Persecution Blog

Be-A-Voice Network Update on Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani

Today we wanted to remind you about our wonderful Be-A-Voice-Network which will allow you time to fellowship with others and also a place to get specific prayer requests for needs in the world of persecution.

Today the Be-A-Voice-Network is highlighting prayer for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani who is currently in prison for his faith in Jesus Christ.

Click here to read the lastest prayer updates in PDF form.

Are you a member of the Be-A-Voice-Network yet?  Please share your experience with us in the comments.  If you're not, please sign up today and be encouraged and a voice for the persecuted church.

Half a Million People Call for Release of Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi

Today I'd like to share with you a special treat, as we have Todd Nettleton, Director of Media Development for The Voice of the Martyrs USA, sharing the latest about Asia Bibi in a special report posted on ASSIST News Service.

Thank you all for signing the petition and praying for Asia and her family.  Here is Todd's article...

By P. Todd Nettleton
Special to ASSIST News Service

BARTLESVILLE, OKLA. (ANS) -- More than 560,000 people around the world have signed a petition asking the Pakistani government to release Asia Bibi, a Christian wife and mother falsely accused of blasphemy against Mohammed and sentenced to death by a Pakistani court.

 

Asia Bibi received a death sentence after being convicted of blasphemy

Bibi has appealed the conviction to the Lahore High Court, but is still in jail pending the outcome of her appeal. If the High Court upholds the guilty verdict and death sentence, the case could be appealed to Pakistan’s Supreme Court.

The online petition, at www.CallForMercy.com, was launched by The Voice of the Martyrs after 150,000 Pakistani Christians started the petition calling for justice for Asia Bibi and better protection of religious minorities in Pakistan. VOM sister offices in other countries have also promoted the petition drive, and people from more than 100 nations have signed thus far. VOM is delivering petition signatures to the Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC. The goal is to collect one million signatures asking for Bibi’s release.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

Senegal Leader Believes Nigeria Can Have Peace

Unfortunately, the violence towards Christians in Nigeria continues to increase.  Yesterday Compass Direct reported that there were seven more Christians killed in Bauchi State on Sunday, as well as another church destroyed.

“I saw seven dead bodies of some of the Christians killed,” Yusufu told Compass by phone. “The situation is terrible, and I am about to go out to other parts of the town, to see the extent of the damage caused by the attackers.”
 
Yusufu said that many other Christians were injured.
 
“Some of them have been taken to the General Hospital here, while others are being treated at home by medical personnel who are Christians,” he said.
 
All churches have cancelled services.

Today, the CBN News aired a segment with Senegal leader President Abdoulaye Wade who is offering to host a delegation of Muslims and Christians from northern Nigeria in Senegal.  Wade believes that there can be peace.

Please pray for the people of Nigeria and especially those in the Boka Haram sect who are the ones inflicting the persecution.  May the Lord bless the efforts of all who are presenting the opportunity to have peace.

 

Ask a VOM Worker: The Only Security

If you have children, I really want to encourage you to become well acquainted with our Kids of Courage website because there is a wealth of wonderful information for you to use with your children at home, in your church and even in your school.

A few days ago there was a wonderful blog post titled Ask a VOM Worker: The Only Security that I wanted to share with you because it will give you insight about where security is truly found.

VOM intern Kelly C. interviewed a VOM worker who grew up in another country. She asked him the following:

Question: Were there things that you learned as a child that helped prepare you for your work now?

Answer: My mom died when I was 13, and she was my best friend. I realized that if even your best friend can be gone from one day to another, nothing in this world is sure.

When I finally found Jesus, or he found me, I found the only security in life. When I joined the mission field, people asked me, “Why are you going to the mission field where you don’t know anyone or anything? You will leave everything behind you that is secure.”

I thought about it and I realized that the only thing that is really secure is already here. He goes before me, and he’ll be there to take care of me. Not just my childhood, but also how I came to faith helped prepare me for this work.

Help Us Write 5000 Letters to Gao Zhisheng Who is in Prison Suffering for His Faith

Today I  would like to ask you to take a few minutes and write Gao Zhisheng a letter of encouragement.

We've been focusing on Gao this month since we heard the news about finding his current location.  I see it as God's mercy in providing this vital information, this way we can write directly to the prison where he is being held.

Click here to write your letter to Gao today and don't be afraid to share this with others who want to be an active voice for the persecuted church.

To learn more about Gao's past and the torture he has endured, and may still possibly be enduring, click here to visit FREE GAO and sign the petition.

I would love to see us generate 700 more letters this month, reaching 5000 individual letters written to our suffering brother.  He is standing firm in his faith for Christ, will you stand with him by writing a letter today?  Click here to write you letter now!  Thank you.

Persecution of Christians Rising in Islamic Countries

JERUSALEM, Israel -- With Islamists poised to take over governments overthrown during the "Arab spring," Christians and other minorities may soon be subject to Sharia (Islamic) law.

Some say assurance by Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafis, and Ennahda, that non-Muslims would not be mistreated under Sharia is, at best, questionable.

In Egypt, attacks on Coptic Christians have increased exponentially since the fall of Hosni Mubarak's regime last year.

Egyptian Christians have been beaten, shot and stabbed to death, and their homes and churches have been fire bombed by angry Muslims.

On Monday, Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament held its first session. The Muslim Brotherhood now holds 47 percent of the seats, and the Salafist al-Nour party 25 percent.

Syrian Christians have also come under increasing persecution.

"The Christian community in Syria has been hit by a series of kidnappings and brutal murders; 100 Christians have now been killed since the anti-government unrest began," the Jerusalem Post quoted the Pakistan Christian Post.

According to the report, two Christians were gunned down recently at a bakery. In a separate incident, three attackers killed a Christian as he drove with two young children in the car.

In Libya, Muslims staged a demonstration Friday, demanding that legislation in the post-Gadhafi government would be based on the principles of Sharia, not secular, law.

"We as a Muslim nation have taken Islamic Sharia as the source of legislation," National Transitional Council chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil said in October, according to Reuters.

Jalil added that "any law that contradicts the principles of Islam is legally nullified."

Many experts wonder if Sharia law can support "genuine" democracy. Last July the American Thinker re-posted the "Top ten reasons why Sharia is bad for all societies," originally published in August 2005.

According to that report, under Sharia, an apostate -- anyone who leaves Islam for any reason -- can be put to death if they refuse to repent. Criticizing the prophet Mohammed, the Koran or Sharia law is also punishable by death.

In Iran, for example, Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been on death row for refusing to renounce his faith. And in Pakistan, Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, is still facing the death penalty for allegedly insulting the prophet Mohammed.

Also according to Sharia law, a woman caught in adultery can be stoned to death (after being buried up to her chest). Homosexuals are liable for the death penalty. And thieves are punished by severing a hand.

Husbands may beat their wives, and anyone caught drinking or gambling is subject to flogging.

Saudi Arabia bans tourists from bringing in "items and articles belonging to religions other than Islam," the kingdom's national carrier, Saudi Arabian Airlines, states on its website. That includes Bibles, crosses, or the Star of David.

Though the U.S. and other Western governments are establishing ties with the rising Islamist movements, many observers say increasing persecution of Christians, Jews, and other minorities in emerging Islamic countries is an indication, that democracy and Sharia law won't coexist.

Source: CBN News

Convert from Islam in Uganda Survives Societal Hostilities

Yesterday our friends at Compass Direct posted a report about a young Christian in Uganda who has been persecuted by Muslims for his faith and has stood strong.  As  you read the article, note how many times the Lord showed His favor on our brother and rejoice at this young man's witness for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Our God is the awesome God!

Ostracized by family and fired from his job, Christian overcomes false charge.

NAIROBI, Kenya, January 23 (CDN) — Hassan Muwanguzi, a convert from Islam in Uganda who lost his family and job because of his Christian faith, is thankful after fighting off the latest attack – an attempt by Muslims to imprison him and shut down the school he started.


Following his conversion in his early 20s in 2003, Muwanguzi’s family immediately kicked him out of their home, and enraged Muslims beat him, he said. His wife left him that same year, and he lost his job as a teacher at Nankodo Islamic School, near Pallisa.


Undaunted, a year ago he opened a Christian school, Grace International Nursery and Primary School, at Kajoko, Kibuku district, 27 kilometers (17 miles) from Mbale town; the area’s population of 5,000 people is predominantly Muslim.


Incensed by his boldness, an Islamic teacher, Sheikh Hassan Abdalla, filed a false charge that Muwanguzi had “defiled” his daughter, a minor. Together with his Muslim countrymen, Abdalla filed a case at the chief magistrate’s court in Palissa-Kalaki, and a warrant for Muwanguzi’s arrest was issued on April 1, 2011.

Initially he was locked up for three weeks, he said.

“After 48 hours, I was taken to court, and the judge read the charges against me and asked whether I knew of the case,” Muwanguzi said. “I answered that I was not aware of such charges. I asked for a court bail, but the judge insisted that a bail can only be given after hearing from the complainant.”

He was then sent to Kamuge Prison. On April 22, he appeared again before the judge, but the complainant did not appear. His lawyer appealed for his release.

He was freed on bail for 600,000 Uganda shillings (US$246), he said. At his first hearing on May 21, the complainant did not appear. Nor did Sheikh Abdalla appear at hearings on June 25, July 16 and Aug. 13, Muwanguzi said.


“The judge found out it was a false accusation, hence the case was dropped,” Muwanguzi said. “I had been subjected to humiliation, but I forgave them for the sake of my Christian outreach in the area.”

Full story here.

Iran: Three Christians Detained

Three Christian men, Pastor Farhad Sabokrouh, Davood (David) Ali-Jani and Naser Zamen-Dezfuli, remain in detention after their arrest on Dec. 23, 2011, at an Assemblies of God (AOG) church in Ahwaz, Iran. The pastor’s wife, Shahnaz Jizan, was also arrested and held until Jan. 1, when her $200,000 bail was paid.

The families have not been told where the men are being held or what condition they are in, and officials have said they know nothing about the arrests. Authorities did, however, tell the families not to contact international media.

The AOG church was raided at 11 a.m. during its regular Friday service by a “large number of hooded security agents,” according to Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN). The agents reportedly arrived in unmarked vehicles, closing shops and blocking all traffic in the area. They arrested everyone present, including children, and they confiscated Christian literature, computers, audiovisual equipment and cell phones. Men, women and children were then forced to run a “gauntlet of hooded, obscenity-screaming agents” to reach awaiting buses.

The approximately 45 Christians were taken to a school that had been carefully prepared as an interrogation center, according to FCNN. Males and females were separated into classrooms that were used as holding cells.

Except for the three men and the pastor’s wife, all were released after they signed confessions and pledges of non-activity — promises not to practice Christianity. Church members were told to stay in the city and were warned that they could be rearrested at any time.

Pastor Sabokrouh and his wife are not former Muslims, so they cannot be charged with apostasy. However, Pastor Sabokrouh has been detained several times in the past and warned not to allow Muslim converts into his church. Ali-Jani and Zamen-Dezfuli are former Muslims who converted to Christianity many years ago. They could potentially face the same fate as Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who received a death sentence for apostasy.

The Assemblies of God denomination has existed in Iran since before the 1979 revolution. The church in Ahwaz is an official and long-established church whose members are mainly former Mandeans, a sect that reveres John the Baptist and Adam as teachers.

Sources: FCNN.com, Christian Solidarity Worldwide

Boko Haram Declares War in Nigeria

Nigeria (MNN) ― Police in Nigeria discovered ten more car bombs yesterday in Kano, already reeling from multiple bombings on Friday.

Todd Nettleton is a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs USA. He says the level of sophistication is what's drawing their concern.  "This was a very serious attack. It also shows the growing ability of Boko Haram to coordinate attacks and to maximize the body count."

Boko Haram, a radical Islamist sect, claimed the bomb blasts that killed 256 people.  The attacks came shortly after Muslim prayers in that beleaguered nation's second largest city.  This time, instead of churches, it was police headquarters and other police stations, a secret police building and immigration offices that were targeted.  According to a video released by the group's leader, the attacks were a response to a refusal by the authorities to release the sect's members from custody.

The government deployed thousands of troops to quell the violence.  While they have over 300 people in custody,  Nettleton says it's not doing much to reassure the shell-shocked Nigerians.  "The government seems unable to stop these attacks, unable to take a really significant stand against Boko Haram and that's a concern not only to Christians in Nigeria, but really, to everybody in Nigeria."

Although the group has mainly confined their activities to northeastern Nigeria, many fear extremist elements within the sect may try to escalate the crisis throughout the country. "Not only government of Nigeria targets, but international targets, as well.  They have basically declared war on law and order in Nigeria and anybody who represents law and order, they are willing to attack as they continue these calls that Nigeria should be an Islamic nation, it should  follow Sharia law."

It could amount to starting a civil war and destabilizing the government at the same time.  President Goodluck Jonathon declared a 24-hour curfew to clear the streets. However, from there, it's clear that fear is spreading. 

If Christians are provoked further,  church leaders warn they will defend themselves. "Pray that the Christians will have wisdom to know how to respond, because we want to respond like Christ. We want to represent Him. At the same time, they don't want to be 'sitting ducks' for more of these attacks that are specifically targeting Christians."

Nearly 200 religious leaders gathered on Monday for a prayer vigil.  It was shortly after that police discovered the car bombs as well as nearly 300 homemade explosives.  

In Hausa, Boko Haram means 'Western education is sinful," and is modeled on the Taliban movement. Since Christianity is equated with the West, Nettleton says believers know they're in the crosshairs.  "What is this going to mean for Nigeria, what is this going to mean for religious freedom in the northern part of the country? Are Christians going to have the ability to witness, the ability to meet together, the ability to worship  in a place where they have been clearly told by Boko Haram 'you should leave, or else'."

Experts predict the violence will continue to spiral out of control.   Nearly every news report Nettleton watches concludes with a grim prediction of civil war.  "Pray for wisdom for the Christians in Northern Nigeria to know how to respond, to balance their own need for safety and protection, while also living out the biblical mandate to love our enemies and to forgive those who persecute us."

Source: Mission Network News

Persecution Podcast 100: Pakistan, Israel, and Comoros & Enter Our Contest

Today I am happy to share with you that the our podcast has now reached 100 episodes!!

In order to celebrate this milestone in podcasting, we're having a cool contest to win a t-shirt. 

Here's how you enter the contest.  Please click here and leave a comment with your favorite scripture relating to persecution on the post for our 100th episode. 

Five people will win a "This Message is Illegal" t-shirt from The Voice of the Martyrs! U.S. Residents only and only one entry per person.  The winners will be contacted through email, so make sure to fill out the correct information when you leave your comment.

Make sure you listen to our special one hundredth episode of our persecution podcast to hear prayer requests for Pakistan, Israel and Comoros.  We also have special information about North Korea, recorded from a presentation at a VOM regional conference in late 2011.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN NOW!!