Ugh....I know it has been eons since I put a blog post on this blog but here goes: 

Christmas Season Brings Increased Persecution for Christians in India

ICC Note:
As the Christmas season comes into full swing around the world, Christians in India find themselves under increasing persecution. Since BJP and Modi took control of the government in May, attacks on Christians and other minorities in India have dramatically increased. Will 2015 see improvement or will India continue to become more anti-Christian? 
12/24/2014 India (Crossmap) - Christmas-related anti-Christian violence and harassment have begun as Hindu extremists undertake an aggressive effort to "reconvert" tribal people to Hinduism, sources said.

Police arrested and Hindu extremists attacked Christians in three Christmas-related incident in three states the past two weeks.

"Christians in India are apprehensive of having a peaceful Christmas amid this wave of attacks as the right-wing groups are also becoming more aggressive in their mass conversion program that is taking place in different parts of India," the Rev. Bhupendra Kohra, a church leader in central India, told Morning Star News. "We are fearful but we are praying."

Police on Wednesday (Dec. 17) arrested 16 Christians, including four women, as they celebrated Christmas in Navipur, Pipraich, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, Liris Thomas of Alliance Defending Freedom-India (ADF-India) told Morning Star News.

"They were taken to the police station at about 10 a.m., and they were detained till 3:30 a.m. the next morning," Thomas said.

All the Christians except Pastor Amit Kumar were released without charges, with the pastor being held for "disturbing the peace" and his belongs confiscated, Thomas said(Keep Reading).

Hope that my Indian Brethren in Christ have a very merry Christmas even in the midst of their persecution.

Christians in Tanzania Call for an End to Religious Violence

12/30/2012 Tanzania (AllAfrica) - As the world celebrated Christmas, the day of the birth of Jesus Christ, religious leaders have agitated for greater peace and harmony. They have called on the government to contain religious conflicts. The Catholic Church went a mile farther, challenging the government to take its role in providing security to churches and other places of worship against sabotages by gangs of criminals.

The Archbishop of the Dar es Salaam Catholic Archdiocese, Polycarp Cardinal Pengo, told the press that the government was sorely responsible for enabling the worshipers undertake their religious activities peacefully short of which chaos may erupt.

He said that although the government does not have direct affiliation in any religious sect, it recognizes the presence of religions, denominations and their activities and was therefore obliged to take immediate action whenever trouble occurs. "The government must ensure peace and security at places of worship be it at mosques, temples or churches. It has to make sure these places are respected," he stressed(Source).

Nigeria’s President Claims Christians Were Safe Over Christmas Holiday

It wouldn't be surprised if people said that he was wrong about saying my Nigerian brethren in Christ were safe over the Christmas holidays.

12/31/2012 Nigeria (TheSun) - President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said that, but for the security measures to check Boko Haram, this year’s Christmas celebration would have been the bloodiest, going by the Islamist sect’s plans. This is even as a church disclosed that it lost 109 members and 50 branches to the group. Jonathan spoke of plans by Boko Haram to push the nation backwards and stop the government from providing the dividends of democracy.

“They would not succeed because 2013 will be a good year for Nigerians and Nigeria,”he said. The President noted that Christianity and Islam are religions of peace and tolerance which forbid killings and blood-letting. The President disclosed this at the Ekklisiyar Yaruwa a Nigeria, EYN, (Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), Utako, Abuja, where he attended Sunday service. While re-assuring that his administration was working round-the-clock to address insecurity, Jonathan said that government will contain insecurity posed by the sect.

The President said that government will ensure that the activities of the Boko Haram did not push the nation backward as the strategic security plans put in place were already yielding positive results. According to him, the sect had intended to unleash deadly attacks on Christmas day, but the plans were aborted because of the effective strategic operations of the various security agencies. “The Boko Haram planned to carry out a lot of attacks on Christmas day, but we suppressed their plans during the Christmas, because the extent of their plans was not executed as a result of the strategies by the security agencies.

“Although, we still recorded some incidences, but the extent of attacks which they planned, was not allowed to be executed. Boko Haram will not push us backwards. If their plan is to stop government from providing the dividends of democracy, they would not succeed because 2013 will be a good year for Nigerians and Nigeria. With your persistent prayer, we shall defeat them,” he said. Jonathan noted that it was strange how terrorism and suicide bombings which were alien to the culture of any section of the country had crept in. He thanked the EYN nationwide for keeping faith and remaining calm even in the face of provocation.

Earlier, Senior Pastor of the church, Rev. Daniel Mbaya, said that about 50 of their churches had been burnt and 109 members killed in the North by Boko Haram. He said that EYN, predominantly in the North- East, was worse hit by the Boko Haram insurgence(Source).

Rotten Egg Attack Mars Indonesia Christmas Celebration

12/25/2012 Indonesia (Jakarta Globe) - More than 200 Indonesian Muslims threw rotten eggs at Christians wanting to hold a Christmas mass near land outside Jakarta where they plan to build a church, police and a witness said. Some 100 Christian worshippers intended to hold a mass near empty land where they hope to build a church, about 30-kilometers east of the capital, in a project barred by district government and community members in 2009.

Since then, worshippers from the Filadelfia Batak Christian Protestant have held Sunday services under scorching sun outside the property. On Tuesday, however, local community members blocked the road near the land, Andri Ananta, a local police chief on Jakarta's outskirts, told AFP.

An AFP photographer witnessed furious locals — men and women wearing Muslim headscarf, with small children in tow — physically blocking the road and throwing rotten eggs at the gathering worshippers.
Ananta said police managed to convince the Christians to drop their plan and return home.

"We tried our best to avoid any clash and the Christians agreed to leave," he said, adding 380 police and military personnel including an anti-riot squad were deployed to the area. Church leader Reverend Palti Panjaitan said the incident came after a Christmas Eve attack on Monday evening when "intolerant people" threw not only rotten eggs but plastic bags filled with urine and cow dung at them. "Everything had happened while police were there. They were just watching without doing anything to stop them from harming us," he told AFP(Source).

Northern Nigeria Remains Unsafe for Christians

12/29/2012 Nigeria (ChristianToday) - Christmas Eve attacks by suspected Islamic extremists in northern Nigeria's Borno state - already reeling from the slaughter of at least 10 Christians earlier this month - took the lives of six people at a Baptist church, as gunmen killed six others in Yobe state the same night.
According to Morning Star News, in Borno state, where Islamic extremist group Boko Haram is based, six Christians were slain at First Baptist Church in Maiduguri on Christmas Eve.

About 160 kilometers (100 miles) away in Kupwal village in Chibok Local Government Area, suspected jihadists shouting "Allahu Akbar [God is greater]" on December 1 slit the throats of at least 10 people in carefully selected Christian homes, according to reports from survivors.

In Yobe state on Christmas Eve, gunmen believed to be members of Boko Haram reportedly entered the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Peri, near Potiskum, and killed six Christians including a pastor before setting the church building ablaze. Several others were reported seriously wounded.

"No group has claimed responsibility for the Christmas Eve attacks, but Boko Haram mounted Christmas assaults on Christians last year and in 2010," said the Morning Star News Nigeria correspondent.
Boko Haram has expressed its intention to eradicate Christians from northern Nigeria and impose a strict version of Sharia law. Attacks on Christians in Yobe state have forced thousands of Christians to flee to others parts of Nigeria, while others have become refugees in Cameroon, the newspaper reports.

It adds that in Jaji, in northern Nigeria's Kaduna state, 11 Christians were killed in a suicide attack on a church on November 25. The Reverend Titus Sambo and Israel Olaleye, students at Baptist Theological Seminary in Kaduna, died in the dual bomb blasts at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, a military barracks church serving military personnel, their families and civilians in Jaji, about 25 miles from Kaduna City. At least 30 people were reported injured(Source).

Christians are Deliberately Sidelined in Pakistan

I'm glad my Pakistani brethren-in-Christ are remembering the reason for the season, even in the midst of their persecution.

12/27/2012 Pakistan (Salem News) – With the advent of December, Christians all over the world kicked off their preparations to celebrate the most important festival of the year ‘Christmas’ across the world including Pakistan.

With every passing day till the eve of Christmas, Pakistani Christians prepare to celebrate the festivity with zeal and enthusiasm, feeling the echo of church bells for the mid night services on Christmas eve that announce the birth of Jesus.

While preparing for Christmas, the Christians living in Pakistan renew their spirit of celebrating Christmas which continues throughout the month. The programs and celebrations leading to Christmas include Christmas dinners, carol singing and other get together that have an element of sharing the joys of Christmas with the less fortunate(Source).

Pakistan’s loneliest church celebrates Christmas in Taliban country

12/24/2012 Pakistan (Reuters) - This Christmas, pastor Nazir Alam will stoke up a fire, lay a fresh cloth on the altar and welcome parishioners as they arrive at his church in Waziristan, a Pakistani tribal area known as an al-Qaeda haven.
"The lights are all up, and the choir boys are ready. The church is looking its best," said 60-year-old Alam, a former missionary who has celebrated his last ten Christmases there. "There's not much left to do but to pray and rejoice."
Outsiders might see little cause for joy. Pakistan is the sixth most dangerous country in the world for minorities, says London-based watchdog Minority Rights Group International. Christians, Shiite Muslims and Ahmadis are victims of a rising tide of deadly attacks.
But Alam's church, and the homes of most of his 200 parishioners, are nestled inside a Pakistani army base in South Waziristan, a mountainous region that was a hotbed of militancy until a military offensive in 2009.
"When the U.S. went into Kabul, things became bad for everyone. But we are safe here. The army protects us," says Shaan Masih, who helps clean the church and likes to play the drums and sing carols.
For two decades, the church was little more than a room and the tiny community worshipped there under light protection. In 2009, the army set up a base in South Waziristan as part of the offensive against the insurgency and invited the church inside.
"It was a longstanding demand of the community to be given a proper space," Col. Atif Ali, a military officer, told Reuters during a rare trip to the region arranged by the military.
Many of the Christians work for the army in clerical or domestic positions. So far, they have been sheltered from the bombings, raids and drone strikes, violence that rocks the region on an almost daily basis.
Less than a 100 miles away lies North Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan and one of the last areas controlled by the Pakistani Taliban.
The United States has repeatedly urged Pakistan to launch an operation against militants sheltered there including remnants of al Qaeda and Pakistani groups targeting the nation's minorities.
Pakistan says it is doing everything it can to fight the militancy and needs to consolidate the campaign in South Waziristan before opening a new front(Source).

Christians in Iraq celebrate Christmas in Kurdistan

12/25/2012 Iraq (RFI) – Iraq’s Kurdistan Region is home to one of the world's oldest Christian communities. In the last decade it has also welcomed Christians from the rest of Iraq who were persecuted for their religious beliefs. Christmas in Kurdistan takes on a special meaning for Christians knowing that not all their fellow citizens are free to celebrate the holiday.

You might think that one place you could avoid Christmas music in mid-December would be Iraq. But driving through Erbil, capital of the country’s Kurdistan Region, on a wet December afternoon, the local Babylon FM radio station has a full festive play list. That’s because Kurdistan is very different from the rest of the country as many Iraqi Christian refugees have discovered in recent years.

Since the 2003 Iraq war, the Kurdistan Region has offered a safe haven to Christians fleeing religious persecution in Baghdad, Mosul, Basra and other Southern Iraqi cities. The small suburb of Ainkawa lies on the edge of the region’s capital Erbil and about 90% of its 40,000 strong population is Christian, most of them Assyrians or Chaldeon Catholics.

Ninos Mishu is a priest at the Assyrian Church of the East, St John Baptism Church, in Ainkawa, Erbil.
“We have [on] 24th, Monday, we have a prayer beginning at 7.30 for celebration for  coming of Jesus. And at morning 7.30, Tuesday, 25 December, we have a holy mass.”

“We are free here in Kurdistan to use our church here to pray, to make a holy mass. We are so safe here. We are always celebrating our prayers or holy mass. And there is no problems recorded until now. Thanks for God, and for our government that love the Christian people. And our neighbors, the Muslims, they are always giving their greetings for us, in Christmas or Easter(Source).”

Christmas in Indonesia a Matter of Faith and Security

I hope (or I hoped) my Indonesian brethren in Christ remember the true meaning of Christmas in the midst of their persecution during this Christmas season

12/23/2012 Indonesia (Jakarta Globe) - At Jakarta’s biggest shopping centers, lights twinkle on plastic firs and displays are buried under yards of cotton-wool snow. People of all religions can be seen having their photographs taken with a heavily costumed Santa Claus and his helpers. It is hard to tell from these open festivities that Christmas is in fact a minority celebration in Indonesia, the country with the world’s largest Muslim population.

Christians make up less than 10 percent of the population of 240 million. Protestantism and Catholicism count for two of the six officially recognized religions. But despite Christianity’s official status it still faces opposition in Indonesia from terrorist groups, community leaders and even government officials.
Churches in Indonesia are subject to closure from public pressure, face denial of permits to build in the first place and even experience episodes of violence.

In 2000, the nation was rocked by a series of bombings that targeted churches on Christmas Eve. Eighteen people were killed in the blasts that hit churches from North Sumatra through to West Nusa Tenggara.
This Christmas, almost 38,500 churches across the country will be guarded by police. Special attention will be paid to areas believed to be prime targets for terrorist attacks, including East and Central Java, North Sumatra, Central Sulawesi, Bali, Maluku and the Jakarta region.

“There are several regional police jurisdictions that have received special attention,” Insp. Gen. Badrodin Haiti, the National Police’s assistant head of operations, said last week. “We have specifically identified the cities that are indicated as potential targets for terrorist activities.”

In Jakarta alone, 6,000 police personnel will be stationed to keep the peace, as part of an annual strategy known as “Operation Candle.” For Indonesia’s Christians, it remains to be seen whether the peaceful celebrations held in commercial spaces can be repeated in churches across the country this Christmas(Source).

A dark Christmas for Pakistani Christians

Another reason why we as Western Christians should pray for persecuted brethren during this time of year.

12/25/2012 Pakistan (Deutsche Welle) – Christians celebrate Christmas amid growing fear of persecution and rampant economic and social discrimination in Muslim-majority Pakistan. The year 2012 was one of the worst years for them in the country. In many parts of the world, Christmas means a time of celebration. But for Christians in Pakistan, who live under constant fear of persecution by the state and majority Sunni Muslims, there is not much to celebrate.

Christians make up about two percent of the 180 million people living in Pakistan. Rights organizations say that like any other religious minority, they face legal and cultural discrimination in the Islamic Republic.
Pakistan's non-government human rights commission, HRCP (Human Rights Commission of Pakistan), reported that the year 2012 was one of the worst years for Pakistani Christians; a number of them were charged with blasphemy, their churches were burnt and houses looted in many parts of the country.

Blasphemy is a sensitive topic in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, where 97 percent of the population is Muslim. Controversial blasphemy laws introduced by the Islamic military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s make life for Christians more difficult. Activists say the laws have little to do with blasphemy and are often used to settle petty disputes and personal vendettas; they say the Christians are thereby often victimized.

Living under blasphemy laws
On August 16, Rimsha Masih - a Christian girl aged between 10 and 14 - was accused of committing a blasphemous act by a religious cleric in her town. The cleric said she had burnt pages upon which were inscribed verses from the Koran. Masih was promptly taken into police custody.

Pakistani officials claimed the girl suffered from Down's Syndrome, a genetic disorder causing major learning disabilities. Western governments expressed serious concern over her arrest. After numerous protests by rights organizations and Western governments, a Pakistani court ordered her release from custody. But Asia Bibi has not had such luck. In 2010, Bibi, an impoverished farmer, was sentenced to death after her neighbors accused her of insulting the Prophet Muhammad. She is still languishing in prison. The liberal Pakistanis who chose to support Bibi were also not spared by Islamists.

A few months after Bibi's conviction, former governor of the Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was murdered by his bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri. Qadri said he killed Taseer for speaking out against the blasphemy laws and in support of Bibi. In March 2011, Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's former minister for minority affairs, was assassinated by a religious fanatic for the same reason(Source).

Pastor to spend Christmas in Iranian prison, jailed for his faith

It saddens me that this man had to spend Christmas in prison. I hope he remembers that Jesus Christ is the reason for season while he is behind bars.
12/24/2012 Iran (Washington Post) – As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, a time of joy, hope, and peace on earth, we are reminded that in this world not everyone is free to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Last year, we told you about the death sentence against a Christian pastor in Iran, Youcef Nadarkhani. His only “crime” was his faith in Jesus Christ, convicted of apostasy (converting from Islam to Christianity). Hundreds of thousands of people around the world demanded his freedom. After an immense international campaign for his release, working closely with his brave Muslim attorney in Iran and world leaders, Iran relented, releasing him and dropping his apostasy charges in September.

Nadarkhani was not the only imprisoned pastor in the world, but he did become the face of Christian persecution. Today, another Christian pastor languishes in one of Iran’s most notoriously abusive prisons – this time an American citizen. Saeed Abedini, a 32-year-old Iranian-born American citizen, was arrested because of his faith while visiting his family in Iran.

After converting from Islam to Christianity, Abedini helped lead underground churches in Iran and began humanitarian efforts to establish an orphanage for the children of Iran.

In September, when traveling back to Iran to visit his parents and continue his humanitarian work, Abedini was stopped by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. He has now been illegally imprisoned in Iran since September.
We at the ACLJ have been working on his case for a number of months, representing his wife, Naghmeh, and family here in America. Abedini’s wife explained, “When he became a Christian, he became a criminal in his own country. His passion was to reach the people of Iran. . . . He comes from a very close-knit family, and he loved evangelizing and passing out Bibles on the streets of Tehran. This was his passion(Source).”

Chinese Authorities Use Tear Gas To Break Up Christmas Worship Service

The norm for authorities during the Christmas season: Attack my brothers and sisters in Christ they celebrate the Incarnation of the risen Savior.

12/27/11 China (China Aid) - Police in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan fired tear-gas canisters at worshipers at a mass outdoor unofficial Christmas service, and moved to detain other members of “house” churches who tried to organize Christian worship elsewhere in the country, according to participants and rights groups.

Sichuan-based church member Li Ming, who attended the Christmas service on a public square in Langzhong city, said police had raided the gathering and detained three people.

“[On Christmas] morning at about 8.00 a.m. our church was holding a Christmas activity on Binjiang Road in Langzhong city,” Li said in an interview on Monday.

“There were around 20-30 police officers, and they used tear-gas canisters,” he said. “My eyes were so swollen I couldn’t see at all.”

Li said police had confiscated the group’s musical instruments and sound system. “They detained three of our people,” he said. “They haven’t released them yet.”

The move follows the detention of a number of unofficial “house” church members ahead of planned Christmas gatherings across China(Source).

Eight Lao Christians In Prison For Christmas

My Lao brothers and sisters in Christ are in my prayers.

12/22/2011 Laos (Asia News) - Eight Lao Christian leaders arrested on 16 December for “organising” a Christmas visit with 200 Church members are still in jail, this according to human rights activists who say that police travelled on Boukham village in Savannakhet Province, site of the incident, to meet local officials in order to decide what to do with the detainees.

Quoted by Compass Direct News, Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) reported that the leaders had permission for Friday's event from Boukham's village chief.
However, village security forces entered the building, isolated the eight leaders, blindfolded and handcuffed some before marching them off to Boukham government headquarters, where they were detained without charge. “It is quite clear that they were arrested for gathering people for worship," an HRWLRF spokesman told Compass.

On Sunday, Lao Evangelical Church representatives managed to negotiate the release of one of the detainees, who goes by the name of Kingnamosorn, after paying a fine of 1 million kip (US$ 123) to the village chief. By comparison, the average monthly wage for an unskilled labourer in the province is close to US $40.

The content of the discussion between village leaders and police remains unknown, but when police left the village, the chief ordered the unrestrained detainees to be handcuffed as well. Most people in Communist Laos are Buddhist (67 per cent). Out of a population of 6 million, 0.7 per cent is Catholic, often victims of persecution and restrictions on their religious freedom.

Nigerian Churches targeted by Muslims on Christmas Day

(CNN)--Bomb blasts struck at least three churches in Nigeria on Sunday as worshippers were attending Christmas Day services, stirring memories of strikes against Nigerian churches during last year's Christmas season.

The first explosion struck near a Catholic church in Madala, west of Abuja, Nigeria's capital, the National Emergency Management Agency said.

The agency said there were at least 17 bodies in the morgue at the National Hospital, and officials were still trying to confirm the total number of dead, local journalist Alkasim Abdulkadir said from Abuja.

A second attack struck the Mountain of Fire Ministries church in the city of Jos, northeast of the capital, said journalist Hassan John, who witnessed the aftermath of the two blasts that targeted the church.

No one was killed in the bombing, which John called a "miracle," but a policeman who engaged the attackers in a gun battle died of his wounds later, the journalist said, citing officials.

Another wave of bombings hit the northern town of Damaturu in Yobe state, an aid worker said, asking not to be named for security reasons.

A church, a police station and a state security building were also bombed, the aid worker said, saying there were injuries but it was not clear how many(Keep reading).

Afer Months Of Persecution Church In China To End Outdoor Services

Merry Christmas to everyone out there!!!!! Even as we celebrate the incarnation of the Savior of the world, we should still lift our persecuted brethren in Christ in prayer.

12/23/2011 China (CDN) - Key issues in Chinese religious rights are taking a pivotal turn at year’s end as the beleaguered Shouwang house church in Beijing will celebrate its last outdoor service on Christmas Day, and “disappeared” human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng has ostensibly resurfaced – in an undisclosed prison.
Denied access to a building they had purchased as a worship venue, the Shouwang church has been meeting outdoors – and facing weekly arrests – since April 10. A source in Beijing told Compass that next year church leaders will renew their fight to retain the venue the government had denied the congregation.

“Shouwang’s governing committee said that this coming Christmas, which fell on a Sunday this year, would see the last outdoor worship since it began on April 10,” the source said. “They said the church would actively pursue realizing the goal of returning to meet indoors after Christmas. And they still believe the best way to resolve the issue is that the government would permit the church to enter into the space it bought.”

Shouwang held its 37th outdoor service last Sunday (Dec. 18). According to a Dec. 20 post on Shouwang’s Facebook page, as Christmas approaches the police presence has increased at the plaza where the church has been meeting. Many church members were detained at home on Saturday (Dec. 17) to prevent them from traveling to the plaza. Police detained a further 35 either on arrival or on their way to the designated venue and violently seized five church members who had gathered outside Haidian Street police station to meet with detainees. Church leaders said in the post that they are hoping for a resolution to Shouwang’s dilemma this Christmas.

“Today is the day we call all the members of our church to fast and pray for Shouwang,” the post stated. “May God have mercy on his church … and grant us the place for worshipping that he prepared for His church.”

Church leaders have issued an appeal for prayer for “the key to the space the church has bought may be given before Christmas so that the issue of worship place can be solved,” they said in a Dec. 16 statement. “Whether the key is secured or not by the end of 2011, may God provide a permanent worship venue so that the whole congregation can meet together.”

Church leaders say the landlord of their previous venue had been under mounting pressure from authorities to terminate the lease. The government also prevented the church from using the premises it had purchased in late 2009.

Shouwang had paid 27 million yuan, or about US$4 million, for the second floor of the Daheng Science and Technology Tower in northwest Beijing’s Zhongguancun area. Authorities interfered, and the property developer has refused to hand the key over to the church. Earlier this month, the church leaders said, the church paid off all the money borrowed for the space.

The members of the church’s governing committee, two pastors and three elders, and other major co-workers, have been under house arrest for the whole or much of the time since April 9. Hundreds of other people, including many Shouwang parishioners and some members of other churches in Beijing and other cities, were detained for between a few hours to two days(Source).

NYC Says Bronx Church Can’t Rent Public Community Center

And the Christmas-related Western Persecution continues here in America:

12/22/2011 United States (The Christian Post)-New York City officials are handing a local church an eviction notice this Christmas season. The Associated Press reports that the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has asked the Bronx Bible Church to stop worship services at a public community center. The church began renting the Judge Sonia Sotomayor Community Center in September to service its growing congregation, but now is ordered to leave by Dec. 31.

"It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach when I heard the news," said the church's pastor Joseph Fletcher. "It was like someone let all the air out of our sails."

Fletcher said his church began its ministry 28 years ago at another building on its own. As attendance swelled, he said, the congregation decided they could better serve the Bronx by offering a second location more convenient for members. Given New York City's rental costs, he said his church quickly decided renting from the community center was a reasonable alternative.

"Both of our locations are in very poor locations," Fletcher said. "We're trying to minister to people most others have forgotten about. The biggest expense you have in starting a new church is renting a building. The nice thing about a public space is that it's easier to handle."

The new location started off strong, Fletcher said, with Sunday morning services in the center's community room attracting 40 to 50 people during peak services. The church’s community center location hosted a Thanksgiving food event, housed a junior church, a nursery and even a choir. But such progress is now loss after the NYCHA called Fletcher and told him his church could no longer rent the space given the result of The Bronx Household of Faith v. New York City Board of Education court case in June.

Robert Hall, co-pastor of The Bronx Household of Faith, said the decision means that any New York City public school can refuse to rent its classrooms to churches and other religious bodies. His church had previously rented a classroom for Sunday services, only for the city's Department of Education (NYCDE) to argue that any religious worship in a public institution might seem like endorsement of that worship by said institution. The NYCHA, Fletcher said, worries a similar problem could occur at its community centers.

The church's website said that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld that decision last summer, and now all churches must leave public schools by February 2012. Calls to both the NYCHA and the NYCDE were not returned by press time, and the Supreme Court declined to review the case on Dec. 5.

"Not allowing religious worship in public schools sets a dangerous precedent," Hall said. "This is separation of church and state far beyond what was intended by the original idea and could marginalize Christianity."

"I've embraced the sovereignty of God in all this," Fletcher said. "There's nothing that will happen to our church without God's approval. We haven't given up hope that we're out of there yet(Source)."

Kidnappings, Shrinking Finances: Sudan’s Christians Reveal Fears

12/22/2011 Sudan (Middle East Online)-The fear of kidnappings, a dwindling number of worshippers, and shrinking church finances mar the first Christmas in Muslim-majority Sudan since the Christian South separated, church sources say.

"We are going to have a Christmas like parents without children," said one source.

Like others, he asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue -- in particular the alleged abduction of ethnic southern youth to fight in the country's southern border region or with rebels in South Sudan.

"The young people are worried about being rounded up to serve in militia on the border," another church source said. "They take them to the camp, train them for a few weeks and then they send them."

Sudanese forces in the country's South Kordofan state have since June been fighting former allies of the rebels who fought for the independence of South Sudan. The South gained independence from the mainly Arab Muslim north in July after a two-decade civil war, and an overwhelming vote to break away.
The fighting spilled into nearby Blue Nile state as Khartoum moved to assert its authority within its new boundaries. Philip Aguer, South Sudan's military spokesman, made essentially the same allegations as the church sources in Khartoum.

He said ethnic South Sudanese in Khartoum were among those particularly vulnerable to forced recruitment.
"They are sending them to the training camps of Sudan Armed Forces" and then dispatching them to areas including South Kordofan and Blue Nile, or to the forces of George Athor fighting in South Sudan's Jonglei state, Aguer said.

"Some youth are becoming a target" in the Sudanese capital, a third church source said, adding the insecurity could affect attendance at midnight services planned for Christmas Eve on Saturday, although churches are asking the authorities to provide protection. A clergyman and two others were recently held for three days in a suburban home after plainclothes men jumped from a pickup truck and surrounded them after they had left a prayer meeting, sources alleged.

They said the three were released after paying thousands of Sudanese pounds (more than $1,000).
"There is a lot of insecurity and we are afraid," one church source said.

Churches are already struggling to deal with increasingly empty pews after, according to the United Nations, almost 350,000 ethnic South Sudanese headed to the South since October last year.

"Every Sunday we set maybe 10 or 15 minutes' time to pray for those who are going," said Canon Sylvester Thomas, dean of All Saints Episcopal Cathedral in Khartoum.
"Last Sunday we had about six of them who are leaving".
Even the cemetery is emptying, as some returnees dig up the bones of their relatives to take with them, Thomas said at his church, while the evening Muslim call to prayer sounded from a neighbourhood mosque.

"As you go to the New Nation, South Sudan, go with our Love, prayers and God's blessing," it says.
The Anglican cathedral, once overflowing, has cut back its services and the Sunday morning English mass may now only draw four or five people, Sylvester says. The Arabic mass attracts a few dozen faithful. Offerings and tithes which supported children's education, medical treatment and women's training, are down 70 to 90 percent, he said.

The future is uncertain, but Christmas remains a time to celebrate their faith.
Parishioners packed the yard of All Saints last weekend for a Christmas concert beneath strands of miniature white lights. Some raised their arms in praise, and gently swayed to joyous African music. In a newly-divided country, priests said their Christmas message is one of peaceful coexistence, and reconciliation.

"When we are reconciled there is justice.. and this one leads to peace," said Dingi(Source).

Pakistan Deploys Snipers To Protect Christians During Christmas

As Western Christians, we should be thankful that we get to celebrate Christmas without the threat of violence. In Muslim countries, Muslims' hatred for the Lord Jesus Christ rears its ugly head around the Christmas season as is displayed in the below article. I pray that the Lord Jesus protects my persecuted brethren in Muslim countries during this Christmas season.

12/21/2011 Pakistan (AFP)-Pakistan will deploy snipers and hundreds of extra police at churches this Christmas to prevent possible attacks on the persecuted Christian minority, police said Wednesday.
The bulk of Pakistan's tiny Christian community live in and around the eastern city of Lahore, where police said there were 433 churches.

"We will deploy 2,500 policemen, including sharp shooters, to provide security to them at Christmas," Nayab Haider, a police spokesman, told AFP. Lahore has suffered a series of attacks blamed on Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants, part of a nationwide campaign of violence that has killed more than 4,700 people since July 2007.

"We have placed 38 churches in category A, which are most sensitive, and among them, 20 are even more sensitive as we expect foreigners to visit these churches on Christmas Eve," Haider said.

He denied there was any specific threat to Christians at Christmas but said precautions were being taken on a "general threat perception".

Only three percent of Pakistan's 174 million people are estimated to be non-Muslim. The Vatican has said Pakistani Christians are often victims of violence and discrimination. On Tuesday, the Masihi Foundation, a human rights group, warned that a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy last year is in a "very frail" physical and mental state.

Asia Bibi, 46, was sentenced to death in November 2010 after drinking water from a well reserved for Muslims and allegedly making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed. Her appeal at the High Court in Lahore is ongoing(Source).

Pakistan: Thousands Protest Shoes Bearing Cross

1. Muslims are once again showing their hatred for the cross as Paul experienced in his day (1 Corinthians 1:18)

2. It seems like the Christmas holidays are open season on my brethren in Christ Jesus.
12/18/2011 Pakistan (UCAN)-More than three thousand angry Christians held a protest rally in Lahore yesterday condemning sale of shoes incorporating Christian crosses. Some Muslim leaders joined the protestors, who were wearing black armbands and headbands. Chanting anti government slogans, they burned tires on the road.The protest ended after pastors led hymn singing.

“This is no drama. Our Christian identity has been insulted as Christmas approaches”, said Pastor Samuel King, president of the Pakistan Minorities Movement (PMM).

The group had previously confiscated 1,200 pairs of shoes, inscribed with a cross and Christmas symbols, from a shop. Its owner was arrested on November 26 but freed by police after three days.

Kanwal Feroz, chief editor of a Christian monthly, also demanded action for blasphemy. “Deliberate or not; this action has hurt the minority community which severely bore the burnt of the blasphemy laws”, he said.
Christians say implementation of Islamic laws of apostasy and blasphemy in the constitution have victimized minorities on basis of business rivalry and personal grudges. However, debate against the controversial laws ended this year after the murder of the Catholic federal minister of minorities.

‘Tis The Season…To Attack Christian Faith

11/30/2011 United States (The Washington Post) - It is the holidays - a time for friends and family to gather to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving - and it is once again time for atheist groups to roll out their latest attack on Christianity. This year’s chosen anti-Christian theme seems to be directed specifically at cross displays in the military or any vestige of Christian faith associated with honoring those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Just before Thanksgiving, the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers (MAAF) launched an assault on a 13-foot cross that was erected by U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton in California to commemorate the memory of their fallen comrades - fellow heroes who died in Iraq.  MAAF’s assault this Christmas doesn’t stop with this one cross; they take aim at a whole laundry list of other symbols of sacrifice meant to honor fallen heroes. As MAAF explained, “The Camp Pendleton cross is just one of many. The Mt. Soledad Cross, the Mojave Desert Cross, the Montana Jesus statue, and the Utah state trooper crosses are all examples.”

Just a few weeks ago, it was Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) -- another atheist group opposed to any public Christian display -- that attempted to remove a World War II memorial statue of Jesus from Big Mountain in Montana, calling this nearly 60-year-old war memorial erected by members of the 10th Mountain division “a ruse and a sham.”

Now, the U.S. Army has ordered the removal of a cross from a military chapel at a base in Afghanistan - a symbol of sacrifice that soldiers at the base considered an “inspiring symbol.” American Atheists -- the group suing to stop the inclusion of the Ground Zero Cross in a 9/11 museum, saying Christians are using it to “exploit” 9/11 -- and MAAF claim that this move was required for the military to remain “neutral.” Yet, as I told Fox News, what these atheist groups truly want is to remove all the evidence of our Christian heritage from the military. Interestingly, the same individual I debated on Fox News last week regarding the cross at the Afghanistan base, who is the Vice President of American Atheists, happens to also be the founder of the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers. Notice a trend?
...
 The founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation “estimates that about 88 percent of the U.S. military is either protestant or Catholic” and NPR reports “that 40 percent of active duty personnel are evangelical Christians.” Christians should be proud of these statistics and those activists launching attacks on any vestige of Christian symbolism in the military would be well-advised to appreciate the tremendous voluntary sacrifice the Christians who makeup the overwhelming majority of our armed forces are willing to make to protect our country.

Rather than praise the Christians who make our all volunteer military the second largest in the world, these atheists and anti-evangelical crusaders want to tear down memorial crosses, dispose of 60 year old statues, and prevent St. Augustine’s landmark Just War Theory from being used to educate adult servicemen and women(Source).