Tag: Ethiopia

MAID TO SUFFER – Re-Blog Y-Oman.com

Peanut Gallery: It’s been less than 50 years since slavery was abolished in Oman. But it’s much easier to change laws, than it is to change attitudes… as the following article illustrates.

Human trafficking is just another form of de facto slavery. The living conditions can be horrible and the treatment of servants/workers even worse… and this is in Oman who are the relative “good guys” in the Gulf region.

To their credit, they allowed this article to be published – remember that Oman is an absolute monarchy. And they are beginning to acknowledge and address this issue.

But condescending, exploitative attitudes towards non-Arab expats are hard to change. They are built into the Arab/Islamic mindset which dominates the region.

Note: 100 Omani Rials are worth 260 American Dollars.
__________________________

30 MAY 2013   POSTED BY Y

image
Isolated and far from home with no one to turn to, the plight of Ethiopian domestic staff who came to Oman for a new life and end up trapped in a nightmare, is one that cannot be ignored, reports Kate Ginn.

She had arrived in Oman from a small town in a remote part of Ethiopia full of hope. Hope that she had secured a good job as a maid in a prosperous country and would be able to send money to her family back home. She believed this fortuitous break might herald some much-needed luck and that a brighter future now beckoned for her far away from the confines of her poverty-stricken African homeland.

Her lucky break was in fact being found still alive after being raped and violated by her sponsor and three of his friends and dumped like a piece of rubbish in the desert to die.

When some locals came across her, she was bleeding and barely conscious, having spentten days in the desert. Doctors said she only survived because of the unusual prolonged rainy conditions, another piece of luck.

Not having friends or family to turn to or any embassy to provide shelter, she was alone and helpless.

Without the kindness of strangers, she would have died. Even then, she was arrested and jailed for two months because her Omani sponsor had alerted police in the Interior that she was a ‘run-away’ or absconder.

Continue reading “MAID TO SUFFER – Re-Blog Y-Oman.com” →

The mass exodus of Christians from the Muslim world | Fox News

By  Published May 07, 2013 / FoxNews.com

Link to original: The mass exodus of Christians from the Muslim world | Fox News.

May 4, 2013: Pope Tawadros II, the 118th pope of the Coptic Church of Egypt, leads the Easter Mass at St. Mark's Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
May 4, 2013: Pope Tawadros II, the 118th pope of the Coptic Church of Egypt, leads the Easter Mass at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

A mass exodus of Christians is currently underway.  Millions of Christians are being displaced from one end of the Islamic world to the other.

We are reliving the true history of how the Islamic world, much of which prior to the Islamic conquests was almost entirely Christian, came into being.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently said: “The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented and it’s increasing year by year.”  In our lifetime alone “Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt.”

Ongoing reports from the Islamic world certainly support this conclusion:  Iraq was the earliest indicator of the fate awaiting Christians once Islamic forces are liberated from the grip of dictators.

In 2003, Iraq’s Christian population was at least one million. Today fewer than 400,000 remain—the result of an anti-Christian campaign that began with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, when countless Christian churches were bombed and countless Christians killed, including by crucifixion and beheading.

The 2010 Baghdad church attack, which saw nearly 60 Christian worshippers slaughtered, is the tip of a decade-long iceberg.

Now, as the U.S. supports the jihad on Syria’s secular president Assad, the same pattern has come to Syria: entire regions and towns where Christians lived for centuries before Islam came into being have now been emptied, as the opposition targets Christians for kidnapping, plundering, and beheadings, all in compliance with mosque calls telling the populace that it’s a “sacred duty” to drive Christians away. Continue reading “The mass exodus of Christians from the Muslim world | Fox News” →

Please pray for Ethiopian Christians – World Watch List #15

Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Worshippers 2Peanut Gallery: Ethiopia has considered itself a Christian country since the fourth century, and its Christian roots are sometimes traced back to the Ethiopian eunuch who met Philip on the road while reading the book of Isaiah (Acts 8:26-40). Today it is the only Christian-majority country in the Horn of Africa, surrounded by a “sea” of Islam. (Barnabas Fund)

The source of persecution is twofold: the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (hostility towards the growing  Protestant Christian minority) and Islamic extremistism (hostility towards all Christians).
________________________________________

ETHIOPIA (Wikipedia)

Ethiopia_shaded_relief_map_1999,_CIAPopulation: 86.5 million (57 million Christians)
Main Religion: Christianity (Orthodox) – see Christianity in Ethiopia (Wikipedia)
Source of Persecution: Ecclesiastical arrogance (or Denominational elitism) and Islamic extremism
_________________
For years, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has persecuted believers who have left their ranks or joined renewal movements. But Islamic extremism has now become the dominant source of persecution. Converts and ‘underground believers’ have to be very cautious to avoid being traced. Muslim fanatic group, Kewarjah, is repeatedly blamed for attacks against Christians in the south-west. A new law banning all religious messages and talks from public spaces is expected to bring a wave of restrictions against Christians.

Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (Place of Jesus)
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (Place of Jesus)

PLEASE PRAY:

  • For secret believers; there have been some violent attacks within families.
  • Violence against Christian women often goes unreported. Pray for protection for Christian women.
  • Thank God that Open Doors has been able to supply Bibles and training, as well as bicycles to pastors.

PERSECUTION DYNAMICS

Ethiopia rose sharply on the World Watch List in 2012. Protestant churches are the fastest growing movement in the country. “Underground movements” both in EOC and Muslim-majority areas have been reported as making incredible progress in their work, and EOC and Islamism will continue to see them as a threat. In the short term it is likely that persecution of Christians will increase sharply – all the more so because extremist Islam in Ethiopia is fuelled by external sources. The unresolved conflict in the east of the country is also attracting some extremist groups like al-Shaabab from neighbouring Somalia.

(A destroyed Protestant church in Asendabo, 300 km (200 miles) west of the capital Addis Ababa, March 16, 2011, after Muslim youths attacked Christians/Aaron Maasho )
(A destroyed Protestant church in Asendabo, 300 km (200 miles) west of the capital Addis Ababa, March 16, 2011, after Muslim youths attacked Christians/Aaron Maasho )

Hostilities take different forms. There are the ‘normal’ hostilities represented by significant pressure in private and church life. Converts and almost all ‘underground believers’ have to take maximum care to avoid being traced. The level of violence is medium, although it is likely that several forms of physical violence are underreported, in particular, violence against Christian women. A church leader was stabbed to death by Muslims six hours’ walk from his home village in Western Ethiopia. Muslims singled out the leader because of his active role in evangelism and discipleship services in a newly started church.