persecution

Lebanon: Christian Emigration

Middle East. Good news. Mutually exclusive words? Maybe not.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Lebanon’s ruling party issued a call to save the Christian communities of the Middle East.

Ahmad Hariri, secretary-general of the Lebanese Future Movement, said he was “extremely worried about the repercussions of the Christian emigration from some Middle East countries.” Speaking at a press conference marking the closure of the Future Movement’s founding congress in Beirut, the key political figure added that “nurturing the Christian presence [in the region] was an Arab and Islamic responsibility as much as it is a Christian one.”

Greg Mussleman with Voice of the Martyrs, Canada says, “You’ve got the moderate Muslims that don’t want the more militant ones taking over. Keeping the Christian presence there is positive for the country. They’re good citizens.”

Christians used to be the majority in the nation. However, Christians have lost their majority due to decades of emigration and the high birthrate of Muslims.

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What about the church in Lebanon? Mussleman says, “It’s not strong. There’s a lot of ‘religion’ mixed in there. It’s not a strong following of Christ. They need to be a stronger witness for Christ.”

How will this announcement affect Muslims turning to Christ? Mussleman says some moderate Muslim families won’t care. “[With] the more militant aspect of families with Islamic roots, regardless of what the law is, they may still persecute and kill and do all sorts of things. But at least this is a start.”

Source: Christians protected in Lebanon?

Bibles in Iran

Christians in Iran are remaining faithful witnesses, even at the risk of death.

Vision Beyond Borders said that in some house churches across Iran, believers conclude their service by praying over New Testaments. Then, each believer takes seven New Testaments with them, handing out at least one copy each day to a non-believer.

In this radical Muslim country, if they were caught, the punishment would be death. However, they are willing to lay down their lives to spread the Gospel.

In fact, instead of letting the persecution dissuade them from being bold witnesses, they are letting it fan the flames of a revival spreading across Iran. With current oppression in the country, more Iranians are looking for answers other than the ones they have always been fed, and they are finding these answers in Jesus Christ.

Source: Believers in Iran risk their lives to give Bibles

Iran: Christians Targeted

Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslims this week to fight the “blind and savage terrorism” fueled by the West. That bodes ill for believers, who are often targeted because of assumptions that Christianity is Western.

Greg Musselman with Voice of the Martyrs Canada says there’s reason for concern. “Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that he is going to really go after the underground churches. [He claims] they’re illegal, they shouldn’t be happening. There’s these apostasy laws…. We need to be praying for the legislators in Iran that they would do the right thing and that they would be guided by the Lord.”

Will these statements unleash a wave of violence against Christians? “Unfortunately, when there is this kind of violence taking place, Christians are targeted,” explains Musselman, adding that it is not always the faith aspect that draws negative attention. Sometimes, it is not directly faith-related. He says, “The churches, if they’re displaying crosses or if they’re not dressing like Muslims,” can paint the mark.

However, the harsh reactions aren’t necessarily creating the response expected. A combination of disillusionment and despair is actually acting as a catalyst for the Gospel. Musselman notes that “we’re seeing these underground churches springing up all over Iran, where there are young people coming to know the Lord.”

Read the full article here: Iran ramps tension with the West

Karen in Burma

OK, the Karen — not my sister. As far as I know, she’s in Woodburn, not Rangoon.

“It seems like the Burmese government is getting ready for a huge offensive action against a lot of people,” he says.

Klein believes he knows the target. “From what my contacts are saying from inside, they’re now trying to get rid of anybody who is opposed to the government. Everybody wants freedom. They want it to open up. They do not like this government, but they feel hopeless.

“Yesterday, we told you about the thousands of tribal people who have been forced out of Burma or killed. Klein says it’s nothing short of genocide. The question is: Why won’t the United Nations do something about it? Klein says, “The reason the UN Security Council won’t do anything is because China and Russia are backing the military government.”

Klein says there could be a “huge genocide before the election in October. They’re going to slaughter a whole bunch more people. They’ve been killing the Karen, and more and more of the tribals are being killed now. I’m just concerned that there are going to be millions of people slaughtered — is the world going to ignore and act like it’s not our problem?”

While the world ignores what’s going on, Vision Beyond Borders isn’t. Klein says, “People have lost all confidence in their government. Even people are turning away from Buddhism. They’re looking for hope. They’re turning to Jesus Christ. There are some Bibles getting into the country, and there is a tremendous need for more Scriptures because people are open to the Gospel now.”

Source: Burma seeking nuclear weapons and more

Rwanda, Congo, Orissa, Burma — with a shrug, the world sweeps them under the rug.

An Ominous Use of Facebook

I use Facebook, albeit with great caution and reserve.

But even that caution and reserve would not have protected me from a Gardes Maroc Maroc:

Muslim uses Facebook profiles to find and target Christians

But what if your Facebook profile were used as a weapon against you by Muslim extremists opposed to your Christian faith?

According to Compass Direct News, this is exactly what is happening in Morocco, where over 100 foreign Christians have been deported since the beginning of the year for allegedly “proselytizing.”

Facebook user Gardes Maroc Maroc collected pictures and information from Christian converts’ Facebook profiles, then posted 32 collages of the Christians, referring to them as “hyena evangelists,” “wolves in lamb’s skins” and accusing them of trying to “shake the faith of Muslims.” If the latter statement were true, the Christians would be guilty of breaking Morocco’s anti-proselytizing law and would face deportation or prison.

[…]

In addition to Maroc singling out several Christians, he also called for authorities to investigate the Village of Hope in Ain Leuh, where he claimed “foreign missionaries” were indoctrinating the children. This may be part of the reason the orphanage was raided on March 8 and 26 foreign Christians expelled.

Does this mean I will hide my faith online?

No.

At least not at this point.

Which naturally begs this follow-up question: At what point would I consider hiding my Christian identity online?

Persecution in Mexico

What do you think of when you think of Mexico? Illegal immigration? A hot vacation spot? What you may not realize is how much persecution exists there and how widespread it is.

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While Mexico does have religious freedom laws, much of the persecution takes place in more rural areas where it is harder for the government to keep tabs on how Christians are being treated.

Plus, Musselman said the response to the Gospel has been tremendous throughout these villages: “One of the reasons there’s been an increase in persecution is the indigenous people are really responsive to the Gospel.”

As the church grows, Musselman said persecution increases, but then the church grows even more.

To shed light on everything taking place there, VOMC created a video, Mexican Voices: Testimonies of the Persecuted.

Source: Video seeks to raise awareness about persecution in Mexico

Under Siege

Another Christian executed in Somalia

Earlier this month, underground church leader Madobe Abdi escaped an attempted kidnapping in Somalia.

Compass Direct News reports Islamic militants caught up with him March 15 and murdered him. What made his death more alarming is that Abdi was an orphan raised as a Christian rather than a convert from Islam.

Islamic militants have hunted leaders of the underground church movement as a means of discouraging others from responding to the Gospel.

Is it working?

1,000 attacks on Christians in 500 days

A study shows that in 500 days, there were 1,000 attacks on Christians in India’s Karnataka state alone, reports Compass Direct News.

India has not exactly been known for its peaceful attitude toward Christians, especially after several months of attacks in Orissa state in 2008. At that time, attacks were predominately made by Hindu extremists, as they appear now to be in Karnataka. Karnataka, however, never seemed a likely target for Christian persecution.

“[Karnataka] is not in that area of India where you would expect there to be as many attacks,” says Dave Stravers of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India. “It’s in the south; the northern part of India is where more of the radical Hindus live. One of the reasons it’s not surprising, however, is that this is one of the places where the church is growing faster in India.”

[…]

“What’s happening in Karnataka is perhaps a little bit ominous because a Hindu political party has control of that state,” says Stravers. “Even though these attacks are not legal attacks, nevertheless when a Hindu party gets in power, it seems to encourage the unruly elements in the country to undertake this kind of violence.”

And I feel bad because our pet hen died this afternoon….

Perspective. How we all need good perspective.

Above all, love God!