Church in Chains, 23 November 2021

Hamed was the founder of an NGO that employed fellow Christians in Afghanistan and for 20 years his organisation oversaw many humanitarian projects.  When the Taliban took over they hunted him, ransacked his organisation’s office and stole the money on hand.  Shai Fund was able to keep Hamed and his family in a safe house until it was able to evacuate them from Afghanistan.

The withdrawal of remaining Western troops in August and Taliban’s return to power shocked the world with reports of summary executions soon after the takeover.  Taliban fighters went from house to house to search for members of specific groups, including Christians.

As apostasy is a crime punishable by death under Sharia law, the estimated 5,000 to 12,000 Afghan Christians are at extreme risk of being targeted with deadly violence.  Many have left or are trying to leave the country, some heading toward the mountains despite the approaching winter.

On 14 November Shai Fund reported that since the fall of Kabul, it has evacuated over 9,000 Afghans fleeing the Taliban and is also assisting those still in the country in safe houses with practical support.

Shai Fund is a Christian organisation that supports those affected by war, conflict, disaster, persecution and exploitation by partnering with local communities to provide urgent aid, practical support and humanitarian assistance.

Voice of the Martyrs, 25 November 2021

Boko Haram has been regrouping in Nigeria and increasing attacks there have correlated with increasing attacks in Cameroon.  Boko Haram’s previous incursions into Cameroon had not been well organized, but recent, organized attacks have specifically targeted churches and Christian activity.  In a typical attack, Christians are killed, churches burned, homes destroyed and Christians displaced.  

Several Christian villages have been abandoned completely after suffering repeated attacks.  From January 2018 to November 2019, 7 predominantly Christian villages were attacked in one northern region. The attackers killed 10 people and kidnapped 7 others, while burning 575 houses, 7 churches, 2 schools and 1 evangelical hospital.

Most of Cameroon has a thriving Christian presence and many churches. But Christians living along the Nigerian border have experienced repeated, brutal attacks by Boko Haram. In these villages 50 to 80 miles from the border, men, women and children are attacked simply for being known as Christians.

Bibles are generally available but distributing them in the north is challenging because of security issues.  Many people cannot afford a Bible and would prefer the Scriptures in a local language rather than French or English.  Bible translation ministries have done great work translating the Bible into local languages, such as the local Fulani dialect, in both Roman and Arabic script.

Joshua Project, 16 November 2021 (excerpts)

One of the most ancient ethnic groups in Southeast Asia, the Eastern Cham live in the provinces along the coastline of southern Vietnam in the coastal and Mekong Delta provinces.  A small minority group now overrun with poverty and persecution, the Eastern Cham kingdom once reigned in Southeast Asia and are descendants from the Champa kingdom in Vietnam, Cambodia and southern Laos. They are a mixture of Hindus and Muslims, highly influenced by traditional ancestor worship and animism.

Their religious beliefs contribute to their history and identity, making it difficult for Cham individuals to become Christians, as it would result in expulsion from the community.

Pray that Christians in other Vietnamese tribes will be led by the Lord to the Eastern Cham, to tell them about Christ, and that  this people group will comprehend that the blood of animals will never get them right with the one, true God.

A number of individuals in this tribe identify themselves as Christians.  Pray also they would be able to live as faithful followers of Christ yet be able to stay in their culture.  The Eastern Cham people have very low self-esteem and self-worth as individuals and as a people group. Yet, they have pride in their heritage, and vehemently point out to visitors that they are Eastern Cham, not Vietnamese.

China Aid, Monday, November 8, 2021 (excerpts)

Deacon Xu Jiale and his wife Qin of Early Rain Covenant Church started to share the gospel with the national security officers of Chengdu District who stay at their home. Police have continued face-to-face surveillance since last week.

Shen Bing and wife Li moved in with Deacon Xu last week,  expelled from their own home.  Police moved into the house last week to discourage Shen and Li from staying.  Deacon Xu and his wife are in their 70s.  All 4 believers took their harassment with peace and joy. Kind and meek to the police, they took the opportunity to preach the gospel to them.  Police were not offended.  Rather, they became interested in it. 

On November 5, police installed two surveillance cameras at the entrance of Deacon Xu’s home. Working personnel began a large project outside Deacon Xu’s place: installing cameras, digging the ground, and burying power lines.  Qin reportedly told the workers:

“Great! Surveillance cameras make us safe. It would be great to install chips in each individual. One chip in the body, the other in the brain, wouldn’t it be great? Thank God, thank the Lord for their care of us. God knows that we are old and can’t defeat evil gangsters, so He allows cameras to be installed so that we are protected, and gangsters won’t intrude on our house. The cameras will record malicious deeds of gangsters.” 

Police on duty at Deacon Xu’s home each day, have meals in their living room during the day and sleep in the living room at night. The couples prayed together one evening and wept. Suddenly, the officers broke into the house but stood by quietly until they finished praying. The leader of the police said in surprise, “You all are so emotional! Ugh, you win!”

On the first night, a police officer fell asleep at the dining room table. Li put a jacket on him because of the cold nights in Chengdu. She wrote a poem reflecting on the experience:

Gently, Took off the coat gently

Put it on the person who is on the night shift

Don’t wake up the person who is in deep sleep

Cold midnight, Children, poor children 

May you in your weary dream See angels 

Even if being at my own place We have no freedom

The elderly and gray-haired Deacon Xu couple continuously preached the gospel to the officers, becoming Christ’s beautiful testimony.

Voice of the Martyrs, 1 November 2021 (excerpts)

Despite the change in leadership in 2018, churches in Cuba face unrelenting pressure from the government, which remains committed to communism’s atheistic ideology and sees churches as a threat to the revolution begun by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro in the 1950s.

Cubans remain poor, with the government seeking to control every aspect of life. When church leaders resist state teachings that are contrary to God’s Word and disobey government restrictions on Christian witness, they are called in for interrogation. Although gathering in unregistered churches and constructing new church buildings are banned, many churches boldly worship despite the risks.

Unlike the overt violence Christians faced during the communist revolution, more subtle methods of persecution are now used by the Cuban government, largely out of concern for its global reputation. Christian leaders are often summoned by government officials for questioning or held for up to 48 hours to pressure them, and churches are demolished by hired gangs so the government can deny responsibility.

Legal church buildings are seized, and no new church buildings have been legally built in the country since the revolution. Many believers meet in illegal house churches, often extensions of the pastor’s home or shaded structures in the backyard of a family’s home. Churches continue to grow through active evangelistic activity, but some believers have never owned a Bible because of government oppression. Though no Christians are known to be imprisoned in Cuba, many are closely watched so that they are effectively under house arrest. In addition, Christians are often denied jobs and educational opportunities.

Barnabas Fund, 1 November 2021 (excerpts)

Two Muslim brothers known for their hatred and harassment of Christians have been jailed for life by Alexandria Criminal Court for the killing of Egyptian Christian shopkeeper Ramsis Hermina, 47.

Under Egyptian law it means that Nasser and Ali al-Sambo must serve 25 years in prison for the brutal attack on 10 December 2020 in which two other Christian men, including Mr Hermina’s brother, were injured.

Ramsis Hermina was held by Ali al-Sambo while his brother Nasser stabbed him in the abdomen and neck

The brothers were known for their religious fanaticism and for their harassment of Christians, especially Christian shopkeepers, in the al-Wardayan district where they lived. This escalated when Nasser was released from serving time in prison for previous violent behaviour, as he claimed that Christians testified against him.

On the morning of the attack, the brothers’ mother, who was in poor health, died. Hours later Nasser and Ali al-Sambo left their home in a fit of rage and, armed with knives, a sword and clubs, headed to the Christian-owned shops, shouting obscenities against Christians and accusing them of being the cause of their mother’s death.

Mr Hermina heard the shouting and hurried to bring in the household goods he had on display outside his shop. He was caught by the brothers and, as Ali held him, Nasser stabbed him in the abdomen and neck.

Mr Hermina’s brother Adel, 60, who owns a shop next door, and another shopkeeper, Tareq Fawzy Shenouda, went to help him but Adel was stabbed and Mr Shenouda was hit on the head with a club and stabbed. The al-Sambo brothers went on to ransack all three of the men’s shops.

Barnabas Fund, 11 October 2021

A deceased Christian woman in eastern Sri Lanka, was buried according to Hindu rites after residents refused to allow a Christian ceremony.

The village administrative officers appointed by the government along with ten members of a local Rural Development Committee argued that a Christian funeral was not permitted in the village cemetery.

Instead they pressured the woman’s two daughters into allowing the 27 September funeral to be carried out according to Hindu customs.

A Barnabas Fund contact confirms that this is a recurrent problem for Christian converts in Sri Lanka’s Hindu-majority eastern coast region, especially those in rural areas, as burial grounds are controlled by local temples.

In some cases, he reported, villagers have exhumed the bodies of Christians from temple-controlled burial grounds and discarded them.

“The converts from Hindu backgrounds to Christianity in the eastern province have been through severe persecution in the past,” he added. “Churches and Christian homes have been burnt, and converts have been assaulted in several places.”

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

Voice of the Martyrs, 14 October 2021

At age 17, Soni was sold into slavery by her own aunt. She spent three decades as a prostitute in India before a Nepali Christian helped her escape.

This woman shared the gospel with Soni, and Soni joyfully accepted the invitation of salvation through Christ who loves her.

But once she returned home, her family did not accept her because she had been a prostitute who then became an “untouchable” by becoming a Christian.

“Everybody rejected me; Jesus was the only one who loved me,” Soni said.

Her family physically pushed her out of the home, causing Soni to fracture her leg.

She is now being cared for by a church. “Please pray that God will provide all my needs and that all my family will come to know Jesus, so that one day they may also come to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Soni said. “Because Jesus died not only for me, but also for them as well.”

Praise God for Soni’s faith and pray that her request is fulfilled.

Middle East Concern, Oct 4, 2021

Iranian Christians are thankful that Ayoub Poor-Rezazade has been released on bail.

Ayoub was arrested with two other Christian converts on 5 September. There had been no news from him or about him since 8 September, causing consternation, especially since his friends were released on 21 September and had no news of Ayoub’s whereabouts.

On 3 October, after submitting bail of 400 million tomans (about $15,000), Ayoub was released from Lakan Prison in Rasht. His friends had also submitted the same bail.

Ayoub had spent 10 days in custody of the Revolutionary Guard before being transferred to solitary confinement in Lakan Prison.

He had been separated from his friends to be interrogated about church finances.

Church in Chains, 23 September 2021 (excerpts)

“Adam”, a Saudi Arabian Christian in his late forties, converted from Islam 3 years ago, so dangerous for a Saudi that his real name cannot be used. Since then, he has endured constant persecution, to where he has reluctantly decided to leave Saudi to join his family abroad.

Accused of helping his wife’s sister “Eve” (also a Christian convert) to leave Saudi Arabia against her husband’s wishes, he has faced pressure from his family, especially Eve’s husband, who then brought a false charge against him of theft and had him beaten up.

He has faced four court cases and has been in prison several times, for a total of around four months.

From a Yemeni background, he spent most of his life in Saudi Arabia as a Muslim. When Eve became a Christian 3 years ago, her family asked Adam to convince her to return to Islam, unaware that he too was exploring Christianity. In great danger from her family as a convert, Adam helped Eve and her 2 children to flee the country.

On 5 May 2021, Adam’s wife “Hope” was contacted by her family who believed Adam would be sent to prison and it would be better for her to stay with them. They put her under pressure to divorce him, but eventually let her to go free. In July, Adam sent Hope and their younger son “Andrew” abroad for safety.

In August, a group of men beat Adam up on the order of his brother-in-law. He fell on iron and cut his leg very badly, with heavy loss of blood.  Treated in hospital, on his release he was put in prison for a night. Consequently, Adam decided to leave the country and join Hope and Andrew. An older son, “Matthew”, fled Saudi Arabia after helping Adam get Eve out of the country.