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FEBRUARY 2016
PERSECU ION East Africa 2015:
God is Great for Us
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INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
Table of Contents
In This Issue: FEATURE
16 | East Africa Overview
ICC staff reports back on a trip to one of the most persecuted regions in the world.
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Sudan Eritrea
FEATURE
Ethiopia
18 | Remembering the 33
Staff member interviews three families of the Ethiopian and Eritrean men killed by ISIS in April, 2015.
Somalia Tanzania
FEATURE
20 | Sudan Overview
One of Africa’s most oppressive rulers continues his persecution of Christians in Sudan. FEATURE
24 | Paradise Lost
Tanzania’s beautiful scenery is but an illusion to those who live in the reality of its oppressive Muslim population. FEATURE
28 | Do Not Hinder the Children
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A little girl is hiding from the man who raped her mother and wants to kidnap her and raise her as a Muslim. INTERVIEW
30 |On the Front Lines
Hear the testimonies of eight pastors in Zanzibar who live in the midst of constant perseuction. Regular Features
3 Letter from the President A few words from ICC’s president, Jeff King, on the tragedies and blessings in East Africa. 4 Impact Report View the impact of your gifts on several funds for the persecuted Church this year. 6 News A snapshot of the persecution that impacts our brothers and sisters daily, in every corner of the world. 10 YDAW Learn how your gifts are providing comfort, relief, Bibles, education and vocational training to the persecuted.
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FEBRUARY 2016
President’s Letter We met Aleymatu (page 17) in Ethiopia. She is the mother of Ayalkebetz, her only son, born to her when she was only 15. She raised him as a single mother and as you can imagine, her choice to keep her baby came at a great cost for an uneducated, single, young girl. All her life’s time, treasure, and talent, was spent on raising her son. In sum, he was her great treasure. He grew up, married, and gave Aleymatu two beautiful grandchildren. Unfortunately, Ethiopia’s terrible economy pushed him to leave Ethiopia and migrate to Europe. The only problem was that he had to go through ISIScontrolled Libya to reach a better life. His life was taken on April 19, 2015, as he and 32 other Ethiopians were beheaded by ISIS soldiers on the shore of the Mediterranean in Libya. His wife found out that he was among the 33 beheaded martyrs when she saw his face while watching the ISIS propaganda video of the incident at an internet cafe. Months later, when we met with Aleymatu in Ethiopia and discussed what had happened to her son and the after-effects in her life, she said something that was incredibly striking, that rings in my ears.
Jeff King, President International Christian Concern
“God is the one who makes known our story. God is great for us and I testify to His goodness!” Aleymatu is in the midst of intense pain, like nothing she has ever experienced before. I picture her speaking these words above, the rain lashing her face, as raging flood waters rush by her and lap at her feet as she stands on the small circle of land where her home once stood. All that’s left of her home is one great corner post, which she clings to as she cries out, face raised to heaven with tears mixing with the rain. She shouts, “This great tree, sunk deep into the ground, will hold me and I will not be washed away. It is secure and will hold me even if everything else washes away in this flood of evil.” While this picture exists only in my mind, I think it captures the essence of her heart and mind. Her declaration hints at the great secret of persecution. That is, persecution (or great pain) causes you to lose your “investment” in this world and its system so that if you respond rightly, it causes you to go “all in” with God. This is at the heart of our Christian walk and the path God is taking you and I on. You see it over and over in Scripture but I always go to Jesus’ challenge to the rich young ruler who was asking for a North star to get to the land of eternal life. “‘If you want to (find eternal life) go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and then, come, follow Me.’ But when the young man heard this, he went away grieved and in much distress, for he had great possessions” Matthew 19: 21-22 (NKJV and Amplified Bible). Most of the time you and I (like the rich young ruler) have one foot in the Kingdom and one foot in the world. We love the Lord and want to follow Him wholeheartedly but the world calls to us. It acts as some cosmic venus spy trap that mimics the color and aroma of life but only yields death. We fear the future and the now, and see ourselves as alone and the only maker of our destiny. Therefore, we seek life from the false gods of relationship, money, power, sex, career, hobbies, intellectual pursuits and a thousand other small false gods. When we are lucky enough to have the great teacher Pain come into our life, we have the chance to awaken to truth. For when the flood waters are raging, all has been washed away, then we can see clearly that the only thing that remains is the tree to which we must cling with all our life. Then, like Aleymatu, we can see clearly and declare, “God is the one who makes known my story. God is great for me and I will testify to His goodness!” Please join us as we bandage and build Aleymatu and other members of His persecuted Church. I think you will find, like me, that they are worth your time, treasure and talent. 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:
FUND BALANCE:
FUND BALANCE:
medium
high
low
2015 Q4
•
4
low
medium
high
2015 Q4
ICC Assisted:
ICC Assisted:
20,000
352
3,230
IN 11 COUNTRIES
IN 6 COUNTRIES
IN 2 COUNTRIES
PROJECTS
PROJECTS
PROJECTS
INDIVIDUALS
•
high
2015 Q4
ICC Assisted:
•
medium
A volunteer training was held during which ICC volunteers from all over the US were trained in writing, video production, public speaking, fundraising, and advocacy. ICC took a key Congressional staffer to India in order to increase awareness of persecution in India among Congresssional members. India has a potent lobbying presence on Capitol Hill that suppresses news and awareness of persecution. We exposed the staffer to incidents of persecution, and let them see us launch assistance projects. ICC staff visited Ethiopia to monitor exsting projects and to implement new ones. We also investigated new advocacy channels to ensure the fair treatment of persecuted Christians.
INDIVIDUALS
•
•
•
fter one family’s father was martyred, A ICC provided the necessary equipment and funding for a Christian widow in Egypt to open a sewing shop so that she could provide for herself and her children. Following the Youhanabad bombing of March 2015, ICC assisted 28 families start up small businesses to support themselves after losing their main breadwinners to either death or injury. ICC provided two sewing machines and one year’s worth of tailoring supplies to a Christian woman in Niger who will train other persecuted women to create successful businesses for themselves.
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INDIVIDUALS
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ICC provided propane, food aid and other crucial needs for Christian families in Iraq in areas not touched by the aid being delivered by other aid organizations. ICC helped provide shelter, food, and water to Christians in Syria in order to help them rebuild their community and enable them to stay in the region. ICC assisted in the rebuilding process of the Kenyan village of Hindi after many houses were burned down in 2014 by suspected al-Shabaab militants. ICC helped repair two churches in India damaged by Hindu radicals.
FEBRUARY 2016
Impact Report
low
KIDS CARE
UNDERGROUND PASTORS
BIBLES
FUND BALANCE:
FUND BALANCE:
FUND BALANCE:
medium
low
high
2015 Q4
•
•
high
low
2015 Q4
ICC Assisted:
ICC Assisted:
132
•
medium
medium
high
2015 Q4
ICC Assisted:
INDIVIDUALS
40
INDIVIDUALS
20,365
IN 4 COUNTRIES
IN 7 COUNTRIES
IN 3 COUNTRIES
PROJECTS
PROJECTS
PROJECTS
ICC provided funds to six missions teams which reach out to Christian children in remote conflict zones in Burma to provide medical treatment and train young people with skills to improve their communities. 300 Christian children in Jos, Nigeria who are living as internal refugees in camps as a result of Boko Haram’s murdereous antiChirstian campaign received sandals after going barefoot for the last year and a half. Following the 2013 bombing of Pakistan’s All Saints Church, ICC provided schooling and trauma counseling to the Christian kids affected by the attack. ICC hopes to continue to invest in the education of Christian children affected by persecution and provide them with hope and a future.
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ICC provided financial aid to cover rent and food for a month to a pastor and his family in Bangladesh who were forced to leave their home after it was attacked by Muslim radicals. ICC supported two pastors in Pakistan who are involved with a dangerous ministry, through which they share the Gospel to locals of various religious backgrounds. ICC supported five church planters in Indonesia who share the Gospel with Muslims among unreached people groups. In the past five years, hundreds of Muslims have come to faith in Christ.
INDIVIDUALS
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ICC provided one pastor in Pakistan with 100 Urdu Bibles to be distributed among four different churches to fulfill the spiritual needs of those who could not otherwise afford a Bible of their own. After radical Hindu extremists attacked the home of a Christian sister in India and burned her Christian outreach literature, ICC provided her with new Bibles so that she can continue effectively sharing her faith with others. ICC printed and distributed over 10,000 Bibles throughout Southeast Asia. ICC provided a printing press to produce the Scriptures in a closed North African country. More than 25,000 copies of the Gospel have been printed.
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News 7 4
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Hindu Nationalists Lose Major Election
Faithful Couple Burned for Blasphemy 1 | PAKISTAN On November 4, 2014, Shehzad Masih and his pregnant wife, Shama, were brutally murdered by a mob of Muslim radicals after being falsely accused of blasphemy. The couple was accused of burning pages of the Quran. When this accusation was announced in public over a loud speaker, a mob gathered, beat the couple, and burned them alive in a brick kiln. On the one year anniversary of their death, Christians in India and around the world commemorated their deaths. Their violent murder drew international outrage and has led the government of Pakistan to take some positive steps, mostly in the background, to reform their notorius blasphemy laws and to reduce mob violence following blasphemy accusations. However, although various NGOs have provided assistance to the couple’s children, the government of Pakistan has yet to follow through with their promises of compensation for the family. Although Pakistan is taking steps in the right direction to limit the misuse of blasphemy laws, it is evident that there is still much to be done.
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2 | INDIA In November of 2015, Bihar, one of India’s most populous states, concluded a state election which was widely perceived as a “make or break” election for the current ruling Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A three party alliance opposing the BJP won by a large margin, obtaining 178 of the 243 seats in the legislature in the state of Bihar, and leaving the BJP with only 58 seats. Prior to the election, Indian Prime Minister Modi campaigned extensively in Bihar in an effort to promote the BJP’s values of Hindu nationalism. Although Modi won the national election in 2014, the BJP did not have the majority in the upper house of parliament. A BJP win in Bihar would have consolidated Modi’s and the BJP’s strength in parliament as well. Many Christian leaders throughout India are celebrating the defeat of the BJP in the Bihar state elections as a victory for tolerance and secularism in India. This current Modi-led government has seen an increase in violence and discrimination against Christians and other religious minorities in states where the BJP holds power.
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Christians Survive Arson Attack 3 | BANGLADESH In late 2015, four Christian families in Kamarpara, Bangladesh survived an arson attack by a group of Muslim radicals attempting to burn the families alive in their own homes. Thankfully, neighbors were able to help them escape the fires. According to Barnabas Aid, the attackers targeted these Christians because they were accused of witchcraft. However, one of the survivors of the attack stated that the attackers were simply attempting to seize their property. In spite of the fact that Christians make up only one percent of the total population, Bangladesh has a relatively tame record regarding religious freedom violations against Christians. However, attacks on Christians and church leaders have sharply increased in recent months. This has led many Christians in the region to fear an increase in Islamic extremism and future attacks.
FEBRUARY 2016
South Sudanese Christian Executed by ISIS 4 | SUDAN In October of 2015, a video was released of the beheading of a South Sudanese Christian man, Kuol G. Deng, by an ISIS representative in Libya. The executioner claimed to be acting in defense of Muslims who are being attacked by Christians in South Sudan.
Communitst Party Cracks Down 5 | CHINA Christians in China are fearful of their status within the country as the Chinese Communist Party has been on a widespread crackdown on churches for the past two years. As the Communist Party considers any organzied group a potetial threat to their stranglehold on power, underground churches and even registered churches have found themselves targets of the government’s paranoia. At surface level, local authorities are stating that the churches which they are closing and the people that they are arresting are affiliated with cults, rather than with any major religion. However, this explanation is often merely a cover that is used to further intensify the state’s persecution of the Church.
Christian Girl Beaten 6 | PAKISTAN A young Christian schoolgirl in Faisalabad, Pakistan was recently severely beaten for using the school’s “Muslim Toilet.” In many areas of Pakistan, Christians are viewed as “unclean” due to their religious beliefs and are therefore segregated from the Muslim majority. Local Christian groups in Pakistan have requested an investigation in order to hold the school officials responsible for their actions. At the time of writing, no corrective action has been taken.
Coptic Christians Murdered by ISIS 7 | EGYPT After more than a week of waiting, Sabry Bakhit received news confirming his worst fears that his two brothers, Wasfy and Fahmy, had been killed. The men had travelled to Libya two years ago in search of jobs because they were unable to find work in Egypt to provide for their families. Islamic militants abducted and shot these two Egyptian Coptic Christians in the desert of Western Libya. These latest murders, which have largely gone unrecognized by international media, are yet another reminder of the dangers that Christians in Egypt face. The Egyptian government must address the violence, discrimination, and lack of opportunity that has caused countless Coptic Christians to risk their lives in search of work in Libya.
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News 2 63 4 1
Call to Action for Eritrean Persecution 1 | ERITREA As human rights abuses continue to mount, a call to action by individuals sympathetic to the plight of Eritreans has been issued, calling for the international community to take action. Eritreans in North America recently made an urgent appeal to the United National Secretary General and the Security Council, calling for greater action to alleviate human rights violations in Eritrea. The appeal explained that although Eritreans have endured many hardships and sacrificed greatly for the sake of independence over the past 30 years, they are still suffering at the hands of the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice. This oppressive ruling party is led by Isaias Afwerki, one of the longest ruling totalitarians in the world. Under this regime, Christians and other religious minorities are considered threats to the state. Countless reports of arbitrary imprisonment and brutal torture due to the faith of an individual have accumulated.
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One common form of torture involves placing detainees in metal shipping containers in the desert for long periods of time, exposing them to extreme temperatures. In addition to the appeal made by Eritreans in North America, Human Rights Watch has issued a report regarding the migration of Eritreans. According to the report, Eritreans fall short only to Syria as the second largest group of migrants attempting to flee into Europe. An increasing number of European leaders are visiting Eritrea, hoping to make deals that cease this increase in refugees. In addition to increasing awareness about the plight of these Christians, the international community must implement a wide range of sanctions on Eritrea, forcing their dictator to end their brutal treatment of religious minorities.
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“..worst act of violence in France since WWII.” Terrorist Attacks in Paris 2 | FRANCE On the evening of November 13, 2015, the world watched with horror as at least 128 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks across Paris, France. The attack was carried out by ISIS affiliated terrorists who used machine guns and suicide belts in various heavily populated areas. The series of attacks is recorded as the worst act of violence in France since World War II. The attackers first struck the Stade de France, where the French and German national soccer teams were playing and President Francois Hollande was in attendance. In addition to attacking at least four restaurants, the terrorists struck the Bataclan Conference Center where a concert was just about to begin. The attack at the concert venue accounted for more than 100 of the total fatalities. This incident of violence is yet another example of the reality of radical Islamic terrorism, which is not only committing horrible acts of violence across the world, but seeking to destroy the presence of Christianity in Iraq and Syria.
FEBRUARY 2016
Legislation Requiring Christian Children to Convert to Islam 3 | IRAQ A new piece of legislation in Iraq would require the conversion of Christian children to Islam if their father were to convert or if their mother were to marry a Muslim man or Muslim-background believer. The long-term consequences of this law would be devastating as it is nearly impossible to changes one’s ID back to Christian. This further increases the strain already on the Iraqi church and raises serious questions regarding the future of basic human rights in Iraq.
Mass Arrests of Christians in Iran
Two Catholics Beaten in Vietnam
4 | IRAN On November 1, 2015, authorities in Iran carried out a raid on a Christian house church, arresting 14 people in the process. The detentions took place in Varamin and Tehran, and many of the members had previously been members of the Emmanuel Protestant Church in Tehran, which was closed in 2012. Since 2010, police officials have arbitrarily arrested more than 500 Christians throughout Iran, many of which took place during their frequent raids on church meetings and Bible studies.
5 | VIETNAM According to reports, two Catholic human rights activists were beaten and detained by Vietnamese police on November 8, 2015. More than ten officers stopped their vehicle; they were then beaten and taken to the police station for questioning. The police then wrote in a report that one of them men was being detained for a probation violation even though he was not on probation on charges related to “overthrowing the government.”
Christian Refugees Drown While Migrating to Greece 6 | SYRIA As an example of recent casualties of the war in Iraq and Syria and the impact of the Islamic State, seven Assyrian Christian refugees drowned while attempting to cross the Aegean Sea into Greece. The seven victims drowned along with more than a dozen others when their boat capsized. The seven were from the Christian town of Qaraqosh which fell to ISIS control in the summer of 2014. These seven individuals represent only a small glimpse into the approximate 3,000 who died in 2015 while attempting to make their way into Europe. When Qaraqosh was seized by ISIS, thousands were forced to flee their homes overnight in search of safety elsewhere. According to Christian Today, Qaraqosh and its surrounding towns had previously being home to at least a quarter of the country’s Christian population.
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Your Dollar$ at Work Support for Christians in India Underground Pastors
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n June of 2014, radical Hindu nationalists in the Bastar District of India’s Chhattisgarh state convinced over 50 village leaders to pass local ordinances banning the practice of non-Hindu religions. The target of these ordinances? The over 300 Christian families living in the Bastar District. Since the passage of these discriminatory ordinances, Christians in the Bastar District have come under almost constant assault. Initially, the ordinances were used to justify physical assaults on Christians and the destruction of their places of worship. In Karmeri village, two Christian women who were cleaning the interior of a church were beaten so severely by a mob of radicals that they were left unconscious for days, one with a broken back. After the initial assault, the ordinances were used to justify the social boycott of Christians across Bastar District. Christians were no longer allowed to collect water at the village well, take their livestock out to graze, collect crops from their fields, work, or even purchase or sell goods at local shops. “We are terrified and devastated,” a local pastor told ICC. “We, Christians, are not allowed take the cattle out for grazing, our rations were cut off, and we were barred from buying things at the local grocery shop. The attackers are roaming free, even after the attack on the Christians.” In November of 2015, ICC sent a team out to the Bastar District to investigate and document this egregious persecution and to deliver much needed aid to the Christians of the Bastar District. While in the Bastar District, ICC’s team was able to deliver food aid, mobile small businesses, medical assistance, and other much needed aid to Christians suffering under the persecution of these ordinances and social boycotts. Please remember the Christians of the Bastar District in your prayers as ICC continues to find ways to serve their needs.
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Hindu nationalists express their contempt toward Christians through acts of violence.
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FEBRUARY 2016
Food Packages for Widows
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Suffering Wives
hat is worse: learning that the Islamic State (IS) beheaded your loved one, or having to watch the video of their death in order to identify them? That’s what five Ethiopian Christians were forced to bear after April 19, 2015, when IS released a video depicting the grisly murder of 33 Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians. To them, it feels like their fathers, sons, cousins, and brothers died only yesterday. While the ISIS video showing the Egyptian 21 garnered global media attention, the Ethiopian and Eritrean version attracted a much smaller response. Six months after the tragedy and without their main breadwinners, these families are still suffering. That’s why ICC traveled to Ethiopia in October. We provided three months of food and financial assistance for five families affected by these murders. We can’t bring back their loved ones but we can show that we love them.
Transportation Uplifting for Pastors Women
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Underground Pastors
ven though Indonesia has varied degrees of religious freedom throughout the country, there are still portions of the church community who partake in “underground churches.” Underground pastors are predominately located in the most restrictive Muslim regions, such as Aceh province. The fear of imprisonment and physical attacks are a daily reality for these churches. In order to provide support for two local pastors, ICC, through generous donations received from donors, purchased two motorbikes through the Underground Pastors fund. The motorbikes will provide transportation to the pastors in order to shepherd their congregations in outlying villages where it is illegal for them or others to partake in home church services. Along with the motorbikes, a small business will be started in order to create evangelistic opportunities and cover.
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Suffering Wives
hristian women are considered both the wrong gender and the wrong religion by many in Pakistan’s Muslim majority population. This discrimination forces most Christian women to find work as house maids, street sweepers, brick kiln workers, or field workers. All considered among Pakistan’s lowest and filthiest jobs. To combat this, ICC opened two vocational training centers, where Christian women could receive vocational and business training free of cost. By giving these Christian women vocational skills, ICC has helped hundreds of Christian women avoid high risk work and become owners of their own small businesses. In November of 2015, another 40 Christian women in Pakistan graduated from ICC’s program funded by donations to our Save Our Sisters fund.
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Your Dollar$ at Work Rescuing a Single Mother
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Suffering Wives
magine being abducted by a militant Islamist terror group and wondering if you would ever return home alive. Judy Mutua is a Kenyan Christian woman who faced exactly that in October, 2015. By God’s grace, just days later, Kenyan military forces rescued her and she lives today, praising the Lord for life and new birth in Christ. Judy is struggling to provide for herself and her infant son. In November, ICC staff met with Judy, prayed with her and provided two months of food and baby supplies to the family. “Now I am hopeful that God will never leave us. He is a faithful God,” Judy praised.
Warmth for the Church in Iraq
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Community Rebuild
s winter weather moved into Iraq, more than 1,300 Christians who had been driven from their homes were without heat. They had already survived one winter and never believed that a year later they would still be in the same place, homeless and living as refugees in their own country. Yet, ISIS continues its murderous campaign to erase any presence of Christianity in Iraq and the hope of returning home for these displaced Christians remains slim. ICC received emergency calls to help them survive as brutally cold weather set in. We were able to quickly respond to provide nearly 250 families with heaters and oil to heat their homes. The church in Iraq is on the brink of extinction and many are looking to leave the country. By helping to meet these urgent physical needs, ICC is helping the church to survive for another season and we pray to continue to grow in an Iraq that will one day know peace.
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FEBRUARY 2016
Hindu Converts Livestock
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Bibles for the Persecuted
angladesh remains one of the world’s most underdeveloped countries where many people live below the global poverty line. This extreme poverty means many can’t afford a Bible. In November, ICC delivered Bibles to converts from Islam and Hinduism. For these new Christians, the Word of God will help establish a firm foundation for their spiritual growth.
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Community Rebuild
n March of 2013, a mob of enraged Muslims attacked the Christian neighborhood of Joseph Colony in Lahore, Pakistan following a Christian named Sawan Masih being accused of committing blasphemy against Islam. Over 170 Christian homes were burned to the ground and Sawan was sentenced to death. ICC purchased a milking buffalo for Sawan’s family which provides an important lifeline.
Small Business for Widow
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Suffering Wives
alak Ibrahim, 31, had traveled to Libya to find work to help care for his wife Christine and their little girl. In January of 2015, ISIS militants abducted Malak and 20 others in Libya. A few weeks later, their executions were broadcasted to the world as ISIS militants publicized the brutal beheading of the 21 martyrs. While ICC was horrified by their deaths, we knew this was yet another opportunity for us to serve Christians who had suffered for their faith. Within a few days, we met with Christine and the other families to pray with them and deliver a care package. Then, as the grief began to move towards recovery, with your help, ICC was there to help Christine and her family think about how they would earn an income. We helped them to open a small corner market where Christine can work by selling basic goods in her village and care for herself and her young daughter.
Food for Church Congregation Underground Pastors
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ince 2009 the HBKP and GKI churches in Indonesia have been barred from worshipping in their respective buildings. Forced to worship outside in the elements, both congregations have defiantly gone against local government authority to exercise their right under the constitution to celebrate and worship freely. As the Christmas season proceeded, ICC
and local representatives worked together to provide transportation and food for both congregations for a joint Christmas service in front of the presidential palace. Through the generous gifts provided by our donors, funds were taken from the Hand of Hope Far East fund to purchase the services of 10 buses along with enough food for 500 in attendance. We continue to pray and pressure the Indonesian government to recognize their failure to follow the law and open the doors once again for these churches.
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Volunteers
International Christian Concern’s Volunteer Banquet
Training for Fundraising
ICC 2015 VOLUNTEER BANQUET AND TRAINING ALL VOLUNTEER TEAMS
DEBORAH POE VOLUNTEER AWARENESS TEAM
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n December of 2015, International Christian Concern held a training and appreciation banquet for all of our hard-working volunteers. Members of ICC’s volunteer program travelled from all over the country to gather in each other’s company, attend various training sessions, and enjoy a banquet of appreciation. Before the trainings began, volunteers and staff gathered for a time of worship and prayer to dedicate the day to Christ. Experts from various organizations attended the conference to present trainings on advocacy, writing, public speaking, video production, and fundraising. Following the five trainings, volunteers split up into breakout sessions, during which they had the opportunity to meet directly with the experts and practice the subject of their respective trainings. One of the highlights of the day took place when ICC President Jeff King arrived to speak with and encourage the volunteers. He told them to never forget the reason that they initially began serving and encouraged them that they are truly making a tangible difference that is felt overseas. During the banquet, a dinner was held simply to celebrate the volunteers and all of their hard work. Various awards were pre-
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sented, including awards for the “Most Active Volunteer” and “Longest Serving Volunteer.” Staff and volunteers had the opportunity to chat with one another throughout the night, updating one another on various projects that they are involved with. All of ICC’s regional managers took this opportunity to update the volunteers on the status of their regions, how they can help, and what they can be praying for. At the conclusion of the night, staff presented information about ICC’s upcoming Hope House initiative. With the encouragement and camaraderie of a day spent with like-minded servants of Christ along with new tips and knowledge from various training sessions, attendees felt equipped to better assist, spread awareness, and advocate on behalf of the persecuted. The mission of ICC simply would not be possible without all of the hard work and dedication of our volunteers.
‘...as you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.’ – MATTHEW 25:40 (NIV)
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uring the volunteer conference, the speaker who led the fundraising training session was ICC’s own volunteer Deborah Poe. Deborah serves as part of the Awareness Team and has been greatly involved with a ministry called imwalking.us. Through this ministry, sponsors donate both funds and prayer support in a “per mile” walking campaign. The funds that are raised are then donated to support ICC’s overseas projects and other Christian ministries. In addition to her fundraising efforts, Deborah is also committed to spreading awareness within her own church. She uses a bulletin board in her church to highlight various stories of the persecuted and integrated stories about the persecuted Church into Vacation Bible School lessons last summer. She also has committed to praying daily for the persecuted and distributes resources about the persecuted Church in her community. During the banquet portion of the volunteer conference, Deborah received the award for “Most Active Volunteer.” Her constant service to the persecuted and dedication to volunteering is certainly making an impact and is greatly appreciated.
FEBRUARY 2016
Looking for a Way to Make a Difference in the World? Join Our Team of Volunteers! For those wishing to make an impact on behalf of persecuted Christians, many are not sure where to get started. However, volunteers all over the world are making a difference within their own backyards as members of ICC’s five volunteer teams: Advocacy, Awareness, Office, Prayer, and Special Projects. By standing up for the persecuted in countless different ways, ICC’s volunteers have played a crucial role in connecting the global Church by bridging the gap between the persecuted and the Western Church. It only takes one person to make a difference.willing to take the call?
Spreading the Gospel Through Radio
Gathering Petition Signatures Worldwide
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ne of the most efficient ways of reaching a large group of people is through the radio. Two volunteers have taken advantage of this by spreading the word about the persecuted through their local radio stations. By broadcasting the stories that may have otherwise gone unheard, these volunteers are bringing attention to the devastating effects of religious persecution around the world. One of the most encouraging reports that persecuted communities receive is simply that their stories are being told. These volunteers have made it their mission to inform others of the atrocities that have altered the lives of millions.
ne of the strongest aspects of ICC’s petitions is their international reach. Last year’s petitions regarding the persecution of Christians in Eritrea garnered signatures from 128 countries. This is due, in part, to the dedication of volunteers on ICC’s Advocacy Team. Volunteers all over the world serve the persecuted by promoting the petitions in their churches, sharing them on various social media platforms, and sending them to friends and family. Without the international reach of the advocacy volunteers, ICC’s petitions would not get nearly as many signatures or as much attention as they do.
Volunteer Teams 1 Advocacy Fight for justice for the persecuted through petitions, embassy calls
Interested in Serving?
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.
5 Special Projects Volunteer on your own schedule through one-time projects.
Apply online at http://www.persecution.org/ how-you-can-help/volunteer/ or contact volunteer@persecution.org or (301) 585-5915 for more information.
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Feature Article
An Overview of East Africa Our ICC staff member reports back on his trip to one of the most persecuted regions of the world
Sudan Eritrea Ethiopia
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s ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, I have to say that 2015 represented a horrific year for Christians in persecuted East Africa. For that reason, I hopped on a plane recently to visit this brutally persecuted region to meet with the victims of so many attacks. On April 2, al-Shabaab militant Islamists attacked Garissa University College in Kenya and murdered 148 people by separating Christians from Muslims and slaughtering brothers and sisters in Christ at gunpoint. On April 19, the Islamic State (IS) released a video of the brutal martyrdom of 33 Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians in Libya. Through the summer, two South Sudanese pastors faced a possible death penalty for trumped up charges in Sudan before being released on August 6. Furthermore, the ongoing Mediterranean refugee crisis brings into view the terrifying persecution that Christians face in Eritrea, fleeing from a government that tortures and imprisons them in metal shipping containers in the desert.
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Somalia Tanzania
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“I don’t want to disagree with God but I continue to go to Him. I trust God. God is the one who makes known our story.” – BELAYENEHE (MOTHER OF MARTYRED ETHIOPIAN MAN)
Shocking tragedy after tragedy punctuated the world’s attention on a region of the globe where persecution is extreme and constant. However, persecution in East Africa doesn’t only happen through major, one-time events. Christians in Zanzibar, Tanzania are regularly attacked and their churches destroyed. Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) in Africa’s Horn are beaten, harassed, and even killed for their faith by their own families. Sudan also continues to wage war against Christian communities in the Nuba Mountains. These regular sources of suffering all fade into obscurity as the world has seemingly forgotten that persecution is a daily reality in East Africa. “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body,” Hebrews 13:3 (ESV)
What do you say to encourage a mother who had to watch her son’s grisly beheading on video just six months ago? Words do not exist to heal her pain. Her grief is still so fresh and acute that that you don’t have to understand Amharic to know what she is expressing. In the end, you weep with those that weep as they wail in front of you. What sufficient kind of assistance can you provide to a little girl who’s under constant threat of being kidnapped because her radical Muslim father who raped her mother (a pastor’s daughter) wants to raise her as a Muslim. How do you support pastors in Zanzibar whose neighbors target their churches and their landlords evict them just for worshipping Jesus in their homes? These are the issues that make obeying Hebrews 13:3 in a practical manner so difficult as an ICC regional manager. The helplessness I often feel in their
midst as they walk through their great suffering draws me to more fully trust in the One who is fully sufficient and has promised to meet the needs of His children. I find that the persecuted Church expecially in Africa fittingly instructs us here in the West about where to cast our cares and where to set our hopes. One sister I met with, Aleymatu Belayenehe, is the woman I previously mentioned who’s son, Ayalkebetz, was beheaded in the IS video. “I continue to go to God, I trust God. God is the one who makes known our story. God is great for us. I know that He is good and I testify to His goodness.” Even through the terrors of persecution, God remains good. Who would have thought that the teacher of this lesson would be this one who has suffered the most? God is great for us!
Evangelism Black Ops Undercover Missions in Somali East Africa
cross the Horn of Africa, ChrisA tians are forced underground, to evangelize in secrecy. This clandestine
obedience to the Great Commission comes fraught with a variety of dangers because of the societal dominance of fundamentalist Islam. Somali believers face everything from rejection from their families, the abduction and permanent loss of their children, to beatings, and even death. *Absimil’s (*name changed) persecution experience has forced him into a kind of evangelism black ops. When he first trusted Christ after hearing the Gospel on the radio, he preached with great joy and boldness. He even planted a Christian fellowship in the Muslim-majority town where he was living. He traveled along the Ethiopia-Somalia border, preaching about
Christ like a modern day Apostle Paul. However, there’s one major problem: “Inside Somalia, there are no secrets,” Absimil explained to ICC. Word soon leaked to Absimil’s family that he became a Christian. One day, when he returned home, they were waiting for him with clubs and they beat him until he was unconscious. Absimil still bears an inch-long scar across his cheek and still suffers pain in his back from the attack. He lives because his clan chief protected his family from killing him. Today, Absimil still preaches Christ from the shadows, like a secret agent. “This is not our choice. God has called us and He sent us. We have hope to preach to them living in darkness,” he said.
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Remembering the 33 ICC meets with five families who lost loved ones in the April 2015 ISIS video By Jeremiah Castelo
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he world shook in February, 2015, when a video of the execution of 21 Egyptians found its way onto television and computer screens across the globe. Dressed in orange jumpsuits, these 21 Christian men were led along a beach in Libya, forced to their knees, and beheaded. ISIS had declared war on the people they termed, “the nation of the cross.� On April 19, just two months later, in a continued series of horror-invoking propaganda clips, another video surfaced. This time, it involved the execution of 33 Ethiopian and Eritrean men, also dressed in orange or black jumpsuits, also killed for their faith in Christ. Though not having received as much media coverage as did the news of their Egyptian brethren, the story of these 33 brave men is just as tragic.
Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians await their execution at a beach in Libya.
The Migration of Ethiopian Men With rock bottom wages and an inflation rate of 17 percent within the past decade, young Ethiopian men are forced to choose between staying in a country which promises no financial future, or taking a dangerous journey in search for a better means of living. With the former almost guaranteeing a dead end, most men choose the latter. Unfortunately, traveling from Ethiopia in search of a better life is no easy feat. Work opportunities are more promising in South Africa, however those who migrate there are often met with xenophobic attacks. Jobs can be found in the Gulf states to the East, but the civil war in Yemen often prevents anyone from making it that far, which leaves the option of traveling to Europe to the North through ISIS-occupied territory. As dangerous as it is, three young men, whose stories are as heartbreaking as they are inspiring, did just that.
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Belayenehe shows a picture of her son, Ayalkebet.
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Burtukan and her two children stand in the home her late husband once cared for. FEBRUARY 2016
ICC Staff Visits Ethiopia In October, ICC staff heard their stories first hand when we visited the families of each of these three men. We met with Belayenehe, a young single mother who lost her only son Ayalkebet; Burtukan, a wife and mother of two who lost her husband and primary breadwinner Birihanu; and Teshane, a disabled father whose son Eliyas recently graduated college, but also died in the video. Each of these men were on a separate journey, but for a common reason: to make a new life for themselves and their loved ones. Even more central a similarity is their unchallenged devotion to the God they serve, even to the point of death.
A Grieving Mother Belayenehe gave birth to her son Ayalkebet at the young age of 15, and raised him as a single mother in poverty-stricken Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. Though their entire lives were marked by constant struggle, their faith in Christ and the bond between one another sustained them. Ayalkebet’s dream of making a better life for himself and his mother emboldened him to trek through hostile territory in hopes of finding work in Europe. However, at 30 years old, in the middle of a Libyan desert, his life was cut short at the hands of ISIS militants. Devastated by the loss of her only son, Belayenehe relies on the only source of life left that she can trust. “I trust God. I know that He is good. I testify to His goodness.”
Wife, Mother, Widow... A now widowed mother of two, Burtukan, had not known about her husband’s plan to make the journey into Europe in search for work. When news of ISIS’ execution of the 33 reached home, she experienced the unimaginable as she verified his identity by watch-
Burtukan and Belayenehe grieve the loss of their loved ones together.
ing the video while sitting at an internet cafe. “It’s unforgettable. We fight our best but we lost him and this is unforgettable. The kids loved him more than me. They are asking, ‘Where is my father?’” Burtukan and her husband made a living by selling crafts at church, where she would make clay plates by hand, and he would write Bible verses on them. She is unable to continue this business because she doesn’t possess the same calligraphy skills her husband had. Burtukan is now sustained by small gifts and support from others, but is still in need of a steady stream of income to support herself and her two kids. “He was such a good father for this house,” she smiled.
“I begged him not to go” A mentally disabled father and a young daughter are the remaining members of a family whose hope of financial freedom rests on. Eliyas, recently graduated from college but unable to find work, left for Europe with his college degree in hopes of landing a job that would help his family and pay the medical expenses for his father. Teshane speaks on the loss of his son, “I was shocked due to the tragedy. When I heard about the trip, I didn’t want that hardship for him. I begged him not to go because I feared for him. ” “Take care of my father because he isn’t able to prepare
his food. Please take care of him.” Those were Eliyas’ last words to his sister before he left.
Faithfulness Through Persecution Ayalkebet Sinitayehu. Birihanu Getanehe. Eliyas Teshane. The jihadists who took the lives of these men most likely never knew their names, but the Lord of Hosts knows them and keeps them in the Book of Life. These men were killed not because they were foreigners who invaded enemy territory. They were killed not for ethnic or genocidal reasons. They were killed for their unwavering faith in Christ. When given the choice of either converting to Islam or death, they chose Christ.
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Feature Article
Sudan Overview
One of Africa’s worst persecutors continues his relentless campaign against Christians
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n July 24, 2014 Meriam Ibrahim, her 2-year-old son, Martin, and her infant daughter, born in a Sudanese prison, arrived in Italy, after being secreted out of Sudan, once the government finally dropped all charges against her. The world was shocked when the young
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By Todd Daniels
mother faced the death penalty due to charges of apostasy and adultery for having married a Christian man. Hundreds of thousands around the world campaigned for her release and hoped that Sudan noticed that the world was watching and would speak out against its persecution of Christians. Unfortunately, that was not the case. By December 2014, Pastor Paul* was arrested in Khartoum and then just three weeks later Pastor Silas* was also arrested. They too were charged with crimes carrying the death
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sentence, but were ultimately released after eight months and convicted of a lesser crime. These two cases, which briefly caught the attention of the world, are just one facet of persecution in Sudan.
War, Peace, and a Country Divided The country of Sudan and its new neighbor, South Sudan were brutally divided along religious and ethnic lines. A peace agreement signed in 2005 brought an end to a 22-year-old civil war, one that claimed more than two million lives and in which religious and ethnic identity played a crucial role. One of the central causes of the conflict was the campaign of President Omar al-Bashir and the Muslim majority in the North’s desire to impose Islamic Sharia law on the nonMuslim, and largely Christian, South. FEBRUARY 2016
Feature Article
Left: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s contempt toward the Christian church is self-evident. Right: A map indicating the location of the Nuba Mountains in southern Sudan.
The Forgotten Genocide
S Nuba Mountains
While the formation of South Sudan in 2011 offered a place of refuge for the largely Christian South Sudanese population, the humanitarian situation is still one of desperate need and the Muslim North remains one of the worst persecutors of Christians in the world. From church destruction, apostasy laws, and bombing campaigns, the Church is under attack, but continues to grow.
Destruction and Death Penalties While these may seem like terms of exaggeration, they are the reality for Christians in Sudan. On October 27, 2015, government authorities bulldozed the Sudan Church of Christ building, claiming it was now on government land. Also, on October 22, 2015, government authorities bulldozed the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Omdurman, bringing an end to their more than 30 years of service to the community. Just five days earlier, on October 17, 2015, a Lutheran church in Gadaref was destroyed by arson. Three churches in just ten days, and the list could go on. In the last few years, at least 11 churches have been destroyed according to the 2015 United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Report. Sudan’s legal system is also a horrific tool of persecution. As previously mentioned, Meriam Ibrahim, Pastor Michael, and Pastor Peter have all faced death penalty cases in only the past two years. Since 2011, more than 170 individuals have been arrested and charged with apostasy for leaving Islam. Nearly all have faced the choice of having to recant their faith or else face a death penalty.
udan has been decimated by decades of conflict along religious and ethnic lines and no place better demonstrates that than the Nuba Mountains. Unlike the worldwide outrage that followed the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, the ethnic cleansing unfolding in the Nuba Mountains does not receive much global media coverage. But once you’ve witnessed it, says Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, it will haunt you. The Nuba Mountains region in Sudan’s South Kordofan state was one of three disputed areas following the 2005 peace treaty. When South Sudan claimed independence in 2011, the Nuba Mountains were kept by the Islamic North. The area has been described as, “an island of mostly Christian peoples in a sea of Islam,” according to Operation World. Sudan’s President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, already wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, has increased the bombing of the Nuba Mountains. The daily and indiscriminate bombings do not target military installations, but civilians. Schools, churches, and homes are all causalities to the brutal air assault. At least one-third of the state’s 1.3 million people have been forced to leave their homes because of the bombing campaigns. Many of the Christians have stopped meeting in churches because they are known targets. At least 12 churches have been destroyed by these air raids. The horrific impact of this campaign has only been magnified because humanitarian aid organizations have very little access to the region. Therefore, food and medical aid are not getting to these populations in need. Situated on a fault line between Islam and Christianity, the church in the Nuba Mountains is in desperate need of aid and prayer from its brothers and sisters worldwide. *Names changed
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In Sudan: From Saul to Paul
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t age 19, Wazir* joined the Mujahadeen fighters from northern Sudan to seek out Christians and attack them in the name of Allah to earn the love of his god. Today, he is an evangelist who has faced beatings, imprisonment, and rejection to share the Message of Peace, not to earn God’s love, but because of God’s love shown to him.
A Devout Follower of Islam, Persecutor of Christians
reaching people like himself. He carries scars from both his new and old life. As a preacher, he has been imprisoned five times, beaten, and tortured by guards, nearly to death. He also carries the scars from when he was the one beating others. “I was a very terrible person persecuting the Church,” Wazir said. “The pain is still there, though I am preaching the Good News.” This is the reality of what the Gospel can do. It takes persecutors and turns them into preachers. It takes those who kill to earn God’s love, and transforms them into people who would be killed to tell of God’s love.
Top: Sudanese women receive tubs, pots, pans, and other household supplies from ICC. Right: Timothy’s testimony mirrors the witnesses found in the Book of Acts who were beaten, stoned, and brought before judges for spreading the Gospel. Bottom: Yat Michael Ruot and Peter Yein Reith, two Christian Pastors from Sudan were released from a possible death sentence in Sudan.
Wazir grew up in a devout Islamic family. As a teenager, his faith led him to engage in jihad against the enemy, and Wazir joined the Mujahadeen (Arabic: those engaged in jihad) to take part in raids on Christian villages in southern Sudan. “My goal was to fight Christians to seek the love of Allah,” Wazir reflected. “I volunteered to do this.” Wazir, though, was also a thinker. In an effort to better understand the weaknesses of Christianity, he began to visit a Christian bookstore and talk with the owners. Though Wazir’s intent was to defame the name of Christ, the shopkeepers, talked with this Mujahadeen fighter and faithfully explained the Bible to him, despite great risks. “For them, their goal was to help me understand this was the Word of Truth,” Wazir said. “I never thought I would be a Christian.” However, the Word was working. “One day I said to myself, ‘If this is from God, let this happen today as it was yesterday.’ I needed to see that God’s Word was still true.” Shortly after, Wazir had a dream. He heard God speak John 3:16 to him, that God’s love was fulfilled by giving and sacrificing His Son Jesus Christ. This prompted a radical shift away from the aim to kill in order to earn God’s love.
Accepted by God, Rejected by Others In 1995, Wazir accepted God’s love for himself. His family, friends and tribe all rejected him. “Unfortunately, I have no relationship with my family and friends for the last 20 years.” Some of them called for him to be executed. His tribal chief spared his life, but exiled him from the community. Since this time Wazir has given his life to
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A Modern Day Book of Acts Testimony from Sudan “I Know What It Means to Be TInimothy: a Christian.” a small village in South Sudan,
Timothy* was raised as a pagan, without a real religious influence, but he would soon learn what it really means to be a Christian. Timothy first remembers hearing that Christianity meant that he needed to do enough good works in order to please God. His “Christian” teacher even instructed him to put his confidence in his deeds. “I was really hurt by this,” Timothy said, “and I decided to leave Christianity.”
A Journey Towards Faith When war came to his village, he fled to the city of Malakal, Sudan and ended up in a neighborhood dominated by conservative Muslims. Timothy, still looking for answers, thought, “Maybe my answer will be met with Muslim worship.” He studied first at an Islamic Institute in
Malakal, then moved to Khartoum to continue as a Muslim scholar. As he dove deeper into his studies of Islam, he began to see contradictions in Islamic teaching. “I was taught, ‘Don’t kill.’ But you can if you have the right from God.” Also, when it came to his eternal destiny, he realized that Islam was based on works, like the message he heard when he was younger. “This was why I ran away from Christianity, and in Islam, not even Muhammed can know for sure, so why would I go to paradise?”
“My Life is Bad, Can you Change it?” Still searching for answers, and knowing that his works were never enough, Timothy prayed. “God, I don’t know where you are, but my life is very bad. Can you change it?”
He was invited by a friend to a Christian conference and there he heard the Gospel message of what God did and Timothy realized that could trust Him, not his own works. “He confirmed to me I need eternal life. It felt like he was speaking to me directly,” Timothy said. God has radically changed Timothy’s life. Now he is a bold leader among the Sudanese Church. In stories that echo the book of Acts, Timothy and others have been stoned and imprisoned for sharing the Gospel. In Akbarra, Sudan, he and a co-worker were arrested for preaching, but continued to preach to the prisoners while locked up. Timothy heard the guard tell the warden, “They turned the jail to be worshipping their God Jesus.” The warden responded, “Let them go, or you also will convert.” When asked about his life following Jesus, Timothy said: “For me, I know what it means to be a Christian.”
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Paradise Lost “Despite its idyllic sunsets and posh resorts, [Zanzibar] conceals a rampant persecution problem.”
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By Troy Augustine and James Kake
rystal blue, soft waves lap the beach at my feet in the tiny set of islands known as Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania where I’m investigating persecution. The beaches glisten with warm, white sand and stretch out to the horizon ringed with brilliant green coconut palms as far as the eye can see while a comfortable sea breeze cools the air, keeping the weather between 75 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit year round. If you didn’t take a second look, you’d think Zanzibar was Eden restored. The beauty of Zanzibar, makes it easy to under-
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stand why tourism is one of the most important sectors of the economy for this semi-autonomous region that is unified with mainland Tanzania. Zanzibar is beautiful, luscious, and agriculturally productive, known for centuries for its exotic spices. However, Zanzibar hides a dark side. Despite its idyllic sunsets and posh resorts, it conceals a rampant persecution problem. As the minarets sound at dusk just before most Zanzibaris lay down to sleep each night, the Muslim call to prayer serves as a consistent reminder that Christians in Zanzibar are a religious minority. Muslim Arabs from the Middle East originally colonized Zanzibar and established a sultanate that predated European exploration and the arrival of the
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Zanzibari locals enjoy the warmth of an East African sunrise.
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Feature Article
ICC staff and local pastors pray for God’s protection on their ministry while inside a makeshift church
Portuguese in the late 15th century. After centuries of Muslim domination, Christians still represent less than one percent of the population of Zanzibar. Many of them are missionaries who came over from mainland Tanzania to preach the Gospel. When you live in a society that is dominated by one culture and you come from such a small minority, life carries its hardships. Zanzibari Christians are constantly caught between a rock and a hard place.
Persecuted By Their Neighbors Worshipping Christ openly and freely at a church draws constant unwanted attention from neighbors who hold no reservations about disrupting and destroying Christian services and churches, sometimes even violently. In 2012, a radicalized Muslim mob stormed and burned the largest Assemblies of God church in Zanzibar, setting the building ablaze. The congregation is still rebuilding more than three years later. Government authorities even destroyed part of Pastor *Micah’s church in a different part of the island, making it the second time his building was demolished. In his case,
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Muslim neighbors constantly complained to local authorities about the noise coming from the church on Sunday mornings. Today, he is embroiled in a seemingly endless court case that his neighbors have brought against him, trying to restrict his freedom to worship. They have falsely charged that he is not the rightful owner of the property where the church sits. “This is the eighth year that we have been paying a lawyer an amount of $100 dollars every month whenever we have the court hearing, despite the church having legal ownership documents,” Pastor Micah told ICC. Story after story, pastor after pastor, congregation after congregation can testify to constant pressure from the increasingly radicalized Muslim population that surrounds them. The roof of Pastor *Jonathan’s church is perforated with holes from stones his neighbors throw throughout Sunday services because they hate the Christian presence in their neighborhood. “Those who are surrounded by the islanders – the problems are very terrible,” he told ICC. “You need to have Jesus in you, or you will fight with the people,” he added. Christian churches in Zanzibar face these
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constant threats from all sides.
A Persecution Catch-22 You might think that the easy solution might be to start a house church movement like ones in China or Eritrea. However, any earnest attempt at this feels impossible. That’s because Muslim landlords make up the vast majority of property owners, and Christian pastors report that they become immediately evicted if they are found worshipping Jesus in their homes. “It is not possible to own a church plot where one can put up a permanent house of worship. Even in a rented room, Muslims would stone the roofs and cause a lot of distraction during church services. There are no laws to protect the church because the semiautonomous government here in Zanzibar is dominated by Muslims,” lamented Pastor Moses.* During ICC’s October 2015 trip to Zanzibar, ten pastors we met with told us similar persecution stories. Almost all of them have faced all of the following: evictions, land disputes, legal challenges from Muslim neighbors, government discrimination, and church destrucFEBRUARY 2016
tion. Such challenges don’t only complicate Sunday worship, but they make evangelism exceedingly difficult. “When we try to share the Gospel with them, they don’t want to hear the Name of Jesus,” Pastor Jonathan told ICC. What explains this opposition in a place of the world that otherwise draws Westerners by the droves to this Indian Ocean paradise?
“This is where we worship the Lord,” Nathaniel says as he steps inside the stuffy, narrow orange tent-lke structure....
Tyranny of the Majority
– PASTOR NATHANIEL
The religious dynamics in Zanzibar are complex. The Muslim majority’s persecution of Christians should not be understood through the genocidal lens of jihad that the West has come to associate with Islamist terror groups in Africa such as Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, and the Islamic State (IS). Instead, Christians live as a 1% mintoriy and suffer under the soft persecution of dhimmitude; the system that slowly strangles other faiths through the death of a thousand cuts. Saudi Arabia’s Wahabbi evangelists have been at work here radicalizing the population and marginalizing modertate Muslims. The overwhelming majority of Muslims here now think it a matter of obedience to persecute Christians by any means possible. The main group practicing and spreading the Wahabbi (fundamentalist) brand of Islam is a group called the Awakening, or “Uamsho,” in Swahili, according to the pastors with whom we spoke. The group has also infiltrated the political scene and it has been calling for independence of Zanzibar from mainland Tanzania. “Their goal is to chase all of the Christians
A Tanzanian pastor leads a man to Christ.
from Zanzibar,” Pastor Moses told ICC. Despite opposition from all sides, the Christian Church in Zanzibar perseveres in obedience to the Great Commission.
Faithfulness to the Call Pastor *Nathaniel told ICC that he has survived three assassination attempts for preaching the Gospel. “I’m in the danger area,” he said. Nathaniel has avoided being shot and has narrowly dodged an acid attack. Like several other pastors, radical Muslims burned his church, setting fire to the roof made of dried coconut fronds. He’s been left with nothing, but he still preaches faithfully. “This is where we worship the Lord,” Nathaniel says as he steps inside the stuffy, narrow, orange tent-like structure where he ministers to a congregation of 72 Christians every Sunday with an additional 50 children. Inside the “church,” the air is steamy with humidity and noticeably warmer than outside. The culprit? The tarp that forms the roof and walls that keeps out the rain but also the air flow.
The flimsy plastic draped over a wooden skeleton of course offers no security if, or rather when, the church is attacked next. And yet, just like the other believers, Nathaniel perseveres. Others are currently facing bigger concerns. Pastor Cephas’* daughter was raped, Pastor Moses faces eviction, and Pastor Peter* has been arrested and some of his congregants beaten by Muslim mobs often with the police participating. This is the ongoing experience of ministers of the Gospel in Zanzibar, God’s faithful army of servants equipped with the Gospel of grace. The task is laborious, but the workers joyful, the workers persecuted, but steadfast, just as the Apostle Paul testified: “We labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things,” 1 Corinthians 4:12-13 (ESV). In God’s economy, this faithfulness marks the measure of ministry success, even in places like Zanzibar where the Christian community is so small. These brothers and sisters continue to live out the stewardship that God has gifted them. Their reward will not be found in this era other than enjoying the privilege of preaching the Gospel free of charge. Why would Christians be willing to endure such endless persecution? “My heart is moved (by God) to continue the work,” Pastor Micah declared. With God’s help, this is the steely resolve of Christians in Zanzibar. *Name of pastors changed for security
Tanzanian children enjoy the warm East African beach.
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Feature Article
Do Not Hinder the Children
God’s Gift of Grace in the Midst of Persecution
“Muslims want to rape Christian women to impregnate them and weaken Christianity,” Cephas told ICC. “They rape pastors’ children to weaken the ministry. They wanted to convert [my daughter],” he explained. By Troy Augustine
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G
race is a beautiful, little twoyearo l d girl.
Her tiny feet pitter-pattered against the tile floor of her grandfather’s church as she bashfully stepped out to meet ICC staff when we traveled to Zanzibar in October, 2015. She stared with soft, innocent, black eyes just like any other normal child would when looking over a stranger. She smiles only slightly, ever rarely, but Grace represents God’s faithfulness to a pastor’s family
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nearly torn apart by persecution. Grace’s very existence reminds her grandparents of the lengths that one radical Muslim took to try and disrupt the grandfather’s ministry. Grace’s grandfather *Cephas is a pastor of a church with approximately 150 members and 50 children. Radical Muslim mobs have already destroyed his church building twice, setting fire to the palm frond thatched roof. The repeated destruction has resulted in a total loss of nearly $275,000 in property damage and the destruction of worship materials. Cephas also told us that another pastor in his denomination was beaten for his faith in Christ. In Zanzibar, if Christian minisFEBRUARY 2016
Feature Article
try wasn’t already hard enough on islands carrying an overwhelming Muslim majority, if worshipping Christ didn’t already include the constant threat of eviction, church destruction, or even threats to life and safety, Cephas’ family and ministry have endured the unthinkable. Grace was conceived by rape when an Arab Muslim man assaulted Cephas’ 16-year old daughter, not simply because of his physical desire for her, but because he has a religious agenda. “Muslims want to take Christian ladies to impregnate them and weaken Christianity,” Cephas told ICC. “They rape pastors’ children to weaken the ministry. They wanted to convert [my daughter],” he explained. One day, when *Marie was walking home from school, she was attacked by a man she knew, her neighbor. He raped her, she became pregnant, and she gave birth to Grace nine months later. The ultimate goal is Islamic expansion through conception. Just as radical Muslim terror groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria, or the Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East, have notoriously abducted and raped young girls, the same thing happened to Marie in Zanzibar. Hardline Islamists believe that when a Muslim father conceives a child, that baby is inherently Muslim. Therefore, Marie’s attacker sought to populate the island with more Muslims by force, hoping to bring a Muslim child out of a Christian family. As a result of the trauma, Marie has stopped attending school. In fact, she no longer lives with her parents and child in Zanzibar because the family has sent her to mainland Tanzania so that she can be far away from her attacker, receive psychological treatment,
Below: Photo of Grace and her grandfather as she receives gifts from ICC staff.
‘They want to kidnap [her]’, Cephas said. ‘She is still a Muslim’
and continue to recover. The family’s suffering has been unimaginable. But Grace brings joy and hope to a family still traumatized. What man intended for evil, God has intended for good through Grace’s life. Instead of adding to Zanzibar’s Muslim majority, Grace is being raised in a Christian home, in a pastor’s family, being brought up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. However, Grace grows up in constant danger. “They want to kidnap [her],” Cephas said. “’She is still a Muslim,’” Cephas explains as he quotes the offender who’s still a neighbor to the family. In a community where the majority already treats Christians with contempt and hopes to chase them away, Grace faces these daily threats to her safety. On a recent trip to meet with Cephas and Grace, ICC sought to encourage the persecuted family with a gift to demonstrate Christ’s love and our unity with them in the global Church. With help from partners in Zanzibar, and thanks to your generous donations, Grace now has new clothes and shoes. Under such severe threats of persecution, Grace and her family need your prayers. Pastors in Zanzibar like Cephas persevere in obeying the Great Commission in a place which is increasingly hostile to the Gospel. Grace’s story highlights the superiority of the message of Jesus Christ over the violent methods of radical Islam. When asked what message he could tell the man who raped Marie, Cephas responded: “I do always pray that he will receive Jesus Christ.”
– GRACE’S GRANDFATHER
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On the Front Lines
The stories of eight pastors in Zanzibar facing persecution from all sides By Philip Sabella
“It is by God Himself and through prayer that comforts us. We rely on God for protection.” – PASTOR DONALD
ICC staff interviews Pastors Jonathan, Moses, and Luke.
Pastor Donald
Pastor Nathaniel
Pastor Micah
Pastor Gideon
In 2012, Muslims broke into Pastor Donald’s church at night and completely destroyed it. Despite going to the authorities to file a report, police took no action and the mob got away without punishment. Today, the building has been reconstructed but the congregation is still in need of chairs, instruments, and sound systems. Even though Pastor Donald still lives with daily threats from his Muslim neighbors, he is encouraged by the prayers of his family in the West. “It is by God Himself and through prayer that comforts us. We rely on God for protection.” Please pray that God will provide land so that they can build their church.
In 2000, Pastor Nathaniel began his ministry. Since then, his life has been threatened three times. He has been shot at, nearly had acid poured on him, and his church was burned down. His congregation of 130 is now forced to meet in a makeshift structure. The government promised him that they could use the current area to worship, but his Muslim neighbors are doing everything in their power to stop this. Pastor Nathaniel asks his family in the West to pray for him. “I need prayer. I am in the danger area.” Please pray that God would provide the resources for a plot of land and for protection for him and his church against the radical Muslims seeking their destruction.
In 2004, Pastor Micah began to legally build a church on land that was desired by Muslim leadership for the construction of a mosque. Within a year, the local radical Muslims tore it down. Pastor Micah rebuilt, but the government came with a bulldozer to destroy it again. Three years later, five police officers arrested Pastor Micah. He was released, but was attacked by a mob of angry Muslims who demanded that he vacate the property. Pastor Micah filed a report with the police but was instead hit with a cease and desist order and was fined a large sum. Please pray that God’s will would be done in the court case over the land and that a resolution would be reached quickly.
Pastor Gideon is the shepherd of a church in a Muslimmajority area. His Muslim neighbors began to instruct boys under the age of 12 to build bombs to destroy the church. They chose boys of that age because they cannot be charged for criminal offenses. These boys then started a campaign of terror by bombing the church. Currently, the church is still standing but in very bad disarray. Pastor Gideon told ICC that when it rains, everything in the church gets soaked due to the massive holes in the roof. Please pray that he will find a safer area to build a church and also pray for the 24 school children that are currently being educated within the building.
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ICC staff meets with Pastors Donald, Abraham, Cephas, and Jonathan.
Pastor Luke
Pastor Jonathan
Pastor Moses
Pastor Abraham
In 2009, Pastor Luke had been freely worshipping on his land for three years. However, when the church began a ministry to Muslims, things quickly worsened. They received a notice from the district commissioner to cease and desist with no explanation. They complied. That following Sunday, radical Muslims attacked. They stormed the church and beat the members with sticks while the police stood by and watched. Pastor Luke confronted the police. The authorities said that it was nothing more than a peaceful protest. Please pray for government permission for both the building of the church and for permission for Christians to continue to worship there.
Pastor Jonathan looks at the roof of his church and shakes his head. He explains, “Some are small holes, some are big, but when the rain comes… [he whistles].” During one service, radical Muslims from Pemba, a neighboring island, attacked. They pelted the roof with rocks and smashed all four windows in order to “disturb the minds of the people” and to stop the pastor from preaching about Jesus. “When we try to share the Gospel with them, they don’t want to hear the name of Jesus,” said Pastor Jonathan. Please pray for God’s protection over this church and for their future plans of building a school for children.
In 1996, Pastor Moses moved to Zanzibar as a missionary of the Gospel. He was hit with many challenges. The greatest challenge was the fact that he did not own land, nor could he afford to buy any. As a result, he was forced to rent a house from an owner who did not want them to worship inside the house. This situation sufficed until they began to see a great revival. The revival angered the locals. As a result, the owner of the house demanded that they vacate the property by the end of the month. Please pray that Pastor Moses will be able to purchase a plot of land where they can worship freely and pray for financial provision for his kids to go to school.
Pastor Abraham started his ministry in 2009 and saw great success in reaching out to his neighbors. However, his success was considered a major threat by his Muslim neighbors, so they decided to get rid of him. In 2012, radical Muslims attacked with the authority of the district commissioner. They burned the church down three times. The commissioner demanded that they stop all services and leave the area. Pastor Abraham complied and left with his now small, frightened congregation. Currently, they are holding services in a house that they are renting from a Muslim policeman. Please pray for God’s protection and provision for this family.
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