Saudi man declared insane for faith in Christ

 (Mission Network News) – The Pioneers and Arab World Ministries Web site, Maarifa.org, was created to present the Good News of the Gospel to young Arab Muslims, answering seekers' questions about Jesus and faith in Him, discipling new believers in their own environment, and encouraging them to find fellowship with others.

It's a wonderful way for people in the Arab world to explore Christ and do it safely. But those who come to the Lord as a result are not guaranteed smooth sailing. Mohammed, a North African, called some Pioneers missionaries while he was in Saudi Arabia. He connected with them after visiting the Maarifa Web site. He had been possessed by demons for a long time, despite the many attempts of Muslim scholars to cast the demons out.

One of Mohammed's Muslim friends advised him to see the Coptic priest and ask him to pray. God used that priest to cast out all his demons, and he was healed. Another friend suggested he go on the pilgrimage to Mecca to prevent the demons from coming back in the future. While in Mecca, Mohammed dreamed every day about that Coptic priest, and he saw the cross everywhere he looked.

After a few months, he returned to Saudi Arabia for business. While there, his father phoned him and Mohammed told him he had become a Christian. In response, his father told all Mohammed's relatives in Saudi Arabia not to allow his son to leave Islam, Pioneers reports.

When Mohammed's relatives found out about his faith, they took his computer from him and tried to bring him back to Islam. His Saudi employer threatened to fire him and send him to prison. Miraculously, he left in peace and returned to North Africa.

When Mohammed arrived, a relative took him to see a sheikh, who determined that Mohammed was mentally ill and needed to see a psychiatrist. His family committed him to a mental hospital where he received electric shock therapy. It failed to cure him of his new faith(Source).

Saudi Arabian Officials Assault, Strip Search Christian Prisoners

Washington, D.C. (January 24, 2012) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Saudi Arabian officials strip searched 29 Christian women and assaulted six Christian men after arresting them for holding a prayer meeting at a private home in Jeddah. The prisoners are currently being held at Briman prison in Jeddah.

“We feel humiliated because the security officials stripped searched us. They used the same glove to search several of us at the same time. Some of my friends are suffering from physical pain to their private parts due to the unsanitary condition of the strip search. We haven’t committed any crime. We are imprisoned for worshipping the God of heaven and earth,” said one of the female prisoners during an interview with ICC.

Speaking to ICC, another prisoner said, “A high-ranking security official insulted us saying ‘You are non-believers and animals.’ He also said, ‘You are pro-Jews and supporters of America.’ We then responded, ‘We love everyone. Our God tells us to love everyone.’”

In a message for Christians around the world, the prisoner said, “We want you to help us to get out of prison in every way you can, including prayer. Please tell your governments about our plight, contact human rights organizations and others and inform them about us.”

ICC’s Jonathan Racho said, “The Saudi Arabian officials are committing serious violations of human rights by detaining and mistreating the Christians. It is outrageous that the officials indefinitely incarcerate innocents for practicing their faith. We urge the Saudi officials to release the prisoners and respect their religious freedom.”

Please sign this petition asking the Saudi Arabian government to release the Christian prisoners.
Call the Saudi Arabian Embassy in your country and ask them to release the prisoners(Source).

United States: (+1) 202 342 3800
Canada: (+1) 613 237 4100
United Kingdom: (+44) 207 9173-000
Australia: (+61) 2 6250 7000
Germany: (+49) 30 88 92 50
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Saudi Arabia: Security forces jail dozens attending prayer meeting

Spiritually speaking, Saudi Arabia has to be among one of the darkest places in the world. If you try to tell a Muslim about Jesus Christ (the real Jesus who is God Incarnate, not the psuedo-Jesus described in the Muslim holy book, the Quran) you face the danger of being put to death or imprisoned by the police. I pray that my Ethiopian brethren in Christ will be bold enough to give some Muslim there the gospel.

12/23/2011 Saudi Arabia (World Net Daily) – Saudi Arabian security forces have arrested and detained 35 members of an Ethiopian Christian prayer group in the western city of Jeddah, according to ministries that monitor religious persecution in the restricted Islamic nation. International Christian Concern says their sources tell them the Ethiopian immigrants were beaten and threatened by Saudi security forces before being taken into custody.

The present location of the Ethiopian Christians is unknown.
ICC Middle East analyst Jonathan Racho said the treatment of the Ethiopian Christians is ironic, because Islam's prophet, Muhammad, sent his followers to Ethiopia for refuge when they were persecuted by pagans in Saudi Arabia in the seventh century.

"He said, 'Go to Ethiopia. There is a Christian king in Ethiopia who will give you refuge," Racho said. "So Islam survived because of the hospitality of the Christians in Ethiopia. Now look what they're doing to Christians who are going to Saudi Arabia."

Racho reported that the 35 Christians assembled Dec. 15 for their regular Thursday night worship service.
"As they were gathered, the Saudi officials came in and arrested them. And, they've been imprisoned. It's very outrageous," he said.

Saudi Arabia forbids any religious expression except for Islam, and the strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam is the only officially recognized religion.

"Christians in that country are immigrants from other countries who are forced to worship in their homes. That's what they were doing when they were arrested," Racho explained. Writing about the incident, a commentator at Jihad Watch said the Saudis' show of brute force reveals weakness.

"Behavior like this from the Saudis does not create the image of a strong, confident faith. Their paranoia conveys a sense of fragility and fear. Even by 'winning,' by trying to show who's boss, they lose," the commentator said(Source).

Finding Christ in Saudi Arabia

Every day, Muslims listeners of Christian satellite television broadcasts who are curious about Christianity call in to ICC sponsored representatives to talk about Jesus. Here is the story of how Ahmad found Jesus:
Ahmad, who is 26 years old from Saudi Arabia, tried hard his whole life to please Allah. He eventually saved enough money to perform the Hajj (Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca), but still could not find the answers to his many questions that he had been searching for. Ahmad’s heart was not at peace as he longed for a personal a relationship with his creator. Rather than a loving God who offers forgiveness, Ahmad felt only judgment and wrath for every act of disobedience he committed against Allah.

One day, as Ahmad was flipping through television channels, he found an ICC partnered program on the Hajj. Having just performed the Hajj himself, Ahmad was very interested in what the program had to say. To Ahmad’s surprise, the program was challenging the Islamic religion by exposing its inaccuracies. Ahmad began doing his own research by reading and watching more programs online. “I did the maximum I can do to reach Allah but could not find him till I saw your shows,” he said on the phone to a counselor.

One of the counselors started to talk to Ahmad about Christ and His plan of salvation. Ahmad prayed that very day and committed his life to Christ. Please pray for Ahmad’s safety, as it is very dangerous to convert to Christianity in Saudi Arabia. Please also pray that Ahmad will continue to grow in his faith by seeking the Lord, reading his Bibles, and finding an underground fellowship that will allow him the opportunity to worship with other believers (Source).