World Watch Monitor, August 21, 2020

Lord Alton’s question recognised the new UN International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief on 22 August.

In Nigeria, Boko Haram alone has killed 27,000 people over the past 10 years, based on its extreme radical Islamist beliefs and agenda.

Latest research by the Pew Center shows India, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, CAR, Pakistan, Israel, Bangladesh and Yemen have ‘very high’ social hostility involving religion.

The focus is limited to violence based on religion or belief.

“Poland and other states have to be commended for recognizing the issue of violence based on religion or belief as a contemporary issue that can no longer be neglected”.

Pew has shown that, of all global religions, it is Christians who experience the most hostility.

Nationalistic governments such as India and Myanmar continue to deny freedom of religion for their sizeable Christian minorities. Mobs often attack and kill with impunity.

Extreme persecution also comes at the hands of radical Islamic militias, such as in in Mali, Chad, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Libya and Somalia.

Middle East Concern, 17 August 2020

Christians in Algeria ask for prayer for the Spring of Life church in Makouda, second largest Protestant church in Algeria with about 700 members, as a court  rejected their request to cancel the governor’s order to close it under Ordinance 06-03, which stipulates that permission must be obtained before using a building for non-Muslim worship.

Under Ordinance 06-03, Algerian authorities started a campaign in November 2017 to close churches.

In June 2020, the Makouda pastor was fined by another court for unpermitted modifications to the (church) building.

Christians in Algeria are concerned this verdict might be a precedent for similar action by municipal authorities against other churches.

Algerian Christians ask us to pray that regulations governing non-Muslim worship will be amended and justly implemented, so that Christians will be able to worship freely.

World Watch Monitor, July 29, 2020

21 pages of incidents of violent attacks took place across the north and Middle Belt of Nigeria between 1 December 2019 and 11 April 2020.

180,000 people are currently Internally Displaced living in 8 camps across Benue State.  Another half a million are living with relatives, driven out of their homes or fearing attack.

The extreme Islamist militants Boko Haram have killed more people than Islamic State killed in Iraq and Syria combined.

This number of 27,000 dead at the hands of Boko Haram over the past ten years is in the latest new report tracking the violence occurring across Nigeria.

Meantime over the past 20 years, nearly 19,000 people have been killed by extremist militant Fulanis, with over 43,000 Nigerians killed by Boko Haram over the same period.

The 311-page report, ‘Nigeria’s Silent Slaughter’, is a collaboration between networks in Nigeria and its diasporas in the UK and the US.

The researchers conclude: “Overall, Boko Haram and Fulani militants are conducting a genocidal slaughter in Nigeria. We are not condemning the entire Fulani population.”

A local journalist, Reuben Buhari, reported that last week, 11-20 July, 64 had been killed in Kaduna in a way that he saw as ‘systematic’ across a traditionally Christian area.

Locals say that there is a clear disparity between the number of Christian villages and communities attacked and the number of Muslims killed.

Morning Star News, August 2, 2020

Dozens of foreign Christians in Turkey have been forced to leave the country or been banned from returning in what appears to be government targeting of the Protestant Christian community.  Many such foreigners have lived in the country for decades.

The Istanbul Protestant Church Foundation (IPCF) stated, “We must inform you that since 2019, it has been made increasingly difficult for foreign Protestant clergy serving in Turkey to be resident in our country.”

It is estimated that 35 Christian workers received similar bans in 2019 and 16 more since the end of June.  Those fighting the ban find that administrative courts are not giving lawyers access to reports from Turkish intelligence.

There are about 10,000 Turkish Protestants who attend about 170 churches, many of them house churches, in the overwhelmingly Muslim country of more than 84.3 million people, said an MEC researcher.

“It’s notable that none of these people have been charged with any breaking of the law,” he said.

Open Doors, 14 August 2020

Lydia faces persecution for her faith, a lot of people believe that being a woman makes her weak. She learned how untrue this was at a seminar run by Open Doors partners.

She is a pastor’s wife from northern Myanmar where Christians are a minority, just 8 per cent of the population.

Despite being from a Christian family, Lydia’s walk with the Lord hasn’t always been easy.  People can become angry when she tries to tell them about Jesus, and she has seen families disown believers for choosing to follow Christ.

“Nevertheless,” she says, “we continue sharing the gospel slowly and carefully. We are always vigilant and we use more creative ways to talk about the love of Christ.”  

“Through the seminar, God changed my whole perspective on life,” says Lydia. “God has not just saved me but also lifted me up. I am precious, unique and have potential.  I can make God known to others and have talents I to use and multiply.”

This training helps the church become more resilient in places where it is persecuted and helps equip it to meet the diverse needs of all its members, male or female.  

Lydia was so excited that she decided to share her learning with other women: “I was inspired to be an empowered woman, doing everything that I can do with all my strength for what God had prepared for me in advance to do.”

MEC, Jul 6, 2020

Iranian Christians request prayer after Revolutionary Guard agents arrested at least twelve Christians in three different cities.  It is believed an informant gained Christians’ trust, infiltrated their network, and helped Iranian security identify particular individuals and raid a meeting in a private home.

On 30 June, in Tehran, security agents raided the home of a Christian convert, where about 30 Christians had gathered. The security agents, who filmed the raid, were initially respectful, but once the cameras were switched off, the mood abruptly changed and they reportedly became abusive.  The Christians were taken to the parking area where a list of names was read out. Those present from that list were handcuffed, blindfolded, and taken away.

They then went to the houses of those on the list from Tehran and Karaj, searching for Bibles, other Christian literature, and electronic communication devices.  Three more converts  also on the list, but not present at the gathering, were arrested at their homes, which were searched.

In a related security action, also on 30 June, agents called three Christian converts in Malayer, and summoned them to the Revolutionary Guard intelligence office for questioning the next day. However, all three were arrested before they could turn themselves in. They were released on bail of 30 million tomans (around $1,500) each on 2 July.

International Christian Concern, 28 July 2020

Christians living in Yemen request prayer as they experience persecution amidst ongoing war, food shortages, and COVID-19. These challenges have created a significant burden of isolation, both spiritually and physically. The Christian population, which once numbered approximately 40,000, is reduced to only a few thousand. Most live unaware of each other’s existence and in great fear of discovery from their neighbors.

The impact of COVID-19 arrived late in Yemen, compared to the rest of the region. The country is embroiled within a civil war that has left it split between two governments and conflicting international actors. On the one hand, such an environment has led to persecution that keeps the church underground. On the other hand, after so many years of hardship, many Yemenis are spiritually hungry for answers. Many pastors working in Yemen report an openness for the Gospel message that encourages them for the future of the church.

Morning Star News July 27, 2020 

A 26-year-old mother became the fifth Christian in two months to be killed in India last week when she refused to hand over her daughter to be raped by Hindus who had assaulted the girl and other Christian minors.

Two masked Hindus slit the throat of Sunita Devi in Jharkhand, when she came out her door at 1 a.m. and refused their demand for her young daughter.

At about 1 a.m. Devi noticed two men at the window of the room where she had been sleeping with her children and decided to get up and send them away, Pastor Nag said.

The men attacked Devi and she fell on the ground dead. On seeing her mother fall on the ground, the minor girl quickly ran inside the house and latched the door from inside.”

According to police, after the assailants killed Devi, they dragged her body into a nearby jungle, put her corpse into a sack and threw it into a river about two miles away. Police found her body at 2 p.m. and sent it for autopsy.

Pastor Nag said that girls from Christian homes are intentionally targeted by Hindus who influence followers of tribal Sarna religion, trying to introduce Hindu gods into their rituals and uniting with them against Christians.  “This belt of Jharkhand has been witnessing rising persecution, and it is very real for the Christians who are living it every day.”

Morning Star News, June 24, 2020

 Following calls from mosque leaders in Khartoum to rid their “Muslim area” of South Sudanese Christians, several Christians were attacked there and in neighbouring Omdurman this month.

At the end of evening prayers at a mosque, imams on June 6 called for residents to rid Christian South Sudanese from the “Muslim area”. Attacks on Christians in the area followed that evening and the next day.

In a separate attack on June 20 in Omdurman, young Muslim men shouting the jihadist slogan “Allah Akbar” stabbed a Christian to death in a street assault and four other South Sudanese.

Mariel Bang is survived by his wife and four children ranging in age from 1 to 4 years old.  Bang was 35.

PrayerCast, June 20, 2020

President Karimov, who ruled for 27 years, died in 2016 and was succeeded by the prime minister, Mirziyoyev. Yet institutionalized corruption still exists at every level of government. Although Uzbeks boast a 99% literacy level, all media is government controlled, and free access to information is non-existent.  This nation now acts as a transit point for drug activity, particularly Afghan narcotics going to Russia and Western Europe, and has a reputation for human trafficking.

Uzbekistan is in the top twenty most persecuted nations in the world. Approximately 84% claim Islam, while less than 1% are Christian. Of the sixty-one people groups, thirty-four remain unreached by the Gospel. Fundamentalist sects and those who seek to establish Islamic law have formed.

All churches, regardless of denomination, must be registered with the government. There are approximately 25,000 Christians in dozens of unregistered churches facing persecution, arrest, and torture from targeted attacks by government-controlled media and police. Despite increasing scrutiny and harassment, the Church continues to grow, mainly in urban areas.