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).

SJWs and the western persecution of Christians

This video shows why Western persecution of Christians will NOT be going away:

I have a lot of things to say about this video. Firstly, I need to say SJWs (Social Justice Warriors) go after Christians is cowardice. They don’t have the stones to mock Muslims or go speak out against women’s rights which are being violated. Long story short, they aren’t really Social Justice Warriors. 

I have to also say something about Chick-Fil-A (and they really deserve a flogging). Back in the summer 2012, Chick-Fil-A (a fast-food chain owned by a Christian family and famous for their TASTY chicken) was reported to make donations to organizations that were against same-sex marriages and made a statement that celebrated the traditional view of marriage. This sent the gay rights activists into a frenzy. It drove lots of people to eat at Chick-Fil-A on one day in support of the organization. Fast-forward to 2019, Chick-Fil-A has rescinded on supporting organizations that oppose same-sex marriages. This is very cowardly. It shames the Cross and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is NOT the way you respond to persecution. You stand by the Word of God, regardless of how controversial it may be and you NEVER back down no matter what flack comes your way. 

The people who own Chick-Fil-A should be ashamed of themselves.

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.

North Korean Christian Woman Risks Everything to Be Baptized

This is a GREAT example of boldness and bravery. As I said in a previous post, North Korea is THE WORST place to be a Christian.

So this woman deciding to be baptize is the epitome what means to take risks for Christ.

A North Korean Christian woman escaped to China for the chance to live a better life and to be baptized.

The woman, identified by Open Doorsministry as "Bon-Hwa," fled the repressive country more than two years ago. With the help of Open Doors' partners, Bon-Hwa found shelter in a safe house and attended her first Women to Women secret meeting.

It was at this meeting that Bon-Hwa came to know Jesus, leading to her baptism into Christ.

"She wanted to be baptized so badly that she couldn't wait any longer," said the Open Doors pastor who baptized her.

But baptizing North Koreans is illegal and dangerous, so Bon-Hwa, her pastor, and group leader traveled to a remote location that "took many hours to reach."

An Open Doors staff member described Bon-Hwa's baptism as a "holy moment." The pastor opened the small ceremony in prayer and christened the refugee - then everyone recited the Apostles' Creed(Keep reading).

God, give me the strength to be as bold as that woman. I want to give you the maximum amount of Glory.

In your name, Amen.

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.