Our Silence Kills, Please Speak Up
“Speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly, defend the right of the poor and needy” (Proverbs 31:8-9)
Christian Persecution
Supreme Court to decide on policy banning Christian club after school
WASHINGTON (BP)–The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a lower-court decision preventing a Christian club for children from meeting after hours at a New York public school.
Seminary profs reflect on study on healthful benefits of prayer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–With a heart institute study showing that prayer helps patients improve, two Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary professors warn against depending upon scientific verification of a spiritual exercise.
An Upheaval in the Israeli Government: Ariel Sharon Elected as Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon, the leader of the Likud Part in Israel and ex-general of the IDF, was yesterday (February 7, 2001) elected as the new Prime Minister of Israel. He was supported by 62.6% of the voters while only 37.4% supported Ehud Barak. Never before in Israel has a prime Minister been elected by such a high percentage of the voters.
Commission’s first hearing focuses on U.S. role in Sudanese conflict
WASHINGTON (BP)–The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom received in its first hearing a variety of recommendations on halting the religious persecution and civil war in Sudan, but there seemed to be widespread agreement on one sentiment — the United States can do more.
Casualty Figures Released in Kaduna, Nigeria
LAGOS, Nigeria (Compass) — The head of the Nigerian Bible Society recently released the casualty figures of Christians killed and churches destroyed during the February and May religious clashes between Muslims and Christians in Kaduna, the capital city of northern Nigeria’s Kaduna state.
A Former North Korean Prison Guard Says That Christian Prisoners Are “Treated More Harshly Than Are
GARDEN GROVE, CA (ANS) — A former North Korean prison guard has revealed that Christian prisoners are “treated more harshly than are other prisoners” and regarded by authorities as “insane.” This was stated in the latest persecution updates from the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF.)
Mongolia gives local Christian 13-year Prision Sentence
ISTANBUL, April 7 (Compass) — A Mongolian citizen of ethnic Kazakh descent has been sentenced to 13 years in a prison labor camp in western Mongolia on charges of propagating the Christian faith.
Abu Sayyaf Seeks U.S. Negotiation for Missionary Safe Release
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.
Christians Fear Growth of Persecution in Mali
BAMAKO, Mali (Compass) — For some time, Muslim city authorities in Magnambougou planned for a beautiful new mosque in this new suburb of Bamako, the Malian capital. They acquired land in the middle of the urban dwellings and began to build a mosque that would dominate the area and accommodate more than 2,000 Muslims for prayers, much to the distress and dismay of local Christians.
Syrian Agents Rough Up Lebanese Christians
The crackdown on Christians opposed to the Syrian stranglehold over Lebanon continues, as plain-clothes Syrian agents infiltrated a peaceful rally late last week and beat up protesters, cameramen and even local police.
Prayer Urged for India’s Dalits
Dr. Joseph D’Souza, president of the All India Christian Council, is calling for urgent prayer for India’s millions of dalits, since over a million of them are getting ready to change their religion.
Prayer Urged as Conversations and Persecution Increase (India)
As numbers of lower caste Indians embrace Christ, and in the face of the increasingly violence against Christians in India at the hands of Hindu militants, Dr. Joseph D’Souza, President of the All India Christian Council, is asking for Christians from around the world to pray for his nation during the month of July. God is mightily at work in India and so it should not surprise us that persecution should be on the rise as well.
Christian Aid Responds to Horror in the Moluccas
(CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.)-Responding to urgent pleas for help, Christian Aid has joined a campaign to raise $1.2 million to rescue Christians feared targeted for conversion or extermination by Muslim jihad warriors in Indonesia.
Violence Continues in Indonesia while Rescue Proceeds
Work is underway to resettle Indonesian Christians rescued from violence that continues in this country’s Molucca Islands, while thousands more remain to be rescued.
Terrorists Target Christians in Ambon
In a new twist to the violence against Christians in eastern Indonesia’s Maluku Islands, Muslim Jihad fighters dressed like Japanese “ninjas” have begun targeting individuals under cover of darkness.
Christians facing ‘elimination’ on Indonesian island of Ambon
JAKARTA, Indonesia (BP)–Twenty-three Christians were massacred in Indonesia as they fled from their village in late July and early August, The Hindustan Times of India has reported. The report from Indonesia was relayed to U.S. media via Crosswalk.com, an Internet news and information site.
‘There are NO Christians Left in Ternate’
MANADO, Indonesia (Compass) — “There are no Christians left in Ternate,” said George Saselah, who had left his farm there to join his wife and newborn daughter in a refugee camp in Manado, on Indonesia’s North Sulawesi island.
Massacres Continue in Eastern Indonesia
LONDON (Compass) — Maluku’s head of police admitted that authorities cannot dislodge the hundreds of Muslim jihad fighters scattered throughout eastern Indonesia’s Maluku province and who have escalated the inter-religious conflict as Christmas approaches. More than 100 Christians were reported killed in November fighting.
Oppressed Christians cry out to God for relief governments won’t give
AMBON CITY, Indonesia (BP)–The mournful horn echoes in the still air at 4 a.m. The call to prayer resounds off bullet-pocked walls and empty buildings. The Christian remnant in this Indonesian village awakens to cry out to God for peace.