KILLER OF CHRISTIAN STRIKES AGAIN IN VIETNAM

Hanoi: On April 25, a Christian man, Koua Lo, was beaten in Meo Vac district, Ha Giang province, northwest Vietnam by a local man angered by Koua's conversion to Christianity. Koua sustained severe head injuries and remained critically injured at last report. The assailant, Lao Lia Po, is still at large and has not been charged. Lao previously attacked his own mother on February 3 because of her Christian faith, killing her by smashing her head in.

Police only held him overnight before releasing him without charge. The next day he issued death threats against other local Christians.

The approximately 100 Christian families in the area have reportedly suffered repeated harassment and abuse for their faith. The government is often complicit in attacks or else turns a blind eye to the mistreatment of believers.

BELIEVERS ATTACKED AND FORCED TO CHANT 'JAI SRI RAM'

Mumbai: On May 5, Hindu militants attacked approximately 200 Christians gathered together for a meeting in Mumbai, according to reports from the Evangelical Fellowship of India.

The militants forcefully entered the building, blocked the exits and ordered the believers to chant "Jai Sri Ram". Those who refused were beaten. Several were injured, including a 5-year old girl and a pastor who required five stitches in his head.

PRAYER MEETING DISRUPTED IN MADHYA PRADESH

Bhopal: On May 7, 2009, Hindu militants disrupted a prayer meeting held in a home in Narsinghpur district, according to report from the Evangelical Fellowship of India.

The militants shouted abuses at believers present, accused them of forcible conversion and beat them. One believer suffered a broken arm. Five of the believers were arrested and taken to a police station. All were granted bail the next day.

CHURCH BURNT IN AP

A church in the state of Andhra Pradesh was set on fire last Tuesday by an anti-Christian group in the area.

Witnesses said that the main door of the Holy Spirit Church of God Ministry Church was demolished before the interior of the church was set on fire.

The fire destroyed much of the wooden furniture, the pulpit and wooden roof supports. However, the roof itself seems to be intact.

According to the church pastor, Rev Clinton, another church was destroyed in a similar style attack by supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to International Christian Concern, Rev Clinton said that the incident was a copycat attack but was probably not conducted by the same group.

The fire was first spotted by neighbours at 2am. They immediately informed the pastor and members of the church about what was happening. Although a number of church members went to the scene to put out the fire, they could not save anything from inside the church.

Pastor Clinton said that church elders had reported the incident to the police.

The police are investigating the incident but have so far made no arrests. Pastor Clinton claimed that the fire may have been set by a neighbouring land owner who previously said he was interested in building apartments on the site of the church.

TALIBAN ATTACKS CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN PAKISTAN

Islamabad: A mob of Taliban militants attacked the Christian community in Taiser Town, near the city of Karachi in Sindh province on April 22, 2009. Armed men approached a group of Christians who had gathered to remove insulting messages from the walls of a church building and local homes. The graffiti included the words "Long Live the Taliban" and demands for Christians to pay a tax imposed on non Muslims. A mob soon gathered and gunshots were fired indiscriminately into the crowd, seriously injuring three Christians, including an 11-year-old boy, Irfan Masih.

The attackers then ransacked several homes belonging to Christians, burned Bibles and beat believers. Two Christians who resisted the militants were reportedly executed in front of their families. Masih died five days following the attack. The Pakistani government recently allowed the Taliban to establish Islamic law in Swat Valley, North-West Frontier Province and Christians in Sindh are concerned that their province could be the next to fall under Taliban rule.

Elderly Christian couple murdered in Indonesia Jakarta: A pastor and his wife were murdered on April 25, 2009 in the predominately Christian city of Manado, North Sulawesi province, Indonesia.

At approximately 7:00 a.m., two unidentified men approached the home of Frans Koagow and his wife, Femy Kumendong, and were told that Koagow was dining nearby. The men joined Koagow, ate with him and accompanied him back to his home.

The assailants then used machetes to kill Koagow and Kumen-dong, who was in bed recovering from a stroke. Since the men did not steal anything from the believers' home, authorities have ruled out theft or extortion as possible motives.

THREE ERITREAN CHRISTIANS RELEASED

Three Christian women were released from an Eritrean military camp on May 8, 2009 according to reports. All three were originally detained for being members of a "banned" Christian movement after openly expressing their faith in a predominately Muslim village.

A friend of one of the women arranged to have her arrested after she shared with him that she had converted from Islam to Christianity. She was taken to a military camp where her hands and ankles were tied and her faith ridiculed in front of the camp's military leaders.

When threatened with a gun, she provided the name of the woman who told her about Jesus. This woman, also a convert from Islam, and another believer were then taken to the camp.

Six months later, the women were brought before the camp's leader and told that they would be released if they agreed to stop preaching the Gospel and promised not to disclose details of their detention. The women said that while they were "no enemies of the Eritrean people or of the government," to stop sharing God's Word would be against their God-given convictions. The camp leader eventually decided to release them without condition.

RELEASED CHRISTIAN STILL HARASSED IN TURKMENISTAN

Authorities have threatened to seize the property of a formerly imprisoned Christian man unless he pays a large sum of money they claim he acquired illegally in 1995.

Shageldy Atakov was imprisoned in 1999 on charges of swindling another individual out of $12,000 US during a car deal. Atakov and other local Christians maintain that the charges were fabricated in order to stop his Christian activity.

While in detention at the Seydi Labour Camp, Atakov suffered repeated beatings, medical neglect, poor diet and torture with psychotropic drugs for refusing to abandon his faith.

In January 2002 he was released. He served the full prison sentence, thus he is already cleared of the alleged debt now being demanded by authorities.

On April 29, a local official visited the home that Atakov shares with his wife and their nine children in order to assess the value of their property and examine ownership documents.

PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN DENIED BAIL, THREATENED WITH DEATH

Islamabad: Hector Aleem (51), a Pakistani Christian facing charges of abetting blasphemy, was denied bail on April 30, 2009 according to reports.

The judge dismissed the bail application out of concern for Aleem's safety after the complainant's attorney reportedly stated at the hearing, "If the judge does not punish Aleem according to the law, then will kill him ourselves." Aleem's lawyer has requested that future hearings be closed to the public, as he fears that Muslim militants may try to harm his client. At an earlier hearing on April 25, approximately 185 Muslims protested outside the courthouse. At last report, Aleem remained in detention at Adiyala Jail in the city of Rawalpindi.

CHURCH BELLS BANNED IN PHOENIX

The leader of a Valley church could go to jail for ringing church bells. The bells, which chime every hour between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., were not music to the ears of four people who live by the Cathedral of Christ the King near 29th Ave. and Greenway.

Bishop Rick Painter was found guilty in Phoenix Municipal Court of violating noise ordinances."I am guilty of honoring God," said Bishop Painter. "I apologized on the stand that the people are disturbed."

The Bishop added that many neighbors have expressed support for the electronic church bells. The neighbors who complained testified that the bells affected their daily routine and held them captive at home.

"Any church in Phoenix that rings bells have got a problem." Bishop Painter was convicted without any set standard or noise dosimeter readings, just testimony from the upset neighbors. Sentencing will be on July 3, 2009.

 

CHRISTIANS DENIED PERMISSION TO BUILD CHURCH IN VIETNAM!



Hanoi: In September 2008, a congregation of more than 500 Hmong Christian who had fled persecution in Vietnam's northwest provinces for the Central Highlands began building a chapel where they could worship protected from the rain and sun.

When they had earlier notified local authorities of their plans, they were told they would never get permission. It would be useless to even ask. An application to build a chapel would only be considered when their denomination was granted legal recognition and all attempts to do so had been repeatedly ignored by authorities, contrary to Vietnam's new religion legislation.

Because of their urgent need, they determined to go ahead. Before the walls of the 12-metre by 20-metre chapel were completed, officials ordered the believers to stop building and tear down what had been constructed, claiming that the lumber was cut illegally. The Cu Hat congregation met, prayed, considered and decided that they could not comply.

Although virtually all buildings in this area of Vietnam are erected without building permits, local authorities accused the Christians of "illegal construction" and ordered the congregation to "voluntarily" tear it down. On December 2, 2008 the district officials made a formal decision to demolish the church within two weeks if the Christians would not do so themselves.

At 7:00 a.m. on the morning of December 17, 2008 a large contingent of government officials, police and demolition workers destroyed the Cu Hat Church building. Wielding electric cattle prods, police beat back hundreds of distraught Christians who rushed to the site to protect the building.

Five people were injured, including a child who suffered a broken arm and a pregnant woman who was prodded in the stomach. After the workers had loaded the lumber onto their trucks, they emptied sacks of the Christians' rice on the ground, put the roof tile into the sacks and sped away. In 90 minutes, the destruction was complete.

Within a few days the Christians dared to build a temporary shelter of bamboo and tin to have a place to worship and celebrate Christmas. At last report, authorities were threatening to tear it down too.