Christian Persecution – Asia

The High Court of Orissa state has asked local officials to examine complaints of “forced conversions” and ordered strict enforcement of the state anti-conversion law.

Flooding caused by India’s heaviest rain ever recorded has killed hundreds of people in the slums of the country’s commercial capital Mumbai and also destroyed a dozen churches and a bible college there, missionaries said Friday, July 29.

While believers met for prayer in the District 2 Mennonite center Sunday evening — just five days after authorities demolished half of the building — officials forced their way in to disband the meeting.

On Tuesday morning, July 19, about 200 officials cordoned off the Vietnam Mennonite Church center in this city’s District 2 and sent in a large work force that tore down the rear 8.8 meters of the 4.5 meter-wide building — including the home of Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang and his family.

Sri Lanka’s government is allowing Christian native missionaries to save children who narrowly survived the recent Tsunami disaster, following news that some are being abducted into forced labor or child prostitution by people posing as aid workers, BosNewsLife established Monday, July 18.

Christians in Pakistan faced a new period of uncertainty Monday, July 18, amid news of increased violence against believers and the adoption of what human rights groups call “a move towards a Taliban-style government” in a key region.

Anti-conversion laws are once again on the agenda in Sri Lanka after a fall-out in parliament that left President Chandrika Kumaratunga desperately in need of Buddhist support.

Sources have told The Voice of the Martyrs that at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28, Christian homes in three areas near Peshawar, Pakistan were attacked by a radical Muslim mob.

Three Vietnamese house church leaders submitted written testimony to the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., on Monday, June 20, the first working day of Vietnam Prime Minister Phan Van Khai’s historic visit to the United States.

Christian workers in India’s tense state of Orissa faced an uncertain future Wednesday, June 22, after the Orissa High Court ordered the local government to ensure the prosecution of missionaries involved in forced conversions of Hindus to Christianity.

An Indonesian ministry says one of its workers escaped after being kidnapped in Aceh, and reports finding Tentena bombing victims in horrific condition.

Three American missionaries who were reportedly beaten by “Hindu fundamentalists” in Mumbai for preaching the Gospel there, will be deported by India because they “violated” the terms of their tourist visa’s, police said Tuesday, June 14.

The Believer’s Church in Lamding, Thoubal district, Manipur state, suffered another attack on May 29.

On June 2, police in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh found the body of Pastor Isaac Raju, missing since May 24.

Three Indonesian Christian women are facing possible five year prison sentences on charges of “attempting to convert Muslim children,” human rights group Voice Of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC) said Wednesday, June 1.

One of India’s most influential Hindu groups confirmed Wednesday, June 1, it will train thousands of youngsters to fight Christian missionaries and distribute weapons.

Two bombs, timed to inflict the greatest possible damage, exploded in a refugee village for Christians in Tentena, Indonesia, on Saturday morning, killing 21 people and injuring 49.

Police are currently investigating seven staff members of a Christian mission, the ATMIK Vikas Trust (AVT), in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh. A group of disgruntled trainees have accused the staff of “running a gang to convert poor Hindus” by promising them employment.

Hindu extremists allegedly “tortured and killed” a native missionary in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh last Thursday, when a court acquitted fellow militants in the murder of another, Australian, missionary and his two children, BosNewsLife learned from local sources Wednesday May 25.

Hindu extremists physically attacked 11 Christian families from Jamanya village in Jalgaon district, Maharashtra state, on May 16, when they refused to give up their faith. Sources said the mob tried to disrobe women in the group; women and children were also beaten by the mob.