Church in Chains, 21 July 2021 (excerpts)

Pastors of churches registered with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the government-controlled Protestant churches, have been ordered to preach sermons based on President Xi Jinping’s recent speech marking the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party.

In the president’s speech, delivered on 1 July, he eulogised the party’s achievements and stated: “Only socialism can save China, and only socialism with Chinese characteristics can develop China. We will never allow anyone to bully, oppress or subjugate China. Anyone who dares try to do that will have their heads bashed bloody against the Great Wall of Steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people.“

Officials issued the order to pastors at a national conference of the China Christian Council (which oversees education in TSPM churches) on 8 July led by Xu Xiaohong, chairman of the TSPM, and Wu Wei, chairman of the China Christian Council. Both officials are state-appointed. The theme of the conference was “Learning and Implementing the Spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Speech of July 1”.

At the conference, pastors were told that they are expected to make President Xi’s speech a main object of study and preaching and a matter of discussion for Bible study groups. Failure to do so would demonstrate that their churches are not fully “Sinicised”, which is necessary for churches to be allowed to operate.

Voice of the Martyrs, 29 July 2021

Algeria is a shining example of church growth in North Africa and is also a leader for theological training and church development in the region. Nearly all of the church growth has occurred within the Berber community.

Although churches are allowed to meet openly, in 2018 the government temporarily closed many church buildings and harassed congregations.

Berber Christians, who are watched carefully, have gained a collective voice through an Evangelical association of churches.

Sharing the gospel with Arabs can cause serious problems, but Berber Christians continue to share the gospel boldly in and around al-Qaida terrorist camps.

Secret communities of Arab Christians exist throughout the country. While it is not common for Christians to be imprisoned, one believer was imprisoned for nearly a year in connection with a social media post. He received a presidential pardon in July 2017.

There is a Bible Society in Algeria, but the printing and importation of Bibles is carefully monitored, limited and controlled by the government.

Bible distributions are risky for the distributors and congregations involved, and Bibles are often confiscated by government officials.

Voice of the Martyrs, July 8, 2021 (excerpts)

After Mannan left Islam to follow Jesus Christ in Bangladesh, area Islamic leaders called for villagers to ostracize his relatives, even telling local vendors to deny them food.

As animosity toward Mannan and his relatives grew, the Islamic leaders and angry Muslim villagers called for police to arrest him and his relatives, falsely accusing them of causing trouble.

On June 15, village police called Mannan, his relatives and the Islamic leaders to the police station. In front of about 100 villagers, the police called for peace and coexistence, and worked to calm tensions.  The police official said there were no grounds for an arrest to be made and stated that Bangladeshi law allows for freedom of religion.

Praise God for the police officers, who prioritized peace and religious freedom.  Pray for Mannan to remain firm in Christ and for his relatives to decide to follow Jesus as well.  Pray that the hearts of the Islamic leaders and villagers will be softened and that they turn toward Jesus for forgiveness, salvation, and everlasting life.

Churches are careful when offering relief to the poor and needy because they do not want to encourage false conversions among people claiming faith in Christ solely for economic benefit.

While Bangladesh is a majority-Muslim nation, the government avoids undue influence from Islamists and actively fights extremism. Millions of Bangladeshis are learning about Christ and the Bible through media outreaches.

Barnabas Fund, 13 July 2021 (excerpts)

A Christian factory worker in Pakistan died after being allegedly abused physically by two co-workers. A murder inquiry is ongoing.

Shahzad Masih, 36, was confronted by Muhammad Abdullah and Muhammad Fizan on 18 June in Faisalabad. Lawyers acting on behalf of Shahzad’s family claim that the pair subjected him to a violent indecent assault, causing severe internal injuries, including damage to his lungs and liver. Despite an immediate colostomy procedure, Shahzad was unable to recover and died on 20 June.

Christian lawyers representing the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) filed a murder case against the alleged perpetrators as well as the factory manager, Asad Mahmood.

Shahzad had been staying in factory quarters with Muhammad Abdullah and Muhammad Fizan when he was assaulted.

Before dying Shahzad was able to testify against the two co-workers and stated that Asad Mahmood was also involved in the incident.

Muhammad Abdullah and Muhammad Fizan were arrested by the police. Asad Mahmood was granted pre-arrest bail.

The CLAAS Team also met the accused persons in custody.  They confessed to indecent assault but contested a further charge of committing sodomy with Shahzad.

The trial was adjourned.

Morning Star News, July 6, 2021 (excerpts)

The first Christians to be punished under a newly amended law in Iran aimed at halting the growth of Christianity and other religious groups were sentenced to five years in prison for spreading “propaganda” against Islam after they refused to renounce Christ.

Amin Khaki, Milad Goudarzi and Alireza Nourmohammadi, all converts from Islam, were sentenced under Article 500 of Iran’s newly amended penal code, which states that “any deviant education or propaganda that contradicts or interferes with the sacred Sharia law will be severely punished.”

Members of the Church of Iran, the three men were given the maximum prison sentence allowable under the amended article and fined 40 million tomans (US$1,600). Another member of the church, Hamet Ashouri, was told the same day that his appeal of a 10-month prison sentence on charges of “propaganda against the regime” had been denied. Ashouri is also a convert from Islam.

Along with increased prison terms, the law allows the state to take away certain basic rights, such as voting, for as long as 15 years. Religious freedom activists warned that the amendment, which was first proposed in 2020 and passed by parliament on Jan. 13, could be used to attack religious dissidents and minority groups.

International Christian Concern, Jun. 28, 2021 (excerpts)

The 2003 invasion of Iraq saw the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, a terrible oppressor of religious and ethnic minorities, Christian and Islamic alike. However, with the fall of such a powerfully centralized regime, relations between the vast number of Iraqi religious and ethnic groups, up until then kept in line by an iron fist, quickly turned volatile.

Intense, widespread sectarian violence followed insurgency begun by al-Qaeda and ISIS after the initial invasion. Many amongst Iraq’s Shia Islamic community created their own armed militias backed by Iran, resulting in widespread displacement, devastation, and death.

Iraqis from the traditionally Christian Dora Neighbourhood next to Baghdad fled in 2007.  A displaced single mother of three daughters, Abella, could barely manage to provide for her family in this hostile environment when her husband was murdered by Sunni extremists.

Christians like her were already viewed as soft targets by extremists, and often targeted during ethnic, religious, and tribal rivalries.  Turning to the church to keep her daughters as safe, Abella placed them in a nunnery.

Having survived al-Qaeda, ISIS, and continual waves of sectarian violence and upheaval, Abella’s life was threatened again by the need for immediate emergency surgery.  A Christian NGO helped covered the cost and her operation biopsy results came back negative.

The faith of the Iraqi Church continues to persevere and remain steadfast, helped along by a story like Abella’s.

Barnabas Fund, 25 June 2021 (excerpts)

Extremists have destroyed the homes of eight Christian families and forcibly expelled them from their village in Odisha state.

The mob devastated the Christians’ homes and forced them to leave the village. Initially the Christian families were not even allowed to re-enter their properties to recover household and personal belongings before police intervened to calm the situation.  They are currently taking refuge in a forest nearby with the rainy season looming.

Pastor Upajukta Singh paid tribute to the Christians’ continuing strong faith in Jesus, commenting that the radical group could not tolerate the presence of Christian families in the village.

Nori Konjaka, one of the victims, declared that the attackers “can destroy our homes, but not our faith in Jesus”. Others affirmed in front of police that they were prepared to lose everything for Jesus, the living God.

One young girl testified that the villagers compelled Christians to worship their gods and eat food offered in the temple, pointedly adding, “As their gods seems to flee away by our presence in the village, they are opposing us.”

Voice of the Martyrs, Jun. 24, 2021

On May 4, three families in one village in Laos accepted Christ, for a total of 13 new believers. The three families, who are related, decided to follow Jesus after one of the relatives experienced a miraculous healing following prayer from a pastor.

With 40 of the village’s 120 families already Christian, village police informed the leaders, fearing the whole village could become Christian.

The men from each family were taken into custody and interrogated. Authorities told them if they continued following the foreign religion, they would have to obtain official documentation from a government office or be jailed. The families’ case is now with provincial authorities.

Pray that the families are able to obtain proper documentation without any further threats. Pray that their new faith is a testimony to their new life in Christ, and pray that their village will see other families come to know the Lord.

Voice of the Martyrs, 10 June 2021

A Persian house church leader had two boxes of Farsi New Testaments in the trunk of his car. When he saw that he was approaching a police checkpoint, he pulled over and left the boxes of Bibles on the side of the road.

Later that night, the police chief saw the boxes on the roadside and thought they might contain contraband, so he put them in his truck and took them home.

Once he got home and opened the boxes, he discovered the boxes were filled with Bibles and wasn’t sure what to do with them.

Since the Persian New Year was approaching, he decided to give the Bibles to each family member and guest at his home.

A Voice of the Martyrs worker reported that when one of the women who received a Bible called the contact information inside of it and was asked who gave her the New Testament, she replied, “My family friend. He is the police chief.”

Pray that the police chief and those who received the Bibles will find salvation in Christ through them. Pray that Bible distributors in Iran will continue to find creative ways of delivering Bibles into the country.

World Watch Monitor, 14 June 2021 (excerpts)

This week, a coalition of over 120 Nigerian NGOs, including Action Aid, issued a plea that President Buhari act over the decline in security. Following what it referred to as “a sharp increase of 43 per cent in mass atrocities 2020” it had “recorded an all-time quarterly high of almost 2000 fatalities from mass atrocities incidents across the country” from January to March 2021.

The NGOs noted how the government had downplayed the severity of “large scale terrorist attacks in the North West” by tagging the criminality as “banditry”.  They had in a February statement charged President Buhari to halt the drifting of Nigeria to what they called a ‘state of anarchy’.

On 13 May, President Buhari pledged that his administration will “use all available resources and manpower in dealing with bandits”.

During Eid prayers, Bauchi State Governor urged the Federal Government to improve the security architecture. “Most of the criminality is coming from us as members of the Islamic faith, such as banditry, kidnapping and the rest. We must be very courageous to say it. It’s not something acceptable in the tenets of Islam … Apparently, the Federal security architecture has failed not because of any compromise but because the situation is overwhelming”.