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Subject: Persecution report for October 8, 2002.

Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 20:47:43 -0600 (MDT)

From: ve6xtc@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca

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

Mission Network News reports the following incidents of persecution.

Congo—Kinshasa:

Founder cut off from organization.

Grace Ministries International reports that since the first week of August, their founder, Sam Vinton Sr., has been cut off from the outside world. That’s due, in part, to a lack of plane and radio service into Kama, Democratic Republic of Congo. Security became risky when a new rebel group arrived in the area and occupied it, looting many of the residences. The last correspondence says the elder Vinton is a house prisoner.

Ivory Coast:

Missionaries reconsider staying put.

Rebellion in the Ivory Coast is causing missionaries to rethink their presence in that country. Last week, unrest forced the evacuation of a missionary school. New Tribes Mission’s Nita Zelenak says this is an important week for the future of their work. "New Tribes Mission has relocated our tribal workers, and also, the folks who were at our school base in Yamoussoukro have all been moved to Abidjan. Our leaders there are evaluating whether or not they’re going to need to be evacuated from the country. They’ll be making that decision on Saturday." According to Zelenak, they have nearly 100 missionaries and family members in the Ivory Coast. She’s asking people to pray:

"...that peace would be restored and that missionary work could go on, and protection of the people of the Ivory Coast themselves. And, also for wisdom for the mission leaders as they decide whether or not to pull the missionaries out of the Ivory Coast. That’s a huge decision that they need to make."

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

The Voice Of The Martyrs reports these incidents of believers being persecuted.

Belarus:

Repressive law could endanger evangelism.

For several months, The Voice of the Martyrs has been asking for prayer for a proposed religious law in the former Soviet republic of Belarus. According to Keston News Service, the law was adopted on October 2, 2002 by the upper house of the Belarusian parliament. All that remains is for President Aleksandr Lukashenko to sign the law within the next three days. If it is not signed, it will return to the lower house for reconsideration. If signed, the new law would outlaw any unregistered religious activity. It would require prior censorship on all religious literature and ban any foreign citizens from leading a religious organization. Any publishing and education would be restricted to faiths that had at least one registered community in 1982 and now have at least ten registered communities. There would also be a ban on most religious meetings in private homes. This law is the most restrictive religion law in Europe. Pyotr Peters, a member of the Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians/Baptists, believes that the results of this law will likely be persecution.

Colombia:

Violence Claims Another Priest.

For the second time in a week, violence in Colombia has claimed the life of a Catholic priest in Colombia. On September 29, six gunmen killed Father Jorge Sanchez Ramrez and three companions. They were travelling from the airport to the parish in Restrepo when two vehicles carrying the attackers intercepted their car. While Ramrez had previously spoken out against the violence in Colombia, he had never considered that his life was in danger. Ramrez was actively involved in the construction of fifty homes for the poor in the community. Those also killed in the attack were Guillermo Pea, 19, the parish sacristan; sexton Gerardo Pava, 51; and a friend and soldier Frank Heider Rodrguez, 21. Church leaders in Colombia have become frequent targets for rebel groups in Colombia.

Sudan:

Complete Flight Ban Imposed.

On September 27, the government of Sudan imposed a complete ban on all flights in the Eastern and Western Equatorial regions of southern Sudan. This ban is to be in force through October 6 and has stopped all traffic from humanitarian aid and mission organizations. There are concerns that if the ban is considered successful, it could be extended. According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), this government ban on UN aid flights has deprived half a million hungry people of emergency food supplies. Due to the uncertainty and increased bombings by the government, the UN and other aid organizations have asked to be allowed to evacuate their workers, but the government has refused permission. This ban coincides with the purchase of advanced MIG-29 fighter-bombers by the Sudanese government, paid through oil revenues. There have also been reports of increased bombings on areas through out southern Sudan. However, accurate reports are difficult to obtain because of the travel restrictions. Presently, governments around the world are remaining silent, refusing to condemn or impose a ban. VOM encourages believers to write to their government officials, asking that action be taken immediately.

Please see http://www.persecution.net for more details on these and other stories.

Keston News Service reports these incidents of religious violations in communist and post-communist lands.

Russia:

Five more U.S. protestants denied entry.

Five U.S. Protestant church workers based in the city of Kostroma were denied entry visas to Russia this summer in accordance with the same legal provision cited against the banished Irkutsk-based Catholic Bishop Jerzy Mazur - "in the interests of ensuring state security." "We cannot understand the motivation," one of the five, Jeffery Wollman told Keston News Service. "We had done everything legally and above board." Meanwhile, Leo Martensson, a Swedish missionary who was also expelled from Russia, has so far failed to have the deportation order overturned in the courts.

Uzbekistan:

Were pastor's mysterious visitors from the former KGB?

Recent visitors to a Pentecostal pastor who claimed to be journalists from the BBC and CNN have been found to have no connection with either organization. The pastor of the Full Gospel Church in the town of Andijan in the Fergana valley, told Keston News Service that, as the visitors were more interested in collecting "compromising material" on him than interviewing him on how Protestants survive in Uzbekistan, they might have been officers of the National Security Service (NSS, ex-KGB) masquerading as journalists. "I understand that all my suspicions may turn out to be unsubstantiated," he told Keston"but believe me, it will be too late after I have been arrested." One computer disk forgotten by one of the visitors contained the course-work of a student at the NSS institute, A. D. Ivanchin, on the subject of "the criminal law aspect of terrorism".

Belarus:

"Traditional faiths" vs. The rest over repressive religion law?

Strong endorsement for the repressive new religion law, which went for the final vote on 2 October, has come from the leader of the Moscow Patriarchate’s exarchate in Belarus, while the Roman Catholic Church, the Muslim community and some parts of the Jewish and Lutheran communities have supported the draft to differing extents. In an extensive survey of opinion by Keston News Service, all other faiths have expressed serious concern about provisions in the draft law which concern is echoed by a range of human rights groups. Pyotr Peters of the Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians/Baptists believes that if the law is adopted, "persecution" is likely to return. "Maybe it will be like in Uzbekistan, where the law is very harsh," he told Keston. "But we’re not panicking. God is greater."

Please go to http://www.keston.org for more information about these 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