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Mission Network News

Mission Network News reports these incidents of the persecution of believers.

Colombia:

Christians still targeted by drug lords.

Mission agencies are still reporting that Christians are being targeted for persecution by drug cartels and rebel guerrillas. Missionary Butch Jarvis says believers in rural areas are having more trouble with the violence than Christians in large cities. "Most of the churches that are in, not only that zone, but in almost in every part of the country, the churches are threatened to not take up offerings, to not preach and teach the things they do, and if they do, they’ll be ‘taken care of’." Jarvis says prayer support is especially crucial. "The outreach has been tremendous because of all the uncertainty and all the insecurity that the guerrillas have created. A lot of folks have prayed for us to leave the country. But, frankly, what we need is prayers to be very effective and very efficient in our preaching and teaching, because these are times when people are so insecure, and not really aware of how much longer it will be before someone takes their life." Jarvis and his family are staying at D & D Missionary Homes in Florida while on furlough in the United States. They return to Bogota in September.

Colombia:

Another pastor murdered by FARC.

Voice of the Martyrs is reporting another murder of a Colombian pastor. This latest information seems to confirm an escalation in trouble for believers there. Evangelical Free Church Mission’s Latin America director, Tim McIntosh says the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, may have switched tactics. "Now, it seems like bringing the church into this is part of the strategy, which is a significant difference. A factor in all this, too, is that the Colombian presidential elections are going to be held this month, May 26^th. The leading candidate, at this point, has said that there would be a crackdown on the FARC." McIntosh asks people to pray. "The EFCM currently doesn’t have on-site missionaries. We’ve started a relationship with an existing indigenous Colombian organization, contemplating sending missionaries there. There still is a fairly significant missionary force with a variety of organizations, and we need to be praying for them."

Philippines

New hope for female missionary’s release.

The military says Muslim guerrillas might release New Tribes Missionary Gracia Burnham. The group has been holding her hostage for almost a year, but is considering her release because her health is deteriorating. New Tribes Mission’s Scott Ross says the Abu Sayaaf has a history of breaking their promises and hiding behind smokescreens. "There’s been a tremendous amount of misinformation given out by this group. Really, this group’s method of operation is to demand some type of ransom for release. So, it would be a bit unusual for them to release someone in some other fashion other than through a ransom payment." Ross says as the one-year anniversary of the Burnham’s kidnapping nears, prayer for the Burnham’s safety becomes most urgent. "If, in fact, the military are engaging the ASG, we would be praying for Martin and Gracia’s safety that God makes them invisible or impervious to whatever might be happening there."

Indonesia:

Christian separatists group disbanded.

The Associated Press reports that a day after the government vowed to expel Muslim militants from Indonesia’s religious violence-wracked Maluku islands, the country’s Vice President urged security forces to disband a small group of Christian separatists. The move sends mixed signals of Indonesia’s willingness to crack down on Islamic extremism. Thousands of Christians have been killed in the three years of fighting in the islands.

China:

A new anti-christian law is imposed.

The government continues its crackdown on the unregistered house church. World Help’s Mike Clinton just returned from that country. Clinton says a new law could have a huge impact on Christians. "It says it’s illegal to have gatherings of ten or more without government approval. Which means, all these house church meetings that are over ten people in attendance are now illegal. If people see ten people you can’t use the excuse, oh it’s a birthday party, we’re just getting together, we’re just praying. So, the persecution there is increasing." Clinton says the Chinese government is trying to get more control before the Olympics in 2008. But, Chinese believers aren’t bowing to the pressure. They’re asking for more Bibles and planning more outreach. "They say one Bible in the hand of a believer will result in 10 people coming to Christ. And so, for this year we have a goal of 1 million Bibles, but by the year of 2008 we want to see 50-million Bibles going in to China." Five-dollars can print and distribute one Bible for Chinese believer.

Nigeria:

Christian schools shut down.

Nigeria’s Kano state government closed 24 Christian schools because of their refusal to provide Islamic religious studies as part of their curricula. Dr. Mohammed Tahir, Chairman of the Education Task Force, told Open Doors in Kano that more Christian schools would be closed unless they adhere to the Islamic education policy, pay the required education taxes and employ Islamic clerics to teach Islam.

Please go to http://www.mnnonline.org to learn more about these stories, missions news, plus hear a weekday audio newscast.

Voice Of The Martyrs

The Voice Of The Martyrs reports these examples of persecution.

Pakistan:

Two Life Sentences for Blasphemy.

On May 7, 2002, Aslam Masih, a Christian believer, was given two life sentences as well as a fine of 100,000 rupees ($2600 Canadian) by a court in Pakistan. Aslam Masih was arrested under section 295 of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws on December 2, 1998, in Mamum Kanjun, Toba Tek Singh. At the time, he was severely beaten severely by a mob, stabbed in the back and taken to a police station. Appeals have been filed on his behalf. Pakistan’s blasphemy law has been used to convict and jail more than a dozen Christians to this point. While the death penalty has been handed down to several, no one has yet been executed. The law has been severely criticized, in part because it is easily abused by anyone seeking to be vindictive.

Nigeria:

Converts to Christ Missing.

Two Nigerian Muslims who converted to the Christian faith in Mada village of northern Nigeria’s Zamfara state are missing, possibly at the hands of militant Muslim seeking to kill them for changing their faith. On May 1, 2002, the Persecution & Prayer Alert reported that two converts from Islam to Christianity, Lawali Yakubu and Ali Jafaru, had been spared the death penalty under Sharia law for converting from Islam. The courts ruled that the specific penal code followed in Zamfara state did not mandate the death penalty for conversion.

For more information, see www.persecution.net/pnparchive/arch1.htm.

According to a report from Compass Direct on May 14, 2002, these two men are now missing and it is feared that militant Muslims may have decided to take the law into their own hands. Local authorities assure that they are not in police custody and local Christians are searching for them. Pastor David Ishaya, told Compass, "Ever since the introduction of sharia in this state, we have not known peace."

Canada:

School Forced to Accept Gay Prom Date.

In the Persecution & Prayer Alert last week, we asked believers to pray about a pending court decision that had potential implications for many religious organizations throughout Canada. On May 10, The Ontario Superior Court granted an injunction that Marc Hall cannot be banned from taking his boyfriend to his prom at Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic high school in Oshawa, Ontario. The school board had argued that, as a Roman Catholic institution, it could not be seen as approving a homosexual lifestyle. They had argued that dating was an acting out of homosexual orientation and, as such, could not be condoned by the Catholic Church. In his decision, the judge said that the boy, as a Roman Catholic, should be free to express himself as a gay Catholic. He acknowledged that the position of the school board, even though recognized as authentically Catholic by its bishop, can be subject to scrutiny as being "not the only Catholic position." The president of the Catholic Civil Rights League, Thomas Langan, said in a statement released on May 10: "We are very disappointed with the judge’s decision. It’s clear that this is yet another direct attack on Catholic rights and religious freedoms. It is yet another imposition of vague community values over long held Church beliefs. What it tells Catholics is that their beliefs are not welcome in a pluralistic society, while at the same time they must tow the line and show respect when a non-Catholic or secular authority decides to oppose Catholic doctrine." While the prom took place on May 10, the school is considering appealing the decision to rule on its constitutionality. The Voice of the Martyrs urgently hopes that this appeal will be made, as we believe it has profound implications for religious liberty in our country. As Thomas Langan stated, "Has the court placed the School Board in a tragic dilemma? Obey conscience and avoid the power of the State, or cave in and betray the word of God? The lions are licking their chops."

Please go to http://www.persecution.net to learn more about these stories plus what actions can be taken to help oppressed believers.

Keston News Service

Keston News Service reports the following incidents.

Turkmenistan:

Protestants Forced to Renounce Their Faith.

Turkmenistan’s political police (KNB) have forced a group of Protestants in the small village of Deinau to renounce their faith publicly, after a Christian magazine was posted to a village resident. Christian sources in Turkmenistan told Keston News Service that three Protestants who refused to comply with the police were expelled from the village and are now subject to a manhunt ordered by the central Ashgabad office of the KNB. Protestants from Deinau have previously been imprisoned, beaten and threatened with expulsion for their faith.

Azerbaijan:

Religious Liberty Before the Papal Visit.

As the head of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II, arrives in the Azerbaijani capital Baku in the afternoon of Wednesday 22 May on his 96^th papal visit outside Italy, the world’s attention will focus on the religious situation in this Caspian country. However, it remains unclear whether the pope will raise any religious liberty concerns with the Azerbaijani authorities.

Please go to http://www.keston.org to learn more about these, and other, stories of religious persecution in communist and post-communist lands.

   

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