Persecution Blog

Dr. Dobson Speaks to the Works and Murray Families

You may remember a few months ago the horrific shootings that took place in Colorado where numerous people were killed by Matthew Murray.

For the last three days, Dr. James Dobson from Focus on the Family, has been interviewing the parents of Stephanie and Rachel Works, and the parents of Matthew Murray, the young man who killed them.

Both sets of parents  speak to Dr. Dobson about forgiveness, grace and love of God.  If you have time, listen to all three programs.

Forgiveness in the Wake of Tragedy

A Visit with the Murray and Works Families 1

A Visit with the Murray and Works Families 2

Eleven Minors Detained in Xinjiang Province for Attending Bible Study

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

XINJIANG, CHINA (ANS) -- Eleven minors and two adults have been detained by Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials while attending a House Church Bible Study in Huocheng County, Qingshuihe township.

China Aid Association (CAA) says that at 9:00pm on Febuary 28, 2008 (Beijing Time), PSB officials disrupted the gathering and detained the minors along with Ms. Fu Jun (41), owner of the house, and Ms. Lu Lanxiang (42). The children, ages 16-17, were brought to the Qingshuihe township PSB office in freezing weather and were not allowed to bring adequate clothing.

Sources close to CAA say that 16-year-old Lou Nan, daughter of pastor Lou Yuanqi, who pastors the house church, is one of the detained. Pastor Lou Yuanqi was not present during the detention of the other members. Pastor Lou was detained on October 20, 2006, along with three other pastors for organizing the House Church. All four pastors served 32 days in detention where they were severely beaten by guards and inmates daily.

By calling the PSB office in which the 13 are being held, CAA confirmed that the 13 members now detained are being held by Qingshuihe township PSB officials under the charge of "illegal religious gathering." Family members have been denied visitation. The condition and wellbeing of the church members remains unknown.

In a media release, CAA says it condemns the actions of the PSB officials who have callously detained 11 minors and their Bible teachers for gathering together.

It adds: "We exhort Government officials to remain consistent in policies of religious freedom and release the members being held."

To voice your concern please contact:
Qingshuihe Township PSB Office- +86-999-3291054

Chinese Embassy in Washington DC
Address: 2201 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington D.C. 20007
Tel: (202) 338-6688, (202)5889760
Fax: (202) 588-9760

CAA says it has also learned that on Febuary 27, Beijing House Church leader pastor Cai Zhuohua was detained for 6 hours at Tiantongyuan PSB office of Changping District, Beijing.

Pastor Cai went to the PSB office to register his son's residence card at 11am and then the PSB officers abruptly detained him for the so-called "suspicion of making false documents" although all the documents pastor Cai brought are issued by the Chinese government agencies. He was released at 5pm without any charges. Pastor Cai served three years imprisonment for printing bibles in 2004.

In another case in Inner Mongolia where 40 church leaders were arrested on Febuary 20, CAA says it has learned that all were released on Febuary 21 including one missionary from South Korea. Pastor Wang Dawei, the president of Chinese House Church Alliance, Inner Mongolia branch was asked to pay 100,000yuan ($13,000 USD) for being accused of illegal Bible printing.

Ex-Muslim on the Run for Conversion

I read this comment this morning - " But under the same fatwa, Miriam will be killed anyway at the age of 10 if she does not choose Islam."

Right now Miriam is a baby and not just any baby, but the baby of an Egyptian couple who converted from Islam to Christianity.  Christian World News has the complete story with video.

Please click here to view the video and then please pray for this couple. 

Your Influence for Christ Will Change History

Susannah Wesley was born in 1668, in England, when the state church and government crushed any form of Christian worship or education not controlled by them. This determined Christian woman began programs of Christian education for adults in her kitchen and daily with her children.

In 1662, six years before Susannah was born, the English government passed a law forcing the state church’s Book of Common Prayer in all worship services. Two thousand clergy were forced to resign. In 1664, a law was passed forbidding more than five people who were not family members worship together without a state official. In 1665, the Five Mile Act was passed aimed at Nonconformist ministers who were forbidden to come within five miles where they had founded a congregation. This law was upheld for almost 150 years. Soldiers destroyed meeting houses, took away furniture and Christian books. Five thousand Nonconformist Christians died in prison.

Although Susannah was associated at times with the official church, she refused to be a “Sunday-only” Christian. Her angry neighbors burned her fields and stabbed the three cows that gave milk to her family. They called her children “the little devils.” One of her children, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodists, led a great spiritual awakening in England. He had learned perseverance from his mother.

Many believe the reason England did not experience a bloody revolution, in the same way that France was terrorized, is due to the Christian revival that began among the poor in Great Britain. This spiritual revival was led in part by John Wesley, who also championed practical help, education, jobs and food. Did the influence of his mother, Susannah Wesley, help to save England? Your influence for Christ does change history. Even if we don’t have biological parents or grandparents like the Wesleys, who pass down the Christian faith to us, God gives us a spiritual family to nurture and love us. Who is your spiritual mother or father—someone who taught you about Christ? To whom can you be a spiritual brother or sister?

Christian Couple Beaten and Chased From Mosque

The story below is so inspiring.  As I read it I was reminded of the zeal of new believers.  Please keep this precious couple in your prayers.

VOM Sources
On February 10, Muslin Christian converts, Jemmal Abdo and his wife, were beaten and chased out from a mosque where they both worked in the capital city of Addis Ababa. According to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts, "Jemmal and his wife accepted Christ two months ago. Soon after their conversion Jemmal's friend saw him talking with Christians and told the imam of the mosque. Jemmal and his wife were interrogated in the mosque during a meeting called by Muslim leaders in an attempt to persuade the couple to recant their faith. The couple refused to do so, even after the leaders offered them higher positions and salaries if they denied Christ. The couple was beaten and dragged out of the mosque." Jemmal and his wife were able to flee to a new location for safety. Pray for the speedy recovery for Jemmal and his wife, who were injured in the attack. Ask God to strengthen them and provide for them as they stand strong in their new found faith in Jesus Christ. Isaiah 54:17

YMCA Library Bombed

VOM Sources
On February 16, unidentified assailants bombed the library of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) compound in the Shajaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza city. According to VOM sources, shortly after midnight, at least 12 gunmen entered the YMCA compound and kidnapped two guards at gunpoint after asking them why they worked for "infidels." The men stormed the building and detonated two homemade explosive devices inside the library. All 8,000 books in the library were destroyed and the floor, walls and ceiling were damaged. The attackers stole computers and other equipment from other YMCA offices. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. . However, sources in Gaza reportedly believe that the perpetrators were Muslim militants acting in response to the reproduction of cartoons "ridiculing" Muhammad in a number of Danish newspapers last week. Praise God no one was injured in this attack. Ask God to protect and give wisdom to believers in Gaza. Pray the attackers will come into contact with the grace and love of Jesus Christ. Joshua 1:9

Wet Paint

Before I begin posting some prayer requests for all of us to pray for, I wanted to share something with you that happened to me today.  Well, it didn't really happen to me, I caused it, but regardless, it was something that happened.

Earlier today I was trying to make a video to send to a group of people, and it involved paint.  Real paint...and the video was supposed to be a joke and an encouragement to my friends.

Well, in the process of making the video I accidentally poured purple paint all over my Macbook laptop.  Yeah...

So I thought I'd share a tip with you.  Never even open a can of paint near your computer, because accidents happen.

I called Apple and also found out that this accident isn't covered under my 3 year warranty.  I know that's hard to believe!

All that to say, that now until this problem is fixed and/or I get a new computer, I will be sharing another computer with my husband.  So please be patient with me as we share.

And I have to tell you all, while this incident is rather embarrassing, it's really nothing  compared to our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ.  So I am not really upset, because computers can be replaced, but precious human life can't.

Have you all ever done anything like this?  Please share.

ERITREA – Christians Released From Prison

On February 16, security police released 35 evangelical Christians in the port city of Massawa, after holding them in custody for six weeks.

According to Compass Direct News, “The 35 men and women had been worshipping in a private home on January 6 when security officials raided the house and arrested those present. The group was denied visitation rights while in police custody, although official charges were never filed against them.” Compass added all the jailed believers were members of the government-banned Faith of Christ Church.

In an unrelated incident, Protestant sources inside Eritrea told Compass that 10 members of the Full Gospel Church, who had been in prison for five years, were released on bail. The seven men and three women, who had been held in Assab’s notorious military prison, had been transferred from Assab to the Adi-Aby prison six months ago.

The Voice of the Martyrs provides assistance to believers who are risking their lives in Eritrea for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. According to statistics compiled and smuggled out of Eritrea in August 2007, more than 2,000 Eritrean citizens are imprisoned and subjected to torture and forced labor because of their religious beliefs; 95 percent of these known religious-prisoners of conscience are Christians.

Pray for Christians in Eritrea as they live their lives for Christ under stringent conditions. Ask God to comfort and minister to them during these challenging times.

A Dying Prayer

“O most merciful Christ,” John Huss wrote while awaiting his execution, “give us a courageous spirit, so that it may be ready. And if the flesh is weak, may your grace go before it, for without you we can do nothing, and above all, without you we cannot face a cruel death. Give us a bold courage and upright faith, a firm hope, and perfect charity, that we may give our life for you in all patience and all joy. Amen.”

    Huss had called for reform in the fifteenth-century church, challenging priests who sold indulgences (the right to sin without consequence) and calling for biblical standards of justice. Huss was promised royal protection to present his defense. But he now sat in a dungeon, awaiting death, and cried out to God.

    On July 6, 1415, Huss was stripped and chained to a stake. As the fire was lit around him, Huss prayed, “Lord Jesus Christ, it is for the sake of the gospel and the preaching of the word that I undergo with patience and humility this terrifying, ignominious, and cruel death.”     As the flames rose around him, Huss, with his final breath, cried out, “Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy upon me.”

    Huss’s witness was crucial in ending the practice of selling indulgences and influencing Christians to return to biblical teachings.

Prayer. That which does the most, we often do the least. Prayer is our first defense against spiritual warfare, yet often our last resort. Those who are persecuted for their faith teach us the priority of prayer. Their last remarks are not fighting words. Their final actions on earth are not resistance. Instead, prayer is their dying breath, confounding their accusers and convincing others of their resolute faith. History shows persecuted saints’ dying prayers can influence others for the gospel perhaps more than if they had lived. When you are in life’s crucible and the “flames” are hot around you, will you turn to prayer? Will others see your first and last defense is your communication with your heavenly Father?

Remembering Polycarp

Let us, therefore, forsake the vanity of the crowd and their false teachings and turn back to the word delivered to us from the beginning, "watching unto prayer" and continuing steadfast in fasting, beseeching fervently the all-seeing God "to lead us not into temptation, even as the Lord said, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

—Polycarp (69-156)

Learn more about Polycarp here.