Two Churches Burned Down in Zanzibar

Compass Direct News reports:

NAIROBI, Kenya  – Two church buildings were razed Sunday night June 28 on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar after worship services. Read the rest of this entry »

Tortured Christian Languishing on False Charges

Compass Direct News reports

LAHORE, Pakistan – A 37-year-old Christian is languishing in a Sialkot jail after police broke his backbone because his father was preaching Christ, according to a local advocacy group.

Arshad Masih had been in a hospital – chained to his bed on false robbery charges – after police torture that began Dec. 28, 2008 left him incapacitated. He was discharged from General Hospital in Lahore on Saturday June 20 and returned to jail despite efforts by the Community Development Initiative CDI, a support group that is providing Masih legal assistance.

CDI Research Officer Napoleon Qayyum said that hospital personnel treated Masih callously, but that conditions there were better than in the jail in Sialkot. At least in the hospital, Qayyum said, Masih’s gray-haired father was able to carry him on his shoulders when he needed to go to the bathroom.

Hospital staff members released Masih even though they knew he would not receive the medical care he needs in jail and could face further abuse, the CDI researcher said.

Read the full story at Compass Direct News.

Pray for Us

Hear about the faith, courage and challenges facing three followers of Christ in Nigeria, the Middle East and Colombia. The also request our prayers.

Police Attack House Church in Vietnam, Leaders Jailed

Compass Direct News reports

HANOI – Police invaded the Sunday service of the Agape Baptist congregation in Vietnam’s Hung Yen Province on June 7 and beat worshippers, including women, and arrested a pastor and an elder.

Christian sources said police put the two church leaders into separate cells, and each man was beaten by a gang of five policemen. Pastor Duong Van Tuan of the house church in Hamlet 3, Ong Dinh Commune, Khoai Chau district said that officers beat them in a way that did not leave marks: hard blows to the stomach.

The beatings came in retaliation for Pastor Tuan refusing to leave the area as police had ordered, Christian sources said. He and the church elder were released later that evening.

Read the full story at Compass Direct News.

Remember My Chains

All over the world our brothers and sisters in Christ after suffering because of their faith in Jesus. They ask us to pray for them and to remember their chains!