Sunday, February 26, 2012
Pray for Philip
Philip is not his real name but for security reasons I will not give his name. He lives in Uganda and is being sponsored by Covenant Mercies orphan program. He is not doing well in school and has been held back many times. Pray that he will have a desire to do his work to the glory of God. Thanks!
True Beauty
Look around you. Do you like what you see? Some things are beautiful, some things are ugly and some things are just as they are, neither pretty or ugly. Can separate the beauty from the ugly? Yes.
Beautiful : A happy, smiling face. A pure heart. A clear set mind. I goal to change the world for the better. A flower. The mountains. God's creation
Ugly : A frown. A darkened heart. A wavering mind. No set goal of any sort of good. A weed. Evil. Adultery. Abortion...etc.
You may think differently.
I dream of a world where people care for one another and they love one another no matter what. A world where EVERYONE (not matter how short, tall, fat, or anything) is loved for who they are and who God made them to be.
I know that the whole earth will never be that way. I would love to see a generation rising up to do this if the world can't! I choose to love EVERYONE. You are not ugly!
Don't you see? Those things that I listed as ugly can become Beauty! That frown can turn to a smile :) That dark heart can open to the light waiting to wage war with the blackness. That mind can become peaceful. That weed can be pulled up and replaced with a flower. You get my point???
Look at yourself! Are you Beautiful?
Don't you dare say NO! You can be! When Christ looks at you, what do you think he sees? He sees a flower, either thirsty in need of water, or a healthy growing flower.
What are you?
Who do you want to be?
Go to the SALVATION page and see how you can be Beautiful :)
Questions? Feel free to ask :)
Beautiful : A happy, smiling face. A pure heart. A clear set mind. I goal to change the world for the better. A flower. The mountains. God's creation
Ugly : A frown. A darkened heart. A wavering mind. No set goal of any sort of good. A weed. Evil. Adultery. Abortion...etc.
You may think differently.
I dream of a world where people care for one another and they love one another no matter what. A world where EVERYONE (not matter how short, tall, fat, or anything) is loved for who they are and who God made them to be.
I know that the whole earth will never be that way. I would love to see a generation rising up to do this if the world can't! I choose to love EVERYONE. You are not ugly!
Don't you see? Those things that I listed as ugly can become Beauty! That frown can turn to a smile :) That dark heart can open to the light waiting to wage war with the blackness. That mind can become peaceful. That weed can be pulled up and replaced with a flower. You get my point???
Look at yourself! Are you Beautiful?
Don't you dare say NO! You can be! When Christ looks at you, what do you think he sees? He sees a flower, either thirsty in need of water, or a healthy growing flower.
What are you?
Who do you want to be?
Go to the SALVATION page and see how you can be Beautiful :)
Questions? Feel free to ask :)
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Gao Zhisheng
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Thursday, February 16, 2012
World Watch update: North Korea
2011 World Watch List Ranking: 1
Leader: Kim Jong-Il
Population: 22.7 million
Majority religion: All religions harshly suppressed
Type of government: Communist dictatorship
North Korea is a country in complete crisis, and where persecution of Christians is the most severe in the world. Famine holds vast swathes of the nation in its grip, and untold thousands live in poverty and misery. The populace are kept ignorant of the outside world and forciblay indoctrinated into “Juche”—a bizarre ideology focusing on the self-sufficiency of man, which teaches that the trinity consists of the father (deceased leader Kim Il-Sung), son (current leader Kim Jong-Il) and the “Juche spirit” of self-reliance. Christians in North Korea are forced to keep their faith secret—those who are discovered face torture, labor camp and even death.
Please pray:
Leader: Kim Jong-Il
Population: 22.7 million
Majority religion: All religions harshly suppressed
Type of government: Communist dictatorship
North Korea is a country in complete crisis, and where persecution of Christians is the most severe in the world. Famine holds vast swathes of the nation in its grip, and untold thousands live in poverty and misery. The populace are kept ignorant of the outside world and forciblay indoctrinated into “Juche”—a bizarre ideology focusing on the self-sufficiency of man, which teaches that the trinity consists of the father (deceased leader Kim Il-Sung), son (current leader Kim Jong-Il) and the “Juche spirit” of self-reliance. Christians in North Korea are forced to keep their faith secret—those who are discovered face torture, labor camp and even death.
Please pray:
- For strength and courage for the estimated 50,000 believers currently languishing in North Korea’s prison camps.
- For safe printing and distribution of Bibles to Christians in North Korea.
- For outreach work amongst North Korean defectors who’ve escaped to China’s border areas, that many will respond to the hope and truth of the gospel.
From Carl's Perspective
Dear Friend of the Persecuted Church,
Do you ever wonder if your prayers really make a difference? If you’re anything like me, it’s sometimes hard to persevere in prayer—especially for countries like North Korea.
As you’ll see inside, our new update of the Open Doors World Watch List once again ranks North Korea as the world’s worst persecutor of Christians. The situation is dire. The needs are beyond imagining. And it would be easy to think that our prayers are achieving little.
But don’t be fooled! The devil would love you to believe your prayers are futile. He would consider it a great victory if your commitment to praying for the suffering church began to dwindle.
So let’s resolve to counter this lie with the truth of God’s Word!
“Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne…the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” (Revelation 5:6-8)
First, take note that there is a throne room in heaven—and the throne is NOT empty! The rulers of this world may think they hold the power—but there is only one true Lord and King. The wonder of prayer is that we can approach His throne with boldness and confidence!
Secondly, don’t miss the amazing truth that the prayers of God’s people—that includes you and me—are as incense filling golden bowls in the throne room of heaven! It’s a truth that blows my mind—and once again brings me to my knees in trust and obedience. I may not understand how or why the Lord should choose to work out His Kingdom purposes through my feeble prayers—but I do know that in His mercy He does just that!
So please take this month’s Frontline Faith—and the new World Watch List—and use the resources to fuel your prayers. In so doing you’re filling those incense bowls in the throne room of heaven!
In Christ,
Carl Moeller
Do you ever wonder if your prayers really make a difference? If you’re anything like me, it’s sometimes hard to persevere in prayer—especially for countries like North Korea.
As you’ll see inside, our new update of the Open Doors World Watch List once again ranks North Korea as the world’s worst persecutor of Christians. The situation is dire. The needs are beyond imagining. And it would be easy to think that our prayers are achieving little.
But don’t be fooled! The devil would love you to believe your prayers are futile. He would consider it a great victory if your commitment to praying for the suffering church began to dwindle.
So let’s resolve to counter this lie with the truth of God’s Word!
“Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne…the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” (Revelation 5:6-8)
First, take note that there is a throne room in heaven—and the throne is NOT empty! The rulers of this world may think they hold the power—but there is only one true Lord and King. The wonder of prayer is that we can approach His throne with boldness and confidence!
Secondly, don’t miss the amazing truth that the prayers of God’s people—that includes you and me—are as incense filling golden bowls in the throne room of heaven! It’s a truth that blows my mind—and once again brings me to my knees in trust and obedience. I may not understand how or why the Lord should choose to work out His Kingdom purposes through my feeble prayers—but I do know that in His mercy He does just that!
So please take this month’s Frontline Faith—and the new World Watch List—and use the resources to fuel your prayers. In so doing you’re filling those incense bowls in the throne room of heaven!
In Christ,
Carl Moeller
Somali teenager shot dead for ambracing Christ
When 17-year-old Nurta’s family found out about her conversion to Christ, they tried everything to make her recant.
At first they thought she was insane. Nurta’s parents took her to the local doctor, who prescribed her medication for a mental illness. Then, in line with Somali tradition, Nurta’s parents began regularly reciting the Quran to their daughter, believing that the Islamic scripture would heal her from her sickness. But Nurta refused to deny Christ—and so the family’s next tactic was punishment and humiliation. Nurta was shackled to a tree by day, and confined in a small room by night.
After enduring months of this torture, Nurta managed to escape her family, and went to live with relatives in a different town. It was here that Nurta paid the ultimate price for her faith.
Two unidentified men approached Nurta while she was on the street, and shot her point-blank in the chest and head. Local sources say the gunmen were either relatives of Nurta, or acting on behalf of the family.
Please pray that Nurta’s murder will not be in vain, and that many Somalis will come to Christ as a result of her bold witness even unto death.
Throughout the persecuted church, it’s women and children—just like Nurta—who are often the most vulnerable and at greatest risk. Please consider how your church or small group can respond to this persecution. For ideas and resources to help you care for the women and children of the suffering church, visit www.OpenDoorsUSA.org.
At first they thought she was insane. Nurta’s parents took her to the local doctor, who prescribed her medication for a mental illness. Then, in line with Somali tradition, Nurta’s parents began regularly reciting the Quran to their daughter, believing that the Islamic scripture would heal her from her sickness. But Nurta refused to deny Christ—and so the family’s next tactic was punishment and humiliation. Nurta was shackled to a tree by day, and confined in a small room by night.
After enduring months of this torture, Nurta managed to escape her family, and went to live with relatives in a different town. It was here that Nurta paid the ultimate price for her faith.
Two unidentified men approached Nurta while she was on the street, and shot her point-blank in the chest and head. Local sources say the gunmen were either relatives of Nurta, or acting on behalf of the family.
Please pray that Nurta’s murder will not be in vain, and that many Somalis will come to Christ as a result of her bold witness even unto death.
Throughout the persecuted church, it’s women and children—just like Nurta—who are often the most vulnerable and at greatest risk. Please consider how your church or small group can respond to this persecution. For ideas and resources to help you care for the women and children of the suffering church, visit www.OpenDoorsUSA.org.
Persecution of Christians in North Korea
In first position on the 2010 World Watch List, North Korea has the deadliest level of Christian persecution in the world. The only worship that is allowed is that of the “dear leader” Kim Jong-Il and his father Kim Il-Sung.
In North Korea, every other religious activity is labeled an act of insurrection against North Korean socialist principles. Christians are routinely beaten, tortured, imprisoned for life, mutilated, murdered, and used in the testing of biological or chemical weapons. Punishment for being a Christian can also include the imprisonment or death of ones mother, father, sisters, brothers, children and grandchildren.
The communist Police stop at nothing to search out and punish Christians, including pretending to be Christians to infiltrate underground prayer meetings. The information they obtain is then used to identify and arrest Christians, who are taken to prison camps where they face slave labor and starvation as well as the inhuman treatment mentioned above.
Recent Challenges
A recent survey by the Peterson Institute found that 60% percent of North Koreans now have access to information outside government propaganda. Kim Seung Min of Free North Korea Radio said in a press statement, “North Koreans are increasingly finding out that their misery is a direct result of the Kim Jong-Il regime, not South Korea and America as we were brainwashed from birth to believe.”
Knowing that they are in danger of losing their iron control, the North Korean government has reacted by mobilizing every resource of power in a desperate struggle to control all of society. This included so called “combat campaigns” lasting 150 days and 100 days, in which almost every citizen had to effectively become a slave to the state and work on government farms. During these periods, anyone found on the street without a valid reason was immediately shipped off to a labor camp. This has meant that fathers were not able to provide for their families, and in the Hwangae province it has become commonplace to see children lying dead in the streets. During these campaigns, the North Korean regime also targeted secret Christians to arrest and kill them, leading to many Christians being exposed.
Recently, an additional challenge has risen in the form of a currency reform which took place in late November 2009. The new currency was part of an economic plan to stabilize prices and give the government total control over a nationwide market system. It failed to achieve the desired result and led instead to hyperinflation and shortages of daily necessities. As public sentiment worsens, people are protesting the currency reform in front of markets and banks. The North Korean government is strictly controlling the situation by brutally suppressing protestors as soon as they begin.
Daily necessities have now run out nationwide and the people have no means of buying more. Increasing numbers of people are dying of starvation. The situation is speedily becoming more desperate, especially in Hamkyung, Jakang and Hwanghae provinces. In addition, infectious diseases are rampant in the country. The situation in Hamgyung province is so severe that local authorities are encouraging people to receive assistance through their relatives in China.
North Korean Defectors
Many North Korean Christians have tried to escape to China. However, the border with China is virtually closed and Chinese authorities vigilantly pursue North Korean defectors to return them to North Korea and certain death.
As the number of North Korean defectors continues to increase, so does the government’s effort to increase house searches and punishments. Surveillance and security within the country is extremely tight. In January 2010, Kim Jong-Il ordered every defector who crosses the border to China to be immediately executed or sentenced to death. The order was added as a supplementary penal code.
Good News
In spite of these inhuman circumstances, Christianity is growing in North Korea. The opportunities to hear the Gospel are also increasing, especially for those who live in the cities near China.
Even as the situation in North Korea continues to worsen, Christians continue to risk their lives to comfort, encourage and strengthen fellowship with one another. They are preparing themselves for the day when North Korean churches are restored to them.
- This was on the open doors Website. It was hard to believe that North Korea is so strict about religion. To be honest, I'm not going to ask that you pray for the persecution to completely stop. It may sound odd. But if the persecution stops, these people's faith may grow weaker. Just think, if you are willing to follow Christ even in the face of death, you must love and trust him with your life. Here in the US we don't have anything to worry about. We can pretend to be Christians if we want to, but if you were to do so over in North Korea, you could lose your life for it. Who would pretend to be a Christian??? Let us pray for the strength of the Christians in those places, let us pray that the persecution of Christians will bring more souls to Christ. - Rachel Stickler
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Missionary Couple Slain in Mexico; Peace Pact in Puebla
MEXICO CITY, February 3 (CDN) — A married couple who had served for 28 years as Baptist missionaries in Mexico were murdered on Tuesday (Jan. 31) at their home near Monterrey in El Cercado, Santiago, Nuevo Leon.
John Casias, 76, and Wanda Casias, 67, were strangled with electrical cords when intruders broke into their house and stole a safe, televisions and ministry vehicles, along with other items. The area has suffered heavily from attacks by drug cartels in recent weeks, including the murder of the mayor of El Cercado, leading to the tentative conclusion that the crime was committed by people serving narcotics traffickers.
Drug traffickers in Mexico oppose the message of Christ because it turns people away from their business, and thus Christians have been among the targets of the criminals. Christians noted that the assailants would not have needed to kill the missionary couple in order to rob them.
The killers left Wanda Casias dead inside the house, and the body of her husband was reportedly found in a storage room of a small building elsewhere on the property.
They were affiliated with the Global Independent Baptist Fellowship; the couple’s home church is located in Lewisville, Texas.
Their ministry included the founding of churches, beginning with the First Fundamentalist Independent Baptist Church in their locality, and they also did work in Zacatecas, San Luis PotosÃ, Coahuila, and other parts of the state of Nuevo Leon. Daily vacation Bible schools and youth camps were important aspects of their ministry, and they placed strong emphasis on Bible study and music.
They are survived by 10 children who have reportedly said they hope to continue their parents’ ministry.
Peace in Puebla
With intervention by Puebla state authorities after Protestants came under threats of expulsion and death, Catholics in San Rafael Tlanalapan, have agreed to allow evangelicals to construct a worship place in the town far from the Catholic church building.
Last fall Catholics threatened to crucify the Protestants if they didn’t leave town immediately. Parishioners later revealed that a local priest incited them to make this threat, and after this became public, Catholic authorities transferred the priest to another town.
State officials initiated negotiations to resolve the conflict, and an agreement was reached last October; officials will be responsible to ensure that terms of the agreement are kept.
Pastors Agustin Castillo Morales and Josue Ovando Jimenez accepted the pact, which calls for them to hold worship services far from the Catholic church site. Evangelical leaders from Mexico City celebrated the peaceful solution to the problem in an event that included musical groups.
Last September about 70 Protestants in San Rafael Tlanalapan had been given the ultimatum to leave immediately or be “crucified or lynched.” Catholics (not “traditionalist Catholics” that mix Catholicism with indigenous practices, as previously reported) in the town, near San MartÃn Texmelucan, about 60 miles from Mexico City, reportedly threatened to burn down or otherwise destroy their homes.
The conflict goes back several years; in 2006, the Protestants asked for government help after Catholics led village authorities to cut off their water supply.
Last year the evangelicals promised to leave town at a Sept. 7 meeting, though the 200 Catholics present sought to beat them and expel them at that time (see, “Christians in Mexico Forced from Village,” Sept. 16, 2011). The Protestants sought refuge in nearby towns, including the municipal center of San Martin Texmelucan, where their churches have become prominent. Others reportedly fled to a church building in Alto Aposento. - WorldWatchlist Open Doors USA
We need to pray for the family of those killed and for those people that were otherwise affected by the death of this Christian couple. I pray that God would aslo take this heart of hostility for Christianity out of the many people who are persecuting these brothers and sisters in Christ. - Rachel
John Casias, 76, and Wanda Casias, 67, were strangled with electrical cords when intruders broke into their house and stole a safe, televisions and ministry vehicles, along with other items. The area has suffered heavily from attacks by drug cartels in recent weeks, including the murder of the mayor of El Cercado, leading to the tentative conclusion that the crime was committed by people serving narcotics traffickers.
Drug traffickers in Mexico oppose the message of Christ because it turns people away from their business, and thus Christians have been among the targets of the criminals. Christians noted that the assailants would not have needed to kill the missionary couple in order to rob them.
The killers left Wanda Casias dead inside the house, and the body of her husband was reportedly found in a storage room of a small building elsewhere on the property.
They were affiliated with the Global Independent Baptist Fellowship; the couple’s home church is located in Lewisville, Texas.
Their ministry included the founding of churches, beginning with the First Fundamentalist Independent Baptist Church in their locality, and they also did work in Zacatecas, San Luis PotosÃ, Coahuila, and other parts of the state of Nuevo Leon. Daily vacation Bible schools and youth camps were important aspects of their ministry, and they placed strong emphasis on Bible study and music.
They are survived by 10 children who have reportedly said they hope to continue their parents’ ministry.
Peace in Puebla
With intervention by Puebla state authorities after Protestants came under threats of expulsion and death, Catholics in San Rafael Tlanalapan, have agreed to allow evangelicals to construct a worship place in the town far from the Catholic church building.
Last fall Catholics threatened to crucify the Protestants if they didn’t leave town immediately. Parishioners later revealed that a local priest incited them to make this threat, and after this became public, Catholic authorities transferred the priest to another town.
State officials initiated negotiations to resolve the conflict, and an agreement was reached last October; officials will be responsible to ensure that terms of the agreement are kept.
Pastors Agustin Castillo Morales and Josue Ovando Jimenez accepted the pact, which calls for them to hold worship services far from the Catholic church site. Evangelical leaders from Mexico City celebrated the peaceful solution to the problem in an event that included musical groups.
Last September about 70 Protestants in San Rafael Tlanalapan had been given the ultimatum to leave immediately or be “crucified or lynched.” Catholics (not “traditionalist Catholics” that mix Catholicism with indigenous practices, as previously reported) in the town, near San MartÃn Texmelucan, about 60 miles from Mexico City, reportedly threatened to burn down or otherwise destroy their homes.
The conflict goes back several years; in 2006, the Protestants asked for government help after Catholics led village authorities to cut off their water supply.
Last year the evangelicals promised to leave town at a Sept. 7 meeting, though the 200 Catholics present sought to beat them and expel them at that time (see, “Christians in Mexico Forced from Village,” Sept. 16, 2011). The Protestants sought refuge in nearby towns, including the municipal center of San Martin Texmelucan, where their churches have become prominent. Others reportedly fled to a church building in Alto Aposento. - WorldWatchlist Open Doors USA
We need to pray for the family of those killed and for those people that were otherwise affected by the death of this Christian couple. I pray that God would aslo take this heart of hostility for Christianity out of the many people who are persecuting these brothers and sisters in Christ. - Rachel
Iranian Authorities Raid House Church in Shiraz
As many as 10 Christians arrested without formal charges.
ISTANBUL, February 10 (CDN) — Iranian authorities this week arrested Christian converts from Islam while they were meeting for worship at a home in the southern city of Shiraz, according to sources.
Officials are holding the Christians at an unknown location, they said.
The sources put the number of the arrested Christians, who belong to one of Iran’s many underground house churches, at between six and 10. Authorities often detain, question and apply pressure on converts from Islam, viewing them as elements of Western propaganda set against the Iranian regime; as a result, the converts are forced to worship in secret.
The identity of only one of those arrested on Wednesday (Feb. 8), Mojtaba Hosseini, was known. Authorities arrested Hosseini in 2008 along with eight other Christian converts on charges of being Christians, according to Mohabat News.
“I guess they have been watching Hosseini since then,” an Iranian Christian who requested anonymity told Compass.
Shiraz is not a particularly “religious” part of predominantly Shiite Islamic Iran, the Christian explained, but persecution against Christians in Iran stems from the government more than from local religious sentiment. The families of the victims have requested information about their whereabouts, but authorities have refused to provide it, according to Mohabat News.
In past years authorities have arrested Christians around Christmas time, and the Compass source said that the international community and media monitoring religious rights in Iran were expecting another crack-down last December. Instead, he said, the government was more cautious and arrested small groups over a wider period of time.
In December authorities arrested a group of Christian converts in the city of Ahwaz, about 874 kilometers (542 miles) southwest of Tehran in Khuzestan Province. Of those arrested, three Christians remain in prison: Pastor Farhad Sabokroh, Naser Zamen-Defzuli and Davoud Alijani. They are held in Ahwaz’s Karoun Prison, according to Mohabat News.
Sources have expressed concern for Sabokroh’s health. Prior to his arrest, which took place at his church’s Christmas service on Dec. 23, Sabokroh underwent cataract surgery. In prison he does not have access to the medication he needs for his eyes. His wife visited him briefly on Jan. 27 and said she was concerned about his health, as he has lost a lot of weight, according to Mohabat News.
Authorities had also arrested Sabokroh’s wife at the Christmas service and released her on Jan. 1 when she submitted the deed of a house as bail, according to Mohabat News. Christians are forced to put their homes up as bail in Iran, a practice that sources say is an extortion tactic to erode them of their finances and to better control them.
Authorities have not formally charged Sabokroh, Zamen-Defzuli and Alijani.
Noorollah Qabitizade, whom authorities arrested on Dec. 24, 2010, is also held at the Karoun prison in Ahwaz. Mohabat News reported that interrogators have put psychological pressure on Qabitizade in the last year and have forced him to sign statements in an effort to make him renounce his faith.
Farshid Fathi, who was arrested on Dec. 24, 2010 in Tehran, remains in the capital’s notorious Evin prison. Sources said a court hearing had been scheduled this month but were unable to provide more information.
Iranian authorities continue to arrest and subject Christians to harsh treatment, but many of these cases remain unknown to the outside world. At the end of January, Mohabat News released information on the case of Leila Mohammadi, whom authorities had arrested in July last year.
She spent 74 days in solitary confinement at Tehran’s Evin prison. On Jan. 18 a judge sentenced her to two years of prison for “collaborating with foreign-dependent groups, broad anti-Islamic propaganda, deceiving citizens by forming house churches, insulting sacred figures and acting against national security,” according to Mohabat News.
Authorities released her on bail on Dec. 28, 2011, and her attorney has sent her case to Tehran Province’s high court.
Iran applies sharia (Islamic law), which dictates that converts from Islam to other religions are “apostates” and thus punishable by death. Although judges rarely sentence Christians to death for leaving Islam, one Christian, Yousef (also spelled Youcef) Nadarkhani, is appealing such a decision in the northeastern city of Rasht.
Nadarkhani has been in prison since October 2009. A Rasht court found him guilty of leaving Islam and handed him the death sentence in September 2010.
Behnam Irani, who belongs to the same denomination as Nadarkhani, The Church of Iran, has been in prison in Karaj since May 2011; he turned himself in after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, according to rights group Middle East Concern.
Irani was previously arrested in April 2010 and released on bail after a few months. In January 2011 a court found him guilty of “crimes against national security” and sentenced him to one year in prison. Authorities told him he must also serve a five-year sentence handed down in 2008.
Asked if there was a change in persecution trends from previous years, the Compass source said, “Nothing has changed, the issue is the same,” explaining that the attitude of the government toward Christians remains hostile.
Authorities have prohibited musical worship and Bible distribution at the Central Church of Tehran, the largest and most visible Assemblies of God church in the country. Last December officials enforced a policy under which only invited guests could attend a Christmas service at the church, and in December 2009 the church succumbed to intense pressure by authorities to discontinue its Friday services, which had attracted the most converts to Christianity. - WorldWatchlist Open Doors USA
ISTANBUL, February 10 (CDN) — Iranian authorities this week arrested Christian converts from Islam while they were meeting for worship at a home in the southern city of Shiraz, according to sources.
Officials are holding the Christians at an unknown location, they said.
The sources put the number of the arrested Christians, who belong to one of Iran’s many underground house churches, at between six and 10. Authorities often detain, question and apply pressure on converts from Islam, viewing them as elements of Western propaganda set against the Iranian regime; as a result, the converts are forced to worship in secret.
The identity of only one of those arrested on Wednesday (Feb. 8), Mojtaba Hosseini, was known. Authorities arrested Hosseini in 2008 along with eight other Christian converts on charges of being Christians, according to Mohabat News.
“I guess they have been watching Hosseini since then,” an Iranian Christian who requested anonymity told Compass.
Shiraz is not a particularly “religious” part of predominantly Shiite Islamic Iran, the Christian explained, but persecution against Christians in Iran stems from the government more than from local religious sentiment. The families of the victims have requested information about their whereabouts, but authorities have refused to provide it, according to Mohabat News.
In past years authorities have arrested Christians around Christmas time, and the Compass source said that the international community and media monitoring religious rights in Iran were expecting another crack-down last December. Instead, he said, the government was more cautious and arrested small groups over a wider period of time.
In December authorities arrested a group of Christian converts in the city of Ahwaz, about 874 kilometers (542 miles) southwest of Tehran in Khuzestan Province. Of those arrested, three Christians remain in prison: Pastor Farhad Sabokroh, Naser Zamen-Defzuli and Davoud Alijani. They are held in Ahwaz’s Karoun Prison, according to Mohabat News.
Sources have expressed concern for Sabokroh’s health. Prior to his arrest, which took place at his church’s Christmas service on Dec. 23, Sabokroh underwent cataract surgery. In prison he does not have access to the medication he needs for his eyes. His wife visited him briefly on Jan. 27 and said she was concerned about his health, as he has lost a lot of weight, according to Mohabat News.
Authorities had also arrested Sabokroh’s wife at the Christmas service and released her on Jan. 1 when she submitted the deed of a house as bail, according to Mohabat News. Christians are forced to put their homes up as bail in Iran, a practice that sources say is an extortion tactic to erode them of their finances and to better control them.
Authorities have not formally charged Sabokroh, Zamen-Defzuli and Alijani.
Noorollah Qabitizade, whom authorities arrested on Dec. 24, 2010, is also held at the Karoun prison in Ahwaz. Mohabat News reported that interrogators have put psychological pressure on Qabitizade in the last year and have forced him to sign statements in an effort to make him renounce his faith.
Farshid Fathi, who was arrested on Dec. 24, 2010 in Tehran, remains in the capital’s notorious Evin prison. Sources said a court hearing had been scheduled this month but were unable to provide more information.
Iranian authorities continue to arrest and subject Christians to harsh treatment, but many of these cases remain unknown to the outside world. At the end of January, Mohabat News released information on the case of Leila Mohammadi, whom authorities had arrested in July last year.
She spent 74 days in solitary confinement at Tehran’s Evin prison. On Jan. 18 a judge sentenced her to two years of prison for “collaborating with foreign-dependent groups, broad anti-Islamic propaganda, deceiving citizens by forming house churches, insulting sacred figures and acting against national security,” according to Mohabat News.
Authorities released her on bail on Dec. 28, 2011, and her attorney has sent her case to Tehran Province’s high court.
Iran applies sharia (Islamic law), which dictates that converts from Islam to other religions are “apostates” and thus punishable by death. Although judges rarely sentence Christians to death for leaving Islam, one Christian, Yousef (also spelled Youcef) Nadarkhani, is appealing such a decision in the northeastern city of Rasht.
Nadarkhani has been in prison since October 2009. A Rasht court found him guilty of leaving Islam and handed him the death sentence in September 2010.
Behnam Irani, who belongs to the same denomination as Nadarkhani, The Church of Iran, has been in prison in Karaj since May 2011; he turned himself in after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, according to rights group Middle East Concern.
Irani was previously arrested in April 2010 and released on bail after a few months. In January 2011 a court found him guilty of “crimes against national security” and sentenced him to one year in prison. Authorities told him he must also serve a five-year sentence handed down in 2008.
Asked if there was a change in persecution trends from previous years, the Compass source said, “Nothing has changed, the issue is the same,” explaining that the attitude of the government toward Christians remains hostile.
Authorities have prohibited musical worship and Bible distribution at the Central Church of Tehran, the largest and most visible Assemblies of God church in the country. Last December officials enforced a policy under which only invited guests could attend a Christmas service at the church, and in December 2009 the church succumbed to intense pressure by authorities to discontinue its Friday services, which had attracted the most converts to Christianity. - WorldWatchlist Open Doors USA
Uzbekistan
The strict monitoring of all Christian activities has intensified, even in the Orthodox Church. Outreach, training and youth activities are forbidden in unregistered churches – and in the last ten years only one new church was granted registration. Private Bible study meetings are always in danger of being closed down. Churches are raided and literature and other materials confiscated. Printing or importing Christian literature is prohibited. Christians are fined or given short-term prison sentences. When brought to court, fair treatment is not ensured.
Pray:
Pray:
- For pastors trying to lead their churches with limited resources
- For courage for Muslim-background believers who experience great pressure from family and society
- A 27-year-old convert from Islam is currently serving 10 years in prison on false charges. Pray for his release.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
I can tell you what!!!
On your knees is the best place to be. I have found this out the past few days. I have been praying for lots of things. Many of them in which I have posted. When I am praying and seeking God, I see him working more in my life...
God is amazing in the ways that he answers prayers! He sometimes says yes, and sometimes no, and sometimes, you got to be joking! Yes, our God is great! Can you imagine what life would be like if there was no hope? No God? No death on the cross? I cant I'll tell you what!!! It would be awful! We would have no chance, no breath of life. We would be dead before birth. I am so glad that we have a God that we can Pray to!
God is amazing in the ways that he answers prayers! He sometimes says yes, and sometimes no, and sometimes, you got to be joking! Yes, our God is great! Can you imagine what life would be like if there was no hope? No God? No death on the cross? I cant I'll tell you what!!! It would be awful! We would have no chance, no breath of life. We would be dead before birth. I am so glad that we have a God that we can Pray to!
Faith and prayer...hand in hand
If any of you lacks wisdom, let his ask God,who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith with no doubting,for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6
Friday, February 10, 2012
Salome
Pray for Salome, her father and mother do not have constant work and she has four siblings to help care for at home. She lives in Africa. She is a child that you could help by sponsoring at Compassion International. She could use prayer, as the area that she lives in is effected by AIDS. We can pray health and peace over her and her family. Pray that she finds a sponsor soon! If you decide to sponsor this child or another on Compassion, I would love to hear about it!
Pray for or Sponsor a Child!
Go to CompassionInternational. com and you will see what I am talking about! There are hundreds of children all over the world that need support. If you can't support them with your money, you can join Prayer Soldiers on a Mission, and pray for all of the children that need to be sponsored and we can pray for their education, health, housing, etc...
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