Voice of the Martyrs, 10 March 2022 (excerpts)

Reem is a Syrian Muslim who lives in Turkey with her husband and children.  After having dreams about Jesus, Reem reached out to front-line workers to learn more about Him.  “If there is anything about God that I do not know, I want to know it,” she said. 

Reem began reading the Bible online, but her family have discouraged her and warned her against believing in Him.  Front-line workers connected her with a pastor and his wife, who prayed with Reem and gave her a Bible.  Reem asked the pastor and his wife to keep praying for her. 

The gospel spread throughout what is now Turkey in the first century, and the region remained under Christian rule for centuries.  Now, however, fewer than 1 percent of Turks are Christians. 

Unfortunately, Islam is considered by most Turks to be part of their national identity.  Christians in Turkey have limited freedom of worship.  While there are few Turkish churches, believers boldly share Christ with their countrymen. 

A missionary was murdered in 2019.  Another missionary and two Turkish believers were brutally murdered in a highly publicized 2007 incident.  Christian converts from Islam are harassed and pressured from all sides. 

Mature expatriate believers — many of whom have lived in Turkey for decades — have long served in Turkish churches; however, the Turkish government has recently targeted these foreign workers for expulsion.

Voice of the Martyrs, 10 March 2022 (excerpts)

Pastor Ebrahim leads an unofficial church in Yemen.  One day, while the church gathered for worship and prayer, a dozen armed men burst into the church and aimed their weapons at Ebrahim and the congregation.  The leader of the armed men pointed a gun at Ebrahim’s head, threatening to kill him.  Ebrahim prayed and encouraged his congregation: “Be at peace; in a few moments we will be with Jesus,” he said.  As peace filled the room, one of the armed men called off the attack, and as the group left, they took all of the church’s equipment and Bibles. 

“Ebrahim is happy that, somewhere in Yemen, stacks of Bibles are laying for someone to pick up and learn about Jesus,” a front-line worker said.  Pray for Ebrahim and his congregation to remain firm in faith amid hostile opposition. 

For many years, the people of Yemen have suffered from civil wars and violence from Islamic extremists, including al-Qaida.  Although the situation has further deteriorated since the start of the most recent civil war, in 2015, Yemeni Christians have become bolder in their outreach efforts, though it is still extremely dangerous to even be identified as a Christian.  Small but steady numbers of Yemenis are continually being added to the body of Christ, and more are gaining interest as Christian media grows.  Most regions of the country include at least one follower of Christ.  

Converting to Christianity from Islam is a crime punishable by death, and families consider it extremely shameful for a family member to become a Christian.  Christians worship secretly in homes or in small groups outdoors.

Morning Star News, 6 March 2022

Church leaders in Sudan were detained and questioned last month after Muslim extremists upset about the presence of their worship building locked it shut.

Hard-line Muslims locked the building of the Church of Christ about 85 miles southeast of Khartoum on Feb. 21, said Dalman Hassan, an evangelist arrested on Feb. 27 and released with the church pastor later that day.

He said the Muslims accused church members of hostility toward Islam by holding gatherings on Fridays, the Muslim day of mosque prayer.

“They cause chaos and disrespect others’ religion,” read a charge against the church presented to officials, he said.

Church member Kotti Dalman said the Muslims also charged the church with providing food to children to win them to Christianity and with taking their land for the worship building.

Church members said the land belongs to a Catholic school, and that Muslims fabricated the land-grab charge because they don’t want a Christian congregation worshipping in the area.  Police requested and received ownership papers showing the land did not belong to the Muslims, church members said.

Following two years of advances in religious freedom in Sudan after the end of the Islamist dictatorship under former President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, the spectre of state-sponsored persecution returned with a military coup on Oct. 25, 2021.

International Christian Concern, 03/02/2022

In the blink of an eye, life can completely and permanently change.  Young Nancy from Kenya knows this all too well.  On one ordinary evening, she and her family were sitting outside when a neighbour approached.  Without warning, he detonated a suicide bomb, killing himself and Nancy’s parents.

In the aftermath of tragedies like this, we’re often left wondering why.  In this particular situation, part of the explanation is that the neighbour had turned to radical Islam and he felt that it was his duty to attack this Christian family.  But on a wider scale, we’re reminded that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle and Jesus told us to expect persecution in this life.

While we may not fully understand why these atrocities take place, we believe that God spared Nancy for a reason.  We are going to stand beside her in the coming years, providing her with educational support to set her up for success in the future.  In turn, we pray that she will see that the church never left her side amidst life’s darkest moments.

Barnabas Fund, 22 February 2022

A Sri Lankan pastor was served with a notice barring him from holding church services in his home.

The letter – citing communications between the police and Sri Lanka’s central government – asserted that express permission is required for a building to be used as a place of religious worship.

The letter added that there were objections to Christian worship taking place in the pastor’s home from the local authority overseeing Buddhist affairs.

The pastor, who has been using his home for worship since 2013, has sought the necessary permission several times, but has received no response from the Ministry of Buddhas asana and Religious Affairs.

A Barnabas Fund contact explained that the law does not in fact require official registration for places of worship.

“The government is trying to get the information about house churches,” he explained. “This is a new development by the Ministry trying to crack down on house churches.

Sri Lankan Christians, who make up 8% of the population, suffer discrimination and harassment and sometimes violence from Buddhist extremists, Muslim extremists and Hindu extremists.