ICC's Persecution Magazine - March 2015 by International Christian Concern

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MARCH 2015

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Radical Islam Plants

Death in Kenya Devastating Attacks Lead to Opportunities to Rebuild

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Table of Contents

In This Issue: FEATURE

10 | Bare as Skeletons ICC visits with the survivors of a Christian community in Kenya that was devastated by Islamic militants.

FEATURE

14 | A Martyr Remembered ICC visits Garissa, Kenya, to meet with Pastor Ibrahim, the survivor of an attack that claimed the life of his friend and outreach pastor, Abdi Weli. FEATURE

18 | Clinging to Hope The wife of a pastor imprisoned in Eritrea is holding fast to her faith amid unimaginable persecution. TESTIMONY

20 | Anointed & Bold Formerly a Muslim leader of 65 mosques, an ICC-supported underground pastor shares his incredible testimony and burden of preaching the Good News to Ethiopia’s Muslims.

VOLUNTEER

24 | Volunteering with ICC Learn how members of ICC’s volunteer teams are making an impact in their communities for the persecuted. Regular Features

3 Letter from the President A few words from ICC’s president, Jeff King, on the price we are willing to pay for Christ, our true treasure.

4 Impact Report A look at the impact your support has had on the persecuted church in the first quarter of 2015. 6 World News A snapshot of the persecution that impacts our brothers and sisters daily, in every corner of the world. 26 Your Dollars at Work Learn how your gifts are helping strengthen and comfort displaced and suffering families around the world. 2

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MARCH 2015

President’s Letter

“If you do not agree to stop preaching, we are going to burn down your house, with you inside it.” Two of the men began to pile everything she owned into a corner of the house, and a third held up a gas can, ready to douse her possessions in fuel. Pastor Elizabeth said a last prayer before turning to the leader. “I am a servant of the Lord. If it is either stop serving the Lord or have it burned, then I say: burn it all.”

Jeff King, President International Christian Concern

And they did.

Pastor Elizabeth (page 10) is the kind of Christian we love. She long ago decided to go “all in” with God. The enemy can burn down her home or her body, but she cannot stop sharing about Jesus or turn away from Him. Where would she go, what would she do? She has found the answer to life and is determined to have the fullness of Him. Elizabeth will pay any price to stay close to the Father and to keep telling others of the secret path to life. This attitude is why we are passionate about the persecuted Church. They have discovered the great secret of the true Christian life and the secret of life in general. To truly live, you must have Him at the center. He must be your treasure rather than the trinkets of homes and cars (or even your family and relationships) that can be piled into the proverbial corner of your life and burned. Please stop and think about that in your own life. Is He truly your treasure? What is the one thing you cannot lose in this life? Is it your home, your wealth, your standing in the community, or even your children and the relationships with those you dearly love? There are many substitute treasures, and some of them are truly priceless (your loved ones), but they must all fade to second place. He must be your first and true treasure and the thing you will hold onto above all else. See Matthew 10:37, Luke 14:26, and Matthew 6:21. Please join with us as we bandage and build His persecuted Church: those willing to pay the ultimate price to retain the true treasure of life. As always, your donations will be used efficiently, effectively and ethically. I promise!

Jeff King President, International Christian Concern www.persecution.org

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Impact Report

low

WHERE MOST NEEDED

SUFFERING WIVES and CHILDREN

COMMUNITY REBUILD

FUND BALANCE:

medium

high

low

•

high

low

medium

2015 Q1

ICC Assisted:

20,000

•

medium

high

INDIVIDUALS

4,198

IN 3 COUNTRIES

IN 5 COUNTRIES

IN 4 COUNTRIES

PROJECTS

Conducted a congressional staff briefing for 90+ staffers on Iraq and Syria. Invited Open Doors and top secular human rights groups, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as co-presenters. Established a congressional oversight group for USAID in Iraq to ensure that humanitarian aid gets to Christians in need. Since September, more than $74 million has been earmarked. Initiated a joint letter from nine members of Congress to the Egyptian Attorney General calling for the release of Christian convert Bishoy Armia Boulous.

INDIVIDUALS

•

upport packages were provided to S the wives of wrongfully imprisoned Christians in India.

•

Sent relief packets full of basic necessities to Christian refugees who fled persecution in Syria.

•

Ten families of imprisoned church leaders in Vietnam were each given a drove of piglets to start a small business.

•

Provided winter relief packets full of blankets, heaters and food to Iraqi Christians fleeing ISIS.

•

Two women in Kyrgyzstan who suffered severe persecution were given a small herd of sheep to raise and start a small business.

•

Rebuilt or restored more than five churches and homes destroyed by attacks in India.

•

Helped more than 15 Christians who were accused of “blasphemy” in Pakistan to launch small businesses after they were forced to flee their homes and leave behind their jobs and livelihoods.

•

Children who lost a parent in the All Saints Church bombing in Pakistan received assistance to attend school.

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MARCH 2015

Impact Report

low

BROADCASTS

UNDERGROUND PASTORS

BIBLES

FUND BALANCE:

medium

low

high

low

medium

high

2015 Q1

590+

1849

ICC Assisted:

INDIVIDUALS

18,650

IN MANY COUNTRIES

IN 13 COUNTRIES

IN 6 COUNTRIES

PROJECTS

2015 Q1

ICC Assisted:

INDIVIDUALS

•

One of our representatives reported that 590 people in the Middle East declared salvation after listening to one radio broadcast in the last three months.

•

Another radio broadcast to the Middle East provided persecuted Christians access to evangelism and discipleship materials.

•

medium

ICC’s biggest broadcast project has really been progressing. We are turning watchers into believers as we are meeting with the curious on the ground in one of the most dangerous countries for Christians.

•

Conducted the first “Persecution Preparedness Training” in India to teach pastors how to respond to persecution. Twenty pastors learned about what constitutes persecution, their legal rights and the steps they can take when they encounter persecution.

•

Provided financial assistance to an Iranian pastor who was forced to flee Iran with his family after he faced the threat of assassination.

•

ICC sponsors nine pastors across Central Asia who have recently reported local church growth, baptisms and salvations.

INDIVIDUALS

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Distributed 13,892 Chinese Bibles, as well as other Christian materials, in 18 provinces (including Tibet) and 44 cities in just four months.

•

Delivered 50 Vietnamese Bibles to a church in Vietnam that has suffered severe persecution.

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Native-language Bible distribution has occurred in Bangladesh, India, China, Vietnam, Egypt and another unnamed country.

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Installed an underground printing press in an unnamed country that began printing Bibles in February.

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News

World Turns Blind Eye to North Korea

The remains of one of the many churches demolished in Zinder, Niger, by Muslims protesting the Charlie Hebdo magazine.

French Magazine’s Cartoon Sparks Attacks on Churches in Niger 1 | NIGER Among the first countries to have a violent reaction to a cartoon published by the French magazine, Charlie Hebdo, was Niger. A crowd of angry Muslims began to protest shortly after their Friday prayers. While shouting “Allah akbar” (God is great), they proceeded to set fire to and demolish most of the churches in the city of Zinder, not far from Niger’s capital. The group of protestors quickly swelled to several hundred as they marched around wreaking havoc and killing four people. Though known as a country with peaceful religious relations, radical Islam has been growing within Niger’s Muslim-majority population. In recent years, the small Christian minority has found themselves a target of persecution. Attacks similar to this one in early January also occurred in 1998, 2000 and 2012.

2 | NORTH KOREA With an estimated 70,000 Christians imprisoned for their faith, North Korea has topped the list for 13 years as the most brutal and dangerous country in the world to be a Christian. Though the testimonies of Christians and former prison camp guards who have escaped North Korea and shared their experiences with the world are few, they are consistent. Beatings, starvation, labor camps and executions are common themes. One agent who worked for 20 years in a political offense concentration camp, where Christians are often sent, said he witnessed secret executions where “the [accused] digs the hole to be buried” before being executed. Escapees have drawn haunting pictures in attempts to explain what they experienced in such camps. Christians have been executed for owning Bibles. They have been thrown in labor camps for refusing to deny Christ. In all of this, world governments, including the United States, have turned a blind eye, refusing to address this issue specifically. While nuclear weapons, human rights in general and the right to freedom of speech have been touched on, the genocide of Christians has been ignored. With the rise of Christian persecution around the world, including the genocide of Christians in the Middle East, the total and complete suffering of believers in North Korea must not be ignored.

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Discrimination in Turkey 3 | TURKEY An annual report produced by the Union of Protestant Churches highlights the continued hostilities and discrimination faced by churches and Christians throughout Turkey. Thankfully, assassinations and murders are not among the trials believers in this region have to face, but the report does say that Christians are constantly threatened and endure small-scale attacks, which include arson, broken windows and other types of vandalism. There are also legal obstacles set by local officials that further restrict the ability of Christians, especially Protestants, to meet and worship openly. Those who face perhaps the harshest discrimination and persecution are former Muslims who have converted to Christianity. They have reported threats and harassment not only from co-workers, but also from family members who are upset that they have left the religion of their ancestors. While it is not illegal to share your faith in Turkey, it is frowned upon and often met with threats and hostility. MARCH 2015

Increasing persecution against Christians in India has prompted believers to stand up for their rights. Their protests call for justice and an end to attacks on Christians.

India’s Christians Call for Justice in Face of Increasing Persecution 4 | INDIA In recent months, attacks on Christians and their places of worship have skyrocketed with numerous attacks against churches and Christians, not only in rural areas, but also in large cities. Many Christians in India are concerned about a broader strategy against India’s Christian community and believe the installment of a new Hindu nationalist government is the reason behind this development. Believers in India have not remained silent, but are actually proactive in continuing to stand up for their rights.

Egyptian Christian Gunned Down 5 | EGYPT A Christian man in Egypt, 38-year-old Shaheed Nesemis Saroufeem, was murdered when he was gunned down while riding his motor scooter home from a trip to the mill. Saroufeem is the cousin of a Christian who was martyred along with three other Copts in July 2013. He and his family refused to drop the charges against the suspects of those murders, and it is believed that this is the motivation for Saroufeem’s murder. Police detained one of the men who shot Saroufeem. The killer, who is related to one of the murderers in the July 2013 attack, and his brother ambushed Saroufeem with fire from machine guns.

A man who refused to drop the charges against those who martyred his cousin was gunned down in Egypt.

Kazakh Christian Refuses to Pay Unjust Fines 6 | KAZAKHSTAN Nikolai, a 34-year-old husband and father of four, is a Christian in Kazakhstan. He has refused to pay fines imposed on him for meeting to worship with other Christians without permission from the government. “I didn’t pay because I don’t consider myself guilty,” he explained. “These fines were illegal.” Since 2013, Nikolai has been fined three times, jailed for five days, and forbidden from leaving the country. He now faces the confiscation of his mechanic shop.

Released from Prison in Iran 7 | IRAN An Iranian Christian, Amin Khaki, was released from prison on bail in the amount of 500 million Iranian Rials (roughly $18,000 USD). He is a deacon of a church and was part of a group of eight Christians arrested at a picnic, blindfolded and interrogated in Shoush, Iran, on March 5, 2014. Iran is infamous for its harsh treatment of Christians, the most famous recently being Saeed Abdini, who remains imprisoned there after three years. Though Khaki has been released on bail, his full legal status remains unclear. He may continue to face charges brought against him because of his faith.

Amin Khaki was released from prison in Iran after being arrested in March 2014.

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News

1 | WORLD The number of Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith has reached mind-boggling proportions, with numbers surpassing 100 million in 2014. That staggering number represents Christians discriminated against, beaten, imprisoned and even beheaded for their faith. The severity of persecution can range on a spectrum from discrimination and job loss to torture and murder, but it is all based on an individual’s identification with Jesus Christ and their refusal to turn from their faith. The rise in persecution can be seen globally. In South Asia, we find Indonesian churches forcibly closed, crosses removed and church property destroyed in China and pastors narrowly escaping with their lives in Vietnam. In Southeast Asia, we find countless cases of blasphemy charges against Christians in Pakistan, including the young couple who was thrown into a brick kiln by an angry mob. In Central Asia, people are arrested and fined for sharing their faith, meeting for worship in their homes without government permission or simply for owning Bibles or

other Christian literature. Christians are often completely ostracized from their community and treated as traitors for leaving Islam and following Christ. Boko Haram and alShabaab have left a wake of tragedy and death in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, Sudan and Niger. Thousands have been executed, tortured and kidnapped for their faith. The violence is cruel as they attempt to wipe out any religion that is not Islam. Finally, there is the Middle East. ISIS has enforced the genocide of Christians in Syria and Iraq with great success. Thousands have been brutally murdered, hundreds have been beheaded and thousands more have been displaced — all in the name of establishing an Islamic caliphate and wiping Christianity from the face of the earth. Please pray for and help us stand with our brothers and sisters around the world.

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100 Million Christians Persecuted

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“Everyone sat in despondent silence, broken only by the anguished cries of women … ” ISIS Kidnaps 20 Coptics in Libya

2 | LIBYA Many Coptic Christians in Egypt suffer economic discrimination and are driven to seek work in other countries in order to support their families. This was the case when over 20 Christian Coptic men moved to war-torn Libya to find jobs. Unfortunately, instead of finding a job to help their families, these men woke up one day to find themselves trapped in a terrifying nightmare. Over the course of two weeks, affiliates of the Islamic State (ISIS) kidnapped them. Referring to the believers as “Christian crusaders,” ISIS held them hostage in an unknown location. Eventually, they released pictures of the Christian men who were taken from a housing complex in Sirte, Lebanon. The claim of responsibility, that they are affiliates of ISIS (their official name as of printing remains unidentified), increases the level of activity that ISIS claims to have in the North African country. The kidnapped Copts come from the villages of alOur, al-Gebali, Dafash, Samson, al-Sobi and Menbal in Egypt. Their families all live on the edge of destitution. When they were informed of what happened to their loved ones in Libya, it was reported that “everyone sat in despondent silence, broken only by the anguished cries of women and the weeping of the children whose fathers had disappeared in Sirte.” MARCH 2015

Hindu Radicals Claim India will be “Christian-free” in Six Years 3 | INDIA Hindu radicals have announced their plans to make India “Christian-free” by 2021. In a statement to Indian media, Hindu radicals said that Christians and Muslims have no rights in India and should be driven from the country or converted to Hinduism. One group of Hindu radicals, the Dharma Jagran Samiti group, has been on a mission to reconvert Hindus who have converted to other religions. In some instances, these individuals are threatened if they will not return to Hinduism. In other instances, they are promised food or money. One Christian who decided to reconvert to Hinduism hesitantly told ICC that it just seemed like it would be “easier” and “safer” for his family if they reconverted. Unfortunately, it seems that Christian persecution in India continues to be on the rise and isn’t going away any time soon.

Christians who have been driven from their homes in Iraq by ISIS say they have lost hope they will ever be able to return.

A Christian man believed to have been mistaken for a pastor was shot in the back on his way into church in Malindi, Kenya..

No Going Back for Iraqi Christians

Christian Gunned Down in Kenya

4 | IRAQ “No, we will never go back,” an engineer from Mosul told reporters in Amman, Jordan, where he and his family have fled persecution. The rise of the jihadist militant group ISIS has driven more than 100,000 Christians out of their homes. Hundreds of those families have now left Iraq entirely, with others now in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. Many of the Christians have lost hope in ever being able to return to their homeland, the place where their families have lived for centuries.

5 | KENYA According to reports, 25-year-old George Muriki was gunned down entering Maximum Revival Ministries in Malindi, Kenya. Muriki was entering the church with two others when he was shot in the back three times. It is believed that he had been mistaken for the church’s pastor, who had received threats in the past. Police had also previously been called with reports of suspicious activity. Kenya’s predominantly Islamic coast has seen an uptick in violence against Christians, much of which is thought to connect back to the Somalia-based, radical Islamic insurgency, al-Shabaab.

Chinese Christians Arrested at Bible Study 6 | CHINA When 27 Chinese Christians in Beijing gathered for worship and Bible study, they weren’t expecting to be raided by police. However, that is exactly what happened, and 20 of them were taken to jail to be interrogated. “As we finished our worship, a missionary had just got to the podium to lead us in reading passages from the Bible, and we were praying when the police raided us,” a Guoshulin Church member said. “They told us to stop the gathering. There were about 27 people in the gathering. The police took all the people who didn’t have identification cards to the local police station; there were more than 20 [without ID cards]. The police also took several copies of Bibles and hymnals. They said our gathering was an illegal assembly and was unlawful. When we got to the police station, they said that the site is illegal and that we must not go to that site again.”

Twenty Chinese Christians were arrested and had their Bibles and hymnals confiscated when authorities raided a Bible study in Beijing.

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THEY’VE LEFT US

Bare As Skeletons ICC visits with the survivors of a Christian community in Kenya that was devastated by Islamic militants. By Cameron Thomas, Regional Manager for Africa

magine waking to the sound of gunshots in the distance, hiding your grandchildren in their beds, and then waiting by the door, praying armed men don’t break in to kill you for your faith. As ICC staff members, we have the opportunity to meet with persecuted brothers and sisters to hear and share their stories with the free Church, but sometimes their stories are unimaginable. The story of those that survived the Hindi massacre is one that I never could have imagined before standing in the ash of Pastor Elizabeth’s burned-down home, staring

at the charred remains of her grandchildren’s bed frames.

The Sound of Gunshots

Within 20 minutes of hearing the first gunshots erupt in the distance, knuckles rapped on Pastor Elizabeth’s door as she sat praying for the Lord’s protection. The previous month, militants affiliated with the Somalia-based, radical Islamic insurgency, al-Shabaab, had driven through the local area, bombing hotels and killing anyone unable to recite from the Quran. In total, 56

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non-Muslims, many of whom were professed Christians, were killed. “Who’s there?” Pastor Elizabeth asked. “The police,” a man responded from just beyond the door. With a sigh of relief, Elizabeth threw open the door and stared out at the four armed men clad in navy blue uniforms. She quickly invited the men in, thankful for the Lord’s provision. Once inside, the men began to scour the house, rifling through the pastor’s belongings. Confused, Elizabeth asked the men what it was they were looking for. MARCH 2015

“Burn It All” “You are a pastor, are you not?” The man who appeared to be the leader of the group asked in response. “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord,” Elizabeth responded. After a long pause, the leader said flatly, “If you do not agree to stop preaching, we are going to burn down your house, with you inside it.” As if cued, two of the men began to pile everything Elizabeth owned into a corner of

the house as a third furnished a gas can which he now held ominously overhead. Faced with the realization that it wasn’t police officers she had invited into her home, but militants who had come to kill her and her grandchildren, Pastor Elizabeth said a last prayer before turning to address the leader. “I am a servant of the Lord. If it is either stop serving the Lord or have it burned, then I say: burn it all.” And they did.

‘I am a servant of the Lord. If it is either stop serving the Lord or have it burned, then I say: burn it all.’

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In the span of two hours on the night of July 3, 2014, the Christian community of Hindi was devastated: its homes burned to the ground, its men murdered and its church left in ruins. In all, throngs of armed Islamic militants disguised as police officers burned down the homes of 13 members of Pastor Elizabeth’s church, widowing nine women and orphaning dozens of children in the process.

HINDI MASSACRE

ICC Visits Hindi

In November, ICC staff drove for two days on some of the roughest roads in Kenya to meet with the Hindi Christian community and hear the stories of their survival and loss. Caked in dust and exhausted from the long journey, staff stumbled through the bush to Pastor Elizabeth’s new home (a gift from a member of the community), where victims of the attack had gathered to share their suffering. Assembled in a half-circle, men, women and children sat staring vacantly as they stood one-by-one to tell our staff what they had lost in the attack: homes, possessions, incomes, loved ones, senses of security and hope. As Pastor Elizabeth remarked, the militants had “taken [their] flesh” in the attack, “leaving [them] bare as skeletons.” Pressed for time by the 6 p.m. curfew enforced by Kenya’s less-than-forgiving defense forces, staff quickly recorded the damages reported by those gathered before piling themselves and those without a ride into their rental car to drive past the burnt-out shells of downtown Mpeketoni as the sun set over the Swahili Coast. After a night spent tossing and turning in the sweltering coastal humidity, ICC staff disembarked at sunrise to meet Pastor Elizabeth and survivors of the attack at the foot of the path that leads to the burnt remains of their decimated church. After exchanging hellos the African way — laughing at the Mzungus’ failed attempts to speak in broken Swahili — the group set out on foot, hoping to outpace the ascending sun, which rose almost as quickly as the heat.

The militants had ‘taken [their] flesh’ in the attack, ‘leaving [them] bare as skeletons.’

Hindi, Kenya

The scene of a brutal attack on a Christian village by Islamic militants

10 Christian Men Killed

9 Women Made Widows

13 Homes Destroyed

– Pastor Elizabeth’s description of the damage done to Christians in the attack on their village

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MARCH 2015

Led by Pastor Elizabeth, the group blazed a pathway through the grass, overgrown in the absence of members’ Sunday marches to and from the church. Excepting the “wisp” sound of the grass being bent back, the group’s silence marked the sense of abandonment that hung over the neglected fields. Fatigued by the heat, ICC staff fought to keep up with the locals, pushing through the chest-high grass like characters in a postapocalyptic Hollywood scene — with an American flag bandana tied loosely around his neck, ICC’s regional manager for Asia looked as if he actually were. To break the silence, a local pastor explained that the church owns nearly nine acres of land that, prior to the attack, was cultivated by male members of the congregation. In the wake of so many of their deaths, however, the fields had gone to waste and now needed to be cleared by renting a local tractor that the church membership could not afford. Working with local partners, ICC has arranged for the church’s land to be cleared, plowed and seeded this month in preparation for the rainy season.

Meeting the Survivors

Shortly thereafter, a cluster of thatched roofs emerged from the brush. Funneled from the makeshift pathway into a clearing, ICC staff were greeted by a young couple with an infant son pinned against his mother’s hip with one arm as his older brother’s hand clung to the other hanging loosely by her side. They stood in front of the burnt-out shell of the home they had built with the intention of starting their life together, raising a family and growing old within its walls. Their faces were grim, their hands tense and their feet coated in ash — a look ICC staff would later refer to as “the Hindi uniform” after seeing everyone wearing it. Of the 13 homes burned down in the attack, ICC staff were able to personally visit five while in Hindi. Each spoke louder than the last of the devastation wrought upon the community by young men radicalized by a theology of hate and a creed of violence. For years, Kenya’s predominantly Islamic coast has been increasingly exposed to radically conservative teachings imported from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States and Somalia. Overwhelmed by advocates of conservative forms of Islam, in 2010 the Kenyan government failed to repeal Sharia as law in the coastal and Somali regions of Kenya, which include Hindi, a majority-Christian town embedded within an increasingly radi-

Deeper into the fields lay the burnt remains of the church, its cross lying face down in the ash, as if mourning … A survivor holds a small remnant of his village after radicals attacked.

cally Islamic coast. The decision to maintain Islamic courts and the enforcement of Sharia law on the coast affirms the motto of the Mombasa Republican Council (a political movement accused of supporting a militant wing trained and funded by al-Shabaab): “Pwani si Kenya.” The phrase is translated in English as, “The coast is not Kenya.”

A Church in Ashes

One of the massacre’s survivors shares her story of suffering.

Members of the church burned by radicals inspect the cross which now rests in ashes.

Deeper into the fields lay the burnt remains of the church, its cross lying face down in the ash, as if mourning the desecration of the Lord’s house. The scene was both gruesome and beautiful. The women of the group, clad in brightly colored dresses, sang hymns as they sorted through the rubble while the men smiled as they picked up pangas (short knives) left behind in the militants’ rampage. From between tufts of grass and strings of purple flowers, the church’s charred trussing still protruded despite Africa’s best attempt to destroy any evidence of the evil committed there. Even if the burnt remains that still litter Hindi today were swept away, the fields cleared and the ash washed away, the survivors of the attack carry the loss of their homes and loved ones with them. ICC is committed to rebuilding much of what was destroyed in the Hindi massacre, and we hope that you will consider partnering with us to fulfill that commitment, but the work will never be done until the hearts of the victims have been healed in God’s timing.

Calling All Intercessors

In 2015, ICC has pledged to raise up 1,000 prayer warriors across the world to intercede on behalf of the persecuted. We would be honored by your decision to take the pledge and to become a prayer warrior for Hindi and for so many other Christian communities ravaged for their faith. Commit today to praying Ephesians 3:14-19 over the survivors of the Hindi massacre, that the Lord, in His good will and perfect timing, would heal their scars and restore their hope for better things to come.

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Abdi Weli: A Martyr Remembered “I felt something hit me in the chest, but did not feel pain. I was in shock. Then I saw a hand reach across me, pointing a pistol at Abdi. The hand was shaking, and then the pistol fired six more bullets into Abdi.” By William Stark

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MARCH 2015

Pastor Ibrahim recounts the martyrdom of his friend and outreach pastor, Abdi Weli, who was shot to death by Muslim radicals.

“S

o what are you doing here?”

This was a question posed to me by a missionary during a recent trip to Kenya after explaining ICC’s mission to assist persecuted Christians worldwide. For many, including this missionary, Kenya isn’t a country typically associated with Christian persecution. For most, the image of the savanna littered with African wildlife is what comes to mind first. Instead of reciting every incident of persecution that had taken place in Kenya over the past year, which by itself would have explained my presence in Kenya, I decided to tell the missionary where I was traveling the next day. “Well, tomorrow I will be heading out to Garissa to meet with the local church there,” I responded. At this, the missionary’s eyes widened. “Oh… well that makes sense,” the missionary said. “Just be careful out there,” he concluded as we finished eating our meal and went our separate ways.

Kenya’s Most Dangerous City for Christians With a population dominated by ethnic Somalis, Garissa is by far and away a Muslim-majority city. Located in the North Eastern Province, it is considered to be both a hotbed of persecution and Kenya’s most dangerous city for Christians. To back up this deadly reputation, Garissa has been the location of many lethal incidents of persecution, including the murder of Pastor Abdi Weli in February 2013. The drive from Nairobi to Garissa took seven hours and gave me plenty of time to prepare to meet the Christians of Garissa. Chief among these meetings was a meeting with a local pastor named Pastor Ibrahim Makunyi, the senior pastor of the East Africa Pentecostal Church (EAPC) in Garissa. Pastor Ibrahim and his church endure persecution on a daily basis. Just being a Christian in a city like Garissa guarantees that. What makes Pastor Ibrahim and his church different is that they are not only willing to endure this general persecution, they are also willing

‘Life is not easy here. We must endure persecution every day here in Garissa.’ – PASTOR IBRAHIM OF THE EAST AFRICA PENTECOSTAL CHURCH IN GARISSA

to share the Gospel with their Somali Muslim neighbors. That willingness has guaranteed that the church and its members would face a higher intensity of persecution. It was this level of persecution that claimed the life of Pastor Abdi Weli, the Muslim outreach pastor at EAPC, and almost claimed Pastor Ibrahim’s life on February 7, 2013.

Garissa’s Boldest Evangelist

When I finally drove through the security

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gate at EAPC, I saw Pastor Ibrahim waiting to greet me outside his church. After quick greetings were exchanged, Pastor Ibrahim led me inside. “Life is not easy here,” Pastor Ibrahim sighed as he took his seat. “We must endure persecution every day here in Garissa.” The murder of Pastor Abdi Weli marked the latest ‘intense’ incident of persecution directed at EAPC and was something to which Pastor Ibrahim was a firsthand witness. MARCH 2015

Garissa, Kenya

Top Left The

front of the East Africa Pentecostal Church (EAPC) in Garissa. The church is persecuted for its willingness to share the Gospel with its Somali Muslim neighbors.

Top Right

Pastor Ibrahim, the senior pastor of EAPC, was shot by gunmen in 2013. Though Ibrahim survived the attack, the church’s Muslim outreach pastor was killed.

Bottom Left

Pastor Ibrahim meets an ICC staff member at the security gate to EAPC.

Bottom Right

ICC staff meet with Pastor Ibrahim and other EAPC church members to learn of the persecution they’ve faced.

“The morning of the attack, Abdi and I drove to the bank in Garissa,” Pastor Ibrahim said as he recalled the day of the incident. “On our way, we noticed that there was a car following us. This made us very nervous.” Because of their willingness to reach out to Garissa’s Somali Muslims, the pastors were the targets of multiple death threats from alShabaab, a radical group that continues to be active in Garissa. Threats got so bad on several occasions that both pastors had to flee Garissa for months at a time. “Abdi was driving, so I kept an eye on the car that was following us,” Pastor Ibrahim continued. “I told Abdi to drive to the market where there were lots of people. My wife was also at one of the local shops, so I thought we

could pick her up as well and go to safety.” “When we stopped in front of the shop where my wife was, the car following us also stopped,” Pastor Ibrahim said. “I opened the door, stepped out of the car, and noticed that the men in the other car had also gotten out. That’s when I saw they had guns.” “Before I could react, these men shot at us point-blank,” Pastor Ibrahim continued. “I felt something hit me in the chest, but did not feel pain. I was in shock. Suddenly, I couldn’t stand anymore and slumped back into the passenger seat of the car.” “Everything was in slow motion,” Pastor Ibrahim recalled. “I saw my wife scream and run away. I looked over to Abdi and saw him wounded, leaning forward on the steering

wheel. I couldn’t move. Then I saw a hand reach across me, pointing a pistol at Abdi. The hand was shaking and then the pistol fired six more bullets into Abdi.” “When the hand disappeared, I looked back at Abdi,” Pastor Ibrahim continued. “He gave a weak sigh and leaned harder into the steering wheel. At that moment, I knew my friend was dead.” “Everyone stayed away from our car right after the attack,” Pastor Ibrahim said. “I thought I was going to die because no one was coming to help us. Then a Christian woman looked in the car, and I looked her in the eyes. She screamed, ‘Pastor is alive!’ Several people dragged me out of the car and brought me to the hospital. Local Christians had to take me by motorcycle because the ambulance was too afraid to come and help.”

A Pastor Returns to Garissa

When ICC heard about the attack on Pastor Ibrahim and Pastor Abdi Weli in 2013, we took immediate action and were able to assist Pastor Ibrahim with his medical care. Today, over two years later, Pastor Ibrahim is in good health and is planning on returning to EAPC in Garissa. “I want to return to the church,” Pastor Ibrahim told me. “I don’t care if those who killed Abdi are gone or not.” As I left EAPC and Pastor Ibrahim, I reflected for a moment on the challenges they will face because of their willingness to spread to Gospel to Somali Muslims. Church attendance at EAPC dropped from 100 to 30 members following the murder of Pastor Abdi Weli. This means consistent support for Pastor Ibrahim is becoming harder and harder to collect. Death threats continue to be received by Pastor Ibrahim and EAPC, causing police protection to be a necessity to hold a Sunday church service. Despite these challenges, I walked away from my meeting with Pastor Ibrahim filled with joy. Even though the price of spreading the Gospel in places like Garissa is steep, it is truly a blessing to know God has raised up leaders like Pastor Ibrahim and Pastor Abdi Weli who are ready and willing to pay that price.

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Clinging to Hope in the Face of Uncertainty The wife of a pastor imprisoned in Eritrea is holding fast to her faith amid unimaginable persecution. *names have been changed for security

By Rebecca Seiler, Communications Coordinator

magine being a young pastor’s wife

and the mother of three small children. Your family doesn’t have much, but enough to get by. All of a sudden, government officials whisk your husband away without explanation, and you are left with the weight of worry and countless unanswered questions. More still, you are now forced to provide for your family without a reliable source of income and to somehow explain to your children why their daddy is not coming home. Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality for many Christian families in Eritrea.

The North Korea of Africa

Commonly referred to as the “North Korea of Africa,” Eritrea has a surprisingly extensive history of religious intolerance since its newfound independence in 1991. In this top-down system, much of the persecution stems from the government, which only officially recognizes four religions: Sunni Islam, the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea. Anyone caught practicing their faith outside of these four state-sanctioned religious organizations is considered a threat to the government and immediately arrested and detained. Evangelical Christians, who meet underground in small groups to avoid government detection, are often arbitrarily arrested and detained, without due process, when found out. Many former detainees have admitted to being tortured into recanting their faith or agreeing to never again practice their faith without the government’s permission. This extreme government control has left evangelical Christians and other religious minorities in a state of constant paranoia. In

Eritrea, the government actively encourages the public to report any suspicious activity, meaning a seemingly friendly neighbor could be the government informant that has your small group raided and your pastor whisked away to a lifetime spent in an underground desert prison in the worst imaginable conditions.

Arrest and Imprisonment

This is exactly what happened to Makda* and her husband, Simon*. Makda was living with her husband, a pastor, and their three young children when, without warn-

Former detainees have admitted to being tortured into recanting their faith. PERSECU ION.org

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ing, government officials raided the family’s home. Without cause, Simon was arrested and imprisoned at Era’eRro — one of Eritrea’s most notorious gulags, located on the outskirts of Asmara, the closed nation’s capital. Known for being a house of torture, Pastor Simon was thrown into Era’eRro without a trial. Makda and her children were never told the legal basis for Pastor Simon’s arrest, nor how long he would be imprisoned. At the time of this publication, it has been six years since Pastor Simon was incarcerated, and still there is no word as to when he will be released, if ever. All that is known is that his only crime was preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. In six years, the only time Makda was able to see Simon was when she stared on helplessly from the far side of the fence surrounding Era’eRro as he boarded a bus headed for one of Eritrea’s notorious desert prisons — which, to this day, Makda still doesn’t know. For years, Makda has carried the burden of not knowing when, or if, she will ever see her husband again.

Surviving on a Broken Loom

Without Simon, the family’s main breadwinner, Makda has been forced to rely on others to support her and her three children. Making only a meager income by weaving cloth on her dusty and broken loom, Makda and her children would often go hungry in the dark — their electric bill several months past due. When business is good, Makda is able to earn about a dollar a day, but business is rarely good, and her ability to provide her family even basic goods, like food and clothing, is rendered nearly impossible. Without your generous support through ICC’s Suffering Wives and Children fund, Makda would be MARCH 2015

The more they are persecuted, the more courageous they become. forced to rely on members of her church and extended family, who struggle themselves to keep their families afloat. In an attempt to hide her hopelessness, Makda admitted to sending her children out to play so that she could weep behind closed doors. When faced with questions from her children about their “aboi” (father), Makda does everything she can to keep them from fully understanding that their father, if alive, is likely being tortured for his faith.

Resilient Faith

Eritrea’s city lights hide an extensive history of religious intolerance that has given Eritrea the reputation of being the ‘North Korea’ of Africa.

Despite her and her husband’s situation, Makda’s own faith has not been lessened. In the midst of unimaginable persecution, Makda exudes the resilient faith of the underground church of Eritrea. During Sunday worship, Makda says she’s able to “let go of [her] worries and place [her] trust in Christ.” As ICC’s partner in Eritrea said of the underground believers there, “The more they are persecuted, the more courageous they become.” Makda, Simon and so many other believers in Eritrea are willing to give up their lives to follow Christ! Even while weeping for them and their families, the underground church in Eritrea celebrates those imprisoned for their faith as heroes for the Kingdom. In spite of the incredible odds facing Makda and her family, there is still hope. According to Makda, the greatest need of Christians in Eritrea is prayer. We hope that you’ll join us in praying for the families of Christians imprisoned in Eritrea: that their basic needs would be met, their faith made strong, their loved ones would be set free and their persecutors would come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Anointed

& Bold

Formerly a Muslim leader of 65 mosques, an ICC-supported underground pastor shares his incredible testimony and burden of preaching the Good News to Ethiopia’s Muslims. By Cameron Thomas, Regional Manager for Africa

ll across the world, Muslims are being exposed to the Good News of Jesus Christ and are converting to the Christian faith in numbers never before seen. Known as Muslim-background believers, or MBBs, these brothers and sisters face both immense opportunity to preach the Gospel to the unreached peoples of the earth and immense hardship in doing so. Often “excommunicated” from their families and communities, subjected to extreme efforts to forcefully reconvert them to Islam, discriminated against by authorities and sometimes victimized by violence

and sexual abuse, MBBs risk both life and limb not just to live the Gospel, but to share it. In this edition of Persecution magazine, we wanted to share the amazing testimony of one MBB preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ to his lost brothers and sisters. A former Imam and regional mosque coordinator, Sheik Hassan, converted from Islam after seeing a vision of Jesus. Now an evangelist, Sheik Hassan is committed to spreading the Gospel across Ethiopia’s Muslim-majority Oromia region. Adisu Amsalu, ICC’s representative in Ethiopia, spoke with Sheik Hassan to capture his testimony.

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MARCH 2015

Can you tell me about your life before Jesus? Some time ago, I served as the coordinator for 65 mosques. As coordinator, I was responsible for overseeing dawa, or Islamic outreach, in and around Shashemene. I worked very hard not only to advance Islam, but to defend my district from the Gospel of Jesus. One day, I received an urgent message from Shashemene that read, “The place you left is now surrounded by Christians, and they are evangelizing. Come and stop them!’’ I quickly made my way to Shashemene, where I saw three evangelists preaching to Muslims. When they saw me from a distance, two of the evangelists, knowing how violent I could be, ran away, but the third stood in confidence and began to preach to me. Even though I was gripped with fear and hoping that someone would stop me, I ran to confront the evangelist (as coordinator, I needed to show the Muslims gathered there that I was committed to stopping the Christians at any length, even violence). As I got close to him, a Muslim brother grabbed me from behind, and asked, “Are you crazy? Are you not aware of their strength?

Don’t you watch TV? Even Saddam Hussein was hanged this week. Are you stronger than him? No! Why fight this man then? Do you want to bring danger to our home?” I waited for others to rebuff him or to encourage me to attack the evangelist, but no one did. I became furious with them and rebuked them for their cowardice in defending Islam. I said to them, “You are the ones who opened the door to the Christians, not I.”

What happened then? As I left that place, the evangelist said to me, “My brother, I’m not here to preach religion. I’m here to tell you that your debt is paid, that Jesus died for you and that He loves you. Why worship a god that is dead? Come, worship the God who has risen from death and is alive!’’ When I entered the mosque that night, I suddenly had doubts about my Islamic faith. In fact, in the middle of my nightly prayers, I started to shiver and found myself praying, “You are most merciful, God. You are omniscient and you know all. Please, show me the right faith! How can I walk in faith without

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knowing which is the right one?” Immediately after praying this, I had a vision. I saw myself inside very old, cracked houses, where on my left side I saw an idol worshiper and on my right side I saw a worshiper singing songs of joy. Then Jesus appeared before me and answered my every question.

What else did you see in your vision? Jesus sprinkled His blood on me before making a cross with a sword, which he placed upon me. I was very worried by this, but then He called me to follow Him into a large space where a big cross hung overhead and a crowd was gathered. He entered into the crowd, and I followed. Some were knelt down, others were praying silently and others shouted. “We are lost!” I uttered, staring at the honesty of their worship. “We shout meaningless Arabic words. These are the chosen ones, not us.” As I said this, Jesus spread butter on my head, anointing me a hero amongst my people. That is when I woke from the vision.

MARCH 2015

What happened after seeing this vision?

Each night, when I would fall asleep, Jesus would enter my dreams and teach me. One night, He showed me in John 3:16 that He didn’t come to condemn the world, but to die for it. The next morning, I woke up unable to perform my morning prayer duties at the mosque. I just couldn’t find it in me to utter more meaningless Arabic prayers. Members of the mosque thought I couldn’t pray because I hadn’t eaten enough food, but the truth was that I had realized that the prayers of Islam were useless. When I didn’t pray at all that day, local Muslims questioned me, urging me to pray, but I remained silent. That night, I confessed to the Lord that I was afraid the members of the mosque would hurt me and maybe even kill me, but the Lord assured me that He would continue to be with me and that I should make my faith known. When I shared what the Lord had told me with my father, he urged me not to share it with my brothers. He was afraid that they too would hurt me. I told him that the Lord had promised to deliver me, that no one would be able to hurt me. That very night, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

What persecution have you faced for preaching? When my brothers heard what I had done, one of them planned to set my house on fire,

‘When my brothers heard what I had done, one of them planned to set my house on fire, but burned down his own house instead.’ – A MUSLIM-BACKGROUND BELIEVER

but burned down his own house instead. Later, when two people from my own clan decided to stab me, they attacked each other instead. After seeing this, my parents saw that the Lord was with me and agreed not to harm me. The Lord has always fought for me, even when things were difficult. When my father passed away, my brothers tried to keep me from attending the funeral — they even tried to hide the news of his death from me! After the funeral, they excommunicated me from the family and barred me from receiving my inheritance unless I renounced my Christian faith. In truth, I didn’t care for the inheritance. The Scriptures command me not to seek earthly things, so rather than fighting for my earthly inheritance, I’m still fighting, to this very day, for my brothers to join the kingdom of heaven. Even though I always face persecution for preaching the Good News, the Lord has been faithful in His promise to protect me, so I must continue to preach the Gospel.

How so? By traveling to where our Muslim brothers and sisters have not been reached. Wherever I go, I tell Muslim brothers and sisters that unless they receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior and acknowledge the price He paid for their salvation, they will not enter the kingdom of heaven. I teach them that God is the Alpha and the Omega, and that He is our healer, our supplier and our redeemer. Whenever unbelievers ask me what the Bible teaches, I tell them. It’s simple, but that is how I carry Him to the Oromia people.

How many Muslimbackground believers have come to the Lord because of your ministry? More than 170 Muslims have come to know the Lord since I began my ministry. Many people in Oromia ask questions about salvation, and I give them answers from both the Quran and the Bible. I show them that even the Quran teaches that only the Bible carries the Word that can save. The Quran says that if you are doubtful, go and read the Bible! By sharing my testimony, knowing the Scriptures and being willing to give everything for my faith, the Oromia people are coming to know the truth of the Bible: that Jesus is Lord!

Training Pastors in Ethiopia Ethiopian pastors attend an ICC training on how to fight persecution while advancing the Kingdom in dangerous areas.

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Volunteers

Standing up for Justice for the Persecuted Church

The Power of Prayer

BILL BROWN VOLUNTEER ADVOCACY TEAM

RACHEL THOMAS VOLUNTEER PRAYER TEAM

s a member of ICC’s volunteer advocacy team, Bill Brown regularly raises his voice on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering. He has been able to do so by writing letters and making phone calls to government officials, organizing marches for the persecuted and participating in a radio ministry to express his concern. Brown says that when he sees “heavy oppression and horrible crimes perpetrated on believers, [he] can’t help but go to God in prayer and ask, ‘What can I do?’” Brown was driven to take action on behalf of the persecuted church when he noticed that “outspoken Christian voices in the secular and public squares seemed sadly missing” in the midst of rising persecution. This motivation has led Brown to participate in various ICC advocacy campaigns, including most recently writing a letter to the Egyptian embassy on behalf of an imprisoned Christian in Egypt. As part of his mission to pray and speak out more effectively as well as raise financial and material relief, Brown and his wife recently partnered with the Christian Genocide Rescue Alliance to organize a rescue march (pictured above) in Hartford, Connecticut, for the victims of genocide. During this march,

individuals spoke out on behalf of Christians facing persecution in Iraq and Nigeria. Brown felt called to get actively involved on the notion that although “there is a lot of information coming out to churches about persecution through various ministries, being proactive with what we know needs to be a priority.” Brown believes that those interested in volunteering should first “get informed and study to have a biblical perspective on the subject of persecution.” After prayerful consideration, those wishing to get involved should strive to give time in prayer, write to government officials to break the silence and call for action among churches and local Christian organizations. It is clear that Brown and the rest of ICC’s volunteer advocacy team are taking Matthew 25:40 to heart.

‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.’ – MATTHEW 25:40 (NIV)

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s a member of ICC’s volunteer prayer team, Rachel Thomas serves the persecuted primarily through intercession. On a daily basis, Thomas sets aside at least 15 minutes to pray specifically for the persecuted church. In addition to individual prayer, Thomas is actively involved with a youth group that spends regular time in prayer for Christians around the world who are in need. She believes that prayer is “the least [she] can do to help support persecuted members in the body of Christ.” Prayer volunteers across the nations make use of news stories and ICC updates to encourage others to pray for the persecuted, both individually and as a church. This year, events were held by volunteers throughout the world, including the UK, Thailand, India and multiple locations in the U.S., in honor of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted. Even from afar, ICC volunteers are able to bridge the gap to support those in need through prayer. Thomas summed it up best when she said, “Prayer goes where we cannot physically go and makes an eternal impact for God’s children.”

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Looking for a Way to Make a Difference in the World? Join Our Team of Volunteers! Most people hope to make a difference in the world, but many are not sure where to begin when addressing an issue as daunting as religious persecution. However, volunteers in every corner of the world are making an impact in their own communities, whether through prayer, advocacy, awareness or administrative help. By raising their voices in their own neighborhoods, ICC’s volunteers have helped bring unity to the Body of Christ by bridging the gap between the Western Church and the persecuted. It is up to us to make a change, and it starts in our own backyard.

Volunteers light candles in solidarity for the oppressed.

Stacks of newsletters sit on a display table awaiting distribution.

United for Peace

Spreading the Word

In Southeast Asia, volunteer Shamiel is making great strides in his efforts to bring people together to recognize the issues facing religious minorities. By partnering with the Christian Youth Development Movement, he organized a multifaith gathering called the International Day of Peace. During this event, attendees gathered to stand in solidarity for Christians suffering for their faith in Iraq and other zones of conflict and to discuss how they can best address this issue. Following a moment of silence for the persecuted, participants lit candles together to symbolize the hope that they have for the future of persecuted Christians around the world.

As part of ICC’s volunteer awareness team, Blake Burget spreads awareness for the persecuted by writing a monthly column about the persecuted for his church’s newsletter. He also gave a presentation to a Denver church in order to spread awareness. In addition to writing and speaking on behalf of the persecuted, Burget also volunteers by distributing ICC’s Persecution magazine on a regular basis. In total, 747 extra copies of Persecution are sent each month to 50 representatives and churches for distribution. The number of extra copies sent to each representative or church ranges from three to 50.

Volunteer Teams 1 Advocacy Fight for justice for the persecuted through petitions, embassy calls and more.

2 Awareness Raise your voice for the persecuted Church through speaking in churches, writing and social media.

3 Office Lighten the load of our staff by helping with administrative tasks. 4 Prayer Intercede for our brothers and sisters in Christ, both individually and as a church.

Interested in Serving? Online Apply on our website at:

http://www.persecution.org/how-you-canhelp/volunteer or send an email to volunteer@persecution.org

Phone Want more information? Feel free to call us at (301) 585-5915.

5 Special Projects Volunteer on your own schedule through one-time projects.

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Your Dollar$ at Work Rebuilding a Community Community Rebuild On the night of July 3, 2014, armed militants affiliated with al-Shabaab, a Somaliabased, radical Islamic insurgency, devastated the Christian community of Hindi, Kenya. In less than two hours, throngs of Islamic militants disguised as Kenyan police officers destroyed 13 Christian homes and burned down the local church, murdering 10 of its male members in the process, leaving behind nine widows and dozens of orphans who now live homeless and impoverished. In November, ICC staff traveled to meet with the survivors of the massacre to hear their stories and to lay the groundwork for rebuilding their community. After driving for days across some of the roughest roads in Kenya, ICC staff met face to face with nearly 30 men, women and children whose lives were turned upside down by Islamic extremists committed to a theology of hatred and violence that claimed the lives of hundreds of non-Muslims in 2014 alone. While in Hindi, ICC staff were able to document victims’ loss, capture pictures and video of the devastation for the whole world to see, pray with those blessed to survive and build personal relationships with community leaders to ensure that ICC’s support goes directly to those in need. While ICC has already partnered with a local ministry to clear and plow land belonging to the church to provide the martyrs’ widows with jobs and their orphans with food, we are prepared to do so much more with your cherished partnership! When asked by his enemies to step down from rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, Nehemiah responded, “I am carrying on a great work and cannot come down” (Nehemiah 6:3). Just as Nehemiah knew the value of staying wholly committed to a great work of God, so do we. In 2015, ICC has made healing the wounds of the Hindi Christian community our great work in Kenya that we cannot come down from. Will you do the same? Join us “on the wall.” Support our efforts to rebuild the Christian community of Hindi, Kenya, by donating to ICC’s Community Rebuild fund today.

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MARCH 2015

Resurrecting the Church

Underground Pastors

CC is committed to resurrecting Pastor Elizabeth’s church from the ashes. Before the July massacre, the church served both its congregants and the Hindi community at large. Under Pastor Elizabeth’s leadership, the church witnessed to local non-believers through free vocational training before the church’s sewing machines and welding iron were consumed in the fire. By supporting ICC’s efforts to resurrect the Hindi church, you are also supporting the resurrection of a community center that has carried the Good News of Jesus Christ to the lost for decades. Consider contributing to this great work today by donating to ICC’s Underground Pastors fund.

Rebuilding Lost Homes

Community Rebuild

CC is committed to rebuilding Christian homes decimated by radical Islamic militants during the Hindi massacre. For months, families of widows and orphans have lived homeless, unsure of where they would find their next meal. Targeted for their Christian faith, these families lost not only their loved ones, but their every possession. Clothes, furniture, cooking utensils, birth certificates and savings were all consumed by the flames. These families were forced to watch everything they once cherished burn to the ground. Partner with us to build homes for the survivors of this horrific attack by contributing to ICC’s Community Rebuild fund today.

Restoring Hurting Families

Suffering Wives & Children

CC is committed to restoring 18 families victimized by radical Islamic militants the night of July 5, 2014. Beyond rebuilding burned homes and resurrecting the local church from its charred remains, the victims of the Hindi massacre need trauma counseling, sources of income and basic necessities, like cooking utensils, furniture and materials for their children to be put back in school. Help us serve the families of Hindi’s martyrs by contributing to ICC’s Suffering Wives and Children fund today! Your generous gifts will provide these victims with the help and resources they need to pull themselves out of poverty, hunger and hopelessness.

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Your Dollar$ at Work

Water for a Pastors Minister Serving the Martyr’s Parents in Horn of Africa Forgotten Hand of Hope

“W

e have no hope, we feel like everything is lost,” Gabriel said, his eyes cast at the floor as we sat together, shaded from the hot sun in the vehicle we’d rented to come see him and others who had lost loved ones in the attack. It was November 2012 when it happened. Gabriel’s 22-year-old son was sitting, watching his friend’s mother fix her hair for choir practice, when a small, black object landed in the church’s courtyard. When nothing happened, those gathered mistook what was a dud grenade for a large stone thrown at the church — a common occurrence in Garissa, a Muslim stronghold on Kenya’s border with Somalia. When a second grenade came through the window, everyone assumed it to be another stone until it exploded, killing Gabriel’s son and his friend and injuring several others. In an instant, Gabriel and his wife lost “everything,” but with your generous support, ICC was able to give some of what they lost back. In January, ICC bought Gabriel a water pump and piping to be able to irrigate his land so that he can now support himself and his wife after losing his son who, while alive, cared and provided for them.

Underground Pastors

t’s a land controlled, for decades, by alShabaab, a radical Islamic insurgency so dangerous al-Qaida has employed it to train its fighters. The Horn of Africa is one of the most dangerous mission fronts on the globe, and yet its people are desperate for the Word of God and hunger for the Gospel. For years, ICC has supported underground missionaries like Reverend Omar, who just in a month conducted 26 Bible study groups, preached 33 sermons and reported four new believers! According to the reverend, “More Muslims have come to the Lord in the last few years, because of ICC’s support, than in all preceding years combined.” As an organization, ICC believes in both bandaging and building the persecuted Church. While a majority of work has and continues to center on relieving the suffering of our persecuted brothers and sisters, ICC is also committed to carrying the Good News of Jesus Christ to the unreached corners of the earth, even where being a Christian can mean certain death. By donating to ICC’s Underground Pastors fund today, you can join us in advancing the kingdom of God to the most dangerous countries in the world for Christians.

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Save Our Sisters

ll too often, persecuted Christians slip through the cracks. Their suffering goes unnoticed and their story untold. Rahimat was one of those Christians who had slipped through the cracks, and it was by God’s grace alone that ICC was able to catch her. At 19, Rahimat moved out on her own and started a business selling sugar cane by the roadside, but when her family found out she had converted from Islam to Christianity and was using her business to witness to Muslims, they kidnapped her. For nearly three months, Rahimat’s family tortured her in a desperate attempt to reconvert her to Islam. For weeks, her cries went unheard and her suffering unnoticed, but when Rahimat’s pastor contacted ICC’s representative in Ethiopia, ICC immediately worked to free Rahimat and get her into safe hiding. After seeing to her physical and emotional recovery, ICC rented an apartment attached to the local church for Rahimat to live in under the protection of the elders’ watch. We provided her with food and enrolled her in vocational training. Thanks to your generous donations to ICC’s Save Our Sisters fund, Rahimat is free, healthy and learning the skills necessary to run a successful business in a Muslim-majority area of Ethiopia. MARCH 2015

Your Dollar$ at Work

Delivering 540 Restoring Joy to Feeding Families Bibles to China Survivors in Eritrea Bibles to the Persecuted

hile many Christians in America and much of the Western world have more than one Bible in their homes, Christians in China, especially in rural areas, have no access to its life-giving words and remain desperate for Bibles. During the 2014 Christmas season, a pastor we work with in China organized a Christmas program. Knowing that people would travel long distances to worship together at this event, the pastor asked for 500 Bibles to give away to those who would attend the event, hungry for the Word of God. The program was full of music, plays and speaking. The speaker was a Chinese pastor who shared the story of Christ’s miraculous birth at great risk to his own life. He may even now face negative consequences for his boldness. At the end of the pastor’s stirring message, 109 souls stood up to make a commitment to Jesus! Praise the Lord! ICC delivered even more than the pastor asked: 540 Bibles. Every one of those Bibles went into the hands of a grateful Chinese person who held the book with reverence and awe. Your giving to the Bible fund has had eternal impact!

Suffering Wives & Children

Hand of Hope

t was eerie stepping into Joy in Jesus, a church in Likoni, a slum on the far side of Mombasa, Kenya’s Kilindini port. A little more than six months before, a radical Muslim armed with an AK-47 had stepped into this same church, but with very different motives. We were entering to bandage the wounds of a congregation attacked for spreading light in the darkness of Kenya’s majorityMuslim coast; he had entered to kill. Their faces made dark by the overhead fluorescent lights, five victims sat slumped in their chairs, clutching lifeless limbs and rubbing aching scars. Each had been shot no less than twice in the attack, and yet, by the grace of God, each had survived a massacre that left 22 of their brothers and sisters dead. But life isn’t easy for those blessed to have limped away from the Likoni Church massacre. Traumatized by the attack, left disabled by gunshot wounds and impoverished by medical bills, each of the gathered believers sat waiting, hoping to receive support from ICC’s generous donors. Having paid for their badly needed pain medication, ICC is committed to restoring joy to this devastated congregation with your generous support to ICC’s Hand of Hope Africa Fund.

“T

hese people should be dead by now, but by the grace of God, they are surviving,” said a man speaking of the underground church following his visit to Eritrea on ICC’s behalf. “They have hope from the Lord,” he continued. “But it’s all they have.” Evangelical Christians in Eritrea face some of the most extreme persecution in the world. Considered the North Korea of Africa, experts estimate 2,000 to 3,600 Christians are currently being held in prisons across Eritrea for their faith. Packed into shipping containers in the desert, held in total darkness for 23 out of 24 hours a day, and regularly tortured for their faith, Christians imprisoned in Eritrea are the victims of a state-sponsored attempt to eradicate a religion that, despite the state’s most nefarious efforts, continues to grow. Through our partner organization, ICC supports 15 wives and children whose husbands and fathers have been imprisoned for sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. With your partnership, ICC is able to put food on the tables of 15 persecuted families who would otherwise go hungry. Consider sponsoring an underground Christian family in need by contributing to ICC’s Suffering Wives and Children fund today.

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Your Dollar$ at Work

Indonesian Christians Undeterred by Persecution Underground Pastors

ur pastors on the ground often report firsthand persecution incidents. At times they are present themselves when persecution breaks out, and at other times they arrive just hours after an incident has occurred. For instance, even though their church building had been closed by the government, these faithful Christians in Indonesia still meet for worship in front of their church building. They are often forced to endure harassment from radical Muslims, who throw cow dung and dirt at them while they worship outside. One of our pastors was traveling to visit and worship with the congregation of another church when one such incident occurred. He said, “The radicals threw dung and dirt at [the Christians], making everyone, including the children, very uncomfortable. However, even with this, I could sense their spirit was really high! They all sang praises and danced to the Lord joyfully.”

Food and Hope for Iraq’s Christians Community Rebuild

ith ISIS bent on establishing an Islamic state with deadly brutality, Christians faced the threat of conversion to Islam, a protection tax or death. In the face of these atrocities, 200,000 Christians from central Iraq fled their homes, with ISIS on their heels, and sought refuge in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. As winter closed in, access to shelter, warmth and food remained critical

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needs. In the midst of the challenging situations in Iraq, there are some churches that are faithfully preaching, evangelizing, and serving the community around them, even in the midst of intense persecution. The crisis caused by ISIS’ attacks across Iraq has opened up new opportunities for the church to engage in ministry to the communities of Internally Displaced People (IDP) and others in need. However, the necessities — from food to blankets to housing, heat and other non-food items — were urgent, severe and massive. The Kurdish churches were not equipped to meet those demands on their own. ICC partnered with local churches on the ground to provide food packages, blankets, and heaters to thousands of these families during the harsh winter. MARCH 2015

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Helping a Persecuted Pastor Heal

Underground Pastors

n December, Pastor Bhim Nayak and several members of his church were attacked and severely beaten by Hindu radicals while they were singing Christmas carols in Hyderabad, India. Radicals claimed the Christians were attempting to forcefully convert Hindus to Christianity by singing carols. Focusing their rage on Pastor Nayak, the radicals beat him so badly that Pastor Nayak spent three days in ICU.

Our brothers and sisters in Iraq responded with relief and gratitude. One person said, “Thank you for thinking of us in this difficult situation. We know that we are not alone.” Another said, “We were hopeless, but you brought hope to us. Thank you! This is how the Church should be.” Those assisted by this project asked us to pray for them to find safe shelter, for the Lord to provide all their needs and for them to be able to find a way to one day return to their homes. Will you join with us in praying for the Father to meet these needs of our brothers and sisters?

In response, ICC sent funds to cover all of Pastor Nayak’s medical expenses on the same day as the attack. Today, the wounded pastor continues to suffer from some pain, but is on the road to recovery. “I am very thankful for the assistance from ICC,” Pastor Nayak said. “The incident has helped me see a bigger picture of the church: that we are part of the larger family that is God’s people.”

Distributing Bibles in Bangladesh

Bibles to the Persecuted

s the Gospel spreads in Bangladesh’s rural areas, many new Christians find it difficult to afford their very own copy of the Bible. For some, Bibles are not only too expensive, they are not even available. To meet this need, ICC purchased and distributed Bibles to new believers who would otherwise be unable to own their own copy of

the Word of God. Because of generous donations made to its Bible fund, ICC was able to provide these new believers with something that will allow them to grow deeper in their new faith. “This is my very first Bible,” one woman told ICC. “From now on, I will be able to bring my own Bible to our weekly house prayers.”

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You Can Help Today!

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SEND DONATIONS TO: ICC PO BOX 8056 SILVER SPRING, MD 20907 OR ONLINE AT WWW.PERSECUTION.ORG OR BY PHONE 800-ICC-5441

GIVING TO ICC VIA YOUR WILL Provide now for a future gift to ICC by including a bequest provision in your will or revocable trust. If you would like more information on giving to ICC in this way, please give us a call at 1-800-ICC-5441.

International Christian Concern (ICC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) (all donations tax-deductible). ICC makes every effort to honor donor wishes in regards to gifts. Occasionally, situations arise where a project is no longer viable. ICC will then redirect those donated funds to the fund most similar to the donor’s original wishes. ICC uses 7.5 percent of each restricted donation to carry out the mission of its segregated funds. facebook.com/persecuted

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