Persecution Blog

Video: Shafia's Story - Persecution in Pakistan

In this short video, Shafia answers the questions - What trials do Christians face in Pakistan?, How many Christians have been killed in Pakistan?, and Shafia shares her horrific story. She was raped, beaten and forced to convert to Islam. Shafia also shares about how her brother was killed, and more. Please watch and pray.

Video: Sandul Bibi Says "Thank You"

With March coming up in a few days, today I wanted to give you a glimpse of some of the new media The Voice of the Martyrs has posted under the Media Tab on the main The Voice of the Martyrs Website.

I love this video, and want to say a personal thank you again to all of you who prayed for Sandul and wrote letters. You are so appreciated!!

Christians Arrested in Morocco

On Feb. 4, Moroccan military authorities raided a Christian meeting and arrested 18 people. The authorities also confiscated Bibles and personal belongings, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts.

“We were surprised by more than 60 Moroccan Gendarmes attacking the house [where we had just started our Bible study],” a VOM contact said. “Eleven believers (including an American), two non-believers and five children… were [held] by the Moroccan government for 14 hours.”

After 14 hours in detention, the American was deported and the others were released. Authorities kept the American’s laptop computer, along with Bibles, books, a laptop, a digital photo camera and a cell phone that belonged to the others arrested.

“It’s the first time in our current Moroccan church history that the Moroccan government used this size of a legion to attack a small Christian meeting,” VOM contacts added. “All the time they kept repeating that this was ordered personally by the new Moroccan Justice Minister [Mohamed Naciri] and by the highest level General of the Gendarmerie [Housni Benslimane].”

The Voice of the Martyrs encourages you to pray for believers in Morocco. Pray that God will protect these believers and grant them peace as they face these new challenges. Also pray that the authorities will return their confiscated belongings. Ask God to draw the persecutors into fellowship with him. 

“Our Moroccan brothers and sisters have asked believers here in the US to speak out on their behalf,” said Todd Nettleton, VOM’s director of media development. “They believe international attention and pressure can make a difference in getting their possessions returned, and in protecting future Christian activities.”

VOM encourages you to write to the Moroccan Embassy at the address below to protest this abuse of religious freedom:

Moroccan Ambassador:  
H.E. Aziz Mekouar
1601 21st St. NW
Washington, DC 20009
Fax: 202-265-0161

Also send an email to the Deputy Chief of Mission, Ms. Aicha Afifi, at [email protected]. You can contact the United States embassy in Morocco by visiting http://rabat.usembassy.gov/ or sending an email to [email protected].

Muslim Groups Demand Closure of Large, Legal Church in Indonesia

Here's the latest news from Compass Direct.

Hundreds of demonstrators from outside area try to create image of local opposition.

JAKARTA, Indonesia, February 25 (CDN) — Hundreds of Muslims from outside the area where a 600-member church meets in West Java staged a protest there to call for its closure this month in an attempt to portray local opposition.
 
Demonstrators from 16 Islamic organizations, including the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), gathered on Feb. 15 to demand a stop to all activities by the Galilea Protestant Church (GPIB) in the Galaxy area of Bekasi City. 
 
The Rev. M. Tetelepta, pastor of the church, told Compass that the church has had the required consent of local residents and official permission to worship since its inception in 1992.
 
“From the beginning we had permission to worship from both the government and the nearby residents,” Tetelepta said. “We worked on the building permit and had received principle clearance from the mayor of Bekasi. We had also received permission from the Bekasi Interfaith Harmony Forum.”
 
At the Galaxy area demonstration, FPI Bekasi branch head Murhali Baeda tried to impugn the legal status of the Galilea church by telling ANTARA, the official news agency of the Indonesian government, that he was “certain” that “a number of the church buildings” in the area “do not have complete permission.”
 
“This is proved by the large number of posters and banners that are displayed in the alleys and public gathering places rejecting the presence of these [church] buildings,” Murhali told ANTARA. 
 
A Joint Ministerial Decree promulgated in 1969 and revised in 2006 requires the permission of more than 60 neighbors and a permit from local authorities to establish a place of worship in Indonesia. 
 
Representatives of Islamic organizations at the demonstration shouted, “Churches are not allowed in Galaxy” and carried posters and banners declaring, “We Faithful Muslims Reject the Presence of Churches,” as well as “Beware of Christianization of Galaxy.”
 
Local organizations represented at the demonstration included the Bekasi Dakwah Council, the Bina An Nisa Dakwah Council of Bekasi and the Galaxy Mosque and Mushola Forum, but Tetelepta said he was sure that 95 percent of the protestors were not local people. 
 
Also present at the demonstration were representatives of the Islamic Youth and Student Forum, Islamic Unity, the Committee to Enact Syariah (Law), Muhammadiyah, the Islamic Youth Movement, the Syariah Concern Society, the Islamic Youth Federation, the Bungin Dakwah Council, the Gembong River Society, Irene Centre and the Indonesian Mujahadin Council.
 
Baeda of the FPI accused the church of “Christianizing” local residents by distributing food “and the nine essentials at a reduced price.”
 
“The church is distributing these things as incentive to confess Jesus as their Lord,” Baeda told Compass. “We have received several reports of this from people who have accepted these distributions.”


This type of activity disturbs society, he added. “I consider this wrong-doing.”


The local FPI leader told ANTARA that there are at least six churches and a number of homes that function as churches. 
 
“At night praises to their God in the form of songs disturbs the people’s sleep,” he reportedly said.


Tetelepta denied that the church had tried to “Christianize” people.
 
“We have never distributed food or the nine essentials,” he said. “The only thing we have done is to spray for mosquitoes near the church.”


Before coming to Galaxy the congregation had worshipped in various places in Bekasi. At the suggestion of the government, Tetelepta said, the church purchased the property in Galaxy in 2006 in order to construct a worship place.


He added that there has been an effort to discredit the church in the Bekasi area. 
 
“Our worship services will continue as usual in spite of the demonstrations,” he said. “We are coordinating things with the police.”
 

Give Us A Courageous Spirit

“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?

Separated for Christ

In his editorial for The Voice of the Martyr’s May newsletter, Dr. Tom White talks about how parents facing persecution decide to involve or not involve their children in suffering. What would you do? After all, children are young. They have their whole lives before them. Why should they suffer for their parent’s decisions? Read the May newsletter to hear what some parents have chosen.

For a Christian in Cuba named Juan, avoiding suffering was not an option. Juan had already lost his job because of his faith. He, his wife and three children were barely surviving financially. But when his children were given the choice to join the communist youth organization, Juan didn’t even consider it.

“I am totally convinced that since Christ called me through the gospel, he made me leave all the former things. I separated myself from anything I considered sin…” he said. “We do not belong to anything here in [Cuba].”

In elementary school, Cuban children join a communist youth league called the “Pioneros” or Pioneers. In order to join the Pioneers, the children have to swear allegiance to the Cuban flag. Then the children are given a red handkerchief that they wear with their school uniform, signifying that they are Pioneers.

Juan said, “Christ said his kingdom is not of this world, and we converted to him. …We only wanted to do what He wanted us to do. Our interpretation was that to be a Pioneer you had to be a follower of Che [Guevara].” (Che Guevara, one of the guerilla leaders of the Cuban revolution, was a brutal killer in the name of communism.)

Joining the Pioneers was not an option for Juan’s kids. It might have been a choice that made their lives more peaceful, but it was not in line with who they were as followers of Christ.

Because they didn’t join the Pioneers, his kids had problems at school. Teachers and school administrators discriminated against them. Though their grades were good, teachers did not give them opportunities for advancement. Other students would mock them, calling them, “Christian, Christian!”

“When they took this stance, which in my opinion was best, it formed their personalities to be Christians, and they have actually become Christian workers. My children are evangelists. Their spouses are evangelists. Their children are not Pioneers, either. They do not belong to the world, the political or human system, but to Christ,” said Juan.

“Jesus calls us to live a life of sacrifice. He paid a price with his life, so we [also] have to pay a price.”

What about you? Where does your allegiance lie? What are the choices facing you? How can you show that you are separated from the world and living for Christ? What sacrifice is Jesus calling you to make?

Shuozhou Word of Life Church Member Gives Personal Testimony

The following news is from our friends at China Aid.  This is an inspiring testimony.  Be sure to read the whole thing.

SHANXI--Members of Shuozhou Church have suffered uncertainty since 500 members were detained at a church gathering, and six members were criminally detained in November, 2009. Head pastor Gao Mao's home was further ransacked and razed to the ground on November 20th, with the officials immediately planting trees on the property to hide the damage. (See the CAA report). In faith members have spoken out, as the case undergoes a review by the court has now been returned to the public security office who first submitted their case for further evidence. Following the church's poignant Confession of Faith, released on February 8, 2010, one faithful woman in the church speaks on behalf of her fellow persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ:

Continued.

Trend Continues Against Churches Previously Protected by Iranian Government

This is a great piece from our friends at Mission Network News.

Iran (MNN) ― The recent arrest of Rev. Wilson Issavi points to a growing trend in persecution against religious minorities in Iran, according toVoice of the Martyrs, USA.

Officials arrested Issavi earlier this month, taking him to an unknown location and not specifying charges. Farsi Christian News Network said that as of Monday, his family and friends still do not have any information about his whereabouts.

However, Issavi's arrest was not the first sign the government was not pleased with his church. VOM's Todd Nettleton said Issavi's church, the Assyrian Evangelical Church in the city of Kermenshah, was shut down in January.

Assyrians are culturally viewed as Christians. Therefore, Issavi and his church are not being targeted because they are committing apostasy.

"This is a part of a concerted effort to pressure and close churches that previously have been been tolerated by the government," Nettleton said.

Pressure began back in March of 2009, when the government threatened and shut down the Assyrian Pentecostal Church in Tehran. Then in October, the Assemblies of God Church in Iran was forced to end Friday service and only hold gatherings on Sundays.

Nettleton said that in the past they have seen persecution against individuals leaving Islam. However, this is taking persecution to the next level and even going against the country's constitution, which protects religious minorities.

There is good news, however, as the government tries to force Islam on even more people.

"One of the amazing things about Iran is the government, and the failure of the government, which is driving people to explore Christianity," Nettleton said. As officials say they are leading the country exactly how Muhammad would want them to, "the people look around. They see the broken country. They see the election that appears to have been stolen, and they say, ‘Wait a minute. If this is Islam, I want to know what else is out there.'"

Pray God's Spirit will draw many of these seeking individuals to faith in Jesus Christ.

Second Teen Arrested in Northern California Church Shooting

New details are also beginning to arise out of the recent church shooting that took place a few weeks ago at a Northern Church in California.   

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, and CBS News 5 - the first teen that was arrested has been released and the new teen that they have now arrested is in custody. Police are remaining silent on the investigation due to "sensitive" issues.

Read more at the SFGATE website.

Shoe Prints, Tapes Link Suspects to Texas Church Arsons

More details are emerging about the two men suspected of setting fire to eleven churches in east Texas.  According to CNN,  shoe prints, surveillance tapes and some witness accounts have led investigators to the current suspects.

Read more at CNN.