Displaying items by tag: Persecution

Rev’d Kuwa Shamal, Rev’d Hassan Abduraheem, Mr Petr Jašek, and Mr Abdulmonem Abdumawla were arrested in December 2015 and held in prison on charges of national security crimes. They were charged with helping fund medical treatment for a student injured in a demonstration. The trial, which started in August 2016, has been subject to several delays and postponements. Rev’d Shamal was acquitted on 2 January 2017, and released due to lack of evidence. Christian Solidarity Worldwide said: ‘We continue to press for the immediate release of these three men and are deeply concerned at the unnecessary delays. They have committed no crimes and have been held unjustly for over a year, simply for an act of kindness.’

The Christian communities of Syria and Iraq are in the middle of a ‘cataclysmic crisis’, a report warns. Their very existence is in peril, as the world witnesses one of the greatest threats to the Church in the Middle East since its birth over 2,000 years ago. Christians are facing targeted persecution and leaving Syria and Iraq at an increasing rate. If this rate of emigration continues, within a few years the Christian communities in these countries will be utterly devastated. The report warns that war in Syria and Iraq has ‘unleashed a tidal wave of violent persecution’, which has targeted the highly vulnerable Christian population and has dramatically accelerated the flight of Christians from Iraq and Syria. Before 2011, Syrian Christians numbered about eight per cent of the population of 22 million: today about half are believed to have left the country. Before 2003, there were around 1.5 million Christians in Iraq, less than five per cent of the population: now, estimates hover between 200,000 and 250,000. Those who have left often have no hope or expectation of return.

For some time now, Iran has had the infamous reputation of being one of the most dangerous countries to be a Christian. However, Christianity is taking root in an ongoing revival for Jesus. Hundreds of Iranians as well as Afghans were baptised in November. It is thought that twenty years ago there were 2,000-5,000 Christian believers in Iran: that number has grown more than tenfold since then. At least 300,000-400,000 former Muslims now live new lives in Christ. TBN Nejat TV, a broadcasting ministry, has also seen astounding harvests. Since its launch in 2006, as many as five million Iranian Muslims have begun a new life in Christ as a result of the network. TBN reports that it has helped to establish and disciple over 90 underground churches in Iran, Afghanistan, Kurdistan and other Farsi-speaking areas.

Many Christian children in Pakistan face discrimination, abuse, hostility and even violence at government schools. A class of schoolgirls in Pakistan were taking an exam in Home Economics. The examiner was tasting the food they had cooked. But when she got to the Christian girls she refused to touch what they had cooked, saying it would make her unclean. She tipped the food in the bin, and the girls failed the exam. Four Christian girls at a Punjabi high school were forced to bring their own drinking glasses and water bottles to school after Muslim students complained they were unclean. There are also many who cannot go to school at all because their parents cannot afford the fees. Instead, children are forced to work as menial labourers, often in high-risk jobs.

The Church is the largest social force in China not controlled by the Communist Party. As a result, there are increasing efforts to restrict the way Christians operate. A considerable number of Christians are still imprisoned. Violence is at a very high level and is increasing: also, churches have been closed, and landlords pressurised to stop renting premises to Christians. The story for Christians in China varies hugely depending on the region. There has been a significant change for the better for Han Chinese, but Christians from minority ethnic groups face a great amount of persecution. ‘There was a woman in my church who was kidnapped by her family when they found out she converted. They took her back to her home village, broke her legs so she could not escape, and then tried to force her to be a Muslim again.’ These are the words of a Christian leader from the Hui people group. Originally from a Muslim family, as most Hui are, she came to Christ 14 years ago. In spite of the enormous risk, many Hui are becoming Christians. ‘It is amazing how the gospel message touches the hearts of the Hui; many are giving up everything to follow Christ.’

A report by the Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News showed that persecution worsened in 2016, with a steep rise in organised, government-sponsored anti-Christian campaigns on radio and television, combined with a vicious crackdown on Farsi-speaking fellowships. Dozens of house churches have been investigated, meetings interrupted and members arrested, interrogated and imprisoned. Records show that 92 Christian converts from Islam are currently awaiting trial, although the real number is likely to be far higher. The report also mentioned a number of well-known Iranian Christians being deliberately defamed, portraying them as morally and financially corrupt. Publication of Bibles and Christian literature in the country is banned, whilst there is subsidising of the publication of works which give a false and negative image of Christianity. Lift up in prayer all Christians held in prison. Pray that the authorities in Iran will not see Christians, including converts from Islam, as a threat but rather as a valuable part of Iranian society, and that government efforts to discredit and suppress Christianity will prove futile.