Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Saudi Crown Prince – “Jews Have a Right to Israel”

by Robert MacNaughton

Religion Today, April 4, 2018

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says he believes that Israelis and Palestinians both “have the right to” Israel.

 “But we have to have a peace agreement to assure stability for everyone and to have normal relations.”  Saudi Arabia has traditionally not recognized Israel.

 “There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Arab countries,” he said.

 Saudi Arabia and Israel may be headed toward better relations because of increasing tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Restoration may also be happening on Israel’s side as well.  Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh, has been invited to visit Israel.

And on the prince’s trip to the United States, he met with pro-Israel lobbyists and several Jewish groups.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Only 15 out of 113 Chibok school girls still alive?

by Robert MacNaughton

Global Christian News, 15 April 2018

Four years into the abduction of about 300 school girls in Chibok, north eastern Nigeria, the Nigerian government has claimed that it has encountered difficulties in securing the release of the remaining girls.

 “We know that this is not the news parents want to hear after four whole years of waiting, but we want to be as honest as possible with you.” The statement added, “Don’t give up hope of seeing our daughters back home again.”

Contradicting the government’s position, Ahmad Salkida, a journalist has declared that only 15 out of the remaining 113 Chibok schoolgirls, are alive.

 “I regret to state here that only 15 out of the 113 Chibok girls are alive today, based on my investigations in the last three months and we have already seen some of them in a video.” Salkida claimed.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

China blocks online Bible sales

by Robert MacNaughton

Bibles, already banned from stores, are now disappearing from online retailer websites. Amazon has been warned against the sale of Bibles as an “illegal publication”.

This follows the release of a government White Paper on religion.  A “5-year plan” outlines measures to enforce an interpretation of Scripture to affirm and promote “the core values ​​of socialism” within all Christian faith communities and forms of worship.  The latest crackdown appears to be an effort to enforce these restrictions across China.

The printing and distribution of Bibles resumed in China in the early 1980s, following the end of the Cultural Revolution.  

It is predicted that, by 2030, there could be over 160 million Chinese Christians across all denominations.

Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Good Friday holiday reinstated in Indian state, April 4th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

World Watch Monitor March 29, 2018

Widespread protests have forced the government in Christian-majority Meghalaya State in north-east India to restore the Good Friday holiday.

The coalition government had declared that Good Friday would be a normal “working day”, but the move was withdrawn on Tuesday, 27 March.

P.B.M. Basaiawmoit, a Presbyterian Church member wrote a letter to key government officials as soon as he heard about the plan on Saturday, 24 March.

In his letter, he had questioned why Christians were being denied the religious freedom guaranteed to them under the constitution.

Meanwhile, leaders of the National Awakening Movement also sought “clarification” on the order, saying, “This decision was against the sentiments of the Christians and against the provisions of the constitution.”

Basaiawmoit said. “This cannot be seen in isolation from the BJP becoming a part of the ruling coalition after the February election.”

Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Turkey, April 4th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Steadfast Global, 16th March

Please pray as a matter of urgency for Pastor Andrew Brunson who was formally charged on 13 March with being a member of the terrorist group connected with Fetullah Güllen.

The indictment issued by the prosecutor in Izmir Province is demanding a life sentence for Andrew if convicted.

The indictment has been passed to the courts where a decision will be made as to whether the case should proceed to trial.

Andrew has been in custody since October 2016.

Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Egyptian government gives legality to 53 churches, April 4th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Barnabas Fund, 22 March 2018

A special Egyptian committee legalised 53 Egyptian churches and related buildings in February, but thousands more still await registration.

In January 2018, the Egyptian government announced that Christians would be officially allowed to hold meetings in unlicensed buildings, pending their formal recognition as places of worship.

Thousands of churches in Egypt have never been officially registered. The previous restrictions made the process so difficult that many congregations had no option but to worship illegally in unlicensed buildings.

Despite the present repeal, a local court in Atfih handed down a large fine to the owner of an unlicensed church building on 31 January.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

The Pope and the Persecuted Church, March 21st 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Pope Francis and religious freedom

World Watch Monitor, March 19, 2018

Pope Francis has met some of those who have suffered persecution because of their Christian faith, including Rebecca Bitrus, a Nigerian woman terribly abused by Boko Haram, and the family of Asia Bibi, on death row for blasphemy since 2010 in Pakistan.

 “Religions … have a specific and unique role to play in building peace. They cannot be neutral, much less ambiguous, where peace is concerned,” he said.

 In Egypt in May 2017, he said “violence is the denial of every true religion” and his visit seemed to inspire a more vigilant approach to religious hate speech against Christians and a new church was built with Muslim support.

 He has raised the plight of persecuted Christians with many heads of state in over 30 countries and was the first Pope to have ever visited Myanmar, a staunchly Buddhist country.

 He seeks to repair relations with fellow religious leaders to address persecution of Iraqi and Syrian Christians.

 In 2017, he met leaders of the World Evangelical Alliance to discuss collaborating in promoting religious freedom in a world where persecution of Christians is on the rise.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

The Persecuted Church in North Korea, March 21st 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Growing up in North Korea

World Watch Monitor, March 20, 2018

Until he was 9, John was cared for by his parents, but they then abandoned him. Sleeping rough, he survived the 4-year famine that started in 1994.

 He finally left all that he had known and journeyed to the UK, where he attended university.

 Told from childhood that Christianity was evil, he now wears a cross and talks about his past with a gentle smile.

“History in primary school was about the Kim family – a propaganda of loyalty.  When Kim Il-sung died, I cried.

We had an anti-Christian education throughout. Foreign missionaries were wolves, Christianity an American religion and becoming a Christian a crime.  If anyone became a Christian, they would disappear overnight.

As a child, I had to watch a public execution of a man who smuggled what we thought was a Bible from China.  

When I reached China myself, I was shocked to find that wise words attributed to Kim Il-sung were from the Bible and that North Korea had started the Korean War in 1950.”

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Persecuted Church in Algeria, March 21st 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Pastor Sentencing Adds to Persecution in Algeria

Morning Star News, March 12, 2018

In the latest of a rash of persecution incidents in Algeria, a judge on March 8 Pastor Nordine B. was fined US$868 and given a 3-month suspended prison sentence for causing Muslims to doubt their religion.  The pastor of the church was convicted of proselytism, but will appeal.

Christian leaders said the charge against Pastor Nordine was ridiculous – simply for carrying Christian books – and unconstitutional, as Algeria’s constitution guarantees freedom of belief, opinion and worship.

The case follows several instances of harassment of churches and Christians in the past 3 months raising concerns of a government campaign against Christianity.

A Christian-owned bookshop in Oran city has been forcibly closed, the activities of a church training centre stopped and there has been an increase in arrests of Christians.

Missions, The Persecuted Church Across the World

Baghdad Christian doctor and family murdered

by Robert MacNaughton

Barnabas Fund, 14 March 2018

Three members of a Christian family were stabbed to death in Baghdad, on the evening of 8th March 2018.

Dr Hisham al-Maskuni (61), his wife Shaza and his mother Khairiya were attacked and killed by armed men.

A local Christian leader said, “This crime has only one message. Frightening our people and forcing them to leave the country.  This means that there is no place for Christians. We are seen as a lamb to be killed at any time.”

A Yazidi member of the Iraqi parliament, tweeted that it showed that “minorities are persecuted in their homeland.”

 Christians in Baghdad have been kidnapped, and Christian shopkeepers forced to pay “protection money” to militias.

 The United Nations have called on Iraq to protect the Christian minority stating, “We urge Iraq to protect minorities, including Yezidis, Christians … and others.”