Suspected Fulani Militants Kill 4 in Bassa District Attack

Having to deal with a pandemic and militants? I would hate to be these people.

04/09/2020 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – Yesterday, April 8th, gunmen believed to be Fulani militants attacked Ngbra-zongo village of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State. The attack was the second in the last month on the village. During this attack, the gunmen killed at least four people, including the pastor of the local ECWA church. The attackers were able to continue the attack for over an hour without any security intervention and then escaped.

The security of this area should be of huge concern to the Nigerian government as it has been a hotspot of large scale attacks in the past. In June of 2017, ove two hundred people were killed in a two-day attack on Bassa Local Government area.  Despite this, there has only been minimal engagement by the authorities and none of the attackers have ever been held accountable. This has led to impunity on the part of the attackers, who believe that they can get away with whatever they want. It has also led the locals to mistrust and often hate the military and government.

This attack is especially worrisome as Plateau state is going in to total lockdown tonight due to the coronavirus, COVID-19. This will mean that many of the locals will be stuck in their homes and could be attacked again. This will also hurt the government’s attempts to stop the spread of the virus, as villagers whose homes are attacked often have to flee to other locations(Keep reading).

I pray that God will keep them safe and that the government will step in and help them out.

Isolation Nearly Impossible for Poor Communities in Africa

Okay, so far, I have posted many articles centered around Coronavirus and how it has affected America, the Middle East, Eastern Asia and Europe. I haven’t posted much on how it’s affecting Africa and there is a reason for that: not many people are traveling to Africa. This, however, does not mean that Africa isn’t being affected by the virus. It also doesn’t mean that it won’t have ANY ripple effects for any of the countries at large like Nigeria or the Sudan. This article elaborates on that.

04/07/2020 Africa (International Christian Concern) – So far Africa has been able to avoid the worst of the virus as fewer people travel internationally to many countries, but as the virus continues to gain a foothold in Africa, the virus could spread quickly. The poorest countries in Africa will find it impossible to stop the spread due to the inability of many communities to self-isolate. There are still many communities across the continent that rely on community resources which involves crowds, such as water from pumps, and electricity which only a few people may have. These villages and towns will be especially susceptible to the virus as they often do not have medical facilities, access to medical masks or chemicals to kill the virus.

If these more rural areas or the densely populated slums of larger cities become exposed to the virus, it could turn into the worst of the pandemics in the world. Governments will find it hard to enforce self-isolation due to the needs of these communities. Also, for those countries where minorities are already oppressed, this could mean more persecution and strife. Countries like Sudan, who have had growth towards freedom could easily start seeing these freedoms slip back if the governments are not careful(Keep reading).

This could also cause terrorism to increase in countries like Nigeria, Sudan, Kenya and Somalia. Which in turn means persecution against our brethren in Christ will increase. Let’s pray that our brethren will kept safe during this time and they will find treatment necessary if they have come down with the Coronavirus. Let’s also pray that the leaders will not allow discrimination based on religion to go on, ESPECIALLY, when it comes to who gets treatment for the Coronavirus. God keep them (and us) safe during this time.

Over 100 Christian Families Denied Food Aid Amid COVID-19 Crisis in Pakistan

04/07/2020 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has documented another instance of Pakistani Christians being turned away from an aid distribution because of their religious identity. This marks the third incident of discrimination documented by ICC since Pakistan has gone into lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Sunday, April 5, more than 100 Christian families from Sandha Kalan village, located in the Kasur district of Pakistan’s Punjab province, were excluded from a distribution of food aid. Shahakeel Ahmed, a local Muslim and human rights defender, told ICC that Sheikh Abdul Haleem Hamid, a cleric at the local mosque, decided that the food aid would be distributed to only Muslim families.

The aid, collected by a village management committee and mostly made up of foodstuffs, was reportedly designed to be distributed among all the deserving families of the village. However, when the aid was distributed, Sheikh Hamid did not allow even a single Christian family to receive aid.

Ahmed reportedly protested against this discrimination and raised his voice against the decision made by the cleric. However, these protests went unheard.

“I condemn this inhumane and discriminatory act by my Muslim village fellows and stand in solidarity with the poor Christian population of the village,” Ahmed told ICC. “Therefore a group of like-minded individuals are collecting donations from liberal Muslims to extend foodstuff to this vulnerable segment; the Christians of this country.”

Common grace at its finest. I hope this man finds Christ and his pleas get heard.

Rights Group Urges Vietnam to Free Prisoners of Conscience Amid COVID-19

04/06/2020 Vietnam (International Christian Concern) – A Vietnamese human rights group issued a statement calling on Vietnam’s government to free all prisoners of conscience to protect them from being infected with deadly COVID-19 as the disease increasingly spreads around the country.

On April 4, Defend the Defenders (DTD) issued a press release to highlight the potential risks faced by the prisoners of conscience given the poor conditions of prisons in the communist country. They are “one of the most vulnerable groups to Coronavirus infection as the severe prison conditions have weakened their immune system.”

DTD’s latest statistics show that Vietnam’s communist regime is holding at least 240 prisoners of conscience in severe conditions: being held in large numbers in small unhygienic cells without sunlight and windows, low-quality food, lack of proper medical services, many of them have been placed in solitary cells or beaten by prison guards or inmates for protesting inhumane treatment.

The statement said, “Releasing prisoners of conscience and allowing them to return with their families will help them avoid being infected with Coronavirus better than being held in the crowded detention facilities, and the government will reduce expenditures spending on maintaining detention facilities. It requests Vietnam’s authorities to improve living conditions in detention facilities to raise their health to help them better withstand diseases, especially the deadly COVID-19 while still keeping them in custody(Continue to read here).”

Let’s hope they get what they want.

Indian Christian Leaders Pledge to Help to Combat COVID-19 in Letter to Prime Minister

I remember posting about how to pray for our Indian brethren in Christ as they were being persecuted.

They will need more prayer now with this COVID-19 going around.

04/02/2020 India (International Christian Concern) – Radical Hindu nationalists often justify their attacks on India’s Christian community because they say Indian Christians are the followers of a foreign faith and anti-nationals. Unfortunately, this hateful narrative is rarely countered by the current BJP-led government and its leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who share some of their ideological foundations with Hindu nationalists.

In the past six year, violent attacks on India’s Christians have skyrocketed. In 2019 alone, the Evangelical Fellowship of India documented at least 366 violent attacks on Christians and their places of worship.

In spite of this woeful treatment, India’s Christian leaders sent an open letter to Prime Minister Modi saying the Christian community would do its part to combat the deadly effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This letter was signed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, the National Council of Churches in India, and the Evangelical Fellowship of India.

To slow the spread of the disease, Prime Minister Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown on March 24. According to many commentators, India has instituted the world’s strictest and most-wide-ranging Covid-19 lockdown.

As of April 1, India has 1,397 documented cases of COVID-19 and 35 COVID-19 related deaths(Continue reading here).

Pakistani Christian Leaders Report Another Incident of Aid Being Denied to Christians

Because the leaders of Pakistan still feel the need to persecuted my Pakistani brethren, even during this Pandemic.

04/03/2020 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) – Christian leaders in Pakistan are reporting another incident in which Christians were denied government food aid amid the COVID-19 crisis. This marks the second report of government aid being denied to minorities in Pakistan due to their religious identity.

“A few days back there was an announcement made through a mosque’s loudspeaker in the Sher-Shah neighborhood of Lahore inviting citizens to collect the government’s announced foodstuffs,” Pastor Irfan James from Talents Ministry of Pakistan told International Christian Concern (ICC). “When Christians reached the distribution point and presented their national identity cards, they were asked by staffers to get out of the line claiming the foodstuff was only for Muslim citizens.”

Among the Christians denied aid in Sher-Shah was Rachel Bibi, age 50. Speaking to ICC, Bibi said, “Christians often face religious hatred and discrimination. However, we never thought of this biased behavior by the majority people at this critical time of COVID-19. The authorities must take action against those involved.”

According to Pastor James, he received multiple telephone calls a day from members of his congregation reporting similar denials of aid. Pastor James went on to ask the international community to step in and extend aid to the minority communities of Pakistan.

Since March 21, most of Pakistan has been placed on lockdown as authorities seek to slow the spread of COVID-19. However, this national lockdown has significantly affected the country’s poor and vulnerable communities. This includes Pakistan’s religious minorities(Continue to read here).

Pastor in Nepal Arrested for Praying Against COVID-19 Virus

And what is so bad about praying that the a Coronavirus going away?

03/29/2020 Nepal (International Christian Concern) – According to Morning Star News, a Christian pastor in Nepal has been arrested for praying against the COVID-19 virus on a video that has circulated on social media. The pastor, who was taken into custody on March 23, could face up to six months in prison after being wrongly accused of giving false information about COVID-19.

In a video translated by Morning Star News, Pastor Keshab Acharya prayed in front of his church congregation, saying, “Hey, corona – you go and die. May all your deeds be destroyed by the power of the Lord Jesus. I rebuke you, corona, in the name of Lord Jesus Christ. By the power or the ruler of this Creation, I rebuke you… By the power in the name of Lord Jesus Christ, corona, go away and die.”

According to Junu Acharya, Pastor Acharya’s wife, her husband received a call on March 23 at about 8 p.m. from an unknown man requesting prayer for his sick wife. Pastor Acharya invited the man to come to their house for prayer. However, when there was a knock at the door, four police officers entered the home, surrounded Pastor Acharya, arrested him, and took him to the police station.

Christian leaders in Nepal have spoken out against the arrest of Pastor Acharya. Pastor Mukunda Sharma, Executive Secretary of the Nepal Christian Society, told Morning Star News that he had urged the District Superintendent of Police to act fairly and not implicate Pastor Acharya in any criminal charges.

“I told [the District Superintendent] that the police cannot prosecute the pastor for exercising his faith and that it is a gross violation of human rights,” Pastor Sharma told Morning Star News. “He assured me that the pastor was taken into custody only for an inquiry(Keep reading).”

Iraqis’ Faith Grows as Churches Close

It’s great to know that years of persecution and not even this virus, can stop the work of God in Iraq.

03/30/2020 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – Chaos has unfolded throughout every decade of Iraq’s recent history. Today, a virus keeps the country closed, leaving the vulnerable unable to access basic resources. The vulnerable include those displaced by ISIS, Islamic extremists whose genocide against religious minorities sowed chaos across Iraq. The genocide was foreshadowed by a massive bombing against a church a few years prior. But even before this, chaos was still unfolding. The early 2000s were plagued by militia violence, prompting one of the first waves of Christian immigration from Iraq.

For Iraqi Christians, chaos and uncertainty have always defined life. Today’s uncertainty is different. Rather than fleeing their homes, Christians are staying home and reflecting on the spiritual lessons they have learned throughout years of persecution.

Sarah is a young woman living in Baghdad, active in her church, and musically gifted. She has watched how decades of persecution have impacted the Christian community. “Churches in Iraq—Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestants—were always there in every crisis passed, since forever,” she observes. Now again, the country is in a crisis. This time, however, the churches are closed. For Sarah, that is not necessarily bad. “Personally, the current crisis improved my spiritual life. God is my shelter, where I can run to whenever needed.” 

Even while the Christian population in Iraq has shrunk, the number of Muslims converting to Christianity has grown. For many, it was watching the persecution of Christians that served as a witness. When they converted, they faced persecution from their families that left many homeless, jobless, and with nowhere to go. Yet, their faith has only grown, including during this current crisis, which has further isolated them from society.

“I am leading a great group of believers who came to Christ and changed their religion,” says one pastor. “This is only another challenge that has been added to their many challenges. I am encouraged to be with them; they have no fear. Sometimes I encourage them. Then I realized that I am encouraged by them and by their faith.” 

Even so, several Christians find this current situation harder for their faith. In every crisis of persecution, the church was open and present. For context, Sarah explains that “after 2003, the churches in Iraq suffered persecution, especially in between 2005 – 2011. The bombing of a church during Sunday prayer by suicide belts in 2010 was the last maybe… today, we can see how the church rebuilt, and people can have prayers there once again.” 

And yet now, because of a virus, the churches are closed for the first time. For so many Christians, church is their community. Societal discrimination has left them with little else. Thus the inability to pray in church during a time of hardship sits unwell among the hearts of some. “I’ve attended the evangelical church since 20004,” says one woman. “I can confirm that the spiritual level was always better during crises and hard times. I am against closing the churches and canceling services.” 

It can be frustrating to watch churches close for something invisible, given the history of the churches staying open even in times of violence. It helps, however, to think of the situation in a different way. “We’ve been distributing Bibles until the government’s statement about the curfew,” says a Christian leader. “We had to close the office as everybody else. Persecution over the history had a positive impact on Christians’ faith. This time may be the persecution didn’t come by a physical enemy, it is like a virus. I believe God gives us protection.” 

“We need to be real facing our fear. This time, our faith decides who we are. I pray we stay close to God all the time, not only the hard times,” adds another.

It is, at least, an opportunity for reflection. An opportunity that, because of the years of chaos faced by Iraq, has been difficult to grasp. As one convert says, “When I came to know Christ many years ago, I was growing on my faith through attending services and listening to the word of God. But due to life and business, I couldn’t read and listen to the word of God. This epidemic helped me to go back. Even I am worried about the future of this country, but I believe in the blood of Christ(Read more).

8 Ways to Pray for during this pandemic

So this post going to be sort of a sequel to my blog post on what the Coronavirus and how to respond to it, I feel obligation to add how to go about pray during this pandemic. Here’s how:

1. Calm assurance in God's sovereignty.
2. Dispelling of fear and worry.
3. Opportunities to serve neighbors.
4. Wisdom in decision making.
5. Global gospel advance.
6. Willingness to follow instructions.
7. Healing for those affected.
8. Pray that Asians in America will be protect from hate crimes.

I included the last one for a reason. The Coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China. Therefore some people are going to be (irrationally) blaming Asians living in America for bringing the virus over to this country. This article shows that it’s already happening:

An FBI report obtained by ABC News says the stabbing of three Chinese-Americans at the Sam's in Midland was a hate crime.

The document detailed the incident in which "three Asian American family members, including a 2-year-old and 6-year-old, were stabbed … The suspect indicated that he stabbed the family because he thought the family was Chinese, and infecting people with the coronavirus."

The FBI is warning that there's an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans as the coronavirus crisis continues to grow.

"The FBI assesses hate crime incidents against Asian Americans likely will surge across the United States, due to the spread of coronavirus disease … endangering Asian American communities," according to the report, which was done by the FBI’s Houston office and distributed to local law enforcement agencies across the country. 

"The FBI makes this assessment based on the assumption that a portion of the US public will associate COVID-19 with China and Asian American populations(Keep reading)."

We need to pray that God will keep a hedge of protection around the Asians living in this country (and by extension other western countries), because I sense this is only going to get uglier.

As I said in my 1st post from yesterday, this could not be a better time for the church to show the world how big her God is. Let’s show this by displaying the power of prayer.

Coronavirus: What it is and how to respond to it

Okay, so I have given article after article about how are brethren in Christ in persecuted countries are faring with this Coronavirus going on. However, I have not gone into this thing: what is the Coronavirus?

The Coronavirus is a disease that is curable. However, the strand of Coronavirus which is going around in the world right now is called Covid-19. The symptoms include: fever, shortness of breath, runny nose, sneezing and coughing.

This virus strand began in Wuhan, China and stayed in China since it commenced on New Years Eve 2019.

This all changed on January 21, 2020 when the first confirmed case of the virus came in the United States. It came courtesy of a man who traveled to Wuhan from Washington State. Before this Japan, South Korea and Thailand reported their cases the day before that.

On the 23 of January, China put Wuhan on complete lockdown, where the  virus began. Flights and trains were suspended, buses, ferries and subways in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading.

On the 30th, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international. This designation is reserved for extraordinary events that can spread internationally.

On the 11th of February, the virus was given the name, COVID-19.

On February 26, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms a case of COVID-19 in a patient in California with no travel history to a place where the virus broke out, not contact with someone diagnosed with the virus.

On the 29th of February, the first person to die was a man in Washington State with no travel history to China. There were 2 other deaths at a nursing home on the 26th to be recorded as the first deaths to happen in the United States.

On March 3rd, CDC allowed anyone to be tested for the virus with out restriction. No doubt, this came after the above mentioned death.

March 13th, President Trump declared this pandemic a state of National Emergency and decided to open up a $50 billion in federal funding to take care of COVID-19.

On March 15th, CDC warned against large gatherings, which included conferences, festivals, parades, concerts and the like. This was done to decrease the chances of the Coronavirus spreading. The next day, people were warned against going to gyms where people could catch the virus by touching unclean weights.

On March 17th, West Virginia reports it’s first COVID-19 case, showing that the disease was present in all 50 states(Read here for more). 

It is amazing how fast this thing has spread, how quickly has caught the attention of the news and how it has affected many systems. Churches are now meeting online for worship services and Bible studies. Schools are having online classes and some people are out of a job.

It’s crazy.

In the midst of all this craziness, how should we as Christians be acting? I will tell you what we SHOULDN’T be displaying: Anxiety, worry or panic. Our God is control of everything. This pandemic did not catch Him by surprise. It happened according to His Purpose (Ephesians 1:9). We need to put our total trust in Him and know that He is working this out all for our good.

What then should we be doing? We should, of course, be loving our neighbor. Here are 8 ways to do so:

1. Share from our overstock of supplies.

2. Building trust and sharing Christ.

3. Giving $0 to “faith healing” abusers

4. Supporting your local church

5. Being gentle and kind in lines

6. Keeping tabs on the elderly

7. Wash your hands

8. Encourage each other

This is a time where the Church needs to step up and be a light to the world around. Let’s get started on that.

The Coronavirus and how God is using it in Iran

So I was part of a Webinar yesterday which was  produced by none other than Heart 4 Iran. It was going over how the Coronavirus is affecting everyone in Iran. During said webinar, it was talking about how this pandemic was causing the Iranian people to lose faith in the government and faith in God in general(and Islam in particular). It was causing them to question how a good God would allow this to happen.

For our Iranian brethren in Christ, it was an opportunity share the gospel. Many of them took this opportunity to give out hand sanitizer to those who didn’t have, share the gospel with those who didn’t know Christ and love on others in general (even their persecutors).

In a sense, this is similar to how I mentioned how our brethren in Christ were taking advantage of the pandemic in China last month.

Obviously, God is using this pandemic to draw more people to Him. Given that Iran has horrible healthcare, it has drawn many Muslim inhabitants to go to Christians for help and prayer. It will no doubt lead to a miraculous healing and the Muslims giving their lives to Christ.

The number of Christians in Iran has been growing rapidly. This pandemic is more than likely going to cause it to grow even more.

I have posted numerous posts on Iran in the recent past. Here are some ways to pray for Iran during this crisis:

1. Pray that Iran will get through this health crisis as the pandemic is revealing. Pray that the people of Iran who affect by this virus will be healed despite the lack of health care and that it will improve.

2. Pray that our brethren in Christ will remain strong in the Lord and continue to preach the gospel during this time despite the threat of persecution.

3. Pray that the number of Christians will continue increasing during this time.

Romans 8:28 really is true. God does work everything together for the good of His children.

If you want to go to the Heart 4 Iran website, click here:

http://heart4iran.com/

Go here and consider them your support.

Chinese Christians Caught Between Coronavirus and Persecution

Our Chinese brethren in Christ’s lives are worse now. They have to deal with this Coronavirus on top of the persecution that they normally face on a daily basis.

They will be in my prayers.

03/23/2020 China (International Christian Concern) – Despite the Chinese government’s claim that there are no new confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in the country, China is still very engulfed in the battle against this disease.

Other than the patients and medical professionals who became direct victims from the outbreak, some Christians also face additional challenges during this time.

Christian persecution watchdog China Aid reports on the persecution faced by a member from the Fengle Church in Heshan city, Guangdong province.

Ruan Haonan, who used to be a chef at a hotel, is caught between the disease and harassment from the police. Though he has landed multiple jobs in the past few years, he was laid off repeatedly due to the police’s oppression.

“After our church was raided by the public security bureau in 2017, it has been difficult (for me) to look for a job. Every year local police would call me, question, and scold me, asking me not to share the gospel anymore,” Ruan said(See more).

Brethren in Christ released from prison due to Coronavirus

God is using this virus to work things out together for His good.  Great to know.

Tens of thousands of prisoners in Iran have been released temporarily as the country tries to reduce coronavirus infections, officials say. 

More than 54,000 inmates had been let out after testing negative for the virus, Iran's judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said. 

A British MP has said Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman detained for almost four years over spying allegations she denies, is expected to be granted a temporary release in the coming days. 

Iran has so far reported 77 deaths - the highest figure outside of China - as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, with 2,336 infections recorded(Go here).

5 Ways to pray for our North Korean brethren in Christ

North Korea is a nightmarish nation, a perilous police state and a totalitarian hellhole. It is the WORST place for anyone who names the name of Christ to live. And considering how badly Muslim majority nations treat our brethren in Christ, THAT’S saying something. It wasn’t always this way: in 1948 Christianity flourished all over the Korean Peninsula. Missionary work started in 1880s and then came the great Pyongyang revival of 1907 which lead to the mass conversions and church planting in what’s now North Korea. It got to the point where Pyongyang was once called the Jerusalem of the East.

Of course that is no longer the case. Our North Korean brethren in Christ face persecution in their public and private spheres of their lives, to the point that electronic surveillance of messages and emails. How did this come to be? Back in the colonial days, aegukbans AKA “patriotic groups,” were formed through a unified Korea. They were to be mandatory “neighborhood watch” programs that provided safety, food, labor and order.

After the Korean Civil War, North Korea renamed the surveillance program called imniban, or “people’s groups.”  The purpose they served was supporting surveillance, a normal function of life and labor mobilization. Each group was appointed a leader (usually a woman) who would do a weekly unannounced  inspection of each home in the middle of the night. The leader would closely monitor the income and report any suspicious activity to the local authorities ASAP.

Throughout the late 20th century, imniban project was lax until 2011 when Kim Jong-un became the leader. When that happened he sought to enforce the law which forbade religious material and the imniban now has the new duty of searching homes and punishing any violators found with religious materials, conducting religious practices and even simply saying a prayer blessing the food. Violators are tortured in labor camps and some will be killed for refusing to recant their beliefs. Those who recant their faith are sent to a camp to be “re-educated.” This includes labor and malnutrition among other not-good things.

The worst part about this all is that head of state gives rewards to people who report those with religious material, which means the Christian can’t really trust their family members. When the husband and wife defect for the sake of Christ they are SHOCKED to find out they knew Christ.

With all of this in mind, here are five ways to pray for our North Korean brethren in Christ:

1. Pray that North Korean officials will come to know Christ as Lord and for subsequent change in the regime and the power of evil will be broken permanently.

2. Kim Jong Un continues to consolidate his power. Pray that He comes to know Christ.

3. Pray that the North Korean Christian refugees in China will be strengthened and encouraged to endure by the provision of food, clothing, shelter and medicine.

4. Pray that our brethren in Christ stuck in prisons, labor camps and remote areas will continue to hope in Christ alone.

5.  With the Coronavirus going around North Korea is at risk. Pray that the coronavirus will not go through North Korea.

May God break the chains of tyranny in North Korea,