21 February 2000 (Newsroom) — Vietnamese Communist authorities are negotiating with Protestant church leaders to normalize relations, reports the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF). If successful, the talks could pave the way for recognition of house churches that existed before the Communists took control in 1975, according to some Protestant leaders.
Pastor Li De Xian preached twice this week in his usual Tuesday meeting in Huadu near Guangzhou, China without interference from Chinese authorities. This marks four consecutive weeks without arrest or interference for Pastor Li’s ministry.
The sentencing of six Protestant house church leaders to hard labor last December and the arrest of six more leaders of the Roman Catholic underground church are but “the tip of the iceberg” of religious oppression, according to five prominent house church leaders inside China, contacted by Compass in January.
Saudi Arabia released four Filipino Christians in Riyadh yesterday, 40 days after their arrest by the country’s strict Islamic police for conducting Christian worship services in a private home.
Baptist pastor Rahim Tashov and a colleague were hauled into police headquarters in their hometown of Turkmenabad (formerly Chardjou) last Thursday, February 3.
To observers of China’s Christian church scene the event was as sudden as it was unexpected. Just the day before the Chinese New Year celebrations of February 5, one of China’s most prominent house church leaders, Zhang Rongliang, was released quietly from prison in Fangcheng City, Henan Province, on grounds of poor health. The news was relayed quickly to journalists and China specialists outside of China by friends who had remained in close contact with Zhang for several weeks.
Saudi Arabia has once again taken the dubious distinction of being the country where Christians are more severely persecuted than any other in the world. This was revealed in the January 2001 release of the Open Doors “World Watch List” (WWL), which ranks countries according to their level of Christian persecution.
SANTA ANA, CA (February 7, 2000) — Saudi Arabia has once again taken the dubious distinction of being the country where Christians are more severely persecuted than any other in the world. This was revealed in the January 2001 release of the Open Doors “World Watch List” (WWL), which ranks countries according to their level of Christian persecution.
Four of the 16 Filipino Christians arrested three weeks ago by Saudi religious police remain jailed and under interrogation in the capital Riyadh, a Filipino diplomat confirmed Wednesday. The three wives and five children arrested with them for conducting Christian worship in a private home have been released during the past week. Four adults were released the previous week.
1 May 2000 (Newsroom) — A panel commissioned by the United States to monitor religious freedom issued its first report on Monday, calling for measures to be taken against China and Sudan if they fail to improve their treatment of religious believers. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom also warned that religious liberty in Russia is in danger of taking a turn for the worse.
Two Christian brothers were behind bars again Sunday, May 31, just weeks after being released from an Egyptian prison where they were held for a year on false charges of murdering a Muslim in Mallawi, Upper Egypt.