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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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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
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.
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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
“Everyone sat in despondent silence, broken only by the anguished cries of women … ”
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.
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.”
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MARCH 2015
100 Million Christians Persecuted
INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
ISIS Kidnaps 20 Coptics in Libya
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.”
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INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
Twenty Chinese Christians were arrested and had their Bibles and hymnals confiscated when authorities raided a Bible study in Beijing. 5
Impact Report
low
WHERE MOST NEEDED
SUFFERING WIVES and CHILDREN
COMMUNITY REBUILD
FUND BALANCE:
FUND BALANCE:
FUND BALANCE:
medium
high
low
•
•
6
high
low
medium
2015 Q1
2015 Q1
2015 Q1
ICC Assisted:
ICC Assisted:
ICC Assisted:
20,000
•
medium
high
INDIVIDUALS
43
INDIVIDUALS
4,198
IN 3 COUNTRIES
IN 5 COUNTRIES
IN 4 COUNTRIES
PROJECTS
PROJECTS
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:
FUND BALANCE:
FUND BALANCE:
medium
low
high
high
low
medium
high
2015 Q1
2015 Q1
590+
1849
ICC Assisted:
INDIVIDUALS
18,650
IN MANY COUNTRIES
IN 13 COUNTRIES
IN 6 COUNTRIES
PROJECTS
PROJECTS
PROJECTS
2015 Q1
ICC Assisted:
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.
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INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
•
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
•
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.
•
Native-language Bible distribution has occurred in Bangladesh, India, China, Vietnam, Egypt and another unnamed country.
•
Installed an underground printing press in an unnamed country that began printing Bibles in February.
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