Persecution in Eritrea: Pray for Eritrea

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Release International’s latest report on the persecution of Eritrean Christians.

Open Doors Enters The Blogosphere

SANTA ANA, CA - For the last 53 years, Open Doors has supported and strengthened thousands of persecuted Christians around the globe while mobilizing believers in the West to advocate on behalf of those in need.

Today Open Doors USA announced the official launch of a blog as part of its strategy to link concerned people in the West to the plight of suffering Christians in restricted countries where there are limited or no freedoms. The blog site is http://spiritualcourage.wordpress.com.

“The goal of the Open Doors blog is to give the readers information through a variety of communication tools,” says Open Doors USA President Carl Moeller. “Persecution seems intangible to us in the US…it’s time to open our eyes to the lack of religious freedom around the world. We hope our blog will stimulate conversation and motivate bloggers to take action for social justice and religious freedom. As we continue to discover what readers want to read, we can tailor our message by changing our method of distribution.”

Participating on the blog will spur motivation to take action and ignite spiritual courage in the hearts of believers. As a promotional tool, the first 50 people who post a comment on the blog will receive a free copy of The Muslim Challenge: Sharing Christ’s Love with the Islamic World written by Open Doors founder Brother Andrew. Also, they will receive a complimentary six-month subscription to Open Doors’ monthly newsletter Frontline Faith.

Topics include updated news from the field, movie and book reviews, country profiles, commentaries and questions from readers. It will also include ways to be involved and information on upcoming events and programs such as North Korea Freedom Week April 26 to May 3.

The Open Doors blog has been designed to provide additional content beyond what is found on Open Doors USA’s website www.OpenDoorsUSA.org. Whether someone is a newbie in the blogosphere or a seasoned blogger, they can read up-to-date information of what’s happening to persecuted believers around the world.

An estimated 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with another 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the world’s most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers.

Church Attacked In Pakistan

By Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service in Pakistan

GUJRANWALA, PAKISTAN (ANS) — In an attempt to grab the land where a church stands now, three Muslim men allegedly incited and led a Muslim mob to attack a church on Tuesday, March 18, in Gajrakh, a Christian neighborhood in the Pakistani city of Gujranwala, during the Holy Week.

This prompted angry Christians to stage a protest demonstration on March 19 against the incident, International Christian Concern has reported.

Earlier, a Christian man, Zahid Salamat was executed in Pakistani city of Multan during Lent on March 12 for murdering a 9 year old Muslim minor, Muhammad Adnan. The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and some other Christian rights groups had called for postponement of Zahid’s execution but government went ahead with hanging Zahid during Lent.

The latest church attack has been carried out by Muslim mob to grab the church property, but Pakistani Christians had been fearing attacks on churches, missionary schools and other church properties since staging of the anti-cartoon protests in Pakistan last month following reprinting of sacrilegious caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad by some western newspapers.

According to a story released by the International Christian Concern (ICC) (www.persecution.org) the mob wanted to seize a community centre that belonged to a church in Gajrakh started tearing down the walls of the church.

The mob manhandled Pastor Shairf Bhatti, who appeared at the scene of incident along with a group of Christians, apparently to stop the mob from attacking the church.

The angry mob, according to the story, hurled stones at the church. The local Christians rushed to the scene, forcing the mob to flee.

The Christian residents of the area staged a protest demonstration, the next day, on March 19 to express their anger against the attack on the church. They called for protection of religious minorities and their places of worship, said the story.

The protesters, the story said, blocked the main government transport road at Gondlawala, a major intersection, by parking tractors laden with garbage across the road.

It said the enraged protesters during the demonstration that lasted for more than two hours raised slogans against the people responsible for the church attack and demanded that the culprits be arrested.

Pastor Sharif Bhatti, Pastor Sabir and other union leaders threatened to stage protests in front of offices of police officials if they did not arrest those responsible for the Church attack, it said.

In a latest development, the ICC reported that Adnan Gujar who along with two other Muslim men including Muhammad Asghar and Muhammad Ashraf had allegedly led the mob to attack the Church has been arrested. The others it said are still at large.

The Christians, the latest ICC update said, had bought the land where the church is standing now in 1984 from a Muslim man, Muhammad Nazir. It said the sale angered his sons who have been trying to get the land back since then. It described the attack on the church as an attempt by Nazir’s sons to get the land back.

Condemning the latest attack on a church in Pakistan, Chief Coordinator of the Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan, Mr. Sohail Johnson has called on government to take stern action against the land mafia.

The land mafia attempts to grab Christian properties and Churches in connivance with some black sheep, said Johnson while referring to some unscrupulous government officials.

He also called upon Christians across the country to rise above their petty differences and emerge as a united force against any possible future attempts by the land mafia to occupy churches or Christian properties.

Hindus Attack Churches During Easter Services

Compass Direct News reports:

NEW DELHI – Hindutva Hindu nationalist extremists stormed two Easter Sunday services and beat at least 16 Christians, including two pastors, in the Karnataka state capital of Bangalore and in Shimoga district.

A mob of more than 150 intolerant Hindus on Sunday March 23 launched an attack on a Pentecostal church in Karnataka’s Shimoga district at 9 a.m., and a group of more than a dozen assailants struck Christians of an independent church in Byapanahalli on the suburbs of Bangalore at 11:45 a.m., reported the Global Council of Indian Christians GCIC.

“About 150 Hindutva radicals armed with sticks stormed the Indian Pentecostal Church in Gundlikoppa village, around 20 kilometers from Shimoga district headquarters, while the believers were attending the Easter service,” Dr. Sajan K. George, GCIC’s national president, told Compass.

Accusing the church of “forced” conversions without any evidence for the charge, the attackers beat 35-year-old pastor Mandya Nagraj and five others, besides vandalizing church property, George added. The assailants damaged the roof and musical instruments.

Read the full story at Compass Direct News.