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06-Aug-2002

Mission Network News presents these examples of Christians being persecuted.

Myanmar:

Dictatorial oppression slows gospel work.

As a regional security forum gets underway in Brunei this week,Myanmar’s leaders are having to answer for the brutality of the last fewmonths. As if in an early preparation, Global Advance’s David Shibley helda Frontline Shepherds’ Conference in Myanmar, where nearly 500 churchleaders came for encouragement and teaching. Shibley says there wasevidence that the tensions were wearing. "I spoke with several pastors whosaid that their church planting efforts in the areas that have beeneffected by the skirmishes have been curtailed because of the conflictsthat have been currently going on." Shibley says in spite of thechallenges, he is sure that the Gospel will go forward. "This is a veryheavily Buddhist nation, and yet these particularly young pastors werevery committed to seeing growth in their churches, and also to plantingnew churches particularly among the unreached peoples of Myanmar."

Sudan:

One worker escapes from kidnappers.

There is some good news out of the kidnapping inSudan. That’s the word from World Vision’s Dean Owen. "It is with heartfelt relief that we learned of the release of Steffan Horstmeier, one ofthree World Vision staff abducted July 29^th while working at a communityhealth centre in Waat in southern Sudan. Steffan, who is 31 years old,arrived safely Thursday at Lokichoggio, a community in northern Kenya." Owen says Horstmeier had been separated from his colleaguesMonday, when they were ambushed in an attack that killed 46 year oldCharles Kibbe of Kenya. "I would just hasten to add that we would appreciate the prayers of all of the listeners of Mission Network News aswe still work to free the other two individuals."

Please check http://www.mnnonline for more information on missions news and to hear a weekday news broadcast.

Keston News Service reports these persecution incidents.

Belarus:

Did Moscow patriarchate priest bless church destroyers?

As attempts continue to destroy the newly-built Autocephalous Orthodox church in the town of Pahranichny close to Belarus’ western border with Poland, controversy has centred on whether the local Moscow Patriarchate Orthodox priest, Father Sergei (Shelest), blessed those being transported by bus to undertake the demolition. "What pains me more than anything," Father Yan Spasyuk, priest of the Pahranichny autocephalous parish and head of the Autocephalous Church in Belarus, told Keston News Service on 29 July, "is how a priest can bless people who are pulling down crosses and a Christian church." Father Sergei himself declined to tell Keston if this information was true or not. A spokesman for the Belarusian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate - the only Orthodox jurisdiction registered in Belarus, told Keston that he doubted Father Sergei would have given such a blessing, but declared that the building was not a church of any "registered faith" and therefore not a Christian building."

Belarus:

Independent Orthodox church bulldozed.

On the first of August, the day before the Autocephalous Orthodox church in the village of Pahranichny, close to Belarus’ western border with Poland, was due to be consecrated, it was demolished by the authorities, Keston News Service has learned. At 8 pm the village was surrounded by troops in camouflage uniforms, all roads were blocked off and the church was destroyed, Keston News Service has learned. The Autocephalous Orthodox Church has repeatedly been denied registration in Belarus, and various officials have described the Church to Keston as a "non-existent religious group," despite the fact that it has some 70 parishes in the country. The demolition is the first case known to Keston in any of the former Soviet republics outside Central Asia where a place of worship has been deliberately destroyed to prevent religious activity taking place.

Moldova:

Bessarabian Orthodox win ten-year registration battle.

After what the secretary for the Bessarabian Orthodox Metropolia, Father Victor Restesanu, described to Keston News Service as a "ten-year battle" for state registration, the Moldovan government’s State Service for the Affairs of Cults has finally registered the Orthodox jurisdiction, which forms part of the Patriarchate in neighbouring Romania. All our problems have been resolved," he said, adding that the fine imposed on the government by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg was paid a week ago. The registration followed amendments to Moldova’s religion law adopted by parliament on 12 July. It remains unclear whether the Bessarabian Church’s victory will help two groups currently banned from registering in Moldova - the True Orthodox Church and Moldova’s Muslim community - to gain registration.

Russia:

Malign intervention.

The following was published in the Moscow Times on 24 July.

President Vladimir Putin’s government is taking steps to suppress an activity on which the written laws of the Russian Federation are silent: the religious offense of proselytism. Over the last few months an increasingly intense campaign has been waged by the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow against the alleged proselytism of Roman Catholic clergy in Russia. A certain "division of labour" has emerged, with secular officials taking concrete measures against Roman Catholics and the Moscow Patriarchate providing the propaganda campaign to justify those measures. Now the Moscow Patriarchate has released detailed accounts of specific episodes of alleged proselytism by Roman Catholics in Russia, to which the Catholics have responded with detailed denials, and we are now seeing a full-scale war of words between the two confessions. Although depressing, this implies a recognition that accusations must be supported by facts, not just polemics. If the Moscow Patriarchate so chooses, it has every right to preach against a Catholic revival - but the secular authorities have no right whatsoever to prevent it.

Uzbekistan:

Baptist deaf church closed down amid fines.

A Baptist pastor and his wife have been fined for leading a church for the deaf in the town of Beruni in the Karakalpakstan autonomous republic of western Uzbekistan and the unregistered church has been forced to halt its services. Oleg and Natalya Bader live in the town of Urgench, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Beruni, but outside the autonomous republic. Bader told Keston News Service on 28 July that the only explanation given at Beruni’s administrative court was that they had no permission to conduct any activities in Karakalpakstan". The church was raided on 8 June by officers of the National Security Service (SNB, former KGB), and had previously been visited by local police officers. The Baders have been warned not to travel back to Beruni. The local believers cannot meet locally and they can’t afford to travel to Urgench to join us in church," Bader noted sadly.

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

The Voice Of The Martyrs reports these persecution incidents.

Sri Lanka:

Cry out to the Lord for Sri Lankan believers.

Glenn Penner, Communications Officer for The Voice of the Martyrs, is on assignment in south Asia and on Tuesday sent the following prayer requests from the Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka. Please uphold these situations in your prayers.

Sri Lankan believers imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.

The Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka, The Evangelical Fellowship of Asia, and The Voice of the Martyrs are calling upon believers from around the world to remember two Sri Lankan Christians, Joel David and Solomon Privthiviraj who were arrested on April 25, 2002 by Saudi religious police. According to David’s sister Janet, the two were among a group of believers who were meeting at Joel’s home for prayer, when the meeting was interrupted by a knock on the door. A voice in Sinhalese (the main language of Sri Lanka) asked for admittance, but when the door was opened, the Saudi religious police stormed the home and arrested several of those present (including David, his wife, and Privthiviraj). The following day all but David and Privthiviraj were released and have been held in the Al Wattani prison. The families of the two Christians are very concerned for their safety, although they have received reports that their loved ones are being treated well. The prisoners, however, are being pressured to reveal the identities of other Christians. David’s wife has reported that all charges have been dropped against her husband, but that authorities have delayed signing the appropriate documents for the last three months, claiming that the authorized official is "on holidays."

On Saturday (July 27) at 6:30 pm, a mob of 300 Buddhists stormed Pastor Jacob Perera’s home in Allawa in north-central Sri Lanka. The pastor’s home, which was being constructed on the church premises, was torn down and the debris thrown into his well (his only source of water). The people on the premises were badly beaten and several had to be hospitalized. The police are investigating the case. When church officials from Colombo went for the police inquiry, the mob surrounded the church and threatened them with death. The police were called to disperse the crowd. This pastor has been threatened in the past with violence and asked to stop his work in Allawa.

Also on Saturday in northeastern Sri Lanka in the village of Sembiyady, a group of Christians were visiting a sick member of the church. As they left the home, they noticed that their church building was on fire. Although they rushed to the building, they were unable to save anything. In recent months, Christians in the community have been the targets of complaints to authorities, which, when investigated, were found to be groundless. Nevertheless, those hostile to the church are believed to be responsible for this action of arson.

Turkey:

Iranian family granted refugee status.

The Erfanis, an Iranian Christian family who fled Iran to escape persecution, have been granted Convention refugee status by the UN High Commission for Refugees. This status allows them to stay in Turkey for six more months while they reapply for acceptance into Canada or another country. Compass Direct also reported that Mahmoud Erfani had been summoned to the Canadian Embassy in Ankara for a second immigration interview on July 30. After the 90-minute interview with the Canadian immigration official, he was told that he would receive a letter informing him of their decision. In late April, the Erfani family was rejected refugee status by the UN as well as the Canadian government, despite the persecution they had faced before leaving Iran for Turkey. Erfani appealed that decision after documentation was compiled proving the danger he faced if forced to return to Iran. Erfani has called the new UN status a miracle and is optimistic that the Canadian immigration decision will be positive.

China:

Catholic priests sentenced to forced labour.

Three Catholic priests in China were sentenced to three years of forced labour for carrying out their ministry without the consent of the Communist authorities. According to a report from Zenit on July 28, the Chinese security police arrested Father Pang Yongxing, 30, in his home in December. Then, during the Easter season, both Father Ma Shunbao, 50, and Father Wang Limao, 32, were arrested while celebrating Mass.The three priests belong to the underground Church in Baoding, Hebei. On July 7 they were sentenced to labor camp for "disturbing the peace of society" under the "cult" law and have been transferred to the Balizhuang labor camp in Baoding, Hebei.

Pakistan:

Arrests in church massacre.

Pakistani police have arrested four men allegedly involved in the October massacre in a church in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. According to a report from Zenit, police arrested the men on July 23 in the southern district of Vehari. Two of the arrested are said to be members of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Sunni organization. Authorities said that three others involved in the attack are still at large. On October 28, 2001, a group of militant Muslims entered St. Dominic’s Catholic Church during a service. They opened fire on a group of Protestants who were using the building for services, killing the pastor and many of those worshipping there.

Sudan:

Hundreds killed; aid workers abducted.

Days after an apparent breakthrough in peace talks, the Sudanese government has begun a major offensive in the West Upper Nile region of southern Sudan. Reports from the rebel forces as well as aid workers in the area suggest as many as 1000 people have been killed in the village of Tam since the offensive began on Friday. On Monday, July 29, an aid worker with World Vision was killed and three others were abducted in an attack on Waat, 510 miles south of the capital of Khartoum. While World Vision has not publicly identified the attackers, a senior UN worker in the area states that government-backed forces are responsible for the attack. The aid worker killed has been identified as Charles Kibbe from Kenya. Another Kenyan and two Germans are missing and apparently abducted. A fifth aid worker managed to hide and was later rescued. Last week there appeared to be a major breakthrough, as the government agreed to concessions such as letting the south hold a referendum on self-determination. However, other issues such as sharing of oil revenues and human rights were still outstanding and no cease-fire was signed. These recent attacks seem to demonstrate a clear resolve by the Sudanese government to put oil revenue before peace.

Please check http://www.persecution.net to learn more

about these stories and what can be done to help believers in peril.

Yours,

Bruce Atchison.

ve6xtc@telusplanet.net

http://gideon.www2.50megs.com

http://help-for-you.com

   

email: ve6xtc@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca