December 2005
China.
Christmas Services Stopped in
Xinjiang: "...12
leaders were arrested. The private property was confiscated with no receipts
issued. The items were one rented minivan, one Buick car, one piano, one
video camera; 80 copies of bibles, 230 pieces of new towels. The police
also confiscated all the Christmas food before they left. According to one
female pastor who was at the meeting, the police officers presented a search
warrant and stated the meeting was an 'illegal religious gathering.'”
Pakistan -- Over 450 Christian
Families Flee After 2,000 Muslims Torch Village:
"A militant mob of approximately 2,000 Muslims attacked the village of Sangla
Hill, Pakistan on November 13th, forcing more than 450 Christian families
to flee for their lives. Vandalized and set ablaze were three churches,
a pastor’s home, a youth hostel, a convent, two schools and many Christian
homes.... This was an act of vengeance in the name of Islamic jihad for
a Christian’s alleged desecration of the Muslim Koran.... based on a false
allegation made two days before the rampage."
Christians in some Muslim lands have faced deadly
assaults during their Christmas celebrations. Please pray for their protection,
peace, joy and victory during this season.
See
Prayer
Christians in Iraq:
"An Anglican Pastor has been kidnapped in recent days and is presumed dead.
The son of an evangelical pastor has also been kidnapped. There have been
threats against many churches and against many pastors. The primary reason
behind this is because
many people are coming to faith in Jesus
Christ in Iraq."
Persecution
Christmas under Communism
(Ronald Reagan's Radio Program): "In the good days of freedom, the people
of the Ukraine sang these verses: 'The joyous news has come which never
was before. Over a cave above a manger a bright star has lit the world,
where Jesus was born from a virgin maiden.'... [T]his was neither fitting
nor permitted under Communism. Still the commissars were a little leery
about an outright ban. They chose to allow the song after some rewriting....
Here’s the first version: 'The joyous news has come which never was before,
a red star with five tails has brightly lit the world.... The altars have
crumbled and all the kings have fallen, glory to the working people, to
shepherds and the plowmen.... May all their family, especially the children,
grow up to be strong and happy so as to fight the rich men.'....
"The people of the Ukraine,
both in and outside the Iron Curtain, were so carried away by these verses,
they added one of their own. They sing it, but carefully refrain from putting
it in the songbooks. It goes: 'We beg you our Lord, we pray to you today.
Grant us freedom, return glory to our Mother Ukraine.'"
See
Brainwashing and "Education
Reform"
China.
Twenty Nine Chinese House Church
Leaders Arrested:
(Henan Province, 12-12-05) "Forty police officers with 8 police vehicles
raided a house church leadership meeting.... 100 major church leaders from
Henan and Anhui Province were gathered at a believer’s house discussing
how the house churches can effectively help a large group of peasants who
had contracted AIDS. That area is internationally known as 'the AIDS Disaster
Area' because many peasants became infected when they sold their blood to
local blood centers that were contaminated with the AIDS virus.... Their
private property was confiscated without receipts... [T]he police officers...
stated the meeting was an 'illegal religious gathering.'”
See
Prayer
and
Persecution
November
China.
Luis Palau Remarks in Beijing
Rebuked by House Church Leaders: "At a Nov. 19 press conference
in Beijing, Luis Palau... urged Chinese House Church Christians to
register their churches under the Chinese
Communist government and to 'receive greater freedom and blessings
from the government.'... Citing his Chinese-government-given 'total freedom'
to express himself in his preaching within the four walls of the
government sanctioned church buildings
during his trip in China, Palau 'feels that (Chinese) people are able to
worship openly in China.'....
“While we understand Rev. Palau’s passion and
eagerness to get into China’s ‘charity market’,
we can’t agree with his overall assessment and prescription....” said Rev.
Bob Fu, President of CAA ....
"'It’s rather ironical that while Rev. Palau was propagating that Chinese
pastors today won’t get arrested unless breaking the law, but barely two
weeks ago a Beijing house church pastor Cai Zhuohua was sentenced to three
years....' 'What Chinese Christians really need is not such kind of naive
ideas....”
China.
Six House Church Leaders Arrested
in Henan: "...six of the church leaders were arrested and detained
in the county detention center....
"The PSB officials told the
two they won’t be released until they guarantee their house church stopping
gathering or joining the official sanctioned
Three-Self Patriotic organization.... The
raided church is believed to be part of Fangcheng Mother Church... whose
leader pastor Zhang Rongliang has been imprisoned without trial since December
2004.
"
...approximately
a dozen house church leaders were arrested in various cities in Hunan Province
since July. ...some of these church leaders were given an unknown
drug by the State Security agents in order to get internal information....
Some leaders were tortured...."
Cattleman severely tortured
for receiving Christ:
"'...a police patrol team parked beside me and ordered me into their vehicle,'
Sashi said. 'They took me to their station and asked to know whether I was
a Muslim. I told them I was once a Muslim but was now a Christian.'... They
asked why he had converted from Islam to Christianity. 'Before I could respond
to their question, they started beating me,' he said. 'I was beaten with
police batons and clubbed to the point of death.'... Only the timely intervention
of a Christian lawyer... and the Rev. Matthew Oladokun... saved Sashi from
being killed.... Sashi said he will never recant."
Prayer
and
Persecution
China.
Thirty Small Singing Soldiers
:
"When Chinese police burst into a Sunday School recently where 30 children
were learning about Jesus, they were in for a shock. Bristling with state
authority, the police officers herded the children into police vans. They
must have seen their job of intimidating babies as an easy one. They bargained
wrongly. It started when one of the children began to sing. The rest of
the children joined in...."
October
Christian girls beheaded in
grisly Indonesian attack: "Three teenage Christian girls were
beheaded and a fourth was seriously wounded in a savage attack on Saturday
by unidentified assailants in the Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi.
The girls were among a group of students from a private Christian high school
who were ambushed while walking through a cocoa plantation in Poso Kota
subdistrict on their way to class.... Indonesia is the world's most populous
Muslim nation."
See
comment
Cuban Police Confiscate Printing
Press : On the morning of October 9, five plain-clothes secret
police officers raided a home in Colon, Cuba, and confiscated a small printing
press and printed gospels of John. ....The Cuban Minister of Religion, Caridad
del Rosario Diego Bello, was called in to review the case. She referred
to the confiscated printing press as "very dangerous." Pray for the work
of Cuba's Church, despite on-going opposition from the government.
Pray
for the continual spreading of the 'dangerous' Word of God in Cuba."
Persecution
Wrongly Accused Christian Sunday
School Teachers Face Hard Life in Prison:
"Dr. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun... are currently serving
a three year prison sentence in the Indramayu district of West Java, having
been wrongly convicted of 'attempting to coerce children to change their
religion' under the Indonesian 'Child Protection Act.'... Rebekka is a medical
doctor who treated approximately 30 to 40 Muslim and Christian patients
per day in her clinic....
"There are eight women to a 5m by 5m cell. They sleep all together on top
a hard, wood platform. Blankets and sheets are not allowed. 'We have to
pay money to the guards to turn the water on to the toilet in our cell,'
said Rebekka. ... 'I wake up at 5:00 am everyday to pray and read my Bible
till 7:30. ... This is ‘School of Trust Bible School.’ Not a jail.... Sometimes
I am depressed, but not for long. God comforts me everyday with joy and
peace. I pray for the other prisoners and guards. One prisoner converted
and became a Christian.... I am not angry at the people who brought the
charges against me. I forgive them. I bless them.'
"Ratna, with children eight and two said with tears in her eyes, 'I miss
my children so much.'”
Prayer
China.
Chinese Leader Arrested and
Beaten for Providing Aid:
"On October 11, a prominent Christian activist, Hua Huiqi, was arrested
in his home in Beijing. He was accused of aiding Sun Xiaodi who, earlier
this year, had sought to appeal to government authorities in Beijing to
stop the religious persecution that she and her house church were facing....
Hua...was beaten and kicked repeatedly. Whenever he was asked a question,
he was slapped in the face before he had a chance to answer....
"'Though I was beaten by the interrogators
repeatedly, I told them I love and pray for them instead of hating them.
They told me I am a strange man.'"
God's love in
flowing through His
people
China
Two Arrested, One Tortured in
China: "The
Communist government in China is continuing its oppression of unregistered
church activity.... On September 26, police in Henan Province, China arrested
a house church pastor, Ma Yinzhou, in an attempt to force him to reveal
the whereabouts of his son, Ma Shulei, a fulltime house church evangelist.
Shulei turned himself in on October 2 in order to save his father. However,
both are now being held in police custody....
"Tong Qimiao, a Christian businessman from Zhejiang Province, was questioned
by security agents in Kashgar. ...the police seriously beat him and left
him with a broken chest bone. Now in hospital, Tong has been threatened
and forced to sign a statement that he was never beaten during interrogation."
September
Armed Men Hijack Car of African
Evangelist: "On September
26th, in Nairobi, Kenya, minutes after American-born evangelist Loren Davis
finished meeting with 300 Kenyan pastors to warn them about the dangers
and pitfalls of Rick Warren's Purpose Driven programs, Davis' car was hijacked
by two unidentified armed men. 'I left after dark,' said Davis. 'Later that
night, we got a call from our men. They had been hijacked.' ...Davis has
planted 132 churches throughout Africa over the last two decades and says
he is deeply troubled about the widespread influence Rick Warren has already
had in many African churches. According to Davis, Rick Warren's teachings
are often unscriptural...."
Equipping Leaders to 'Lead
like Jesus'?
Ethiopian Evangelist Killed
for Refusing to Deny Christ:
"...a leader and evangelist with the Assemblies of God in the town of Jijiga,
Ethiopia was shot and killed on July 19 for refusing to deny his faith in
Christ. ... Estifanos Abate (34) was traveling from Degahabour to Jijiga
in eastern Ethiopia, when the bus was stopped by Islamic militants. The
militants boarded the bus, demanding to know the religion of each traveler....
The Christians were then ordered to repeat the Islamic creed and to bow
three times toward Mecca. Everyone but Estifanos complied with the order
and was allowed back on the bus. The gunmen threatened Estifanos, who calmly
began to tell his attackers about Jesus, while his fellow travelers begged
him to save his life by obeying their demands....
"...his body
was left on the side of the road for most of the day, presumably as a warning
to others."
Homes in Vietnam Burned for
Refusing to Deny Christ:
"...the local public security police chief, Dinh Van Hoanh, and his deputy,
Thai Mai Quan, came to the home of Dinh Van Hoang and told him that his
Christian faith would no longer be tolerated. He had to sign a paper declaring
the recantation of his faith in Christ or face the destruction of his home."
China
Voices in the Dark: Quotes from
China’s Suffering Church:
"China’s new Regulations on Religious Affairs, which came into effect on
March 1, have tightened government control over religious activity. For
example, Christians who attend unregistered churches, or are found in possession
of unlicensed religious publications, now face much stiffer penalties.'...
"
According to Xiao, all Internet
traffic in China passes through six gateways that are tightly controlled
by government agencies.... Illegal content... is vaguely defined;
for example, in Article 15 of the 'Measures for the Administration of Internet
Information Services,' all information that 'endangers national security,
divulges state secrets ... or undermines the state’s policy for religions'
is strictly prohibited."
Vietnamese law enforcement officials
burn homes belonging to Christians: "...the homes of the Hre
tribal Christians... were destroyed because they refused to deny their faith.
The victims belonged to the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN), which
ICC reported is recognized by the Vietnamese government. The local Communist
authorities of Son Thuong village, Quang Ngai province have publicly stated...
that 'the Christian religion is America’s religion, and is not allowed here.'
"...Mr.
Dinh van Hoanh, police chief of Son Thuong village and his assistant, Mr.
Thai Mai Quan, came to Mr. Dinh van Hoang's house and said: 'We do not allow
any Christians to live here. If you want to stay you must sign this paper
to declare that you and your family are renouncing your faith.’ “Mr. Hoang
refused to do so.”
Prayer
and
Persecution
Christian Homes in Palestine
Burned: "The homes
of at least fourteen Christian families in the village of Taybeh, northeast
of Ramallah, Palestine, were torched by Muslims from the neighbouring village
of Dir Jarir on Sept. 4.... They also vandalized cars and beat the villagers
as they fled their homes....
"The
violence was instigated by the death of a Muslim woman who was killed by
relatives after they suspected that she had been involved in a romantic
relationship with a Christian man. When the family found out, they forced
her to drink poison and then buried her without notifying the authorities."
Prayer
August
Persecution of Kosovo Christians
Said to Reveal Larger Threat
:
"International intervention to halt the persecution of Christians in Kosovo
is a 'complete failure,' according to a former diplomat and other political
analysts who briefed Capitol Hill staff late last week, pointing to the
destruction of 150 churches and the simultaneous construction of 200 mosques.
Cybercast News Service obtained video of the burning and desecrating of
the churches by ethnic Albanians, most of them Muslim. ...The new mosques
are funded by 'Wahhabist nations,' the diplomats said, raising the specter
of radical Islam incubating on the doorstep of Europe in a province rife
with illegal arms and narcotics trafficking."
See
Lawlessness
China
Five American Church Leaders
Arrested in Henan:
"...four American church leaders including one couple and 27 Chinese House
Church pastors were arrested... while celebrating Christian fellowship together....
None of the names of the five Americans who are believed to belong to the
same group of visitors are available. Their detention location is unknown....
".
..ten
more South China Church leaders were released after 43 were arrested along
with two American seminary students on August 2, in Hubei. Terrible torture
was used against some of them....
"August 7, during Sunday worship
service, a House Church in Hejing County, Xinjiang was raided. About 30
Christians were arrested and more than ten Christian women were stripped
and paraded in front of the others. The women who refused to take off their
clothes were beaten severely. One woman attempted to commit suicide by beating
her head against the wall because of this extreme humiliation. More than
20 police vehicles surrounded the church.
"...at
least four towns ... in Henan Province... approximately 400 to 500 believers
were arrested ...They were accused of 'anti-society, anti-TSPM' because
they left their corrupt government sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement
organization....
"Recently
CAA received secret documents from... Hubei Province, detailing China’s
systematic program of discrimination against religious 'cults.' These documents,
prepared by The Offices of the Leadership Group to Prevent and Handle Cultic
Activities... broadly define religious cults in such a way as to leave open
further acts of religious violations by the Government."
Persecution
China
Chinese Christians pray for
persecution and Revival in American Churches: "'Stop praying
for persecution in China to end, for it is through persecution that the
church has grown,' [the Chinese church leader] responded.... 'We, in fact,
are praying that the American church might taste the same persecution, so
revival would come to the American church like we have seen in China.'...
"I thought of the irony: We in America keep praying for God to bless us
-- and Christians in other nations are praying God will allow us to experience
persecution so that we'll act like the blessing we were made to be."
Suffering
Two Health Workers Murdered
in Bangladesh: "Two Christian men
were hacked to death on July 29 after showing the 'Jesus Film'.... The two
men, Tapan Kumar Roy, 27, and Liplal Marandi, 21, worked for Christian Life
Bangladesh.... On the request of villagers, they would often show the "Jesus
Film" also, which angered Muslim militants in the area. The men had been
threatened twice by an official from the local madrassa (Islamic school).
They were planning on leaving the area when they were brutally attacked
in the early morning hours.... Pray that those who heard the Gospel message
from these men will continue to seek and will come to faith in Christ. Pray
peace and comfort for their families and friends."
Persecution
China
More Than 210 Christians Arrested
in China: "On August 2, a house church in Lutou Town, Hubei Province,
was raided by plainclothes police officers. Forty-one Chinese Christians...
along with two American tourists, were taken into custody. The Americans
were detained for seven hours without being allowed any contact with the
US Embassy.... The Chinese believers were taken to the No. 2 Zauyang Prison.
At last report, eleven remain in custody and many have been tortured. ...
Ren was repeatedly beaten by the prison director who kicked her, punched
her in the face and beat her head against the wall with a chair.... Pray
that those instigating the violence will see the love and peace of God in
the lives of the Christians."
Prayer
July
Under persecution
:
"Almost 900 Christians are being held in prisons and military camps in Eritrea.
A few were released after signing a pledge to stop attending religious services.
"The
Eritrean government began forcibly closing evangelical Protestant churches
in 2002. They have not allowed any of the independent Protestant churches
to register and reopen since, even though 11 have applied for this official
registration."
China
Beijing church leader put on
trial:
"A leader of six Beijing-area house churches was put on trial Thursday morning
in a Beijing courtroom for alleged 'illegal business practices.'... Once
the hearing began, Zhuohua said his written testimony, which was compiled
from the interrogation records of the police, wasn't true. He said he was
unaware what the interrogator had written down on the interrogation document,
and that he was forced to sign the record of the interview under threat
of torture.... All three of the other accused Christians also revoked their
testimony... saying they had also been forced to sign or face torture."
China
Nationwide Crackdown on House
Churches in China:
"...in the early morning
of June 24, more than 50 plain clothed security officers from local Public
Security offices surrounded the entire village with three large trucks and
many police cars and proceeded immediately to Pastor Chen's house.... Private
property including cash, chairs, TVs, books, blankets and rice were confiscated
and carried away by the police trucks. One pastor who was released said
they were accused of 'engaging in an illegal religious gathering.' ...
"'This
is actually just the tip of the iceberg. China has been proclaiming to the
international community that Chinese people are enjoying a golden time of
religious freedom, this series of nationwide assaults on unregistered house
churches does not support this claim.” said Bob Fu...."
Christian Areas Attacked in
Pakistan: "...June
28, Christian homes in three areas near Peshawar, Pakistan were attacked
by a radical Muslim mob... after a Christian man was accused earlier that
day of burning pages with Koranic verses.... VOM sources say that the man,
Yousaf Masih, is more than 60 years old and has worked for almost two decades
as a sweeper for the Pakistani military.... Yousaf is illiterate, and would
have no way of knowing what was written on the papers he had been told to
burn....
"Following the arrest,
a group of angry Muslims came to the home and began to beat Yousaf’s three
sons. Radical Muslims... burnt an estimated total of 200 houses...."
June
Cyberabad police nab Hindu activist
for killing of two Christian pastors:
"The victims were taken to isolated spots on the city outskirts and strangulated
to death with ropes. The assailants then stuffed their half-burnt bodies
in gunny bags and dumped them at different spots. The police said the three
accused were activists of Hindu Vahini, an organisation opposed to religious
conversions."
China
Massive, coordinated crackdown
on Chinese Christians:
"On May 22, during Sunday worship time, police and Public Security Bureau
(PSB) officers simultaneously raided approximately 60 house churches in
Changchun, the capital city of Jilin province in northeastern China. In
the days following, an additional 40 churches in the area were also raided.
More than 600 house church believers and leaders were taken into custody.
Most were released after 24 to 48 hours of interrogation, but approximately
100 leaders are still being held in different detention centers....
"
One
church leader who was held for 15 days and then released... had been asked
three times in recent months to join the government-sanctioned Three Self
Patriotic Movement (TSPM), but had refused. The TSPM is the state-approved
Protestant organization. TSPM churches must meet in a government-approved
location, have a government-approved church leader, and are prohibited from
allowing children under 18 to attend church meetings."
Prayer
May
China
Church Meeting Broken Up with
Arrests (China):
"Before all of the Christians had even arrived for the meeting, approximately
thirty police officers pushed their way into the house.... They stopped
the meeting and ordered all who had gathered to go to the police station
for interrogation. They were held for almost three hours and subjected to
threats and verbal abuse before finally being released. One drunken police
officer reportedly said that he had orders
to harass the Christians until they stopped using Quang's house for worship....
"
Continue
to pray for spiritual, emotional and physical strength for these Christians
in Vietnam who are suffering this continued harassment."
Persecution
Students attacked
in India
(the link takes you to
the site, not to the emailed report):
"A group of extremists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh attacked and beat
eight students from Beersheba Bible College... on May 12th. The students
were making their way on foot to attend a funeral when about 15 motor-cycle-mounted
RSS members assaulted them with sharp weapons. All eight Beersheba students
were treated for injuries at a district hospital in nearby Kozhencherry;
three of them required hospitalization. Despite continuing RSS threats against
the college, Beersheba principal Shibu Nalweli said the campus community
has chosen to forgive the attackers
and does not wish to press charges."
Christian Persecution Linked
with Worldwide Trends, Says Agency:
"Christian minority groups continue to be targeted, and suffer discrimination
and persecution because of this growing trend. Laws such as Pakistan’s 'blasphemy
laws,' Sri Lanka’s, Saudi Arabia's and United Arab Emirates' 'anti-conversion'
laws, and Saudi Arabia and Iran’s wide-reaching 'Shari’a law' criminalize
the beliefs and activities of Christians and other religious minorities....
'Many Christian groups... are simply denied governmental approval and therefore
are forced to operate illegally at the mercy of the government officials.”
Philippians 1:20-21
Benin map):
"The whereabouts of two missionaries' children abducted in late April by
voodooists in a rural area are still unknown. It is feared that the two
children may be used as human sacrifices to a voodoo god. The children were
taken when a local voodoo chief and his followers attacked the family during
the night, beating the native missionary father and several other Christians,
as well as destroying the village church building, the missionaries' house
and several other converts' homes. The missionary, 'Jeremie,' and his wife...
had been serving the Fon tribe for a year, winning 25 people, most from
voodoo backgrounds, to the Lord.... Jeremie and three other Christians are
in critical condition....
"Pray God will protect these children from the evil plans
of their abductors and return them to their parents. Pray the Lord will
heal 'Jeremie' and the others who were severely beaten. Pray the Holy Spirit
will shed His powerful light on the spiritual darkness in that place."
From Missions Insider.
Persecution
&
Prayer
Vietnamese Christians flee for
their lives: "The government of Vietnam is stepping up persecution
of minority Christians, according to a Washington human rights monitor....
In the past, Hmong Christians, who have suffered persecution for more than
two decades, have reported beatings, torture, arrests and other forms of
brutality, including attacks against women and children."
See
Persecution
April
China
China Aid Leader Asked to Leave
During UN General Assembly on Religious Intolerance:
"Bob Fu... appeared before the UN general assembly. During his speech, with
previous agreement from both the Commission secretary office and the UN
security guards, Fu displayed and demonstrated an
electric-shock baton recently smuggled out
of China. The baton was made in China and
used by the Chinese police and interrogators
to torture victims....
"However,
the Chinese delegate immediately registered a complaint to UNCHR that the
electric baton made them 'feel threatened'.
Fu’s UN badge and the electric baton were
taken away by the UN security officials without giving any explanation.
Fu was then ordered to leave the UN complex immediately. ... China is now
demanding an apology from AWVI and Bob Fu."
An apology for reporting the truth? Will this intimidate UN leaders into
silencing those who expose abuses?
See
2 Corinthians 4:7
Pastor and driver murdered
(Pakistan): "Unknown killers kidnapped and brutally killed Protestant pastor
Babar Samsoun and his driver and fellow evangelist, Daniel Emmanuel, on
April 7. ...the slain pastor was 'accused of trying to convert Muslims
to Christianity.' The two men had been receiving telephoned threats demanding
that they stop their Christian activities."
Persecution
&
Prayer
Pastor and Wife Assaulted in
Bangladesh: "...as
a church leader and his wife were returning home on the evening of March
31, he was attacked. When his wife attempted to assist him, she was brutally
raped.... Both of them were taken to the local hospital where the wife is
reportedly in critical condition.
"
...this
couple has been one of the keys to a church planting movement in their district.
The husband is reportedly, 'on fire to tell the world about Jesus.' They
have two small children; a son and a daughter. Please pray for their healing
and for the work that God is doing in this area of Bangladesh."
China
Tortured Chinese Christian testifies
at UN Commission on Human Rights:
“They took us to Zhongxiang Police Training Centre. ... One of the men came
to me and started touching my body. I was so horrified that I shouted out
loudly. He slapped me across the face. Then the rest of the men started
asking me questions.... I told them my name, but before I could say what
I did the first man started to kick me on each of my calves. He said angrily,
'I’m going to beat you until you understand why we arrested you.' I said
that I was free to believe in Jesus. He replied, 'You are still so proud
to believe in Jesus and not believe in the Communist Party. Jesus is a foreigner’s
god. Now is the time of the rule of the Communist Party.”
Persecution
&
Safely Home
March
Continuing Violence Against
Christians in Rajasthan,
India:
"As the state government of Rajasthan considers adopting anti-conversion
laws, Christians continue to face a campaign of violence from militant Hindu
groups in the state. On March 13, pastors gathered for prayer in the village
of Koida were attacked and their Bibles were desecrated. The pastors required
hospital treatment for the injuries they sustained.
"Pray that the proposed anti-conversion laws will be rejected and that the
increasing violence against Christians in India will subside. Pray for the
on-going ministry of Christ's Church in India."
Prayer
and the next link:
Anti-Conversion Legislation
to be Introduced in Sri Lanka next month:
"As the country of Sri Lanka rebuilds following the devastation of December's
tsunami, members of diverse religions have been able to work together in
harmony to reconstruct their country.... Despite this, the government of
Sri Lanka is reportedly planning to proceed with plans to introduce anti-conversion
legislation in April."
See
Disaster, Deliverance
and Deceiving spirits
Indian Evangelist's arrests
exposes police brutality:
"On February 27, Kumar was on his way to visit a Hindu man in the Khurda
district who had invited him for prayers when nine Hindu extremists assaulted
the evangelist, tied him up and threatened to throw him into Chilika Lake.
Police later arrived on the scene and arrested Kumar. Once inside the Balugaon
police station, 'Patra Babu started beating me mercilessly with a bamboo
stick and asked me to call Jesus to save me,' Kumar said."
Persecution
Entrea Jails 16 Christians
for Watching Home Video: "Eritrean
security police arrested 16 Protestants for watching a Christian video together
in the town of Adi-Kibe.... Eritrean officials categorically deny ever-increasing
reports of the harsh government crackdown underway against Protestant churches."
Holocaust museum opens in Jerusalem:
"...the U.N. secretary-general urged an unyielding fight against racism
during Tuesday’s opening ceremony of a $56 million Holocaust museum that
focuses on the personal tragedies of the Nazi genocide. ... German Foreign
Minister Joschka Fischer said the opening of the museum was 'a moment of
commemoration for the 6 million murdered by Nazi Germany
"'...it’s also a historical and moral responsibility to never forget what
happened and the responsibility of my country for the Shoah,' he said, using
the Hebrew word for Holocaust. ...
"
The
museum displays a three-tiered wooden barrack where concentration camp inmates
slept, a cattle wagon that transported Jews to their deaths and a small
fishing boat that ferried Danish Jews to safety in Sweden. Underground galleries
on either side of a 600-foot central walkway topped by a skylight guide
visitors through the history of Adolf Hitler’s Final Solution: prewar life,
anti-Semitic laws, roundups, deportations, mass executions, death camps.
...
"Nobel
Peace prize winner Elie Wiesel, himself an Auschwitz survivor, gave the
ceremony’s closing remarks. '...It was man’s inhumanity to Jews. Jews were
not killed because they were human beings. In the eyes of the killers, they
were not human beings, they were Jews.'"
See
Preparing
for Persecution
and
Day of
No Return
and
Comment:
Persecution
February
Israel: Druze teen admits spreading
rumor that sparked riots:
"A 16-year-old
Druze
boy admitted Monday to spreading a rumor that sparked violent weekend clashes
between Druze and Christians in the mixed village of Maghar in the Galilee.
Dozens of Christian businesses were burned to the ground and many Christian
families fled the village during riots that began Thursday evening after
a rumor spread that Christian youths had placed pornographic pictures of
Druze girls on the internet."
(Haaretz, 2-14-05) See
Preparing
for Persecution
Muslim Militants
target expelled Christian student
(Nigeria): "Muslim militants pronounced a death sentence on five Christian
students expelled from public schools in November for conducting an evangelistic
outreach.
January
2005
China
New religious law promises little
change: "A new law governing the
freedom of religion in China takes effect March 1.... The New China News
Agency characterized the law as 'a significant step forward in the protection
of Chinese citizens’ religious freedom.' ... 'However... very little has
changed in China’s religious policy. In fact, it appears some of the new
regulations tighten existing restrictions....
"Beijing’s
overriding concern is clearly apparent in Article 3, which states, 'Religious
bodies, religious venues and believers must uphold the constitution, laws
and regulations to safeguard national unity, harmony between the
national minorities, and social stability.'... According to Article
3, the State 'protects normal religious activities.' However, '
normal'
and 'abnormal' religious activities are not defined. The CCP reserves the
right to make such distinctions.
"Government
registration for all religious organizations is re-affirmed in Articles
6, 12 and 15. For example, Article 12 states, 'The collective religious
activities of religious citizens must generally take place in religious
venues which have been registered.'...
"Article
43 reads, 'Those who arbitrarily set up religious meetings, and religious
meetings which after having had their registration cancelled continue
to meet, as well as those who arbitrarily set up religious schools,
will all be prohibited by the Religious Affairs departments which will
confiscate their illegal gains such as illegal property. Under these
provisions, Christians who use their factories, shops or homes for unregistered
worship meetings run the risk of losing their property."
Arabs and Holocaust denial sixty
years later: "Discussing
the 'myth' of the Holocaust in the September 6, 2000 edition of The Syria
Times, Mohammad Daoud wrote: '[The] most famous myth is that of the so-called
Holocaust… We strongly believe that gas chambers were not used for burning
of Jews.' ...
"
The
Mufti of Jerusalem, Ikrima Sabri, is Imam of the Al-Asqa mosque and the
highest religious authority in Palestinian Islam... stated: 'Six million
Jews dead? No way… Let's stop with this fairytale.'"
See
Preparing
for Persecution
Light in the darkness:
"The Auschwitz-Birkenau complex has become the foremost symbol of the Nazi
attempt to extinguish European Jewry. The camp's first victims were Poles.
An estimated 75,000 Poles - mainly intellectuals, professionals, priests
and members of the underground resistance - were killed as part of the Third
Reich's plan to make Poland a slave nation by eliminating its intelligentsia."
The same happened in the Soviet Union and Communist China.
See
Brainwashing and
"Education Reform"
Survivors return to scene of
horror: "A small, elderly woman dressed in black with tears running
down her face hugged a strapping Israeli soldier in the death camp of
Auschwitz-Birkenau,
as a soft snow covered the barbed wire, barracks and ruined crematoria on
the 60th anniversary of the camp's liberation. ... The ceremonies began
with the deafening screech of a of an incoming train whistle followed by
the creak of opening box-car doors, symbolising the hundreds of thousands
who were brought to the entrance of Birkenau by cattle cars and then selected
for immediate death in the gas chambers....
"'As much as the Poles and the Russians were subhumans for the Germans in
Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Jews were not treated as subhumans but as vermin,'
said Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, former Polish foreign minister and one of the
camp's earliest prisoners. He ended his speech with a cry from the Book
of Job: 'Cover not my blood, O earth, afford my cry no place to rest.'"
See
I Was Doctor
Mengele's Assistant
Christians Facing Increasing
Violence as Elections Approach:
"As the January 30 elections in Iraq approach, violence appears to be on
the rise. Christians have increasingly been the focus of the attacks from
various factions fighting for power in Iraq. A January 17 report by the
Assyrian International News Agency detailed violence facing Assyrians in
northern Iraq from Kurdish paramilitaries tied to Kurdish warlord Masoud
Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party. This included attacks during church
worship services, beatings of Assyrian Christians and threats of violence."
See
Urgent
prayer request
China
Finally The Police Pierced a
Needle Through Her Upper Lip:
"Sister Jiyan Cheng was dragged into a room and put onto a 'tiger' chair,
with two legs tightened, left hand tied to the chair’s low back, and right
hand tied to upper chair back. Then the police pressed her right arm down,
making her screamed out of pain.... He lifted her clothes and put his hand
under the clothes. Starting from her breast and then beneath, the policeman
pressed his fingers into between her ribs. This caused extreme pain and
she felt her heart would jump out. Then another policeman came with a needle.
He stuck the needle into her knee between the bones for seven to eight times.
At last, while the needle was stuck in her knee, the police zigzagged it
violently. Then he started to poke her arms with the needle....
"
Dan Zheng was interrogated....
His face was deformed from the torture.... They were all the believers of
'Life' house church."
See
Philippians 1:20-21
Sixty more evangelical Christians jailed
(Map:
Ethiopia/Eritrea):
"Sixty members of the Rema Charismatic Church in the Eritrean capital of
Asmara have been arrested for holding a New Year’s Eve celebration in the
home of one of their church leaders.... They are reportedly being held in
solitary confinement the Mai-Serwa military camp.
"Independent
Protestant churches have experienced heavy police surveillance since the
U.S. State Department named Eritrea as a 'country of particular concern'
for its severe religious freedom violations. 'There are cars parked outside
our homes and offices, following us to the post office or wherever we go,'
one Christian commented. ...the government seems to be 'afraid that people
who consider their highest allegiance to be [to] God, at some point may
not be patriotic and follow the state’s instructions.'”
Persecution
2004 - Tragedy & Triumph For
Persecuted Christians:
"In a review of events during 2004 in the Persecuted Church, Iraqi Christians
took the world's spotlight; caught in the crossfire of the increased violence
in that besieged country. ... In Nigeria, Muslim fundamentalists increased
their attacks, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,500 Christians. ...
"The
situation in China over the past six months has been troubling as there
has been a concerted effort to clamp down on unregistered house churches,
especially in rural areas. Hundreds of church leaders have been arrested,
including Pastor Zhang Rongliang... one of China's best-known and most respected
house church leaders....
"While
there were tears and sorrows among members of the Persecuted Church around
the world in 2004, there was also
rejoicing in how
believers stood
firm in their faith and how
millions of Christians in the West supported their brothers and sisters....
"'Will I continue to
serve God, or will I deny him because of persecution?'"
See
Persecution
&
Perseverance
SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ CASE GOES TO
HIGH COURT: "During court proceedings, the prosecutor questioned the women
about the activities and materials used in their 'Happy Sunday' classes for children
from Babakan Jati elementary school. Bangun explained that the children prayed,
read the Bible, sang and sometimes colored pictures. In response, Judge Hasby J.
Tholib said the women should never have allowed Muslim children to attend the
program. The three women are formally charged with breaching Indonesia’s Child
Protection Act....
"
When Muslim leaders lodged an official complaint, however,
these parents refused to testify in support of the women. A source who prefers to
remain anonymous told Compass, 'None of them dare to come forward to say that they
personally allowed their children to attend the program out of fear from their own
Muslim brethren, especially now that the trial has started.' ...Anyone found guilty
of attempting to convert children under the Child Protection Act of 2002 may be
imprisoned for up to five years, and/or fined up to 100 million rupiah ($10,226)."
German Home Schoolers Send Children
Abroad : Faced with mounting
state pressure in Germany seven Christian home schooling parents have decided to
deregister their 15 children from state schools. They will be educated in Belgium
and Austria, where home schooling is legal. ...Home schooling is illegal in Germany.
Parents are obliged to send their children to a state registered school. They may
not educate their children at home even for reasons of faith or conscience. Education
authorities in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia pursued a hard line against
the Christian home schoolers, who were dubbed “fundamentalists” in some secular
media. Because they refused to pay fines of up to US-Dollars 650, two parents were
temporarily sent to jail.....The parents said they had resisted anti-Christian ideologies
under Communism in the Soviet Union. Now they were extremely disappointed to find
themselves in an even more hostile environment in a free Western democracy.
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