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Subject: PERSECUTION REPORT FOR OCTOBER 21, 2003.

Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 17:16:57 -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 21, 2003.

The Voice Of The Martyrs provides the following incidents of Christians suffering for Christ.

China:

Arrested believers located

A VOM source has discovered the location of three Chinese Christians arrested on September 26-27 (see http://www.persecution.net/pnparchive/arch4.htm for more details on the arrest). According to the source, Xio Bi-guang, Zhang Yi-nan, and Zhang's wife, Ding Guizhen, are being held at the Detention Center of Lushan County in Henan Province. Local officials have not been permitted to question them as the case is being handled by the provincial Public Security Bureau (PSB) and the Bureau of State Security, the Chinese equivalent of the CIA. This suggests that the authorities consider these prisoners to be important leaders in the house church movement.

Despite a law requiring that family members be officially notified of arrests within twenty-four hours, as of last Saturday, none of the families had received official word of the arrests. VOM contacts were able to inform Xio's wife, Gou Qinghu, of her husband's whereabouts. She is planning to hire lawyers to launch a formal inquiry into his case. Zhang is reportedly been fasting and praying since his arrest and remains very strong, spiritually.

VOM has learned the phone number of the PSB office overseeing the Detention Center of Lushan County. We encourage Christians, especially those who speak Chinese, to call in support of these Christians. The number to call from U.S.A. and Canada is 011-86-375-5071209. We also encourage you to contact the Chinese embassy in your country to politely raise your concerns. For contact information for Canada, U.S.A. and the UN, go to http://www.persecution.net/links.htm.

Indonesia:

Anniversary of Bali bombings marked by attacks on Christians

As the world remembered the one-year anniversary of the nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, which killed over two hundred foreigners, violence in Christian areas of Indonesia erupted.

On September 28, a church worker found a bomb in the Gereja Kristen Sulawesi Tengah church in Tomata village. The police were able to remove the bomb and detonate it without any injuries. There have been several other bomb threats against churches in recent weeks.

According to a report from International Christian Concern, a Christian convert from Islam, Mr. Jono, age 44, was murdered on the streets of Pandiri village in broad daylight on October 1. The attackers were followed to a primarily Muslim village where they escaped.

On the night of October 10, residents in the village of Old Beteleme, Central Sulawesi woke to cries of "Allahu Akbar" and gunshots. By the time the attack ended, two people were dead, six missing, and several injured. Another man later died of injuries. Thirty-eight homes and an Assembly of God church were also destroyed. According to Sunday's Jakarta Post, three men have been detained for questioning.

Hours before the memorial for the Bali bombings, there was a coordinated attack on four primarily Christian villages near the town of Poso in Central Sulawesi province on October 12: Saatu, Pinedapa, Pantangolemba and Madale. Reports on the actual number of casualties vary, but at least eight and possibly up to fifteen Christians were killed, several were wounded, and dozens of homes and a church building were burned. Gunmen dressed in black fatigues and masks entered the towns, killing the fleeing villagers, and then disappeared into the surrounding hills. Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Taufik Ridha believes that this attack may be linked to the October 10 attack on Old Beteleme.

Around 8:00 p.m. on Monday, October 13, the nearby village of Betania was rocked by a bomb blast outside a house. While there were no casualties, the explosion caused panic among the residents who expected gunshots to follow the explosion.In response to these attacks, as many as 8,000 additional forces are being sent into Central Sulawesi to restore peace. On Tuesday, the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived in Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi, where he held meetings with military officers, the National Intelligence Agency and the Governor Aminuddin Ponulele in Palu. On Wednesday morning he travelled to Poso to assess the situation and hold talks with local religious leaders.

Pakistan:

Christians released on bail

Four Christians accused of killing a Catholic priest were released on bail on September 25, according to an October 10 report from Compass Direct. The four Christians, Sherif Masih, Naimat Masih, Aslam Masih and Parveez Masih, along with a Muslim suspect Mohammed Afzel, were arrested on July 9 for the shooting death of Father George Ibrahim (see http://www.persecution.net/pnparchive/arch1.htm for more details).

The police claim that Ibrahim was killed in a failed robbery attempt. When the men appeared before the court, however, they said that they had nothing to do with the attack but had "confessed" after being severely tortured by police. They reported that they had been subjected to beatings and electrical shocks. One of the men still cannot walk properly. No date has yet been set for the trial.

Father Ibrahim had received death threats for the past year from the former principal of a girls' school, Shahzina Sadique, whose husband is reported to be president of the local chapter of Anjum Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, a banned terrorist organization. Sadique had denounced Ibrahim before a local court as an "enemy of Islam" who should be killed. Local Christians are firmly convinced that these four men are innocent and that the real killers are being protected.

India:

Priest slain at hermitage

A Catholic priest in Bangalore, Karnataka, India, was found dead in his hermitage on October 7, apparently the victim of foul play. While not excluding disputes by neighbours, the investigation is particularly centring on threats he had recently received from militant Hindus, according to Zenit

Please see http://www.persecution.net for more information and to learn how to help these Christians.

Mission Network News has this persecution incident to report.

Indonesia:

Christian educators fight back with education

New restrictions in Indonesia appear to be targeting Christian schools. Five months ago, the Indonesian Parliament passed a new education law that caused some concern for believers. The law requires schools with 10 or more students of any particular faith to be taught religious studies by a teacher of the same faith. Walk Through The Bible's Terry Sparks." The intent of the education law is to teach Muslim classes, but it also offers the opportunity to teach other faiths, as well." The law may have been intended to curb the flood of Muslim students converting to Christianity each year. There were also fears it would inflame tensions. Sparks explains their response is pro-active. "We're trying to put together a large number of teachers so that we have people all over Indonesia teaching Christianity in the schools."

The challenge now, is training the teachers and getting them approved to teach in the schools.

Full Story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/5229

Please go to http://www.missionnetworknews.org for full versions of their stories and a weekday audio broadcast.

Christian Aid Mission provides these incidents of persecution.

Indonesia:

Christian villages attacked

The precarious peace between Indonesian Christians and Muslims was broken by post-midnight attacks on five Christian villages in Central Sulawesi October 10 and 12.

The first attack occurred just after midnight on Friday, October 10, when white-clad jihad terrorists attacked the village of Beteleme in Central Sulawesi and burned 38 houses and an Assembly of God church, leaving two dead and many others wounded.

Compass Direct said that when Mrs. Wedlrina Mbae, a 55-year-old teacher, went to answer a knock on her door, she was met with a hail of bullets and died within minutes. Another Christian villager, Oster Tarioko, 40, died on the way to the hospital from gunshot wounds. Several more were hospitalized, including one man with a right arm shattered by gunshot. Six people are still missing. International Christian Concern of Washington, D.C., said four more villages were attacked just after midnight on Sunday, October 12 when militants armed with machine guns and bombs attacked the villages of Pinedapa, Saatu, Pantagolemba and Madale near Poso. Nine people were killed but no others were taken to the hospital. A bomb found at the Protestant church in Madale village was discovered and safely detonated.

In the above attacks, the terrorists reportedly shouted "Allahu akbar!" (God is greater) repeatedly as they torched houses and shot at fleeing residents. The attackers worked in several organized groups of seven or eight persons each and included youths hardly older than children whose apparent role was to torch the houses.

Thirty-four of the 38 homes destroyed belonged to Christians. One eyewitness reportedly overheard an attacker say, "Why did you burn that home? It belongs to one of us." It was a Muslim home.

Following the attack, many signs were found on the charred houses that read, "We forgive those who burned this house."

According to Compass Direct, Mona Saroinsong, coordinator of the Protestant Church Crisis Center in Manado, North Sulawesi, pointed out the attackers "use automatic weapons that can only be legally held by the armed forces" and "target a village far away from any source of help." Beteleme is 88 miles from Tentena, the nearest major city and a Christian refuge, and the roads are so bad it can take up to eight hours to reach it.

Geoff Stamp of Compass said Christians thought they were safe in Beteleme (Indonesian for Bethlehem) and many settled there in an attempt to rebuild their lives after suffering loss of crops, livestock and belongings in previous violence 1999-2001 that left over 2000 people dead in that region alone. Now some 200 are again homeless.

"Christians [are] again paying the price of living in a region dominated by Muslim officials unwilling to protect them," Stamp said. "Many suspect these random attacks could be sanctioned by people in positions of authority."

Christian Aid continues to collect and send funds to help Indonesian Christians suffering loss from jihad attacks. For more information write insider@christianaid.org and put MI442 750PERS on the subject line. Gifts may be given at www.christianaid.org and designated 750PERS.

Thanks to Compass Direct www.compassdirect.org and International Christian Concern www.persecution.org for providing background information.

Vietnam:

Missionaries speak out

Christian Aid just received testimonies of several Christian workers in Vietnam. Here are excerpts from a few of them:

A. The authorities tried to make me sign a paper declaring I would never be involved in "illegal" gatherings in big groups, but I refused to sign. Now they forbid Christians and non-Christians alike to come to my house or have anything to do with me. They wouldn't let believers come and hear me preach, and banned all 2002 Christmas observances at the church. Then they sent soldiers to watch our meeting place. So now we have secret meetings in the fields or in the woods.

B. I got saved five years ago, took training, and then began bringing the message of Christ to my people. We live in an area that was a guerrilla warfare base, so most people here know nothing except what the Party tells them. I go out witnessing 12 to 15 days a month. After hearing my witness, most people want to receive Christ, but fear to do so, lest the government cut off all their subsidies. Even so, most of them have given up their idols and now pray to the one true God.

C. Thanks to my father, who is now a missionary, I also am now a Christian. At first I was shy about witnessing, but now when I share the people show a high respect for the gospel. The government often cracks down on large-group meetings. I have been persecuted, interrogated, and tortured, and many of my brethren have endured the same. Pray that the believers may be strengthened and that unbelievers will boldly put their faith in Christ.

D. In six months I witnessed to 145 people, and seven of them accepted Christ. Government officials try to lure Christians by offering them food and money if they quit believing, and intimidate them to forsake their faith. Officials use all means to drive believers away from the Lord, but we still keep our faith and turn a deaf ear to temptations.

E. Always at every village there is someone who wants to make a decision for Christ, but dares not do so openly for fear of reprisals from authorities. They try to dissuade villagers from believing in Christ and tell them to worship their ancestors and follow true national heritage. They think that evangelicalism is made in America and therefore anyone who accepts Christ is a betrayer of our country. That propaganda has caused much harm to the Lord's cause.

One man offered to let the church use his house. The authorities came and told him he couldn't do that. "What I have has been given to me by God," the man answered. "Now I have given it to God and He will give me more. I have done nothing wrong to the government."

F. We have a newly formed congregation. The authorities have been told about my Christian activities, and have tried to persuade me not to follow evangelicalism or the "Dega" political movement against the government. I told them I don't follow the "Dega" movement, but pure Vietnamese Protestantism instead, which will save our nation from sins prompted by the devil.

G. Authorities always try to cause me and other Christians trouble. They forbid and hinder us from meeting together for worship. Evangelical Christianity is banned as an allegedly "reactionary and evil religion."

To learn how you can help, write insider@christianaid.org and put MI-441 740-VHM on the subject line.

India:

Missionary escapes hostile mob

A missionary in northern Karnataka state of India narrowly escaped possible beating or even death at the hands of a hostile mob recently, according to a report received by Christian Aid. The leader of a church-planting and missionary-training ministry told Christian Aid that the missionary, who also pastors a church, was visiting some believers in a village when a number of RSS people surrounded the house. RSS stands for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which means National Volunteer Society--a right-wing radical Hindu organization seeking to stamp out Christianity in India and to elevate Hinduism. The RSS people grabbed the man and started to interrogate him. "Burn your Bible," they demanded. "Even if you burn me, I will not burn the Bible," the missionary responded.

The interrogation began at four o'clock in the afternoon and lasted on into the night. All the while the local believers pleaded for their pastor's release. Finally about 10 o'clock that night the head of the village, a kind and considerate man, was brought in. "Don't harm this man," he said, and then told the crowd to disperse. The crowd dwindled away and the missionary was released.

Yet what happened to him could happen to any gospel worker almost anywhere in India on any given day. The ministry with which the missionary serves operates a missionary training college serving 178 students from 15 language groups. To learn more, write insider@christianaid.org and put MI-441 630-NJA on the subject line.

India:

Missionaries tell of narrow escapes

Another mission in India reports that two of its missionaries narrowly escaped possible death at the hands of opponents to the gospel.

At one place, the missionary was accosted by a group of 60 radical Hindus. They told him there would be dire consequences if he did not leave the village. Though feeling seriously threatened, the missionary continues ministering the Word of God.

At another place, a Christian went to work in his field. While he was gone, someone apparently snuck into the house and poisoned his pot of drinking water. When he returned, he went to the pot to dip out a drink to quench his thirst. However, finding an insect in the pot, he took it outside and dumped it out. Just then a dog came by and lapped up the water, and immediately afterward fell over dead. The missionary thanked God for sending the insect and miraculously sparing his life.

The ministry reporting these events said that 1792 persons found new life in Christ according to reports sent in by its more than 1300 missionaries in September. To learn more about this effective evangelistic outreach, write insider@christianaid.org and put MI-441 610-FMPB on the subject line.

Please check http://www.christianaid.org for more information about these and other missions reports.

Forum 18 presents these incidents of religious rights violations.

Belarus:

Religion law stunts church growth

As last year's religion law confines the activity of a religious organization to a defined area (often a single village, town or region of the country), Orthodox, Baptist, Pentecostal and Catholic leaders are among those to have expressed their concern. The law's provisions inevitably "make it difficult to organize new churches", Baptist pastor Viktor Zdanevich complained to Forum 18 News Service. As an autonomously registered congregation, his church is banned from creating a mission. The chairman of a Greek Catholic parish council in Polotsk, Mikola Sharakh, noted that the law did not allow for development and effectively created a "reservation" for the church. One Roman Catholic agreed, telling Forum 18: "People might argue that the churches are open, but what freedom is that? It is a silhouette."

Turkmenistan:

Fines doubled for Balkanabad Baptists

Already fined some 48 US dollars each (at the inflated official exchange rate) for participating in "illegal religious meetings", the members of a Baptist church are now seeing their fines doubled. "At present the local authorities of the town of Balkanabad are prohibiting the Baptists from meeting for worship, in violation of the rights guaranteed in Turkmenistan's Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," church members complained in a 3 October statement reaching Forum 18 News Service. "And they have increased the level of fines to 500,000 manats." No officials of the regional or town procurators' offices or the regional or town administrations were prepared to tell Forum 18 why the Baptists have been handed down such heavy fines for meeting for worship in private homes.

Please go to http://www.forum18.org for full versions of these stories and to learn about religious rights violations in communist and post-communist lands.

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