Christian Persecution Around the World

[Shammu]

Pastors Beaten and Detained in India

by Staff
October 25, 2007

(christiansunite.com) - The Voice of the Martyrs has received several reports of attacks on Christian pastors in India in recent weeks.

On the morning of October 11, Pastor Ganesh Murthy (42) was attacked by two Hindu militants along with fifteen men while he was distributing literature and praying for local people in the village of Rampura, Karnataka. The militants verbally abused him, beat him and dragged him to the local police station where he was detained on charges of forcible conversion.

The militants also tried to forcibly convert Pastor Murthy to Hinduism by promising to meet the financial needs of his wife and three children if he complied. However, the pastor refused the offer and stood firm in his faith.

At approximately 2:30 a.m. on October 14, Pastor Joseph Thadikal (58) and his wife, Ammini, were attacked in their home by two Hindu militants in the Vayandu district of Kerala. Both sustained serious head injuries. Pastor Thadikal, who pastors the local New Indian Bible Church, has been living and working in the area for ten years. He has twice received threats from militants who oppose his Christian work.

Thank the Lord for the boldness of faith of these believers amidst intense persecution and pressure. Pray that their passion for Christ will be a light that draws others to Jesus (Matthew 5:14-16). Pray for healing for Pastor Joseph and his wife. Pray that Pastor Ganesh will be released.

Pastors Beaten and Detained in India

[Shammu]

Hua Huiqi Beaten By Police in China

by Staff
October 25, 2007

(christiansunite.com) - Church leader and human rights activist Hua Huiqi was beaten unconscious by police officers and priva te security guards who were trying to stop him from returning to his home in the district of Chongwen, Beijing, on October 11.

According to an October 12 report from AsiaNews, Huiqi was taken from his home to the district of Fengtai on October 8. However, the Fengtai police refused to have him in their jurisdiction and sent him back to Chongwen under police escort.

Huiqi has been taken to the Tiantian Hospital for treatment. His room is reportedly surrounded by more than two dozen police officers seeking to prevent him from being visited or photographed.

Ask God to give healing to Hua. Pray that, as his sufferings overflow, his comfort in Christ will be more than enough for him (2 Corinthians 1:5). Pray that God will strengthen believers to follow in Hua's example of steadfast faithfulness to Him.

Hua Huiqi Beaten By Police in China

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

These are reminders about how easy we have it in this part of the world, and these are mild reports. Things like this should encourage us to use our freedoms while we still have them. All we need to do is pray and ask GOD to use us however HE Will. The only excuse that any of us have is being too lazy because we all know that GOD has work for us to do.

Love In Christ,
Tom

KEEP LOOKING UP!!

[Shammu]

Teen challenges moment-of-silence law

By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer Fri Oct 26, 8:58 PM ET

CHICAGO - A 14-year-old girl and her outspoken atheist father filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging a new Illinois law requiring a brief period of prayer or reflective silence at the start of every school day.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare the law unconstitutional, said attorney Gregory Kulis, who represents Dawn Sherman, a freshman at Buffalo Grove High School, and her father Robert Sherman, a radio talk show host.

Kulis said the law is an attempt to inject religion into public schools in violation of the First Amendment. The suit also seeks a temporary restraining order to halt schools' obeying the law until the case is decided. A judge will consider that request at a hearing Monday.

The lawsuit names Gov. Rod Blagojevich and officials of Township High School District 214 as defendants. School district spokeswoman Venetia Miles said schools will continue to comply with the law.

Blagojevich spokesman Abby Ottenhoff said the law was passed over the governor's veto.

"We don't believe requiring time for reflection is the role of government," Ottenhoff said.

Sherman said he went to court after he asked the school board to ignore the law and was rebuffed. The school district informed him it would carry out the moment of silence during third period, beginning Tuesday, the lawsuit said.

"What we object to is Christians passing a law that requires the public school teacher to stop teaching during instructional time, paid for by the taxpayers, so that Christians can pray," Sherman told The Associated Press.

An Illinois law called the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act already allowed schools to observe a moment of silence if they wanted. A new measure changed just a single word: "may" observe became "shall" observe.

The Illinois law originally passed during the spring legislative session, but Blagojevich vetoed it, saying he had doubts about its constitutionality. Lawmakers overrode the veto this month.

It's not Sherman's first church-and-state lawsuit and not the first to involve his children. He has sought removal of religious symbols from city seals and a ban on Boy Scout meetings at public schools.

Some school administrators have complained the law is too ill-defined and puts many teachers and some students in an awkward position.

The Shermans may have legitimate concerns, but they are suing the wrong party when they target the school district, said Brian McCarthy, an attorney for the district.

"The General Assembly — for better, worse, foolish or wise — passed this law and it's not up to school districts to pick and choose which laws they follow," McCarthy said. "He needs to go after the entity that enforces that law."

Teen challenges moment-of-silence law

[Soldier4Christ]

SF Chronicle calls evangelical Christians 'mindless lemmings'

The head of a media watchdog group is appalled that editors at the San Francisco Chronicle permitted publication of a column that claims evangelical Christians "have been bad for the soul of this country."

Mark Morford argues in a recent San Francisco Chronicle column that the urban public education system has hit "rock bottom" and is "churning out ignorant teens who are becoming ignorant adults, and society will pay dearly, very soon." The liberal columnist went on to write, "and if you think the hordes of easily terrified, mindless fundamentalist evangelical Christian lemmings have been bad for the soul of this country, just wait."

Bob Knight, director of the Culture and Media Institute, says Morford's rhetoric is "over the top" and "designed to ridicule, demonize and reduce one group to a subhuman status."

"The editors know that there won't be a mob of Christians screaming jihad and threatening to cut their heads off because of bad portrayals," he says. "They know that Christians say they come in love, and they're not for seeking revenge. So they're an easy target. And also, Christians represent the last group that is standing up against the liberal tide of sexual liberalism [and] abortion."

Knight says although one must be careful when making parallels to Nazi Germany, he was struck by a study he did of how Jews were portrayed in the 1930s.

"They started with ridicule, and they ended up with columns and cartoons portraying the Jews as a menace to the rest of society. First they softened the German people up to regard Jews as buffoons, then they moved into regarding them as a menace," explains Knight. "We can't afford to let that happen in the United States with Christians, so we can't be silent about hateful portrayals like this."

He says while the San Francisco Chronicle may be liberal like other major newspapers, it takes itself seriously and rarely allows such "bigotry and outright hatred."

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

It should be obvious that the devil wants Christians to be good little boys and girls, sit down, and be quiet. The only danger we pose is standing up, proclaiming CHRIST, calling good GOOD, and calling evil EVIL. It's just not convenient that Christians are slowing down the devil's progress. We also have RIGHTS and VOTE - now that is horribly dangerous.

San Francisco is the perfect place for this mindless demonizing of Christians to start. After all, they prefer naked gay folks performing obscene acts on their public streets. Christians saying "NO!" are dangerous.

[HisDaughter]

Thank you Tom.  I was so tongue tied on this one I did't know where to start!

[Shammu]

The San Francisco Chronicle also supports gay rights.

[HisDaughter]

The San Francisco Chronicle also supports gay rights.

I'm sure it does!  I'm also surprise their latest earthquake was only a 5.6!

[Soldier4Christ]

A much bigger one is coming though in the Lord's time. When it does San Francisco won't be the only ones feeling it.

[HisDaughter]

A much bigger one is coming though in the Lord's time. When it does San Francisco won't be the only ones feeling it.

You got that right Pastor!  Amen.

[Soldier4Christ]

Judge rules beating victim guilty of 'evangelism' 
Says persecutors had right to attack because woman shared Christian testimony

An Iranian judge has concluded a woman who was attacked and beaten and had her sewing shop equipment destroyed by vandals has no legal recourse because she was guilty of "evangelism," according to a new report from Voice of the Martyrs, a worldwide ministry to the Persecuted Church.

WND earlier reported that persecution of Christians inside Iran is on the increase, and the new report appears to confirm that.

VOM said the newest testimony is from its contacts inside Iran, and actually depicts "the resilience of believers who are sharing the gospel despite persecution."

The woman, whose name was not revealed, was running a tailoring business, and had volunteered to teach three young ladies how to sew. As part of the conversations that arose, her testimony about Christianity came up, and in response to a number of questions, she started teaching them about Christianity, Voice of the Martyrs said.

The VOM contacts reported, however, one of the students was from "a fanatic Muslim family," and when they discovered the teaching, they first opposed it.

"But this young lady was seriously following her Christian beliefs. Things got worse, to the extent that her parents started beating her up and threatening her if she didn't leave her faith," the VOM report said.

"They told her, 'If you don't return to Islam, we will keep beating you until you die,'" VOM said.

She eventually fled to another city, and in their subsequent search for her, the parents and other family members sought the sewing instructor.

"They thought she might have taken refuge in the home of the lady who was teaching her how to sew. They had heard about her and the fact that she had evangelized their daughter. In any case, they contacted that lady and threatened her by telling her that if she did not send their daughter back to them, they would close down her shop and would even arrange to kill her," the report said.

"Within fundamentalist Islam, the penalty of someone who turns from Islam is death. That is why they had the right to kill her if they wanted to. Obviously, their daughter was not staying with that seamstress, but the parents did not believe this," VOM said.

"On one of the days when the seamstress was working in the dress shop, the young woman's family, including the father, went to the shop and broke all her equipment. A couple of ladies from the family started beating up the woman. They kept telling her that she forced their daughter to turn from Islam and become a Christian. They eventually informed the police about it. This lady was taken to the court because of all that had happened to her," the report continued.

"The judge considered her to be the guilty one. He told her that there was no way of refunding all the broken items in her shop. The judge said the persecutors had the right to attack her. The judge told the lady that if he heard about her doing evangelism again, he would punish her more severely," VOM said.

She then moved to another city, where churchgoers helped her with her medical costs, and Voice of the Martyrs made a commitment to help her with her efforts to replace equipment and supplies in order to open another shop.

Earlier WND reported on plans by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to "pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi" by turning the country into a mighty and advanced Islamic society and by avoiding the corruption and excesses of the West. Shiites believe the 12th imam disappeared as a child in the year 941, but when he returns he will reign on earth for seven years, before bringing about a final judgment and the end of the world.

Voice of the Martyrs, which makes available a newsletter providing updates on the persecution of Christians around the world, then confirmed Christians in Iran are being detained, interrogated and imprisoned.

"This … wave of persecution is coming against Christians that meet to worship God in the privacy of their homes," VOM said its Iranian sources revealed then. "We have confirmed reports that several believers have been interrogated and one house was stormed by an elite police team that confiscated a computer, several CDs and Christian materials. A Christian was arrested in this attack, and remains in prison."

"Clearly, Iran's government is alarmed at the growth of the Christian faith there," said Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for the ministry that serves persecuted Christians worldwide.

Experts monitoring such persecution say that Christians make up a tiny percentage of the people of Iran, where the government "officially" allows Christians to practice their faith but in reality intervenes and harasses Christians regularly.

For example, Christians are not allowed to print literature, including Sunday bulletins, and converts from Islam to Christianity are labeled apostate and subject to the death penalty. Christian pastors are under constant surveillance, and many are forced to sign documents saying they will not allow Muslims to be in their worship services.

Voice of the Martyrs is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith, and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.

It was launched by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who began smuggling Bibles into eastern Europe and Asia in the 1940s. Shortly later Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his refusal to recant Christianity.

He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound scars on his body.

The group that later was renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was organized in 1967, when his book, "Tortured for Christ," was released.

[Shammu]

Pastor on trial for refusal to work with female minister
Court charges him and 2 other church leaders with criminal discrimination
Posted: November 3, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A pastor who refused to work with a female minister because of his biblical convictions has been charged with criminal discrimination by a Finnish court.

Ari Norro will be on trial Nov. 16 for allegedly violating Finland's laws barring discrimination in the workplace or in public based on gender and other grounds, including sexual orientation, Christianity Today magazine reported.

Norro is a member of the Lutheran Evangelical Association in Finland, a group within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland that believes the Bible does not allow women to serve as pastors.

In March, Christianity Today reported, he was scheduled to preach at a communion service in the southern town of Hyvinkää as a visiting pastor. When Petra Pohjanraito showed up for her shift to help distribute communion, Norro said he must leave, because he could not take part in a service with a female pastor.

"We were totally embarrassed by her arrival, for we understood very well that she was coming (to serve) at the altar," Norro told Christianity Today.

Norro said he offered to leave the church, but Pohjanraito decided to leave instead.

The incident was turned over to police when the chair of the Hyvinkää Church Council filed a request for an investigation, according to the Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat.

Christianity Today said two other church leaders also have been charged for not interfering to prevent the alleged violation of law.

The case could impact the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland's controversy over whether homosexuals can be ordained and whether pastors can bless same-sex couples.

Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, former president of IsoKirja College in Finland, insisted the government has nothing to do with religion and wants to stay out of the discussion.

"This case has nothing to do with religion; it has everything to do with a perceived lack of equality," he told Christianity Today.

Norro contends he did not commit a crime, because his country's constitution – which says no one should be treated differently because of his religious convictions – overrules the state penal code.

"Naturally, to be accused is far from being pleasant," Norro told CT. "It's sad that the church can't resolve problems like this one (by itself). In this case, the church itself winds a rope round its neck, and then gives the end of the rope to the … state (court)."

Norro, who probably would be fined if found guilty, argues other denominations, such as the Greek Orthodox Church and the Catholic church, do not ordain women, but they are not accused of committing a crime.

He fears pastors in Finland soon will be put on trial for refusing to work with a homosexual pastor or even for teaching God does not approve of homosexual relationships.

[Shammu]

This is a good example of why Jefferson said there should be separation of Church and state. Not to keep religion out of the state but to keep the state, out of the religion.

And no they are not worlds apart. "Criminal Discrimination"? You're talking about dragging someone into court over their convictions. Our culture has an ongoing battle with the church for as long as I can remember. We had the rise in sex outside of marriage, divorce and abortion, women's lib and gay rights. All that changes are the activists slogans and the protest signs,the target seems to always be the same, the church.

[Soldier4Christ]

'Spies' identified as Christian photographers 
'They had started studio to support themselves'

A team of "foreign spies" arrested by North Korean authorities – and possibility executed – actually are Christians who had started a portrait photography studio to support themselves, according to The Voice of the Martyrs, which ministers to the Persecuted Church worldwide.

The organization based in Bartlesville, Okla., is reporting that authorities from the National Security Service of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea held a news conference in Pyongyang recently to announce the arrest of "foreign spies" and "native citizens working for a foreign intelligence service."

However, the people arrested were, in fact, "Christian believers and not spies," VOM confirmed.

Li Su Gil, a spokesman for the security service, did not identify those arrested but confirmed they "carried out the missions by means of diverse espionage equipment," according to VOM.

VOM then identified the following North Korean Christians "who have disappeared and are believed to have been arrested by government authorities:"

    Onseong, North Hamgyong Province: Chul Huh, male; Chun-Il Jang, male, 39; Young-Si Jin, male, 32; Myung-Chul Kim, male, 36; Nam-Suk Kang, male, 48; and Young-Yae Lee, female, 37. Yoeryong, North Hamgyong Province: San-Ho Kang, male, 36. Cheongjin, North Hamgyong Province: Mi-Hae Park, female, 30; Suk-Chin Suh, male, 29.

"These North Korean Christians had started a portrait photography studio to help support themselves, and had registered their businesses with appropriate government authorities," VOM said. "According to VOM sources working in North Korea, they were not involved in espionage activities. It is believed that equipment taken by the government was in fact photography equipment used in their portrait work."

"Following Jesus Christ is considered treason in North Korea, where the government mandates that worship is reserved for deceased dictator Kim Il Sung and his son, the current dictator, Kim Jong-il," said Todd Nettleton, spokesman for VOM. "The Voice of the Martyrs is proud to stand with Christ's followers in North Korea, and deeply concerned for the well-being of our brothers and sisters there.

"We call on the North Korean government to release these Christian believers, who were involved in legitimate business activities to support themselves and their families," he said.

The Voice of the Martyrs has been involved in helping North Korean Christians for decades, including a ministry project that launched thousands of "Scripture balloons," mylar balloons filled with helium and printed on either side with biblical passages.

"VOM has conducted other projects to help North Korean Christians but cannot discuss details publicly to protect the safety of VOM workers and contacts inside North Korea," the ministry said.

The location of those recently arrested also is not known, VOM said.

"We pray that they are alive," Nettleton said. "But we know it is possible that they have finished their race on earth and gone on to their eternal reward in heaven. We encourage Christians everywhere to pray for our brothers and sisters in North Korea, who must constantly face the threat of arrest, torture and execution simply for living out their faith in Jesus Christ."

The Voice of the Martyrs is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith, and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.

It was launched by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who began smuggling Bibles into eastern Europe and Asia in the 1940s. Shortly later Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his refusal to recant Christianity.

He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound scars on his body.

The group that later was renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was organized in 1967, when his book, "Tortured for Christ," was released.