Sound Doctrine Church » Persecution

New Faith Sends Brother Into Rage

jacob — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:41:20 +0000

Being an influential man in his village, when Talat Sarin chose to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior, others followed suit. But in this small village in China his younger brother, Vanhi, didn’t want anything to do with it. Instead, he became enraged by Talat’s decision. A staunch follower of the local deity, Vanhi thought his brother was misleading the villagers. And in a drunken stupor, Vanhi grabbed a knife and stood outside his brother’s house, calling for Talat to come out. Vanhi then lunged at his brother, knife in his hand. He aimed to slice Talat’s throat, but Talat’s left arm caught the brunt of the blow as he tried to shield himself. Talat’s family rushed him to the hospital. Right now Talat is recovering from his wound. Talat has forgiven his brother and requested that no legal action be taken against him. He asks for prayer concerning Vanhi, that he would see Jesus as Savior and repent of his actions. Full Story

Moroccan Christian Serving 15 Years for Faith

jacob — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:30:46 +0000

Jamaa Ait Bakrim, prisoner number 26574, is currently in Prison Centrale, located in Kenitra, Morocco. He has been there since 2005 when he was sentenced to 15 years for “proselytism” and “destruction of goods of others.” “This second charge is a common legal tactic of creating a separate infraction to lengthen the sentence and shift attention from the actual issue of religion,” said a Moroccan Christian whose name is withheld for security reasons. The charge of proselytization is derived from Article 220 of Moroccan Criminal Law which makes it illegal to “shake the faith of a Muslim.” “The charge of ‘proselytization’ is a specific concern because the wide range of applications that are used to suppress other religions,” stated the Moroccan source. This is the same official charge that has led to the deportation of many foreigners from Morocco in the past three months. In 1993 Jamaa returned to his Moroccan village after a trip to Europe where he converted to Christianity. In 1994 he spent seven months in the mental hospital of Inezgane for proselytizing. In 1996 he was condemned to one year, this time in jail, for putting up a Christian cross in public. In 2001 he was prosecuted again, leading to the current sentence he has been serving since 2005.

Egyptian Convert Endures Life at a Standstill

jacob — Mon, 31 May 2010 00:01:38 +0000

For nearly two years, El-Gohary and his teenage daughter have been living in hiding because he abandoned Islam and embraced Christianity. He has had to endure death threats, poverty and crushing boredom. El-Gohary, 57, and his daughter were forced into hiding shortly after August 2008, when he sued the national government to allow him to change the religion listed on his state-issued ID from Islam to Christianity. The next month, the State Council, a consultative body of Egypt’s Administrative Court, provided the court with a report stating that El-Gohary’s change of faith violated Islamic law. They instructed that he should be subject to the death penalty. As bad as things have been for El-Gohary and his daughter, their dedication seems rock-solid. They said they have never regretted their decisions to become Christians. Whatever happens, both El-Gohary and his daughter said they are prepared to live in hiding indefinitely. Full Story

Pakistani Factory Workers Arrested

jacob — Tue, 25 May 2010 03:23:24 +0000

Police illegally detained three Christians on false charges of alcohol possession in Sialkot last week. The men – garment factory workers Atif Masih, Kamran Masih and Naveed Gill – said they had objected to their boss demanding they work on Sundays. Factory owner Rana Ejaz promptly accused them of selling alcohol, which is forbidden to Muslims in Pakistan and illegal to sell without a permit. On May 4 the station house officer of Paka Garah, Sialkot, arrested the three Christians even though Ejaz had filed neither a First Information Report nor registered a written complaint, the Christians said. “We went to the factory for work at 9 a.m. on May 4, and at around 11 a.m. we were arrested by the SHO (station house officer),” Atif Masih said. “We were severely beaten and asked to give a false statement that we sold alcohol.” Authorities released them after three days when local human rights groups charged that they had been illegally detained. Full Story

Vietnamese Police Torture House Church Christian

jacob — Sun, 16 May 2010 23:55:00 +0000

On March 17, 2010, the Vietnamese security police summoned two members of a Christian House Church, Rmah Wi and Pan to their office in the commune of Ia Grang, Vietnam. When Wi and Pan, arrived at the police station, the police took Rmah Wi into custody but released Pan. In custody the police tortured Rmah Wi by beating him with batons all over his body. He was also punched on his face, repeatedly kicked and stomped on with police wearing military boots. Whilst on the ground the police continued beating and kicking him until he passed out unconscious. When he awoke they released him but threatened him with further torture if he continued involvement in house church activities. This arrest, torture and release policy is a tactic of the Vietnamese communist authorities to repress house church Christians. Rmah Wi was arrested because of his involvment with the house church and because he had a cell phone. Full Story

Buddhist Extremists Beat, Take Christians Captive

jacob — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:34:02 +0000

Buddhist members of an armed rebel group and their sympathizers are holding three tribal Christians captive in a pagoda in southeastern Bangladesh after severely beating them in an attempt to force them to return to Buddhism. Held captive since April 16 are Pastor Shushil Jibon Talukder, 55; Bimol Kanti Chakma, 50; and Laksmi Bilas Chakma, 40, of Maddha Lemuchari Baptist Church in the mountainous Khagrachari district. After taking the Christians captive on April 16, the sources said, the next day the armed Buddhist extremists forced other Christians of Maddha Lemuchari Baptist Church to demolish their church building by their own hands. The extremists first seized all blankets, Bibles and song books from the church building. The three Christians are being kept in a pagoda for 15 to 20 days as punishment for having left the Buddhist religion. “The pastor was beaten so seriously that he could not walk to the nearby pagoda,” said one source. Full Story

Vietnamese Christian Beaten to Death

jacob — Tue, 04 May 2010 03:26:27 +0000

(ICC) has learned that an imprisoned Vietnamese Christian died on March 11 after a long period of abuse and torture. K’pa Lot was arrested on May 20th, 2007, for publicly expressing his Christian faith, and imprisoned in Phu Yen province. He was kept separate from other prisoners and relocated whenever community and international agencies visited to monitor prison conditions. On March 9th, 2010, K’Pa was taken from the prison to a hospital in Pleiku. In the past Vietnamese authorities have released prisoners just prior to death in order to keep it off the official record. His family could not recognize him. He was swollen and had bruises all over his body and face. He could not move or eat, and could barely speak. K’pa told his wife he was regularly tortured inside prison, beaten on a daily basis by the authorities. K’pa is survived by his wife and two children. Full Story

Indian Police Arrest 13 Christians

jacob — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 03:26:35 +0000

International Christian Concern has learned that 13 Christians remain imprisoned after Indian police arrested them on April 5 in Verajpet, Karnataka. They were arrested after Hindu extremists falsely accused them of forcefully converting Hindus to Christianity. Vijay, Lakhama, Philomina Raji, John K.O., Peter, Satish, Macho, Baby, Wilson Mathew, Abraham, Mathew K.J., Freddy, and Johny K.A. were all arrested while holding a prayer meeting at a Christian house. The imprisonment is taking a toll on the Christians and their families as most of the prisoners are heads of families. John K.O. is also suffering from heart disease. The Christians have sought release on bail, but their requests have been refused by authorities four times. The state of Karnataka is ruled by the BJP, a Hindu nationalist party that is infamous for persecuting Christians. Last year, the highest number of attacks against Indian Christians tool place in Karnataka.

17 More Christians Put into Eritrea Prison

thomas — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:48:18 +0000

April 11th 2010 Military officials on Saturday, March 27, 2010, arrested 17 young men gathered for prayer in a town called Segenaite in southern Eritrea, Africa. The men are apparently Christian soldiers doing their compulsory national military service. They belong to various churches. These arrests bring the number up to 28 reported number of Christians arrested since the beginning of March for their refusal to stop worshipping outside of the government sanctioned Eritrean Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Lutheran churches. Sources announced in February that approximately 2,200 Christian s remain in prison for their refusal to stop practicing their faith outside of the government sanctioned religious group.

Pray for the 17 men who just went into prison and for the thousands already there. Pray that those Christians would rejoice and share the gospel with all.

Iranian Pastor Tortured

jacob — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:30:44 +0000

An Assyrian pastor the Iranian government accused of “converting Muslims” is being tortured in prison and threatened with execution, sources close to the case said. State Security agents on Feb. 2 arrested the Rev. Wilson Issavi, 65, shortly after he finished a house meeting at a friend’s home in Isfahan. A city of more than 1.5 million people, Isfahan is located 208 miles south of Tehran. According to Farsi Christian News Network, Issavi’s wife, Medline Nazanin, recently visited her husband in prison, where she saw that he had obvious signs of torture and was in poor condition. Iranian intelligence officials told Nazanin that her husband might be executed for his alleged activities. Issavi is currently being held in an unmarked prison. Last month’s arrest seems to be part of an anti-Christian sweep that is taking place across Isfahan, it appears authorities are rounding up Christian leaders.

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