| A Christian family in Jharkhand, India, is facing an ultimatum from the people of their village. On May 25, Boykin Raj and his family were told to either leave Christ or leave their village.
Boykin and his family, which includes his parents and sister, are part of a church where Gospel for Asia missionary Kijor Bune ministers. They are the only Christians in their community and just recently chose to follow Jesus. But things have not been easy for them since their decision. “Since the time they came to faith, they have been threatened constantly by their relatives as well as the villagers,†GFA’s field correspondent wrote. When the villagers gathered together on May 25 to decide what to do with the Christians, Boykin and his family chose to trust the Lord, whatever the outcome. “Boykin and his family resolutely told them that they would not leave their Christian faith,†the correspondent wrote, “and they were ready to pay any price.†They ask for prayer for the family, as the police have refused to protect them in this “religious matter.†|
Endangered Christians
Alimjan Yimit
Alimjan Yimit
Compass Direct News is reporting:
| Court officials in Kashgar, Xinjiang province may soon decide the fate of Uyghur Christian Alimjan Yimit, arrested on January 12 and accused of “endangering national security.â€
Alimjan’s trial, delayed in April, should be underway by early June, according to Compass sources. In Chinese documents, his name appears as Ahlimujiang Yimit. Family members still fear that, in the wake of recent unrest in the autonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, Alimjan may be branded a separatist – a crime punishable by death. |
Also blogging about this is Impala Publishers:
| A Chinese court will today begin proceedings against an Uyghur Christian who faces a possible death sentence for ‘endangering national security’. |
For an early April report, click here.
News to Start Your Day
We start in Texas:
| Texas defends separation of polygamist sect kids from moms
State officials Tuesday defended their decision to suddenly separate mothers from many of the children taken in a raid on a polygamist ranch in West Texas. Texas Children’s Protective Services spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner said the separation was made Monday after they decided that children are more truthful in interviews about possible abuse if their parents are not around. When state troopers and child welfare officials seized 416 children from the compound, 139 women accompanied them on their own and had been allowed to stay with the children until Monday, when they were driven back to the compound. Only women with children under 5 could stay at the San Angelo Coliseum where they were being held. […] Authorities raided the sect’s ranch more than a week ago in response to allegations that underage girls were forced to marry older men. About three dozen of the women who returned to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ranch spoke out Monday, after 11 days in temporary shelters. They said in interviews that police surrounded them Monday and gave them a choice between returning home, or relocating to a women’s shelter. “It just feels like someone is trying to hurt us,” said Paula, 38, who like other members of the sect declined to give her full name. “I do not understand how they can do this when they don’t have a for sure knowledge that anyone has abused these children.” […] The state is accusing the sect of physically and sexually abusing the youngsters and wants to strip their parents of custody and place the children in foster care or put them up for adoption. […] Officials said the investigation began with a call from a young girl who has yet to be located by CPS. The women in the sect said they suspect she may be a bitter ex-member of the church. The FLDS practice polygamy in arranged marriages, sometimes between underage girls and older men. The group has thousands of followers in two side-by-side towns in Arizona and Utah. The church has repeatedly fought because of its lifestyle before. Men, women and children have been swept up in raids that took place in 1944 and 1953. |
I’m still amazed CPS can get away with this. And I think I’m even more amazed there hasn’t been a greater outcry “out there.” Maybe this country is further gone than even I imagined.
(The rest of my comments and other news selections are below the fold.)
VW, Continued
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ChristianToday reports that the Vietnam War is still rumbling on – with Christians now regarded as the enemy, says one of the leading persecution watchdogs, Release International. Christians in Vietnam are being targeted as ‘agents of America’. They describe torture and near starvation as the authorities threaten to kill them slowly. |
North Korean Christians
From The Voice of the Martyrs, this:
| NORTH KOREA – The Voice of the Martyrs is calling on the Communist North Korean government to immediately release 10 college students in Ham Kyung Book Do Chung, North Korea, who were investigated and arrested for reading a Bible and watching a video CD about the Bible.
According to Free North Korea Broadcasting, Mr. Jung, former vice-president of GumRung Company of the Rodong Dang Labor Organization Department, reported the case and has since escaped to China to avoid arrest by the National Security Agency (Bowiboo). “In March 2006, 200 Life Bibles and several hundred CDs were purchased in China and secretly placed in flour bags before being smuggled into North Korea. This huge Bible smuggling case was headed by GumRung Company employees who were influenced by Christianity in China and underground Christians in Nasun City. All the leaders have been arrested and are being severely tortured. If I am caught, I will be sent to a prison camp for political criminals. I didn’t want to die in prison camp, so I escaped,†Mr. Jung said. In the Free North Korea Broadcasting report, Mr. Jung added that most of the arrested students attended ChungJin College. “These students shared the Bible and video CD with their friends. They also distributed the Bibles and video CDs to the other college towns,†he said. |
And what were you fussing about earlier today?
Jordan Arrests Eight Evangelists
Eight people have been arrested in Jordan for propagating the Christian faith:
| Jordanian security forces arrested eight people, mostly foreigners, after they were caught distributing missionary material to Bedouin families north and east of the Jordanian capital, Amman, the Saudi daily Al-Watan reported.
The authorities received information about the missionaries from local residents who said these foreigners were offering humanitarian assistance to poor Muslim families and distributing fliers promoting Christianity. Sources said they were “enticing” impoverished youngsters by paying them money and calling on them to marry foreign girls. |
I have curious questions about this:
- What was the content of the flyers?
- From what countries are they?
- Why would they be doing such activity in a Muslim country?
- What is their denominational affiliation?
- Should handing out tracts be kept to relatively safe and friendly locales?
- Will a letter-writing campaign be launched in their behalf?
- Will the Jordanian government apologize for religious insensitivity?
- Are lots of people praying for these evangelizers already?
I know, too many of those are unimportant questions but maybe they’ll make good Google bait.
And a concern (of sorts, anyway): What will become of those eight people?
May the Lord show His grace and strength and glory and love and wisdom through them. May they be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And may God not be ashamed to be called their God.
Kosovo’s Faultlines
And what is happening below the media’s radar?
| Here is my question: What do readers need to know in order to understand the emotions that are currently being unleashed in Serbia and in Kosovo, especially in northern Kosovo?
[…] Now, click here and tour some of the destruction in Kosovo. Yes, this is a one-sided, pro-Serbia site. But just think of this in terms of art and history — like the Bamiyan Buddhas. These holy places are also irreplaceable. Again let me state that these Serbian church websites documenting the destruction tell only part of the hellish story that is post-war Kosovo and Serbia. Of course. But the destruction goes on and the churches and the monasteries cannot be replaced. That is part of the story. Search the news reports in the next few days and look for the material on these treasures of art and faith. While many are celebrating, others are — sheltered in tiny enclaves protected by foreign troops — in mourning. Are there enougn troops to guard all the churches in northern Kosovo? Does anyone in Europe care? How about the United States? This is part of the Kosovo equation that should be included in balanced, accurate mainstream reporting. |
This seems a good place to point you to something I wrote way back when: Kosovo and Serbia: A Case Study Regarding Christians in the Military.