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02-Jul-2002

Mission Network News reports these incidents of believers being persecuted.

Nigeria:

Sharia law disagreement fuels violence among Muslims and Christians.

Compass Direct News reports that religious and ethnic violence between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria continues. That may stem from rising tensions in several states over regarding the use of Islamic law. In Niger state, 75 Christians were arrested for opposing the state’s Islamic law. Rebels from Chad were also reportedly harassing Christians, killing some and looting their property. The raids into Borno state prevented evangelism by many clergymen, some of whom were forced to flee.

Vietnam:

More pastors arrested.

Voice of the Martyrs in the United Kingdom says 14 Vietnamese pastors have been arrested in the Central Highlands in the last two weeks. The exact location of these pastors is not certain, raising some concern for their safety. This brings to 26 the known number of Christian pastors labouring in Vietnam’s rural prison system, including 12 who remain in the notorious brick kilns in the North.

Turkmenistan:

Churches thrive in spite of restrictions.

The country’s president is enforcing an anti-corruption campaign, in an effort to clean up the country’s image. Turkmenistan has remained isolated and unreformed since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Bible Mission International’s Paul Hagelgamns says that isolation has cost the church dearly. "Basically, they destroyed all churches; they kicked out all believers, and they told [them] no more than two or three persons can come together. It’s amazing to see how they’re still alive spiritually. Yes, there’s a problem, but they’re really active in ministry in Turkmenistan." Hagelgamns says the government effectively bans all religious communities from carrying out any religious activity. However: "They’re again gathering; it doesn’t matter, the cost for them. They’re again doing evangelism. There was a new repentance and baptism service, and they chose their leaders-it was illegally, but the church is still alive, even though it’s underground."

Kazakhstan:

Christians work in spite of government pressure.

Its being reported that the government authorities are putting increasing pressure on the church to register. Despite the harassment, believers continue to minister. In the last round involving harsh changes to the religion law, Christians revamped their approach. Bible Mission International’s Paul Hagelgamns explains. "Churches, during the last year, really prepared themselves for working under the new law of religious freedom. They [wrote] to the government [about] what they [will and won’t] do. They continue to do evangelism, children’s ministry, working in plenty of churches." Although the law was rejected, Hagelgamns asks for prayer support. "It’s a big need for the workers. Second, please pray that God will give wisdom and power for his workers. And third, really pray for churches in America, that churches will participate more and more in this ministry."

Kazakhstan:

Christians prevented from working with children.

Keston News is reporting that Christians in a northwestern Kazakhstan village have been pressured to halt their work with children. Authorities say they can resume after they register, something the area church is unwilling to do. In addition, the head of the council in a neighbouring village demanded that religious instruction of children must cease, and he threatened to throw the believers out of the village.

Please go to http://www.mnnonline.org to learn more about these stories, missions news, and to hear a weekday audio broadcast.

Keston News Service reports the following persecution incidents.

Belarus:

Repressive religion bill sneaked through Parliament.

The Belarusian Parliament yesterday suddenly adopted a repressive religion bill that only a day earlier had been postponed until the autumn. Religious minorities in Belarus now fear President Aleksandr Lukashenko will sign the bill into law today, the last day of the parliamentary session. The leader of the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church has claimed that the Moscow Patriarchate’s Exarchate in Belarus was influential in the law’s adoption and that parliamentary deputies had been taken to the Exarchate a few days ago and shown films attacking minority faiths, especially Protestants.

Moldova:

Moratorium on registration of new faiths.

A government session on 12 June ruled that no new faiths will be registered until the religion law is amended, a government official has told Keston News Service. Unregistered religions cannot buy land or obtain building permits for places of worship or educational institutions. Under the new amendments, responsibility for registering faiths is likely to be transferred from the government to the State Service for the Affairs of Cults. Serghei Ostaf, a human rights lawyer told Keston he would welcome such a transfer, as it could make the registration process more transparent and less "political". But the moratorium "could just be an excuse for some delaying tactics," he said. It remains unclear how long it will be before any amendments to the religion law - which may follow the model of the "anti-sect" law adopted in France in May 2001 - are approved by parliament and enter into force.

Moldova:

Deadline expires, but no compensation for Bessarabian Church.

Despite the expiry on 27 June of the deadline for the Moldovan government to pay compensation ordered by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to the Orthodox Church of the Bessarabian jurisdiction for repeated refusal to grant it registration, there is little sign that compensation will be paid soon. "The government is not abiding by the Strasbourg ruling - we haven’t had the compensation and we haven’t been registered. They’re not in any hurry," Father Andrei (Caramaleu), the assistant to Bessarabian Church leader Metropolitan Petru (Paduraru), told Keston News Service. Vitalie Parlog, a justice ministry official, admitted that the compensation should have been paid by 27 June. "I know it is the last day," he told Keston.

Russia:

Sects and the church.

The following was published in the Moscow Times of 5 June. Keston director Lawrence Uzzell and Sergei Filatov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who is editor of Keston’s forthcoming encyclopedia on religious life in post-Soviet Russia, celebrate the failure of fringe religions in post-Soviet Russia. Despite continuing hysteria in certain quarters of the Russian Orthodox Church over so-called totalitarian sects, and warnings that Russia’s "slave mentality" and current "spiritual vacuum" provide opportunities for religious demagogues to turn millions of gullible Russians into spiritual zombies, a number of new religious groups have risen and fallen in the past few years. Today, rather than becoming highly disciplined followers of sects strictly controlled by their leaders, Russians dabble in readings and discussion groups from a wide variety of movements. The entrenched reflex of today’s Moscow Patriarchate is to rely on the secular state to protect its status as a traditional religion -- but the state’s agenda will not always coincide with the teachings of Orthodox Christianity, and the state will always put its own interests first. If it is truly serious about opposing new religious movements, the Orthodox Church should rely more on its own preaching and internal discipline and less on the courts and police.

Please go to http://www.keston.org to learn more about religious persecution in communist and post-communist lands.

The Voice Of The Martyrs provides the following persecution information.

Indonesia:

Trust Developing in Ambon.

Reports from the Molucca region of Indonesia indicate that the fear and distrust that so filled the people of this area is slowly lifting.For years, this region of Indonesia has faced continued strife between the Muslim and Christian populations.While the reasons behind the conflict have been complex, the violence was seriously escalated when militant Islamic Jihad warriors from outside of the region began to stir up the people.As a result of negotiations between the different factions in the area, as well as a firm military presence, the violence has begun to subside and is slowly being replaced by mutual trust.Muslim travellers are reportedly no longer afraid to pass through the predominantly Christian village of Passo and Christians are increasingly travelling through the Galunggung area to the east of Ambon, a mainly Muslim area.The Indonesian government is continuing to enforce peace and weapons are being destroyed.Overall, the picture coming from this area is significantly improved.Nevertheless, on June 19, the North Moluccas acting-governor, Harry Sinyo Sarundayang, called for continuing vigilance by both sides to ensure that violence does not break out again.He called on both Muslim and Christian leaders to be wary of those who may try to use religion as a way of provoking violence and damaging the peace process.

Malaysia:

Islamic Laws Planned.

According to a report from CNS News, a Muslim political party that rules two of Malaysia’s 13 states hopes to introduce strict Islamic laws in those states.This comes despite opposition from the federal government and many groups within the country.On June 23, the Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) confirmed that it would press ahead with plans for the laws, despite the opposition.If the laws are passed, women’s rights would be severely restricted and punishments could include stoning and amputations.Similar laws by state governments in other countries, such as Nigeria, have also caused significant problems for Christians.

Please check http://www.persecution.net to learn more about persecuted believers and what can be done to help them.

Freedom Quest International reports the following incident.

Sudan:

Government bombs church compounds in Sudan, U.S. aid agency condemns attacks.

According to a news Article by AP, posted on June 27, 2002 and written By Chris Tomlinson, Sudanese government planes bombed two church compounds in rebel-held southern Sudan, injuring more than four people, a Roman Catholic group said Thursday. The Sudan Catholic Bishops Regional Conference said four bombs struck the residence of Bishop Johnson Akio Mutek, the auxiliary bishop of Torit diocese, in Ikotos on Tuesday night, "injuring many people including four Kenyans who are construction workers at St. Joseph Youth Centre." In a statement released in neighbouring Nairobi, the conference said the bishop’s home and the youth centre were destroyed in the attack. Another 12 bombs were dropped near church schools in Isoke, the group said. A spokesman for the Torit diocese, Jervasio Okot, said no one was injured and the bombs did no damage, but that civilians in the area were frightened because it was the first time government planes bombed their town. No rebel units were near either target, church officials said. Sudanese government officials were not available for comment. Both Ikotos and Isoke are in Eastern Equatoria province, along the Kenyan border, where the rebel Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army have recently captured an important government garrison town.

Sudan:

Military Bombs Church Goers at Relief Centre.

In pursuance of its declared policy targeting civilians and humanitarian aid facilities, the Government of Sudan (GOS) airforce has, on the morning of June 23, bombed the relief centre of Malual Kon in northern Bahr El Ghazal killing four people.Today, Sunday June 23, 2002 at 10:10 a.m. Sudan local time (SLT), The regime’s high altitude Antonov bomber dropped six bombs, twenty (20) metres away from the compound of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) which is an American based aid organization working in the area. Four (4) civilians were killed and 5 more were seriously injured during the raid. These people were passing by the IRC compound on their way for sunday prayers in a nearby church. Malual Kon has no military significance with no SPLA base in its vicinity. It houses several UNn organizations and humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The organizations that were on ground during the air raid, this morning include the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO), Tear Fund, Amurt, VSF-Switzerland and the International Rescue Committee. The attack was therefore aimed at non-military targets; mostly the civil population, a church and compounds of humanitarian organizations. The Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement and the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLM/SPLA) strongly condemns the NIF regime for this indiscriminate bombing that is intended to inflict grave and unjustifiable damage on the civil population. We also deplore the regime’s targeting of NGOs and other civil institutions with the sole purpose of interrupting the flow of humanitarian assistance and relief distribution .The bombardment of malual kon this morning is not only a blatant violation of the agreement for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructures negotiated by senator John Danforth and signed by both the SPLM and GOS last March, but it comes at a time when the parties are currently in Kenya on peace talks under the auspices of IGAD. It is also a blunt response to last week’s remarks by the US president george w. Bush that "sudan’s government cannot continue to talk peace but make war; it must not continue to block and manipulate UN food deliveries and must not allow slavery to persist." Finally, the SPLM/SPLA urges the international community to roundly condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the Khartoum regime for bombing and harassing of civilians as well as for escalating the conflict with its false assumption that it can militarily defeat the SPLA and win the war. This is a regime run by neocrats who simply have no respect for other opinions except their own ideology and will not honour agreements it is a party to. How can the international community do business with a "government" that bombs civilians entering a church for sunday services?

SIGNED:

Dr. Samson L. Kwaje

Commissioner for Information and

Official Spokesman SPLM/SPLA - Nairobi

Please go to http://www.freedom-quest.ca to learn more about the civil war in Sudan and how Christians suffer.

Assist News Service reports the following:

U.S.A.:

Parents fight back against Islam course in school.

In the same week that the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals held the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, a federal lawsuit was filed in San Francisco after Christian students across California were forced to pretend they were Muslims for three weeks, praying in the name of Allah the Compassionate the Merciful, chanting Praise to Allah, picking a Muslim name from a list to replace their own name and to stage their own Jihad via a dice game.

The Thomas More Law Centre, a national, public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, representing parents and four children, filed the lawsuit against the Byron Union School District and various school officials to stop the use of the "Islam Simulation" materials in the Byron/Excelsior Public School in Byron, California.

"What’s at issue," said Richard Thompson, Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Centre, "is the true meaning of the Establishment Clause. The use of the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance in no way establishes a national religion. However, the Byron Union school district crossed the line and is clearly in violation of the Establishment clause by using taxpayer dollars to teach students how to worship as a Muslim."

At issue in the lawsuit is a three-week segment of the seventh grade "World History" class using the textbook "Across the Centuries" and supplemented by Islam simulation materials. Students were told that, "you and your classmates will become Muslims."

To receive points toward their overall grade, students were encouraged to dress as Muslims and to use such phrases in their speech as "Allah Akbar," which is Arabic for "God is great". Students were required to memorize Muslim prayers, fulfill the Five Pillars of Faith and fast during lunch period to simulate fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Thompson further noted, "Parents with children in this course were totally caught off guard and had no idea what their children were being taught."

Said Thompson, "This is unbelievable. While public schools prohibit Christian students from reading the Bible, praying, displaying the Ten Commandments, and even mentioning the word ‘God,’ students in California are being indoctrinated into the religion of Islam. Public schools would never tolerate teaching Christianity in this way. Just imagine the ACLU’s outcry if students were told that they had to pray the Lords Prayer, memorize the Ten Commandments, use such phrases as ‘Jesus is the Messiah,’ and fast during Lent."

According to Thompson, "Although it is constitutional for public schools to have an instructional program about comparative religion or teach about religion and utilize religious books such as the Bible in courses about our history and culture, the Byron Union School District crossed way over the constitutional line when it coerced impressionable twelve year olds to engage in particular religious rituals and worship, simulated or not."

Senegal:

Muslim mob storms church; forces closure.

A local Muslim politician at the head of a mob of young men stormed a church in Dakar on Sunday 23 May, insulting and assaulting Christian worshippers. The youths, armed with knives and stones, drove them out and occupied the building, the Barnabus Fund reports.

According to the Barnabus Fund report, the church, which has only recently opened, first encountered opposition from the local politician when it met with officials to receive formal approval before beginning to hold services.

The Barnabus Fund report says:"Having failed to prevent Christians from establishing the church, local conservative Muslims took the law into their own hands and decided to assault the church claiming that Christians were making too much noise during services and disturbing the local community."

It adds: "Despite the involvement of the police and local authorities, and a reconciliation meeting in which church leaders apologized for any noise they may have inadvertently made, the church building has still not been returned to the congregation."

The report says the incident is the latest in a series of several attacks upon Christians and their churches which have taken place in different parts of the country in recent years. Church leaders fear the incidents may be part of a concerted campaign to put pressure on Christians by Islamic extremist factions who want to make Senegal an exclusively Islamic country. Tensions were heightened for Christians and other non-Muslims in the country two years ago when the President announced that "Senegal will be 100% Muslim in three years."

Please check http://www.assist-ministries.org to find out more about these, and other, stories._

Yours,

Bruce Atchison: electronic music composer, writer, Jesus freak, and lover of rabbits. Please visit my site at http://gideon.www2.50megs.com Dominion Day Enterprises, P.O. Box 188, Radway, Alberta, Canada, T0A 2V0.

email: ve6xtc@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca

   

email: ve6xtc@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca