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Invisible martyrs


August 3, 2007

Michelle Malkin - The blood of innocent Christian missionaries spills on Afghan sands. The world watches and yawns. The United Nations offers nothing more than a formal expression of "concern." Where is the global uproar over the human rights abuses unfolding before our eyes?

For two weeks, a group of South Korean Christians has been held hostage by Taliban thugs in Afghanistan. This is the largest group of foreign hostages taken in Afghanistan since Operation Enduring Freedom began in 2001. What was their offense? Were they smuggling arms into the country? No. Inciting violence? No. They were peaceful believers in Christ on short-term medical and humanitarian missions. Seventeen of the 23 hostages are females. Most are nurses who provide social services and relief.

Over the last few days, the bloodthirsty jihadists have demanded that South Korea immediately withdraw troops from the Middle East, pay ransom and trade the civilian missionaries for imprisoned Taliban fighters. The Taliban leaders have made good on threats to kill the kidnapped Christians while Afghan officials plead fecklessly that their monstrous behavior is "un-Islamic."

Two men, 29-year-old Shim Sung-min and 42-year-old Rev. Bae Hyeong-gyu, have already been shot to death and dumped in the name of Allah. Mr. Bae was a married father with a 9-year-old daughter. Korean media report he was from a devout Christian family from the island province of Jeju. He helped found the Saemmul Church south of Seoul, which sent the volunteers to Afghanistan.

Across Asia, media coverage is 24/7. Strangers have held nightly prayer vigils. But the human rights crowd in America has been largely AWOL. And so have most of our mainstream media. Among some of the secular elite, no doubt, is a blame-the-victim apathy: The missionaries deserved what they got. What were they thinking bringing their message of faith to a war zone? Didn't they know they were sitting ducks for Muslim head-choppers whose idea of evangelism is "convert or die"?

I noted the media shoulder-shrugging about jihadist targeting of Christian missionaries five years ago during the kidnapping and murder of American Christian missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham in the Philippines. The silence is rooted in viewing committed Christians as alien others. At best, there is a collective callousness. At worst, there is outright contempt — from Ted Turner's reference to Catholics as "Jesus freaks" to CBS producer Roxanne Russell's casual insult of former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer as "the little nut from the Christian group" to the mockery of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.

Curiously, those who argue that we need to "understand" Islamic terrorists demonstrate little effort to "understand" the Christian evangelical missionaries who risk their lives to spread the gospel — not by sword, but through acts of compassion, healing and education. An estimated 16,000 Korean mission workers risk their lives across the globe — from Africa to the Middle East, China and North Korea.

These are true practitioners of a religion of peace, not the hate-mongers with bombs and AK-47s strapped to their chests who slay instead of pray their way to martyrdom.

Invisible martyrs (http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070803/COMMENTARY/108030020&template=printart)

Persecution of Christians Increasing, but Most Americans Unaware

Ben Duff,

FRONT ROYAL, Virginia, July 30 /Christian Newswire/ -- Christians continue to be martyred abroad, but few American believers are aware of how pervasive religious persecution is around the world. "Christians in this nation don't realize how fortunate they are to live in the U.S.," observes Jim Jacobson, president of Christian Freedom International.

The Taliban's kidnapping of the South Korean aid workers in Afghanistan illustrates how that conflict is essentially religious. Yet "the U.S.-backed government is little friendlier to Christians," observes Jacobson. "Last year Christian convert Abdul Rahman barely evaded a death sentence, and only after Western nations placed substantial pressure on Kabul."

In Turkey attacks continue on Christians and churches. In an area along the Black Sea coast where an Italian Catholic priest was previously murdered, a Protestant church was vandalized and its pastor threatened. "Earlier this year three Christians were murdered in a particularly gruesome fashion by Muslim extremists," Jacobson points out.

Attacks on Christians are up in India. In one city a Catholic convent school was attacked; in another town Hindu fanatics murdered a Christian convert; elsewhere a Protestant minister was arrested for allegedly offering money for a conversion, after seeking to mediate a dispute within a Buddhist family; in another case Christian missionaries were beaten. "India might be a democracy," notes Jacobson, "but it is far from free religiously."

In Kazakhstan, Christians were tossed out of their home because they held an unauthorized prayer meeting. A Baptist minister was arrested in Azerbaijan while conducting services.

Malaysia's top court prevented a Muslim woman from legally converting to Christianity. Egypt similarly discourages conversions away from Islam; while mobs recently attacked Coptic Christians thought to be planning to build a church.

Pakistan is preparing to execute a Christian falsely accused of blaspheming Islam and the prophet Mohammed. China continues to close down Protestant home churches and promote the official "patriotic" Catholic church over the underground, legitimate church.

Vietnam recently arrested and tortured Montagnard Christians. In Indonesia scores of Christians have been arrested for blasphemy; Muslim extremists forced the Carmelite Prayer Centre in West Java to cancel a planned international conference. Christians were killed and wounded in a bomb attack in Ethiopia.

Far worse "is the plight of Christians in Iraq," says Jacobson. Christians are routinely murdered and kidnapped; Christian churches are regularly destroyed; hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled Iraq.

American Christians "belong to an international fellowship of believers," explains Jacobson, and "have an obligation to care for their brethren around the world." The U.S. government could speak out more, he notes, but often refuses to do so because of other political considerations.

"Which means that it is up to Americans, all Americans who believe in freedom of conscience and faith," says Jacobson. "It is ironic that in an age when many people once thought religion was on the wane, persecution has become a bigger issue than ever."

But this means that our role as Christians and as Americans is more important than ever. As persecution rises abroad, "we must make our voices in protest even more loudly known," he explains.

Persecution of Christians Increasing, but Most Americans Unaware (http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/613003773.html)

I could be wrong here but I believe the number of brothers and sisters killed annually has held relatively steady for many years. Its a high number, about 150,000 Christians a year die for their faith.

What an remarkable testimony to Christ, yet so few hear, know or care about it. Because every church in America and worldwide should be caring what is happening to persecuted Christians worldwide

Revelation 3:15-16 I know your [record of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!