they were beating him, he was praying.
“In spite of what happened, I don’t feel I’m losing my Christian faith,” he said. “I still need to fight for the Christian faith, in spite of what I’m feeling now.”


2 Christians killed in church raid (CSW)


(CSW) 05 Nov 2011 - Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) www.csw.org.uk says that calm is reported to be returning to Tabak Village in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area (LGA), Kaduna State, after local youths blocked roads in protest at Thursday night's armed raid on a village prayer meeting that left two people dead.

According to a CSW media update, the attack on St Augustine Catholic Church occurred at around 11:45 in the evening.

CSW says that according to witnesses, gunmen raided the church as a prayer meeting was coming to an end, fired at a congregation consisting mainly of women and children, and escaped into the bush. Two women died at the scene. Twelve other people were wounded mainly in the arms and legs, and are receiving treatment at St. Louis Hospital in nearby Zonkwa.

CSW reported the attack on Tabak Village comes in the wake of a 3 a.m. raid in late October on a police station and bank in Saminaka Town in Lere LGA, Kaduna by suspected members of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, who reportedly escaped in the direction of Bauchi State carrying cash and weaponry.

In a statement issued on behalf of the Kaduna State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the organization's secretary, the Reverend Yunusa Nmadu, unequivocally condemned the armed attack "on innocent Christian worshipers in the church," and expressed anxiety that the raid had occurred "in spite of the heavy presence of soldiers in the area."

The statement concluded with a call to the Government of Kaduna State "to ensure that the perpetrators of this evil act are fished out and brought to book. Meanwhile we call on all Christians to be calm and prayerful in the face of this new dimension of attack on the Church".

CSW explained that in September, soldiers and riot police were drafted to Bitaro Village in Jaba LGA, also in southern Kaduna following an armed attack by Fulani tribesmen in which four people were killed and more than ten injured.

CSW's Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said, "We extend our deepest sympathies to those bereaved and wounded in this terrible incident. This attack on an innocent congregation of mostly women and children is deplorable, and the fact it could occur despite a heavy military presence in the area is a cause for great concern.

"CSW urges the Government of Kaduna to ensure that the security services take swift and decisive action to apprehend the perpetrators of this appalling act in order to deter any recurrence. It is vital that these raids are brought to a halt quickly in order to restore confidence and security to the local population."


Recent accounts of persecution in India (CDN)


(CDN) 02 Nov 2011 - The government on Oct. 20 deported U.S. evangelist William Lee, blacklisted him and prohibited him from visiting India again after police arrested him on Oct. 14 for participation in a musical concert in Kaloor Stadium, Cochin and jailed him for allegedly violating terms of his visa by preaching, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). Lee participated in an in-door musical program organized by Faith Leaders Church of Lord, Tiruvalla. After three days in jail, the evangelist complained of chest pain and was admitted to a hospital. The Ernakulam magistrate’s court fined him 10,000 rupees (US$202). The GCIC condemned Lee’s arrest as selective, releasing a statement that, “The moral policing, sectarian violence and the selective arrest of Christian evangelists demonstrate very clearly a failure of secular institutions in India.”

Karnataka – On Oct. 17 in Sullia, South Kanara, Hindu extremists along with the village head exhumed the body of a Christian woman, alleging that Christians were guilty of an illegal burial. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that a pastor identified only as Moses V. conducted the funeral service of Asha Latha of Bethsaida Assembly of God Church on land he had bought as a burial ground. Just as the Christians had completed the ceremony and interned the body, the village head and about 100 extremists forced them to exhume the body and bury it elsewhere and complained to Sullia police. Officers arrived and took the pastor to the police station. As Christians buried Latha’s body on her land at Ivara Nadu, police questioned the pastor till about midnight, GCIC reported. He was released only after area leaders’ intervention, but on Oct. 18 police took him back to the station for further questioning.


Andhra Pradesh – Police on Oct. 16 detained Christians after Hindu extremists beat them and damaged a pastor’s car in Ramagudam. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that about 100 Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) barged into the evening youth meeting, beat the young Christians and took them to the police station. A pastor identified only as Suresh rushed to the station, but the RSS stopped him and damaged his car. After beating the pastor, the RSS members filed a false charge of forcible conversion, according to the GCIC. Pastor Suresh also filed a police complaint against the attackers, after which the youth leaders were released without charges.


Karnataka – Police on Oct. 15 seized the passport of a pastor who runs an orphanage after he reported a missing orphan in Kadugodi, near Bangalore. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that Joseph Victor notified authorities that a 15-year-old girl at his Navajeevan Orphanage left the facility to attend a tailoring class. Police told him he could file a written complaint the next morning, and Pastor Victor sent his associate pastor and a clerk to the police station the next day to do so. While police made the Christians wait, the station inspector and sub-inspector went to the orphanage and demanded to know whether Pastor Victor had permission to operate the facility. After questioning, they took him to the police station. Detaining the Christians till evening, police forced them to sign a statement that they themselves should search for the missing girl, demanded that they produce all documents for operating the orphanage and a house church and confiscated the pastor’s passport, reported the GCIC.


Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Oct. 15 accused Christians of forceful conversion and attacked them in Ramagundam. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported the extremists accused the Glorious Ministries youth group as they were preparing for three days of meetings at Calvary Temple on Oct 18-20. The extremists took the youth group to the police station. When a pastor identified only as Suresh along with three other Christians went to the station, about 100 extremists led by Thota Kumara Swamy attacked them, seriously injuring their heads and eyes and badly damaging their car with boulders, according to the GCIC. The Christian youths were charged and taken to the Karim Nagar Magistrate Court. At press time area Christian leaders were taking steps to resolve the matter.


Karnataka – Police in Arasikere arrested Pastor Sunder Raj on Oct. 13 after Hindu extremists filed a complaint alleging that he tried to demolish a temple and had attacked and abused them with foul language. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that police, bowing to the extremists’ pressure, filed an anti-religion atrocity case against the pastor, whom a judge sent to Hassan Jail; he was released on bail the next day. In 2004 the Arasikere Municipality, pressured by Sangh Parivar extremists, had demolished a church building alleging that it was constructed without permission and then built a temple on the same spot. Police had refused to accept the pastor’s complaints. Pastor Raj fought the case for more than two years but lost it in 2006. He then appealed to the District Sessions Court at Hassan, which ordered a fresh survey of the land. Knowing this, some Sangh Parivar extremists damaged a small part of the temple wall to make it appear the pastor was guilty of an anti-religious atrocity, according to the GCIC.


Karnataka – Police arrested six tribal Christians on Oct. 12 in Kulshalnagar, Coorg after Hindu extremists barged into their prayer meeting, verbally abused them and filed a complaint against them of forceful conversion. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the incident took place on the previous day at about 7 p.m., when the extremists forcefully entered into the prayer meeting at a Christian’s house. Accusing them of forceful conversion, the angry extremists destroyed vehicles parked outside the house, according to the GCIC. The police who arrived soon after arrested the Christians and took them to the Siddapura police station. They were sent to Virajpet jail and were released on bail the next day.


Maharashtra – Hindu extremists led by Gupsingh Raya Paurana threatened to murder a convert Christian from Hinduism, Ram Balli, and other Christians after launching repeated attacks on them in Virla Town, Sirja, Dhule. “Gupsingh Raya Purana claimed that he was imprisoned several times on charges of murder and other criminal acts and he threatened to murder me because I am a Christian,” Balli told Compass. “He told me that he would murder me and go back to jail and that it does not matter to him.” On Sept. 7, the village head summoned all the Christians and detained them for about eight hours after a Sept. 2 attack by Hindu extremists on a home prayer meeting that severely wounded the head of Raju Narayan. The village head along with Hindu extremists mocked them, and, in coarse language, told them they must not follow Christ. “They forced us to kneel down and worship the idols and also forced us to drink alcohol, and threatened to kill us if we didn’t oblige,” Balli said. On Oct. 8, while the Christians were getting ready to sleep, the extremists started throwing stones at their houses, sending Meena Raju to the hospital with a severe head injury. The Christians filed a police complaint against the attackers. The next day, the enraged extremists went to Balli’s house and other Christian homes and verbally abused them, threatening to kill them. Balli ran for his life to the police station, and other Christian family members hid in a field. The extremists destroyed the houses of the Christians. Police summoned the two parties. “The police told the Christians to worship the idols like all the other villagers and live in harmony with each other,” reported a pastor identified only as Sarichar, coordinator of the Indian Evangelical Team of Chodada division. After the intervention of the National Commission for Minorities, Shirpur Police in-charge P.R. Gulate and his team on Oct. 19 went to the site and investigated, and then registered a case against Dev Das, Gup Singh Paurane and Sai Singh. The attackers were charged with voluntarily causing hurt and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace. Tensions still prevailed in the area, and at press time police were trying to arrange another meeting between the two parties.


Andhra Pradesh – On Oct. 2, Hindu extremist Goli Suman and a drunken mob broke into Jesus Prayer Hall at Govindupally Jagitiyal town and threatened pastor Badugu Lazarus and other members of the church during a praying meeting. The Catholic Christian Forum reported that the extremists drank on the church premises. That night at 2 a.m., pastor A. Paul Chand rushed to the church and called police. An assistant sub-inspector of the town police station immediately visited the church, and after daybreak the Deva Reddy inspector of police also arrived and gave moral support, suggesting the pastor file a complaint. The Christians filed a complaint, and police arrested three extremists. Six months before, Hindu extremist Malla Reddy and the same group had objected to church construction and threatened to harm Pastor Lazarus if he built a church.


Kerala – On Sept.27 in Ambalavaval, Wayanad, Hindu extremists beat a pastor for his faith in Christ, seriously injuring him. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that a pastor identified only as Jaison E.T. and his wife were distributing gospel tracts and praying for the sick in various homes until one resident ordered them to get out of his family’s house. The Christians left, but later the same man and two Hindu extremists caught up with him in a house where the Christians had been welcomed and severely beat him. The owner of the house tried to stop them and called her husband to help, according to GCIC, and within five minutes he reached their house and gave protection to the pastor. Meantime, more than 20 people turned up to keep the intolerant Hindus from attacking the pastor’s wife.


Karnataka – In Nagnure, Belgaum district, a pastor and another Christian en route to evangelistic work on Sept. 27 were stopped by Hindu extremists who then tied them to a tree and beat them for their faith in Christ. The All India Christian Council reported that upon learning of the assault on the pastor, identified only as Kashinath, and the worker from the Indian Missionary Society, Christian youths from the area gathered and retaliated, requiring police intervention. Both parties filed cases against each other the following day. No arrests had been made at press time.


Karnataka – In Sakleshpur, about 50 Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal, youth wing of the World Hindu Council, on Sept. 25 forced their way into the End Times Full Harvest Church, manhandled pastor Balzy D’Souza and some Christian women. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that the extremists took Bibles and called police, who quickly arrived and joined the extremists in bullying the Christians. The area sub-inspector ordered them to stop their worship service and close down the church. Three weeks prior, an area inspector of police identified only as Ganesh visited the church and asked the pastor whether he had a license and the necessary permission from authorities to run a church in his house. The officer told him that there had been complaint against him that he had been involved in forcible and fraudulent conversions and that he must stop such illegal activities immediately. Area Christian leaders intervened, meeting with Hassan district official Ajit Singh and arranging a meeting between the Christians and the assailants. The extremists, however, gathered and fabricated a story with a couple of false witnesses that pastor John D’Souza and his colleagues had tried to bribe two people, supposedly paying them10,000 rupees (US$202) each to become Christians. Hindu leaders then issued an ordered that the pastor must stop his activities immediately, as they accused him of causing communal disharmony.


Karnataka – Police in Hulimavy, Bangalore Rural District on Sept. 25 threatened to jail pastor Arunachala Paramashivam of the Church of God Full Gospel India and shuttered his church. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the Hulimavu police station’s sub-inspector, identified only as Chandru, visited the pastor and asked him whether he had permission for a church, and that he had received complaints against him of forcible and fraudulent conversions. The pastor was arrested and subjected to lengthy questioning by Inspector Balram Gowda, who warned him that if he persisted in continuing with his prayer services, he would be arrested and sent to jail, reported the GCIC. He then ordered him to stop worship services and closed down the church. With area Christian leaders’ intervention, the pastor was able to continue Sunday worship meetings, reported GCIC.


Six Christians arrested in Algeria (ICC)


(ICC) 02 Nov 2011 - International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that six Algerian Christians were arrested in El Tarf on Saturday for worshipping in an unregistered location. Five remain in prison on charges of proselytizing and blasphemy after appearing in court on Sunday.


On October 29, the six Algerian Christians were arrested before their morning prayer service in an apartment not authorized as a legal place of worship, the independent daily El Watan reported. The arrests occurred in a village near Bougous, located in the north-eastern province of El Tarf which borders Tunisia.

The next day, the Criminal Court of El Tarf held five of the six Christians in custody for proselytizing, unauthorized worship, and insulting Islam, according to Algérie Plus. The sixth Christian, a minor, was released and placed on probation. Local congregants expect a trial to take place in the coming days.

According to Algerian press, the Christians are affiliated with the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA), though their affiliation has not yet been confirmed by the EPA. In July, the Algerian government authorized the EPA to apply for official registration, but many congregations have not yet begun the process of registration and continue to worship in secret.

The arrests were in accordance with Ordinance 06-03, which was established in 2006 to regulate the worship of non-Muslims by requiring churches to obtain government permission to hold services. The ordinance also states that Christians must worship in recognized buildings, not houses or apartments.

The arrests occurred days before the trial of Siagh Krimo, an Algerian Christian who is scheduled to appear in an appeals court in Oran on November 3. Krimo was arrested and briefly imprisoned on April 14 after sharing his Christian faith with a neighbor. If his verdict stands, Krimo will be given a five year prison sentence for blasphemy.

Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, “While progress was made earlier this year when the Algerian government permitted the EPA to apply for registration, provincial authorities are undermining that decision by detaining Christians on baseless charges and denying congregations their foundational right to worship freely. We urge officials in El Tarf to release the five Christians still in prison. Additionally, we call for the acquittal of Siagh Krimo in Oran whose prison term may be enforced as early as Thursday.”



Please contact the Algerian Embassies in the U.S. (202) 265-2800, the UK (020) 7221-7800, and Canada (613) 789- 8505 and ask them to urge officials in El Tarf to release the five Christians still in prison and acquit Siagh Krimo of blasphemy charges.


Two Christians abducted in Pakistan (AsiaNews)


(AsiaNews) 01 Nov 2011 - Nothing is known of two Christian brothers from Faisalabad (Punjab) who were seized by the Muslim landowning family that employed them. The two disappeared on 14 September. Since then, “We have no idea where they are, whether they are dead or alive,” their mother told AsiaNews. A money dispute between the two Christian farm workers and their Muslim landlords is at the root of their abduction. Police have not yet opened a First Information Report because one of the landlords is a police officer.
Asif Masih, 23, known as Kali, and Khadim Masih, 35, come from a poor Christian family living in Chak 71, Jaranwala District, Faisalabad. They worked for 2,500 Pakistani rupees (US$ 29) a month for three Muslim landowners, policeman Javed Dogar and his brothers Sajjad Dogar and Rauf Dogar, who hail from Khurrianwala.

The mother of the two Christian brothers, Basheeran Bibi, said her sons had borrowed 20,000 rupees from the landowners, and were paying the loan back every month, out of their salary.

However, working for the Dogars was getting harder and harder. Although Muslims, they were often drunk and brutally beat the two Christians for no apparent reason.

When they found out, the parents of the Masih brothers suggested they pay off the debt and quit. This sparked an angry reaction from the Dogars who stormed the Masih home where they roughed up Niamat, the brothers’ father, who has a heart ailment. After that, they abducted the two brothers in September asking for a ransom of 70,000 rupees, plus the remainder of the debt.

The men’s mother tried to file a report with police, which refused because one of the suspects is a fellow police officer.

“Disputes between landowners and tenant farmers are commonplace in the area,” Fr Augustine, a priest in Faisalabad who provides financial and moral help to families, told AsiaNews. A serious and impartial inquiry should be conducted into the affair. “Farm workers are poor,” he explained. “They don’t have money to pay for legal action against landowners."


Churches attacked and bombed since 2004 (gofbw)


(GOFBW) 31 Oct 2011 - This list compiled from sources provided by the Assyrian International News Agency and news sources that document the violence against Christians in Iraq.

Seventy churches have been attacked or bombed since June, 2004: 43 in Baghdad, 19 in Mosul, 7 in Kirkuk and 1 in Ramadi. The following is a list of the bombings.

August 15, 2011. St. Ephraim Syriac Orthodox Church was bombed.

August 2, 2011. A car bomb exploded outside a Catholic church in central Kirkuk, Iraq, early Tuesday, wounding at least 20 people.

April 24, 2011. On Easter Sunday a bomb exploded outside the Sacred Heart church in Baghdad. A firefight occurred outside Mary the Virgin Catholic Church as congregants huddled inside.

October 31, 2010. Al-Qaida terrorists attacked Our Lady of Deliverance Chaldean Catholic Church in Baghdad on Sunday evening during a church service. When police raided the church the terrorists set fire to their explosives, ultimately killing 58 parishioners, including two priests.

December 23, 2009. In Mosul the church of St. George and the church of St. Thomas were bombed, killing three people.

December 15, 2009. The Al Gahera (Our Lady of Purity) Syrian Orthodox Church in Mosul’s city center was bombed and significantly damaged. 4 persons were killed and 40 injured. The Al Beshara (Annunciation) Syrian Catholic Church in Mosul was bombed.

November 26, 2009. In the western Jadida (New Mosul) district, the Church of St Ephrem and the St Theresa Convent of Dominican Nuns were bombed and heavily damaged.

July 12, 2009. Seven churches were bombed in Baghdad, killing 4 and injuring 18.

The Church of St Mary in Sharaa Philistine, four were killed; The Church of Saint George in the district at Madidi; The St. Joseph Church in Nafak, western Baghdad; The Church of the Sacred Heart; The church of St Peter and Paul; The Assyrian Church of Saint Mary; and The St. James Church in Dora.

January 9, 2008. Two churches were bombed in central and northern Kirkuk; three people were wounded.

January 6, 2008. Seven churches were bombed in Iraq. In Mosul: Chaldean Church of Saint Paul, Nunnery of Dominican Sisters, and Orphanage of the Chaldean Sisters; and in Baghdad: Rum Orthodox Church (where the guard was injured); Mar Ghorghis chaldean church in Ghadir area; Saint Paul Chaldean church in Zafaraniya area; and Chaldean sisters nunnery in Zafaraniya. One man was slightly injured in these bombings.

June 4, 2007. St. Jacob Church, near the Asia Neighborhood (Hay Asya) in Dora, was attacked and the Christian guards killed, the church was looted and will be turned into a mosque. St. John the Baptist Church near the Hay Al-Athoriyeen (Assyrian quarter) was also looted.

May 31, 2007. Shiites occupied the Angel Raphael Convent, belonging to the Chaldean Sisters of the Scared Heart, in Dora, Baghdad and turned it into a base for military operations.

May 18, 2007. St. George Assyrian Church in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad was firebombed.

April 14, 2007. 2 churches, An Islamic group forcefully removed the Cross from the churches of St. John and St. George in Dora, Baghdad. An affiliated Islamic group in Northern Iraq occupied the Assyrian monastery of Raban Hormuz.

November 1, 2006. Unknown assailants bombed the entrance of the Dominican Clock Church compound, a Catholic church in Mosul.

October 8, 2006. Two bombs exploded around 6:30 a.m. near the Church of Virgin Mary on Palestine road in Baghdad. One policeman was killed and many bystanders were injured.

October 4, 5 2006. A group of men opened fire on the Chaldean Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul, the second time in 8 days.

September 27, 2006. A rocket attack was launched against the Chaldean Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul.

September 24, 2006. St. Mary’s Cathedral, the home of His Holiness Mar Addai II, Patriarch of The Ancient Church of the East, was bombed. Located in the Riyadh district of Baghdad the cathedral experienced dual bombings, a small IED followed, few minutes after, by a car detonation carrying a large amount of explosives. The bombing was timed to take place as the worshipers were leaving the Sunday morning sermon. 2 were killed and 20 injured.

September 8, 2006. Two bombs exploded in front of the main gate of a church in al-Za’faraniyya in Baghdad. The explosions caused damage to the church and injured the church guards.

June 2, 2006. Kaneesat al-Si’aood (The Church of Ascension) in Baghdad was bombed.

February 1 2006. The Baghdad Seventh-day Adventist Church was bombed for the second time in two years, injuring an armed guard, one of two permanently stationed to protect the church compound.

January 29, 2006. Car bombs exploded outside the Vatican embassy and near four churches in Iraq, killing at least three people. In Kirkuk, three civilians were killed and one wounded in the attack on the Church of the Virgin, and six civilians were hurt in the blast outside an Orthodox church. In Baghdad, car bombs exploded outside St Joseph’s Catholic Church in the suburb of Sina’a and an Anglican church in the eastern Nidhal area.

November 2, 2005. At approximately 5 p.m. a car bomb exploded near the Church of Mar Giwargis (St. George) in the Assyrian quarter of Almas district in Kirkuk. 3 were killed.

July 16, 2005. A small explosion rocked the Assyrian Church in Habbaniya, Ramadi in Iraq.

December 7, 2004. The Al-Tahira Chaldean Catholic Church and Armenian church that was under construction were bombed in Mosul. The first blast struck the al-Tahira (“the pure,” in reference to the Virgin Mary) Church about 2:30 p.m. in al-Shifa’ neighborhood, eastern Mosul. Ten armed men stormed the church, planted explosives throughout it, and set the bombs off wounding three people and destroying most of it. An hour later, gunmen bombed in al-Wahda neighborhood, western Mosul, an Armenian church under construction.

November 8, 2004. St Bahnam’s Catholic church in Dora, Baghdad was bombed, killing 3 people and wounded 40.

October 16, 2004. Five churches were bombed in Baghdad in a coordinated attack. The church of Saint Joseph in the west of the Iraqi capital was hit at about 4 a.m. Twenty minutes later, another blast ripped through the streets at another Saint Joseph church, in Dora, southern Baghdad. After another 20 minutes, Saint Paul’s church was struck in the same area. At 4:50 am, the Roman Catholic St. George church in the central district of Karrada was rocked by a blast and engulfed in flames. A fifth explosion occurred about an hour later at Saint Thomas church in Mansour, to the west. An artillery shell, believed to be intended for the church, was fired into a car park between a hotel and Saint George’s Anglican Church.

September 11, 2004. A car bomb exploded outside the Virgin Mary Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the Al-Sa’doun Park in the center of Baghdad.

September 10, 2004. A bomb exploded at the Assyrian Anglican Church at al-Andalus Street in Baghdad.

August 1, 2004. Five Assyrian, and one Armenian churches were bombed simultaneously in Baghdad and Mosul. Twelve Assyrians were killed and some 60 injured: Church Sayidat al-Najat (Our Lady of Salvation) - Karrada, Baghdad; Church Sayidat al-Zohour (Our Lady of the Flowers) - Karrada, Baghdad (Armenian Catholic Church); Sts. Peter & Paul, Dora, Baghdad; St. Paul Church - Center of Mosul; St. Elia, Baghdad; and St. Mary’s Church in east Baghdad (car bomb disarmed by police)

June 26, 2004. Two unidentified men in a silver Opel throw a hand bomb at the Holy Spirit Church (al-Rooh al-Qudos) in the Akha’ quarter in Mosul. The explosion injured the sister of the priest.


New threats of attack in Nigeria (digitaljournal)


(digitaljournal) 31 Oct 2011 - Jos - A pastor of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) King James Dapar, has raised alarm that Christians in Jos, Plateau State, are fleeing their homes out of fear of attacks by Hausa-Fulani Muslim militants.

The Christian leader, according to allAfrica.com, raised the alarm when The Middle Belt Dialogue (MDB), an NGO, presented donations of relief materials to the church whose members have been affected by the ongoing crisis in Jos, Nigeria.
The pastor, while receiving the materials, said the Christian community was besieged by Hausa-Fulani Muslim militants who attack at the slightest provocation. The pastor said Christians in the Chwalnyap area live constantly in fear of Hausa settlers, and many were relocating to safer zones and selling their homes to Hausa buyers:

"We are surrounded by the Hausa people and they harass and intimidate us at will. At the slightest provocation, they will just start attacking us. But God has been helping us. Many people have relocated from Chwalnyap. Our people are relocating and selling their houses to the Hausa people. But our fear is that once the Hausa people buy the houses at the strategic route that is serving as escape route for us during crisis, we are finished."
The pastor called on wealthy Christians and the state government to buy the houses relocating Christians were abandoning rather than allow the houses to be bought by their "Hausa oppressors." The pastor said the Plateau State government, intending to set up security outposts in the area, had bought some of the houses Christians left. The state government, according to the pastor, has, however, so far not done anything to establish the security outposts.


Pastor King James Dapar thanked the MDB for its support. He urged the group to help bring condition of Christians in the area to attention of Nigerian authorities and urged the group to pray for Christians in the area. The leader of the MDB delegation Mr. Rima Shawulu, expressed his regrets at the situation in Chwalnyap area of Jos. He said the group identified with travails of Christians in Jos and promised MDB would assist the Christian community and help to pressure the authorities to address the problems.





Released after 8 months in jail (ICC)


(ICC) 28 Oct 2011 - Ruth Thomas (name changed for security reasons), a Pakistani mother of four was arrested in February 2011 after a Muslim man falsely accused her of blaspheming against Muhammad.
After spending the past eight months behind bars, she was released on bail on October 18th. She could be put to death if found guilty of the alleged offense.

Speaking to ICC, Ruth recounted her ordeal during the prison time. She said, “A lady prison guard tortured me in the prison and cut my hair off. The entire Muslim fellow prisoners and prison staff hated me a lot. They were so unkind to me even when I was on my death bed. They wanted me to die without any medical help. They considered me untouchable; nobody was there to console me or to help me in prison.”

She also said that she came under pressure to embrace Islam in exchange for better treatment.

“Once, a prison warden asked me to accept Islam. She offered me better treatment, food, clothes and other luxuries for embracing Islam but I refused flatly. I said to her that I would prefer dying in Christ rather than obtaining luxuries without Him. I have been praying for my release because I was sure that God is my heavenly father and whatever I will ask in the name of Christ He will grant me. It was my strong belief that He was watching my suffering and someday He will set me free.”

Ruth’s testimony is very similar to Asia Bibi’s, a Christian woman on a death row after her Muslim colleagues accused her of blasphemy against Muhammad. Asia Bibi’s husband, Ashiq Masih is quoted as saying that his wife “is weak and frail, but is high in spirit.”

ICC’S Regional Manager for South Asia, Jonathan Racho, said “we continue to be mesmerized by the strong faith of Christians in Pakistan and other countries where they face persecution. For many Christians, the only hope they have in the face of persecution is their faith and the prayers of Christians around the world. Please pray for Ruth, Asia Bibi and other Christian victims of persecution.”


Church attacked, members beaten and woman raped in Burma (ANS)
(ANS) 24 Oct 2011 - Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) www.csw.org.uk , a Christian organization working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, is deeply concerned by reports that the Burma Army are directly attacking churches in Kachin State, beating pastors and church members, setting homes alight and raping, torturing and killing civilians.





According to CSW’s sources, on October 16 soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 438 seized control of a Roman Catholic Church in Namsan Yang village, Waimaw township, where 23 worshippers, mostly women and elderly people, had gathered for the 8am Sunday service. In a media update, CSW says the worshippers took refuge from the gunfire behind the Maria prayer sanctuary.



CSW said “When the troops saw them, they shot several rounds of bullets into the sanctuary. The Catholic assistant to the priest, 49 year-old father-of-four Jangma Awng Li, decided to speak to the troops as he is fluent in Burmese. He was beaten in his head with a rifle butt, and injured his forehead when he hit a concrete wall. He and four other men were handcuffed and detained by the soldiers.”

CSW went on to say “The troops, who were later joined by soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 121, continued to march through the village shooting, and reached the Baptist church compound in the evening. During the march the detainees, including four from other villages who had been with the troops for two weeks, were used as forced labor. The detainees had to stay with the troops overnight and were temporarily stationed in the Baptist church compound. The whole northern part of village was burned and both church properties were destroyed.”

CSW stated that two days ago, Light Infantry Battalion 121 shot 72-year-old Maru Je Hkam Naw in the arms and legs whilst he was erecting a fence around his house in Namsan Yang village. Houses in Namsan Yang were burned by the Burmese Army and Mr Jangma Awng Li and other detainees, too afraid to return home, fled the village. At least 21 villagers were detained and used for forced labor, and a 19 year-old Rakhine boy was shot dead. His body was burned and thrown into the mine in Namsan Yang where he worked.

CSW also said that on October 18, a 19 year-old girl, Maran Kawbu, was detained, tortured and gang-raped by soldiers from the same battalion in Namsan Yang. Her body was left on the river bank.

CSW added that in Momauk, approximately 500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have fled the conflict and are seeking temporary accommodation in the church. On 19 October, one man, a Shan farmer named Mr Tintun, was shot dead by soldiers from Light Infantry Brigade 601, while fishing.

CSW’s East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said, “These brutal attacks on religious communities and peaceful civilians stand in stark contrast to the regime’s recent rhetoric about reform and peace building. CSW has received numerous reports of rape, torture and killing of civilians in Kachin State by the Burma Army this year. According to international humanitarian law, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, intentionally directing attacks on religious buildings constitutes a war crime and a violation of international law.

“Rape, forced labor and killing civilians on a widespread and systematic basis constitute crimes against humanity. We urge President Thein Sein to call a halt to the military’s attacks on civilians throughout Burma, stop the widespread and systematic violations of human rights, declare a nationwide ceasefire, and enter into a meaningful di alogue process with all the ethnic nationalities and the democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi, in pursuit of genuine national reconciliation.

“We urge the international community to mobilise the mechanisms of the United Nations, through the General Assembly, to hold the regime in Burma accountable for these violations of international law, and end these war crimes and crimes against humanity which the regime is perpetrating with impunity.”


Persecution in the Maldives (CDN)



(CDN) 24 Oct 2011 - Police in the island nation of Maldives held a teacher from India for about 15 days before deporting him on Oct. 14 for having a Bible in his house, a source said.Shijo Kokkattu, a 30-year-old Catholic and teacher at the Raafainu School in Raa Atoll, had been arrested in late September after police found a Bible and a rosary in his house during a raid, a foreign source in the capital city of Male told Compass by phone.

Charging that Kokkattu was preaching his Christian faith in the Muslim nation, which recently tightened restrictions on preaching and practice of non-Islamic faiths, police took him to another island for interrogation and kept him in custody for more than two weeks, said the source, who requested anonymity. Police raided his home after Kokkattu’s colleagues found Christian materials on a school computer he had used and reported it to authorities. While downloading material from his pen drive, Kokkattu had mistakenly downloaded some Catholic songs in the Malayalam language (used in a south Indian state) and a picture of the Virgin Mary.“The videos were in Indian, so I don’t know what they were saying, but the images were Christian,” school principal Mohamed Shiraj told Minivan News, an independent news portal based in the Maldives.Kokkattu, a parishioner from Tellicherry Archdiocese in the south Indian state of Kerala, had been teaching at the school for two years. “He was a very good teacher, we’ve not had any complaints of him in the past,” the principal reportedly said.Last year, Maldivian authorities rescued another Christian teacher from India when Muslim parents of her students threatened to throw her into the sea for “preaching Christianity” after she drew a compass in class, which they alleged was a cross. (See www.compassdirect.org, “Muslims Force Expat Christian Teacher to Flee Maldives,” Oct. 5, 2010.)

The Maldives, a string of 1,190 islands boasting numerous white beaches in the Indian Ocean, is regarded as a tourist paradise visited by tens of thousands of Westerners each year. But it’s also a country that claims, like Saudi Arabia, that all of its more than 300,000 citizens are Sunni Muslims. The country’s 2008 Constitution states that a “non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives.” Expatriates following other religions can practice their faith only individually and within their respective homes.

New Restrictions
Last month, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs published new regulations under the Protection of Religious Unity Act of 1994 in the government gazette, signaling a renewed commitment to control unlicensed preaching of Islam and propagation of non-Islamic religions in the country.The Act outlaws promotion of anything that represents a religion other than Islam or any opinion that disagrees with Islamic scholars. It also prohibits use of any website, blog, newspaper, or magazine that contradicts Islam. Any violation under the Act is punishable by an imprisonment of between two and five years, banishment or house arrest. Foreigners who are found proselytizing are to be deported, it says.The new set of regulations maintains a longtime ban on propagation, display and expression of any religion other than Islam. It also prohibits translation of books with such content into the local language, Dhivehi.

The regulations state that only preachers licensed by the government are allowed to speak in public, and they must not create hatred towards people of any other religion – the latter stipulation has been criticized by members of Islamic organizations such as the Islamic Foundation of Maldives, who say that because the Quran speaks against Judaism and Christianity, they too should have the right to do so.The regulations require foreign scholars to abstain from criticizing Maldives’ social norms, domestic policies or laws. And media must not disseminate any information that “humiliates Allah or his prophets or the holy Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet [Muhammad] or the Islamic faith.”The nation’s tight control over religion is seen as a legacy of former authoritarian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled for 30 years until 2008, keeping religion and its institutions under his grip. He was particularly known for insulating the country against Wahhabi influence from Saudi Arabia and for checking alleged missionary activities by Christians.

President Mohamed Nasheed seeks to deviate from Gayoom’s policies but has not been able to introduce any major reforms or ensure religious freedom. Any advocacy for individual rights is seen as a Western conspiracy to attack Islam in the country. Maldivian conservatives do not allow citizens to become atheists, and leaving Islam can attract violence and harassment by authorities.Nasheed’s moderate Maldivian Democratic Party does not have a majority in the parliament. In 2009, the main opposition party, the Maldivian People’s Party led by Gayoom, won a majority in the parliamentary election. Decades of carefully exercised political control over religious narrative in the Maldives has left in its wake a culture of intolerance among the general public unsympathetic to wider views on non-Islamic religions and hostile to Islamic academics and Muslim religious scholars who espouse a more humane form of Islam.

A Minivan author wrote last month that many Maldivian lawmakers and senior government officials privately admit “their hands are tied when it comes to the issue of freedom of religion.” The author asserted that advocating universal human rights “is the easiest way of committing political suicide in the Maldives.”



Double lives of Iraq's children (CDN)


(CDN) 17 Oct 2011 - Little Nuria and her sisters love singing songs about Jesus. But when people Nuria doesn’t know ask her if she’s a Christian, she doesn’t know what to answer; instead, she looks questioningly at her mother or father.She is 6 years old and goes to a Christian school in Kirkuk, Iraq. When her aunts and uncles visit, her mother purges the house of anything that points to their Christian faith: the cross on the wall, the Bible, her Christian storybooks. Nuria knows her relatives are Muslims, but sometimes she forgets and she or one of her sisters starts to hum a Christian tune.
The relatives don’t like this and tell the parents to teach them Muslim songs.
“When our relatives come from Baghdad, we need to move everything that is Christian,” Nuria’s mother said. “In short, we are living two lives. It is very hard on children. We are adults, and it is hard for us to live double lives, but for children it is worse. Even their personality will be affected.”

Nuria and her family, whose names must be withheld for their safety, are Iraqi Arabs who converted from Islam to Christianity. Whereas Assyrian Iraqis are accepted as Christians by ethnic identity, Iraqi Muslims believe Arabs have no business becoming Christians; it is not possible, according to society and the constitution. Nuria’s parents, like many converts in Iraq, struggle to raise their children as Christians in a society that will only accept them as Muslims. If the children say they believe in Jesus, they face beatings and scorn from their teachers. Because their identification cards say they are Muslims, they cannot enroll in Christian schools, and they must take Islamic religion classes. Likewise, because of their identity cards they later would only be able to marry another Muslim under Islamic rites. In an Iraq torn by national and religious divides, there is no safe haven for Nuria’s family or other Arab families who convert from Islam. Generally big cities are good places for Christians like them to hide, away from extended families who would detect strange behavior like visits to church on Sundays. Even then, however, Muslim neighbors or employers who discover they are converts can make their lives unbearable.

Nuria’s parents became Christians seven years ago. Life was easier for her parents before she and her sisters went to school. Her dad, a carpenter, used to speak openly about his faith. These days he is not so brave; he has had to change jobs one too many times because his employers discovered his faith.“The first years of my faith, I brought so many people to church, because I was motivated, so excited,” he said. “Now I don’t encourage anyone to be a Christian, because in my experience it is very hard.” These days his landlord, in a mixed Kirkuk neighborhood where mostly Kurds and Assyrians live, has also figured out he is a Christian. The Muslim landlord is offering him either a rent raise or eviction; there’s also the option of “going into business” with the landlord by sharing his carpentry work profits with him. Such extortion is all too common. This is the fifth house they have lived in since 2003, when the family came to faith.

Complications
Matters for converts get more complicated when children enter in. Nuria’s parents want to freely train her and her siblings in the ways of Christianity, but the Iraqi constitution makes it practically impossible for them to make any peace with their new identities.

Nuria’s older sister just finished elementary school at an institution for Assyrian (Christian) children in Kirkuk. But before the new school year began, the principal of the school called in her parents to tell them he could not take responsibility for their daughter being able to finish the school year. He had to report the names and identifications of the school’s students to the ministry of education, he explained, and if authorities saw he had a “Muslim” student in attendance, he could face criminal charges. Fortunately for the family, her “Muslim” ID went unnoticed.
The family, however, withdrew her from the Christian school to register her in a private school with a state-approved curriculum that includes religion classes on Islam so she can finish her schooling. “My children are suffering,” Nuria’s father said. “We are moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, but my children are suffering from this. I will put my two daughters in private school. The church will pay for one, and I will pay for the other.”

Nuria’s father said that the next step for the family is to look for a new house, but he knows that this won’t solve the problem of his children’s identity, nor the conflict he feels with his chosen faith.“Some people tell me it’s my fault we have troubles because I tell people I am a Christian,” he said. “I am so confused. Even some Christians tell me it’s my problem. I am reading the Bible, and it says that whoever denies God in public, God will also deny him, so what can I do?” Just 87 kilometers (54 miles) north lies the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which is administrated by the Kurdistan Regional Government. Checkpoints and patrols along the road ensure the relative peace the Kurdish region has seen in the last eight years. They also ensure that Arabs cannot enter the north. Nuria’s family was held at Erbil’s checkpoint for two hours on their way to meet Compass, while Assyrians with crosses dangling over their dashboards were cleared for entrance into Erbil in just minutes.

Kirkuk, where Nuria’s family lives, is one of Iraq’s most ethnically diverse cities, a reflection of Iraq’s larger ethnic, political and religious fragmentation. Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen, along with a shrinking Assyrian Christian community, populate oil-rich Kirkuk. The disputed city has seen much violence as political opportunists try to tip the scales of power. Bomb blasts, killings and kidnappings are common fare here.

On the city’s outskirts on the road to Baghdad, authorities on Oct. 1 found the body of a Christian, Hanna Polos Emmanuel, 60, according to Asia News. No one knows why he was killed. On Sept. 21, unidentified gunmen kidnapped three Assyrian Christians and one Turkmen Iraqi on a hunting trip south of Kirkuk, according to Alsumaria TV. They were released after their families paid ransom. In the previous two months, the Protestant church Nuria’s family attends has seen two attempted bombings. There have been at least three bombings against other churches in the city since the beginning of August.What first attracted Nuria’s parents to Christianity was the freedom it offered. But as Arabs in Kirkuk, the family feels trapped.“In the beginning we didn’t think about these problems, because we didn’t have the problem with schools,” Nuria’s father said. “But now I feel more depressed. Our responsibility is more pressure and work.” His wife explained that as Arab converts to Christianity, moving to Baghdad where their family lives is not an option, but neither is moving to the Kurdish part of Iraq. Though Christians there enjoy some freedoms, as Arabs they will always be looked at with suspicion. As a result, it would be difficult to find employment.
“Even if it seems easier to run from this situation, we cannot,” she said. “It is easier to leave Kirkuk, but we cannot.”

Fight for a Better Future
A Kurdish convert to Christianity, Majeed Muhammed, is fighting for his children’s right to not have “Muslim” written on their IDs. He lives in the Kurdish Region’s capital, Erbil, just over an hour’s drive north of Kirkuk.In Iraq, children automatically take the religion of their father. For the last five years, Muhammed has been fighting for his eldest to have the right to choose his own religion. Next year the boy is due to begin first grade with identification card in hand, but he has none. Majeed never recorded his sons’ births in the municipality because he didn’t want them to grow up with “Muslim” stamped on their identification cards.

“My son, he has a right – not only to study, but a civil and personal right, [yet] he can’t even have a passport,” Muhammed said. “If I wanted or needed to travel with my family, I cannot take them.” Muhammed has also tried to change the religious designation on his own ID card – he is the only Christian convert in Iraq who has tried to do so. Every lawyer he has asked to take on his case has flatly refused to represent him. In 2008, with the legal counsel of a friend, Muhammed went to an Erbil personal cases court to submit his petition, typing his request that his identification state “Christian.” “As declared clearly, I am requesting to change the column of religion from Muslim to Christian on my identification card by virtue of the mentioned articles declared in Iraq’s Federal Constitution, which is confirmed as the highest law,” Muhammed wrote in his statement. Iraq’s Federal Constitution says each individual has freedom of thought, conscience and belief, but there is no article on changing one’s religion. This makes it legally impossible to apply freedom of belief in the cases of converts, said a Christian Iraqi lawyer on the condition of anonymity.

The judge refused to accept or deny Muhammed’s request, telling him that the case was “impossible” and could not be tried in Iraqi courts.This is the last year Muhammed has to advocate not only for his sons but for all Kurdish Iraqis who have converted from Islam to Christianity. The senior pastor of the Kurdzman Church of the Kurdish region, Muhammed said there are up to 2,000 Kurdish converts to Christianity, but only 200 of them would be brave enough to sign a petition for their IDs to state “Christian.” This year he plans to tell as many people as he can about the struggle of Kurdish Christian converts.
“I’m living in Iraq, I’m living in Kurdistan, so I should have the rights of any citizen in Kurdistan just like they do,” Muhammed said. “I didn’t ask the government to treat me the way European citizens are treating their citizens. What is possible? What is reasonable?”

Kurdish Christians are asking for only basic religious freedom, he said.“The government said, ‘We will not support you financially,’ and we said, ‘OK, no problem.’ They said, ‘Don’t evangelize in the street publicly;’ we said, ‘OK, we won’t do that. But you should give us another chance. We want to register [as Christians].’”Muhammed’s 6-year-old son, Jeener, is attending a private Christian kindergarten this year, and last year he asked his father if he could send him to one of the government schools; Muhammed refused. He told Compass that sometimes when his son hears the mullahs begin the call for prayer with the words, “Allahu Akbar [God is the greatest],” Jeener asks what they are saying. “I tell him that some people are talking about God,” Muhammed said. “He says: ‘Why are they not coming to our church?’ [I say], ‘Because they don’t believe in Jesus.’ He says: ‘I hate them.’ I say, ‘No, don’t hate them.’”

When his son asks why he can’t go to their school, he replies, “Because they are talking about ‘Allahu Akbar,’” Muhammed said. “He says, ‘OK, I will not go there.’”Next year Muhammed needs to send his son to first grade, and he said that if he doesn’t issue an ID for him by then he could face criminal charges, and the possibility of a prison sentence and fine, for not registering his son with authorities. It is impossible for him to explain to his son the efforts he is making for him, he said, and even more unlikely that he will succeed in them.

Children with No Friends
Surush Bidookh has been beaten and insulted for his Christian faith, yet he is only 9 years old. His family fled to Iraq from Iran for political reasons before he was born. They came to Christianity in Iraq. Surush’s parents, seeing what their children have to bear for their choice, are weary and wonder if their children’s lives would be easier in a Western country where so many Christian converts have already fled. His father, Siyamand Bidookh, has a story similar to that of other converts to Christianity: the persecution was tolerable until it started to affect his children. Bidookh, a pastor among the Iranian community in Erbil where he is known as Pastor Said, and his wife have received numerous death threats in Iraq for being converts to Christianity.
Their IDs state they are “Muslim,” and so do their children’s. Authorities and neighbors assume they are Muslim because they come from an Islamic country and are infuriated when they hear that these foreigners have turned their backs on the national religion of Iran.

When Surush started first grade in Erbil, a teacher beat him in front of the class and told him he was a “kafir” (infidel) like his father. Bidookh spoke to the principal, who let the boy stay out of religion classes. This year, before Surush was to start third grade, however, the new principal of the school called Bidookh and his son to his office and told them that if Surush did not pass the religion exam, he would hold him back a year.Last year Bidookh’s daughter, Sevda, who was in kindergarten, came home from school and asked why her teacher said their family was going to “burn” for being Christians. After this she was too afraid to go to school and stopped attending for the rest of the year. “When my kids go to school and say hello to the teachers, they don’t respond,” their mother said. “I say to them, ‘What kind of an example are you setting for these kids?’”

The Bidookhs say their children have no friends in the neighborhood. Most play time ends with their children’s toys stolen and their children either beaten or scorned. They don’t let them play outside anymore. “How can a 9-year-old not have friends?” Surush’s mother said. “What kind of a man will he grow up to be?” These days they wonder if escaping to a different country is a better solution for their three children. “I never went to God, and I didn’t look for Him,” Bidookh said. “He came to me and turned me into a pastor to serve the Iranians here. My life is in His hands. I will go where He sends me.”


Eritrean Christian speaks out (MEN)


(ManchesterEveningNews) 17 Oct 2011 - "They held a gun to my head and threw me in a cell." - these are the words of Eden, who fled Eritrea five years ago after being persecuted for her faith.

She faced regular beatings and assaults from police officers – just for practising her religion.

Eden’s years of abuse came to an end when policemen brandishing guns burst into the safe house where she and her friends were holding a prayer meeting.

The armed officials grabbed her and threw her into prison and she had to endure kickings and beatings from prison officers.

Eden is a Pentecostal Christian, a denomination which is forbidden in Eritrea, where the state religion is Orthodox.

When she was eventually released Eden made a gruelling journey to freedom, travelling thousands of miles in a lorry for more than a fortnight before arriving in Khartoum in Sudan to arrange her passage to Britain.

Eden claimed asylum as soon as she arrived in this country and spent several years living on the £35 a week allowance.

She has also had to rely on food parcels and accommodation from Ancoats-based charity Boaz Trust.

Eden said: "It is really hard living on what the government gives you. I had no clothes, no food, nowhere to stay. I could have been on the streets.

"I was getting the allowance and it is really hard."

Another person helped by the trust is Chenai who came to Britain in 2008 after fleeing her home country of Zimbabwe,

She said: "I would not show political support for the murderous Mugabe regime, and I was raped and tortured by the state forces.

"I had to leave my job, my friends and my home or I would have been killed.

"I applied for asylum in the UK. I applied for justice. I received neither.

"Despite a medical report from the Medical Foundation proving I was tortured, I was refused asylum.

"Now I have been made destitute, since March 2011, and I receive no money from the government.

"Without the generosity of organisations like the Boaz Trust and the British Red Cross I would be homeless and starving. Nobody would choose my life of poverty and hunger, but if I return to Zimbabwe I will die."

The Boaz Trust helps thousands of asylum seekers every year. It provides accommodation, food and clothes to those who need it, either because the £35 per week grant is not enough, or because the person has been refused asylumHe said: "The decline in the number of asylum seekers can be put down to fewer people coming into the country and the government making decisions faster.

Dave Smith set up the trust after meeting a homeless man who had fled the Middle East.

"A lot of people come here from really difficult backgrounds and the first person they meet when they get here are people in uniform. It is often people in uniform that they are fleeing from. We need to be a bit more understanding about what these people have been through."


Christians told to stop praying (JakartaGlobe)

(JakartaGlobe) 13 Oct 2011 - (Jakarta Globe) - The controversy-plagued Yasmin church in Bogor has received a “final ultimatum” from local authorities seeking its relocation.“The government will no longer tolerate GKI Yasmin. The enforcement by police [on Sunday] was the final ultimatum from the city to stop the congregation from praying on the sidewalks,” Bogor secretary Ade Syarif Hidayat said on Monday.

He said the congregation was forbidden to pray on the sidewalk in front of the closed church building since the location will now be used for a park.On Sunday, the congregation clashed with police public order officers (Satpol PP) who sought to move the worshippers. Each side alleged the other had carried out acts of violence.GKI Yasmin spokesman Bona Sigalingging told the Jakarta Globe that the congregation was unafraid of the ultimatum.“The incident on Oct. 9 was actually the third [ultimatum],” Bona said.Bona said that since Sept. 25 the Bogor administration had told the congregation three times that it would be the last time they could pray there.“But we are resolute — we will not stop praying there until what is rightfully ours, our church, is reopened,” Bona said.“We will come there to pray. Be it only for five minutes, we will come every week.”

GKI Yasmin, he said, had filed a police report against Bogor’s Satpol PP head, Bambang Budiyanto, for using violent means to prevent a religious ceremony.


Christians forcefully attacked (CDN)


(CDN) 12 Oct 2011 - Muslims in Pakistan’s Mian Channu area in southern Punjab Province shot dead an unarmed Christian man and injured 21 others, six of them critically, in an attempted land-grab on Wednesday (Oct. 5).Residents of the area told Compass by phone that 40 to 45 heavily-armed Muslims on 10 to 12 motorcycles, two tractor-trolleys and in a car reached Chak 134-16/L village, in Khanewal district, and forcibly entered the home of Adeel Kashif, a Christian carpenter who was living on a government-owned piece of land. “The attackers forced their way into Kashif’s house and started throwing the family’s belongings onto the street,” Wazir Masih, a Christian elder in the area, told Compass. “They also tore the clothes off Kashif’s three female family members – Violet, 40, Parveen, 35, and Esther, 17, and tortured the family.”

Masih said the assailants wanted to take illegal possession of the 18-marla piece of land (in Pakistan, one marla equals 30.25 square yards). “Since pre-partition days, a piece of government land is given to Kammis [laborers or craftsmen] for residence, and in return they help the villagers in whatever way they can,” Masih said. “This allotment is made with the complete consensus of the villagers.”Before Kashif, a Muslim carpenter named Muhammad Iqbal was allowed to live on the property, he said.“Iqbal lived there for over 10 years and moved out about two months ago,” Masih said. “However, before leaving he prepared fake papers of the land in connivance with the Patwari [local revenue officer] and a local Muslim group and ‘sold’ it to them for 130,000 rupees [US$1,480],” Masih said, adding that the entire process was fraudulent because no one can sell the government’s land in a personal capacity. He said that on Wednesday (Oct. 5), armed Muslims led by men of the area’s powerful Jagrane family arrived at the house and tried to force the Christians out.

“Kashif’s neighbors and some other villagers came out of their homes on hearing the commotion,” Masih said. “The village comprises about 250 Christian families, and some 90 to 100 people gathered there and tried to persuade the Muslims not to dislodge the Christian carpenter illegally. None of the Christians present there was carrying any weapon, as no one was expecting such a harsh action by the Muslims.”Masih said the Muslims suddenly opened indiscriminate fire on the Christians, instantly killing 25-year-old Sajid Bashir Masih and seriously injuring 21 others, including women and children. He added that six of the injured were in critical condition, one of them Sajid Bashir Masih’s younger brother, Haroon.“The Christians had done nothing to provoke the Muslims into employing such brute force,” Wazir Masih said. “They just opened fire on the defenseless people with their automatic rifles and shotguns.”Masih said that as soon as Sajid Bashir Masih succumbed to his injuries, some of the assailants fled the scene while others took refuge inside Kashif’s house and started shooting at the villagers. He said the villagers immediately informed police, who arrived soon from a nearby station.

Police besieged the house and eventually managed to arrest 16 armed assailants, but the primary suspects remain free.A First Information Report was registered against the attackers in Mian Channu’s Saddar Police Station by the deceased’s father, Bashir Masih, early yesterday (FIR No. 432 under sections 302, 324, 448, 511, 452, 148 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code).


South Korean pastors willing to die for North Korean people (ANS)


(AssistNews) 11 Oct 2011 - Dr. Jaerock Lee, senior pastor of one of the largest churches in South Korea, says that there are Christians in his Seoul church who are ready to go into North Korea “when it opens up” and are “ready to be martyred for the sake of Christ.”





Secret believers in North Korea
Dr. Lee, senior pastor of Manmin Central Church in Seoul, South Korea, which has 100,000 members and over 9,000 branch churches around the world, spoke to me about North Korea on Friday, October 7, 2011, before the start of the 29th anniversary celebrations of his church, which began in 1982 with just 13 members.



In his office, just 120 unsettling miles from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, Lee said that because of the world economic situation, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly as North Korea, is now in such a dire state, with much of its population starving, it could soon briefly open up to the world.

“North Korea is suffering from an economic crisis and so many children are dying from poverty, which means that they will have to open the door to the rest of the world as they don’t want to see a revolution," he said.


“China is supporting and protecting North Korea right now, and they are trying to push the responsibility for North Korea’s problems on the United States, but in the future, I see them having a better relationship with America.



“North Korea will see a situation where they will have to open the door to the rest of the world so as to get aid and when they do this, our Christians will cross the border and spread the Gospel and countless works of God will take place.

“However, I believe it will only be momentary thing, but during that short time, the power of God will be manifested in North Korea and since the people there have such pure hearts, they will accept it, and will witness amazing works of healing and hear the Good News of the Gospel.

“I also am convinced that many will convert to Christ and then the leading North Koreans will try to ban the work of these Christians. We already have pastors here at my church who are ready for that situation and who have decided that they are willing to lay down their lives as martyrs.

“Once they decide to stay in North Korea, they will see martyrdom, but there are also Christians that will come out of North Korea as the doors close shut again but, by that time, their system will be in crisis because of the power of God.”


For security reasons, Dr. Lee said he didn’t want to give away many details about who those are who are in training to take the Gospel into North Korea, but he did reveal that he has several hundred North Koreans in his church who have managed to escape to the South.



What is the biggest problem they face when they arrive in South Korea?

“First of all, they have a financial problem, because the support from government is not much and so it’s difficult for them to manage their life,” said Dr. Lee. “It’s difficult to get a job.

“Say, for instance, a doctor came from North Korea, but with the knowledge and skill he brings with him, he cannot maintain a job as doctor here in South Korea."

He went on to say, “But besides the job problems, they have to get food and somewhere to live. So for these refugees, we give them aid but what they want most of all is to get a job. It would be nice if there is a company which reads this and can hire especially those North Korean refugees. Last summer we held a special church retreat for our North Korean refugees.”


After talking with these refugees, what information had Dr. Lee gleaned from them about the situation for Christians in North Korea which has, once again been branded by Open Doors in their World Watch List as the “world’s worst persecutor of Christians.”



“I have heard that there are many Christians, but they are underground,” said Lee. “They will be revealed soon, but if they are now, they will experience a disadvantage. I do not know exact figure of these underground Christians right now, but I do know that there are many.”

On a personal level, I have been to North Korea. I went into this secretive country in 1994 shortly after the death of Kim Il-sung as part of a small delegation of Christians who were the first group allowed into the country after the funeral of Kim Il-sung.

In view of this, I can echo what Dr. Lee had been saying and I have also met with many believers in the South who are training to take the Gospel and plant churches in North Korea.

So what is it like inside the North? During my trip, I actually attended a church service in Pyongyang, and I never really understood if they were actual believers or actors wheeled out for Western believers.

One thing is for clear and that is that to be a believer in North Korea is extremely dangerous.

I went to http://northkoreanchristians.com to find out more and there I read, "Christians are persecuted around the world. What's so special about the persecution of North Korean Christians that makes North Korea the world's top persecutor of Christians, indeed in a category all by itself.

“North Korean Christians aren't simply killed for their faith in Christ. They are pulverized with steamrollers, used to test biological weapons, shipped off to death camps or shot in front of children, while newborn babies have their brains pinched with forceps in front of their mothers.

“Crimes against humanity reminiscent of Auschwitz and Treblinka to which the world declared ‘Never Again!’ more than 60 years ago, are being perpetrated today against the North Korean Christians.”

No wonder that so many risk their lives to escape to China and, if they are fortunate, onto South Korea via an underground railroad. Sadly, however, much of the time, when the Chinese authorities catch them, they send them back across the border to what will be certain imprisonment or worse.


8 Christians detained in South India (CatholicCulture)


(CatholicCulture) 11 Oct 2011 - Police in India’s southern Andhra Pradesh state have imprisoned eight evangelists after Hindu fundamentalists accused them of attempting “forceful conversion.”

The Evangelical Fellowship of India has said that members of the Brethren Church, from the state of Kerela, had permission from police to preach the Gospel. But while they were preaching, a mob led by Hindu extremists surrounded them and took them to the police station. The police promptly charged them with "promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion" and sent them to jail. Arrested on September 23, they have not yet been released on bail.


Protest over church attacks (ahramonline)

(ahramonline) 06 Oct 2011 - Military and police squads used force late Tuesday night to disperse hundreds of angry Coptic demonstrators and their supporters who were attempting to stage a sit-in outside the Maspero TV headquarters in downtown Cairo to protest attacks on a christian church in Upper Egypt.



Christian Copts took to the streets earlier Tuesday evening, marched from the heavily Coptic district of Shubra onto Egypt's High court before ending at Maspero.

Last Friday, Muslim extremists burned down the 71 year-old Mar Girgis church in Merinab village in the city of Edfu, located in the southern Aswan governorate of Egypt.
Over the weekend, Moustafa al-Sayed, governor of Aswan, said on television that the Copts in the village were attempting to rebuild the aged church without aquiring the required planning permit.

However, Copts were able to produce documents that prove they had applied for and obtained all necessary paper work.

The protesters at Maspero demanded equality with Muslims, the prompt passage of a law that regulates the building of churches and mosques, and another law which criminalizes attacks on places of worship.

Moreover, Copts and supporters also demanded that the ruling military council sack the governor of Aswan, rebuild the church and compensate the Copts in Edfu.

Several activists on the scene reported over Twitter that a number of protesters were injured in clashes with soldiers, and at least 10 ministry of health ambulances were seen rushing towards the TV building. Others said that army temporarily detained five protesters, but no one was in military custody by morning time.


2 Churches closed in Karnataka (AsiaNews)


(AsiaNews) 04 Oct 2011 - Out of a population of 52.8 million people in Karnataka, Christians are little more than a million. Yet "Hindu extremists with the complicity of the authorities continue their reign of terror against defenseless a Christian community”, says Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). His comments come on the heels of the closure of two Pentecostal churches in the districts of Hassan and Bangalore, on 25 September. In both cases, the police intervention followed complaints from radical Hindu groups. With these latest episodes, the number of anti-Christian attacks in Karnataka in 2011 alone now stand at 36.
Since 2008 the Government of Karnataka is led by the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), ultra-nationalist party that supports groups and movements of Hindu extremists belonging to the Sangh Parivar, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or the Bajrang From.

In the district of Bangalore, the police took into custody Hulimavu the pastor ofChurch of God Full Gospel, based on numerous complaints that accuse him of not having permission to carry out regular worship and of practicing forced conversions. According to the president of the GCIC, during the interrogation the police inspector Balram Gowda "threatened the pastor in a clear fashion and ordered to close the church or he would be arrested."

The same day in Bagesafleshpur (Hassan district), Hindu extremists stormed the Pentecostal Church End Times Full Harvest Church, beating Pastor John Frederick D'Souza and some ladies who tried to intervene, ripping Bibles from the hands of those present and throwing them on the ground. Then, the attackers called the police, who on arriving ordered the pastor to end the prayer service and close the church. Again, the police claimed a lack of regular religious practice permits and forced conversions.

"The Pentecostal pastors were systematically beaten and threatened - Sajan George charges - dragged into police stations with false accusations; arrested and locked up. Often without even the option of bail. And now, the followers of these churches have no Sunday service. "



(CDN) 04 Oct 2011 - A group of hard-line Muslims attacked a church building in Upper Egypt this afternoon, torching the structure and then looting and burning nearby Christian-owned homes and businesses.The 3,000-strong mob of hard-line and Salafi Muslims gutted the Mar Gerges Church in the Elmarenab village of Aswan, then demolished much of its remains, multiple witnesses at the scene said. The mob also razed four homes near the church and two businesses, all Christian-owned. Looting was also reported.

Michael Ramzy, a villager in Elmarenab, said the attack started shortly after Muslims held their afternoon prayers.
“Imams in more than 20 mosques called for crowds to gather and destroy the church and demolish the houses of the Copts and loot their properties,” Ramzy told local media. The Mar Gerges burning is the third church in Egypt in seven months to be burned down by a mob. Additionally, numerous other churches have been looted or otherwise attacked this year, including a New Year’s Eve bombing at the Two Saints Church in Alexandria that left 23 dead and scores critically wounded. No casualties have yet been reported in today’s attack.The tension in Elmarenab started the last week of August, when Muslim extremists, many of them thought to be members of the Salafi movement, which patterns its belief and practices on the first three generations of Muslims, voiced anger over renovations taking place at the church and anything perceived as a Christian symbol that could be seen from the outside.

To force the Copts to acquiesce to their demands, the Muslim extremists blockaded the entrance to the church and threatened Copts on the streets, in effect making them hostages in their own homes.

On Sept. 2, a meeting was held with military leaders and village elders in which the local leadership of the Coptic church agreed to strike all crosses and bells from the outside of the church. Normalcy returned briefly to the village, but by early the next week, the same people making demands for the removal of the crosses demanded the removal of newly constructed domes. In subsequent meetings, known as “reconciliation meetings,” the priests of the church said that removing the domes would cause the building to collapse. Unfazed, the group of hard-line Muslims called for the church building to be burned.During the dispute, the Muslim group claimed that the renovations were illegal because the building in question wasn’t actually a church, but a hospitality building – a claim cast into doubt as the original building on the site had existed as a church for roughly 100 years, and the parish received permission by the Aswan governor in 2010 to rebuild it as a church.

The attack is part of a larger and ever-increasing trend taking place in Egypt whereby a government official in a province or municipality grants permission for a church to be built or reopened, and hard-line Muslims threaten violence if services take place. Coptic leaders accuse the government of playing a colluding role in the violence by not enforcing the law, including a recently renewed and expanded Emergency Law, which stipulates imprisonment as a penalty for acts of sectarian strife, “thuggery” and vandalism of private property.

Three Christians kidnapped near Kirkuk, Iraq

Three Christians were kidnapped when returning home from a hunting trip on 21st September, Middle East Concern reports.
[ICC]  9/28/2011 Iraq (Middle East Concern) – We regret to report that three Christians were kidnapped near Kirkuk on 21st September. They were returning from a hunting trip when their vehicle was stopped by a group of armed men. A fourth person, of Turkoman ethnicity, travelling with them was also kidnapped. The group’s burnt-out vehicle was found shortly afterwards, and the remains of their hunting dogs were found inside.
Iraqi Christians fear that this is incident is yet another attack aimed at the Christian presence in Iraq.
Iraqi Christians request our prayers that:
• The kidnapped men will be released unharmed
• They and their families will know the peace and presence of Jesus
• The kidnappers will know the Spirit’s conviction, the Son’s offer of forgiveness and the Father’s welcome to relationship with God

Religious Persecution On The Rise

[ICC] 29 sEPTEMBER 2011 - History was supposed to have ended. Alas, rather than celebrating the triumph of democratic capitalism, the world appears to be dividing between generally liberal Western-oriented states and a gaggle of authoritarian systems united only in their disdain for individual freedom and dignity.It is not just democratic politics and free markets which are under attack. A new study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found increasing restrictions on religious liberty between 2006 and 2009.
The latest Pew survey found that "more than 2.2 billion people — about a third of the world's population — live in countries where government restrictions or social hostilities involving religion are increasing. About 1 percent lives in countries where government restrictions or social hostilities are decreasing."
In many cases the limits are significant. Pew said, "The number of countries in which governments used at least some measure of force against religious groups or individuals rose from 91 (46 percent) in the period ending in mid-2008 to 101 (51 percent) in the period ending in mid-2009. This violence was wide-ranging, including individuals being killed, physically abused, imprisoned, detained or displaced from their homes, as well as damage to or destruction of personal or religious properties."
Moreover, Pew reported that the number of nations in which private violence and other crimes occurred was largely unchanged at 142, but "the number of countries that experienced mob violence related to religion rose from 38 (19 percent) as of mid-2008 to 52 (26 percent) as of mid-2009." Unofficial persecution often is the most difficult form of abuse to combat, since governments often disclaim responsibility.
These are astonishing, even horrifying, findings in what is supposed to be an enlightened age. The situation improved in 12 countries, stayed the same in 163 countries, and worsened in 23 countries.
However, the numbers are far worse when it comes to population. Just 1 percent of people enjoyed greater religious freedom. Those finding no change accounted for 67 percent. An incredible 32 percent of the population was worse off.
The most serious problem remains countries with Islamic majorities or some provinces with Islamic majorities. Those which suffered increases in government persecution or social attacks included Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, and Pakistan. The only other category of nation evidencing obvious hostility toward religion is communist or former communist: persecution and/or hostility increased in China, Vietnam, and Russia.

Update on girl charged with blasphemy (ICC)

(ICC)(CDN) 29 Sept 2011 - An eighth-grade student in Pakistan has been expelled from school and her family forced to relocate after the Christian girl misspelled an Urdu word, leading to accusations of “blasphemy,” sources said
In the garrison city of Abbottabad, 13-year-old Faryal Bhatti, a student at the Sir Syed Girls High School in Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) Colony Havelian, misspelled a word on an Urdu exam on Thursday (Sept. 22) while answering a question on a poem in praise of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, according to area Christians.

Faryal wrote laanat, the transliteration of the Urdu word for “curse,” instead of naat, which means a poem written in praise of Islam’s prophet, they said. The school administration and local Islamists declared that the error was serious enough to violate Pakistan’s widely condemned laws against blaspheming Muhammad and Islam.Conviction under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy law for derogatory comments about Muhammad is punishable by death, though life imprisonment is also possible.Faryal’s Urdu teacher was collecting the answer sheets from her students when she noticed the word on Faryal’s paper. The teacher, identified only as Fareeda, summoned the Christian girl, scolded her and beat her, area sources told Compass by telephone.Fareeda then notified the principal, who in turn informed school officials as news of the error spread throughout the colony. The next day, male students at the school as well as some Muslim representatives staged a demonstration, demanding registration of a criminal case against the eighth-grader and her eviction from the area, sources said.Prayer leaders within the Muslim community also condemned the incident in their Friday sermons, asking the colony’s administration to take action against Faryal as well as her family, sources said.

POF Colony Havelian Managing Director Asif Siddiki called a meeting of clerics and school teachers to discuss the conflict, according to reports, at which the girl and her mother were ordered to appear; they explained that it was a mere error caused by a resemblance between the two words.The girl and her mother immediately apologized, contending that Faryal had no malicious intentions, but in a move apparently designed to pacify Muslim cries for punishment, the POF administration expelled her from the school on Saturday (Sept. 24).

School administrator Junaid Sarfraz said Faryal had confessed that she had inadvertently made the mistake and the school administration, after consulting local clerics, decided to expel her. Sarfraz claimed that Faryal’s teacher was certain that she had made the mistake intentionally and that the matter was referred to clerics because Faryal had previously aroused similar suspicions of blasphemy.Maulana Alla Dita, head of the area’s prominent mosque, reportedly said the school administration had made the right decision in expelling Faryal from school. Dita claimed that he had met with Faryal, who had apologized for the mistaken use of the word. Dita said he wasn’t clear about Faryal’s intentions, but that “the word she had used was sacrilegious,” according to press reports.Faryal’s mother, Sarafeen Bhatti, a staff nurse at the POF Hospital Havelian for several years, was immediately transferred to POF Wah Cantonment Hospital. Abbottabad District Commissioner Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah said the 13-year-old had been expelled for using “derogatory words” and her mother had consequently been “moved to another place.”A Christian lawyer in Havelian who was among the community members making efforts to defuse area tensions told Compass by phone that the military had acted swiftly to save the lives of Faryal and her mother.

“The military swung into action soon after protests broke out calling for a blasphemy case against the teenager,” said the attorney on condition of anonymity. “They bundled the family in an ambulance and took them away before the situation could turn violent.”A text-message campaign also started on Saturday (Sept. 24) calling for action against the family, he said.“Some Christian families living in the area panicked, but the situation has been under control so far,” he said.An area Christian told Compass there were 13 or 14 Christian families in the colony who now have fears about security. He said that Faryal’s family had little contact with other Christians living in the area. The resident also praised the army for acting timely, “or else the mullahs would have punished all of us for the little girl’s error.”The incident has instilled fear in Christian parents that an unintentional mistake by their children could cause them personal disaster. Shazia Imran, mother to three schoolchildren, told Compass that Faryal’s episode had left her distressed.

“Ever since I came to know about the young girl’s story, I have been unable to sleep properly,” she said. “We have been continuously telling our children not to discuss their faith with anyone in school and to avoid getting into religious discussions with their Muslim class fellows, but this was beyond my imagination.”She added that she and her husband were now “very disturbed and fearful” about their children’s future in Pakistan.Azra George, a Christian mother to a college student, said the incident had shocked her and the congregation at her Presbyterian church.“Everyone at church was discussing this sorry incident on Sunday,” she said. “Parents of school-going children were particularly perturbed. This blasphemy thing will always remain hanging on our heads like a sword, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”Compass’s repeated attempts to reach the Bhatti family were unsuccessful as they had moved to an undisclosed location due to security concerns.

Asif Aqeel, executive director of the Community Development Initiative, an affiliate of the European Centre for Law and Justice, said the incident showed how Pakistani society was getting sensitized over the issue of blasphemy.“Only a small number of people are formally accused of blasphemy – we do not know the number of people who, like Faryal and her family, are harassed without a legal charge,” he said. “Members of Pakistan’s minority communities are afraid of moving around and expressing themselves freely due to the fear of being accused of blasphemy.”Christians make up only 2.45 percent of Pakistan’s population, which is more than 95 percent Muslim, according to Operation World. Section 295-B of Pakistan’s blasphemy law makes willful desecration of the Quran or use of an extract in a derogatory manner punishable with life imprisonment. Section 295-A prohibits injuring or defiling places of worship and “acts intended to outrage religious feelings.” It is punishable by life imprisonment, which in Pakistan is 25 years.

Aqeel said a Christian boy was recently implicated in a criminal case of harassment by the family of a Muslim girl who was in love with him. Aqeel said the boy’s family urged the police investigating officer to free the boy, whose name was withheld for security reasons, as the charges were baseless.“The family was taken aback when the police official told them that their son had mocked the Sunnah [sayings and teachings] of prophet Muhammad by keeping a French beard,” Aqeel said. Thus, although the harassment case had nothing to do with the blasphemy law, the mere mention of the law forced the family to keep silent, he said.Similarly, Christian teachers avoid lessons that mention Islamic history or anything related to the religion out of fear that any misstep could bring criminal charges. Likewise, Urdu language and social studies textbooks include several lessons on Islamic religious thought, so Christian teachers avoid nearly half of these books to avoid being charged with blasphemy, he said.Napolean Qayyum, a leader of the Minorities Wing of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, condemned the incident, saying it was unfortunate that a 13-year-old had to suffer this ordeal over a miniscule error.

“The army’s timely intervention saved the Christians’ lives, but most people are not so fortunate,” he said, adding that the incident showed how intolerance towards minorities was taking root in Pakistani society.“Would the teacher have highlighted the same mistake if it was made by a Muslim student?” he said. “I would guess not.”

13 year old girl charged with blasphemy in Pakistan (ICC)

(ICC) 28 Sept 2011 -  International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that yesterday more than 50 Muslim leaders in Havelian, Pakistan demanded that police charge a 13-year-old Christian girl with blasphemy after she misspelt a word while writing about Muhammad.

Faryal Bhatti mistakenly used the word laanat (curse) instead of naat (hymn) while answering a question about a poem that praised Muhammad. The 8th grader was then expelled from school for blasphemy and now remains in hiding with her family due to Muslim threats.

“Christians are gripped with fear because of this incident. Muslims clerics are very angry. Muslims want the Christians to leave the area,” said a Christian resident of Havelian in an interview with ICC.

According to Pakistan’s blasphemy law, blaspheming Muhammad is a crime punishable by death. The law also states that desecrating the Quran, which is considered blasphemy, is a crime punishable by life imprisonment.

Christian girl raped and threatened with death (ICC)

(ICC) 28 Sept 2011 - Rifkha (name changed for security reasons) works at a Muslim farm in the village of Muphat Pura, in Kasur district of Pakistan. On September 16 at 5 pm, Rifkha was working alone on the farm when three relatives of her Muslim employer came and repeatedly raped her.

Warned not to report the rape to anyone, Rifkha told ICC, “I am very sad about what happened to me. If I report his case, it will be difficult for me and my family to live in the area. The Muslims have threatened to kill me and my brothers (who also work for the same employer) if I report the case to the police. We are Christians and we are very poor that is why we are targeted by the Muslims.”

Unfortunately, Rifkah’s experience is not an isolated one. Many Christian girls are raped at the hands of Muslims in Pakistan. According to Compass Direct News, a Christian mother of five said that she was raped by two Pakistani Muslims on September 15th. In January, Muhammad Aftab was arrested after raping six Christian girls at different times.

“The incidents of rape and enforced conversion of Christian women to Islam is rising every year. 99.9% of rape cases go unreported in Pakistan… If a Muslim man rapes a Christian girl, then he easily forces her to convert to Islam, marries her and covers up his heinous crime of rape under Islamic law. Some cases of rapes of Christian women are reported but the majority of such rapes are never reported,” said Dr. Nazir Bhatti in a statement to ICC. Dr. Bhatti is the president of the Pakistan Christian Congress.

ICC’s Regional Manager for South Asia, Jonathan Racho, said, “Rape has been used as a weapon of persecution against Christian girls in Pakistan, a country where Christians are treated as third-class citizens. In the Muslim majority country, Christian girls are particularly vulnerable to these types of crimes because Muslim authorities are reluctant to protect them when their rights are violated by Muslims. We urge the international community to pay attention to this tragic violation of human rights in Pakistan.”

Indonesian Church bombed (FoxNews)

(FoxNews) 27 Sept 2011 - A suicide bomber attacked a packed Indonesian church Sunday wounding at least 27 people, some critically, and sending terrified worshippers rushing out into the streets in panic.

The morning bombing in the city of Solo, in Central Java, was the latest in a spate of attacks on minority religious groups in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.
Solo, a city of 500,000, is the home of militant Islamist spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir, who was jailed in June for 15 years for funding a terrorist group that was planning attacks against Westerners and political leaders.Kristanto, a worshipper, said he and his wife were getting ready to leave at the end of the service at the Bethel Injil Church when the bomb rocked the building."I was about to head home when a very loud explosion shocked me.
A crowd of people from inside the church rushed to the streets," he told AFP."They were screaming and very hysterical. The peaceful Sunday has quickly become a chaotic situation.""I helped several people who were injured and lying weak on the ground," said the badly shaken 53-year-old, who goes by one name.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the bomber was part of a network based in Cirebon, 185 miles (300km) east of Jakarta, where in April a suicide bomber attacked a police mosque, killing only himself and wounding 30 with a bomb of nails, nuts and bolts."This suicide bomber was a member of the terrorist network in Cirebon we mentioned a few months ago. I have called for a thorough investigation to find out more on this group, including who funds and leads them," Yudhoyono said in a televised statement."On behalf of the country and my government, I strongly condemn terrorist acts as an extraordinary evil."A doctor at Minulyo Hospital in Solo, who requested anonymity, said nails and bolts had caused injuries to the three victims he was treating.
The bomber was inside the church with worshippers when he got up and detonated the bomb on his way out."He let off the bomb and his guts spilled all over the floor. We are still trying to identify him," said national police spokesman Anton Bachrul Alam. He confirmed that only the attacker had died.
An AFP correspondent saw the bomber's body on the ground at the church's main entrance. He was wearing a white shirt and black trousers.Most of Indonesia's 200 million Muslims are moderates, but the country has struggled to deal with numerous attacks by radical extremists, like the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) which carried out the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Eritrean Christian speaks out about torture (Eternity)

(Eternity) 26 Sept 2011 - Kaley Payne - As we sit in an African restaurant I can’t help but think it a slightly incongruous setting. Sitting opposite is a woman who just three years ago fled severe persecution in Eritrea.
While we eat our injera she talks about her experience through an interpreter. Before answering my first question, she asks to pray. And so, our heads bowed in the midst of meal orders, deliveries and menu queries, I get a taste of the extraordinary character and uncompromising faith of Helen Berhane.
Helen Berhane spent some time in Australia in August, travelling with Open Doors Australia, an organisation helping to raise awareness of the persecuted church around the world. She visited churches across the country, speaking to other Christians about her experience in Eritrea. She has also written
her autobiography, a powerful account of the persecution she faced as a vocal Christian in a country that ranks eleventh on Open Doors’ World Watch List for the most dangerous places for Christians.
Helen can only be called a serial evangeliser. A member of the banned Rhema Church – a minority evangelical church in Eritrea -
Helen was well known to Eritrean authorities and frequently imprisoned for preaching the gospel in the country’s capital, Asmara.
“The police would capture me and ask ‘when are you going to stop this?’” said Helen.
“They all knew me and I would come in and out of prison. When I would arrive, the other inmates would say ‘Helen’s back! Welcome!’” But after releasing a recording of her gospel music, Helen faced her toughest trial.
Separated from her young daughter and taken to the notorious Mai Serwa military camp, she was imprisoned for almost two years, spending much of that time in a shipping container masquerading as a prison cell.
In her book, Helen describes the cell: “The container was no more than twenty feet long, so we were packed closely together. There were eighteen of us inside. We were given a bucket as a toilet and allowed out once a day to empty it,” she said. Yet even in the rancid conditions of her imprisonment, Helen sang. She speaks of her desire to praise God despite her circumstances.
“Even though we were in a dark situation, we could not suppress the word of God. We praised God in spite of the fleas, the lice and the heat. We could not be prevented from singing – even in captivity.”
But singing praises to God meant severe punishment for Helen and the other women who joined her in worship. Helen is reluctant to describe in detail the torture that came as a result of her stubbornness in Christ.
“They would handcuff me and fasten my ankles together too tight so the pain was excruciating. They left us there the whole night – I was in too much pain to sleep. I concentrated on the stars, because if I let myself think of my legs the pain became unbearable.”
Helen and the other prisoners were frequently promised release if they signed a document declaring they would no longer preach. But Helen refused, instead looking for ways to continue to share her faith in captivity.
It was Helen’s Christian witness that forced the guards to separate her from the other prisoners. She spent four months in solitary confinement. After a severe beating for being discovered writing Bible studies for another prisoner, Helen was taken to hospital with fears she would never walk again. From there, Helen’s family helped her flee to Sudan. “It was a miracle – I felt the hand of God on my situation. By his grace, I was free.”
Evan Peet, National Development Manager at Open Doors Australia, said Australian Christians could learn from people like Helen.
“For Western society, it’s so easy to view faith as something that ‘works for us’, and that is constantly changing,” he said. “But for Helen, faith is steadfast, the foundation she is
built on. People like Helen do anything to live out their faith. Yet here, too many of us don’t go to church when it rains.”
Mr Peet says bringing Helen Berhane, and others like her, to Australia, is mutually beneficial.
“We want people to pray, support, give – to be aware of what’s happening to Christians overseas and advocate for them through government. That’s what we can do for them. But they have so much to offer us too.”
Now living in Denmark after being granted asylum, Helen is humble about her experience.
“As I see it, what I’ve gone through isn’t that much at all. You might think that because of all the things I’ve faced, that I am strong. But there are so many others that have walked where I have walked, and there is so much I still have to learn,” she said.
‘Song of the Nightingale’ by Helen Berhane with Emma Newrick is published by Authentic.

Christian mother of 5 raped in Pakistan (ANS)

(ANS) 26 Sept 2011 - Arifa Mushtaq (name changed for security reasons), a 32-year-old Christian mother of five -- three boys and two girls -- was allegedly raped earlier this month by three Muslims in the village of Mustafabad, Kasur district.
Arifa, whose oldest daughter is studying in the sixth grade and the wife Mushtaq Masih, who works at the Kasur sanitation department is said to be "devastated" with what occurred to his wife.
He told an ANS reporter, "Arifa was working in a garment factory, and on the Thursday evening of the attack, she was coming home from work. When she got off the bus, two local residents grabbed her from the back and another armed accomplice came and put a gun on her head.
"My wife yelled for help and she begged them to let her go for the sake of the children, but those animals took her to a nearby house and one by one raped her." 
After the attack, Arifa was admitted to a local hospital and her husband has filed a complaint at the local police station which has been registered.
But now I have learned that two of the men are now threatening Mushtaq Masih and his family, that if he doesn't withdraw his case against them, all his children will "go through what his wife has gone through."
The investigation off icer assisted the alleged culprits to get bail before arrest and has been pressurizing Masih to withdraw the case.
The family is now seeking justice from a society where the defenders of the law are defending the criminals and pressurizing the devastated family. Humanitarian organizations Masihi Foundation and Life for All in a joint statement have condemned the insane and barbaric incident. The organizations have demanded the Police officials and the judiciary to seriously look into the matter and take action against the corrupt officials who are cooperating with the criminals instead of defending the victims.
The joint statement said, "This is outrageous. Rape incidents like this are becoming a common practice in Punjab. The police are supporting the culprits and have left loopholes in the First Information Report (FIR) to give an easy escape to the culprits. The victim`s family are living in fear and the culprits are roaming free. How long do we have to see the children of God suffer? Will Mushtaq Masih and his fam ily get justice? Will they be able to live a respectable life again? We demand that the IG (Inspector General) of the Punjab Police and the Law Minister, Rana Sana Ullah, take action against the officers involved in supporting the criminals and ensure justice to the victimized family." 

Chinese Church leader released while others are still detained (WorthyNews)

(WorthyNews) 26 Sept 2011 -China has unexpectedly released a prominent house church leader from prison amid international concerns about his health, his family and rights activists confirmed Monday, September 19.
Pastor Zhang Rongliang, who leads the 10-million strong China for Christ Church network, was released nine months early on August 31 and allowed to return to his home near Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan province, said advocacy group China Aid Association (CAA).
Zhang, 61, was detained in December 2004 and sentenced to 7.5 years imprisonment in July 2006 for “attaining a passport through cheating” and “illegal border crossing.”
Supporters claimed the real reasons for his imprisonment were his Christian activities and nationwide network of house churches, who operate outside the state-backed denominations.
He had traveled internationally, including to the United States, Australia, Egypt and Singapore, to attend world mission conferences, Chinese Christians said.
FAMILY REACTS  
In published remarks his family said he is " in good spirits and" and added they "thank everyone in the international community who has worked for his release since 2006."
Yet, religious rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) expressed concerns about his health.
CSW said the pastor suffers from diabetes. Additionally, "He was tortured and ill-treated during previous detentions, leaving him in a poor state of health."
Pastor Zhang was jailed on six separate occasions and has spent over 18 years in prison, Christians said.
MORE DETENTIONS
His release comes at a time when other house church leaders are under pressure. Pastor Shi Enhao, deputy chairman of the Chinese House Church Alliance, was sentenced to two years’ re-education through labour last month for “organizing illegal meetings," trial observers said.
Shouwang members have tried to meet outdoors every Sunday since April 11, after government officials repeatedly denied them access to a permanent worship place.Additionally, leaders from the independent Shouwang Church in Beijing remain under house arrest.
Over 600 Shouwang Christians have reportedly been detained since April, including 15 on August 28 and 12 arrests on September 4.  Police detain Christians, some of them traveling for hours, often before the service starts and typically free them within 24 hours.
HOUS ARREST
CSW also expressed concerns about Fan Yafeng, a house church leader and expert in constitutional law, who it said has been held under house arrest at his home in Beijing since December last year.
In the past year there has been an increase in the use house arrest, "to silence dissidents," CSW complained.
Chinese authorities have reportedly said they will give police power to detain individuals in locations other than designated detention centers. Essentially legalizing house arrest under Chinese law, the new powers would undoubtedly lead to an increase in detention without trial, said CSW’s Special Ambassador Stuart Windsor.
“CSW welcomes the early release of Pastor Zhang, while calling for the rights of all Chinese citizens to practice a religion of their choice to be respected." Windsor said his group wants the international community "to urge China to release immediately those detained for their religious beliefs, including those held under house arrest.”
Chinese officials could not immediately be reached to comment on the detentions and release. However the China's government has denied human rights abuses, saying Christians are free to worship within the official denominations.
Rights groups say many of China's up to 130 million Christians prefer to worship in house churches, outside the control of the country's Communist government. 

Iranian Christian threatened (Mohaba News)

(MohabaNews) 23 Sept 2011 - According to Iranian Christian News Agency, Mohabat News, a Christian couple who due to security reasons we call " N " and " K" adopted an orphan some time ago. Now the security officers have taken the child back in order to put pressure on this Christian family and other Christian converts.

The security agents also threatened them and said that, "if you want your child back you must file a complaint against your fellow Christians in prison".
This report also indicates, "N" and "K" endured years of waiting to adopt a child legally and when their dream came true it became the highlight of their life. The emotional pressure caused by losing the child made Mrs. " N" to be taken to the hospital.
This short but painful report is published, while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who is currently attending the United Nations general assembly has told NBC in an interview: " Christian minorities are peacefully living in Iran! "
Though it's not Ahmadinejad's first lie , and surely won't be his last, in order to publicly clarify issues, we have some questions to ask about the "Peaceful life" that the Republic Islamic of Iran has provided for Christians in the country:
1- Is it a "peaceful" act to take a child from his/her family, only because his/her parents believe in Jesus Christ? Is it a "peaceful" act to use an innocent child to achieve political purposes?
3- Is it a "peaceful" life to raid the house churches and small worship gatherings in which people just call the name of their lord God?
4- Is it a "peaceful" life not to care about the existing Churches and to close and demolish them in one night?
5- Is it a "peaceful" life to keep Christians in jail for a long period of time, even after they provide the requested bail?
6- Is it a "peaceful" life to close the Christian institutes and publications inside the country? Is it a "peaceful" life not to allow Christians to print Bibles which is their holy book?
7- Do you call it a "peaceful" life to burn hundreds of bibles?
8- Do you call it a "peaceful" life that the pro-government media, security forces and even Marja-e-taghlid(council of Guidance) threaten Christians on a regular basis?
9- How you call it a "peaceful" life while some Christians are being accused of apostasy?
10- Is it called a "peaceful" life to hunt down Christians within and even without the country?
Christian community of Iran has never experienced "peace" under the Islamic Republic. They have been targets of threats and pressures. Several Christian converts were arrested and kept in jails for long periods of time. They were also wrongly charged with having relations with foreigners and other national security accusations. The pressures are to the extent that today even carrying a bible or even talking about the love of God and Jesus Christ is considered as a crime. The atmosphere for Christians is unbearable and inhumane..

Church leader detained and tortured (CDN)

(CDN)  21 Sept 2011 - A Roman Catholic priest of Kadugli parish in Sudan’s embattled South Kordofan is in hiding after being detained three times in the past three months.
Authorities tortured the Rev. Abraham Lual on two of those occasions with accusations that as a Christian he opposes northern forces’ military campaign in the disputed region, he told Compass by phone. Detained at 10:20 a.m. on Sept. 6 and interrogated for five hours at the security unit’s head office in El-Obied, Lual told Compass that authorities are monitoring his movements and those of other church leaders on the assumption that they are supported by Western Christians opposed to Islam and the north’s military push for territory in South Kordofan. He was also detained for two days in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, on Aug. 28, and the torture he suffered left him with injuries to his left leg, he said. Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) agents had also arrested him on June 8, accusing him of preaching that people should oppose the Islamic government, he said; authorities tortured him for two days at that time as well. Lual’s church building had been gutted by fire in the fighting, and during the Aug.28 interrogation authorities threatened to kill him if he returned to visit the burned structure in the war-torn town, he said.

“You are preaching against Islamic government and opposing its teaching and rules,” they said as they beat him, he said.  Lual said it will take him a long time to recover from the trauma of the Aug. 28 mistreatment. “I am totally traumatized as a result of what they did to me and members of my congregation,” he said. “They have badly mistreated me. I ask God to help me remain strong in faith as well as my displaced members and all Christian communities who are facing persecution.” 

Armed conflict in Kadugli broke out between southern and northern militaries on June 6 after northern forces seized Abyei in May. 

Evangelicals in Mexico threatened (BosNewsLife) 

(BosNewsLife) 20 Sept 2011 - At least 70 evangelical Christians in Mexico's east-central region were homeless Saturday, September 17, after being expelled by local authorities from their village where traditional Catholics reportedly threatened to "crucify or lynch" them.

The government of Puebla state "bowed" to pressure from the traditional Catholics in San Rafael Tlanalapan village, some 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the capital Mexico City, reported Mexico's leading La Jornada de Oriente newspaper.Initially about 50 Protestant families were ordered to leave the village by September 12, but some were allowed to stay under condition they would worship outside the area. Additionally they are not allowed to intervene with traditional Catholics, who practice a mix of indigenous and Catholic rituals. "There is an agreement reached with the local authority that those evangelicals have to go who are not originating from the area as the state government can not guarantee their safety," La Jornada de Oriente quoted regional government official Roberto Solano Pineda as saying.

PICKING UP BELONGINGS

Witnesses earlier said they saw several evangelicals, including a pastor, arriving with suitcases to quickly pick up their belongings. Traditional Catholics told them  they would be "crucified or lynched" if they dared to stay after the September 12 ultimatum, locals and reporters said.   The mayor did not stop the expulsions amid fears he could be expelled himself by Catholics, Mexican media reported.  Catholic Irma Diaz Perez told local television he was pleased as "They will never return, because we have drawn up a document wherein they have no permission to come back now or ever." A few residents who agreed to discuss the issue with reporters said they regretted that authorities did not pressure local priest, identified as Benítez González, to halt the expulsions.

YEARS OF TENSIONS 

Tensions date back to 2006 when local Catholics reportedly refused to connect evangelical residents to a water network. Officials also reported attacks against evangelical families in previous years.

Evangelical Pastor Josué Jiménez Ovando said he had provided videos of the attacks to authorities, but the local Catholic church has denied wrongdoing. There have been several attacks against evangelicals in Mexico, a heavily traditional Catholic nation, and some were held for crimes they did not commit. In 2009 twenty men, most of them evangelical Christians, were freed after spending more than a decade in prison after Mexico's Supreme Court overturned their sentences in a massacre in southern Chiapas state.

Mexico's top court ruled that prosecutors used illegally obtained evidence to charge the men with involvement in killing 45 Indian villagers, including children as young as two months old, on December 22, 1997, in the hamlet of Acteal.

Messianic Jews harassed in Israel (CompassDirectNews)

(CompassDirectNews) 19 Sept 2011 Messianic Jews in a suburb west of Jerusalem continue to be harassed for following their faith, this time by someone anonymously placing flyers in public areas singling out members of Messianic congregations.
The flyers began appearing two weeks ago in the town of Mevasseret Zion. Asher Intrater, leader of the Ahavat Yeshua Congregation, said he thinks the flyers are “an effort to drive us out of the neighborhood.”The flyers posted the addresses and phone numbers of the Messianic Jews, and in some cases included their photographs. Intrater said he thinks the addresses were placed on the flyers to incite others to harass or harm the Messianic Jews.

“Why else would you put the addresses on the flyers?” he said.
This is the second time in three months that a group has singled out Messianic Jews in Mevasseret Zion for ridicule. On June 26, members of Yad L’Achim, an ultra-Orthodox, anti-Christian group, protested outside the home of Serge and Naama Kogen, a messianic couple.Yad L’Achim claimed the couple had befriended and then manipulated a teenager into becoming a Christian. The Kogens denied the charge, as did the 16-year-old girl who was the alleged conversion target. The girl’s parents, with considerable help from Yad L’Achim, filed charges against the Kogens and Intrater. The judge found in favor of Intrater and the Kogens and dismissed all the charges.

It is unclear who actually posted the flyers, and Intrater declined to speculate. But the flyers match a well-established pattern in Israel. According to a classified communiqué issued by the U.S. State Department in May 2008 and leaked on Aug. 30 by Internet activist group Wikileaks, “‘Outing’ Messianic Jews and Evangelical Christians through the publication of names, photos and addresses alongside flyers with hysterical allegations about ‘soul stealing’ and ‘brainwashing’ is a favorite tactic of Yad L’Achim branches throughout the country.”
The State Department further noted links between Yad L’Achim and both national and local governments in Israel.
“Yad L’Achim and other anti-missionary activists may also have allies, tacit or active, in the Interior Ministry and police departments, where clerks and police officers have wide discretion in deciding which national benefits a person is entitled to and which crimes are worth investigating, given limited resources,” the State Department communiqué said.

As an example of the links, the communiqué referred to comments made by Uzi Aharon, one-time deputy mayor of the Tel Aviv suburb of Or Yehuda. According to the State Department, Aharon told the Israeli daily Ma’ariv in 2008 that the Or Yehuda municipality “operated a team of activists, available 24-hours a day, devoted entirely to uprooting missionary activity, and that the burning [of Christian materials] was a fulfillment of the commandment to ‘burn the evil from your midst.’”Aharon was a prime player in a May 15, 2008 incident in which, on his instruction, a group of students from a local ultra-Orthodox school collected hundreds of New Testaments from throughout the town. The Bibles were later burned in front of a synagogue.

Kogen said that the flyers in Mevasseret Zion stay up only a brief while before someone rips them down. Intrater added that the latest round of harassment has been viewed as such an invasion of privacy that it may have “backfired a little bit.”“This is the first time we have seen a positive response from the local government, The Jerusalem Postand possibly the police,” Intrater said.

800 Christians evicted from Pakistan slum (ChristianPost)

(ChristianPost) 19 Sept 2011  - Over 800 poor Christians in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore have been forced to live on the roads with no immediate hope of having a shelter of their own after local authorities demolished their homes located in a slum early Saturday morning, with the Christians claiming that they were given just a day’s notice to vacate the land.

  • pakistan(Photo: The Christian Post/Asher John)
    Pakistani Christian women in tears after being evicted from their homes located in the slum of Ittehad colony in Lahore, Pakistan, on September 10, 2011. Over 800 poor Christians in Gaju Matta slum were forced out of their homes with only a day's notice.
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The Kachhi Abadi (slums) regulations state that no slum can be demolished without providing alternate housing to the dwellers. Any settlement of over 40 houses built before 2006 qualifies as a Kachhi Abadi, and the Gaju Matta slum fulfilled that criterion with over 150 houses.Residents of Gaju Matta slum in Ittehad Colony, located along the Rohi Nullah, said they had been living on the land since 1998, when they were forced out of their previous dwelling in the Sabzazar area to make way for a housing society.
However, on Saturday the Nishtar Town municipal authorities reached the locality with bulldozers and started demolishing the homes of the poor Christians, claiming that they had orders to make way for an alternate road to the nearby fruit and vegetable market.
“We were in the process of dragging out our belongings when the bulldozers arrived…the authorities did not even give us time to pack our stuff properly and started demolishing our homes,” Pervaiz Masih, a resident, said.
However, army bunkers and a church located in the area were not demolished after the residents said they would not tolerate desecration of their church.

“We let them destroy our homes but they will have to demolish the church over our dead bodies,” Rani, a resident, said. “We built the church with our own hands over the last seven years,” she added.
As the bulldozers tore down houses and moved towards the church, some women gathered in front of the building while others took shelter inside, weeping and chanting slogans. Their protest forced the authorities to postpone the demolition of the church, at least for now.
Another resident, Naseer Masih, said, “The government should have stopped us from settling here in the first place or relocated us, but they did no such thing and we are being displaced again.”
After the operation, residents sat on their salvaged possessions with tears in their eyes.
Sitting on a small stool, a young girl, Fauzia, said, “We are Pakistani, and are loyal to it, but if they don’t want us here they should just throw us out of the country.”
Other residents also said that they were Pakistani and the government should provide them with basic housing. They expressed their helplessness as they expect to spend indefinite nights under the sky since most cannot afford rents. The poor Christians also expressed their concern for the safety of their belongings, saying the Punjab government would be held responsible if their possessions are ruined because of rain or they are robbed.
A visible perturbed Naseer said, “If we had been given a month or two’s notice and been allotted an alternate location, we would have been able to make alternative arrangements.”
Ittehad Colony President Salamat Pardesi said the residents had sought a meeting with the area’s top official, Model Town Assistant Commissioner Irfan Memon, and he had promised to meet them on Friday but then they were told that he had gone out of the city.
“We asked for some time to shift our belongings but an official came to the colony the same day and told us our houses would be destroyed at 8am on Saturday,” he said, adding, “We were just given a day’s notice…if there was a forewarning we would have asked for more time and an alternate location. We were already relocated from Sabzazar under similar pretexts.”
Police official Muhammad Saeed claimed that the residents had been warned to vacate the area a few weeks ago. Residents, however, deny that they had been issued any official notice other than the one-day warning.
“They are lying…if we had received the notice a week ago we would have surely made alternate arrangements,” Pardesi said.
Memon said the operation was conducted to clear the Rohi Nullah of illegal settlements to construct a road to aid traffic to a fruit and vegetable market located near the area. He said the residents had been informed at least three times last month to relocate but they had not heeded the warning, adding that the settlement had no legal status and was situated on irrigation land.
Memon said that there was no resettlement plan for the residents since it was an illegal settlement, however, he said residents had been asked to file an application for the consideration of the authorities’ concerned. The official did not say why the government had not made any plans to relocate the Christians before demolishing their homes even though the regulation clearly states that no slum can be demolished without providing alternate housing to the dwellers.
On Sunday, a large number of Christians gathered outside the residence of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Model Town and protested against the demolition of their houses. The protesting Christians demanded that the government relocate them to another area and ensure permanent housing for them. The government is yet to come up with a settlement plan for the poor Christians and until then they have to live on the roads.

Orphans threatened to give up faith in Laos (MissionNetworkNews)

laosmap.jpg (MIssionNetworkNews) 19 Sept 2011 -  Eleven Laotian orphans could have the  few things they possess ripped out from under them if they continue going to  church.
 Voice of the Martyrs reports that after attending a local church and becoming  a Christian, one of the orphans at a government-run orphanage shared the  Gospel with his peers. Soon, 10 other orphans turned to Christ and began  regularly attending church.
 When the principal heard of the conversions, he told the children multiple  times to stop attending church, according to VOM contacts. In mid-August,  he called the orphans into his office, forbidding them to go back to church.
 If they do not obey, the children may have to leave the orphanage, according  to VOM contacts.
Seven of the orphans promised they would stop attending church, but none of them have renounced their faith. The remaining four orphans continue to attend church and refuse to bend under the pressure. So far they have not been kicked out of the orphanage.
Laos has a history of Christian persecution under communism. The situation has improved over the last 30 years, but Christians are still targeted. Missionaries are forbidden.
Pray for these bold orphans. Pray that they would continue to share their faith despite the possible consequences and would cling to Christ for their strength. Pray that the Lord would change the heart of the principal, that he might see the Truth glowing in these faithful children. Pray for their continued protection, as well.

Pastors and converts arrested in India (AsiaNews)

(AisaNews) 16 Sept 2011 - Insulted, beaten and charged with false accusations of forced conversions of five Hindu activists by the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). This is what happened yesterday in Madhya Pradesh to four Pentecostal pastors, and the wife of one of the11 faithful. After a night in jail, they were released on bail today. It is the latest episode of aggression by Hindu nationalists against Pentecostal pastors. But Sajan K George, president of theGlobal Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) points out: "The situation is alarming for all Christians, Madhya Pradesh is a rogue state that does not guarantee any rights of the Constitution in this community."

Pastors Ramesh, Balu and Ashok were driving to a prayer meeting attended by 20 other people. Of these, 11 were to have received the baptism ritual according to Pentecostal ritual. Suddenly, the RSS activists armed with sticks broke into the house, along with three local police officers. The pastors tried to explain what was happening, but the activists began to attack them accusing them of practicing forced conversions. After arresting the men and Sumantra, the wife of the rev. Ramesh, the police questioned the 11 baptized. Along with the Hindu group, the police tried to coerce the faithful to file false charges against Pastor Ramesh on charges of forced conversions. The group refused, saying they wanted to be baptized as believers in Christ.

"The anti-conversion law of 1968 - says Sajan George - serves as a pretext to intimidate Christians. A similar case occurred last August 31 in Khargone district, where the pastor Veersingh Kalesh received threats while he officiated a service of prayer. "

But the Hindu persecution in Madhya Pradesh against Christians also has other forms, as the president of the GCIC reports: "The state government (led by the BJP - Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu nationalist party, ed) abuse federal laws to harass the Christian schools, putting them under pressure, interfering with their management "

In March, the government has attempted to carry out a survey on the Christian population in Madhya Pradesh: number of schools, churches and priests, financial situation, foreign income and any political patronage, details of Christians with a criminal record. Following protests, the survey was blocked.

Chinese Christian shares about torture by police (AsiaNews)

(AsiaNews) 16 Sept 2011 -Beijing-based Human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong knows all about beatings, isolation, brain washing and bullying. He has had to endure them since that day in February when he was arrested by police. Only after he signed a number of pledges was he released two months later.

When he disappeared, he was not alone. Dozens of other lawyers and dissidents were arrested as part of a crackdown designed to nip in the bud any potential Chinese-styled ‘jasmine revolution’.

In order to overcome the fears instilled in him by the violence he was subjected to, Jiang spoke to a journalist from the South China Morning Post and his story was published in yesterday’s edition of the paper.

Jiang’s “guilt” is rooted in his decision to defend the rights of Christians, pro-democracy activists, people living with AIDS and members of the Falun Gong.

Police arrested the 41-year-old lawyer on 19 February, taking him to an unknown location where he was beaten for two nights. He was then made to sit motionless for up to 15 hours a day in a room where the curtains were always closed and interrogated repeatedly by national security officers. He said he could never say "I don't know" or make "mistakes", or threats and humiliation would follow.

His interrogators scornfully told him, "Here we can do things in accordance to law. We can also not do things in accordance to law, because we are allowed not to do things in accordance to law."

When during the second night he was kicked and punched, he appealed to his interrogator: "I am a human being, you are a human being. Why are you doing something so inhumane?" Enraged, the man knocked Jiang to the floor and screamed, “You are not a human being!”

Jiang was released 60 days later after his interrogators believed their brainwashing had succeeded and he had signed eight pledges. If the pledges were broken, he was warned, they could make him disappear again at any time, and even threatened to detain his wife.

During the ordeal, his wife, Jin Bianling, called on Protestant communities around the world to pray for her husband’s release.

This occurred when Jiang agreed to give police the names of all the people he met and tell them of all the things they discussed.

After release, Jiang kept a low profile. His experiences had left him with deep psychological scars. Still, he considers himself lucky. Other activists and dissidents have fared far worse.

For example, lawyer Tang Jitian was subjected to blasts of cold air in detention. After his release, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Guangzhou lawyer Tang Jingling was instead fed medical drugs that resulted in temporary memory loss. Artist Ai Weiwei was, for his part, kept in a room with the light on for 24 hours a day. Two guards watched him every moment, even when he was showering or sleeping.

Chinese House Church Leaders released (MNN)

(MissionNetworkNews) 14 Sept 2011 - After two years of grueling labor, five house-church leaders were released last week from labor camps in China, reports Voice of the Martyrs.
Since September 13, 2009, Fao Fuqin, Zhao Guoai, Yang Caizhen, Yang Hongzhen and Li Shuangpin have experienced physical and psychological torment in a Chinese labor camp. All five men are leaders in the 50,000 member Linfen church, a house church movement in China.
The men were arrested in the aftermath of an attack on Linfen, when over 400 local police, government officials, and hired men attacked one of the church branches. In the attack, they demolished a church building and clashed with several hundred members of the church, sending 30 to the hospital.
Five church leaders were detained and sentenced to prison terms of up to seven years during a one-day show trial, and five were sentenced to two years of re-education through labor.
Police still occupy the site where the main Linfen church building stands. The church's members are scattered, but they continue to meet and worship in private homes.
The five leaders who were recently released have suffered much but now feel strong. "We who have been released express our most sincere gratitude to the brothers and sisters around the world who have been concerned about us and who have helped us. May God remember your prayers and what you did. God is with us all," the five told ChinaAid.
Even though their own freedom is secure, they now plead with Christians around the world to intercede in prayer for the five other men who remain in prison.
"We sincerely urge all brothers and sisters around the world to pray for Linfen church... At the same time, we also ask brothers and sisters to remember in prayer the Linfen leaders who are still suffering in jail," the five told ChinaAid. "May the Lord move the police to release them early so that they can be reunited with their families."
Pray that God would continue to use all ten of these men to spread the Gospel throughout China, where the message of Christ continues to pick up speed daily. 

Christians released from prison (MohabaNews)

(MohabaNews) 13 Sept 2011 Two Azeri converts from Islam, who were arrested by security officers of Islamic Republic of Iran on charges of Christian activities, were released temporarily on a 40,000$ bail after appearing before two separate court hearings.

According to Christian News agency " Mohabat News " , two Azeri Christian residences of the city of Tabriz by the names of " Vahid Roofegar " and " Reza Kahnamooee " who had been arrested on July 15, 2011, were temporarily released on bail on august 21 after enduring nearly two month of imprisonment.


During their detention, Reza and Vahid received two summonses to appear before the court. The first trial accused them of "apostasy ", but later they dropped this charge. Then the authorities announced their charges as "propagating anti-government ideas against the regime and threatening the national security ". But the judge ordered to release them on a bail of 20,000 $ for each one of them, i.e. a sum of 40,000 $.

Two months ago, these two Christians men were identified and chased by security forces while they were riding on a motorcycle in the city of the "Kalibar "(Northeast of Eastern Azerbaijan province). Once they noticed that the police was chasing them, they tried to escape. But they went off-road, lost their control over the motorcycle and landed in the dirt.
"These two young men were wounded due to the accident and then the police arrested and beat them and finally transferred them to a jail in the city of Kalibar. Even though Reza's leg was badly hurt, the officers didn't care about his injuries and didn't provide any medical care eye-witnesses told Mohabat NEWS.
These two Azeri-speaking Christians have to wait for another summons to appear before the court in relation to the charges of "propagating idealogies against the regime and threatening the national security".
Please pray for them to remain strong in faith and pray so that our lord advocate them on the final court.

Beaten for converting to Christianity (AsiaNews)

(AsiaNews) 12 Sept 2011 -  It is a cause "serious concern" to see how Christians are "regularly" attacked in Karnataka by Hindu nationalists, while the authorities "turn a blind eye, because their political survival depends on these forces”, denounces Sajan K George, president of theGlobal Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), in the face of yet another case of violence and abuse against two Christians held responsible for forced conversions.

Bhasker Naik, 20 years, and Hemanth Naik, 22, from the village Mank (North Kanara district), worked for over a year in the town of Udupi, employed in a private company. About six months ago, the boys began to follow the sermons of Pastor Sadananda, of the Church of Christ Fellowship in Hirebettu, and converted to Christianity. On 7 September the two returned to their village, but some activists of the Bajrang Dal (ultra-nationalist Hindu youth wing), learned of their conversion, started beating them and insulting them, telling them to return to Hinduism.

Faced with the refusal of Bhasker and Hemanth to deny Christ, Hindu activists reported them to Honnavar police for forced conversions. The inspector Venkatappa conducted a brief investigation, and arrested them. The two Christians are still in prison.

Prayer for Libyan Church (AllVoices)

(AllVoices) 12 Sept 2011 - Christian leaders in Libya are at present soliciting prayer support from Christians across the globe aftermath of the crisis in that North African country.

This is contained in a report by the Prayer Communications team of Open Doors (www.opendoorsuk.org) adding that in the immediate days after opposition forces took over Tripoli,
Speaking on this, a church leader said it is only 'by God’s grace and because of people’s prayers they are still alive “but we still need to pray much in this crucial time.”
He said that there is a major ongoing need for humanitarian help adding that Open Doors has been able to support the delivery of aid, including food, cooking oil and blankets, to the east of the country.
According to him, two 30-tonne trucks delivered humanitarian aid to Benghazi where it was distributed to those in need. Open Doors also helped bring in Bibles and Christian literature, utilising breaks in the fighting along the borders with neighbouring countries.
"Life is difficult," the church leader continued. "Everything in the city is expensive. Everyone seems to have guns but life is especially difficult for the African believers in Tripoli."
He noted that with their ethnic appearance, many are being mistaken as mercenaries making it very difficult for them to even leave their homes.
He said that many Christians have fled the country since the start of the revolt. "The most recent services were attended by some tens of people instead of the hundreds we were used to. The service in Arabic was totally empty. Many of them will return, I believe. Last weekend there was almost no transport."
It would be noted that Open Doors estimates that there are only about 150 indigenous Christians in Libya, while the expatriate Christian community numbers around 180,000. Most Libyan Christians are forced to live as secret believers and are too afraid to meet with other Christians.
Under Gaddafi’s government, evangelism was criminalised, missionary activity forbidden and the large network of secret police made it difficult to organise church activities. The small Christian communities that do exist consist mostly of sub-Saharan migrants and Western expatriate workers.

Muslim Persecution of Christians: August, 2011[ICC]

September 7, 2011

This series, developed to collate some—by no means all—of the most extreme instances of Muslim persecution of Christians that surface each month, serves two purposes:
1) To document that which the mainstream media does not: habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
2) To show that such persecution is not "random," but systematic, interrelated, and ultimately rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia Law.
As will become evident, whatever the of persecution that took place, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya, the additional tax that can be imposed on by Muslims on non-Muslims in a Muslin state; overall expectations for Christians to behave like cowed dhimmis, or second-class "protected" citizens; and simple violence. Oftentimes it is a combination of the aforementioned.
Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales –even in the West, wherever there are Muslims—it is clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Sharia, or the supremacist culture borne by it.
Categorized by theme, August's batch of Muslim persecutions of Christians includes (but is not limited to) the following events, listed according to theme and in alphabetical order by country, not necessarily severity of the event:

Attacks on Christian Symbols: Churches and Bibles

Indonesia: Two churches were set aflame; officials downplayed these cases of arson by arguing that the buildings were "only made of board" and not real churches. A mayor also proclaimed that churches cannot be built on streets with Muslim names.
Iran: Officials launched a Bible burning campaign, confiscating and destroying some 7,000 Bibles; many were publicly burned. Likening their tiny Christian minority to the "Taliban and parasites," the regime also "cracked down" on Christians (who make up less than 1% of the entire population), arresting many; their whereabouts remain unknown.
Iraq: Two churches were bombed: the first attack damaged the church and wounded 23; the seconddamaged the church (a third church was targeted but the bomb was defused before detonating).
Nigeria: Two churches were bombed, including a Baptist church no longer in use due to previous Muslim attacks; when officials arrested Islamist leaders, a third Catholic church was torched.

Apostasy and Forced Conversions

Eritrea: At least eight Christians have died in prisons, most under severe conditions and torture, simply for refusing to recant Christianity.
India: A female who was formerly stripped and beaten by a Muslim mob for converting to Christianity, continues to receive severe threats to return to Islam or die; likewise, Muslims held three Christian women "threatening to beat and burn them alive if they continued worshipping Christ."
Iran: A Christian pastor in Iran remains behind bars, where he is being tortured; he is awaiting execution for refusing to recant Christianity.
Malaysia: religious police raided a church when it "found evidence of proselytisation towards Muslims" and "receiving information that there were Muslims who attended a breaking-of-fast event at the church"; aFacebook campaign created to support the raid and to "prevent apostasy" has already drawn support from 23,000 people.
Norway: A Muslim convert to Christianity was tortured with boiling water and told by fellow Muslim inmates "If you do not return to Islam, we will kill you"; if deported to Afghanistan, he risks death by stoning for leaving Islam.
Pakistan: Muslims openly abducted a 14-year-old Christian girl at gunpoint saying she had to convert to Islam. Another Christian woman who was abducted, drugged, and tortured for two years—all while being informed that she had converted to Islam—happily made her escape. In both cases, the police, as is usual, are siding with the Muslim abductors. Most recently, two Christians returning from church were attacked by Muslims and beaten with iron rods for refusing to convert to Islam or pay "protection" (jizya) money.
Sudan: A 16 year old Christian girl finally escaped from her Muslim kidnappers, who "beat, raped and tried to force her to convert from Christianity to Islam." Whenever she tried to pray, she was beaten again and called an "infidel"; when her mother went to the police, they told her to convert to Islam before they returned her child.
Uganda: In accordance with Islam's Hanafi School of law, a Muslim father locked his 14-year-old daughter in a room for several months without food or water simply because she embraced Christianity; when rescued, she weighed 44 pounds.

General Oppression, Violence, and Murder of Christians

Bangladesh: Church leaders, including an elderly pastor, were severely beaten in a police station for protesting that Muslims had illegally seized and occupied a Christian home. A previously tortured Christian activist is in hiding in Honk Kong, even as his wife and children face death threats from Muslims in the neighborhood.
Egypt: Soon after breaking their Ramadan fast, thousands of Muslims rampaged throughout a predominantly Christian village, firing automatic weapons, looting and throwing Molotov Cocktails at several homes. They beat a priest, then plundered and torched his home. Another Copt was murdered in his home, which was then ransacked. Separately, a Copt was savagely attacked by seven Muslims in front of a police station; he lost one eye and required 20 stitches to his head. Girls leaving church were sexually harassed by Muslims, who hurled stones at the church; they shattered five windows.
Nigeria: In what is being called a "silent killing," ten Christians were slain by Muslims seeking to expunge Christianity from northern Nigeria; eyewitnesses insist that the army is assisting and enabling the slayings.
Pakistan: A Christian family consisting of 26 people, including women and children, lived in slavery for over 30 years, forced to labor on a farm belonging to a wealthy Muslim landowner; they only recently managed to regain their freedom, through the aid of the Catholic Church. A Muslim mob attacked a group of Christians watching a movie about Jesus, and destroyed the projector. A Christian man was beaten unconscious for celebrating Independence Day. He was told by Muslims, "How can you celebrate when you are Christian? Convert to Islam if you want to join the celebration."
Somalia: Al-Shabab ("The Youth") is intentionally preventing food aid from reaching the nation's miniscule Christian minority: "Any Somali that the Islamists suspect to be a Christian, or even a friend of Christians, does not receive any food aid."
Sudan: A "humanitarian crisis is unfolding" in Sudan's border region where Christians and their churches are being targeted in a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing by North Sudan's Islamist regime.
United Kingdom: A Muslim family was terrorized and threatened with death because their daughter married a Christian -- an act considered a crime according to Sharia. Note: a man marrying a non-Muslim woman is permitted.
Uzbekistan: Authorities continue to pressure churches and Christians, fabricating evidence to punish or limit Christians' ability to practice their faith, and subjecting them to excessive fines, false accusations, as well as confiscating their Christian literature.
* * *
These are just some of the assaults to which Christians have been subjected under Islam that made it to the non-mainstream media last month.
Then there are the countless atrocities that never make it to any media—the stories of persistent, quiet misery that only the victims and local Christians know—such as the recent revelation that a 2-year-old girl was savagely raped in Pakistan because her Christian father refused to convert to Islam: it took five years for this story to surface. How many never surface?




Iranian Christian Pays for Faith with 105 Days in Evin Prison

8 September 2011
ISTANBUL - (Compass Direct News) – It was early in the morning the day after Christmas. It was cold. Mehdi Forootan sat in the back seat of an undercover police car in front of his house in Tehran, Iran. An officer pointed a camcorder at him. “Do you know why you were arrested?” the officer asked him. “No,” Forootan said. The officer turned off the camera and looked Forootan in the eyes. “I can beat you until blood is coming out of your mouth and every part of you. The next time I turn on the camera, you tell me why we are taking you,” the officer said and turned the camera back on. Forootan spoke of his faith in Christ, and he spent the next 105 days in Iran’s harshest prison. On Dec. 26, 2010, authorities had arrested Forootan in a wave of persecution against Iran’s underground church; more than three months later, he was one of a few who had not been released. During one interrogation, an officer turned on a camcorder and pointed it toward him, demanding that Forootan tell him about his “crime.” Forootan began to tell him how he had struggled with substance abuse as a teenager, “and how when I was in university I found Jesus and He saved me, and I have been free ever since. But he became angry and turned off the camera. He said: ‘I asked you to tell about your crime, not evangelize us.’” After months of trying to get him to write statements confessing a crime, authorities inexplicably released him. Forootan said his first month out of prison was one of the worst of his life. He couldn’t speak to anyone of his prison experience for fear that authorities were watching and would re-arrest him. His parents had given the deed of their house to authorities as bail. He and his fiancée decided it was best for him to leave Iran and go to Turkey as a refugee. For Forootan, this meant an illegal escape through the mountains, because authorities had confiscated his passport.




Church Leaders in Bangladesh Beaten at Police Station

6 September 2011 - ICC's Weekly News
Two elder church leaders were beaten in police headquarters in the district of Gopalgan in Bangladesh. A parishioner was seeking police intervention after the son of an activist in the local ruling party illegally began occupying his home; the elders, Onukul Biswas and Mitul Bawa, accompanied the man to the station. While there, Biswas and Bawa were shoved and punched by the ruling party members – they received no protection or intervention from the police. In response, 250 to 300 Christians gathered to peacefully demonstrate; they also sent a letter to the district chief, who has promised to resolve the incident within the week. The Christian community, however, continues to feel shamed and vulnerable.


More persecution in Uzbekistan

6 September 2011 - By Jeremy Reynalds - Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

UZBEKISTAN (ANS) -- Uzbekistan's authorities continue to punish peaceful religious believers with fines, physical abuse and court-ordered destruction of religious literature.

Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. Prior to 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union.

According to a story by Forum 18's Mushfig Bayram, police in eastern Fergana Region raided the home of a Protestant couple in late July and are preparing an administrative case against them.

The police inspector who led the raid told Forum 18 that police found and confiscated "banned" religious literature. Asked what literature found in their home was banned, he identified the Bible and the New Testament.

Also in July, courts in the capital of Tashkent and eastern Syrdarya Region have handed down fines of up to one hundred times the minimum monthly wage to ten Protestants to punish them for unregistered activity.

In both cases, Forum 18 said, the courts ordered that confiscated Christian literature - including Bibles and New Testaments - be destroyed. Another court in central Samarkand Region fined a member of an officially registered Baptist Church for "illegal" religious teaching.

Court officials in Fergana and Syrdarya Regions declined to discuss the two cases with Forum 18, while in the Tashkent case the Assistant to the Judge tried to explain away their decision.

Unwilling to talk

Also unwilling to talk to Forum 18 were officials of the state Religious Affairs Committee in Tashkent, whose responsibility is to assist the country's religious communities to fulfil their religious needs and regulate relations between them and the State.

Forum 18 tried to find out from Committee officials why peaceful religious activity continues to be punished, whether the Bible and New Testament are banned or cannot be stored in private homes, and why Bibles and New Testaments - among other religious literature - are ordered to be destroyed.

The Assistant to Committee Chair Artyk Yusupov (who did not give his name) told Forum 18 that Yusupov was busy in a meeting. Zulhaydar Sultanov, Head of the Committee's International Relations Department, declined to comment, telling Forum 18, "I am no expert in those matters, and you called the wrong department."

The official who answered the phone for Sobitjon Sharipov, Head of the Expert Analysis Department, (who did not give his name) said that Sharipov was not available and he could not answer questions over the phone.

"Please, come to our office, and we will give you information," he said. When Forum 18 continued asking questions, he terminated the conversation.

Forum 18 said religious literature in Uzbekistan of all faiths remains under tight government censorship. Courts frequently order that religious material confiscated during raids - including Bibles - be destroyed

Assault during home raid

Police who raided a Protestant family home in Fergana physically abused the husband and confiscated Christian literature, a local Protestant speaking on condition of anonymity told Forum 18.

On the evening of July 23, 10 officers - three in police uniform and the rest in plain clothes -raided the home of a married couple, Muradiljon Umurzakov and Dilorom Mamasidikova, who were entertaining a friend, Ravshan Muminov.

Forum 18 said the raid was led by Fergana City's Police Inspector Dilshod Ataugliyev from the Crime Prevention Unit, but other officers are believed to have been from the local National Security Service (NSS) Secret Police.

When Umurzakov asked the officials on what basis they "intruded and violated their privacy, and asked them to show their identification documents,"the police officers "twisted his arms, and threatened that they could continue physically to assault him," the Protestant told Forum 18.

He continued, "The officers also threatened that they could open a criminal case against him."

As a result of the shock, Umurzakov developed high blood pressure and an ambulance was called.

Unlawful search and confiscation

The source also told Forum 18 that while the doctors were examining Umurzakov, the officers "without the hosts' permission" unlocked his son's room in the house. The son is currently working in Russia. The officials "without witnesses" confiscated from the son's room a Bible, an Uzbek New Testament, a Proverbs of Solomon in Uzbek and a Koran in Russian.

All of these have been "authorised" by the Religious Affairs Committee to be imported into and sold in Uzbekistan, the Protestant said.

"We found out later that - in order to cover up their unlawful acts - the Police took an official letter from Akhat Akhmedaliyev, the chair of the local mahalla (residential district), saying that Umurzakov and his family were involved in illegal missionary activity among local Muslims," the Protestant also told Forum 18.

Forum 18 said that Mahalla committees, the lowest level of administration in Uzbekistan, are used by the authorities as a key instrument in their attempts to control society, including by trying to prevent religious activity.

Police are preparing to open a case against the couple and Muminov under sections of the Administrative Code.

Forum 18 said police told Umurzakov that the confiscated books will be sent to the Religious Affairs Committee for "expert analysis," after which a case will be opened against the three.

Are the Bible and Injil banned?

Police Inspector Ataugliyev defended the raid which he had led.

"We knew he (Umurzakov)stored banned religious literature in his home," he told Forum 18. The inspector declined to tell Forum 18 how the police knew this.

Asked what literature found in Umurzakov's home the police considered banned, Forum 18 said Ataugliyev said, "The Bible, Injil (Uzbek New Testament), and other books."

Asked whether the Bible and New Testament are banned in Uzbekistan, Forum 18 reported he refused to say anything other than, "The case is under investigation at the moment."

Forum 18 said he refused to talk further, and when asked whether he and his colleagues physically abused Umurzakov, he terminated the conversation.

Fined for "illegal" teaching of religion

Forum 18 said a member of an officially registered Baptist Church has been fined in central Samarkand Region for an alleged violation of the procedure for teaching religious doctrines).

Forum 18 said on Aug. 11, Judge Aziz Safarov of Nurabad District Criminal Court fined Shoira Allayarova, member of Nurabad Baptist Church, 57,200 Soms (or 33 US Dollars at the "inflated" official exchange rate), one month's minimum wage (the presidentially-decreed official minimum monthly wage rose to 57,200 Soms on Aug. 1).

The court decision - viewed by Forum 18 - says that Allayarova "illegally" taught religion to Zamira Yarkulova, a resident of the village of Jom in Nurabad District.

However, Forum 18 reported, local Baptists, who asked not to be named, told the news organization that they believe that the authorities specifically targeted Allayarova, who has hearing deficiency, and was born to parents who cannot hear or talk.

"The authorities punished her because she was also giving material help to Zamina," they told Forum 18.

Reached on Aug. 25, Judge Safarov took down Forum 18's name. But when asked why he fined Allayarova, and whether it is illegal in Uzbekistan for individuals to share their beliefs with others, he hung the phone up.For more background, see Forum 18's Uzbekistan religious freedom survey atwww.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1170


Pakistani Muslims attack Christians in attempt to force them to convert to Islam


                                                                                                    5 September 2011 - By Jawad Mazhar - Special Correspondent for ANS, reporting from Pakistan

KARACHI, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Two Christian men were seriously injured by young Muslims in Karachi when they refused to convert to Islam, a family member told ANS.

Liaqat Munawar, a resident of Essa Nagri in Karachi, told ANS by telephone that his brother, Ishfaq Munawar, and another young Christian man, Naeem Masih, were returning home after an early morning prayer service at their church in Sohrab Goth on August 14, when ethnic Pakhtoon youths near Sea View harassed and later attacked them.

"Ishfaq and Naeem were riding a motorcycle when six Pakhtoon youths signaled them to stop," Liaqat Munawar said. "They asked the two boys to identify themselves. Ishfaq told them that they were Christians returning from their church after a special prayer service.

"The Pakhtoons then started questioning them about their faith and later tried to force them to recite the Kalma [Islamic conversion creed] and become Muslims, telling them that this was the only way they could live peacefully in the city," Liaqat Munawar said.

"They also offered monetary incentives and 'protection' to Ishfaq and Naeem, but the two refused to renounce Christianity."

After cajoling the two Christians for some time, the Pakhtoons sat in a white car parked nearby and eventually drove away. Ishfaq Munawar and Masih got back onto their motorcycle and were about to start it, Liaqat Munawar said, when suddenly the young Muslims reversed their car and rammed it into the Christians.

"The pathan Muslims got out of the car armed with iron rods and attacked Ishfaq and Naeem, shouting that they should either recite the Kalma or they would be murdered," Liaqat Munawar said.

Munawar said the Pakhtoons severely beat the two Christians, fracturing Ishfaq Munawar's jaw and breaking five teeth, and seriously injuring Masih. He added that the two Christians fell unconscious, and the young Muslim men left assuming they had killed them.

Liaqat Munawar said his brother underwent jaw surgery at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and is now recovering. He said the family had not registered a case with police, fearing reprisal by the Muslims, but were now considering filing a formal complaint.

Elvis Steven, a Christian human rights defender in Karachi, told ANS that he was in contact with the Munawar family, and that although he had yet to speak with the victims directly, he would attempt all possible means to have the assailants arrested.

"The situation is not that bad for Christians living in areas controlled by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement [MQM], but those living in areas dominated by the Pakhtoons are under constant threat," Steven said.

"The Pakhtoons are extremist in their beliefs. They have a militant mindset, and there have been several incidents of religious violence involving the Pakhtoons (Pathan clan) in Karachi."

This latest incident seems to give evidence beyond any doubt that this was a religiously based attack and the young Christian men were attacked and injured merely because of their faith.

Political bodies involved appear to be trying to score points by claiming that the attacked youths were from their groups and thus triggering a blame game against other political parties.


Christians beaten for refusing Islam (CDN)


                                                                                 (CDN) 02 Sept 2011 - Two Christian men were seriously injured by young Muslim men this month in Karachi when they refused to convert to Islam, a family member told Compass.Liaqat Munawar, a resident of Essa Nagri in Karachi, told Compass by telephone that his brother, Ishfaq Munawar, and another young Christian man, Naeem Masih, were returning home after an early morning prayer service at their church in Sohrab Goth on Aug. 14, Pakistan’s Independence Day, when ethnic Pashtun youths near Sea View harassed and later attacked them.
“Ishfaq and Naeem were riding a motorcycle when six Pashtun youths signaled them to stop,” Liaqat Munawar said. “They asked the two boys to identify themselves. Ishfaq told them that they were Christians returning from their church after a special prayer service.” The Muslims asked them why they were in Sea View, and they replied that they had made a brief stopover to participate in Independence Day celebrations at the beach, he said.
“The Pashtun youths then started questioning them about their faith and later tried to force them to recite the Kalma [Islamic conversion creed] and become Muslims, telling them that this was the only way they could live peacefully in the city,” Liaqat Munawar said. “They also offered monetary incentives and ‘protection’ to Ishfaq and Naeem, but the two refused to renounce Christianity.”
After cajoling the two Christians for some time, the Pashtuns sat in a white car parked nearby and eventually drove away. Ishfaq Munawar and Masih got back onto their motorcycle and were about to start it, Liaqat Munawar said, when suddenly the young Muslims reversed their car and rammed it into the Christians.“The Muslims got out of the car armed with iron rods and attacked Ishfaq and Naeem, shouting that they should either recite the Kalma or be prepared to die,” Liaqat Munawar said.

He said the Pashtuns severely beat the two Christians, fracturing Ishfaq Munawar’s jaw and breaking five teeth, and seriously injuring Masih. He added that the two Christians fell unconscious, and the young Muslim men left assuming they had killed them.
Liaqat Munawar said his brother underwent jaw surgery at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and is now recovering. He said the family had not registered a case with police, fearing reprisal by the Muslims, but were now considering filing a formal complaint.This was not the first time Liaqat Munawar’s family has witnessed religious violence, he said, as Pashtun Muslims last year attacked his cousin, Eric Sarwar, founder and executive director of the Tehillim School of Church Music and Worship, which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan.

Liaqat Munawar also spoke of an incident in which Muslim Pashtuns shot at a Christian funeral passing through their area without any reason, injuring six Christians.Elvis Steven, a Christian rights activist in Karachi, told Compass that he was in contact with the Munawar family, and that although he had yet to speak with the victims directly, he would attempt all possible means to have the assailants arrested“The situation is not that bad for Christians living in areas controlled by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement [MQM], but those living in areas dominated by the Pashtuns are under constant threat,” Steven said. “The Pashtuns are extremist in their beliefs. They have a militant mindset, and there have been several incidents of religious violence involving the Pashtuns in Karachi.”

While this violence was clearly religiously motivated, Karachi, Pakistan’s financial hub, has been roiled by ethnic violence this year. Ethnic gangs backed by political parties have reportedly ratcheted up their turf wars, with the MQM, said to represent the majority ethnic Mohajirs, increasingly assailed by Pashtun and ethnic Baloch gangs. Political parties representing all three groups, including the MQM, are fighting over rights to extort money from businesses and homes in Karachi, violence that some have falsely portrayed as religiously motivated violence.

Christians make up only 2.45 percent of Pakistan’s population, which is more than 95 percent Muslim, according to Operation World.


Wang Shuanyan describes government restriction in China (BNN)


                                                                                  (BeliefNetNews) 01 Sept 2011 - Miss Wang Shuanyan is the pastor of Beijing’s Xinshu (New Tree) Church, one of the hundreds of thousands of illegal “house churches” throughout China. Although she usually avoids the public spotlight, she has stepped forward to support Beijing’s 1,000-member Shouwang Church, which has been prevented from meeting for 21 Sundays in a row now.


She has attempted to join their outdoor worship and has been arrested a number of times because of that. She was also invited to attend Lausanne World Evangelical Conference in October of 2010 in South Africa, but was stopped by Chinese police and prevented from boarding the plane.

She is also one of the seventeen Chinese signators, on be half of Shouwang Church, of “We Stand Up for Our Faith: A Petition to the National People’s Congress Concerning the Conflict Between Church and State” that was delivered on May 10, 2011.

In the following excerpt of her account smuggled out of China, she describes her attempt on August 14 to worship with the Shouwang Church.

The government has prevented the congregation from taking possession of property it purchased $4 million — and now is detaining any worshipers who show up at a designated park for Sunday outdoor services.

She describes reaching the 3rd floor outdoor platform of a park — the designated worship area — and being excited that she had almost eluded police. However, she was then taken into custody, as she describes here:

by Pastor Wang Shuanyan
special to Beliefnet

August 14 was the 19th Sunday for Shouwang’s outdoor worship and I went all the way to the 3-floor platform of Zhonggang Building.

Reaching this place was already a great blessing from God. Last time, when I just arrived at the bottom of the platform, I was taken away by the guards from Fengtai District. This time, I started early and on my way there I miraculously met a sister from Shouwang and she took me on a mysterious road and in this way, we got all the way to the third floor.


First of all, I looked around at the beautiful surroundings: green grass, fresh flowers, flowing water.

Then, the two of us began our worship. According to Shouwang’s Sunday schedule, we began to read passages from the Scripture, sing hymns, read chapters and listen to the sermon [which was recorded]. I also added a prayer. Halfway through the sermon, two people came to interfere with our service. I looked at the watch and it was not yet 7:15 a.m.

I said: “Don’t you usually clear the area at 7:30 a.m.? Please let us finish the sermon. They temporarily stepped aside and a DSPS (Domestic Security Protection Squad) agent from Changping District came over and took us off the platform.

He made that sister get on a vehicle bound for Changping District, but I told him I am not from Changping District.

Since he didn’t know how to make arrangements for me, he simply made me wait in the big bus the police from Haidian District borrowed.

Since I persisted in not telling them where I reside, they said at first to bring people from all police stations to identify me. At last, they had to take me to Zhongguancun Boulevard Police Station in a sedan.

Shouwang members being loaded onto a bus by police

At 7:40 a.m., I arrived at Zhongguancun Boulevard Police Station and did a simple written record, but I still refused to tell them my residential area.

After that, some brothers and sisters of Shouwang [who had also gathered in the park] were taken in [for interrogation] one by one.

The DSPS agents wanted to confiscate our cell phones and I wouldn’t give them mine and told them the cell phone was in the pocket of my trousers and that if he must have it, he can come and take it himself. He left in helplessness and anger.

I also feel a little ashamed of such a way of dealing with them, but I must protect my cell phone. Local police had already threatened me that if I persisted in coming to the meeting area, I would be locked up for 48 hours.

Therefore, I was psychologically prepared for this and I had prepared a sleeping bag for this.

However, the feeling he showed while telling me this brought pain to my soul.

I had brought him trouble. He had an opportunity to take revenge on me. However, [he did not].

They were generally nice to me.

[In an earlier arrest], they brought some Zongzi (Chinese puddings) to me and sometimes invited me to movies and meals.

Though I have declined all of them, I feel grateful deep in my heart.

However, I also know it was this same group of people who ordered other people to rough me up and [who] injured my arms and back and placed me on house arrest in a mountain.

I tried to understand that they were doing their duty.

Yet, many of the things they’ve done are violations of the law; I also tried to understand that they have orders from their superiors. They have to do what they are doing. Yet, I remember that at the Nuremburg Tribunal, former Nazi soldiers defended themselves by arguing that they were simply taking orders from their superiors. They were still convicted.

Therefore, I must persist in my actions.

What is more important than doing a great thing is to do the right thing.

At around 2 p.m., a sister from Xinshu was trying to deliver lunch to me and was rejected. After repeated attempts, she finally had three pieces of snack and two bottles of water brought in. As I had not had any food since breakfast at 5a.m., I indeed felt hungry and dizzy too.

But by then I had decided to go on a hunger strike.

Was I on fasting, or on a hunger strike? To me, it was both. To God, I prayed earnestly. To the relevant authorities, I was protesting with my hunger strike against the repeatedly occurring violence. Initially I didn’t take a couple of days’ fasting too serious. But I miscalculated my physical strength. Over more than four months’ exhaustion, my body became weakened daily. During this fasting, the hardest thing to conquer was not starvation, but dizziness.

To my surprise, after I started the hunger strike, not only the DSPS agents paid me several visits, but leaders from the Sub-District Office, the Ethnic, Religious and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, and the District Government — one after the other.

I admit that my initial intention of doing so was to attract their attention. But I actually didn’t expect them to pay real attention as I know very well how insignificant I am.

What do I protest against?

I protest against the abuse of power; I protest against the destruction of human relationships; I protest against one’s personal interest being held over conscience; I protest against unrighteousness and the lack of mercies; I protest against the trampling and disregard of a human being’s dignity and rights.

I’ve tried my best to seek guidance through prayers and my conscience.

To those who don’t agree, I sincerely ask for your tolerance. May God let us know which path we should take, because this is a road that we have never traveled by.



Christian assaulted in Uzbekistan (Forum18)

(Forum18) 30 Aug 2011 - Police who raided a Protestant family's private home in Fergana assaulted the husband and confiscated religious literature, local Protestants told Forum 18 News Service. The religious books are being checked and officials are preparing an administrative case against the husband and wife and a family friend. Asked by Forum 18 what literature found in their home was banned, the Police Inspector who led the raid identified the Bible and the New Testament. Courts in the capital Tashkent and eastern Syrdarya Region have handed down fines of up to one hundred times the minimum monthly wage to ten Protestants to punish them for unregistered activity. In both cases the courts ordered that confiscated Christian literature - including Bibles and New Testaments – be destroyed. Officials of the state Religious Affairs Committee refused to explain why peaceful religious activity continues to be punished and why courts order the destruction of religious literature. "I am no expert in those matters, and you called the wrong department," Zulhaydar Sultanov, Head of its International Relations Department, told Forum 18.
Uzbekistan's authorities continue to punish peaceful religious believers with fines, physical abuse and court-ordered destruction of religious literature, Forum 18 News Service has learned. Police in eastern Fergana Region raided the home of a Protestant couple in late July and are preparing an administrative case against them. The Police Inspector who led the raid told Forum 18 that the Police found and confiscated "banned" religious literature. Asked what literature found in their home was banned, he identified the Bible and the New Testament. Also in July, courts in the capital Tashkent and eastern Syrdarya Region have handed down fines of up to one hundred times the minimum monthly wage to ten Protestants to punish them for unregistered activity. In both cases the courts ordered that confiscated Christian literature - including Bibles and New Testaments – be destroyed. Another court in central Samarkand Region fined a member of an officially registered Baptist Church for "illegal" religious teaching.

Court officials in Fergana and Syrdarya Regions refused to discuss the two cases with Forum 18, while in the Tashkent case the Assistant to the Judge tried to explain away their decision.

Crackdown on Christians continue in India (AsiaNews)


                                                                                                  (AsiaNews) 29 Aug 2011 - In the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka, the crackdown against Christian Churches continues as police tries to limit freedom of worship. In addition to Pentecostal Churches in the District of Chikmagalur, Christian prayer centres in Mangalore have been asked to register with police, and present detailed reports on their funding and religious activities. Sajan K George, president of Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), slams the state government, run by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for tolerating such intimidation by police against an already “fragile Christian community”.
On 17 August, Rev Babu, from the Pentecostal Jesus Comes Full Gospel Church in Kadur, District of Chikmagalur, received a five-part request in order to be allowed to continue operating as a place of worship. It included: trust name and registration number; name, address and phone numbers of Church administrators; details about foreign contributions received and bank account details; purpose for which expenditure were incurred out of foreign contribution received; and detailed statement of income and expenditures.

The request is a blatant violation of the rules of a secular state, and is unjustified in terms of the history of the local Christian community, which has never caused any problem. In Kadur, there are ten churches, four chapels and six private places of worship, each with 25 to 40 members. In ten years, not a single incident has been recorded and all religious functions have been peaceful.

In Karnataka, Sajan K George told AsiaNews, what is happening is similar to what occurred in “another BJP-controlled state, Madhya Pradesh”, where another anti-Christian campaign was launched in March, but was soon abandoned “because of huge street protests”.

It is clear though that targeting and profiling a minority is a “blatant violation of the constitution and the principles of a free and fair democracy,” George said.

Under the ruse of protection, police in the Karnataka city of Mangalore sought to collect information about places of worship, calling on 75 local Christian clergymen (but no Catholic) to provide information about their activities.

For the GCIC president, Bhopal police did the same thing in March, when it issued instructions to its agents to collect “information about Christian activities”, the “number of missionaries” and “the total amount of aid received”. They were eventually dropped but only because of “widespread protests by the faithful”.


Fear as Hindu radicals threaten to attack (AsiaNews)


                                                                                                                  (AsiaNews) 26 Aug 2011 - The Prashanti Human Rights Centre warns that three years after the bloody pogroms in Orissa, another Indian state could see more of the same, especially since Hindu radicals were responsible for local attacks and violence in September 2008. In fact, panic is now spreading among Karnataka Christians because of rumours that Hindu fundamentalists are planning a new wave of violence (see Nirmala Carvalho, “Karnataka, Hindu protesters incite the massacre of Christians, in AsiaNews, 21 August 2007).
Rumours began circulating earlier this week after police started calling local clergymen on 18 August asking them to register their prayer houses at the nearest police station, this according to Fr Ronnie Prabhu, SJ, general secretary of the Karnataka United Christian Forum for Human Rights.

Police, he said, wanted the clergymen to get permission from the district commissioner before holding gatherings and to tell them how many people regularly attended their services.

Most of the clergymen belong to the Karnataka Mission Network, an association of 27 Pentecostal churches in the state. Its president, Rev Walter Maben, said 70 pastors were contacted this way and were told that without registration, police would not be able to protect their prayer houses and that any gathering would be deemed illegal.

“The pastors were told to follow the instructions to the letter or they would be in danger,” Fr Prabhu said. However, when a pastor of an unaffiliated church went to the commissioner’s office, he was told that no orders requiring registration were ever issued.

Citing police sources, Fr Prabhu said that some Hindu groups plan to mark the anniversary of the 2008 attacks with a repeat performance.

The police apparently are showing concern, he explained, but also appear to be “laying down impossible conditions so that they can’t be held responsible” if any attacks occur.

The violence that broke out in September 2008 in Karnataka saw a series of attacks on Christians and 24 Church buildings. Hindu extremists had accused Christians of performing conversions in the state.

In April of this year, Hindu hardliners attacked three Christian homes for children. Last week, a group of 20 extremists attacked a Pentecostal clergyman, Rev Sangappa Hosamani Shadrak, for conducting prayer services in his house (see Nirmala Carvalho, “Hindu radicals ransack churches, beat up clergyman in Karnataka,” in AsiaNews, 22 August 2011).


Christian girl kidnapped (AsiaNews)


                                                                            (AsiaNews) 26 Aug 2011 - A group of Muslims have kidnapped a 14 year old Christian girl from her home under the threat of a gun and in front of witnesses. The incident occurred on August 17 last in Shisharwali, residential area of the city of Gujranwala, Punjab. According to reports from the Pakistan Christian Post (PCP), Mohammad Tayeb Butt along with four other Muslims raided the house of Rashid Masih in broad daylight, pointed the gun to the head of his daughter Mehek forcing her to climb aboard a white car .
Two young Christians, Imran Masih and Mehboob Masih, tried to rescue the girl, but Mohammad Tayeb pointed the gun at them and threatened to shoot. "She is a Choori" the Muslim shouted, at Mehek, using derogatory and insulting Punjab slang, to define a Christian (for example, when Muslim restaurant owners or street food vendors reject minority religious customers, ed) . He also added that the Choori Mehek will be purified "convert to Islam and become my mistress."

Sources report that the local Christian activists from the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) have tried to report the incident to the police. But the agents did not want to open an investigation - as is often the case - at the expense of an influential Muslim personality.

Interviewed by AsiaNews, the Archbishop Emeritus of Lahore and former president of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference Mgr. Lawrence John Saldanha stresses that such cases are "common in Pakistan," and families "can do little or nothing" to save the victims from their captors. He adds: "The Muslim family has an advantage, because the law favors them."

Added to the tragedy of the kidnapping, the prelate continues, are "the future difficulties that the unfortunate young girl will suffer in the Muslim family." These are "sad and tragic" episodes for the Christian community and represent, concludes Mgr. Saldanha, "one of the many crosses that the small minorities (even the Hindus) without hope must bear in Pakistan." (DS)


21 House Church leaders detained (ChinaAid)


                                                                                            (ChinaAid) 24 Aug 2011 - Fifteen house church leaders from two remote regions of China have been in detention since mid-July as local police have tried to extort money from their families with promises of their release once the money has been paid and threats of labor camp sentences or criminal prosecution if it is not, ChinaAid has learned.

The incident began at 10 a.m. on July 26, when dozens of local police and officers of the Domestic Security Protection Department burst into a meeting in the city of Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, where more than 20 church leaders from Wuhai and Ningxia province’s Shizuishan were gathered to plan summer church activities.

The police surrounded the meeting site and apprehended 21 people. They also confiscated everything at the meeting site, not just Bibles but even the bamboo mats that the believers regularly use to rest and nap on after meetings. Everything was loaded into police vehicles and taken away.

The 21 detainees were later criminally detained on suspicion of “using a cult organization to undermine national law enforcement.” (See scan of detention notice above, and translation below.) However, police failed to notify the families as required, nor did they provide the families with the required paperwork for the detention.

Before the 21 detainees were transferred to the Wuhai detention center, they were given physical exams. Six of them were very elderly and were found to be in poor health, and the detention center refused to accept them. So they were released.

The remaining 15 church leaders were held for 15 days, after which, the Public Security Bureau notified the families that their case had already been sent to the prosecutor’s office. The families were told that if they raised 50,000 yuan (US$ 7,800), the detainees would be released. But when the families delivered the money to the prosecutor’s office, it turned around and sent the case back to the Public Security Bureau.

The Public Security Bureau then told the families that if they raised several tens of thousands of yuan (thousands of dollars) again, the detainees would be released. If not, the detainees would be sent to labor camps or would be criminally prosecuted.

To date, the following individuals are still being held in the Wuhai detention center:

Eleven from Wuhai –Church leader Dong Zhen, Ren Xitao, Mu Liandi, Mu Guilian, Ning Yuncai, Mi Lili, Huang Xiulian, Uncle Ye, Hao An, Sister Ding, Yu Baojie.

Four from Shizuishan – Dong Yanxia, Zhang Mingfeng, Zhang Shuxia, Da Yumei

ChinaAid founder and president Bob Fu was shocked when he learned of this case and has been following it closely. He severely condemned the local officials and called on them to “immediately and with no pre-conditions release these innocent Christian believers.”

“As the Bible says, ‘It is hard for you to kick against the goads,’” Fu said, quoting the words that God spoke to Paul of Tarsus, who had been brutally persecuting the early church, when he had his miraculous and life-changing Damascus Road conversion. “The church will not retreat in the face of persecution. In fact, it will grow larger and stronger with each passing day.”

The detention notice from the Haiboyuan Public Security Sub-bureau reads:
In accordance with Article 61 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, this bureau on July 26, 2011 at 8 p.m. has criminally detained Ning Yuncai on suspicion of using a cult organization to undermine national law enforcement, and is holding him in the Wuhai municipal detention center.


Hindu radicals attack church (AsiaNews)


                                                                                                   (AsiaNews.it) 23 Aug 2011 - In Karnataka, Rev Sangappa Hosamani Shadrak, 28, a resident of Mudhol, was attacked by 20 radical Hindu activists from the Bajrang Dal. The incident occurred yesterday when the clergyman was celebrating Sunday Mass in the home of a parishioner, Yellappa Hosamani, in the village of Rohi, some 10 kilometres from the clergyman’s own home. In recent years, he had held had regular Sunday service in the village.
When extremists attacked the small Christian community, they desecrated the bread and wine used during the celebration and badly beat up Rev Shadrak, who lost a tooth and was seriously hurt to the face. After the initial attack, he was taken to another village, Latte, where he was tied to a tree. His attackers then left him and called police in Lokapura.

Accompanied by a few agents, Inspector Choudhary freed the clergyman and took him, and some of his parishioners, to a police station. Rev Shadrak was eventually sent to Jamkotai prison for detention on unspecified charges, this despite attempts by the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) to have him released.

GCIC president Sajan K George slammed the arrest. “Attacks against Christians continue despite promises made by the new chief minister, Sadananda Gowda, who has always had good and cordial relations with the Christian community. The latter backed him but it continues to be vulnerable and suffer persecution by Hindutva extremists.”

Sajan K George said that for two Sundays in a row, Mass was disrupted. Pentecostal clergymen have been insulted and roughed up. The church has been ransacked and false charges of conversion laid against innocent people.

“The aggressors walk free. Sixty-four years since independence, religious freedom does not exist in states like Karnataka, Orissa and Gujarat. This is a serious blot on secular India.”

The GCIC is also worried about a new campaign launched by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The Hindu extremist Hindu group has come out against a draft law on ‘Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence’.

VHP leader Pravin Togadia said the law would make police “subservient to minority communities”. He accuses the National Advisory Council chaired by Sonia Gandhi of being anti-Hindu.

In reality, the law is designed to give the central government the power to declare a state of “internal disturbance” whenever sectarian violence breaks out.


Christians assaulted in Pakistan (ChristianPost)


                                                                                    (ChristianPost) 18 Aug 2011 - A group of Christians have been attacked by a mob of Muslims in a park near where Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan.The Christian group was gathered to watch a 1979 movie called “Jesus,” depicting the life of Christ when they were set upon by the extremists.According to Full Gospel Assembly members, no arrests were made for the brutal attack and public disturbance.

The August 12 assault on the church workers included a beating as well as a smashed projector before the police intervened, UCANews.com has reported.

Now clerics have warned members of the Catholic Church that the attacks seem to stem from an incident that occurred a week before that the Muslim mob was not happy with.

A week before the attack, the local Catholic priest was interrogated for looking at Osama bin Laden’s compound, where the successful May 2 raid that killed the al-Qaida leader had taken place.According to Father Akram Javed Gill, parish priest of St. Peter Canisius Church, he had taken a friend close to bin Laden’s compound and climbed a nearby house rooftop overlooking it.

“I learnt a lot from that experience. Christians cannot afford to get involved in risky situations, especially after the bin Laden episode,” he said.

The Archbishop of Lahore, Emeritus Lawrence Saldanha, warned the church workers to be more careful due to the delicate situation. The Catholic Church asked them to also be more careful about how they decide to express their faith publicly.

About 150 Catholics live in the city and just three in the Bilal town where bin Laden was killed.


Christians in Vietnam brutally attacked (ANS)


                                                                                   (ANS) 18 Aug 2011 - A violent attack against indigenous minority Christians in the central highlands of Vietnam took place this past July, leaving sixteen men and women severely injured and one man still under arrest; his welfare remains unknown to date.

ICC (International Christian Concern) www.persecution.org says the systematic persecution of Degar Montagnard Christians continues, with this brutal attack as proof of the regime's purposeful policing, harassment, and aggressive oppression of this indigenous people and minority religious group.

In a media advisory, ICFC says that on July 7, 2011, at approximately 8 o'clock in the evening, Vietnamese security forces and police descended upon a worship service in the village of Buon Kret Krot (H'Ra commune, Mang Yang district, Plei Ku city, in Gai Lai province), and began kicking and beating the attendees.

According to ICC, security forces threatened the villagers, stating: "If anyone worships like this way, we will return to arrest you all and put you in prison for five years."

The ICC report states that twelve men and four women were beaten, and of these, ten men and two women were violently beaten to unconsciousness.

ICC said police beat A Jung, a 29-year old male, repeatedly with a baton until he collapsed to the ground where they continued to kick and stomp on his stomach and back until he lost consciousness. A Jung was taken away by police and remains in custody; he has likely experienced torture while imprisoned.

Other villagers were beaten with batons, firearms and tree branches, and kicked and stomped upon by the Vietnamese security forces. The youngest victim was Y Kang, a 13-year old girl.

ICC explained that "Vietnam has a long-standing practice of policing, harassing, and arresting Christians who are unaffiliated with the government-sanctioned and only legally-recognized religious bodies in the nation."

According to Scott Johnson, with the Montagnard Foundation, "The Vietnamese government has targeted indigenous Degar Montagnards for simply being members of Christian house churches, in a long running policy designed to eliminate independent Christian house churches.

"Hundreds of Degar Montagnards remain in prison today and in custody many prisoners are brutally tortured and even killed. There is a shameful silence from the international community, including the United Nations and State Department, as to the plight of these forgotten prisoners even while the evidence of systematic religious persecution is overwhelming."

According to Human Rights Watch, since 2001 more than 350 Degar Montagnards have been arrested and sentenced to long prison sentences on vaguely-defined charges that are considered to be subversive to the Vietnamese regime.

ICC's Regional Manager for Southeastern Asia, Kris Elliott, said, "We call upon the Vietnamese government to cease this systematic practice of violence and persecution against Christians, especially Degar Montagnards. We also urge the US Department of State to once again designate Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern, as conditions for religious minorities have vastly deteriorated since the designation was lifted in 2006."A CPC designation backed by strong US policies has the potential to pave a path towards significant improvements for Christians and other religious minorities in Vietnam."


GFA Students attacked (GFA)(ANS)


                                                                                                  17 Aug 2011 - Gospel for Asia leaders in both Asia and America are asking for prayer for three Bible college students and a GFA-supported missionary leader who were severely beaten.



Kamik Sandbahor, who serves on the staff of the GFA state office, was leading a team of students from a local Bible college as they visited villagers in a rural community. Kamik, Jatrinda, Ajmal and Sanjavin were handing out Christian literature when they were attacked by a gang of about 25 young men wielding iron rods and sticks.

“Yesterday, these faithful servants were receiving medical treatment in a hospital for the injuries inflicted by these anti-Christian radicals,” said GFA President K.P. Yohannan. “Today, they are a bit discouraged that their expressions of love and concern for the people were returned with violence and injury.

“I ask that Christians around the world pray for these young men, that God will strengthen and heal them, and fill their spirits with His encouragement.

“Pray also for their persecutors, that their hearts will be softened by the example of love shown by these students and their courageous leaders.”


Another Church destroyed in Iraq (CDN)


                                                                                              (CDN) 17 Aug 2011 - An insurgent blast left a church building in Kirkuk, Iraq severely damaged on Monday (Aug. 15) in a second round of attacks against the city’s Christian community in two weeks. The bombing of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Mar Afram was the only attack against Christian targets amid a wave of violence that swept across Iraq yesterday, hitting 17 cities and claiming about 70 lives, according to The Associated Press.
An explosive device next to one of the church’s walls exploded at 1:20 a.m. on Monday. Photos showed the bricks of one of the side walls strewn across the church floor and furniture, and one of the metal doors twisted open.In two other separate attacks on Monday, insurgents placed deadly vehicle bombs in the center of Kirkuk, killing one and injuring four.No Christians were killed in the attack against the church. Police announced higher protective measures for Kirkuk’s churches, according to Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network. On Aug. 2, insurgents targeted three churches in the city. Police discovered and disarmed a bomb near a Protestant church building and one by a Syriac Orthodox church. A third bomb exploded in front of the Holy Family Syriac Catholic Church, injuring 13 Muslims who lived nearby.

Abuna Gourgis Alyes, a priest at the Mar Afram church, told Compass that Monday’s attack was the third and most devastating one against his church in the last five years. The church building suffered minor damage from bomb blasts in 2006 and 2008.
A Protestant pastor who requested anonymity spoke to Compass by phone as he stood in the rubble of Mar Afram on a visit to the Orthodox priest’s church.“Now I am here and seeing it with my own eyes,” the pastor said, overwhelmed at the sight of the blown-out wall and wreckage. “They have to demolish the church and rebuild it.” The pastor’s church building was also damaged in the Aug. 2 attack, as security forces tried to neutralize a car bomb parked in front of the church complex.Alyes said no one was hurt in Monday’s attack, but that he did not know how he would continue to perform mass for the church’s 90 families. In a matter-of-fact voice, he said the greatest damage to the congregation is the fear that will surely drive more families out of town to the Kurdish part of Iraq or beyond the country’s borders. Since January, 10 of Mar Afram’s families have fled Kirkuk.

“Many will leave Kirkuk because of this explosion,” Alyes said. “Many Christians take this event as an opportunity to make their decision to leave the city. I am sure many will leave after this.” According to Christian support organization Open Doors, there are 300,000 to 350,000 Christians left in Iraq, down from 1.2 million before the 2003 U.S.-led military operation in the country. The U.S. government plans to withdraw its troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. Kirkuk and its surrounding towns belong to an oil-rich territory claimed by Kurdish and Arab administrations. For years authorities have postponed a referendum to determine which side would have the right to Kirkuk, an ethnically diverse city that includes Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, including a small minority of Arab Christians.The conflict over the city has put Christians in the cross-fire of the opposing groups. A young Muslim Iraqi from Kirkuk’s Turkmen community told Compass that Monday’s unrest and the damage to the church is part of an effort to destabilize the country in an ongoing struggle for power. “When Christians are targeted, they accuse extremists,” said the Iraqi, who identified himself only as Kamal. “I think some people are trying to create unrest and destabilize the situation. We have Turkmen, Arabs, Kurds; there are many politicians who benefit from Kirkuk’s instability.”

He said Kirkuk is one of the hottest points of tension in the country, with all three groups – Turkmen, Arabs and Kurds – competing for control of the city. Article 140 of the Iraq’s constitution states that the city’s future will be determined based on a demographic majority of the population in a referendum.
“There are many groups trying to take Kirkuk to their territory,” he said. “These attacks are mostly politically [rather] than terrorist motivated, so that Christians can leave the city so that it is left to other groups, who will also be targeted.”Christian journalist Emad Matty said the attacks in Kirkuk are part of a greater, politically motivated tactic to purge Arab-majority cities, including Baghdad and Mosul, of their Christian populations.Asked how he thought Christians saw the attacks in Kirkuk this month, he said the predominant feeling was fear. It’s like it was in Baghdad and Mosul: They are afraid and are under attack from unknown gunmen,” said Matty, a freelance reporter. “There are political groups, and I don’t want to say which ones, but there are groups who are targeting Christians for political reasons.”

Alyes, who has lost a relative to the violence, said he would not give up hoping for peace and stability in Iraq nor stop holding mass in the city. He asked Christians around the world to pray toward that end.“In your heart pray for us to Jesus that he gives us peace and stability,” Alyes said. “For the sake of Jesus, even if we don’t have a building, we will keep praying.”Kirkuk is located 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad and has about 10,000 Christians.

Chinese church leaders detained (ChinaAid)

16 Aug 2011 - Official persecution against the Suqian house church in coastal Jiangsu province escalated Saturday with the administrative detention of three of the church’s elders, ChinaAid has learned.
The five-day detention sentences for the three elders follows the sentencing last month of the church’s pastor, Pastor Shi Enhao, to a two-year re-education-through-labor sentence. Furthermore, Pastor Shi’s son Shi Yongyang, his daughter Shi Yumei and her husband Zhang Quansheng are all at risk of being detained as well.

Pastor Shi is also the deputy chairman of the Chinese House Church Alliance.

ChinaAid calls on churches everywhere to pray urgently for the Suqian house church. Pray that the persecuted believers will have an intimate experience of God’s comfort and protection, and that the persecutors will gain nothing from their actions. Persecution can only grow and strengthen the church!


Ugandan girl tortured after accepting Christ (CDN)


(CDN) 12 Aug 2011 - A 14-year-old girl in western Uganda is still unable to walk 10 months after her father tortured her for leaving Islam and putting her faith in Christ, according to area Christians.

Susan Ithungu of Isango village, Kasese district, has been hospitalized at Kagando Hospital since October 2010 after neighbors with police help rescued her from her father, Beya Baluku. He was arrested shortly afterward but quickly released, sources said.

Susan and her younger brother, Mbusa Baluku, lived alone with their father after he divorced their mother. In March 2010 an evangelist from Bwera Full Gospel Church spoke at Susan’s school, and she decided to trust Christ for her salvation. “I heard the message of Christ’s great love of him dying for us to get everlasting peace, and there and then I decided to believe in Christ,” she said from her hospital bed. “After a month, news reached my father that I had converted to Christianity, and that was the beginning of my troubles with him. Our father warned us not to attend church or listen to the gospel message. He even threatened us with a sharp knife that he was ready to kill us in broad daylight in case we converted to Christianity.”

Pastor Joseph Baluku of Bwera Full Gospel Church in Kasese said neighbors took her to the government hospital about 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Kasese town after she was freed.

“He locked her up in a room of the semi-permanent house for six months without seeing sunlight,” the pastor said. “The younger brother was warned not to tell anyone that Susan was locked up in a room and was not given any food.” Young Mbusa said that when their father was away, he roasted bananas for his sister.“I also dug a hole under the door, where I could pour water through,” he said. “My sister could drink the water using her tongue. But most days she could only feed on mud.”A nearby resident who requested anonymity said neighbors became concerned after not seeing her for several months.

“Her brother then disclosed to us that Susan was locked up in one of the rooms in the house,” the area resident said. “We then reported the case to the Harukunggu local council and then to the Bwera police station. The police went to the house and broke the door.” Susan was immediately taken to the provincial government hospital about 17 kilometers (11 miles) away near Bwera town, where Pastor Baluku visited her. “The miserable young Susan was bony, very weak, and not able to talk or walk,” said the pastor. “Her hair had turned yellow, she had long fingernails and sunken eyes, and she looked very slim, less than 20 kilograms [44 pounds].”

Members of the Full Gospel Church in Bwera prayed for her and visited her in the hospital, which like many government-subsidized hospitals in the region does not customarily bill until the patient is discharged, and at rates well below those of private hospitals. It is unknown when Susan will be released, but Pastor Baluku said area residents and church members will try to gather funds for medical costs incurred. The pastor said billing from such government hospitals can often be deferred until enough money is raised.
“It could be a challenge, but we will try to do our best,” he said.

“By God’s grace Susan is still alive,” he said after a visit last week. “Though she can’t walk, she can now talk. She is still feeding on soft foods. The great news is that Susan is still strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. She needs prayers and support, so that she can resume her education soon.”


5 Christians arrested in India (AsiaNews)


(AsiaNews) 10 Aug 2011 - It is “increasingly alarming” to see Christians arrested and jailed on false charges, whilst their attackers go free and unpunished, said Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), after five more Christians were arrested by state police on false forced conversion charges. The latest case is the third of its kind since June in Andhra Pradesh.

On 4 August, some Hindu radicals attacked five members of the Little Flock Pentecostal Church in Ramagundam (Karim Nagar District). During a break from a service in which they were involved, the Christians had scribbled ‘Jesus Saves’ on a rock, not knowing that they were near a Hindu temple.

A group of activists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist paramilitary organisation, saw them. After going over to them, they began insulting the Christians, telling them to erase the graffiti. As the latter began wiping off the words, the Hindu radicals called the police, who came to the scene of the incident where they arrested the Christians, who were later released on bail.

“Not only are Hindu extremists carrying out an anti-Christian plan, but the police was quick to register a complaint against the victims rather than against their aggressors,” Sajan George said.

This situation is “increasingly alarming because the real offenders are encouraged to attack and harass the vulnerable Christian minority, also because of the authorities’ indifference,” the GCIC president said.

On 28 June, Hindu radicals in the village of Bhongir Mandal beat up Rev Johnny Lazarus, 50, after he was accused by Malla Reddy, a Hindu, of witchcraft against him.

On 3 July, Rev GN Paul was brutally assaulted by four Hindu extremists, who told him to stop all prayer services and worship on pain of death.


Extremists attack in India (CDN)


(CompassdirectNews) 08 Aug 2011 - Four months after a recent convert to Christianity from Islam in eastern India’s West Bengal state was stripped and beaten, about 50 Muslim extremists yesterday disrupted a prayer meeting held in her home, threatening to burn it down if she did not return to Islam, area Christians said.

The extremists warned Selina Bibi of Motijil village in Murshidabad district that if she did not return to Islam, then she must either leave the area or see her house burned down. At her baptism at Believers Church four kilometers from her home on March 29, a large crowd of Muslim extremists disrupted the service, said a pastor identified only as Bashir.

“I pleaded with them to let me at least finish the worship service before they attack us,” he told Compass.
When word of her conversion to Christianity reached her village, another extremist group from Motijil led by Jamal Shaike disrupted the service. Shaike and the others verbally abused the Christians, and he ordered his son who was present at the service to leave immediately, Bashir said.The pastor said that on April 5, two Muslim women along with members of the extremist group summoned Selina Bibi to one of their homes and forcefully stripped her naked.“The radicals believe that when any person from the Muslim community becomes Christian, they get Christian marks on their body,” Bashir said. “When the radicals could not find such marks, they started beating her up.” The Muslim extremists later gathered at the local mosque and resolved to ostracize her until she returned to Islam. She lives only with her two teenage sons.


Selina Bibi told Bashir that her body bore the marks of suffering for the sake of Christ, and that she was being treated like a criminal. “She was not allowed to buy goods from the store, nor was she allowed to sell any vegetables,” he said. “They have also restricted her from procuring water from the village well. In spite of the persecutions she constantly faces from the radicals, she has started conducting a Bible study for ladies every Thursday at her home.”After the extremist threats yesterday, study member Naseema Bibi said she and some of the other women attending the meeting went to the Murshidabad police station to file a complaint. Police called both parties, and they agreed in writing to allow each other to practice their respective faiths, and that police would prosecute any further attacks or disturbances, she said.
In Natungram, Murshidabad district, Muslim extremists held three Christian women for an hour on July 21, threatening to beat and burn them alive if they continued worshipping Christ, area Christians said.


Moyazan Bibi and Aimazan Bibi of Believers Church told Compass that at 5:30 p.m. they had set out to visit a widow, Suryja Bibi, to share the message of Christ at her invitation. As they reached her house, a large mob of Muslim extremists led by Fakir Shaike, Sajahan Shaike, Manuwar Shaike, Samsul Shaike, Ahamed Shaike and Jalal Shaike blocked their way, pushed them around and verbally abused them for their faith in Christ as they threatened them. “The extremists called us infidels and held us captive, threatening that they will call a public meeting to socially boycott us,” Aimazan Bibi said. “The extremists angrily shouted that we should not return to our homes, while they continued to mock and push us around.”The extremists rushed Suryja Bibi, asking her why she invited “infidels” into her home as they were pushing her. One of the assailants twisted her hand, the Christian women said.


“She was injured, but by God’s grace it was not broken,” said Bashir, founder and pastor of the Believers Church. “They warned Suryja Bibi never to call the Christians to her home again or leave the area and they also threatened all the villagers with the dire consequences they will face if they attend Christian meetings or talk to any one of them.”Suryja Bibi tried to file a police complaint the next day, July 22, but the local Muslim head and other extremists stopped her, threatening to harm her, area Christians said.Bashir said Suryja Bibi showed interest in hearing more about Christ, and that he met her and her daughters Mamoota and Darju at his house church fellowship on July19. “Since then, the radicals have warned them not to attend any Christian service or talk to any Christians or else they will be burned alive,” he said.


Naseema Bibi informed Bashir of the incident by phone, and he called police, he said.“I also tried to call Aimazan,” he said. “At that time she could not take my call, as some radicals were trying to snatch her mobile phone from her.”Moyazan Bibi said she pleaded with the assailants.“I asked the attackers what crime have we done for them to torture us in this manner?” she said. “But the enraged extremists brutally pushed us around, furiously shouting at us to convert back to Islam or face dire consequences.”After holding and harassing the Christian women for about an hour, the extremists fled in fear after they learned that Bashir had contacted the police, the women said.


The area was still tense at press time, with Suryja Bibi and her family unable to attend any Christian meetings as the extremists are closely monitoring them and are prepared to pounce on them at the slightest opportunity, Bashir said.“We are trying to contact Suryja Bibi, but the radicals are not allowing any Christian to contact or meet her,” he said. “But we are praying for her safety.”Aizama Bibi and Moyazan Bibi, who two years ago began trusting Christ as their Savior, told Compass that last December the extremists tried to chase them away from the village, threatening to burn them and their houses. They were not allowed to sell and buy in the area and were kept from using the public bathroom and the water well.The extremists also burned the crops field of Aimazan’s husband, Gaffar. The Christians reported the matter to police, and officers warned the Muslim extremists not to disturb the Christians again.


The Evangelical Fellowship of India last year reported that Muslim extremists in Natungram on Nov. 28, 2010, ostracized another member of Believers Church, keeping Chanda Bibi and her family from selling and buying. They also warned the family to stop attending church services and threatened to impose a fine on her if her family continued to follow Christ.




Two Iranian Christians detained (MohabatNews)


08 Aug 2011 - Following the increase in pressure on the Iranian Christian community inside Iran, Iranian security forces have arrested and beaten two Azeri-speaking converts to Christianity.According to reports received by the Iranian Christian News Agency Mohabat News (www.mohabatnews.com ) , two Azeri-speaking Christians, Vahid Rofegar and Reza Kahnamoei, who reside in the city of Tabriz (in the eastern Azerbaijan province northwest of Iran) were arrested by the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran at 3 p.m. on July 24. Their condition is unknown since their arrest.

The Mohabat News website reports indicate that these two Christians were identified and chased by security forces while they were riding on a motorcycle in the city of the Kalibar (northeast of Eastern Azerbaijan province). Once they noticed police were chasing them, they tried to escape. But they went off the road, lost control of their vehicle, and landed in the dirt.

"These two young men were wounded due to the accident, and then the police arrested and beat them, and finally transferred them into a jail at the same city (Kalibar). Even though Reza's leg was badly hurt, the officers didn't care about his injuries and (also) didn't provide any medical assistance," eye-witnesses said.

When their families became aware of the incident, they attempted to contact the related organizations to track their loved ones' situation. It was then that the officials told the families the two men would be released on July 31. It has been reported that some intelligence officers have invaded Vahid's home and thoroughly searched there, but have failed to find anything. So far, no news has been reported about Reza's residence.

Mohabat News says that although officials have made promises regarding their release, these two men still remain in prison. The latest update on their case is that security officials have transferred them into the prison of the city of Abhar, and kept them separate from each other.Mohabat News also says it is likely these arrests are related to the increasing pressure on the Azeri-speaking Christians of Iran. Recently, some pro-government websites admitted to this fact and complained about the "widespread of the Christianity (sic), especially in the city of Tabriz."

Majid Abhari, the advisor of the social commission of the Islamic parliament of Iran, recently said that 6,500 copies of the New Testament were seized in the Zanjan-Abhar Road. Mohabat News commented: "This new wave of pressures and threats that the Christian converts are facing in the Azeri-speaking cities of Iran shows that the threats and pressures of the Islamic regime of Iran change its color every single day!"


Two churches burned in Indonesia (JakartaGlobe)

(JakartaGlobe) 05 Aug 2011 - Two homes used as churches were burned to the ground in Riau on Tuesday night, a report said.The incidents are the latest in a series of attacks on minority religious groups in Indonesia that have prompted international condemnation, including from the United States and European Union. The homes were being used as unlicensed houses of worship in Kuansing regency, VIVAnews reported.

The first was in Pasarbaru in the district of Pangean and the second in the village of Logas in the district of the same name.
A Kuansing Police representative attempted to downplay the incident, saying the homes were “only made of board” and not real churches. Pangean Police Chief Adjutant Cmr. Nazarudin was quoted by the news portal as saying that the houses were "easily burned because they were made of planks, thus flammable."

He said police were investigating the attacks and called on all residents to maintain security. Christian Solidarity Worldwide recently said the lenient sentences handed down to 12 people convicted in the attacks that left three members of the minority Ahmadiyah community in Banten gave religious extremists a green light to continue their hatred.




Extremists burn down church in Zanzibar (CompassDirect)

(CompassDirectNews) 02 Aug 2011 - Muslim extremists on Saturday (July 30) burned down a church building on Zanzibar island off the coast of Tanzania, church leaders said, just three days after another congregation’s facility on the island was reduced to ashes.

In Fuoni on the south coast of Zanzibar (known locally as Unguja), Islamic extremists torched the building of the Evangelical Assemblies of God-Tanzania (EAGT) at around 2 p.m., said Pastor Leonard Massasa, who oversees Zanzibar’s EAGT churches. The assailants were shouting, “Away with the church – we do not want infidels to spoil our community, especially our children,” Pastor Massasa said.

The EAGT church is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Zanzibar town. “Tomorrow is Sunday, and my members numbering 40 will not have any place to worship,” Pastor Paulo Magungu of the Fuoni EAGT church said. With fear in his voice, the pastor added, “We have reported the case to the police station. I hope justice will be done.” He reported the case at Fuoni police station immediately after it happened, he said.

In Kianga, about 10 kilometers (six miles) from Zanzibar town, another church building was burned down on Wednesday (July 27) at about 2 a.m., said Pastor George Frank Dunia of Free Evangelical Pentecostal Church in Africa. The fire destroyed 45 chairs.
“I have 36 members, and it will be very difficult for them to congregate tomorrow,” the pastor said on Saturday (July 30). “The members are afraid, not knowing what other plans the Muslims are out to do. We request prayers at this trying moment.”
Church officials have reported the case to the chief of Kianga, as well as to police.

Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago is 99.9 percent Muslim
Global Petition for Asia Bibi (ICC)(VOM)(CallforMercy)

27 July 2011 - A global petition drive to stop the execution of a Pakistani Christian woman who was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges was launched this week by a Christian persecution watchdog group.

Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) joined an existing petition drive that already collected more than 150,000 signatures from Christians in Pakistan to plead for the life and release of Asia Bibi, 45, a wife and mother of five.If a current appeal of her case is rejected, Bibi would be the first woman to be executed under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. Her death sentence was handed down nine months ago. She has been in prison for two years since the initial blasphamy charge.

Bibi was arrested by police on June 19, 2009, and charged with blasphemy after she engaged in a discussion about her Christian faith with co-workers. She is currently confined to a prison cell near Faisalabad, according to VOM. Bibi had worked with local women on a farm that is run by Muslim landowner Muhammad Idrees, according to VOM. The Muslim women told Bibi about Islam, and, according to VOM sources, Bibi responded by telling the Muslim women about Jesus.
“Our Christ sacrificed His life on the cross for our sins...Our Christ is alive,” she said. Then, according to VOM: “Upon hearing this response, the Muslim women became angry and began to beat Asia. Then some men took her and locked her in a room. They announced from mosque loudspeakers that she would be punished by having her face blackened and being paraded through the village on a donkey.”
Local Christians told police about the incident and Asia was put into protective custody before the Muslims could carry out their plan. Police were urged not to file blasphemy charges, but later, police said they had to do so because of pressure from local Muslim leaders. Bibi has had health problems in recent months. Her husband visits her regularly and her daily routine includes prayers and reading the Bible, according to news reports.


Pastors arrested in India (ICC)(AsiaNews)
22 July 2011 - Police have arrested three pastors of a Pentecostal group, the Gospel Messengers Team (GMT) and the couple who hosted them: the episode occurred on July 13 in Bighapur, Unna district in Uttar Pradesh, on false charges of having tried to convert people of other religions, even by force.

On the morning of July 13 about 150 faithful gathered at the house of Om Prakash for the regular weekly prayer, led by pastors AB Singh, Ganga Prasad and Robert of GMT.At about 11, about 75 people led by Himesh Dixit, Subhash Bajpai and Chinh Patel, known leaders of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), raided the meeting and threatened all those present. They falsely charged the pastors of having forcibly converted people to Christianity and of paying those present to attend. They were warned not to continue their ministry in the city.After a short time the police arrived, taking away Prakkash Om, his wife and 3 pastors, accusing them of forced conversions and other crimes.


Sajan K. George, president of the Global Council for Indian Christians (GCIC), speaking to AsiaNews has expressed "concern about the situation, law and order is deteriorating, the minority Christian community is facing the wrath of fanatical extremists, both the police themselves. These are symptoms of a [state] failure. "


The GCIC has provided legal assistance to the arrested, while hundreds of supporters went to the police station to proclaim their innocence. The police promised the release of those arrested later the same evening.


"This - Sajan continues - is the 2nd attack in Uttar Pradesh [against Christians] in July, after the July 3 in Mainpuri where the Pentecostal pastor John C.V. Samuel, of the Assembly of God Church, received the false accusation of making a forced conversion and was beaten just because he took part in the funeral service of Christian Anil Safena who had committed suicide. Samuel has also been accused of having caused the death of Anil and was badly beaten, as well as his wife. Only the intervention of the police prevented more serious injuries.



Two GFA missionaries arrested in India (ANS)

06 July 2011 - Two Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries in India were arrested over the weekend. One was released later that same day, but the other remains behind bars.

Pastor Accused of Being Member of Rebel Group
Rahul Akkunj was arrested on July 2 and is charged with being a member of a well-known rebel group. Rahul is not part of the group. Rather, he is the pastor of a church in the village where he was arrested. The allegations came after a fasting and prayer meeting Rahul led at his church. Several villagers who heard about the event were distressed, saying that if Rahul's church continues to grow at the rate it has been, their traditional religion will be wiped out.Rahul's district leader went to the jail on Monday and tried to post bail on his behalf, but he was refused. The local authorities told the leader the charges against Rahul were serious and he would be forced to remain in the jail until there is a court hearing.Pastor Rahul and the people who love him are asking for prayer that the Lord will speak into the heart of the judge to rule in favor of the missionary, and that the charges against him will be dropped.

Missionary Charged with Forced Conversion
Just a few miles away, GFA-supported missionary Murli Ghulam was arrested on Saturday. He was charged with forcing people to convert to Christianity after he led a prayer meeting for 25 people at the home of a local believer.A local anti-Christian extremist group brought police to the home. They broke up the service and arrested the missionary on the spot. In the state where Murli and Rahul serve, there are strict laws that outline the process by which an individual is allowed to change their faith. The rules, which are officially known as "freedom of religion laws," were enacted to prevent conversion by force, fraud or allurement. The laws are said to protect those who practice traditional religions from being forced to convert to a Western faith by a pastor or missionary. In many cases, especially those involving Christianity, extremists accuse the pastor of forcing people to change their faith, even when they testify that they chose to follow Christ by their own will. In some areas, the new believers are forced to register their intention to switch faiths with the local government. There are a myriad of penalties and fines for anyone who does not follow all the rules outlined in this legislation.

Murli was questioned by local authorities about the charges leveled against him. He clearly explained that he was not forcing anyone to change their faith. He was released on Sunday. Murli's supporters are asking for prayer that God would encourage him and help him as shares the love of God with the villagers. They also ask for prayer for wisdom and strength for the believers in this village, where Murli serves as the pastor of a local church. They are asking for prayer that they would be able to defend their faith in whatever circumstances come their way and that they would continue worshiping Jesus in spirit and in truth.

Murli and the believers in this village also asked for prayer for the salvation of those who opposed the ministry and brought the charges against the pastor.


Muslims threaten to kill Christian Priest in Egypt (AINA)

June 27, 2011 - Hundreds of Muslims surrounded the church of St. George in the village of Beni Ahmed West, 7 KM south of Minya, vowing to kill its priest Father George Thabet, who was serving the morning mass and locked in the church with a number of parishioners.

According to a story by Mary Abdelmassih for the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), security forces arrived five hours later and escorted Thabet in a police car to the Coptic Diocese in Minya."Father George looked as if he was the criminal, leaving his church in a police car," AINA reported one of the eye-witnesses said. The Coptic youth who were attending mass remained inside church to defend it from Muslim attacks.

AINA said eyewitnesses reported the Muslim mob, in their white dresses and long beards, chanted "We will kill the priest, we will kill him and no one will prevent us." One of their leaders said that they will ".cut him to pieces."It was reported that no police or security of any kind was present during the events.

AINA said the attacks on St. George Church trace back to March 23 2011, when Muslims had surrounded the 100-year old church, which held a construction permit, and ordered the church officials to stop construction immediately. In addition, AINA said, church officials were ordered to undo what they had completed, otherwise they would demolish the church after Friday prayers.AINA said they had placed several demands on the church authorities, including the banning of Thabet from Beni Ahmad village and gave him a time limit of 35 days, later extended to 50 days, to leave the village with his family. Muslims accused him of making extensions to the church and causing sectarian strife.

The Archbishop of Minya had sent a priest two months ago to assist Thabet, in order to diffuse the situation, but Muslims resumed their pressure on the church.

AINA said Muslims started congregating near the church in small numbers since the evening of June 21, after learning that Thabet was returning to the village. It is believed they were angry and wanted to kill him because he defied the ban they placed on him.AINA said the archdiocese of Minya issued a statement formally reiterating its strong dissatisfaction with the incident and denouncing the "return of the Salafists to besiege St. George's church again, some carrying weapons, threatening to kill the priest unless he leaves the village."

AINA said the statement rejected the interference in church affairs, saying the issue of care of the church is the responsibility of the church authorities alone, and not of any person or group. It called on government officials and security authorities to do their part in upholding the rule of law and maintaining security in the country.The archdiocese refused any preconditions to negotiate with political and security officials, AINA said, demanding the security forces disperse the demonstrations before any negotiations can take place.

AINA said after Thabet left the church the Muslim mob remained until security arrived to disperse them.
Pakistan Pastor still missing (Fides Service) June 22, 2011 -

The Pastor of the Anglican Church Robin Javed was kidnapped in the town of Attock (North Punjab) on May 14 and, despite the complaint presented to the police, there has been no news of the Pastor for over a month. The local community is extremely concerned for his life, because Islamic fundamentalist groups, linked to the Taliban, which infest the area and do not hesitate to eliminate Christians, are suspected of kidnapping the pastor.

A local Christian told Fides: "we do not know the reason why he was kidnapped, nor have we been asked for a ransom. This silence worries us greatly. We are sorry for Pastor Robin Javed ". On Sunday, June 19 Christians in Attock publicly demonstrated in the streets, demanding more effort in research by the local police who "seem reluctant to carrying out serious investigations".


The Catholic Bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Mgr. Rufin Anthony, has condemned the kidnapping, launching an appeal for the release of the Pastor and has asked the civil authorities to ensure safety and security of religious minorities. During a moment of prayer for the Day of Prayer for Pakistan, organized by " The Masihi Foundation," the Bishop said: "We want to pray to our Heavenly Father to protect our land, to enlighten the government and security force. We pray especially for all the marginalized and we raise our voices for them".


Christians beaten  in India (CDN) June 21, 2011A Catholic and two Hindu visitors with leprosy in Karnataka state were freed on bail on Tuesday (June 14), two days after they were beaten by suspected Hindu extremists and arrested on charges of forcible conversion.

Police arrested the Catholic, retired Indian Army Cpl. Henry Baptist Robey, and two guests from Tamil Nadu state, Ram Moorthy and another identified only as Mani, from Robey’s house on Hennur-Bellary Road in the state capital of Bangalore while they and others were celebrating Pentecost on Sunday (June 12). “I was arrested under Section 295(A) of the Indian Penal Code after a few men lodged a complaint that I was converting leprosy patients,” Robey told Compass by phone.

Violation of Section 295(A), “deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings” of others, is punishable with imprisonment of up to three years and/or a fine.Robey said about 80 leprosy patients from neighboring Tamil Nadu state came to his house after he invited them to a special Pentecost prayer service. “All the leprosy patients who had come for the prayer function told the police that they were Hindu, and that they were not being converted, but the police still registered a complaint against us,” Robey said. “Police should have arrested the complainants, who forcibly came into my house and searched every room and beat some of the leprosy patients as the police looked on.” Circle Inspector Hanumantharayappa acknowledged to Compass that two of the accused were Hindus. “They brought others from Tamil Nadu state to Bangalore not just for food [but to be converted],” the inspector said. “They [the two Hindus] were paid for that, that’s what the complainants said.”

He denied that the two arrested visitors were leprosy patients.Asked why the leprosy patients said they were not being converted and that they had come voluntarily – and asked who were the real victims in the case – the official said he would share “each and every detail” after a preliminary investigation.Dr. Sajan K. George of the Karnataka-based Global Council of Indian Christians, who reported the incident, said he had petitioned the National Human Rights Commission against the filing of charges against Robey.“The tragedy of the whole thing is that, though the very leprosy patients repeatedly told the police that they visit and receive their gifts every year and that there are no conversions as had been alleged, the police did not pay any heed,” George said. “Perhaps in the days to come, giving alms from the window of your house will be construed as an attempt to convert if you are a Christian and the receiver a Hindu leprosy patient.”

Some of the visitors from Tamil Nadu were sitting on the veranda as they ate lunch, Robey said.“I was told by some of them that cameramen had come from the media to take pictures,” Robey said. “I didn’t pay much attention. But then I heard some noise and found out that a crowd of men had gathered around my house. They alleged I had brought the leprosy patients for conversion. I explained I am just interested in taking care of them as fellow human beings and not interested in their conversion. But they were not willing to listen.”

The crowd soon swelled to over 100. While Robey could not say with certainty who the men were, some local residents later told him that they belonged to the Hindu extremist Jai Karnataka group, said to have close ties with the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Police soon arrived and took Robey and all his guests to the police post. All were released two hours later except Robey and the two Hindu lepers. That night they were taken to the Hennur police station and officially arrested.
On the morning of June 13, police took them to court, and they were sent in judicial custody to Bangalore Central Jail. Their plea for bail was initially rejected, but the next day they were granted bail.Christian beaten and threatened with death in India (ICC)(CDN)


07 July 2011 - Hindu extremists in Pratapgarh, Rajasthan have threatened to kill a pastor after beating his family and violating an agreement to stop attacking them, the pastor said.
Pastor Shantilal Ninama of Believers Church told Compass that the Hindu extremists beat his 65-year-old father until he fell unconscious in one of the attacks last month.On the evening of June 8, after agreeing to do no further harm to Pastor Ninama and his family in exchange for him dropping police charges he’d filed over a previous attack, the enraged Hindu extremists stormed into his home and began beating and stoning his father, sister, wife and three children, he said. As he sought police help, his father fell unconscious and his wife and two of his children ran out into the darkness. Another daughter hid beneath a bed, and his sister escaped and hid in a valley.
“The next day, I asked one Hindu extremist, Bhim Shankar Sharma, to give me a copy of the agreement,” Pastor Ninama said. “But he got angry with me, and verbally abused me and my faith, saying that I am an unclean person because Christianity is an unclean and foreign religion, and that Christians are not worthy to stay in India. He caught me by my collar and slapped me on my face.”The Rev. Prabhatkar Malladi, secretary of the Udaipur Diocese in Rajasthan, told Compass that the extremists were threatening to kill the pastor.“The villagers are not allowing any Christian leaders to enter into the village to meet Pastor Ninama, but we are taking necessary steps to help the pastor, and one advocate is now taking up the case,” he said.Pastor Ninama also told Compass that the extremists were plotting to kill him.“Well-wishers are telling me to be careful and not to venture out alone, as the extremists are looking for a chance to find me alone, kill me, cut me to pieces and throw my body away,” he said.

He said local extremists initially attacked him and his family for his faith in Christ on June 4; Khatiya Pitakaniya assaulted him as he was repairing his motorcycle.“I was repairing the tire of my motorcycle when one villager, Khatiya Pitakaniya, came and told me that he did not want to see my face in the early morning as it will bring bad luck to him because I am a Christian,” the pastor said. “Khatiya Pitakaniya grasped my neck when I told him to stop pestering me, but he would not stop and called his wife to bring a knife to kill me. His wife and elder brother ran to get it.”Bopal Ninama, the pastor’s younger brother, came to rescue him. Pitakaniya later returned with his wife Devali, Pastor Ninama’s older brother Naryayan Nimana and his cousin Jeevan Ninama, and began stoning and cursing him, the pastor said. He fled and locked himself inside his house.
Later the same day, Pastor Ninama filed a complaint at Ghantali police station, and the assailants were furious when they learned about it.On June 6, the village head and elders called for a public meeting regarding the incident.“Such public meetings took place several times in the past to discuss on how they could eliminate me from the village because of my faith in Christ,” Pastor Ninama said.

The village head who summoned Pastor Ninama to the meeting told him to gather 10 people from five neighboring villages and offer the meat of five goats and five pots of alcohol as a Hindu ritual to reconvert him back to Hinduism, he said. They also told the pastor to burn his Bible and all gospel literature in front of them, he added. The extremists told him that if he agreed to their demands, they would give him all manner of support.“I can leave everything – my family, my property – but I cannot forsake Jesus at any cost,” the pastor told the extremists. 
The next day, he said, they kept his father from obtaining an electricity connection for installing a water pump.“They told my father to leave Christianity and not to stay with me, or else leave the area,” Pastor Ninama said. “After prayerful consideration, my father decided to stay with me and be faithful to Christ till death.”The extremists then told the pastor they would do no further harm to him if he withdrew the police complaint. The pastor agreed, and on June 8 the parties gathered to put the agreement in writing. They agreed that anyone who disturbed the pastor and his family would be fined 5,000 rupees (US$111) in exchange for Pastor Ninama dropping the charges, and both parties signed it, he said.

“We went home happily thinking that we will not face any trouble from the extremists in the future,” Pastor Ninama said.
That same evening saw the enraged villagers launching their assault on his family. When Pastor Ninama ran to the police station for help, initially officers said the area was not within their jurisdiction, but after he pleaded with them they went back to the village with him, he said. Sitting near the pastor’s house when he returned with police, the extremists dispersed when they saw the officers.On June 9, Pastor Ninama went to the Piplekhut police station to report the incident, but officers refused to file a First Information Report (FIR), saying there were no eyewitnesses to the assault, he said. They later filed an FIR after seeing medical reports describing the injuries to his family, he said, but no arrests have been made.Rajasthan state has been a hotbed of anti-Christian activity since the late 1990s. Pastor Hari Shankar Ninama, 65, was praying for an 8-year-old boy’s recovery from illness at a house in Ambarunda, Peepal Khoont, Pratapgarh district on Feb. 1 when at least 10 Hindu extremists arrived on motorbikes and attacked him.


The assailants beat him and, putting him on one of their motorbikes, took him outside the village, where they stripped off his clothes and struck him. Threatening to kill him if he continued to spread Christianity, they left him naked on the road and fled, he said.

University student arrested in Iran (Mohaba News)


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07 July 2011 - The Iranian Government security forces arrested a university student in front of his home based on the accusation that he has evangelized and propagated Christianity at the university he has been attending. So far there is no information on his condition or his whereabouts.
According to reports collected by Iranian Christian New Agency, "Mohabat News," reporters on Thursday June 30, 2011, a 24 year old young man named Mostafa Zangooyee, was arrested by plain-clothes security officers as he was leaving his home and was to taken away to an undisclosed location.
Security officers subsequently contacted the parents of the young man and informed them of the arrest and the charges against their son.
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The arresting officers stated that the charge against this young man was evangelization and the propagation of the Christian faith in the university campus.
Mostafa Zangooyee who is a university student and born in Gachsaran, a town in the South-Western part of Iran, remains in custody and his current condition and whereabouts remains unknown.
The firing of a university professor for propagating Christianity
Recently, one of the daily newspapers of Iran, Keyhan, which is closely managed by the government and whose managing editor was appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei, published a report that a university professor was fired for propagating Christianity at the university where he taught.
This newspaper in warning the public about the dangers and the rapid growth if the Christian faith not only among university students, but also among the professors and the academic staff, reported that a professor who had been teaching at the Free(Azad) University of Iran, in the city of Ahvaz in the Southern province of Khouzestan, was fired from his teaching job.
The report that appeared in this daily newspaper, which is closely associated with the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, indicated that this professor had been openly sharing the Christian faith with his student and staff and once this was discovered by the university staff, he was immediately fired from his job.

Two GFA missionaries arrested in India (ANS)


06 July 2011 - Two Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries in India were arrested over the weekend. One was released later that same day, but the other remains behind bars.
Pastor Accused of Being Member of Rebel Group
Rahul Akkunj was arrested on July 2 and is charged with being a member of a well-known rebel group. Rahul is not part of the group. Rather, he is the pastor of a church in the village where he was arrested. The allegations came after a fasting and prayer meeting Rahul led at his church. Several villagers who heard about the event were distressed, saying that if Rahul's church continues to grow at the rate it has been, their traditional religion will be wiped out.Rahul's district leader went to the jail on Monday and tried to post bail on his behalf, but he was refused. The local authorities told the leader the charges against Rahul were serious and he would be forced to remain in the jail until there is a court hearing.Pastor Rahul and the people who love him are asking for prayer that the Lord will speak into the heart of the judge to rule in favor of the missionary, and that the charges against him will be dropped.

Missionary Charged with Forced Conversion
Just a few miles away, GFA-supported missionary Murli Ghulam was arrested on Saturday. He was charged with forcing people to convert to Christianity after he led a prayer meeting for 25 people at the home of a local believer.A local anti-Christian extremist group brought police to the home. They broke up the service and arrested the missionary on the spot. In the state where Murli and Rahul serve, there are strict laws that outline the process by which an individual is allowed to change their faith. The rules, which are officially known as "freedom of religion laws," were enacted to prevent conversion by force, fraud or allurement. The laws are said to protect those who practice traditional religions from being forced to convert to a Western faith by a pastor or missionary. In many cases, especially those involving Christianity, extremists accuse the pastor of forcing people to change their faith, even when they testify that they chose to follow Christ by their own will. In some areas, the new believers are forced to register their intention to switch faiths with the local government. There are a myriad of penalties and fines for anyone who does not follow all the rules outlined in this legislation.

Murli was questioned by local authorities about the charges leveled against him. He clearly explained that he was not forcing anyone to change their faith. He was released on Sunday. Murli's supporters are asking for prayer that God would encourage him and help him as shares the love of God with the villagers. They also ask for prayer for wisdom and strength for the believers in this village, where Murli serves as the pastor of a local church. They are asking for prayer that they would be able to defend their faith in whatever circumstances come their way and that they would continue worshiping Jesus in spirit and in truth.
Murli and the believers in this village also asked for prayer for the salvation of those who opposed the ministry and brought the charges against the pastor.

Water withheld from believers (ANS)

Persecution in Israel (CDN)

05 July, 2011 - A hard-line Jewish ultra-Orthodox group in Israel that singles out Jewish Christians known as Messianic Jews for harassment and abuse is taking aim at a couple it claims is manipulating minors into becoming Christians.

The group, Yad L’Achim, this week placed leaflets around the home of Serge and Naama Kogen, 37 and 42 respectively, in Mevasseret Zion, a suburban community located just west of Jerusalem. The same week someone took out a full-page ad in a local newspaper giving the couple’s address and telling residents they were part of a missionary group “targeting” the community. The Kogens are native Israelis and hence not part of any missionary group.The advertisement invited the public to a protest planned against the Kogens, and on Sunday (June 26), about 20 of the group’s supporters demonstrated outside the couple’s home, where they denounced them over megaphones for 90 minutes. 
The protests came after Yad L’Achim lost a court case against the Kogens and their congregational leader, Asher Intrater. The group had accused them of “proselytizing” minors.During the protest, a distraught 16-year-old girl, the alleged target of the couple’s “missionary” efforts, said all of Yad L’Achim’s claims were false. Donna Lubofsky maintains that she has never converted to Christianity. She wanted to speak at the protest to give her side of what happened, but the organizers wouldn’t let her, she said.

“They are all liars, all liars! Ask them, why won’t they let me speak?” Donna told Compass at the protest. “They won’t let me speak because what they are saying is untrue. They [the Kogens] never tried to get me to believe. They are just good people.”

 Wayne King writes : “This is a holy land – you have no business being here.” “You’re a bad man.” “You are dirty.” “You are a demon.” 

I wish I could say that when I heard these words, my first response was to love the six men who were walking, just feet behind me, spitting the insults. But indignation and anger were welling up inside, and the biblical injunctions to pray for and bless those who persecute you offered only momentary comfort.

The men following me and a friend in the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion were supporters of Yad L’Achim, a far right-wing group of ultra-Orthodox Jews who oppose Christians in Israel. The group is known for the aggressive and often questionable tactics they use against people who follow Christ, whom they derisively call “missionaries.” The six men had all attended a protest outside the home of a Jewish couple the group had so identified. There the 20 protestors had swarmed 16-year-old Donna Lubofsky, whom they said had converted to Christianity under the tutelage of Naama Kogen, the accused “missionary” along with her husband Serge Kogen. A woman at the protest called the girl a bad daughter for rebelling against her parents and said she was “breaking their heart.”

It didn’t matter that the women didn’t know Donna or her parents, and that Kogen said she never tried to convert the girl. It didn’t matter that Donna said she was still a traditional Jew, or even that police and a court found no reason to charge the Kogens with trying to convert a minor. 

As I was walking away from the men, I was astonished by the reactions of others. When I approached a man in a car to ask for directions, the six men surrounded me and began shouting, then told the driver not to help me. Eventually the man was so terrified he refused to speak to me. My friend and I made it to a mall only to find one of the members of the group waiting for us at the entrance, arms crossed, gloating. My friend and I asked mall security personnel to help us, but they and even men who appeared to be law enforcement officers only backed away. Every turn we took, the men countered, running up and declaring to whoever would listen that we were “missionaries” trying to convert Jewish children to the “cult of Christ.” Hebrew-speaking friends of mine called police several times, but after five calls over 90 minutes, we knew no one was coming.
 

My friend went into a woman’s store, and the women there became so incensed at what was happening to us that they screamed at the hard-line group. When the women were told we were “missionaries,” one shouted in English, “I don’t care. This is Israel!” 


The women, by the force of their indignation, compelled two security guards to do something for us that they might have considered doing instead to the six men – they escorted us out of the mall. We were able to find a taxi and ride back to Jerusalem.Like many who report on persecuted Christians, as I left I was struck by the “touristic” nature of the verbal abuse we had received; as an outsider I can leave the country, but I do so knowing Naama Kogen, her husband and their four children are sleeping in a home that people have threatened to burn down. 

12 weeks and 421 Christians arrested in Beijing (ICC)


05 July, 2011 - In a show of solidarity, Shouwang Church's illegal outdoor public worship service welcomed members of other house churches June 26, and 15 of them were arrested in the 12th straight week Shouwang has defied the Chinese government's demands not to meet.

It was not year clear how many of the arrests were members of Shouwang Church and how many were members of other house churches, but it was yet further proof that the confrontation is spreading to other house churches. ChinaAid, a group that monitors religious freedom in China, reported the latest figures.Shouwang Church, one of the largest house churches in Beijing, has tried to meet in a city public square for three straight months after the government forced it out of its indoor facility.

Failing to meet together, church members say, would place them in disobedience to Scripture. The church's stance has served to inspire Christians worldwide."Our constant plea before God is, if it is in accordance with his will, to open up a path for the church at an early date, so that this battle can come to an end as soon as possible," the church said in a statement in mid-June that was translated on ChinaAid.org. "But, up to now the battle rages on."
Many more Shouwang members likely would have been arrested Sunday had police not placed most of the members under house arrest since Friday, preventing them from even leaving their house. The church has nearly 1,000 members. All the church's leaders have been under house arrest for weeks, and some members have lost their jobs and been forced from their homes as the government pressures employers and landlords.

Shouwang is not a legal, registered church. In China, only churches that are members of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and registered with the government are considered legal. But registration brings heavy restrictions, including prohibitions on evangelism, Sunday School and baptizing children and teens, said Bob Fu, president and founder of ChinaAid, which has been covering Shouwang's stance.

Members of the Three-Self Patriot church once again worked with police, talking to the Shouwang members to try and get them to stop meeting. In a statement in mid-June, the church said it would not join the Three-Self movement."We would like to reiterate here that Shouwang Church is a house church that exalts only Jesus Christ as Lord; regardless of whether it is today or some time in the future, [we will] never join any non-church government entity," the church said.

Russia clamping down on Protestant Churches (ICC)


July 01, 2011 - Prosecutors in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk have successfully gained court rulings to ban the local Protestant Grace Church, which is led by Pastor Pak. The case was brought by Khabarovsk Region's then Acting Prosecutor Valentin Volkov, and was handed to court on 24 February.
On 27 April Judge Natalya Barabash of Khabarovsk Regional Court upheld the Prosecutor's suit and banned the activity of the Church throughout Khabarovsk Region, the court website noted. The court's ruling reads that in 2009 the church used methods which "changed the psychological state" of a number of church members and were harmful to their health. These include courses in Christianity widely used internationally, such as the Alpha Course, Tres Dias and Encounter.
The court also highlighted the recitation of prayers at a high volume, placing hands on parishioners' bodies, speaking in tongues and the descent of the Holy Spirit as "methods of psychological manipulation".
Defending the action taken by her colleagues at Khabarovsk Regional Prosecutor's Office is Senior Prosecutor Lyudmila Potapova. She said the case had been launched after four "victims" had appealed to the Prosecutor's Office in September 2010. "Four people suffered because of the activity of the church, and we can't leave their appeals unanswered," she insisted to Forum 18 from Khabarovsk on 29 June. "We have medical expert testimony from psychologists that they suffered serious harm." She said this justified the ban on the church.Asked about the current condition of the four individuals, Potapova said that now they have had medical treatment "they live normally".
The church has appealed against the decision to Russia's Supreme Court in Moscow, the church's lawyer Inna Zagrebina, formerly of the Slavic Centre for Law and Justice and now at the Guild of Experts on Religion and Law, told Forum 18 from Moscow on 28 June. She said the Supreme Court is due to hear the appeal on 5 July."This ruling is unprecedented. If it stands, it will have consequences for Protestants throughout Russia," Zagrebina told Forum 18. She added that this is the first time the Alpha Course has been ruled to be harmful to health by a Russian court. She said the ruling has not yet come into legal force, as the appeal is still underway.

Criminal cases and investigations have also been initiated against the church's leaders for alleged harm already rendered to parishioners. Neither case has yet been handed to court.The first case, being led by an investigator from Khabarovsk, is against Pastor Pak under Article 111 Part 1 of the Criminal Code (Deliberate causing of serious harm to health). This carries a prison term of up to eight years.

Igor Lavrienko, Deputy Head of Khabarovsk's Investigation Committee, who is overseeing the case, said it was launched against Pak in response to a complaint from "citizens", whom he declined to identify. He said Investigator Aleksei Stefanchuk is leading the investigation, adding that it is impossible to say when the investigation will be complete. "It's too early to talk about any trial." Lavrienko dismissed any complaints about the launching of the case. "No-one's rights are being harmed," he told Forum 18.

The second case is being led from the Federal Investigation Service from Moscow. The church leadership is being investigated under Article 239 Part 1 of the Criminal Code (Creation of a religious or social association whose activity is linked with violence against citizens or other cause of harm to their health). This carries a fine or imprisonment of up to three years."This is a very serious and worrying development, that church leaders face possible criminal prosecution for their activities in the church," Zagrebina told Forum 18. She said the church has appealed to Russia's Ombudsperson for Human Rights.

China expels another Christian in Beijing (CDN)

June 30, 2011 - Chinese authorities detained a member of one of Beijing’s largest unregistered churches on Monday (June 27) and sent him to his home town in Shandong Province, sources said.

Three officers from Beijing’s Dongsheng police station detained the Shouwang church member at about 5 p.m. while he was at a market to get a mobile phone fixed, they said. They handed him over to a Shandong office based in the capital, which sent him to his hometown that evening. He was the second member of the church to be expelled from the city since authorities allegedly compelled the owners of the church’s rented facility to stop leasing to the congregation in April, forcing them to meet outdoors the past three months. The same Dongsheng police station in Beijing’s northwest Haidian district sent the first Shouwang member to be expelled from Beijing to his hometown in Hubei Province on May 8, sources said.

After Monday’s expulsion, the Shouwang member was forbidden to use his mobile phone, but at noon yesterday he was sent to his parents’ home and was able to send a text message to church members. He said his identity card was confiscated, and he was warned not to return to Beijing before July 1, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Authorities told local village officials to monitor him.In the church’s weekly statement issued yesterday, Shouwang Church leaders said they had filed a protest against the expulsion.

“The forced expatriation by Dongsheng Police Station and Haidian Public Security Bureau has constituted a complete contempt for and a flagrant violation of the law, in effect depriving a citizen of any guarantee of the most basic of foundational existential rights,” the statement read.

Muslims threaten to kill Christian Priest in Egypt (AINA)

June 27, 2011 - Hundreds of Muslims surrounded the church of St. George in the village of Beni Ahmed West, 7 KM south of Minya, vowing to kill its priest Father George Thabet, who was serving the morning mass and locked in the church with a number of parishioners.
According to a story by Mary Abdelmassih for the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), security forces arrived five hours later and escorted Thabet in a police car to the Coptic Diocese in Minya."Father George looked as if he was the criminal, leaving his church in a police car," AINA reported one of the eye-witnesses said. The Coptic youth who were attending mass remained inside church to defend it from Muslim attacks.
AINA said eyewitnesses reported the Muslim mob, in their white dresses and long beards, chanted "We will kill the priest, we will kill him and no one will prevent us." One of their leaders said that they will ".cut him to pieces."It was reported that no police or security of any kind was present during the events.
AINA said the attacks on St. George Church trace back to March 23 2011, when Muslims had surrounded the 100-year old church, which held a construction permit, and ordered the church officials to stop construction immediately. In addition, AINA said, church officials were ordered to undo what they had completed, otherwise they would demolish the church after Friday prayers.AINA said they had placed several demands on the church authorities, including the banning of Thabet from Beni Ahmad village and gave him a time limit of 35 days, later extended to 50 days, to leave the village with his family. Muslims accused him of making extensions to the church and causing sectarian strife.
The Archbishop of Minya had sent a priest two months ago to assist Thabet, in order to diffuse the situation, but Muslims resumed their pressure on the church.
AINA said Muslims started congregating near the church in small numbers since the evening of June 21, after learning that Thabet was returning to the village. It is believed they were angry and wanted to kill him because he defied the ban they placed on him.AINA said the archdiocese of Minya issued a statement formally reiterating its strong dissatisfaction with the incident and denouncing the "return of the Salafists to besiege St. George's church again, some carrying weapons, threatening to kill the priest unless he leaves the village."
AINA said the statement rejected the interference in church affairs, saying the issue of care of the church is the responsibility of the church authorities alone, and not of any person or group. It called on government officials and security authorities to do their part in upholding the rule of law and maintaining security in the country.The archdiocese refused any preconditions to negotiate with political and security officials, AINA said, demanding the security forces disperse the demonstrations before any negotiations can take place.
AINA said after Thabet left the church the Muslim mob remained until security arrived to disperse them. 

Christian persecution in Uzbekistan (ANS)

June 27, 2011 - At least four incidents of Christian persecution were reported from the former Soviet country of Uzbekistan this week.
According to an analysis and report researched and written by Fernando Perez for the World Evangelical Alliance - Religious Liberty Commission, a Christian woman was beaten into concussion, another woman was fined $1,465 by a court for giving the New Testament to a child, a Christian man was threatened with axe attack by a police official and another man was assaulted by police. 
 In his report for WEA-RLC, Perez says the spurt can be linked to renewed attempts to maintain hold on power and the communist legacy in this most populous country of Central Asia by its president, Islam Karimov, who has remained in office through controversial referendums since 1991.
Perez writes: "Karimov's objectives can be met only under an authoritarian rule where the executive has powers over all other State institutions including the judiciary and that's what best describes the government of Uzbekistan." 
 "Apart from restrictions, the government of Uzbekistan also runs media campaigns against the Christians. For example, state-owned television has shown films promoting hate against the religious minorities that seek to share their faith with others and as a result many converts face societal opposition. But generally speaking, persecution of Christians in Uzbekistan comes mostly from the State and not society." In the midst of President Karimov's constant reluctance to grant civil rights and promote party politics and his ability to minimize international pressure, the Christians as well as other religious organizations, independent journalists, human rights activists and political activists continue to suffer, Perez stated. 

Muslims in Egypt torch 8 Christian homes (AINA)

June 27, 2011 - A mob of nearly 200 Muslims torched eight Christian homes on Saturday morning in the Upper Egyptian village of Awlad Khalaf. The attack was initiated by a rumor that a house which is being built by Wahib Halim Attia will be turned into a church. Two Christians and one Muslim were injured, no fatalities were reported.
Wahib Halim Attia obtained a license to build a house in the village on a 95 square meter plot. The house grew to an area of 350 square meters but was still on agricultural land that he owns. This gave rise to the rumor that he intended to build a church instead.Father Weesa Azmy, the priest at St. George Church in the neighboring village of Negou Madam East, said that someone went to the City Council in Dar es Salam and told them about the irregularities in the house construction, and Wahib was ordered to remove the excess by June 24. "Instead Wahib carried on with the construction, which angered the Muslims, who decided to play God and take the law into their own hands; they attacked the construction site and other Christian homes."
According to Father Weesa, Muslims broke into the home of Ihab Tamer, who defended himself with a rifle. A Muslim who was there to help Ihab was injured by a bullet in his leg from Tamer's rifle. The matter was explained and resolved with the family of that Muslim.
According to eyewitnesses the Muslims, mostly Salafists and some youngsters, looted and torched eight homes belonging to Wahib Halim Attia and his two brothers, his three cousins and two other Copts, including Ihab Tamer.The police arrived three hours after the looting and torching had ended.Father Weesa said Ihab Tamer, who was in hiding after the shooting incident, contacted him and he advised him to give himself up to the police as he was acting in self-defense. "If someone sees people breaking into his home, surely he has to defend his family and himself."
The police told father Weesa, who did not witness the incident himself, that most of the attackers were teenagers between the ages of 10 and 14 years old. This was refuted by eyewitnesses. However, he said "if it is true that there were children and teens, then definitely someone else has sent them." He added he will not attend any reconciliation meetings and the rule of law must be upheld, on the Copt if found guilty and the attackers. Most of the teens and children were arrested by the police but no adults were arrested.
Police and security are now present in Awlad Khalaf village and the 30 Christian homes are being guarded, the Security Chief said tonight on the Egyptian State TV.

Afghan Christians fearing for their lives (ICC)


June 23, 2011 - (World Magazine) – Afghans are warning of dire consequences for the country’s tiny Christian population should American forces leave Afghanistan, as President Barack Obama prepares to announce his plans for a troop drawdown in a televised address to the nation scheduled for Wednesday evening.

“If U.S. troops are not in Afghanistan the Taliban will come to power,” said Obaid S. Christ, an Afghan Christian exiled to India who spoke to me Tuesday. “We will have the same situation we had in the 1990s when the Russians left Afghanistan, when we had civil war and millions killed.”

The exile, who changed his name and fled Afghanistan in 2007 after an Islamic court issued an arrest warrant following his conversion to Christianity, acknowledged that the U.S.-backed government headed by President Hamid Karzai has been no friend to Christian converts either. Earlier this year two civilian courts sentenced to death jailed Afghan Christians for changing their religion. After international pressure, including personal visits to one jail by U.S. and European diplomats, the two were released and allowed to leave the country. Both now reside in Europe.

But a more recent, gruesome incident makes clear that the danger for anyone turning from Islam in Afghanistan is not over. A video released in recent weeks, and made available to WORLD this week by two separate Afghan sources, shows four Afghan militants beheading a man believed to be a Christian in Herat Province.The militants, who claim to be Taliban, captured the victim, a man in his 40s named Abdul Latif (according to Obaid Christ, who provided translation of the video), earlier this year from his village outside Enjeel, a town south of Herat.

In the two-minute video, the men, wearing explosive belts (or suicide vests) and kaffiya head scarves to cover their faces, recite verses from the Quran while forcing Latif to the ground and pinning him with their feet. “You who are joined with pagans . . . your sentence [is] to be beheaded,” read one of the militants in Farsi from what looked like a paper decree.

Please continue to pray for the safety of Christians in Afghanistan. 

Pakistan Pastor still missing (Fides Service)

June 22, 2011 - The Pastor of the Anglican Church Robin Javed was kidnapped in the town of Attock (North Punjab) on May 14 and, despite the complaint presented to the police, there has been no news of the Pastor for over a month. The local community is extremely concerned for his life, because Islamic fundamentalist groups, linked to the Taliban, which infest the area and do not hesitate to eliminate Christians, are suspected of kidnapping the pastor.
A local Christian told Fides: "we do not know the reason why he was kidnapped, nor have we been asked for a ransom. This silence worries us greatly. We are sorry for Pastor Robin Javed ". On Sunday, June 19 Christians in Attock publicly demonstrated in the streets, demanding more effort in research by the local police who "seem reluctant to carrying out serious investigations".

The Catholic Bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Mgr. Rufin Anthony, has condemned the kidnapping, launching an appeal for the release of the Pastor and has asked the civil authorities to ensure safety and security of religious minorities. During a moment of prayer for the Day of Prayer for Pakistan, organized by " The Masihi Foundation," the Bishop said: "We want to pray to our Heavenly Father to protect our land, to enlighten the government and security force. We pray especially for all the marginalized and we raise our voices for them". 

Christians beaten and jailed in India (CDN)

June 21, 2011 - A Catholic and two Hindu visitors with leprosy in Karnataka state were freed on bail on Tuesday (June 14), two days after they were beaten by suspected Hindu extremists and arrested on charges of forcible conversion.
Police arrested the Catholic, retired Indian Army Cpl. Henry Baptist Robey, and two guests from Tamil Nadu state, Ram Moorthy and another identified only as Mani, from Robey’s house on Hennur-Bellary Road in the state capital of Bangalore while they and others were celebrating Pentecost on Sunday (June 12). “I was arrested under Section 295(A) of the Indian Penal Code after a few men lodged a complaint that I was converting leprosy patients,” Robey told Compass by phone.
 
Violation of Section 295(A), “deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings” of others, is punishable with imprisonment of up to three years and/or a fine.Robey said about 80 leprosy patients from neighboring Tamil Nadu state came to his house after he invited them to a special Pentecost prayer service. “All the leprosy patients who had come for the prayer function told the police that they were Hindu, and that they were not being converted, but the police still registered a complaint against us,” Robey said. “Police should have arrested the complainants, who forcibly came into my house and searched every room and beat some of the leprosy patients as the police looked on.” Circle Inspector Hanumantharayappa acknowledged to Compass that two of the accused were Hindus. “They brought others from Tamil Nadu state to Bangalore not just for food [but to be converted],” the inspector said. “They [the two Hindus] were paid for that, that’s what the complainants said.”
 
He denied that the two arrested visitors were leprosy patients.Asked why the leprosy patients said they were not being converted and that they had come voluntarily – and asked who were the real victims in the case – the official said he would share “each and every detail” after a preliminary investigation.Dr. Sajan K. George of the Karnataka-based Global Council of Indian Christians, who reported the incident, said he had petitioned the National Human Rights Commission against the filing of charges against Robey.“The tragedy of the whole thing is that, though the very leprosy patients repeatedly told the police that they visit and receive their gifts every year and that there are no conversions as had been alleged, the police did not pay any heed,” George said. “Perhaps in the days to come, giving alms from the window of your house will be construed as an attempt to convert if you are a Christian and the receiver a Hindu leprosy patient.”
 
Some of the visitors from Tamil Nadu were sitting on the veranda as they ate lunch, Robey said.“I was told by some of them that cameramen had come from the media to take pictures,” Robey said. “I didn’t pay much attention. But then I heard some noise and found out that a crowd of men had gathered around my house. They alleged I had brought the leprosy patients for conversion. I explained I am just interested in taking care of them as fellow human beings and not interested in their conversion. But they were not willing to listen.”
 
The crowd soon swelled to over 100. While Robey could not say with certainty who the men were, some local residents later told him that they belonged to the Hindu extremist Jai Karnataka group, said to have close ties with the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Police soon arrived and took Robey and all his guests to the police post. All were released two hours later except Robey and the two Hindu lepers. That night they were taken to the Hennur police station and officially arrested.
 On the morning of June 13, police took them to court, and they were sent in judicial custody to Bangalore Central Jail. Their plea for bail was initially rejected, but the next day they were granted bail.

India expels 3 American Christians (ANS)


June 20, 2011 - A human rights agency has learned that Indian authorities asked three American Christian women, including a 15-year-old, to leave India after Hindu organizations accused them of attempting to convert non-Christians by offering them incentives in Alappuzha district, Kerala State.
International Christian Concern (ICC) reported in a news release that according to the report by the Times of India, although Indian police admitted they do not have any evidence indicating that the women participated in proselytizing, they still asked them to leave because the Christian women were about to attend prayer sessions.
ICC reported that Asok Kumar, a superintendent of police in Alappuzha District said, "We have not received any evidence to indicate the three women were engaged in conversion-related activities. However, they were about to attend religious prayer sessions. Their tourist visa does not allow them to attend any meeting, including prayer sessions. We were not clear about their intentions. That is why we asked them to leave the country, and they agreed."
ICC said although India's constitution guarantees religious freedom, some local and state government officials restrict the free exercise of religion through "anti-conversion" laws and by a failure to provide adequate protection to persecuted religious minorities, according to the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report by the State Department.
Speaking in a news release, said Jonathan Racho, ICC's regional manager for South Asia, said "We condemn Indian authorities for ordering the American Christians to leave India because they were about to attend prayer sessions. India is a popular destination for tourists who travel to India to attend religious ceremonies organized by Hindu, Buddhist or other religious groups. Indian officials do not expel tourists who travel to attend such services."
He added, "It appears that the Indian officials succumbed to the demands of radical Hindu groups when they expelled the three Christians. We urge the US government to look into this matter and take appropriate measures to pressure India to respect the religious freedom of Christians and other religious minorities."
ICC asked those interested readers to call their representatives and bring the actions of Indian officials to their attention.
ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide.
For more information go to www.persecution.org

Court Acquits Three Christians of Blasphemy Charge (ANS)

June 13, 2011:  By Jawad Mazhar - Special Correspondent for ANS, reporting from Pakistan
RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Although three Christians were acquitted in a blasphemy case recently, their lives are still under potential death threats by radicals.  This was confirmed by reliable sources.
A local judge in Rawalpindi acquitted the three, as the prosecutor failed to prove the case against them.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Sarfraz Akhter acquitted Hector Haleem, Basharat Masih and Robin Masih of the charges of sending blasphemous text messages.
The case was initiated against them last year by a Muslim, Ghufran Sialvi.  The court also initiated a criminal complaint against the investigating officer and the complainant after they failed to prove the charges against the accused.
Haleem's daughter Mehwish posted online petitions and posts asking for support of her father's release.
Haleem, 55, heads an NGO called Peace Worldwide.

Bleak future for Iraqi Christians (ICC)


June 13, 2011 - A leading bishop has described how Christians in Iraq believe “there is no future” for them there but are afraid to flee abroad because of political uncertainty and crisis in neighbouring countries.Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, in the Kurdish north of Iraq, described the people’s shock after father of four Arakan Yacob, an Orthodox Christian, was shot dead on Tuesday (31st May) in the nearby city of Mosul.

Mr Yacob’s killing is the latest in a series of attacks. According to Archbishop Warda, since 2002 more than 570 Christians have been killed in religiously and politically-motivated violence.In an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Archbishop Warda said that since Mr Yacob’s death a number of the faithful had said they wanted to emigrate.But he said emigration was difficult because of political crisis and uncertainty in neighbouring Syria and Turkey.
Both countries have already provided sanctuary to many thousands of Christians who fled persecution in the years since 2003, when religious violence suddenly escalated after the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.Speaking from Erbil, Archbishop Warda told ACN: “The latest murder adds to the pessimistic view that there is no future.
“No matter how you try to convince people things are getting better they say look at these things that are happening.”Describing renewed talk of emigration among Iraqi Christians, he went on: “Even the situation in neighbouring Turkey is not that good and with what’s going on in Syria at the moment a family thinking of emigration has limited choices.”

But he refused to be downcast. He said: “The message of hope is always there – life should go on – that’s the message.”

Archbishop Warda has, nonetheless, made no secret of his people’s suffering. He has provided statistics showing that since the 1980s Christians in Iraq had plummeted from up to 1.4 million to as low as 150,000. Amid reports of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians fleeing the country, he went on to state that between 2006 and 2010, 17 Iraqi priests and two Iraqi bishops had been abducted and were either beaten or tortured by their kidnappers. Of those, one bishop, four priests and three sub-deacons were killed.

Denied refugee status because of faith in Jesus (ICC)

June 10, 2011 - A Chinese migrant seeking refugee status in Canada on the grounds that he faced persecution back home for his Christian beliefs was repeatedly asked by the Immigration and Refugee Board last year to describe what Jesus was "like as a person." The man's inability to attribute human characteristics to Jesus formed part of the board's decision to deny his refugee claim.
The details are contained in a recent Federal Court ruling, which dismissed the man's application for a judicial review of the board's decision but did agree that the board's line of questioning about Jesus was "somewhat awkward."Wu Xin Wang came to Canada in April 2007 on a temporary work permit and made his claim for refugee protection in January 2008. In documents filed with the immigration board, he claimed that he had received a call from his wife in China, who told him that officials from China's Public Security Bureau had visited their home and were investigating illegal church activities. Prior to his move to Canada, Wang said, he had been a member of an underground Christian church and sometimes acted as a lookout during church services.
In assessing Wang's refugee claim, board adjudicator Daniel Mc-Sweeney asked Wang: "So tell me about Jesus as a person. What was he like? "Jesus is son of God," Wang said. "I am not asking who he was or what he did. I am asking what is he like as a person," McSweeney said. "Jesus was conceived through the Holy Ghost and was born in this world," Wang replied. The answer did not satisfy the board member. "Anybody could memorize a creed and recite the creed. I want to know what you believe and what you know of Jesus as a person." "In my heart he is my saviour," Wang answered. "That is not . again, tell me what Jesus is as a person and this is the last time I am going to ask you." "I am sorry, I really do not know how to answer."

Persecuted Archives

Those mentioned above are only a hand full of the millions who suffer persecution every day. To find out more about them click Persecuted Archives

105,000 Christians martyred yearly (ICC)

8 June 2011 - Every year 105,000 Christians are killed because of their faith.
This shocking figure was disclosed by Italian sociologist Massimo Introvigne, representative of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians, at the “International Conference on Inter-religious dialogue between Christians, Jews and Muslims,” sponsored the Hungarian presidency of the European Union (EU) in Gödöllo, near Budapest.
“Every five minutes”, Introvigne said in his speech, “a Christian is killed for his faith." The figure does not include the victims of civil wars, or wars between nations, but only the people put to death because they are Christians.
"If these figures are not cried out to the world, if this massacre is not stopped," Introvigne continued; "if it is not recognized that the persecution against Christians is the first worldwide emergency with regard to religious discrimination and violence, dialogue between religions will only produce wonderful symposia but no concrete results."
The conference on peaceful coexistence between religions was hosted by the Hungarian government as a highlight of its EU presidency of the European Union and saw among its participants Cardinal Péter Erdo of Budapest; the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa; Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants; Maronite Archbishop of Beirut Paul Matar; Metropolitan Hilarion, “foreign minister” of the Russian Orthodox Church; the representative of the European Jewish Congress Gusztáv Zoltai, that of the Organization of Islamic Conference Ömür Orhun; and the general secretary of the Committee for Islamic-Christian dialogue in Lebanon, Chakib Hares Chehab.
The Egyptian diplomat Mahmoud Aly assured participants that his country is about to pass laws that will protect Christian minorities, by prosecuting crimes as hate speech and banning hostile gatherings of outside churches.
“But the danger is for many Christian communities in the Middle East to die out for emigration,” Cardinal Erdo said. “For all Christians will escape feeling threatened. And Europe should be preparing for a new wave of emigration, this time of Christians fleeing persecution." Metropolitan Hilarion, for his part, recalled that “at least one million” of the Christians enduring persecution in the world are children

China arrests more Christians (ICC)


06/02/2011 China (BaptistPress) - More than 20 members of a Beijing illegal church were arrested May 29 as they tried to gather for an outdoor service in what was the eighth straight week of public confrontation between the congregation and the Chinese government.
Police arrested at least 22 members of Shouwang Church, which has been trying to meet outdoors after the government forced members from their indoor facility. Many more likely would have been arrested had police not placed most of the members under house arrest since Friday, preventing them from even leaving their house. The church has nearly 1,000 members. Twenty-one of the members were released by midnight, and the final one released the next day. All the church's leaders have been under house arrest for weeks, and some members have lost their jobs and been forced from their homes as the government pressures employers and landlords.

"After eight outdoor worship services, we may feel tired and may sometimes unconsciously become lax in our spirits and actions," the church said in a statement published on the website of ChinaAid, an organization that monitors religious freedom. "Therefore, in this continuing fight, we need all the more pray for our alertness, support each other, encourage each other and press forward with the extra strength and power given by the Lord."

The dispute -- the church calls it a "spiritual fight" -- has put China's crackdown on religious freedom in the world spotlight. It also shows no signs of slowing down. More than 160 were arrested the first week Shouwang tried to meet outdoors, about 50 were arrested the second week, approximately 40 on the third week, about 30 on the fourth week, 13 the fifth week, 20 the sixth week and 25 the seventh week.

3 Pakistan evangelists facing possible blasphemy charges (ANS)


Three Christian evangelists have joined the growing number of believers in Pakistan who are facing charges under the country's controversial blasphemy laws, which can result in the death penalty if found guilty.
ANS has learned that a Muslim complainant named Mohammed Ashfaq has filed a petition No.24626/10 on December 13, 2010 in the Court of Session, Lahore, accusing three Christian evangelists - the Rev. Ishfaq Rafiq, Shahrukh Gill and an elderly lady, Ms. Joyce Perveen - accusing them of of passing derogatory remarks against Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam.
The court has directed the Station House Officer of the Lahore Police Station to further investigate the complaint and decide whether to register a formal First Information Report (FIR) against the three Christians. So far a formal FIR has not been registered and the case is still pending. 
Please pray for their safety and for the case to be thrown out of court. 

Algerian Christian sentenced to 5 years in prison (CDN)

Convicting a Christian convert for insulting the prophet of Islam, a judge in Algeria last week stunned the Christian community by sentencing him beyond what a prosecutor recommended.

In Oran, 470 kilometers (292 miles) west of Algiers, a criminal court in the city’s Djamel district on Wednesday (May 25) sentenced Siaghi Krimo to a prison term of five years for giving a CD about Christianity to a neighbor who subsequently claimed he had insulted Muhammad. Krimo was also fined 200,000 Algerian dinars (US$2,760), according to Algerian news reports. The prosecutor had reportedly requested the judge sentence him to a two-year prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars (US$690).The court tried Krimo based solely on the complaint filed by his neighbor, who accused him of attempting to convert him to Christianity. 

 “He gave a CD to a neighbor, and for that he has to spend five years in prison,” said the president of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA), Mustapha Krim, trying to contain his disbelief. “The hearing went well, and the lawyer defended well, yet in the end the judge gave him the maximum punishment.”
 
Authorities arrested Krimo on April 14 and held him in jail for three days. On May 4 he appeared before the court in Djamel, where the prosecutor requested the two-year sentence in the absence of the neighbor who had accused him – the only witness – and any evidence. The punishment the prosecutor requested is the minimum for Algerians found guilty of insulting Muhammad or “the messengers of God,” or anyone who “denigrates the dogma or precepts of Islam, be it via writings, drawings, statements or any other means,” according to Article 144 of the Algerian Penal Code. 

Muslim mob attack Christian Church in Egypt (ICC)


05/27/2011 – In the latest display of the intolerance of Islam, Muslims in Egypt are trying to block the reopening of a Coptic church until the church’s dome and cross have been removed.

St. Mary and St. Abraham Church in Ain Shams was closed by Egyptian State Security on November 22, 2008, when mob violence perpetrated by Muslims against the church reached the point where thousands of Muslims surrounded the building and pelted it with stones. As reported on May 24 in an article for Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), the violent crowd was back on May 19 of this year, when Coptic priests reopened the church:On the morning of May 19 two Coptic priests went to St. Mary and St. Abraham Church in Ain Shams and opened it together with some of the Coptic residents, but later in the day thousands of Muslims surrounded the church to protest its opening, hurled stones at the church building and the Copts, who responded by throwing stones. The army and the police stood there watching and did not intervene.

Unable to secure the church, the army and police closed it and arranged for a "reconciliation" meeting between the Coptic priest and the Salafi sheikhs. They also arrested eight Copts, one of them 13-years old, and three Muslims. They were all charged with rioting, violence and causing injury to citizens. Three Copts were also charged with having cartridges but no guns and one 15-year-old boy with possessing two knives. The 3 Muslims were charged with throwing stones at the army. Father Filopateer Gameel, one of the organizers of the Maspero sit-in, said that during a meeting with the Minister of Interior he was told he cannot choose the churches to be reopened because it was all "planned with the Salafis and the security authorities so that when we go, there will be no problems." He confirmed the minister had himself suggested the names of the three churches to be reopened.The "reconciliation" session was held in a tent by the Islamist imam Kerdassi, the main opponent of the reopening of the church, who also recently built a mosque facing the church. Next to the tent was another one hosting Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi sheikhs, among them the renowned Salafi sheikh Hassan and over 3000 guests all chanting "Islamic, Islamic."

The move of arresting Coptic victims alongside the perpetrators of the violence is typical of encounters between Christians and Muslims in Egypt. Among other things, arresting the victims of the riot on charges of "rioting" allows the government to perpetuate the appearance of evenhandedness, and plays into media distortions of the situation in Egypt, as reported previously for The New American. The pattern of anti-Christian violence has grown far worse since the bombing of a Coptic church at the beginning of this year. The Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood have taken advantage of the situation since the collapse of the Mubarak regime to persecute Christians with little fear of being held accountable for their actions.The reason for the anti-Christian riot at St. Mary and St. Abraham Church is simple: The church is recognizably Christian on account of its dome and cross, and in keeping with the long-standing Muslim system of “dhimmitude,” such a public display of the faith of a subjugated religious minority is deemed to be intolerable. In short, what the howling mobs in the street are demanding is that Christians would be "put in their place." As AINA reports,

The Muslims demanded that should the church be reopened, it should be without cross and dome. Coptic attorney Dr. Ihab Ramzy said the army and the police did not participate in the "reconciliation" meeting. "This shows the government is ignoring the problem. Am I there to get the Salafis' permission to open the church? If they say no, does this mean I should not open the church?"

Chinese Christian released from prison after nearly dying (ICC)


05/30/2011(BosNewsLife) -One of 10 Chinese house church Christians sentenced to jail and a labor camp in China's Shanxi province was free on medical parole Friday, May 27,  as she nearly died after more than a year in detention, her supporters said.Yang Caizhen, whose husband was one of the senior leaders of the Linfen Church network, was transferred in February from a prison hospital "to a local hospital where test results showed her to be in seriously declining health," said rights group China Aid Association (CAA)."Due to the high cost of long-term hospitalization at the prison’s expense, the prison director decided to release her into her family’s care at their own expense," added CAA, which is in close contact with the Christians."Ms. Yang is now at home, being cared for by her mother, brother and sister-in-law," the group explained.

Nine other house church Christians detained with her in late 2009 remain behind bars on charges linked to their Christian activities outside the official, government backed, denominations.

Yang, a former medical doctor, was sentenced to "an extra-judicial two-year re-education-through-labor term" which she was reportedly serving at the Shanxi Women’s Prison in the capital city of Taiyuan.She is the wife of Yang Xuan, who has served as a pastor for the churches in the city of Linfen since 1994, shortly after the churches split from the government’s Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

Pakistani Christian girls kidnapped (ANS)


27, May, 2011- Pakistan's Central Punjab, the hub of extremism, has again hit the headlines with the news that two Christian sisters have been kidnapped by a group of Muslims and forced to convert to Islam.
Rebbecca Masih and Saima Masih were kidnapped earlier this week in Jhung in the district of Faisalabad.Rehmat Masih, their father, claims that an influential Muslim businessman, "supported by a banned extremist group" came to his place "several weeks ago with armed men and said he liked my daughters and wanted to marry them.He added, "He said that if I refused the request, he would take away my daughters and forcefully convert them. I went to the City Police Station to file a complaint. They took my application, but didn't take any action. I also sent a copy of the application to the Senior Superintendent Police, the Deputy Superintendent Police and the City Police Officer, but none have responded."Masih further said, "On Tuesday afternoon my daughters were coming back from the market when a vehicle owned by the businessman intercepted them and they were thrown into the vehicle and driven away."Rehmat Masih said he then rushed to the police station, but instead of helping, the officers alleged that his daughters might have "run away" from home.
The Station House Officer of the City Police Station said, "We had received the application from Rehmat Masih claiming that this businessman had threatened to kidnap his daughters and we have investigated the matter."He is a reputed businessman and he is being falsely accused. Whereas Rehmat Masih is a carpenter and his neighbors say that he gets drunk every night and starts assaulting his daughters and forces them into unethical activities, so they might have run away, being unable to bear the torture."However, Malik Shahid, a neighbor disputed the police claim saying, "I have known Rehmat Masih for the past 20 years. He has been living in the neighborhood and is a respectable person. I have never heard any harsh words from him nor have I ever seen him doing anything unethical."In fact this businessman is an influential person and we have seen him threatening Masih. The Police are twisting the matter as they cannot take any action against him as they are involved with him."
On Wednesday, the Muslim businessman "forcefully" married Saima Masih in the presence of a Muslim cleric. In Islam if a woman of any other religion marries a Muslim, she embraces the religious faith of her husband and thus converts to Islam.According to sources, this cleric has been an active member of the banned extremist group Sip-e-Sahaba and has been involved in kidnapping Christian and Hindu girls and forcefully converting them to Islam.Rehmat Masih says that he has continued his visits the local police station but, he says, so far, they have refused to help and have told him to forget his daughters.Masih said helplessly, "I have made appeals to the authorities in Jung, but they all have been bought, and instead of serving the Punjab government, they are the servants of the extremists groups."
Haroon Barkat Masih, chairman of the Masihi Foundation, has condemned what has happened to the sisters."Kidnapping of Christian girls and forced marriages have become a common practice in Jhung and the surrounding areas," he said. "Christian and Hindu girls are forced to marry the Muslims, which automatically converts them to Islam. The police and the local authorities are paid to take care of the official documentation, so no First Information Reports are registered."These officials are tools in the hands of the extremists. These areas are a safe haven for the extremists. Clerics openly talk about killing and kidnapping Christian girls in their Friday sermons. There are countless similar cases that go unregistered.
"We have talked to several Punjab Government officials, but unfortunately the local government supports these groups. The Masihi Foundation is building bonds between various communities, working towards a tolerant society where everyone can live in peace."

North Korea to release missionary (ANS)


North Korea announced Friday (May 27, 2011) that it plans to release a Christian missionary with ties to an Orange County, California, church, who was arrested late last year.
Jun Young-Su, who has been held in a North Korean prison since November, reportedly faced charges of proselytizing in the communist nation which is illegal in the country.Former US president, Jimmy Carter, and Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, had both raised his case with officials, during recent visits to North Korea“Jun, also known as Eddie, is reportedly about 60 years old and a naturalized U.S. citizen. He had been working legally inside North Korea at the time he was detained,” wrote Barbara Demick in the Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com).“The investigation proved that Jun committed a serious crime … which he frankly admitted himself,” the news service said in a statement.“The government in Pyongyang has not said what the charges were against Jun, but news reports said he was accused of trying to spread Christianity,” said Demick.
According to a story by Doug Irving in the Orange County Register (www.ocregister.com), Jun Young-Su had faced indictment after he admitted his crime, the official Korean Central News Agency announced earlier this year. North Korea said in a state media report on Friday that it had “decided to release Jun Young-Su on humanitarian grounds.”The story went on to say that South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency has described Young-Su as a missionary and businessman in his 60s. Citing unnamed sources, it reported in April that he had been accused of unauthorized religious activities.It added that Young-Su attended Bethel Church, a Korean-American church in Irvine, California, until about eight years ago, church officials said. They did not remember him, but Pastor Jonathan Chang said the church’s reverend, who did remember Young-Su, had described him as “a good guy, a faithful servant.”
“The North Korean statement did not say when Young-Su will be allowed to return home. It said he had received medical treatment and was allowed to make regular contact with the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which represents U.S. interests in the country. It also said he had been allowed to talk by phone with his family,” said Irving. 

Algerian Christian sentenced to five years in prison (ICC)


May 30, 2011 – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that an Algerian Christian was sentenced to five years imprisonment for blasphemy in Oran on Wednesday after sharing his Christian faith with a neighbor. The verdict came days after authorities forced the permanent closure of seven Protestant churches in Algeria’s Béjaia province.

Siagh Krimo was charged by the Criminal Court of the Djamel District in Oran, who based their decision on Article 144 bis 2 of the Penal Code which criminalizes acts that “insult the prophet and any of the messengers of God, or denigrate the creed and precepts of Islam, whether by writing, drawing, declaration, or any other means.” Krimo has ten days to appeal the sentence.Krimo, who is married with a nine month old child, was arrested on April 14, along with another Christian, Sofiane, after sharing his Christian faith with a neighbor. Sofiane was released soon after the arrest, while Krimo was detained for three days. Krimo was known to hold weekly prayer services at his home, which Algerian Christians suspect were being closely monitored by the police.

The prosecutor at Krimo’s trial, held on May 4, failed to present as a witness the neighbor who accused Krimo of proselytizing and making defamatory statements against the Muslim prophet Mohammad. Algerian Christians were hopeful that Krimo would be acquitted of all charges. “Good news, the judge, after having invited Krimo to use wisdom and return to Islam, has ended the affair,” an Algerian church leader in Tizi Ouzou told ICC on May 4. “We hope this will end well.”The prosecutor, doubtful he would win the case on so little evidence, reportedly asked the judge to have Krimo’s sentence reduced to a two year imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinar. However, some believe that higher authorities in the Algerian government were involved in reaching the final decision. “The judge would have normally acquitted Krimo of all charges, but I think he received an order from his superiors to strike hard,” said an Algerian representative of the Association of Protestant Churches (EPA).

Krimo’s sentence follows an order received by the EPA on May 22 to close seven Protestant churches in the province of Béjaia. The notice stated the churches are to be closed in accordance with Ordinance 06-03, which requires churches to obtain government permission to hold services. Though the EPA has made efforts to comply with the ordinance, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Religious Affairs have refused to register churches or to approve permits quickly.

Chinese Christian released from prison (ICC)

Yang Caizhen, along with her husband and four other Linfen-Fushan church leaders from Shanxi Province, was sentenced to criminal detention two to several years on November 25, 2009.

 The church leaders were arrested for organizing a prayer rally on September 14, 2009--the day after 400 military police raided the church's grounds, seriously wounding 30 believers and destroying 17 church buildings. The leaders were accused of "gathering people to disturb the public order" for organizing the prayer.For the past two years, Yang has been in criminal detention in Linfen Prison. Voice of the Martyrs has featured Yang in their "Prison Alert" e-mails over the past couple of years, asking people to pray and write encouraging notes to Yang.

Voice of the Martyrs, Canada recently announced that God answered prayer for Yang's release. The ministry reported that she has been free since February but has spent much of her freedom in the hospital, as she is very ill.
VOM Canada asks that you thank God for Yang's release but also pray for her healing. Pray for Yang's husband, Yang Xuan, and for Pastor Wang Xiaoguang, Yang Rongli, and Zhang Huamei, who were arrested at the same time as Yang Caizhen; they remain in prison.

Thank the Lord with us for this Sisters release, and remember to pray for those who are still imprisoned. 

UK doctor faces dismissal over sharing faith (ICC)


05/26/2011 LONDON,UNITED KINGDOM (BosNewsLife)-A British family doctor on Tuesday, May 24, defended suggesting faith in Jesus Christ to a patient last year despite facing disciplinary action and concerns he could lose his job.


"After doing the standard medicine I said to him: 'Look there is something else that could help you here',"explained Dr. Richard Scott, 50, in an interview. Dr. Scott said he told the patient, "If you like we can discuss and have faith and that could be an advantage to you in this case, and could help you move forward and give you some hope for the future."The Cambridge-educated doctor, who works at Christian-oriented Bethesda Medical Center in Margate, Kent, stressed he only discussed how his faith in Jesus had helped him "at the end of the consultation" -- with the 24-year-old patient’s "consent".

But the General Medical Council (GMC) said it is considering disciplinary action because the patient's mother had complained about the faith discussion.The professional regulator's chief executive, Niall Dickson, said doctors should not normally discuss their personal beliefs with patients “unless those beliefs are directly relevant to the patient's care”.Yet, Dr. Scott,  who previously worked as a medical missionary and surgeon in Tanzania and India, said he would not accept the formal warning from the GMC and planned to appeal against the censure, although he was warned this could result in being dismissed.Dr, Scott said Christ "can deal with stuff from the past in terms of hurts or guilt or fear of failure, stuff that really you can only find through Christianity." He said Jesus Christ understood patients as He had lived as a man on earth and suffered for the sins and problems of mankind by dying at a cross for them before His resurrection.
" Jesus Christ, Dr. Scott said, is often "the Only Way to deal with issues that standard Western medicines can not."
Advocacy group Christian Legal Center told BosNewsLife it would support Dr. Scott in his legal battle. "It is a shame that Dr. Scott has been reported to the GMC because of his Christian views," said its Chief Executive Officer Andrea Minichiello Williams. “The complaint, on religious grounds, appears to be a smokescreen to express frustration and to disagree publicly with the professional treatment offered."

Williams said "Many patients are helped when a doctor, in the natural course of a discussion, talks about their spiritual needs. This is all Dr. Scott was doing and he should not be punished for this or prevented from doing so in the future.”

Islamic militants attack Pastor and his family in Pakistan (ICC)


05/26/2011-PAKISTAN (Worthy News)-- Christians in Pakistan remained concerned Monday, May 23, over the situation of Pastor Paul Ashraf and his family after they reportedly narrowly survived a drive by shooting by suspected Islamic militants in Punjab province, seriously injuring their eldest son.

"Pastor Ashraf was in a van with his wife, Rubina Ashraf, and eldest son Sarfraz Ashraf, on April 27 when two unidentified men on a motorbike opened fire" on their car, said the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), an advocacy group closely following the case."Pastor Ashraf and Rubina were unharmed but Sarfraz" who drove the vechicle, "was shot in the side and face. The masked gunmen fled from the scene when they saw that Sarfraz had been seriously injured," CLAAS explained.

"Miraculously, he survived the shot to the face and was released from MAYO Hospital after just one day," CLAAS told Worthy News.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the violence. However, CLAAS said, the attack followed threatening letters and phone calls Pastor Ashraf received from the radical Islamic organisation Tehreek-e-Gazi Bin Shaheed.

Seven Churches forced to close in Algeria (ICC)

May 25, 2011 – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Algerian authorities ordered the immediate closure of seven Protestant churches in the province of Béjaia in early May and demanded that the Algerian Protestant Church Association (EPA) eventually close all churches under their authority throughout the country.

A written notification dated May 8 and addressed to the President of the EPA demanded the closure of seven churches in Algeria’s Béjaia province, located 200 kilometers east of the capital Algiers. The notification was reportedly ordered by Hamou Ahmed Touhami, the president-appointed wali (or governor) of the Béjaia province, and signed by Police Commissioner Ben Amar Salma. A follow-up statement released by the local police department on May 22 further stated that all Protestant churches in Algeria must be closed. “I, Mr. Ben Amar Salma, the High Commissioner of the police in Bejaia, have informed Mr. Mustapha Krim, the President of the EPA … to close down all worship places around the country once for all; the places which are used now and the places which are under construction…  The authorities will make sure that the order will be obeyed, otherwise severe consequences and punishments will be applied,” the statement read.

After receiving the notice, the leaders of the seven churches in Béjaia were summoned to the police station to sign a document accepting the order, but reportedly refused to comply. Without compliance, churches will likely be closed by force and leaders may be arrested. “According to this decree, if one does not obey the instructions, the authorities are threatening to do the enforcement," said EPA President Mustapha Krim. “Apparently they want us to disappear from the map.”

Algerian Christians are fearful that the order against churches in Béjaia is a prelude to more closures. “This first notification may be the beginning of permanently closing every place of worship other than Islam throughout the national territory,” a church leader in Tizi Ouzou told ICC. “On Tuesday, most of the national press in Algeria spoke of the case. We must begin to make noise and to not allow this to pass over in silence, or else the authorities will crush us.”

The notice stated that churches are to be closed in accordance with Ordinance 06-03, which was established in 2006 to regulate the worship of non-Muslims by requiring churches to obtain government permission to hold services. According to the notification received by the EPA, the churches are to be closed permanently “for exercising religious worship other than Islam without authorization or the compliance of the National Commission for Non-Muslim Religious Services.” 

Pakistan Christian woman kidnapped and raped at gunpoint (ICC)


05/25/2011  (BosNewsLife)-- Pakistani Christians have expressed concerns about  renewed kidnappings and abuse of women and girls by Muslims in a country still reeling from the recent assassination of a Christian government minister.

Among those targeted was Sehar Naz, a 24-year-old employee with Pakistan's State Life Insurance Corporation in Punjab province, who was recovering of her injuries Monday, May 23, after she was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a Pakistan Army officer.BosNewsLife identified her as she had openly spoken about the case with the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), an independent group "working for Christians who are persecuted because of their faith in Pakistan."In remarks published by CLAAS, Naz said the troubles began when she was meeting with her company's "Area Sales Manager on April 14 when they were approached by a man who claimed to be a police officer."

He allegedly said he had received a call about them and requested to see their identification cards. As she did not have her ID card with her at the time, the man took her away to his home, Naz said.She claimed she was repeatedly raped at gunpoint in different locations around the Punjab cities of Faisalabad and Lahore over a period of four days before being dumped by her kidnapper at Faisalabad train station.

Christian woman in Sudan (Darfur) arrested (CND)


Tuesday, May 24, 2011 . KHARTOUM, SUDAN (ANS) -- Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that Sudanese National Security Intelligence and Security Service agents have arrested a Christian woman in a Darfur camp for displaced people, accusing her of converting Muslims to Christianity, said sources who fear she is being tortured.
The CDN story said that at the same time, in Khartoum a Christian mother of a 2-month-old baby is wounded and destitute because she and her husband left Islam for Christianity.
In Darfur, Hawa Abdalla Muhammad Saleh was arrested on May 9, 2011, in the Abu Shouk camp for Internally Displaced Persons in Al-Fashir, sources said. Abdalla has yet to be officially charged, but authorities have accused her of possessing and distributing Bibles to others in the camp.
"Sources said she could also be tried for apostasy, which carries the death sentence in Sudan. Abdalla has been transferred to an unknown location in Khartoum, sources said, adding that they fear she could be tortured as she was detained and tortured for six days in 2009," the CDN story continued.
In Khartoum, Omar Hassan and Amouna Ahamdi, both 27, said they fled Nyala for Khartoum in June 2010, but knife-wielding, masked assailants on May 4, 2011, attacked them after relatives learned that they had converted to Christianity. Ahamdi was injured trying to protect Hassan during the attack, he told Compass.
Ahamdi said her brother had stabbed her three times in the stomach nine months ago, seriously injuring her spleen, after she told him she had become a Christian.

"We cannot deny Christ - this is a big challenge to us, because we do not have a place to go," she said, through tears. "We have no food, and we are jobless. I am still in pain, besides having a 2-month-old baby boy to care for." 
Please pray for her release on for the Christians in Darfur. 

Christians persecuted in Belarus (ICC)

05/24/2011 Belarus - The  Co-Chair of Belarus' Christian Democracy movement, Pavel Severinets, was for five months in detention repeatedly denied the possibility of a visit he requested from an Orthodox priest, he has told Forum 18 News Service. Severinets was speaking after he was given an open jail term for his political activities, at a trial along with two other opposition political activists and human rights defenders.
The authorities admitted to Severinets that he had every legal right to see a priest, he told Forum 18. He suspects that the denial was due to his refusal to work for the KGB secret police as an informer, and his unwillingness to plead guilty to organising a riot. Elsewhere, Nikolai Varushin, a member of an unregistered Baptist church has been threatened with punishment under Criminal Code Article 193-1, which carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment. This is the second recent occasion in which the use of Article 193-1 – which has not previously been used to repress freedom of religion or belief – has been threatened against an unregistered religious community.
Go to  http://www.persecution.org/2011/05/24/belaruschristian-threatened-two-years-imprisonment-for-not-registering-to-worship/ to read the complete article.
Please pray for Christians in Belarus. 

Islamists in Egypt stop Church from re-opening (ICC) (CDN)

5/20/2011 Egypt. Hundreds of Muslims, angered by the prospect of a government-closed church re-opening in their neighborhood, protested outside the church yesterday, causing the provisional military authority to back away from its promise to allow Orthodox clergy to reopen it.Protestors started gathering on Thursday afternoon (May 19) outside the Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Abraam in Ain Shams, a poor section of northeastern Cairo. The church was scheduled to reopen that day, but protestors surrounded the building, preventing anyone from getting into it and trapping priests who were inside. 

 
Several people were injured in fights between the Copts and the Muslims. Protestors threw rocks at each other, according a witness. One Coptic bystander was seriously injured, another witness said, when he took out a cell phone camera to record the protest and a group of Muslims surrounded and beat him. Several Copts were arrested, according to church officials. 

 
It was unknown if any of the Muslim protestors have been arrested.

Read the complete story here  http://www.persecution.org/2011/05/23/authorities-islamists-in-egypt-stop-church-from-re-opening/

Evangelist detained and beaten in North Korea (ICC)

19/05/2011 - An American detained in North Korea for apparent missionary work was severely beaten as part of investigations into underground Christian churches there, an acquaintance said on Thursday.

Eddie Jun Yong-Su, an ethnic Korean US citizen, had been engaged in "aggressive" missionary activities in the hardline communist state, said Lim Chang-Ho, a professor at a South Korean theological college.

Lim said Jun and two ethnic Koreans with Chinese passports were arrested atthe same time last November. "The two others were badly beaten but they were allowed to return home as they were Chinese nationals," Lim said.

"According to them, Jun was beaten up so severely that he could hardly walk without help," he said.
Lim said Jun belongs to a South Korean missionary group which has been supporting underground Christian churches in the North with cash donations and publications.

"North Korea apparently considers this case as a chance to track down and eradicate underground churches at one blow," he said, adding Pyongyang regards such Christians as a threat to its regime.  Full Story

Pray for Jun's release and safety, as his whereabouts and physical condition are unknown at this time.
Pray for North Korea, whose church continues to grow but continues to be near the top of the list of persecuted believers.
Pray for the spread of the Gospel in the prison where Jun is being detained. May he shine forth the greatness of God to all of those he comes in contact with!

Another Christian charged under the blasphemy law in Pakistan(CDN)


May 8, 2011 - Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that police in Chichawatni, Sahiwal district have charged a mentally ill Christian with "injuring religious feelings" under Pakistan's widely condemned blasphemy laws.
Three families related to 25-year-old Babar Masih - the only other Christian families in the area - have fled their homes after a Muslim mob threatened to harm them, relatives of the accused told Compass.Police in Chichawatni, Punjab Province registered the blasphemy case against Masih on Monday (May 2) after arresting him at about 10 p.m. that night; the young man's own family handed him over to police because a large number of Muslim clerics had gathered outside their house and demanded that he be turned over to them so that they could 'do justice' by killing him, relatives told CDN.
His brother, Amjad Masih, told Compass that Babar Masih has suffered a mental illness for the past six or seven years typified by fits of unprovoked rage, abusive language and lack of concern for food and clothing.Masih was charged under Section 298 of Pakistan's blasphemy statues for "uttering words . . . with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings" and Section 298-A for "use of derogatory remarks . . . in respect of holy personages."
CDN went on to say that Attorney Khurram Shehzad Maan of the European Center for Law and Justice's office in Pakistan said that the complainant clearly states in the First Information Report that Babar Masih was addressing the stars as he allegedly cried out against the prophet and holy personages of Islam, Maan said."It means that the police must have come to know since the beginning that Babar was not a sane person, who was addressing stars, and also Babar never meant to injure feelings of any Muslims," Maan added. Police were not available for comment at press time.
The CDN story conclude by stating that Pakistan's blasphemy laws have drawn condemnation across the world, and two senior government officials - Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, a liberal Muslim, and Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, have been assassinated this year for demanding a review of the legislation. 

Hindu radicals attack pastor in India (ICC)

05/04/2011 India (BosNewsLife)-An Indian evangelist and pastor still needed medical treatment Wednesday, May 4, a month after Hindu militants opposing evangelism beat him in front of his children in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, Christians said.
Remesh Devda, 30, was traveling by motorbike with his two sons from the town of Chikklia to the town of Raseda when three militants on motorbikes suddenly blocked his way, according to local Christians.The militants, drunk and armed with large bamboo sticks and clubs, allegedly attacked the pastor and effectively forced his 10-year-old Elias and 8-year-old Shimon to watch the April 4 violence.They allegedly threatened to kill Pastor Ramesh and warned him not to come to the area again.
The cries of the young boys alerted people passing by to the situation, where witnesses said they saw the pastor with head and other injuries.
When others arrived on scene, the attackers fled. Pastor Ramesh has remained in hospital "receiving care for severe injuries, including a fractured skull," said Voice Of the Martyrs (VOM), an advocacy group closely following the case.
Pastor Ramesh, who serves with the Christian Reformed Fellowship of India in three villages, suspects his attackers were Hindu militants angered by his Sunday worship services, Christians said. Although he reportedly believes the attack was pre-planned, he reportedly said he does not want to report it to the police for fear of retaliation.

Several nationalist Hindu groups oppose the spread of Christianity in India, a predominantly Hindu nation of over 1 billion people.
VOM said it has asked its supporters to "Ask God to heal Pastor Ramesh" and "Pray a spirit of trust in the Lord will guard his heart and mind against fear."

Syrian Christians Attacked (ICC)

Washington, D.C. (May 4, 2011) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Christian communities throughout Syria have been attacked by anti-government protestors led by hard-line Islamists in recent weeks. Christians have also been pressured to either join protests demanding the resignation of President Bashir Assad or else flee the county. With the mass immigration of Christians from the Middle East, notably from Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories, Islamic groups are now threatening to drive Christians out of Syria.

Last week in Duma, a suburb of Damascus, protestors chanted, “Alawites to the grave and Christians to Beirut!” according to an ICC source and Tayyar.org, a Lebanese news agency. Christians in Syria are concerned that the agenda of many hard-line Islamists in Syria, including the Salafists, is to take over the government and kick Christians out of the country. “If Muslim Salafis gain political influence, they will make sure that there will be no trace of Christianity in Syria,” a Syrian Christian leader told ICC.

In a Christian village outside of Dara’a, in southern Syria, eye witnesses reported that twenty masked men on motorcycles opened fire on a Christian home while shouting malicious remarks against Christians in the street. According to another ICC source in Syria, churches received threatening letters during the Easter holidays telling them to join the anti-government protests or leave. In Karak, a village near Dara’a, Salafists forced villagers to join the anti-government protests and remove photos of President Bashir from their homes. Witnesses reported that a young man who refused to remove a photo was found hanged on his front porch the next morning.  

“People want to go out and peacefully ask for certain changes, but Muslim Salafi groups are sneaking in with their goal, which is not to make changes for the betterment of Syria, but to take over the country with their agenda,” said the Syrian Christian leader. “We want to improve life and rights in Syria under this president, but we do not want terrorism. Christians will be first to pay the price of terrorism.” 

Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, “Unlike in Egypt, where Christians predominantly supported the revolution that removed President Hosni Mubarak from power, Syrian Christians have not participated in protests, anticipating that chaos and bloodshed will follow if radical Islam takes hold of the country. Throughout the Middle East, Christians have been fleeing their homeland in unprecedented numbers. Now, in a country where Christians have historically taken refuge from nearby purges in places like Turkey a century ago and Iraq in recent years, Islamists are threatening their existence. We urge the U.S. government to act wisely and carefully when developing policies that have deep political ramifications for Syria’s minorities by not indirectly supporting a foothold to be used by radical Islamists to carry out their anti-Christian agenda.”

Iran: Freedom for 3 Christians in Hamadan after 239 days of captivity (ICC)


                On 28th April both couples were taken to court were their appointed lawyers were allowed to present their defense at length.Subsequent to the court hearings the judge ordered their release and they were unexpectedly set free!
As per reports received from the church in Iran, Mrs. Sonia Keshish Avanesian (wife of pastor Vahik Abrahamian) together with Mr. Arash Kermanjani and his wife Arezou Teimouri,  who were arrested together on 4 September 2010, were set free from Hamadan state prison on Saturday 30th April 2011, after 239 days of captivity.
On 28th April both couples were taken to court were their appointed lawyers were allowed to present their defense at length. Subsequent to the court hearings the judge ordered their release and they were unexpectedly set free!It is yet unknown (and extremely distressing for his wife Sonia who is now free) why Pastor Vahik has been held back in prison.The respected families  have been unwilling to give more details. Those friends who have seen them state that they have lost lot of weight and feel very week and have a long road to full recovery.We would like to thank all Christians who have united in prayer and many fasted as well.Iranian Christians plead  with  all saints to carry on praying for the  release of Pastor Vahik and many other Christians held in various  prisons.
On the evening of Sep.10th; 2010; The official Islamic Republic of Iran’s Television; broadcast images from a small demonstration of a number of people in Hamadan,.IRIB quoting an Intelligence Ministry’s source, said that two persons of foreign Evangelical organizations in Hamadan, and 7 Iranian accomplices have been identified and arrested. The news was read in such a way as to suggest that the two were foreign nationals, engaged in formation of an illegal underground organization against the people of Iran .
Couple of months later the arrested people have identified, all Iranians without any non-Iranian name amongst them, proving the news broadcast baseless. Four of the arrested; Mr. Vahik Abrahamian and his wife Sonia Keshish-Avanesian, Mr.  Arash Kermanjani and his wife Arezo Teymouri, they were detained at Abrahamians’ residence by the agents of The Ministry of Intelligence on the same day(04 Sep.2010).

Muslim mob attack seminary and forces thousands to flee Pakistan

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on April 30, a Muslim mob attacked a Presbyterian Seminary in Gujranwala, Pakistan after falsely accusing Christians of desecrating the Qur’an. At least 3000 Christians have fled the area fearing for their lives.

The mob accused Pastor Eric Isaac, former pastor of a Presbyterian church, of burning the Qur’an. He has been arrested.The police were able to prevent the mob, estimated at 4000, from causing further damage to Christian homes and churches in the area. Several police were injured by the violent mob. The police arrested at least 135 of the rioters.

This is not the first time that Muslims have accused Christians in Gujranwala of desecrating the Qur’an. Mushtaq Gill and his son Farrukh Gill were accused of the same issue on April 15. Though the police were convinced that the allegation was false, they arrested Mushtaq and Farrukh because of intense pressure from Muslim mobs. The police released them the next day but rearrested them after pressure from Muslim radicals.According to Pakistan’s blasphemy law, the desecration of the Qur’an is a crime punishable by life imprisonment. Desecrating the name of Islam’s Prophet, Muhammad, is punishable by death.

“Once again Muslim radicals are inciting violence against Christians based on a false accusation of blasphemy. We urge the Pakistani officials to investigate this latest incident of attack and bring those responsible to justice. It is high time for Pakistan to reform its blasphemy laws that cause so much violence against Christian minorities in the country,” said Jonathan Racho, ICC’s Regional Manager for South Asia.

Suspected Islamist gunmen attack a Christian clergyman and his family and critically injured his son (ANS)


A Pakistani clergyman, and his family, were attacked on Wednesday 27 April, 2011, by two militants allegedly belonging to the group called of Tehreek-e-Ghazi Bin Shaheed (TGBS), near Hamza Town, Lahore, leaving the 24-year-old son, critically injured.
This news was relayed to the ASSIST News Service by Joseph Francis, head of the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) who said that the Rev. Ashraf Paul, and his family, were traveling in their vechicle on Ferozepur Road when two motorbike riders intercepted them and then open fire on their car hitting it at least five times and seriously injuring the son.
Mr. Francis and his team of lawyers, who are now investigating the violence, went on to say that the gunmen fled after the attack and so far their identities have not been established.Sarfraz Paul (24), the pastor’s son, sustained critical bullet injuries and was immediately taken to the nearest general hospital, from where doctors referred him to the Mayo Hospital, located in the heart of Lahore City, for emergency surgery. At the Mayo Hospital, doctors recovered three bullets from the jaw, waist and pubic area of the young man.After the operation at Mayo Hospital, Sarfraz Paul was described as “out of danger” but was still under the vigilant observation of the doctors.
Prior to this incident, the Rev. Paul had received a letter on March 30, 2011, telling him to stop his evangelical activities. It was claimed to be from Tehreek-e-Gazi Bin Shaheed (TGBS), an Islamic organization in Pakistan, and signed by its leader. Rev. Paul contacted CLAAS and informed them that he, along with his family, were constantly receiving these death threats which told him to stop church and Christian publishing work. They also demanded pastor to pay the equivalent of US $119,79USD, as a “poll-tax” otherwise they said they would kill him and his family.
The Rev. Paul, 55, said he turned down their demands and this is why they may have attacked him and his family.

Christian clergyman receives threatening letter from Muslim militants (ANS)


A Pakistani Christian pastor has received a five-page threatening letter from an Islamic organization which not only threatened death, but also tried to extort a lot of money from this poor Christians leader.
The Rev. Ashraf Paul received the letter on March 30, 2011, telling him to stop his evangelical activites. It was claimed to be from Tehreek-e-Gazi Bin Shaheed (TGBS), an Islamic Organization in Pakistan, and signed by its leader.Rev. Paul contacted CLAAS and informed that he, along with his family, were constantly receiving these severe death threats which told him to stop his religious activities through his church and the publishing of religious books for Christians.They are also demanding the pastor pay the equivalent of US $119,79USD, as a "poll-tax" otherwise they said they will kill him and his family. His family is now in hiding with one of the family friends.
Pastor Paul, aged 55, has been running Hope Fellowship Evangelical Ministry at Hamza Town, near Youhanabad, Lahore. He was converted to Christianity in 1970 and went to seminary some ten years later where he got three years of pastoral training and then in 1983, he was deputed as principle at Good News Center at Dera Ghazi Khan.
In 1998 he was appointed as assistant director at the Eye Hospital at Gillgit. In 1999 he shifted in Lahore and joined Pakistan Bible Society for proof reading of the Bibles for printing on a very small salary.Pastor Ashraf was a very famous writer as well as a poet and used to write religious poetry and religious books for the encouragement of the young Christians of Pakistan to make them strong in belief and faith, in this way he was earning some money for his family.
Pastor Ashraf and his family have lived a very poor life and were hand to mouth. In 2005 Pastor Ashraf and his wife Mrs. Rubina Ashraf aged 45, approached CLAAS and asked for some financial help, Mr. Joseph Francis, its chairman, gave them a suggestion to start a High School for young Christian girls and boys in Hamza Town to provide free education to poor Christian children and offer them for some help in this regard.Therefore Mrs. Rubina Ashraf started a school for Christian children in-collaboration with CLAAS and also a small church with the congregation of 18 - 20 families. They were providing free education to poor, needy and street children. With the passage of time and encouragement, Pastor Ashraf started a primary education school for Christian children in Sadiqabad and 4 stitching centers for Christian women to give them skills of stitching and embroidery.
At the moment Pastor Ashraf and his wife is serving the Christian community in Pakistan as pastor at Kashmore, Sadiq Abad and Lahore, through writing books and through education.God has blessed them with four educated sons. They have a big congregation in Kashmore and Sadiq Abad but in Lahore they have a very small congregation and a small church. They have become better in financial position and have started the construction of another building for a High School for Christian Boy's in Hamza Town Lahore.
CLAAS requested all readers to pray for the Christian community in Pakistan especially Christian religious leaders as well as political leaders.

Laos, Vietnam troops kill four Hmong Christians (ICC)

Laotian and Vietnamese troops have killed four Hmong Christian women after confiscating their Bible, a US rights group said on Friday, condemning growing persecutions of people for their faith in Laos.
The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) said the unarmed highland Hmong women were 'summarily executed' on Thursday in north-eastern Xieng Khouang province by soldiers from a special 150-member unit of the Lao People's Army (LPA) led by Vietnamese secret police and military advisers.
The government troops confiscated the group's only Bible, 'brutally and repeatedly raped' at least two of the younger women before shooting them at point blank range with automatic weapons in the head and torso, it added. Their husbands and 26 children were forced to witness the killings and have since disappeared after being beaten and tied up.
CPPA executive director Philip Smith denounced what he called a 'tragic and major upswing' in religious persecution in Laos at the hands of Vietnamese and Laotian military and Communist Party officials over the past year.
'In a coordinated and expanded fashion, the Vietnam People's Army and LPA troops and security forces are especially determined to hunt down and kill independent Christian and animist believers in the highlands of Vietnam and Laos,' he added.
Mr Smith pointed to a 'very dramatic' increase in persecution, imprisonment, torture and killing of Lao and Hmong Christians for celebrating Christmas or worshipping independently, as well as independent Buddhist and animist believers in the provinces of Vientiane, Khammoune, Saravan, Xieng Khouang, Luang Prabang and other regions in Laos.

Update on 'Father and Son facing death sentence in Pakistan' :                                      Muslims Attack Christian Man's House over Blasphemy Case Row (ANS)


GUJRANWALA, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- An angry Muslim mob attacked the house of a Christian man over a blasphemy case dispute at Aziz Colony in Gujranwala, a Pakistani city in Punjab province, on Sunday, April 17. 2011.
The Rev Eric Isaac, a local clergyman, and Abid Saaid Gill, a political worker with the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), have told ANS what had occurred in this latest attack on Christians in this country.
The trouble began, they said, was when Mushtaq Gill, a Christian instructor at the Christian Technical Training Center, and his son, Farrukh, who works in a local bank, were implicated in what appears to be a fake blasphemy case.
Abid Saaid Gill alleged that unknown Muslim men had thrown burnt papers in the front yard of the house of Mushtaq Gill, and then claimed that these were burnt pages of the Quran and started a blasphemy case against the father and son.  But now the local Jinnah Road City Police Station has released Mushtaq, but they have kept his son Farrukh in the lock-up, even though there is still no official case. This apparently sparked a protest rally on April 15, 2011, when a group of Muslims headed by clerics demanded that the father be re-arrested and install the blasphemy case against the father and son.
Rev. Isaac, who runs a school at the same locality, alleged that on April 16th, Muslims once again held a protest procession, but this time instead of merely chanting slogans or delivering speeches, a Muslim gang from the "Changar" (vagrants) clan, invaded the house of a Christian man. The minister said, "They barbarically thrashed the man and his entire family member including his daughters and daughters-in-law."
Abid Saaid Gill told ANS later that the Superintendent of Police, instead of taking the Muslim perpetrators into custody, arrested 12 Christians including Mushtaq Gill, the Rev. Eric Isaac and his family members, APMA workers, Abid Rafiq, Atiq Bhatti, Waris Khan, and also some APMA volunteers. Abid Saaid Gill said they were all taken to the Satellite Town Police Station, and on inquiry, the police officer claimed he had only arrested them "to save their lives."
Now, in a bid to settle this situation, an inter-faith committee has been formed to discuss and resolve the row. It consists of ten people, including four Christian clergymen, four Muslim clerics, and two police officers.

Jihad declared against Christians in Malaysia (ICC)


15 April 2011 - An umbrella coalition of Muslim groups held a protest today and declared bloodshed against ‘extremist’ Christians that insult and ridicule the position of Islam in the country.The Muslim Organizations in Defense of Islam (Pembela), comprising 20 groups, protested after Friday prayers at the National Mosque against Putrajaya’s release of Malay-language bibles and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s promise to never impound the Alkitab again.

A group of 30 men dressed in white shirts and skullcaps gathered at the main entrance of the mosque after prayers with placards saying “Allah is great! We Ansarullah (helpers of Allah) are watching you!”Group spokesman Dr Yusri Mohamad said that the Christians are beginning to challenge and dismantle the status and sovereignty of Islam as the state religion.“Pembela found that statements and actions (by Christian groups) are made to further challenge the sovereignty of Islam. This is not acceptable to Pembela because it implies that there is a larger agenda to be achieved by this group apart from the bible issues alone.

“Pembela believe that despite the bible issue there is a hidden mission to open the Muslim community in Malaysia to apostasy, or at least inject religious pluralism, secularism and extreme-liberalism which can erode the integrity and identity of Muslims in Malaysia,” he said while addressing a crowd of over 50 over a loudhailer.Yusri also asked Christian groups to stop their confrontational approach and to apologise to Muslims for wounding the community….

“We are also not comfortable with the approach of allowing non-Muslim leaders to become spokesmen for the government and the opposition in this issue because this involves Islam and Muslim leaders must step forward to address this issue.“We ask all Muslim leaders to unite against extremist Christians that challenge and insult Islam,” he said.

Please pray for the safety of Christians in Malaysia.

Assaulted: Christian woman: Uzbekistan (Forum18)


A respected news service is reporting that in Uzbekistan, Police have assaulted a Baptist women, and have also raided a Baptist church for giving a gift to a children's home.
In the first case, Forum 18 (www.forum18.org) says that Uzbekistan has levied a large fine on a Baptist in the capital Tashkent - who was allegedly physically assaulted by police - for giving a children's Bible to a work colleague.The policeman who was said to have assaulted Galina Shemetova denied to Forum 18, a news service based in Oslo, Norway, that he had done anything wrong.Forum 18 explained that Galina Shemetova, a female member of an officially registered Baptist Church, gave a children's Bible in the summer 2010 to one of her work colleagues at the Tashkent Metro. She was subsequently charged under the Code of Administrative Offences' Article 240 Part 2 ("Attracting believers of one confession to another (proselytism) and other missionary activity").
"The existence of this 'offence' breaks the international human rights standards Uzbekistan has formally committed itself to implement," said Forum 18.The news service went on to say that on Friday, April 1, 2011, Shemetova was leaving a Tashkent hospital after medical treatment, for which she had been granted sick leave from her work. Then, in the sight of medical personnel, "police officer Vadim Kim of the Metro Police struck Shemetova on the head, and dragged her by her hair into a police car", a person who wished to remain anonymous for fear of state reprisals told Forum 18 on 14 April.
Officer Kim categorically denied to Forum 18 on April 14 that he had done anything wrong. "She is a provocateur. In fact, she was yelling and calling for help for nothing", he claimed. "She was hiding from the police for one week pretending to be ill, and we needed to bring her to the court." Asked what Shemetova had done wrong, Kim replied that "she is a missionary and violated the law". He then hung up the phone.
"As is usual in cases of police violence and brutality, no investigation has been launched by the authorities," said Forum 18. "Violence and torture, or threats of this, is 'routine' the UN Committee Against Torture has found. Women in particular are often targeted by such assaults and then fined." 

Mexican pastor kidnapped (CDN)


Some 500 worshippers were gathered for last Sunday’s (April 10) worship service at the Christian Center El Shaddai in the Mexican city of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacan at about 8:15 a.m. when four masked men burst in firing machine guns into the air.

Before the frightened believers realized what was happening, their pastor, Josué Ramírez Santiago, had been whisked away. Divergent press reports indicated the kidnappers, suspected drug traffickers active in the state, were about 10 in number.The following day, the pastor’s family received news that the criminals wanted a ransom of 20 million pesos (US$1.7 million). Even if the family could raise such an immense sum – considered doubtful – payment would not guarantee that the victim would be returned alive.

Please pray for the release of this Mexican Pastor and for his safety. 

Eritrea Christian facing death in Saudi Arabia (ICC)(CSW)


An Eritrean Christian is facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia after being arrested for sharing his faith with Muslims.
Mussie Eyob was detained by the authorities at a mosque in Saudi's second largest city, Jeddah, on 12 February. He had gone there to meet and talk with local Muslims after speaking about Christianity at the Eritrean Embassy for three days. Eyob was arrested for preaching to Muslims, an offence that carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia
Please pray for his release. 

Arrested and beaten: China (ICC)


09/04/2011 - Since last January, at least two underground priests (in communion with the Pope), from Xuanhua dioceses (Hebei), near Beijing, have been detained and badly beaten up. They are among at least 20 underground priests in Xuanhua and Xiwanzi dioceses have been tortured and pressured to “register” with the government-sponsored Church associated with the Communist Party-controlled Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association over the past two decades, sources, anonymous per request, told AsiaNews.

On 9 April, Fr Chen Hailong of Xuanhua was taken away by officials in Yanqing Beijing County, and has not yet been released by today, 12 April, the source told AsiaNews.

Fr Zhang Guangjun, also from Xuanhua diocese, was detained in February, and badly beaten. His family was allowed to take him out on March 29 for medical treatment. He had bruises to the head and the legs, and had been visibly tortured.Fr Zhang was tortured for refusing to concelebrate and to register and get the “priest card” as a means of accepting the independent and self-managed Church. “To concelebrate (with patriotic priests) is never possible. As being held, I don’t expect to leave here freely,” he was quoted as saying.

As early as 13 January, he was brought away from a layperson’s home by officials disguised as technicians who had come to check the gas system. He was taken to a hotel in Zhuolu County, and barred from sleep for five nights.After a short release for the Lunar New Year in February, Father Zhang reported to the local united front work office on March 8 but was badly beaten up and tortured.

According to sources in Zhangjiakou area, since 1990s, more than 20 priests from Xuanhua and Xiwanzi dioceses were detained, beaten, jailed, sent to study sessions in order to get them “registered” and “surfaced”.“We are angry at the threats, violence and inhumane means used by the government officials to go against the priests,” sources noted.“As the state advocates the building of harmonious society and religious freedom, we, as Catholics in China, hope the government would release all the detained clergy and respect their conscience,” they said.

In addition, at least eight priests have been taken to undergo study sessions: Tian Yongfeng, Pei Youming, Hu Huibing, Liang Aijun, Wang Yongsheng, Yang Quanyi, Gao Jinbao and Zhang Guilin.

India Believers Banished for Following Christ (ICC)(GFA)


April 2011 - Christian believers in two Indian states were expelled from their villages simply because they chose to follow Jesus, according to reports recently received by Gospel for Asia (GFA).
Here, in a place where followers of the traditional religion consider Christians to be low-caste, GFA-supported national missionary Galoknath Jena had established a regular prayer meeting in the home of Kanchan and Gayan Verma. Theirs was the first family in the village to follow Christ, and they were among just a handful of believers that formed the first Christian fellowship there. Not suprisingly, the rest of the village was angered by the small group of believers in their midst, and when Kanchan, 65, suddenly died, they took advantage of the situation.

Immediately, village leaders began to verbally abuse and harass Gayan, her daughter Sachika, 38, and her two children. But when the believers silently braved their insults and prayed for God's grace, the anti-Christian religious leaders became infuriated.
Finally, when it was clear that the harassment was not going to change Gayan's family, the leaders forced them to leave the village. Taking their few worldly possessions with them, the family took shelter in the home of a GFA leader in a village about 25 kilometers (15 miles) away.

"This dear family has lost everything and patiently endured persecution for the sake of Christ," notes Dr. Yohannan. "Unfortunately, they are not the only ones. "Just the other day, we received another report of a man in Uttar Pradesh who received similar treatment. There, a young man named Kunai received Jesus as his Savior about six months ago, and now the local leaders have banned him from his village.

Christians arrested for public worship: China (Christian Post)

Hundreds of Christians in China were detained Sunday as they tried to hold worship service outside.The church claims that the Chinese government has been pressuring landlords not to rent them space to worship.They were members of Shouwang Church, one of the largest unregistered Protestant churches in Beijing. The congregation was evicted from the restaurant that they were previously meeting at.With no other choice, church members tried to hold Sunday service at an open-air venue. The announcement was made on the Internet. They were aware of the risks and were warned b the pastor, the Rev. Jin Tianming, that they would likely meet resistance.
Police officers blocked some members from leaving their homes and detained more than 100 churchgoers, forcing them into buses and driving them away to an unknown location, as reported by Voice of America.According to the China Aid Association, a religious freedom group based in Midland, Texas, "all but a handful" of at least 169 Christians were released 24 hours later.
As of Monday morning, a pastor, his wife and a female churchgoer were still in police custody, CAA reported.Meanwhile, surveillance vehicles remain outside the homes of the church members."ChinaAid believes that their freedom of movement will remain restricted for some time to come."In China, Protestant churches must register with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, which oversees the churches, and China Christian Council in order to operate legally.The TSPM/CCC, however, is a government body that places submission to the state’s authority at the same level (if not above) submission to Christ’s authority. Therefore, many house churches refuse to be part of the TSPM/CCC because they argue that Christ is the head of the church, not the government.They also fear regulation from the government, such as controlling sermon content, if they register.
Elder Fu Xianwei from Shanghai, chair of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, reports that there are over 23 million Protestant Christians, including non-registered believers. The underground Christian population, however, is estimated to be as high as 100 million.

Indian Christians face new wave of violence (ICC)


(AsiaNews) - Christians are again under attack in Karnataka, targeted by Hindu extremists by police, complicit with the fundamentalists. Sajan K. George, chairman of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) condemns this new surge of intolerance in an interview with AsiaNews:
"The police yesterday arrested 9 believers of the ‘New India Church of God’, at Mysore , Karnataka after around  25, Bajrang Dal Activists stormed the church  while the Sunday morning service was on. .  The Hindu Fundamentalists barged into the church, forcibly stopped the service and began abusing the believers, using the filthiest language. 
Religious Freedom is our Constitutional Right and here in Karnataka is seems that the Christians are being threatened, attacked and harassed for their Faith and Practice of our Charitable Works.  The Bajrang Dal collude with officials to terrorize Christian institutions in Karnataka".
Please pray for the safety of Christians in India 

Three churches attacked: Egypt (ANS)(AINA)

March 2011 - In the last two weeks there were three attacks on churches by Salafis or Islamic Fundamentalists in Egypt.
According to a story by Mary Abdelmassih for the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), the Salafis demanded churches move to locations outside communities and be forbidden from making repairs, "even if they are so dilapidated that the roofs will collapse over the heads of the congregation," said Father Estephanos Shehata of Samalut Coptic Diocese.AINA said the latest of these incidents occurred in the village of Kamadeer, in Samalout, Minya province on April 5. It escalated to the point where it was feared the church would be torched and demolished, as happened in the case of St. George and St. Mina Church in village of Soul, Atfif, on March 5.
AINA said for three days Muslims occupied the entrance to St. John the Beloved Church in the village of Kamadeer with their mats, praying and sleeping there while thousands of village Copts staged a sit-in for three continuous days in front of the Minya governorate building, vowing not to leave until they got their church back."Even if it takes one year, we will still be here," said Father Youssab in the rally. The Coptic demonstrators demanded the reopening of their church and prosecution of the squatters.AINA said when the priest arrived at St. John the Beloved church on April 5 he found hundreds of Salafis, who told him and the parishioners who arrived for mass they were "not allowed" to pray at this church any longer.
AINA said the problem started when the heavy rain in Jan. 2011 caused the church, which is built of clay bricks and has a timber roof, to suffer severe cracks. The Copts requested from the military permission for repairs. Last week inspectors from the local council visited the church and confirmed the church is dilapidated and poses a threat to the parishioners and must be repaired."This has angered the Muslims," said attorney Hani Labib from Kamadeer, "who saw the Copts were going to get permission for renovation because of the state of the church. They told us 'we allowed you to pray here, but there is no question of any building work to be done, this will have to be over our dead bodies.'"AINA said he added that police officers summoned a number of Copts from the Kamadeer village and ordered them to sign affidavits not to pray at the church in "deference to the wishes of its Muslims." However, the Copts refused to sign.
"Salafi Sheikh Mohamad Saleh, called on Muslims to prevent the restoration of the church," said Father Estephanos.AINA reported he added Muslims said they had to move the church to another location, which was refused.Estaphanos said because Muslims have built a mosque five meters away from the church, this means that the church, which has been there for twelve years, has to move.AINA reported Estephanos said relationships between Copts and Muslims in the village are usually amicable, but the Salafis stepped in and incited Muslims from other villages to besiege the church.After several calls to the military governor and the governor of Minya and following several meetings, the problem was resolved "to the satisfaction of the Muslims, as usual," said Coptic activist Wagih Yacoub.
AINA said on April 7 an "unofficial reconciliation" meeting was held between the two parties, and according to the signed agreement, The Copts are to relocate the church about 200 meters away from the old church and the new mosque, by exchanging plots of land with one of the Coptic parishioners.Although the new plot of land is 550 meters, AINA said Copts are allowed to build on only 175 meters. The new church must be one story high and not two as the old one was, and must not have any manifestations of a church, i.e., a dome, a cross or a bell.he military governor and the head of Minya security knew of the details of the agreement. "This will set a precedent in Egypt," AINA reported activist Nader Shoukry said. "Now this will be used everywhere, since the law is never applied when it comes to Copts. Instead we get those Bedouin 'unofficial reconciliations.'"AINA said in a second incident on March 27. nearly 500 Salafis, armed with swords, batons and knives, stood in front of St. Mary's church in the Bashtil district of Imbaba, Giza demanding its closure because "this is a Muslim area and no church should be allowed here."
A Coptic witness told AINA they closed the church door and held a number of the parishioners inside, including children. The terrorized Copts called the army to get them out, especially the children, who were traumatized. The military police arrived, freed the congregation and dispersed the Muslim mob, who were nearby "to see if they need to attack again in case the Copts returned to the church."AINA said St. Mary's church, which serves 800 Christian families, is a prayer hall inside a services center which includes a kindergarten and a free clinic. It had obtained approval to operate by the disbanded State Security Intelligence (which operates now under the new name of National Security) in Dec. 2010 and which was until the "Jan. 25 Revolution," the only authority responsible for issuing approvals for churches, even if they had a presidential decree.AINA said two Salafi imams, sheikh Gamal and sheikh Mohammad Farag (an auto mechanic by trade), incited Muslims to carry out this siege by claiming Copts wanted to turn the center into a Church without a proper license. The two priests of the church were taken to the Giza Security Directorate to forge an unofficial "reconciliation."According to Dr. Naguib Ghobrial, head of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights, the police told him they took the priests away because of concerns for their safety.
A few days before this incident, AINA said, four Salafis from the neighborhood filed a complaint with the local police claiming "the sound of hymns during mass 'makes their ears ache,'" according to Coptic lawyer Peter el-Naggar. "Fact is the center, which used to be a clothing factory before being bought by the church in 1990, is in the middle of agricultural land."After the reconciliation meeting at the Giza Security Directorate, services at the Bashtil center were halted until the church acquires a license to operate, according to Father Hermina, who is in charge of the center.AINA said in he third incident, three days before the Bashtil center incident, St. George's Church in Beni Ahmad, 7 KM south of Minya was also subjected to Muslim intimidation. The 100 year-old church received three years ago an official permit from Minya governorate allowing for the expansion of its eastern side, as well as the erection of a social services center within a small plot of land belonging to the church.
Three Salafis together with a large crowd of village Muslims visited the church on March 23, AINA said, and ordered the church officials to stop construction immediately and undo what they had completed, otherwise they would demolish the church after Friday prayers. They also demanded the church priest, Father Georgy Thabet, leave the village with his family.Muslims were invited from all neighboring village to be ready for Friday's demolition if their demands were not met. It was reported the village Coptic youth stood guard inside the church to prevent any Muslim demolition, and Salafis were standing outside church calling for the priest to leave the village as well as hurling insults. Beni Ahmad village has a population of 8,000 Copts and 23,000 Muslims.
AINA said the Diocese stepped-in and contacted the authorities who in turn asked them to contact the military governor. A meeting was held between representatives from the church, the Salafis, the army and security in Minya. The Salafis requested the demolition of what was built, and the departure of the priest and his family. In the end the military told the Copts they cannot interfere in this case."In other words the authorities have sold the Copts to the Salafis, to do what they like with them and the church," local Coptic activist Mariam Ragy told AINA.The expansion work has stopped, but church services continue with the same priest. The Salafis asked for a "donation" from the church for a so-called kidney dialysis center, "which is not even suitable for animals to live in, let alone being a medical center," Ragy told AINA. 

Officials fail to protect Christians : India (ICC)


2 April 2011 - Four Christians, including a police constable, were beaten on April 1 in Madikeri district on allegations of “religious conversion abetment,” as if conversion were illegal in India. Daijiworld Media Network reported that K. Nidugane villagers were enraged when a Christian constable identified only as Prasanna, along with three others identified only as Diwakar, Lawrence and Dias, went door-to-door distributing pamphlets and books in Nandimotte village.
A few enraged Hindu villagers beat them, tore their clothes half-off, and brought them to a police station. Hindu extremist leaders who found out rushed to the village, but before they could manhandle the four, policemen intervened and took the accused Christians into custody. Deputy Superintendent of Police J.D. Prakash said that a recommendation had been sent to the superintendent of police seeking Prasanna’s suspension from service, the Daijiworld report stated.
Diwakar, along with his wife Telcy Diwakar, had also been arrested and released on bail when they visited Devastoor village on March 26. A police official told Compass that the Christians have been charged with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.”

Converting to Christianity - 12 arrested (ANS)


March 30 2011 - According to the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act (OFRA), religious conversions can only take place after permission has been granted by the local police and district magistrate. 
The order stipulates that a citizen wishing to convert must undergo a police inquiry to explain his or her reasons. 
Thus, on March 29, 2011, twelve tribals were arrested for undergoing religious conversions in an “illegal” manner.  Nine out of the twelve arrested tribals were women, but all were booked under Section 4 of Orissa’s Freedom of Religion Act.
Orissa police are now out searching for two Baptist pastors who have received “complaints.” 
Hopefully, these faithful servants will not be found. Please pray for their release. 

Christians threatened: Egypt (ICC)


Ten human rights organization staged a rally on March 30 in front of the building of the Attorney General to bring to public attention the tragedy of some nine thousand Coptic villagers living in terror since end January in the Upper Egyptian villages of Badraman and Nazlet Badraman in Deir Mawas, Minya. Rights activists and Badraman villagers were joined by attorney activist Peter elNaggar, who filed a complaint with the Attorney General against 34-year-old Muslim police informer Ali Hussein, nicknamed "Holaku" after the ruthless Mongol leader.
Hussein was accused of terrorizing the Copts, raping their wives, kidnapping their children for ransom and extortion. Attorney elNaggar said that if proven these charges are punishable by the death penalty.
Security forces were informed last January of the incidents in both villages, "but they just turned a blind eye," said Coptic activist Nader Shoukry, who publicized the story last week after registering all crimes against the Coptic villagers.The terror started on January 28, when Ali Hussein assaulted Copt Khalil Suweiha and his family. Mr. Suweiha filed a report with the police in Deir Mawas but was forced to drop the charges after being threatened with death by Hussein and his 200-man armed gang.
Hussein then started extorting money from Copts and attacking their homes. They all had to withdraw the police reports they filed against him after being threatened.
On January 29, Hussein, broke into the house of another Copt (his name is withheld), raped his wife and mother after being restrained by Hussein's men. He was too frightened to report the crime to the police after being threatened that his children would be killed, according to activist Mariam Ragy.Alaa Yusuf Iskandar, 30, was kidnapped and his family paid a ransom of 200,000 Egyptian pounds to Hussein to set him free. Although the family reported the kidnapping to the police, no action was taken.
Hanna Samuel had his 12-year old son kidnapped on March 8; the well to do Coptic family paid a ransom of nearly 500,000 Egyptian pounds to free their child

Convert or face death: Pakistan Christian now in hiding (ICC)


“Convert or die”. Masih Gill, a Christian from the city of Mardan, in the province of “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” (Northern Pakistan), was threatened with these words by a group of Muslims with whom he had been speaking, after the recent episode of the burning of the Koran in the US.
This event caused violent reactions in Pakistan (three churches attacked in a week) by Muslim extremists. Nearly one dozen UN guards were killed on April 1, while two were beheaded. Local sources say that Masih Gill simply defended his faith, saying that Christians respect all religions and do not nurture hostility towards anyone. The  Muslims then threatened Gill. They also said that they would charge him before Pakistani authorities with blasphemy.

Masih Gill, who is married and has children, is now in hiding while his family is now being harbored at a safe location, thanks to the Masihi Foundation. The foundation is also defending Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who is awaiting the execution of a death sentence following her conviction on charges of blasphemy, according to Muslim law.

Please continue in your prayer for Pakistan. Pray for the safety of your brothers and sisters today!

Christians arrested in Vietnam (ICC)


At least 29 Catholics were arrested at 8 AM yesterday morning when they were on their way to the court-house to observe the proceedings,” against lawyer and activist Cu Huy Ha Vu, the Catholic Youth Association of Vinh reported. Among them was Le Quoc Quan, a celebrated Catholic lawyer who has just filled out his application to run for Congress as a Catholic. Others that were arrested were Paulus Le Son, a blogger and a regular writer on the Redemptorists’ website; John Nguyen Van Tam, Catholic Student Group leader, and other young, patriotic students who came to show their respect for the non-Catholic defendant.
It had been reported by numerous eyewitnesses, that shortly before being arrested those Catholic individuals were closely stalked, their cell phone use monitored and they were subsequently roughly manhandled, even bystanders who came to their rescue were subjected to beatings until they had to let go of the victims in order to avoid being severely injured.
With Le Quoc Quan in custody at the Hoan Kiem station, police raided his house, turned everything upside down, taking away his computers and documents along with a safe box. Another Catholic prominent reporter JB Nguyen Huu Vinh, who had been beaten half dead at Dong Chiem last year, was summoned on the day for interrogation after his article on police brutality against innocent people had been published on a Catholic website.

Please pray for the safety of Christians in Vietnam. 

Released: Biplob Marandi: Bangladesh (ANS/CDN)


Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting the good news that this week a judge exonerated a Christian sentenced to one year in prison for selling and distributing Christian literature near a major Muslim gathering north of this capital city. This information came from his lawyer.
After reviewing an appeal of the case of 25-year-old Biplob Marandi, the magistrate in Gazipur district court on Tuesday (March 29, 2011) cleared the tribal Christian of the charge against him and ordered him to be released, attorney Lensen Swapon Gomes told Compass.
The CDN story said that Marandi was selling Christian books and other literature when he was arrested near the massive Bishwa Ijtema (World Muslim Congregation) on the banks of the Turag River near Tongi town on January 21, 2011.
On Feb. 28 he was sentenced for "creating chaos at a religious gathering" by selling and distributing the Christian literature.
"Some fundamentalist Muslims became very angry with him for selling the Christian books near a Muslim gathering," Gomes said, "so they harassed him by handing over to the mobile court. His release proves that he was innocent and that he did not create any trouble at the Muslim gathering." "After processing the paperwork for Marandi's release from Gazipur district jail, authorities were expected to free him by tomorrow, according to his lawyer," concluded the CDN story.
Thank you for your prayers, please continue to pray for those who are still imprisoned like Brother Youcef in Iran.

Forced to leave: Pastor Unni Joyce: Bangladesh (ANS)


Unni Joyce is homeless today because he preached the Gospel.
Unni is a simple believer who lives in Bangladesh, one of the poorest nations on earth, yet he is rich in faith. Every Sunday Unni could be found leading worship services in his village of 500 people. Initially, his family was one of only three Christian families in the entire village. However, due to his faithfulness, about 40 people chose to follow Christ. They were set to have a ceremony to testify of their newfound faith, but that triggered animosity from some of the villagers.
Anti-Christian extremists decided to try and stop Unni's work by destroying his house and physically running him and his family out of the village.
Today Unni is staying in another village and asking for prayer for the 40 new Christians, that their faith will remain strong in such difficult circumstances. He also asks for prayer that this situation will help their faith to grow.
Unni and his family also need prayer for God's comfort and protection
Pray also for the attackers, that they will come to know Jesus.

Missionaries attacked and arrested: South Asia (ANS/GFA)


Seven Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries were robbed, beaten and arrested March 28 as they were preparing for a Christmas gift distribution event in South Asia. Normally these ceremonies are joyous occasions where missionaries distribute gifts purchased from the Gospel for Asia Christmas catalog by people around the world. The events are usually celebrations that include traditional singing, dancing, speeches by local dignitaries and a presentation of the Gospel. Then the gifts-which range from blankets and sewing machines to pigs and water buffalo-are given to individuals and families in desperate need.
Before the event started, a mob of about 50 people descended on the scene to rob and brutally attack the missionaries. They took their money, their cell phones and then ripped their Bibles to shreds. They singled out one missionary and shaved his head, which is a sign of shame in their culture. They also damaged a vehicle that belongs to the ministry in that area.
Then the mob forced the beaten and bloodied missionaries to the local police station and tried to file a case against them, saying the missionaries were forcing people to convert to Christianity.
The seven missionaries remained in police custody until later that evening, at which time they were released. The men are now being treated for their injuries. The Christmas gift distribution event has been rescheduled. The missionaries involved in the incident shared the following prayer requests:
. Pray for healing of their wounds
. Pray that none of the missionaries will be charged with a crime.
. Ask the Lord to embolden GFA workers with more courage and that the persecution they faced will help them do more for the Lord.
. Pray that the Christmas gift distribution will be rescheduled quickly.
. Ask the Lord to reveal Himself to the mob that attacked the missionaries and that they will choose to follow Jesus.

Police raid Church Service in Uzbekistan (ICC)


A Sunday worship service led by Baptists in a retirement home in Uzbekistan's Tashkent Region was raided by police and district administration officials.
It was the Sakhovat (Kindness) home for seniors in Ohangaron that was raided by the Tashkent Region's Ohangaron District Police.“Police unexpectedly broke into the foyer of the nursing home during the service, and halted it, saying that they were carrying out an anti-terror operation,” local Baptists told Forum 18.
Six Baptists - Igor Voloshin, Larisa Lankina, Irina Abdurahimova, Lidiya Guseva, Tatyana Balantayeva and Elvira Khabibulina – were leading the service. When they told officials that they had verbal agreement from the District Administration for the services, Forum 18 said police insisted the meeting was unauthorized.Forum 18 said the officials filmed everybody present with cameras and cell phones, despite their objections. Police then searched the Baptists and their car, and confiscated Christian cassette-tapes, CD’s, song books, notebooks, leaflets, a digital camera, a personal Bible and money. The police did not give the Baptists a copy of the confiscation records.

Each church member was then separately photographed, and their personal data recorded. They were finally put in the police car and taken to Ohangaron City Police. The elderly residents of the nursing home accompanied the six Baptists to the door “with tears in their eyes,” the Baptists told Forum 18.

At the police station, Forum 18 said, the Baptists were asked to write statements, which they refused to do.Police charged the six under Criminal Code Article 195 (“Resisting the orders of police officers”) and Article 201 of the Code of Administrative Offences (“Violation of the procedure for organizing and conducting meetings, street processions or demonstrations,”) Baptists told Forum 18.

The Baptists were not released until after midnight, and given a written summons to return during the day on March 14. When they returned as instructed, they were detained for the entire day. Police only released them after taking Voloshin's fingerprints, and returning some of the personal items confiscated the previous day.
Please pray for the safety of Christians in Uzbekistan as persecution in this country is increasing. 

Attacked: Ayman Anwar: Egypt (ICC)


A group of Muslims attacked Ayman Anwar Mitri, a 45 year old Christian Coptic man in the Upper Egyptian town of Qena, cutting off his ear. The Muslims claimed they were applying Sharia law because Mr. Mitri allegedly had an illicit affair with a Muslim woman. The Muslims called the police and told them "We have applied the law of Allah, now come and apply your law," according to Mr. Mitri in an interview for the Egyptian Human Rights Organization.

Mr. Mitri, a low grade administrator at a secondary school, from elHasweya, in Qena, 492 KM from Cairo, had rented his flat to two Muslim sisters, Abeer and Sabrin Saif Al-Nasr, through an agent. After nine months he learned the sisters had been indicted for prostitution, so he asked them to leave and they did.

On Sunday, March 20 Mr. Mitri was informed by a friend via a phone call at 4 AM that the flat where the Muslim sisters lived was on fire; he went to the flat. While waiting in the torched flat a Muslim named Alaa el Sunni came and berated him for renting his flat to prostitutes. "I tried to calm him down," said Mr. Mitri, "and told him I knew nothing about the two women since they came through an agent." Alaa suggested they would go somewhere quiet to clear the misunderstanding. They went to the flat of Mr. Mitri's friend Khaled, a policeman, where 12 Muslims were waiting for him. They started beating him and saying "We will teach you a lesson, Christian" and "This serves your right for renting your property to prostitutes."

Believing this was the end of the episode, they asked him to call the Muslim woman, so that they would send her to her father. When the woman refused to come, they asked a female Muslim neighbor to call her, saying that her belongings are with her. The woman, Sabrin, came and was told to say that she had a relationship with Mr. Mitri. "At first the woman refused, but after being beaten, she agreed," said Mr. Mitri.

Remembering his ordeal, he said that they sat him on a chair and a Muslim named elHusseiny cut his right ear off. "I felt so shocked that I do not even know what tool he used." They also made a a 10cm cut at the back of his neck, cut his other ear, his face and his arm (video showing wounds). Mr. Mitri said they wanted to throw him off the fifth floor but Khaled objected, saying he would get into trouble for just being there, since he is a policeman.
Mr. Mitri said that the Muslims tried to convert him to Islam, but he refused. The Muslims then called the police and told them to come and get the Copt saying "We have applied the law of Allah, now come and apply your civil law."
The police came and rescued Mitri and Sabrin, who told the police the Muslims forced her to lie about the illicit relationship between her and Mitri. A police report was issued, but no arrests were made.
"I feel humiliated and broken," said Mr. Mitri. "I have lost the income from the torched flat, my car, and have become disfigured. Who is going to restore my honor?"His wife said in an interview that she is ashamed to go to work and feels very unsafe. She is afraid to let the children go to school and is hoping to leave the area.

Wonderful news - Maher El-Gohary and his daughter, Dina Mo’otahssem free at last


CAIRO, Egypt, March 21 (Compass Direct News)
When the plane carrying Maher El-Gohary and his daughter, Dina Mo’otahssem, took off from Cairo International Airport last month, they both wept with joy. After spending two-and-a-half years in hiding for leaving Islam to become Christians, they were elated by their newfound freedom. They also felt secure that once they arrived in Syria, they would quickly obtain visas to the United States and start a new life. That hope soon proved unfounded. After spending more than a week and a half unable to obtain a visa to the United States or to any country in Europe, they realized they may have traded in the reality of being prisoners in their own country for being refugees in another. “I feel like we’ve stepped out of a prison cell and into a fire,” El-Gohary said. “My daughter and I divide the bottles of water to live, because there is no income.” El-Gohary, 58, gained notoriety in Egypt after he sued the national government in August 2008 to gain the right to change the religion listed on his state-issued ID card. Both El-Gohary and his daughter were publicly branded apostates in a country where 84 percent of Muslims think those who leave Islam should be executed, according to a study released by the Pew Research Center. The same month the suit was filed in 2008, El-Gohary and his then-15-year-old daughter were forced into hiding. In December 2010, after a long legal battle, El-Gohary got a court decision ordering the Ministry of the Interior to allow him to travel, but he said it still took several weeks for the government to comply with the order; and the Jan. 25-Feb. 11 revolution didn’t hurt. Dina said that although leaving Egypt was “like a miracle,” she is devastated by the prospect of having to spend more time with her life on hold. She said she is just as scared in Syria as she was in Egypt. “We’re really, really tired of all this suffering,” she said. “I’ve lost two years of my life. I want to finish school.”
For full article visit:  www.compassdirect.org

Aid needed as thousands of Christians flee Ethiopia (ANS)


March 2011 - An estimated 10,000 Christians have been forced to flee their homes in western Ethiopia following a barrage of attacks by Muslim extremists, who are rampaging through the area setting churches and houses ablaze.
According to Banabas Aid (www.barnabasfund.org) three Christians have been killed, with many more injured in the violence, which started in Asendabo, Jimma Zone, last Wednesday (March 2) after Muslims accused a Christian of desecrating a copy of the Qur'an."The manner in which Christians have been terrorized by radical Islamists is truly shocking. This has been a very distressing time for the believers," said a Barnabas Aid staff member, who returned from Ethiopia on Monday.
Attacks involving thousands of Islamists have continued, spreading systematically through five districts in the predominantly Muslim area. Information about the extent of the damage and number of people affected is still coming in; so far, 55 churches and dozens of homes are reported to have been torched, with many more properties looted by the mob.
An estimated 2,000 Christian families (10,000 people) are currently displaced, having fled to Jimma city to escape the violence. Local churches are trying to look after them, but they are overwhelmed by the number of people in urgent need of food, medicine, shelter, blankets and clothing.
Barnabas Aid is sending a grant to help Ethiopian Christians affected by this crisis and is appealing for further donations.The authorities were initially criticized for their limited response. Church leaders requested more police protection, but security forces sent in by the authorities were overwhelmed by the attackers. Now, however, it is reported that they are making a more concerted effort to calm down the situation.
Muslims comprise around a third of the Ethiopian population and have generally lived peacefully with the Christian majority. But Muslims are becoming increasingly radicalized by preachers who are promoting aggressive forms of Islam from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. More than 20 Christians were killed in similar violence in western Ethiopia in 2006.
Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Aid, said: "This totally disproportionate response by Ethiopian Islamists to a perceived offence by one Christian has precipitated a humanitarian crisis. Our brothers and sisters in western Ethiopia urgently need our prayers and practical assistance amid this devastation." 

Arrested: pastor Matthew, Pastor Jose: India (ANS)


Two pastors were arrested by the Karnataka state police for conducting worship service at their residential premises on Sunday, March 6, 2011.Pastor Mathew (30), the minister-in-charge of this house church and Pastor Jose (34), a guest speaker, were the ones arrested.
According to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), Pastor Mathew had invited Pastor Jose to speak in his church on Sunday.As the service progressed, a police officer walked into the church, and asked the pastors to stop the meeting, then ransacked the house church and took away Bibles and other Christian literature.
It was also learned through GCIC that they pair were then arrested and forcefully taken to the local police station.According to a police source, they were acting on a complaint lodged by a leader of the Hindu radical group called Bajrang Dal who alleged that they were engaging in "forceful conversion activity."The police detained both the pastors until 9.pm of that night and a complaint was registered against them.The pastors were then produced before the magistrate on that same night and the magistrate then allowed the pastors to go home on a temporary bail. 
Please pray for their safety and for Christians in India 

No release: Pastor Alimujiang Yimiti: China (ICC)


An ethnic minority house church leader remained detained in China's troubled northwestern Xinjiang region Sunday, March 6, after a court rejected an appeal to review his 15 years prison sentence on charges of revealing state secrets to overseas groups.


The Higher People’s Court of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region said there was "no basis" to review the long prison sentence given to 38-year-old Uyghur Pastor Alimujiang Yimiti, who converted from Islam to Christianity.A notice was sent to Yimiti in mid-February, informing him of the result of the appeal, Christians said. An earlier appeal in March 2010 had also failed.


United Nations officials and local Christians have linked the sentence to Yimiti's Christian conversion, his leadership of a house church with his wife Gulinuer and two sons, and apparent involvement in sharing reports of religious persecution.
Please continue to pray for his release and for Christians in China! 

Nearly 4000 Muslims Attack Christian Homes in Egypt, Torch Church(ANS)


A mob of nearly four thousand Muslims has attacked Coptic homes.
The assault occurred in the village of Soul, Atfif in Helwan Governorate, 30 kilometers from Cairo, and torched the Church of St. Mina and St. George.According to a story by Mary Abdelmassih for the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), there are conflicting reports about the whereabouts of the church pastor, Father Yosha, and three deacons who were at church. Some say they died in the fire and others believe they are being held captive by the Muslims inside the church.
AINA said witnesses report the mob prevented the fire department from entering the village. The army, which has been stationed for the last two days in the village of Bromil, seven kilometers from Soul, initially refused to go into Soul, according to the officer in charge. When the army finally sent three tanks to the village, Muslim elders sent them away, saying that everything was "in order now."
According to AINA, a curfew has been imposed on the 12,000 Christians in the village.
AINA said the incident was triggered by a relationship between 40-year-old Copt Ashraf Iskander and a Muslim woman.A "reconciliation" meeting was arranged recently between the relevant Coptic and Muslim families, and together with the Muslim elders it was decided that Ashraf Iskander would have to leave the village because Muslims torched his house.
AINA said the Muslim woman's father was killed by his cousin because he did not kill his daughter to preserve the family's honor, which led the woman's brother to avenge the death of his father by killing the cousin. The village Muslims blamed the Christians.
The Muslim mob attacked the church, exploding five or six gas cylinders inside the church, pulled down the cross and the domes and burnt everything inside.
According to AINA, activist Ramy Kamel of Katibatibia Coptic advocacy called US-based Coptic Hope Sat TV and sent an emergency message on behalf of the Copts in Soul village, as they are being attacked by the mob.
He also said that no one is able to contact the priest and the deacons inside the burning church, and there is no answer from their cell phones.

AINA said Coptic activist Wagih Yacoub reported the mob has broken into Coptic homes and has called on Copts to leave the village.
"Terrorized Copts have fled and some hid in homes of Muslim neighbors," AINA reported he added.
Witnesses said the mob chanted "Allahu Akbar," and vowed to conduct their morning prayers on the church lot after burning the building to the ground

Violent assaults: Egypt  


March 4 -Cairo - Violent clashes between Muslims and Coptic Christians in a town south of Cairo left two men dead and a Coptic church in flames, Egyptian media reported Saturday.Citing security sources, the media reports said the clash took place Friday between two families in the town of Sol, 90 kilometers south of Cairo.
The incident was triggered when local residents discovered that a Christian man from the town was having a relationship with a Muslim woman from a Cairo suburb, the security sources said.The two dead from the clash were the fathers of the two families, including the father of the Muslim woman.
Then, after the funeral of the Muslim father, members of the Muslim community set fire to the Coptics' Martyrs' Church in Sol.The incident underscores the ongoing tense relations between Egypt's majority Muslims and the Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 per cent of the country's population.
Please pray for the safety for Coptic Christians in this area. 

Attacked: Christian students in Ethiopia (ICC)


International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on February 26, a Muslim mob assaulted and wounded 17 Christian college students on a mission trip in Oma village, Ethiopia. The mob overwhelmed the government militia who attempted to protect the students.

The students, who were from Meda Welabu University, went to the Muslim village in Bale province on a short term mission trip.  After the students started to distribute Bibles and speak with the Muslims, one of the villagers angrily argued with them, inciting a mob to attack the students. The Muslims shouted Allah Akbar (God is great) as they hurled stones at the Christians and beat them with rods.When the Christians fled the village, the mob unsuccessfully attempted to set fire to their car.

Speaking with ICC, one of the victims who wanted to remain anonymous said, “We thank God that no one was killed. It’s sad that we suffered the attacks despite the Ethiopian laws which say there is freedom of religion and equality in the country.”
Please pray for the safety of these students and for future short term groups going into the country.                   Pray for the Church in Ethiopia. 

Attacked: Coptic Monastery: Egypt (ICC) 



Egyptian armed forces this week demolished fences surrounding ancient Coptic monasteries, leaving them vulnerable to attacks by armed Arabs, robbers and escaped prisoners, who have seized the opportunity of the state of diminished protection by the authorities in Egypt to carry out assaults and thefts.

"Three monasteries have been attacked by outlaws and have asked for protection from the armed forces, but were told to defend themselves." said activist Mark Ebeid. "When the terrified monks built fences to protect themselves, armed forces appeared only then with bulldozers to demolish the fences. It is worth noting that these monasteries are among the most ancient in Egypt, with valuable Coptic icons and manuscripts among others, which are of tremendous value to collectors."

On Sunday February 20, armed forced stormed the 4th century old monastery of St. Boula in the Red Sea area, assaulted three monks and then demolished a small fence supporting a gate leading to the fenceless monastery. "The idea of the erection of the gate was prompted after being attacked at midnight on February 13 by five prisoners who broke out from their prisons," said Father Botros Anba Boula, "and were armed with a pistol and batons. The monks ran after them but they fled to the surrounding mountains except for one who stumbled and was apprehended and held by the monks until the police picked him up three days later."

Father Botros said after this incident they thought the best solution to secure the monastery was to erect a gate with a small fence of 40 meters long at the entrance of a long wiry road leading to the monastery, which would be guarded day and night by the monks, and advised the army of their plan. According to Father Boulos, the army came with armored vehicles to demolish the gate, but it was agreed the monastery itself would undertake the demolition of the gate in stages as army protection is reinstated. "We told the Colonel it would look ugly to the outside world if Egyptian army is demolishing a gate erected for the protection of the unarmed monks under the present absence of security forces. We gave them full hospitality but we had a feeling that they wanted to demolish the gate in a 'devious' way.

Christians facing starvation in Laos


A group of approximately 65 villagers, who were driven from their village at gunpoint for refusing to give up Christianity, are facing starvation as local authorities in Laos destroy crops and prevent food from reaching the group.
The 18 families have been living in a temporary camp outside Katin village, Ta-Oyl district, Saravan province since they were marched from their village at gunpoint in two separate incidents in 2010 for refusing to give up their Christian faith.
A report received from a CSW source this week said that village officials are refusing to allow the Christians to enter the village to farm their land. An area that had been farmed around the camp has been destroyed. Village officials have instructed families in surrounding villagers not to help or provide food for the group, who lack access to adequate food, water and sanitation facilities, and medical treatment.                                                                                                                                                           It is reported that the villagers believe these tactics are an attempt to starve them in order that they give up their Christian faith. 

Christians killed in Nigeria (ANS / CDN)


Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that amid sectarian violence by Muslims, Christians and security forces in Jos, the capital city of Plateau state, a flash point for ethnic and religious conflict in Nigeria, scores of Christians were estimated to have been killed in the past month.
CND said, "Christmas Eve bombings by Islamic extremists touched off tit-for-tat violence that has killed more than 200 people in Plateau state, according to Human Rights Watch.
"In the predominantly Christian Barkin Ladi Government Area on the outskirts of Jos, Muslim assailants led by a police officer from Abuja on Thursday, January 27, 2011, killed 14 Christians, according to a military spokesman, and the next day Muslim youths stabbed two students at the University of Jos on the assumption that they were Christians.
Capt. Charles Ekeocha, spokesman for the Special Task Force (STF) charged with maintaining order in Jos, said the Muslim attackers in the Barkin Ladi area invaded four Christian villages in the early hours of Jan. 27, killing eight Christians in Dorowa, two in Nding Susut, three in Fanloh and one in Nding Jok.
"Military forces arrested 29 of the assailants, killing two in the process, he said. At the University of Jos, weekend clashes between students and Hausa Muslim youths following a January 28, 2011, attack by the youths left at least four persons dead and 20 injured," said the CDN story.
The story added that Christian leaders accused the Muslim minority of trying to take over the control of the state. The North Central Zone of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), in a January 24, 2011, newspaper advertisement, condemned a call by the Plateau State Chapter of the Muslim Council of Ulama for a state of emergency, which they said would leave Muslims in control of the state.

"The ill-concealed Islamic agenda of the Ulamas is to make Plateau state ungovernable so as to justify the truncating of democracy," the Christian leaders stated. 
Please pray for Christians in Nigeria! 

Ethiopian Christians warned to leave (ICC) 


Washington, D.C. (January 25, 2011)–International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Christians in the Ethiopian city of Besheno are being harassed and physically abused after Muslims posted notices on the doors of Christian homes warning them to convert, leave the city or face death. 

Three Christian leaders were forced to flee the city and two Christians have been forced to convert to Islam. In the Muslim majority city, the entire evangelical Christian community consists of about 30 believers. 

Evangelist Kassa Awano remains in critical condition after Muslims attacked him on November 29, 2010.  A few days after the attack, nearly 100 Muslims surrounded a vehicle carrying Christian leaders on their way to negotiate for peace with Muslim leaders.  Two men, Tesema Hirego and Niggusie Denano, were seriously wounded, and the other leaders suffered minor injuries. On January 2, Muslims assaulted Temesgen Peteros with a knife after he testified about the attacks on these Christians in court.

Please pray for Christians in Ethiopia today! 

Imprisoned: Pastor Behnam Irani: Iran (presenttruth) 


According to www.presentruthmn.com , on April 14, 2010, Brother Behnam Irani, pastor of a small church in Karaj, Iran, was leading a church service when interrupted by the Iranian secret police.
Brother Behnam was beaten in front of the believers, and then arrested. The believers present were detained for questioning but not arrested, said Jason DeMars, who runs Present Truth Ministries.
DeMars says Brother Behnam was released on bail a short time later.
In an e-mail update to ANS, DeMars says: “His trial was last Sunday, January 16, 2011. He was charged with action against the Order (government) and has been sentenced to one year in prison. He has 20 days to appeal the ruling before he begins to serve the sentence.”
Please pray for Behnam, as well as his wife and two children. 

More Christians arrested in Iran


Following the wave of arrests and repressive measures against new Christians in the capital city of Tehran, reports now indicate similar actions against recent Christians in other cities of Iran.
Mohabat News (www.mohabatnews.com), the Iranian Christian New Agency, said in a story sent to the ASSIST News Service, that “following the wave of repressions and arrests of several new Christians in Tehran and other cities, the security police in Isfahan have also been very active in pursuing similar measures.”
Coinciding with the arrest of Rev. Leonard Keshishian, pastor of the Assemblies of God Church in Isfahan on December 31st, reports have been received that four other new Iranian Christians have also been arrested in Isfahan (150 miles south of Tehran) at the same time.
The Mohabat News reporter in Isfahan has stated that the names of the four arrested are as follows: 31-year-old Basir Amini, 25-year-old Hooman Tavakoli, 20-year-old Rafee Nadi-Pour, and 35-year-old Yasaman Yar-Ahmadi. They were all arrested in Isfahan on Thursday, December 30th, 2010.
“The security police, in a coordinated and simultaneous sting operation, arrested each of the above mentioned Christians at their residences. These agents of the government, in their usual and routine habit, searched the homes of these Christians and confiscated some of their personal belongings such as computers, CDs, Bibles, and other Christian books,” the Mohabat News story went on to say. 

Murdered: Coptic Christian: Egypt (ANS)


Authorities have captured the man alleged to be responsible for killing one Egyptian Christian and injuring five others on a northbound train in Upper Egypt, security sources said on Tuesday evening (January 11, 2010). Media sources say that a gunman entered the train while it was stationed at the southern Egyptian city of Samalout in the Minya governorate, some 161 miles south of Cairo.
Security sources said that the assailant had checked passengers for the green cross traditionally tattooed on the wrists of Coptic Christians in Egypt. After identifying several Copts, the culprit killed one of them and injured five others.The same sources said that investigators are currently looking into the possibility that the assailant was a policeman. 
Please pray for the Coptic Christians in egypt. 

11 Christians arrested in Laos (CDN)


Following the arrest of 11 Christians at gunpoint on Tuesday (Jan. 4), three house church leaders remain behind bars for “holding a secret meeting,” according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF).
Lao authorities today released six of the house church Christians, including two children ages 4 and 8, from Khammouan Provincial Prison, central Laos. Two other men were released yesterday (Jan. 5).
 The charge against the three church leaders is a political offense punishable by law, HRWLRF said. It identified the three men only by their given names as Pastor Wanna from Nakoon village church, Chanlai from Tonglar village church and Kan from nearby Nahin village church, all in Hinboun district, Khammouan Province.
 
The other eight Christians initially arrested were identified as Sompon, his wife and two children, along with a man identified only as Wantorn, all from the capital, Vientiane; Bounma and Kay from Nakoon village church, and Pastor Sipan from Dongthai church in Takkek district, Khammouan Province. 
 Authorities first detained the 11 Christians at gunpoint on Tuesday (Jan. 4) after they gathered at Wanna’s home for delayed Christmas celebrations, according to HRWLRF.

Please pray for the Church in Laos. 

Attacks on Christian homes: Baghdad (ICC)


12/30/2010 Iraq (AFP) – At least two Christians were killed and 12 people wounded in a string of six attacks on Christian homes in Baghdad on Thursday, an interior ministry official said.The worst attack was in the central Baghdad district of Al-Ghadir, where a homemade bomb exploded around 8:00 pm (1700 GMT), killing the two Christians and wounding three others, including one Christian, the official said.
The attacks started at 7:30 pm in six different parts of the capital as the Christian community is still reeling from a massacre at a Baghdad cathedral on October 31 in which 44 worshippers and two priests died.

Al-Ghadir is an area with a significant Christian population, though many have fled following the massacre and in light of threats by Al-Qaeda to target them.
 Other blasts, also from homemade bombs, injured another nine Christians.











Government registered church shut down: China (ICC)


1/12/2010 China (ChinaAid) - In a troubling new development, yet another report has reached ChinaAid Association of Chinese authorities cracking down on a government-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement church for trying to celebrate Christmas.
On Christmas Day 2010, a government-approved Three-Self church in Hejia Village, Sanjie Town, Chengde county, Hebei province, was attacked by more than 10 officials from the county Religious Affairs Bureau, the Domestic Security Department, the Public Security police brigade, the township government, and the school leadership, who burst into the high school building that this church had lawfully rented and began filming and taping the proceedings. They ordered the Christmas celebrations stopped and threatened to arrest and fine the believers if they did not stop singing. They also ridiculed the food the believers had prepared for a group meal, saying it was awful. They clearly had no idea what the believers were doing in church.
Please pray for the chinese Government.








Crackdown on chinese House Churches (ICC)


China (ChinaAid) - On Dec. 22, three Christians from Qitai county, in the far northwestern region of Xinjiang, were taken into police custody for five days. They were two women, Wang Jinfeng and Pan Fengying, and a man, Wang Jingfu. They were released on Dec. 27. According to the administrative penalty notice from the police, they were detained because the three had attended an “illegal Christian gathering” on the morning of Dec. 21 in the home of Wang Jinfeng at Zhongqu Xizaozi Village in Dongwan Town.

A house church in Jiaozhou, coastal Shandong province, led by Brother Zhan Gang, who is also vice chairman of the Chinese House Church Alliance, was again targeted for official persecution during the Christmas period and now its members are without a place to meet.

In Bengbu, coastal Anhui province, three churches planned a joint Christmas service for Dec. 23 for some 1000 people. Even though one of the organizing churches was a government-approved Three-Self Patriotic Movement church of the and even though the Three-Self church had been rehearsing for the special service for a long time, the local Public Security Bureau forced the cancellation of the service. All three churches are now very angry.

Please pray for China.