Pastor and Journalists Released from Laos Jail
A Lao-American pastor and two European journalists have been freed by the Laos government less than two weeks after being sentenced to 15 years in jail amid international pressure.
Christian Persecution
Christian Evangelist Escapes Kidnappers in Bangladesh
The kidnapping of the Bengali evangelist known as “Moses” the last week of May confirms a worrying trend of violence against Christians in Bangladesh. An evangelist with Gospel for Asia (GFA), Moses was taken hostage by a Muslim terrorist group which then demanded a large ransom. GFA has not released the real names of the evangelist or the terrorist group for security reasons.
Damanik Receives Three-Year Sentence in Indonesia
Judges have handed down a three-year sentence to Rev. Rinaldy Damanik, an Indonesian pastor accused of illegal weapons possession. Damanik and his defense team now have a week to decide whether they will accept the sentence or appeal the judge’s decision.
Georgia’s Pentecostals Threatened With Death
Pentecostal Christians in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia are not allowed to gather for worship amid death threats, while a Baptist church was set on fire amid a government backed crack down against religious minorities, reports suggested Monday June 16.
Secretive Survey Alarms Christians in Gujarat, India
The government of India’s Gujarat state has again started gathering community-based information in villages of the Patan district in northern Gujarat, heightening suspicions among local Christians that census information will be misused by fundamentalist Hindu organizations to stir up trouble in an area that suffered 443 major clashes between religious groups between 1970 and 2002.
Saudi Arabia Deports Ethiopian Christian
Two and one-half weeks after an Ethiopian Christian was deported from Saudi Arabia for alleged “Christian activities,” a fellow Christian prisoner of Eritrean citizenship remains jailed in Jeddah.
Sudanese Priest Released in Khartoum
Six weeks after a Sudanese court jailed an Episcopal priest for refusing to tear down his own church, the Rev. Samuel Dobai Amum has been set free, with the legal process set in motion for his Khartoum North parish to obtain official ownership of its land.
Brazilian Evangelicals Tried for ‘Hate Crime’ Violation
A heated debate over freedom of religion in Brazil has gone to court. Legal representatives of Umbanda and Candomble spiritist groups are pressing a lawsuit against Baptist pastor Joaquim de Andrade, 41, and Aldo dos Santos Menezes, 33, a deacon of the Anglican Church, in connection with an annual evangelistic outreach on the beaches of Sao Paulo state.
Four Christians Murdered in Colombia
Twenty-five armed men entered a rural church in northern Colombia Tuesday night, May 6, and murdered its 80-year-old evangelical pastor and three other believers, confirmed the head of the nations evangelical alliance.
A Story Of Imprisonment, Torture – But Also A Story Of Faith, Hope
(Probably 80 percent of the house church leaders in China know or have heard the name of this house church leader, but he asked that his name not be used. Possibly as many as 2 million Christians are involved in his house church network. He has been arrested several times and imprisoned a total of 10 years for his faith in Jesus Christ. He spoke recently with an Open Doors team. The following is his testimony.)
9-Year-Old Christian Girl Beaten in Retaliation for War in Iraq
A 9-year-old Pakistani Christian girl has been severely beaten — the result of a religious hate crime inflicted upon her because of the war in Iraq.
Eritrean Protestants Arrested at Prayer Meeting
Asmara Police Jail, Punish 56 Prisoners Special to Compass Direct LOS ANGELES, May 8 (Compass) — Eritrean security police arrested two full-time evangelists and another 54 members of the Rema Church last night in Asmara, hauling them off to a local police station for holding illegal prayer meetings in two homes of their members. The prayer meetings were in progress in the capital’s Kahawta district when security forces raided the homes about 6 p.m., forcing the Protestant believers to stop their worship. The jailed Christians, 21 women and 35 men, remained under detention today at the No. 7 Police Station … Read more
Vietnam’s War Against Christianity
Communist regimes like Vietnam have never been known for their tolerance of religion but recently in 2003 Hanoi has escalated the persecution of its “hill tribe” Christians to an unprecedented level. In the Central Highlands of Vietnam the indigenous Montagnards or Degar Peoples are facing arrest, beatings, torture and even murder at the hands of Vietnamese security forces. This persecution did not go unnoticed this month in a damming report released by the US International Commission For Religious Freedom that stated, “the increased repression of religious freedom has been reportedly sanctioned at the highest levels of the Vietnamese government.”
Jordanian Christian Killed in Lebanon Attack
An Arab convert to Christianity was killed in a bomb blast last night outside his Tripoli apartment, adjacent to the home of a European missionary family thought to have been targeted in the attack.
Pastor and Six Family Members Burned to Death in Nigeria
A zealous Christian preacher in the northern Nigeria city of Kano and six members of his family died in a house fire on April 22. Christian leaders in the city believe Muslim militants deliberately set the fatal blaze.
Palestinian Diplomat in Morocco on the War in Iraq, Zionism, and Israel
(MEMRI) — On April 26, 2003, the Islamic website Islam Online (1) hosted Wasef Mansour, a diplomat with the Palestinian mission in Morocco, in an online discussion titled “What Israel Gains From the Occupation of Iraq.” (2) During the discussion, Mansour held Israel responsible for the looting of museums and banks in Baghdad, called for Jihad against ‘the occupiers’ of Iraq, Palestine, and three cities under Spanish rule regarded by him as Moroccan, denied Israel’s right to exist, and compared President George W. Bush to Hitler and other tyrannical leaders. The following are excerpts from Mansour’s discussion with visitors to the website:
Vietnamese Christians Suffer Greatly
Vietnamese authorities continue their clampdown on house churches in their country. A Vietnam observer who wishes to remain anonymous names 12 ways authorities are persecuting Christians:
Jihad Attacks on Non-Muslims in Nigeria Claim Thousands of Lives
Violence in predominantly Christian Plateau State in Nigeria has continued unabated since the first major outbreak in Jos, in 2001 when over 2,000 people are thought to have died in orchestrated inter religious violence.
The Muslim World On “The Fall of Baghdad”
THE PALESTINIANS:
“Whether consciously or unconsciously, the Americans are paving a long, broad path for the death of tens of thousands, maybe even more, of their people. The American madness will bring nothing but counter-madness. They [Americans] have begun an era of destructive and lethal war for human beings in order to feed their aggressive military economic machine, and they will bear the responsibility for it.” Al-Ayyam (PA), April 10, 2003.
Burundi Christians Bear Killing, Rape and Destruction
Refugees returning to Burundi still face murder, rape and destruction at the hands of rebels and even of the police, according to reports received by Christian Aid.