Voice of the Martyrs, 30 August 2018

The enactment of new legislation criminalising religious conversion in Nepal has sparked a heightened sense of fear and insecurity among Christian minorities.

The Civil and Criminal Codes, which came into effect on 17 August to replace the General Code that was in place for 165 years, comprise a set of laws guiding civil and legal proceedings, including restrictions on religious conversion, in the Hindu-majority nation.

One new law states that anybody who encourages or is involved in religious conversion using any means will be booked under a criminal offence and will face a jail term of five years and a fine of 50,000 Nepalese rupees ($605). Any foreigner found guilty of encouraging or promoting religious conversions will be deported within a week.

Christian leaders believe the move is targeted at Christians, who have been accused of forceful proselytising of Nepalis, particularly those from vulnerable and lower castes. They fear the law will be used as a tool to harass and persecute Christian minorities for practising their religion.

Morning Star News, August 30, 2018

A pastor could face life in prison after police in eastern India falsely charged him with leading a tribal rebel movement.

 Christian leaders in Jharkhand state suspect Hindu extremists are behind the sudden, baseless accusations against pastor Jidan Herenz in March, when he was charged with sedition for allegedly leading the rebellious movement by tribal Adivasis to fight for indigenous rights.

After police booked him, accusing him of convening unlawful assemblies, altering the appearance of Indian currency, criminal conspiracy and sedition, Pastor Herenz and his family fled deep into district forests. He has since planted a church among remote tribal people there.

“It worries me, it is difficult to gather as a church, and several false cases have been booked against me,” wrote Pastor Herenz, 55, last month. “There is severe opposition, threats, but the ministry must continue.”

Barnabas Fund, 14 August 2018

Mobs shut down multiple church services across Sri Lanka in July, with Christians facing intimidation and violence.

On 15 July, Buddhist monks, accompanied by 20 villagers, gathered at a church in south-west Sri Lanka following the service. They demanded a halt to the services, threatened to assault the Christians unless they complied, and shouted abuse and death threats at the church members.

A church in eastern Sri Lanka, halted its service on 8 July when a 50-60 strong mob, including public officials, surrounded it. They threatened to attack the church if they did not stop their service within 15 minutes. The pastor complied, after which the mob dispersed.

Another service was also disrupted on the same day after Buddhist monks, supported by villagers, invaded the meeting, assaulted a church member and took Bibles.

World Watch Monitor, August 16, 2018 

 A Mexican pastor who survived an assassination attempt in the notorious border city of Juarez in June says he was targeted because his church’s work is seen to negatively impact upon the efforts of drug cartels.

 A hitman entered the pastor’s home on 12 June, making him kneel on the floor and telling him “you don’t know who you are messing about with”. The man then pulled the trigger on his gun, but it failed to fire, so he knocked the pastor unconscious and stole his wallet, before fleeing.

 “All I can say is that with the work we do as a church we have affected the activities of those groups involved in drug trafficking and organised crime. We are not sure what comes next,” said the pastor, whose name is being withheld to protect him.

 The attack came just days after the murder of fellow local pastor Eduardo Garcia.

Morning Star News, August 13, 2018

About an hour before midnight on July 31, three policemen and a Hindu neighbour barged into the home of a Christian woman, Anita Rajak, in northern India and ordered her and her husband to either give them money or go to jail.

 The officers told them they couldn’t pray in their house and had come to arrest them.

 They had no money, so they took her husband, Pappu, and another Christian to their Jeep.

 She headed to the police station in the morning and Christian friends stayed with her until police released the two Christians.

  “They had beaten my husband on his face and back while he was in custody.”

  “A Hindu family brought their daughter possessed by evil spirits to us some months ago.  My husband and I prayed for her and she was freed,” Rajak said. “The entire family decided to follow Christ and joined us for worship regularly, but the Hindu neighbours accused us, saying we forcefully convert people, and they beat my husband severely.”

Morning Star News, July 25, 2018

Three children kidnapped in 2015 in eastern Uganda were found in May, malnourished and showing signs of having been indoctrinated in Islam.

Had the children not escaped, they might have been forced into a foreign terrorist group, their father, Badiru Madengho, told Morning Star News.

“It seems the person who took my children had an intention of Islamizing them as well as wanting them to join a terrorist group,” said Madengho, a convert from Islam. “Thank God for saving my children in a miraculous way. Though the children looked miserable, the God who saved them is able to restore them back to good, sound mind.”

Their father suspected Islamists kidnapped them after they came for him but found only the children, who were 10, 7 and 5 years old respectively at the time.

“It has been quite a long period of time looking for my children – I had given up,” Madengho told Morning Star News. “My faith in God had diminished but thank God for sustaining my children. I am very grateful to all the Christians who have continually prayed for us and the children.”