News
IRAQ: Endless Terror in Nineveh
Iraq's indigenous Assyrian and Chaldean Christians are being killed or else driven from their homeland. Five Christians were assassinated in Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province, Northern Iraq, in the week 14- 20 February. On Sunday 14 February Chaldean Rayan Salem Elias was killed by armed militants outside his own home. On Monday Fatukhi Munir was killed outside his shop by drive-by shooters. On Tuesday militants shot two Assyrian Christian university students, killing Zia Toma (21) and wounding Ramsin Shmael (22). On Wednesday militants kidnapped and then killed Assyrian Christian student Wissam George (20). On Saturday police found the body of Syrian Orthodox Adnan al-Dahan (57) who had been kidnapped for ransom a week earlier. Please pray for our traumatised, threatened fellow-believers in Iraq. Source: Australian Evangelical Alliance [more...]
UZBEKISTAN: Persecution Intensifies
The Uzbekistan government's primary goal is the status quo: peace and regime stability at any cost. Jihadist and revolutionary Islamic groups pose a serious threat to national security. To address this threat, the government represses all 'non-traditional' (new) and 'foreign' religious groups, a policy that ensures Protestant Christians get caught up in the same net as prospective Islamic terrorists. As both the Russian Orthodox and Muslim populations are hostile to Protestants, the government can maintain peace and score points by targeting Protestants. Repression, harassment, intimidation and persecution are escalating. In scenes reminiscent of the mid-late 1990s, foreign missionaries are being deported, fellowships are being raided and worshippers are being beaten. Several Baptist pastors and leaders have recently been charged with criminal offences such as drug possession and tax evasion. Please pray for the Church in Uzbekistan.
Source: Australian Evangelical Alliance [more...]
IRAN: Senior Church Leader Arrested
The well-respected leader of a church in Iran has been arrested and held at an undisclosed location. The Rev Wilson Issavi, the leader of a church in Karmanshah, was arrested on 2 February while visiting friends. Security forces entered the home of Issavi's friend and took him away, along with the host couple and another visitor. Friends and family have found it virtually impossible to discover the whereabouts of the church leader or his state of health.
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INDONESIA: Muslim Groups Demand Closure of Large, Legal Church
Hundreds of Muslims from outside the area where a 600-member church meets in West Java staged a protest there to call for its closure this month in an attempt to portray local opposition. Demonstrators from 16 Islamic organisations, including the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), gathered on 15 February to demand a stop to all activities by the Galilea Protestant Church (GPIB) in the Galaxy area of Bekasi City. [more...]
PAKISTAN: Christians Arrested after Muslim Attack
In the wake of an attack this week by 150 armed Muslims on a Christian colony in this city in Sindh Province, police have filed a false First Information Report (FIR) against 40 unnamed Christians and arrested five, Christian leaders said. They said the 40 unnamed Christians in the FIR are accused without basis with beating Muslim men, abusing Muslim women and girls, ransacking Muslim homes and looting expensive items from Muslim homes. [more...]
A Bible for the Imam’s Daughter
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Voice of the Martyrs breaks the law by smuggling Bibles because the Bible contains the words of eternal life and we have seen its life-changing impact firsthand.
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PAKISTAN: Christian Beaten for Refusing to Convert to Islam
The four older Muslim brothers of a 26-year-old Christian beat him unconscious earlier this month because he refused their enticements to convert to Islam, the victim told Compass. Riaz Masih, whose Christian parents died when he was a boy, said his continual refusal to convert infuriated his siblings and the Muslim cleric who raised them, Moulvi Peer Akram-Ullah. On 8 February, he said, his brothers ransacked his house in this Punjab Province town 233 kilometres southwest of Islamabad. “They threatened that it was the breaking point now, and that I must convert right now or face death,” Masih said. “They said killing an infidel is not a sin, instead it’s righteousness in the sight of Allah almighty.” [more...]
ETHIOPIA: Authorities Concoct New Charge against Christian
Prosecutors and police are trying to concoct a terrorism case against an Ethiopian convert from Islam who has been jailed since May without formal charges, Christian leaders said. Bashir Musa Ahmed, a 39-year-old Ethiopian national, was arrested on 23 May when police found him in possession of eight Bibles in Jijiga, capital of Ethiopia’s Somali Region Zone Five, a predominantly Muslim area in eastern Ethiopia. Zonal police arrested him after he was accused of providing Muslims with the Somali-language Bibles, sources said, though Ethiopia’s constitution protects such activity. [more...]
IRAQ: Four Christians murdered in Mosul
The Christian community in Mosul, Iraq was targeted in recent days in brutal attacks that some believe are motivated by the upcoming 7 March parliamentary elections. On 13 February, Sabah al Dahhan was kidnapped by a gang that has since demanded a large sum of money for his release. The next day, Rayan Bashir Salem was shot and killed in his home by armed assailants. Rayan's brother was also wounded in the attack. [more...]
PAKISTAN: Threats Heighten as Christian Faces Verdict on Thursday
Qamar David, a 50-year-old Christian, is on trial under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, and the verdict is expected on Thursday. He has been held in the Central Jail in Karachi since 2006, where previously he has reportedly been threatened and beaten by the prison officials as well as other prisoners. [more...]
UZBEKISTAN: Baptists Forced to Pay Massive Fines, "Taxes" and Removed From Posts
Uzbekistan continues to attack the country's registered Baptist Union, local Baptists have reported. One Baptist, Valery Konovalov, has been forced to pay a fine imposed in his absence, after he was forced to appear as a witness in the trial of three leaders of the Baptist Union. The three have themselves been forced to pay what the same court claimed was unpaid tax and two were removed from their posts. [more...]
BHUTAN: Anti-Christian Sentiment Marks Journey for Exiles
Thrust from their homes in Bhutan after Buddhist rulers embarked on an ethnic and religious purge, Christian refugees in Nepal face hostilities from Hindus and others. In Sunsari district in south-eastern Nepal, a country that is more than 80 percent Hindu, residents from the uneducated segments of society are especially apt to attack Christians, said Purna Kumal, district coordinator for Awana Clubs International, which runs 41 clubs in refugee camps to educate girls about the Bible. [more...]
KENYA: Push for Islamic Courts Alarms Christians
A constitutional battle to expand the scope of Islamic courts in Kenya threatens to ignite religious tensions at a time when authorities are on high alert against Muslim extremists with ties to Somalia. Constitutional provisions for Islamic or Kadhis’ courts have existed in Kenya since 1963, with their jurisdiction limited to the coastal province, but in a hotly debated draft constitution they would expand across the nation and their scope would increase. The proposed constitution has gathered enough momentum that 23 leaders of churches and Christian organisations released a statement on 1 February asserting their opposition to any inclusion of such religious courts. [more...]
TURKEY: Baseless Case against Christians Further Prolonged
Barely five minutes into the latest hearing of a more than three-year-old case against two Christians accused of “insulting Turkishness and Islam,” the session was over. The prosecution had failed to produce their three final witnesses to testify against Hakan Tastan and Turan Topal for alleged crimes committed under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code. [more...]
EGYPT: Another Copt Killed as Alleged Shooters Plead Not Guilty
Three men accused of killing six Coptic worshipers and a security guard pleaded not guilty on Saturday 13 February as the Coptic community mourned the loss of yet another victim of apparent anti-Christian violence. The three men allegedly sprayed a crowd with gunfire after a Christmas service in Nag Hammadi on 6 January. On the evening of 9 February, Malak Saad, a 25-year-old Coptic carpenter living in Teta in Menoufia Province, was walking outside a meeting hall that police had seized from Christians when he was shot through his chest at close range. He died instantly. [more...]
KAZAKHSTAN: Government Proposes Retaining Punishments for Exercising Religious Freedom
Kazakhstan's proposed new Administrative Code continues current penalties for exercising freedom of religion or belief. The state-approved version being considered by Parliament continues existing fines and bans punishing individuals and religious communities operating without state-granted legal status or who conduct unregistered "missionary activity". [more...]
TURKEY: Assailant in Street Attack Ordered Released
An Istanbul court has ordered the release of a jailed Turk who publicly threatened and held a knife to the throat of a Christian he attacked six months ago. In a ruling on Wednesday 10 February, the Kadikoy Seventh Court of First Instance convicted Yasin Karasu, 24, of making death threats and mounting an armed attack against Ismail Aydin. Shouting to attract passers-by as he held a knife to Aydin's throat on 3 August, Karasu had denounced the Christian as a 'missionary dog' who had betrayed Turkey by leaving Islam and evangelising others. [more...]
MOROCCO: Authorities Raid Bible Study, Arrest Christians
A large, military-led team of Moroccan authorities raided a Bible study in a small city southeast of Marrakech last week, arresting 18 Moroccans and deporting a US citizen, area Christian leaders said. Approximately 60 officers from the Moroccan security services on Thursday afternoon, 4 February raided the home of a Christian in Amizmiz, a picturesque city of 10,000 mainly Berber people 56 kilometres southeast of Marrakech. [more...]
LAOS: Officials Force Christians from Worship at Gunpoint
About 100 local officials, police and villagers put guns to the heads of Christians during their Sunday morning service in a village in Laos last month, forcing them from their worship and homes, according to an advocacy organisation. Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) reported that in Katin village of Ta-Oyl district, Saravan Province, Lao authorities including the village chief, a religious affairs’ official, three district police and a 15-man volunteer unit joined 15 village police officers to force all 48 Christian adults and children of the church to an open field. [more...]
TURKEY: European Court Rules against Religion ID
A European court on Tuesday 2 February ordered Turkey to remove the religious affiliation section from citizens’ identification cards, calling the practise a violation of human rights. Religious minorities and in particular Christian converts in Turkey have faced discrimination because of the mandatory religion declaration on their identification cards, which was enforced until 2006. Since then, citizens are allowed to leave the “Religion” section of their IDs blank. [more...]
INDIA: Attacks on Christians Karnataka Frequent, Furious
Karnataka state recorded the highest number of anti-Christian attacks in India last year, and it is keeping pace this year. Christians in Karnataka are being attacked “at rapid regularity” and “with near impunity,” and it is “a serious matter of concern for the Christian community,” said Dr Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. Much of the violence occurs under the vigilante pretext of rounding up Christians supposedly involved in “forcible” or “fraudulent” conversion efforts. On Monday 1 February in Thagadur village, Kodagu district, Hindu extremists dragged 11 Christians – including four women – from their homes and colluded with police to arrest them on such false charges. [more...]
INDONESIA: Two Churches Forced to Close
Local governments have ordered the closure of two churches on Indonesia’s Java Island. Under pressure from Islamist groups, authorities ordered Christian Baptist Church in Sepatan, Tangerang district, Banten Province to cease services. In Pondok Timur, near Bekasi in West Java, officials abruptly closed the Huria Christian Protestant Batak Church (HKBP) after delaying a building permit for four years. Tangerang district authorities issued a decree on 21 January ordering all worship activities to cease at the Baptist church. [more...]
UZBEKISTAN: Drugs Planted and Worshippers Beaten Up?
Uzbekistan continues to punish people for unregistered religious worship. Tohar Haydarov, a Baptist, has been arrested and faces criminal charges of producing or storing drugs, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. Haydarov's fellow believers insist that the case has been fabricated, one stating that "police planted a matchbox with drugs." They also state that Haydarov "was beaten and forced by the police to sign different papers. His face looked exhausted and swollen, and he could hardly walk. He did not even remember what was written in those papers." The authorities claim these are "lies". [more...]
KAZAKHSTAN: Women's Prayers Lead to Massive Fine
Kazakhstan has fined Zhanna-Tereza Raudovich 100 times the minimum monthly wage for hosting a Sunday morning worship service in her home, attended by local Baptist women and their children. Police who raided Raudovich's home drew up an official record that "they had discovered an illegally functioning religious community", local Baptists complained to Forum 18. An appeal is due to be heard on 11 February. It remains unclear how Raudovich could pay the fine, as she has six children and does not have paid work. She has been warned that she will face criminal charges if she does not pay the fine. [more...]
CUBA: Pastors under Fire
Pastor Omar Gude Perez, a Cuban pastor who was sentenced to six years in prison on false accusations of illicit economic activity, falsification of documents and human trafficking in 2009, has been denied the right to appeal by the Supreme Tribunal in Havana. Pastor Omar's wife stated that the court's decision confirmed her belief that his arrest and imprisonment was orchestrated at the highest levels of government. [more...]
ERITREA: Christian Dies in Eritrean Detention Centre
On 24 January, Hana Hagos Asgedom (41), a member of Asabe Rhema Church, died of a heart attack at Eritrea's Alla Military Camp. Hana, who had been detained at Wi'a Military Camp for three years following her arrest in 2007, was moved to the Alla Military Camp when the Wi'a camp was dismantled seven months ago. On arrival at the new camp, Hana was offered a final opportunity to renounce her faith. When she refused, she was placed in solitary confinement. Shortly before her death, she reportedly endured beatings with an iron rod for refusing to "make the chief commander in the camp a cup of coffee" -- an order local Christians believe was in reality a sexual advance. She was then returned to her cell where she endured further punishment and eventually passed away. [more...]
PAKISTAN: Violent Death of Girl in Pakistan Spurs Push for Justice
A daring protest and a high-profile funeral here on Monday 25 January for a 12-year-old Christian girl who died from torture and malnourishment has cast a rare spotlight on abuse of the Christian poor in Pakistan. In an uncommon challenge in the predominantly Muslim nation, the Christian parents of Shazia Bashir Masih protested the unresponsiveness of police to the alleged violence against their daughter by Muslim attorney Chaudhary Muhammad Naeem and his family and his attempt to buy their silence after her death. [more...]
IRAN: Christians Detained without Legal Counsel
At least 14 Christians have been detained in Iranian prisons for weeks without legal counsel in the past few months as last year’s crackdown has continued, sources said. Three Christians remained in detention at Evin prison after authorities arrested them along with 12 others who had gathered for Christmas celebrations on 24 December in a home 20 kilometres southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran, according to a source who requested anonymity. While the others were released on 4 January, remaining at Evin prison were Maryam Jalili, Mitra Zahmati and Farzan Matin, according to the source. [more...]
BHUTAN: Why Royalists Fear Christianity
Bars, pubs and discos have become legal in Bhutan – a cause of concern for the older generation – but construction of worship buildings other than Buddhist or Hindu temples is still prohibited. The prohibition remains in force even though Christians abide by Bhutan’s codes of conduct, speaking the Dzongkha language as well as the Nepali language at church gatherings, and wearing the national dress. The National Assembly of Bhutan banned the practise of non-Buddhist and non-Hindu religions through edicts in 1969 and in 1979. But Christians do meet for Sunday worship, with attendance of more than 100 Christians in an underground church not unusual. [more...]
TANZANIA: Arrested Evangelists Say Muslims Colluded with Police
Two Christian evangelists in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, have been arrested after Muslims invited them to debate religion but instead called in security agents who charged the evangelists with illegal preaching. Anglicans Eleutery Kobelo and Cecil Simbaulanga, released on bail and facing a hearing on 11 February, told Compass that Christian and Muslim groups organised the inter-faith debate that was planned for a neutral venue in October of last year in the Kariakoo area of Dar es Salaam. Kobelo said no Muslims showed up at the debate until Islamists arrived with government security agents who charged them with “using religious sermons to incite Muslims and Christians into viewing each other with suspicion.” [more...]
TURKMENISTAN: Worship without State Registration "Illegal"
Turkmenistan continues to raid Protestants meeting for worship in different parts of the country. One such raid was led by Turkmenistan's former Chief Mufti, Rovshen Allaberdiev, who is now imam of Dashoguz Region as well as being the senior regional Gengeshi (Council) for Religious Affairs official. Allaberdiev and accompanying officials confiscated Christian books during the raid, including personal Bibles. All 22 people present were taken to a local government building, questioned and pressured to sign statements not to attend the church in future. [more...]
INDONESIA: Two Partially Constructed Church Buildings Burned
Suspected Islamic extremists burned two church buildings under construction in a village in North Sumatra on 22 January. The attackers came from outside the area to burn the partially constructed buildings of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan Church (HKBP) and the Pentecostal Church in Sibuhuan village, Padang Lawas Residency, during daylight hours, said the Rev S Lubis of the HKBP church. “Hundreds of people arrived on motorcycles and burned the empty church,” he said. “After that, the mob moved 200 metres down the road and burned the empty Pentecostal church.” No people were hurt in the fires. [more...]
INDONESIA: Imprisoned Christian Teacher Released
After serving one year in gaol, Wilhelmina Holle, 49, regained her freedom on 10 December 2009. “When I was going out, all I did was cry and thank God for my release,” she said. Holle, a Christian elementary school teacher, was falsely accused of defaming Islam while giving private lessons to her students on 10 November 2008. [more...]
I WILL DIE FOR CHRIST
“Lord, if you truly exist, please heal me. I offer my life to you and will serve you,” Trung prayed one night as he knelt in his room. The message he had heard in church that day about Jesus healing miraculously turned over in his mind, giving him a glimmer of hope. In 1985 Trung was conscripted into the Vietnamese army and sent to Cambodia for two years. He caught malaria and became extremely ill, but medicine seemed to have no effect and he was eventually sent home. Trung’s health continued to deteriorate and he thought he would soon die. One day, childhood memories of hearing about Jesus resurfaced and Trung felt compelled to find a church.
After he prayed for healing, Trung lay down and went to sleep. At about midnight, Trung heard the Lord call his name. He was startled and as he sat up in bed, he felt God’s peace come over him. “It seemed to bring healing and in the morning I felt well,” Trung said. “The Lord had answered my prayer and I have remained malaria-free to this day.” [more...]
NIGERIA: Death Toll of Christians in Jos Clash Hits 48
Two pastors and 46 other Christians have been confirmed killed in the outbreak of violence 10 days ago in Jos, Plateau state in Nigeria, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). In the Muslim/Christian clash, triggered when Muslim youths on 17 January attacked a Catholic church, 10 church buildings were burned and 27 Christians are still missing, CAN officials said at a press conference in Jos today. [more...]
BHUTAN: Despite Democracy, Christians Remain Underground
In this distant and isolated nation in the eastern Himalayas, known as the “Land of the Thunder Dragon,” almost everything looks uniformly Buddhist. There are no visible signs of Christians’ tiny presence, but they do exist. Christians, whose only official identity falls in the “others” category in the census, are estimated to range in number between 3,000 and 6,000. They live out their Christian lives underground – no church buildings, Christian cemeteries or Christian bookstores are yet allowed. [more...]
BURNMA: Karen Refugees Hunted and Slain In Burma
The Karen people in Burma, half of whom are reported to be believers, are constantly harassed by Buddhist and Burmese armies. In Karen refugee camps, horrific stories of persecution are told coupled with reports of steadfast faith. The Burmese army captures Karen men and boys, forcing them to become slaves and porters. Karen women are raped and burned to death. Despite traumatic attacks and persecution, the Karen persevere in God. Orphans wake up at 4 am to have devotions for two hours. They also have nightly worship. [more...]
ALGERIA: Church Continues in Spite of Burnt Building
Members of a church in Algeria’s Kabylie region gathered to worship last Saturday 16 January in their new building despite a protest, vandalism and a fire that damaged the building the previous weekend. Local Muslims bent on running the congregation out of the neighbourhood set fires inside and outside the building on 9 January. Before setting it on fire, the assailants ransacked the Tafat Church building in Tizi Ouzou, a city 100 kilometres east of Algiers. [more...]
NIGERIA: Anglican Archbishop Kidnapped
Gunmen are still holding the Anglican archbishop of Benin diocese in southern Nigeria’s Edo state after abducting him on Sunday 24 January. Peter Imasuen, who is also the state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, was abducted in front of his official residence on his way back from a church service. The kidnappers are reportedly demanding $750,000 for his release. [more...]
SOMALIA: Islamic Militants Murder Christian Leader
Islamic extremists shot the leader of an underground church to death outside the capital city of Somalia this month and have threatened to kill his wife, his tearful widow told Compass. Having learned that he had left Islam to become a Christian, Somali militants from the Islamic extremist al Shabaab murdered 41-year-old Mohammed Ahmed Ali at about noon on 1 January, Amina Ibrahim Hassan said. He was killed sometime after leaving his home in Hodan, on the outskirts of Mogadishu, she said. [more...]
PAKISTAN: Christian Sentenced to Life in Prison For Blasphemy
A 26-year-old Christian who was beaten by Muslims for allegedly burning verses from the Koran and another Arabic book in July 2009 has been sentenced to life in prison. On 11 January, the judge handed down the sentence to Imran Masih under Article 295-B, commonly known as the blasphemy law, claiming he burned the materials to deliberately "stir up religious hatred and offend the feelings of Muslims." Imran has also been sentenced to an additional 10 years in detention and fined 100,000 rupees ($A1,300) under section 295-A of the Penal Code. Source: VOM Canada [more...]
VIETNAM: Update on Father Nguyen Van Ly
On 12 December, Father Nguyen Van Ly, who had suffered a severe stroke on 14 November, was sent back to prison after several weeks of treatment in a hospital. Father Van Ly's sister said, "His situation is a bit better now, but his life is not normal yet. We don't know why they decided to transfer him back to prison, as he still needs help." At last report, he is partially paralysed and is able to walk only a few steps with a walking stick. Please pray for Father Van Ly. Also pray for his persecutors. Source: VOM USA [more...]
CHINA: Update on Gao Zhisheng
Since mid-December, 2009, ominous rumours have circulated about Gao Zhisheng, hinting that he has died after brutal torture in prison. However, no reports have been confirmed.
Gege, Gao's daughter, had been reportedly "pale and tired-looking" with worry for months. After hearing a rumour of Gao's death just before Christmas, Gege became so emotionally distraught, she was forced to be hospitalised. She remains fragile and under medical watch in a New York hospital. Last week, after searching out the policeman who originally detained Gao Zhisheng back in February, 2009, Gao's brother Zhiyi was told that Attorney Gao allegedly "went missing while out on a walk" on 25 September, 2009. Gao's wife refused to comment, but was reported to be extremely upset after hearing the news. [more...]
PAKISTAN: Two Christians Critically Wounded at Wedding
Two Pakistani Christians who were shot at a wedding on 26 December for refusing to convert to Islam are still receiving treatment at a hospital intensive care unit, but doctors are hopeful that they will recover. In low, barely audible voices, Imran Masih, 21, and Khushi Masih, 24, told Compass that two Muslims armed with AK-47s in Punjab Province’s Chak (village) 297-JB, in Toba Tek Singh district, shot them in their chests after they refused orders to recite the Islamic creed signifying conversion. [more...]
VIETNAM: Forced Recantations of Faith Continue in Vietnam
A Vietnamese man violently forced to recant his fledgling Christian faith faces pressure from authorities and clansmen to prove his return to traditional Hmong belief by sacrificing to ancestors next month. Sung Cua Po, who embraced Christianity in November, received some 70 blows to his head and back after local officials in northwest Vietnam’s Dien Bien Province arrested him on 1 December 2009, according to documents obtained by Compass. His wife, Hang thi Va, was also beaten. [more...]
NIGERIA: Christians in Jos, Fear Further Attacks
Gunshots and smoke continued to alarm residents of Jos in central Nigeria, with the Christian community fearing further violence from Muslim youths who on Sunday 17 January attacked a Catholic church and burned down several other church buildings. [more...]
IRAQ: Elderly Christian man killed in Mosul
A 75-year-old Christian was shot and killed in Mosul, Iraq on 11 January. Hikmat Sleiman had just returned home from closing his grocery shop when a group of assailants opened fire, killing him instantly. Local Christians see his murder and the string of other attacks against believers in recent months.
Source: VOM Canada [more...]
YEMEN: Negotiations Begin for Release of Christian Hostages
Authorities in Yemen have reportedly started negotiations for the release of six Christian hostages -- a family of five from Germany and a British engineer -- who were kidnapped along with three other women in June. The bodies of the women, Rita Stumpp (26), Anita Gruenwald (24) and Eom Young-sun (33), were found shortly after the kidnapping. Until recently, however, the state of Johannes (37), his wife Sabine (37) and their children, Lydia (5), Anna (3) and Simon (1), as well as Anthony was unknown. The kidnappers have demanded a ransom of $2 million USD as well as immunity, free passage and a guarantee that they will not be handed over to neighbouring Saudi Arabia. Source: VOM Canada
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EGYPT: Coptic Christians Gunned Down after Christmas Service
In spite of threats of violence from Muslims in an area of Egypt wracked by sectarian violence, police declined to increase security for a Coptic Christmas Eve service on 6 January, and six Christians were shot to death after leaving the church. Three men suspected to be Muslims, including one with a criminal record sought by police, were in a moving car from which automatic gunfire hit Coptic Christians who had attended services at St. John’s Church in Nag Hammadi, 455 kilometres south of Cairo. [more...]
CHINA: Korla Police and Farm Leaders Burn Bibles and Persecute Elderly Christians
On 25 December, Puhui Farm leaders and policemen arrested several elderly and ailing Christians in Korla City, Xinjiang. Like many around the world, members of Corps house church were celebrating Christmas Day. In the middle of the celebration, a band of farmers and Security policemen disrupted the gathering of believers during their fellowship celebration. The Chief of Security, Yu Fagan, seized Wang Qiuyue, a 71-year-old widow, who had been a known Christian for over 45 years. Yu Fagan threw her roughly against a police car, like a rejected sack of garbage. The group wore hats of bearing the title "People's Police." They proceeded to dismantle and burn elderly Sister Wang's furniture before her eyes. [more...]
MALDIVES: Legislators Seek to Increase Pressure on Non-Muslims
The People’s Majlis (Parliament) of the Maldives have been debating a bill to ban non-Muslim places of worship. According to Maldivian sources the bill, proposed by Ibrahim Muttalib MP, would make it illegal to build non-Muslim places of worship or to practise non-Muslim faiths in public, although foreigners would be allowed to worship in the privacy of their homes. Punishment would be a gaol term of three to five years or a fine of between $A3000 and $A5000. [more...]
PAKISTAN: Child Beaten for Claiming to Be a Christian
Christians in Pakistan have reported the ordeal of an 11-year-old Christian school girl in the town of Dharema, Punjab province, in October 2009. Nadia Iftikhar was beaten unconscious by the Muslim teacher at her evening coaching school “Bright Future Academy” after she said she was both a Pakistani and a Christian. [more...]
CHINA: 30 Chinese House Church Alliance Leaders Detained, Facing Administrative Detention
Thirty leaders of the Chinese House Church Alliance (CHCA) were detained in Handan city, Hebei province on 8 January. According to one detained pastor, who was able to use his mobile phone briefly to notify an outside contact. A group of officers from the Handan City Public Security and Religious Affairs Bureaus broke into their leaders' meeting place where the 30 men and women were having a Bible study, and forcefully took them to an unknown interrogation centre within the city. [more...]
MALAYSIA: Church Buildings Attacked in Malaysia Following Court Decision
In unprecedented acts that stunned Christians in Malaysia, suspected Islamists have attacked eight church buildings since the country’s High Court ruled that a Catholic weekly could use the word “Allah.” Firebombs were thrown into the compounds of four churches in Kuala Lumpur and neighboring Petaling Jaya on Friday 8 January; three more attacks occurred on Sunday 10 January in Taiping, Melaka and Miri; and another church building was hit today in Seremban. There were no reports of injuries. [more...]
IRAN: Arrests, Coerces Christians over Christmas Season
A wave of arrests hit Iranian house churches during the Christmas season, leaving at least five Christian converts in detention across northern Iran, including the mother of an ailing 10-year-old girl. Security officers with an arrest warrant from the Mashhad Revolutionary Court entered the home of Christian Hamideh Najafi in Mashhad on 26 December and took her to an undisclosed location, according to Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN). [more...]
INDIA: Christians Faced Three Attacks per Week in 2009
After unprecedented large-scale attacks on Christians in the previous two years, 2009 brought hardly any respite as the minority faith faced an average of more than three violent attacks a week. There were at least 152 attacks on Christians in 2009, according to the “Partial List of Major Incidents of Anti-Christian Violence in India” released by the Evangelical Fellowship of India. The north-central states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Orissa in the east, Gujarat in the west and Himachal Pradesh in the north have anti-conversion laws, which Hindu hardliners routinely use to arrest Christians on spurious accusations of “forcible conversion.” [more...]
PAKISTAN: Delivered from Slavery
Shafia, now 20, grew up in a Christian family and was baptised in 2002. Her father died when she was a child and her older brother Rafi worked in a cotton factory to support the family. Rafi led his siblings and mother in prayer each evening. He stood up for the Christians in their community and publicly confronted Muslims who tormented young Christian women. On 3 July 2004, three Muslim men came to speak with Rafi. They gave him a drink spiked with sleeping pills, and he passed out. One of the men shot Rafi in the head, killing him. [more...]
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