Christian Persecution – Asia

Following the disaster of December 26, native missionaries of Indonesia have been helping survivors on the northern tip of Sumatra Island, the single region with the most casualties.

The government of India has rejected a demand that social benefits be extended to Dalit Christians and Muslims, compounding the problems faced by the most downtrodden social class in India.

It will be yet another difficult Christmas for the tribal Montagnard Christians of Central Vietnam as disturbing allegations have reached ANS that a Montagnard Christian has been killed, others tortured and Bibles confiscated. (Pictured: Center, A Montagnard (Degar) Christian arrested (and later beaten) by Vietnamese authorities for practicing Christianity).

News of clashes between Christians and public security police over the distribution of Christian tracts has been pouring out of Vietnam since the opening of the 22nd Southeast Asia Games (Seagames 22) on December 5. The house churches, often zealous in their evangelism, have apparently organized the distribution of Christian tracts and other literature featuring the testimonies of prominent Christian athletes, severely pushing the limits of religious freedom in this communist nation.

Public Security police in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) allegedly attempted to assassinate the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang at about 9 p.m. on December 9 by staging a motorcycle “accident,” according to the Vietnamese Mennonite Church in Saigon.

On November 29, Vietnamese authorities extradited Ma Van Bay from Binh Phuoc province in the Central Highlands to his former home in Ha Giang province on the China border. Christians who know the brutality of government authorities in Ha Giang fear Bay, a key Hmong Christian leader, will face serious abuse.

GFA native missionary Pastor Chandra was recently arrested by Orissa police on charges of baptizing five new believers. Fourteen other missionaries there also face persecution and imprisonment under the Orissa government’s anti-conversion legislation, which requires permission from a local government official for anyone wanting to change his religion.

Yesterday a church celebration in Assam, India, turned deadly as Kukki militants barged in and fired bullets. Five people were shot dead, including a Gospel for Asia native missionary, Samuel. Athough the incident follows on the heels of another tragedy caused by ethnic conflict, God is at work among the Kukki and Karbi tribes. GFA has planted 85 churches and 30 fellowships among the Karbi people and recently started a Gospel outreach to the Kukis, with five churches established so far.

The indigenous people of Papua (Irian Jaya) are Melanesian and predominantly Christian, estimated by Operation World at over 90%, and mostly Protestant. They have been living under Indonesian rule since 1963. The Indonesian military (which has invested heavily in Papua’s resources) has been involved in gross human rights abuses against the oppressed indigenous Papuans.

Ma Van Bay, a missionary to the Hmong tribe, was arrested recently and is being held in a jail in southern Vietnam, according to a report received by Christian Aid.

The lives of native missionary pastor John Nayak and six other Gospel workers are on the line as anti-Christian groups pursue them in an area of Orissa, India, long known for the persecution of Christians.

Deep in the forests of India, there lives an illiterate, isolated people group called the Gond. They consult witch doctors and worship the gods of nature. They have never heard of Jesus.

Severe persecution against church planting ministry in India’s Orissa State was interrupted with a sign from heaven when a meteor crashed to earth near the Bay of Bengal.

Indonesian Christians who have lived in the village of Old Beteleme (Bethlehem), Central Sulawesi, since being displaced by a three-year wave of religious violence suffered a night-time attack Friday that left two people dead, six missing and 38 houses destroyed.

Dhoniam, one of Gospel for Asia’s radio producers, is under house arrest—along with his young family—and not allowed to contact anyone unless they deny their faith in Christ. This has greatly affected the production of GFA’s radio broadcast in the Marwari language, which reaches a potential listening audience of 13 million people in India and Nepal.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, PHILIPPINES (ANS) – The Philippines military has theorized that the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, which is holding American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham of Kansas City, has opened its communication lines with officials of the White House in the United States to negotiate for the safe release of the Burnhams.