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Coptic Church Attacked in Al-Our Village

3/29/2015

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International Christian Concern
2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #241
Washington, D.C. 20006

www.persecution.org  |  E-mail: [email protected]

03/29/2015 
Washington, D.C. 
International Christian Concern
Picture
Mob of Muslims Violently Attack Church in Protest Against Memorial for Egyptian Martyrs
At least six Coptic Christians wounded as armed mob storms church in Al-Our village, home to 13 of the martyrs executed by ISIS in Libya

Todd Daniels, Regional Manager for the Middle East with ICC's Egypt Representative

As the country prepared to mark the fortieth day since the release of a video showing the execution of 21 Christians by ISIS jihadists in Libya, the home village of 13 of the 20 Egyptian martyrs was again the focus of Islamic extremists.

At least six cars from a surrounding village carrying more than twenty armed men arrived in Al-Our village as dark started to settle over the village of 5,000. These men joined joined a crowd of more than 100 locals from Al-Our and made their way to Virgin Mary Church, currently the only church for the towns nearly 2,500 Christians.

"At 8 pm, a group of armed Muslim young men in six or seven cars from nearby villages stormed our village. Many Muslim fanatic young men joined those who came from the other nearby villages and attacked the church," Milad Nageh, of Al-Our told International Christian Concern (ICC).

"They shot guns at the church and pelted the church with stones and blocks," Milad said. "They smashed the sign of the church, destroying the ground of the church yard and breaking the widows of the service buildings of the church. They also burned a car that was parked in the front of the church."

It was not only those who came from the other villages, but many of the Muslims from Al-Our were involved as well. "The Muslims whose homes surrounded the church were throwing stones at the church from the roofs of their homes," Milad said.

"This attack on the church was arranged before because a truck loaded with cement blocks had unloaded all of their blocks in the front of a Muslim home nearby the church two days ago,"Milad told ICC on Saturday morning, March 28, from inside the Virgin Mary church. He and others from the church stayed awake all Friday night to help protect the church in case there was another attack.

"We thought that these blocks would be used in construction of a building belonging to the owner of this home, but these blocks were prepared to attack the church," Milad said.  

Calls for Protection Went Unanswered


Church leaders were concerned that there would be protests from Muslims on Friday.

Fr. Makar Issa, the priest of The Virgin Mary Church in Al-Our village told ICC, "On Thursday evening, March 26, I was informed that the next day, Friday there will be Islamic demonstrations in the village against us."


At the Mass on Friday morning, "Bishop Raphael who came from Cairo to take part in the prayer of the memorial of 40th day of our martyrs informed that some Muslims from the village and the other nearby villages will organize march in our village after their Friday noon prayer,"Milad said. "They were protesting the building of a new church and they intend to attack the Christians and the church."

Fr. Makar asked the community not deal with the demonstrators during their march in the streets of the village even if they tried to provoke, and asked the youth to remain in the church to protect it from any attack.

"I called the police many times and asked them to come to guard us but they came late and after their arrival they didn't guard the church. They stopped in the entrance of the village. Even still they allowed the cars of the attackers to enter the village and attack us and the church without any intervention from them to protect us," Fr. Makar said.

"I charge the responsibility of what happened to the policemen," Fr. Makar Issa continued, "and I accuse them accuse them of inaction, indifference and complicity."

At least six Christians were wounded by the attackers, three of them suffering serious injuries.

Martyrs' Families Attacked Again

On Friday, March 27 the Virgin Mary Church in Al-Our held a mass to commemorate theArbaieen, marking 40 days since the release of the video showing the beheading of the 21 Christians in Egypt. A larger service was to be held in Samalout city on Saturday, March 28.

13 of the 21 martyrs were from Al-Our village. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had declared that a church would be built in the village to commemorate them, but, as Ishak Ibrahim documents, even this had sparked a reaction of protest from some Egyptians.


This overflowed on Friday, following the afternoon prayers at the mosques in the village. Demonstrators made their way through the streets chanting slogans against the church.

They were chanting things like "Islamic, Islamic" and "By no means, no church will be built on this ground," and "We will make the church on the ground," Milad told ICC.

They also made their way to the home Samuel Alham Wilson, one of the martyrs, and pelted it with stones and rocks.

Bebawy Alham Wilson, the brother of the Martyr Samuel Alham Wilson, told ICC, "After the Muslim Friday noon prayers some Muslim young men attacked our home which located in the entrance of the village. During their march while I was alone in the home with the my wife, wives of my brothers, and my mother. My brothers were in the church at this time. The attackers attempted to storm my home, I hurried and locked the door and barred it. They then hurled stones at my home."

After more than two hours of protesting and assaulting the Wilson home, three police cars arrived and deployed in the entrance of the village. "They set up in the front of the mosque of the village, not even going to guard the church," Milad told ICC.

Then when more rioters came in the evening, the police again did almost nothing to prevent the attacks on the church, only after much of the damage had taken place did the disperse the crowd.

"There is a situation of panic and fear among all of us here. We are afraid that more violent attacks will occur against us and the church after the departure of the security forces who are deployed across the village now," Malak Nageh Ishack, a resident in the village told ICC.

"We gave the security forces names of 100 Muslim young men from the village who took part in attacking the church, but police men arrested only five of them and the rest of them are free," he said.

"The police asked us to stay in our homes, leaving the Muslim attackers free walking in the village streets," Malak said, "plus we have received threats from the Muslims that they will attack us again after the security forces leave the village."


On Saturday, the diocese of Samalout held a large memorial service, presided over by Bishop Anba of Samalout and attended by many of the local leaders. The hall of the church was packed and the church yard was full of people watching the mass on screen.

Absent, however, were many of the relatives of the 13 martyrs from Al-Our. "I couldn't go to the Diocese of Samalout to attend the service for the 40th day of the Martyrs," Beshir Stephanos Kemal, brother of the two martyrs Bishoy and Samuel, told ICC. "I had to stay to protect my home," he said.

Just 20 or 30 from Al-Our made the trip to Samalout to attend the service, mostly women and children, with the men staying behind fearing there may be more attacks.

Local leaders from the Christian and Muslim communities are to hold customary "reconciliation meetings" to try to stem the tensions that sparked this latest round of violence.

The Sisi government has made declarations to improve the status of Christians in Egypt, but the reality has hardly changed.


For the families of the men martyred in Libya, these attacks serve as yet another reminder that it is not just ISIS abroad, but even in their home village in Egypt they face armed attackers who are hostile to them as Christians and the presence of the church.


For interviews, contact Todd Daniels, Regional Manager for the Middle East: [email protected]
 
# # #

You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference International Christian Concern (ICC) and include our web address, www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington D.C.-based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.
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Christians Killed in Kenya

3/28/2015

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Five Christians Killed, One Critically Wounded, by Islamic Extremists in Kenya
Al Shabaab takes responsibility for shootings.

March 23, 2015 
By Our East Africa Correspondent
Leave a Comment
Picture
Aerial View of Wajir, Northeastern Kenja
MANDERA, Kenya
Morning Star News

Islamic extremists from Somalia took responsibility for killing four Christians on Tuesday (March 17) and another on March 15 in northeastern Kenya.

Somali rebel Al Shabaab militiamen or their Somali sympathizers have carried out several attacks on Kenyan soil the past two years, usually separating out Christians and executing them, in retaliation for Kenya’s military involvement in the Somali government’s fight against the insurgents.

Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s shooting deaths of four Kenyan Christians at a money-transfer shop in Wajir. An explosion, either from a grenade or a fire set with gasoline, then burned the bodies beyond recognition, area sources said.

An eyewitness from the same church denomination and area in central Kenya as the four victims told Morning Star News the deceased were members of the East Africa Pentecostal Church (EAPC) in Gacigongo sub-location, Tharaka-Nithi County; he identified them as Muthengi Mwithi, a member of EAPC’s Tseykulu parish, Gacigongo; Mwangangi Mucee, who was a youth leader at EAPC’s Tseykulu parish, Gacigongo; and Munyoki Mwinzi and Peter Iguna Muthui Mucee, both members of EAPC’s Kanyengya parish, Nkaraku village, Gacigongo sub-location.

A fifth Christian from the same area, Kithinji Muthengi, was critically injured in the attack and was airlifted to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. He is a member of Anglican Church of Kenya in Miramba Ya Ikamba village, Gacigongo, and his parents are EAPC members there.

All five Christians, as well as the eyewitness who identified the dead, had come to Wajir to find jobs in construction. The four who were killed were shot while inside the shop trying to send money to their families in central Kenya, an area source told Morning Star News.

An EAPC pastor in Gacigongo told Morning Star News that the Christians killed were highly active members of their congregations, and his church is mourning their deaths.

“The church is yet to come to terms with the barbaric destruction of their members,” the pastor said. “One of the parents of Mwangangi Mucee is admitted in the hospital because of shock.”

The critically injured Kithinji Muthengi was outside the shop when bullets struck him in the stomach, hands and legs; he was rushed to a hospital in Wajir before being airlifted to Nairobi, an area pastor said.

Two others were injured in the attack – another Kenyan, and a Somali woman clerking at the shop who sustained a minor injury from the shooting.

“We feel the Somali lady who suffered the bullet shot was just accidental, because for the rest of the victims, the gunshot hit them directly,” the area source said. “The guns which were fired hit the targeted persons.”

The charred remains of those who died were sent to Nairobi so that a pathologist could try to identify them through their families’ DNA, sources said.

The gunmen spoke in the Somali language, possibly allowing them to receive a signal to shoot that the migrant workers would not have understood, the area pastor said.

After the gunshots, the attackers locked the victims inside the shop and set them ablaze, an area pastor said.

“It is quite a horrific act that after the four victims being shot dead, the attackers went ahead and burned their bodies,” he said. “I know we as pastors here in Wajir are not safe at all.”

County Police Commander Samuel Mukindia reportedly confirmed that the assailants killed four people and wounded three others who were inside the shop at the time of the raid.

A representative for the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al Shabaab, Abdulaziz Abu Musab, took responsibility for the killings and said such attacks will continue.

Mandera Attack

In Mandera, also in northeastern Kenya but 390 kilometers (242 miles) away, EAPC member Allan Otieno was shot dead on Sunday (March 15), an area pastor told Morning Star News. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility.

Otieno, from western Kenya, was sprayed with gunfire along with three other Kenyans after leaving the car repair shop where they worked, AK Garage, to buy some food at about 8:30 p.m. Otieno was hit in the head and died immediately; the other three were wounded. All four were known to attend churches in Mandera.

“Though Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility, we cannot rule out jealousy from the community on the success of the business,” the pastor said.

One of the three wounded, Kelvin Ochieng of Mandera Community Church, is receiving treatment at Kenyatta National Hospital for a broken right hand, a leg wound and a bullet lodged in his waist. The two other injured Christians have been discharged.

The government had assured non-local workers that it would beef up security after attacks last year. Otieno left for Mandera on Jan. 7.

More than 800 teachers who came to Mandera from outside the area have vowed not to return to work there despite government assurance of security and threats to fire them.

In the Mandera attack, several shots were fired from a white car, and then gunmen fled, the pastor said.

“We really need prayers,” he said. “If we leave Mandera, it means abandoning God’s work.”

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit http://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that that can orient you on how to get involved.   

If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at http://morningstarnews.org/donate/?   

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© 2014 Morning Star News. Articles/photos may be reprinted with credit to Morning Star News.  

Morning Star News is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that relies solely on contributions to offer original news reports of persecuted Christians. By providing reliable news on the suffering church, Morning Star News’ mission is to empower those in the free world to help and to encourage persecuted Christians that they are not forgotten or alone. For free subscription or to make tax-deductible donations, contact [email protected], or send check to Morning Star News, 34281 Doheny Park Rd., # 7022, Capistrano Beach, CA 92624, USA.
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Pastor Huang Yizi Sentenced to One Year

3/28/2015

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Christian Pastor in China Gets One-Year Prison Term in Battle over Crosses
by Kiki Zhao
New York Times
Picture
Pastor Huang Yizi
A Christian pastor who defended local churches when the Chinese authorities removed church crosses was sentenced to one year in prison on Tuesday night by a court in Zhejiang Province.

The pastor, Huang Yizi, was sentenced by the People’s Court in Pingyang County after being convicted of “gathering crowds to disturb social order,” said Mr. Huang’s lawyer, Zhang Kai. Mr. Zhang said that he would appeal the court’s verdict.

Last July, Mr. Huang, a pastor of the government-sanctioned Fengwo Church in Pingyang, and several local residents asked the Pingyang County government to explain why the police beat more than 50 parishioners when they tried to stop government authorities from taking down the cross from Salvation Church, a Protestant church in Pingyang. Mr. Huang was arrested in August, and the Salvation Church’s cross was toppled several days after his arrest...

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Religious Freedom in Tatters

3/28/2015

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In India, Religious Freedom in Tatters
by Ruth Kramer
Mission Network News
Picture
Photo courtesy Anto Akkara of World Watch Monitor
The 300th day of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration did not pass unnoticed.

Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for the Voice of the Martyrs USA, says thousands gathered in Delhi for a protest. “It was a march that included Christians, Muslims, Hindus, opposition party members who were part of the previous government there. But the march really was to draw attention to the fact that ‘it’s been 300 days, and look at the religiously motivated attacks!'”

World Watch Monitor noted that the record of attacks, written on protest banners, show that there was more than one attack every two days on a religious minority group since Modi came to power. Nettleton confirms, “They talk about something like 600 religiously-motivated attacks–most of those against Muslims, but more than 150 of them against Christians.” Yet, most of the world never heard about a protest involving thousands of people in Delhi...

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Iraqi Christian History As Old As First Century Apostles

3/28/2015

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Iraq's Christians Persecuted by ISIS
60 Minutes
CBS News
Picture
Monastery of ST Matthew, Courtesy CBS News
There are few places on earth where Christianity is as old as it is in Iraq. Christians there trace their history to the first century apostles. But today, their existence has been threatened by the terrorist group that calls itself Islamic State. More than 125,000 Christians -- men, women and children -- have been forced from their homes over the last 10 months.

The Islamic State -- or ISIS -- stormed into Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, last summer and took control. From there, it pushed into the neighboring villages and towns across this region, known as the Nineveh Plains, a vast area that's been home to Christians since the first century after Christ. Much of what took almost 2,000 years to build has been lost in a matter of months.

On the side of a mountain, overlooking the Nineveh Plains of ancient Mesopotamia, is the Monastery of St. Matthew. It's one of the oldest on earth.

The voices of its monks have echoed here since the fourth century, uttering prayers that have not changed.

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Attacks and Counter Attacks in Lahore

3/28/2015

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Pakistani Christians Protest after Taliban Church Bombings
by Anna K Poole
Christian Headlines
Picture
Attacks and counterattacks are roiling the streets of Lahore, Pakistan. Suicide bombers attacked two churches in the Christian neighborhood of Youhanabad on Sunday, leaving at least 14 dead and 70 wounded. Almost immediately the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility, with Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan warning reporters in an email statement: “There will be more of such attacks.”
 
On Monday, some Pakistanis identified as Christians responded by rioting and blockading roads, including a major highway in Lahore. Transportation services shut down as demonstrators ransacked bus terminals, smashed vehicle windows, and pelted rocks at law enforcement. Two men suspected of involvement in the church bombings were burned alive. Zaeem Qadri, spokesman for the Punjab provincial government, said it was unfortunate the mob had killed the suspects rather than handing them over to police...
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Persecution Magazine

3/28/2015

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The wife of a pastor imprisoned in Eritrea is holding fast to her faith amid unimaginable persecution. Also, a former Muslim leader of 65 mosques shares his incredible testimony and burden of preaching the Good News to Ethiopia's Muslims...
Read More 
Persecution Magazine
March 2015
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Blasphemy Leads to Persecution in Pakistan

3/28/2015

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Pakistani Mobs Use Blasphemy as Excuse to Persecute, Say Christians
by Sib Kaifee
Pakistanis for Peace
Picture
Pakistani Girls Celebrate Easter with Henna, Public Domain
In Pakistan, the mere accusation of blasphemy is enough to spur angry mobs to violence, and human rights advocates say the victims are usually Christians.

[The  weekend of March 7th], some 3,000 Muslims stormed Christian churches, torched hundreds of homes and burned hundreds of Bibles in a Christian neighborhood of Lahore, the country’s second largest city.  It apparently began as an argument between two men, but once the accusation of blasphemy was invoked, it exploded into violence and mayhem.

“The attackers were given a free hand when they were torching the belongings and our homes,” a witness told FoxNews on condition of anonymity. “The attackers were Pashtuns and workers of different steel factories and warehouses.”

The violence came two days after Sawan Masih, a Christian sanitation worker , and Shahid Imran, a Muslim barber, scuffled.  When Imran accused Masih of blasphemy, police and a local mosque got involved and the situation spiraled out of control. Remarkably, no one was killed...

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Zhejiang Christians Released from Detention

3/20/2015

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3 Zhejiang Christians Released from Detention
by Rachel Ritchie
China Aid
Picture
Photo Courtesy China Aid
Three Christians from Wenzhou, in China’s coastal Zhejiang province, were released from detention on March 6; meanwhile, two Christians from other parts of Wenzhou remain in police custody. All five were detained during the province-wide persecution campaign against Protestant and Catholic churches, in which more than 425 churches received demolition notices and, in many cases, had their crosses removed or churches destroyed.

Ou Jinsi, Ji Qingcou and Ji Qingcao, all from Yazhong Church in Taishun County, Wenzhou were released from 136-day, 62-day, and 57-day detentions, respectively.

Yazhong Church received a notice from the Yayang town Party secretary on Aug. 15, 2014, ordering the church to remove their cross by the end of August. Additionally, the town government installed three surveillance cameras at an intersection leading to the church.

The church arranged for believers, one of whom was Ou, to guard the cross day and night. Ou was detained when he attempted to prevent a government employee from dismantling the cross. Several months later, the other men were detained when they attempted to negotiate with officials. The three were charged with “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order” and “obstructing official business...”
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Persecuted for Rebuilding a Church

3/20/2015

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Picture
Photo Courtesy Open Doors USA






Christians Persecuted for Trying to Rebuild Their Church
by Ava Dixon
Mission Network News
Close your eyes and imagine for a second that you are a Christian living in southern Egypt. Your church was destroyed, and when government approval was given to rebuild it, Muslims stepped in to stop it.

This is a reality for Coptic Orthodox Christians in Egypt.Open Doors USA reports that Muslim leaders are requiring them to agree to certain conditions before they can rebuild their church.

When construction started on the new church, Muslim extremists in the village stirred up a group to stop the work. Eventually, the Samalout police department called for a meeting between leaders from the church and more than 100 Muslims from the village who didn’t want the church rebuilt. Police attempted to persuade the angry crowd to allow the construction of the church to take place with without opposition.

After the meeting ended with no resolution, the angry Muslims returned to the village. They took to the streets, shouting: “Egypt will become an Islamic State.” They also chanted hostile slogans against Christians and stoned the houses of some Christians. That brought fear to the hearts of peaceful Christians of the village...

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    Persecuted saints benefit most from your heartfelt and earnest prayer.

    Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial;
    for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him
    .
    James 1:12

    'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the
    devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so
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    HOW TO READ A PERSECUTION NEWS STORY

    Trials make the promise sweet;
    Trials give new life to prayer;
    Trials bring me to His feet,
    Lay me low, and keep me there.


    "God often takes away our comforts and our privileges in order to make us better Christians. He trains His soldiers not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning them out and subjecting them to forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers, and climb mountains, and walk many long miles with heavy backpacks of sorrow. Well, Christian, may this not account for the troubles through which you are passing? Is the Lord bringing out your graces and making them grow? Is it for this reason He contends with you?"

    Read Why Do I Face Trials?,
    by Alistair Begg, Truth for Life Daily, at One Place

    Christian persecution is just a phenomenon in the
    Middle East.

    Christians aren’t greatly
    impacted by persecution.

    Whatever persecution there is, the damage is superficial - more a loss of multicultural diversity than anything else.

    Christians supposedly bring persecution upon themselves by proselytizing.

    Persecution couldn’t
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    Please read 5 Myths about Persecution of Christians, by
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