Tag Archives: Christian Persecution

Christians In China Put Crosses Back On Churches

The atheist government of China has been removing crosses from church buildings throughout the country for the last few years.

Now, the Christians are pushing back.

A group of protestant churches are putting their crosses back on the buildings in an act of civil disobedience to the government.  Sixteen churches in the cities of Lishui and Fuyang are replacing the crosses.  In some cases, elderly church members are replacing the churches three times a day after the government comes back to take the crosses back down.

Last month, government officials said all crosses in the nation need to come down.  The move is believed to be in response to the exponential growth of the church despite the government’s efforts.

“The central goal of this campaign is to minimize Christianity and to limit its access to ordinary people,” says Bob Fu, director of ChinaAid.

“There’s an enormous struggle across China brought by the rise of worshipers that seem to really believe,” says Terence Halliday, a director of the Center for Law and Globalization in Chicago who has worked in China. “Christianity now makes up the largest single civil society grouping in China. The party sees that.”

A new survey shows that protestant Christians in the country number between 50 and 100 million with about 6 million Catholics.  The ruling party has 70 million members.

ISIS Destroys Ancient Iraqi Church

Islamic terrorists have burned down an ancient Iraqi church so they can build a mosque on the site.

Christian symbols and relics were destroyed in the church.  Terrorists posted fliers throughout Mosul saying the Syrian Orthodox Church of St. Ephraim is going to be reopened as “mosque of the mujahideen.”

“They (ISIS) take everything from us, but they cannot take the God from our hearts, they cannot,” said Nicodemus Sharaf, archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Mosul, who’s now a refugee.

The homes and businesses of Christians in Mosul are now marked for destruction according to a report in the BBC.

The terrorists have become so extreme that Muslims in Mosul say they’ve stopped attending mosques.

“The group has even replaced the imams in the mosques with pro-IS people,” a Mosul resident named Hisham told the BBC. “Many of us have stopped going to the mosques because those attending are asked to give an oath of allegiance and we hate that.”

Hisham reported that restrictions on women are so severe that a man was beaten because his wife’s gloves did not completely cover her hands.

Jailed Sudanese Pastors Denied Lawyers and Visitors

Two jailed Sudanese pastors facing criminal charges were moved to a high security prison where they are being denied any visitors including their lawyers.

The Muslim-dominated government has filed false charges against Christian pastors Rev. Peter Yen Reith and Yat Michael for spying, undermining the government and insulting religion.  Initially, the men were kept at low security military prison Omdurman.  Now, they have been rushed to high-security Kober Prison.

The move came after an American Pastor who visited the pair was found taking pictures and video from the prison waiting room.

The pastor’s lawyers tried to meet with their clients but were denied by the prison’s director who said they needed a court order.

“We are concerned by this development in the clergymen’s case. They already endured extended detention without access to their families at the beginning of this year, and they and their families should be spared further emotional distress,” Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said in a statement shared with The Christian Post.

Pastor William Devlin of Infinity Bible Church in New York has visited Sudan nine times in the last eight years.  He went to see the two men at the invitation of three local Sudanese pastors.

“Western pastors, African pastors, European pastors must go to Khartoum to advocate for these imprisoned pastors,” Devlin wrote. “Even if they cannot visit them, they can meet with their wives and support their wives and children financially.”

Health of Wrongfully Imprisoned Asia Bibi Failing

The health of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman wrongfully imprisoned in Pakistan on false charges of blasphemy, is quickly fading according to family members.

Bibi is having trouble walking and had been throwing up blood.

“When vomiting there is also shown traces of blood. Asia has difficulty feeding properly, while constant pain in the chest,” The Global Dispatch quoted the unnamed family source as saying. “Therefore it is necessary that Asia Bibi be submitted as soon as possible [for] a full medical checkup, including blood work.”

Bibi has been jailed after a group of Muslim women made false accusations of blasphemy after the Christian woman drank water from the same water supply.

Wilson Chowdhry of the British Pakistani Christian Foundation says that Bibi has been forced to cook her own food in a “dingy” cell for the last five years after attempts to poison her.

“Asia Bibi has been facing rapidly declining health for some time and we call on Christians to uphold her in their regular prayers,” Chowdhry said in a statement. “Asia continues to believe that God will release her from her captivity, however, the Supreme Court hearing date is proving hard to achieve. Many believe the delay is instigated by Pakistani authorities in an attempt to subvert justice through her early demise.”

The family’s visit was the first in months because Bibi’s family has been on the run due to death threats from Muslims.

Saeed Abedini Viciously Beaten In Prison

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has revealed that Pastor Saeed Abedini has been viciously beaten by other inmates at the brutal prison where he is being illegally detained.

“Unprovoked, fellow prisoners attacked Pastor Saeed as he attempted to leave his cell, punching him in the face near his left eye and nose,” Executive Director Jordan Sekulow wrote. “In addition to physically beating the persecuted pastor, prisoners demolished a small table Pastor Saeed used to study and read.”

“As he was attacked, Pastor Saeed called out for help,” he continued. “Iranian prison guards did intervene and prevent further injury. However, Pastor Saeed suffered injuries to his face—his eyes beaten black and blue. He was able to be seen briefly by a prison doctor, and thankfully he did not receive any broken bones.”

Abedini has been illegally detained by Iranian officials since 2012.

“It is heartbreaking to me and my family that Saeed was again beaten in prison. Saeed’s life is continuously threatened not only because he is an American, but also because he is a convert from Islam to Christianity. It’s time to get Saeed home before it is too late,” Naghmeh Abedini said in response to the news.

This is not the first assault at the hands of other inmates and Naghmeh Abedini has stated she fears his health will continue to decline with each successive beating.

Iranian officials have reportedly told Saeed his sentence will be extended if he does not deny Christ.

“The times they have moved him in and out of solitary [confinement] and the times they have threatened him, they said ‘You will stay here longer than the eight years and your only key to freedom is if you deny your Christian faith and you return to Islam.’ The guards have said that, officials have said that continuously,” Abedini said.

Karachi Christian Church Threatened By Muslims

A gang of Muslims want to seize the property of a Christian church in Karachi, Pakistan and are threatening to file false charges of blasphemy against those in the church if they do not surrender the land.

The members of the Jerusalem Church have told the International Christian Concern they are receiving death threats from a Muslim gang known for seizing property from the poor and also for various murders.

One of the church’s pastors, Ilyas Masih, said that they have been threatened since May.

“These Muslims have been pressuring the church people not to play musical instruments and asked the church leaders to stop girls from singing with boys in the church,” Masih explained. “Several times they stopped and threatened the worshipers and pastors for going into church for prayers and harassed the women in the past.”

Muslims in Pakistan routinely use false accusations of blasphemy against Christians as a way to persecute them since it’s extremely difficult for Christians to defend themselves in court.

The members of the church have vowed to die before giving up the church to the Muslim mob.

Muslim Mob Attacks Christians In Lahore, Pakistan

A Muslim mob attacked Christians, including attempting to burn a church, after someone claimed a mentally ill man burned pages of the Koran.

Police had arrested Humayun Faisal, a mentally challenged Christian man, after some Muslim residents told police that Faisal had burned the Koran.  He was charged under a Pakistiani law that prohibits the desecration of the Koran.

“Many people gathered on the spot and some of them even tried to burn him alive, however, we saved him and handed him to the police,” one witness told the Express Tribune. “Later a charged mob reached the house of the accused and recorded their protest.”

The mob, chanting “allahu akbar”, looted the homes of 15 Christian families, forcing the Christian to flee out of fear of their lives.  The mob tried to burn St. Joseph’s Catholic basilica but police confronted the mob and dispersed them using tear gas.

“I immediately requested help from some Muslim leaders and local politicians,”  Archbishop Sebastian Shaw told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. “Thanks to their intervention, the police succeeded in dispersing the crowd by midnight. It is the first time the government has succeeded in acting in time to save both the people and their homes.”

Muslim is Pakistan’s official state religion and 97 percent of the country identifies as Muslim.

Christian Radio Station To Bring Hope To Communist Nation

For years in the country of Albania, the communist government once exerted such control over the publications and broadcasting that you could not buy a dictionary with God in it.

Now, the country is undergoing a revolution of hope as a Christian radio station is airing programming in the Albanian’s native language aimed at bringing the good news to the lost.

Radio 7 has been broadcasting Christian material to the country since 2002 but had been hampered by the fact their programs were translations of North American programs that were aimed at believers in the United States and Canada.

The head of Radio 7 contacted an American ministry called The Tide which works to create locally produced Gospel shows around the world.  The group helped launch radio ministries in countries such as Nigeria, Nepal and India.  They knew they could bring the kind of help to Radio 7 that would impact Albania.

“Like all of our programming, The Tide Albanian-language program, which also reaches into neighboring Kosovo, is produced on-site, using indigenous speakers who tell people about Jesus in the language they were born to speak,” said The Tide Director Don Shenk. “But our ministry in Albania also goes beyond airtime, and our ministry leaders invest into the lives of those to whom they minister, visiting with them, giving them radios so they can listen to the program, praying with them and encouraging them in their faith.”

The ministry of Radio 7 and The Tide has produced noticeable results in just a few short months with letters from those who said they were atheists or Muslims who have now accepted Christ as Lord.

Albania’s population today is less than one percent Christian.

Naghmeh Abedini Tells Congress Jesus Hasn’t Abandoned Her Family

The wife of Saeed Abedini, the American pastor imprisoned in Iran for being a Christian, told Congress that Jesus has not abandoned her family despite her husband’s continued illegal captivity.

Naghmeh Abedini spoke to the House Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday during a hearing about Americans wrongfully imprisoned in Iran.

“Most mornings like today, I wake up in a new hotel in a new city or country and am reminded of my new reality — a reality that includes lonely airports and empty hotel rooms,” Abedini explained in her testimony. “This pain of this journey without my husband has only increased as I have had to frequently leave my children to advocate for my husband’s release. The reality is, we are a family torn apart.”

“Over the last three years, I have had to watch my two children, Rebekka (who is 8 years old) and Jacob (who is 7 years old), suffer daily as they have grown up without a father or a mother,” Abedini continued. “I am here today as single mother who is trying to be strong for her children, and as a wife who humbly admits, I need your help. I cannot bear to look at my children’s longing eyes one more time and explain to them why their daddy is still not home.”

Abedini told the Congressmen that time is running out for the U.S. to have leverage to demand the release of her husband and others held captive.

“I can’t make foreign policy but I know that this is a crucial time and we have to bring Americans home while we can,” she told CP. “This is the time we have leverage. I know that we have a few weeks. I think after a deal is made or not made, it will be much more difficult to get Saeed out.”

The Committee passed a resolution at the end of the hearing calling for the immediate release of the captive Americans.

Naghmeh Abedini Asks European Officials For Help

The wife of wrongfully imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini is turning to European leaders for help in her quest to free her husband.

Naghmeh Abedini visited with German officials and the European Parliament to speak with lawmakers who are committed to religious freedom around the world.  The German Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights quickly supported Naghmeh’s mission.

“I call upon Iran to quash Pastor Abedini’s sentence – and the sentences of all those imprisoned merely on account of their religious belief – without delay,” the commissioner said in a statement following the meeting. “Until he is released, I appeal to all those responsible in Iran to grant him urgently needed medical treatments, including outside the prison.”

A vigil at the Iranian Embassy in Germany was held by Naghmeh and German freedom advocates.

The meetings were arranged by the American Center for Law and Justice along with the German rights group Internationale Gesellschaft für Menschenrechte.

Tiffany Barrans of the ACLJ traveled with Abedini.

“This opportunity was invaluable to raise the plight of Pastor Saeed and the Christian community that suffers in Iran,” Barrans said.

The ACLJ has been advocating for Abedini’s release for years.

“Continued international pressure has helped free persecuted Christians before and we pray that it will again,” ACLJ said.