Police in Heilongjiang province, China, raided a church house gathering on April 29th, and demanded those in attendance go to a government-sanctioned church.
“When we were gathering on April 29, people from the domestic security protection squad (DSPS), the local police station and the religious affairs bureau entered our building and demanded that we stop the worship service,” said a female leader, Yu, from the Home of Bodani church in the city of Yichun.
“When they entered the room, one church member was delivering a sermon. I told them that we were worshiping and that they could tell us whatever they wanted after our gathering was over. A man said no and that he wanted to talk to the person in charge.”
“Our leader is an elderly man named Dong Shiyun. He couldn’t do anything but follow the officers out of the building in order to not disturb the gathering,” Yu said. “I followed, too, and heard them say that our gathering is illegal because we don’t have a ‘site registration permit.’”
Yu said that the church has been meeting in the house for over 20 years and that the majority of the 10 worshippers inside were elderly and lived close to the house.
Xilin District Religious Affairs Bureau of Yichun and the Xilin District Public Security Bureau issued a notice stating that the church was illegal because it did not have a permit and that all religious activity had to immediately stop.
The officials said if the church continued to meet, they would be classified as a cult and further legal action would be taken against them.
An American journalist that Al-Qaeda threatened to kill Saturday died during a rescue attempt by U.S. led forces.
U.S. Special Forces discovered the location where the Islamic terrorists were holding Luke Somers, 33, and a South African hostage, Pierre Korkie, 56, in the village of Dafaar. The raid just after midnight also left 13 terrorists dead.
Al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula has been establishing itself in Yemen and has been gaining support among Sunnis in the nation.
The group has also been publicly denouncing ISIS but intelligence officials say that the groups are quietly working together behind the scenes. The group has two other western hostages that they are reportedly demanding cash ransom for their release.
Compounding the tragedy are reports from South Africa that the terrorists had agreed to release Korkie on Sunday, the day after the failed raid. The family said they hold no ill will toward the U.S. for their loved one’s death and said they “choose to forgive. We choose to love.”
Chinese officials raided house churches on Sunday and arrested more than 100 Christians for worshiping in a manner the state considered illegal.
Children were among the arrested, being taken from their parents.
The raid in the Guangdong province included over 200 police officers who stormed into the home during the service. The move is believed to be part of a government crackdown on Christianity within the country.
“We don’t know exactly why they raided our church,” a local believer told watchdog group International Christian Concern. “The government does not want us to get together and worship as a church.”
Multiple surveys show that Christianity is growing fastest in the world within China.
An ICC spokesman says most of the people have been released but the incident has been traumatic, especially on the children.
“What the government here is doing is so barbaric,” local church leader Chen Zhi’ai told CNN.
Egyptian police have raided and taken over the town of Kerdasa near Cairo that has been a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood. The raid was the second big move against a Brotherhood stronghold since Mohammed Morsi was removed in July.
Egyptian General Nabil Farrag was killed when Islamists opened fire from the rooftops of several schools and mosques that were under Muslim Brotherhood control. Continue reading →
A raid in southwest Pakistan has turned up over 100 tons of bomb making materials believed to be connected to a terrorist organization.
The materials were the same as those used in two terrorist attacks in Quetta earlier this year that killed more than 120 people. Continue reading →