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Persecution Report for Tuesday, 25-Jun-2002

Mission Network News provides these stories of persecuted Christians.

India:

Church planter fears for his life.

One of the Bible League’s key ministry leaders is in hiding. That’s because Hindus are seeking his arrest based on what are being called ‘trumped up’ charges. The Bible League’s Jay Kumar says the accusations came after these radicals found out about a massive church planting initiative planned for the Benjari people. "And, right now our program’s on hold. Our leader’s on the run. This is nothing less than spiritual warfare. Some people don’t realize that there is conspiracies going on, on various levels of the Indian government, against Christian workers across the country." In the wake of the Dalits rejecting Hinduism, Kumar believes the time may be perfect fora massive turning to Christ. "There’s a huge block of the India population that’s saying, there’s something else out there for us spiritually and the church needs to be very aggressive and face the kind of fallout from the politicians in power so that we can advance the kingdom because they’re there. The harvest field is white."

Pakistan:

Prayer requested for 10 prisoners.

Christians are being asked to pray for 10 believers that are in prison on false charges in Pakistan. The 10 have been held for some time, but their safety is a concern now as another prisoner was shot dead by a fellow prisoner last week for blaspheming Mohammed. Open Doors Ministries’ Terry Madison. "If a Muslim can kill another Muslim, they’re not going to feel a great deal of compunction not to kill Christians. Given the ferment and the whole issue of fundamentalism, the environment is so charged that we just feel this will trigger similar acts that would affect Christians." Madison says the oppression is affecting evangelism. "Christians are very much taking a low profile because of the minority status, the fact that the government tends to look with some disfavour upon Christians. But, Christians in Pakistan have certainly, even long before September the 11^th, have felt under the gun as it were."

International:

Workers threatened in countries bordering India and Pakistan.

The conflict between India and Pakistan has spread tensions to neighbouring countries. While those leaders monitor the peace talks, the strain is thought to be magnifying other hostilities as well. FARMS International’s Joseph Richter says they have been getting reports on overt challenges to the growth of their programs. "One of our co-workers had many death threats against him, [and] his family; kidnapping threats against his children. Actually, people had to be moved from those locations to lessen that threat. Those are very credible threats." As far as the effect of a nearby border conflict on the evangelistic reach of FARMS, Richter says: "It’s almost going on unabated. But the personal threats and intimidation are serious. The thing that needs to be prayed for is that there would be a covering, that there would also be a resolve and a real peace in God."

Please go to http://www.mnnonline.org for more information on these stories plus missions news and a weekday audio broadcast.

Keston News Service has these incidents to report.

Azerbaijan:

U.S. Officials dispute Azerbaijan official’s claims.

No agreement has been made between the United States government and Azerbaijan requiring the U.S. government to clear any remarks about religious liberty in Azerbaijan with Azerbaijani officials, U.S. government officials have told Keston News Service. Rafik Aliev, Chairman of the Azerbaijani State Committee for Relations with Religious Organisations, reportedly made this claim to the Baku-based MPA news agency after his recent visit to the U.S. "An agreement was reached during the talks that from now on all problems on violations of freedom on religion in Azerbaijan would be discussed with the Azerbaijani State Committee for Relations with Religious Organisations and reported only after that," MPA reported on 12 June. "We were not happy to see the MPA account," a State Department official told Keston. "The notion that we reached any such agreement is absolutely not true."

Kazakhstan:

Religious activity without permission "unacceptable", officials claim.

Baptists in a village in north-western Kazakhstan close to the Russian border have been pressured to halt their religious activity especially work with children - until they gain registration, something the congregation is unwilling to accept, Keston News Service has discovered. Although under Kazakh law registration is not compulsory, an official stated that "if the Baptists were registered all the problems would instantly disappear".

Moldova:

"Khrushchevite smell" from new criminal code article.

Religious leaders and human rights activists have criticised an article in the new Moldovan criminal code lifted almost word for word from an article introduced into the Soviet criminal codes at the beginning of the 1960s during the anti-religious persecution unleashed by Nikita Khrushchev. The Pentecostals and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who learned of the new article from Keston News Service, are particularly concerned. "I grew up with this I know what it means," Bishop Pyotr Borshch, head of the Pentecostal Union, said. In Soviet times this article was widely used against believers, including Pentecostals ("singing in tongues" or prophesying was deemed to harm health) and Hare Krishna devotees (chanting was likewise deemed to harm health). Jehovah’s Witnesses suffered under this article because of their rejection of blood transfusions and their refusal to vote or perform military service.

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

The Voice Of The Martyrs reports these incidents of persecution.

China:

China Gospel Fellowship Pastors Released.

On April 16, The Voice of the Martyrs learned of the kidnapping of 34 China Gospel Fellowship church leaders by the Eastern Lightning cult.All 34 have now been released. Because of concerns about the spreading of false stories, detrimental to the safety of their workers, CGF asked that no releases be made by any organizations without their permission. The Voice of the Martyrs abided by their request. The following is a statement by China Gospel Fellowship released on their web site (http://www.chinaforjesus.com).

Statement from China Gospel Fellowship.

Good news!

Concerning the kidnap of 34 China Gospel Fellowship coworkers by the Eastern Lightning Cult on April 16, we want to express our thankfulness to God here, that with His sustaining, with many overseas brothers and sisters’ fervent prayers and intercessions in tears before God, and also with the interference of the police, all of the kidnapped coworkers have been gradually released. However, a few of them are not doing well physically because of the drugs given to them. Please pray for them.All returned coworkers know deeply that they have been through a spiritual battle. Although they were tempted, enticed and threatened in every way, they have been able to hold fast to their faith in the Lord,to overcome the temptations and enticements by faith, and to refuse the heresies of the female Christ. Consequently, the EL conspiracy to undermine and destroy the church has ended in utter failure.In spite of such an attack on us, the church as a whole has not suffered any loss, with God’s sustaining and the work of all coworkers. Our various ministries have maintained their proper courses. Please keep on praying for us. For more detailed reports concerning the April 16 event,please continue to watch this web site.We hereby extend our deeply cherished appreciation to all fellow believers who are concerned for us in and out of China on behalf of all of our coworkers and the families of the kidnapped. We ascribe all glory to our triune and true God. Amen!

A spokesperson for CSW said, "EL was founded in 1989 by Zhao Wei Shan in Heilongjiang Province and claims that Jesus has already returned to earth as a Chinese woman called Deng from Henan Province."The group teaches its followers to abandon their families and jobs. It exerts control over its followers by using drugs and sexual entrapment. Absolute obedience is demanded and those who oppose the group are punished with beatings, bribery, kidnap and murder."

Canada:

Court Opens Door to Freedom of Conscience.

The Ontario Divisional Court has granted a right to freedom of conscience for business owners in the controversial case of Brillinger v. Brockie. The case arose when Toronto printer Scott Brockie, owner of Imaging Excellence refused to print letterhead and business cards for The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. Ray Brillinger of the Archives filed a human rights complaint under the Ontario Human Rights Code alleging that Mr. Brockie discriminated against him on the basis of his sexual orientation. A Board of Inquiry appointed under the Ontario Human Rights Code found that Mr. Brockie did discriminate and fined him. Mr. Brockie appealed to the Ontario Divisional Court, claiming that the decision infringes his freedom of religion and conscience. The Ontario Division Court ruled this week that the Board of Inquiry decision was overly broad. The court ruled that Mr. Brockie has a right to refuse to print material that infringes his conscience or religion. However, he does not have the right to refuse to print material simply when the mandate of the organization infringes his conscience or religion. Unfortunately, Mr. Brockie is not able to make use of this "right of freedom of conscience or religion" in this case. The Court ruled, "The objectives under the anti-discrimination provisions of the Code must be balanced against Mr. Brockie’s right to freedom of religion and conscience." The Court gave examples of materials that it would agree infringed Mr. Brockie’s religious conscience, "If any particular printing project ... contained material that conveyed a message proselytizing and promoting the gay and lesbian lifestyle or ridiculed his religious beliefs, such material might reasonably be held to be in direct conflict with the core elements of Mr. Brockie’s religious beliefs." "This is the first time this kind of right of freedom of conscience or religion has been recognized for business owners under human rights codes," says Janet Epp Buckingham, general legal counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. "This is a significant step forward for religious freedom in Canada." While it is unfortunate that Mr. Brockie was found to have discriminated in this particular case, The Voice of the Martyrs is pleased to see that the courts have recognized the rights of Canadian business owners to freedom of conscience and religion.

Pakistan:

Appeal Filed in Rape of Eight Girls.

On May 22, 2002, The Persecution and Prayer Alert reported (see www.persecution.net/pnparchive/arch4.htm) that those responsible for the terrible rape of eight Christian girls in Pakistan had been acquitted of all rape charges. Three of the six accused were found guilty on weapons charges only. On June 13, 2002, Christian Liberation Front Pakistan (CLFP) filed an appeal in Lahore High Court and Federal Shariat Court against the decision of the district and session judge, Faisalabad Frozwala.

Uzbekistan:

"Lenient" Court Ruling for Protestant Pastor.

A "lenient" sentence has been given to the pastor of an unregistered in western Uzbekistan, possibly because of international reporting on the case. In 2000, the Mir Protestant Church lost state registration and they have been working to regain that registration since. Despite the efforts to register and following all of the legal channels, the registration request has been ignored. On May 25, 2002, officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan raided the church and ordered that services be halted and those present were summoned to appear in court. As a result of that trial on June 7, the pastor, Khym-Moon Kim, was given a warning to not hold meetings and those present were let off completely. However, the church is no closer to receiving registration. Pastor Kim told Keston in a telephone interview on June 11, "In effect, we have fallen into a trap and do not know what lies ahead for us." We are accused of holding a service without having been registered. But we have submitted all the documents required for registration, and yet the authorities are dragging their heels and will not give us a reply."

Please check http://www.persecution.net to learn more about believers suffering for their faith and what can be done about it.

Yours,

Bruce Atchison.

ve6xtc@telusplanet.net

http://gideon.www2.50megs.com

http://help-for-you.com

   

email: ve6xtc@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca