Persecution Blog

Christians, Israeli Jews Fight Persecution Together

There is no doubt that antisemitism and Christian persecution is on the rise in our world.  One place where both have increased is in Israel.  The following video news is courtesy of CBN News.  Please watch and pray for the Middle East.

 

Sudanese Bible School Re-opens Amid Islamist Intimidation

Burned and ransacked in April, Christian compound faces further threats.

Special to Morning Star News

JUBA, South Sudan, October 29, 2012 (Morning Star News) – Amid threats of further losses, classes resumed this month at a Khartoum Bible school and church compound that Muslim extremists set ablaze in April, an area Christian source said.

Students and administrators at Gerif West Bible School in Sudan have yet to fully recover their losses from the April 21 attack, but the source said classes resumed on Oct. 15 even as area Muslims vie to take school land and anti-Christian messages emanate from a nearby mosque loudspeaker on most Fridays.

Muslim leaders have been asserting through the mosque loudspeaker that Christian institutions should not be permitted in Sudan, as the country should be a “purely Islamic state” since the secession of South Sudan on July 9, 2011, he said.

“We are expecting the level of persecution to rise in Sudan in the coming days,” a pastor who works at the Bible school told Morning Star News by phone, adding that hostilities against churches and Christians were intensifying.

Islamist assailants shouting threats against Christians and “Allahu Akbar [God is greater]”  on April 21 broke down the Christian compound wall with a bulldozer and set fire to the school and a Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) building. Also damaged were a clinic, a home for the elderly and living quarters.

The hard-line Muslim sheikh who led the attack, Muhammad Abdelkrim, on Sept. 21 urged Muslims to tolerate no Christian presence and to have no dealings with them because they were “infidels,” the source said.

“We will never forgive Christians” for not being Muslims, the imam declared during a mosque service on Sept. 21 through amplified loudspeakers, besides asserting that Christian institutions  have no place in Sudan.

The attack ruined four halls used by three churches and burned the belongings of students at a dormitory. School library books, including 50 cartons of Bibles, were also destroyed. The assailants destroyed school furniture and broke into a safe and stole college funds.

Police stood by watching the destruction, according to a statement from SPEC.

Please continue reading this story courtesy of Morning Star News here.

Prisoner Alert: Please Write a Letter to Alimujiang Yimiti

This week I'd like you to take a few minutes to write our brother, Alimujiang Yimiti, who is serving time in a Chinese prison because he was accused of using his business to preach Christianity.  Yimiti is a former Muslim and came to faith about ten years ago.  He is currently serving a sentence of fifteen years.

Please pray for him and also for his wife and family as they endure this time of persecution.

Click here to visit our Prisoner Alert page and write today.  Your letter makes a difference.

Persecution Quotable: Richard Wurmbrand on Repentance

As you pray today for the persecuted church, consider the words of the founder of  The Voice of the Martyrs.  Pray for the safety of the persecuted church, but do not forget to pray for those who are lost and without Jesus Christ.

We Need You To Help Send Bibles to Some of the Most Closed Places in the World

It's been a few weeks since I've mentioned Bibles Unbound to you all and since it's getting close to Christmas, I think today is a great time to do that.

Imagine with me for a moment the joy you will have if you join us in sponsoring only five bibles a month to give to someone in a restricted nation.   We've made it very easy for you to do and right now we need to have a little over 37,000 bibles sponsored. 

To join Bibles Unbound right now, please click here.  Give a Christian in a nation who wants a bible, and do it just in time for Christmas.

Army Shoots 7-year-old boy; Rapes Widow, Mother of 12

Burma (MNN) ― In recent days, Burma's army shot a 7-year-old boy before opening fire on a Kachin refugee camp near the border of China. Dyann Romeijn with Vision Beyond Borders says this isn't the first time soldiers have shot at refugee camps.

"The Human Rights Commission did a report on the Burmese, and they violated all the codes of war," said Romeijn. "I mean, they should be indicted on war crimes. Why we don't enforce some of those things, I don't know."

The Free Burma Rangers, a group providing relief aid in Burma's war zones, reported that the Burma Army fired machine guns near the region for two hours before hitting the little boy. Bullets punctured his right hand and left thigh, fracturing the young boy's femur. After he was rushed to a nearby hospital, more bullets and mortar shells pelted the region for another two hours.

While doctors fixed the little boy's hand, they're not sure if they can save his leg. Pray for healing.

Romeijn said that despite what the government tells the outside world, Burma still has undeniable problems.

"They're known to have child soldiers; they're known to use rape as a weapon; they're known to have extra-judicial torture and killings," she stated. "These things are well-documented."

There are still over 70,000 people in the Kachin state who can't go home because of ongoing violence. Although Burma's President told the U.S. in September that he had ordered troops to stop attacking minorities in the Kachin state, Free Burma Rangers reports active units in the region totaling 700 soldiers.

One of their recent rape victims was a widowed mother of 12.

"They also will take civilians and use them to walk in front of the army to detonate land mines," Romeijn added.

About 90% of the Kachin people are believers. Pray that God would protect His people, and that He would move in the hearts of their persecutors.

"The only thing that's going to make a difference is if God moves on the hearts and changes hearts of those who are opposing these people," said Romeijn.

Ethnic refugees in Burma need basic necessities like clothing, shelter, and food. Click here to collect supplies to send with Vision Beyond Borders teams.

Source:  Mission Network News

 

Suicide Bomber Kills Seven in Nigeria Church Blast

Please keep praying for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria.  Another tragedy has taken place.  Please read the CBN News report here and watch the video below.

 

 

Invitation to Pray for Persecuted Believers

Our friends at Open Doors and Mission Network News are also partnering with us, as always, during this years International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.  We have our IDOP resources here if you haven't ordered them yet.  Hurry, time is running out!

International (MNN) ― The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) is just around the corner. It's a day when believers worldwide will come together to pray for their brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer for their faith. November 11, 2012 is the day Open Doors USA has set aside for prayer for the persecuted church.

Leading up to November 11th, Open Doors encourages believers to stand with "those who share our faith but not our freedom" through their One With Them campaign. This is an initiative designed to bring awareness to the reality of Christian persecution throughout the world.

Esther is a widowed mother of six from northern Nigeria whose husband was killed in a vicious attack by an Islamic extremist group notorious for attacks on Nigerian Christians. When asked how Christians in the West could be One With Them (persecuted Christians), she said, "Share our stories so more and more people will know about the situation in Nigeria, so they can pray for us."

As IDOP approaches, keep people like Esther in mind. Pray for the many followers of Christ who are being persecuted. 

"We encourage prayer for the souls of the oppressors, the nations that promote persecution, and those who ignore it," affirms Open Doors. 

Open Doors has also invited Christians to use their artistic ability through an online competition called "One Body-Many Gifts," a creative aspect of One With Them.

The top 10 entries have been announced. You can vote to determine the 3 winning entries! Voting ends midnight November 6.

The top three entries will be announced on November 10. The grand prize is a unique opportunity to travel and meet with persecuted Christians face-to-face. It will change you forever.

Another way you can get involved is by wearing One with Them wristbands -- a tangible reminder to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters.

Open Doors has provided IDOP resources for you or your church. Click here to learn more. Encourage your friends to participate in this life-changing event.

Have You Experienced the Change the Bible Teaches?

The cold water sprayed over the crowd in front of the Indonesian village mosque. Gun-toting, white-clad jihad warriors surrounded the place. The ritual washing was a forced preparation for the group to convert to Islam. The crowd knew that they would convert or be shot or beheaded on the spot.

    The young girl wept for her faith, because she imagined the ritual washing would reverse her faith. She didn’t know that her faith in Christ was in her soul, despite what happened to her body. She also wept out of fear, for she knew that she would be circumcised, along with all the other men, women, and children in the group. The forced circumcision was their final act of taking on a new religion. She didn’t want a new religion, and she cried out to God.
   

 Indonesia used to be a haven of tolerance. Though the nation is home to more Muslims than any other nation in the world, there was little trouble. Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists lived side-by-side, working together with little animosity.
   

 That has changed. Radical Muslims have dragged the nation into jihad, or holy war, and every Christian is a target. Many recite the Muslim creed just to save their lives; yet in their hearts, they cry out to God, knowing only he can offer salvation.

People attempt to change us from the outside in. But only God can change us—from the inside out. Before we come to Christ, we often try to fit into the world’s standards for our lives and lose sight of our real selves. We are forced to become people we were never meant to be. However, once God changes people from the inside out, they are changed forever. We cannot be moved. We cannot be changed back into our old selves. Like the girl in this story discovered, others can influence us and exercise some degree of control over us. But they can no longer change us like Christ has already done. Have you experienced the “change” the Bible teaches?

Source: Extreme Devotion

Persecution Quotable: Dr. Kiflu, Eritrean Prisoner for Christ

Sometimes one sentence from someone who has gone through immeasurably more than I will ever go through, snaps me back into reality about how serious I am or am not about my relationship with Jesus Christ.  Today's quotable did that for me.