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Subject: Persecution report for June 3, 2003.

Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2003 19:06:22 -0600

From: "Bruce Atchison" <ve6xtc@telusplanet.net>

To: "Ted" <thilts@help-for-you.com>

CC: "John M. Lindner" <jml@christianaid.org>

The Voice Of The Martyrs reports these examples of Christians suffering persecution.

Pakistan:

Christian School Not Yet Closed.

In a Special Edition Persecution and Prayer Alert on May 25, we reported on the imminent closure of a Christian school in Islamabad (for more information, see http://www.persecution.net/pnp3_se.htm).

According to an update from Peace Worldwide on May 27, the school was not yet closed, though officials were attempting to remove their signs until some students' parents protested.

Peace Worldwide is asking for assistance in contacting the president of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, urging him to act on behalf of their school in Islamabad. You may send him an e-mail at ce@pak.gov.pk or try to send a fax at one of the following numbers: 92 51 9201835 or 92 51 9201051 (Note: You may have to try several times to get through. We cannot guarantee that either of these numbers will work, but they are the most current that we presently have).

For help on how to write a letter, you can check out our web site at http://www.persecution.net/howto.htm.

Qatar:

Pastor Deported Without Reason.

On May 22, Pastor Nemencio Bonton was deported from Qatar to his native Philippines without any reason being given. According to Middle East Concern, this deportation follows a letter he received on April 20 giving him 30 days to leave the country. Bonton was senior pastor of the Qatar International Christian Ministry, which ministers to expatriate workers in Qatar. He also worked as an electrician. Despite appeals from his employer as well as from the Chief Protocol Officer of Qatar's ruler, Bonton was deported along with his wife and four children. He had lived in Qatar for twenty years and had no previous problems with the authorities. This is the second confirmed deportation of a pastor from Qatar for religious reasons this year.

China:

Raids on House Churches Continuing.

On May 11, a house church in Anshan in Liaoning province of China was raided by officials of the Public Service Bureau. Approximately forty Christians were tied up and their names

recorded. While all were released later that night, the church has received a formal announcement of closure of their "illegal gathering." The former leader of the church, Li Baozhi had been recently released after serving two years in prison. She was not present that evening, however, or she would likely have been re-arrested.

A Voice of the Martyrs source contacted the local authorities in China about this raid. A government spokesman, Jin Xiangdong, confirmed the raid of an "illegal religious gathering site" because of their "disturbance of social order." He stated that any religious gathering not part of the official churches is illegal and should be closed. He estimates 20-30 such closures every year in Anshan.

This is one of many similar situations in China in recent months. Another Chinese ministry, China for Jesus, reported that 120 Christians were arrested during a meeting on April 23. All were eventually released after many were forced to pay a fine.

Despite international pressure, Chinese authorities continue to defend their claim to freedom of religion. In a May 22 article by the government-controlled Xinhua News Agency, official Chinese religious leaders attacked the latest report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released on May 13. In the report, the USCIRF lists China among "countries of particular concern" and criticizes it as a "particularly severe violator of religious freedom." In response, Father Jos Ma Yinglin, secretary-general of the Chinese Catholic Bishops College, said, "Such a judgment based on mere hearsay doesn't match the facts I see. Since the country's opening-up and reform, all kinds of religions have grown fast.

The religious cause of China has entered its heyday." While this growth may be accurate, it is clearly not a result of Chinese government policy as hundreds of Chinese believers are in prison for their faith. There are sixty-three members of the South China Church presently in prison, including Pastor Gong Shengliang who had been sentenced to death. His sentence was reduced in early October to life imprisonment. Pastor Gao Ying, an executive member of the official China Christian Council, says that Gong's death sentence was warranted. "You can never call him a pastor given his mind and acts were a great deviation from the doctrines of Christianity and his so-called church only preached superstition," she said. Gong has been accused of rape, arson, fraud and intimidation; all of which have been denied by the alleged victims. Appeals for Pastor Gong and other South China Church members have been filed, but have been delayed indefinitely, blaming restrictions due to SARS.

Please go to http://www.persecution.net to learn more about persecuted believers and how to help them.

Mission Network News has the following persecution incidents to report.

Russia:

Baptist church burned.

The Baptist World Alliance reports that a series of attacks levelled at a Baptist church in Russia came to a head last week when arsonists broke into the church and set it on fire. The President of the Russian Baptist Union says this details a pattern of harassment by "ultra-nationalists and atheists" in their city. Pray for this difficult situation, for the protection of the believers and their testimony there and for God to provide the funds needed for reconstruction.

Please check http://www.mnnonline.org to read about missions news and to hear a weekday audio broadcast.

Christian Aid Mission reports this persecution incident.

India:

Mission Leader Spared in Attack.

The director of a large Christian ministry in North India was spared injury and even death when the presence of a "third person" in the room strengthened him and frightened away his attacker.

On May 5, a man crept into the room of a mission leader in North India and attacked him "mercilessly." However, the leader said he was spared any serious injuries and was comforted during the attack by the miraculous presence of a "third person" in the room, who told him repeatedly, "I am with you."

When the attacker called back the next day and again threatened to kill the leader, the missionary invited him to meet with him personally over tea. The attacker refused the invitation, and then demanded a large sum of money, which the missionary refused to give.

The leader did not file any charges against his assailant, "since I forgave him," he said. He praises God he was not injured, and affirmed that what Satan intended for evil, God definitely turned to good as the attacker has had the opportunity to see the unmerited love of Christ in action.

This love is shown continually through the ministry's outreach, that since 1972 has reached out to Hindus and Sikhs in Northern India. The ministry has grown to include three Bible correspondence courses with 4000 participants, an outreach to lepers and their children, tribal evangelism in the jungles, church planting in many villages, and publication of Christian literature in the Punjabi language of the Sikh people. It also operates a Christian school for preschool through high school students, reaching out to young people from mostly Hindu or Sikh backgrounds. See today's Photo of the Week.

Even so, the increased presence of the ministry in the area has led to increased animosity against Christians. Please pray for safety for these missionaries so that they may continue their work. To learn more, write insider@christianaid.org and put MI-421 652-CFC in the subject line.

Please go to Christian Aid Mission's web site to read many edifying missions stories.

Forum 18 has these incidents to report.

Belarus:

Who shapes up to new religion law?

In the wake of the restrictive new religion law which came into force last November, despite widespread protests from believers, Forum 18 News Service has discovered that very few educational or monastic communities of the Russian Orthodox and Catholic Churches currently meet the tough new restrictions. Few monastic communities have the required minimum ten members, while no educational institutions have a full teaching staff who know both state languages, Russian and Belarusian. If they want to continue to operate, they must make substantial changes before the re-registration deadline of 16 November 2004.

Latvia:

New plans to abolish "discriminatory" legal provision.

Justice Minister Aivars Aksenoks will support a proposal to abolish a clause in Latvia's religion law that bans the registration of more than one association of any one denomination, his spokesman told Forum 18 News Service. "I absolutely agree that allowing only one church for any one confession is against the principles of religious freedom," head of the Justice Ministry's Religious Affairs Board Ringolds Balodis - who intends to submit the proposal by 10 June - told Forum 18. Without registration as a religious association, communities find it difficult to own property, do not enjoy tax-exempt status and cannot set up training establishments. The Confessional Lutheran Church and the Autonomous True Orthodox Church have been the main victims of this clause.

Russia:

Orthodox becoming "more equal" among equals.

Without any change in the law or Constitution to provide for them, the steady increase in concordat-style agreements between the Russian Orthodox Church and various organs of state at federal and local level has given the Orthodox Church increased power, Forum 18 News Service reports after a wide-ranging survey. These agreements give the Church special access to institutions such as prisons, the police, the FSB, the army, schools and hospitals, and emphasize Orthodoxy as the legitimate ideology of Russian state tradition. It is open to question whether they violate Russia's international human rights commitments, but in practice these mini-concordats can render illegitimate the social activity of other religious organisations in the state sphere, thus leading to discrimination on religious grounds.

Turkmenistan:

Citizenship moves "will not affect Russian Orthodox"?

Officials of the Russian Orthodox Church - the only Christian Church allowed to register in Turkmenistan - have told Forum 18 News Service that the unilateral decision by the Turkmen leader to abolish the right to hold joint Turkmen and Russian citizenship will not affect the functioning of the Church, although membership of the Church is almost entirely made up of ethnic Russians. "There really is a problem with the abolition of dual citizenship," Father Ioan Kopach of Ashgabad's St Aleksandr Nevsky cathedral told Forum 18. "But if people ask us about it, all we can do is shrug our shoulders. It's not a religious issue. I am sure that just as before we will be able to receive religious literature without hindrance and travel to Russia." But one activist, Vyacheslav Mamedov, says abolition of dual citizenship will "of course" affect Turkmen Orthodox. "It will be more difficult for them to integrate with Orthodox culture and visit places of pilgrimage in their historic homeland."

Uzbekistan:

Authorities drag their feet over Pentecostal registration.

Pentecostal pastor Bakhtier Tuichiev's registration application for his church in Andijan - lodged four months ago - has stalled. "Officially,no-one has refused me," he told Forum 18. "It is simply that every day I am told to come back tomorrow. I am sure the authorities are quite deliberately dragging their feet." However, an official of the city administration denied there was any deliberate obstruction. "We have been holding a sports competition, and have not had the time to devote to this issue," Izatullo Khojayev told Forum 18. "I have already told Tuichiev that we will deal with his application very soon." Police have warned the pastor that if the church continues to operate without registration, he will be brought to court.

Please go to http://www.forum18.org to learn more about religious rights violations in communist and post- communist lands.

ASSIST News Service provides this incident of persecution.

Bangladesh:

Missionary kidnapped, threatened, and held for ransom.

Gospel for Asia is requesting urgent prayer for one of its missionaries kidnapped, threatened, and held for ransom in Bangladesh.

"Moses, a Gospel for Asia (GFA) missionary spreading the Gospel in Bangladesh, has been kidnapped and taken deep into the jungle. He is being held by a terrorist group and is in great danger. Yesterday (May 30) GFA leaders received information that the group will kill Moses unless they receive a huge amount for ransom," said John Schwartz GFA Web Coordinator, http://www.gfa.org.

GFA has two Bible schools and 82 missionaries in Bangladesh. "This incident comes in the midst of God moving mightily in this country," Schwartz said.

Please check www.assistnews.net for many interesting articles on a wide range of topics.

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