Forum 18 – 13 May 2022 (excerpts)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in even stricter censorship and control of Russian religious communities – by newly created offences of “discrediting the Armed Forces” or “disseminating false information” about them, or pressure not to condemn war.

Lutheran Archbishop Dietrich Brauer, who has left Russia for Germany, said that, at the start of the war, President Vladimir Putin’s administration made “a clear demand” of religious leaders to speak out in favour of the invasion.

A pastor in a different Protestant church described how FSB security service officers visited clergy to warn them not to say anything critical in sermons or on social media.

Endorsing the invasion, however, the Russian Orthodox leader, Patriarch Kirill holds that Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus all constitute a single spiritual and cultural space in opposition to the liberal and secular West.

On 6 March, he claimed that Russia was protecting the Donbas from outside pressure to abide by liberal values, especially as expressed in gay pride parades, arguing that this “indicates that we have entered into a struggle that has not a physical, but a metaphysical significance”.

Despite this official support for the war, some Patriarchate priests have resigned from their jobs after opposition to the war brought them into conflict with their dioceses.

Church in Chains – 5 May 2022 (excerpts)

A Baptist couple could face 100 lashes after being charged with “adultery” because a Sharia court had annulled their marriage due to the husband’s conversion to Christianity.

Hamouda (34) and Nada (25) were Muslims when married in 2016, but when Hamouda became a Christian in 2018, Nada’s family won a Sharia court decision to annul the marriage.  Apostasy was then punishable by death, though now decriminalised in 2020 after Islamist president Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019.

In 2021, Nada also converted to Christianity and returned to Hamouda with their two children, whereupon her brother accused them of adultery.

Police arrested the couple in August 2021.  They were charged under Sudan’s 1991 criminal law, based on the Sharia court’s annulment of their marriage.  Article 146 calls for a sentence of flogging and expulsion from the area in the case of adultery by an unmarried person, and death by stoning if the person is married.

They were detained for 4 days before being released on bail.  Their next hearing is for 12 May.

Their lawyer stated, “I told the court that the marriage is legal.”  He added that the couple is facing growing threats from hard-line Muslims, in particular Nada’s brother.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, 29 April 2022 (excerpts)

16 Protestant Christian families, comprising 32 adults, attend a church in Chiapas State, Mexico and belong to the Tzeltal indigenous group.  They are being forced to pay an illegal fine for a 4^th consecutive year as a consequence of their refusal to participate in an upcoming syncretic Roman Catholic festival, the Santa Cruz Festival, referred to locally as ‘Convivio de Agua’, which is held 3 May.

The first fine was issued in 2016, and since 2019 they have been issued annually to those who do not participate.  Six of the families in the community who declined to participate in the festival have been forced to pay an illegal fine of approximately GBP £12 or have their water supply cut off until they were able to pay it.  In some years, members of the religious minority community have been without access to water for five months, until they were able to gather the money to pay the fine.

Pastor Miguel Gómez Pérez confirmed that the local authorities have a list at the police station with the names of every member of the Presbyterian church, and that they have visited each individual family to request the payment of the fine.  He confirmed that the funds collected through the fines will be used to purchase supplies for the celebration of the festival, including alcoholic beverages.

International Christian Concern, 29 April 2022 (excerpts)

A Christian website in China with more than 20 years of history has ceased to exist recently amid the ongoing crackdown against Christianity in cyberspace.

On April 12, “Jona(h) Home” published a notice on its website, which reads “Due to reasons known to everyone, from now on our site can no longer serve brothers and sisters in Christ.  Thanks to all for your company and support in the past 21 years!”

It continues, “The disappearance of a website is merely a disappearance of a website, it does not carry any meaning.  Need not to be concerned, and just keep walking.”

While no one dared to mention the crackdown of the government, some responded, “[The closure] has nothing to do with your laptop.  You should know the reason.”

On March 1, the Chinese government officially placed a ban on unauthorized online religious activities.  Even before the ban was put in place, Bible Apps and many Christian WeChat accounts were shut down in China.

Father Francis Liu from the Chinese Christian fellowship told Radio Free Asia, “I feel sad from the bottom of my heart about the closure of such a website.  Certainly, this is the most direct result of how China is currently persecuting and oppressing religious freedom.”

Voice of the Martyrs, 28 April 2022

On February 13, a Christian named Nin died, leaving behind two daughters, Neung and Nom, and a son, Ram.  Since 2009, the three teenagers also lost their mother, a sister and their grandmother, all of whom were believers.

After Nin’s death, his older brother and sister-in-law blamed the deaths on the family’s belief in God.  They offered to care for the teens only if they rejected Christ.

The teens refused, saying they could never reject Jesus.  Angered by their decision, the uncle said he wouldn’t care for them.  Nom, 16, and Ram, 13, moved in with their pastor’s family.

Neung has graduated high school and lives on her own.

Pray for the 3 teenagers to remain firm in their faith and ask God to provide for their needs.  Pray the Holy Spirit convicts their uncle and aunt and leads them to Christ.

The Communist government, in conjunction with Buddhist monks, persecutes Christians, with the exception of the government-controlled Lao Evangelical Church.

Poverty, lack of infrastructure and mountainous terrain make evangelistic outreach challenging.  Thanks to bold evangelists, churches continue to grow even as they experience ongoing persecution.