Church Bombing In Kirkuk

8/13/2011 Iraq (VOA) – A car bomb was recently detonated outside a church in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk injuring at least nineteen people, including a priest.  More than 40 homes were damaged by the blast.

This latest attack on a church is part of a pattern of stepped up violence by terrorists against Iraq's minority Christian population. An attack on a Christian church in Baghdad on October 31st, 2010, left 58 worshippers dead, including two priests.  It was one of the worst in a spate of attacks that have targeted Iraqi Christians and have left scores dead.

After the attack on the Syrian-Catholic church in Kirkuk, the Syrian-Catholic Archbishop, Yohanna Petros Mouche, has asked the Iraqi government to guarantee better security in the country. Speaking about the alleged terrorist he explained, that the terrorist was "perhaps an Iraqi by passport, but certainly not in his heart, because a true Iraqi does not eat the flesh of his brother." He called on Iraqi religious leaders to "strongly denounce the repulsive crime, which damages the reputation of Islam and the dignity of Iraq."

The Archbishop went on to say that "I hope that all what is happening in Iraq today, will only serve to
consolidate the firmness of faith of our Christians and their solidarity with one another" and added, "No matter how big the evil may be, it can’t shake faithful hearts. Brave souls stay firm."

Future of Religious Freedom in Nepal Uncertain

I'm praying that my brothers and sisters in Christ in Nepal will get their religious freedom.
8/11/11 Nepal (Anglican Journal) – With less than a month left until the adoption of a new constitution, Nepal's religious minorities – Christians, Muslims and Buddhists – have started a campaign against religious discrimination. The Inter-Religious Secularism Protection Movement (IRSPM) is asking the communist-led coalition government to allow churches, mosques, monasteries and other non-Hindu institutions to be registered as religious bodies and waive the taxes they have to pay as they are still regarded as personal properties.

"The state patronizes four religious trusts, mostly Hindu, which also get financial assistance," said Chari Bahadur Gahatraj, a Protestant pastor and IRSPM spokesman. "When Nepal became secular in 2006, we hoped we too would be entitled to the same benefits. Our churches face litigation and closure because the government still refuses to recognize them as religious institutions."
The campaigners are also asking for a Religion Commission and a Religion Act to protect the rights of all sects, as well as proportional representation for the religious minorities in all state organs, like the army, judiciary and bureaucracy.
"Despite being declared secular, Nepal continues to exclude the religious minorities," added Palsang Vajra Lama, a Buddhist monk and coordinator of the campaign. "For instance, Teej, (a festival, by, for and of women), is still projected as a Hindu festival."

Amidst growing fears that the new constitution, expected to uphold secularism in the former Hindu kingdom, may miss its scheduled Aug. 31  deadline, the campaigners are demanding that the government respect the deadline and recognize the right to religious freedom as a fundamental right in the document. Citizens should have the right to follow any religion they want, convert to another religion if they want, and have the full freedom to preach their own religion, the IRSPM press statement said.

A proposed new civil and penal code has caused concern among the religious minorities as it includes a clause that makes conversions a punishable offense."It is against the spirit of secularism as well as the prevailing interim constitution and should be amended," said Nazrul Hussain Falahi, a Muslim leader and IRSPM's joint coordinator(Source).

Nigerian Christians Under Attack

Let's continue to pray for our Nigerian brothers and sisters in Christ living in the Northern part of Nigeria, where Muslims are the majority.

08/12/2011 Nigeria (ACLJ)-Recently, the American Center for Law & Justice engaged in a fact-finding mission across the northern states of Nigeria in an attempt to expose violent attacks against Christians. The findings from our mission are heart breaking: over 500 Christian churches have been attacked, almost 200 Christians have lost their lives, and thousands more have been displaced in the last year alone.

Northern Nigeria is predominately Muslim by faith, but a small minority of indigenous Christians struggle to survive and practice their faith openly. After a heated presidential election, in which a Christian won the election, the streets of Nigeria erupted with violence. Many have been quick to blame the violence on political strife, but our fact-finding mission has exposed that majority of the violence strategically targets the Christian minority in the north. Despite the attempts to categorize the strife as political, sectarian violence predates the presidential elections and demonstrates an underlying agenda to eradicate Christianity from northern Nigerian.
...
Be on the lookout for a more detailed report of the findings from our fact-finding mission in Nigeria. We will continue to keep you informed and to advocate for the freedom of religion for all.

Teenage Convert to Christianity from Islam, Susan Ithungu Tortured and Starved by Her Muslim Father

The father's reaction to his daughter's conversion is not very surprising. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't kill her. After all, that is what his Prophet (Muhammad) commanded his followers to do if any of them left Islam:Ibn Abbas said : The Messenger of Allah said, “Whoever changes his (Islamic) religion, kill him.” Sahih Al-Bukhari # 6922

 On another note, I'd like to thank Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, for giving this girl the courage to turn to Him. I pray that she will grow spiritually and that she will find sustenance so she be up on her feet soon.

NAIROBI, Kenya, August 11 (CDN) — A 14-year-old girl in western Uganda is still unable to walk 10 months after her father tortured her for leaving Islam and putting her faith in Christ, according to area Christians.

Susan Ithungu of Isango village, Kasese district, has been hospitalized at Kagando Hospital since October 2010 after neighbors with police help rescued her from her father, Beya Baluku. He was arrested shortly afterward but quickly released, sources said.

Susan and her younger brother, Mbusa Baluku, lived alone with their father after he divorced their mother. In March 2010 an evangelist from Bwera Full Gospel Church spoke at Susan’s school, and she decided to trust Christ for her salvation.

“I heard the message of Christ’s great love of him dying for us to get everlasting peace, and there and then I decided to believe in Christ,” she said from her hospital bed. “After a month, news reached my father that I had converted to Christianity, and that was the beginning of my troubles with him. Our father warned us not to attend church or listen to the gospel message. He even threatened us with a sharp knife that he was ready to kill us in broad daylight in case we converted to Christianity.”

Pastor Joseph Baluku of Bwera Full Gospel Church in Kasese said neighbors took her to the government hospital about 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Kasese town after she was freed.

“He locked her up in a room of the semi-permanent house for six months without seeing sunlight,” the pastor said. “The younger brother was warned not to tell anyone that Susan was locked up in a room and was not given any food.”

Young Mbusa said that when their father was away, he roasted bananas for his sister.

“I also dug a hole under the door, where I could pour water through,” he said. “My sister could drink the water using her tongue. But most days she could only feed on mud.”

A nearby resident who requested anonymity said neighbors became concerned after not seeing her for several months.

“Her brother then disclosed to us that Susan was locked up in one of the rooms in the house,” the area resident said. “We then reported the case to the Harukunggu local council and then to the Bwera police station. The police went to the house and broke the door.”

Susan was immediately taken to the provincial government hospital about 17 kilometers (11 miles) away near Bwera town, where Pastor Baluku visited her.

“The miserable young Susan was bony, very weak, and not able to talk or walk,” said the pastor. “Her hair had turned yellow, she had long fingernails and sunken eyes, and she looked very slim, less than 20 kilograms [44 pounds].” (Read more.)
If you would like to know more about what Islam tells its adherents to with people who leave the religion, see this video by my brother in Christ, David Wood:

(This video was made in 2009, when it was being decided whether Rifqa Bary, another Christian convert from Islam, should sent back to her parent where they would kill her or let her stay in custody. Fortunately they allowed her to stay in custody.)

Sudan: Genocide of Nuba by Starvation

08/10/2011 Sudan (ANS)- [For background see RLPB 113 (22 June 2011) & RLPB 117 (20 July 2011) at Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin]

Daily bombing raids targeting the Nuba populations of South Kordofan have resulted in significant loss of life and destruction of properties, including homes, crops and livestock. While the UN estimates that some 73,000 Nuba have been displaced, the former deputy governor of South Kordofan, Abdel Aziz el-Hilu, estimates the figure is closer to 500,000. Nuba seeking to flee the region are being intercepted and killed at roadblocks. Numerous tens of thousands of Nuba, many of whom are wounded, have been forced to seek shelter in hillside caves where they have nothing to eat but grass and leaves. The rainy season is making survival even more difficult. Furthermore the Government of Sudan (GoS) has sealed off the region so that humanitarian aid cannot get in. Without intervention, mass starvation will be inevitable.
The GoS has considerable experience in waging genocide. Scorched earth warfare followed by denial of humanitarian aid has been used in the Nuba Mountains (early 1990s), Bahr el-Ghazal (South Sudan, 1998) and Darfur to kill many tens of thousands of Africans in just a few months. Yet while Khartoum is engineering a famine in the Nuba Mountains, it is also congratulating itself for pouring aid worth nearly two million dollars into famine relief in Somalia (Sudan Tribune, 28 July). That too is standard for Khartoum which routinely starves its own people while exporting food and receiving food aid.
[For more on how Khartoum uses starvation as a weapon of mass destruction, see 'Why is Akobo hungry?' By Elizabeth Kendal for Religious Liberty Monitoring, 9 April 2010]
Whilst the GoS's motive is greed and its goal is the theft of resource-rich land, it recruits fighters amongst Arab-Islamists with the language of Islamic jihad. In April 1992 Muslim clerics in South Kordofan issued a fatwa for the GoS that legitimised killing the Nuba as 'apostates' (Muslims not supporting the regime) and 'infidels' (unbelievers) 'who stand as a bulwark against the spread of Islam'. Today the Nuba are again being labelled rebels and infidels, and are being targeted by Islamic jihad to facilitate the ethnic cleansing of this resource-rich region.

Bradford Phillips is the founder and president of Persecution Project Foundation and the director (Sudan) of Voice of the Martyrs. He recently returned from 12 days in the Nuba Mountains. On Thursday 4 August he gave eye-witness testimony to a US House of Representatives subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights. To Phillips 'the issue is genocide'. He is gravely concerned about the humanitarian crisis facing Sudan's largest Christian community. 'There are 70,000 to 90,000 people that are probably going to die in the next month to two months,' he warns. Local Nuba told Phillips the GoS views the church as an extension of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement which the GoS deems a 'foreign' force, although it is not. Phillips heard stories of pastors being arrested and horrifically tortured by soldiers seeking to extract the names of church members. Refusing to betray their flock, many pastors have been imprisoned, whilst some have died under torture or been executed.
Also testifying before the House Committee was Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail, the Anglican Bishop of Kadugli. Andudu has been told soldiers searched for him house-to-house. He believes that had he not been in the US for medical treatment he would now be lying in a mass grave. Bishop Andudu is pleading for intervention.

Like other Sudan experts Brad Phillips is calling for action that would neutralise/destroy Khartoum's Antonov bombers. Dedicated religious liberty and persecuted church advocate Congressman Frank R Wolf pleaded passionately for the Church to stand up and speak up for its persecuted brothers and sisters in Sudan. As Phillips told a CBN interview on 6 August, the most important thing the Church can do is 'intercede through prayer'.
[For more information on the 4 August hearing with links to transcripts and videos, see "Nuba Genocide: U.S. House Committeee hears testimony", By Elizabeth Kendal for Religious Liberty Monitoring, 10 Aug 2011.]
PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL --

• Draw the Nuba and the global Church into dependent prayer for divine intervention; for the LORD will surely rise to show compassion at the sound of our cry (Isaiah 30:18,19). May Khartoum's bombers be neutralised and Omar el-Bashir's arrogant and racist reign of terror be ended. (Psalm 10)

'Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.' (Isaiah 40:10,11 ESV)

• Provide displaced Nuba with their every need of shelter, food, healing and protection; may he ease their anxiety, bring rest to their souls and increase their faith.
• Protect Nuba pastors, hiding them from those who intend to torture and kill them; may those imprisoned be protected and preserved, experiencing God's presence and being assured of his love.

The Blood of the Martyrs Fuels Deep Church Growth in North Korea

"The blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the gospel"- Tertullian, North African Christian Apologist

8/9/11 North Korea (Christian Post) - Persecution in countries such as North Korea has helped grow the Church and has allowed it to utilize tools that the western Church no longer realizes its possesses, according to Evangelical pastor Eric Foley, who plans to use these tools to help the free world church. Foley, the pastor of .W Evangelical Church of Colorado Springs and Seoul, Korea and author of Church is for Amateurs, believes that harsh dictators such as North Korea’s Kim Jong Il, a persecutor of Christians, may help the church more than they think.

While ministering in North Korea Foley noticed the “absolute persecution” of Christians and he feels it provides a great catalyst for Church growth.

“[In North Korea] It is not only illegal to possess a bible or to go to church, it’s illegal to bow your head, close your eyes and worship. So as a result of that it presents the most extreme case for the church to take reap today,” said Foley.

He stated that common tools used for discipleship in the west today such as full time paid pastors and church buildings are not only rare in North Korea but impossible to attain with their current laws. But this is not an uncommon state for the church.

“Throughout church history churches have had to do discipleship with far more restrictions and this has caused them to be much more focused on growing individual believers into the fullness of Christ,” said Foley.


According to Foley the differences between the persecuted Church and the western Churches are attributed to the fact that the west does not understand the difference between freedom of religion and freedom in Christ, leading them to rely on tools such as specially designated buildings and full time paid pastors which persecuted Christians cannot attain.

“These aren’t bad things, but when our faith is grounded or rooted in these tools, then when persecution comes we fall away,” said Foley.

Foley believes the tools used in the North Korean Church and the New Testament Church are based on freedom in Christ. Freedom and affluence hinder growth while the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church according to Foley. Foley adds that by not sharing the gospel in the west, it brings very little chance of true growth and discipleship.

“If we do the things that God calls us to do we’ll be persecuted whether it’s in North Korea or the U.S., whether it’s by the government or by our co-workers,” said Foley.

Foley feels that persecution purifies the Church, and prosperity makes it weak. According to him the free world church can learn a lot from nations such as North Korea and can learn a lot to change the state of Christianity for the better.

“And so I say that Kim Jong Il was the inspiration for this strategy as a way of reminding us that whatever the enemy intends for evil God intends for good,” said Foley(Source).

Muslims Attack Christian Village in Egypt – 1 Murdered, Homes Looted and Torched

The Quran commands Muslims to fight, oppress and attack all non-Muslims:
Qur’an 9:29—Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

Qur’an 9:73—O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination.

Qur’an 9:111—Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement.

Qur’an 9:123—O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil).

Qur’an 47:35—Be not weary and fainthearted, crying for peace, when ye should be uppermost: for Allah is with you, and will never put you in loss for your (good) deeds.

Qur'an 98:6—Verily, those who disbelieve from among the People of the Book and the idolaters, will be in the Fire of Hell, abiding therein. They are the worst of creatures.

The Hadiths command the same thing:
Sahih Muslim 33—It has been narrated on the authority of Abdullah b. Umar that the Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer, and pay Zakat and if they do it, their blood and property are guaranteed protection on my behalf except when justified by law, and their affairs rest with Allah.

Sahih al-Bukhari 2785—Narrated Abu Hurairah: A man came to Allah’s Messenger and said, “Guide me to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward).” He replied, “I do not find such a deed.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 2787—Allah guarantees that He will admit the Mujahid in His Case into Paradise if he is killed, otherwise He will return him to his home safely with rewards and war booty.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 2795—Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet said, “Nobody who dies and finds good from Allah (in the Hereafter) would wish to come back to this world, even if he were given the whole world and whatever is in it, except the martyr who, on seeing the superiority of martyrdom, would like to come back to the world and get killed again (in Allah’s cause).”

Sahih al-Bukhari 2796—Narrated Anas: The Prophet said, “A single endeavor (of fighting) in Allah’s cause in the afternoon or in the forenoon is better than all the world and whatever is in it.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 2797—Narrated Abu Hurairah: The Prophet said, . . . “By Him in Whose Hands my soul is! I would love to be martyred in Allah’s Cause and then come back to life and then get martyred, and then come back to life again and then get martyred and then come back to life again and then get martyred.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 2810—Narrated Abu Musa: A man came to the Prophet and asked, “A man fights for war booty; another fights for fame and a third fights for showing off; which of them is in Allah’s Cause?” The Prophet said, “He who fights that Allah’s Word (i.e., Allah’s religion of Islamic Monotheism) be superior, is in Allah’s Cause.”

Sunan An-Nasa’i 3099—It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet said: “Whoever dies without having fought or having thought of fighting, he dies on one of the branches of hypocrisy.”

Sunan An-Nasa’i 3138—Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari said: “A Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah and said: ‘A man fights for fame, or he fights for the spoils of war, or he fights to show off. Who is the one who is fighting in the cause of Allah?’ He said: ‘The one who fights so that the word of Allah will be supreme is the one who is fighting in the cause of Allah, the Mighty and Sublime.’”


Fortunately, most Muslims live better lives than what their religion calls them to do. However, there are some who do take these violent commands seriously.

8/9/2011 Egypt (AINA) – Muslims attacked Christians in the village of Nazlet Faragallah, in the southern Egyptian Minya province, on Sunday evening. The attack continued until the early hours of Monday morning, August 8. One Copt was murdered and homes were looted and torched when Muslims from Nazlet Faragallah together with Muslims from four neighboring villages started their violence at approximately 8 PM, after breaking their Ramadan fast.

According to eyewitnesses, thousands of Muslims entered the village from all sides, firing automatic weapons (mostly in the air), looting and throwing Molotov Cocktails at several homes. "They even destroyed our irrigation pumps," said one witness. The first attack was on the house of Father Youanes, pastor of St. George Church, which lies at the head of the village. He was beaten and his home was looted and torched.

Maher Nassif Tobias (50), an employee at the local council, was murdered in his home. He was found by his son. His house was completely looted, including his livestock.

Security forces arrived 4 hours after the attack began and there were too few of them. "They only had batons in their hands, and were unable to control the situation," said a Coptic village resident. "Our village is surrounded by corn fields. The Muslims came into the village to loot and quickly disappeared in the fields, the police could not follow them. They were coming from all directions at the same time."

Nazlet Faragallah has 8000 inhabitants, 80% are Copts and 20% Muslims.

The events were preceded on Saturday by an altercation caused by Muslims harassing Christian girls as they came out of a church service in the late afternoon. Stones were hurled by Muslims at the church, breaking five windows. A "reconciliation" meeting took place. Some 200 Copts staged a sit-in in front of St. George's Church on Sunday afternoon to protest against Muslim attack on the church. In a statement tonight, the security authorities in Minya said the Muslim attack on Nazlet Faragallah was caused by a group of Copts, headed by Haddar Ishaq, firing at Muslims as they came out of the mosque on Sunday afternoon. Copts in the village denied this claim.

Three Muslims were arrested yesterday and three Copts today. None of the Copts were involved in any incident, and one of them had broken his leg two weeks before. "Security is doing its balancing act again," said one of the villagers. "They will use these Copts, who were arrested at random, to bargain for their freedom in exchange for village Copts giving up their rights during the 'reconciliation' meeting(Source)."