PERSECUTION International Christian Concern | January 2013
IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue 2/4
‘WE WILL BURN YOU AND YOUR BELIEVERS TO DEATH’
A Sri Lankan pastor’s story of faith in the face of persecution. page 3
BACK TO SCHOOL>>
The disturbing journey of children trafficked for jihad training (pictured right). page 5
YOUR DOLLARS AT WORK:
Because of her faith in Christ, Khalisa was no longer safe in her home country of Iraq. Learn how your donations have made it possible for her to keep herself and child safe. page 7
Children rescued from Islamic training centers pose with Special Blessings gifts from ICC donors.
Your Bridge to the Persecuted Church
A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT Iron, till it be thoroughly heated is incapable of being wrought; so God sees good to cast some men into the furnace of affliction, and then beats them on His anvil into what frame He pleases. Anne Bradstreet (puritan Christian)
In the fire is where Daniel met the living God. The only thing he lost was what bound him—his ropes. Last July, Adija* was incredibly excited about the life she had found in Christ only a few months earlier. After living under a lie for her whole life, she had found Christ. He was living inside her and she had changed so much. Unfortunately, her husband was a fundamentalist Somali Muslim and began to suspect something was amiss. He began to monitor her movements and soon discovered the truth: his Muslim wife had become a Christian. For a fundamentalist Muslim, this is not acceptable. Muhammad declared that apostates should be killed, so her husband planned to kill her and escape their home in Kenya for Somalia, where he would not be prosecuted. On July 2, he doused her with kerosone, set her ablaze, and then left for Somalia. She stumbled around, screaming in flames before collapsing. The next thing she knew, she woke up in a hospital in horrible pain. As you will see, she is horribly disfigured. Because of our network on the ground, and our incredible Regional Managers, Adija came to our attention. We are now trying to repair the damage that Satan and her husband dealt to her. We are working with doctors trying to reduce her scarring and relieve her pain to the best of the doctors’ ability. *name changed for security
Jeff King, President International Christian Concern
Adija’s external appearance and physcial life will never be the same. Yet, because of your devotion to the persecuted, her life is going to be dramatically improved. Persecuted Christians never stop telling us how amazed they are that Christians from the other side of the world care about their pain and suffering, and will sacrifice to make their lives better. On Adija’s behalf, I’d like to thank you for providing the funds to heal her, and for building and bandaging Christ’s persecuted Church. This work we do in partnership is a holy work, and wholly worthy of your touch, time, and treasure. As you provide funds for ministry to the persecuted, please know that ICC will use your gifts ethically, efficiently, and effectively.
CENTRAL ASIA
“We Will Burn You and Your Believers to Death” A Sri Lankan Pastor’s Story of Faith in the Face of Persecution
As a Buddhist monk pinned him to the floor, hands choking his neck, Pastor Horana* had a choice to make. His 40 parishioners, now silent after a sound beating, listened as the monk yelled at him, “Stop holding services or we will create bloodshed! Do you want that?” CHOOSING TO TRUST Ten years ago, Pastor Horana would not have been in this position. He pastored a church in a large city in Sri Lanka and rarely faced persecution of any kind. However, in 2004 a pastor in a rural area left his post after being beaten by a government agent and dragged through the streets. Pastor Horana and his family prayed and said, “We will take over that church for him, even if there is persecution.” This thrust the pastor into a place of daily trusting God for their safety, direction and provision in a new way. Once, when Pastor Horana was calling the police every week after church to report disturbances, the police said, “The villagers and monks are threatening [to use] force to stop you having church. You must stop. We are responsible for your life, and we can’t protect you from them.” To this, the pastor replied, “Do not worry. God is responsible for my life and family. I will leave that to Him and continue my ministry.” ACCUSATIONS AND VIOLENCE This past July two Christian girls were kidnapped, taken to the local Buddhist temple, tied to light posts and stripped
DO NOT WORRY. GOD IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MY LIFE AND FAMILY. I WILL LEAVE THAT TO HIM AND CONTINUE MY MINISTRY. -HORANA,
SRI LANKAN PASTOR Pastor Horana shows pictures of church attacks.
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*name changed for security
naked. The monks called the police, claiming, “These girls even women and children. It was then that the monk pinned were found trying to change people into Christians by force.” Pastor Horana down. He motioned to the angry crowd of Pastor Horana’s wife heard of what was happening and Buddhist monks and villagers with him and said, “All these rushed to the temple. When she arrived, the monks tried to people with us are ready to attack. We have cans of petrol make the same claim about her as well, but the pastor’s wife and will burn you and your believers to death inside this stood strongly and said, “No, we are not forcing conversion. building. Do you want this bloodshed? Do you?” As the pasThese girls are innocent and are only selling carpets. I am tor looked to his congregation, he could not carry the burden the pastor’s wife, but we have church only for people who of their death, so he agreed to stop meeting in the church building for six months. want to come.” The police supported the women and Pastor Horana and his famrefused to press charges. SUFFERING FOR THE LORD JESUS ily are still suffering at the Pastor Horana believes this IS A HAPPY OCCASION. hands of the monks and incident provoked the atIT IS DIFFICULT, BUT WHEN YOU KNOW from the lack of action the tack on his church a few IT’S FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, police took for fear of retaliweeks later. IT’S A VERY GOOD THING. ation from the monks. The police even go so far as to That fateful morning, as he -HORANA, say that all the persecution was preaching to his conSRI LANKAN PASTOR is Pastor Horana’s fault for gregation, over 30 police“riling up the villagers” by men and 100 villagers, led by Buddhist monks, broke down the gate and forced them- holding a church service. The church has stopped meeting selves into the church, screaming, “You, pastor! Because of in their building and the pastor goes from home to home to your church, all the temples are talking. You must stop meet- meet with his parishioners and hold small services. He is not sure when or how they will begin meeting again as one body. ing immediately!” A monk then reached up and pulled the pastor down by his neck and told the believers to go home and be quiet. The pastor said, “We have rights too! We are allowed to meet together. We won’t go home and be quiet!” Angered by this, the crowd began to vandalize the church and beat everyone,
Regardless of all he has suffered, Pastor Horana continues to smile with peace in his eyes. “Suffering for the Lord Jesus is a happy occasion,” he said. “It is difficult, but when you know it’s for the glory of God, it’s a very good thing. I am happy to have this crown on my head.”
Interior of Pastor Horana’s church in Sri Lanka
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CENTRAL ASIA
Back to school THE DISTURBING JOURNEY OF CHILDREN TRAFFICKED FOR JIHAD TRAINING
Imagine for a moment that you are a desperately poor Christian villager in Muslim Bangledesh. An education for your children and a chance for them to escape the poverty you live in is beyond your wildest dreams. Then, one day a Christian comes to the village and offers a free education and bright future for them. He tells you that for a small fee he will take your children to live in a Christian hostel and go to a Christian school and get a quality education. Your young boy is scared to leave home with the stranger but he trusts you that this is a good thing. You’ve told him the education you are providing will give him a future and a life beyond imagining. He says his goodbyes and leaves with the man. However, instead of walking into a bright future, you have unknowingly sent him to a life of terror and suffering that will probably end in death on a jihad in a foreign land. This is what happened to the 13 children, 12 boys and one girl, that ICC supports in Bangladesh. The following recounts the true story of three of those boys.
THEY WOULD NOT LET US PRAY THE WAY WE WANTED. WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO KNEEL BY OUR BED AND PRAY TO JESUS. SO, INSTEAD I PRAYED TO HIM QUIETLY IN MY HEART SO THAT NO ONE WOULD HEAR AND NO ONE WOULD BEAT ME.
-SHASHANTO,
A BOY RESCUED FROM A MADRASSA
SOLD TO A MADRASSA
OUT OF THE MADRASSAS Bangladeshi boys study in freedom and safety at a private school after ICC helped them escape from the madrassas. 5
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The recruiter that came to the village did not bring the boys to a Christian school. Instead, he sold them to an Islamic training center called a madrassa. There, they were forced to memorize the Quran, pray Muslim prayers, pray five times a day, and learn Arabic. When they refused, they were beaten with live electric wires or rods, underfed, locked in small closets and verbally abused. One little boy, Simon, said, “I was beaten many, many times because I didn’t want to pray.” When asked if they prayed to Jesus when they were in the madrassa, another boy, Shashanto, turned his face down to the table and said sadly, “They wouldn’t let us pray the way we wanted. We were not allowed to kneel by our bed and pray to Jesus. So, instead I prayed to Him quietly in my heart so that no one would hear and no one would beat me.” The teachers taught that all Christians are bad, the Bible is full of lies, that Christians are living in sin because they are not
Muslim, and that Christians are not going to heaven. They also told them that Muslims should force all Christians to become followers of Islam. The boys recounted that when this was taught, it made them “feel very bad inside.” They wanted to leave, but the teachers told them, “You have eaten our food, slept in our beds and wore our clothes. You can leave, but you must pay us for all of these things first.” The boys had no money, so, controlled by fear, they stayed. After a few more months of abuse the teachers told the Christian boys that it was time for them to be circumcised so that they could be Muslim and go to heaven. The boys were terrified. They knew the procedure would be unsanitary, and believed that the circumcision would mean they were no longer Christians. “Every day the teacher would come to us and say, ‘Tomorrow you will be circumcised.’ We would be afraid all night, and then they would not circumcise us.” Through whispers in dark corners they agreed that they couldn’t take the mental torture anymore and concocted a clever escape plan.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS. PLEASE HELP US. PLEASE HELP US TO GET A GOOD EDUCATION SO THAT WE CAN GROW UP TO HELP OTHERS AND NEVER GO BACK TO THE MADRASSAS. YOU ARE OUR ONLY HOPE.
-BOY RESCUED FROM A MADRASSA
ESCAPING THE MADRASSA “We have decided to become Muslims,” Raymond told the teacher one day. “Please let us go to the village and evangelize. All people must know that Islam is the truth.” The teacher was pleased that he had finally converted the boys, so he let them go into the surrounding villages without supervision. The boys went door to door until they found a Hindu family, who are also minorities and treated poorly by the Muslims. They immediately told the family what had happened to them and that they didn’t want to go back to the madrassas. On a borrowed cell phone Shashanto called his father, who had been frantically searching for him for four months. His father gave him the number to an ICC partner saying, “Maria will arrange for your rescue. We have been searching for you.” Simon remembers being so afraid that he was shaking. “We hid in the darkest corner of their house. They tried to give us
FREEDOM THANKS TO ICC Thirteen children rescued through ICC’s aid show their gratitude with Corey Bailey. food to eat, but we were afraid to feel safe. We didn’t want to eat. We just wanted to be far away from the people who were hurting us. We were afraid the teacher would find us and force us to go back.” Maria arranged for the boys to be picked up by one of her contacts. They were then brought to a safe location a far distance from the madrassas.
LIFE IN FREEDOM The boys are staying in a secret location, living in a Christian hostel and going to private school, for their own safety. There has been concern that the imams, or teachers, would search for the boys back in their home village. Even now their caretakers are concerned that if their whereabouts become known they will be at risk for riots and arson. When speaking with Corey, the boys said they feel very safe and are happy to be getting a good education. When asked what they wanted to be when they grew up they responded with smiles, saying that they wanted to be teachers, pastors and rescuers (to save children from madrassas). When asked if they had a message to the people who would read their story, one said, “Thank you very much for your prayers. Please help us. Please help us to get a good education so that we can grow up to help others and never go back to the madrassas. You are our only hope.” Maria later said to Corey, “They are looking at you as their hero. If it was not for you and the help of ICC, they would be lost and there would be no hope. You are my hope too. I have been alone with this. Now the burden is not as heavy because you share it with me.” You can help today! 800-ICC-5441
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YDAW
Khalisa in her new apartment
KHALISA FROM IRAQ Suffering Wives and Children Muslim converts to Christianity face immense persecution in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. Fear of persecution, however, did not stop Khalisa from giving her life to Christ. After her marriage to an alcoholic husband who attempted to strangle her and eventually demanded a divorce, Khalisa fell into deep depression and did not know how she would provide for her 5-year-old son. God took compassion on Khalisa, however, and appeared to her in a vision. “Jesus grabbed my hand and promised to take care of me,” Khalisa told ICC. “I remember saying, ‘Jesus,’ although I had never heard Jesus’ name before.” Khalisa’s Christian neighbor told her the meaning of the dream and gave her a Bible. Khalisa began attending church and soon decided to follow Jesus. However, rumors quickly spread about Khalisa’s newfound faith and several death threats were left on her doorstep in her Baghdad neighbor7
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hood. Khalisa knew it was no longer safe for her and her son so they fled the country to begin a new life. Khalisa arrived in a neighboring country in August without a penny to her name. The pastor of a local church contacted ICC about the need and we were able to immediately respond by helping Khalisa pay rent, buy food, and purchase some furniture for her small apartment. Since her arrival in her new home, Khalisa’s faith and knowledge have grown tremendously. “Khalisa has been such a blessing to us,” Khalisa’s pastor told ICC. “She’s always the first to volunteer to minister to Syrian refugees with our ministry outreach team and every time I see her she is excited to share the verses she is memorizing and what she is learning from the Bible. We are so grateful to ICC for caring for Khalisa. We know that God has great plans for her life.” Because of your generous donations to ICC’s Suffering Wives and Children fund, Khalisa now has the opportunity to start a new life where she can freely grow in faith and serve Jesus.
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