February 2016 Persecution Magazine (1 of 4)

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FEBRUARY 2016

PERSECU ION East Africa 2015:

God is Great for Us

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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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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.

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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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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.

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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.

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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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You Can Help Today!

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

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

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