Endangered Christians | Ain't Complicated

Belarus: Religious Restrictions

There’s official anti-church activity going on in Belarus:

Officials in Grodno [Hrodna] Region of north-western Belarus have moved against three different Protestant communities to try to prevent them from conducting religious activity which each community insists is guaranteed in the country’s Constitution. Forum 18 News Service has learnt that the local authority in the small town of Svisloch has banned an open-air baptism planned for the afternoon of Sunday 3 August. In the nearby town of Mosty a Pentecostal pastor was fined nine months' minimum wages on 9 June for leading a small unregistered church. In the city of Grodno a Baptist pastor faces a second fine for holding worship services without state registration.

Each of the three communities point to Article 31 of Belarus' Constitution, which declares: "Everyone shall have the right independently to determine one's attitude towards religion, to profess any religion individually or jointly with others, or to profess none at all, to express and spread beliefs connected with one's attitude towards religion, and to participate in the performance of acts of worship and religious rituals and rites, which are not prohibited by the law."

[…]

Belarus maintains tight restrictions on all religious activity. In defiance of international human rights standards, it is the only country in Europe requiring religious organisations to gain state registration before they engage in religious activity. Article 25 of the Religion Law, as well the Law on Mass Events, require that permission for religious events in places not designated for religious worship be obtained in advance from local executive committees. Only registered religious organisations are eligible to ask for such permission. Organisers of and participants in such religious events without official permission risk punishment.

What Would You Read?

Uzbekistan: Fifteen year sentence for reading “prohibited” Christian literature? Well, time will tell what his sentence is. According to the story, the issue isn’t Bible reading. It’s reading other Christian literature. So look at your book shelves. Which Christian book would you still read even if it meant your arrest. And possible torture. And possible long-term imprisonment?

In other news at the same site:

Young Evangelist Beaten Unconscious in India

Yemen: Christian arrests may herald new era of persecution.

Mr. Savage? Yes, He Can!

Closing out his first hour this afternoon (at least here in Oregon on 750 KXL), Michael Savage said (and I quote to the best of my recollection):

I don’t know if God Himself can save this nation.

Sir, God can save this nation!

“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

Yes, God can save America.

But will He?

Or is the cup of iniquity of the United States of America too close to full by now?

I don’t know.

And if God chooses to bring judgment on the USA, what will I do?

Would to God that I will stand strong. And shine strongly with the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Iran: Shall We Kill More?

Iranians consider mandatory execution for apostasy:

A plan is being discussed by lawmakers in Iran that would require the death penalty for anyone who leaves Islam for Christianity or someone who promotes such a conversion even on the Internet, according to a new report from Compass Direct News.

Those discussions of a penal code that was drafted earlier this year bring urgency to situations such as the two men arrested recently and under interrogation for that very crime, the report said.

The report said Iranian authorities arrested a number of converts to Christianity in the city of Shiraz about two months ago on suspicion of “apostasy.”

Arash Bandari, 44, and Mahmood Matin, 52, were arrested at the time along with 13 other Muslim converts to Christianity. But while the other 13 were told they have a court case pending and then released, Bandari and Matin have been held ever since.

The 13 who have been released have not been told of any specific charges, but they report the nature of their questioning gives them reason to think the allegations may include apostasy and political crimes.

The other two, Bandari and Matin, have been held almost incommunicado. Matin’s wife was able to see him for several minutes on June 24, when the prisoner told his wife “there had been a misunderstanding and that he could not teach Christianity any more,” Compass reported.

[…]

Compass noted that under the existing sharia laws in Iran, the death penalty is available for the crime of apostasy, but not required.

Ahmadinejad: Act MMVIII

This morning Joel Rosenberg asks: War in November?

War clouds continue to build in the epicenter. Last month in Rome, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed that the United States and Israel would soon be “annihilated,” language he had not used so explicitly since October 2005 when he promised to wipe Israel “off the map” and urged Muslims to “envision a world without the United States.” This week, his regime authorized a new series of Iranian war games. He ordered the digging of 320,000 graves to bury the enemies of Islam. He is calling for the unification of the Islamic world politically and economically, including the creation of a single currency.

Top Israeli intelligence officials, meanwhile, increasingly believe that time is running out. They believe that Iran could have nuclear weapons within a year and one former Mossad chief is urging his country’s leadership to launch a massive series of air strikes against Iranian nuclear and other military facilities before it is too late. Israel’s Air Force just conducted a test run of such a bombing mission.

[…]

The U.S. does not want Israel to strike. After all, the repercussions of such a war with Iran would be global in nature. Israel would face tens of thousands of incoming missiles not just from Iran but likely from Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza and possibly the West Bank. Some of these missiles could be have chemical and/or biological warheads, even if the nuclear warheads in Iran are not yet ready. Ballistic missiles would also be likely fired from Iran at the oil fields in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, at oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and the Straight of Hormuz, and at U.S. bases and forces in Iraq. Tens of thousands of suicide bomber cells could be activated in the region — especially in Iraq and Israel — and perhaps even in Western Europe and the U.S. and Canada. Iranian efforts to topple Jordan’s King Abdullah II and/or Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in favor of radical Islamic regimes friendly to Tehran could also be set in motion. Oil prices could shoot from $140 a barrel to $300 a barrel or more. U.S. gas prices could spike to $7-$10 or more, with horrific domestic and global economic repercussions.

No wonder Washington doesn’t want a war with Iran. No wants such a war. I certainly do not, nor do the Israelis. Yet, the U.S. does not have a convincing plan to stop the Iranian nuclear weapons program in time. Nor does the U.N., or the E.U. Diplomacy isn’t working. Economic sanctions have been imposed on Iran since 1979 to little strategic effect. Unfortunately, the words of Sen. John McCain keep echoing in my head this week. In April 2006, the senior Senator from Arizona appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press. He warned, “there’s only one thing worse than using the option of military action, and that is the Iranians acquiring nuclear weapons.” For if Iran gets the Bomb, he said, “I think we could have Armageddon.”

If this were in one of Mr. Rosenberg’s novels, some people would be looking over their shoulders wondering when it would come true. But it’s not, so they can breathe a sigh of relief. 😐

That aside, here’s a bit from Joel’s most recent Flash Traffic email:

As Israel faces the possibility of war with Iran in the next year — possibly as early as this fall — The Joshua Fund is stepping up efforts to stockpile food, water, medical equipment and other emergency supplies. Over the weekend, our leadership hosted the head of a leading evangelical Israeli relief organization to develop detailed contigency plans and we have a staff team heading to Israel at the end of the month to meet with other key allies. Over the course of the next few days, I will be holding conference calls with evangelical pastors throughout the U.S. to brief them on the latest developments and discuss ways they can help.

There are a few urgent prayer requests we would like to share with all of you:

1) First and foremost, please pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the entire region. Pray for the leaders of the region — and our own national leaders — to make wise choices in the days and weeks ahead. While diplomacy and sanctions haven’t worked so far, they still could. So let’s pray that the Lord would spare all the people of the region another war. They have, after all, suffered so much already.

2) Pray especially for peace on Israel’s southern border. Every day, rockets and mortars from Gaza are striking fear into the hearts of some 500,000 Israeli residents. Pray, too, for the staff of Barzilai Medical Center, the only hospital treating Israelis in the southern tier. Pray for wisdom and comfort for the doctors, nurses, administrators and volunteers. Pray that they would have all the equipment, pharmaceuticals and other essentials they need to treat those affected by the on-going terror attacks.

3) Please pray for evangelical Christians and Israeli Jews to join forces to bless the people of Israel in real and practical ways. Pray that historic tensions would subside, and that Christians would truly show unconditional love and unwavering support to the Jewish State. Pray, too, that Israeli leaders at all levels of society would be open to and accepting of such support, and that The Joshua Fund could play a positive, helpful role in all of this.

4) Please pray for members of Israeli churches and congregations and their leaders to have wisdom and discernment to know how best to love their neighbors and their enemies. Please particularly pray for their courage and patience. While harassment of believers in Israel is nothing like the terrible persecution ongoing in Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran or elsewhere, attacks against followers of Jesus in Israel have increased in recent months. As I have reported before, the 15-year old son of an Israeli pastor was nearly killed this spring when a bomb was sent to the pastor’s home disguised as a Purim gift. Ami Ortiz is slowly, steadily, miraculously recovering. But he definitely needs your prayers for the many surgeries he is having to go through. Please also pray that the authorities in Israel would be truly diligent in tracking down and catching those responsible for this horrific crime. The police have now definitively ruled out Palestinian terrorism. This was done by Jews who hate Israeli believers in Yeshua, they believe. But there have been concerns that the police were not doing as much as possible to solve the case. Pressure from Christians around the world writing to Israeli embassies insisting on action has helped. Please keep praying and pressing for justice. Unfortunately, there have been other attacks as well. A deputy Mayor of an Israeli town recently organized Orthodox youths to round up New Testaments and other Christian literature and burn them in a huge bonfire. Christian workers in the country are being denied visas. Some Israeli officials are harassing immigrants who believe in Yeshua and trying to strip of their Israeli citizenship. The Lord is being gracious in all these areas, and a national discussion has ensued over whether Israeli believers in Jesus have a right to live peaceably in the Jewish State, especially since they are very loyal citizens. They fight in the army. They pay their taxes. They serve their communities. They care for the poor and needy. They want to help build a strong Israel for the future. They also want the right to worship the Lord and unashamedly express their belief that Yeshua is the Messiah and the hope not only of the Jewish people, but the whole world. Let’s continue to pray for these brothers and sisters during these challenging times.

5.) Finally, please pray that we evangelicals around the world would have the courage to stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel and that we would not hesitate in any way to help them have enough food, water, clothing, medical equipment and other needed supplies to care for their own communities as well as their neighbors when the next war breaks out. As Paul wrote in Romans 15:25-27, “Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.” We do owe it to our brethren in Israel to help them in their nation’s time of need. This summer, therefore, TJF is seeking the Lord to provide an additional $1 million above and beyond our current financial commitments to accelerate our efforts to stockpile these goods, acquire the needed warehouse facilities to store them, and vehicles to move them around the country. Our board will meet this weekend to discuss several urgent new projects and make decisions on how to proceed based, in part, on our sense of whether we believe we can afford accelerating our work in Israel. We are bringing in several experts to advise us, including a former top U.S. military commander who is a dear brother in Christ and has decades of experience praying for peace yet preparing for war. I’ll report more next week on what comes out of these discussions.

Islam: What Will You Not Say?

The Erosion of Free Speech

Although the headline of the June 8th article in the Daily Times of Pakistan read “Pakistan to ask EU to amend laws on freedom of expression,” the request from high-level government officials was in reality a threat. The six-person Pakistani delegation was set to deliver a warning that unless blasphemy against Islam stopped, terrorist attacks against European assets could escalate. Their cited example was the suicide bomb attack this June 2 on the Danish Embassy in Pakistan in which eight people died and 27 were injured as a result of possible renewed backlash to the 2005 publication of 12 editorial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammed.

Islamabad informed the European Union countries that the backlash to perceived insults to the “religion of peace” could jeopardize “inter-religious harmony” and result in uncontrollable attacks on other diplomatic missions abroad. A high-level delegation representing the Pakistani government was to travel to Brussels to further warn EU officials of the liabilities of free expression.

This apocryphal grandstanding, in which Islamabad seeks to eradicate free speech and reclassify it as an offensive hate crime, is part and parcel of the insidious Islamic effort to establish a worldwide Islamic caliphate under shariah law. Paradoxically, in most of the Muslim world, the right of free speech is nonexistent. Verbal and physical attacks on non-Muslims are rampant, as is death for apostates, terrorism training for youth, hate indoctrination of non-Muslims in mosques and schools and the oppression of Christians, Hindus and Jews. But Muslims feel free to use democratic precepts in the service of their own radical ideology to, ultimately, overthrow liberty, eliminate individual rights and destroy freedoms in Western societies. They seek prohibitions on free expression to strengthen Islam, pave the way toward Islamization and keep the Western public ill informed and unaware of potential threats to the democratic way of life. By couching this effort as merely the elimination of offensive speech, they conceal their true goal of undermining the laws of Western societies, specifically the very foundation of democracy – free speech.

This goal was dramatically illustrated in March of 2008, when the 57 Muslim states that make up the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) struck a blow against free speech by successfully forcing through the United Nation’s Human Rights Council (UNHRC) an amendment to a resolution on Freedom of Expression. The amendment, requiring extensive changes to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, officially characterizes as abuse and an act of religious discrimination any criticism of Islam. It also calls for the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression to report any individuals and news media issuing negative comments about Islam.

In June, this limitation on free speech was further underscored when representatives of two non-governmental organizations sought to address stonings, honor killings and female genital mutilation sanctioned under shariah law. As part of the effort to mute criticism of Islam, the Egyptian UNHRC delegate demanded that the speakers be silenced, proclaiming, “Islam will not be crucified in this Council.”

Thus, banned from UNHRC sessions is criticism of shariah laws that oppress women, condemn homosexuals and threaten converts and non-Muslims. Also banned are statements against Islamic law-sanctioned child marriage, honor killings, the hanging of homosexuals and the murder of apostates.

The United Nations is not the only front where Islamic gag orders are in place. Canada’s Human Rights Act….

Be sure to read more (if not all) of the full article.

HT: Persecution.org

Church Planters in India

Despite Persecution…

It can take up to two years to train a church planter in India.

Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India’s Dave Stravers says the spiritual climate is that ready. “It can be quite embarrassing because we don’t have the resources to train everyone who wants to receive help from us. We actually have almost 4,000 church planters on the waiting list, waiting for our training. So that’s the number one need–he training. Then, we of course provide them with materials, so they need some Scriptures,” and the ministry furnishes a bicycle to increase mobility.

Through this approach, many have responded to the Gospel. That has brought its own set of problems to church planters.

A backlash reaction to the sudden growth of the church has prompted anti-conversion laws in seven states. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are giving indirect support to militant groups and resulting in ongoing violence against Christians.

Even in states where such laws are not written, they are acted on by the local authorities. Says Stravers, “Often, [the church planters’] lives will be threatened; they’ll get beaten up; they’ll be warned to leave: ‘Don’t come back here again or we’ll kill you.’ This is quite a common form of intimidation, and the high success of the church planters is really attributed to the work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in India.”

Reports of village churches being attacked, raided or otherwise destroyed continue to be a daily reality throughout the country. New converts to Christianity are often cast out of their families and face poverty and ostracism.

Continue to pray that the Mission India team would remain bold in their vision. Pray, too, that God would provide the resources they need to train those who would be church planters, and that new believers would be grounded in the Scriptures.