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Subject: Persecution report for October 15, 2002.

Date: Sun, 13 Oct 2002 21:30:45 -0600 (MDT)

From: ve6xtc@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca

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

Mission Network News reports these incidents of Christians being persecuted.

Ivory Coast:

Situation still dangerous for national Christians.

With the latest round of peace talks failing, the threat of civil war in the Ivory Coast is growing. Up till now, the area has been fairly stable, so the tension build up between the government and rebels was a surprise to those caught in the crossfire. Evangelical Baptist Mission’s Chris Marine. "We had no idea this was happening until we woke to gunfire on that Thursday morning. Out of nowhere, without any warning, the gunfire started. It was firing over our campus, and there were times of concern; we had 163 students on campus." Marine was among the group evacuated from the International Christian Academy in Bouake. He says the situation needs prayer. "Pray that the Lord would lay His hand of protection on the school, that it would not be looted, so that when the situation is resolved, we can get back in there and open the school back up.. Also, we would ask that people would pray for the national Christians there; they’re having to live in a very stressful situation."

Sudan:

Government still blocks aid from entering.

The situation in Sudan continues to degenerate as the Sudanese government bans humanitarian access to the war-torn South. Crucial supplies have been unable to reach many of those in need, and critical programs have ceased. The Baptist World Alliance is trying to respond to needs in the south, and is launching a special appeal to raise money for their Sudanese church partners. The Alliance is committed to world evangelism, responding to people in need and defending human rights.

India:

Anti-conversion law enacted in Tamil Nadu State.

The Hindu majority is hailing the anti-conversion ordinance, calling it a move to curb ongoing sectarian violence. However, Bibles For the World’s Rochunga Pudaite disagrees. He shares his concerns. "It will have a tremendous impact on Bibles For The World, and most every Christian organization. I believe that this law will be challenged, and I hope it will be defeated because the people who are going to suffer the most are those who are presently deprived. I am very deeply concerned that they are not going to have the freedom to choose what they want." Pudaite adds, "because the law is vague, it poses its own set of hazards." He believes Christians will mount a legal challenge to the law. "I think that all Christians across this nation should pray that, as we begin to challenge the law, that God will intervene."

Sri Lanka:

Buddhist radicals pressure their government.

Buddhist leaders are putting pressure on the government in Sri Lanka to rescind the visas of Christian missionaries in that country. Gospel For Asia reports that these Buddhist leaders are also lobbying to keep foreign funds for Christian work from entering the country. Gospel For Asia has over 100 churches and two Bible schools in Sri Lanka.

Laos:

Government pressures Christians to recant.

Christians in Laos are facing cruel forms of physical and psychological abuse. According to Christian Aid Mission, Lao authorities are using new forms of persecution against churches in Laos. These methods are called "forced labour" and "community vocal shame." Both methods involve cruel physical and psychological abuse. Many times believers are told that if they deny Christ, the abuse will stop.

Please check http://www.mnnonline.org for missions news and a weekday audio broadcast.

The Voice Of The Martyrs has the following incidents to report.

Pakistan:

News updates.

(a) Eyewitness still in custody.

On September 25, the Persecution and Prayer Alert reported on an execution-style attack on the Institute for Peace and Justice (IPJ) in Karachi, Pakistan. Seven Christians were killed when they were tied up and shot. One of the two witnesses to the attack, Robin Shareef, 24, remains unconscious and in critical condition in hospital with serious head injuries. According to an October 8, 2002 report from Compass Direct, the other witness, 27-year-old Robin Peranditta, an errand boy and watchman for IPJ, was beaten and tied up during the attack but escaped. However, since the attack, he has remained in police custody. According to Pakistan’s Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA), he is in protective custody because he would be able to identify the attackers. However according to attorneys, Peranditta has been suffering psychologically and physically while in custody and he has cigarette burns on his chest, knees, and arms. Some police sources have suggested that he may be charged as a collaborator. Peranditta has been hesitant to tell the authorities what he knows because of fear. In speaking with his lawyer, Peranditta admitted his statements to the police had been contradictory. "I don’t want to tell anything to them," he said, "because if I tell them, I might be killed."

(b) Christians suffer terror attacks.

September 29, a bomb exploded next to an interdenominational Christian prayer hall in the remote village of Kohlu in Baluchistan province. On October 4, a hand grenade was thrown at the main entrance of the Christian Mission Hospital in Bannu, 30 miles from the Afghan border. While there was property damage in both attacks, there were no injuries.

China:

Retrial ordered for Christians.

A Chinese court has thrown out the criminal conviction of seventeen members of the unregistered South China Church and ordered a new trial. Of the seventeen, five were originally sentenced to death, including Pastor Gong Shengliang, and the rest were given sentences ranging from two years to life. The court said the facts in the trial against the South China Church members were "ambiguous" and the evidence "inadequate." The case has been sent back to Jingmen City Intermediate People’s Court for retrial on October 9. As of this publication, no decision has yet been made public. The Voice of the Martyrs will continue to monitor the situation and report on any significant updates.

Jordan:

Mother ordered to give up children in five days.

Compass Direct reported on October 9 that Siham Qandah received written notification from the Ministry of Justice on October 7 to surrender her daughter Rawan, 14, and son Fadi, 12, to a civil court in Irbid, near her home in northern Jordan. If she fails to comply with the order within five days, the notice declared, the authorities would "force compliance" with this order.

Qandah was widowed in 1994. Several months after her husband’s death, witnesses came forward that claimed to have documentary evidence that he had converted to Islam three years before he died. On this basis, Qandah was informed by local courts that her children were automatically orphans and that their orphan benefits could only be allocated through a Muslim guardian. Documents of conversion, filed in an Islamic court cannot be contested under Jordanian law. Unwilling to entrust her children to a court-appointed guardian, Qandah asked an estranged brother, Abdullah al-Muhtadi, who had converted to Islam 20 years ago, to serve as the children’s legal guardian. But, according to Compass Direct, as the children grew older, they became more involved in the Baptist church they attended and enrolled in the Christian religion classes at school. Seeing this, the brother began to insist that the children be raised Muslims. In May 1998, he opened a civil case for full custody of his niece and nephew. Over the next four years the local appellate and Supreme Court judges hearing the case, all ruled against Silam Qandah. Last April, she was ordered by the Supreme Court to give up custody of her children to be raised as Muslims by their uncle. Qandah quickly took her children out of school and went into hiding. An advocacy campaign was mounted to petition the government of King Abdullah II of Jordan, as news of Qandah’s dilemma spread in the international press.

In late May, she met with local Jordanian Intelligence Department (JID) officials who assured her that, because of the international attention that her case had received, she would not be harmed and her children would not be taken away from her. She came out of hiding, but in early August other JID representatives in Amman said that they could not "interfere" with judicial rulings. Even the office of Prince Hassan, brother to the late King Hussein, while meeting with Qandah in late August, stated that nothing more could be done after the highest court had ruled on the case. The family has been unable to leave Jordan, as the names of Qandah’s two children are blacklisted on immigration computers. Jordanian law does not allow Muslims the right to change their religion. Thus it would appear that there are no legal options left for this family.

Please go to http://www.persecution.net to learn more about the suffering of believers and what can be done to help them.

Keston News Service reports this persecution incident.

Belarus:

Minsk Protestants warned home religious services are "illegal".

Although Belarus’ repressive new religion law has not yet been signed by President Aleksandr Lukashenko, an official has told Keston News Service that religious meetings held by registered religious communities in private homes are banned under a law issued by Minsk city executive committee last year. A campaign against services by registered religious communities in private homes was launched last month in the capital. Local Baptists have declared that "preaching the Gospel and Christian hymn singing outside a church is a violation of Belarus’ laws." They called for prayers and appeals to have the laws "under which repression of believers has begun again" repealed.

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

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