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Persecution in China Dramatically Worse, 2014

4/26/2015

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Religious Persecution in China Dramatically Worsened in 2014, Group Says
Advocacy organization reports steep increase in cases, people harmed.
April 24, 2015 By Editor
Morning Star News  

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Persecution of Christians in China reached its highest level in more than a decade last year as the government cracked down on church growth perceived as a threat to Communist Party power, according to a U.S.-based advocacy group.

Texas-based China Aid Association (CAA) this week reported 572 cases of religious – mainly Christian – persecution last year, a 300 percent increase over the previous year’s 143 cases. The number of people affected in those cases jumped from 7,424 to 17,884 people. More than 1,592 were church leaders, compared with 800 the previous year, CAA reported.

“In 2014, the scope, depth, and intensity of persecution against religious practitioners far surpassed that of 2013,” China Aid reported. “The increase in government-sanctioned persecution against religious practitioners and human rights lawyers and advocates reflects the overall political transformation that is occurring within the Communist Party in China (CPC), namely an orchestrated effort to consolidate power and suppress dissent and any perceived threats to the Chinese government, including the growth of religion in China.”

Among church leaders persecuted, 449 were detained, compared with 54 the previous year, according to the report. In 2014, the number of people sentenced for activity related to their faith reached 1,274, compared with just 12 the previous year.

Authorities last year engaged in 71 cases of verbal, mental or physical abuse of believers, an increase of 343.75 percent over the previous year’s figure of 16, CAA reported. In those instances, 242 people were abused, an increase of 384 percent compared with 2013’s figure of 140.

Overall, in six categories combined – numbers of religious persecution cases, people persecuted for their religion, people detained, people sentenced, severe abuse cases and individuals severely abused – persecution last year increased 152.74 percent compared with 2013, CAA reported. Statistics indicated a crack-down growing over the last several years, as the overall figure was 250.85 percent worse than in 2012, 296.64 percent worse than in 2011, 465.19 percent worse than in 2010, 549.48 percent worse than in 2009, 673.31 percent worse than in 2008 and 1,331.76 percent worse than in 2007, according to CAA.

A government campaign to eradicate church buildings exceeding size limits in Zhejiang Province accounted for some of the increase in cases of persecution. The campaign included actions against church buildings belonging to the government-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM).

“In reality, the campaign indiscriminately removed and demolished crosses on church buildings and, in many cases, demolished the entire church building, regardless of whether the building had been previously approved by the Chinese government,” the CAA reported.

Besides the campaign against oversized church buildings and crosses in Zhejiang Province, CAA said a number of factors led to the increases in persecution in 2014. A wide-spread crackdown on “cult activities” played a large role, affecting 1,000 religious adherents, it reported.

Communist authorities consistently cited “attacking cults” as a pretext for launching large-scale campaigns against Christians and house churches, the report said. Cases in Shandong, Sichuan, and Hunan provinces show that authorities regularly cited Clause 300 of the Criminal Law, defined as “organizing cults and sects and using superstition to undermine law enforcement,” in an attempt to harass and persecute house church pastors, elders, and church members, it said.

“The CPC’s handling of the majority of cases has disregarded the rule of law and standard legal procedures,” the report noted. “A large number of ‘anti-cult’ trials were conducted in secret, and many of those accused were not permitted to hire legal counsel and were forced to accept government-appointed lawyers. The Chinese government has also intimidated and pressured family members of those accused of so-called ‘cult activities’ to not raise their legal cases and incidents of persecution publicly; thus many remain unknown.”

Christian support organization Open Door’s annual ranking of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian placed China 29th last year, a deterioration from 2013, when it landed at 37th place.

CAA reported the government forcibly collected and documented information about house churches and church members and forced house church members to join the government- sanctioned TSPM.

A Chinese government campaign begun in 2011 that aimed to eradicate house churches within 10 years escalated in 2014, the CAA report said.

“The overall number of house church leaders and members who were administratively detained, arrested and sentenced or summoned to court, the number of forcibly demolished churches and prohibited church gatherings, and the total number of church members who experienced physical or verbal abuse or threats all demonstrated a dramatic increase in comparison to China Aid statistics from 2013,” the report said.

Shouwang Church in Beijing continued to be harassed, house churches in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region were persecuted for teaching religion to minors, and a house church in Cao County was persecuted under the guise of “engaging in cult activities,” the report said.

2014 marked the fourth year Shouwang Church was forced to hold outdoor worship services after it was deprived of its building. Pressure escalated in May 2014, with authorities subjecting members to administrative detention, typically five to seven days for first-time attenders and 10 days for regular members.

Nearly 100 members of Shouwang Church received administrative detention notices, and some were held multiple times, the report said.

“In addition, police physically injured more than 10 church members, including Jin Shaohua,” CAA reported. “Senior Pastor Jin Tianming and other pastors and elders from the church have been under house arrest for the past four years with limited personal freedom, bringing church operations nearly to a halt.”

The Cao County Public Security Bureau in Heze, Shandong Province, in June dispatched forces to apprehend Zhao Weiliang, Cheng Hongpeng and 20 other house-church members for allegedly “engaging in cult activities,” CAA reported. In the aftermath, 18 of the church’s 22 members were charged, nine criminally.

“The only alleged offense the church members committed was gathering to practice worship songs,” CAA reported. “As a result of the public attention given to their case and the intervention of human rights lawyers, a majority of the detained church members were released on probation and are awaiting trial.”

While urban churches such as Shouwang in Beijing and Wanbang Church in Shanghai continued to meet in spite of ongoing persecution, large house churches in mid- to large-size cities remained subject to strict control and harassment by local public security and religious affairs bureaus; examples were Chengdu’s Xiuyuzhifu Church, Guangzhou’s Liangren Church and Guiyang’s Huoshi Church, according to the report.

House churches in rural areas also saw increased levels of violence and persecution, the report said.

“In reviewing statistics, it appears that the Chinese government’s persecution of the house churches was most severe in north, northwest, south, and southwest regions of China,” CAA reported.

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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Persecution Magazine, April 2015

4/25/2015

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ICC investigates persecution in Chhattisgarh, India's state that is most hostile toward Christians. Believers tell us how an anti-Christian resolution in over 50 villages has heightened persecution against Christians...
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Persecution Magazine
April 2015
International Christian Concern
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Reconciliation

4/25/2015

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

www.persecution.org  |  E-mail: [email protected]
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100 Years: Remembrance, Rejection, and Steps of Reconciliation 
Todd Daniels, Regional Manager for the Middle East

04/24/2015 
Washington, D.C.
International Christian Concern

Today marks 100 years since what is generally recognized as the beginning of the Armenian Genocide. On April 24, 1915, approximately 250 Armenian intellectuals and leaders in Istanbul were arrested and subsequently executed. At the same time, in the eastern city of Van, fighting was breaking out between the Turkish Governor and the Armenian population that would lead to the deaths of some 55,000 Armenians over the coming months.

Today in Turkey, and in hundreds of events around the world, many will stop to remember these events and the millions of lives that were taken. It was not just the Armenians who were massacred in Medz Yeghern (The Great Crime), but also Greek Orthodox and the Assyrian and Syriac Christian communities in what is known as Shato d'Sayfo (Year of the Sword). Over the span of about three years, nearly 3 million Christians from the lands of the Ottoman Empire were killed (500,000 Greek, 750,000 Assyrian, and 1.5 million Armenians).

While the historical record regarding the fact of these killings is well documented, there remains a debate about whether it was a campaign to systematically exterminate an entire community. The government of the modern-day Republic of Turkey, the successors of the Ottoman Empire, maintains its rejection that a genocide took place, while acknowledging the lives of Ottoman Armenians and other minorities that were lost.

In the past two years, there has been progress made by the Turkish government in acknowledging the incidents and expressing statements of sorrow and respect towards the Armenian community. Perhaps even more encouraging have been the efforts taken by Turkish and Kurdish religious leaders to express repentance and pursue reconciliation with Armenians.

Remembrance and Rejection

In a message sent by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Religious Ceremony held on April 24 by the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, he said, "Let me reiterate that we are cognizant of the sorrowful events experienced in the past by the Armenian community and that I sincerely share your pain."

In a similar statement, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, "It is with these feelings and thoughts that we once more commemorate with deep respect the Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives during the relocation in 1915 and we share in the grief of their children and grandchildren."

While both statements express genuine sympathy for the lives that were lost, they maintain the rejection of a genocide of the Christian minorities in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

Acceptance of that term remains loaded politically and, despite heavy pressure to label the acts a genocide, it is something that President Barack Obama avoided in his statement that strongly condemned the atrocities that were committed.

"Beginning in 1915, the Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire were deported, massacred and marched to their deaths," Obama's statement said. "Their culture and heritage in their ancient homeland were erased. Amid horrific violence that saw suffering on all sides, one and a half million Armenians perished."

The statement goes on to acknowledge the value of admitting to painful and dark periods of the past. "Peoples and nations grow stronger, and build a foundation for a more just and tolerant future, by acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past," he continued.

This is slowly happening within Turkey and a number of Turkish and Kurdish religious leaders have been at the forefront of pursuing reconciliation in a way that has been both painful and liberating.

Steps of Reconciliation

On April 11, 2015 more than 20 Turkish citizens - from both Turkish and Kurdish ethnic backgrounds - gathered with Armenian leaders around the eternal flame of the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, Armenia.

"We entreat you, if you can forgive us and our ancestors who committed this crime. Forgive and pray for revival in Turkey and for the Turkish people," a Turkish pastor said to the gathering at the memorial.

"You wrote history here in Yerevan today," one Armenian pastor declared, according to a World Watch Monitor report. It was the first time, he thought, that prayers in Turkish and Armenian had ever been voiced together before the somber memorial.

The meeting in Yerevan came just one month after more than 100 Turkish, Kurdish, and Armenian pastors met in Istanbul for a reconciliation meeting.

"The event was amazing and something that has never happened before," one of the Armenian pastors said. "It is something that both our nations need. Their request to forgive and our forgiveness will bring revival in Turkey. It is very difficult to write down my deep feelings connected to our visit but I can surely say that it will have big influence in the future of the two nations."

Another Armenian pastor who spoke very openly about the continuing legacy shared, "No matter how much we love, pray and follow the commandments of God, anyway, there is a black part, a sorrow in each Armenian's heart and these feelings are transmitted from generation to generation. That is the reality of the Genocide, and the fact that Turkey still denies the existence of this historical fact." But, he continued, "When I think about our visit to Turkey, firstly, I remember a Turkish boy, who said the following sentence with his broken English, 'I am sorry that my grandfathers have killed your grandfathers, excuse me.' These words were coming out from a sincere heart, and had a great influence on me and made me think about many things.

It was effective to see pastors, who wept with repentance and regret. Armenians need to hear these things, and these words will comfort and heal their hearts and lead to prayer. In every family, parents now will not teach hatred to their children, instead this: they will love and pray for the Turkish nation.

As an Armenian, it was very important for me to see Turks remorseful. I proudly told people that I have met Christian Turks who asked for forgiveness, and asked them to pray for them and their nation."

The power of these meetings is both painful to reconcile with what took place in the past but it is also stirring a move in the church among both Armenians and Turks. Christians in Turkey now make up just a fraction of 1 percent of the country, down from 20 percent in 1906. There are an estimated 5,000 Turkish or Kurdish Christians from a Muslim background and an additional 100,000 of various Orthodox or other denominations.

"It has been a long time since I and the church have been this excited.  God used this [reconciliation meeting] to renew me and personally I really needed to be a part of this," a Turkish pastor said following the meetings. "My hope is that the reconciliation that has begun here will spread to the general public of the Turkish and Armenian peoples."

A Kurdish-background pastor shared his particularly moving testimony as, in many cases, the Kurds were the ones who physically carried out many of the massacres.

"Woe, to what have we done! The Ottoman Empire reached its pinnacle in 1915 and even before then with the forced exile of the Armenians and their massacre.  Millions of people were forced from their ancient lands.  They were forced from their homes, villages and cities to slaughter, to death and to exile.  I join in the deep feelings with you all in this great deep tragedy and pain of this 100th year remembrance.  To my Armenian brothers, sisters and neighbors that are live in Turkey like the remaining grapes on a vintage vine. Please forgive me."

Though not universally embraced, and still a deeply painful chapter in the history of both peoples, this reconciling effort is demonstrating the role that faith can play in bringing reconciliation to those who appear to be enemies.

"Never Again" or Happening Today?  

While today marks 100 years since the horrific killing of millions of Christians on the basis of their religious and ethnic identity, be that Armenian, Greek, or Assyrian, it should prompt the world to stop and consider a reality that is happening today.

Across Syria and Iraq, the very places where many of these deaths took place 100 years ago, Christians are once again being slaughtered because of their religious and ethnic identity.

This time it is not at the hands of the Ottoman Empire ruled over by the last Caliph of Islam, it is at the hands of a self-declared "Islamic State" and their supposed renewed Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The Islamic jihadists from ISIS are slaughtering Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities by the thousands, and it is happening in our time.

As today marks 100 years since the start of one genocide, calls made by world leaders, whether Turkish, European, or American, of "never again" will ring hollow if they continue to allow a modern day genocide to once again happen to these very same people in the very same lands. 

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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ACLJ - Working Hard for Christians Everywhere

4/25/2015

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Photo Courtesy ACLJ
The Obama Administration is wrong.

Pastor Saeed, in chains for Christ, is a U.S. citizen being held hostage in Iran. He and the other three Americans wrongfully imprisoned in Iran should not be relegated to the “sidelines.”

They must be freed.

As we aggressively fight for Pastor Saeed, we need to hear from at least 25,000 more people.

Sign our Petition: No Deal Without Pastor Saeed Home.

Read Jay Sekulow’s Op-Ed: Why Is Saeed’s Case Sidelined?

Pastor Saeed is not alone.

Christians in the cradle of Christianity face historic genocide. We must share their stories and fight for them.

Watch Our New Film About the Persecuted: “Let My People Go.”

Read Our Analysis: Systematic Killing of Christians Continues.

Babies who amazingly survive abortions are being physically strangled, mutilated, or left to die. We’re taking direct action globally to defend them.

Read Our Shocking Report: The Murder of Babies Born Alive.

Did you know students are still being told they can’t bring a Bible to school?

Read: Vigorously Defending Students’ Religious Liberty.

The ACLJ Team
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Idlib Province Falls to al-Nusra Front

4/25/2015

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Christian Evacuees Mourn Idlib
by Bilal Slaytin
Al-Monitor
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Deserted Church in Idlib Province, Courtesy Al-Monitor
A survivor from Idlib implored the heavens to help the Syrian army liberate the city from armed groups and save his house, where he left his misery along with his family memories. He received reports from Idlib that Jabhat al-Nusra wrote “Christian” on the front of his house. This means that if the owners do not return within 10 days to pay a fee, the house is to be confiscated by the group.

Idlib’s Christians have been the target of mounting attacks as Jabhat al-Nusra eyes their cities for its Islamic emirate, killing and expelling minorities to realize its goals.

Idlib’s Christians never thought the battles would lead to the fall of their city. Some of them did not opt to leave during the displacement wave that followed the battles, and woke up to find that armed groups had occupied their city.

A woman told As-Safir, “I saw them on Saturday morning from my veranda. They demolished the cross of our church and then entered the church and smashed the things in it. They kidnapped Father Ibrahim Farah along with a young pharmacist. We had no choice but to light candles and pray to the Virgin Mary as we hugged our children in our homes.”

She confirmed that icons of historical and spiritual importance were taken from the church, and that what happened there hurt the townspeople...

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Christian Graves Destroyed in Mosul

4/25/2015

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Nothing Sacred: ISIS Destroys Christian Grave Sites in Mosul
by Perry Chiaramonte
Fox News
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Photo Courtesy MEMRI
Even Iraq's dead Christians aren’t safe from ISIS.

The Islamic State's campaign of terror across the war-torn nation, which has already seen countless beheadings, destruction of priceless art and religious artifacts and insistence that Christians submit or die, now includes mass desecration of graves. Photos of the black-clad, extremist ghouls smashing headstones in cemeteries in the key northern city of Mosul were posted Thursday online under the title "Leveling Graves and Erasing Pagan Symbols."

"The April 16 destruction of Christian graves in Mosul, Iraq by the Islamic State (ISIS) is part of the organization's ongoing campaign against Christianity, in the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world," said Steven Stalinsky, executive director of The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which flagged the photos.

The shocking images appeared on the Shomoukh Al-Islam jihadi forum and other various websites, according to MEMRI. They show ISIS militants shattering graves with sledgehammers and carving out the crosses that were engraved on the stones. The photos were released along with a statement claiming to justify the defacing. The "hadith," or Islamic teaching, stated that any grave higher than ground level must be shattered. Any images on such graves must be erased as well, according to the twisted edict...


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Prayer Force Alert, May 2015

4/25/2015

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Prayer Force Alert
May 2015
Open Doors
Prayer Force Alert, May 2015
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Somali Woman Gives Up Everything for Christ

4/25/2015

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Somali Christian Gives Up Family, Education, Safety for Faith
by Janelle Powers
Christian Headlines
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Courageous Somali believer Fatuma Nur Hussain* has sacrificed everything familiar to follow Christ - her family, friends, studies and her safety. Fleeing from her family after intense pressure to recant, she lives day by day with the constant fear of being found by them. She endures great uncertainty about her future. But despite these pressures, she continues to cling to Christ in faith, desiring to grow to a deep knowledge of the One who saved her. 
 
Fatuma was born into a Muslim-Somali family. The 23-year-old woman has 22 brothers and sisters. Her mother was the second of her father’s four wives, but she died when Fatuma was only 13. 
 
Fatuma’s family practiced heavily syncretistic folk Islam, and it was her mother’s responsibility to make offerings on behalf of the family to the ancestors by slaughtering red goats. When she died, it was assumed that Fatuma would take over this responsibility. But she had other interests. She wanted to graduate from school and live her own life. 
 
Following her mother’s death, Fatuma enrolled to study Accounting at University.  One day, a Christian friend on campus told her about Jesus and His healing power and invited Fatuma to attend church with her. Because of some intense health issues she had been recently experiencing, she agreed to go. After the visit, Fatuma saw remarkable improvement in her health, but didn’t make a decision to follow Christ. 
 
Several weeks later, she went to church again, and made a decision for Christ. Fatuma experienced not only spiritual freedom, but received physical healing. She joined the church, and began attending all the services...
 

*Name has been changed to protect the identity of the individual involved. 
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Boko Haram Adopts ISIS Strategy

4/25/2015

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Boko Haram Adopts ISIS' Bloody Religious Cleansing Strategy
by Steve Dorsey
Fox News
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The Islamic militant group Boko Haram is adopting ISIS' bloody strategy of stamping out Christianity with a frightening fervor, putting Nigeria's 70 million followers of Jesus in danger for their lives, fearful human rights advocates say.

Boko Haram leaders vowed their formal allegiance to IS in an audio message in Arabic posted to Twitter last month, according to intelligence analysts. The militant group has launched murderous rampages across northeastern Nigeria, and into neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Niger. In an attack April 7, Islamist extremists disguised themselves as preachers and killed at least 24 people in Nigeria’s Borno state.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has condemned the attack and is calling for a multinational strategy to fight the group.

“Boko Haram is probably the most lethal Islamic extremist group in the world,” said Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute.

Experts worry the attacks are part of a rising trend by the group to target Christians and other non-Muslims as it works to gain control of territories in West Africa.

“That is the strategy of Boko Haram,” according to David Curry, head of non-profit Open Doors USA which works with Christian refugees around the world. “These attacks are escalating...”

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Persecution Increasing in India

4/25/2015

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Christian Persecution Increasing in India
by Julie Oosterhouse
Mission Network News
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Pastors Arul and Omkar, Courtesy VOM
Christians in India don’t have it easy– some places are more dangerous than others. Yet, the same Christians who face danger each day understand the message they carry about Jesus is worth more than their safety. Voice of the Martyrs recently shared the following two stories of persecution brought on by Hindu Radicals and Muslims respectively. Pray that Christians in India would remain strong in their faith and their efforts to tell others about Jesus.]

Mob Attacks PastorsThough a small house church in India had previously received warnings from Hindu extremists, a recent attack on two church leaders was surprising.

As the church met on Sunday March 15, radicals from the RSS and BJP Hindu political organizations stormed the service. Pastor “Arul” was in the middle of a sermon when more than 30 extremists poured into the building. They began to beat him in the face, head, and chest. “Omkar,” another church leader, tried to stop the attack, but he was overpowered.

The extremists wrenched Arul and Omkar out of the building. The angry mob punched and kicked the two as they dragged them a quarter of a mile to the police station. There, police charged the men with “forcing conversions,” a crime in many Indian states.

The attack left Arul and Omkar bloodied and badly bruised, and Arul had difficulty breathing. He and Omkar went to a nearby hospital. A chest x-ray revealed that two of the pastor’s ribs were fractured...

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    News and Information about
    Persecuted Christians from all around the
    World

    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
    that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
    Revelation 2:10

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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
    happen here.

    Please read 5 Myths about Persecution of Christians, by
    Kristin Wright, at Religion Today.


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