From The Voice of the Martyrs -
www.persecution.com EGYPT (ASSIST News Service)
A police officer in El Minia drove a truck into a canal, killing three of the five male prisoners who were being transported in the truck. The Barnabas Fund reported that the officer arrested five Christians who were mending a church fence that had collapsed in a storm. The men were working quickly in the middle of the night, concerned that local officials would possibly halt its rebuilding. (An 1856 Ottoman Empire law kept any church from being built, repaired or even repainted without the permission of Egypt's president. The law was revised in 2003, and the decision-making is now left up to local governments. ) The arrested men were bound and put in the back of a truck. As the vehicle approached the brink of a canal, the police officer who was driving jumped out. Three of the Christians were killed, while the other two remain in critical condition in a hospital. The Egyptian media reported the event as an accident, but Christian sources confirm it was deliberately arranged.
Pray the family and friends of these martyrs will be comforted in knowing their loved ones are in God's hands. Pray Egyptian Christians will not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Pray their faithful witness will demonstrate God's power to save.
NIGERIA (ASSIST News Service)
In past months there has been almost continuous conflict in the eastern region of Nigeria's Plateau State, predominantly between Fulani and Tarok tribes competing for land. Because the Fulani is Muslim and the Tarok is Christian, the conflict heightens the element of religious tensions. The killings started in February, followed by many retaliating raids. On May 1st, at least 67 people died and around 1,000 were injured when "Christian" Tarok militias launched a midnight reprisal attack on Muslim Fulani. It is tragic that people identified as "Christians" perpetrate such atrocities; it is doubly tragic that retaliation often targets churches, and true followers of Jesus Christ are murdered and maimed.
Pray Jesus Christ will reveal His loving and forgiving heart to the Tarok leaders who associate themselves with His name. Pray God will give the leaders of both sides a desire and plan for peace. Pray faithful followers of Jesus will remain steadfast and continue to have the mind of Christ.
Zamfara State, the first to introduce Shariah Law, launched its "Shariah Phase 2" on April 29th. The governor announced it would soon start demolishing all the places of worship of non-Muslims in the state, in line with the Islamic injunction to fight them wherever they are found. The demolition would be a breach of Nigeria's constitution, just as a parallel legal system?Sharia Law?is unconstitutional.
Pray God will comfort and protect the Christians whose churches are destroyed. Pray that as Christians continue to worship in house churches, their faithfulness will draw their Muslim neighbors to the Lord. Pray moderate Muslims throughout Nigeria will not allow the introduction of Shariah Law in their states.
PAKISTAN (VOM Sources)
Javed Anjum, a young Christian who refused to convert to Islam, died this week after being severely tortured by Islamic militants. Javed was searching for water near an Islamic school, but Muslim leaders accused him of trying to steal a water pump. When he rejected the charge and told Islamic leaders that he was a Christian, he was asked to convert to Islam. When he refused, he was tortured for five days and nights, continuously being asked to convert to Islam. Javed was hospitalized for 11 days and died from kidney failure that resulted from the beatings.
Pray God will bring healing peace and comfort to Javed Anjum's family and friends. Pray the authorities will bring the militants to justice. Pray the Lord God will be victorious in the battle for souls in Pakistan.
1 Link International:
http://www.linkingup.com 2 North Korea:
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Robert Weinert aka Bob from Michigan,
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