Philippine Christians Stand Together Against President Duterte Tirades

By Persecution International

Christian Concern

On January 25, various Catholic and Protestant groups joined force to stand against President Duterte’s ongoing attack against the Church.

According to UCA News, an estimated 3,000 Catholic and Protestants formed a “human chain” and lit candles to profess their “unity in faith and action.” They said they had gathered “to declare that our God is not stupid,” a statement made by President Duterte few months ago.

In a statement, the groups said the “sneers, false testimonies, repugnant stories and outright lies” of Duterte have “offend[ed] our hearts and human sensibilities.”

President Duterte in recent years have continuously made offensive remarks against the Church – calling God ‘stupid’, questioning Bible’s creation story, and even suggesting people to rob or kill priests.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said people have to “speak up in one voice against injustice and oppression.” He went on to say “This day invites us to walk together and defend Christianity.”

Secretary-general of the Promotion of Church Peoples’ Response, Nardy Sabino, said the attacks have to stop. “They will not stop if we do not make [the president] stop,” said the leader of the ecumenical church group.

“The Christian community has the strongest voice…. We want to show our strength, not just in numbers but also in our devotion to hold the line, stand our ground, and protect our faith,” he said.

Website: Persecution International

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Chinese Christians Forced to Make Choice Between Welfare Benefits or Belief

Local government officials discovered and photographed Wu attending church gatherings, and warned her not to believe in God or else have her minimum living subsidy revoked.

By International Christian Concern
Persecution,org

Chinese Christians in poor health who depend on the government’s welfare benefits are forced to choose between their belief or social benefits.

According to Bitter Winter magazine, several elderly Christians in Henan province were approached by local officials, asking them to remove religious items in their homes and hang up the portraits of President Xi Jinping or Chairman Mao Zedong in order for them to continue to receive welfare benefits.

Their rationale is that it’s the state that fills your pocket, not God, so the praise and worship belongs to the Party and its leaders.

A 60-year-old ill woman Song Lanyin, who relies on the minimum living subsidy provided by the government to survive, refused to take down decorations showing her Christian belief in her home as demanded by the visiting deputy mayor and the other officials. 

They then took it upon themselves to destroy all of the Christian symbols in her home, including a work of calligraphy with the words “God loves the world” and “Immanuel” written on it.

Yanjin County’s Wu Fengying also experienced similar harassment last August. Local government officials discovered and photographed Wu attending church gatherings, and warned her not to believe in God or else have her minimum living subsidy revoked.

Zhao Shun, on the other hand, had his house intruded by a village party secretary. He ripped a religious couplet off the door while Zhao was not present. Zhao was also threatened that his benefits will be revoked if he fails to remove religious symbols at his house. 

When Zhao confronted him later, on how Chinese constitution guarantees freedom of belief, the village party secretary replied that only fools believe in this provision.

*Names mentioned above are pseudonyms.

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New 2018 Report on Iran’s Violation of the Rights of Christians

By International Christian Concern
Persecution.org

A new report details how last year brought continued violation of religious freedom for Iranian Christians, cumulating in an unprecedented wave of raids targeting the underground church during the Christmas season. 

The report, which was compiled by a number of human rights groups, details the status of several imprisoned Christians, church closures, property rights violations, as well as the surveillance and harassment of Christians.

The report, which is entitled the 2018 Annual Report (on) Violations of the Rights of Christians in Iran, states:

“Religious and political leaders in Iran continue to speak out against Christianity. It is therefore unsurprising that the Christian community experiences repression in various forms. The Iranian intelligence service (MOIS) closely monitors Christian activity and, together with the Revolutionary Guard (IRCG), has raided Christian gatherings in private homes, arresting all in attendance and confiscating personal property. Those arrested have been subjected to intensive and often abusive interrogation.”

A majority of the reported violations involved Christian converts from Islam being rejected by society, and many minorities imprisoned or sentenced to long jail terms. Christian minorities encountered erratic house raids on private house gatherings, leading to a large amount of arrests, or their sentences upheld by the Court of Appeal. Also, in several cases, church properties remained under constant threat of confiscation and closure.

Website: Persecution.org

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PAKISTAN'S TOP COURT TO DECIDE ASIA BIBI'S FATE AS MUSLIM EXTREMISTS DEMAND HER DEATH

Islamists demand the execution of Christian mother Asia Bibi in Pakistan in this
 protest uploaded on video on November 4, 2018.
 | (Screenshot: YouTube/euronews (in Italiano))

By Leah Marie Ann Klett
Breaking Christian News

Pakistan's top court will decide next week whether a challenge against the acquittal of Christian mother Asia Bibi can proceed as radical Islamists continue to call for her execution.

Bibi’s lawyer, Saiful Malook, revealed that on Jan. 29 Pakistan’s Supreme Court will review a petition launched by Islamists calling for her blasphemy conviction to be overturned, the Pakistani news outlet Dawn reports. If the court rejects the petition, Bibi will finally be free to leave Pakistan.

The 47-year-old mother-of-five, who was on death row for eight years, was accused by Muslim farm laborers of having insulted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which is an offense punishable by death in Pakistan.

She was convicted despite denying the charges, and in October the Supreme Court overturned the guilty verdict. The decision sparked nationwide protests by Muslim hardliners, prompting authorities to take Bibi into hiding. Since her acquittal, she has since been living at a secret location, under guard.

Muslim extremists have threatened to kill anyone who supports Bibi, and in efforts to end the violence, authorities struck a deal with protesters. As part of the agreement, the Pakistani government pledged she would remain in the country until the Supreme Court reviews the petition against her acquittal.

A three-member bench will hear the review petition, which claims that the Supreme Court's acquittal of Bibi did not meet the standards of jurisprudence as well as Islamic provisions.

Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, the lawyer who filed the petition seeking an appeal, told AFP the court is expected to decide the same day if the appeal is admitted or not.

In December, he told the BBC he gets "a lot of peace" from prosecuting alleged blasphemers like Bibi and "will be rewarded for it in the hereafter.”

"For us the most sacred thing is [Islamic] prophet Muhammad. Everything we do is for him," he said, insisting that no Muslim would ever falsely accuse a non-Muslim of committing blasphemy.

Despite her release from prison, Bibi continues to live in fear of being killed and is guarded by security forces who've barred her from even opening a window, an unidentified friend revealed earlier this month. She’s also undergoing treatment for various illnesses she suffered while in prison.

Bibi’s children have been taken to Canada for their safety, and while various western countries have been mentioned as possible destinations that could grant the Christian woman asylum, her fate remains uncertain.

Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws prescribe a death sentence for anyone convicted of insulting Islam or the Muhammad.

Approximately 40 people are believed to be on death row or serving a life sentence for blasphemy, according to a 2018 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. While no one convicted of blasphemy has ever been legally executed in Pakistan, at least 70 people have reportedly been killed since 1990 in attacks by lynch mobs.

Rights groups say the law is frequently misused, often to settle personal vendettas and property disputes — and religious minorities are disproportionately affected by such accusations.

Those who call for changes to the country’s blasphemy law also risk death: In 2011, Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province who had campaigned for Bibi’s release and changes in the laws, was shot and killed by his police bodyguard.

Two months later, Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister of minorities and the only Christian cabinet minister in the Pakistani government, was also killed after he also was calling for changes to the blasphemy law.

Pakistan ranks as the fifth worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s World Watch List.

Website: Christian Post

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Supreme Court Won't Hear Appeal of Football Coach Fired for Praying After Games

Coach Joe Kennedy filing his complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
 in December 2015 against Bremerton School District. | Courtesy Liberty Institute

By Michael Gryboski
Christian Poat

The United States Supreme Court decided Tuesday not to hear an appeal from a public high school football coach who was fired for kneeling in prayer on the field after games.

Joe Kennedy, who coached at Bremerton High School in Washington state before he was suspended in 2015, had his appeal to the high court denied Tuesday.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued a statement concurring with the denial as part of the order, being joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh.

In his statement, Justice Alito explained that the denial came not because of agreement with a lower court ruling but rather a belief that there remained “important unresolved factual questions.”

“… although petitioner’s free speech claim may ultimately implicate important constitutional issues, we cannot reach those issues until the factual question of the likely reason for the school district’s conduct is resolved. For that reason, review of petitioner’s free speech claim is not warranted at this time,” wrote Alito.

Kelly Shackelford, president of First Liberty, the firm representing Kennedy, said in a statement on Tuesday that they did not see the rejection as an end to the case.

“We are eager to return to the district court, answer the questions the justices raised today, and give the court another opportunity to protect the right of every American to engage in private religious expression, including praying in public, without fear of getting fired,” said Shackelford.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which filed an amicus brief on behalf of the school district, expressed support for the Supreme Court’s decision to not hear arguments.

“The coach’s actions were a clear violation of religious freedom, forcing kids to choose between their own beliefs and appeasing the man who decides the lineup for the game,” said Americans United President Rachel Laser in a statement released Tuesday.

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Targeting of Karen Pence is Wake-Up Call to All Christians

Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence show up at the banquet for
Save the Storks charity ball at the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C.
on January 18, 2019. Photo: The Christian Post

By Travis Weber

Christian Post

Vice President Pence’s wife Karen has come under withering attack in recent days from many in the media. From this “reporting,” one might think she has transgressed some obvious social boundary of a civilized society. In reality, the big “scoop” is that this Christian wife and mother, whose Christian beliefs are important to her, is teaching at a Christian school, which being Christian, holds to Christian beliefs about marriage.

Yet you wouldn’t know that from reading the headlines about her, which lead the reader to believe that the driving force of Karen’s actions is the targeting of those who identify as LGBT. As we’ve seen over and over again, those perpetrating such claims negligently (and often willfully) mischaracterize our faith.

The truth is that Karen, along with other biblically-based Christians faithful to teaching which goes back to our Jewish forebears over 6,000 years ago, believe that sexual conduct outside of God’s plan of marriage is sinful (as are a myriad of things). Indeed, all of us—including myself—have fallen short of God’s standards, a reality which allows us to be so thankful that Jesus took the punishment of God’s wrath for us.

Should we really be surprised at this public hostility toward Christian beliefs?

Increasingly, social elites don’t merely disagree with religion, but see it as irrelevant or even harmful for society. This is reflected in recent questioning of nominees for public office 

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) questioning Russell Vought (nominated to be deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget) about his theological beliefs,
Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) telling U.S. Circuit Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett that “the dogma lives loudly within you,” and most recently,
Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) asking Brian Buescher about his affiliation with the Knights of Columbus (questioning which was even rebuked by fellow Democrat Tulsi Gabbard).

Indeed, just a few days ago, the Senate approved without objection a resolution introduced by Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebr.) rebuking such questions as violations of the “No Religious Test” Clause of the Constitution. And now, Karen Pence is being targeted for her faith. Such hostility to religion in the public square has got to go.

The attack on Karen Pence should be a wake-up call for our fellow Christians. Though many hold to Christian teaching on marriage and family, they don’t engage in the cultural battle for hearts and minds. They believe they can stay on the sidelines while someone else fights the battle for them. They don’t like the idea of “fighting,” anyway.

A paradigm shift is in order. As Christians, we would say we believe in truth and love. Yet for some, our theological understanding and application of these terms has become warped. If we don’t accurately define love, then we compromise truth. Indeed, is it truly loving to willfully allow someone to accept a lie as truth? Why do so many of us sit on the sidelines while our friends and neighbors walk through life believing lies?

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Christians from India, Nigeria and Iraq detail the persecution their communities face

”We depend on the prayer of fellow believers to pray to bring peace so that people will come back to their native land..."

Father Thabet Habib evaluates the inside of a burned out church right in Karamles,
Iraq right after the town's liberation from the Islamic State in October 2016.\
 |(Photo: Archdiocese of Erbil)

By Samuel Smith

Christian Post

At the rollout of Open Doors USA’s annual top-50 listof countries where Christians are most persecuted, Christians from Africa, Asia and the Middle East shared how persecution has affected their families and communities.

Last week, the nondenominational ministry that monitors persecution in more than 70 countries, released its 2019 World Watch List at an event held at a Heritage Foundation office in Capitol Hill.

As was the case in past years, Open Doors invited Christians from different countries to share their own stories of persecution.

The Christian Post spoke with believers from India, Iraq, Nigeria and one undisclosed South Asian country about the violence they and their communities have faced.

Rev. Dogo is a church leader from the Yobe state of Nigeria, which is located in the northeastern part of the nation.

Dogo explained how the Islamic militant group Boko Haram has attacked communities and how his own congregation has dramatically decreased in the last eight years because of various types of violence against the Christian community.

Dogo said that the most severe persecution the Christian community in Yobe faced came during the post-election riots in 2011.

In 2011, Goodluck Jonathan — a Christian from the south — defeated Muhammadu Buhari — a Muslim from the north — in the presidential election. Hundreds were killed and thousands were displaced as a result of 2011 post-election riots.

“Goodluck Jonathan won the election and that post-election riots led to the burning of not less than 50 churches in Yobe,” Dogo explained. “From there, immediately after that post-election riot, then the [persecution] of Boko Haram began in 2012 and it is a common thing that is on and on and on moving up to today.”

Based in northeast Nigeria, Boko Haram is regarded as one of the world’s deadliest terrorist groups and is responsible for thousands of deaths and kidnappings. In 2014, Boko Haram reportedly killed more people than the Islamic State did in Iraq or Syria.

“So what they do is attack people, kill, bomb and destroy houses or communities or businesses,” Dogo said.

Since the 2011 post-election, Dogo said that the Christian community in Yobe has dropped nearly in half as many Christians have fled to other states.

“The church that I was pastoring as of then that used to have not less than 700 people is reduced to 100 or even less 100 every Sunday,” Dogo said. “They just run and left the state. They fled to Plateau and some other middle part of the country.”

Dogo is calling on Christians around the world to pray that the Christians will return to Yobe state.

”We depend on the prayer of fellow believers to pray to bring peace so that people will come back to their native land,” he said. “In Nigeria, your citizenship stems from the place of your birth. If you leave that area, you don’t have any part of Nigeria that is designated for you to call your own.”

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China Forces Church to Take Down First Commandment Given to Moses

A cross is seen behind a poster with the logo of Communist Party of China
(CPC) near a Catholic church on the outskirts of Taiyuan, North China's
Shanxi province, December 24, 2016. (Photo: REUTERS/Jason Lee)

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

Chinese communist authorities forced a church in China’s Henan Province to take down the first of the Ten Commandments given to Moses, as it was deemed offensive.

Bitter Winter Magazine, which reports on religious freedom violations in China, said that the incident occurred in November, when 30 officials conducted an inspection of a government-approved Three-Self church in Henan’s Luoning county.

Inside the church, they saw the Ten Commandments displayed on the wall, and declared that the first commandment must be removed and proceeded to wipe it off.

The Ten Commandments, given by God to the Jewish people through Moses, became the bedrock of morality in the Abrahamic faiths, including Christianity.

The first commandment, recorded in the book of Exodus, quotes God's words directly: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”

The leaders of the church, which wasn’t named, reportedly strongly opposed the action of the government officials.

“This isn’t appropriate. They’re falsifying the words of God! It’s resisting the Lord!” one believer said.

One of the officials explained, however, that Chinese President Xi Jinping “opposes the statement,” referring to the first commandment.

“Who dares not to cooperate? If anyone doesn’t agree, they are fighting against the country,” the official warned. “This is a national policy. You should have a clear understanding of the situation. Don’t go against the government.”

The church was forced to take down the Ten Commandments sign that day.

Numerous stories of Communist officials shutting down churches, arresting congregations, and even trying to rewrite the Bible emerged throughout 2018, following the implementation of revised religious regulation rules in February.

Bob Fu, founder of ChinaAid, said at a U.S. House of Representatives hearing in September that part of the initiative to "Sincize" Christianity, or make it more compatible with the state ideology, include retranslating the Old Testament. The Chinese government also plans to provide new commentary for the New Testament, using Buddhist scripture and Confucian teachings to champion socialist ideals.

"There are outlines that the new Bible should not look westernized and [should look] Chinese and reflect Chinese ethics of Confucianism and socialism," Fu told The Christian Post at the time.

"The Old Testament will be messed up. The New Testament will have new commentaries to interpret it."

Persecution watchdog groups, such as Open Doors USA, have condemned the proposed plans.

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Vietnamese Christians Beaten, Arrested for Refusing to Worship Buddha and Renounce Faith in Jesus

Vietnamese women make the sign of the cross during a mass at a church
 in Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam. | (PHOTO: REUTERS)

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

Several Hmong Christians were beaten and arrested by Vietnamese government officials after they refused to renounce their faith and worship a Buddha statue, a pastor has revealed.

Pastor Hoang Van Pa told persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern that government officials threatened 33 Hmong Protestants in Phá Lóm village in November if they refused to renounce their Christian faith.

Police reportedly gathered personal information about the 33 believers and carried out an open trial before the community. The officers presented an image of the Buddha and tried to force the Christians to abandon their faith and worship the Buddha statue instead. Four of the Christians were arrested and beaten, and government officials continued to harass Protestants in several other raids throughout November and December.

As Dzung, the representative of the Interdisciplinary Inspection Team, explained that Vietnam has banned the Protestant Christian faith and seeks to expel those who refuse to renounce their faith in Jesus. In 2018, more than 100 believers were expelled from Yen Bai province and Lao Cai province.

“Due to its ethnic background and high percentage of practicing Christians, Vietnam’s Hmong community is often targeted and harassed by both the government and neighboring communities,” wrote ICC's Regional Manager Gina Goh.

“In a Communist country where Christianity is often seen as unpatriotic or a threat to the regime, Hmong Christians constantly face discrimination, harassment, land grabs, torture, and imprisonment.”

ICC has warned that the persecution of Hmong Christians is expected to continue in 2019.

In 2017, police in Vietnam threw stones and beat a group of Roman Catholic priests who were defending a cross erected on church-claimed land in Thua Thien Hue province.

Thien An priest Khoa Cao Duc Loi said at the time: "They prevented us from putting it back, and priests held on to the cross while police tore at their shirts and dragged them by their hair."

Loi told Radio Free Asia that the local police chief and his deputy were present during the attack.

"I knew them because we had met with them several times before," he said.

Others, such as a believer by the name of Bao, who works with persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA, revealed last year that he has been risking his life to distribute more than 100,000 children's Bibles.

"When I distribute children's Bibles in the big churches, they honor the book not only as a free gift but as material to teach God's Word. They also use this book for evangelism. And I believe that it's going farther, and that its impact will spread wider," Bao said of Open Doors Children's Bible Project.

"God's Word must be easy for people to reach. The children's Bible is one of the easiest ways to let different kinds of people know about Him. I believe this is the job of a sower. We continue to sow, and God continues to make it grow."

Website: Christian Post

Libyan Officials Uncover Mass Grave of Christians Killed by ISIS

The Islamic State and other extremist groups still maintain strongholds in parts of Libya are still active in Libya and retain control of parts of the country. Christian global persecution watchdog Open Doors ranks Libya as the seventh most dangerous country for Christians.

By Carly Hoilman
Faithwire

Last month Libyan officials uncovered dozens of bodies from a mass grave used by the Islamic State, Catholic News Agency reported. The bodies of 34 Ethiopian Christians killed by the terrorist group in 2015 will soon be sent back to Ethiopia, where they will be laid to rest with the dignity they deserve.

According to Reuters, an ISIS propaganda video posted to social media in April 2015 appeared to show militants beheading Ethiopian Christians, who were wearing orange jumpsuits, on a beach.

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The group were in Libya seeking employment as migrant workers, International Christian Concern reported.

The killings occurred just months after the terrorists beheaded a group of Coptic Christians in 2015. A mass grave from that slaughter was discovered in October 2017.

The Islamic State and other extremist groups still maintain strongholds in parts of Libya are still active in Libya and retain control of parts of the country. Christian global persecution watchdog Open Doors ranks Libya as the seventh most dangerous country for Christians.

On Christmas Day, at least three people were killed and 21 injured when a suicide bomber detonated near the capital Tripoli. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, during which a senior Libyan diplomat was killed, according to the Daily Mail.

Website: Faithwire

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Pennsylvania Couple Fined for Using Farm for Bible Study, Prayer Groups

By Amanda Casanova, Religion Today
Christian Headlines

A couple in Pennsylvania has been served a cease-and-desist orderfor using their 32-acre farm for private prayer groups.

Scott and Terri Fetterolf received the order in 2017 after the Borough of Sewickley Heights in Pennsylvania claimed the farm “was being used improperly as a place of worship, a place of assembly and as a commercial venue and ‘special studio or school.’”

The borough is charging $500 for each permit if the couple wants to continue hosting activities at their farm.

The Fetterolf farm also has a yarn and wool shop and sells produce and flowers. The farm is also host to educational classes and private events.

The couple has filed an appeal to the cease-and desist order and is waiting to hear a decision from the federal court.

"I don't seek to sue my borough and cause taxes to go up, I'm just trying to live my life,” Terri told the local newspaper.

The Fetterolfs are represented by the Independence Law Center, which is a branch of the Pennsylvania Family Institute.

"What they're doing here is they are requiring them to make a request with the zoning board and get permission to hold a Bible study... require them to go through a public hearing to receive permission... and that kind of prior restraining is unconstitutional and infringing on their right to freely exercise their religion," said Jeremy Samek, senior counsel for the Independence Law Center.

Samek says the couple cannot have Bible studies, church staff retreats or meeting or any church fundraisers at their farm.

Attorneys for the borough say Bible studies could be labeled a class, which needs a permit. The farm is located in what’s been zoned a Historical-Rural Residential District.

Website: Christian Headlines

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Christian Persecution Expected to Increase in 2019; Believers Facing 'Modern-Day Jihad'

Villagers stood at a mass grave in Dogon Na Hauwa, Nigeria, in 2010
(Photo: Reuters/Credit Akintunde Akinleye)

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

The persecution of Christians around the world is expected to increase in 2019, with a watchdog group sharing particular concern for believers in Nigeria, China, and India.

Release International, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, said in a press release that 215 million believers face violence and discrimination for their faith.

"In Nigeria, Fulani militants look set to continue devastating attacks against Christians in the north and central Nigeria. In the first six months of 2018 alone, they killed up to 6,000 and drove 50,000 from their homes," the group said of the situation in the African country.

A Release partner, who wasn't named, said that there is a "deliberate plan to destroy and take over the predominantly Christian communities in the region." The source added that Christians are facing a "strategic modern-day jihad."

In June, the Christian Association of Nigeria and church denominational heads in Plateau State said that what is happening Nigeria is "pure genocide and must be stopped immediately."

Watchdogs, such as the International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law, separately warned that the Fulani attacks on Christians should not be confused for decades-long clashes between cattle herders and farmers.

Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman of Intersociety, told The Christian Post in August that believers have seen their churches burned down, and have been driven out en masse.

"How many Muslim farmers are being killed by Fulani herdsmen? How many Muslim homes have been destroyed or burned? The answer is in the negative. It has nothing to do with herdsmen-farmer clashes. It is false," Umeagbalasi told CP at the time.

The Communist government of China was also mentioned among the highest causes for concern, with new rules on regulating religion cracking down on churches, pastors and congregations throughout the country.

"The government wants to reduce Christianity to just a minor activity by unimportant older people," another Release partner warned.

In India, Release pointed to violent radical mobs that have stormed prayer meetings, ransacked churches, and beaten believers.

"Release is providing Bibles in local languages to replace those the militants destroy and is giving vital legal aid and support to pastors who have been arrested," the group revealed.

Other countries of particular concern for 2019 were listed as North Korea, Eritrea, and Pakistan.

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Court Allows Christian Baker Jack Phillips to Sue Colorado for Anti-Religious Hostility

By Michael Gryboski
Christian Post

Colorado Christian baker Jack Phillips can continue his lawsuit against the state, accusing them of anti-religious bias against him for refusing to make cakes that support transgender identity and gay marriage, a federal court has ruled.

Judge Wiley Y. Daniel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado issued an order last Friday allowing Phillips’ lawsuit against Colorado and its Civil Rights Commission to continue.

In his order, Judge Daniel did grant the Civil Rights Division Director Aubrey Elenis’ motion to dismiss Phillips’ claims against them for compensatory, punitive and nominal damages, and the motion to dismiss Phillips’ claims for prospective relief against Governor John Hickenlooper.

However, Daniel denied the motion to dismiss the other aspects of Phillips’ litigation, among them being his claim of having the standing to sue the defendants and Attorney General Cynthia Coffman’s motion to dismiss the claims against her.

Phillips is being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative law firm that has successfully argued litigation on behalf of Phillips at the U.S. Supreme Court.

ADF Senior Counsel Jim Campbell, who argued the lawsuit in front of the district court last month, said in a statement released on Mondaythat “Colorado is acting in bad faith and with bias toward Jack.”

“The same agency that the Supreme Court rebuked as hostile to Jack Phillips has remained committed to treating him unequally and forcing him to express messages that violate his religious beliefs,” stated Campbell.

“We look forward to moving forward with this lawsuit to ensure that Jack isn’t forced to create custom cakes that express messages in conflict with his faith.”

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New Christian in Uganda Loses Family, Plantation for Leaving Islam

By Morning Star Correspondent
Christian Headlines

In 24 hours earlier this month, a convert to Christianity in eastern Uganda lost his livelihood, wife and children to irate relatives and other Muslims, sources said.

In Masaba village, Sironko District, a leader of the village mosque on Dec. 7 led a mob to Muhamud Gusolo’s banana plantation and destroyed it after Gusulo’s father objected to him leaving Islam for Christ. His father, Mujenya Gusolo Zibail, had told him in November that he would not receive his inheritance and issued a stern warning not to set foot again on the family land, he said.

“My father confronted me for being a disgrace to the family as a result of my conversion to Christ,” the 28-year-old Gusolo told Morning Star News. “Since my expulsion from the community, no one in my community has come to my aid. My father has openly denied me as his son, and the community has openly threatened me, saying, ‘No burial rites for you, a kaffir[infidel].”

Seeing how area Muslims threatened his life after the attack on the plantation, his wife, a Muslim, refused to join him when he left home the next day, Dec. 8, he said.

“My wife and children also turned against me,” he said. “I am a very frustrated man with no family. After being ostracized from my community, I have appealed for help to the government administration, but this has fallen on deaf hears. I am very far from my family and reside in a lonely environment in another village.”

His wife and six children, two from a previous marriage that dissolved while he was still a Muslim, had been living under the care of his father until last week. But Gusolo said his father last week began questioning her after hearing the children sing Christian songs and has also made her life difficult as one suspected of being associated with Christianity.

She and the children have been forced to move to a rented home in Sirongo town, Gusolo said, and have no means of support. The children range in age from 1 to 10 years old.

Gusolo, who put his faith in Christ in late 2017, saw his life begin to crumble when he began holding evening Bible study and worship with other former Muslims at his home in October.

In the village (undisclosed for security reasons) where he is now living, there are no Christians, and the pastor who led him to Christ is too far away to help in any regular way, he said.

For now, he seeks odd jobs to try to support himself and his estranged family.

“Since my wife and the children are having problems now, I have to think on how to support them,” Gusolo told Morning Star News.

A source said Gusolo, also known as Simon, needs prayer for God’s intervention and access to his family.

The Dec. 7 attack on his plantation was the latest of many cases of persecution of Christians in eastern Uganda that Morning Star News has documented in the past six years.

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