Please pray for Christians in Pakistan – World Watch List #14

Peanut Gallery: Persecuted Church in Pakistan – World Watch List #14

Discrimination impacts all aspects of daily life. Opening a new church building is virtually impossible and emigration of Christians continues unabated. The Christian community is very vulnerable and sexual assaults on underage Christian girls by Muslim men continue to be reported.

PAKISTAN
Population: 180 million (5.3 million Christians)
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic
Source of Persecution: Islamic extremism/Dictatorial paranoia/Organised corruption

Christians are caught between Islamic militant organisations, an Islamising culture and a weak government with a military complicit in fuelling Islamic militants. The Rimsha Masih case prompted a debate on blasphemy laws, but others still face charges and extremist groups continue to incite hatred for Christians. Many Christians are uneducated manual workers who suffer unfair treatment from employers. Muslim men continue to sexually assault underage Christian girls. Opening a new church building is virtually impossible and emigration of Christians continues.

PLEASE PRAY:

Praise God that the laws of Pakistan give Christians considerable freedom to run established churches
Give thanks that the Christian population is growing and a steady but significant trickle of Muslims are joining churches
For imprisoned Christian Asia Bibi, sentenced to death on blasphemy charges.

PERSECUTION DYNAMICS

Persecution has been in evidence in Pakistan for many years and the country is set to surpass Indonesia as the world’s largest Muslim population by 2030. Christians account for 2.5 per cent of the population.

In 2012 the case of Rimsha Masih, who was accused of having desecrated the Qu’ran, gained international attention. After three months in detention she was finally released in September and later exonerated of all charges. The case prompted a debate on how blasphemy laws are misused to target innocent people. Extremist groups continue to incite hatred for Christians: at the time Rimsha was released, other Christians were facing blasphemy charges.

Pakistani Christians search for salvageable belongings from the remains of their razed houses in Lahore on Monday (11 March 2013)

Discrimination impacts all aspects of daily life. Opening a new church building is virtually impossible and emigration of Christians continues unabated. The Christian community is very vulnerable and sexual assaults on underage Christian girls by Muslim men continue to be reported. Many Christians are uneducated manual workers who suffer unfair treatment from employers. There is, however, freedom to run established churches and the Christian population is slowly growing. Despite this, society neglects the Christian minority. Extremist views may well gain popularity in the coming elections, to the disadvantage of minorities.

Egypt update: Funeral Attacked at Egypt’s Biggest Church as Religious Violence Kills Six Copts (Christianity Today)

Peanut Gallery: Please click on the links scattered throughout this article. They will give you a quick overview of what’s taking place in Egypt today.
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Funeral Attacked at Egypt’s Biggest Church as Religious Violence Kills Six Copts

(UPDATED) President Morsi to Pope Tawadros: ‘I consider any aggression against the cathedral an aggression against me personally.’
Melissa Steffan

Update (April 8): CT’s Cairo correspondent offers a thorough roundup at Arab West Report.

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An injured man was helped outside the main Coptic Christian Cathedral in Cairo on Sunday. Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population. — An injured man was helped outside the main Coptic Christian Cathedral in Cairo on Sunday. Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population.

A riot during a funeral for four Coptic Christians has ignited sectarian tensions in Cairo once again. A clash that killed four Christians in a northern suburb simmered over into the funeral at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the capital city, killing two people and injuring at least 90.

The weekend, which left six people dead in three days, marks the worst violence against Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population, since the election of President Mohamed Morsi late last year.

The Associated Press reports that “the clashes at the St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral began just after hundreds of angry Christians left the complex to stage an anti-government march following the funeral for the four Christians killed in sectarian clashes Saturday.”

A Coptic Christian hurt in attack on mourners Sunday. (Morning Star News photo)

The scores of Muslim rioters who attacked funeral goers “[pelted] the mourners with stones … flash-bang grenades, tear gas, fire bombs, and other improvised weapons [and] set cars ablaze,” according to Morning Star News.

Following the fighting at St. Mark’s, Morsi condemned the attacks and ordered an investigation of the violence, promising protection for both Muslims and Christians.

CT previously has reported on Egypt and violence against Coptic Christians there, including a dispatch from Cairo on how Egyptian Christians were feeling on the first anniversary of their nation’s revolution. Egypt’s Copts are facing the future under an Islamist regime, including a hastily completed constitution that limits some previously guaranteed personal freedoms. Most recently, CT reported on the possible rise of Coptic evangelism in Libya and Sudan.

In addition, CT reported on the death of Pope Shenouda, the former leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and also on the election of Pope Tawadros last year.

posted by Melissa Steffan

Please pray for Nigerian Christians – World Watch List #13

Persecuted Church: Nigeria North – World Watch List #13 (Open Doors UK)

Population: 166.6 million (88 million Christians)
Main Religion: Islam
Source of Persecution: Islamic extremism

The Islamist agenda to bring Nigeria under the ‘House of Islam’ versus the election of a southern Christian as President has caused much unrest. The Islamist group, Boko Haram, has claimed the lives of at least 800 Christians. The decisions of local government, especially in the twelve northern Sharia states, mean that Christians experience restrictions in schooling, threats of abduction, forced marriage, as well as denial of employment, clean water and healthcare. It is dangerous to convert and for churches to integrate new converts.

Please Pray:

Give thanks that believers are responding to recent pressure with increased prayer, evangelism and care for Muslim Background Believers
That Christian youths will resist the temptation to respond with violence to Muslim attacks
For Open Doors workers providing emergency support and trauma counseling to victims of attacks.

Persecution dynamics

The pattern of persecution in Nigeria is complex, especially for the twelve northern Sharia states, where local government and social groups leave hardly any space for Christians to live their own lives.

Conversion is dangerous and Muslim-background believers and Christians in many northern states suffer restrictions in schooling, threats of abduction and forced marriage. They have also been denied employment and facilities such as clean water, clinics and roads. It is very difficult for churches to openly integrate new converts from Islam.

Persecution levels vary across the country and are underlined by terrorist action and an unpredictable environment, which leaves Christians living in fear. Continue reading “Please pray for Nigerian Christians – World Watch List #13” →

Please pray for Christians in Sudan – World Watch List #12

Persecuted Church: Sudan – World Watch List #12

Population: 30.9 million (number of Christians unknown)
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
Source of Persecution: Islamic extremism/Dictatorial paranoia

Although Islamic law has not yet been fully implemented, the government and society try to squeeze Christians in all spheres of life and the level of violence has escalated. Christians face growing threats from Muslim communities and Islamist government officials, yet the number of believers is rising. The independence of South Sudan means future instability for Sudan, with a huge loss of revenue. Christians are afraid the religious and ethnic cleansing will continue, particularly along the border with South Sudan.

Please Pray:

Praise the Lord that the number of Muslim-background believers in Sudan is rising
For Christians in the disputed border regions, where churches and schools have been attacked
Give thanks that Open Doors has been able to offer humanitarian assistance as well as discipleship and outreach training.

A leader in Southern Kordofan, Sudan, recently said to a Christian brother, “Your prayers are important, especially during these days… We have nothing to offer you, but I know God in heaven will reward you.”

Persecution dynamics:

Both the government and society try to squeeze Christians in all spheres of life and the level of violence has escalated in the past year. President Al-Bashir is losing support and his regime is in trouble. It has lost 75 per cent of its revenue with the independence of South Sudan, and of its remaining revenue, the press estimates 70 per cent goes to fighting in Darfur and disputed border regions with South Sudan.

Sudan's Christian Exodus — Sudan’s Christian Exodus

During the May 2011 invasion by Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), more than 75,000 people were violently displaced from Abyei region. Homes, schools and churches were burned and looted and water supplies sabotaged. Since April 2012 it is reported that more than 10,000 displaced Dinka Ngok people have returned to the region. The church believes that their presence is essential in Abyei politically, but even more so spiritually, as a testimony to largely unreached tribes in that region.

The future for the church in Sudan is uncertain. The level of fear among Christians is growing slowly and there is reason to fear that Sudan’s leaders – be it al-Bashir or new Islamist leaders – will just continue the religious and ethnic cleansing, particularly in the border areas with South Sudan.
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More from Wikipedia – Human Rights in Sudan

Slavery in Sudan: Some organizations, in particular Christian Solidarity Worldwide and related organizations, argue that enslavement exists in Sudan and is encouraged by the Sudanese government. As an example of such allegations, in The Wall Street Journal on 12 December 2001, Michael Rubin said:

…[O]n 4 October, Sudanese Vice President Ali Uthman Taha declared, “The jihad is our way and we will not abandon it and will keep its banner high.

Between 23–26 October, Sudanese government troops attacked villages near the southern town of Aweil, killing 93 men and enslaving 85 women and children. Then, on 2 November, the Sudanese military attacked villages near the town of Nyamlell, carrying off another 113 women and children. A Kenyan aide worker was also abducted, and has not been seen since.

What’s Sudanese slavery like? One 11-year-old Christian boy told me about his first days in captivity: “I was told to be a Muslim several times, and I refused, which is why they cut off my finger.” Twelve-year-old Alokor Ngor Deng was taken as a slave in 1993. She has not seen her mother since the slave raiders sold the two to different masters. Thirteen-year-old Akon was seized by Sudanese military while in her village five years ago. She was gang-raped by six government soldiers, and witnessed seven executions before being sold to a Sudanese Arab.

Many freed slaves bore signs of beatings, burnings and other tortures. More than three-quarters of formerly enslaved women and girls reported rapes.

[E]stimates of the number of blacks now enslaved in Sudan vary from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands (not counting those sold as forced labor in Libya)….

Please Pray for Syrian Christians – World Watch List #11

Persecuted Church in Syria – World Watch List #11 (Open Doors UK)

Syrian Orthodox Christians attend Easter Mass on April 15 in Damascus, Syria.

Leader: President Bashar al-Assad
Population: 21.1 million (1.7 million Christians)
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
World Watch List Rank: 11
Source of Persecution: Islamic extremism

Before the civil war, although meetings were monitored, Christians were respected in society, but this is rapidly changing. Muslim-background believers face opposition from family and friends, and also now from foreign extremist fighters and mercenaries.

Previously, Christians were persecuted for supporting the government, or not taking sides. Now a clear religious motive has been added by the influx of these foreign radicals. Many Christians have been abducted, physically harmed and killed, churches damaged or destroyed, and tens of thousands of Christians have fled.

Please Pray:

For Christians who’ve had to flee their homes
For the emergency relief and trauma counselling that Open Doors is able to offer
Give thanks that, despite the challenges, the Syrian church is reaching out to others.

Persecution dynamics

Violence and protests against the government have lasted for almost two years, and the situation in Syria can best be described as extremely chaotic. The recognised church of Syria is not a hidden or secret church. It is respected in society, although every Christian meeting is monitored by the secret police. As long as Christians did not disturb communal harmony or pose a threat to the government, they were tolerated and had freedom of worship. However, this is rapidly changing.

damascus_syria_refugees_0907 — The Silent Exodus of Syria’s Christians

During the second part of 2012, there was a clear increase in the number of foreign jihadists entering the country. We have received reports of many Christians being abducted, physically harmed and killed. Many churches have been damaged or destroyed. The central government is losing its grip on the situation and tens of thousands of Christians have fled the country.

Though it is hard to predict how events will unfold, a change of government is expected to lead to a situation of anarchy and struggle for power. If extremist Muslims obtain more power, they might seek revenge from the overall Christian silence and peaceful stand in the country. Should that happen, Christians will either be isolated or driven from the country en masse – a situation comparable to the one in Iraq.

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