African Christians fear own government on 'jihad': "'This campaign will be another jihad in Sudan between the Muslim government in the north and the predominantly Christian and animist south. In Sudan when we say Muslims, we mean the government of the President Omar al-Bashir,' Racho explains. 'And when we say jihad in this situation, it's not an Islamic extremist group... it's the government of Sudan itself.'

     "'...about 80 percent of the people in the south will support the referendum to no longer be a part of Sudan,' Racho says. 'The Christians in South Sudan... want a separate country and that they don't want to be a part of a genocidal Islamist government....'

     "Sudan has been steadily in a state of civil war since the end of the colonial era in the 1956. Because of the government's actions in Darfur in February 2009, the International Criminal Court charged al-Bashir with five counts of crimes against humanity. United Nations aid agencies report that over 300,000 Sudanese were killed and 2.7 million Sudanese were left homeless in the last civil war."

      Please pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in the Sudan. The burning, slavery, torture and killing that Sudanese Christians have faced is beyond our comprehension. May God give them the strength and endurance needed for the spiritual battles ahead! See Suffering with Jesus

Christian brothers poisoned in Pakistan: "The brothers had left their jobs as sanitation workers at the Ferozewala Pul Banquet & Marriage Hall because they were not receiving their wages. However, they returned when their employers promised them their outstanding wages.... They were also harassed by staff members who spoke offensively to them about their Christian faith and called them derogatory names. When the brothers finally demanded their due pay, they were threatened with dire consequences if they did not continue their work. The hall owner and hall manager then forced the three to drink poison.... Their family was only contacted when two of the brothers... were already dead. At last report, the third brother, Aakash Masih (23), was in critical condition."

       Please pray with me for these families and for others who face similar threats. See God's Comfort

El Shafie said that between 200-300 million Christians are being persecuted in the world, 80 percent of whom lived in Muslim countries: "Every three minutes a Christian is being tortured in the Muslim world, and in 2009 more than 165,000 Christians will have been killed because of their faith, most of them in Muslim countries, according to a human rights organization.... El Shafie, 32, was born in Cairo to a distinguished Muslim family of lawyers and judges. Through a Christian friend he was exposed at an early age to hatred toward the Christian minority in Egypt. He decided to convert to Christianity, wrote a book about it and as a result became an outcast and a victim of oppression. In 1998 he was arrested, imprisoned, tortured and condemned to death. El Shafie managed to escape, fled to the Sinai, where a Beduin family hid him for two months..." See Risking her life for Jesus

( Somalia) Christian Martyred: "On Nov. 14, the body of a 23-year-old Christian convert, Mumin Abdikarim Yusuf, was discovered.... On Oct. 28, members of al-Shabaab, an Islamic extremist group, detained Yusuf and searched his home for Christian materials.... In an attempt to gain evidence against Yusuf and to gain information about other Somali Christians, the extremists knocked out all of Yusuf's front teeth and broke several of his fingers. They then shot him twice in the head and dumped his body on an empty residential street. Since it is unknown whether Yusuf revealed information about other Christians during his torture, the underground Christians who knew him have relocated for their safety. Yusuf's Muslim family members are also in danger, as extremists have accused them of failing to report his conversion to Christianity.

     "Pray for safety for the relocated believers. Pray that Yusuf's faithful witness will be a testimony to his Muslim family members and that they will turn to Jesus for their salvation." See Suffering with Jesus

My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace;

Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.

'Tis His to lead me there, not mine but His...

At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

Christian from Muslim background martyred in Somalia: "The body of a 23-year-old Somali convert from Islam to Christianity, Mumin Abdikarim Yusuf, was discovered on the morning of November 14 in Mogadishu's Yaqshid district. ...members of al-Shabaab, an Islamic militant group, apprehended Yusuf and searched his home for Christian materials after a 15-year-old Muslim boy accused Yusuf of trying to convert him to Christianity." See Risking her life for Jesus

November 2009

Thankful in Death as well as Life! (180 AD): "Their crime? They were Christians who refused to compromise or recant. They would rather die than deny their faith and betray the Lord they loved!...

     "The proconsul Saturninus then read the decree [their sentence] from a tablet: 'Speratus, Nartzalus, Cittinus, Donata, Vestia, Secunda and the rest having confessed that they live according to the Christian rite, since after opportunity offered them of returning to the custom of the Romans they have obstinately persisted, it is determined that they be put to the sword."
      "'We give thanks to God," said Speratus.
      "Today we are martyrs in heaven; thanks be to God," added Nartzalus.

The China President Obama Didn't See: "...had Barack Obama wanted to understand something of the real China, his time would have been better spent here than at the various state dinners... photo-ops, and carefully managed town-hall events....

     "Shouwang, founded in 1993 by pastor Jin Tianming, is one of the city's largest unregistered churches and counts around 800 regular members. But until last weekend, they had never once been able to meet in such large numbers in an indoor space in Beijing.

     "Shouwang is what is known in China as a 'house' church, meaning that it is an unregistered entity in a country where all religious groups are supposed to report to the State Administration for Religious Affairs.... Life has never been easy for the underground churches, and recently it has gotten a lot harder. This is the result... of a state directive handed down in August....

     "Pastor Tianming announced that 'some of our brothers and sisters are being held at their homes and have not been able to come to church. But we are all one body in Christ, so we will wait for them to start the service.' After another hour of singing and praying, the congregation suddenly broke into applause—one of the detained members had apparently talked his way out and arrived. The service got underway; by the time it ended a second detained elder had arrived. The previous Sunday, it was Pastor Tianming who had been detained....

     "Now Mr. Obama is gone, after a visit that was conspicuous for its attentiveness to the sensibilities of China's leaders. In their quest for stability and 'harmony,' these rulers continue to roll back basic liberties. Shuttering underground churches is part of the trend.

     "But freedom of faith is something not even history's most repressive governments have ever been fully able to snuff out: not the Romans in their suppression of the earliest Christians; not the communists in their efforts to substitute History for God; not Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong or Kim Il Sung, who attempted to substitute themselves for God. So while Shouwang has no place to meet this coming Sunday, the church will still be there, only more deeply steeled in its faith. This is the side of China—the one Mr. Obama opted not to see—that will ultimately determine its future." See Secret Document Reveals Chinese Government’s Campaign against Unregistered Churches

House church banned by authorities in Shanghai, China: "...more than 30 officials from four government agencies barged into the Wanbang Missionary Church in Shanghai....  After concluding that church members were meeting illegally, police officers banned the church and forbade the believers from meeting together in the future. The Wanbang Missionary Church has approximately 1,200 members and is considered one of the most influential urban house churches in the country....

     "Pray that these believers will be encouraged to continue to meet together despite opposition...." See Scriptures on Persecution

October 2009

Arrested for her faithful witness: [Pakistan] "Many of the local women work on the farm of Muslim landowner Muhammad Idrees, including Asia Bibi.... [On June 19] there was an intense discussion among the women about their faith, with the Muslim women telling Asia about Islam. Asia responded by telling them about her faith in Christ. Asia told the Muslim women Christ had died on the cross for our sins, then asked them what Mohammed had done for them.... She told them Jesus is alive, but Mohammed is dead....  Then some men came and took her and locked her in a room. They announced from mosque loudspeakers that she would be punished..." See The Loneliness of the Christian

Islamic extremists in Somalia hunting Christians: "Somalia's Muslim militants are hunting down converts to Christianity. According to Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Al-Shabaab members have murdered 14 believers since July 15." See Persecution

Suspects in attacks on Christians freed: "A Pakistani judge has released six more of the suspects in a series of attacks on Christians... and rights activists say the decision just adds to the victimization of the members of the religious minority.... Judge Toba Sek Singh recently released the suspects, who are accused of the murders of 11 Christians and with burning down more than 40 Christian-owned houses in Gojra."

Islamists kill Somali church leader: "The day before the shooting, Sheikh Arbow sent his wife to visit Hussein's home and pretend she was interested in learning about Christianity. During the visit, Hussein read passages of the Bible with Arbow's wife and told her that she could visit regularly to discuss God's Word. Arbow's wife then confirmed to her husband the presence of Bibles in the home.

      "The next day, Arbow visited Hussein along with some other Muslims. He requested a Bible from her. Hussein gave one to him and he revealed that he was looking for 'Christians who have defiled the Islamic religion.' Arbow then ordered her to show him the other Bibles that she owned. When she handed them over, he shot her three times...

      "Thank the Lord for working through the life of Mariam Muhina Hussein. Pray that those who mourn for her will draw near to Christ for comfort. Pray for encouragement and strength for Somali Christians facing trials for their Christian witness." See Persecution

September 2009

Beijing Public Security Officers Seize House Church Pastor Hua Huiqi: "Pastor Hua was returning home from 'forced vacation' in Shanxi, when five PSB officers immediately surrounded his apartment home. ...his wife, evangelist Ju Mei, received a phone call from Hua. Secretly from his cell phone, Hua told her that he had been forced into a PSB car on the highway....

    "...a Beijing PSB officer named Ding Xu went to Hua's home to pick up some clothes for Hua. When Ju Mei asked him what had happened to her husband, and whether he was dead or alive, Officer Ding Xu refused to answer. He reportedly pointed to his police badge and said, 'Don't you know who I am? I have no obligation to answer your questions!' ... Hua's 79-year old mother, wife and daughter fear for Hua's safety; they identified one of the police officers who seized Hua as one of men who beat Hua severely in the crackdown leading up to June 4 of this year. Pastor Hua has been repeatedly arrested, beaten, and interrogated by PSB officials within the last two years..." See Chinese Government’s Campaign against Unregistered Churches

Persecution of Christians in England: "Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang.... who are members of an evangelical congregation, were arrested by police after getting into a discussion with the woman about the differences between Christianity and Islam earlier this year.... The woman, who has not been named, is said to have told them that Jesus is considered a 'minor prophet' in Islam while the debate also touched on the status of Mohammed.... Mr Vogelenzang denies calling the Prophet Mohammed a 'warlord'. It is unthat she used the word 'bondage about Islamic dress but denies deliberately causing offence." More information at Seeds of Persecution

August 2009

Judge keeps Christian convert in Florida -- Muslim parents demand she immediately be returned home to Ohio: "Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, an honor student and cheerleader, was raised in a Muslim family in Columbus, Ohio. She became a Christian four years ago as a result of her interactions with children at school. But Bary, a native of Sri Lanka, hitchhiked to a bus station and ran away from home July 19 because she says her family will murder her in what is known as an 'honor killing.'...

       "In the Columbus area, where she lived, 'There is a densely populated group of Muslims with connections with radical Islam and al-Qaida.... She made a statement in open court that she loved her parents very dearly, but she also feared for her life. She did not want to go home. The judge did the right thing, acted in the best interests of my client,' he continued. 'She was shaking but she was very honest, and her statement was from her heart. She professed her faith in Christ.'" See Not Ashamed

2-month-old killed to stifle 'religious' dissent -- Reports cite victim being used for 'target practice': "'We are told, by some of the Lao Hmong survivors of the recent military attacks in Laos, that the LPDR (Lao Peoples Democratic Republic) soldiers of the LPA (Lao Peoples Army) used the… Lao Hmong girl, while she was still alive, for target practice.… [O]nce she was captured and tied up; they mutilated her little body and continued to fire their weapons, over and over… until her head just eventually came off after so many bullets severed her head.' The rest of the children, ranging up to 8 years old, remain missing and Vang's concern is that they likely would be tortured and killed by soldiers. ...the decapitated child's body was found next to her mother, also a torture victim of the soldiers.

       "Unfortunately,' the ICC said, 'this level of brutality against women and children is not uncommon for Lao soldiers. It is standard procedure for soldiers to surround and isolate pockets of Hmong people and starve them out to be killed when they venture out to forage. ...

       "'Let the international community not be guilty of the same by its silence in the face of a regime who... has reached the heights of sadism...'

       "....the Hmong people of southeast Asia, many of whom cooperated with American forces during the Vietnam War, still are hunted and killed for actions of four decades ago." See Executed for Distributing Bibles

Pakistan: Eight believers killed: "On Aug. 1, a mob of angry Muslim extremists attacked Christians in... Punjab province, killing at least eight believers, including a seven-year-old child.... Dozens of homes and a church building were looted and burned. Reports indicate the violence resulted from rumors that Christians had desecrated pages from the Quran several days earlier at a wedding in a nearby village. This was the second attack because of such a rumor. On July 30, Muslim extremists attacked Christians, burning more than 50 homes.... [T]he attackers used a fuel that is particularly difficult to extinguish to set the fires."

      These persecuted Christians are part of our family in Christ, yet today's churches seem sadly silent about such suffering. Please pray for God's strength and provision for our suffering brothers and sisters everywhere. See Biblical Unity

Christians beaten, accused of forcible conversion in Karnataka, India: "Hindu militants... barged into a tea stall attended by Sharada, the wife of Pastor Nagaraj, and questioned her about her faith.... The militants demanded to know how much money her family received for converting to Christianity and accused her and her husband of forcible conversion. They also threatened to burn her alive. Sharada was dragged to the police station where a complaint was filed against her. Pastor Nagaraj was also summoned to the station and upon his arrival was beaten by the militants while police looked on." Scriptures on Persecution

Christian orphanage workers beheaded: "Four Christians working in Somalia to provide services to orphans have been executed by beheading by al-Qaida-linked interests who told their families that is the penalty for apostasy. .....According to ICC, al-Shabaab, an Islamic extremist organization, claimed responsibility, and confirmed the Christians were killed when they refused to renounce their faith in Jesus."

False accusation: "...a Chinese court sentenced Christian bookstore owner, Shi Weihan,38, to three years in prison for 'illegal business operations,' and imposed a US$21,975 fine.... Shi Weihan operated a legal bookstore and only sold books with the government’s approval. His Holy Spirit Trading Company printed Bibles and Christian literature and distributed then freely to local house churches." See His strength in my weakness

Muslims Persecute Christians: "On Saturday, a frenzied mob of three thousand Muslims stormed the tiny Pakistani Christian village of Gojra. Enflamed by (unconfirmed) charges that a Christian had burned pages of the Qur’an, the mob burned down fifty homes, burned eight Christians alive, and wounded twenty others. [Such false charges are common]Thousands of Christians fled the area. Last Thursday, enraged by the same report of blasphemy, another Muslim mob torched seventy-five Christian homes, along with two churches, in Koriyan, a village near Gojra.

      "Muslims are not persecuting Christians only in Pakistan. On July 18, Muslims in Alexandria, Egypt kidnapped a sixteen-year-old Christian girl... Shortly thereafter her mother received a phone call: '...He introduced himself as Sheikh Mohammed, and said that my daughter is fine and will convert to Islam....'” See Chronology of Conquests in the Name of Allah

July 2009