In breaking news from Voice of the Martyrs media we've learned today that a government crackdown on Christians has escalated in Uzbekistan over the past weeks, according to Forum 18. On February 11, a house meeting of 40 Protestants in the southern village of Kum Kurgan was stormed by police, who summonsed the group for the next 18 days to be interrogated from 6:00 a.m. through the late evening. Police mocked them and confiscated their Bibles, giving them only one meal break each day. Rosa Tsoi, visiting from Tashkent, was charged with illegal missionary activity and had her passport taken so that she couldn’t leave town during the questioning, along with nearly three month’s wages.
Then on February 26 in the town of Syr-Darya, Uzbekistan, Forum 18 reports that nine Pentecostals had their social gathering interrupted when 20 police conducted a home raid. Christian literature, including New Testaments, was seized, along with musical equipment. The next day, the court fined two of the pastors present, Viktor Melko and Kurbona Abdieva, for their involvement in an illegal religious organization, based on a law not allowing churches with less than 100 adult members to register. It was ruled by Judge Sarybekov that none of the confiscated religious literature and musical equipment would be returned because it was considered as evidence for the legal proceedings.
Then following two raids on Christian gatherings last month in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, police continued their crackdown, but this time, in a different venue. When nine Protestants met at Smak café on March 5, 10 officers rushed inside, declaring that they were participating in an unauthorized religious meeting. Immediately thereafter, all nine were ordered by police to provide written statements confessing their involvement in an unlawful religious activity.
If this shocks you, it shouldn't because things like this are happening daily all over the world. Please join me in praying for these police and also for the pastors and missionaries who are mentioned above.