Since the IRS scam has become the most momentous topic of the day, we now know, thanks to my father, that Obama’s brother, Malik Obama, is deeply associated with Omar al-Bashir, the one who was behind the attack on the US embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, which occurred at around the same time as the Benghazi attack. I was the first to write on this in English when the attack first happened, stating:

The attacks by Muslims on American embassies in Egypt and Libya has shocked the media enough, but now North Sudan has just exploded, with mobs raiding both the British, German and American embassies. Who is responsible? According to Al-Rakoba, a Sudanese news site, it is Omar al-Bashir, the president of North Sudan, and his despotic government who is behind this. Al-Bashir is a modern Hitler, an Islamic tyrant responsible for the deaths of over three-million people, all in the name of Jihad and war against Christians.

Obama’s brother is working with an enemy to the United States. Is it any wonder, then, as to why he has been so pompous toward American liberty, and yet so helpful to Bashir?

In 2012 I wrote an article showing how while Obama has supported the Islamic uprisings in the Middle East, he has in fact stopped a revolution against the Hitler of Africa, Omar al-Bashir, who has been responsible for the deaths of over three million people. I wrote:

The support of the rebels in Syria, and the condemnation of Assad, by the Obama administration can only make one question as to why he is against this particular regimen, but not that of Omar al-Bashir, the tyrant who has been responsible for the deaths of millions through the Jihad that he has commenced against Christians and the non-Arab Muslims of Darfur.

In fact, Obama had at one point in time prevented Salva Kiir, [the Christian president] president of South Sudan, from aiding rebels who wanted to topple al-Bashir’s regimen, and replace it with a secular government.

Malik is the Executive Secretary for the Islamic Da’wa Organization (IDO), which is stationed in Khartoum, Sudan, and which has its primary focus in expanding Wahhabist Islam in the African subcontinent. It was also in Khartoum, as I have written on before, where Bashir declared that he was going to make Sudan’s new constitution “100 percent Islamic”.

Malik Obama shares the same desires as Bashir, in factboth of them attended the General Conference of the Islamic Council of South Sudan, and both attended a meeting for the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Da’wa Organization, in which Bashir said

that the enemies of Islam who attempt to impose hegemony and make a siege and to encourage plots (and evil measures) towards Sudan will fail, stressing that Sudan rejects such methods of domination, despite the blockade that has been practiced upon it by the plotters of evil that bypassed Sudan with the help of Allah and the [Sudanese] determination.

This is all in accordance with the anti-Christian goals and policies which Bashir is pursuing orchestrating, and which Malik Obama upholds and supports. In an article I wrote last year, I reported on how Bashir’s uncle, Eltayeb Mustafa, who is a part of Bashir’s government, supported a fatwa which stated:

Of the greatest calamities and evils is to permit an exhibition entitled ‘the Holy Bible,’ this lying forgery, which allows the kufars [non-Muslims] to spread their religion amongst Muslims, and to fascinate the common man, that Christianity prevents them from carrying out the path of Allah. After all, hearts are weak, and people are not equal in distinguishing truth from falsehood, and this work should not be allowed for any sane person. These things are destructive and are of great mischief. The duty for whomever Allah has given a hand by leader or man of responsibility is to prevent this evil, or else he is a traitor to Allah, and his prophet, and to the Muslim community.

This is very akin to what the Islamic Dawa Organization, of which Malik Obama is an Executive Secretary, believes in, writing that “Muslims in Kenya suffer from the great challenge of the tyranny of the church which is known for its aggression …”

This anti-Christian sentiment which Malik Obama upholds and instills is exactly what is fueling the violence against Christians in Africa.

The fatwa which Mustafa affirmed gave the leeway to a number of Bashir’s thugs to slaughter and attack Christians celebrating in front of Kambouni playground with sticks and machetes.

Right now, Bashir’s government is executing the dechristianization of and the systematic holocaust of Christians in his country. He is violently enforcing that Arabic, the language of Islam, be the dominant tongue; foreign missionaries have been forcibly deported, and churches have been bulldozed. In 2012, Bashir gave Christians till March 1 to leave North Sudan, but half a million of them were stranded, leaving them open targets for Muslims thirsty for Christian blood.

Malik Obama is not only working with a terrorist who attacked the United States, but also a mass murderer.

Theodore Shoebat is the author of the book, For God or For Tyranny

Sudan (MNN) ― An Islamic leader is telling Sudan’s government to take action against Christians.

Ammar Saleh, the chairman of the Islamic Centre for Preaching and Comparative Studies, slammed his government last week for not taking decisive action against Christian missionaries, who he claims were operating “boldly” in Sudan.

According to independent media agency The Sudan Tribune, Saleh appealed to local authorities and the community to take a stand against “Christianisation” and find a long-term solution to what he views as a massive problem.

He says his government’s efforts in this regard are timid compared to missionaries’ efforts and claims 109 people have converted from Islam to Christianity in Khartoum. Saleh says these figures are growing in a “continuous” and “scary” fashion.

Dykstra says there are two sides to this coin.

“The bad news is that he wants to put more pressure on the government and the army to crack down on the Christians there,” he explains. “But the good news is that many there are coming to Christ.”

Despite persecution, Open Doors is seeing the Body of Christ in Sudan grow.

“It’s been difficult for them obviously, but they are growing in numbers,” states Dykstra.

In addition, a member of Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP), Adam Mudawi, claims the NCP has information indicating that the Orthodox Church in Ombadda is hiding a large cache of weapons.

Mudawi also accuses the church of exploiting poor people by giving them financial support and assistance if they convert to Christianity.

According to Open Doors, Sudanese Christians have seen a dramatic increase in pressure over the past few months. Churches are being forced to close, and foreign workers are being kicked out of the country.

Given this tense atmosphere, Mudawi’s accusations may have serious consequences for Christians in Sudan.

“We need to pray for Christians, especially those that are being marginalized around Khartoum,” says Dykstra. “We also need to pray that there will be peace.”

To help Sudanese Christians cope with growing persecution, Open Doors recently held two Standing Strong Through the Storm seminars. These seminars teach Christians how to relate to persecution and how to pray for one another.

A total of 13 different denominations were represented at the two seminars.

“The focus was to advance church unity, and many of the people who attended really appreciated the seminars,” Dykstra says.

“It was a blessing that nobody was targeted or they weren’t broken up.”

Persecution in Sudan has moved the country from #16 on the Open Doors 2012 World Watch List to #12 in 2013.

Keep praying for Christ-followers in Sudan. Pray that their faith will remain strong. Praythat  the Gospel goes forth no matter what.

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Posted by Theodore Shoebat

A Syrian Christian leader has spoken of the desperate plight of the church in the war-torn country.

Dr Mary Mikhael, of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria, said churches were being targeted in the conflict and that many Christians were being displaced.

As refugees, they lack adequate shelter, medicine, food supplies and “their human dignity”, she said.

Dr Mikhael was addressing commissioners at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland meeting in Edinburgh this week.

She said there was no Arab Spring for the people of Syria but “only a stormy dark winter”.

In particular, she expressed concern that there would soon be no Christian presence in the country.
“The tragedy is getting bigger day by day … Now the big question is about our future.”

Syrian churches are stepping in to help meet the needs of displaced people but she warned that they are “exhausted”.

“Pray with us, be in solidarity with our church, help us bring hope to Syria,” she said.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Right Reverend Lorna Hood paused proceedings to give commissioners a moment to pray about the situation.

She prayed: “Help us to stand beside them, to offer not only our prayers but all we can do as a Church to support them, to be with them and somehow through the power of your Spirit, the power of your love and your peace, bring once again peace and an end of strife and hardship to that land through Christ our Lord, Amen.”

Former Moderator, the Very Reverend Professor Iain Torrance said the situation in Syria was a “tragedy that is beyond description”.

It is also causing “enormous problems” for neighbouring Lebanon as a result of the influx of refugees, he noted.

Norma Packham, a General Assembly member originally from Iraq, urged the Church of Scotland “not to allow the Christians in Syria to suffer like the Christians in Iraq suffered” after the 2003 US-led invasion.

“It’s good to pray for them to support them, but here the Church of Scotland with its authority, [it is good] to speak to the governments, the Scottish Government and the UK Government, to help them in a practical way, and not just to look for oil and not to allow the Syrian people become like the Iraqi people who are still suffering,” she said.

The Reverend Na’el Abu Rahmoun, of the Diocese of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, drew attention to the abduction of Syrian bishops Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, who are still missing after one month.

He asked Christians to keep praying for their safe return as well as the release of all people who have fallen victim to kidnapping in Syria.

“We ask Scotland, the UK, to work to stop violence,” he said.

“We are not sure who is right in Syria but we are sure we want to stop the violence there and we need justice and peace in Syria, the Middle East and the world.”

Dr Bernard Sabella, executive secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches, said Christians were not alone in being on the receiving end of unprovoked attacks.

He said the conflict was “making all of us victims” but he also pleaded with Christians across the Middle East not to leave the region.

“The solution for me is not to come out to Scotland but to stay put in my own country,” he said.

Following the debate, the Church of Scotland’s World Mission Council will take steps to urge the Syrian government to seek a “just and peaceable end to the conflict” and the protection of minorities in a new settlement.

Convener of the World Mission Council, the Reverend Andrew McLellan said the Church would “put all the energy we can” into making that happen.

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Posted by Theodore Shoebat

The U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report for 2012 shows persecution against Christians and Jews is on the rise today, especially in Muslim countries.

Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan, Iran, Libya, Tunisia are among the many countries where non-Muslims are suffering persecution.

Saudi Arabia prohibits any religion except Islam and enforces state restrictions on religious freedom.

In Sudan, Islamist rioters burned down an evangelical church compound. In Libya, terrorists bombed an Orthodox church, and Muslim radicals murdered hundreds of Christians in Nigeria.

The report also devotes a section to the ongoing global increase in anti-Semitism, citing Venezuela, Egypt and Iran as countries with political and religious leaders who openly espouse Holocaust denial and anti-Israel rhetoric.

 

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Posted by Theodore Shoebat

Iran’s treatment of its Christian minority has come under fresh scrutiny in recent months with some damning verdicts on the country’s human rights record.

Reports from the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) cite evidence of “systematic persecution and prosecution” of Protestants and Christian converts, as part of a widespread violation of international laws.

As national elections draw near (voters go to the polls on June 14), Iran is under increasing international pressure to improve its human rights record or face continued sanctions – sanctions ICHRI says are impacting the welfare of the Iranian people.

In its April report, A Growing Crisis: The Impact of Sanctions and Regime Policies on Iranians’ Economic and Social Rights, ICHRI says that, rather than damaging the Iranian regime, sanctions resulting from Iran’s nuclear program have “brought about a severe deterioration in the ability of the Iranian people to pursue their economic and social rights”.

‘Systematic persecution’

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Dr Ahmed Shaheed, noted in September 2012 that more than 300 Christians have been arrested and detained since 2010, while at least 41 were detained for periods ranging from one month to over a year, sometimes without official charges.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in February that Iran “refuted” the UN’s claim of an increase in discrimination towards religious minorities, claiming “all people of Iran regardless of their religion or ethnicity enjoy equal citizenship rights”.

However, ICHRI’s January report, The Cost of Faith: Persecution of Christian Protestants and Converts in Iran, based on interviews with 31 Iranian Christians between April 2011 and July 2012, claims that, “despite the Iranian government’s assertions that it respects the rights of its recognised religious minorities, the Christian community in Iran faces systematic state persecution and discrimination”.

This view is supported by Mansour Borji, advocacy officer for human rights initiative Article18.

“Sometimes the phrase ‘systematic persecution’ is used so loosely that it sounds like a cliché.

However, in the case of Iran’s persecution of Christians, it fits the criteria,” Borji told World Watch Monitor.

“Arbitrary arrests and imprisonment, severe restrictions on worship services in Farsi language, a ban on the publication of Bibles and Christian literature in Farsi, threats and harassment of evangelical church leaders, and continued attempts to confiscate church properties – these are all pieces in the puzzle.

“In a nutshell, there is a systematic attempt to deprive churches of membership, literature, leadership training and development, communion with other Christians around the world, and the right to freedom of religion guaranteed by the international covenants that Iran is a signatory of.”

Christians in Iran

The Cost of Faith states that Iranian Protestants face the “most severe” restrictions on religious practice and association, through “arbitrary” arrests and detentions, state execution and extrajudicial killings.

The number of Christians in Iran was recorded by the World Christian Database in 2010 as fewer than 300,000 (0.36% of the population). “Ethnic Christians” from predominantly Armenian (100,940) or Assyrian (74,000) descent comprised the majority of this figure, while 25% (fewer than 70,000) were Protestants, the bulk of which are understood to be converts from Muslim backgrounds.

It is impossible to know the precise number of Christians in Iran due to the perils of professing a Christian faith (particularly for those from Muslim backgrounds), but the figure seems likely to be significantly larger than recorded. Some Christian organisations, such as Iranian Christians International, claim the number of converts alone could be as high as 500,000.

Many Christians in Iran attend underground house churches, which have grown in popularity since 2001. ICHRI attributes this to “growing repression”.

“Theoretically, Protestants, along with Armenians and Assyrians, are among the Christians recognised in the Islamic Republic’s constitution. In practice however, they have been persecuted and discriminated against, and have faced significantly more aggressive government restrictions and human rights abuses than ethnic Christian groups,” states The Cost of Faith.

Freedom of religion

Iran fails to comply with a number of laws set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, according to ICHRI, including Article 18, which obligates all countries to safeguard freedom of religion.

In a speech to mark the launch of the UK’s FCO report in April, Foreign Secretary William Hague said that all citizens have certain “unalienable rights”, which are “universal” and not an attempt to spread Western values. These rights, he said, include freedom of religion.

The report states that this freedom is “broad” and “encompasses not only the freedom to hold a belief but also the freedom to share it”.

Iran’s appreciation of this freedom comes under serious scrutiny in both reports through a number of examples of Christians in Iran who have been arrested and detained, “often without fair trial or legal representation” (FCO).

Last September’s release of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who had been sentenced to death for apostasy in 2010, is hailed in the FCO report as a “rare positive outcome following sustained pressure from the international community”.

However, Alistair Burt, FCO Minister with responsibility for Iran, said the arrest “should not have taken place” and called on Iran to “respect the religious freedom of its citizens”.

Pastor Nadarkhani was re-arrested on Christmas Day, but released on January 7. In March, photographs of a man being hanged were attributed as evidence of the pastor’s death, but these were later refuted.

A number of other Iranian Christians remain in what the UK’s FCO labels “harsh conditions” in prison, including Pastor Behnam Irani, who is said to be in ill health; Farshid Fathi, who after 15 months in detention was sentenced last year to six years in prison; and Saeed Abedini, an Iranian-born American pastor who in January was jailed for eight years.

After his incarceration, Abedini’s wife Naghmeh Shariat Panahi told World Watch Monitor that she feared she wouldn’t hear her husband’s voice for the duration of his imprisonment unless the international community fought for his release.

The Cost of Faith claims the bulk of arrests of Iranian Christians are “arbitrary” and political, rather than because of any crime committed.

The most common charges, according to the report, include “propaganda against the regime”, “acting against national security”, “contact with a foreign enemy or anti-regime group” and “colluding with enemy foreigners”.

Iranian law

Apostasy remains “uncodified” in the Iranian constitution, which according to the The Cost of Faith creates a loophole that could lead to the legal prosecution of Christian converts.

“The Iranian constitution explicitly instructs judges to utilize Islamic legal sources where crimes and punishments are not covered by the code, leaving the door open for the continued practice of relying on jurisprudence that holds apostasy to be a capital crime,” ICHRI stated.

In his latest report in March, the UN Special Rapporteur called on Iran to improve its human rights record by putting a stop to “continued widespread systemic and systematic violations of human rights”, including discrimination against Christians.

“Christians should not face sanctions for manifesting and practising their faith,” said Dr. Shaheed. “Christians are reportedly being arrested and prosecuted on vaguely-worded national security crimes for exercising their beliefs, and the right of Iranians to choose their faith is increasingly at risk.

“Christian interviewees consistently report being targeted by authorities for promoting their faith, participating in informal house-churches with majority convert congregations, allowing converts to join their church services and congregations, and/or converting from Islam. A majority of interviewees that identified themselves as converts reported that they were threatened with criminal charges for apostasy while in custody, and a number of others reported that they were asked to sign documents pledging to cease their church activities in order to gain release.”

CAIRO (AP) — The pale, young Christian woman sat handcuffed in the courtroom, accused of insulting Islam while teaching history of religions to fourth-graders. A team of Islamist lawyers with long beards sang in unison, “All except the Prophet Muhammad.”

The case against Dimyana Abdel-Nour in southern Egypt’s ancient city of Luxor began when parents of three of her pupils claimed that their children, aged 10, complained their teacher showed disgust when she spoke of Islam in class. According to the parents, Abdel-Nour, 24, told the children that Pope Shenouda, who led the Egyptian Coptic Church until his death last year, was better than the Prophet Muhammad.

Blasphemy charges were not uncommon in Egypt under the now-ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak’s regime, but there has been a surge in such cases in recent months, according to rights activists. The trend is widely seen as a reflection of the growing power and confidence of Islamists, particularly the ultraconservative Salafis.

“Salafis are the engineers of these stories,” said Abdel-Hamid Hassan, a Muslim and the head of the parents’ council at the primary school where Abdel-Nour teaches. Hassan’s daughter was among several students who denied any wrongdoing by Abdel-Nour.

“If the pope himself came here from the Vatican and tried to spread Christianity among us, he would fail. We learn about our religion starting from the age of 5,” he said, alluding to the allegation against Abdel-Nour, since withdrawn, of “spreading Christianity.”

Criminalizing blasphemy was enshrined in the country’s Islamist-backed constitution that was adopted in December.

Writers, activists and even a famous television comedian have been accused of blasphemy since then. But Christians seem to be the favorite target of Islamist prosecutors. Their fragile cases — the main basis of the case against Abdel-Nour’s case the testimony of children — are greeted with sympathy from courtroom judges with their own religious bias or who fear the wrath of Islamists, according to activists.

The result is a growing number of Egyptians, including many Christians, who have been convicted and sent to prison for blasphemy.

In at least one celebrated case, the offense was clearly provocative: Seven Coptic Christians living in the United States received death sentences in absentia for producing an anti-Islam film that sparked waves of protests by ultraconservative Islamists in front of U.S. embassies across the Arab world on Sept. 11, 2012.

But rights groups say the vast majority of blasphemy cases are merely attempts by Islamists to crack down on their opponents.

“Islamists are using the law to hunt down critics to the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Christians are the weakest,” said Medhat Klada, a Switzerland-based Coptic Christian activist whose organization Copts United tracks such cases. “The numbers of Christians implicated is unprecedented,” he added.

Many believe that restrictions on freedoms are more severe under Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s first freely elected president, than during his predecessor’s 29-year reign.

Under Mubarak, “you might have had 50 cases, which means a case or two a year on average, but now you have like 10 cases in a year,” said Mamdouh Nakhla, who leads The Word Group for Human Rights and focuses on Christian-related persecution.

Freed Tuesday on nearly $3,000 bail after almost a week in detention, Abdel-Nour is due to stand trial on May 21. Her family refused several requests by The Associated Press to speak to her. Her father, Ebid Abdel-Nour, said: “She is innocent. God be with us. She can’t talk because she is in very bad condition.”

Emil Nazeer, a Christian activist who visited her, says she is suffering a “nervous breakdown.”

Rights advocates see cases like Abdel-Nour’s as politically motivated persecution. They say the verdicts tend to be harsher in southern Egypt, where Islamists are particularly powerful and Muslims are more conservative.

“Any move or word by a Christian is enough to get the rumor mill working,” said Amr Ezzat, a prominent researcher in Islamic groups at the Cairo-based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). “Rumors quickly spread in villages or the towns where the radar of Islamist activists detect them and turn them into a rallying cry under the pretext that Islam’s supremacy is endangered.”

Salafis advocate an uncompromising and literal interpretation of the Quran, believing society must mirror the way the prophet and his immediate successors ruled in the 7th century. Some Salafi-based political groups are at odds with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group from which Morsi hails, while others are avid supporters of his government.

Part of the Salafis’ antagonism toward Christians is rooted in the belief that they were a protected group under Mubarak’s regime while they, the Salafis, were persecuted. Now empowered, they may be out to exact revenge on the Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 90 million people.

The Egyptian Federation for Human Rights, led by former judge Naguib Gibrael, detects a trend in the number of lawsuits and court rulings leveled against Christians and school teachers in particular over the past year.

Gibrael, a lawyer who is representing Abdul-Nour, says it’s his 18th case defending Christians — several of them teachers — detained over insulting Islam. He says his 17 other clients received three to six years in prison. They go to appeals courts, hoping for retrials or lighter sentences.

Another rights group, the EIPR, said it chronicled at least 36 blasphemy cases in 2011 and 2012, including more than 10 convictions, and that Christian school teachers were frequent targets.

“Teachers are an easy target,” said Gibrael. “Any two students can say anything about their teachers. Islamist teachers collect signatures, and quickly Islamists move a case, then terrorize the court by holding protests and besieging the court building until the judge issues a verdict. I have seen it all,” he said.

In Cairo, public figures who have lately faced blasphemy accusations or trials like movie star Adel Imam were all cleared, thanks to media attention, lobbying by rights groups and heavy police presence.

In rural areas, according to EIPR researcher Ishak Ibrahim, even those acquitted or otherwise cleared of blasphemy accusations face social or administrative punishment, with some forced by villagers to leave their homes, pay a fine or get demoted or suspended by their state employers.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood likes to project itself as a more moderate Islamist group when compared to the ultraconservative Salafis, but they still play a role in the blasphemy cases.

The top Brotherhood leader in Luxor, Abdel-Hamid el-Senoussi, is a lawmaker and the head of the legal team representing the families whose children testified against Abdel-Nour.

He acknowledged that two investigations by the school found no justification for the children’s claims, but said he does not trust those findings.

“They just want to avoid discord. But we prefer to get to the bottom of it,” he said. “Even if the court clears the teacher and rules that she is innocent, she must be fired from the school.”

“There are people who want to mess up with the ship of the nation and this teacher is one of them,” he said.

For him, the penalty for contempt of religion is not harsh enough. “I prefer 10 years imprisonment and, in case the judge clears the defendant, a fine that goes toward the upkeep of places of worship.”

“Anyone who insults religions must be punished to deter further assaults,” he said.

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Posted by Theodore Shoebat

St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Tanzania’s northern city of Arusha was bombed on Sunday, May 5th. At least two people are confirmed dead as a result of the blast. As many as 50 people were wounded, 44 of whom received serious injuries and have been rushed to nearby hospitals. The church was bombed during its official opening, with the bomb thrown into the building from someone on a motorcycle.

“When it exploded there was a stampede, people running in alldirections, walking over each other, children were screaming and women crying,” a witness told Al Jazeera. “I saw a dead woman trampled; I think even her two children were killed in the same way,” another witness added.

Tanzania’s president, Jakaya Kikwete, has condemned the bombing as an “act of terrorism,” and has vowed to bring those responsible to justice.

Please remember to uphold the grieving and the injured. Let’s also petition our “Righteous Judge,” who reigns with utmost supremacy on His throne, to render justice on behalf of His persecuted people and ensure the complete rebuilding of the church. Pray that this violence, which was initially intended for evil, will be used by the Lord to facilitate the exponential growth of His church—bringing even the perpetrators to repentance and salvation.

SRI LANKA: Religious Persecution Intensifies

Source: World Evangelical Alliance

As previously reported in recent prayer alerts, Christian persecution in Sri Lanka has intensified due to the rise in the country’s Buddhist nationalism.

Extremist Buddhist groups such as the Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Strong Army) and the Sinhala Rawaya (Sinhala Echo) have incited religious disharmony and carried out malicious attacks, targeting both Christian and Muslim minorities in the country.

In a wave of violence, around 30 churches have come under attack this year alone. In 2012, there were 52 reported incidents of persecution. Quite alarmingly, these attacks have occurred with impunity, and with little or no state action to prosecute those responsible.

In addition to the rising violence, churches are also facing restriction in the form of forced closure by the authorities. For instance, local governments and police have ordered many churches to close down, claiming that they are not authorized by the state.

In a recent incident in the Hambantota district, authorities called on certain evangelical churches to confirm their legality, warning church leaders that failure to do so will result in the closure of churches. Previous reports can be found by going towww.persecution.net/srilanka.htm.

May our Christian brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka continue to place their trust in the Lord during this time of mounting pressure and persecution. Pray for His protection over all who are at risk of violence, especially those who are willing to place the ‘mission of God’ ahead of their own comfort and security. May the Holy Spirit grantchurch leaders discernment on how to appropriately respond to the situation. Also intercede for those inciting these religious tensions, and thus persecuting His precious people, that they would experience a radical change of heart, repentance and thesaving grace of God.

INDIA: Pastor Beaten During Church Service

Source: The Voice of the Martyrs

A pastor in Uttar Pradesh state was recently attacked and beaten during a church service. Near the end of the service, a group of Hindu men attacked Pastor “Caleb” by tying him to a tree and beating him. The attackers, who apparently were directed by Hindu leaders in the village, broke Pastor Caleb’s arm during the beating.

VOM partners are helping to provide him with medical treatment, while also urging police to prosecute the attackers. Pastor Caleb’s church had been threatened in the past by high caste families. It is understood that about five Christian families who have faithfully remained with the church had angered villagers by refusing to offer a gift to a Hindu goddess.

A group from the village also became angry when the Christian families refused to help with the wedding of a high caste family’s daughter. Despite the recent attack, Pastor “Caleb” plans on continuing his ministry service in this volatile community. To learn more about the challenges faced by believers in this part of the world, please go tohttp://www.persecution.net/india.htm.

While we are thankful to the Lord for Pastor Caleb’s faithfulness and willingness to continue in ministry, we also pray that he will be completely healed of the afflictions imposed on him during the attack. May the loving concern and assistance of our VOM partners serve to further encourage and strengthen this dedicated man of God. As a result of his faithfulness, may many others be spurred on to preach the Gospel (Philippians 1:14) and win others for Christ.

RECENT PRISONER UPDATE

IRAN: God’s Presence Evident in Evin Prison (Pastor Saeed’s case)

Source: Naghmeh Abedini, wife of the imprisoned pastor

“Saeed’s family got to visit him at Evin Prison today since he has now been released from solitary confinement. He said he felt many praying, and the time in solitary was a time of intimacy with God. He said when he came out, the other prisoners said he was glowing! He was filled with more joy and peace after solitary than going in!!! All of the prisoners were shocked at the change! This is because of your prayers! Thank you! I will provide more updates as I get them. Please continue to pray for his health and his internal bleeding. He has not been treated yet.”

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Posted by Theodore Shoebat

According to a new study, blasphemy and evangelizing accusations are disproportionately used against members of Egypt’s Christian minority–especially those working in education.

A study to be released at the end of this month by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) found that 41 percent of blasphemy cases taken to court from Jan. 25, 2011, to Dec. 31, 2012, were filed against Christians, who make up only about 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 83 million people. Ishak Ibrahim, freedom of religion and belief officer for the EIPR, said people are targeting Christians using the nation’s blasphemy statutes as a weapon.

The total of 36 blasphemy cases involved 63 people. The country’s Sunni Muslim majority, which makes up almost 90 percent of the Egypt’s population, were charged in 59 percent of the cases. Ibrahim noted that approximately 30 percent of the blasphemy cases filed have been filed against someone in an education environment.

Of the 36 blasphemy cases brought to court, only one case was filed against someone for blaspheming Christianity–in spite of a near-constant din of insults by the nation’s religious leaders against Christians and Christianity on Egypt’s television and radio airwaves. That single case, a blasphemy charge against Sheik Abu Islam for publically burning a Bible in front of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, was dismissed. A private Coptic attorney is trying to re-file the case.

Ibrahim also expects to see an increase in charges against Christians; the new constitution employs vague language that could prohibit evangelism, though evangelism is not specifically illegal. At the same time, the new constitution more explicitly criminalizes criticism of Islam.

“It is getting worse, with the change of the constitution, as there is a specific sentence that punishes those who insult Islam,” he said.

Along with the disproportionate number of Christians charged with blasphemy, sentences are harsher for Christians compared with those handed to Muslims, EIPR noted. The study notes that the sentences are also unusually harsh in relation to the nature of the offenses.

The latest example is the case of social studies teacher Dimyana Obeid Abd Al-Nour, accused of making allegedly blasphemous comments while she was teaching on April 8 about Amenhotep IV, later known as Akhenaten, a pharaoh who introduced a form of monotheistic theology to ancient Egypt.

Accounts differ, but in some versions of the alleged incident, Al-Nour also made comparisons between the former head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the late Pope Shenouda III, and Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.

Three students from Sheikh Sultan Primary School, along with their parents and a handful of teachers, complained to the school administrator, and school officials contacted legal authorities. Al-Nour has been released from jail on bail, but faces trial.

Human rights group Amnesty International condemned the detention and demanded Al-Nour’s release in a press statement.

“It is outrageous that a teacher finds herself behind bars for teaching a class,” stated Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy Middle East and North Africa program director at Amnesty International. “If she made some professional mistake or deviated from the school curriculum, an internal review should have sufficed. The authorities must release Dimyana Obeid Abd Al-Nour immediately and drop these spurious charges against her.”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Smithfield state Liberal MP Andrew Rohan has paid tribute to an Australian soldier who rescued his Assyrian parents from a massacre after the Assyrian genocide was formally recognized by the NSW Government, Daily Telegraph reported.

On Wednesday, May 8 State Parliament unanimously passed a motion by Premier Barry O’Farrell calling for the official recognition of the Assyrian, Armenian and Greek genocides. It is estimated 1.5 million Armenians, 750,000 Assyrians and 500,000 Greeks were massacred by Ottoman Empire forces between 1915 and 1922 during their attempts to eradicate the Christian minorities.

In a speech to Parliament last week, Mr Rohan said his parents were among the 90,000 Assyrian Christian refugees who fled their ancestral home to escape persecution by the Ottoman regime in 1918.

The refugees were protected by 28-year-old Australian Army Captain Stanley Savige. “Reasoning that a Turkish commander would concentrate on killing him before harming the refugees, he strategically placed his command at the rear of the refugee procession and deliberately drew enemy fire,” Mr Rohan said.

“By offering his command as a target, even though he was outnumbered one hundred to one, Captain Savige managed to slow the enemy advance long enough for most of the refugees to flee.

“My parents survived the genocide because of the heroic actions of Sir Stanley George Savige.” Captain Savige, who later rose to the military rank of Lieutenant General, was decorated with a Distinguished Service Order for his bravery.

For years local Assyrian, Armenian and Hellenic organizations campaigned to have genocides formally acknowledged by government.

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Posted by Theodore Shoebat