Video Emerges of Chinese Officials Bulldozing Another 3,000 Member Megachurch as Congregation Worshipped

"The total disregard of religious freedom's protection as enshrined in the Communist Party's own Constitution tells the whole world President Xi is determined to continue his war against the peaceful Christian faithful..." ChinaAid President, Bob Fu

By Yukie Nishizawa Pool/Getty
Faithwire

Fearing that their leaders and congregations are undermining President Xi Jinping’s communist regime, Chinese authorities continue to bulldoze the sites of megachurches.

The latest building to get leveled by the ruthless state forces was Fuyang Christian Church, a massive structure located in Fenan, Anhui province. According to persecution watchdog, ChinaAid, the church could seat some 3,000 people and was part of the country’s official church network. 

The organization also noted that the demolition was undertaken as congregants worshipped, and that the action was carried out with no supporting legal documentation.

It is still unclear why the church was flattened, though the pastors, Geng Yimin and Sun Yongyao, were subsequently arrested on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disturb social order.”

Bob Fu傅希秋@BobFu4China

ChinaAid video: Fuyang Christian Church bulldozed by CCP regime on Oct 18 2018. 2 church leaders arrested for protecting the church Oct 19.

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7:40 PM - Oct 19, 2019 · New Taipei City, Taiwan

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Bob Fu傅希秋@BobFu4China

ChinaAid: Severe religious persecution. Major Anhui Govt sanction Church forcefully demolished. 2 lead pastors under criminal detention in Funan County TSPM Church, Anhui on Oct 18. Geng Yimin & Sun Yongyao charged “suspecting 4 gathering a mass to disturb social order” on 10/19!

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7:18 PM - Oct 19, 2019 · New Taipei City, Taiwan

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"This is yet another clear example showing the escalation of religious persecution today by the Chinese Communist regime." said ChinaAid President Bob Fu in a statement. "The total disregard of religious Freedom's protection as enshrined in the Communist Party's own Constitution tells the whole world President Xi is determined to continue his war against the peaceful Christian faithful. This campaign will surely fail in the end."

The demolition comes just a week after a church in Henan province was leveled 

as more than 200 congregants gathered to worship.

WATCH: Chinese Authorities Flatten a Church After Leaders Refuse to Bow to Government Pressure

Faithwire has reached out to ChinaAid for an update on the current situation regarding the latest incident. We will update this article when we hear back.

Website: Faithwire.com

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of our 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.

China Bans African Students from Worshiping in Churches to Prevent 'Foreign Infiltration'

In recent years, the Communist Party government has banned online sales of Bibles, leveled churches, and arrested hundreds of Christians for "inciting subversion of state power." 

Worshipers pray during a mass at the Liuhe Catholic Church in Liuhe

 village on the outskirts of Qingxu county, northern China in this 

undated photo. | REUTERS

By Leah MarieAnn Klett
Christian Post Reporter

The Chinese government has banned African international students from worshiping in Christian churches under the pretext of “preventing foreign infiltration through religion,” a persecution watchdog group has revealed. 

A group of over 80 African students who are residing in a city in the northeastern province of Liaoning told Chinese persecution watchdog Bitter Winter that in September, the person in charge of the Three-Self church that they attended received a government order prohibiting foreigners from participating in gatherings at the church.

“We just want to have a place to congregate,” one student told the outlet. 

A Chinese believer at the church said that at an “anti-religious infiltration” symposium held by the local government in August, the officials questioned the person in charge of the church about foreign-related activities. 

Shortly after the symposium, the international students were driven out of the church.

“In our hearts, we were unwilling to see them leave,” the Chinese believer said. 

The government also pressured or threatened other Christian meeting venues. When the African students asked to be allowed to attend gatherings at another Three-Self church, they were turned down. 

A similar incident occurred at a university in the central province of Hubei, where a church attended by over 40 African students received repeated threats from government officials who demanded the church’s director drive out the international students.

The students now are forced to worship in secret, disguising their gatherings like birthday parties, according to Bitter Winter. 

One of the students said that he doesn’t understand how the government can claim that there is “freedom of belief” in China. “I don’t understand why China’s rulers won’t allow foreigners to hold religious gatherings,” the student said. “This has forced us to practice our faith in hiding.”

Bitter Winter also revealed that universities in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Henan, and elsewhere are required to investigate the religious status of international students and teachers.

An administrator at a university in Jiujiang, a prefecture-level city in the southeastern province of Jiangxi, said that the government secretly monitors African students.

“If any people are discovered to be too close to them, both parties will be watched and investigated. But most African students are completely unaware that they’re being monitored,” the administrator explained.

“As soon as African students are discovered attending gatherings at house churches or spreading the Gospel to other students, they will be expelled from the school immediately,” the administrator said. 

According to the administrator, the school has already expelled one African student for preaching the Gospel to Chinese classmates. The student was later deported to his home country.

Christian Post report continues here.

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of our 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.

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Christians Risk Arrest if They Display Bible in Saudi Arabia, Persecution Watchdog Group Warns

Muslims gather around the Kaaba inside the Grand Mosque during the

 holy fasting month of Ramadan in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, June 6,2016.

Reuters/Faisal Al Nasser

By Michael Gryboski 

Christian Post Reporter

Christians traveling to Saudi Arabia are being warned not to publicly display their Bible while in the country or travel with more than one copy of the text, despite the kingdom's recent openness to tourism.

The Christian persecution watchdog group Barnabus Fund released a statement Monday warning individuals that having a Bible can still put them at risk of arrest.

“Christian visitors should be aware that displaying a Bible in public, or taking more than one Bible into the country, could place them at risk of arrest,” the group cautioned. 

“The new regulations for tourists state that a Bible may be brought into the country provided it is for personal use only. Bibles must not be displayed in public and anyone found bringing a large number of Bibles will face ‘severe penalties.’”

Barnabus went on to explain that the Saudi Arabian government follows a strict interpretation of Islam and that openly practicing Christianity in the kingdom is forbidden.

“There are hundreds of thousands of Christians from other nations, such as the Philippines, other parts of Asia, or African countries, who are living and working in Saudi Arabia,” the group added.  

“But they must meet in private homes to worship, and risk harassment, arrest and deportation if they are caught doing so. Saudi citizens who convert to Christianity face risk of execution by the state for apostasy if their conversion becomes known.”

Last month, Saudi Arabia announced it was launching a new visa program meant to encourage tourism, in part to move the kingdom away from its dependence on the oil industry.

Previously, the Islamic country’s visa program was restricted to those coming for business or religious pilgrimage, according to the BBC.

Foreign women taking advantage of the visa program will not be required to adhere to the nation’s strict dress code or be accompanied in public. However, they will still be expected to dress modestly.

Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmad al-Khateeb said last month that the new visa was a “historic moment” for the nation, adding that the kingdom boasts “five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a vibrant local culture and breathtaking natural beauty.”

Click here for Christian Post news report

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12-Year-Old Jewish Boy Forced to Kneel Down and Kiss Feet of Muslim Classmate

By Adam Carey
The Age, Australia

A 12-year-old Jewish student was forced to kneel down and kiss the shoes of a Muslim classmate, while a five-year-old boy was allegedly called a "Jewish cockroach" and repeatedly hounded in the school toilets by his young classmates.

The two incidents this year – the first involving a year 7 boy at Cheltenham Secondary College and the second a prep student at Hawthorn West Primary School – have prompted the Anti-Defamation Commission to sound an alarm about what it says is a "rapidly spreading" crisis involving anti-Semitic bullying in Victorian state schools.

Imam of Peace

✔@Imamofpeace

DISGUSTING ANTISEMITISM IN AUSTRALIA!

A 12-year-old Jewish student was forced to kneel down and kiss the shoes of a Muslim classmate, while a five-year-old boy was allegedly called a "Jewish cockroach" and repeatedly hounded in the school toilets. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/jewish-boys-taunted-in-anti-semitic-bullying-at-melbourne-schools-20191003-p52xen.html …

Jewish boys taunted in shocking cases of anti-Semitic bullying at Melbourne schools

One student was forced to kneel down and kiss the shoes of a Muslim classmate, while a five-year-old boy was allegedly called a 'Jewish cockroach'.

theage.com.au

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Both boys, whose parents have asked to remain anonymous, have since left the schools where the incidents occurred, with the five-year-old boy currently being home schooled.

The older boy’s act of kissing another student’s shoes, under threat of being swarmed by several other boys, was filmed, photographed and shared on social media.

No disciplinary action has been taken against the group of boys involved in the incident, which took place in a public park.

The mother said she was bitterly disappointed by the response of Cheltenham Secondary College and the Education Department.

The school and the department have denied having responsibility for the incident, because it did not take place on school grounds, the mother said.

"I took such offence with the Education Department, because there was nothing they did to protect my son at all, at any point in time – that’s what’s cut me up," she said.

The mother sought out the parents of the Muslim boy, who were horrified by their son’s actions.

"We sat down, his parents, the two boys and myself, around the table and explained the velocity of [the bullying] and what it meant to us as parents as far as building bridges between Jews and Muslims in society and not creating division like that photo does," she said.

One of the boys who watched on was later suspended for five days for assaulting the Jewish student in the school locker room.

The Jewish boy was punched in the face and left with a bruised back and had skin gouged out of his shoulder, his mother said.

The mother of the five-year-old boy at Hawthorn West Primary said her son was repeatedly taunted and laughed at over his circumcised penis, to the point where he began to wet himself in class rather than go to the toilet.

The taunts – which the education department said could not be corroborated because they were not overheard by teachers – led the school to temporarily provide a separate toilet for the boy as a "safety plan", although this plan failed on its second day.

The mother said one of the most disturbing aspects of the other children’s insults was the way they mirrored the anti-Semitic language of the Holocaust.

"The words ‘you dirty Jew’ and ‘Jewish cockroach’, they are such cliches," she said.

"I grew up with Holocaust survivors, I used to go to synagogue with my uncle who was a Holocaust survivor and those were the words, literally, he was taunted with when he was five."

The department conceded last month in an apology letter to the parents that the boy had been laughed at in the toilets by other students on this day and said this was unacceptable.

"While school staff were not able to substantiate that any negative interactions were anti-Semitic in nature, on the basis of those investigations, school staff identified an incident that involved children laughing at [the boy]," department director Barbara Crowe said.

"This was not acceptable and would have been an unpleasant experience for [the boy]. I am sorry that this occurred."

But the mother said the school had made an error of judgment by treating the incident as general bullying, not anti-Semitism.

"Why not just say, this is anti-Semitism and talk about it? These are things that happen to different people and different religions," she said.

The parents have lost confidence in Hawthorn West Primary School’s ability to care for their son, and are home schooling him while looking for a new school.

Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said this was part of a disturbing trend of Jewish parents pulling their children out of government schools in Melbourne.

"There is mounting evidence that families are forced to take their children out of public schools and to enroll them in Jewish-day schools due to a growing sense of insecurity and fear that their kids will be harmed simply because of who they are," Dr Abramovich said.

Mr Abramovich has been helping the mother of the 12-year-old boy to find another school for her daughter, because she does not want to send her to Cheltenham Secondary College.

The Education Department has been contacted for comment.

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Tennessee Students Plan Prayer Circle after Atheist Group Complains

“We always prayed before games. It was just part of what we did.”

By Mikaela Matthews
Christian Headlines

Students from Rockvale High School in Tennessee will pray before their football game this week after a complaint was filed against the coach.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued an objection against football coach Rick Rice after he prayed for his team, as reported by Faithwire. According to the organization, only students are allowed to lead prayers. The coach apologized for any misunderstanding after discussing the matter with the school principal and acknowledged that he led two prayers after games so far that season. 

But students from the high school believe the complaint was not needed.

“We always prayed before games. It was just part of what we did,” said Drew Kilgour, a Rockvale resident.

“That’s something that you see on the fields. That’s something that you see in the locker rooms. That’s something you see in the classrooms, in small groups when it comes to any athletic sport, but especially in football, we really see that,” Ronnisha Simmons-Duke, a mother of a Rockvale high school student, said.

In response to the complaint, Rockvale students Madison Nowacki and La’Naya Nelson announced an official prayer circle at 6:30 p.m. before their weekly football game, according to the Daily Journal.

“We have been talking about wanting to pray with our team for a while, but we were scared at first,” Nowacki said. “After the complaint, we thought we should voice our opinions as well and stand with our coach.”

Nowacki continued: “I believe that the complaint was very unnecessary and it upsets me to see it. Coach Rice is an amazing, outgoing and hardworking coach. …It was a prayer to heal the boys, and make sure they stayed strong.”

With brothers on the football team, Nowacki and Nelson hope the prayers help the boys “play harder, smarter and stronger.”

The FFRF is an atheist-led nonprofit organization that works to enforce the division between church and state and most recently called out a school in Robertson County, Tennesee, for baptizing athletes. According to CBN News, the school system responded that the activities were student-initiated and led.

Link to Christian Headlines News article

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Court Rules University of Iowa Officials Must Pay From Their Own Pockets For Their Religious Discrimination

With the InterVarsity v. University of Iowa decision where a federal judge ruled resoundingly in InterVarsity's favor, Young Life and other Christian student groups can take heart. They may have a precedent they can take to court to help them fight for the right to choose their own leaders just like any other group.

By Deborah Bunting
CBN News

In a stunning decision, a federal judge has ruled that officials at the University of Iowa violated the law when they kicked InterVarsity Christian Fellowship off their campus and that they are personally responsible for costs incurred by InterVarsity in defending its rights. 

InterVarsity had been on the University of Iowa campus for over 25 years. But in 2018, the University expelled the group from the U of I campus for insisting that anyone in leadership must affirm its Christian beliefs. The University claimed that requirement was discriminatory. 

Along with InterVaristy, UI kicked other religious groups off campus as well – including Sikhs, Muslims, and Latter-Day Saints – all for requiring the same thing of its leaders, simply that they embrace the groups' core beliefs. 

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a religious liberty law group, defended InterVarsity, and in a statement released to the media, said secular groups and "a few religious groups favored by the University" – were excluded from this mass ejection and got to stay on campus.

The Beckett Fund reports in the ruling last Friday, the court held that this discrimination was so egregious that the officers involved – and possibly even the University's president – would be personally accountable for any money Inter Varsity lost fighting to stay on campus. 

Greg Jao, Director of External Relations at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, stated "We must have leaders who share our faith.

"No group – religious or secular – could survive with leaders who reject its values. We're grateful the court has stopped the University's religious discrimination, and we look forward to continuing our ministry on campus for years to come."

CBN report continues here

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of our 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.

Actress Fired for Expressing Biblical View of Homosexuality Sues for Religious Discrimination

Seyi Omooba, 25, was removed from a lead role in The Color Purple 

over comments she made about homosexuality. Christian Legal Centre

By Leah MarieAnn Klett  
Christian Post

A Christian actress who lost her lead role in the stage production of "The Color Purple" after expressing a biblical view on homosexuality is now planning to sue both the theatre and her former agents for religious discrimination.

In March, Seyi Omooba, 25, was given a starring role as Celie in a production of "The Color Purple," based on Alice Walker’s prize-winning novel, to be staged in Birmingham and Leicester, England. The character is seen by some readers as being gay; however, Omooba has said she does not agree with the interpretation of Celie as a lesbian character. 

The London-based actress was dropped from the production after Aaron Lee Lambert, who stars in the West End production of the musical "Hamilton," unearthed a Facebook post Omooba wrote in September 2014, according to The Guardian.

In the post, Omooba urged Christians to “tell the truth” about homosexuality, writing: “It is clearly evident in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 what the Bible says on this matter. I do not believe you can be born gay and I do not believe homosexuality is right…”

"I do believe that everyone sins and falls into temptation but it's by the asking of forgiveness, repentance and the grace of God that we overcome and live how God ordained us to. Which is that a man should leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24.

"God loves everyone, just because He doesn't agree with your decisions doesn't mean He doesn't love you. Christians we need to step up and love but also tell the truth of God's word,” she added. "I am tired of lukewarm Christianity, be inspired to stand up for what you believe and the truth…”

In his tweet, Lambert asked: “Do you still stand by this post? Or are you happy to remain a hypocrite? Seeing as you’ve now been announced to be playing an LGBTQ character, I think you owe your LGBTQ peers an explanation. Immediately.”

The following morning, Omooba received a phone call from her agent advising her to retract her comments and apologize for what she had said about homosexuality. However, she refused, citing her Christian faith. 

“I really wanted the role but what they wanted me to do was completely against my faith. I did not want to lie just to keep a job,” she told The Mail Online. 

A short time later, she was dropped from the starring role and dumped by her agents who said her comments had caused “significant and widely expressed concerns.”

Now, she’s taking both the Curve Theatre in Leicester and Global Artists to court for breach of contract and religious discrimination, according to the BBC. The Christian Legal Centre confirmed on Facebook they will back her case.

The daughter of a pastor, Omooba told the MailOnline she was shocked to discover some viewed her comments as homophobic and said she has struggled to find work since the incident. She explained in a Facebook video posted by Christian Concern that those responsible for casting her as Celie knew about her stance on God, marriage, and “many other things that are in the Bible.” 

“I just quoted what the Bible says about homosexuality, the need for repentance, but ultimately God’s love for all humanity,” she said. “I stand by what I wrote, but had I known that it would have come to this, I would have set my account to the privacy mode.”

“I have support from actors that I’ve worked with, including those in same-sex relationships, who say that even though they don’t agree with my views, they know that I’m not hateful or malicious.”

Continue reading here

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Imprisoned Iranian Pastor's Kids Denied School Certificates for Refusing to Study Islam

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is released from jail Sept. 8, 2012. 

The Iranian pastor was acquitted of apostasy. Courtesy of ACLJ

The first amendment to our Constitution guarantees "freedom of religion".  However, Persecution Unveiled has published many reports of Christians being sued, discriminated against, in schools, businesses and churches.  Our founders never envisioned an America where freedom of religion would be under attack by godless people in positions of authority.  What is happening in Iran is a preview of what is to come in America. If Christians do not rise up and speak truth to power, we can expect no less than the persecution that our brothers and sisters in Iran are facing.  Terry Noble, Persecution Unveiled

By Samuel Smith
Christian Post

Imprisoned Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani has gone on a hunger strike to protest the regime's attempt to bar his children from completing their education because they refuse to study Islam and read the Quran. 

According to Article 18, an organization that promotes religious freedom and tolerance for Christians in Iran, Nardarkhani’s teenage children went back to school last week but were told they hadn't completed the previous grades.

While two of his youngest children have been told they can’t come back to school because they have not received credit for completing the previous grades, 17-year-old Daniel has been accepted back as a “guest” in the 12th grade but still has not received a certificate telling him that he completed the previous grades. 

Nadarkhani, a Muslim convert who pastored a house church in the Gilan Province, is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison in Tehran on charges of “acting against national security.” 

He was arrested in May 2016 and charged with promoting “Zionist Christianity,” and violating the national alcohol prohibition through communion and acting against national security. 

Nadarkhani was first arrested in 2009 for protesting the same education policy that is penalizing his children today. The policy requires all students to take a course on the Quran. 

With Nadarkhani and his wife being Muslim converts to Christianity, they protested against their children being taught Islam in school. For that reason, the pastor was charged with apostasy and sentenced to death. However, he was acquitted in 2012.

Article 18 reports that Nardarkhani tried to ensure his children were recognized as Christians before he was sent back to prison in 2018 so they wouldn't have to take Islamic studies. However, the matter has yet to be resolved with local authorities despite a court ruling in the family’s favor. 

Because of this, the Nardarkhani children were not given certificates to show that they are Christians and have completed their studies.

Although Youeil, 15, and Hannah, 16, were set to start the 10th grade this fall, they have not received certificates to show that they completed the previous grades.

The certificate denials come as the three children were accepted to school as fully paying students but labeled as “guests” until the family’s legal case is resolved. 

According to Article 18, religious minorities are typically exempt from Islamic studies classes. However, Iran provides less freedom for Muslim converts, such as the Nardarkhanis, whom the state still considers to be Muslim. 

The U.S. State Department lists Iran as a “country of particular concern” for egregious violations of religious freedom. Iran is ranked as the ninth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2019 World Watch List. 

Christian Post report continues here

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of our 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.