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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Indonesia: 90,000 Soldiers to Guard Christians in 50,000 Churches for Christmas Services

Police stand near the scene of an explosion outside a church in Samarinda,
East Kalimantan, Indonesia on November 13, 2016.
(Photo: Antara Foto/Amirulloh/via REUTERS)

By Stoyan Zaimov

Christian Post

As many as 90,000 soldiers will be guarding more than 50,000 churches across Indonesia in an effort to thwart terror attacks during Christmas.

Francis Xavier Ping Tedja, security coordinator at Santa Maria Church, told UCA News earlier this week that 70 police officers and members of Banser — the youth wing of Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest moderate Muslim group in the country, will guard the church for Christmas services.

"We have coordinated with police, military, and Islamic groups to maintain the security, so that Catholics can attend Christmas masses comfortably and safely," Tedja said.

“We hope Catholics will not be afraid to attend Christmas masses at the church,” he added.

The church in Surabaya, East Java, was attacked by suicide bombers in May. The terrorists, linked with the Islamic State terror group, targeted three churches in the world's most populous Islamic nation, killing 18 people.

Father Antonius Suyadi, chairman of the Jakarta Archdiocese’s Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs Commission, added that the Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral Church in Jakarta will be secured by 300 police and military personnel.

“Besides the cathedral church, police and military forces will also guard other Catholic churches in the archdiocese,” Suyadi explained.

As police combat terrorist threats, the nation's leaders continue to work on reconciliation efforts that include terror attack survivors meeting face-to-face with people who've carried out bombings.

A three-day first-of-its-kind event was staged in March in Jakarta, where 124 convicted terrorists met 51 survivors of attacks and their family members.

One former Islamic radical who killed three people in 2002 spoke of his regret for what he did.

"I have repented and I will help the government educate others not to follow a radical path as I did," Mokhtar Daeng Lau said at the time.

Another man by the name of Sumarno, who took part in 2002 Bali bombings where Islamic radicals killed over 200 people, added: "I deeply regret what I have done. I did not expect that so many victims were our brothers and sisters."

"It's hard and saddens me to see survivors who are now suffering from permanent disabilities," the man added.

"I had not imagined the impact would be like that. I am sorry and have apologized to them."

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UK Official: Political Correctness Getting in Way as Christianity 'On Verge of Extinction from Birthplace'

All religious minorities must be protected and the evidence demonstrates that in some countries, Christians face the greatest risk.

Iraqi Christians pray during a mass on Christmas Eve at Church of Saint
Georgein Teleskof, Iraq, December 24, 2017 (Photo: Reuters/Ari Jalal)

By Stoyan Zaimov

Christian Post

Political correctness should not get in the way of action aimed at helping Christians on the verge of extinction in the Middle East, the U.K. Foreign Secretary has warned.

“Yesterday my family and I walked a short journey to our local church, and enjoyed an uplifting Christmas service. We attend as a simple matter of personal choice, but since being appointed Foreign Secretary, it has struck me how much we take that choice for granted: others around the world are facing death, torture and imprisonment for that very right,” Jeremy Hunt wrote in an op-ed published in The Telegraph and the U.K. government website on Wednesday, which was Boxing Day in the U.K.

Hunt pointed out that 100 years ago, close to 20 percent of the people in the Middle East were Christian, but various terror campaigns have pushed that number to below five percent today.

The U.K. politician mentioned a number of cases where Christians have faced severe persecution and even death for their faith in Jesus Christ, from instances in Egypt to Iraq and Pakistan.

The Islamic State terror group, in particular, has forced multitudes of believers to flee the region in the past several years, with many unlikely to return.

Hunt praised the U.K. government for long championing international religious freedom, but at the same time warned that it can do more to help Christians, particularly in the Middle East.

“I am not convinced that our response to the threats facing this particular group has always matched the scale of the problem, nor taken account of the hard evidence that Christians often endure a disproportionate burden of persecution. Perhaps this is borne out of the very British sense of awkwardness at ‘doing God’. Perhaps it’s an awareness of our colonial history, or because Britain is a traditionally Christian country some are fearful of being seen to help Christians in desperate need,” he suggested.

“Whatever the cause, we must never allow a misguided political correctness to inhibit our response to the persecution of any religious community.”

Hunt revealed that he has appointed the Bishop of Truro, the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, to lead a global review of the persecution of Christians, and examine in which areas the government can do more to help.

“With Christianity on the verge of extinction in its birthplace, it is time for concerted action that begins to turn the tide,” he said.

“It is not in our national character to turn a blind eye to suffering. All religious minorities must be protected and the evidence demonstrates that in some countries, Christians face the greatest risk.”

Major U.K. leaders, from Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to Prince Charles, have long warned about the plight of Middle East Christians.

Earlier in December, the Prince of Wales spoke at a special service at Westminster Abbey, where he praised the "truly remarkable faith” of Christians in the Middle East.

“Time and again I have been deeply humbled and profoundly moved by the extraordinary grace and capacity for forgiveness that I have seen in those who have suffered so much,” Prince Charles said at the time, referring to number of Christians from the region he has met and spoke with.

He said that their commitment to their faith no matter the terrors they face demonstrates the “extraordinary power of faith to resist even the most brutal efforts to extinguish it.”

Website: Christian Post

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Persecuted Church in China Vows to Continue Gathering, Meet Christmas Day Despite Arrest of 100 Members

Despite persecution, the Christian population has grown steadily in recent years. There are now an estimated 100 million Christians in China, many of them worshiping in so-called underground churches.

By Leah Marieann Klett
Gospel Herald

Early Rain Covenant Church -- China's largest underground church -- has vowed to meet Christmas Day despite a recent crackdown which saw the arrest of 100 church members, including Pastor Wang Yi.

A member of Early Rain Covenant Church in Sichuan who did not want to be identified told the BBC that despite Beijing's stepped-up crackdown on independent religious practice, the church will continue to operate.

"We will continue the gathering. The church is shut down so it's impossible to have a big gathering, but there will be small gatherings on Sunday and on Christmas Day."

The church member added that ultimately, such persecution might even increase the profile of the faith in China.

"Without repression, people may doubt about our religion. But when repression occurs, pastors and members' reactions will make people who don't believe realize the charm of Christianity."Earlier in December, police raided the church and arrested Pastor Wang and his wife Jiang Rong. Over the following two days, at least 100 church members, including Wang's assistant, were also taken away.

The church member told the BBC that the lock on the church school had been broken, churchgoers' homes had been ransacked and some were "under house arrest or are followed all the time."

Both Wang and his wife have since been charged with state subversion, one of the most serious crimes against the state and a charge that carries a potential jail term of 15 years.
After he was detained, the church released Yi's statement explaining and defending his nonviolent resistance to China's "evil" and "wicked" rulers.

"I firmly believe that Christ has called me to carry out this faithful disobedience through a life of service, under this regime that opposes the gospel and persecutes the church," he concluded. "This is the means by which I preach the gospel, and it is the mystery of the gospel which I preach."

Police have accused Early Rain of operating without registering with authorities, as required by the updated Regulations for Religious Affairs. Churches which do not belong to the government-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement and are illegal under Communist rule.
The Early Rain member who did not want to be identified said the idea of the Three-Self Patriotic churches was "hilarious", saying they "don't spread genuine gospel, but spread the thoughts of loving the Party, loving the country".

Another Christian in Chengdu told the BBC such churches were "against Jesus, against gospel."

Website: Gospel Herald

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Another 60 Christians Arrested from Chinese Church Where 100 Were Already Detained

Early Rain Covenant Church in China Photo: Facebook/ Early Rain Covenant Church

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

Another 60 members of the underground Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, were arrested this past Sunday, in an ongoing crackdown against the Protestant congregation.

Police have reportedly been attempting to force churchgoers to pledge to leave the church.

This time, according to World Magazine, the arrests took place at a park where the congregation had decided to meet, due to the church building being shut down in a previous raid earlier in the month when 100 worshipers were detained.

The church members had been praying and reciting part of their Catechism, reading: 

“What is your only comfort in life and death? That I am not my own but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Several other Christians who met at a separate location in the field of a nearby university were also taken by police.

As ChinaAid noted, the church's pastor, Wang Yi, has been charged with "inciting subversion of state power."

Some of the 100 Christian leaders and students who were arrested earlier in December had to leave their children unattended. A prayer letter released by the church after the arrests claimed that at least three believers who were detained by the Communist Party authorities had been tortured.

Photos of the injuries from the alleged torture have since emerged online, showing bruises and others signs of beatings that the Christians suffered.

One church member, who wished not to be identified, told BBC News that the lock on the church was broken, some of the churchgoers' homes were ransacked, and a number of believers were "under house arrest or are followed all the time."

"On Sunday, some members tried to gather at other places for worship but got taken away as well. The Church building has been manned with police and plain-clothes officers, not allowing anyone to enter to do worship service," the church member added.

She revealed that police have also been pressuring congregants to sign documents asking them to leave the church and take their children out of its Bible school.

Several other underground churches have been shut down this year, with both Catholic and Protestant congregations heavily targeted by the administration of President Xi Jinping. Video footage from this year shows Communist officials severing crosses from church buildings and demolishing churches altogether.

Wang had written a letter in the event that he would be taken by Chinese Communist authorities. It was released last week.

In it, Wang expresses how he is “filled with anger and disgust at the persecution of the church by this Communist regime, at the wickedness of their depriving people of the freedoms of religion and of conscience."

The Early Rain Covenant Church pastor said that following the Bible, he accepts and respects “the fact that this Communist regime has been allowed by God to rule temporarily."

“At the same time, I believe that this Communist regime’s persecution against the church is a greatly wicked, unlawful action. As a pastor of a Christian church, I must denounce this wickedness openly and severely,” he added.

“The calling that I have received requires me to use non-violent methods to disobey those human laws that disobey the Bible and God. My Savior Christ also requires me to joyfully bear all costs for disobeying wicked laws.”

Website: Christian Post

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google and like us on Facebook.

Two Christian Brothers Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy in Pakistan, Charity Warns

A Pakistani soldier keeps guard at the Friendship Gate, crossing point at the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan, March 7, 2017
. | Reuters/Saeed Ali Achakzai/Files

By Samuel Smith

Christian Post

Two Christian brothers have reportedly been sentenced to death in Pakistan after one of them was accused of posting content deemed disrespectful of Islam on their website. The United Kingdom-based charity Centre for Legal, Aid, Assistance & Settlement has raised alarm about the sentencing of Qaisar and Amoon Ayub.

The group explained that the death sentences were handed down last Thursday by Judge Javed Iqbal Bosal after a hearing in a Jhelum jail in the Punjab province.

The brothers, who are from the city of Lahore, were arrested in 2014 after the reopening of a police case stemming from a 2011 allegation. Qaisar had previously explained that he closed down the webpage in question in 2009. However, he claims one of his Muslim friends restored the webpage.

The accusation of blasphemy was made after Qaisar got into an argument with his friends at work. Qaisar then began receiving death threats and went into hiding. Both Qaisar and Amon eventually fled to Singapore before returning after one month, according to Asia News.

Although they would return, they would soon flee again to Thailand because the situation was still not safe for them. As the brothers spent years on the run, they were told that police were looking for him. In Pakistan, blasphemy is a crime that is punishable with the death penalty or life in prison.

Qaisar is married with three kids, while Amoon is married to a teacher.

CLAAS plans to appeal Qaiser's death sentence to the Lahore High Court Bench at Rawalpindi, while the American Center for Law & Justice's Pakistan office is handling the appeal for Amoon. CLAAS asserts that in many blasphemy cases, judges are “under threat from religious fanatics” to “convict those accused of blasphemy.”

“This is a very unfortunate situation as because of threats from hardliners lower courts pass their responsibility to the higher court and then it takes years to prove the accused innocent,” CLAAS Director Nasir Saeed said in a statement.

“We have seen this in the recent case of Asia Bibi, who was similarly convicted by the lower court and it took her years to reach to the Supreme Court to get justice. I am afraid now Qasir and Amoon will have to wait years to get justice.”

After spending over eight years on death row, Bibi, a Christian mother of five, was acquited by a three-judge panel of the Pakistan Supreme Court in October. Because of that decision, thousands of radical Muslims protested in cities across the country calling for the death of Bibi and the death of the justices who acquitted her. A deal was eventually struck with a hardline Muslim organization for the Supreme Court to review Bibi’s acquittal before allowing her to flee the country.

International human rights activists have long called on Pakistan to reform its blasphemy laws, which are regularly abused by Muslims to settle personal scores with religious minorities. The Pakistani government is facing continued pressure.

Last week, the U.S. State Department designated Pakistan a “country of particular concern” for religious liberty. The CPC designation applies to countries where the government “has engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

The CPC designation gives the U.S. government the potential to enact sanctions or diplomatic measures to pressure change in Pakistan and the nine other countries on the list.

Over the summer, the U.S. and 14 other nations signed onto a “statement of concern” that condemned blasphemy and apostasy laws throughout the world as often being used “as a pretext to justify vigilantism or mob violence in the name of religion, or as a false pretense to settle personal grievances.”

Continuing reading here

Town Ignores Atheists' Warnings, Keeps Christian Cross in Christmas Lights Display

A blue-lit cross stands erect as part of a Christmas light display at Finley
River Park in Ozark, MO December 2018. (Photo: Facebook/Ragan Thompson-Sartin)  

By Samuel Smith
Christian Post

To the delight of many Christians, a town in Christian County, Missouri, has reversed its decision to take down an illuminated cross from its Holiday display.

Many residents voiced their outrage when, under pressure from the Wisconsin-based atheist legal group the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the city of Ozark announced on Tuesday that it would no longer include the giant blue-lit steel cross in its Christmas light display at Finley River Park even though it has been included in the display for years.

The decision was made after Ozark administrator Stephen Childers received a letter on Nov. 30 from FFRF legal director Rebecca Markert arguing that the cross display violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on the grounds that it amounts to a government endorsement of a religion.

The town issued an initial statement in response to the FFRF's complaint in which officials agreed that having the cross on public property was a violation of the First Amendment. The town also said that leaving the cross on public property would “result in a lawsuit that we will not win.”

“While we respect the interests of those who have long enjoyed the holiday display in Finley River Park, we must acknowledge the federal Constitution and its interpretation by the U.S. Supreme Court,” the statement read. 

This letter has brought a concern to our attention and we cannot ignore the First Amendment which protects freedom of speech, protects freedom of the press, protects the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and prohibits the government from making laws or taking actions that may promote or prohibit one religion over another.”

But later that day, the town updated its statement and assured residents that the cross will continue to be part of the holiday display as the city looks into FFRF’s legal claims.

“We released a press release earlier with the facts as they have been presented to us thus far,” the statement reads. “As the day unfolded and citizens commented on this topic, we have determined that in the best interest of all parties we shall continue working through the legalities of the situation. Therefore, the cross in the Finley River Park will remain in place until a further due diligence can be completed regarding this matter.”

According to the Springfield News-Leader, Mayor Rick Gardner received “hundreds” of phone calls, text messages and other communications from members of the Ozark community following the town’s initial announcement. One person reportedly told Gardner that the cross “is a part of Ozark” and “this is Christian County, for Pete's sake."

Gardner took to Facebook to sound off about FFRF’s demand Tuesday.

“The controversy about the lighted Cross in the park is not over,” Gardner said. “The cross is NOT down and will be [lit] tonight. We have heard your thoughts and agree with them. We are now assessing all our options for addressing this situation. Stay tuned.”

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