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Subject: PERSECUTION REPORT FOR OCTOBER 7, 2003.

Date: Sun, 5 Oct 2003 18:35:41 -0700

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

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

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

PERSECUTION REPORT FOR OCTOBER 7, 2003.

The Voice Of The Martyrs presents these incidents of Christians suffering for their faith.

China:

Three More Christians Arrested

Two Christians were arrested on Friday and a third on Sunday in Ping Ding Shan, Henan Province, China. According to VOM sources, more than twenty Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers arrested Xiao Bi-guang and Zhang Yi-nan on Friday morning. On Sunday, Zhang's wife, Ding Guizhen was arrested at the hospital where she worked as a doctor.

The whereabouts of Xiao and Zhang are unknown and the families have received no official notification. Ding is currently being held in the PSB office. The home of Zhang and Ding was also searched and various possessions were confiscated, including computers and books.

Xiao is an active member of a Beijing house church and had served three years in a labour camp for providing "spiritual aid" for an independent labour union. He has also served on the legal team representing the leaders of the South China Church, whose leader, Pastor Gong Shengliang, is currently serving a life sentence.Xiao's wife was previously a theology teacher at the state-approved Beijing Theological Seminary until it was learned that she was involved in an unregistered house church.

Zhang is a church historian for the underground churches in China and has been one of the main writers for the Unity Movement, which includes four major unregistered house church groups in China.

We encourage you to contact the Chinese embassy in your country and urge them to release these believers. For contact information for embassies in Canada and the UN, visit our web site at http://www.persecution.net/links.htm.

Jordan:

Update on Siham Qandah

For several months, The Voice of the Martyrs has been following the plight of a Christian widow, Siham Qandah, in Jordan who has been ordered to turn her children over to her estranged brother or face imprisonment (for more details, see http://www.persecution.net/pnp_se.htm). Following the recent order to hand over custody or face prison, an appeal was lodged on September 21. It is expected that the appeal will take one to two weeks to be heard. In the meantime, the arrest order was suspended.

Efforts continue to find a solution. A meeting scheduled with a Supreme Court judge and a member of the royal family was cancelled, but there is ongoing communication.

Egypt:

Detained Emigrant Faces Drug Charges

In last week's Persecution and Prayer Alert, we asked prayer for Bolis Rezekallah, an Egyptian Christian detained at the Cairo airport just as he was leaving to immigrate to Canada. He was arrested when authorities learned that he was married to a convert from Islam. His wife immediately went into hiding when it was learned that Bolis had been arrested (see http://www.persecution.net/pnparchive/arch6.htm#1).

A VOM contact informed us today that Bolis had been released on bail. However, the police then accused him of being a drug dealer. According to the report, the police officer placing the charges told Bolis, "I forced you to sell your pharmacy, I forced you to sell your car, this time I will force you to commit suicide if you do not tell us where your wife is."

We also urge you to write, telephone, or e-mail to your federal government officials and to Egyptian embassies on behalf of Bolis Rezekallah (links may be found at http://www.persecution.net/links.htm).

In Canada, you can write to:

Sri Lanka:

Churches Burned

Last week, the Persecution and Prayer Alert reported on the brutal assault on September 19 of three Christian women who had been working to build the fence around a church in Kotadeniyawa, Sri Lanka (see http://www.persecution.net/pnparchive/arch6.htm#4). The fence was also destroyed in the attack. VOM sources have since reported that, on the night of September 23, unidentified motorcyclists burned down the church building itself.The next night, at 2:00 a.m. the Assembly of God Church in Kesbewa was burned to the ground. The church building was doused with gasoline and set alight after tires were placed inside the building to ensure maximum fire damage. The building was completely destroyed.

Over the past several months, the believers of the Kesbewa Church had frequently received death threats. The church building as repeatedly been doused with oil, stoned, and a bomb attack injured one person. It is believed that the local Buddhist temple is spearheading the harassment.

Pictures of the destruction from both these attacks are available on our web site at http://www.persecution.net/pnp.htm#4. Harassment of Christians throughout Sri Lanka is increasing in recent months.

Afghanistan:

Proposed Constitution Omits Vital Freedoms

On October 1, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCRIF) issued a press release expressing serious concerns about the proposed constitution for Afghanistan, which could be approved as early as December.

According to the report, also published in October 1's New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/01/opinion/01BANS.html), the proposed constitution would enshrine elements of Sharia law, including blasphemy, apostasy, and other religious crimes. When the USCIRF spoke with Afghanistan's chief justice, Fazl Hadi Shinwari, he told them that he accepted the Universal Declaration on Human Rights with three exceptions: freedom of expression, freedom of religion and equality of the sexes. He said that the Koran is "the only law." If this constitution is ratified by the loya jirga (grand council) in December, Islamic law could be used to suppress any dissenting thought or religious faiths other than Islam.

We encourage you to raise your concerns with your federal government officials, urging them to pressure the Afghani government to accept the entire Universal Declaration on Human Rights. For links, go to http://www.persecution.net/links.htm.

Please check http://www.persecution.net for more information about persecuted Christians and ways to help them.

Mission Network News reports these persecution incidents.

China:

Christian Radio is discipling new believers in China as persecution continues

170 believers in Henan Province were questioned by police after attending a house church in the region. According to reports, 14 church leaders remain in custody. HCJB World Radio broadcasts programming into China. HCJB World Radio's Ron Cline says the Chinese take an incredible risk when they come to Christ. "They say 'yes' to Jesus at the same time they say 'yes' to death. It's almost as if they agree 'I will die, but I want to be a Christian.' And so, we want to encourage them via radio. And, they tell us in China that two things are building the church in China, relationships - Chinese to Chinese, and radio, because it's teaching them their theology." Cline tells us how they help Chinese believers through their radio broadcast." You trying to encourage them and strengthen their faith, that's all. You try to give them the promises that God has given to them. Make sure they know they understand what those promises are, the guarantees from God for their life. You try to equip them and prepare them for this persecution that will come." Full Story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/5184

Haiti:

Christians evangelize in spite of spiritual opposition

Evangelistic outreach is the focus of national Christians in Haiti, as the country prepares to celebrate 200 years of freedom. Evangelist Sammy Tippit was there recently to hold Gospel meetings. He says one gathering presented a unique challenge. "One young man, who was evidently involved in voodoo, tried to put a curse on the team. He broke through the crowd and grabbed a chair and started swinging at the crowd and at me and he had to be subdued by men. So, it was quite a scene there. But, in spite of all those types of things, we still saw the Lord move and people come to know Christ." Tippet says 200 years ago the country was dedicated to the Devil. "This evangelistic meeting was a part of the large plan to bring the nation and to call the nation to repent of that and to turn totally and completely to Jesus Christ. And, there's a great hunger among Christians to see a great revival take place." Full Story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/5197

India:

Christians breathe a sigh of relief

The conviction of 13 Hindu extremists in connection with a missionary murder raises concern. Dave DeGroot is with Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India. He points to a Monday attempt to provoke hostilities against believers. "The police immediately arrested one of the Dara Singh associates who was trying to incite a riot in the same district in which the murders occurred. It appeared that the police were clamping down on this person,trying to avoid public outcry." DeGroot urges prayer for Christians. Hindu nationalist sympathies could turn the convicted man into a martyr,his cause, into nationalism. "There's a potential of this thing being immediately politicized. That's the fear. There are simmering, hot pockets of potential violence all over the country, it wouldn't necessarily be in Orissa. But, this thing could touch off powder kegs across the country, in Gujarat or other places, and everyday that goes by without violence, we're thankful." Full Story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/5190K

Please go to http://www.missionnetworknews.org for missions news and a weekday audio broadcast.

Christian Aid Mission shares these works of God..

India:

Testimonies: God Is Real

Many ministries from India write that despite hardship and persecution, God's power and grace are real. Here are some testimonies recently received by Christian Aid.

One man named Ram was quite influential in his area but was known for his opposition to Christianity and troubled the believers a lot. One time he even refused to let a Christian family bury their small child, forcing them to keep the body outside the cemetery for a whole day.

Recently Ram's whole family became sick. His family went to many temples and holy places seeking peace of mind and healing for their bodies, but all was in vain. Finally Ram humbled himself and went to the local village gospel preacher and begged him to pray for him. The preacher presented the gospel and prayed for Ram and his family. The very next week Ram brought his entire family to church and testified before the whole congregation that through prayer to Jesus Christ they received peace of mind and improving health.

The assistant leader of another village was told to go to the village church, stop the worship going on there, and attack the believers. But when he got there, a Christian teacher was sharing his testimony. The village leader was touched by his testimony and decided not to cause trouble. Instead, he asked to know more about the Lord Jesus and invited all the leading families of his village to attend the church meeting.

In another place, a young couple started having physical problems shortly after they accepted Christ. The man endured chest pains and stomach problems for eight months, while his wife was affected with a boil on her leg. Even their only child developed some eye problem.

When the villagers heard about it they said, "You are suffering because you left your village gods and became Christians. Go to the temple and put a magic band on your wrists. Then you will be cured."

The husband replied, "We will never do that. Our God will never forsake us." After that the entire family fasted and prayed to the Lord, crying out with tears. That very day all three were healed. To show their gratitude, they gave everyone in the church a bamboo fan.

Indeed, the hardship and suffering that true believers suffer seem only to drive them more intensely to the Lord. To learn of more such testimonies, write insider@christianaid.org and put MI-439 610-FMPB on the subject line.

Please go to http://www.christianaid.org to read about missionary work around the world and how to get involved.

Forum 18 provides the following reports of religious rights violations.

Azerbaijan:

Catholics "shocked" by undiplomatic warning

Father Daniel Pravda, head of the small Catholic community in Azerbaijan, said he is shocked by the reported warning by the government's senior religious affairs official that he has been conducting "illegal religious propaganda", an offence under Azerbaijani law punishable by deportation. "I don't know what Rafik Aliev means by propaganda, but all I do is serve our Catholics," Father Pravda told Forum 18 News Service. According to the local media, Aliev issued the warning to visiting Vatican foreign minister Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran on 24 September.

Forum 18 was unable to reach Aliev to find out whether he had indeed warned Father Pravda, if so why he had done so and why Azerbaijani law bans foreigners and people without citizenship from conducting "religious propaganda" in defiance of international human rights conventions.

Belarus:

Old believers cry SOS

As religious organisations across Belarus face compulsory re-registration under last year's restrictive new religion law, the head of the 50,000-strong priestless Old Believer Church has complained that the whole procedure is unnecessary and unduly burdensome. "Who needs this? We don't,"Petr Orlov told Forum 18 News Service in Polotsk. He must now compile a new charter for his Church and arrange a synod to approve it, before submitting the final re-registration application to the State Committee for Religious and Ethnic Affairs in Minsk. Many of the 38 priestless Old Believer parishes are dominated by people in their 70s or 80s, and Orlov fears many will be unable to complete the necessary paperwork. "There's no one to write their charters."

Belarus:

Indigenous believers resist state contact

As well as dealing with often elderly members of his parishes trying to cope with the compulsory re-registration applications, the head of the priestless Pomorye Old Orthodox Church in Belarus is facing long-standing suspicion within his Church of contact with the state. Petr Orlov cited the parish in Gomel, which refuses to submit detailed personal information required for re-registration. "They are worried that their relatives might lose their jobs as city councillors, collective farm workers or teachers,"he told Forum 18 News Service. "There could be more repression and the authorities will say that we submitted those names voluntarily." Officials dislike religious groups that refuse to register. "It is very bad that they haven't decided to switch to civilised forms of performing religious rites," the senior religious official in Brest region complained of Baptists belonging to the Council of Churches, who refuse to register on principle.

Uzbekistan:

"Protestants cannot work as teachers," ideology official declares

An ideology official in the town administration of Muinak in the autonomous Karakalpakstan republic who helped have a Protestant sacked as a sports teacher in a local school last July after he refused to renounce his faith has explained why. "I am convinced that a Protestant may not work as a school teacher in Uzbekistan," Jalgas Saidmuratov told Forum 18 News Service. "Our state is moving towards Islam." The sacking of Lepesbai Omarov violates Uzbekistan's constitution and religion law, which proclaim Uzbekistan a secular state and outlaw discrimination on religious grounds. Karakalpakstan is a religious freedom black spot, with only one non-Islamic religious community that has been able to gain registration.

Uzbekistan:

Fines to follow Protestant church closure

The deputy head of the Upper Chirchik district administration, ShukhratTursunbayev, has insisted he did nothing wrong in closing down an unregistered Protestant church in the village of Ahmad Yassavy on the outskirts of Tashkent. "We were acting within the law," he told Forum 18 News Service. "According to the Uzbek law on religion the activity of an unregistered religious community is forbidden." Police officers and local officials burst into the Sunday service of the Friendship Church on 7 September, took down the names of all those present, sealed the church and warned the Protestants they will be prosecuted under the Code of Administrative Offenses.

Uzbekistan:

No peace for Peace Church

For the fourth time since the Peace Protestant church in Nukus in Karakalpakstan had its registration stripped from it in August 2000, the church was raided by the police during Sunday worship on 24 August and two if its leaders subsequently fined five times the minimum monthly wage." This is not the first time that I have fined the Peace church's leaders,"judge Oibek Tureyev told Forum 18 News Service. "I can only repeat to you once again that under Uzbek laws registration is compulsory." One of the two leaders fined, Khym-Mun Kim, told Forum 18 the church has repeatedly tried to regain its registration. "We are law-abiding citizens and we want to be registered but the authorities are forcing us to operate illegally."

Please see http://www.forum18.org for more about religious rights violations in communist and post- communist lands.

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